Vampires of South Africa

Detective Sarah Hauser of the Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department sighed deeply as she watched the medical tech zip up the body bag. There goes another one, she thought grimly. The body belonged to Claire Adewale, a Nigerian-born and Oxford-educated businesswoman working for Excelsior Enterprises here in Gauteng. Just like all the others, Adewale's body was found drained of blood. The latest in a string of murders that The Star newspaper dubbed "The Vampire Murders."

Standing five feet eleven inches tall while barefoot, lean and athletic, with blonde hair and blue eyes, Sarah Hauser was used to people dismissing her because of her looks. Barely out of her twenties, she was the youngest detective in all of Johannesburg. Many attributed this to her gender, and her skin color. The truth was far simpler than that. Sarah loved being a cop, and worked hard at it.

"I hate to say it but we might have a vampire on our hands," said her colleague, Detective Bezile "Bee-Man" Nogubaza. The tall, broad-shouldered and dark-skinned Xhosa cop looked worn out in his Black vest, blue silk shirt, Black silk pants and cowboy boots. Although his Black hair was more salt than pepper these days, Bee-Man usually looked like he meant business. Tonight, he looked beat.

Even though Detective Bezile Nogubaza had been a street cop longer than Sarah Hauser had been alive, the elder detective carried himself like a younger man, always spry in his movements and quick-witted, and his biting sense of humor was often a relief to her on a stressful day. Today was definitely not such a day.

"Bee, the last thing we want is for people to start panicking," Sarah said wistfully, and Bee-Man shrugged casually. Even though he acted nonchalant, Sarah could tell that something was bothering him. Bezile was the most secretive man she'd ever known, only revealing bits and pieces of his past in the three years they'd been working together.

According to department records, Bezile "Bee-Man" Nogubaza was born in Soweto in 1990, a few years before Apartheid officially ended in the Republic of South Africa. Cadet Bezile Nogubaza joined the police force in 2017, a few years before the world discovered the existence of supernatural entities such as vampires, those kinds of creatures that went bump in the night.

"No one's seen a vampire outside of the Quarantine Zone in years and the world has been all the better for it," Bee-Man said, and involuntarily shuddered. Sarah knew that the older cop had been on the frontlines of the global war against the supernatural which began in 2020, the year an ancient vampire named Cassius Magnus, led the Undead in an attempt to take over New York City.

Thousands of policemen and soldiers lost their lives, as did untold number of civilians, as Cassius Magnus mass-converted half of New York City by infecting them with an airborne variant of the vampire virus. Millions of ordinary American men, women and children fell comatose, only to rise as bloodthirsty nightmares seventy two hours later. Thus, the vampire wars began.

"Glad I didn't live in those days," Sarah said, looking into the distance. The bright lights of Johannesburg, her native town, and the crown jewel of the integrated Republic of South Africa shone in the background. Ever since the mid-2030s, South Africa had become the world's leading superpower. Only Brazil and Saudi Arabia came close to rival them economically or militarily.

The United States of America and Canada had been reduced to third world countries as their respective governments used their nuclear weapons in failed attempts at containing the vampire threat. Europe was currently considered a Black hole, and the continent was still part of the Quarantine Zone, which expanded to include Turkey as of five years ago.

"Wish I could say the same," Bee-Man said, the rising anger in his voice somewhat startling Sarah. Usually, Bee-Man was cool as ice. Nothing got to him. This case apparently did, and it most definitely worried the hell out of a certain rookie cop.

After graduating from the Faculty of Law at the University of Johannesburg in June 2047, 25-year-old Sarah Hauser, the only daughter of legendary South African civil rights attorneys and anti-Apartheid activists Anneke and Jonathan Hauser, stunned her family by deciding to join the police force.

The Hauser family vehemently opposed their daughter's choice of career, in light of the fact that policing worldwide had become more dangerous due to cops having to fight monsters nowadays, instead of ordinary criminals. The day Sarah Hauser graduated from the police academy, one of her instructors, George Majalamba, introduced her to legendary local cop Bee-Man, her future partner, who took her under his wing, and her life hadn't been the same since.

Early on in their partnership, the Xhosa cop and the young Afrikaner woman bonded, in more ways than one. Even decades after President Nelson Mandela's election marked the end of Apartheid, certain things were considered taboo in South Africa. Interracial couples weren't exactly uncommon in Johannesburg. Lots of local Chinese men and Indian men married Black women, and quite a few White men married Black women as well. Yet the sight of a Black man with a White woman always caused some people to do a double take. That's just the way of things in South Africa, unfortunately.

