Apparently Victoria could see it, as she leaned over and started talking to it. She kept her distance, though.
“Hello,” she said in that sweet voice of hers. “I'm Victoria. Don't be afraid.”
There was a pause, following by more tearing and gnawing.
“Listen, you've been bitten by a vampire. I'm afraid you're a vampire now, too. I know you're confused. But I can help you.”
There was a hiss, like a cat. I saw Victoria stiffen. I took a slow step next to her. I could finally see what she saw.
Sitting, curled up in the corner with her legs in front of her, was a woman probably not too much older than me. From the looks of her clothes she was having a night on the town. Torn miniskirt, a spaghetti-strap shirt. Her eyes were blood red, just like my own. She would have been attractive, if it weren't for the blood dripping down the front of her face, and the large fangs. She looked back and forth between Victoria and me while she ripped into a raw piece of steak.
“You need blood. I know that tastes good, but you're gonna get real sick.”
No response. Just that same wild look.
“Something's not right here,” Victoria said.
I looked at her. From my point of view, that was the understatement of the year.
Something knocked me to the ground from behind. I landed only a foot away from the vampire in the corner. I looked up to see a second vampire, this one a guy, with its arm wrapped around Victoria's neck. He had the same wild look as the other one.
Before I could even think about helping I felt a hand around my throat. The female vampire straddled me. She couldn't have weighed any more than me, but she was strong. She took a quick sniff of my neck, then reared her head back to show off a huge set of fangs. She lunged down toward me, but I was already gone. I vanished, and felt her body sink into mine. Her hand went through my neck and braced on the floor. I quickly stood up, trying to ignore that strange feeling of when I was inside someone else.
I turned around to see the male vampire flying towards me. He went through me and collided with the female. They both tumbled to the ground and scampered back into the corner. Victoria had tossed him like a softball. She was simply straightening her shirt, not a mark on her. She definitely didn't need my help, like I could offer it anyway.
I jumped back to her side, not taking my eyes off of either vampire. She gave me a curious glance.
“Neat trick there.”
I ignored her comment. My pulse was racing. Fighting humans was one thing. Fighting vampires, well, I knew I was out of my league.
I looked at the vampire couple. Somehow, I knew they were a couple. My guess was they got attacked somehow while having a night out. They crouched in the corner and continued to bare their fangs and snarl at us. They were both covered in blood and smelled terrible.
“It's like they're feral,” Victoria said. “This isn't normal.”
I tried not to roll my eyes. I had no idea what normal was anymore.
Victoria caught a sense of something. She turned around next to me. I did the same.
Two men stood from where we came in, with a third behind them. Vampire hunters. They both had crossbows aimed directly at Victoria. She ducked in time for both bolts to hit the wall behind us. If they were aiming at me, I wouldn't have been able to react in time. I'd be dead.
I heard Victoria snarl next to me. Before she could react the male vampire was on her again. I tried to help her, but the female vampire grabbed me from behind. I vanished, and the vampire again fell to one knee out of confusion, but I was furious. I could vanish all day long, but I couldn't help Victoria if I couldn't touch anything.
Turns out I didn't need to. The vampire hunters already reloaded their crossbows, and fired one more time. Victoria spun around and the bolts pierced the male vampire's back. I saw him go limp and fall to the ground.
The female ran by us and tried to attack the vampire hunters. Right as she drew near, the man in the rear stepped forward and unleashed a stream of flame onto her. The woman let out a scream that would stay with me forever. She flailed about wildly for a moment before falling to the ground.
Before Victoria or I could do anything, the vampire hunter moved the flame toward her. I tackled her to the ground and covered her as best I could. She was crushed beneath me, but it didn't seem to bother her. We were both sprayed with flame, and I could feel my clothes start to burn away. I heard them laughing behind me, which made the anger start to build. I didn't dare move, though. Victoria had her arms pinned between us, and if we rolled an inch either way she'd be exposed to the flame.
“They're done,” someone said. “Torch the whole fuckin' place.”
“Bachner isn't gonna like that.”
“Fuck him. He wanted her dead. Well, she's dead.”
“We just killed an innocent guy!”
“Shut up and get moving!”
Victoria's eyes never left mine. I thought I saw a look of panic as we heard the flames spread around us. We heard them pouring kerosene, throwing flame everywhere. After a minute we heard them leave through the back door.
The fire didn't take long to get out of control. The corpses of the two dead vampires were motionless next to us. The smell of burnt flesh made me almost throw up. The legs of a table next to us burned away, and it fell dangerously close. Victoria flinched and shifted uncomfortably.
“Fire will kill me...very quickly.” She was afraid, but she hid it well.
I could feel the flames still eating away at my back. If Victoria was gonna make it out of this, it would be up to me. I popped out my wings, knocking things over as I did so. I wrapped them around both of us while trying to pull her into a kneeling position. She kept her arms carefully to herself and leaned close to me. I could see sweat dropping from her hair, while the flames didn't bother me at all. My wings were fireproof, along with the rest of me.
“Good thinking.”
I nodded. I pushed her head down a little more while I looked around. I gave a brief thought to crashing through the storefront window, but that didn't feel like a good idea. The way to the back was blocked by fire and smoke. So I looked up.
