Nick PT Barnum's Vampire Serial Killer

He was the first witness to Nick PT Barnum’s vampire serial killer. Insanity was simply a mild word to use for that maniac. He saw vampires in all beautiful women. And he took it upon himself to stop the creatures of the dark.

The witness sighed. His hands dropped to his legs and he shook his head, and for a moment he just sat staring at Bridgeport Connecticut’s favorite private eye.

"I swear to you," he said crossing his chest with his index finger. "It was a God awful sight."

Nick Barnum just nodded.

"He threw that young girl into a hole in the earth. It wasn’t dug too deep, but I believe it was intended to be a grave. He bent down and lifted the girl’s hand and started praying toward the sky. He was mumbling words I didn’t understand. And if you ask me, I think it was Latin. The young girl was kicking at him and shoving the earth with her feet. And oh, he was like so demonically charged. I’m telling you, it was as if the devil was standing there."

Nick Barnum swallowed hard.

"Nick, I didn’t want to come here today, but after reliving the images over and over in my head. I knew that he just had to be stopped. There’s no way that crazy man should roam these streets."

"Tell me what he did next?" Nick said softly. But he knew the serail killer’s M.O. He just said it to say it.

The witness’s eyebrow arched as if he were confiding a terrible dark secret. "You’re not going to believe what I saw, until you actually see it for yourself. Reading about the aftermath could never give you that mental image that haunts your mind."

"I don’t doubt it," Nick replied.

"I’ll tell you. After he tied her up good and tight. He took a stake, a wooden stake. He put it right to her breast. I couldn’t believe my eyes. To be totally honest with you. For a brief moment I too thought she was a vampire. Until I realized it wasn’t a demonic possession. It was the will to live that drove her body into a contusion of fits and outbursts. Do you know what I mean?"

The private eye nodded slowly.

"Then with one great blow he drove that wooden stake into her. Blood was shooting out everywhere. It had to be painful. I mean she was screaming so loudly, She just had to be in pain. I couldn’t have moved or looked away even if I wanted to. I don’t know if you can call it being in the state of shock. But I was planted there. Then he picked up a black transfer shovel and with all his strength he shoved it into her throat."

Nick Barnum’s eyes were wide. Mouth opened.

"The head came off instantly and easily. That woman was in so much pain, I just wondered to myself, if cutting her head off was a good thing. It would have surely ended the suffering for her. I think a mercy kill. Do you know what I mean?"

"Oh yeah," Nick answered very quickly.

"He then looked at me," the witness hesitated. "Or right through me because he wasn’t seeing me at all. He was only concerned about the young woman in the shallow grave. Nothing around him mattered. I didn’t matter."

　

The witness looked up at Nick Barnum, his eyes wild. He was feeling the terror all over again inside him. He was thinking about how the serial killer just looked through him. No reaction or no surprise. He sucked at the air as if he couldn’t breathe.

"You okay?"

"Nick, I don’t think anyone could stop him," he whispered. "He might just be the devil himself. What can mortals do to stop the devil?"

"I’m going to try to stop him," Nick replied. "And I don’t give up too easily."

The witness shook his head adamantly. "I think that’s why I came to you first, Nick. I could have gone to the Bridgeport Police, but I think you should track him down."

Nick smiled.

"That poor young woman," said the witness. His lips were trembling, and his face so distorted with anguish and desperation.

"Try to be calm now," Nick suggested, reaching out to him. "This case will be my top priority. I will stop this crazy guy. I will..."

The witness was struggling to find the right word to say. "Vampires! Can you fucking believe it?"

Nick Barnum just watched the tears gathering in his eyes, and his mouth twisting with pain.

"Oh...God..." he moaned.

"Please, just try to stay calm," Nick added.

The witness nodded.

"I’m going to take care of this."

"My part is done," said the witness. "It’s over. I brought the curse to you. I need you to stop the curse."

"I will..try," Nick whispered, realizing that it wasn’t really over for that witness. He saw the serial killer in the middle of his ritual. He may have looked right through him, but it wasn’t the end for him. It was just the beginning.

　

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