The second air rushed back into my lungs I jumped up and lunged at whoever it was that had pulled the knife out of my back. I couldn’t actually see anything clearly for a few seconds and by then I had him, or her, pinned to the ground. That I’d ever allowed myself to get stabbed in the back at all was embarrassing, to have it happen with Amy there was almost humiliating for both of us.

“Fine, take the knife back.” The man was only slightly shocked that a dead body had just jumped up and tackled him. “I don’t really even like knives.” He jammed the knife casually into my chest.

“Really funny.” I stood up, pulled the knife out, and gave him a good kick. “Get lost and forget everything you saw here. You’ll sleep better at night.”

I walked over to Amy who was still lying dead on the curb with what looked like all of the trash from the entire street cluttered around her. I had to turn her over to pull the splintered wood out of her heart. It took a while for her to come back but she eventually made it back onto her feet, oddly without attacking me.

“That’s gonna sting for a while till the microsplinters get pushed out.” She groaned, rubbing the fading wound like it had given her heartburn. “Wooden stakes are the worst.”

“I hope I don’t figure that out for myself any time soon.”

“Who’s the gawker?” Amy nodded at the man that had unwittingly revived me. He’d gotten up but hadn’t left, he was just standing there with his hands hanging from the ends of baseball bat which was positioned casually at the back of his neck… and just… watching intently. I couldn’t tell much else about him other than that he was male, my height, and his face was hidden in the shadow of his hood. The hood was actually oddly oversized, which appeared to be intentional. The only other distinguishing feature was the heavy looking steel chain hanging from his waist. Street thugs wore chains as an accessory, but it didn’t look like his was for style.

“I don’t know, he just took the knife they stuck in my back and revived me by accident I think.” I shrugged. “I told him to leave.”

“Jeez is it just vampire protocol to be rude to the person that revived you or something? Because I can hear everything you’re saying.” There had to be something wrong with this guy. He was completely unphased by everything that was happening and he wasn’t at all concerned that he could be in danger of being stabbed.

“We’re not vampires!” I growled. “Just because she had a wooden stake in her heart does not make us some stupid mythological creature.”

“Well to be fair, he isn’t that far off.” Amy was still speaking only to me, completely ignoring the guy despite talking about him.

“No, Amy. Please don’t agree with him. It’s been a while since vampires started being a thing. Perceptions change after a few generations. If you say you’re an immortal undead capable of making more immortal undead, he’ll be wanting your teeth and his neck to get real friendly.”

“Gross.” Amy gagged a little for effect. “You didn’t have to say it like that.”

“Well now you know and maybe the point will stick in your head this way. The real problem is what we’re going to do with him. He obviously has no intention of leaving.” I whispered the last bit. If the verdict was to kill him I didn’t want him to know we were even thinking about it.

“Killing him would be the most prudent thing to do.” Amy wasn’t being quiet at all, I almost thought she wanted him to hear it. “But do you really want to kill someone else? I know it shook you up for a good bit after the Carol kid.”

“Whatever you guys are, you should know I’m probably not leaving here unless I get what I came for or you kill me. You might want to choose quickly before I decide to go in.” He had begun to tap his baseball bat against the heel of his shoe impatiently.

“What business do you have here? Because if you’re another deadhead junky looking for a fix, we’re gonna have to kill you anyway.” My voice was shaky at the mention of killing. I guess I knew I wouldn’t be able to do it.

“I’m here to find a girl.” His fist clenched around the bat but his voice conveyed no particular emotion. “She was abducted earlier today, no one else knows about it yet and I can’t explain how I know about it. I just need to get her out of here before certain things happen.”

“Let us save you some time then,” Amy finally turned to address the man. “Whatever your name is. There is no abducted girl in that house, just a bunch of mindless drugged up thugs. That’s all we could see when we went in. I counted thirteen men and two girls, both girls looked like they’d been there a while. All of them are instructed to kill intruders. They’re not very smart, but still very dangerous. You’re best move is to look elsewhere. From what I understand the man we’re looking for left just before we arrived, your missing girl could have been with him.”

