Chapter Thirteen
Since Sandi had left to go work for the DA’s office, there had been no new secretary 
hired. Sandi was diligent, though. There was a number that she could dial when she was
 not there that enabled her to listen to the voicemail in her old office. It was in
 case there was a client with an emergency. Every weekend and holiday she called in 
to listen. Six bucks an hour, no annual, sick or holiday leave, no benefits, and 
she made sure her voice mailbox was never full. A secretary had been hired but she had phoned
 in to quit. Ms.Black suspected she had done this in order to force her present employers to give
 her a raise. The agency managed to convince some students that it was an “internship” but
 they all soon quit thereafter, one of the students actually muttering as they left: “I
 don’t have to put up with s--- like this!” So the officers were relegated to handling 
the window and the phone themselves. Those closest to the window took the brunt. And 
also Tom, who had good hearing. Before his interview with the DA, Vanderwoode decided 
to pop over to the probation office. He was convinced that the DA was one, (the meeting
 would confirm it)  and he wanted to see who else was a member of the cabal. Interviewing
 the DA first would tip off everyone’s hand- He would warn them and they might call in sick
 or take annual leave and he wanted to corner them individually before they had the 
chance to do that. Go after the troops before going after the general.
 So it was that Tom ran into Vanderwoode first. He was standing at 
the window in a dark trench coat and he flashed a badge. It looked like a policeman’s 
badge, but it was counterfeit, and Tom buzzed him in. Vanderwoode began to talk to Tom 
first. "You a probation officer here? How long have you been working here? Did you see 
an ad in the paper?" He asked as they walked back to Tom’s cubicle. 
Tom sat down and motioned for Vanderwoode to do the same. 
"Yes, I am a probation officer. I’ve
 been working here for several months. The DA hired me."
 "How did you come to meet the DA?"
 Now Tom frowned. He didn’t like to talk about the DA behind his back."We met at a deli."
 "Not at a symposium?" Vanderwoode asked. 
Tom laughed. "The DA gets around. I could very well have met him on his yacht in the 
Mediterranean as well as they waited for the Cannes film festival. If I hung out with that 
sort of crowd. But I’m a little old-fashioned. Eating polish sausage in a deli is about as 
fancy as I get."
 "And your degree is in…”
"Engineering,” said Tom. 
"Criminal law is sort of far a field from that, isn’t it?" 
“I’ll tell you what is even more far a field for me. Learning to type. I had to type 
at least 45 wpm to qualify for this job. Luckily, I had taken a lot of computer classes.
 So I was acquainted with a keyboard.” Tom laughed. 
"You like your job?" 
Tom shrugged. 
"It’s sad at times. I only wished the economy was better. That there were more jobs 
out there. Jobs that the disabled and retarded and mentally ill could of done, you 
know, assembly jobs, are now all being done in China."
 Vanderwoode seemed to nod. Tom didn’t mind the questions. Tom felt that he was some sort of 
detective. 
"Can I ask you some questions about the DA?" Vanderwoode asked. 
Tom replied, “Well, I have a sort of loyalty to the DA, as he gave me this job, so you’re not going 
to get much dirt, if that’s what you’re after. But if you’re thinking of giving
 him a commendation for a job well done, then I could give you a glowing reference.”
 "Well then, let’s talk about you."
" Okay."
" After you met the DA, did you start to experiencemedical problems?” 
“Such as?” Tom asked.  
“Sensitivity to light? Change in dietary habits?”Vanderwoode asked. 
Tom sat back. “You think the DA is carrying some sort of catching disease?”
 “Yes, a very old one.” 
“Well, sensitivity to light is sort of subjective. Virginia weather 
can’t make up its mind. And as for a change in dietary habits, since  I got hired on here I’ve
 realized a large jump in my paycheck and I am eating better, you better believe it. Less macaroni
 and cheese and more steaks. Any thing else?"
" Yes. A sensitivity to garlic?" Vanderwoode asked. 
