WHY ME? by Mike Nach

FEAR OVER THE CITY
     
    He was lying in the parking
lot adjoining the construction site. His lifeless face had a convoluted look of
sheer terror. The site’s foreman had called 911 to report the body.
    Two detectives from the
homicide division, two FBI agents, and some CSI personnel were examining the body.
The crime scene had been cordoned off. The police officers were recording the
statements of all the construction workers who had reported for duty. The
victim was a total stranger to them.
    The press and TV teams
had also come. Some of the reporters were standing before the cameras and reporting
their views of the crime.
    The dead man’s skin had
a grayish pallor to it. The body looked totally drained of blood. He was Caucasian,
dark haired, slim and of average height.  He was about 30 years old. He had
worn a cream shirt and dark colored trousers. No other belongings were found on
him. He carried no identification. He was not any known offender. A John Doe!
    His neck! There was a gash
over his carotid artery but not a drop of blood was seen at the scene. It was
as if the assailant had taken care not to spill any blood on the victim or
elsewhere. Was it possible, the crime was committed somewhere else and the body
dumped here? The CSI personnel checked for other injury marks. There were none.
They marked the time of death between 1 a.m. and 3 a.m.
    The officers then went
to the homes of workers who had not reported for work and checked their alibis.
Their alibis checked. Still, everybody at the construction site were potential
suspects till evidence proved otherwise.
     After the cursory
examination was over, the paramedics zipped the body in a body bag for
transportation to the coroner’s office for autopsy.
    The detectives smirked
at each other. This was not the first time that a corpse had been found with a
cut over the carotid artery and the blood drained from it. For the last few days,
around a dozen bodies had been found, in different parts of the city, killed in
a similar fashion. All bodies were found far away from the victim’s daily route.
They had been picked up from their areas, killed and dumped elsewhere. According
to police reports, all the killings took place between midnight and dawn.
    The police didn’t have
a clue as to the identity of the killers. They booked many suspects but were
forced to release them for want of any evidence. The perpetrators were very
smart and left no clues behind.
    Some eyewitnesses had
claimed that they had seen four to five shadowy figures at the crime scene.
They were purported to have been wearing black gowns and moving at lightning
speed. No one had seen their faces. Nobody believed the eye-witnesses’
sightings. It was too unbelievable.
    People stopped venturing
out after dark. The homeless started huddling together. Some kept watch while
the others slept. The police warned the citizens to stay home at night. They increased
their patrolling. Hysteria was at its peak. Streets were deserted. Nightlife
came to a standstill.
    The Police Chief had a
tough time explaining to the media and the politicians. His men were simply incompetent.
No clues. No suspects. He loathed his job and felt like retiring. The FBI had
also stepped into the picture. They, too, were confounded since the killings
continued as before.
    Who were these serial blood
suckers? Where had they come from? Why had they targeted this city? Why had no
other city in the world witnessed such gory killings? Questions, questions, but
no answers!
    It was then somebody
suggested that these killings could be either the work of a gang of ritualistic
serial killers, or vampires. TV channels and the daily tabloids pounced upon the
second theory and soon vampires became very famous worldwide. Every TV channel
started showing movies and serials of vampires. Books about vampires and
werewolves were sold out in no time. The social media went viral. People became
besotted with vampires.
    Stories about the NBA,