Half a dozen vampire officers gathered around the scene where they found the staked vampire. An officer took Sebastian and Castor away to give their statements and to collect the body. They kept his remaining employees inside the clinic to take their witness statements, with hopes someone saw or heard something.

Before they dragged him away, Sebastian took a moment to examine the vampire’s cadaver. Nothing indicated black magic was involved, which Castor confirmed for him. That meant it was likely the doing of a human - probably an illegal hunter.

Guilt jabbed Sebastian in the heart as he wondered if such a tragic crime could’ve been prevented had he taken his own murder attempts more seriously. Times he should’ve reported to the council, he chose not to and instead toyed with the naïve hunters. Sebastian was so used to hunters wanting to stake him in the heart and torment him to death, it was easy to forget how many of his own coven never encountered such wickedness before.

Snowflakes fell all around them, making the crime scene resemble a morbid snow globe. Sebastian noticed how frost clung to the vampire and his gaped mouth revealed a lack of fangs. The staked heart gave him away, as did the lack of blood. Vampires naturally don’t lose much blood, but it was obvious their victim had gone without food. Poor soul was tormented.

“Sebastian Wraith, Castor Vale” Detective Pandora Ambrosia approached them. Her white hood concealed crimson locks of hair, and her stern expression conveyed she was a no-nonsense kind of detective. “Please, come with me. We need your statements for our records, as you found the deceased.”

“Of course.” Sebastian nodded, gesturing for Castor to step off to the side with him.

“Do either of you know the victim?” Detective Ambrosia asked as she plucked a small carry-on notepad and pen from her overcoat pocket.

“He might’ve been a patient here before,” Sebastian replied. “But I don’t personally know him. Someone else might’ve taken care of his needs.”

“I also don’t know him,” Castor chimed in.

“Did either of you hear anything before finding him? Any screams from the victim or footsteps fleeing the scene?”

Vampires had a keen sense of sight and sound, but they never heard anything over the blustering winds.

“We did encounter something unusual earlier,” Castor said. “Right when Sebastian arrived.”

“I didn’t think it was too important then, so I just brushed it off.” Sebastian rubbed the back of his neck. “I sensed someone following me, and I waited, expecting them to show themself. But they didn’t. Not until I reached the clinic and the fucker’s body slammed me into the building.”

Detective Ambrosia jotted that down. “What did this person look like? Was it a hunter?”

“Well, he looked exactly like Castor.”

“I don’t have an evil twin either.” Castor bit back a snicker. “If I had to guess, a hunter concocted a potion to alter their appearance to look just like me. They didn’t use any magic against him and fled when I stepped outside. Whoever it was didn’t expect me to come out.”

“Strange.” The detective frowned. “I’ve never heard of anything like that around here. Only wizards can make these potions, right?”

“No, non-magical humans can make them if they have the proper ingredients,” Castor replied.

She raised a brow. “Huh, fascinating. Do you think the person who attacked you was a human hunter?”

“The bastard had a lot of strength. Nothing I’ve ever encountered in a normal human.” Sebastian shook his head. “It could be a dhampir or something else, maybe? Wolf walker? Something mixed with human blood.”

Detective Ambrosia frowned. “You don’t think the hunters would recruit wolf walkers, do you?”

“I don’t know. Anything’s possible when it comes to those damn hunters.” Sebastian crossed his arms over his chest. “I’ve already had three attempts to kill me. Perhaps they’re trying to be more crafty?”

“Why do you think they’re only targeting Sebastian?” Castor rubbed his chin. “That thing could have come after me or anyone else in the clinic, but none have. It must be personal, right?”

“Evidence suggests that.” She agreed. “However, it could just be that they’re starting off with him because he owns this clinic. Take out the owner first, then the employees. This wouldn’t be the first assault on the clinic and staff either.”

Sebastian remembered the day his clinic blew up in smoke quite well, cursing many of his staff and clients to death. Some suffered after effects of the black magic and later had to be put down to end their suffering. It wasn’t something he liked to look back on, as he was partially responsible for the man who desired to burn them all to hell.

Detective Ambrosia made another scribble on her notepad. “Anything else you two remember tonight that might help our investigation?”

Both Sebastian and Castor exchanged brief looks with each other. It wasn’t like anything peculiar had happened after the Castor clone dipped off into the night, but Sebastian wondered why the creature would return to the clinic to dispose of a vampire corpse. Was it supposed to be a warning?

“I believe that’s all,” Sebastian said.

She tucked her notepad away. “I appreciate both of your cooperation, and if you remember anything else, do reach out to Monarch Colette’s office or have Castor set you up an appointment to meet with us.”

Sebastian nodded. “I’ll be sure to do that.”

After they took the corpse away, Sebastian prepared to head back to his coven that morning. He wanted to rest the day away.

“Are you busy?” Castor nudged his shoulder.

“Not really. Why?” Sebastian raised a brow. “You got something in mind?”

“Yeah, I want to see what Lucien’s heard from his council.” Castor stuffed his hands in his pockets, crossing down the frosty sidewalk. “Something sinister is afoot again. I can just sense it, ya know?”

Sebastian nodded. “But what could it be? Why would hunters come after me now? Last year’s mayhem wouldn’t connect to this, would it? Those hunters from then are dead now.”

“I know. I don’t think this is connected to that. It’s something else. Something that you’ve done to piss someone off enough to set a bunch of hunters on you.”

“What did I do?” Sebastian spread his hands.

“Maybe it’s not exactly what you did, but what someone suspects you did.”

“What?” Sebastian titled his head.

“If that person could easily clone me, why couldn’t they do the same for you?” Castor asked. “Think about it. That clone looked exactly like me, probably right down to the birthmark on my asscheek.”

“Too much information,” Sebastian muttered. “But you might be onto something. He might’ve cloned me and only Gods knows what to irk a bunch of vampire hunters. Hell, maybe it even attacked them, pretending to be me.”

“Yeah, that’s what I’m thinking happened. Why else would they specifically come after you? But after tonight, I wonder if they’ll start targeting me. If they do, then we’ll know that person’s out there masquerading as us, stirring up trouble.”

“Aright, but be careful. Vampire hunters aren’t people you wanna mess around with. I know I joke around about them often, but that’s only because I’ve had experience with their kind. They’re dangerous. Their main agenda is to wipe our existence from this world and kill every last vampire they can stake through the heart.”

Castor nodded. “Don’t worry, I’ll be careful. Let’s head over to Briarwood and see what Lucien knows.”

“He won’t be too upset about me crashing your date, will he?” Sebastian asked.

“Nah, he’ll be more interested in this case.” Castor waved a dismissive hand. “Besides, I’m honestly curious to see what’s being said among the Supernatural Council. Lucien keeps me updated on as much stuff as he can.”

“Is it weird, not being a part of their wizard community anymore?” Sebastian asked softly.

Castor shrugged. “Never really felt like I was part of it to begin with.”

On their way to Briarwood, Sebastian couldn’t stop thinking about that dead vampire. Who the hell killed him and dumped him on his doorstep?