This Is How You Remind Me

Chapter 3

You know that saying, "Luck of the Irish" well apparently it doesn't apply to Scots.
I was on Ireland soil for twenty minutes before they found me, in their defense, they were curious. Loan Dhampiri aren't normal, a loan Dhampir traveling through an area with much the same reputation as the Bermuda triangle in my world, weird.
I was in the airport's gift shop, trying to find a rain coat in my size (FYI Ireland is WET), when the creepy feeling I'd gotten in the alley came back. Carefully acting normal I finally found a bright pink floral one that made me wana vomit. After I paid, I slipped out of the shop and towards the front doors, if I was being followed by something deadly, I didn't want the humans milling around me to get hurt. I needed a basement or another alley. Unfortunately I didn't know the city. Making my way through the crowded streets cursing the people who were to stupid to go inside when it rained, I quickly realized my mistake. My rain coat was one of very few bright colors on the streets.
Cursing my stupidity and the rain I headed toward a dark gap between to buildings. The close walls offered some reprieve from the rain but not much.
Puddles if black water cover the alley's floor. Walking through them now won't do me much good now, the Vampire had a visual on me and had probably caught my sent on the wind.
I keep walking down the alley until I found a dead end. Vampires, every Vampire was a predator, that fact had saved my life several times.
I ran down the last alley to the dead end as fast as I dared, building up my heart beat, flushing my skin with heated blood, letting the flight or fight instict flood my body with panic pheromones. When I reached the end I slap the wall with open palms pretending to panic while really trying to make my blood go faster.
I didn't hear her approach, I didn't sense the deathly arour that I usually got around undead, I was caught off guard when someone giggled right behind me.
"Well, this is a surprise, I haven't met a dhampir in decades."
I whipped around. The woman behind me was huge, and not just in body, her very presence made her seem several times as big, seeming to tower over me. Her eyes glowed red.
"Who are y-you?"
"What' this? A Guardian caught off her guard? The academies aren't what they use to be." She hadn't moved, I never like this kind of predator, not talking their prey, just testing it. Seeing what it was made of.
"I don't know what-"
"Cut the crap!" Wow, most Elders tried to stay refined during the hunt. "I've met several of your kind, killed many also, I had thought I'd gotten the message through your thick heads, this is my territory, the Mori aren't welcome here. Take your family and go."
"What if I don't have a family? What if I'm a rouge? Hell bent on destroying the undead?" I asked innocently, dropping the stupid act.
"Well then," she purred, finally stepping closer. "your a fool."
"Siobhan!" We both looked to the mouth of the alley. A spiky haired woman stood there. She tiny, pixie like, with gold eyes and clothes that I could kill for. "Liam asked me to look for you, I couldn't see you, just saw your corpse."
The huge woman, Siobhan, froze, then turned to me. "Your not a normal Guardian, are you?"
"Nope, you can call me Mary Way."
"That your really name?" The pixie asked, appearing next to Siobhan.
"No. What should I call you?" I asked, rubbing my hands together for warmth.
"Alice Cullen. Olympic Coven." Alice held out a hand for me to shake. I didn't take it.
"Pleasure, now if you'll excuse us, Siobhan and I have some unfinished business to attend to." I turned to Siobhan, still rubbing my hands together.
"No. Your the only one around here and I really don't the Siobhan commits suicide, therefore your the reason I saw her dead."
"Deader" I interrupted.
"Sure, that." Alice said cherpily.
Siobhan snorted, "You think this Dhampir rouge could kill one of us, Alice?" I finally stopped rubbing my hands together and stuck them in my pockets. "She couldn't kill a Strigio."
"Hey! I've dozens of Strigio. I killed three last week!"
They ignored me. "Alice, you don't really have the stomach for what's about to happen. You should go back to the house."
"No. As soon as I do she'll kill you." This apparently was the last straw. Siobhan whirled around to face Alice, giving me her full back. Bad idea. Before either could get out another word my silver stake was out off my jacket pocket and imbedded in Siobhan's spine and heart.
I'm not sure what happened after that, the next four seconds blurred and when the world made sense again I was pinned to alley wall by a golden hair and eyed male elder with and impressive amount of scars. My skin was crawling at his touch and I had to force myself not to fight back, he was stronger then me, I'd never win.
"Alice, is she OK?" He words came out a growl.
"Táim ceart go leor."
With that, the male began to speak to me. "I know you don't wana be touched, I'll let you go now, but remember we're faster than you and I won't hesitate to kill you if you try to run." He had a southern US accent.
I nodded, and he let me go. He was at Alice's side in less then a second. I shivered and pulled my hood up over head, blocking out some of the rain.
  "Jas, she's gona be fine. Siobhan's been through worst." After that, Alice's voice dropped so low I couldn't make anything out. She and "Jas" continued muttering for several minutes, ignoring me and fusing over Siobhan. I leaned against the wall, trying to stay warm. My back was numb before I noticed my stake was missing
"Yo, excuse me....but where the hell is my stake!?!" I straightened up from the wall and marched over to Jas.
"I have it. Nice craftsmanship by the way, made in Romania, for Drake right?"
"Yeah. I bought off an elder there."
"Stephan? Or Vladimir?"
"Ah, Stephan. I took out a nest of Strigio for him with it. Afterwards he let me keep it."
Alice finnaly looked me in the eye. "I promise you'll get it back. I just don't trust you with it right now."
I nodded and leaned against the wall again. "Understandable. But I wouldn't hurt you. I only take out Elders if they're red-eyed and come at me first."
"How much do you know about our kind, Dhampir?" Jas asked.
"Enough." My tone shut down all conversation after that. We all remained gathered in the alley for almost a half hour by my estimate. Finally Siobhan stood, she turned to me with, to my shock, a grin.
"Well, Mary. You know how to fight. You got anywhere to be tonight?'
" umm, no. Not really, I probably already missed my flight."
"Right. Your coming home with us. You must be hungry and we got human food."
My stomach growled. I didn't move. "Your asking me to walk knowingly into a vampire's den. Alone. With people I just met.
"But, people you trust." Jas pointed out.
I started at him. He always knew what I was thinking, no not quite. He always knew what I was feeling. Then it hit me.
"Your gifted!" All three of them starred at me in shock.
"Yes. Well done. What gave me away?" Jas asked. A grin covering his face.
"The way you know what i'm feeling without me making any outward indication. You read emotions?"
He shrugged. "Sort of."
"Enough jibberjabber" Alice squealed. "Mary, we, or our Coven leader, has a job offer for you."
Every shield I have was up in seconds. "What job?" I asked. My voice hard.
"My goddaughter needs a Guardian. She's going to college soon and the one she picked out is in San Antonio..."
"And you guys can't go out in sunlight." I finished.
"Yep. Carlisle has been looking into getting her a Guardian for a while but normal Guardians couldn't take out an Elder."
"When would I meet them? Carlisle and the girl, I mean."
"At dinner tonight." Her voice was annoyingly chipper.
"I hope you guys know how to cook."