We had sat down and ordered when I realized I'd forgotten my wallet in the car, and it was one of my many cards' turn to pay, since we didn't like using the same few over and over. I waved them off when they offered to get it for me, making a joke about them thinking I couldn't kill a bunch of vampires, and now I wasn't capable of getting my own wallet? They laughed it off, and I went outside, spinning the keys around my index finger.
I'd been in the backseat, so I opened that door first, kneeling on the seat and checking the floor and inside the bag. It wasn't in there. Had I left it at the motel? I felt like I remembered having it in my pocket when I put my jeans on, but I wasn't positive. Wouldn't that be just great?
Shutting the back door and starting to walk around to the front, I sensed them before I saw them. Three guys, big, coming up to me from different directions. They could be just harmless strangers, walking up to me to ask about the car or something. But in this world, nobody was harmless. I tensed, waiting for them to say something. If they had a question, wouldn't they ask it without hesitation?
"That's a nice car," one said, smiling with what I thought seemed like genuine appreciation. "'67, right? Have you been taking care of it all these years?"
"No, my...boyfriend has," I said, making it very clear with my expression that I wasn't open to conversation. "He's inside, right now. He forgot his wallet in the car and I came out to get it for him."
"Inside there?" Another one jerked his thumb over his shoulder, pointing at the diner. "Why'd he send you out here all by yourself?"
"Should I have some reason not to be here alone?" I asked, not sure why I was suddenly scared when I knew I could take these guys out in a second. "I'm pretty sure I know how to take care of myself."
"Do you?" The third asked, running his hand over the hood of the car. I winced, waiting for him to inflict some damage that Dean would hang me for. That would make tonight's conversation even better.
"Yep. If that's all you wanted to know, I've gotta go back inside before we get the bill." I started past the first guy, the one standing right in front of me, and he didn't try to stop me, though I was tense the whole time, waiting for some form of attack. My hand pressed up against the pocketknife I had at a fingertip's reach, in between my belt and my jeans, that was technically Dean's. I'd stolen it from him and claimed it as my own recently. One wrong move, and if physical force didn't work, surely a knife would.
"Hold on," he said, and he touched my shoulder, making me whip around angrily. He held his hands up in surrender. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you. I was just gunna ask why you're boyfriend's got a forty-five-year-old car when you can only be like twenty."
I almost wanted to correct him and point out that I'd turned twenty-one yesterday, but knew it probably wouldn't be smart. "Family heirloom." I took a half-step back, feeling the two guys coming up on either side of me while the first one stayed blocking my front. So I couldn't run. Great.
Why not try?
I ducked under a blow from one behind me and dove forward towards the car, knowing that if I could just get the trunk open I'd be all good. An arsenal of weapons meant to kill supernatural creatures, used on humans? Piece of cake.
They apparently weren't happy that I'd seen this coming, and one grabbed me with speed I hadn't expected, throwing me against the front bumper so my head smacked against the headlight. Please don't be broken, I begged mentally. Please, please don't be broken.
They all came towards me at once, blocking any direction I would have gone, and I jumped over a kick aimed at my ribs, swerving underneath a punch and raising my knee sharply into one's crotch. He doubled over and I kneed him in the mouth, kicking his stomach so he flew backwards.
