Grace's POV

My wall was covered in newspaper clippings, string linking one piece to another. I stared at it with every ounce of concentration, I had to get this right not only for me but for all of those poor victims that were being held captive. I needed to save them.
Sighing, I slapped my hands on my legs before I stood, walking over to the motel's cupboard and pulling out my hunting bag. I hadn't needed this for a while, after I went travelling in England, but now I was back and the monsters were still thriving.
Being a hunter wasn't easy, and the job never really leaves you. During my time in England, despite never encountering a monster of any sort, I kept my essentials with me and spent all my time watching my back and making sure not to trust many people. It was only when I met Benjamin, I knew I'd found someone I could rely on. He, too, was a hunter but he worked for the British Men of Letters. He kept what he did vague but I knew whatever plans they had in place, it had meant that no one had died from a monster attack in fifty years, unlike my lovely town which had seemingly been overtaken with vampires whilst I was away.
Whilst enjoying my vacation, I'd been keeping tabs on my town and surrounding ones, looking out for things that seemed supernatural. It had been quiet for months until a missing persons had flagged on my radar. A youthful woman, aged 30, who was a PE teacher. She was always happy in her job and life but mysteriously disappeared after going out for a run. I kept it in the back of my mind as I toured England, staying in touch with Benjamin throughout. I voiced my opinions to him, sending him links and documents to look at. After three people went missing in quick succession, we were both certain that it was not coincidental and that, in fact, a darker force was to blame. I hated that I had to cut my vacation short, but I headed back to America that night and straight to Lockhart, Texas... my hometown.
It felt strangely good to be back, despite the reasonings for my return, looking back at the courthouse and the barbecue restaurants as I headed back to my apartment with all the information packed into my bags. The bus stopped suddenly, pulling towards the kerb as the engine shut off.

"Sorry folks, the road is shut off ahead. This is the last stop." The driver called out as he leant out to look at the few remaining people on the bus. Most people tutted and huffed, irritated that their journey was not going to be as straight forwards as they had hoped. I, however, noted the police cars and the coroner van and knew this was something to do with the missing people. I rummaged around my bag, pulling out my fake FBI badge and leaving the bus, walking straight towards the crime scene.

"Excuse me miss but-" the police officer began but I flashed my badge at him.

"Agent Samantha Byron, FBI." I said bluntly, completely opposite to my usual friendly personality.

"They sent the FBI for-" he began again.

"Are you going to waste time interrogating me or can I go and view the body?" I interrupted him, causing him to straighten where he stood. He began to get flustered before lifting the tape and allowing me into the crime scene. "Thank you." I added, giving him the shred of niceness I was willing to give as the fake agent. I headed over to the body, covered in a sheet to give them some dignity in death and to stop fame hungry social media influencers posting his or her mutilated body all over the internet. Ideally, the police and I wanted to keep this to ourselves as much as possible.

"Who do we have here?" I asked the coroner who was scribbling some findings down as I approached. "One of the missing persons?" I showed her my badge quickly before storing it in my coat pocket and lifting the sheet to reveal the victim's head.

"Unfortunately. Tamara Pontiff, 35 year old PE teacher. She was missing for a week and suddenly, she just turned up dead." As the coroner scribbled, I took it upon myself to look for any signs of vampires and, to my delight but also despair, I noticed the bite marks on her neck and arm. They looked raised, as if they'd been used again and again and never healed properly. I'd say they kept her to feed off her for the week and once she was of not use to them anymore, they dumped her. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say she was exsanguinated too. Whatever sicko did this, I pray they haven't taken the other missing people." Sicko. That would imply they were human and they are anything but that.

"That's why they've called me in. See if there's any similarities and track the person behind this." I added, hoping it would strengthen the trust between us. The coroner hesitated, looked around and then leant towards me, dropping her voice.

"Between you and I, another person is suspected to be missing. They can't announce it yet because it's not been long enough and they have a history of disappearing but it seems like it's related." She whispered. "I knew that girl. Please, just help us get to the bottom of this." She sighed and nodded at me before leaving. I smiled back, sighing inwardly before heading to my apartment in the hope of finding this vamp before anyone else died.

*

I studied the work and it was clear where this vampire hunted. Every person has gone through Lockhart State Park before they'd vanished. Cops had already noted this but didn't have the man power to have people parading the park at all hours of the day so when the vamps struck late at night, it was easy for the cops to miss.
I wouldn't miss. I was going to make sure of that. Packing my machete and dead mans blood, I headed to the park ready for whatever I was about to find.