Real Life Monsters

I know I said a couple of days ago that St. Christopher didn't have any serial killers and now it seems like we have two.  Along with the "Alphabet Murders" (that's what the news media has taken to calling them) the police informed my parents that they had found a body in the woods. The man killed met his end in a gruesome manner. According to the police officers who talked to my parents the body appeared to have multiple bite wounds all over but especially at the neck where the flesh and muscle had been ripped away from the body. The man was found tied to a tree branch hanging by his ankles some fifty feet in the air which automatically ruled out his death as being caused by an animal and the modus operandi is not that of the "Alphabet Murderer" The police officers said that every ounce of blood had been drained from the man's body. None of this was part of the official statement made to the media by the St. Christopher Police Department whom simply said that, "the body of a homeless man was found in the woods and that the cause of death would need to be determined by the coroner."

The media seemed to except that answer.  At least for now.

My parents told me what caused the man's death. They said it was a vampire. They don't know if it was Sol-Teth, the vampire who tried to kill me as a child, or some other blood sucker but they said it was definitely a vampire.  Even though Sol-Teth's teeth couldn't pierce my skin when I was young the thought of him or any other vampire in town sends a shiver down my spin. It was such a frightening event that even though it occurred when I was four years-old I can remember him sneaking into my room like it was yesterday.

Even taking into account my own personal hatred of vampires, I have to acknowledge that for the most part they are simply trying to survive.  I'm not saying that they are noble or misunderstood.  Sol-Teth tried to kill four year-old me not because he was hungry. It was an act of revenge upon my parents and whoever killed this man left the body hanging in the tree because he wants someone to know that he's out there but for the most part they are just trying to eat.  I get that. Cows and chickens probably don't have any kind thoughts about me.

Serial killers, however, I just don't understand. I've heard that there are four kinds of serial killers. 1) the "visionary" who is commanded to kill by voices in their heads. David Berkowitz ("Son of Sam") or Norman Bates from "Psycho" would fall into this category. 2) Jack the Ripper was a "missionary", a person, determined to rid the world of undesirables; 3) the "hedonist" who derives either a sexual thrill or just simply really enjoys killing  (Jeffrey Dahmer or the Joker) and 4) the "controller" who derives a sense of power and dominance from killing. Ted Bundy was an example of this kind of killer.

Jeffrey Dahmer

The Joker

Right now in St. Christopher there is a creature out there killing people for food and another killing because it wants to. I'm not sure which one is the worse monster but I'm tending to lean towards the serial killer.  My parents don't want me to go on patrol with them looking for the vampire (or vampires) even though thanks to my Grandfather's rock-hard skin I'm better protected than either one of them.  I guess they are just being protective parents.  It must have been very frightening for them to walk into their child's room and see an undead gargoyle standing over their son.

Which is how I feel knowing that my parents are going out and intentionally looking for the undead.  Before they left I asked them to call Warlock so that he could give them a mystical assist in their search for and eventual battle with a vampire.

They said, "no".

It's funny how my parents and the rest of the Guild created this super group in order to tackle problems that are larger than any one of them could handle on their own.  Yet it's like pulling teeth to get any of them to admit that they are in a situation that is too tough for them to handle.  They all have enormous egos that would be crushed by asking for a little help. Frankly, I don't see the problem in asking the preeminent sorcerer in the world for a some mystical aid when going up against the undead but my parents looked rather perturbed by my even suggesting it. Super-Hero code seems to suggest that anything less than a full scale alien invasion or a request from the President of the United States does not warrant using the Guild of Heroes signal device.

I don't get it.  I'm constantly in touch with my super-hero sidekick friends via text or twitter. At this very moment I am engaging in different conversations with Suzie (Tiny-Girl) and Dan (Danger Boy) yet my parents could be facing imminent death and sometimes I think they would be reluctant to even ask each other for help.  Fortunately for them I do not suffer from that problem.  I get Shivaughn's number from Suzie and I text message her. Shivaughn is the daughter of Warlock and she says an extra-dimensional demon so I figure who better to help in the hunt for vampires than the daughter of a demon.

Our conversation via text went as follows:

"Blake here need ur help"

"What u need"

"Vamps in da city killin peeps"

"What u want me 2 do"



"Cant grounded :("

"What u do"

"Turn my math teacher n 2 a frog"

"OMG"

"He OK. dont even member but Dad freaked"

"LOL"

"Ya sorry can't help. :(  maybe in a week or 2"

"S'OK thanks"

So now I don't have a mystical edge on the vampires.  I suppose I should stay home like my parents told me to do and let them handle this.

That doesn't seem very likely.