Hunter's Strike

“We’ve been looking all over the city, Callie, and we still haven’t found any place we both agree on.” Angie lamented. “This place you’re showing us better be something special...”

The elevator was small, with Angie, Callie, and Gabriel enough to crowd it completely. Angie glanced over at Gabriel, who was leaning on the back wall, looking bored out of his skull. Angie was just tired, trekking all over Manhattan was tougher for humans than vampires.

Callie was practically vibrating with giddy energy. “Trust me, you’re going to love it.” She pressed one finger to the side of her head and grinned. “I know it.”

“Am I going to love it?” Gabriel asked, his voice flat.

She looked at him and her grin widened, which didn’t answer his question. He narrowed his eyes, then looked up at the ceiling.

The elevator creaked to a halt on the top floor. The door started to slide open, but stuck halfway. Callie forced it the rest of the way open, her smile unwavering. The door groaned in protest of such harsh treatment. Angie gave her a skeptical look as she passed.

The hallway was narrow and dim, papered in a sickly green color. “I’ll be honest,” Angie said. “Not feeling a whole lot of love here.”

Callie continued down the hallway, humming happily, all the way to the end, right in front of a wooden door whose varnish had long faded. She gestured to the doorknob.

Angie put her hand on the knob. “There’s no lock,” she pointed out, her voice alarmed.

“You don’t need a lock, stop being silly. Quick, go on in.”

Angie turned the knob and pushed the door open. Strong sunlight dazzled her eyes after the dim trip through the building. She gasped sharply as she stepped inside, her eyes widening. “Oh my god, it’s beautiful.”

Callie followed after her, but Gabriel lingered in the dark hallway, his expression disapproving.

The door opened into a spacious kitchen. The appliances were gleaming stainless steel and the counters were black granite. The floors were hardwood, dark and waxed to a high sheen.

There was no wall separating the kitchen and living room. Just a third countertop dividing the two spaces. A couch, sofa chair, and a TV sat on a large white rug in the center of the living room.

The kitchen and living room were completely unremarkable compared to the living room window. It replaced the wall on the left side of the apartment, sloping upwards at an angle to where it reached the ceiling. It was made of of smaller, lead lined, panes of glass. The morning sunlight poured into the room, fully encompassing the white carpet in dazzling brightness.

Angie turned back to Callie, who stood in the kitchen. She was squinting slightly in the strong light “I like it, a whole lot, but how can we live here with a huge window like this?” she asked frankly.

Callie smiled. “It’s UV protected. The last tenant was a vampire, and he had all of the glass treated. I can’t stand directly under the window, but I can at least be in the same room without developing the worst sunburn ever. Gabriel’s old enough. It shouldn’t hurt him, though he won’t exactly be comfortable.”

Angie turned towards him. Gabriel stood by the door, his black pants and his dark hair blending into the darkness of hallway. His eyes flashed red briefly, then he walked into the apartment.

He walked past Callie without looking at her and stepped towards where Angie stood in the sunlight. His shoes stopped right at the edge of where the light touched on the floor.

“How is it?” Angie asked him, the sunlight highlighting her chestnut hair a golden-honey color.

His eyes narrowed as he squinted. He lifted up one hand and held it out in front of him, towards her and into the sunlight. His skin did not burn. “It’s warm.” he answered tightly, not sounding entirely comfortable.

Angie smiled, and his eyes were suddenly more dazzled than the sunlight could account for. She turned back to Callie, and he quickly settled his expression back to one of disapproval. “I want it.” she said.

Callie smiled broadly. “I knew you would say that.”

“You haven’t seen the rest of it, yet.” Gabriel reminded sternly. “You don’t even know if there are two bedrooms or not.” He walked towards the other end of the living room, opposite the kitchen, and opened one of two doors set evenly spaced apart from the adjacent walls.

When he had disappeared into the room, Angie walked back over to Callie. She moved quickly, which made her limp more pronounced. She leaned on the counter with both arms. “I love it. What’s the rent?”

“You should manage.” Callie replied. “The best part is, my apartment is downstairs.”

Angie pointed towards the floor. “Downstairs? Like, right under us?”