With this, Tom laughed so loudly that Vanderwoode could clearly see Tom’s pointed teeth. Vanderwoode
 smiled knowingly. "You find that funny,” Vanderwoode said. 
"What a crazy bunch of questions!" Exclaimed Tom. "You sound like a vampire hunter. You didn’t 
say what your name was, by the way." 
"Vanderwoode," he replied. Tom remembered that this was the fellow who had made an appointment
with the DA on Wednesday. This was Monday. 
"I remember the DA mentioning something about a fellow 
with a Dutch-sounding name who was coming down from the capital. He said it was for a fact-finding
 mission, I believe."
" Yes, indeed," Vanderwoode replied. 
"Oh, kind of sniffing around and getting the lay of the land before meeting the big boss, eh?"
" Something like that, yes."
" Have you been getting the information that you needed, so far?"
 “I’ve made a good start, I think,” said Vanderwoode, thinking about Tom’s teeth. At this point 
somebody yelled out: “Tom! Your ten o’clock appointment is here!” “Oh.” Said Tom. 
“Well, I won’t hold you up from your job,” replied Vanderwoode. 
“Sorry to rush you off like this. Was I of any help to you?” asked Tom. 
“Actually, you were a lot of help,” replied Vanderwoode, getting up to go. After Tom had seen Vanderwoode
 to the back door and seen his ten o’clock appointment, he placed a phone call to the DA’s 
office. The secretary patched him through. 
“Mr. Vanderwoode has been here. Asking questions 
about you and about me. He actually mentioned garlic and sunlight. He was that obvious.  Where
 is Sandi?”
 “I have sent her north to D.C. on an errand to get her safely away. She will be gone
 for the week.”
 “Well, I’ll tell the psychologist. You tell Brady and Stone.” Tom made sure that no one 
was watching as he nonchalantly sauntered over to the psychologist’s cubicle. He had his head
 stuck in paperwork. 
“You’ll never guess who just paid me a visit.” Tom told the psychologist 
what had happened. 
“Is he still here?” asked the psychologist. 
“He’s gone. For now. I don’t think we’ve seen the last of him, though."
" Do Brady and Stone know?” 
"The DA said he would inform them.” 
“Well, once he does, said the psychologist, “I wouldn’t want to be in his shoes. That pair
 doesn’t fool around.”
 “What protection is there against a vampire hunter?”asked Tom.
 “Basically,none. Now would be a good time to take any annual or sick leave that you have.  Thanks for 
telling me. I have to make some personal phone calls now.” 
Tom turned and left to go back to his cubicle. 
Vanderwoode went up the elevator to the sixth floor where the Commonwealth Attorney’s office was.
 He walked across the worn carpet to the glass windows to speak to the skinny secretary within.
 “I’m here to see the Commonwealth Attorney,” he said. “My appointment was for wednesay at 9 am, but
it is urgent that I see the DA today. Tell him I have things to say that won't wait.” 
The secretary looked puzzled, and rang up the DA and relayed the message. Vanderwoode could see her 
nod her head. She looked up. 
 “He’s expecting you.” She said. She buzzed him in, and led him down a long hallway of 
offices. The DA's office was a resplendent corner office with a view of the James River. The secretary 
introduced him and then she shut the door behind her. 
“Ah, Mr. Vanderwoode,” the DA replied, espying his chain of amulets and crosses dangling 
from his vest under his open raincoat. The two had last seen each other twenty years ago 
and they recognized each other now. But each desired to play ignorant. 
“Have we met before?” asked Mr. Vanderwoode, who was really Van 
Helsing. 
“Oh, perhaps. I know so many people and throw so many social and charitable events. 
And I travel a lot. Perhaps you know me from one of those events.” 
Vanderwoode smiled. “Perhaps.I love the view your office has. And the tinted amber glass- that helps keep out those nasty sun
 rays, I am guessing.” 
“More power through technology,” smiled the Baron. 
Vanderwoode pointed to some statuettes on a book case. “Souvenirs of your travels?” 
“I have some fond memories," replied the Baron."Some officers of the court say that
 you have been interviewing them."
