I didn't really know what to think about the pile of shopping bags Aunt Jenny placed in my room. They were filled with clothes I would never wear, yet still, I didn't want to throw them out. I decided to peek through them, just to see if there was anything to salvage. Aunt Jenny decided to help. She raided my dresser and placed my socks and male underwear in the same drawer to make room for one dedicated to bras and panties.
I didn't like it, but I couldn't object. I couldn't really wear my male underwear anymore. Aunt Jenny had bought me a lot of new panties, all coming in a variety of colors. I was happy to have some new underwear at least, but the rest of Aunt Jenny's haul didn't evoke the same emotion.
'What about this?' My aunt held up a girl's black long-sleeved top with a picture of an arrow going through a heart on it. 'I know you like wearing black.'
'Do you want me to get bullied?'
She then brought out a few plain black tops. They could be androgynous enough to wear, but I didn't want to. They would fit too tight and would make my breasts obvious to anyone near me.
She bought a variety of skirts for me as well. Pleated, plaid, denim, long, all sorts of skirts that I was never going to wear. The only thing that caught my eye were a pair of black overalls. Guys wear overalls as well, so I might have been able to get away with them if they didn't have pink stitching lining them.
Aunt Jenny had also done a bit of shoe shopping. Most of which were Converse high tops that came in pink, hot pink, purple, yellow, and black. She had also thought it was a good idea to buy me some high heels. I scoffed as she pulled out a pair of light pink ankle strap pumps, followed by some white sandal heels and a pair of light blue peep-toe heels.
'Under what circumstance would I possibly wear those?' I said.
Aunt Jenny shrugged. 'Fun?' She shook her head. 'You may resist, but they're staying in your room. You'll thank me one day.'
I highly doubted it.
I needed to get away from the scene, so I called up Walt and Ramone. Unfortunately both were busy, but I managed to arrange a get together tomorrow. A guys night sounded like exactly what I needed. A movie with Walt and Ramone was always a blast.
I decided to play video games for the rest of the day. I had lost track of time, and before I knew it, Aunt Jenny was getting herself ready to go out.
'You can order pizza if you want,' she said as she applied some mascara.
'Where are you going?'
'I've got a date tonight. Last minute. You'll be alone for a few hours, so don't sneak into my wardrobe.' She finished with a wink. I rolled my eyes. She left quickly, and suddenly, the apartment was very quiet. I wasn't alone often, and when I was, I barely noticed.
I strolled into Aunt Jenny's room. I don't know why, but I was curious about her clothes. She had gone out of her way to go for a style when she shopped for me, so I wondered if she did the same for her clothes that she didn't make.
I stopped before I could reach the wardrobe. Something smelled really good. I wandered into the adjacent bathroom. She had left all her makeup supplies out. A tube of red lipstick was left open, right next to a bottle of sweet-smelling perfume. The whole sink area was covered in makeup supplies. Aunt Jenny was a lot of things, clean not one of them.
I looked at myself in the mirror. My face looked softer, my eyes a bit larger. My breasts were poking out from my Iron Man shirt. I did look like a girl, and I gathered with makeup, even more.
There were makeup wipes on the sink as well. Nobody would notice if I quickly put on a bit of lipstick, or mascara, or eyeliner, blush, foundation, the whole works! It got excited for a second, and I didn't know why.
I grabbed the lipstick and twisted it open. It was new and it looked so smooth. I wanted to put it on, but I wasn't sure how. I didn't want to mess it up. I don't know why I even cared.
Before I could press the tube against my lips, a loud bang shook the front door. I remembered myself, and who I was. I wasn't a girl. I looked the part, but I wouldn't play along. My resolve waned, and that worried me.
I rushed to the front door and unlocked it without thinking. Two men were waiting outside, young men wearing trench coats and flashing badges.
'Gavin Middleton,' the first man said. He was a handsome guy with shoulder length sandy blonde hair. The other man was bald but rocked the look. 'I'm Agent Hoffman, and this is Agent Strahm. We're both from Helsing. We need to leave this location. You are in terrible danger.'
'From what?' I asked.