A skylight.
“Hold on, “ I said, and took one last deep breath.
We wrapped our arms around each other, and I beat my wings as hard as I could. Holding a hundred-pound woman, I expected some problems. But Victoria was strong, and my wings were stronger than I thought. The only problem I had was how fast the skylight came at us. I barely managed to get my eyes closed in time before we went through it.
The sound of glass breaking filled my ears. When I felt we were through, and felt the cold night air, I landed on the roof and let Victoria go. I fell to one knee, more from shock than anything else.
“You okay? You hurt?” she asked.
I looked up and shook my head. She gave me a nod.
“Thanks.”
“Anytime.”
She walked toward the edge of the roof facing the street. I was a second behind her. People were lining up outside to watch the fire. Traffic was already slowed to a crawl, first from the murder crime scene, then a fire. I could hear sirens from a few streets over.
“Look,” Victoria said, pointing to the street corner.
While everyone else was focused on the fire beneath us, three men were loading something into a van, only occasionally looking toward the butcher shop. I didn't get a good look at the hunters who tried to kill us, but Victoria and I thought the same thing. That was them.
I heard her make a strange noise, almost like a snarl.
“That's twice now I've let them get me by surprise,” she said. “It's not gonna happen again.”
Her tone scared me.
One hunter nodded to another. They climbed in the van, and started driving away. Victoria wrapped her arms around my neck, which surprised the hell out of me.
“Follow them.” She patted my right wing. That tickled. “I've always wanted to fly.”
“Uh, Victoria...I
can't really fly. I mean, I've never really done it, except in the woods. And carrying a person? I just don't know-“
She rolled her eyes. Then she let go of me and ran toward the edge of the roof. She jumped, and soared through the air over the street. She landed on another roof and kept running without missing a beat. I watched with my jaw hanging open.
I felt foolish all of a sudden, like I'd let her down. I sounded like an idiot, trying to make excuses.
I could fly, perfectly well. I knew it. My wings could easily handle her weight and mine. But I felt like a freak half the time. I was afraid. Afraid that flying would make me lose my humanity. Afraid of being seen.
I forced it all aside.
I jumped off the roof and beat my wings. I actually flapped too hard at first, as I started to gain more height than I meant to. My wings were so powerful. My first instincts were to go all out, but I didn't need to. A simple flap here and there, and I could glide on the wind.
I could feel my heart beating as I soared across the street. Despite the fact that just minutes ago I was in a burning building, I was excited. No trees outside my apartment, no more hiding. Just pure freedom.
I heard a few shouts below. People were staring and pointing up at me. Feeling a little paranoid, I climbed up a little, to make sure no one saw my face. The city lights were beautiful, a hell of a distraction.
There was a screech of tires below. I saw the van speed up and hang a crazy right turn, almost hitting a few people. Victoria was still running and leaping across the rooftops, looking almost like a little Barbie doll. They must have spotted her, and the chase was on.
I pushed aside the feelings of excitement and focused on what was happening below. Victoria didn't lose pace at all. She jumped down to the street on the hood of a car, crossed the street while dodging traffic, then jumped on top of another roof. It was quite a sight.
The van was easily doing fifty miles an hour on the crowded city streets. Victoria kept up, and surprisingly I did too. In fact, I was starting to pass them. I had to throttle back a bit, glide on the wind a little more.
It looked like it was getting even more dangerous below. Some people crossing the street barely managed to avoid the van in time. It kept weaving in and out of traffic. I didn't sense a good ending to all of this.
Sure enough, I looked up ahead to see an elderly man crossing the street at an intersection. The van was maybe ten seconds to him. There was no way he'd make it across in time. He didn't even know his life was in danger.
I glanced downed below. Victoria was keeping pace with the van, but there was no way for her to save his life. That's assuming she even noticed him ahead of her. It was up to me.
There was only one way to make it to him quickly. I folded my wings behind me, and let gravity do its thing.
A complete free-fall. Nothing I hadn't done a hundred times in the woods behind my apartment. At least that's what I told myself.
The city below rushed up at me. I wasn't thinking clearly, but I did know that if I messed this up, I'd probably kill myself as well as the old man.
I had the angle to him. The question was did I have the second I needed. I was maybe fifteen feet above the street when I tossed my wings straight out. The man saw the van, and was frozen with fear as it barreled up on him. I got low enough, and pretty much slammed into him. I didn't have a choice, there was no way I could slow down. I heard the wind rush out of him as I grabbed him and tilted my wings to gain some height. The van actually smacked my right foot as it went by, almost screwing up my flight. I ran up the side of a building for a second, still holding the man tight. Then I let my wings slowly carry us back to the street.
The man fell to one knee. I went down with him, keeping a grip on him to help hold him steady. He had a hand to his chest and breathed heavily. For a second I thought he was having a heart attack.
“Are you alright?”
It took him a moment. He finally managed a nod. “Shit. I think I have a broken rib.”
I felt terrible. It wasn't like in the movies, me saving somebody and being a big hero. But it really was the best I could do.
