Sighted

Chapter 1: Who's this Joker?

Gin

     Ugh, I can smell the flesh starting to rot.

     I wrinkle my nose against the odor but there isn't anything I can do about it until daybreak. Or until I catch a break. I've been waiting all night and am not about to give up. It's my own fault for using the vampire's flesh as bait anyway. I should have just taken some blood but it's too late now.

      The vampire had originally been attacked almost a week ago and was able to find me after three days. I've failed at tracking the threat for the past two nights and had to change tactics. Make the demon come to me. The physical evidence of the vampire will hopefully create a magical presence that even the most insensitive, or low level, demon can feel. Plus, I'd cut the piece from the vamp's arm this past afternoon, so the wound has probably completely regenerated by now.

      I silently shift my weight as I sit perched on a beam. As usual for most of my nightly endeavors, I'm dressed entirely in dark clothing. With the chilly, early spring weather, I have on warm joggers, a sweatshirt over my tee and a black denim jacket. The hood of the sweatshirt is pulled up, covering my hair and exposing only my face.

      Currently, I am sitting up in the rafters of the condemned warehouse that I've used a lot lately. It is hard to find any place that is perfect to exorcise in the city, but this place is pretty good. The security cameras have long been disconnected so I can enter unseen. Despite its derelict appearance, it is only slightly falling down. The offices in the front are the most dangerous and in the most disrepair, but the structure of the vast storage space is still strong.

      Anything of value was sold off when the ownership reverted to the bank as the past owner went bankrupt. The concrete floor is stained where large racks and equipment had sat. Debris and graffiti litter everywhere except for where I have strategically cleared some areas.

      No breeze comes in through the blocked windows, high up near the ceiling, and the turned flesh smell is hybridizing with the dust, rust and mold that usually makes up the air inside the old building. The cold air is permeating through the walls and does nothing to dilute the stench. I try to take shallower and slower breaths, while also trying to ignore it.

      Very little light trickles in, but the darkness has little effect on my eyesight. I casually scan the room below but I know I'll feel someone arrive before I will see them. I reach out with my supernatural sense of touch but don't feel even a wrinkle of magical presence, aside from the rotting carcass I placed below me.

      The time ticks through the early morning hours and I feel more on edge, almost hyper-alert. On watch like this, I can't risk moving around. I keep my well-trained body loose, but ready, my combat boot shot feet dangling unmoving towards the concrete below. I sit upright, breathing is my only movement. Even though I don't show it, as time moves closer to dawn, I become impatient.

      Come on, already.

      After what has seemed like an eternity, a small pulse of energy pushes against me, like a wave of air that swirls through every other solid thing but me. Somebody's here, I sing-song in my head. I stay absolutely still and reach out with my special sense again. Not daring to breath, I try to pinpoints its location. After materialization, the energy only takes a couple of seconds to stabilize.

     It's close, just outside! A soft, steady push of energy is emanating from the other side of the door to the back. I release a slow careful breath and allow myself a small, anticipatory smile.