Silent Shadows

“Kid?” Jimmy tapped on my door before opening it. “We need to talk to you.” My stomach tightened at the words. “We need to talk” was usually a pretty good indication of some bad shit about to happen. Still, I followed him into the living room where everyone else was. They all had grave looks on their faces, which made me even more uncomfortable.

“What’s going on?” I asked. I had to force myself not to ask, “am I in trouble?”

“We’re going vampire hunting tonight. We have word of one hunting about 20 miles from town.” Matt said. His face was eerily blank and it was freaking me out.

“And I’m not going.” I tried to keep the anger out of my voice. If anyone should go sucker hunting, it was me. I had a score to settle with those bastards.

“We have something you could do.” Matt studied me. “It’s dangerous.”

“And your point is?” I asked. “Sign me up, whatever it is.”

“We need you to be bait.” Jimmy crossed his arms over his chest. He didn’t look particularly happy about the idea.

“It doesn’t matter. You need me to dress sexy or what?” I was prepared to do anything to get a couple of suckers dead.

“Put your hair up and wear a tank top.” That was pretty much the end of Matt’s instructions so I put on jeans and boots along with the tank top. Before I got in the car with the rest of them, Jimmy pressed two switchblades in my hand.

“Just in case.” He said before getting into the passenger seat. The ride down the mountain was almost completely silent, as if everyone was mentally preparing themselves for what we were about to do. I should have been nervous, scared even, but I could only think about the way it would feel to watch a vampire die. Even if they weren’t the ones that killed my parents, it would still be a kind of revenge.

Matt stopped the car on a deserted city block. “Okay, here’s the plan.” He said, turning around in his seat. “Ronnie goes out and walks up and down these next few blocks. We wait until a sucker grabs her, kill some undead fuckers and head home.”

Everyone nodded and I checked the two switchblades tucked in my pockets as I walked down the street. The streets were silent and empty, my footsteps almost echoing on the pavement.

My dad had told me once why some streetlights were orange and others weren’t. He said they had carbon in them; because carbon burned orange, they made the light that color. He’d loved chemistry and science in general, so he’d been full of those kinds of facts.

That raw ragged place in my chest ached and I put a little more swing in my hips, trying to look as appetizing as possible. My hair was pulled up into a high ponytail that brushed the nape of my neck, making it feel like fingers were trailing across it. It made goosebumps rise all over my arms, even in the muggy heat of the night.

Suddenly, there was someone beside me. I hadn’t heard them come up, couldn’t have told you how long they’d been next to me.

“Nice night for a stroll isn’t it love?” The only thing I could have told you about the vampire, aside from his shining white fangs, were those dark soul-sucking eyes. Was he one of the ones who’d taken my parents’ lives? I wasn’t sure, but he would have to do.
One hand wrapped around my wrist in an iron grip, pulling me into the shadows of the alley. His other hand was clamped tight over my mouth so I couldn’t scream. “You smell delicious.” He leaned in to sniff my neck. My free hand scrabbled for the switchblade when I felt his jaw open wider to bite.

I didn’t need the knife because the vampire vanished under a pile of heaving fur a heartbeat later. I backed away from the melee, thinking my back would hit the brick wall behind me so I could keep a good lookout.

But it didn’t.

I’d backed up into something cold, hard and fanged. “Shit.” I muttered under my breath. She clapped her hand over my mouth to keep me from screaming for help.

“How sad that they left their little bird unprotected.” This vampire was female. “And so close to blooming. You’ll make a lovely snack.” Her arms were wrapped around me so tight I could barely breathe, let alone get the blades in my pockets. The fight was still ongoing, even with Zinnia helping, and with the sucker dragging me back into the shadows of the alleyway there was no way they’d get to me before I got bitten.

At least, that’s what I was thinking until a sandy colored blur rammed into the vampire. Danny must have seen what was happening somehow and was fighting the sucker by himself. I flicked both blades open and looked for a place to stab that wasn’t sandy fur. I heard a loud pop and a howl of pain. My vision went red and time went syrupy again. I saw an opening that would get my knife just over the sucker’s heart, and time snapped back just as I took the shot.

Black vampire blood splattered everywhere, smoking as it hit the open air. A little spattered onto my face and sizzled before evaporating.

“Matt!” I yelled, seeing Danny lying on his side. He whimpered when I tried to touch him and moved away from me. Zinnia came running and saw us there, plus the smoking sucker blood and the pile of dust the vampire had dissolved into.

“He’s hurt.” I said helplessly. Matt pulled the car up to the mouth of the alley and Zinnia and Brian hauled Danny into the car.

Danny lay across our laps in the back like a heavy furry blanket. I didn’t know why he wasn’t shifting back until Matt had brought him into the house.

“He’s in too much pain to shift back. Something must be broken or dislocated.” Matt bit his lip worriedly. For all the shit Matt had given me before, it was easy to see how much he cared about his pack. “Zin? Any ideas?”

“I need him to shift back. I cannot help him in this form.” Zinnia said. I knelt next to where Danny was lying on his bed, panting and whimpering alternately.

“Danny, we’re gonna make you better but we need you to come back to us.” I said quietly. “Shift back and we’ll fix it, I promise.”

I had no idea that would work. His torso shifted back into human form, although he was still oddly furry and he had a mouth full of sharp canines. He clearly couldn’t make it back all the way. The first thing that came to mind was, “Grandma, what big teeth you have.” I shook the thought away and looked him over, trying to see if I could tell where he was hurt.

“I think his shoulder is dislocated.” Zinnia was saying. “I could try to pop it back in, but I am afraid I’d hurt him. My strength is too great.”

“I’ll do it.” I found myself volunteering. Of course, the minute I tried to touch him he snapped and growled at me. He was thrashing too much for me even to get a grip on him as I tried again. It took Matt and Brian both holding him down to get him still enough for me to grab hold of his arm.

“This is gonna hurt but it’s gonna make you better, I promise.” I said before ramming his shoulder back into place. He let out a high pitched howl and lay still, breathing heavily.

“Let him rest.” Zinnia ushered us out. “I’ll stay with him.” I walked away slowly, dreading the thought of going to sleep by myself. I hadn’t gone too far down the hallway when Jorel called me back.

“You can sleep with me tonight.” He offered. His room was the darkest and messiest of the ones I’d seen, but it was a bed and a companion, and that’s all I wanted. After a quick stop in my room to change into pajamas, I curled up to sleep. The fading adrenaline and the stress of jamming Danny’s shoulder back together helped me fall asleep quickly.

The next morning, I went to get breakfast started only to find a note from Matt saying they’d gone out to take care of some things. I figured Zinnia and Danny were home and they could probably use some food. I had just put the bacon into the pan when Danny shuffled into the kitchen.

“Hey, you’re up.” I said, smiling at him. “How do you feel?”

“Sore, but I’ll live. Thanks for putting me back together.” He sat down at the kitchen table with a cup of coffee.

“Thanks for saving my life. If you hadn’t jumped in like that I would have been sucker food.”

“You’re welcome.” He took a sip of his coffee and let out a groan of satisfaction. “God, I need this.”

“Is Zinnia awake?”

“She left with the others, I think. She wasn’t there when I woke up.”

“Mmm.” I barely trusted myself to not throw myself at him with no one else around. Luckily for me, I guess, he ate his breakfast and made noises about needing to check his medical kit and disappeared into his room, leaving me to vegetate in front of the TV some more. Relaxing felt good, even though it meant I had time to think about last night. I had been inches from death again, and I hadn’t been able to defend myself. Even with all this sparring I was still as helpless as a human until I shifted.