It was already 11PM when I went upstairs to the dark rooftop. I was carrying the emergency light on one hand and the cat food on the other. The mother cat and the bigger kitten waited for me at the top of the steps. I called for the other two kittens. I got no response.
I looked under the chairs, none. I looked around, none. Then my eyes fell on the closed door of the storage room. I opened it and pointed my light from right to left. As it touched the corner of the room, I cried.
I saw one of the kittens, lifeless. Mouth a bit open, eyes half open as well. There were a couple drops of blood around it. There was a single puncture on its neck; no other wound or sign that internal organs were eaten or stains that there was struggle. Only blood was drained.
I went downstairs to tell my sister to come and look at what might have happened. When we got back up, she told me to open the lights on the rooftop. What I saw made me cry more.
The other kitten was lying beside a potted plant, lifeless as well. Mouth a bit open and eyes half open, too. There was a drop of blood near it. And there's this same single puncture on its neck. Still no other wound or sign that internal organs were eaten or stains that there was struggle. Still, only blood was drained.
My sister and I stayed on the rooftop, inspected the kittens' dead body without touching them, thinking of what creature could have done this bloodsucking murder. She even suggested to do an animal autopsy just to find out. Plus, the blood and wound on both kittens were still fresh, meaning the killing happened just a couple of hours ago. They were still alive during the evening.
The suspect cannot be a fellow cat. There should have been signs of fighting and other bites and bloodstains.
It cannot be a bat. The bat should've taken the kitten away if it fed on it. And bats attack in a group, they would've dismembered the body parts of their prey.
It cannot be a sewer rat. First of all, our rooftop is on the third level. It is above the second floor. It is a very high spot for a rat to go up and feed. Why not stay in the sewer where there are lots of food, right? Second, before anyone or any creature can get to the rooftop, they have to go through three vicious dogs -- two in the garage, one on the terrace. No creature will survive and pass through them alive. Third, the mother cat would've caught and eaten the rat.
It cannot be a dog. Dogs don't suck blood and kill victims very clean.
It cannot be a snake. First, where would it come from? The neighbor's roofs? Second, it should've eaten the kittens whole.
So what creature can open doors and kill two victims with the same clean bloodsucking manner at a time?
One more thing, my sister and I remembered the very loud bang on the galvanized iron roof of the second floor just above the bedroom a few hours earlier upon seeing the dead kittens. It was so loud, I even thought it was a thunderclap. We connected it to the time of the killing. If we checked it out right then, we would've seen the suspect and even saved the kittens. Too bad we didn't.
Because it might have been the killer. It might have jumped on the roof and went away after sucking the life out of the poor kittens. Whatever made that jump, it was so heavy. Human heavy. Vampire heavy.
So our conclusions lead to assuming that a vampire is the suspect to this incident. All evidences point to a vampire.
If only we were sane enough at that time to take a photo of the dead kittens, you would be able to help us solve this mysterious single-puncture deaths. But unfortunately, there is no picture we can show you.
As of now, I am continuously doing a research as to what other creatures might have done the killing. If any of you can help, please do. This is driving me crazy already.
But through years of reading and watching vampire-related materials, the vampire will never be erased on my list of suspects. If it is really a vampire, then we are not safe.
None of us is safe.
And this is no work of fiction.