When a Vampire Slayer gets Desperate

Chapter 2: Following Death into an Alley = Not My Best Idea

Heather pushed her way through the masses of people who crowded the Street Shops. The Street Shops were basically a bunch of streets which were bordered with an assortment of vending stalls. They advertised everything from Colombian style dresses to designer sunglasses. It was the perfect place to come if you needed to buy cheap crap. Or, better yet, to blend in and hide.

She had no idea where Kyle could be in this mess of people. Casually, she took the picture out from her pocket and glanced at his profile for the thousandth time since she had first gotten it. His short blond hair and rugged physique displayed a rather cocky and proud sort of person, a type of person she dealt with daily, yet his dark amber eyes made her uneasy. There was something different about him, but she couldn't pin it.

Finally, she let the thought blow over. As she tucked the picture safely into an inner pocket in her leather jacket, she made her way the dress stall, glancing at its wares with outward approval. Though her eyes seemed focused on the bright, flamboyant colors, she began to search the crowd with her peripheral vision.

This skill had taken her years of working on and perfecting, but now she could do it naturally, sometimes without even trying. It was a life-or-death survival advantage, to be absolutely clear. In the field of slaying, something as simple as a so-called friend sneaking up behind you could mean immediate and unpredictable death. 

When Heather didn't pick up a matching face, she waved off the clothing and headed over to a food stand that sold Hawaiian pizza, where she ordered a slice and sat down at a nearby table. Taking a bite, she chewed thoughtfully, her eyes still scanning for a Kyle Hunte.

Soon, her mind began to wander away from the packed streets of Louisville. It began the troublesome trip down Memory Lane, where it tripped and fell many times along the bumpy road. There was the day she first heard about her Dad's real job. She was only 9.  He had been heading out the door for the last time, unknowingly leaving his only daughter to fend for herself in the lonely world. It had scared her at first. With all the stories she heard about the subjects of his job, it was like she already knew he was dead. Little did she know, he was.

But I guess you could say she followed his footsteps into the world of assassination. Into the land of dangerous creatures who were far from human. Into the neighborhood of vampires, to be absolutely specific.

Vampires. They were known as the murderers of the night. Their only alibi was the fact that they needed to kill to live. But the thing was, they didn't need to kill very often. Or as often as they did, at least. It was their choice. She had learned from her previous victims that vampires only need to feed every couple decades or so. It was more of a pleasure craving for them to kill more periodically than that.

Yet until a couple hundred years ago, they were nothing but bed time stories used to frighten little children into coming home before dark. But what the people didn't know was that they were more than villans of foolish stories. They had existed for thousands of years, but no one had ever had the means or wits to find one. Until June of 1863.

The Civil War had been raging on for about two years now, and West Virginia was just now the 35th State in America. Many settlers took off to settle in the new State, away from the battles and blasts of war.

Little did they know, a major vampire hideout had been constructed in the middle of the state to ambush any war supplies that passed within a fifty mile radius. Overwhelmed by the new wave of potential food, they relaxed a great deal and even began to hunt in the daylight, where everyone saw them. It shocked many, and vampire slayers soon made a business out of killing the killers.

Since then, the circle of kill and hate between vampires and vampire slayers has been strong and fluent. It has been yet to seize and it has shaped history as though it were wet clay. Even now, in present day California, they still roamed the streets, which was why she was here.

Heather led her eyes through one last sweep of the crowd. Wait a minute... She blinked. Her mind stopped its little vacation and her eyes focused. There, a match. He was wearing a Green Bay Packers sweatshirt and a plain baseball hat, yet she knew it was the Kyle she was looking for. His relative build was identical to his picture, and even with the hat, Heather could see his uneven blond hair cut. He was staring at some pieces of artificial jewelry, his back to her.

As if in slow motion, he turned around. They're eyes locked. Heather felt like she was paralysed. He gave a small smirk, his eyes seeming to show amusement, and then he was off, disappearing into the crowd.

Heather flew from her seat, leaving her half-eaten pizza slice behind. She wasn't going to lose him. Keeping her head down, she followed his bobbing baseball cap. He moved with expert navigation, never tripping or hesitating as he sped through the people. Yet she managed to keep a healthy distance from him, never too close or too far. And by 'healthy distance', she meant a good 10 yards

It seemed too easy. He wasn't trying to evade her. He wasn't taking any unexpected, but very much predicted, turns. He was just... walking. In a straight line. Seemingly going no where. 'What are you doing?' Her mind seemed to be exploring every possible option for his weird, calm behavior, but she came up with nothing.

Suddenly, his hat took a right turn into an alleyway. 'Finally.' She thought.

Heather came to the mouth and faltered. He was leading her away from the public, away from prying eyes. He could very easily kill her in that alley and leave her corpse for someone else to find and gawk at. But she had had experience with these types of things and she knew how to work this into her advantage. But still...

 "Always taking risks, aren't ya Heather?" She sighed to herself. Slowly, she took a deep breath and entered the darkness, leaving her fears and doubts behind.