The judge didn’t get the information he was looking for and had no way to corroborate the two stories. His decision would have to be based on his gut feelings on who was telling the truth and who was lying to him. He didn’t have much to go on, but felt he was being lied to by both parties with different motives. “I’ve made my decision, I don’t believe either one of you. I find you not guilty of murdering Sara Rockwell and will have to dispatch from the train in St. Louis when we arrive.”“No! You can’t!” Cara cried out. “You have to find me guilty!”“I’m sorry, there is no evidence supporting your claim. Not even your boyfriend here would back you up. I have no choice.”Cara had to scramble for another plan. St. Louis was a few hours away and the thought of being separated from Bohdan was overwhelming. She took a deep breath and tried to calm herself down as an idea came to her. Taking a moment to regain her composure, she slipped off the right shoulder of her dress and pulled it down
“Why do they call this place a zoo?” Bohdan asked.“They call it the Vampire Zoo because people come from all over the country to look at us. We are like animals on display, and they charge a fee to see us. If you want to get up close to the fence, it’s twenty five cents. If you want to get on the bridge, it’s fifty. Only the richest people pay for the bridge.”“Do any of the tourists ever come down here into the pit?” Bohdan asked.“Not very often, but sometimes a rich industrialist will come and pay to have an armed escort down here. It’s usually a huge deal when they do and they have lots of armed guards. Now that you’re here, I’m sure we’ll have a lot more of them showing up. I bet they give you a room of your own.”“What do you mean a room of my own?” Bohdan asked.“There are three building here, one is filled with the Mormons, the other with miners. The third is torn to pieces and is filled with rats and shit. Most of the vampires use it as a toilet.”“Mormons and miners? That’s
Dorek and Valeska led Bohdan and Cara back to their building and let them inside. Neither Bohdan nor Cara knew if this was a setup to get them killed, but they knew eventually they’d be found by someone in the confined area of the pit. They had to have faith they’d survive another day.“This place is a disaster,” Cara said. “How can you live here? Don’t they fix this place up once and awhile?”“No, they don’t care about us, there have been no repairs since the building was built.” “They don’t treat animals in a zoo this badly.”“They think we should take care of the building ourselves, but they don’t give us any materials or tools.”“If this place falls apart, will the tourists still come?” Cara asked.“They come every day, look down on us, yell at us, throw things into the pit,” Dorek replied.“What kinds of things?”“Rocks mostly, they try to hit us when we’re out.” “And the guards put up with this?”“The guards bring rocks to sell to the tourists, they pick them up later and resell
“There he is,” Valeska said pointing to the crowd. “I see Preacher Jack coming this way.”Bohdan strained to pick out this Preacher Jack from all the other vampires. “I thought you said the Mormons and the miners didn’t get along. Do they feed them separate?”“No, they’re all mixed up now, but they will soon separate. There are no factions when it comes to feeding time, a starving vampire is a starving vampire,” Valeska replied.Bohdan could now see a single figure walking back to the miners building surrounded by two other vampires. Preacher Jack was a large vampire, with a big grey burly beard and miner’s hat. He wore suspenders and denim jeans that went well with his button down shirt. He was exactly what Bohdan thought a miner would look like.As Preacher Jack approached, Dorek stepped up and greeted him. “Jack, I want you to meet someone,” Dorek said.Preacher Jack stopped and looked at Bohdan and Cara. He was taken aback for a moment, as if he recognized Bohdan from somewhere. “
Word of the vampire ripper spread like wildfire throughout the pit and to the prison administration outside. Bohdan was awaken from a deep sleep by two prison guards who bravely traversed their way into the miners building to find him. Leaving Cara behind in protest, Bohdan was led out of the building and up the tower to the administration office on the outside. Groggy, but awake, Bohdan was brought into the warden’s office and presented like a prize catch from a fishing pond. The warden, a tough asshole with no compassion for anyone looked upon Bohdan and scratched his face. “Who the fuck are you?” the warden asked, his name was Gary Oden.“My name is Bohdan Malko,” Bohdan replied. He was tired of explaining who he was to people.“Are you this vampire ripper I keep getting told about?” “I’m just a vampire,” Bohdan replied.“Then why do I keep hearing you’re something special? There must be a reason for all this nonsense.”“I don’t know, I can’t help you.”The warden shuffled some pap
“Do you have a daughter?” Bohdan asked.The warden paused for a moment. “Why do you give a shit?” “How old is she?”“Old enough that I can let her watch you rot in that cage. Do you know what it will be like to sit out in the hot sun all day? And in the rain? Fuck, it gets pretty cold in the winter too, you’ll be an ice cube vampire. But they will come from all over to pay to see you,” the warden said.“You know why I like to fuck and kill little girls?” Bohdan asked. He was trying his best to get to the warden. “They’re easy, and they turn me on.”“I bet, sick fucks like you are a dime a dozen, I’m surprised they’re not more of you in prison. How you got a reputation is beyond me.”“I’m not who you think I am, but I do share in this rippers desire for girls. Maybe he is a copycat, maybe I inspired him,” Bohdan said.“It shouldn’t take too long to identify you. I’ll wire the marshal’s office today and get someone down here to check you out. In the meantime, I’m ordering the cage be bu
For two weeks straight the warden had Bohdan suspended twenty feet above the ground trapped in a cage. The cage hung from the bridge that connected the tower to the guard post on edge of the pit. Spectators came from far and wide to see Bohdan as word got out he was now a prisoner at the Vampire Zoo. His reputation caused overcrowding that choked the prison grounds and made life more difficult for the guards and other inmates. The guards were pissed their workload had increased and the other inmates were jealous of the attention Bohdan received.From his cage, Bohdan could see the three buildings and watch the other vampires as they carried on with their lives. They often stopped in groups to look up at him and jeer. Many times they threw rocks and stones and tried to hit him, often hitting the sides of the steel cage with a clank. Bohdan was hit a few times, but was never injuredThen the day came when the warden called him back into his office with some news. It was an idea he had h
Bohdan noticed several tools on the ground lying on the sand just outside Ashley’s reach. He bent over and picked up a butcher’s knife and a long steak knife with serrated edges. It was obvious they were put there for Bohdan to use. He looked at the stainless steel shine and admired how they reflected the sunlight and blue sky from above. “This is out of my control,” Bohdan said. He paused for a moment and smiled. “This will hurt, very badly.” Again he paused and gauged Ashley’s reaction. “First I will rape you, then I will cut you to pieces and take out your heart. I don’t know what I’ll do with it once I have it, but that’s my plan.”Ashley pulled away as far as the chain would allow. “But you know me, we worked together. We were part of a team!”“We escaped from the prison before it blew up. That was out of my control. Otherwise we did spend time together, but that wasn’t because I had any fondness for you. I probably would have eventually killed you anyway. You were lucky I was se