“I’ve had a lot on my plate. I don’t want to be a downer. You just got married four months ago and Tina is expecting her first baby.”
“We love you. Come to the barbeque. Hang out with the people who care about you. We’ll worry less.”
She’d have to smile and act as if her life hadn’t been altered in ways that could never be changed. Some guy named Mitch would be there, and Maria was about as subtle as a tank when it came to trying to play matchmaker. “I have to work,” she lied. “Sorry. Maybe another time.”
“It wouldn’t kill you to call in sick.”
“I’m just not ready to deal with everyone yet. I hate pity.”
“I know but we should talk about holding a memorial or something for your dad.”
“I don’t want to do that.”
“You plan to wait until they find his body to do it?”
Jadee was fed up and decided to be blunt. “This is why I’ve been avoiding calls. It’s too raw right now, okay?” She didn’t want to admit that she’d decided not to hold any kind of funeral. “I don’t want to discuss any of this.”
“I’m sorry. I’m being thoughtless. Will you at least have lunch with me next week? I promise I won’t bring up your dad or men in general. I just want to see your mug.”
Jadee grinned. “Only if something deep fried and greasy is involved.”
“Fried mushrooms, fries and bacon cheeseburgers?”
“Deal. I’ll call you Monday to set up a time. I’d better get back inside before Bob sends out a search party. It’s a zoo tonight.”
“Don’t go home with any drunks.”
She laughed. “Not a problem. Love you.” She ended the call and shoved her phone back inside her pocket. She pushed off the wall and almost tripped on a wooden pallet on the ground next to her. She shot it a glare and then reached for the handle of the door.
“Hello.”
The man’s voice startled her and she spun around. No one should be in the alley at that time of the night. The other shops on the strip closed at eight but it was well past ten.
The sight of the man’s pale, semi good-looking face had mental alarm bells screaming the second she looked at him. He wore a black dress shirt and slacks. They only accented his white skin.
“You’re not allowed back here.”
He tilted his head slightly. His eyes were a light color, probably a shade of blue or perhaps green. They started to glow and her heart pounded. That wasn’t natural—and she knew what he was. A fucking Vampire. Shit!
“I was out for a walk along the rooftops and spotted you.” He gave a smile. “It’s your lucky night, my dear. Tell me you’re grateful.”
He was probably trying to control her mind. She was grateful—grateful she’d seen Lavos in action and knew how to respond appropriately.
“I’m grateful,” she managed to get out. He’d kill her if he realized she was immune. It seemed safer to play along. It also meant he probably planned to bite her. Lavos said city Vamps weren’t killers, they just stole some blood from their victims and left them alive afterward. Dread pitted her stomach. She’d have to let the son of a bitch bite her without putting up a fight to fool him into believing he could make her forget what he’d done.
It was a horrible choice to make but she’d seen what Vampires could do. There were no bars separating her from the monster now. She didn’t have an assault rifle either. All she had was an ice pick tucked into the back pocket of her jeans. It was handy since their ice machine tended to let the ice melt a little bit when the door was left open for a minute or two, then freeze it solid fast, lumping it together. She also never worked in the bar without something to defend herself.
The Vampire reached down and unfastened his slacks, shoving them over his thighs until they pooled at his ankles. He wasn’t wearing underwear and he had a hard-on.
Jadee’s fear intensified. So did her anger.
“Drop to your knees,” he demanded.
He wasn’t after just her neck. It pissed her off. Does he do this to other women? Order them to blow him? What a sick pervert. Like stealing blood isn’t enough.
She lowered to her knees while slowly reaching behind her, lifting up the edge of her sweater to grip the wooden handle of the ice pick.
“Tell me my dick is big.”
She studied his dick, since it was right in front of her face. He wasn’t big, or even on the average side. It explained why he felt the need to force poor women into sexual submission. “Huge,” she murmured, glancing to both sides of her without moving her head.