“Thank you.” He had slouched into a less formal position. “I’ll look into the guy, whoever he is.” He turned and started to walk away but stopped mid stride. “My name’s Ryan Kage, by the way. Just to be clear, that’s not an invitation to find me, and trust me, you won’t find me on purpose. I guess if I’m lucky you’ll never run into me again. However, I get the feeling that that’s unlikely.”

“Weirdo.” I mumbled.

“He’s actually not the most absurd or odd individual I’ve ever met. Same goes for you.” Amy shrugged. “I guess it just doesn’t bother me that much anymore.”

“I don’t think anything bothers you anymore… The only reason we ended up sleeping in the trash is because you practically announced we were sneaking into that house to kill this Harley guy.” I rolled my eyes at the memory. “I thought this was supposed to be a subtle mission. And who did you mean when you said I’d met someone weirder?”

“Dante.” Her tone made it sound like she’d thought it was obvious, and it really should have been. “You’re not so normal yourself either, but he’s still got you beat.”

“Whatever.” I didn’t feel like talking about how messed up everyone was. I got the gist, we were all pretty abnormal. “We should focus on what to do next.”

“What more is there to do? We know the guy isn’t there anymore. The whole run down house is full of tweaking brainwashed psychos. I say we get back to the den and have Dante pop us over to wherever Harley is now.”

“There will have been no point to us even coming out here in the first place then.” I grumbled. It would also make me look weak, not that I really cared what Dante thought of me, but I would prefer he got the right idea. “If we can catch one of these idiots alone we can probably make him tell us where he went and we can get this done a lot faster and with less crawling to Dante for help.”

“It’s not faster, but fine. How do…” Amy was cut off by a gunshot in the house. All of the sudden the street seemed darker, like the entire neighborhood had turned off their lights. Amy didn’t bother continuing and ran straight for the door. I followed right behind her. There were eight more shots before we made it inside and six before we found the shooter standing over the last victim in the upstairs bathroom.

The shooter looked out of it. He was completely disheveled, eyes vacant, and he was swaying slowly as he stood over the body like he was about to collapse himself. There were no signs of a struggle, complete compliance if anything. The gun was still in his hand, a small revolver not so different from the one I’d used my last day as a somewhat normal human. I was frozen from the memory of what I had done as I watched him put the barrel to his head.

“Not happenin’ bud.” Amy tackled him and wrestled the gun from his hand. He didn’t put up a fight so it wasn’t much of a struggle but I still felt useless as I watched. “Sorry but you’ll have to live with that guilt for a bit longer.” His expression had gone from blank to twisted agony.

“What’s wrong with him?”

“Exactly what Dante said would be wrong with these people, he’s gone through what we go through whenever we get ordered to do something. Only this is about ten times more powerful, more damaging, and they can’t heal that brain tissue. To top it off he’s a drug addict and he just went through probably the most traumatic experience of his life.” Amy shook her head. I had never been around people so far gone. I had hung around criminals, but drugs, compulsion, and murder had never entered my circles. “I think passing out from shock is a gentle reaction.” She closed his blank expressionless eyes.

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“I don’t think he’s in much condition to talk.” I got the feeling that this Harley guy knew we were looking for him. There was no other reason to make this guy get rid of everyone who might have known where he went.

“He is the last one here who might know anything about where Harley went.” She dragged him over to the tub by his arms. “Get rid of the bodies, I’ll see if I can clean him up.”

I had to suppress the urge to vomit as I got closer to the body on the bathroom floor. I tried reaching out to grab hold of something but my hand froze.

“It’s easier if you cover them, wrap them up in sheets or something. Just try not to think too much about what you’re doing.” I swallowed back another urge to vomit and nodded. “There’s a closet out in the hallway that might have something you could use. Try to be quick about it. The police won’t come out to this neighborhood this late at night but they’ll show up eventually, and once we get their attention it won’t take them very long to find us.”

