broken record

[Callan (DELETED 13570)]

“Excuse me, I’m looking for -.”

The officer walked past him without a second glance, the photograph pressed between his fingertips ignored. It had been a frequent action, he had noticed. The law enforcement didn’t seem to care about missing persons, about the lost souls of Harper Rock. He had given himself three days to gather his footing in the unforgiving city. God forsaken, he thought, was more accurate. Occasionally, the wafting scent of decaying flesh came in from the northeastern winds. Zombies, he had found out, according to a sodden newspaper resting in the gutter were actually a real thing. They weren’t some gimmick to get people there on a tourist visa. As the man stood waiting, he watched as more officers acted as if he were a ghost. One man even bumped him and said nothing, no apology, no passing glance.

“Shooting off of 1001 E Bullwood. Warehouse. Must be those damn fangs again.”

A radio went off to his right.

Fangs.

Vampires.

He didn’t allow the reaction, the resistance to roll his eyes to crawl across his features. When the news broke in California that there were vampires alive in Harper Rock, he had been one of the skeptics. He was still, admittedly, one of the skeptics. Vampires existed in horror movies, created out of the darker corners of the world. They would never walk the earth. Zombies didn’t exist. At least, that was how he tried to center his mindset. It’s all ********,” The man thought. Another cop passed him. Her vest had blood on it, fresh. There were strange tattoos littering her arms, rising up against her neck. As his gaze crossed hers, a chill ran down his spine. She had a dead expression, reminding him of the lifelessness.

“Can I help you with something?”

Her words were stern.

Her gaze didn’t change.

“I’m looking for someone. Have you seen this woman?”

She was older now, but her face always looked the same. Dark hair, hazel eyes. She wasn’t smiling in the photo, instead, it seemed she didn’t notice there had been a camera pointed at her as she went about her daily life. “Can’t say that I have.” The officer glanced at it in half a second. There was no doubt in his mind that she never properly looked at the picture. If she had, she might have recognized a woman that shot her shortly after her arrival in Harper Rock.

A woman with no shadow, from years before.

A vampire.

“Look, if you want to file a missing pers-.”

He cut her off by lowering the photo. “Person, I’m going to have to talk with the secretary and fill out forms. That wasn’t my question. I asked if you’ve seen her.”

She told him no, without looking.