 “Oh?”
 “They called me about it.”
 “Which officers were these?”
 “Across the street. I don’t remember exact names,” lied the Baron. “Were they helpful in 
your…investigation?” 
“Some were.” 
“Ah. You didn’t say exactly what you were investigating,” said the Baron. 
“It’s a strange decrease in prostitute arrests,” replied Van Helsing.
 “Perhaps it is due to the new rehabilitation of the downtown area,” the Baron replied. “We have
 many new businesses moving in.” 
“I had considered the possibility that it was because there were just less prostitutes on the streets,”
 replied Van Helsing. 
“Due to what?” 
“Some serial killer or killers at work.”
 “Interesting theory," replied the Baron. "So you think a serial killer may be loose in this area?”
 “It’s happened before. Some serial killers have killed as many as 150 people. At least 
that is what they have boasted.” 
“Well, it’s very motivated of you to pay attention to such activity, but how can I help? Unless someone
 files a complaint, unless the police are called out to a crime scene, who am I to prosecute? 
In these cases that you refer to, was there not one or more prostitutes who survived the attack
 and so were able to give the police a description of their attacker? And following these leads,
 did not the police find evidence that enabled the Prosecutor of that city to be able to make
 an arrest and build a case?”
 “Yes, but the serial killer or killers at work here are particularly
 ruthless. They leave no witnesses alive and no evidence behind.”  Van Helsing smiled
 and the Baron frowned.
 “Well,” said the Baron, getting up, “I wish you luck in your endevours.”
 “Do you really think I’ll be needing luck in dealing with these killers?” asked Van Helsing. 
" From what I know of my constituency, yes, I do,” replied the Baron, smiling. 
When Van Helsing had gone, the Baron spread the word to his coven to warn them. Tom was first. He entreated 
Tom to take  annual or sick leave, but Tom didn’t feel the Baron’s alarm. The Baron had already
 sent Sandi away when Van Helsing had shown up to interview Tom. Then the Baron called Stone and 
Brady. Brady typically growled in response. The psychologist took his sister and himself to a cabin
in Maine. Those that remained behind  saw nothing of Van Helsing for days.
 They all knew he was still in town, up to something, but what? 
	Saturday morning, Tom was at his townhouse upstairs at his desk in his bedroom studying law when
 Van Helsing decided to pay him an unannounced visit. Van Helsing rang the doorbell but Tom had
 his headphones on playing rock music and so didn’t hear the bell. Van Helsing could see Tom’s 
truck in the driveway and so the only option he considered was that it was daylight and the
 vampire was sleeping. Van Helsing decided to break into the house. Tom always locked his doors
 but Van Helsing had a lock pick. Van Helsing took out a small wooden cross bow from under his 
coat and loaded it. He opened the door slowly, but nobody jumped out at him. He walked silently
 through the bottom level of the townhouse but found no-one. Then he began to ascend the stairs
 which was carpeted. The door to Tom’s bedroom was open and Tom was seated with his back to him,
 headphones on, oblivious to everything except the loud music and the law books in front of him. 
Tom was even humming to the music. Van Helsing looked over at the bedroom windows and saw neither 
tinting nor curtains. He looked over at the bed and wound around one post was Zen Buddhist beads and
 around the other was rosary beads. And there was a celtic cross on the wall. 
“Outrageous!” Tom exclaimed out loud, upset over the legal case that he was reading. 
It was Jacobson v. U.S. Now Van Helsing was almost behind Tom and he realized that he had come
  too close to use the crossbow.He thought about pulling out a cross from his jacket 
but what good would that do with a guy who had crosses on his wall already? 
He thought of the stake in his raincoat pocket and began to reach for it with his
 left hand. At this point Tom saw the reflection of a person in his glass of water
 and he turned around to see Van Helsing standing
 right behind him. 
“Christ!” Exclaimed Tom, and he fairly leapt out of his chair and onto his bed
 in alarm. In doing so, the chair fell over and Van Helsing jumped back in surprise. Tom was now 
far enough away for Van Helsing’s crossbow to be effective once again. “Don’t you believe in 
knocking!” Exclaimed Tom. 
