Kody crept slowly around the side of a dilapidated building, listening for the distinctive click of a lighter. He’d made the man from Devil’s Night last for the better part of a month, but his supply was running on empty again. He'd managed to locate another target with a similar background and had been tailing him for a week or two now--it was amazing how many local low-lives one found when perusing the sex offender database.
Kat’s critical words from when she’d caught him in the act a few weeks prior came back to him, but he pushed them aside with a silent resolution to try to come up with a better way to feed himself in the future. However, for now, this was his life, and he was stuck with it. Steeling his nerves, he readied himself to leap around the corner and catch his victim off guard, when he heard the click of a firearm being cocked a few feet behind his head.
“I thought I told you no murdery vampire business.”
Kody froze, then rolled his eyes, and slowly turned to face his would-be assailant. “Really man? I have to eat too, you know.”
“And I should have killed you by now, but things don’t always go that way,” Sam said, lowering the gun slightly.
“I think you’re comparing apples and oranges, my dude,” Kody said, turning fully around. “What are you doing here?”
“My job,” Sam replied.
“Your job is running a cash register.”
“Consider it community service, then.”
Kody let out an exasperated sigh. “If you’re that determined to take me out, just do it. Whatever makes you feel better about yourself.”
Sam raised an eyebrow at him, and stuffed the gun back into a holster attached to his belt. “You’re really taking the fun out of this.”
“Yeah, sorry for not living up to your monster hunter power fantasy. You do know dhamphirs are people, right?”
“So is that guy,” Sam said, indicating the addict Kody had been chasing, who was likely now passed out in the alley around the corner.
“That guy,” Kody said, “is about the lowest form of human that one can be. You’re not a vegetarian, are you?”
“Um, no, why?”
“Because the last steak you ate probably had more moral integrity than the gentleman on the other side of this wall,” Kody told him. “He just got out of prison, like, a month ago. He’s already selling drugs again.”
Sam looked mildly impressed. “So you do your research. Still doesn’t justify murder.”
“Neither does the fact that cows taste good, but we do it anyway.”
“Apples to oranges.”
“If you say so. Anyway, I’ve had this conversation before, I know where it goes, can I leave now?”
“Nope,” Sam said, crossing his arms. “I looked into your vampire serial killer. The hunters don’t seem to have gotten wind of it yet, but the fact that he’s been burning houses down gave me a starting point. Unfortunately there’s quite a few well-known vampires that fancy themselves arsonists floating around, so I can’t narrow it down too much. You don’t know what this guy looks like, do you?”
“No,” Kody replied. “I can tell you what he smells like, but that probably doesn’t help.”
“Mmmno.”
“Then no, I’ve got nothing.”
“Then I can’t really do much more on the research end,” Sam said. “The hunters have a pretty extensive database, but it’s not magical.”
“I’ll see what I can find--” Kody stopped abruptly, every hair on his body suddenly standing on end. “Sam,” he said, “that gun is loaded, right?”
“Of course, why?”
“Because you might need it after all.” Sam gave him a curious look, but Kody was too busy trying to find the source of whatever had just activated his fight or flight response. “We should get out of here,” he said.
“Why? What’s going on?” Sam asked, reaching for his weapon again. Suddenly, he gasped and skipped backwards, narrowly avoiding a small knife that lodged itself in the brick wall next to him.
“Well, well, what do we have here?” a female voice said from somewhere nearby. “A dhamphir and a hunter? An unlikely pair, if I ever saw one.”
Out of the shadows stepped a woman in a black dress. She was tall, curvaceous, and exactly what one might think of when they heard the word ‘beautiful’. She pushed a strand of dark, wavy hair behind her shoulder as she approached them.
Sam and Kody both stared at the woman, unable to move. Her very presence was demanding of attention, but behind the striking appearance was a powerful malevolence. “Well, don’t stop the party on my account,” she said. “I just came here to grab a snack.”
She peered around the corner, presumably to where Kody’s intended target sat slumped against the wall, and came back with a look of disgust. “Well, that won’t do,” she said. Then, she turned her attention back to the boys who still stood frozen behind her. “You, hunter,” she said, motioning towards Sam. “You fancy being a meal?”
Suddenly, Kody managed to break free of her trance, turned tail, and bolted out of the alley, grabbing Sam by the arm in the process. “Time to go!” he said as he dragged the other boy out into the open and hung a left down the sidewalk.