"I'll submit my report to the Chief of Detectives and head on home now," Sarah said, looking intently at Bee-Man, who shrugged casually, much to her chagrin. Sometimes Sarah honestly felt like strangling him. Some acknowledgement, was that too much to ask?

Being cool as ice and utterly emotionless was a remarkable quality in a policeman but a pretty lousy attribute in a boyfriend. Any woman would tell you that. What made Bee-Man one of the top cops in all of South Africa also infuriated the hell out of the young woman who loved him.

"Don't wait up," Bee-Man called, over his shoulder, and Sarah groaned but said nothing. Heading for her car, the young policewoman drove away. An hour later, having turned her in report, and showered, Sarah Hauser walked out of the police station in her street clothes, a red T-shirt and blue jeans. Casually she walked to the nearby train station.

"I don't even know why I bother with you sometime," Sarah said, pulling out her Holo-Phone and looking at the picture of her and Bee-Man in shorts, drinking ice cream, at the annual Police Picnic last summer. They sure looked happy in that picture. In an uncharacteristic public display of affection, Bee-Man had his arm around her waist.

"Bastard," Sarah said, and turned off the transmission. Her holographic phone vanished into the ether. The train came, and she got on. As usual, at this time of night, the train was packed. A burly Black guy with tribal tattoos, Zulu by the looks of him, held hands with a petite Asian woman. The two of them looked very much into each other.

A man who isn't afraid to show his feelings, Sarah thought darkly, and pulled a book out of her purse. Although most people only dealt with E-books these days, Sarah was old-fashioned. The venerable Johannesburg City Library on Market and Fraser Street still stood, and Sarah still went there once a week to borrow books. These days she was reading the novel Meant To Be, by Jeanne Sumerix. The story of an African-American man and a White American woman who fall in love in rural Michigan.

The well-worn book captivated Sarah, and the young woman simply couldn't put it down. Even though the events of the book took place in Michigan, somewhere in the U.S. and she was South African, Sarah could totally relate to the couple's struggles. After all, her relationship with Bee-Man brought her joy and pain in equal measures. Sighing, Sarah leaned back in her chair, and took a little trip down memory lane.

"We shouldn't do this," Sarah said breathlessly, as Bee-Man pressed her hard against the brick wall of his Marshalltown apartment. They'd only been working together for six months and Sarah was honestly starting to think the tall, dark and handsome cop she worked with might be queer or something. For he always rebuffed her advances. Until the night Bee-Man invited her to his place to "talk shop" and unexpectedly took her, and Sarah was surprised that she actually liked it.

Grinning, Bee-Man kissed her throat, and unzipped her jacket, gently rubbing her small, perky breasts through her tank top. Sarah sighed happily as Bee-Man began unzipping her pants. For ages she's dreamed of him doing just that and now, here he was.

"Do you want me to stop?" Bee-Man said, grinning as Sarah looked at him through lust-filled eyes. She hadn't had any in a while and somehow, the bastard could tell. Seriously, Bee-Man's ability to read her amazed her sometimes, although she would never admit as much to him.

"Fuck no," Sarah cried out, and Bee-Man yanked down her panties, and buried his face between her legs. Sarah shuddered with pleasure as Bee-Man began licking and fingering her pussy like there was no tomorrow.

Later, after giving her pussy a tongue bath, Bee-Man took her to his bed, and made love to her. Sarah grasped his long, thick cock and sucked it while Bee-Man moaned deeply, losing control for once. Grinning, Sarah flicked her tongue on his dick head and caressed his balls.

"Dammit Sarah," Bee-Man said, gasping as Sarah licked his dick like a lollipop. Afterwards, Sarah climbed on top of him, and impaled herself on his manhood. Bee-Man placed his hands on her hips and thrust into her, burying his hard dick deep inside her pussy.

Arching her back, Sarah cried out and rested her hands on Bee-Man's broad shoulders, straddling him and riding his dick as hard as she could. "Give it to me hard," Sarah squealed, and Bee-Man was more than happy to oblige. For hours they went at it, and Bee-Man's seemingly inexhaustible reserves of stamina amazed Sarah.

After hours of passionate lovemaking, Sarah lay next to Bee-Man, sighing happily while smoking a Benson & Hedges mild cigarette. "That was fun," she said, gently playing with Bee-Man's chest hairs.

