The New Girl In Town!

[Ghostwriter1983]

The New Girl In Town!

She was new in town and it was her eyes that captivated me most. She worked the late shift at a topless bar and she smiled at me. Not with her lips, but with her eyes and I smiled back. Her name was Nadia and she was a student attending the university, on a Romanian visa. She was earning her tuition and books as a dancer at The Lemon Peel Club. She had a perfectly shaped body and when she swayed left to right, her twin treasures held every man's eye.

The other men gawked and groped and paid good money for a five minute lap dance. Hitting on her, wanting to pay a little more, for 'A little more.' She seemed unbothered though by their comments and would just smile and nod. Perhaps she didn't understand what they wanted or was merely ignoring them. No one seemed to know where she lived and another strange thing. Several of the men found murdered over the last month were last seen with her at this club.

I really didn't suspect her because each victim had their neck broken by someone with very strong hands. By the looks of Nadia, she was petite and her arms showed very little muscle. The victims also were found to not have any blood in their bodies. But the coroner did notice two small puncture wounds on their neck. A rumor went around the station that there was a vampire on the loose. But none of us took it seriously.

But the case was assigned to me and every lead had to be checked out, even it was just a dead end. I was working undercover as a customer in a topless club who was lonely for company. The worst part of it all was I really was lonely. Since my wife had died four years ago, all I had was my job and I'd go right home and sleep. This was the first real situation I found myself in where I was fantasizing of a lover.

It was well into the evening when she came to my table and asked, "Would you like a lap dance for twenty dollar's sweetie?" I would have been a fool and less than man to say no. I reached into my pocket and tucked it in her bikini bottom and she sat down on my lap. Things were getting very uncomfortable for me as she wiggled and I saw her smile. Nadia told me her name and that she was a student of which I already knew.

She bit her lip and I could have sworn I saw her eyes change. Not a different color or mood, it was just hard to describe. I felt my eye lids getting heavy and shook my head to awaken. Was it my beer or Nadia? I didn't know for sure. But I felt everything about her was captivating, but there was nothing illegal with that. I had also been watching the other dancer's in the club, but I saw nothing suspicious.

This was my fifth night at the club and I saw no prostitution or drug activity, normally associated with a topless bar. In fact, I saw no reason to even bring her down town for questioning. Nothing she had done all these nights ended up with her leaving with a customer. It was almost two a.m. when I left the club, but this time, curiosity made me stay. I wanted to see where Nadia lived. I don't know why, I just did.

Once outside in the cool night air, I re-shifted my jeans and hid behind a tall evergreen tree and waited. It was nearly three a.m. before she came out the front door with several other dancers and each got in their cars and left. All that is, except, Nadia. She was walking down the sidewalk and I let her have some distance before I began to tail her. I stayed well back and did my best to not make a sound.

She seemed unaware and relaxed. The full moon peeked out between the clouds and she continued on. Nadia stuck to the main street until she reached Elm and turned onto the side street. This street wasn't as well lit and I closed the gap between us and I was glad the light of the moon made it easier for me to see her. After maybe 10 more minutes, she stopped in front of 445 Elm Street, a three story house.

It looked like it was ready to be condemned and torn down, even in the dimness of the moon light. In a couple of minutes, a second floor bedroom light came on, then a few minutes later, went off. Five long nights of surveillance had turned up absolutely nothing, not even a lead. I had no gut intuition of Nadia or any other dancer at the Lemon Peel Club. She seemed like a nice gal.

All I knew was my eyes were tired and my heart was lonely. I walked back to the topless bar and got in my car and went home. I was too tired to grab anything to eat. I just went to bed. About six p.m., the next day, I returned to Nadia's house. She had rented it for $500 per month. The real estate man said she had paid six month’s rent in advance. Where does a young university student come up with three thousand dollars cash to put down on a rundown house?

I decided that I would find a way in without a warrant. Nadia was at work and I had no facts or evidence that a judge would issue a search warrant. If I got inside and there was nothing found, I would leave and at least know she had nothing to hide or do with the recent murders. I could focus my time and attention on the rest of the dancer's. One by one, I could rule them out or find some more concrete.

I knew I was breaking the law by going in without a search warrant. I didn't even have a gut instinct, just a basic curiosity to see what I might find inside. I found a rear basement window broken and chose that point of entry. I carefully picked the remaining pieces of glass out and squeezed through. The basement was cool, dark and I did my best to be quiet and listen for any sounds upstairs, but heard nothing. Yet, the hairs on my neck were standing straight up and I could smell the smell of death.

