A Bite-Sized Adventure

If you’re on Twitter, you might have noticed that the very short story community ran a special series of prompts in October. The hashtag was #vssmurder. I didn’t intend to write a continuous story, but the detective and the rookie decided they wanted to take over. I’ve put some of their daily tales together here to offer you A Bite-Sized Adventure.

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The detective frowned. “A bloodless corpse?”
“And no splashes at the scene,” added the rookie.
“So, the killer let the victim exsanguinate somewhere else. Any thoughts?”
“Well, we are next door to a blood bank.”
They gazed at each other in horror.

---

“Sir!” the rookie panted. “Is this wise?”
The detective rang the buzzer. “No, but I won’t let that butcher get away with it.”
The door swung open.
Stepping forwards, the detective tripped and fell. A cleaver embedded itself in the floor beside his head.

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“A madman must have killed him.” The detective stared at the headless corpse.
The rookie gulped. “Look at this victim’s chest!”
“Why stab him as well?” He peered closer. “Are those wooden splinters?”
“Sir?” The rookie wrinkled his nose. “Do you smell… garlic?”

---

“Why would a vampire be killed?” muttered the rookie as they traversed the darkened hall.
The detective snorted. “Assuming such creatures exist. Self-protection?”
“Sir—urk!”
“Revenge?”
“…”
“Are you listening?” The detective swung round.
He was alone.

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Sprawled in the dark, the rookie clutched his aching skull. “Bloody pub crawl—”
“You drink… wine?” A pair of glowing red eyes appeared.
He gaped. “You’re dead! Beheaded!”
“Pah, an unwary rival. Now his domain is mine.”
Only one thing to do. “Sir! Help!”

---

Vampires? A vanishing rookie? A bead of sweat tickled the detective’s neck.
“Sir! Help!” came a faint shout from below.
There! The scent of grave dust lingered in a dim stairwell.
Tightening his grip on the cleaver, he descended into the gloom.

---

In the basement, the vampire laughed. “You’ll decay before you can touch me.”
“I’ll still try!” The detective hurled the cleaver.
His foe gracefully dodged. “Fool! Discarding your weap—”
Glass broke. Sunlight flared.
The detective coughed in the sudden dust.

---

“Sir!” The rookie staggered in. “Where’s the vampire?”
The detective coughed. “Your captor seems to be dead.”
“Phew. I was scared to death when he—”
“But vampires don’t exist. Do they?”
The rookie dabbed blood from his lip. “No, sir. Of course not.”

THE END

If you’re curious, the prompt words for this sequence were: exsanguinate, butcher, stab, revenge, skull, grave, decay and dead/death. Feel free to post your own mini-adventures in the comments below!