by J A Campbell
Cade was awake by the time I returned with some fast food and painkillers.
“Here,” I thrust the bag at him, the smell of fast food hamburgers filling the small room and making even me hungry.
“Thanks.” He still sounded weak, but his color was better and his heartbeat stronger.
“I’m sure fast food isn’t doctor recommended.” I laughed. “But not much is open this time of night.”
Cade nodded and dug in, his burger gone almost as quickly as he opened it.
“Guess it’s a good thing I got several.”
Cade nodded, wolfing down another.
“I stitched your back. It should be clean. You are going to need to take it easy for a while, though.”
Cade sighed. “I don’t have time.”
“You don’t have a choice. You won’t survive a fight with a house cat, let alone a pissed-off werekitty.”
Cade frowned, the lines around his eyes deepening. “I need to get out of here before she catches up to me.”
“Why? If she does find you, I’m more than happy to help protect you.”
Cade’s frown deepened.
“Anyway, you can’t go anywhere until I finish your truck.”
Cade gave me a semi-ironic smile, his frown lightening. “That’s true.”
“Get some rest. I’m going to get back to work.”
I could feel Cade’s eyes on me as I left the room.
He was still asleep when the sun started to rise. I needed a nap before I continued on, so I disabled the garage door and crawled into the bed of his truck. I didn’t think he’d care too much, since he was in my cot.
“Kat?”
“Sleeping,” I muttered then bolted upright. “What!” I looked around confused, before remembering where I was.
“Were you up all night?” He was looking at the progress I had made on his truck. Except for some parts I needed, it was actually almost done.
“Yeah.”
“You didn’t have to do that.”
I snorted. “Rather stay up all night than stay up all day.” I laid back down. “What time is it?”
“Ten.”
I groaned. Such an unnatural time to be awake.
Cade arched his eyebrows. “Why don’t you go sleep on the cot?”
I sighed. It would be more comfortable, but I suspected it was going to need some serious washing before I’d be able to. It was going to smell like blood for a while.
“No, the, uh…” I almost stuck my foot in it. “I’m fine. I just needed a nap. I need to call in a few favors, anyway, to get those parts this weekend.” I forced myself awake and hopped out of the back of the truck, trying not to look tired. I patted my pockets looking for the list I’d made.
“Kat, you don’t have to kill yourself to get my truck fixed. If you’ve been up all night, get some sleep.”
I shrugged. “It’s fine.” I found the paper and pulled it out, heading over to the phone.
“Do you want me to get you something to eat?”
I shook my head. “No. Order delivery for yourself, though. You aren’t in any condition to walk anywhere.”
Cade glanced around the garage, his gaze lingering on my Firebird.
“And you aren’t borrowing my car.”
Cade laughed. “Do you have a phone book?”
“Up front.”
“Okay.”
“Use line one. I’ll be on two.”
Cade nodded and I watched him walk up front. He seemed to have more energy, but he was still very stiff. I doubted he’d be up to fighting a werecat any time soon. Damn.
It took some haggling, but I got the parts I needed by that evening and a few more hours of sleep in the bed of Cade’s pickup while I waited for them. Cade was tired, but I could tell he was getting restless cooped up in the shop. I doubted he was a person who stayed in one spot for too long.
“Did you get a hotel room?” I asked during one of his transits across the shop. His back had to hurt, but he wasn’t in enough pain to keep him still.
“No. I didn’t get that far.”
“Oh, and I bet that funny feeling you had was related to serious blood loss.”
Cade shrugged. “Maybe. I’ve learned to trust my instincts, even wounded.”
“I can understand that.” I put down my tools—done for the moment—and reflexively glanced at the clock, though I knew the sun was down and I could go outside if I wanted to. I was getting hungry. “Cade, I’m going out for a while. Stick around. You’re wounded, and this isn’t the safest neighborhood.”
Cade opened his mouth, but I gave him a don’t argue look: arms crossed, eyebrows raised.
“Fine.”
“I shouldn’t be gone long.”
Cade sank down in a chair and nodded.
I slipped out the side door, locking it behind me. Hopefully Cade would stay put.
I felt much better by the time I returned and really wasn’t expecting anything to be wrong, which is probably why it took me a minute to notice that the door to the back bay was lying—twisted at a rather awkward angle—on the ground.
“Shit.”
I crept forward, slipping around the mangled door, and peered inside. The lights were on, and it took me a second to adjust to the brightness, but the scene inside resolved itself quickly. A woman, probably the werecat from her supernatural vibes, had Cade shoved up against his truck. He was alive, and, as yet, unharmed. I guessed it was a good thing that cats liked to play with their food. She had two men with her, also weres, and that complicated things a bit. They stood back a ways, not quite ignoring the door, but not paying enough attention to it at the moment to trouble me.
The cat slammed Cade into his truck and I winced, not just because I knew his back was going to be a mess again.
“Hey,” I said loudly. “I just fixed that.”
The cat spun around. She had long blond hair and was lean and tall: taller than me, which wasn’t hard these days. Her eyes were green and she looked feline.
