Enid was crouched on the roof above an alley where Aiden was meeting with his handler. She had been bored so she’d decided to spy on the spy. She’d even done this all without her abilities, it was part of the game after all. Her wits against theirs, not her ancient vampiric powers against the puny mortals. She couldn’t not use her enhanced senses. That was just part of her physiology and he didn’t have the good sense to meet during the day. She didn’t recognize his handler. She was a westerner. Her accent was American. Aiden was pacing back and forth. His handler was a smoking a cigarette and listening patiently.

“I’m telling you she knows. I feel like one of those cat toys on a string. Its all calm and then she swats at me just to see me twitch. You need to pull me out.”

“She’s an eighteen-year-old university student. We just need to know how she’s related to this Russian spy.”

“Did you ever stop to think she might be the Russian spy?”

“She isn’t, we’ve analyzed the video of the interview and surveillance photos, the only thing they seem to have in common is the tattoo.”

“I am not feeling this. One minute she’s a university student, the next I feel like I’m just an insect to her. I know she’s toying with me. I’m telling you, she knows we’re following her. Knows I’m not who I say I am. We need to rethink this whole op.”

“Are all British men whiny little bitches like you? She’s an eighteen-year-old girl.”

“Have you seen her in her Karate classes? That woman knows how to hurt people, and I’m afraid when she gets bored of fucking with me, I’m going to show up with a broken neck somewhere.”

“I thought I was getting a retired SAS member who joined MI6, not a scared little boy.”

“Look, Carla, I do not see the value in continuing this operation. My cover was blown before I sat down in that classroom.”

“You’re exaggerating.”

“No, every bit of my training is saying that girl is the most dangerous woman in the room, no matter where she is.”

“You are being paranoid.”

“I’m telling you, she’s playing us. She’s the spy you’re looking for, and I guarantee she has killed people and it didn’t even phase her. How many eighteen-year-old girls do you know that can write ancient Greek like they’re writing English. She was talking about this Greek story, I know she mentioned it just as a jab at me. She was threatening me. You either need to go all in and bring her in full tactical, or you need to back the fuck off. You’re wasting your time with this op.”

Carla seemed to have lost her patience, cigarette still between two fingers she poked him in the shoulder as she spoke.

“I was told you were the best they had. Did they send me some trainee? Your government received some very good intel in exchange for your service to us, at this point we’re not getting our money’s worth. So, unless you’re here to tell me you’ve gotten close to her we’re done. Go do your fucking job and quit being a bitch about it.”

Poor guy. Stuck between a rock and a bored vampire. Guess I need to throw him a bone to keep him on the line.

He swore a few times and walked out of the alleyway to his bike. Enid watched him ride away. She climbed down the building and watched Carla who got into a car with a driver and started heading off down the road. Enid hopped on her bike and began to discreetly follow them. They entered a non-descript office building. Enid climbed up a building across the way and pulled a pair of binoculars from her pack and looked through them. Whoever they were they weren’t too concerned with security she saw Carla speaking to a man. Enid could read lips, a trick that had come in handy during her job as a vampire enforcer. The gist of the conversation was that Aiden, or actually Charles was giving her resistance and that he might not have been the best choice for the job. Carla made a phone call, she wasn’t happy with the answers she got based on her body language. Growing bored of the pair just reading files and generally not doing much else Enid climbed down the building’s fire escape and took off towards her apartment building.

Looks like Carla’s the person pushing for this, wonder who she is, might have to give up on my no powers thing. She could be working for the Black Sun. Actually no, doubling down on the no powers thing is perhaps the better choice. No hunting, no powers, until they lose interest. Guess its cold blood for a while.

Enid sighed and covered her bike up and walked up stairs to her apartment. She was in her Atlantean armor, which seconded as a black bodysuit when she wasn’t being shot at. She was surprised to see the inspector leaning on the wall by her door. It had been a few weeks since their first encounter. Enid paused there with keys out and her helmet under her arm.

“Good evening inspector. To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“Just checking in, making sure you’re alright.”

Always with the lies. Oh well.

“Don’t you have actual crimes to solve?”

“The crime rate around here is surprisingly low. There was a break in at the military base a few weeks ago, by a Yakuza woman no less. Black dragon tattoo, lightning.”

