Unfortunately Fortunate

1. Vanessa

Another person might not have approved with the way my tyres screeched as I turned my car around, but I beg to differ. I doubt they would've been chased by a vampire and lived to tell the tale if they thought so. Lucky them. I was going way past the speed limit, but that still wouldn't be enough to save my stupid ass from a vampire on the night of a full moon.

What the hell was I thinking, doing night shopping? As if I didn't know better. My shopping bags rested on the passenger seat, the paper making mocking wrinkling sounds as I drove. I was not so mature that I could resist snorting at them.

As if I ever cared.

My phone blinked with messages and I hit the brakes abruptly, knowing the flash of blur behind me wouldn't be able to stop himself in time. I hit myself against the wheel and it hurt, but he hit against the back of my car with the most satisfying thunk. I twisted to the back and flipped a finger for no one in particular to see.

"That was for making me get my glasses dirty." Vampires had perfect eyesight; they'd never understand the pain of having glasses. Or not having them when you need them.

I smirked smugly, preparing to drive home in well-deserved peace, when another vampire appeared not five feet away from my car. How could I tell he was a vampire? When you lived long enough with one, or several, you simply could. And this one didn't even seem fazed by my car's headlights, which vampires were supposedly fearful of. Meaning he would be at least 500 years old, and that meant many years of experience with humans twice my size.

"Human," he hissed the word like the word was poison. I snorted, offended, but in reality I was busy trying to mask my fear. But I knew he would be able to smell it. What was it that Serina explained to me before? It smelled to them like what chocolate and cream puffs smelled like to me. I was seven then. Ugh, that was something I would never get over.

"Vampire," I spat back, hoping the tone of my voice would sear him visibly. Unfortunately, this wasn't a world with wizards and wands, plus I was sure my voice trembled, so nothing happened. It was like we were in an action movie, eyeing each other's every move and waiting for the right time to attack. I had the attention span of a goldfish.

Instead, I reared up my engine. "I'm nice, so I'm giving you five seconds before I run this guy over you."

Truthfully, I didn't want to run the vampire over. My car was new and the money came out of my own pocket. I planned to use it for normal things like going to school and picking up friends so we could hang out afterwards.

He lunged, and I let out an almost sigh. There were just some things you couldn't avoid when you were me. Bracing myself, I hit the vampire and ran him over, hearing his bones crack under my wheels and feeling just a little bad about it. I didn't kill him – only daylight or a pierce to the heart could kill a vampire, but still. Not that I got out of the car and did anything as suicidal as checking his condition; I just drove onwards, my body having long memorized the road to safety even as my brain screamed at me for being an idiot.

A shadow leapt out from my left and I swallowed a scream. That would simply alert my pursuers of my location. I did not need that. My hand reached for the small stake I'd sharpened from a thick branch earlier, bracing for a hell of a fight, before I recognized the figure.

"Spencer," I breathed in relief, releasing my grip on the stake. If I had to run over another vampire tonight, I'd gag.

"I took care of the vampires," he said shortly, keeping up with my car with little difficulty. I nodded, knowing what he meant, and slowed the car just long enough for him to hop in, and as I drove, he was silent. I hummed, knowing the moment was coming. And it did, twenty-three seconds later, which was close to record breaking considering how he usually waited all but one second. Which also meant he was more mad.