"Evening, Jonah. You're here a bit later than usual." Cameron's voice was tinged with concern.

"Aye, bit of bad news I'm afraid. Ol' Man Edwards was found dead on the Western Trail. Think he got hit by a mountain lion." Jonah's quiet sigh caused Cameron's death white face to pale considerably.

"Tim's dead?"

That was just another sign of Cameron's immortality. Everyone knew the truth, but no one ever outright asked or told Cameron that they knew. The "guesses" got more and more outlandish, but they kept the quiet little community in high spirits. Some claimed Cameron was the spitting image of his father, grandfather, and great-grandfather who'd been running the night shift at the town's 7-11. Some claimed he was a genetically enhanced super soldier with an unnatural lifespan. Some even claimed he was an elf, capable of living for over a thousand years. But everyone knew. Cameron was a vampire. A silent protector who kept all criminals out of the quiet little town. He also fended odd the supernatural entities that the cops struggled against.

But the biggest clue was his friendship with Tim Edwards. Tim was the town's old man, living there since he was born. And in his entire lifetime, he never allowed anyone but Cameron to call him Tim since his return from 'Nam.

Jonah nodded as he reached up to shortly scratch at the bald spot he had inherited from his dad's side of the family, "Strange though. He had his 30-ought with him. And it didn't scare away a mountain lion."

Cameron tilted his head to the side as he took a step forward. Normally, stepping forward like that would bump into the edge of the counter. But Cameron glided theough it like a hot knife through butter.

"I know that you're not an investigator and if anyone else caught wind of me asking you, but I heard through grandpa that he called upon your Daddy a time or two. I'd like to ask you to take a look and keep that tradition going."

Cameron's lips turned up in a smile, causing his face to turn creepy as Jonah tried not to grimace, "It'd be my pleasure."

Those simple words told Jonah that whoever... or whatever... had killed Tim Edwards wouldn't be alive by the end of the night. And that terrified Jonah more than whatever Cameron truly was.