“Oh, this again. I’ll say this in English because I think it’s your native tongue: Inspector ask your questions, instead of coming here and bullshitting me.”

He chuckled at her.

“To the point. How very western of you.”

Enid sighed.

“Is this visit official? If not, your trespassing. I’ll have to tell the owner we have undesirables skulking around.”

“Interesting you should say that, since I found out, you own the building. What I don’t understand is why you reduced rent across the board. Money laundering?”

She laughed.

“You are paranoid. You know what, I’ll answer that question, the residents, besides me and the American spy across the way are old, they have limited income. So, I reduced rent to the bare minimum to maintain a safe building, pay the taxes and provide utilities. I’m sure you’ve also found out I’m wealthy and do not need to profit from people who already paid too much in this lifetime.”

He looked at the door Enid motioned to with her head.

“Spy? And I’m paranoid?”

“Come on, girl with a tattoo like mine breaks into a US military base, I get woken up at 3 am by two US agents, then two days later a long-time tenant suddenly leaves, and miraculously a day later a young businesswoman suddenly shows up to rent the apartment, in an area of Naha that most people would avoid living in? Then this Japanese girl, tries to befriend the lone gaijin in the building soon after? You’re not that stupid. Do a background check, bet you smell fish.”

“Thing is, Yakuza tattoos are unique, they represent the individual. Yours seem to indicate the Yakuza think you’re wise. I do not understand the lightning.”

“My nickname, Raijin”

“So how do you explain another woman running around with that on their back?”

“I don’t know, perhaps you should find her and ask her hmm? I’d like to know too.”

He chuckled.

“You’re good. Best I’ve met.”

Enid shrugged.

“I’m not sure what I can say to convince you of my earnest innocence in all this.”

“You probably can’t, I have some actual, substantial police questions, on record police reports.”

The door across from Enid’s apartment opened. And the American-Japanese spy poked her head out.

“Is everything alright Stuart-san?”

Enid nodded to her.

“Everything’s fine, just a follow up to a break in.”

Enid glared at the detective.

“Lets go inside and chat hmm?”

“Good idea, Stuart-san.”

Enid opened the door to her apartment and tossed her pack on a chair and walked to the balcony kicked her shoes off and put her feet up. The inspector followed her. And sat down in the chair Enid had added for Eyre when she came to visit on occasion.

“Ask your questions inspector if you overstep I’ll toss you in the ocean.”

Enid smiled innocently at him. He tugged his collar and sat down.

“I pulled those police files you mentioned, what do a serial murderer, child molester, a suspect that ate animal hearts from people’s pets, and a failed Triad assassination attempt with three Triad casualties in a Chinese restaurant have to do with you.”

“I was responsible for catching and or preventing them all.”

“What?”

“You keep asking what I do for the Yakuza, that is what I do.”

“Wait, you killed three men with chopsticks?”

“In self-defense.”

“They had uzi’s”

Enid shrugged.

“I’m good at what I do.”

“Why isn’t anyone in custody for the other three?”

“Do the math inspector.”

“You killed them all?”

The inspector sound like a mix between giddy, justified and shocked.

“Yes, and they all would have been hung anyway, if they had been human.”

“What do you mean human? As in they were so vile they were inhuman? You can’t just go around murdering people.”

“They weren’t people Inspector, they were, in fact anything but, and I’m not talking figuratively, there are things in the dark corners of the world, Japan included that require dealing with just like human criminals, that the Police are not equipped to handle that people come to the Yakuza about. Like the slime monster that was eating virgin girl’s hearts.”

“Are you insane?”

“You know sometimes it feels like I am. I mean why am I tell you the truth? I could have just told you to fuck off, but yet here I am, telling you about the shit that goes on right under your nose that you are incapable of stopping because you don’t have the tools to do it. Because I know that you’re the one police officer on this island that is going to go look in those dark corners because you’re a good guy. A good guy who will die because of it. I like you inspector; I’d rather you not die. We have a lot in common.”

“You’re insane.”

Enid looked out at the stary sky over the Pacific and back at him. She glanced at him.

“That may be, but how about this?”

Enid looked at the Inspector and clouded herself in his mind to the point one moments he was there and the next according to his sense she was gone. He started touching the space on her chair and hit her chest.