I knew what a dead person smelled like and I knew something was going on. Nadia was becoming more and more a suspect. I had no flashlight and couldn't see anything. But I could see the stairway faintly and made my way over to it. Squeak by squeaky squeak, I made my way to the top of the stairs and reached the door. Even with what I suspected now, no judge would issue a warrant based on illegal entry.

I turned the knob and the door opened an inch. Good, it wasn't locked. It was a three story house, but I had an idea of where I was headed. I didn't want to stay in the house any longer then I had to. I stepped out into a long hallway. One end faced the kitchen and the other end opened up into the stairway leading upstairs. Many of the windows were boarded up, making everything dim. I hadn't even thought of bringing a flashlight.

I made it to the stairway and began climbing the stairs to the second floor. I had second thoughts for a moment, to leave and return with a flashlight, but didn't want to risk being in Nadia's house a second time. Besides, I felt a sense of danger here, goose bumps and I’m sure it showed in my eyes. In a minute or two I had reached the top step and was standing on the next floor, trying to adjust my eyes to the darkness.

Suddenly, I heard the floor squeaking right in front of me. Instinctively I pulled my gun, and yelled, "Freeze, police!" Then someone gripped my throat like a vise and I don't recall how many times I fired my gun, before something struck me and I flew through the air. My back hit the banister stairway and I dropped to my knees in agony. I had dropped my gun, and suddenly I saw Nadia and she reached down and lifted me off the floor with one hand, my toes barely touching the carpet.

I was gasping for breath and I began to pass out. But before I did, she came closer and her breath, Oh my God, her breath was horrible. With a sneer of resentment, she said, "I don't have time for you now. But you needn't worry because you and I will talk again very soon." I don't know how long I blacked out, but I found myself tied up. I wondered if any of my shots hat hit Nadia. They had too. I shot directly in front of me, just before she gripped my throat.

What incredible strength she had, super human was more like it. I strained against the ropes that bound my hands and feet to a solid post. They were tight and the post solid, I wasn't going to get free. Worst of all, I didn't have a backup plan. No one knew I was coming here there would be no rescue team. I was all alone. As my eyes became accustomed to the low light I saw candles lit on a table a short ways away.

I saw something else that I didn't want to see, but there she was. Nadia was sleeping inside a black coffin, lined in satin. She looked absolutely peaceful as if she was dead, but I saw her breathing. I also saw her four pearl white fangs glistening. This couldn't be happening. There are no such things as vampires. I knew that she was going to kill me and I was terrified. After a few hours, she began to awaken, turned her head to me and smiled.

She slowly climbed out of her coffin and I saw three gun smoke burned bullet holes in her gown, but no sign of blood. When she stood, she gave me a short smile, but her eyes had a demonic look in them. She walked with confidence, towards me until she was inches away. Suddenly, she pressed a finger against a vein on my neck. "It's too bad you had to intrude, I wouldn’t have harmed you. But you know too much now for me to let you live, others would come.

So, I hope you won't take it personal that it is you, not me that must die. But there is a perk to being a vampire darling, I can live forever." she said with a sneer. I watched her angry eyes soften just a little as she smiled. "There's no reason I can't enjoy you for a little while before you join the others in the basement,” she said and with that she knelt down. I couldn't believe what she was about to do and I felt my jeans fall to the floor and her fangs brush against my thighs.

When she stood again, she wiped her chin and smiled and said she was going to untie me. "I'm going to take you to the basement, but you mustn't think of breaking from my grip. For if you try, I'll snap your neck as surely as if it were a pencil." she said. No one had to convince me a second time that she meant every word, yet I knew that I was soon to die anyway. She gripped the back of my neck as if she was a 300 pound wrestler,and she squeezed.

She squeezed so tight, I was sure I was going to hear the bones in my neck crack. Rather than a slow walk to where I knew death was surely waiting for me, I was shoved at a hurried pace and it was hard to keep up, in the painful position she held me in. Instead of waiting for a futile chance to get free, it was all I could do to catch my breath. Once at the basement door, she opened it and turned on the light switch.

Suddenly, I was tossed through the air and my knees hit the concrete hard as I tumbled across the cold floor. The room was spinning as she lifted me to my feet and pushed me against a wall. I felt my hands lifted over my head and handcuffs locking my wrists. As I came to my senses, I could feel the pain in both my knee caps. That was when I felt her fangs sink into my neck and everything went dark.

©2002 Raymond Cook (All rights reserved)