'There's no time to explain,' the bald man, Agent Strahm, said. 'We need to go.'
They pulled me out of my apartment. Hoffman kept me close to his side, while he motioned Strahm to check the corner. The bald agent pulled a machete from his coat.
'You're packing a machete?' I exclaimed.
'All Helsing agents do,' Hoffman said nervously. 'Stay quiet and don't ask questions. This is for your own safety.'
After getting the all clear from Strahm, Hoffman pulled me along through the hallway. The halls of the twentieth floor were oddly empty. Usually there were a few people chatting in doorways, but none tonight. The lights were dimmer, and some were close to burning out.
'There are vampires close,' Strahm said. 'What's the quickest way down?'
They both looked at me. I knew one way, but I wasn't sure how they feel about jumping from the roof. Vampires could do some sort of weird super jump, but I wasn't sure about half-breeds.
'We could take the elevator,' I said.
They both nodded and pulled me towards the nearest elevator. Hoffman slammed his finger against the ground floor where the parking garage was. We hadn't run into any danger so far. These guys were good.
'Did the Doctor send you?' I asked.
Hoffman was sweating nervously. 'Yes.' He must have been under an incredible amount of pressure to escort me.
'Are we going to Helsing HQ?'
'No,' Strahm said. He was a lot calmer than his partner. 'Somewhere much safer. You'll be very safe, very secure.'
The elevator stopped on the ground floor. The agents checked the area before I was clear to head out.
'So, which car is yours?' I asked. They said nothing and led me to the darkest part of the garage. There were barely any cars in this part, the only one being a large black SUV. With a click from the keys, the car was unlocked. Hoffman got in the driver's seat while Strahm stayed in the back with me.
They said nothing during the drive. It was a bit strange. I guess this was what the Good Doctor meant when he said, 'formal contact'. We didn't drive for long before the car stopped down an alleyway in front of an abandoned warehouse downtown.
'This place is very safe, very secure,' Strahm kept saying, as if I needed convincing to be protected from a potential threat. Hoffman opened the door for me and I walked in. I stepped into total pitch-black darkness, with the only sound being the locking door behind me.
The lights flickered on and I was met with the sight of a barren warehouse. There was no one else here.
'Is this the safe house?' I asked.
Hoffman and Strahm were standing next to each other, unsheathing their machetes.
'No,' Hoffman said bluntly. 'This is the place where we're going to kill you and feast on your flesh.'
I burst into laughter. Not only were the agents good, but they were also really funny. They looked at me as I laughed. I was nearly on the floor before I caught on.
'What are you laughing about?' Hoffman said. 'We are literally going to kill you right now.'
Strahm grinned, baring his fangs he had managed to keep hidden. Both of the men's eyes turned blood red and they licked their lips. I went pale, paler than usual considering I was technically undead.
'You guys aren't Helsing agents, are you?' I whimpered as I backed away.
'I'm surprised it took you this long,' Strahm said. 'Helsing agents don't carry badges. The whole point of being undercover is to be undercover!'
I couldn't believe it. It had been too easy to trick me. Worst of all was that they probably didn't even need badges to convince me they were agents. I had a habit of being too trusting for my own good.
The two men were upon me before I had time to react. Strahm grabbed me by the neck, holding me way up in the air while Hoffman readied his machete to cut open my stomach.
'It's been too long since I feasted on a fellow Kin,' he said.
'Let alone one who carries the Gene!' Strahm added. 'Her blood will taste sweet, like candy. I can already smell it.'
Hoffman laughed and swung his blade. An explosion of blood flew across the room and I fell to the floor. I screamed, though the blood wasn't mine. Hoffman was crying in agony, doing his best to hold the wound together. His machete wielding arm was already on the other side of the warehouse by the time I noticed he had been dismembered.
'You bitch!' Strahm yelled.
'I didn't do it!' I replied, but he didn't hear. He wasn't talking to me.
Laurel Laurent stood in front of me. Her wrist had been cut open, but blood didn't flow. Instead, it snaked out like a string, forming into a large shape, a sword she now held. Her blood was a sword, and somehow it was able to cut a grown man's arm off.