“Actually, I rang the doorbell, but nobody answered,” smiled Van Helsing. 
“I think you just aged me twenty years,” replied Tom. 
“Difficult thing to do, considering what you are,” replied Van Helsing. 
“Yeah? And what is that?” 
“A vampire,” replied Van Helsing.
Tom smiled. “Don’t you know that is the old term? The politically correct term nowadays is: 
Orthodontically challenged. And anyway, what proof do you have?” 
“Other than the teeth, not anything, really. You don’t fit the mold.”
 “Yeah?”
 “Awake during the day. Even going about in the 
daylight, as far as I can tell. Not bothered by crosses. I bet holy water would have little effect,
 as well. But you still are one, aren’t you?”
 “Maybe I am, maybe I’m not.”
 “Have you bitten anyone yet?” Tom thought of M75.  “Yeah, but he annoyed me.” 
“Didn’t kill him, did you?” 
“No. Scared the crap out of him, though, I am sure.” 
“Have you turned anyone yet?” Tom thought of Sandi, and was silent. 
“So, you have.” 
“I’d rather not talk about it,” Tom replied.
 “Think it’s okay to spread your evil all over the world, do you?” 
“I didn’t think of it as spreading evil. I thought of it as sharing my fate with someone that I care about.”
 Van Helsing guessed that it was a girlfriend. 
“Is she still here?”
 “She is far and safely away from you,” Tom replied. “The very minute we suspected
 who you were we got her safely away.” 
“She work in the probation office?” 
“No.”
 “Does she work in the police department?”
 “No.”
 “Does she work in the DA’s office?”
 “Cut that out, will you!” exclaimed Tom.
 “What- if I annoy you enough,are you going to bite me too?” asked Van Helsing, amused.
 “Maybe,” replied Tom. 
 “You know, during the interview with the DA, I recognized him immediately. I may have changed, but he sure 
hasn’t. Met him a long time ago in France.”
 “Hmm,” replied Tom, not caring. 
“And  the smell. Moldly, like. Permeates all his clothes, I’m sure. Eventually, you’ll get
 to smelling like that, too. It’s the smell of death.” 
“As long as it’s not the smell of limburger cheese,” replied Tom. 
“You think it’s funny, to be damned for all eternity?” asked Van Helsing. 
“Are we talking about vampires or Republicans, here?” Replied Tom. 
“How many vampires are in this area?” asked Van Helsing. 
“It’s hard to say, replied Tom. At the parties there are a lot, but I suspect they come 
from all over the state and beyond.” 
“I thought there might be a lot.” 
“And I guess when it comes to vampire hunters, there’s only you,” replied Tom. 
“I’ve killed more vampires than you can imagine,” replied Van Helsing. 
“Gross,” replied Tom.
Van Helsing continued.  “Most start out rather small and harmless, and then after they have been
 groomed by their maker, they turn into deadly forces to be reckoned 
with.” Van Helsing raised his cross bow. “It’s best to kill them before they grow into the monsters 
they are destined to become, before the body count becomes too great.”
 “And how large is your body count, already?” asked Tom. 
“My situation is different. I kill evil for the greater good.” 
“Naturally you would think that.” Said Tom. “So typical. Nowhere do I ever 
hear the executioner say: maybe I could be wrong. Maybe by executing this criminal, I could
be executing an innocent person." 
"So, you think you are an innocent person," replied Van Helsing.
"No. But I don't throw rocks,either."
 Now Tom felt everything becoming suddenly dim and fuzzy. Van Helsing 
paused, unable to believe his eyes. Tom was becoming transparent and fading backwards 
into the wall he was leaning against. It took a second, and Tom was totally gone.
 Tom rematerialized again in his cubicle at the probation office, still in his jeans and 
t-shirt with no shoes.  
“Stupid right-wing conservative Christian weenie,” said Tom.
