They had spent most of the morning looking through the vacant warehouses that sat around the dock area. Every one they had checked had, so far, turned up empty.
"This is the last one," Melissa told Michael as he walked around the perimeter of the building. He was checking the few windows along the building's front. He found none of them with loose panes, or even any that were, or would, open up. He shook his head, confirming to himself the vampire wasn't using the windows as an entry point. Michael looked up to the roof. He then pointed to the Melissa's car.
"Drive that over here," he told her. She nodded, understanding he wanted the car near the edge of the warehouse roof. They had found old crates or other objects to use to assist them in getting on the roof of the warehouses before this one. Some, though, Michael had scaled using his skills. This one, unfortunately, had nothing available nearby to help them and no easy access points that could be used for climbing.
Melissa pulled the car up to the building with its front bumper almost touching the metal siding. Michael stepped onto the vehicle's hood, then he jumped and caught his fingers on the edge of the warehouse's metal roofing. It was fortunate he was wearing gloves, otherwise the sharp edge of the tin roofing would've cut into his fingers. He and Melissa both had dressed warmly to ward off the chilly air. Michael was wearing jeans, a black turtleneck, black leather bomber jacket (it had been given to him by his father), and sneakers.
He pulled himself up onto the roof and crouched low. There were three skylight access points, all of which were made of metal and opaque fiberglass panels that could be opened and closed from within the warehouse to provide ventilation. He stepped softly and slowly across the roof, wary of any loose or squeaky tin beneath his feet. The first panel he came to, on the side of the warehouse nearest the street, was secured tightly. The middle one was the same. The last one opened up when Michael pulled gently at its edge. He slowly raised it up, again wary the rusted metal hinges of the panel would squeak. When it was open enough he could peer in, he did so, and saw nothing but a darkened and empty area below him. Michael continued to open the panel, and when it was fully open, he dropped down into the darkened warehouse, landing softly.
Michael crouched again on the dusty concrete floor. He extended his awareness, opening himself to the smells and sounds within the warehouse. He heard nothing, and he only smelled the musty odor of a space that had been kept closed too long. He slowly took a small flashlight from a jacket pocket and turned it on. As he played the beam across the warehouse's interior, he saw nothing but the concrete floor and bare metal framework of the warehouse's skeleton. The beam of light came across a door at the warehouse's far end. There were two windows beside the door. Stone guessed this was an office or reception area.
Stone went to the door. He shined his flashlight into the windows and saw a room lined with paneling. There were frayed telephone wires protruding out of one wall. The floor, Stone noted, was carpeted. As he shined the light across the room's floor, he saw the corpses.
Stone found the door to the office unlocked. He entered and looked at the pile of bodies in the corner. He then shook his head once more, and moved through the office to the warehouse's entrance door. He undid a deadbolt, opened the door, and called for Melissa to come around.
"Anything?" Melissa asked as she stepped into the doorway.
"Yeah," Michael answered, and he shined the flashlight beam into the corner of the room.
"Oh!," Melissa exclaimed, covering her mouth with her hand, "rats!"
Michael nodded. He held the flashlight so it illuminated the corner of the room. There was a pile of rat corpses there. Michael figured there were probably twenty or so of the things. They looked desiccated, as if they had been there for some time and had dried out.
Melissa noted this aloud. "Looks like they're mummified."
"They were drained of blood and tossed into the corner," Michael explained. "The environmental conditions inside this warehouse are just so that they've become preserved."
"So the vampire is here?"
Michael shook his head. "No," he said with a sigh. "But it has been. I'm starting to think this one came in on a boat," he told her. "This warehouse was the first place it bedded down. It lived off rats here around the docks until it got enough strength to venture out to feed. I think it has moved on to somewhere else."
Melissa looked at his face. "Where else would it go?"
Stone turned off the flashlight. "I don't know," he answered her. He reached for her hand and clasped it in his own. He pulled her to the open door.
Once outside, Stone put his flashlight back into his jacket pocket. He leaned against the hood of her Taurus and looked at the ground.
Melissa stood in front of him. She could see he was in deep thought, but she still put her arms around him. She kissed his lips.
"This is a big city," he said. "There's a thousand places to look."
