The Cat Locked Inside the Birdcage

By Cesar Medina

Detective (Michael Hue), a man full of secrets tries to solve a homicide case of a young woman name (Rosanna Cambridge) Who was murder in cold blood inside her apartment; a case related to twelve other victims before her. As panic rises in the city, an FBI agent (Olivia Donnavan) is sent to the local police department to take lead on a case that had put civilians' safety at risk, especially women. But that's not all, vampires who walked among the living in the shadows are threatened by this as well. Detective Hue must overcome his inner demons to be able to find a balance between the living and undead in this dark fantasy/ paranormal/ Thriller.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Gatekeeper Press
• Release date: Apr 6, 2022
• ISBN: 9781662913686

Book preview

Chapter 1

January 17, 1996, 12:00 a.m.: Detective Hue

I walked five floors upstairs. The flash of a camera welcomed me outside her apartment. Forensics in Hazmat jumpsuits walked in and out of the place, crossing over the yellow tape. As I put mine on, I looked around and saw people standing outside their apartment door. Some were being interviewed, others had their saliva samples taken.

I walked in, and the first thing I saw was a young woman that appeared to be in her mid-twenties. Standing right beside the cadaver was Alex Turgenev, a forensic pathologist who I’ve been friends with for the last five years.

He turned to my direction as he saw me approach, then said, Detective Hue!

Turgenev! I responded, and he nodded his head, pointing at the body. I then asked, Is that what I think it is?

Yeah! This is victim number thirteen. He then shook his head. It’s the same as the others, a stab wound on the chest and possibly poison.

Has the toxicologist figured out what kind of substance the perpetrator is using?

He sighed. No. I mean, there are substances that can cause kidney failure. But a poison that can lead to stones growing into your heart, that’s unheard of! The ballistic expert that came to the last crime scene said that the suspect most likely used an ice pick on other victims. But this one is different, look at the size of that wound. It’s at least four inches wide.

I then sighed. Have you seen Lieutenant Fallon?

Yeah, you just missed her! Good thing you did, she’s tense. You know, with the case and all.

Yeah, I hear you.

He reached over his briefcase and began to examine the body. I wanted to get out of his hair, so I began to investigate another part of the apartment. I’ll see you around, Turgenev!

Later, Hue!

As I walked toward the victim’s room, I saw two individuals from the crime scene forensic team. I then showed my badge and heard one of them say, Detective!

How’s everything so far? Have you found anything yet?

Hair, possibly from the victim, and a couple of fingerprints. We’re hoping to find a match this time.

Fingers crossed. Listen, I was wondering if I could have a couple of minutes here. I need to look around the area, if you don’t mind.

Of course! one of them said as they both left the room. I looked around and opened the closet door. There was a box on the bottom right corner covered with clothes. I took the box and looked at her belongings. It was mostly paperwork; she had a desk job at an attorney’s office. The rest of the papers were schoolwork; she was majoring in psychology.

Rosanna Cambridge. I put the papers back into the box and headed over to the dresser. I ran a finger across it and wiped a trace of dust. Brushing it off my finger glove, I saw some tearing on the wall.

Mmm… What’s this? It was a crack that was on top of the dresser.

She was probably slammed against the wall by the perpetrator as she tried to fight for her life.

Curious, I touched the crooked line. A bright light poured on my eyes. Rampant images formed themselves right in front of me like a hologram. I took a step back, leaning against the closet door.

Hyperventilating, I saw the victim being pinned down on the bed by a masked perpetrator as she tried to free herself. She fought back, kicking the suspect right below the chest. The kick was so hard that I watched him fly across the room. He clashed against the wall and landed on the dresser. Its impact caused a vibration that rushed into my ear canals.

My eyes were stung, so I squeezed them shut. I reopened them as I was left with a migraine headache, staring so deep into that dresser where the suspect had landed.

What is that?

The fall of the suspect caused the dresser to tip forward, leaving a small, opened gap against the wall. Between that gap was something almost sticking out. The tip of the object was so minuscule that it was hard to tell whether something was there or not.

Crawling onto my hands and knees up to the dresser, I reached a hand up to the small tip of the object and pulled it out.

A diary?

My heart was jumping out of my throat as I tried to unlock it.

I better let forensics know, I thought. But then, I couldn’t help but to open it.

I scavenged for a hair clip and happened to find one. I closed the door as I peeked and made sure no one was watching. The click of the small lock opened the pages of the diary as my adrenaline intensified.

I flipped through the pages, mostly running into her mundane daily life, until I stumbled upon something quite odd. It felt out of place and very eerie. It read:

"Dear diary,

I went to the Katza club again and met this man. He was pretty hot, tall, handsome, he had pure blue eyes. He offered me a couple of drinks and I didn’t hesitate.