 Being a Saturday, no one was there in the office (Sandi used to come in to catch up
 on her filing, but she no longer worked there now.) It was dark in the office, but not too
 dark: light came in through the accessioning window up front and the hallway lights
 shone through the glass back door. He opened the lower drawer of his file cabinet 
and got out his oxford wing-tips that he wore especially for court. (His suit and 
tie was hanging in the back room). He hadn’t especially wished to be there, but in 
retrospect, it was a good choice, as he had spare clothes there. He would have to ask the Baron
 how this dematerialization worked. It was a handy thing to be able to do, obviously.
 He wondered what Van Helsing would do next. Tom picked up the receiver and called
 the DA on his private cell phone. The DA always left it on when out of the office,
 and he answered. Tom was clearly upset. 
“Guess who tried to pin me to the wall with a wooden arrow just now in my own house!”
 He exclaimed. Tom poured out the story 
and he knew the DA was nodding grimly to himself as he listened. When Tom got to 
the part about the dematerialization, the DA was strangely silent, as if wondering 
about this. “So you’ve…materialized at your office?” 
“Durn straight. I’m standing here with a pair of dungarees, a Led Zeppelin T-shirt
 and wearing a pair of black oxfords.” 
The DA started to laugh. “Oh, you think this is funny, do you?” exclaimed 
Tom. “Evidently you have powers that even you are not aware of,” replied the DA. 
He continued, but more soberly: 
“Obviously you cannot return to your house. And no doubt he is on his way to my 
house if he is not there already. I think it is time we unleashed the hounds.” 
Tom knew he was talking about Stone and Brady. But it was too late. Van Helsing had 
already set a trap for the both of them at a derelict house in a bad part of town. 
While Tom was putting on his shoes and talking to the DA, Van Helsing had left Tom’s 
house and he had headed directly to an old crack house that he had already booby-trapped
 which was what he had been doing all that week. Upon arriving there, he had called in a
 report, even as Tom and the DA had been talking to each other.  He had pretended to be 
a citizen, calling in a complaint about a man in a raincoat on the street in front of a
 certain crack house, waving a crossbow and talking about vampires and threatening to take
 someone hostage. The police dispatcher had contacted a cruiser nearby and Brady and Stone 
who were in their squad cars at the time and listened to all broadcasts, intercepted
 this one. They knew this was Van Helsing challenging them. Immediately, they called the 
cruiser in question and told him to hold off until they could get there. The two rookies
 in the cruiser were only too glad to comply, hearing that domestic disturbances were the
 most dangerous to handle. The Baron tried to call the two, but they had turned their 
cell phones off. So the Baron called 911 and asked the dispatcher if she could
 contact the two of them. She replied that they were now on their way 
to a domestic disturbance having to do with a man with a crossbow.
 The Baron knew instantly that this was Van Helsing. He called Tom back on his office phone 
(who was still there) and told him the problem. Tom ran down the hallway to the police 
department and leaned over the desk.
 "There is an emergency," he said to the lady. “I work 
in Probation.” She nodded. She had seen him before.  “The DA wants to relay a message 
to the patrol cars that have been dispatched to the domestic disturbance. But he can’t 
come right now, so he told me to relay the message. Can I come in? He pointed to the 
swinging door on the side of the desk. 
“Well…” 
“I just need to talk to Chiefs Stone and Brady. The DA wants to tell them something about
 the lunatic with the crossbow. He’s prosecuted him on an earlier case and knows something 
important about him,” Tom lied. 
“Well, the dispatcher can tell them,” she replied. 
“She can’t. It’s privledged information. Information that the DA can’t divulge except to the
 Chiefs and others connected to the case. He told me, and he told me to tell them.” 
“Okay, she shrugged, and let him through. He went over to where the dispatchers sat. 
“Who is handling the domestic disturbance with the crossbow?” he asked. A lady looked up. He went
 over to her. "I need to speak to the two chiefs of police, Stone and Brady."
 She took off her headpiece. 
"Connect me to them, will you," he said. 
