A Tale of Three Species

Hostage Situation

 We wandered around the park for an hour, making sure we were seen but steering clear enough that we passed unmolested. After that, we went home. We didn't hear from Brian for two days after that. When we did get a call from him, it wasn't actually him on the line.

I looked up as Jackie's chirpy 'hello' turned into fear. I got to my feet and came over to her to listen in on the conversation.

“If you want to see your little puppy again, come and get him back. We'll be waiting for you in the park. You know the one. Same one you wandered around for an hour tempting us. See you at midnight.”

The females voice laughed as the line went dead. Jackie turned to me with fear in her eyes. Daniel laid a hand on her shoulder to help comfort her. She dropped the phone and I deftly caught it. She was immediately across the kitchen and pulling her tarot deck out.

She had shuffled and cut before she got to the table. She hastily laid out cards, not bothering to wait to turn them over. Her eyes skimmed over them all and she blew out a breath.

“This wasn't supposed to happen. This skews everything.” She was starting to sound frantic. She turned to look at Daniel and me with wide eyes. “We have to get him back. I should never have said to leave him alone. This is all my fault.”

I grabbed her shoulders, pulling her around to get eye-contact.. “We will get him back Jacquelyn. This wasn't your fault alright. We can fix this.”

She nodded and turned away. Despite both my and Daniels assurances to the contrary, she was still blaming herself. She waited anxiously until it was time to go, repeatedly laying out cards and reading them. She left them scattered over the table when I suggested we go. Something she never did. She was always careful with her cards.

When we arrived at the park she was first out of the car and striding quickly for the gate. I caught up to her and grabbed her elbow. “Jackie, I know this is a problem but you have to calm down. If you keep rushing ahead you're going to run into danger yourself.”

She nodded to show she heard but didn't slow very much. The only thing that gave her pause was the pair of Vampires that slithered out of the darkness in our path, one male and one female. She growled in annoyance, making me grin.

I laid a hand on her shoulder. “I'll deal with this.” I met Daniels look of worry with a cocky smile. “Keep her safe.”

Jackie nodded and started to move when she froze. The blank look in her eyes told me she was getting a vision. “Look for the gateway to the tunnel before you cross the border.” There was nothing else. She simply walked straight at the Vampires, Daniel close on her heels. The Vampires let them pass without an issue. They grinned at me. I snarled back.

“Well, well, how noble of you.” The female spoke. She sounded like the one who had made the phone call. That was all the preamble I got.

My eyes widened as they rushed me, just barely dodging both of them. I struck out hard at the male, shrugging when I cracked his nose instead of his jaw. Either way worked. The female grabbed me from behind and hissed as she prepared to bite me.

I lunged forward, placing my hands on the ground to help protect my head as I flipped over and crashed down on top of the Vamp. She gasped as the wind was knocked out of her. I rolled free and swept a leg under the males feet. He jumped it and came back down with a punch aimed at my face.

I rolled away and to my feet. I spotted a sharp stick laying on the ground and lunged for it. The female hissed in warning as the male jumped me. Too late. He stumbled back, looking at the impromptu stake through his heart. His eyes turned back to me in hate as he turned to ash and blew away.