The park, as expected, had only one cop scouring the place at this time of night. There was no way he was going to catch or even see this vampire at work. This was down to me. I wasn't going to try and kill it yet, I just wanted to follow it and see where the nest was before I jumped in guns blazing.
Other than the policeman, there were a few people in the park. A couple walking their dogs, a few runners and one person sat on the bench reading a book under the light of the street lamp. It was quiet, as you would expect, with only the wind howling now and again causing the leaves to rustle. I kept myself hidden, the ashes of the scent-blocking mixture stopping even the vampire from being about to sniff me out. I crept around, keeping an eye on the people in the park as I tried to narrow down who they wanted. So far they'd kidnapped four people and one of them was now dead. All of them were fit and young and all were by themselves as they passed through the park for whatever reason. This vampire must have been quite new - that or extremely careful - so they chose an easy target... kind of like me in this park right now. I'd narrowed it down to the book man and the runners and assumed the book man would have been easier to take, so I snuck closer to him, reading Oliver Twist, and waited. I hated the fact I was using this guy as bait and not saving him, but I needed to find the nest. When I hit that, I would be able to save him and the other three that were missing.

Eleven o'clock on the dot, just like clockwork, some rustling in the trees caught my attention and no sooner had I laid eyes on the vampire, a young man who could only have been twenty, he'd grabbed the book man and knocked him unconscious ready to take back to the nest. I followed behind, at a distance, through the park and towards the groundskeepers house.
Reg had been the groundskeeper there for as long as I could remember. I had no idea how old he was, but now he must have been about seventy. He loved his job and the little house they gave him as a perk of the job so he didn't have to travel and could look after the park and any hour. He lived there with his son, Jay, and his daughter, Rhea who were both around my age. Rhea had been in my class at college and had mentioned her brother being a couple of years older. We weren't best friends or anything, but I knew her and we got on well. They were such a happy family and very well liked by everyone in this small town. I suppose this is why it hit so hard when the vampire opened the door to the groundskeepers house and told the leader that he'd brought some fresh meat to feast on before shutting the door behind him. With my heart hammering in my chest, I slunk towards the house, making sure no one saw me as I scoped it. I looked through the windows, getting an idea of just how many vampires were in this nest before I tried to save anyone. That was a mistake I'd made many years ago and it almost led to me being killed by one of those fanged fiends. Now I knew what to do, how to hunt properly and lower my chances of being hurt. This case, however, was beyond anything I could do by myself. I'd counted how many vampires were in that nest and there was no way I could attempt this without getting killed. I was going to need help.

*

"Benj, I need your help." I said with the phone wedged into the crook of my neck, the forkful of noodles being shoved into my mouth without a care on how I looked or sounded. It was now 3am here but luckily, England was 6 hours ahead of us so it was 9am there. Benjamin still sounded tired, like I'd woken him up when I'd called him.

"What is it Grace? What have you found?" His strong English accent was music to my ears purely because I knew I could trust him with complete honesty without any hesitation. He was a great guy, helpful and full of contacts - something I literally had none of - so he said I could call him anytime I needed help.

"It's vampires. Five kidnapped and one dead, left in the street for police to find. I saw the bite marks on her neck and arm." I explained, making sure he knew everything he needed to. "I worked out that they hunt at night and take them all from the same park so I staked it out. I followed the vamp to its nest which is the groundskeepers house and-" I didn't even realise I'd let out a sad sigh until Benjamin interrupted me.

"You knew them?" He asked carefully.

"It's a small town. Reg had been the groundskeeper there since I can remember. He has two kids, one who was in my college class and her older brother."

"So you're wondering if they've been turned or if they're dead..." Benjamin voiced the thoughts I'd had since I laid eyes upon the house.

"Yeah." I said sadly, but shook it off to continue talking about the case. "But anyway, that aside, I scoped out the house. I'm looking at a nest of at least eight vamps. Maybe even ten. There's no way I can handle that by myself." Benjamin sucked in a sharp breath.

"Ten? Oh my." He said quietly. "Grace, I don't want you to even attempt going there by yourself. Listen, I don't have many contacts in America but let me try the few I have, someone must be around to help you. I'll try and get a few at least. I'll let you know as soon as I can." A small smile grew on my face for the first time today.

"Thanks Benj, I really appreciate it. I owe you one." I added.

"I'll take you up on that when I come and visit." He laughed. "Right, I've got some work to do..."