"If you talk now, they will hear you,"she said. 
“Uh, listen, Brady and Stone?" Began Tom. "Why did you turn your cell phones off! Francois
 wants you to pull back."
" What!" He heard Brady exclaim. 
"Brady, is that you? Tell Stone to pull back. It’s a trap." 
"Who is that?" He heard Stone ask. 
"It’s that kid Tom. He’s trying to get us to call the whole thing off. Listen, kid," 
said Brady, "we have the whole thing taken care of. We know what we are doing. Tell the DA 
we’re handling it. If this Helsing character wants a showdown, we’ll give him just what he 
wants. Now get off the air!” 
It was the last time Tom was to speak to the two of them. The lady motioned 
for her headset back. Tom thought. 
"Is this all being tape recorded?" He asked. 
She nodded. 
"Save a tape for the DA. He will want to listen to it.” Post mortem, he thought. 
 Tom left the police department and went back to his office down the hall. 
The door was shut but no matter- it opened with a combination of little black buttons. He 
went to his office phone- his cell phone was still at his house- and called the DA.
 “They’re still on their way. The police dispatcher let me use her microphone
 to talk to them. They know he is Van Helsing, and they don’t care. They told me to buzz
 off.”
 “There is a thin line between bravery and foolhardiness and they have crossed the 
boundary,” replied the DA. “He is on his home turf, and that, I have been informed, 
is always a bad thing.” 
“So what are you going to do?” asked Tom.
 “Rescue them,” replied the DA. 
“You mean you’re going to go there, too?” 
“At this point, I am the only one who can save them.” 
“Don’t you think this is the thing he is
 expecting? How do you know that you aren’t his primary target?” 
“ The two of them may be stupid, but they are loyal. Because of that, I can’t let 
them handle this themselves.” 
“I don’t believe this.” 
“What would you have me do, retreat to my mansion and have him corner
 me in the farthest reaches? Have him force me to take an extended vacation, when I am in 
the midst of dozens of litigations? Have him shadow me as I and my staff go from court to 
court? Ride with me up and down the elevator, hidden stake in his coat, waiting for the 
moment that the last passenger has gotten off and we two are alone in a 4 foot by 4 foot 
space? He must be taken care of now.” The DA hung up. 
“I don’t believe this,” replied Tom. “They’re all going to die, really die, 
and I will become a nomad again.” He knew he wouldn’t be able to work there anymore with 
the DA gone and Van Helsing skulking around the office, waiting for his chance to nail him
 and maybe even Sandi when she came back from D.C. Tom decided he would fight also. He 
looked down at his outfit and decided it didn’t look serious enough. So he went into the 
back room and put on his courtroom suit. Black pinstripe. Like the outfits he would wear 
when he became a lawyer.  He went out front and hailed a passing cab. He told the cabbie 
the address of the “domestic disturbance” and off they went. 
Van Helsing had  been working on the crack house for days in preparation for his showdown 
with the vampires. He had already inserted iron bars in the form of crosses in all the second 
story windows. He also had hidden weapons, like extra arrows and stakes in certain places
 where he knew where to get to them. After making the 911 phone call, Van Helsing had 
retreated to the modified crack house and gone up the stairs to the second floor. 
	Brady kicked in the rotting door and with revolver drawn, went through the 
first level of the house while Stone stayed at the front door and studied the staircase.
 He could smell the garlic up there and guessed that is where Van Helsing was.
 And Van Helsing knew that they would smell it and follow its scent. Brady came 
back and nodded to Stone that the first level was clear and Stone indicated
 the stairs silently. Stone went up the stairs first and they creaked horribly.
 Van Helsing had two crossbows, one in each hand, already
 loaded with arrows and listened to every one of the creaks as Stone and Brady came up the 
stairs. He knew that the two would probably have guns, and so he wore a Kevlar vest.
 The two saw each other at the same time and Stone fired just as
 Van Helsing did. Stone’s bullet struck Van Helsing and knocked him backwards but not
 before Stone received an arrow into his heart and with a wail, he dissolved into dust.
