Werewolves Don't Wear Cowboy Boots

Chapter 18: It's OK, Ms. Smith, we're just going about the town killing vampires

Bridget stared up at the vampires' house and shifted a wooden stake in her hand for a bit before glancing around the yard. There was no sign of anyone – not in the yard or around the house, or even at any of the houses along the street. She took a breath and tucked the stake back into the waistband of her pants. 'You're not alone,' she told herself a few times, gathering her courage. James and Rory were just around the back, carrying a whole arsenal of vampire fighting weapons between them. O'Neill, though well out of sight, was prowling nearby as well, and if she could count on no one else, she knew she could trust him, even if she was still very much pissed off with the man.

Something shifted near the bushes to the left of the property, and Bridget resisted the urge to look before stealing herself and walking to the door. It was a delicate line she was walking. Sneaking in was not likely to work, since she didn't know where Colum was being kept and O'Neill had assured her the vampires would likely be awake and waiting. However, she wanted the inhabitants to think that was her plan and that she was a silly, stupid teenage girl come to stake them in their coffins. This being a small town, though, she couldn't very well go crawling in through windows. All she needed was for a neighbor to see her and call the cops, and she could just imagine how that conversation would go. "Oh, but I'm no thief, officer. I'm just after raiding a vampire den." She could certainly do without that. So, with the use of a credit card, she had the door open in no time and slipped silently inside, latching the door behind her as quietly as she could.

She waited a moment, hand pressed against wood, trying to breath slowly and calm her racing heart as she listened for the sound of alarms or anyone approaching. The house was silent.

'Don't think that means you're safe,' she thought to herself firmly, then recited some of the other warnings O'Neill had given her earlier. She pulled the stake back out and shifted it nervously in her hands before padding quietly into the dark room, eyes attuned for any movement. She started at the rear of the house, discretely unlocking the back door and some of the windows as she moved through the empty rooms.

The ground floor searched and Bridget's hands thoroughly sweaty with nerves, she moved back toward the main room and the staircase, almost wishing someone would confront her so she could stop worrying about it. That wish, at least, was granted. No sooner had she put a foot on the first stair than a voice from behind her said, "You might've knocked."

Despite expecting one of them to appear, it nearly startled the breath out of her and she didn't have to work much to put fear in her voice when she turned to him with wide eyes, clutched the banister, and said, "But ... but it's daylight."

It was the older vampire, the one who'd walked out of a blood-stained bathroom at the party, and he gave her the smarmiest of smiles. "Yes. You're early. No matter. The sooner we start, the sooner we can finish."

"Start what? And where is my brother?" She gripped the stake a little tighter, full of anger but hoping he saw fear.

He gave her a mockingly pitying smile as he pulled a gun from his waistband. "You might as well put that down. It won't do you any good. Now be a good girl and do as I say. I'd hate to ruin another perfectly nice pelt with any silver bullets."

There were any number of things coming out of his mouth that were guaranteed to set her temper off, and she forgot entirely to play the part of the slightly dim and frightened girl. "If you fecking shot my brother, and that isn't just some bullshit bluff, then this stake is the least of your worries. I know all manner of painful ways to kill vampires," (she didn't, but she would be happy to consult with friends and learn some), "and don't you wave your fecking gun at me. I don't care if there are fecking silver bullets in it. I'm not a werewolf, you absolute piece of shite. It isn't fecking genetic." (Or, it could be. But not in her family, anyway.)

The man took in her entire tirade with a docile, almost bored, expression, at least until the end. When she mentioned the bit about not being a werewolf, he tilted his head in a curious sort of way, opened his mouth as if to speak, and then looked up the stairs with a chilling smile and eyes full of cold fury. "You'll have to forgive me. Your brother led me to think otherwise. I'll be sure to thank him properly later. But if you're human after all, there's no reason to worry about harming you, is there? Now be a good girl and put that stake down."

"Oh, alright. Why not? I've always wanted to be killed by a vampire." She backed slowly up the stairs as she spoke, and the man kept his eyes on her, entirely unruffled by her defiance. When she'd made it up a few more stairs without him making a move, she turned and ran, throwing open doors as she reached the hallway. He was following, albeit slowly, but the others would be along shortly and she needed to find her brother.

She froze in the second doorway when she heard noises coming from somewhere below. The vampire stood at the top of the staircase, a lazy smile on his lips. "So you did bring friends. Well ... so did we. Now, I am not in the habit of playing with my food, so stop running away."

Bridget's reply was on the edge of her tongue, but before she could so much as get a syllable out, she was grabbed from behind by someone she'd never even heard coming. She let out a scream that was equal parts surprise and rage, and fought him as he knocked the stake from her grip.

"Thank you, Nick," the first vampire said as he approached them. "Now, I think we can have a civil conversation."

Bridget was in the middle of a reply that wasanything but civil when the door behind them burst open and a furry form pouncedon the vampire who held Bridget, sending her hurtling against one of the wallsand out of her captor's grasp. 

*****

Note: Getting close to wrapping things up with this story. I'm not one to map things out, but I am approaching the end. Anyway, that's all for now.