"We can have fun but it can't interfere with our job," Bee-Man said, looking at her with a serious, cold look in his golden brown eyes. Sarah sighed, the first of many times she'd be caught by surprise by Bee-Man's icy demeanor. Yet for some reason, she always came back for more. Addiction or love, must be one of the two.

Commotion on the train caused Sarah to snap out of her reverie and look up from her book. A tall White man walked into the car, clad in military fatigues and sporting a buzz cut. Looking at the young Black man with the Asian woman, he grinned wolfishly. "So I'm not the only one who likes Chinese food," he said, laughing.

"What the fuck did you just say?" the young Black man said angrily, rising to his feet. The young Asian woman laid a restraining hand on his arm, telling him that it wasn't worth it but the brother took a menacing step toward the military guy, who scoffed dismissively.

"Hmmm dark meat," the military guy said, and he threw his head back and laughed. As Sarah looked on, a startling transformation came over the guy. His teeth elongated and sharpened, and his eyes turned blood-red. Growling, he took a step toward the Black guy, who bravely shielded his girlfriend.

"What are you?" the young Black man said, gawking at the inhuman monster that stood before him. All around them, the train passengers shrieked in fright, male and female alike, for they knew the horror in their midst.

"I am your death darkie," the vampire said, and he effortlessly grabbed the much larger young Black man, lifted him up and bared his fangs. Before the vampire could bite his hapless prey, an audible click resonated through the crowded train cart.

"Put the civilian down or you're dead," Detective Sarah Hauser said, and pressed the muzzle of her service revolver against the vampire's temple. The creature hesitated, and the policewoman squeezed the trigger. The bullets slammed into the vampire's skull, and it howled in pain.

"Run," Sarah said to the couple, without taking her eyes off the vampire. Even though she had never faced the undead before, like every twenty-first century law enforcement professional, Sarah knew of their weaknesses. The average vampire is ten times stronger than the average Olympic athlete. They can run at a top speed of forty five to fifty miles per hour. And they heal instantly from injuries that would kill or disable an ordinary person.

"Bitch you're going to pay for that," the vampire spat as its wounds healed, and the flesh around the bullet holes regenerated. Baring its fangs, it came at her. Sarah dropped into a fighting stance, and yanked a silver-tipped wooden stake from her purse.

"If you want me come and get me because I'm ready for you," the young policewoman said defiantly. At the same time, Sarah activated her police beacon. It would send an automatic distress signal to every cop in the Johannesburg metropolitan area. Of course, by the time they got there, she'd be a dead woman. Vampires were exceptionally hard to kill. Any human who took one on solo would find his or her lifespan drastically shortened.

The vampire looked at the weapon in her hand, and she saw hesitation in its eyes. Without warning, it came at her, moving faster than anything human. Sarah pumped five bullets into the vampire but the creature snatched her up like she weighed nothing and smashed through the window of the moving train. Sarah saw stars, and then darkness.

"We'll find her," Sergeant Rachel Dumisani said to her colleague Bee-Man. The tall, curvy, forty-something Black policewoman could empathize with Bee-Man's situation. A long time ago she lost a partner. The two police officers stood on the platform of Johannesburg Park Station, the central railway for the entire metropolis. Dozens of cops milled about, speaking to passengers and witnesses, getting statements. The train cameras revealed that a vampire had indeed abducted rookie detective Sarah Hauser.

"This is all my fault," Bee-Man said, his shoulders sagging. The sergeant looked at her colleague, and laid a sympathetic hand on his shoulder. It was an open secret in the department that Bee-Man and Sarah were more than friends. There were rules against fraternization among police officers but they were rarely enforced. As long as no one screamed harassment, people simply looked the other way.

"We'll comb every hole in this city and wherever this vampire comes from we'll find him," Sergeant Rachel Dumisani said confidently, and Bee-Man shrugged. Once more, he was the ice man. His jaw set, his eyes filled with a steely resolve, he walked away. The sergeant knew better than to try to stop him.

Sarah Hauser woke up slowly and painfully. For a moment, the young policewoman wasn't sure where she was. In a basement somewhere, that's for sure. "Welcome back to the world of the living," the vampire said, startling the bejesus out of her.

Sarah looked up, and saw her tormentor leering at her. "Where did you come from?" she said, refusing to give into fear. Like all cops, she'd been taught what to do in a hostage situation. Stay calm, don't give into fear, and deny her captor whatever he craved. When your enemy loses control, he's more apt to make mistakes.

