Red River, Oregon

One Body

The Sheriff's office was watching the Big Rock murders closely. Every town nearby was. Something was off about this. Every two or three days someone would go missing and they would find a body with no blood.

Sheriff Bear Hornsby was getting worried. The police were no closer to figuring this mystery out. What was someone doing with all of the blood? What could a person do with blood? None of the victims was even the same blood type. Sheriff Hornsby wasn't sleeping very well.

Over the next month, there were fifteen more bodies, people just missing with no leads or bodies and they were no closer to getting this figured out or stopping it. They were getting closer to Red River too. He wasn't sure what to do.

Bear Hornsby was a firm believer in the Bible and God. He said his prayers every day. Twice. He never understood people that killed other people and satanic rituals were worse.

He was suspicious of everyone. The murderers are always mild-mannered people that no one would suspect. His mind went to Creed Moonridge. He was new and no one really knew him. No one would think it was him but Bear thought about him. Creed Moonridge.

Creed was elbow deep in paint when he heard the car. Police car. Great. He wiped his hands and was at the door when the sheriff rang. He took a breath and opened the door. "Sheriff."

"Mr. Moonridge. May I come in?" Bear stood in the doorway. He was going to come inside without permission.

"Sure." Creed stepped back and Bear walked in. He was a large man. Creed knew the Sheriff wasn't weak and he could handle himself in a fight. "How can I help you?"

"I am covering all of my bases. Where were you on the nights that people went missing in Big Rock?" Bear watched Creed for signs of guilt. He was good at reading people and judging them. He knew what guilty people acted like.

"Uh, I'm not sure what the dates were." Creed sighed. He knew that he was being questioned about the disappearances.

Bear rattled off the dates for the last six weeks.

"I know I was here when the first man was found. I was here when the last two went missing. Sir." Creed sighed. "Killian and Haven were here with me. And Lois."

"All day?"

"No. I spend most of my days alone, during the week. I manage to get to the hardware twice a week if I need to. I have been working on this house. It's a full-time job but I don't have an alibi, Sir." Creed sighed. He knew that Sheriff Hornsby was looking at him for the murders. He couldn't go to jail.

"I figured as much. Just don't leave town." Bear glared at him.

"It's not me," Creed promised.

Sheriff Hornsby was in his face. "I know something is up with you but I don't know what it is yet. I know you are different and if I find out that you are responsible for the murders of innocent people, I will bury you alive, under that jail! Understand."

Creed nodded. "Yes, Sir. I will help any way I can. But it's not me, Sir. You have my word."

Bear turned to the door. "Better watch yourself." He was out the door and peeled out in the driveway. It was gravel.

Creed sighed. He had looked for the vampire but he wasn't a tracker. He wasn't sure he could find it. He couldn't stop it but he was monitoring it closely. He had only met the one vampire so he didn't know if all vampires were like Megan or him. Clearly, this vampire was a fan of Megans.

Creed laid in bed wondering if he was weird and then pondered why. Why was he like this? He wasn't wild or crazy. He never wanted to kill his brother.