by A. E. Lucky
Chapter 8: Recruiting the Black Belt
The Vampire found the Black Belt living in a modest apartment at the edge of Piner City. It had been easy to track her thanks to her reporter skills. A quick search on the internet and now here she was—about to induct the karate master into her most insidious plot.
She knocked on the door. Then she brushed off invisible dust from her black leather jacket as she waited for a response.
The door was opened a few seconds later by a sullen, slightly disheveled woman who could only be the temperamental Black Belt. Her eyes immediately widened at the sight of the vampiric ex-reporter.
“Hello,” said the Vampire, flashing the Black Belt her long teeth in an attempt at a winning smile. “May I come in?”
Jennifer stared at the Vampire, who looked like she was about to sink her fangs into her neck. Jennifer had met the ex-reporter before but hadn’t exactly enjoyed the meeting. Besides the woman’s penchant for black and the creepy fangs, Jennifer remembered the sensation she had felt when the ex-reporter had shaken her hand—like her life had been draining into the creepy woman’s hand. She had hoped to never meet the fanged woman again, but here she was—asking to come in.
“What do you want?” Jennifer asked rather abruptly.
The Vampire waved her hand lazily. “Actually, I’ve come to help you get what you want: revenge.”
“Revenge?”
“Yes, revenge,” said the Vampire, a little puzzled by the Black Belt’s response. She couldn’t possibly have forgotten about her humiliation at the hands of Superkid, could she? The ex-reporter had been certain that the Black Belt had been waiting for the chance to strike back at the little punk. Surely the Black Belt had thought of nothing but revenge ever since that day.
When the karate woman continued to give her a strange look, the Vampire added, “Against Superkid.”
The Black Belt blinked confusedly. “My revenge against Superkid?”
The Vampire didn’t remember this woman being so dense before. Maybe she was still suffering from the effects of her leeching touch.
So the fanged woman helpfully reminded her, “He was bragging about how he always saved you from the evil monsters and how helpless you were and how sweet it was when you gushed, ‘My hero!’ and…”
Now the Black Belt may have had a short fuse but she could be reasonable at times. After she had stormed home after declaring herself Superkid’s worst archenemy, she had since then had the time to reflect and had realized that she may have overreacted. It hadn’t been Superkid’s fault that the media had been determined to portray her as the stereotypical damsel in distress. As a matter of fact, she remembered that he had tried to set the record straight with them by telling them she had taught him all that he knew about fighting.
“I don’t want revenge,” she said abruptly.
The Vampire stopped in mid-sentence and gasped, “What?”
“I don’t want revenge. It wasn’t his fault. I’m not mad at him. It was the lying media.”
The Vampire blinked stupidly. The Black Belt didn’t want revenge?
Are you insane? The lecherous woman thought about asking. Instead, she said, “You didn’t hear what he said when you left?”
The Black Belt turned to her. “When I left?”
“Oh my.” The Vampire looked away, pretending to blush with embarrassment. “I probably shouldn’t repeat it. They were not things that should be coming out of a twelve-year-old’s mouth.” She smiled slyly, which went unseen by the karate master.
There was a hard edge in the Black Belt’s voice when she asked, “What kind of things?”
The Vampire acted reluctant at first, but eventually she told her how Superkid expressed relief that he wouldn’t be dragged down by a woman anymore, how he bragged that he had used her as bait for the monsters while he beat them up, how he described how delicate she was and how he wondered aloud how a woman like her ever got a black belt in karate.
“‘Probably got it at a discount from the clothing store,’ he said!” the Vampire finished in mock outrage.
The Vampire’s rage was mocked, but the Black Belt’s was 100% genuine. She cracked her knuckles and breathed heavily through her nose. The lecherous ex-reporter had spun her tale well.
“Why that… that ungrateful little… I taught him how to fight! …and he has the nerve…”
She tossed her head irritably and then gazed up at the sky, still breathing heavily through her nose.
“Someone needs to teach him manners,” she finally said, kneading the doorway so that her knuckles turned white. “Show him that he can’t get away with that… show him that he’s messing with the wrong woman… so I’m helpless, am I? I’ll show him who’s helpless!”
Despite the fact that the Vampire’s feet were killing her from standing at the front door all day, her spirit was soaring. Her plan was working! The Black Belt had taken the bait. Now it was time to reel in the fish.
“I can help you,” she said.
The karate woman jerked her attention to the pale woman as though noticing her for the first time.
“How?” she asked.
The Vampire pulled her lips over her fangs in a predator’s leer and answered in a low voice, “I’ve got a plan.”