I took a deep breath and sat in the car, staring up at the building.

"Hey! Hey! You can't park here! You gotta move!" a younger guy in a wrinkled, oversized security uniform hollered, knocking on the driver's side window.

I pulled out my badge and held it up against the glass. "Detectives."

"I don't give a shit. You gotta move."

I could feel my eye twitch as the kid kept hollering. I pulled the keys from the ignition and pushed the door open, moving the kid back.

"We're here on official business. Are you telling me you're going to interfere with official police business?"

"These spots are for patients!"

I looked around the vast, empty parking lot. "It doesn't seem like people are busting down the doors for their appointments."

"What's going on?" an older man asked, emerging from a small booth at the end of the drive.

"They won't move their car."

"Are they patients?" he asked.

"No!" the young kid hollered.

I held up my badge, Scott doing the same.

"John, they're detectives..."

"And they get special privileges?"

"John, cut it out. It's not busy here. There are plenty of parking spots if anyone comes in."

"What if they're in a wheelchair? Or something?"

"There are literally ten other parking spots right in front." He turned to us with an apologetic smile. "Forgive my trainee. He's very serious about his job."

"Yeah. Sure. Listen, where's the hematology department?" I asked.

"Hema-what?" the kid asked.

"Hematology. The uh, blood doctors."

"Specialists and labs are on floor 3 I think."

I nodded and walked toward the door. "Thanks."

Scott and I headed toward the center of the hospital, our footsteps echoing off the walls. The area was silent and there was nobody in sight.

"These places are creepy," he muttered, pulling his coat tight around his body. "And cold."

"It's a hospital."

"Do you ever get creeped out?" he asked.

"I don't think. I mean haven't been yet."

"You're weird."

"Yeah. I know," I said.

"You gonna be alright being in a big blood lab?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" I asked.

"I mean, you are part vampire."

"Sure, but I'm not a newborn and I'm not full vampire. I have a bit more control over my urges than most."

"Right, right."

"I wonder if you know me at all, Scott."

"I don't. That's the problem, Cass. You never open up and we've been partners for what, four years now?"

"Sorry about that. I'm just not used to anyone really being interested in me aside from my freakish history."

"You're not a freak," he said, shaking his head.

"Uh, yeah I am. Even I know that. How many other half-vampire, half-preternatural humans do you know?"

"I mean, none, but that doesn't make you a freak. It makes you unique as I've said before."

I laughed at looked at him. "Maybe you're the freak."

He shrugged his shoulders and pushed the button for the elevator as we finally reached it.

"He said 3, right?"

I nodded and leaned against the back wall of the tight space. It lurched up, squeaking as we moved.

Ding

We stepped off and stared at the directory in front of us. The security guard wasn't kidding. Every lab and specialist you could think of was on this floor. I scanned down until I saw what we were looking for. 

Hematology - Suite 304.

"Okay. There we go. Let's hope someone is there. It seems like this entire place is deserted."

Scott knocked on the door before opening it. "Hello?"

"Uh, hi? Can I help you?" a young woman in a lab coat asked, hurrying off the stool she sat on.

"Hi. Detective Jackson and my partner, Detective Perry. Can we ask you a few questions?"

The girl's face flushed and she stuttered a bit, looking down at the ground.

"You're not in trouble," I added. "We have something that needs a closer look by someone who specializes in blood."

"Oh. Okay. Yeah. I-I'm just a lab assistant. Um, the lab director is actually in his office. In the back." She pointed to a closed door in the corner. "I can get him."

"No thanks. We don't want to take up any more of your time. Thank you," Scott said, strolling toward the closed door.

I knocked this time but waited.

"What?" a deep voice asked from beyond the wooden barrier.

"Detectives. Can we ask you a few questions?"

"Yeah. Absolutely." 

The door swung open and a tall, broad-shouldered bear of a man stood before us. I looked up, wide-eyed.

"Doctor Clayton Kostal. Do forgive my rudeness."

"Not a problem at all, Doc."

"What can I help you two with?"

I handed him the vial of dark liquid and watched as his face screwed up in confusion. 

"What is it?" he asked.

"Blood. From a victim," I said, watching him closely.

"How old was the victim? How long had they been dead?"

"College kid. He was early 20's. Died yesterday."

"Yesterday!" he exclaimed.

"Yes. Why?"

"I need to get this under a microscope to be sure, but this is old, old dead blood. Not fresh dead blood. It shouldn't look like this."

"Really?"

He nodded and led us to a side table with a microscope and slides. "So, the bare basics on blood. It runs through the veins, arteries, and capillaries and is known as whole blood, a mixture of about 55 percent plasma and 45 percent blood cells. When the blood hits air is when it turns the bright red that we're familiar with."

"Right," I said, nodding.

"Um, right," Scott added, looking confused.

"When was this blood drawn?"

"About 15 minutes ago."

"Okay. So for blood that was drawn less than 30 minutes ago, it should not be coagulated. At least not to this effect. It also should not be this dark. It should still be red, not purplish black."

He smeared some of the blood on a slide and put it under the microscope. He lowered his head and adjusted a few knobs until both of his eyes shot open. "What the hell?"

"What?"

"Was your victim a vampire? Or just bit or something?"

"That's what we're trying to find out. What he is. He was a newborn but starved. He wasn't missing long enough for anyone to even file a police report. He was at all of his classes the morning he vanished, and then found yesterday."

"Okay. So what we know about newborns, the first 24 hours are the most vital. They have to feed."

"Right."

"The venom of a vampire needs fresh blood in order to complete the transition process."

"Right," I said again.

"Well, of the samples I've seen from newborns, their venom is that. Just venom. It resembles blood, but it's not blood. It's just vampire venom."

"Right."

"Well, this here is vampire venom with some sort of bonding agent that is trying to incorporate human blood. Since the venom in the newborn did not absorb the blood to finish the process, it essentially starved him to death."

"What? How is that possible?" Scott asked.

"I don't know. I have never seen this before. This is completely new. This is not natural."

"Not natural? Meaning..." I started.

"Meaning someone did this to him."

"That's what we thought. That this wasn't natural. Shit. So there really is someone out there doing this? There is no other explanation?"

The doctor shook his head. "Not that I can think of. Can I keep this? I want to study it more."

"Yeah. If you can figure out anything else," I pulled my business card out of my back jeans pocket and handed it to the man. "call me. Please. That's my cell at the bottom."

He nodded his head and put the card on his desk, going back to the microscope.

"Well, we'll see you later, doc," Scott said as we turned to leave.

"This isn't good," I said to Scott as we headed for the elevator.

"No, it's not."

Ring Ring Ring Ring

Scott pulled his phone out of his pocket. "It's the station."

"Detective Jackson." He pursed his lips and closed his eyes listening to the person on the other end. "Uh-huh. Uh-huh. You sure? Where? Right. We're on our way."

"What?" I asked.

"Another body was found."

"Shit."

"Yeah."

"Where?" 

"Point State Park this time. BY the fountain."

"Shit. Let's go."