Incompatible Means (Completed)

Chapter 1 Part 2

 The cabin was in obvious disrepair with a flimsy roof and cracked windows, and when the wind pushed through the trees I could hear the unvarnished boards groan with an eerie perseverance. During the conversation with the mystery vamp, the sky had grown dense with inky storm clouds. This sucked up most of the moonlight that had previously illuminated the two-acre clearing around the cabin. Taking a few moments to adjust my eyes to the lights leaking out the dingy windows I stowed my throwing knives. With nothing left to wait on I made my way to the cabin, avoiding fallen leaves and acorns the best I could. Focused on Robert's location, to the right of the front door, I quietly withdrew my fans.

For a moment I paused at the front door, just to make sure the evening was done giving unsolicited surprises. Expertly, I planted my left heel into the weathered wood of the front porch as I punched the right sole of my boot into the door, next to the lock. With the crack of broken wood still ringing in my ears, I scanned the confined space for threats. The small body in the corner lying on the floor took a backseat in my mind to the infuriated vampire to my right, a quick scan confirmed his hands were free of weapons.

Observation time was over as the backwoods good ol' boy screamed his outrage into the confined space as he rushed me.

Standing almost a foot taller than me I hadn't anticipated his reach and I was forced to sidestep his beefy hands as he made to grab me. While pivoting around him I sent my boot out towards the dirt-stained knee of his overalls connecting hard with his kneecap.

Robert's plain face contorted in pain as spit fell into his scraggly beard. Before he was able to recover I cross cut my fans into his meaty neck, turning his cries to a guttural croak. One of his tree trunk arms managed to knock me to the floor as he frantically did his damnedest to stop the bleeding at his throat.

As he continued to try to reattach his head to his shoulders, I rolled from the floor putting my fans away then pulled out a stake made of elder wood. Why elder wood you may ask? Well, I never bothered to ask. I use it because that's what Daniel, the guy who trained me, told me to use. Robert must have seen my intention upon approach because he rushed to his feet even with his ruined leg. His inability to heal quickly confirmed just how little power he had as a vampire, still he tenaciously managed to get to his feet.

Until he slipped on his own blood that had begun to stain the already scarred wood. I jumped him, riding his fall down while using the momentum of my jump to drive the stake up and into his chest. By the time we hit the floor his eyes were dull with death, the wooden stake almost fully immersed into his barrel chest.

My hands were steady as I pushed myself up using his now still chest, I puffed a loose hair out of my face while looking at the head dangling off the vampire's shoulders. With another shove at the carcass below me, I got to my feet and withdrew the short sword at my back. Giving a small huff of breath I swung the sword in a full arc severing the head from the monster that had taken Isabelle. The vamp's mass now blocked the front door, so I threw the head out the opening hearing it thump down the stairs.

Feeling eyes watch me I scanned my surroundings expecting to see the mystery vamp sneaking up on me. Instead, I met the dull brown eyes of a little girl sitting curled up in the corner. As I slowly made my way towards her I made note of the small cuts and scrapes on every inch of her exposed flesh. My stomach turned as I gently pushed back her mousy brown hair, clumped with what I hoped was mud, and spotted two fresh puncture wounds on her tiny throat. Since her face was shrouded in shadow my traitorous memory quickly transposed another child's face onto hers, a face that belonged in a different blood coated room from a time long passed.

Clearing the ghosts of my past, I once again focused on Isabelle's face, her eyes did not match her young face, for she had seen too much in her young life for them to ever shine with the innocence they were meant to.

"Who are you?" Her small voice asked, way too calm for the situation at hand. I hoped she wasn't in shock.

"My name is Aisling and I kill monsters," I said standing up from the squatting position I had taken to look her over.

"How did you know he was a monster?" Her voice held some part awe and part raw pain. My heart broke for her.

"Oh, honey. They're all monsters." With that I walked over to the dead vamp, proceeding to drag him out the front door and into the clearing.

It was times like this that I resented certain vampire legends, what I wouldn't give for a vampire to turn to ash. Because disposing of bodies was a fucking drag. Once I had him far enough away from the cabin, his head safely put on the porch, I covered his body in a silver powder that my co-worker Hugo manufactured. Just enough to make him look like he was covered in a metallic smelling pepper. The lit match I dropped on his body ignited the mixture, reducing the body to ash in less than five minutes. Ok, so maybe it wasn't that hard getting rid of them, but it still smelt repugnant.

My feet dragged as I made my way back inside the cabin, it had been a long day and I was ready to get Isabelle home. Only she wasn't inside the cabin where I left her, I called her name while inspecting the cabin. Making my way outside I searched for the mystery vamp's signature, he was only a few yards away I was able to see him at the border of the woods, Isabelle calmly at his side. The vampire's Cheshire grin was the last thing to fade back into the forest, quickly followed by his irritatingly calm power. Once I lost visual his signature was gone, just gone, which was not possible. I possessed an almost 25-mile radius when tracking power signatures. And they never just fucking disappear.

Just as I began running through the forest where I saw the vamp I felt my phone vibrate in my back pocket. Jack would be the only one to call me right now, maybe he could help tell me what was going on.

"Jack, I lost the girl. Another vamp was here and he took her, they just vanished. I don't--" but I was unable to finish speaking as Jack interrupted me.

"That's not important. I just received a job. I need you back here immediately." Jack sounded unusually tense.

"But the little girl. I need--" again I was interrupted.

"If the girl was poached by another vamp she is already dead Ace, you know this. There is nothing you can do. Now come home. That's an order," the phone disconnected before I could argue, which is exactly why he did it. It had started to rain in the small clearing around the cabin. The smell of incinerated vampire still clung heavy in the air. But still, I stood there with my hands clenched into a fist, their shaking the only movement in my rigid posture. The primal need to chase after Isabelle spoke of a deeply buried sorrow, from a time when I had failed to save others before. But Jack was most likely right, Isabelle was gone and I didn't have any way to track her without the vampire's signature left behind.

With no better choice, I picked up my gear and headed for the truck I had stashed in the woods. Whatever job Jack deemed so damn important better be a quick one because I was going hunting for Isabelle's killer very soon.

                                                                                Aisling Brooks

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