A few hours later, Alexander, Louie, Majo, Tony and Susan were in the morning room of Louie's mansion. They'd just finished burying Theodore Thatcher and were attempting to clean up the remaining evidence of the fight. Tom had gone to deliver the video of Louie to Councillor Dalton. It had taken some time to convince Alexander that Greenthorpe had a masquerade of its own, and that Dalton could be trusted to be discreet.
"It's no good, there's nothing we can do about the bloodstains," exclaimed Susan.
"Don't worry about it," said Alexander. "As long as the body's gone, we can claim anything else has been there for years." There was a noise from the hallway, and a few moments later Tom entered, followed by Dalton.
"Ah. Hello," said the latter.
"You must be Dalton," said Alexander.
"And you must be Mr. Garand."
"Have you called off the demolition order on this place?"
"Yes."
"Can't say I approve. A demolition would be the best way to clean up what's happened here. But hey, demolishing a building this size when hundreds of refugees are about to stream into the area would probably look suspicious."
"I'm not the most house-proud person, but it's going to need a hell of a clean," said Louie.
"A few trusted councillors are on their way to help out," said Dalton. "They'll be here any minute, so if any of you want to make yourselves scarce, now would be the time."
"I'd better make a move," said Louie. "I'm not the most popular guy in Greenthorpe."
"That's not necessary. They'd like to make amends for assuming the worst about you all these years."
That moment, they heard some yelling outside. A second later, a zombie crashed through the morning room doors, tearing them off their hinges and smashing most of their glass.
"Alright. Where's the vampire?" it snarled. There was a stunned silence. Michelle grew impatient. "Answer me, or you all die!" She was in an impatient mood, and she could feel the Hunger rising.
"Which vampire?" asked Louie.
"The one who killed my brother!"
"Was your brother part of a TV crew?"
"No! Wait. He was with a TV crew."
"A marine then?"
"Yes. Now where's the vampire?" she shouted.
"He's dead."
"What?"
"Dead. The grave's just out there, if you want to take a look."
Michelle walked over to one of the tall, mucky windows, and wiped away enough of the grime to see a freshly dug grave just outside.
"That proves nothing."
"What other proof can we possibly offer you?"
She pondered this, then hurled herself through the window. She dug into the grave, throwing up mud and stones until at last she reached the coffin. She couldn't open it as she hadn't shifted enough earth, so instead she rammed her arm through the lid and pulled out Theodore's severed head. She looked up. Alexander was leaning out of the window, looking down at her.
"Satisfied?" he asked.
"Yes. That's him." She dropped the head back into the coffin and climbed out of the grave. Her brother's death had been avenged, and she hadn't even been there to see it, let alone take part in it. She knelt down and cried.
"Just a few days ago my life was perfectly normal. Then this *er killed my brother." She sobbed in silence for a minute or two. Alexander climbed out into the garden and put his arm round her. It had been a long time since he'd had to comfort anybody.
"There, shh. It's all over now."
"All over? I'm a *ing zombie. A zombie! All because I didn't trust anyone else to sort out my problems. All because I'm too impulsive."
"Don't start blaming yourself. We all do strange things when we're upset or angry."
"Nice words. But they're not going to cure me, are they? I'm dead now. Last time I checked, there was no cure for death. Well, none that would improve my situation."
Back in the mansion, Tom sighed. Vampires, werewolves, zombies. He'd have to dig out his old textbooks to find out what else was out there. And what about Diamondus? What kind of creatures were on their way from Diamondus?



(Short, but uni has just restarted and I'm pressed for time. If I've taken unwelcome liberties with anyone's characters, do say so.)