The Adventure of the Christmas Vampires

kill me, but Angela attacked him and I was able ta get away. We've gotta help her!" She tried to pull Giovanna back the way she came.

  The Girly Vampire stood her ground and tightened her grip on Connie's arm. "Angela can take care of herself. It is you who needs help. I must get you away from here, somewhere safe."

  Connie kept pulling. "No! He'll kill her! We hafta save her!"

  Giovanna grabbed her other arm. "Listen to me! You cannot help her! She fought him so you could get away! She wanted you to escape! Do you want her sacrifice to be for nothing?"

  Connie went limp from shock. "She's...?"

  "I do not know, but she wanted you to be safe. For her sake, I must see to it that you are. Now, come!" When Giovanna pulled on her, Connie did not resist.

  "Yoo aere going nowhere." Hunter Andirssen stepped out of the shadows in front of them, his crossbow raised to his face.

  "Connie, stay behind me!"

  Connie put the girly vampire between herself and the madman.

  Giovanna crouched, her arms spread with her palms out and her fingers flexed, and hissed at Andirssen as she sidestepped to try to circle around him. He moved to keep himself between her and the party grounds, all the while keeping the crossbow aimed at her.

  "Give mae the Lassie, Vampire. Shae is not yaet turned, aye can still save her from daemnation."

  "She is under my protection, Hunter. I will not surrender her to the likes of you."

  "Shae is Human, Vampire, shae dinna baelong tae yoo. Give her tae mae, and aye will let yoo go faer aenother night."

  "If you want her, you will have to kill me to take her."

  "So bae it, and may God haeve maercy on yaer soul, monster!"

  A banshee shriek filled the air as Angela dropped down on his back. She wrapped her legs around his chest and her arms about his neck, grasping his coat lapels. She bit at his neck as he roared in pain and rage. Giovanna sprinted towards him, leapt, and kicked, striking the crossbow and forcing it up. He shot the arrow and it arced high into the air where it disappeared into the night. Giovanna landed and leapt again, kicking at his arms, knocking the crossbow out of his grip and far off to one side. She sprang up a third time and kicked him in the chest, pushing him back against a monument. He reared up and deliberately threw himself backwards again, slamming Angela into the stone. She let go, and he spun around, pulling two long, thin, sword-like knives from under his coat. Yelling bloody murder, he thrust one at Angela. She ducked, but the blade caught her coat and sank deep into the monument, pinning her in place.

  He spun around, pulling out another blade as Giovanna charged him. He slashed at her and she dodged and jumped away. He pressed the attack, bellowing, waving the blades around as he danced and turned, while she evaded and circled, looking for an opening. Angela ripped open her coat and freed herself just as he slashed Giovanna across the stomach. She stumbled back and doubled over as he jumped at her, raising the blades, but Angela charged him, running too fast to see, and tackled him by the legs, sinking her teeth into one thigh. He screamed and fell on one knee. Giovanna kicked a blade out of one hand, but as he lifted the other to strike, Angela grabbed the arm and bit his wrist, forcing him to drop it with a shriek. Giovanna kicked him in the face and he dropped to one side. Angela swept up one blade and threw it away as Giovanna retrieved the other and tossed it aside as well.

  Andirssen stirred, crawled about a foot, then looked up. Connie followed his gaze and saw a ring of glowing red eyes surround them as a multitonal hiss filled the air. She ran over to Giovanna and gripped her coat as the Girly Vampire put an arm around her.

  "Have no fear, Poca Bambola, it is over."

  A male Vampire stepped out of the ring and approached her. "The Hunters have been killed or have fled, all accept this one."

  "Casualties?"

  "We lost a dozen yearlings, and Rosalie Hale."

  Giovanna turned to look at Andirssen as he pushed himself up onto his knees. Angela stood to one side, crouched, ready in case he tried an attack, but it seemed to Connie the fight had gone out of him.

  "You have cost us dear, Hunter."

  He smiled and managed a guttural chuckle. "Good; fewer of yaer kind tae threaten God-faearing faelk."

  Giovanna shook her head. "No, you are wrong about her. Rosalie had not hunted for fifty years, she protected the Humans in her territory, and she destroyed rogues who killed for pleasure. Your zeal has led you to kill a good woman for no reason, and thereby put your own kind in mortal danger. For that, you should be killed."

  "Yoo caennot kill mae haere, thaes is neutral territory."

  "You violated neutrality when you attacked us, and threatened an innocent child." Connie felt her hug her closer, and she tightened her grip on the Vampire's coat.