“Open your mouth,” he hissed.
It wasn’t going to happen. She’d rather die than follow through with his instructions. She slid the ice pick out and fisted it tight in her hand. She had something hard for him too…and it had a sharp tip. She lifted her chin and glared at him, adjusting her hand to her hip, hiding the weapon.
“Fuck off, perv.”
She rammed the ice pick into his nuts.
He shrieked, throwing himself back. His pants around his ankles tripped him and he went down hard, frantically reaching for his injured crotch.
Jadee shot to her feet and grabbed the door, yanking it open. She saw him sit up just as she threw her body inside. The door closed and she slid the dead bolt across.
She backed up, realizing he might be able to break through it. It was reinforced to protect the bar against break-ins from humans, not super-strong Vampire freaks. He could also avoid the back and enter through the front, coming after her from that direction.
She reached for her phone, her first instinct to dial 9-1-1.
She froze. It wouldn’t work. He could just wipe the cops’ minds or freeze them in place while he killed her in front of everyone. “Fuck!”
Something hit the door and she gasped as a crack split the painted white wood near the doorjamb. A frantic search around her revealed nothing she could use to attack him with—but then the glass fire case caught her attention. An axe and a fire extinguisher were inside.
She moved quickly as the door suffered another blow from the Vampire. She hoped no one inside the bar could hear it over the loud music coming from the main room.
She threw up her arm and twisted her head in the opposite direction, slamming her elbow into the glass. It triggered the fire alarm the second she breached the glass. She’d forgotten it was wired to go off in case of that happening. Bob would start to clear the bar and the fire department would be notified. Cops and firemen would arrive but she’d probably be dead by then. It was possible that the Vampire might take off.
He hit the door again and more cracks appeared in the wood. Worse, the section of frame with the dead bolt splintered. He was about to bust the thing in.
She grabbed the fire extinguisher and was grateful the owner was almost anal about safety. He always kept the extinguishers filled. Some drunks smoked in the bathrooms and had caused a few small trash fires by not completely putting out the butts before they tossed them away. She removed the pin and pointed the hose toward the door. She stepped to the side and glanced at the axe, then prepared to squeeze the lever to spray the fire retardant.
Two more hits and the door was torn open. The pale freak entered. His eyes still glowed but he’d taken the time to pull up his pants. They looked wet near his crotch, a dark stain proof of the blood she’d spilled. She hoped it hurt like hell.
She let loose with the spray, hitting him in the face. She aimed for his eyes.
He threw up his hand, roaring out in surprise, hopefully blinded. She pitched the entire container at him. It hit him in the chest, knocking him over since he was already off balance and scrambling backward, and he landed back in the alley.
She lunged, grabbing for the axe.
He was still on the ground, wiping at his eyes when she ran out the door after him. Vampires recovered fast. It was something she’d never forget. She didn’t want to die but she still paused when she raised the weapon, gripping the handle with both hands. It wa
s gruesome to consider chopping off someone’s head, regardless of the dire circumstances.
“You bitch!” he yelled. “I’m going to take you to my nest and we’re going to tear you apart limb by limb. You’ll die screaming! I’ll—”
She swung for all she was worth the second he lowered his arm and opened his eyes.
He must have seen the blade coming, because he jerked before she struck his neck. The sharp metal sliced through and she saw his head come off his body in that split second. Blood gushed—but then his entire body seemed to explode.
Ash flew into the air, almost like a big balloon popping, filled with the stuff. It surprised her, and she almost tripped over her own feet to jump back. The axe clattered to the ground and she felt tears burn behind her eyelids from something irritating them. She rapidly blinked and was able to see again.
Ash covered the ground where his body should have been. The wind blew, stirring some of it enough to see a dark stain where he’d bleed. The ash stuck to it, looking like a gross gray-and-red mixture of mud.
Jadee was in a state of shock as she looked down. Ash had landed on her sweater too.
