Pixielated Evidence: The Hunter Vampire Chronicles, #4

By Juliet Boyd

Vampires should always run away from cats.

When hundreds of cats go missing from the city, it seems likely that a supernatural force is involved, because no human could remove so many, so quickly. It’s also likely that whichever creature is doing it, is on the list for capture. When the Hunter Vampire team investigate the situation, they find out not everything is as it seems. Is it ever? Will they be the ones led on a merry dance, or is that restricted to the cats?

The Hunter Vampires continue on their search to return all the creatures they set free to the Overlord’s lair.    

Get Pixielated Evidence, the fourth novella in the Hunter Vampire Chronicles, today, and discover the attraction of cats.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Juliet Boyd
• Release date: Oct 15, 2017
• ISBN: 9781386942481

Juliet Boyd

Juliet lives in Somerset in the south-west of England. She used to work in administration, but now writes full-time. Her main writing interests are fantasy, science fiction, weird fiction, horror and flash fiction. Details of her work are available on her website.

Book preview

PIXIELATED EVIDENCE

The Hunter Vampire Chronicles

Part 4

JULIET BOYD

Copyright © 2017 Juliet Boyd

All rights reserved.

Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

This book is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and situations portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. Any reference to an actual event, product or location is used in an entirely fictitious manner.

Discover my other work now at

www.julietboyd.com

Chapter 1

Ellie let out a grating whistle through her teeth, and followed it up with a loud series of slow tongue clicks, which were reminiscent of the interminable sound of a loud grandfather clock.

Do you have to? Rag said, a deliberate bite to his voice. He’d been trying to doze, which was never a good idea when everyone else was around. They were always far too interested in doing stuff and stuff tended to make too much noise. He preferred to actively wait for danger to come to him, rather than looking for it. It was his very own form of passive aggression.

Ellie looked up, seemingly not the slightest bit perturbed by his reaction. Yes, actually. It helps me concentrate.

He wagged a finger at her. You didn’t used to do it.

She paused for a moment. No, I didn’t. Must be a vampire thing.

Well, I don’t do it.

How often do you think really deeply about things?

He dismissed her with a curt wave of the hand. What did she know? Deep thoughts didn’t have to be about deep things.

Ellie continued on. I can’t help it when something catches my eye. Says here, she pointed to her tablet, that lots of cats have gone missing all over the city. There’s a great big hoo-ha about it

Rag snorted. I’m not sure that’s something we should be wasting our time on. Not unless they’ve been found ripped limb from limb, or have a couple of very distinctive bite marks on their necks. He shuddered. Cat blood tasted like rotten fish to him, and was nutritionally thin. To the best of my limited knowledge on the subject, cats go missing all the time. It’s one of the hazards of owning them. They don’t really like living with humans. They wander. Or they get squished. The only reason they live in houses is the food. A convenient snack bar for the lazy.

Flynn stared at him, mouth open wide. Pot and kettle. Did anyone ever tell you, you can die of cynicism and negativity? It eats away at your insides until there’s nothing left. She flashed a fake smile, for that little bit of unnecessary extra emphasis. He mirrored her.

Did anyone ever tell you not to butt into other people’s conversations? He paused for a moment, in the hopes that the topic was now being filed into Ellie’s brain archives, never to be heard about again. Unfortunately, curiosity started to nag at his own grey matter. He hated it when it did that. It was inconvenient. So, when you say lots, how many are you talking about?

Ha! Flynn said.

He tried to wither her, but it didn’t work.

Ellie turned the tablet round toward him. He would’ve preferred her just to tell him, because reading was irksome. He’d never been much good at skimming. His eyes always fixed on the unimportant stuff. By the end of it, he was sitting up straight.

Hundreds in one night? Is this real? That is weird.

Yup.

Some great big cat-eating monster’s on the prowl. He lifted his arms above his head in a mock Frankenstein pose. Mwah-ha-ha.

Let me see, Flynn said. The blank expression on her face indicated she wasn’t amused, but he knew she was.

At that same moment, Bones returned, laden with their daily ration of junk food, the nectar of god-like vampires. He threw a chocolate bar at Flynn and a jumbo packet of bacon-flavoured tortilla chips at Rag. Ellie, he politely handed a yoghurt and a pack of oranges. More fool her. Bones took the chocolate digestives for himself. Rag eyed them covetously.

What are we talking about? Bones said.

Cat-napping, Rag said, a fountain of crispy flakes spilling from his mouth.

Bones raised an eyebrow. Ellie was immersed in something, and completely oblivious, again. No one laughed.

Several mouthfuls later, Flynn added her two-penneth worth to the conversation. Someone’s got some kind of fetish if they need that many cats.

Rag giggled. He did not elaborate on the vivid scene that entered his mind.

Will someone fill me in, please? Bones said.

The tablet got handed across again.

Bones whistled. That’s some appetite. What kind of monster has that many felines for its evening meal?

Who said they’re for food? Rag said.

You did. I think that’s the most likely.

Or some reselling racket. How much does a decent cat cost, not including the incessant caterwauling and scratching?

Not necessarily. Not if they took them back to a hidden lair for storage, Ellie said, as if she’d just missed the end of the conversation. Just looking through the list to see if there’s anything obvious.

Which she did for one heck of a long time, considering they were all waiting.

A huge cat-eating squirrel? Rag said. Silence. At one time, they’d considered him funny. Compellingly, even.

Ellie huffed. None of them has any obvious connection with cats.

Rag threw the foiled packet into the corner as he chomped aggressively on his last mouthful. Well, that’s it, then. We let someone else deal with it. Police, perhaps? They could do with more work. Just gagging for it, I hear.

Ellie frowned. There are lots of creatures that eat animals, just none have ever been noted as preferring cats.

Rag groaned. How many?

About half the list.

Rag groaned again.

Don’t worry. I’ll do the research.

Rag lay back and closed his eyes in an attempt to shut everything out, if only for a few moments, because he sure as hell knew what was coming next.

Chapter 2

Ellie pressed the confirm button on the