her legs and pulled
with her arms, landing lightly on her toes on the windowsill.
The window slid open. The room beyond was
dark, and she drew a baton before dropping silently to the floor.
Her instincts took over. A chair here, a box there …she moved with
disciplined quiet through the storage room to the door located on
the opposite side of the window. Placing her ear against it, she
listened for the sound of the predators she expected to find
without hearing anyone.
Buildings were harder to navigate quickly
than the open bay of a warehouse. With her senses engaged, she
explored the floor she was on before determining there was no one
on it. She moved to the upper floors and explored each before
finally shifting to the floor beneath the first.
Movement was on this floor. The vamps were
divided, two on this floor and possibly three on the floor below.
Disappointed she wouldn’t get to test herself against all five at
once, Ashley crept up on the two vamps nearest her.
One didn’t have time to react. She cracked
the baton onto the back of his head. He dropped silently. The
second whirled but was soon unconscious as well. She knelt to
search them and collected their two phones, tucking them into a
pocket at the small of her back.
Exhilarated by her quick wins, she went to
the floor below. One vamp was present, and she knocked him out and
stole his phone, too, before confronting the other two on the
ground floor.
When she was done, Ashley returned to the
window she’d used to enter the building and worked her way down the
wall fast. She dropped beside her backpack and stripped off the
mask before depositing the three cells she’d collected into it.
Done. She texted Brandon. Where
next?
He sent her a screenshot of his map and the
blue and red dots nearest her. She slung on her backpack and left
the alley, studying it.
The next nearest vamps designated as blue
were a block away.
Jonny’s nearest vamps were four blocks
away.
She stared at the dots pensively for a
moment, running Xander’s warning through her mind several times
over. Five days after her first confrontation with Jonny, she was
still angry and embarrassed by her performance. The low hanging
fruit was the blue vamps, but some part of her wanted to prove to
Jonny she wasn’t as weak as she’d seemed when she all but collapsed
in his arms.
Her mind made up, she walked past the next
blue dot and continued four blocks farther into the downtown area,
away from the stadium, and towards the part of town that became a
seedy residential area. The location of Jonny’s vamps wasn’t a
warehouse or place of business but a single story house in need of
repair with iron bars on its windows. It looked much like the
others around it, and she scanned the area visually before striking
off down the block towards the location.
Her phone vibrated. Where are you going? Read
Brandon’s message.
Her brother was tracking her. She responded
quickly before replacing the phone in her pocket. The cell vibrated
once more and she ignored it.
The house was dark, aside from the kitchen.
Ashley hid her backpack and pulled on her mask before approaching.
She peered in the window to spot three, perhaps four, vamps. One
was in the kitchen, the others moving between it and a room down
the hallway.
I’m not afraid of you,
Jonny, she told him silently.
Waiting for the vamp in the kitchen to turn
away, she slid in through the back door and raised both batons,
smashing them over his head before he saw her. She hauled his body
back into the kitchen so none of the others were able to spot him
then moved down the hallway. Her heart raced, and her tense form
was on edge. She did a self-check for any signs of a looming
episode and was satisfied she had none.
Three voices came from one of the rooms. She
paused outside it to listen, using her senses to case the rest of
the house. There was at least one more in the next room down.
Ashley counted to three and then vaulted into the nearest
with her arms, landing lightly on her toes on the windowsill.
The window slid open. The room beyond was
dark, and she drew a baton before dropping silently to the floor.
Her instincts took over. A chair here, a box there …she moved with
disciplined quiet through the storage room to the door located on
the opposite side of the window. Placing her ear against it, she
listened for the sound of the predators she expected to find
without hearing anyone.
Buildings were harder to navigate quickly
than the open bay of a warehouse. With her senses engaged, she
explored the floor she was on before determining there was no one
on it. She moved to the upper floors and explored each before
finally shifting to the floor beneath the first.
Movement was on this floor. The vamps were
divided, two on this floor and possibly three on the floor below.
Disappointed she wouldn’t get to test herself against all five at
once, Ashley crept up on the two vamps nearest her.
One didn’t have time to react. She cracked
the baton onto the back of his head. He dropped silently. The
second whirled but was soon unconscious as well. She knelt to
search them and collected their two phones, tucking them into a
pocket at the small of her back.
Exhilarated by her quick wins, she went to
the floor below. One vamp was present, and she knocked him out and
stole his phone, too, before confronting the other two on the
ground floor.
When she was done, Ashley returned to the
window she’d used to enter the building and worked her way down the
wall fast. She dropped beside her backpack and stripped off the
mask before depositing the three cells she’d collected into it.
Done. She texted Brandon. Where
next?
He sent her a screenshot of his map and the
blue and red dots nearest her. She slung on her backpack and left
the alley, studying it.
The next nearest vamps designated as blue
were a block away.
Jonny’s nearest vamps were four blocks
away.
She stared at the dots pensively for a
moment, running Xander’s warning through her mind several times
over. Five days after her first confrontation with Jonny, she was
still angry and embarrassed by her performance. The low hanging
fruit was the blue vamps, but some part of her wanted to prove to
Jonny she wasn’t as weak as she’d seemed when she all but collapsed
in his arms.
Her mind made up, she walked past the next
blue dot and continued four blocks farther into the downtown area,
away from the stadium, and towards the part of town that became a
seedy residential area. The location of Jonny’s vamps wasn’t a
warehouse or place of business but a single story house in need of
repair with iron bars on its windows. It looked much like the
others around it, and she scanned the area visually before striking
off down the block towards the location.
Her phone vibrated. Where are you going? Read
Brandon’s message.
Her brother was tracking her. She responded
quickly before replacing the phone in her pocket. The cell vibrated
once more and she ignored it.
The house was dark, aside from the kitchen.
Ashley hid her backpack and pulled on her mask before approaching.
She peered in the window to spot three, perhaps four, vamps. One
was in the kitchen, the others moving between it and a room down
the hallway.
I’m not afraid of you,
Jonny, she told him silently.
Waiting for the vamp in the kitchen to turn
away, she slid in through the back door and raised both batons,
smashing them over his head before he saw her. She hauled his body
back into the kitchen so none of the others were able to spot him
then moved down the hallway. Her heart raced, and her tense form
was on edge. She did a self-check for any signs of a looming
episode and was satisfied she had none.
Three voices came from one of the rooms. She
paused outside it to listen, using her senses to case the rest of
the house. There was at least one more in the next room down.
Ashley counted to three and then vaulted into the nearest
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