by Dylan Keefer
“Listen to me child. I am over four hundred years old. I have seen torture you could not even imagine. If you don’t tell me where your boss and your gang is, I will inflict all of that torture to you.”
Tiffany stopped struggling and looked at Prudence’s eyes. Prudence was even surprised at the fear in her Tiffany’s. “They’re eight blocks away, in the largest house on Wetmore Street, the one with the large blue door.”
“How many vampires?” Prudence hissed.
“Fifteen. Depending on how many people are out and about.”
“Thank you.” Prudence grabbed Tiffany’s head and twisted it. The snap indicated that the vampire’s neck was broken. Prudence got up and picked up a piece of wood, then stabbed Tiffany in the heart just to make sure. Then she set the body on fire.
Prudence strode out of the basement and dialed Milo. “Hey, I need some help.”
“With what?” Prudence could practically hear Milo’s frown over the phone. She didn’t want to put him in danger, but that is why she needed his help in the first place.
“I need to make sure these vampires never hurt anyone ever again. I know where they are, but I need a way to kill twenty vampires on my own.” Prudence’s voice was now focused. “I have to do this. I would not be able to sleep if they keep killing people on my watch.”
“I understand. Do you know the street number?” Milo said.
“Wetmore. The largest house, the one with a blue door.” Prudence waited until Milo’s distant typing stopped.
“Okay, I have the layout of the house here. How fast can you get home? I have an idea, but I need to run it by you.” Milo said.
“Okay.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
The house on Wetmore street was blanketed in darkness despite the fact the sun was shining outside. The large windows were nailed shut as discreetly as possible. The house was dilapidated and barely holding on its old foundations, but in here no one bothered them, and they could count on it being here all the time. The inside had no furniture, since the less wood around the better. No one wanted to trip and fall to their death. There were several shackles attached to the ground, and a pair of humans were tied to it, shivering.
Mickey, the leader, was sitting on a chair in a dark corner on the ground floor. He stretched, elongating his fangs as he did, and scratched his bald head. He was wearing dark cargo pants and a black tank top stained with blood. He then extended his claws and picked his teeth. He’d went off and had his lunch already.
Mickey was watching most of his underlings lying on the floor. Some were feeding of the latest batch of screaming food, some were busy getting high, while some were asleep. Right after sundown, Mickey had already picked the vampires that needed to go and intimidate the shop owners who refused to pay the protection fee. Since they weren’t here now, Mickey assumed it was because they got caught in the sun, so they were hanging out somewhere dark. The other person gone was Mickey’s girlfriend, Tiffany. She had gone out to have a snack. So Mickey was now bored. He was full and didn’t really like drugs.
His boss was happy with the progress they have made here. Mickey was handing over the money to them, and they kept them alive. They didn’t even mind that Mickey obviously skimmed some of the tops for himself. All they wanted was for Mickey to not turn anyone without their approval and to keep a clear map of their territory.
Mickey looked at the clock. The sun must already be up, so he couldn’t just leave and go for a walk. He was surprised Tiffany wasn’t home yet. Killing an old man was simple. After a hundred years of doing this, Mickey didn’t get excited about stuff like that. Only the truly dangerous things made his blood rush. And those events were getting rarer and rarer. Mickey was beginning to think he was the king of the world. And as always, after that thought lunged into his brain, he started thinking that if he wanted to, he could have taken over everything. Then he realized he didn’t want that type of responsibility. He didn’t even know who his bosses answered to.
One of the vampires started snoring. Mickey rolled his eyes and got up, then kicked the vampire in the face. The loud crack indicated Mickey had broken the other vampire’s nose. “Shut yer mouth or I’ll drag ya out in the light.” Mickey murmured. The vampire groaned and muttered something through his wound. She then set it haphazardly with one of her hands and licked the blood off of her face before turning around and going back to sleep. Mickey frowned, trying to remember the vampire’s name, and trying to figure out why she didn’t at least get up and complain. Then he realized she was the one that hadn’t slept for over a month.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Prudence had run back down to the apartment before Milo had managed to compile the plan. So Prudence decided to both take a bath and put on clothes that were both not covered in blood and were more useful for a fight. She didn’t count on the relaxing water making her cry. She stood there, letting them fall.
She kept thinking of Mr. Worth. She didn’t know if there was anyone left that would mourn him. His daughter was now gone, and she didn’t know if there was any more family anywhere. And she liked him. The least she could do, since she couldn’t save him, was mourn him.
She shouldn't have to mourn him though. And Tiffany shouldn't have been a vampire in the first place. There shouldn’t have been that many vampires in the first place. Prudence remembered the way that butcher reacted when she asked about blood. She realized that he thought she was one of them. Prudence felt disgusted with herself. And then, a few days later he was sweeping glass away. Prudence started wondering how many people they had terrorized. Her tears were replaced with boiling anger.
Prudence got dressed and came to the living room to an excited Milo. “I have a plan.”
“What is it?” Prudence sat down next to Milo. She was wearing a pair of leggings and a shirt, that she assumed would be better in a fight. She even started to think about how many stakes she could get. Milo wrapped his arms around her and tried to calm her down, before getting back to the computer.