She wasn't glammed up, so I really got a good look at her face for the first time. Without makeup, I could tell she was like me, if only slightly. She was still very pretty, but there were small ghosts of masculinity on her face, not anything a regular person would notice, but being someone going through the same thing she went through, I could see it.
She was dressed quite plainly in jeans and a hoodie, though that was all she needed. She had intended to get her clothes bloodied tonight. She had been watching me, waiting until the 'agents' made their move, then going in for the kill.
'This is fucking great!' Strahm yelled. 'The little bitch has a guardian angel! I smell the sweetness in your blood as well. What are the odds.'
'I like to look after my own,' Laurel said. 'That's what makes me different from you regular vampires, willing to cannibalize their own for power. It makes me sick.'
Laurel lunged forward, Blood Sword in hand. Strahm clashed his blade against hers. The steel of the machete broke apart Laurel's weapon, but she dodged the blow, sliding underneath the man and reformed the sword from her flowing cut. She slashed it against Strahm's back but he blocked it. He wasn't even looking at her and he managed to reach behind with his blade, blocking the blow. He was dangerous.
Strahm twirled and knocked Laurel on the side of the head with his fist. She fell to the ground, only to be kicked across the floor by the immense strength of Strahm's vampiric abilities.
'Female is the weaker sex,' Strahm said, advancing towards me. 'Why you would choose to transform yourself into one is beyond me. The Vampiria gene is strong, but your body becomes weaker. How long do you think you can last under the perpetual strikes from my blade.'
'Is that a trick question?' I asked. I doubted he knew the side effects of ingesting the gene. If the agents did manage to feast on my blood, they would be in for a surprise, but I would also be dead.
He raised the sword, baring his fangs, but was knocked away by Laurel who slashed him across the chest with her sword. Strahm's blood sprayed across me, covering me head to toe. I felt like throwing up.
'Is that all you got?' Strahm said, heaving with every breath. Even with a fatal wound, Strahm still stood.
'You're a Pure Blood,' Laurel said. She didn't look to good herself, blood seeping from many wounds on her face. 'Your body is healing itself, isn't it?'
'You catch on quick for a trans bitch. I'll last much longer than you in a head on fight.'
Laurel smiled. She slashed her long thumbnail against her other wrist, cutting it open. Another blade emerged from the blood, and she twirled them, showing off her skills.
'You sure about that?'
Laurel and Strahm threw themselves at each other, clashing blades and snarling like animals. It was like watching a dance unfold. Both combatants were incredibly skilled and on equal playing fields. I couldn't be sure who would win. But I couldn't sit and watch.
Hoffman made sure of that. I had lost sight of him during the fray, and somehow he had gotten behind me. His dismembered hand had been healed by his Pure-Blooded powers. He grabbed me by the neck and plunged his machete into my chest.
I sputtered with blood, trying to call out to Laurel but she couldn't hear me. She was losing her own battle.
'Quiet now,' Hoffman said. 'I have you all to myself.'
He continued to drag me into the dark half of the warehouse, and I could do nothing to stop him. The pain was intense, and I could barely move with a blade stuck through my body. I had to do something and fast. I was quickly losing consciousness. Blood was dripping from my mouth, I felt like I was going to drown in it.
My mouth!
Maybe there was something I could do, despite how risky it was. Hoffman's head was close to mine. All I had to do was lean back and bite into his neck. I didn't even know if I had fangs, but I had to try. I tilted my head back with great effort, ignoring the pain all over. I lunged for his neck, but he looked down at me before I could reach him, and instead kissed him right on the lips.
I pulled back instantly, ripping the blade from my chest. I screamed out in pain, Hoffman with surprise, before his own cries were muffled out by the ripping and tearing of his flesh. Laurel was on him like a rabid beast. I saw Strahm's mangled body on the floor across from me. Laurel was thorough with her work.
While Hoffman and Strahm were down, I wasn't out of the clear. The machete had ripped a hole in my chest, one that any normal human could never survive. Darkness slowly enveloped me and I lost consciousness, licking my lips of the blood I tasted, whosever it was.