Andromeda was doing nights again. She got the call to Whitechapel. Catastrophes was already over it. Andromeda was annoyed. It might not be a vampire. They could have destroyed the evidence. There was a bit of blood but not a lot. The bodies looked very pale. They looked like they were going out. Andromeda looked around. It was a narrow alley. There was one entrance. The other was a door. Andromeda looked over the paving slabs before she approached. She drew her wand and checked the door. It had not been unlocked today. The dirt around it was not disturbed.
"We need a healer to examine the bodies." Andromeda said to people around her.

Piss and blood. Tristan Vaillancourt was a flitting shadow of black, whose batwings flailed softly above the heads of wizards and witches beyond the blue and white tape that cut the alley off from prying muggle eyes. Not that he could see much of this in a literal sense - bats had lamentable eyesight at best. But sound.... and smell, the odious smell of an old city, Lord. Those came to him easily.

       "...a healer to examine the bodies."

Bodies, bodies. Two of them from what he could sense through his sonar vision. The bat darted here and there between the shadows of buildings, not three feet above Auror Gamp - and suddenly it was no longer a bat. Tristan dropped through the air and landed on his feet smoothly; ah, but not quite landed.

His polished brogues floated a negligible distance from the bricked ground and as such, his movements made no sound. Several wands - level 3, alert gents - were aimed at him in a human heartbeat, though he only kept his hands in the pockets of his grey coat, looking to Andromeda calmly.

"I'm sorry to interrupt." Tristan spoke quietly and pointedly did not look in the direction of the bodies just yet. "Tristan Vaillancourt. Beings Division, sent as Consultant Vampire..." he drew one hand from his pocket, slowly, extending a card with the Ministry's official lettering.

The vampire worked nights on level four and had been about when a memo from the DMLE came about a possible vampire attack in Muggle London. It seemed more urgent than cataloguing old paperwork. Certainly more interesting; if there was a chance this wasn't, he wanted to be able to stave off rumours right away.

“Is it me,” Nadine asked, “or do we get the worst jobs lately?” It was as if the universe wanted to punish Nadine and Andie. She wondered who they’d manage to rile this time - or rather, who Andie would irritate. Nadine prided herself on just enough arse-kissing and flattery to keep people sweet. “Looks like they were going out for a drink, not to become one. Ruddy vampires. Blood bank’s not enough now?”

“We need a healer to examine the bodies.” Andie spoke, examining a door at the end of the alley. Nadine sniffed, knowing this was true, but perceiving it as a suggestion that she shouldn’t jump to conclusions about the bite marks.

The sudden apparition beside Andromeda had Nadine’s wand out along with the Level 3 boys.
“Hoi!” No crack like a normal apparition, and two bodies here on the floor drunk dry.

“I’m sorry to interrupt. Tristan Vaillancourt, Beings Division, sent as Consultant Vampire…” He extended something to Andromeda by way of assuring who he was. Nadine was busy looking him up and down, a look of mild disgust on her face. Was he floating? How long had he been listening? Was he really sent by Ceph or was he here to pretend after drinking?

“Hungry were you?” She spat, before she could stop herself, her wand not dipping. “Or one of your lot. Consultant Vampire. Heard it all now.”

“Wind your neck in, Nad.” Cepheus had ducked under the blue and white police tape and was making his way up, hands in his dufflecoat pockets so he couldn’t be tempted to touch anything. He wasn’t looking forward to seeing what was in the alley, he’d been given enough detail by the on duty colleagues to involve Tristan without further hesitation. “You don’t find us scrutinising your ‘experts’.” He delivered the one word description with an edge of sarcasm, as he’d not always been pleased with the impartiality in years gone by.

“Tristan, glad you’re here. Tristan this is Auror Pinn, and Auror Gamp,” his left hand emerged from his pockets long enough to gesture, and the corner of Ceph’s mouth curled up in greeting to his sister. He was always glad to have her help in life, both in and out of work. “Nad, Andie, Tristan Vaillancourt.” He nodded politely back to his newest colleague. Ever since he’d met with Violet Islington and tried to improve his understanding and visibility to the vampire community, he had been keen to bring on some more hands-on help. Tristan had already opened his eyes to several sides to vampires that society tended to get wrong, though Ceph had been more than happy to invite him in.

“Are they, oh, gods, yes they are.” Cepheus went from confused at where the bodies were to seeing them both and took a step backwards once he’d got close enough. He was very glad his job meant he saw few dead bodies, and even less of those in person. He diverted his gaze a moment, trying to hide the fact it made him feel a little green.