Later that night, we called a taxi and went back to my place. Ever since that night, I felt like he’s been stalking me. I caught him. He tried to cover his face, but I knew it was him. I tried to catch up to him, but he would disappear out of thin air. The strangest thing is that every time I would feel like he was watching me, there was a black cat with green eyes as well. I tried being friendly with it, but it would only hiss at me. Anyways, I feel terrified, and I will go to the police first thing in the morning. I hope this doesn’t end badly."

And that’s where it ended. I looked at the date on the top right corner, and it happened to be last week on a Thursday. I flipped over more pages and found another one.

October the thirteenth, 1995, Friday night, the page read at the top and right down below it began. "The moon was as red as her dress; bells rang as the lights flashed and everyone began to cheer. Suddenly, we heard her voice, it was so beautiful that it spoke to each and every one of our souls. The crowd cheered on and I, for the first time, stood still, letting her voice run chills through my skin. The lights appeared; it was her. Missy Fang, as they called her, she walked toward the stage, placing her microphone on the stand, and picked up her electric guitar. She began to sing and play. I started to dance, slowly swooping my body back and forth. Feeling the music, I found myself a dancing partner, and we danced all the time she played at her concert. By the end of her show, she took a stool and played her last songs on her acoustic guitar. Her voice, God, it was the voice of an angel. The song was over, and everyone applauded and cheered as I did as well. She looked and smiled, giving a standing ovation as the crowd threw red roses at her feet.

The lights suddenly went off and she was gone. The concert was over and me and my dancing partner were drunk. We kissed again as we were before, and he then introduced me to someone. It was a woman; she was very beautiful. She had red hair and stunning emerald eyes, her smile was so gorgeous, her lips, their shape, they were so kissable as my lips felt hot and heavy. She told me her name, but I was too far gone to remember.

Calling it a night, we all went to this man’s house. His apartment was luxurious. Antique furniture, dressers, black silk curtains. There were candles everywhere. We had some of his wine; he said it was old and quite conserved. Next thing I knew, we were both in his bedroom. We had sex, me and her kissed while he watched, and he began to kiss us. Taking turns, I remember him biting her neck, she moaned, and I couldn’t help but to feel it too. He then bit my neck, and I felt such pleasure.

The next morning, I remember waking up and looking at her eyes. There was certainly something wrong, her mouth was half open and it appeared that she had little fangs on her teeth. I was terrified as I couldn’t help but to look closer at her mouth, there were fangs indeed, sharpened and clear. As I touched her, I realized she was cold and stiff. She was dead. I wanted to scream, I cried, heaving. Her neck was bitten, there was dried blood all the way to her shoulder down to her breast. I… felt terrible for feeling this way, but all I could think about was her blood, how much I wanted to penetrate her skin and nibble as hard as I could. The thought of it felt so intriguing!

What is wrong with me! I thought. I couldn’t help but to get close and bite her myself as my lips were dying to touch her skin one more time. My teeth were numb, as if they had a mind of their own. Suddenly, I felt such pain on both sides of my front teeth. It felt as if they were being pulled out with a pair of pliers. The pain was so immense and deep as I teared up a little, feeling and tasting my own blood as it trickled out of my open mouth. The blood, it…tasted differently, like purified water. I reached over her neck and my fangs pulled deeper inside her skin. Her blood was sweeter, fresh, so refreshing. I stopped as I felt satisfied, my need was no longer required as for now. Those sharp things suddenly sunk into my gum line.

This time I didn’t feel anything. Then, I saw him. Standing naked, leaning beside the door, the sun glowing on his muscular figure. Enjoying breakfast? he said as he grinned, in such a way that I felt quite terrified. What’s happening to me? Why is she dead? Why is her neck bitten? Why did I bite her neck? Why does this feel so… right… I… I crossed my arms and rocked back and forth, shaking. He walked toward the bed and sat beside me. He then put his arms around me, holding me. Shh… It’s okay, darling, there’s nothing to be ashamed of. There’s nothing for you to worry about, it was an accident. An accident! I said, This is no accident. This is… Shh… He held me tighter. "It was an accident, darling, not a word of this, okay. I’ll let you live. You survived this and now you’re one of us, and for that I welcome you to this world, our world, our lives, and your new way of living.

You're my beautiful angel and I want you to fly and enjoy the deeper pleasures that the world of immortality can offer. Not a word of this, you saw nothing, understood, he said with such calm and confidence. I… Yeah, I understand."

Good, I will lead you to the door and the way out. I will give you something that you’ll like and you’re going to have to get used to. I will hand you a card that will direct you to this address, go there if you want more to survive. If you don’t and can’t live with this guilt, then expect to die slowly and such a painful death. Eventually, you’ll lose your mind until you slowly dissolve. Now go! I got up and dressed myself, and he gave me this address that was on this business card.

I left his apartment and never saw him again. After that night, my life changed. I thought I would no longer need food, but I still had a craving for it but not as much as real blood. I went to the address and got myself synthetic blood. It wasn’t as good as hers, but it kept me from going off the rails. Food is still enjoyable as much as