 Brady knew what had happened and cursed as he rushed up the final steps, firing wildly
 into the air. Van Helsing, on his back, fired the other crossbow and Brady, noticing the
 figure down on the floor too late, also perished. Both the DA and Tom felt the deaths at
 the same time. The DA arrived at the scene soon after, the police waiting for direction.
 The two chiefs had ordered them to wait outside, but the patrolmen had not heard from 
them for some minutes. The DA informed the senior officer there that he was going in. The
 officer shook his head at this but the DA turned on his vampire charm and the hypnotized
 officer let him through, after first giving up a walkie talkie.  Tom arrived ten minutes
 after this and the cops would not let him through for
 nothing.  Tom stretched his vision, and saw the Baron and Van Helsing facing each other 
on the top floor. He saw the crosses in the windows, preventing the Baron’s escape. Tom
 listened. They were insulting each other. Now Van Helsing was raising his crossbow at
 the Baron. Tom gave a great effort of will to be there, and he felt himself dissolving
 again. A gray haze and then things began to take shape. He could see the Baron standing 
in front of him, looking surprised at his sudden unexplainable appearance. Now, when Van 
Helsing shot at vampires, he knew the heart was a little off center, to the right and so
 he always aimed his arrows that way.  When Tom materialized, his back was to Van Helsing. 
Van Helsing shot at the materializing form, realizing correctly that it might be a vampire 
appearing. But in aiming to the right, the arrow struck Tom in the back, sticking in the 
side of his body on the opposite side of where his heart should be. Instantly Van Helsing
 realized the mistake he had made. “Ow!” Tom exclaimed, and turned around to face Van 
Helsing, The DA behind him saw the arrow in Tom’s back and pulled it out and threw it on
 the ground.  Van Helsing now considered shooting again at Tom but knew that he only had 
that one shot. With no armed crossbow left, The older vampire would be on him in no time.
 If he could shoot the older vampire, he, Tom and the whole cabal would instantly perish.
 “Move aside!” Van Helsing declared. 
“Will not!” Exclaimed Tom. “You kill him and we all die, including my wife.” 
The DA moved forward but Tom held up his arm to stop him.
 “Let me handle this one, counselor,” Tom said. 
“He is the epicenter of all the evil in this area,” replied Van Helsing.
 “He also has some good in him,” replied Tom. "He hired me to
 counterbalance the public’s desire to throw everyone in jail and throw away the key.He 
knew I’d be an advocate for the downtrodden.” 
“You’re breaking my heart,” replied Van Helsing.
 Tom laughed. “I have it on good authority that over half the Public Defenders in this town 
are former DA’s. The time comes when they get tired of riding their high horses and they begin to 
realize that nobody’s perfect, and they begin to wonder whether they were too eager early 
in their careers to pass judgement." 
“Listen, I only know that I have a job to do,” Van Helsing
 replied. 
At this point a figure draped in red began to materialize in between Van Helsing
 and the two vampires. He was tall and thin with dark skin... somewhat semitic or Arabic- 
looking...with  jet black hair and a brilliant white fixed smile. It was the Prince of 
Darkness. He floated forward over the floor and Van Helsing let out his arrow but it 
went right through him. Mr. Tall Dark and Handsome reached over and grasped Van Helsing’s
 right arm and twisted his shoulder out of his socket, dislocating his shoulder as Van 
Helsing yelled in pain. Then he 
disappeared. This meant that now Van Helsing could not use his crossbows 
at all, as it took two hands to load them with an arrow. One hand to 
hold onto the crossbow, and the other hand to load the arrow and cock it for firing. 
“Did you see that!” Exclaimed the DA. 
“Yeah,” said Tom, “Listen, don’t congratulate yourself just yet. I’m wagering 
George didn’t help us out just now out of the kindness of his heart.”
 Van Helsing had staggered back in shock and was leaning against the wall. The DA walked 
around Tom and approached Van Helsing. 
“Not so cocky now, eh?” He said, and he turned to smile at Tom. 