“Well, vampires get burned by sunlight right? And this house has a lot of big windows. Now, I have been researching the way this house is built, and if you hit the windows here,” Milo pointed at the middle of the window, “with enough force, you can open the window really fast. The sun will take out quite a lot of them. I have a spare can fill with gasoline you can use around the house, or even directly on the vampires. Just be careful not to get any of it on yourself. When you light the match, you run as far away from it.”
“Got it.” Prudence nodded.
Milo turned to her, his eyes were a bit wet. “I’m sorry I can’t come with you and help.”
“Don't be sorry, you don’t need to get hurt.” Prudence hugged Milo with one arm. She wanted to squeeze the guilt out of him, but she couldn't, and that made her feel sad. The fact he would come with her if he could, made her feel light. “I’ll make sure to come back safe.”
“I also made a few of these.” Milo pointed to a few bottles with towels in them. “These are called Molotov cocktails. Light them and make sure the fire really gets going before you throw them. It should break and spill flammable liquid everywhere.” Milo’s explanation made Prudence raise her eyebrows.
“There are a few wooden stakes on the kitchen table.” Milo pointed to the pile of wooden stakes. “Use them only as a last resort.”
“And you say you can’t help. You’re a genius.” Prudence nudged Milo. He chuckled and blushed.
“Take this backpack and put all of them inside. There is wicker basket too.” Milo gave Prudence one of his large backpacks, and she took the wicker basket from the kitchen. Prudence put all of the bottles and the wooden stakes inside, as well as the gasoline can. She put her phone in the pack around her waist so that she could use it. She made sure to kiss Milo as deeply as she could, just in case she couldn’t get back to him. She had only killed one vampire, not a whole group. After tying her hair in a bun and putting her sneakers on, she took a deep breath and walked out.
Mrs. Chen had just exited the restaurant, by the looks of it going back to the car to get more bags from the trunk. She smiled as soon as their eyes met. Prudence braced herself, knowing she couldn’t avoid the old woman all of the time, but that she really needed to go fast.
“Hello, Mrs. Chen, I hope you’re alright.”
“I am. How are you? I hear about the horrible thing that happened last night. I do hope you are more careful.”
Prudence stopped. Despite the fact this was a very large area, the news seemed to travel fast. “Yes, I am doing okay. Keeping busy. I’ll see you later.”
“Do stop by, you don’t have to spend all your time alone. Cindy will be home too, maybe you two can talk.”
Prudence simply nodded and sped away. She didn’t know how she felt about adding yet another person she couldn’t be honest with to her circle. And Cindy was odd. She looked at Prudence with a strange knowing look. She decided she would think about it later. Now she needed to focus.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Prudence walked to the house in broad daylight. The house was actually in a side alley on Wetmore street. The alley the house stood on was empty. Prudence sneaked to the house, trying to make sure that she couldn't be heard. She assumed if she didn’t, then they wouldn’t either. She put her ear on the wall and listened in. She only heard snoring and laughter.
They were laughing. The people that have been killing people, these monsters, have been having fun in the darkness.
Prudence pulled out all the Molotov projectiles and lit three. As soon as the fire actually started going, she took a deep breath and blew open the window by kicking it with her foot as far as she could. The vampires on the now illuminated ground scurried, strident panicked cursing reaching Prudence’s ears. She threw the bottles, aiming for the huddled masses. The first bottle shattered on someone’s back, and the fire spread all over the form. Another vampire lunged to put the fire out and got hit in the head with the second bottle. Prudence lit the rags from the rags already on fire and threw more inside.
Someone managed to try and hurl something at Prudence. She ducked and moved to the other window. She thrust that open too and managed to illuminate another group of vampires.
She hurled some more bottles at the vampires before a vampire actually managed to see her well.
“The bitch’s over there!” The vampire that yelled that was a tall black guy, standing at the back, standing next to the chair Prudence assumed he had been sitting on. Prudence didn’t think she’d be able to hit him with a bottle. She didn’t want to give him a weapon. Especially since he looked like the leader.
She had exhausted her fire power pretty fast, but it was enough. Most of the first floor of the house was almost completely on fire. Prudence noticed the few unaffected retreated up the shaky steps to the second floor. Prudence picked up some wooden stakes and headed after them, dodging the flames by jumping up to a place where the spot wasn’t on fire.
She noticed there were two humans chained up near the wall. She went over, shielding herself from the fire. She couldn’t feel the pulse on one, and the others were slowing down fast. Prudence grabbed their chains and broke them free from the wall. She didn’t know if they were turned or not, and she needed to make sure that they didn’t do this to anyone else.
She climbed up the steps and was immediately attacked. The vampire that attacked her did it by flinging his entire body at Prudence. All Prudence needed to do was duck, and the vampire fell down the stairs. Prudence heard the vampire’s bones snap and then heard him scream. She assumed that he fell directly into a fire.
