"Oh, shit," Daniel whispered, standing just a few meters away from the stone arch and the sinister darkness below.

No doubt, someone was there before him; the leaves on some of the ivy shoots had their lower surfaces turned to the sun which meant that someone moved them quite recently, otherwise they would have already turned to the proper side by themselves.

"Shit!" this time he said louder.

It was at that moment he heard some sort of crackling sounds. He jumped to the side, and hid behind a tree.

"Can you hear me? I repeat, can you hear me?" The voice was coming from the pocket on Daniels denim jacket. That was when Daniel remembered that he caried a walkie talkie the sergeant gave him earlier that day. He reached into his pocket and took out the device still conveying the sergeant's voice. "Daniel, come in. Do you hear me?"

With shaky hands, Daniel managed to press the right button, and he responded in a whisper, "Yeah, I can hear you. You scared the bejesus out of me! My heart almost pierced right through my T-shirt!"

"Sorry," the sergeant said without real remorse in his voice. "We were supposed to stay in contact. You haven't reported anything for an hour and a half. I was getting worried."

That did sound sincere. It was something Daniel wasn't used to; to have someone worry about him when he didn't call. Mrs. Heron surely didn't lose sleep thinking about where he went, or was he okay when he hung out with the gang.

"I guess I just forgot about the damn thing in my pocket," Daniel said. He then lowered his voice and whispered, "I found it. The entrance to the basement. I'm looking at it right now."

After a short silence, sergeant Novik spoke again. "Remember what I told you," he warned. "Don't be a hero. Get as far away as possible."

Daniel's eyes didn't part from the darkness domed by a stone arch. The fear began to leave his body, but then a rustling sound from somewhere nearby sent him running towards the sunny part of the park. He only threw a quick glance over the shoulder. He thought he saw a squirrel with a bushy tail climbing the tree that was his hiding spot just moments earlier.

He slowed down, but continued to retreat further away. Perhaps he didn't wake the ominous newcomer after all, however he wasn't willing to take the risk. It occurred to him that he wouldn't even need to come out in the open. It would suffice to capture Daniel's eyes with his amber stare, after which he could command him to do anything.

"Daniel, come in." The walkie talkie crackled again. "Where are you?"

Stopping for a moment, Daniel pressed the button and answered, "I'm going towards the church." He was out of breath and he knew the sergeant must have heard it in his voice.

"What happened?" sergeant Novik asked.

"Nothing," Daniel responded. "False alarm."

"Did you see him?"

"No," Daniel replied. "It was just a squirrel, I guess."

"Leave the park as soon as possible," the sergeant instructed. "When you reach the church, stay there until I arrive."

Daniel's heart was still pounding behind his ribcage when he walked out of the park. Standing in the direct sunlight, he bent, placing his palms on his knees. He focused on breathing. That, in combination with the bright sun did wonders to calm him down.

After a minute or two, he looked up. Just across the road stood the church, its tower reaching the heights. The area in front of it was closed for traffic, with several empty benches.

Looking to the left and right to make sure it was safe to cross the road, Daniel headed towards the church. Its proximity calmed him down even more. He believed that the vampire wouldn't come so close to the house of God. He sat on one of the benches, leaned back and closed his eyes. For the hundredth time he asked himself how he ended up in the middle of this mess.

Vampires. Just a few weeks ago, they were nothing more than a figment of someone's twisted mind, and now they were as real as the wooden planks that made up the bench he was sitting on.

He startled again when sergeant Novik addressed him from behind his back.

"It's all right, it's only me," the sergeant said when he realized that he scared the young man. "Are you alright?" he asked.

"I've had better days," Daniel replied.

The sergeant sat next to him. He observed him attentively before asking the question that preoccupied him the most. "What exactly did you find?"

Daniel returned the look just for a moment, after which he pushed his fingers into his disheveled hair. "It was just like Teresa said," he explained. "Stone arch, stairs leading down, darkness."

"So, you think he's there?"

"I don't know," Daniel said sincerely, looking straight ahead, in the direction of the park. "Maybe. Someone was definitely there recently. The ivy was parted just around that arch."

A few minutes passed in silence. The church bell marked that thirty minutes had passed since the noon.

"We have to inform Ana and Teresa," the sergeant said. "We'll make the call from that payphone over there."

Following the sergeant's stare, Daniel noticed the payphone by the road, to their left. It was only several meters away. And while he was imagining possible reactions of the two vampire ladies, sergeant Novik was already on his feet. Not waiting for an invitation, Daniel stood up and followed him.

A simple plexiglass construction, the payphone wasn't large enough for the both of them to enter, so the sergeant left the door open. He didn't need a phone book to dial the number of the cabin in the middle of the forest.; he knew it by heart.

The women answered after the third ring. Daniel assumed they weren't sleeping. In fact, he didn't really know what the vampires do during the daytime. He had no idea whether they slept like normal people, or they fell into some dead like state, or something entirely different.

While he was thinking, sergeant Novik already briefed them about Daniel's find.

"We'll be back as soon as Daniel finishes the conversation at the hospital about his current condition," the sergeant said to the headset, ending the conversation.

Daniel's stomach clenched like a deflated balloon after hearing those words. It's been almost an hour since he last thought about his current condition, and now he was once again overwhelmed by the cognition that in less than three hours he would hear his final verdict.

After the conversation was over, sergeant Novik suggested they go grab a bite to eat. Although Daniel wasn't hungry, he accepted the invitation – at least that way the time would go by faster. Truth be told, a part of him wished he could freeze the moment so that he would never have to talk to the doctor or take part in coming up with a plan to catch the vampire.

They sat on a sunny terrace of a small pizza place down the street. They shared a pizza and drank their drinks, after which the sergeant went back to the precinct with a promise that in about two hours, he would pick up Daniel at the hospital.

Daniel remained sitting at the table for a while longer. At the time, only two other people were there. They paid no attention to Daniel and he paid no attention to them. At around half past two, he headed to the hospital. He chose not to go through the park even though that would shorten the time to get there. Instead of a gravel path through the park, he decided to stick to the pavement.

He stopped at the hospital's side entrance, just like the day before. Across the street, in the park, there were no police officers, but yellow tape still surrounded an area where a man lost his life in such a brutal way. And he would help catch the culprit. What he would give to get a hold of a DeLorean and transport himself to a time when things were still normal.

While he was lost in thoughts, Eugene opened the door. He held a medical chart in his hand but, as far as Daniel was concerned, he might as well be carrying an executioner's axe.

Thank you for reading. 

What do you think, did Daniel find a hiding place of the vampire they're after?

If you liked this chapter, don't forget to vote.

Until next chapter...