“I don’t know you well enough for that sort of thing inspector.”

He fell backwards against the railing. Enid let her illusion drop and he stumbled back to his chair holding his chest and looking at her. Enid nodded, walked into her apartment and pulled out a beer popping the cap with her thumb bereft of bottle opener. He stared at her then took a long pull from the beer.

“You see inspector, all you can do is ruin this identity and then I pick a new one. You can’t even see me if I don’t want you too. There are literally no cells or handcuffs that can hold me. I can shrink myself out of them, or between bars, or just smash my way out. And you never know who I am.”

She let the shapechage fall off and was her old red haired green eyed younger looking self. Then shifted back after he got a good look. He rubbed his forehead then took another drink.

“What are you?”

“Do you know who Shoki is? Zhong Kui? Ghostbusters?”

He nodded.

“Consider me like them. I am the thing, that things that go bump in the night tell their children about to scare them. They call me a Reaper. Provided those things don’t mess with the human world and keep to themselves they are left to their own devices but when they start eating women’s hearts, and doing things to children, or becoming enough of a nuisance someone calls the Yakuza for protection from them, then I, put them down. Truth be told all the Yakuza does is make it easier for me to find troublemakers. Think of me like a police officer, only the only rule is shoot to kill. Though most of them are immune to mundane weapons.”

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“Why are you telling me all this? I can obviously exert no jurisdiction over you.”

“Because I like you, you’re cute. Also you’re a good man, I can see your soul. You will get yourself killed running into the dark corners hunting for things better left to the Yakuza and myself. Unlike the other police who know to call the Yakuza you would think that is corruption. When it is just doing what needs to be done to keep society safe.”

“But the Yakuza demand payment.”

“And why should they not? Before I started helping them, they would die in large numbers doing this work. Consider us contractors, doing a shitty job no one wants. People’s lives have value, even if most of the time they are running protection rackets, prostitution, and illegal gaming houses.”

“What about the girl? I investigated, was US service man. That night base gets broken into.”

“Hmm someone was blabbing when they should not have.”

“A girl was harmed, it should be investigated and punished, no matter what her work.”

“She’s healed already, I saw to it, and it has been dealt with.”

“You broke onto the base and killed him?”

“No, I told his CO he should do something about it before the Yakuza does. I was bored, and I pranked them at the same time, I probably shouldn’t have, at least while wearing an outfit that showed my tattoo.”

Enid shrugged.

“What did you do?”

“I pretended I was Russian. I mean I’m not great with the language, but I can fake it.”

“You what?”

Enid shrugged.

“I was bored. I already admit it was a terrible idea.”

“So, you know for certain the one across from you is a spy.”

“I know she’s lying about her name, her job and her reason for moving here.”

“How do you know that?”

“I am a human lie detector. I can always tell if someone is telling the truth or lying, even if they’re lying to themselves so badly, they think it’s the truth. It is why I was chosen to be a Reaper.”

“You really believe that?”

“I know it to be true, there is no belief. Its like I know this is metal.”

She kicked the railing gently.

“Do you really believe I would execute someone who I wasn’t one hundred percent sure was guilty?”

“I don’t really know you well enough to know if that is true, but if any of this is true, then you were killing serial killers when you were fifteen years old.”

“That’s what my ID says I would be.”

“How old are you really?”

Enid shrugged.

“I’m not going to answer that.”

“So, you weren’t fifteen.”

“Infer what you want, I’m not going to tell you all my secrets, Inspector. I’m telling you enough so you know you can stop wasting time on me and not so subtly letting you know I am available should you run into something that doesn’t fit into the normal paradigm of human physiology. Psychotic folks and plain old violent criminals are your department. Same with the Yakuza, I don’t deal with human matters, mostly don’t. As you can see, I foul them up somewhat badly.”

He nodded, took another drink of his beer staring out into the ocean. He spoke eventually.

“Why didn’t you just beat him up?”

“Like I said, not my job. I should have just broken into the CO’s house, told him what was going to happen and left, but I wanted to be a smart ass, and now I have spies all over me.”

“Americans take the Soviets very seriously.”

Enid shrugged.

“Oh well, it’s a minor distraction at best.”

He leaned down his tie hanging between his legs. He rubbed his face.