The second vampire had already had his claws and fangs out and tried to grab Prudence by the hands. Prudence ducked and rushed him. Her considerable strength knocked the vampire off his feet. Prudence had enough time to pull a wooden stake out and plunge it into his chest. She shoved the vampire into the nearby wall and drove the stake all the way in. Another vampire grabbed her around the neck, but Prudence drove her elbow into that vampire’s stomach. She turned around and knocked the vampire on the ground and plunged the wooden stake into the vampire’s heart.
“Who sent you hunter?” Prudence heard a male voice address her. She turned around and saw the vampire leader. The way he addressed her made her confused.
“What do you mean a hunter?” She asked him.
“Oh, don’t think I’m an idiot. A vampire hunter. That’s what you are. Why would you otherwise hunt us? Though you have a lot of strength for female food. And you found one of our feeding grounds, so that is new.” The vampire raised his voice, his fangs extended. Prudence got up from the dead vampire. He thought she was a human. He called humans food. Prudence let her fangs extend and let her claws grow.
“I’m not a vampire hunter. I just hate monsters.” She growled.
The vampire laughed. “Look in the mirror bitch, you are not different than dear old Mickey here.” The vampire pointed at himself.
“I do not kill people. I do not change people. I am not a monster.” Prudence walked nearer to Mickey.
“Hey now, talk to me again when someone you love starts dying. Then I’ll see if you’ll do the high and mighty talk. Nah, a sentimental person like you would open her wrists and feed them immortality, seconds before sinking her fangs into their neck to seal the deal.” Mickey’s taunt made her stop. Milo snapped in her mind. If he really had been beyond saving and that was the only thing she could do, would she do it? It’s not like she’d known how, so she shook her head and fired back. “So when you took all of the humanity away from Tiffany, was that mercy?”
Mickey burst out laughing. “That bitch? She knew what I was, knew what all of us were. She followed us for so long, let us feed off of her so many times, that in the end when she asked me, I felt like I owed her. Plus, she’s a good lay.”
Prudence growled and flung at him, claws extended. Mickey blocked. Prudence twisted her other hand and grabbed Mickey’s neck, plunging her claws into it. Mickey’s eyes sparkled.
“Ho ho you’re good.” He lifted his legs and used his entire body weight to kick Prudence in the stomach. He used the same weight to flip mid-air and stand on his feet. He rubbed his neck while Prudence managed to stand on her feet. “But I am a bit better than that. Now, I don’t really know if I should kill you. My bosses might want you alive. But you did kill all of my crew here. And judging by the fact you know so much about Tiffany I’ll guess she blabbed. Is she alive?”
“No, she killed her own father.” Prudence was finally breathing again. She could hear the fire was climbing higher and higher behind her. “I tracked her down.”
“So, you are a killer.” Mickey gestured with his finger.
“Only when someone hurts someone I care about.” Prudence ran full speed at Mickey. They exchanged blows that barely glanced the opponent, and soon both of them had slivers of flesh slashed away from their body. Mickey used his superior strength to overpower her, but Prudence was a bit faster. She moved past him while spinning, keeping him on his toes and making huge wounds down his back. She didn’t hit anything important, but he was hurt.
Mickey managed to knock Prudence off her feet. He was going to plunge his claws into her, but she beat him to it. Her right hand plunged into his neck. Mickey wrenched himself off of her claws, but he aimed his very long fangs at Prudence’s neck. Prudence thrust her left hand right at Mickey’s eyes.
This was the first time Mickey screamed. He rolled away from Prudence. The fire at that point had started roaming freely around them. As Mickey was holding his bleeding eyes and rolling away, he rolled onto a few creaking floorboards. The floorboards gave out, and he fell through to the floor.
Prudence didn’t know what to do. A part of her wanted to run after him and make sure he’s dead, but the other part of her was screaming about the fire. In the end, Prudence wanted to live. She looked around and found a window where the fire hadn’t reached yet. Prudence ran, broke it, and ran through, followed by the fire.
/> Prudence crashed in a heap on the ground. She gathered all of her things and ran as fast as she could, avoiding the side from where sirens sounded off. She nursed her wounds under her shirt as she ran.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Prudence managed to avoid Mr. and Mrs. Chen and climb up the stairs. She dashed inside and closed the door as softly as she could. When she turned around, she saw Milo was sitting on the couch, a concerned look on his face.
“How did it go?”
“The house went up like a match.” Prudence came over to the couch. She tried not to wince, but Milo noticed her nevertheless, and immediately produced a first aid kit. “I don’t need that.”
“But it’ll heal faster and feel better if we clean it.” Milo gestured to the spot next to him. Prudence sighed and sat down. “Now tell me what happened while I do this.”
As Milo started on her hands, Prudence went over what happened. “I opened a window and threw the bottles inside. The vampires were all lying on the first floor so I could hit them easily. They screamed and flailed around. Their leader climbed up the stairs along with others, so I followed. I freed some humans along the way, but I was not sure if they were okay. Maybe one was dead, I don’t know. The other might have been turned.”
“Turned?” Milo asked while pulling her hand towards him in order to get to Prudence’s neck and clean the scratches there.
“Yes, when I followed Mickey, that was the name of the leader, upstairs, I found out how vampires turn people. They feed them their blood, and then they feed off them. That is how he turned Mr. Worth’s daughter. The one that killed Mr. Worth.”