“Grab her,” she hissed to her two goons.
I grinned. “You can certainly try of course. But, I wouldn’t recommend it. Oh, by the way—” I sauntered into the room. “You’re trespassing.”
The cat seemed confused for a moment and then glared at me, still holding Cade up by the neck. He was conscious, barely. That was probably just as well for me. Unconscious, he might not figure out I was a vampire.
The male weres approached, a little cautiously, though they were still far too confident. At least, they were until the one got close enough to smell me over the grease and oil that pervaded the air in my shop.
“Hey, she’s a…” my silver bladed knife, thrown with the strength of a vampire, buried itself up to its hilt in his throat and severed his spinal cord. He fell to the floor, lifeless.
The woman screamed in rage and dropped Cade, springing toward me. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Cade crawl under his truck while I flipped my other knife at the standing male were. He was quicker, trying to dodge, but he wasn’t quite fast enough; the knife missed his throat, but it ended up embedded in his skull, instead. Close enough.
“You’ll pay for that,” the cat screamed again, her eyes shifting to feline.
“Well, you did owe me for a door. I’d say we’re about even now.”
She hissed, stalking closer. “Damn you.”
“Too late.” I grinned, dancing forward
Unfortunately, I was unarmed; fortunately, that wasn’t going to matter a whole lot.
She charged forward, eyes going wide as she caught my scent. I grinned at her, this time showing fang, and sprang forward when she tried to dodge. I tackled her to the ground. She howled, tearing at me with her bare hands. I made us roll until I was on top then slammed her head into the ground. It stunned her long enough for me to get a grip on her head. I twisted violently and winced when her spine snapped, popping wetly.
I never had liked that sound.
For the second time in about
twenty four hours, I was glad I wasn’t hungry. The hot scent of wereblood filled me with a desire so strong I almost couldn’t resist.
Cade groaned, breaking my attention just enough to allow me to jerk myself away from the dead werecat. I retrieved my knives quickly, cleaned them off, and almost lost myself to the blood again.
“Kat?” Cade asked, voice weak, harsh.
I pulled my attention away from the blood that I so wanted and made myself walk over to Cade, although that wasn’t the greatest idea, either. He was bleeding and smelled tasty. I ground my teeth in frustration and jerked my gaze away from his neck.
“Are you okay?” I managed to get out.
“Maybe.” He didn’t sound so sure.
“Come on. Let’s get you out of there so I can take a look.”
I ended up having to mostly drag him out from underneath his pickup, but I don’t think I hurt him further.
“Thanks,” Cade said.
“Sure. I’m charging you for the door.”
Cade laughed, and then passed out in my arms. I sighed and rolled my eyes.
I got Cade installed back on the cot and suggested that he sleep. His back was torn again, and I was going to have to fix that, but first I needed to get the dead weres out of my garage.
I made a call.
“Hello Ekatarine,” Victor’s voice sounded on the other end of the phone.
“Hey. Want three freshly dead werecats?”
“I take it you need their bodies removed.”
“Yes, and quickly. They are driving me nuts.”
I could almost hear Victor shake his head. “Very well. I’ll get someone over there.”
“Quickly, Victor, and they can’t stay. I have a, eh, guest.”
Victor sighed. “Your life is more complicated than I know what to do with.”
I laughed. “I know. Thanks, Victor.”
“Of course. I’d say you owe me, but that is not the case.”
I grinned, enjoying the sound of his Russian accent. “I know.”
“Goodbye, Kat.”
“Bye, Victor.”
By the time Cade woke up the next day, the shop was clean.
“Kat?” Cade said softly, waking me from a light doze.
I forced myself to wake up the rest of the way. “Yes?” I tried to keep the annoyance out of my voice.
“I don’t quite remember what happened.” He touched his bruised throat.
“Your girlfriend came for a visit and, as I predicted, you were in no shape to argue with her. Fortunately, I got back in time to save your sorry ass. She’s dead.”
“There were three of them,” he said hesitantly, his voice scratchy.
“The other two are dead as well.”
“Thanks.”
“You should lie back down.”
Cade sighed.
“Your truck will be done this afternoon. I’m charging extra for my door.” I smiled, gesturing to the space-blanket-covered opening that had once been the door to the back bay.
“I’m really sorry about that,” Cade sighed. “I just couldn’t get any farther. I don’t know how she followed me. I owe you one.”
I shrugged. “It’s not a big deal.”
“You saved my life. It is a big deal.”
“Well, I was referring to your truck. You are welcome.”
Cade grinned. “So, if you’re not doing anything next weekend, there’s this vampire I need to kill.”
I stared at him, not quite sure I was hearing him right. “Where?” I finally asked.
Cade’s smile broadened. “Up in Pennsylvania. He’s been causing some problems, and, since he’s attracted my attention, he needs to die.”
I shook my head. How did I get myself into these situations?
The Hunter and the Hunted
Midwest, Early 1990s
I crept forward, trying to keep my presence as small as possible. The vampire I was hunting had been here recently, and though I thought he was gone, I wasn’t sure. The building I approached was an old Midwestern farmhouse, complete with a barn, corn fields, and an old rusty tractor. Nebraska was a little out of my normal hunting grounds, but this was a special case.