“Wait you said you would help if I ran into something that wasn’t human?”

“Yes, I did say that. Same deal as the Yakuza, you take the credit, I kill it.”

“We can we not capture them?”

“What are you going to charge a slime creature that possesses bodies and slowly kills them with? They aren’t human, are they an animal? They are sentient but human laws were not built for things that walk in the shadows Inspector. And once you have it captured how do you contain something that can control a mind, force you to release it? That was what the Oni was doing that was… with the children. It fed on innocence. These things are not criminals, they are rabid dogs that need to be put down.”

“Who polices you?”

“No one. Which is why I follow a strict code of ethics. Only strayed from it three times, once I managed to save millions of people from a horrible death, but almost died, another time they thought I was a god and the third time well, I donno how that is going to work out but it is going to be a fun ride until it’s not. I should have just listened to the code instead of whatever the fuck I thought I was doing.”

“And you receive no payment.”

Enid was about to respond when her phone rang. She glanced at her watch, she sighed and got up.

“Sorry.”

Enid picked up the phone. It was Edo.

“Melanie-chan, there’s a situation.”

“Is this a get my sword out situation?”

The Inspector who was not so subtly listening to the call, blinked at her last statement.”

“Yes. A girl attacked by a… zombie? It looked rotted and bit her.”

“Has she looked like she wanted to bite anyone?”

“No, should we be worried?”

“I don’t know, I’ve never hunted a zombie before. Where is she? Where was the attack? Have you sent anyone?”

“The boss sent two guys to see if they could spot it. She’s at the club. She was attacked about three blocks from the club.”

“What did the bite mark look like? Animal? Human?”

“I…I guess human.”

“I’ll go looking for it, just make sure you keep an eye on her, never know if this is some sort of infectious thing or not, also get a doctor, lots of antibiotics, if it was a dead human there is bound to be nasty infections that aren’t non-magical.”

“Yes.”

Enid sighed and ignored the Inspector’s presence going into her bedroom and changed into the Atlantean armor. When she came out the Inspector was still standing there empty beer bottle in his hand and staring at her in the black body suit and a sword strapped to her back, pack slung over her shoulders.

“Oh, you’re still here. I need to go, feel free to show yourself out.”

The inspector raised his finger as if to ask her to wait.

“If you’re looking for a person who attacked someone, it sounds like a job for me.”

“I’m looking for something, and you can come watch but if you get in my way and get eaten, I take no responsibility for it.”

Enid walked down to the fenced area where her bike was covered. She opened the gate and pulled the tarp off of her bike and pulled the helmet on. She peeled out leaving the inspector trying to follow her in his police car. Behind him was another non-descript car following them both. Enid sighed.

Oh well, no help for it, can’t have a zombie going around eating people.

She pulled up and put her helmet on the bike. She heard gunshots and swore under her breath running towards them. Followed by the inspector and likely the US agents. She came around a corner and was faced with what could only be described as a zombie. It had rotted flesh; Its fingers were rotted so badly the bones were visible under the flesh. She was thankful to see that it didn’t seem to be related to the fungus slime from her first encounter with odd Okinawan supernatural crap. It was leaned over one of two dead Yakuza chewing on his flesh. She flicked the shadows around herself when her gift told her it was about to look up. She’d forgotten the inspector was behind her and it saw him instead and started to pounce towards him. He pulled out his gun and after three rounds it was quite clear it wasn’t slowing it down, and the zombie was on top of him.

Enid saw two more figures pulling out guns behind him. Looks like even the spies weren’t cool with people getting eaten. Enid sighed. The shadows dissolved around her as she grabbed the thing from behind. Her fingers tore through its tattered flesh, and she caught the back of one of its rib bones. She flung it fifteen feet away and hit a guard rail that overlooked the Pacific Ocean. She gave the inspector a quick glance over.

“I told you stay out of the way, idiot.”

She looked at the two shocked looking male agents.

“You two, get him out of here.”

Enid pulled out her sword and spun around not waiting to see if her request had been acknowledged. The zombie, who she had come to realize at this point was at one point male had finally managed to disentangle itself from the guard rail and snarled at her. It was at this point she saw the fangs. When she drew bloodseeker she his body language changed. It recognized the blade, or the metal it was made of and was showing fear.

