Shredded :Saga: [ON HOLD]

Chapter 22

GUIDRY’S CAJUN CAFE – Carencro, Louisiana (night)

A man and a woman leave the café. Anna steps in, running a hand through her hair as she inhales, noting all of the scents that occupy the room. Only five people remained in the cafe, including her. She eyed up the remaining few people and sat at the counter.

"Excuse me, what can a girl get to eat here?" She aimed her gaze at the diswasher, his back was toward her as he was drying silverware.

"Ma'am don't get too comfortable, we are closing soon. Besides, earlier didn't I tell you not to come back?" He spoke with a scruffy voice and a woman came from the kitchen grabbing her coat ready to leave.

"I sent Anthony home, so the kitchen's all yours. And be sure to lock up the door and, uh, set the alarm...turn off the A/C, check the burners, check the griddle..." She went over the regular agenda of closing the cafe.

He turned around smiling kindly at the woman, "And clear off the cold table. I got it. Go on, now."

"Thank you, Roy." She turns to leave, both a man and Anna watches her. She stops in her tracks and turns back, "Oh, and, uh...don't forget to "Z" out the register..."

Roy chuckled and nods, "And batch out the credit-card machines. I know. Darlin', it's not my first rodeo, all right?"

The woman cracks a smile and leaves swiftly. The man sat next to Anna taps his mug on the counter and initates a small conversation. Anna just sits quiet, seeming to be spaced out with her eyes closed, she was very well listening. 

"Hell of a girl, that Elizabeth."

Roy looks to him and fills the mug, "Yeah. Yeah, she really is."

"You got designs?" The man winked and it made Anna laugh, they both stared at her before continuing their conversation. 

Roy shook his head, going to wipe down the counter to the left of the male customer. "Nah. She's more like a little sister to me, you know?"

"So you don't mind if I take a shot?" He chuckled.

"She's all yours chief." He shook his head in a sarcastic manner. 

"What's a girl like her going to want with a man like you?" Anna opened her eyes, turning a menacing gaze towards the customer. 

"Excuse me?" 

"You heard me..." She kept staring.

"I don't know, figured giving it a shot."

"You'd be better off not trying at all, will save you the petty humiliation." Anna cracked her neck.

"What are you jealous little girl?" The man smirked and Roy looked on amused.

"Me jealous? How shallow do you think I am? Rather be dead than associate with the skeevy likes of you."  Anna stared at him expressionless, "Why don't you pay your bill and get out of here? You're unwanted." Her eyes contracted, compelling the weakminded man to fold under her will. 

He simply nodded, put cash down on the counter and left.

"Never heard of Southern hospitality? Not from around here are you?" Roy looked at Anna, intrigued by her authority.

"I'm far from home. Just traveling, not doing anything in particular." Anna took the unfinished coffee, finishing it off. 

"Hey." Another customer was watching from an adjacent booth, his head held down so his cap covered his face. He taps the coffee cup on the table. "Please?"

Roy makes his way over, " Last one then I'm closing up." He refilled the mug and went back behind the counter, he converesed with Anna as he started cleaning up.

The other customer raised his head, revealing himself as Martin Creaser, a nomadic hunter who was just recently let out of a psychiatric hospital.

A short hour later, Roy switches off the lights and leaves the café. He looks around and walks away. Martin emerges from around the side of the café and follows him closely. Roy walks through a wooded area, hears a noise in the bushes and goes to investigate. Martin follows him into the woods and hears a scream. He takes out a long knife and hurries through the woods. He trips and falls next to the previous customer from the café, who is lying dead on the ground with a wound on his neck. Martin looks at the man’s wound, then stands up. He has blood on his mostly bald head from his fall.

Anna was watching in the trees, inhaling carefully, taking in his scent, she knew he was up to something. His heartrate was erratic in the cafe, and now she knows why. He isn't just any hunter, he's a vampire hunter. 

 She disappears into the night, leaving Martin to tend to the body.