Chapter 3

San Loaran, California

5 years ago

 

She could see Jack through the window. She turned the car off and waited for his martial arts class to end. The class broke up and he came out the door towards the car.

“Hey kid, how ya doin today?” He sounded happy. Relaxed. Must have been a good class since Jack was usually wound so tight.

“I swear to God, I will eviscerate you if you don't start calling me by my name.” Her voice was a growl.

“Your perky welcome makes me think you didn't talk Nate out of his little plan for you.”

“No.” It was sullen.

“You know, he only wants what's best for you.”

Really? He wanted to talk about this and take Nate's side? Her temper spiked, making her reckless. “You know what I know? I know that whenever someone tells you they are doing 'what's best for you', you're screwed. Those are not words you want to hear. It's right up there with 'it's not you it's me'.”

He laughed a little. “What's the time frame? I need a shower.”

“I thought about rolling down the windows but didn't want to be rude.” She gave him a smile that wasn't very nice at all.

“Yeah, well, you after tennis is no picnic either.”

“Fair.”

They drove the rest of the way in silence. Jack took his shower and Val went to her room. Her bed was covered with the clothes she'd wear tonight on her mission. All black with lots of velcro and pockets for hiding deadly weapons.

 Jack knocked and opened the door. “Val?” He looked at her carefully, like he was trying to determine how upset she was. A sympathetic smile flashed across his face and he rubbed the back of his neck like he was tense too.

Val pointed to the bed and his smokey eyes tracked the movement. He looked at the outfit on the bed, nodding absently. “Hmm. Those are good cargoes actually. I don't know about the top.”

“Can I just tell you how hot I would look in a black leather jacket?” Her eyes slid over to his and she found him studying her, imagining her in that jacket, she thought.

She blushed and leaned down so he wouldn't notice. His hand reached out to touch her dark brown hair and he pulled some of it through his fingers.

“What about this?” he said softly.

She shrugged and stood back up. “I don't know. Braid, maybe? Cut it off for the honor of my family, Mulan style.”

His lips quirked. “Braid is good, but tuck it into your shirt. You don't want him to get a handhold.”

She crossed her arms protectively around her. “This is such a bad idea. What if I freeze? I could be dead before you get there. Or dad, before he gets there.”

“Not gonna happen. I’ll be there.” His voice was commanding. He shook his head at her, stormy gray eyes looking a little tortured. He was so handsome.

Sigh.

Jack had even managed to escape the Italian nose. His nose was straight, refined. Val mentally chastised herself. Nose romanticizing was for losers.

Jack would die to protect her and just thinking about it made her knees wobble in both fear and lust.

“I know that look gets you laid a lot but it doesn't really make me fear death any less,” she said grumpily, irritated at her attraction to him when he was partially responsible for what would happen tonight.

His smile was genuine. “Smart ass. Maybe I will let him bite you.”

“Maybe he won't even be there.” Her tone was hopeful.

His eyes met hers again, “He'll be there. Prepare for that. You won't get out of it. You get the job done. No fear, no hesitation, right?”

She nodded. Why did these conversations always sound like they came from some crappy war movie?

A moment passed and she started thinking about things that could go wrong. As though he could read her mind, he tried to distract her, lightly jabbing a fist out towards her stomach which she blocked automatically.

“What's your plan?” He was trying to be positive.

“Dad and I talked about it. I'm gonna ambush him. We knocked out the streetlights around his house. It's not too obvious though. He shouldn't be suspicious. I'm going to hide behind the hydrangea bush in front of his house. I'll shoot through it, try to take him in the chest and not have any hand to hand at all. Assuming I don't get the money shot right away— ”

“Different terminology please,” Jack said in a strangled voice. Was he laughing or horrified? Actually, both were good.

“I like money shot. If dad is going to send me out there to die, then I'm going to make this as uncomfortable for everyone as I possibly can.”

Jack scowled at her and moved on. “Okay, you shoot him, he keeps coming and  then what?”

“This is clever, actually. I rigged up a bow and arrow thing so all he has to do is hit the trip wire and it will shoot him in the back. Assuming that doesn't cook his biscuits—  I'm gonna knee him in the gonads and stab him through the heart!” She kneed an invisible attacker, then smiled at him.

“Well, you scared the hell out of me. Okay, good. Solid. Has contingency options. Do you have the cyanide pill?”

 It wasn't really cyanide, but that's what they called it. It was basically a small ball of silver that would disintegrate into sharp pieces on impact. She'd once seen a vampire burst into flame when hit with silver.

It would be a last ditch effort to save herself. If she was counting on that to save her, she was dead. Dread rippled down her body, leaving her cold.