It’s a vampire? That eat’s flesh? That makes things both less and more complicated.

Enid glanced behind her noticed the two agents and the inspector had not move and were staring at the zombie-vampire and her. Enid sighed and launched herself at it slamming it into the guard rail. She’d managed to stun it with the strength of the shoulder check and grabbed his neck and dragged him over the railing and into the water. She swam with him held with one hand sword in the other until she reached a deserted beach. She tossed him onto the sand and stood over him, blood seeker still in her hand.

“What the fuck are you?”

He was back along the sand staring up at her its voice was strange when it spoke, mostly due to the lack of airtight flesh on its cheeks then anything else she wagered.

“Haha Ketsueki Megami you…you’re real.”

“Yes, I’m fucking real. I was told you lot would stay the fuck off my island.”

“Please, mercy, I did not believe.”

“Mercy? I told your elders if you Pugmentia attack me and mine there will be consequences. Do you know what this sword is? It is a soul devourer. Once I kill you with it, everything you are, everything you ever were, will be gone, obliterated.”

Enid looked down at the pathetic form in front of her he was shielding himself with his arms, they would do nothing against bloodseeker. She kicked them away from his chest breaking the bones with her supernatural strength. Enid frowned. Then stabbed him in the heart with her sword. His body shriveled even more than it already was, and she felt his essence fuel her body with energy. It was an addictive feeling. The blade glowed red, as it always did with vampires. She took the body far out to sea and let it sink. Then headed back to the place where she’d left her bike she could see police lights flashing in the distance, rather then approach, she grabbed her bike and rode off.

Once she got home she pulled a card out of her pack and dialed the number on it. A woman answered the phone in Japanese. Enid responded with three words.

“Haha Ketsueki Megami”

There was a long pause on the other end of the line and then the response came.

“I will get her right away.”

There was another long pause a few clicks and the phone picked up. It was the voice of the one of the vampire elders of Japan.

“Haha Ketsueki Megami a thousand apologies for the delay.”

“One of yours attacked people under my protection. I was very clear with the consequences of that.”

There was an extremely long pause, which Enid was quite sure would have been a hyperventilating human if the woman on the other end of the line was human. To her credit when she spoke she was quite calm sounding.

“I understand. What do you wish of us to make up for this dishonor?”

“I want to be left alone, I want the island to be left alone. I have punished him by devouring his soul. I want to be clear, if this ever happens again, I will wipe out every single one of you. This is your last warning.”

“We are unworthy of such mercy Haha Ketsueki Megami. I thank you for allowing us to continue to exist of your blood.”

Enid sighed. She hated playing goddess.

“I am glad you understand.”

Enid hung up without another word. She sighed and got changed into her bed clothes. She laid on the bed stared at the ceiling. It was early morning with the sun barely cresting the horizon when she heard a jiggle of her lock like someone was picking it. She growled and sat up. She hid by her wall and grabbed the first arm to come around the corner. It was in black fatigues and had a pistol. She didn’t need her vampire powers to trounce a few humans. Before the person she was holding know what was happening they were being used as a human shield. Enid had the gun in her hand pointing it in the direction of the other four home invaders. She had no idea how to use the gun, but they didn’t know that. She had her fingers on the man’s throat ready to kill him. He looked to have lighter skin tone she assumed American.

“I suggest you leave. Before someone gets hurt and we must explain all this to the Japanese authorities. What the fuck did you think I couldn’t swim? Move before I snap his neck.”

The other men put their guns and backed out. Enid released her hostage and kicked him in the back of the knee before hitting him in the throat with a well placed punch he fell to the floor clutching his throat trying to breath. She dragged him to the hallway after a few steps she was out of direct sunlight and threw him forcibly outside the door.

“I’m keeping the guns, call them a fine for trespassing. Idiots.”

She closed her door and locked it. She swore under her breath as she collected the five pistols then came to a realization, they were Soviet.

“Fuck me.”

This is getting ridiculous. Time to end it.

Enid went to school like normal the day after the kidnapping attempt by the Russians. She parked her car near the back exit of one of the buildings. Backed in near the door.