“So, are we dealing with a vampire situation, or is this just one for Level 2 without us?"

Tristan's gaze snapped sharply to the other Auror in the vicinity, narrowing for only a second.

He licked his lower lip and resisted the first retort to enter his head - that yes, he was indeed rather hungry - but it would have been a partial lie. Two weeks had passed since his feeding at the new moon. At best the vampire was feeling vaguely peckish.

That meant that if this were a feeding, the vampire responsible had not fed enough at the height of their hunger. Or they were... indulging.

Cepheus Gamp's arrival spared Tristan the burden of sharing this suspicion with Auror Pinn right away. He swallowed, looking more relieved than he wanted to as wands were lowered.

"Aurors." Tristan greeted curtly at the introductions, and smiled more politely at the Beings Division head - he knew about Andromeda but it seemed that Gamp knew the other one too. What a small world it was. And only getting smaller, one felt.

       “So, are we dealing with a vampire situation, or is this just one for Level 2 without us?"

Gingerly, he ignored whatever nausea was affecting Cepheus and drew one gloved hand from his coat pocket to gesture at the corpses. "May I?" Tristan approached the bodies quietly to make a quick inspection. He knelt before them, still floating to avoid touching anything, and removed the glove to touch their necks where the marks had been made.

"As far as I can tell, these are distinctively vampiric marks..." he stood with a look of disapproval crossing his pale face, though he did not turn to look at the others just yet.

Tristan stared only a little longer at the bodies: he was trying to imagine what would possess a vampire to take this risk. Several suspicions passed through his mind before he returned to Cepheus and the Aurors, pulling on the glove. "Your coroners will tell you the same," he shrugged.

"It's unusual to feed this early before the new moon. Or to hunt, anyway." Sourcing food from the blood bags had changed contemporary habits after all.

Even when donned in his smart crimson robes Head Auror Edward Pratt had the capability of looking like a scruffy bugger. When dressing as a muggle police detective, he looked even more dishevelled. He was the final person on the scene, apparating to an alley a few metres from the blue tape, baggy beige trenchcoat hanging over his shoulders and pulled up at the sleeves. It hung open, revealing a messily tucked in shirt and a tie hanging looser than his predecessor Raynor would have put up with. He looked overworked and not at all eager to be here.

As he rounded to corner into the alley, Pratt frowned. The scene before him was gruesome, stomach curling. His eyes travelled from the bodies lying on the floor to the four stood (was one floating?) and discussing the situation.

"It's unusual to feed this early before the new moon. Or to hunt, anyway." the voice was calm, monotonous. The speaker was pale, sickly looking. Ed’s eyes narrowed.

“Flaming bagpipes, Gamp. Is it bring a beast to work day?” Ed’s northern accent somewhat cut the tension as she stepped up to the group, hands thrust into the pockets of his mackintosh. “What we got? Midnight vampiric feast?” His eyes didn’t leave the floating creature in front of him.

Andromeda looked at Tristan's card. It looked proper. It looked a bit like her brother's card. The others all pointed their wands at him. Andie looked him up and down. He was taller than her but he was floating.
"Good of you to drop in." Andie said flatly. Nadine did not like him. Andie did not want to make a judgement. She did not completely trust vampires. How did they stop themselves from eating all the time? Ceph and Ed arrived quickly. It was crowded. Andie hoped her brother chose the right vampire. "Is it unusual to feed on Muggles?" Andromeda asked. She knew it was unusual. Nothing seemed right. 

Another Auror. Tristan would be hard pressed to find one that tolerated his kind, if ever needed - not that Ed Pratt would have been a first choice. The Head Auror hardly had an immaculate reputation.

“What we got? Midnight vampiric feast?”
       "Is it unusual to feed on Muggles?"

At least one of them was asking him a level-headed question, though he was beginning to realise with discontent that discussing vampire habits with non-vampires could sound provocative. One did not hold conversation with prospective meals, much less conversation revolving around the slaughter.

"It is." Tristan answered, hands returning to his pockets as he shifted his gaze to Andromeda and ignored Pratt. "Preferences can very but muggles don't... taste right. Magical blood is more nourishing. Flavoursome," he glanced at Nadine with a ghost of a smile. "I suspect the feeder was either extremely hungry or newly turned."

A pause, his mind going back to the sight of the two bodies and the lack of further carnage. "Or malicious."

Ceph watched with a bit of a grimace as Tristan inspected the bodies of Carly Smith and Jack Mayes. The Muggles looked like they were ready for a night out, and were a couple. Tristan inspected their necks carefully, and confirmed.