Jack's lips set into a firm line, his whole body suddenly tense. She held up her hand, not wanting him to say anything about her sudden fear—and it’s apparent obviousness.

She needed to keep the conversation light.

He understood, adjusting his stance and scrubbing a lean hand across his face, “Right. Where are you going to keep it?”

“Pocket?” she said hopefully.

“Ooh, sorry, that's a rookie mistake. How are you going to reach into your pocket when a pissed off and hungry vampire is going to rip your throat out?” His tone was playful and she appreciated the effort he was making for her.

“What does your highness suggest?”

He shrugged. “I'd keep it strapped to your wrist. Then you can just smash it against his face.”

That made her heart skip a beat. She could imagine herself being trapped under a vampire and trying to smash this stupid ball into the side of his head before he killed her.

Oh God, she was gonna heave.

Jack handed her a little bracelet that had a soft suction like cup for the ball to rest in. She looked at it suspiciously. “Does this work? I don't want to be your test chump.”

“Yeah, it does. I tried it two weeks ago.”

She wanted to ask questions. Had he used it on an actual vampire? Had things gotten that hairy and dangerous that the fight had been hand to hand? But she didn't. He didn't tell her stuff like that and she didn't ask.

“Okay. I'm gonna get ready. Leave before the nudity starts.”

Jack left quickly, giving the door an extra tug to make sure it was closed.

After getting dressed, Val laid on her bed. Nervousness made her feel nauseous, almost like she had two hearts frantically beating in her chest, instead of one.

She wondered if Lucas would be there tonight. No, why would he? She'd only seen him that one time, although it had taken her months to feel like she wasn't being watched. Sometimes, she had the feeling that he was close by. Like if she just turned around fast enough, she’d see him.

If he was there, would he help her again? He'd said he wanted to protect her. How many sleepless nights had that one line caused her?

She looked at the clock. Time to go. At the bottom of the stairs she realized the house was too quiet and that she hadn’t heard her father come home.

“Where's dad?”

Jack flinched. “He can't make it.”

“Well, there will be more vampires another time. Good job security, but shitty benefits in the vampire business.” She turned around, ready to head back upstairs and take off her black attack-wear.

“He wants us to go anyway.”

The air rushed out of her lungs, making her words a little wobbly. “He’s going to send me into this alone?”

Jack walked closer to her. He was dressed in black cargo pants too. A black turtleneck with a few knife sheaths and a gun holster were on him as well. Very black ops. “I'll be there. I won't let anything happen to you.”

She knew Jack would try to save her and that they might both die tonight. It would destroy him if he couldn't save her. Even though he'd been little, he blamed himself for the death of his parents.

She felt the quick anger and sadness at her father melt away, become the more familiar feelings of betrayal and bewilderment. In a way, she'd known her father wasn't going to be here. Cancel the ‘daddy of the year’ award.

They got into the car and Jack drove. He was a very cautious driver. Like a little old Italian lady. While other guys drove at a hundred miles an hour, Jack didn't want to invite more risk into his life than he had to.

They parked down the street from the vampire’s lair. In this case it was a house. A house that had seen some seriously better days. It had a screen door that was hanging on for dear life and paint that had given up the fight, peeling off the walls and dropping to its death in flaky patches.

Most of the plants were dead too. But a hearty Hydrangea and some ugly shrubs were still fighting for survival.

I could totally die here.

Fuck.

The vampire who lived her was either a total loser or really liked the monster image. Really, if he couldn't be a rich vampire, then he was a moron.

Vampires had centuries to get rich. They were strong and silent. They could resort to robbery, steal from their victims, but this guy didn't seem to have made it work. Having to take out a loser vampire would make it easier...right?

Maybe he was a newbie.

“What do we know about him?”

“Not a lot. He came into town a few weeks ago. He went to a nightclub and killed a girl in the bathroom. She died of blood loss, obviously. They found him on the security tape. Gilbert sent us the info.” Gilbert Arthur was a Hunter in Australia who always seemed to know what was going on.

It was odd. But the information was always good. Well, sometimes the vampire had left by the time they got there or the details were hazy but he was always right about the attack and location of where the vampire had last been.

Val sighed, “What did Gilbert have that kept the police away from arresting this guy?”

“Ah. That would be the missing security tape.”

She exploded. “Gilbert is in Australia! Why is the tape with him? How did he get it, why does he know this stuff? Shouldn't we be the ones in the know? No, you. You should be the one in the know.” This wasn’t her fight. She was going to college.

Her future involved keggers and one-night-stands. No doubt in that order.

“I'll let the pronoun slide. No one knows where he gets his info from,” Jack said it wearily, as though he'd discussed Gilbert Arthur and his mysterious information a lot.

