Keen's Turn: The Vampire's Appeal

Chapter 2: Bury Leads (first half)

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"Well I'll be damned." The voice that drifted down to him on the hot night air was cool and careless, and lifted the hairs on the back of Jared's neck. "So you came back after all."

The figure took a step toward him. Jared shot a hand into his bag, drawing out a fistful of talismans and brandishing them in front of him.

"Back off, vampire!"

The vampire paused. "Why? What have you got there?"

"Just about everything."

"Oh? And what's that? Crosses? Holy water?"

"For a start."

"And for an end?"

"How about a stake?"

The monster chuckled—a dry, voiceless sound. "So that's it, is it? You fancy yourself a vampire slayer?"

"I could use a new hobby."

"Have you considered cliff diving? It would be far safer."

"This might be rocky going, but I'll take the plunge."

There was a long pause.

The vampire tipped back its head, the hood sliding down onto its shoulders. "You do understand you're...risking your neck?"

Jared blinked, then returned: "I get it's a grave situation, but you don't seem to have your heart in it. Leave it to me to hammer the point home."

The grin tugging at the corner of the monster's mouth broke free, spreading across its face, and all four canines caught the light as they lengthened. "Then why not raise the stakes? Have at thee!"

Jared started forward, a tangle of crosses raised in one fist. The vampire's smile curled into a snarl, and it moved toward the opposite wall, maintaining the distance between them. Jared fished with his free hand in his bag, fingers wrapping around a length of splintered wood as the creature reached the bricks and latched onto them, about to climb out of reach. Bracing himself, he rushed for the wall, shoving the talismans up at the vampire. It dropped off the surface like a bat, landing in a crouch and rising to face him.

Leaping at it, Jared knocked it back into the bricks, thrusting the crosses under its nose—it flinched back, fangs withdrawing, the black retreating from the eyes locked on the talismans. Jared raised the stake, but he wasn't getting a scrap of fence post, however jagged, through bone and muscle without a hammer, and he had no hand free for the rock weighing in his bag. He tried anyway, driving the stake forward with all his might. The vampire caught his arm, absorbing his force, and held it steady, flicking its eyes to its grip for a beat before flashing a sneer down upon him.

"Where are your warding powers now?"

It bent his arm sideways until he dropped the stake with a gasp. He pressed the crosses to the creature's hand, forcing it off. Keeping it at bay, he rummaged in his bag for another shaft of wood. His fingers found one, but the vampire had taken up his distraction to drop its show of repulsion and duck past the crosses. Grabbing his satchel, it unclipped the metal clasp from the ring that held the strap in place. The strap snaked off his shoulder, and with a heave the monster sent the bag flying out of reach.

Leaving Jared no time to process what had happened, it flung its arms wide, palms facing back, catching hold of the wall behind and hefting both legs to plant its feet in his chest. A powerful shove sent him sprawling halfway across the alley, back scuffing on the asphalt—he managed to keep hold of the crosses while the second stake clattered away. He scrambled to his feet as the vampire pushed off the wall and approached, backing him into the wall opposite. When it reached him, he lifted the crosses again. The vampire stared at them—then began to laugh.