“Oh fuck!” She frantically slapped at her clothes, the urge to puke strong.
Loud sirens penetrated her awareness and she realized the fire truck and police were close. How in the hell am I going to explain this? They would think she was insane if she told them a Vampire had attacked her. They’d lock her up in a mental ward. Other Vampires would come after her, and God only knew what else.
She had to act fast. She forced her body to move as she bent, picking up the axe, the ice pick and grabbing the fire extinguisher. She entered the bar, closing the busted door as much as she could. She set everything down and tore off her sweater, grateful she’d worn a tank top underneath. She turned it inside out and used the sleeves to frantically wipe off anywhere her fingerprints might be on the extinguisher, replacing it in the casing. The axe and ice pick had blood and ash stuck to them. She gripped both and ran into the hallway off the back area.
The music still played in the front of the bar but the tables she could see were clear of customers. She shoved at the door to the large closet where they kept cleaning supplies and scanned the top shelf. She grabbed the bleach and tossed the weapons into the small sink that sat in the corner. She doused them and then turned on the water to rinse the bleach away when the strong chemical began to sting her eyes.
The sirens stopped, telling her the police had reached the front of the bar. The inside fire alarm still droned on. She replaced the near-empty bottle of bleach and used her sweater to grab hold of the axe, trying to dry it and wipe off her prints if any remained after the bleaching it had taken. The blood was gone from the blade. She shoved the ice pick back into her pocket after wiping it down too. She yanked open a storage cabinet, shoving her sweater under a stack of bar towels, then rushed out of the closet and replaced the axe.
Jadee hesitated, glancing around, trying to think of what to do next. Her mind blanked until she stared at the damaged door. The Vampire remains were still out there. They might test them or something.
She exited through the back door. There was a water hose a few feet away attached to the building, to wash chairs and tables down in case someone puked. She turned it on and directed it at the ash. It turned into a gray mess but she hit the blood area the most, then turned the hose elsewhere, spraying it in every direction it could reach. She also bent, took out the ice pick, and shoved it behind the wooden pallet, out of sight.
The back door was shoved open and a cop with his gun drawn stepped out. He pointed it at her and she froze, only easing her thumb off the sprayer so the water stopped.
“I work in the bar,” she told him.
He didn’t lower the gun. “What are you doing?”
“I went to take out the trash and got a phone call from a friend. I was talking to her when I heard someone kicking at the back door and stepped out from over there.” She jerked her head toward the Dumpster. “It was some guy wearing a baseball cap. He went inside and then the fire alarm went off. I was afraid but I snuck over here and grabbed the hose. He ran outside and I nailed him with water. He ran that way.” She jerked her head toward the main street. “He’s wet.”
A fireman and Bob stepped outside. Bob looked relieved. “Thank God you’re okay, Jadee. I got everyone out front but then realized you weren’t there. I remembered you’d taken out the trash.”
Bless you for having good timing, Bob.
The cop holstered his weapon. He grabbed his radio as he peered at the busted back door. “I’ll call it in and we’ll look for the perp. Did you see his face?”
“No. He had his hat tugged low and it happened so fast. I was terrified.” She purposely tried to look confused and a little scared. “It’s a blur. I was just so freaked out.”
The fireman bent a little, frowning at the ground. “What is this?”
It was the gray, watery mess that had once been a Vampire. “Oh that. I saw it when I came out. I think someone must have burned some boxes or something. We get a lot of homeless who try to come back here to sleep. Sometimes they’ll burn stuff to keep warm or cook food. They climb the gates.”
The cop walked down the alley and the fireman returned inside. The fire alarm shut off. Bob approached her. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah. I can’t believe some thug tried to break into the bar.”
“I can. People are nuts.” Bob pulled her into a hug. “Where’s your sweater? You always say you’re cold with the air conditioning on inside.”