“Anyway, this guy— ” Jack gestured towards the house, “he's laid low, but today he scoped out a playground. So, game over. Your dad doesn't want to risk waiting until he gets back. And this should be easy. He's poor for Christ's sake! What kind of self-respecting vampire would live in a dump like this? Honestly.” His voice was disgusted and she knew he was trying to make her laugh.

It was something they'd always done on stake outs. Even she didn't want to be left home alone all the time. So sometimes she'd go along. Especially if she knew there was just about no chance they would encounter a vampire. Jack would only invite her when he thought it would be safe.

She'd make hot chocolate and bring popcorn and they'd talk about school, music, tv, life. Play twenty questions. She liked those nights.

They always trash talked the vampire in question. Usually, it was amusing, but it didn't work this time, now that she was the one who was going to be doing the fighting.

 Jack tried to take her hand, comfort her but she jerked away in anger. She opened the door, popped the trunk and grabbed her stuff. Scanning the trees and houses around her intently, Val looked for a flash of gold.

Looking for Lucas.

Maybe her mind had deceived her. Everything had happened so fast that she'd decided she didn't know what he looked like. He couldn’t have been that beautiful.

Her memories of that night were all twisted up so that Lucas now seemed larger than life. She feared she'd romanticized him and that she would be disappointed in his actual appearance if she ever saw him again. Which, she emphatically did not want!

Jack got out and waited for her, the sound of his door closing interrupting her thoughts. He was going to stay hidden on the other side of the yard. Hide in the shadows, just in case.

 “You know what Jack? Fuck you! You didn't have to do this. You know how messed up this is!”

He ran his hand through his hair, uncomfortable. He'd never disagree with her father. She waited but he said nothing, seemingly at a loss.

“Kiss ass.” She turned and walked away.

“Use the rage, Val. Good talk.” The sarcasm made her want to scream.

Then he was serious, “Okay, this jackass works and he'll be home in twenty. Guess where he works, Val? The library. Honestly, you could kill him with your eyes closed.”

Jack disappeared into the shadows while she quickly set up her trip wire and stationed herself behind the bushes, dried up blooms falling all around her like snow.

Knives? Check. Pill? Check. Gun? Big check!

Okay. She was ready to go. Val imagined the fight over and over. Different ways it could happen and ways she could die.

Val hunkered down behind the Hydrangea and waited. Twenty minutes is a long time to be afraid…and I really have to pee.

Finally, there was movement. A man was walking down the dark street, appearing and disappearing as he passed under street lamps. Could be a normal pedestrian out for a walk.

Or not.

 The guy moved very smoothly. Her stomach wobbled. Vampires didn't have limps or glitches. Tendons didn't matter and it made them unusually graceful. It wasn't something most people would notice. But to her, it was a tell.

He came towards the house and a car drove by. The lights caught his eyes and they flashed monster bright. Yup. This was the guy.

She felt the gun in her hand, made sure the safety was off, then breathed in and out steadily. Slowly, quietly. Except for the desire to run away screaming she was still, calm. He turned in the gate.

Three steps, you bastard.

He walked forward and she pointed the gun. She was good, very accurate for all the days she'd spent at the range and all the hunting trips her dad had taken her on, but this was different.

She could screw this up so badly that even Jack's life might be in danger. Her hand started to waiver at the thought, but he was getting close to the trip wire now. He was tall. Why had she thought he’d be shorter? He looked kind of shy and like he could work in a library. Vampires should be scary. It should be required. Looking normal was an unfair advantage.

Val forced herself to calm, re-imagining what it had felt like when Lucas had made her feel so eerily and thoroughly emotionless.

The vampire stepped on the tripwire, a silver-tipped arrow slicing through the air and lodging into his  ribs. He spun around to find the source of the weapon, simultaneously pulling the arrow out of his body. The head of the arrow detached inside him, just as it was supposed to, and a curl of smoke rose from his chest where the silver burned him.

But he wasn't going to die from it.

Shit! Flesh wound. If only he’d been three inches shorter.

Val sighted the gun and pulled the trigger. The bullets were made of wood and the gun had a silencer. The plant shook as the bullet passed through. It pierced him in the back and he jerked around again, facing her.

He coughed, black blood arcing from his mouth like vomit. She'd hit a lung.

She fired again and he fell to his knees. She shot him again, knowing this would be the one to finish him off, but the gun jammed. Of course! Put that on my tombstone, “Would have made it but for Smith and Wesson.”

She withdrew her knife and ran for him—  acting on instinct, not wanting to give him any time to regenerate.

 A wet growl gurgled from his throat as he reached for her.