“Remind me, why are the cops a problem? Can’t we just ignore them?”

“You’re the one that wants to get things done quickly. Do you think being jailed will speed things up?”

“Good point.”

---------------

It took me around three hours to move thirteen of the bodies out of the house and I was working on the fourteenth while Amy struggled to keep the lone survivor conscious long enough to move to a different location. I had picked out nearly full dumpsters in various corners of the neighborhood. They would be discovered sooner or later, but not as soon as they would if they were at the house. If there were more bodies to look for, the police would spend less time looking for us. That was the thinking anyway. It would make it a little less traumatic for the guy that had killed them all to walk out of the house too. They were bulky, heavy, and awkward to carry even after being wrapped up in sheets and bags and whatever else I could find. The last one seemed lighter, maybe because I was getting used to lifting the weight or I could have just been losing more feeling in my muscles, it didn’t really matter much to me. I was just glad to be done with the horrible job, or at least almost done.

“So I guess I’m not so lucky after all.” A voice echoed from down the alleyway behind me and I froze just in front of the dumpster I had decided on. “Looks like you were busy.” I dropped the body and spun around to see a familiar figure.

“Ryan, right?” The hooded figure nodded “You look like you’ve had an eventful night as well.” He had a large heavy looking duffel bag slung over his shoulder. It looked big enough to hold a body.

“Mine’s still alive.” He grunted as he lifted the strap from his shoulder and put it down carefully. “At least I think so. Hasn’t moved around in a while.” I cringed. I hadn’t actually killed anyone, not there at least, and his complete disregard for whoever it was in the bag was sickening.

“It’s not your girl, is it?” I really hoped it wasn’t and that he wasn’t that kind of guy. What his character was in general didn’t bother me, but the thought of him being a psychopath was chilling for some reason.

“No.” For once his voice showed a hint of anger and resentment, but it was gone as quickly as it had arrived. “I was hoping he’d be able to tell me where she is, but he didn’t know anything. Barely even knew who he was when I finally snapped him out of his little dream world. He didn’t seem to know anything that’s been going on so I decided I’d let him live despite what he was doing when I caught him. And before you ask, trust me when I say it’s not for the ears of a lady.” He hesitated. “Or whatever it is you are.”

“Lady works just fine.” I glared at him until I was sure I could turn my back to him long enough to heft my bundle into the dumpster. “What are you doing here if he’s not dead?”

“There’s a bar at the other end of the alley and it was my intention to leave him out back. In the state he’s in people will pass him for drunk and no one will believe a word he says once he sobers up enough to speak. Assuming he still can. Either way, I should be going before I run into someone I can’t trust.”

“You think you can trust me?” It had come out of nowhere. I know I certainly didn’t trust him, and I was being the reasonable one for once.

“More or less. I’ve got dirt on you, and although I don’t know your name I know your face well enough. I figure that's enough knowledge for me to feel safe. Perhaps the word trust wasn’t the proper word, but I’m not sure there is a word for comfort due to the ability to blackmail someone.”

“If there is a word, I know someone that would know it.” I paused as I racked my brain for an answer. “Off the top of my head I think "secure" is fine for what you mean. Or maybe unthreatened.”

“Unthreatened doesn’t sound like a proper word, but it fits.” He shrugged. “I should be going though, I can already feel my sanity slipping away the longer I talk to you. There’s just something not right about you.”

“I know exactly what you mean, you give me the same feeling.” I decided to be honest with him. He struck me as the kind of person that wouldn’t mind. “I’ve also decided that you’re safe to keep alive. Maybe it’s the same feeling of unthreateningness, even if that isn’t a real word.”

“That’s a little flattering.” He sounded honestly flattered, although it was hard to tell with his monotone voice and lack of facial reference. “Maybe I won’t be so unlucky if we ever run into each other again.” He walked past me down the alley. I smelled burnt hair as he passed by and I noticed dark stains on his previously clean jeans. Whatever he’d done I didn’t want to know about it.