Enid sat down beside Aiden and was flirtier than usual. Rather than get him to talk to her it seemed to be him on edge immediately. Her next class was literature she could safely skip it, so she did, this caught his attention. She led him on a bit of a tour of the campus until she got him to the building where her car was parked. She walked towards the back corner which she knew to be deserted typically, it was mostly storage. She walked around a corner and pulled the shadows around herself and waited. When he came around the corner she grabbed him in a sleeper hold and after a minute or so he was out cold. She opened the back door of the building and glanced around. Deserted as she’d expected. She put him in the trunk of her car zip tied his and legs. She put a gag in his mouth and closed the hood. She drove to the address where his American handlers were headquartered. She parked in their underground parking and used the cargo elevator to go to their floor. She got out and kicked the door in tossing bound and gagged Aiden on the floor in front of their ‘receptionist’.

“Is his handler in today?”

She was glad there were no windows in the front part of the office. She used her ability to alter time to suit her needs to slow everything down but her. By the time the protective detail had gotten to the doors guns drawn she was able to be by the door and grab the first one and snap his wrist and had the gun to his head and was using him as a shield. He was screaming in pain. Soon she was face to face with three men who had guns out and the woman who had been speaking to Aiden in the alley. She motioned for them to put their weapons down, they put them in their holsters.

“What do you want Melanie?”

“To be left alone, between you and the Russians I can’t get a moments peace. I was hoping you’d get bored but then they went and broke into my apartment while I was sleeping.”

“Put the gun down, release my agent and we can talk.”

Enid knew she was lying. Enid released the man and tossed the gun at his feet. The moment she did she knew they were going to draw their weapons. She didn’t wait for them to finish she used her altered time to break their arms and toss their guns away finally ending up with the handler held up against a wall her feet dangling a half a foot off the ground.

“Lady I am tired of your shit.”

The woman looked at her men all incapacitated and useless and nodded, she wasn’t able to speak because she couldn’t breathe with Enid’s hand around her throat.

“Let me make this perfectly clear, I could have killed you all a hundred times over I’ve known where you were staying for weeks. I know about the spy across from me, I know Aiden is MI6, and I know you’ve been following me. It amused me up until someone invaded my apartment, I’m no longer amused.”

Enid dropped the woman who collapsed on her behind with a thud and started holding her throat.

“I’d rather not kill you all, so how do I get rid of you?”

The woman’s voice was raspy she coughed and spoke.

“Why were you on the base?”

“One of the soldiers hurt a girl, I wanted him to get punished, but felt it was better of the military did it, I was bored so I pranked your guards. I am not a Soviet spy; I have been to Russia. I’m sorry it was stupid and immature.”

“How did you get onto the base?”

“I went over the fence, picked guard’s pocket, used his keys to get into the file room and grabbed the info I needed. The security sucks.”

“Last night…”

“Last night was what I actually do lady. Usually, I avoid this shit here. It’s been dealt with. It almost wasn’t because of your bullshit. The men that were there can attest at how strong and fast I am. Your men are nothing to me. I could have killed them all easily instead of breaking their arms.”

She continued to rub her throat gingerly while looking up at Enid.

“Who trained you?”

“A Greek woman.”

She blinked at Enid.

“You asked, now, how about I do this for you, I let the Soviets grab me, I find out where they are headquartered and tell you, then you leave me be?”

“We know where they are.”

Enid sighed she could sense the lie as plain as day.

“No, you don’t. If you knew then I would know, and I don’t. I’m going after them anyway, the only difference with is plan is, instead of killing all of you and burning this place down then doing the same to the Soviets, you live, get to embarrass them, and leave me be. I’m dangerous, but I don’t care a goat’s piss about your geo-political bullshit. Governments come and go. I do my thing, which protects your citizens, and you do yours which is whatever the fuck you do. Lady going after me is like the US starting the war in Vietnam. You’re going to lose and you’re going to waste a lot of manpower and money. Charles was right, I am a cat, and I was playing with him.”

The woman looked defeated and nodded. Enid crouched beside the now awake Charles and snapped his zip ties and pulled the gag out.

“You are cute, I’ll give you that. You suck at this job, you’re too much of coward.”

She patted him on the shoulder and stood up.

“Once I know where they are, you will. If anyone is following me, I’m going to assume they’re Soviets, they broke into my apartment and they’re going to be punished. Your men don’t want to be mistaken for them.”

Enid walked out of the office.