ANGELS IN THE ALLEYWAYS
By: Rachel Kramer
10/22/09

**breath** ok. i hope you enjoy!


Good Night (chpt 18)

Nathan looked down at me with disapproving eyes, "I'm not much for parties." Oh no - that tone - Nathan was not happy with me.

"Nathan, I -"

"We'll discuss it later," he said, setting me down on the pavement.

I was not looking forward to "later", not one bit. All I could do was hope Vampire Barbie subdued these two and kidnapped me or Nathan forgot about it all together. Right now, neither option looked promising.

Larson had Trish in a choke hold, similar to the one she'd used on me earlier. With a firm grasp on either side of her head he began to twist. My stomach muscles contracted at hearing the grotesque pops that ensued and I knew I was on the verge of throwing up.

Trish's screams ended abruptly as Larson swiveled her head around one-hundred and eighty degrees. I turned away too late, seeing everything but her body crumple to the floor - that I heard. I had to fight against my gag reflexes.

"You're going to need a stronger stomach than that love if you plan on taking part in more field work."

Still trying to focus on my happy thoughts I just nodded absentmindedly. Okay, okay, time to be rational.

"What are you going to do with her?" I asked, looking everywhere but where her remains lay.

"Oh, she'll be riding with us," Larson said matter-of-factly.

"What? No way! We are not going to drive around with her body - that's just a magnet for trouble."

Larson shrugged, bending down to lower himself next to Trish's broken body. Effortlessly, he flung the dead vampire over his shoulders. "I have a few questions for her that still need some answering, so unfortunately she'll have to come back with us."

"Are you joking?" I waved an incredulous hand at her limp, lifeless body, "She's useless dead."

Larson cracked a smile, "No love, she's not dead."

I looked over Trish's body once more. Even undead, she had much more life in her than this. "But I thought you said -"

Knowing what I was about to reference to, Larson chimed, "I said decapitation kills a vampire. A broken neck will only incapacitate one. Soon her body will heal and she'll be as good as annoying again."

Just great.

"Nethaneel, would you mind giving Viky here, a ride back? I don't want her to be in the car with me in case this one gets feisty," Larson added, gesturing towards Trish's seemingly harmless, unconscious body.

Nathan's features were hard and he opened his mouth as if he were about to protest - which made my heart break a little - but Larson had already turned away, waving him off with a, "Thanks."

When Larson had pulled away, I looked to Nathan trying to gauge how upset he was. He just continued to look straight ahead and began walking off towards the busy street.

My black flats slapped the ground as I hastened my pace to keep up with Nathan's long strides.

"Where are we going?"

"My house," was his short reply.

I looked around for his sting ray, "Where'd you par -"

"I didn't. Flew here."

Wow. Awesome. I was going to have to walk back who knows how many miles with my ticked off guardian angel. This night was so not turning out to be the fun, carefree outing I'd hoped for.

Feeling utterly defeated, I let out a heavy sigh, my shoulders slumping in their previously confident and worked up stance. One of the straps of my black dress slipped down the side of my arm, only to be brought back up to its rightful place by cool hands.

I looked over at Nathan, feeling a little shocked. The gesture had been a small one, but it said a lot. Nathan was upset with me for probably a million reasons, but he didn't hate me. He still cared.

"Thank you," I said almost in a whisper.

Nathan stared back almost emotionless. Key word being: Almost. His face was stoic but his eyes were bright and kind. "You're welcome."

At some point during all this we had stopped walking, but quickly resumed our pace.

"Do you mind telling me why you two were out hunting demons at a Vampire club?"

"Err..."

"Viktoriya?" His tone was agitated.

"Well, we didn't really have plans to hunt," I admitted reluctantly.

"What were your plans, then?"

I could tell that he already didn't like where this conversation was going. As much as I wanted to lie to avoid conflict, I couldn't. There was no way I could be untruthful with someone I cared for so much. Not my parents or Katya and definitely not Nathan or Larson. They were all I had now that my family was gone and I would never risk their trust.