“As far as I can tell, these are distinctively vampiric marks…” A distant crack of an apparating wizard made Ceph glance away, regarding Ed Pratt’s approach. He was dressed messily but at least in a Muggle style. Looked like he’d been half undressed when he’d got the call. Ceph didn’t comment, but their eye contact was enough to acknowledge each other’s presence.

“Your coroners will tell you the same,” Tristan continued to explain, and Ceph’s attention switched back, eyes staying upwards to the consultant’s face than down by his hovering feet. “It's unusual to feed this early before the new moon. Or to hunt, anyway."
“Quite,” Ceph agreed, it was all rather troubling, a feeding at an unusual time, two Muggles-.

“Flaming bagpipes, Gamp. Is it bring a beast to work day?” Pratt was in the same year at school, and although the pair weren’t particularly close friends, they wouldn’t shy away from buying each other a drink after work or being sociable. Ceph was used to his manners, but the comment caused a sharp reaction from the Being Division Head. “What we got? Midnight vampiric feast?”
“Is it unusual to feed on Muggles?” His sister asked from his right hand side.
“It is. Preferences can vary but muggles don't... taste right. Magical blood is more nourishing. Flavoursome, I suspect the feeder was either extremely hungry or newly turned. Or malicious.” Nadine’s nose had turned up at this. Ceph noticed she was still bearing her wand like she would use it.

“Thank you Tristan,” Ceph spoke, and narrowed his eyes at Pratt. “First of all, Being,” he gestured with both hands to Tristan, as if Ed had called him a very offensive word, “Tristan is the Division’s consultant on such matters, Head Auror. I’m sure Carstairs would be happy to sign you and your team up to our diversity trainings if you need a refresher.” Less of a telling off, more a tease to Ed and Nadine.

That irritating matter aside, Ceph inhaled sharply and was back to business. “The Muggle mediwitches said the bodies looked drained of blood. 8 pints in the average body, so we’re talking about 16 pints in one go. One vampire, two, or more? Given it’s not the height of feasting. I suppose the wounds would be less clean if they were shared… re-puncturing.” Ceph gestured beside his neck with his own hand.

“Flaming bagpipes, Gamp. Is it bring a beast to work day?”
“Seems so, boss.” Nadine replied, though Andie spoke over her by coincidence.

Tristan’s smile at her when he spoke of their blood being more flavoursome for the magic was returned with a look of disgust. Was everyone crazed over blood these days? Ceph even had the audacity to suggest she should donate hers to St Mungo’s for these … creatures. Ceph could call them beings all he wanted, but he wasn’t one of them.
“I’m sure Carstairs would be happy to sign you and your team up to our diversity trainings…” Nadine clicked her tongue and dipped down to have a better look at the bodies, crouching. Her wand ran above the bodies as she incanted, half-listening to the boys in the background with Andie.

“No signs of spells cast here, of our kind at least.” Nadine confirmed as her magic flitted over the area like a mist highlighting no paths or echoes of magic present. Not that she thought it was a witch or wizard. One of them for sure. They needed tagged and tracked. Confined to their own communities perhaps. She lifted their sleeves and inspected with her wand, “struggled though. Her nail polish is all chipped, he’s got a head wound. Could one of you have overpowered them both?” Her wand twitched in her hand, shall we test?

A bolder, less restrained smile threatened to pull at Tristan's mouth when Cepheus corrected Pratt's... misconception. People outside of the division were not used to being around non-humans all the time. They forgot that they alone did not inhabit this world: the enmity was borne more of misunderstanding than genuine hatred.

But these were grown adults with no lack of recourse to information. Their ignorance disgusted him.

Tristan stepped aside as Pinn conducted her own form of examination, and he resisted the immediate urge to hiss at the witch. Odious, odious woman. No wonder this society did not trust its law enforcers. Before he could answer Cepheus' question, another was posed.

       "Could one of you have overpowered them both?"

He had expected his expertise for level 4 to involve more talk of covens and courtesies. Murder was not the foremost subject on the vampire's mind, even if he possessed more experience with it than the average being. His jaw drew taut at the slight movement of Nadine's wand hand.

"Yes." Tristan paused, turning his head minutely to consider the bodies with a more casual air. "An older vampire could have easily taken them without the struggle. A younger one would have struggled like this, and 16 pints would be no trouble if they were hungry."

He did not mention his own age, something he rarely let on. Gamp would know, naturally, but Tristan supposed the others would assume he was reasonably old.

"Bruises, scrapes. It's what we would call a sloppy job," he turned back to the Aurors sombrely. "They either did not care about being found, or they wanted to be."

