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Chapter 6

An antique bookstore that dealt with occults, witchcraft, and other such topics, in a small town, gets very little business. So, behind Garrick's store there was his locksmith shop. The bookstore also contained modern literature. Which is where most of his sells, along with key making, was made.

Garrick was twenty-four years old, but he looked thirty. He also had his own strong interest in the supernatural. He had studied things of the unknown since he was a kid. That's why he owned such a bookstore. He loved the store, even if it didn't make that much money. His father left his locksmith shop to him. It used to be a family business, but now all had moved out of town besides he and his mother.

The town considered Garrick an outcast, because he was interested in weird things. His books were mainly sold to kids. They just wanted good horror stories. Some of the really old books had convinced Garrick that they were more than stories, however.

Darek had never been to the bookstore before...mainly because when he was little, Garrick used to beat him up. He used to be a bully, but then he outgrew that stage. There was still a little resentment between the two, but they didn't dislike each other. When they came in, they saw him sitting behind a counter reading.

When the door opened, a little bell jingled from a piece of green yarn. Possibly left over from Christmas years ago. Garrick looked up at them. He pushed his reading glasses up onto the bridge of his nose.

Mark and Darek separated as they came through the door. Each looking as though they were browsing. Actually they were. Mark started to flip through magazines as Darek slowly made his way to the counter.

"May I help you?" asked Garrick as he neared.

"Yes, you can," he replied. "I would like to see all your literature on vampires."

The request was not unusual, but coming from Darek it was. Garrick laid his book on the counter and walked around it to a bookshelf. "These are quite popular," he motioned at the bestsellers.

"I'm not looking for storybooks," he responded seriously.

"Maybe I have what you're looking for in the back," said Garrick. He began to perspire. It was not often that he got requests like this. At least not that he could take seriously. And he could tell by Darek's tone that he was not being toyed with.

He led Darek down a dark hallway into the back of the store. They emerged into a small room. It was lit by candles and was full of books. Darek began his search immediately.

"What's the big deal with vampires now?" asked Garrick.

"What do you mean?" he responded, taking it personally.

"About a month ago, I was doing inventory late into the night," he began. Why he was trusting Darek so readily with this bizarre story was beyond him. "A dark haired woman showed up. And I mean showed up. She just seemed to appear in the store. She immediately started telling me what she wanted."

"Which was?" interrupted Darek.

"She said that she and a few friends were making personal requests at antique stores. They were looking for two books, actually manuscripts. They were supposedly never published. She said they were very important to her collection.

She handed me an envelope full of money. "If those books find their way here, you purchase them," she ordered. She said they were doing this with all antique stores in the area. I didn't have time to ask questions. She just gave me an address and said, 'If you find them, send them there', he finished.

"Did you find them?" smiled Darek, hoping the answer was negative, ironically.

"Yes. Anyway, I thought I did," he said. "A man said that he had no more use for them. He wanted to know if I was interested in them. They looked as if they could be the ones."

"Where are they now?" he interrupted again.

"If you let me finish, you'll find out," he said. "I looked through them and saw that they were like diaries. As I said, I thought I did. I wasn't sure if they were the ones the woman wanted, so I bought them anyway."

Darek was relieved. Garrick had paused so Darek said, "Do you still have them?"

"I have one of them," he said. "Like I said, I wasn't sure if they were the right ones. I sent one of them to the woman, with a letter. In it I told her that if the book was the right one, I would send her the other one," he said.

"I want the book that you possess," said Darek sternly.

"You can look at it, but you can't have it," said Garrick. "The woman has already purchased it."

"That book belongs to me. As does the other one," he stated. "When did you send the book?"

"I bought them yesterday and sent it this morning," he said. "And what makes you think that they are yours?"

"On the cover there is an emblem. Correct?"

"Yes."

"And it looks like this," said Darek, pulling the ring from under his shirt, by its chain.

"That's not possible!" he exclaimed.

"You yourself should know that everything is possible," he said. "You see, that woman was a vampire and so are her friends. I need those books so I can destroy her," he explained. "She's evil!"

"I'm sorry," he whispered. "I'll help you get it back. I promise. But I don't think she will just send it back. The only way may be to go there. And I have her address.

"How can you possibly help me?" mused Darek.

"I have some money saved. We could buy plane tickets to Lancer. That's the name of her town," said Garrick.

"I know," he replied.

"And I'm sure once we get there, you'll need help killing them. And I'm sure that I know more about vampires than you do," he boasted.

"Oh. I'm sure you do," he chuckled.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Garrick seemed offended.

"Nothing, never mind," assured Darek. "Mark will be going with us," he changed the subject.

"Good. The more of us hunters, the better the chances we have," said Garrick, putting a hand on Darek's shoulder.

"Yeah. Hunters," he spat the word.

"When do you want to leave?" he questioned.

"In a couple of weeks. That way we can get some more money together. Mark and I have jobs that we start tonight. It wouldn't be good to quit in a day or two. Besides, once we get that book, I doubt if it will leave Lancer," his mind was planning.

"That will be plenty of time for me to settle some business transactions here too," added Garrick.

"Why don't you take me to the second book now?" he suggested.

"It's on the counter. I was reading it. It's a new breed of vampire that I've never heard of," he confessed. "How did it come to belong to you?"

"A friend left them to me. With them I will have evidence to avenge him," he said, as they returned to the counter.

"You two must have been close for you to take on this kind of responsibility," he admired, handing the book to its rightful owner.

"Closer that you can imagine," murmured Darek. He nodded his head at Mark and they left.