Callie’s smile turned devious. “That’s not a concern, right?”

Angie placed both hands on the counter. “Of course not, that’s wonderful! I’m not sure how Gabriel is going to like that, though...”

“There’s only one bathroom.” Gabriel announced, stepping out of the other door. “It’s shared and the size of a postage stamp.”

“Welcome to New York CIty.” Callie said wryly. “Real estate is kind of sparse here on the island.”

“I’m sure we’ll be able to deal.” Angie said reasonably, looking back over at Gabriel. “It’s been weeks, I want to get out of that hotel and have a place of my own again.”

Gabriel ran a hand through his hair, a sure sign of agitation. “Fine, we’ll stay here.” Callie’s smile turned into a grin. “For now.” he said warningly.

Callie reached over the counter and threw her arms around Angie. “This is going to be so awesome!”

“The furniture is ours, too?” Angie wheezed lightly. “Didn’t the previous tenant take it with him?”

“Trust me, he doesn’t have any use for it anymore.”

“He’s dead, isn’t he?” Gabriel asked.

“Yep, hunters got him just a few weeks ago. While he was out, they didn’t know where he lived. He left everything to the landlord when he signed his lease, so voila.” Callie released Angie.

“I’m suddenly less enthusiastic about using a dead person’s belongings.” Angie announced. Gabriel walked into the kitchen, looking everything over.

Callie waved one hand dismissively. “Everything in the kitchen’s barely been touched. It’s fine.” She pushed herself away from the counter. “Well, I’m gonna leave you two to get settled. Don’t bother playing Rocks, Paper, Scissors for the bigger room, Angie will win. Bye-ee”

Gabriel and Angie immediately looked at each other. They both raised their fists at the same time and shook them three times. Gabriel threw scissors, Angie threw rock. Angie laughed. Gabriel threw an annoyed look towards the door. “How does she do that?”

Angie shrugged. “When in doubt: vampire. I am no longer surprised by what you people can do.”

Gabriel was opening the cabinets under counter, looking inside. “Oh, I’m sure you haven’t seen anything yet.” He turned towards the fridge, which was taller than he was. “This will need to be plugged in, so we can both store food in it.”

Angie gave it a wary look. “What’s inside it right now?”

Gabriel opened it, revealing a clean, dark recess. “Nothing.” The shelves weren’t even set up. they lay on one side at the bottom of the fridge. He closed the door and pulled it away from the wall easily. He lifted it up off the floor a few inches, so it would not scrape against the wood. He plugged the cord into the wall socket and moved it back into place.

“Well, you performing feats of strength hasn’t gotten stale,” Angie remarked. “Just how old are you anyway?”

Gabriel opened the fridge door again. The light was on now and it hummed quietly. He started putting up the shelves. “Why do you want to know?”

“Well, Callie can’t go near the window, even with it UV protected. You can though, and you’re fine. Before as well, when that old hunter got you. I’m wondering what kind of age difference allows you be out in the sun for three days and survive.”

“I lost fifty percent of my body mass and all of my memories. I’m still missing most of them, and they’re not coming back.”

“You still lived.”

He finished setting up the shelves and stood up, losing the door. “I’m less than one million years old.” he said, turning towards her. His dark eyes glittered.

She was still leaning both arms on the counter. Her face flushed briefly as she recalled Desyre’s concert. Gabriel’s eyes had been just as dark as he’d leaned towards her, one finger hooked through the ring on her collar...

She smacked both hands on the counter sharply, yanking herself away from the memory. “You know what, I wonder if this place has beds. I think me and my leg better go find out and lay down for a bit. It’s been a long morning.” She walked slowly towards the bedroom doors, careful not limp. She paused. “Which one’s the bigger room?”

“The one on the left, by about three inches.”

“Well, I’m not one to squabble over a few inches.” Angie said, reaching for the door.

“Then why are you picking the left room?”

Angie glanced back at him. “Because I threw rock.” Then she was gone.

Gabriel stood in the kitchen a moment, unsure what to do next. “I guess I’ll go check out of the hotel and retrieve our clothes. By myself.” His voice rose a bit.

“‘Kay...” Angie’s muffled voice drifted back to him.