There were people in the house, three of them, and, I thought, something else. That uncertainty had me baffled. Normally, it was easy for me to tell who and what was in my surrounding area, but this house had some sort of charm around it.
I darted across the open lawn, too fast for a human eye to follow, and crouched under the open window. There were three humans inside and something… I inhaled deeply, hoping to get a sense of the other creature. Nothing.
“Please, you have to help me,” someone inside was saying, her voice hysterical.
“She’s already dead,” another female voice said.
“Yes, but her killer, he’ll do it again. We’ve already lost so many people out here to this thing. Whatever it is. The police aren’t doing anything. I don’t think they can.”
“I’m sure the police are doing what they can,” a male voice said.
“Alex, Charity, I know you two believe in the supernatural. Something supernatural killed my daughter, and the daughters of those poor other people. Please.”
Huh, I thought. They must have brought in some Hunters. That could be problematic. I hadn’t realized that the rogue vampire had attracted this much attention. I was sure, now, that the vampire I was after was no longer here. He would have attacked the Hunters already. And the girl was already dead. So, what was that other presence I felt?
I got up from the window, not caring about the rest of the sob story. Yeah, it sucked, but people died all the time. I was trying to help, but that didn’t mean I cared to listen to people beg and cry.
I was startled out of my slow stalk around the house by a dim glow. I stopped and stared, trying to comprehend what the glowing orb in front of me was. It grew in size and brightness until it resembled a girl of about thirteen with plaid skirts and braided hair.
Her image wavered, then solidified.
I should have figured out that it was a ghost sooner—Charleston, where I lived, was full of them after all—but I hadn’t been expecting one out here, and this one felt a little different. I wasn’t sure how, but it felt more real than most of Charleston’s ghosts.
“You’re one of them, aren’t you?” the child said.
“One of what?”
“The thing that killed me. You’re one and you’re here to kill my family.” The ghost wailed then, eerie and painful.
I covered my ears and hoped that the people inside couldn’t hear her scream.
“No, no…I’m not here to kill anyone.”
“You’re lying,” the ghost taunted.
“What?” I thought for a second. “Well, I’m here to kill a vampire. Not anyone in the house.”
The ghost floated around, dancing a taunting dance.
“Evil, evil, evil.”
Pale, translucent hands grasped for me.
“No!” I dodged the grasping hands, not sure if she could hurt me but not willing to take the chance. “I’m here to help.”
“I’ll kill a vampire,” the ghost laughed and dashed forward.
I ran. The dead were hard enough to reason with when they weren’t vengeful, and I didn’t think I was going to get through to her. I had no reason to stay, anyway. I had the information I came for.
She shrieked in laughter and danced some more.
“Kill the vampire, kill it until it rots,” she sang.
I shuddered.
The front door banged open, and I heard footsteps run out onto the porch.
“What is it?” A shrill voice said, sounding frightened.
“I don’t know,” the other female replied. “We thought we sensed something out here.”
The ghost capered over the front lawn, “Kill, kill! Make the vampires gone.” Her voice was high and painful to my sensitive ears.
The people on the front porch were staring right at the ghost, but
it didn’t seem like they could see it. I hid in the shadows of the cornfield and studied them. One of the females, obviously the mother of the dead girl by the resemblance and the splotchy tear-stained face, was shifting around uncomfortably, peering into the night as if she were afraid what she might find.
The other two, a man and a woman in their late twenties or early thirties, were a little harder to make out, even to my sharp eyes. The woman looked like she was blond, with shoulder length hair. The man had dark hair. Both looked fit and I could just see bulges where shoulder holsters concealed guns. They would be the Hunters.
Interesting.
They were also looking straight at me. Even more interesting. I had good shields, which allowed me, on occasion, to interact with human Hunters and not get myself killed. They shouldn’t be able to sense me now, but they were looking at me, through the ghost and to the cornfield. It could be a coincidence, but I preferred not to rely on that.
Trying to avoid further detection I stayed immobile. Finally, they went back inside, and I faded into the cornfield, leaving the Hunters and the bloodthirsty ghost behind me.
It was getting late by the time I returned to my motel, a dinky place barely justifying the name, but my beautiful black Trans Am was sitting in the parking lot, so that made it home. Yes, I loved my car. It was too conspicuous, so I had left it behind for tonight’s reconnaissance.
I had some ideas where the vampire might be hiding, judging from the pattern of his attacks, and I had checked several already with no results. The lead tonight was the most promising I had gotten, and it still didn’t leave me with a concrete place to look.
I wondered where the Hunters were staying as I let myself into my room. There weren’t that many motels in town: two, to be exact. I hadn’t noticed the Hunters at mine, but then I hadn’t known they were here, either. I’d have to be careful.
Their presence could be problematic. Putting it out of mind, I shoved a chair under the handle of the door and got ready for bed. I didn’t like sleeping in motels, but sometimes I just didn’t have a choice.
