Scarlett Kisses

Chapter 3: Outsmarted

Chapter 3

Outsmarted

The hooded figure was quick, I'd give him that. Within seconds of my appearance on the rooftop where he had just been standing, I caught a glimpse of him jumping off the sets of adjoining roofs that we were currently on and onto the next set without a second's hesitation. In fact, I knew for certain that this man had been doing this for a while. This wasn't his first time maneuvering these roofs.  Picking up my speed, I jumped over the decent sized gap and landed with ease on the other side, just in time to see the man arrive at and fall between the next sets of roofs, a little further down.

"Ok", I said to myself. "Maybe he isn't that in practice, since he just fell off."

I slowed to a walk as I approached the gap between buildings and bent over, looking down into the small alley below. I had been expecting to see a gravely injured form struggling, if not dead, on the pavement below.  I was amazed, however, because I saw nothing.

"How could a human fall like that and not get hurt?", I asked the air around me.

I convinced myself that he must have slipped through a window or onto something padded during his decent, but upon further inspection, I found that there was nothing like that in the small space.

Fine, I thought. If he wants to do this the hard way, we will. So, I took a step forward and sniffed the air for his scent. One good thing about being a vampire, is that I could pick up on any scent with my super strong senses. I sniffed again, closing my eyes to concentrate on what I was smelling. Roofing tar, town air, burgers and beer from the bar down the street. Why wasn't I picking up on this guy's scent?

I walked around a bit, sniffing harder here and there. I even jumped into the alley, searching for a trail of his scent or a hit of his path, but still nothing.

"What the hell?", I said, disconcerted. This had never happened before. EVER.

Ok, so, not a human? Was that what I could take from this? Giving up, grudgingly, I made my way back to the body that had fallen earlier. Ok, so at least it was still there.

I examined it, making sure that I didn't touch it. I didn't want to leave anything the human's anything that could trace back to me. Not that they would ever be able to run my fingerprints, since I'd never had a reason to provide those with law enforcement personnel, but I always worried that they would discover a bit of my DNA, which of course, wouldn't show up as human.

There were a few high ranking officials in each country that knew about the existence of "Other" beings of course, but those were tightly guarded secrets provided only to those in the most prestigious offices of government. Most county inspectors wouldn't have a clue what their little microscopes were telling them.

My attention was drawn back finally to the man as I discovered the strangest thing about him. I couldn't find anything wrong with him. You know, besides the fact that his dead body had fallen from a building. I was surprised that I could see no stab wounds, strangulation marks, or any kind of punctures that would have caused this man's death. I had heard him scream. Maybe he was pushed? Even so, he would have been injured badly, but probably not dead. 

As I mulled that over, I concentrated more on finding clues about who this man was. A tale-tale patch sewn over his left chest showed an ugly looking face with green skin and red eyes. The initials "D" and "D" were made into the little patch and it was easy to guess that this man was a member of this gang, the Downtown Demons. On the other side of the vest, the man's name was sewn into the leather with white thread.

"Well, Stanley." I said to the corpse. "It looks like you weren't slippery enough this time".

Giving up on finding any clues, I stood slowly and thought about my next move. Sure, I could go into the club and ask for answers from the other bikers there, but once this body turned up, they would be all too eager to inform the police of the strange woman who showed up asking questions around the same time Stanley disappeared. Sure, I could charm them into forgetting, but I didn't have the strength or the time to get the whole bar before dawn. Besides, it obviously wasn't this man that I was after or one of his buddies. If it was, I highly doubted that Stanley would be dead.

I started walking back through town, letting the information that I had collected pool in the front of my mind. Who was the masked man and how did he get away from me so quickly? Even if he had been a vampire, I should have still be able to catch his scent. He had all but vanished though, leaving no trace at all. It was so strange.

I stayed at a much slower pace heading back to the nest than that when I had left. I just kept replaying the images in my mind. The shriek, the fall, looking up to see the man above me and not being able to make out his features. My vampire eyes should have let me see him perfectly, but the more I tried to remember, the hazier my memory became.

When I made it back to the nest, I was glad to see that it was still mostly empty. I took my time working my way up to my room, letting my feet drag just a bit on the last few steps to the door. I wasn't human anymore, but despite years and years of being strong and practiced, a few traits from my past life would sneak out in little motions like this.

I turned the knob to my room and started to push the door in, when I heard someone clear their throat from behind me. Startled, I looked up and saw Tavin, standing in the doorway to his room, eyeing me suspiciously.

"Oh", I said, "I thought you and your minions were still out".

I knew better than to antagonize the house leader, even one as familiar as Tavin, but sometimes, my attitude just slips out. I can't help it. 

"I told them to be back by dawn", he said with a shrug. "I came back a bit early. I was worried".

"Worried about an attack?", I asked, instantly going into defensive mode and glancing at the boarded up windows.

"Worried about you", he said, quietly.

If I hadn't had intensified hearing, I might have thought that I misunderstood him. As it was, I was taken off guard by this statement and floundered for a moment for what to say in response.

"I'm fine", was all I managed and I knew that there was no way that I sounded convincing.

Suddenly, the night's events came flooding back to the front of my mind and I sped forward at super speed until I was inches from Tavin's face. He looked surprised, but aside from lifting one eyebrow quizzically at me, he didn't flinch at my sudden movement.

I took that as an invitation to spill whatever it was that I needed to say and so I began to tell him about the hooded figure and his complete disappearance. While I spoke, Tavin began to lean over against the frame of his door, listening intently until I was done.

Once I finished, he let out a breathy sigh and raised his head so that his eyes could meet mine. His next words made my stomach sink like it had been suddenly filled with rocks.

"I think you are talking about a Caster" he said.

"Oh great. I've killed us all", I thought dramatically.