Chapter 96: The Morgue: Part Two

Did it wrong? 

"Did what wrong? The process of turning the human into a vampire?" Esme looked up at Gabriel, distracting herself from her erratic heart that was slowly calming down. 

Like in the hallways, the large room was white with small metal doors at the far end where the bodies were stored. But what gained Esme's attention was the two bodies placed on the metal tables side by side, with Luther and Vinnie standing to the side. 

Gabriel walked ahead and nodded at his men. "Exactly. Some fools don't know how to do it properly. Sometimes the human or dhampir really dies in here, and if we have been quick enough and bothered enough to save them, then another master can be granted to them to keep them alive. Soon after, we discipline the vampire who left them."

Esme now stood by his side and looked down at the bodies whose necks were ripped apart. "Dhampir?" She queried to no one in particular. 

"A dhampir is half human and half vampire," Vinnie, the quiet vampire who seemed to sometimes unnerve her, replied quietly, his hands behind his back. His presence always seemed to ward off people near him, and she knew that was precisely how he liked it. She, too, was like that when she was an assassin. 

Esme nodded her head, thanking the creepy vampire, who was unfortunately good looking. 

"Such a waste," Isana murmured, and Esme had to agree unless he was taken and they didn't know about it.

Esme cleared her throat and went back on track to the current conversation. "So, the ones that are saved, are they still half-vampire? These dhampirs?" She asked. She wasn't the most knowledgeable about their kind and only knew the basics. But vampires were very secretive, so it was no wonder she didn't know much about how they were created. 

In fact, she was surprised again at how open Gabriel was being with her right now. Esme glanced at Luther and Vinnie, and they also seemed a little shocked by how much he was revealing to her. But like she'd seen many times before, their features wiped away their expressions and were stoic again within seconds. She knew, being in the morgue with the Vampire King, his right-hand man, Luther and well, she didn't know the specifics on Vinnie, but it seemed like his inner circle of trusted advisors. Esme wondered if Niko was also a part of this little team.

"Everyone has a role to play, Es. I don't keep just anyone by my side, although Luther kind of attached himself to me until I gave up-" 

"Hey! Actually, that's right. Who wouldn't attach themselves to this handsome grandpa?" Luther interrupted the King and winked in Esme's direction.

Gabriel smirked and cleared his throat. "As you have probably observed, Luther is more than an annoying man clinging onto me and does do his part well." Gabriel glanced at the golden-haired vampire before looking back at the bodies on the metal tables. "The vampires that are saved are 100% vampire. So far, we have only come across a few dhampir's; they are very rare. Humans have only birthed Dhampirs, and that process is also complex.

"But that is not why we are here. These bodies are dead, as you can probably tell already. As you can see, the gash wound to their neck is identical; the number of bodies from both Silver Thorn and the other town is the same. They were scattered across the streets in plain view. If my subordinates were not roaming the streets, this could have been a major crisis. The vampire or vampires in question were never found."

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Esme leaned forwards as Gabriel spoke, inspecting the deformed necks of both bodies. She held her breath as she did so and pulled the elastic band from her wrist, tying her hair away from her face. But even though this was disturbing and disgusting, she found herself intrigued. The vampire didn't have any reservations of tearing deeply into the victim's necks; even the bones were splintered by such force. 

Esme tilted her head to the side, not realising the room had gone quiet, and she was actually speaking her thoughts aloud. Esme inhaled only slightly and wrinkled her nose. "Even the smell of fear is still radiating off them. Whoever did it was enjoying their victim's pain. Which, of course, is normal for vampire's behaviour." Esme glanced up then and blinked at all the eyes set on her. "I'm sorry, what did you say? I completely zoned out."

Gabriel shook his head. "I wanted to see if you can tell if this was done by the same vampire or not-"

"How would I.. Ugh, that's disgusting," She moaned and gagged.

"I mean, you did just smell them briefly anyway," Isana muttered, almost shrugging the idea off as normal.

With a sigh, Esme leaned forwards and smelled the wound on each of the body's necks. "That is strange. These are done by two different vampires," She said and backed away from the bodies wrinkling her nose and clenching her eyes shut. 

"How do you know?" Vinnie asked, taking a step forwards. 

"The smells are different. One is from a newborn vampire; the smell is nearly equal to the human here. Which is how newborns smell anyway, well to me. I have a powerful sense of smell. I have tracker blood in me." Esme shrugged then continued as she looked at the human who was killed by a newborn. "I suspect that the newborn vampires still have their human blood inside of them, which makes their scent nearly untraceable, but when compared to the other body, it is apparent."

"Is there much you can say about the other vampire?" Luther queried, folding his arms as he looked at her thoughtfully. It was strange that they were taking her so seriously, considering they were meant to hate her for being a werewolf. 

"The other vampire is much older, and their scent is oddly similar to.." Esme looked at Gabriel and shook her head. "Well, whoever it is, they smell of strawberries."

A sudden silence fell over them like a thick blanket suffocating them. Esme looked back at the vampires in concern. What did she say to cause this? 

"You are certain it is strawberries?" Gabriel finally asked. His voice was devoid of emotion, features cold, and eyes frosty. Esme blinked back in surprise. She hadn't seen him like this before; she was afraid that if she reached out to him, she'd get burnt from his iciness. But for some reason, she wanted more than anything to comfort him, yet she couldn't in front of the others.

"Yes, it is a very distinguished smell. The other vampire smells of strawberries," Esme confirmed. If the atmosphere was better, she would have made a joke about how ridiculous that was, but it definitely wasn't the time.. She had the feeling that Gabriel knew this other vampire.

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