Val ducked and tried to come in under his grasping arms to stab him in the chest but he was quick. Val tried to adjust and go for his thigh instead. The femoral artery was harder to get to but she was getting confused, panic rising and she felt like she was running out of options, had to end this now! No time for patience or thinking.

He grabbed her, held onto her shirt, yanking her up like a rag doll, before tossing her several feet away.

Close to the front door. The easier to snack on you, my dear.

Flecks of paint and dust rose around her in a clogging breeze.

Val was paralyzed, her faux-calmness gone, replaced by panic and violent memories, stunned from the painful landing.

Her lungs needed air but she couldn’t breathe yet. She needed the knife, but her muscles were jerky and slow to respond.

Where is Jack?  

The vampire lunged at her, throwing his weight on top of her, banging her head against the ground. It felt like a firework exploded in her head.

Her wrist!

She slammed her arm into his face and the ball exploded. His skin sizzled, shards of silver embedded in his skin.

He screamed and rolled off of her, hands cupping his face. She grabbed the stake from her waistband and threw herself forward, holding the stake steady with two hands, stabbing him in the chest with all her strength.

It wasn't deep enough.

She remembered the last time she'd done this, with Lucas holding the other vampire. Val had thought it would be easier, that she'd be stronger now that she was older, but she was still too weak.

The wood clung to his flesh, not pulling clean freely but like it had melded into his body. Blood pumped out of him, gushing in time to his heart beat, oozing up from around the stake.

So close!

Val went for the same hole again, slamming down with all of her strength, screaming in fury. He exploded.

She closed her eyes and tried not to breathe vampire ash into her lungs.

Everything was gone except for a few bone fragments.  He’d been older than they'd thought. The really old ones left nothing behind. In their natural state they wouldn't even be dust anymore.

She held the stake in her hand, still clutching it tightly.

Jack ran towards her, dropping to his knees beside her and said something she didn’t understand. She'd been so scared. This was so awful! She kept reliving those final moments again and again. Hearing the echo of stake pulling free from flesh. The displacement of air when he’d disintegrated.

            Furious, she lashed out at Jack. Screamed and pushed him. He fell backwards, allowing her to push him onto the ground. She followed, straddling his chest as she tried to slap him.

“Damn you! Damn you, you know what this is like! Why would you do this to me? He wouldn't have known!” Val paused to take a breath, the anger lessening with her violent outburst, instantly replaced by a sad tiredness.

She didn't know how to explain to him how betrayed she felt. “I thought you were on my side. That if you could protect me, you would. Wasn't that the deal? But, this was your chance and you didn't. You threw me into this, just like my father would.” She felt like she was babbling and stopped talking.

Jack hadn't let her hit him but had grabbed her wrists in his hands, holding her as loosely as he could as she thrashed against him and tried to rail at him. He listened to her torrent of words and didn't know if she was right. Didn't know if this had damaged their friendship.

Would it change her? Make her more cold and distant than she already was? She threw herself into life like she had mere moments to live, but it was so frantic that he never knew if she even enjoyed it. That was how she protected herself. No one could get a hold of her because she was always moving so quickly through life.

She was all speed and fire, walls and prickliness to keep people away.

Her attention and affection were weapons. At least they were for him.

Jack cleared his throat, unable to speak the first time he tried. He still held her hands, didn’t think about letting go.

Did she really need to have a kill under her belt to live her life?

Val tried to move off of him, tugging her hands from his.

Her body was slumped like a beaten dog and a tear landed on his neck. He gripped her harder. “No you don't! Why shouldn't you have to do this? I do it. Your father does it! I have given up everything for you and your father. We were supposed to be a team but we're not. It's me and your father while you pretend that nothing is happening. How can you live with yourself? Watch us walk out the door and not know if we’ll come back? But you do it! You let us go while you shop, and date, and have fun. We are not normal! You and me. That was the deal, Val.”

She was crying in earnest now. As he'd talked she'd stilled, letting him hold her closed fists. Now her hands shifted, twining her fingers through his. The weight of her on his body finally penetrated his thoughts. She was straddling him, sitting on top of him and he wanted to push upwards, get closer to her.

She whispered, “I can't do that. I won't stay, and live a life of death, waiting for you to come home in a body bag or worse. I don't want to be dead in five years, maybe less. And I can’t spend my life afraid for you.” The words were deep and impassioned. Her eyes locked on his, as though she were a vampire trying to capture his gaze and bend him to her will. “The second I can get out of here, I will.” She let his hands go and pushed away from him, standing and going back to the car.

Jack stood and picked up all of their things then went into the house to see if he could find any information about why the vampire was here, desperately trying not to think about what had just happened.