“Yeah, bye.” I mumbled as I walked in the opposite direction. “Let’s not be normal and say that.”

I walked back to the house as quickly as I could without actually running. Running was both conspicuous and tiring. I wasn't sure if I could get tired anymore, but I could still feel the uncomfortable warm dryness in my throat from running. There was probably a point where I could be physically worn out but still capable of functioning regardless of the pain it would cause. That or the more urgent damage would cause me to heal faster, I got the feeling that the more damage I took while still remaining conscious the faster I healed. The urge to test any of these theories, however, was not present.

As I turned the last corner and the house came into view I skidded to a halt. There were police cars surrounding the building and the house was taped off. They’d arrived before morning. Regret for not going faster formed in my mind but I crushed it before it could stick, this would have happened regardless and I probably would have been caught if I hadn’t worked at the speed I had. I couldn’t be sure if Amy had made it out before they took the place over. There was no one shouting or fighting off a large group of cops which is what I expected to see if she hadn’t made it out. The urge to get closer was overpowering and I slowly made my way up to the ring of police cars outside of the crime scene. Luckily they weren’t paying much attention to their cars.

A tapping noise caught my attention as I neared the car that was furthest out. Someone in the back seat was knocking their fists against the window. It was hard to see through the tinted glass in the dark but who else would it be. I didn’t have to wait or figure out how to get her out myself either, she took care of that. I don’t think I’d given her enough credit, she knew how to use her head, and by that I mean she had shattered the window with her face through the wire mesh that was supposed to prevent that exact sort of thing. I’d been in the back of a cop car before, but only once and not because I’d been arrested. Regardless of how preoccupied I had been at the time I learned that it was pretty much useless to try and escape. Apparently no one had ever told Amy that.

“Quick, kick this stupid mesh stuff in so we can get out.” Amy’s voice was urgent, but I hadn’t detected any sign of alarm from the officers at the crime scene.

“I think we’re fine, but I’m still just kind of amazed that you did that.” I paused to inhale and put all of my strength into kicking through the mesh which tore instantly under the pressure. “I don’t want you to take this the wrong way and make assumptions about me, but this is kind of nostalgic.”

“Whatever, help me get this guy out the window first..” Amy dragged the previously unconscious man to the window so I could get hold of him. Luckily he was still blank faced and out of it, otherwise he might have struggled and hurt himself on the glass or wire. “Careful, he’s still a bit limp, but if you get him moving he’ll get the idea.”

I didn’t need to force him to move at all, all that I had to do was apply a little pressure and he was more than happy to comply. Happy was hardly what I would call the expression on his face, but it was depressing to try and think about what was going through his head. As soon as his feet touched the ground Amy was out beside him. They were both still handcuffed but that wasn’t the most pressing matter at hand as I looked back at the crime scene and caught the attention of a young officer. I almost froze in place but this was my territory again, I didn’t freeze and get caught like an idiot when human authority came knocking.

“How fast do you think you can run with him of your back?” I whispered quietly as I backed away out into the street. My eyes locked with the officer, freezing him in place with a determined glare.

“About as fast as you can run without him. Only problem is I’ll be having a harder time with my hands shackled like this.” I groaned under my breath. “Just keep close to me and don’t stop until either your legs give out or I tell you to. Just to be clear that second one won’t happen until we lose them.” She had already turned and made two steps into her sprint before I followed her. I threw the man’s linked arms around my neck like a noose and picked up his legs mid stride. He was deceptively heavy, although I always thought people were heavier than they looked. That may have just been due to a poor idea of what actual weight was.

The sound of pursuit took a second to start up, but as soon as it did and I could feel the pressure of a chase I found myself at Amy’s heels. In my experience, people always ran faster when they were being chased, at least I had and I’d been chased a lot in my life. It wasn’t the sort of thing you could trick yourself into doing, it was just instinct. At my very core was the desire not to be caught, to be captured and contained, a desire to be free. That was what got me going faster.