Tom walked over also and looked at Van Helsing’s arm with concern. It was 
obvious Van Helsing was in pain. 
“What did George do? Did he break your arm?” 
“No, my shoulder is dislocated. Used to happen a lot when I was a kid. I need someone to yank 
on it.”  At this point the walkie-talkie crackled. It was the police outside wanting 
an update. The DA yanked it out of his belt and spoke into it. “The negotiations are 
going fine. Expect we will be exiting this building 
within minutes. Hold your fire when we exit. Over.” Tom took Van Helsing’s right hand. 
“So, what do I do, do I pull?” 
“Uh huh.” Van Helsing braced himself and Tom gave a great yank. The shoulder popped back
 into place. “It’s a good thing George didn’t karate chop your collarbones, like they trained 
us to do when I was a federal agent.” Tom looked about on the floor and found a 
length of rope. He fashioned it into a sling for Van Helsing’s arm. 
“The bottom line is,” continued Tom, is that the Big Guy upstairs could have killed
The Prince of Darkness 'way before now, but has not. He is willing to let anyone 
repent, including George.”
 The DA looked down the staircase. "You have to go back the way you came, 
or there will be questions,” he said to Tom. 
“He materializes and dematerializes like I’ve never seen before,” said Van Helsing. 
“All the vampires I’ve ever dealt with at least had to become a mist, if not 
an animal to move about undetected. How do you do that?” Tom backed up into 
a wall. Nothing happened. “It doesn’t seem to be under my 
conscious control,” Tom remarked. 
“Just change yourself into a bird or something,” 
said the DA. Tom nodded and changed himself into a hawk. He flew down the staircase 
and out the front door. The policemen saw him go. Then they saw the DA coming out, 
his arm holding Van Helsing’s good arm. The police came forward and frisked Van Helsing 
for weapons. They found a bunch of garlic, two crosses, a vial of holy water, three 
wooden stakes and a bunch of small arrows. They found the two crossbows when they 
searched the house. 
The DA spoke: “It’s alright. It was a college prank. He was doing
 all this as hazing to join a fraternity.” The police grumbled about this, and asked 
about Brady and Stone. The DA spoke again: “We discovered a hidden basement full of 
drugs. But the basement is hard to find. There is a secret door to it. You have to 
push on the wall in just the right place for the secret door to open. Brady and Stone 
are down in this basement inventorying and cataloging the drugs right now.
 When they’re done, they’ll call for a van.” The police nodded. 
The DA escorted Van Helsing back to his car. The police
 poked around the crack house but they never did find the “secret door.” And when 
Brady and Stone did not show up for work the next day, or the next week, rumor went about 
 that the two had taken the drugs and booked it for the Bahamas. 
Two men on the force were given their jobs and everyone else was either promoted or 
received a raise. 
	Some weeks later Tom was passing by the police department on his
 way to the Pretrial office when he heard a commotion. He went to go see. The police 
department K-9 division had just gotten two new German Shepherd puppies, the lady at
 the front desk smiled. She opened the swinging door for Tom to go back and see. The 
two puppies were on a desk in the back. There was a crowd around them, petting them. 
Tom reached his finger out to the one on the left and it barked at him like a good 
little scout and then wagged its tail. Tom petted it. “We’re calling that one Stone.
 This one is Brady.” The one on the right had a fat, droopy tummy and he rolled over 
so that people could scratch his tummy. “We’re such a big, fat, slobbery doggie, aren’t
 we?” said Tom, scratching his tummy. 
The DA and Van Helsing had a long talk about his position as DA and Head Vampire in the 
community. Van Helsing decided the worst offenders had been Brady and Stone and he left
the area without pursuing the vampires in the community any further. 
	Sandi continued her studies toward a Master’s degree and became a
 Jungian therapist for Social Services.
	 Tom finished law school and upon graduating and passing the Bar, became a Public Defender. 
	The author had asked her daughter what she should call this book, and her daughter said:
 “Call it: ‘Another Blood-sucking Lawyer’.”