Angel's Kiss (13 page)

I ran. My hair billowed out behind me as the air stirred around me, my speed creating a whirlwind. I lengthened my strides and kicked it up a notch. I wanted to see what speed I was capable of. The world was a blur, and for a moment I thought my feet no longer needed to touch the ground as I raced along.

The scents were getting stronger. I could feel the adrenaline being released into my system, in response to my decision to fight. All my senses were heightened to a super awareness.

I overshot the end of the scent trail by a few hundred metres and had to backtrack to determine where it ended and why. I found a poorly hidden entrance to what appeared to be an underground tunnel. The scents were very strong here — underneath those of the vamps I’d pursued were a number of older and fainter scents. I followed them, torn between my eagerness to test whether my hands could kill offensively and yearning for the taste of honey in my mouth.

The walls of the tunnel were very smooth and the path well worn. This was a place the vampires, or some other animals, frequented often. I came upon a large number of well-furnished rooms — an underground vampire cell perhaps — and it was in one of these I found three vampires asleep on cots.

I didn’t know how long they’d been asleep, or if they were light sleepers. Surely here, in the safety of their own lair, they would sleep like the dead.
No pun intended,
I told myself.

I dropped to my knees by the closest cot and watched the eyes moving behind the lids. Vampires dreamed? How curious! I gently placed my hand over her mouth, ensuring all my fingers, including the thumb, made contact with her skin. I felt the process begin and watched as my fingers melded with her flesh, to draw out the blood. I had never had the opportunity to watch it happen before and it fascinated me.

She opened her eyes, wide with terror, and struggled. I grasped her wrist with my free hand only to find it fused onto her skin. I could not break free.

Oh shit!
I thought.
I hope her friends don’t wake up. I’ve got no way to take them out, unless they take a number and wait their turn
.

She clawed at me with her free hand and the scratches she made on the back of my hand stung. I stood up and straddled the cot, lowering myself to sit on her thighs, thus preventing her from kicking me. I could put up with a few scratches, but some powerful blows with a knee or foot might really hurt.

The vampire continued to struggle, futile as it was. My hand on her mouth muted her cries. I could barely hear them, never mind a couple of sleeping vampires a few metres away.

When the struggling stopped, and her hand went limp, I was able to let go. My hands seemed to know when they could release her from their grip — her death had acted as the release mechanism. I marvelled at how they worked. I’d need to be careful about using both on the one victim though, particularly if there were others around. Maybe, with lots of practice — it would take heaps, I knew — I could disengage from my prey at will.

I slipped quietly to the second cot, placed my hand over the vamp’s mouth — as I had done to his companion — and allowed my lips to find his neck. He didn’t even stir, his rapidly moving eyes suggesting he was caught in the grip of a dream. It was over far too quickly for my liking. Now there was only one left — and the buzz was kicking in — I could afford to take my time and have a little fun.

The third vampire’s bare arm was visible, having slipped out of the bed covers and over the side of the bed. I straddled his bed, careful not to knock him or make a sound. As I sat on his chest I quickly raised his arm to my mouth — mindful that I should not wrap my hand around it — and bit him. He woke with a start and looked quickly to his companions for help that wasn’t going to come.

“Fuckin’ freak!” he yelled. “
Get the fuckin’ hell off me!
”

I waggled a finger in the air, letting him know I didn’t appreciate his foul language. It was the first time a man had
ever
told me to get off him. Usually they were trying to cajole me into staying on top!

He pushed at my face, realising that I was more like them than they’d thought. Realised the futility of trying to detach someone who’d latched on. When he tried to gouge out my eye I got mad and grabbed his free hand, holding his palm to my chest so he could feel the beat of my heart. I could sense the fear coursing through his body.

“
Freak!
” he yelled again, more weakly now.

My eyes smiled at him and I wriggled provocatively on his chest. Not quite a lap dance — I was in the wrong position for that — but I let him know, in my own way, that I was enjoying myself. I was tempted to put his hand under my top. The last touch he would ever feel would be that of my breasts. Okay, even
that
was too much for me!

His legs kicked out, bucking me wildly, and I imagined I was on the rodeo circuit, riding a raging bull. When the ride stopped I was left with a wonderful buzz. Still, I yearned for
more
. If they were all this much fun I was sure as hell going to enjoy bringing death to the vampires. Undoubtedly I could make it even more fun though. I wanted them to know me by some sort of moniker. To be called the vampire’s bane or slayer sounded too cliché, and bringer of death sounded corny …
She who kills
sounded kind of cool — words that
could
strike fear into their cold, lifeless hearts.

I headed back to the tunnel entrance, checking the other rooms along the way in case some vamps had returned while I’d been busy.
Don’t leave your back exposed.
All was quiet. A plan was forming in my head Time to return to my starting point.

The second scent trail I followed belonged to a lone vampire. He’d run a great distance and it took me some time to catch up, as he was still running. I ran faster than I’d ever run before. It seemed the more I fed, the faster I could run. Imagine my speed when I’d reached my peak!

“Wait up!” I yelled out.

He stopped and turned to see who had called out to him. He smiled when he recognised me as the prey that had gotten away from the hunt the night before. They all seemed to smile at first.

I feigned shock that it was a vampire I had found. I clutched at my throat with a hand, shaking my head from side to side and mouthing the word
No
. It was over the top, but he didn’t notice I was acting. He thought it was genuine fear and grinned back at me, nodding his head in greeting.

He walked back to me slowly, so cocksure. I would have laughed, if I wasn’t trying to play the damsel in distress. I had to admit to myself that I admired his confidence, though. I almost smiled and gave the whole thing away.

