“A girl always loves compliments but most guys want to know who's giving them.” I turned to face the speaker. He was taller than me. About 6 foot tall with dark hair. He wore a look that was right out of GQ. Charcoal dress pants, form fitting collarless dress shirt with blazer. He held a gun with his finger on the trigger. “Although with that ensemble. I think I'll be flattered this time.” I said.
“Your outfit isn't so bad either. Do you often enjoy wearing women's clothing?” He asked as he sauntered forward.
“I have to say, they have more variety and styles so it's not bad, but then I can never find anything with decent pockets to hide weapons. It's definitely a drawback.” I raised my hands slowly into the air, palms at head height. I didn't know why, but he seemed familiar. Had I seen him before? “So, did you know the recently more deceased?”
He chuckled. “No, honestly they offended me, too. If you hadn't taken care of them I would have.”
“Well that's good.” I replied cautiously. “If that's the case, you could at least take your finger off the trigger? I'm not here to hurt you.”
“Normally I would. But then I saw you handle the guy you didn't see. I'm not quite sure I'd be safe from you if I asked how many of my kind you'd been killing.”
“Your kind.” I asked. “So is that vampires, night creatures in general, or sadistic scum?” I positioned my thumb on a ring on my pointer finger. There was a small button on it.
“Hmmm, really it's a moot point. You've broken our laws and you have to pay the price. But I'll take you in alive. Though I may need to distract you while I take your weapons. Don't worry about your knee caps, you won't need them. He moved his gun downward.
“Wait...” I said more to stall him than actually make an argument. I used my thumb to click the ring on my pointer finger. The light played on his forehead for a fraction of a second. I felt the movement of the small motor on my chest lining up the mirror and the vibrating indicating activation. Being a human fighting creatures from myth, I am pretty much always outmatched. The flamethrower I keep on my back. On my front I have a ridiculously powerful laser capable of lighting paper on fire. The laser ring triggers an optical sensor that uses a camera photosystem to detect the face and line up the line of fire to approximately where the eyes should be. The mirrors divide the beam and take care of the rest.
Stolen novel; please report.
Twin beams flashed into his retinas at the same time I moved. He screamed. His gun fired sending a bullet wide as he backpedaled, retinas fried from the powerful beams. I bet the feeling is even worse for a creature with night vision. I fired the paintmarker activating the lighter at the same time. The lit balls landed with several meaty splats and the brilliant glow of the thermite. He started to roll on the ground but didn't change to ash. Well, not a vampire. His flesh rippled, flowing almost like water. Doppleganger then. I had only killed one once. It took effort and liquid nitrogen. I poured a can of powdered thermite over his legs for good measure and lit them. It wouldn't kill him, but he wouldn't be happy. I ran like hell. I'd stayed relatively close to where I parked. Nothing beats keyless entry and push button start. I gunned the engine and raced out of the park about as fast as a Toyota hatchback can go.
Were they tracking me? Did we cross paths just at that moment? I raced home. I could grab my bug out bag and a few incidentals. My mind raced as I joined normal traffic where I slowed to the speed limit. The bug out bag had always been packed. But there were other things. Precious things. I'd never bothered to store them someplace safe. In the back of my mind I'd always figured that as powerful as these monsters were, one of them would get lucky before I'd need to go on the run.
I pulled up to my apartment complex but didn't park. The cheap porch lights on the side flickered spasmodically. I counted the flickers. Groups of 3. Shit. I'd rigged the light to tell me if my door had been opened by someone other than me. The landlord wouldn't do maintenance without a court order. My apartment had been breached. I couldn't fight them off. If I went in now, I would die. I pulled out. I needed to get somewhere public. They might have a tracking device on the car. Once daylight hit, I'd have more options. Maybe I could send somebody in to collect what I needed. I could create a distraction. I had reached the end of the road when there was a crunch and my car slid sideways. I felt the burning cushion of the side airbags as the car spun to a stop.