  He shook his head. "Thaes Lassie is not innocent, not aes long aes shae is friends with thae likes of yoo."

  "You refuse to learn. This child will help bridge the gap between our kinds and allow us to live together in peace."

  "Naever. Aye woold kill yoo aell raether thaen aellow thaet kind of aebomination tae taeke root. Aye woold raether die thaen see it haeppen."

  "So be it."

  Angela approached her. "I beg leave to finish him myself."

  Connie looked up and saw the Girly Vampire scan the throng. Though she saw or heard nothing that seemed like assent, Giovanna nodded to Angela after only a few moments. "You have leave."

  Angela walked up to the hunter and stared him in the face.

  "If yoo doo thaes, yoo'll bae daemned faer aell aeternity, Lassie." But he did not flinch or look away.

  She reached out and took a hold of a lapel of his coat with one hand. "I heard what you said to Connie." The tone of her voice reminded Connie of Snowshoe Kitty moaning a threat. "According to you, I am already damned. You tried to harm my friend. That cannot be ignored, or forgiven." She grasped the other lapel with the other hand and pulled him closer, as she bared her teeth. Her eyes shining like headlamps, she hissed, opened her mouth, and struck, burying her teeth in his neck. He gasped and grimaced in pain, then his face went slack as Angela greedily sucked the blood from his body.

  Connie cried out and buried her face in Giovanna's coat. "I wanna go home!" she sobbed, distraught.

  She felt Giovanna pat the back of her head. "I will take you home, Poca Bambola."

  She pulled Connie away from the circle and guided her through the throng, until they were clear. Connie clung to her all the way back to the house as she sniffled and whimpered, but Giovanna never let her go.

  Sunny answered the door when Giovanna knocked. Her face brightened when she saw Connie, but then she jammed her fists into her hips as she put on a mask of mock anger.

  "Well, it's about time you turned up, young lady--"

  "Do not be too hard on her," Giovanna said, "she has had a rough night."

  Sunny's expression softened with worry and contrition as Eile appeared behind her with a concerned look. "What happened?!"

  Giovanna ushered Connie inside. "It is a long story."

  Eile came up beside Sunny and bent over to pick up Connie. "You talk ta Giovanna while I put her to bed." Connie wrapped her arms around her mother's neck and snuggled close as Eile turned and headed for the stairs.

  "My, yer getting ta be a big girl!" she said as she walked away.

  "Come in, come in!" Sunny said, stepping out of the way, then she stopped and stared past her into the courtyard, a questioning look on her face. When Giovanna turned around, she saw Angela standing inside the gate. And she had an anxious look on her face. It was the first time she had ever seen her display any kind of emotion.

  "Will Connie be all right?"

  She glanced back at Sunny, who nodded.

  "She should be fine; now, go back to the party."

  Angela nodded and went back outside.

  "Who's that?" Sunny asked as Giovanna stepped inside.

  "She is...part of the story."

  Her Mom didn't say a word as she undressed Con
nie and got her back into her pajamas, but after she had tucked her in, she sat on the edge of the bed and looked at her. Snowshoe Kitty jumped up beside her, and walked to the foot of the bed before lying down.

  "Are you okay, sweetheart?" she asked in a low voice. Liza was in the other bed, asleep.

  Connie felt really bad, but she wasn't sure what to say. "Yeah, I'm just discombobulated." It was the word she used whenever she didn't really know how she felt.

  Her mother smiled. "I understand. You do realize it wasn't nice running away like that, do you? You had me and your Dad worried sick."

  "I'm sorry. It's just..."

  "You didn't feel appreciated."

  "Yeah."

  "We wouldn't pay enough attention to you."

  "Uh-huh."

  "You thought if you ran away, you'd teach us a lesson and make us appreciate you more."

  "Yeah!"

  "And you thought that becoming a Vampire would make you special, so we'd always treat you special."

  "How'd you know?!"

  "Honey, except for the Vampire part, yer Dad and I felt the same way at yer age. All kids do, at one time or another."

  "Did you run away when you were little?"

  She grinned. "More than once. Until I realized that running away doesn't solve anything. Listen, sweetie, your Father and I love you very much. You and Liza are the center of our world, but you can't be the center of attention all the time. Your sister deserves her time in the spotlight, too, and sometimes Moms and Dads hafta devote time to each other. Plus the world outside our house has its own demands we can't ignore, no matter how much we might want to. It doesn't mean yer not appreciated, or that