"My kind have always been here," the vampire said, grinning. He clapped, and Sarah gasped as several human-like figures materialized out of the shadows. A tall and athletic, big-bottomed woman who looked mixed-race, clad in a green summer dress, and a short, stocky Indian man looked at her. Their eyes were the same crimson shade as her captor's.

"I'm Hans, and I'd like you to meet my cohorts Alina and Dhaliwal," the lead vampire said, grinning. Sarah looked at the vampire trio and a chill coursed through her. A solitary human unarmed against three vampires didn't stand a chance, and they knew it.

"What do you want with me?" Sarah said, as if she didn't know. Not that she minded, but the young policewoman wondered why she was alive. Hans was a vampire, and like all vampires, his game plan with humans was utilizing them as food, or turning them into the Undead. There was no third option.

"You're going to join our little family," Hans said, and Alina grabbed Sarah and pulled her to her feet. Sarah tried to resist but the vampire woman's inhuman strength was simply beyond her. Even an Olympic athlete would be powerless against the weakest vampire in all the land...

"I don't think we need this pale bitch," Alina said, looking Sarah up and down with disdain. Sensing a chink in her captors armor, Sarah decided to exploit it. Tall, brown-skinned, dark-haired and green-eyed, Alina the vampire was exotically beautiful but that apparently wasn't enough for Hans.

"When Hans here makes me a vampire he won't need a half-breed slut like you," Sarah said defiantly, and the enraged Alina grabbed her and tossed her aside like a rag-doll. Sarah crashed on the basement floor, fifteen meters away. Whimpering in pain, the policewoman struggled to her feet.

"Get this blonde bitch," the Indian vampire, Dhaliwal, said excitedly, cheering Alina on. The female vampire walked toward Sarah, her movements at once sexy and scary. Sarah's shoulder hurt but she bit down against the pain, and summoned all of her might. Grabbing a piece of wood from the floor, the policewoman slowly rose to her feet, assuming a fighting stance.

"Gal's got the spirit of a true Afrikaner," Hans said, laughing, and Sarah knew that she'd judged him right. Even as a vampire, Hans was a racist, and for some reason, he wanted to see a fight between Alina and Sarah. Well, two could play that game.

"Hans here likes dark pussy but he'll always long for something pure like mine," Sarah said, taunting Alina, and the vampire fell for it completely. Roaring with rage, Alina launched herself at Sarah. As the vampire sprang for her, Sarah swung her foot and kicked Alina's legs out from under her. The female vampire fell, and Alina leapt on top of her.

"Now bitch you die," Sarah said, and slammed the makeshift stake through Alina's heart. The female vampire shrieked, and her whole body shook, but soon lay still. Slowly, Sarah rose from the body of her slain foe. Glaring defiantly at Hans and Dhaliwal, she noted that Hans was smiling.

"Never much cared for coloured cunts like Alina anyway," Hans said, grinning and raking his tongue over his sharp fangs. He took a step toward Sarah, who pulled the stake out of Alina's bloody chest, and resumed her fighting stance. She'd gotten lucky tonight by killing Alina, but taking on two vampires at once? Sarah really didn't like her odds. Still, she'd go down fighting.

"You're going to make a magnificent vampire, gorgeous blonde woman like you," Hans said, and prepared to spring at Sarah. With his preternatural strength and speed, Hans would overpower her for sure. The young policewoman did some quick thinking. Throw him off his game, Sarah thought.

"Hans, buddy, guess what? White guys really don't do it for me," Sarah said, and pulled the picture of her and Bee-Man at the picnic from her Holo-Phone. It was disabled, unable to make calls, but her stored data was intact. The holographic image of Bee-Man with his arm around a smiling Sarah popped up on the display, and upon seeing it, Hans's eyes smoked with hate.

"You actually like the darkies? You traitorous bitch!" Hans bellowed, his voice filled with a depthless anger. Angrily he launched himself at Sarah, and batted the stake out of her hand. Grabbing her by the throat, Hans pressed Sarah against the wall, and bared his fangs, ready to finish her.

"I think I'll just make a meal out of you now since you're tainted," Hans said, and Sarah stared at him, smiling faintly, defiant to the end. It was worth it, just to see the look on his face. Even though he was about to kill her, Sarah knew that she'd wounded Hans in a way he'd never forget.