Andie liked it when her brother got sassy. She did not see him in situations often. She hid her smile behind her hand. She pretended to be thinking. She was really thinking but she did not need her hand over her mouth to do her best thinking.
"So we are looking for a new vampire. Or one that did not claim blood at the hospital. Or just a greedy vampire?" Andromeda asked. She did not feel they were getting any closer. She looked at the three wizards from catastrophes. "Is the squib network checking the muggle cameras? I know it will not show up but it is worth a try. The bodies are laid out side by side like they are sleeping. They did not just dump them. I say they wanted them to be found. They want to show they can and they had enough time to do that."

Though not expressly invited, the acting head for the Department of Mysteries had her own informants within the squib network and wasted no time in heading toward the scene of the crime. Even so, her classified informant took longer to reach Jacqueline than the official channels, causing the witch to scramble about in her haste. The witch paused only for a moment to grab her wand and handbag from the cluttered desk before turning on her heel.

The shadows lengthening in the alley helped to hide the arrival of the perturbed witch. She landed with a snarl, storming her way toward the scene before her. There was a small group formed, one of the aurors casting their power out in search of clues, clues she’d be unable to find – if the attack was caused by vampires, that is. And Jacqueline had very little reason to doubt that that was the case.

She steadfastly ignored the obliviators present, unwilling to bend to the might of Edwin Glass, who would cause the Head Unspeakable no amount of grief should he be promoted to Minister. Jacqueline had found an ally in Zephyr, who supported the Department of Mysteries, and though Jacqueline rarely cared about things she deemed unimportant – this upcoming election had grabbed her interest and held on tightly.

Glass had not been made Minister yet, though, which allowed Jacqueline to interfere as much as she liked, with little fear of repercussion. That said, she would still need to tread carefully – the reputation for her department had gone downhill quickly, with the former Head losing his mind and kidnapping and killing students before getting caught and arrested. She couldn’t afford to bring her department under any more scrutiny than it already was.

Upon seeing the vampire, Jacqueline’s speed march halted, the witch stunned momentarily. When the shock of the stupidity wore off, Jacqueline’s progress resumed, even angrier than before. When she reached the group, her eyes roved over them all, though she seemed to stare at Tristan longer than the others. “Well isn’t this just interesting?” She asked sarcastically, French accent coming out stronger than she anticipated. Before speaking again, she surveyed the scene – from the exsanguinated bodies to the puddles of urine and vomit covering the alleyway.

“It’s obvious that this was a deliberate attack. And this was no new vampire – freshly turned vampires rarely have the restraint to keep things so tidy,” It was true, there was very little blood on the scene, and though Jacqueline hadn’t had many run-ins with the beings, she found it highly doubtful that a new vampire had the ability to keep the scene so well contained. Now that she was there and speaking, Jacqueline couldn’t help but allow her anger to diminish slightly, mysteries always had a way of intriguing the French witch.     

"Preferences can very but muggles don't... taste right. Magical blood is more nourishing. Flavoursome," The vampire ‘consultant’ stated calmly, as if discussing a simple Sunday roast dinner. This was exactly the reason Ed, and many of the wizarding population, had no trust in vampires. He had absolutely no plan to become some pale bastard’s roast dinner.

“Tristan is the Division’s consultant on such matters, Head Auror. I’m sure Carstairs would be happy to sign you and your team up to our diversity trainings if you need a refresher.”
Yada yada yada, bore bore bore. Gamp’s little jibe was one of many the head auror had dealt with and he didn’t react with more than a smirk. Diversity, he understood. He had female aurors and she treated them the same. Females didn’t suck blood. Unless they were really angry… Then they did so much worse.

Things went from uncomfortable to downright bizarre when the older witch, Mortimer Gamp’s former deputy from Mysteries began to march towards them, intent on being yet another set of nosy eyes on what people seemed to have forgotten, was Ed’s crime scene. Any crime scene belonged to aurors primarily. It was Pratt and his team that would then decide if and when to pass it on. So why the hell were mysteries showing up and why was this old witch explaining to them the tidiness of vampires?

Her gaze lingered over Vaillancourt for a while, apparently not having noticed the Head Auror stood nearby and Ed grit his teeth, considering his words carefully (not something the wizard regularly did).

“Ms Devereux,” He butted in, his voice calm. “This is a crime scene with the main mystery being ‘who done it?’. As far as I am aware, no one mentioned this to your office because it has nothing to do with you at present. Could you kindly explain why you have shown up to my crime scene?”