“I was hot outside so I took it off.” She wasn’t about to admit it was covered in Vampire dust and damp from her using it to wipe down items she’d used as weapons. “What a night. It’s a full moon.”
He kissed the top of her head. “Never confront a robber. Damn, you could have been hurt. A hose? You think water is a weapon?”
“It was all I could think of.”
The fireman returned. “It looks like the burglar broke the glass, trying to get the extinguisher or maybe the axe to use as a weapon in a robbery. The alarm going off probably scared the hell out of him. He didn’t steal anything.”
Bob loosened his hold but kept his arm around her. “I’ll call the boss and we’ll fix this door. The bar is closed for the night.” He gave her a squeeze. “Go home after we wrap this up.”
The cop returned. “I’m going to need a statement from you.”
She nodded. “Of course.”
Jadee glanced up, feeling a chill along her spine. Two men stood on a roof down the alleyway. They wore black clothing and were pale skinned. She dropped her gaze before they realized she’d seen them, terror hitting hard.
They had to be Vampires. Normal people didn’t hang out on rooftops, and her attacker had said he’d spotted her from one. Had they seen what she’d done?
Oh shit. She needed to get out of there before they came after her. The pervert with fangs had said he belonged to a nest. That had to mean there were more of them.
* * * * *
Jadee had a headache by the time the cops left and the owner had sent out a few guys to repair the back door and frame. She’d left the pick in the alley, not willing to go out there to retrieve it with Vampires hanging around on rooftops. She could say she must have dropped it in all the confusion, if they were able to figure out it was hers. She was also grateful no one had asked why the door had been locked when she’d supposedly taken out the trash, since the guy had supposedly bust in the door. They might think of it later but she had time to think up a lie.
Bob led everyone outside when they finished and locked the front door. The repair guys walked toward their truck at the curb, talking to each other. The fire truck had gone and so had the two cop cars.
“What a night.”
She looked up at Bob next to her. “You’re telling me.”
“At least it wasn’t a real fire. That’s an upside. I about shit when that alarm went off. I rushed into the
bathrooms but nothing was smoking. Then I cleared the bar. One guy was so drunk I had to damn near carry him out. I’ll walk you to your car.”
“You did good.” She moved, Bob staying next to her.
He stopped at her car. “Are you okay to drive? I could drop you off at home. We’re working the same schedule tomorrow so we could ride to work together.” He looked hopeful. “You shouldn’t be alone.”
Jadee knew he was interested in her; he had asked her out a few times. “I’m fine but thanks.”
“Oh. Okay.”
She withdrew her keys and forced a smile. “I appreciate it though.”
“Anytime. I mean that. I’d do anything for you, Jadee.”
She felt bad. He was a nice guy but she wasn’t attracted to him. He’s no Lavos. She inwardly flinched at making the comparison. “Good night.”
She unlocked her car and climbed inside, starting the engine. Bob backed up and waved. She lifted her hand and waved back. She clipped her belt with her right hand and pressed down on the brake before shifting the gear into drive. One glance in the side mirror to check for traffic and then she pulled away from the curb.
The streetlight half a block down was red so she came to a stop. It was just after midnight and traffic was still heavy since it was a weekend. Another car pulled up next to her and she glanced over. It was a couple and they seemed deep in conversation. She smiled. It looked as if they were arguing. She faced forward, staring at the light and tapping the wheel as cars passed in front of her. She glanced toward the sidewalk…
And almost forgot how to breathe when she met the gaze of a man standing at the crosswalk. He was staring right at her.
It wasn’t the fact that she’d caught the attention of a stranger that had that effect on her. It was the fact he was pale and wore all black clothes.
He stepped off the curb, coming toward her car.
Jadee’s heart pounded and she darted a look at the light. It was still red. She glanced back at the man. He was definitely coming her way. He stepped out of the painted pedestrian lines to reach her passenger door. He leaned down and his eyes began to glow. He gripped the door handle and gave it a yank.