“I'm sorry. But hey, at least you're alive.”
He smiled. “Yeah.”
He glanced at my wings. I looked at them myself, and noticed that we had a small audience. Some people stared at the van that sped by. Others were staring right at us. A few people gawked and pointed from their cars, others stopped in the middle of the street and sidewalk. Everyone wanted to get a look at the freak. I felt so exposed.
“Get to a hospital,” I told him. I would never know his name, or ever see him again. But I would always remember the smile he gave me right before I hit the night sky once again.
I climbed to just above the buildings. It took me a minute to catch back up. Victoria still kept to the rooftops. The van still tried to steer clear from her. I didn't have a damn clue of what Victoria had in mind, but this had to stop. Someone was gonna get hurt or killed. Hell, maybe either one of us.
Victoria lunged from a corner building. She fell gracefully and landed right on top of the van.
“Victoria! What are you doing!?”
I knew she heard me, but didn't glance my way. She brought her right fist back and pounded on the roof. Then again, and again. She was trying to punch her way inside.
The van took an insane right turn down an alley. I followed. They were hoping to shake her off. It didn't work, as Victoria barely moved an inch. I could see a hole in the roof. Her crazy plan was working.
I saw one of the guys start to climb out the passenger's seat window with a gun. I looked ahead to see there wasn't too much left to the alley. It led to an empty street, and right into an abandoned building, maybe an old factory of some kind.
There was no way the van would be able to stop or turn in time.
I swooped down as fast as I could. Victoria had a hand inside the van, and was trying to pull away at the metal. The guy hanging out the window was trying to hold a steady aim at her.
I landed on the van near her, wrapped my arms around her waist, and flew up once again. The guy fired a shot, but didn't hit anything.
Victoria and I watched from thirty feet in the air as the van nearly flew over the street and into the old factory. It sounded like a bomb going off as they crashed through the wall. Smoke and debris were everywhere. We heard cars from the next street over screeching to a halt.
“Holy shit,” I said.
My heart was hammering. Victoria was cool as ice.
“Get us over there.”
We floated down to the street and Victoria wiggled free from my arms. She started sprinting to the factory. I was a step behind her. I remembered to retract my wings back to wherever the hell they came from.
The first thing that hit me was the smell. A little bit of alcohol, some shit, and God knows what else. There were a few homeless people running around, scared and confused. The factory must have been a shelter for them.
I was amazed as we drew closer to the van and saw one of the hunters trying to open the back door, going for a weapon. They still weren't done fighting. They were a sturdy bunch of bastards.
“You guys better head out,” I called to anyone that could hear. “This ain't gonna be pretty.”
Victoria snatched him by the back of the neck and shoved him headfirst into the door. He barely hit the ground by the time Victoria was ripping the passenger's side door off the van. She tossed it behind her and grabbed the man who tried to shoot her. He still had the gun in his hand. She grabbed his hand and squeezed. His face was a mess of pain as I heard bones breaking. Even I winced. I looked at the driver's side to see the third guy leaning on the wheel. He was conscious, but wasn't making an effort to do anything. Shock, maybe.
“You fucking bitch!” he screamed, then spit on her. “I swear to God we'll fucking kill you!”
So much hatred in his voice. It sent a chill up my spine.
She clutched him by the throat and lifted him clear off
the ground.
“I want you to tell Bachner and Heins something. Tell them they're gonna start a war they can't win. If you leave me alone, I'll leave you alone. If not, I will kill each and every one of you. Do you get it?”
He managed a nod before she dropped him to the ground. He gasped and rubbed at his throat a moment.
“Get what's left of your friends and get the fuck out of here.”
I'd never seen people move so fast. The two that were conscious picked up the third and left through the back of the warehouse through the dark alleys. The homeless people had all fled. The street outside was empty, at least for the moment. We were alone.
She punched the van, leaving a huge dent. She turned and gave me a dangerous look, then an almost sheepish smile.
“Four hundred years old,” Victoria said. “You'd think I'd have a better grip on my temper.”
I was finally calming down myself, and saw a trail of blood on Victoria's shirt that started from her shoulder. I was wrong. The vampire hunter actually managed to shoot her.
“You're hurt.”
She looked down casually. She didn't even notice. “Eh, bullets don't do much to me, at least not in small doses.” She started pacing a little. “I just want to live a normal life, you know, Alex? I don't want to go on wild fuckin' rides in the city.”
Hell, I could relate to that.
“Anyway, forget about them. There's more important things going on.”
“Such as?”
“Those two newborns. Why were they feral? How the hell did they both become vampires? I'm telling you, something's going on here.”
“You think those vampire guys have anything to do with it?”
She paused to think. “Anything's possible. But I doubt it. Anyway, it's something we'll have to look in to.”
“Uh, we?”
“Yeah, we. Alex, I'm gonna need your help on this.”
I couldn't believe my ears. “No, you won't. Are you kidding? What am I gonna do?”
“You were amazing back there. Who knows what else you can do.”
“Victoria, I don't want to know what else I can do. What the hell am I even doing here? I should be sleeping.”
“Ah, you got something exciting going on this weekend? Gonna pine after Cindy a little more?”
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