chapter 3

In the ten years that Jon Feller had worked as a special detective agency, the experience hadn't been close to relaxing for him. He found himself deeply pressurized for most duration of the case. Then, a year ago he decided to move to Orilon and everything changed.

He rarely got any cases since the town was a minuscule one with good people. But he realised too soon that it was all a facade. There was something lurking around right under their noses but he couldn't quite catch hold of what it was.

He shifted briefly in the wooden chair that he had been sitting on since the past three hours. The muscles in his eyes sprained from repeatedly replaying the CCTV recording on his laptop.

He tapped the replay button and watched for the umpteenth time as the couple casually strolled across the road to enter into the thicket of the Centaurus forest. 

Nothing about the video seemed suspicious. On the table in front of him were the call records of the victims that were clear as well. He refused to believe all the medical evidence on the other side of the table that clearly indicated the case to be that of an animal attack. 

Bodies completely drained of blood. Two fully grown teenagers killed by a bunch of vampire bats? 

Surprisingly, the higher authorities didn't pressurise to hurry on with the investigation either. It seemed like they didn't care about it. 

He flicked open the file that contained pictures of the victims. There were several bite marks on their bodies but they were too large to belong to palm-sized vampire bats.

The curiosity clung onto him, prohibiting him from focusing on anything else. 

Work was scarce in small towns and thus he had stepped forward and volunteered to investigate the case. The attitude from the sheriff, however, had left him disappointed.

He tapped the replay button on the screen again and observed minutely the unsuspecting figures vanishing into the dense forest. He sighed deeply, sensing an incoming ache in the middle of his forehead.

He lazily stood up from the chair and sauntered to his kitchen. His stomach grumbled in hunger as he switched on the lights and strode to the fridge. 

Just as Jon opened the fridge door, the lights flickered and he saw a shadow move past the wall.  

Considering it to be an illusion caused due to exhaustion, he gently moved his hand over his face and pulled out the mineral water bottle and leftovers. 

He closed the fridge door and only for a second saw another reflection on the glossy surface apart from his. But it was gone too soon. Now, all he could see was the receding hairline and ridiculous speck of stubble on his jaws. 

A little freaked out, he walked to the dining table and placed the contents in his hands on it. The lights flickered once again causing him to feel suspicious. 

Was someone in his house? 

He had firmly closed the doors before locking himself up in his room. 

Could it be a thief? 

Heaving in a deep breath, he grabbed a knife from the kitchen slab and from the doorframe peeked into the darkened hallway. There wasn't anyone in sight.

Ever since he had left Malcolm's Shack that night before the storm, he had this strange suspicion that somebody was following him; keeping a tight track on his moves. But he shook the thought away considering it to be just his paranoia. 

He turned around briefly assured that the recent horror movie marathon had instilled some fear in him. Just as he was about to go back to the dining table, the lights in the whole house went out, enveloping him into a blanket of darkness. The sound of a glass vase crashing onto the floor hit his ears and echoed from the hallway making his heart jump in fear. 

Unable to see anything, he searched the pockets of his trousers for his phone; hoping to turn on the flashlight but he realised that he had left it in his room upstairs. Instead, he followed his sharp memory and located the candles placed in one of the shelves and lit it. 

The candle blew off the very next second by the gust of air. The windows were all closed. And he swore he could sense the presence of someone else in the room. 

Carefully he turned around, the candle still firmly gripped between his fingers. He merely heard a whisper in the air and to his utmost shock, the candle was burning again. 

He gulped, now assured that there was clearly someone right behind him. As he turned, a scream escaped his lungs and his senses numbed all at once.