Concentrate, Helena. Keep up the facade.

“Well, well. What have we here?” he said, walking a complete circle around me.

I turned around as he circled me, still clutching my throat. I wanted him to have the impression that I needed to see where he was at all times, with what I hoped would pass for fear on my face.

He thrust his hips outward in an overly male gesture of dominance. This sort of display used to sicken me, but now it was all I could do to contain myself and not laugh. It looked to me like the bravado of a buffoon!

I forced my bottom lip to quiver and he reached out to touch me. It was a pity I couldn’t cry on demand. That would have been perfect! I cringed at his touch — all part of the act — and he spoke softly, trying to reassure me that he wasn’t like the others, that he wouldn’t harm me. I looked into his eyes and thought I saw a spark of humanity remaining.

When one hand touched my cheek and the other gathered me by the waist, I did find myself questioning his intentions. As he pulled me closer and tilted his head to the side, I knew now was the time to act. Moving faster than the eye could see I slipped out of his embrace and came up behind him. I wrapped my arms around his chest, pinning his arms to his sides. It was sad to know he’d been corrupted, but he
had
been about to give me the vampire’s kiss. They were all the same.

“A kiss before dying?” I purred in his ear.

My lips eagerly sought his neck. He struggled — as they all did — and when I knew he was near the end I focused all of my willpower into trying to release him. It was an enormously difficult thing to do, to deny myself the last drop — the sweetest part. I moaned in agony, not from pain, but from the internal struggle I endured, until my lips relented and I was able to let his body fall to the ground.

The vamp was terribly weak. It was he who cringed now, when I cupped his chin carefully in my hand. I kissed his lips and smiled.

“Tell them
she who kills
has come.”

I turned and ran, without looking back, laughing all the way. The laughter echoed throughout the forest. It was a joyous sound.

10.
Outnumbered

I was flying. Invisible wings lifted me into the air. My feet didn’t touch the ground as I ran, though they moved — faster and faster — back to my starting point.

Ah, to actually
have
wings,
I thought,
rather than feeling like I have them
—
a part of the buzz
.

There were still seven separate trails to follow.

Save the best till last,
I told myself,
when you’re stronger. You’ll need your strength, and all of your feminine wiles, to take on that many vamps.

The six remaining trails consisted of two singles, three groups of two and a group of three. The first two led to underground tunnels, similar to the first trail I’d followed. Were they all interconnected somehow? I wondered why vamps would choose to stay out here when they could blend so well in the mortal world, where food was abundant. Perhaps Danny would know.

It became a game of cat and mouse. I employed the same damsel-in-distress tactic I’d used on the sole vampire I’d allowed to live — barely — again and again, it worked so well.
I could have been an actress.
The only difficulty I encountered was with a group of two females. Males were easy to trick. Even as vampires their brains still seemed to be located between their legs. I wondered idly, while killing three at once, if vampires had sex —
anyone for a foursome?
Sure I’d heard the classic stories of the incubus — a male vampire that sought out sleeping mortal women for sex — and the succubus — a female vampire that sought out sleeping mortal men for sex. Who hadn’t? They appeared often enough in popular fiction, but I was no longer sure of what was fact and what was fiction.

The two females hissed and spat at me, remaining far enough apart from each other that I couldn’t possibly grab both of them at the same time. What to do?

I put a hand on my hip and tapped my lips thoughtfully with a finger from the other hand, smiling all the while. Let them think I had a plan for them. Let them sweat a little.

I glanced towards the sky. I had maybe three more hours of sunlight. After that, I’d be at a serious disadvantage, not knowing the region as well as the vamps. It would be time to call Danny to take me back to the cottage. I could always return tomorrow.

I let my hands drops to my side, the smile turning to a frown and a panicked look on my face, as though I’d just realised I was outnumbered. I turned and ran, at a decidedly mortal pace, back to the cover of the trees. Seeing me run, the females, feeling they had the upper hand, sprinted towards me, in hot pursuit.

When I reached the treeline I used it to my advantage, doing a feat of acrobatics I would never have dreamed was possible outside the world of movies. I quickly took three large strides up the trunk of the nearest tree and did a backflip, landing behind the second vamp. A perfect Olympic gold medal-winning landing. I reached out, grasping the back of the neck, and we ran forwards together — she trying to shake off my hand — to catch up to the other vamp. She slowed when she heard two sets of footsteps. I rushed forward to get a good handful of hair, biting her neck in the process and pulling her to a halt. Both struggled and kicked. I was already much stronger than them. They didn’t stand a chance.

I admired their courage. Not once did they cry out, even when they knew the last of their life force was being drained from their bodies. Women were a lot stronger than men in many ways, and our tolerance of pain — our bodies being designed for childbirth — was one of them.

Today’s body count — with the exception of the one I’d allowed to live to spread the word of
she who kills
—
Helena fourteen, Vampires none
.

I was so pumped I felt I could take on the world … and win! Egotistical pride? Perhaps. I’d accomplished so much in so little time, how could I not be proud of myself?

I returned to my starting place, smug in the knowledge there was only one group left — the seventh trail — from yesterday’s foray. There were five scents mixed in this final trail, which led north. I completed a series of shoulder stretches and side bends, limbering up and preparing myself for the chase, then ran.

After ten minutes, another scent joined the trail. It was one I recognised — the vamp I hadn’t killed. His trail went no further. There could only be two reasons for this — one, they’d disposed of him and his body, or two, someone was carrying him. I doubted they’d killed him. They’d want to know all the details of his encounter with me — every word I’d spoken, every move I’d made, and why I’d let him live. He was an important connection to me and they’d wring him dry if it suited their purposes.