Dark Creatures

"Are you telling me we have a blood-sucker on the loose?" Mouse asked, eyeing him.

"No, just a freak with really sharp teeth."

"Come on now, really, what kind of a person would do this?" Turbo asked as they headed back downstairs. "You are our profiler, remember." He sat down at one of the empty tables and gestured for Simon and Mouse to join him. The establishment was closed for the duration of the investigation, so there was no worry that anyone would overhear their conversation.

"Well�" Simon rested his chin on his hand in thought. "Are you aware of the spectrum of different personality disorders? There are quite a few."

"We know what personality disorders are, Simon. Get on with it."

"Sometimes, patients began believing they are a certain person or type of person, and take on the traits of that person. There have been a several recoded cases the victim thinks he or she is a vampire. They file their teeth down to points, dress in black, develop a dislike for sunlight, all the clich� stuff."

"But do they actually try to drink people�s energy?" Mouse questioned.

"In extreme cases, yes."

Turbo sighed. "Are you sure Simon? Maybe this is just some kind of sick stunt."

The profiler shook his head. "I�m pretty positive. But we do have a prime suspect, remember." He pulled his organizer out of his jacket. Setting it down on the table, he clicked a button, and vidwindow popped up across from them. "The gif artist used the witnesses� descriptions to put together a sketch."

He tapped the screen, and the vidwindow displayed a full length image of a woman, and a close up of her face. Her skin looked to be a pale, sickly blue and contrasting darkly with her black hair. The green eyes gleamed strangely, and her eyeteeth were more pronounced than that of a normal sprite. Spotless white gloves covered her hands up to her wrists.

Simon pointed to the woman�s face. "Notice the pointed eyeteeth and pale skin. Probably used a file on her teeth and makeup on the skin, though she is very detailed, for she even paled her arms. She�s dressed in the fashions of at least last dekacycle. That tells us she�s probably from the upper class; that style has developed among them just recently." He tapped the vidwindow again, and the head shot was replaced with the vital stats. "We place her to be at about her mid-twenties, five and a half feet, one-hundred twenty pounds."

"Have we identified her?"

Mouse spoke. "The forensic team found no evidence she had even been there, besides the obvious. No fingerprints, hair, or clothing fibers. I had Capslock search all registered sprites for matching characteristics. Let�s see if she found anything." She opened another vidwindow, displaying the interior of the lab at headquarters. "Capslock?"

An orange hand grabbed the vidwindow and turned it; a woman�s face quickly appeared. "Sterling? Ahhh-" The white brows lifted. "You are calling about the vampire woman, yes?"

"Yeah, have you found something?"

"Sorry, Lieutenant, I found nothing."

"Nothing?"

"I searched the Super Computer database. Nothing. Then I searched those of all systems open to the Net. Nothing. I do not know what kind of a killer you have on your hands, but she is not registered. Anywhere."

Mouse frowned. "Thank you, Capslock."

"My pleasure, Lieutenant Sterling." The white-haired sprite turned from the vidwindow, abruptly diverting her attention back to her work.