Trinity, Part 1

Trinity (Part 1 of 2)
an4@anon.lelnet.com
hunting vampires series 

    Lisa MacDonough spun on her heels. There was a sharpened gardening stake 
in her right hand and a gun in her left.
    The teenage girl staring back at her came very close to wetting her 
panties. She looked deep into the girl's Jamaican blue eyes and relaxed. 
She'd come in out of the direct sun and she was fine- not that that fact was 
a gimmee, but it was a start- she was fine. Beautiful in fact. But she'd 
swept the little town three times last night and found nobody with a pulse, 
so how did she explain this ?
    'Jesus, you almost scared the piss out of me,' the girl said angrily.
    'And how do you know you shouldn't still feel that way ?' Lisa asked her 
edgily.
    'Because they don't carry guns.'
    Lisa laughed. 'Shows what you know. Who the hell are you, and how did you 
get here ?'
    'I walked.'
    The girl was pretty composed, all things considered.
    And a smart ass. The last thing Lisa needed right now.
    'Well, I'd suggest getting in a car and driving out of town. Things are 
not looking up here in Moctville, and it's going to get worse before long.'
    'I don't know how to drive.'
    'Then start walking,' Lisa said angrily. She was tense, on edge after a 
very long night, and all she wanted right now was to find some cigarettes and 
light up. She still had work to do.
    Anne looked at Lisa defiantly. And then started to cry. Not big sobs, not 
the sort of sloppy soap opera crying that would have made Lisa hate her but 
slow, measured silent tears. This girl had probably lost a family last night, 
and she was about to lose her home, her town, and her entire life. How much 
of that she knew Lisa would have to find out. She holstered the gun, put away 
the stake, and went and hugged the girl.
    'How did you-'
    'There's a mortuary at the end of town. I snuck in and hid in one of the 
coffins. Fortunately, I had a watch, so I knew when it was daylight.'
    Lisa smiled and put her hand on the girl's head.
    'The old coffin trick. I've used that more than once. But how did you 
know ?'
    'Things haven't been right here the last few days. There's only about 
eighty people in the whole town, but most of them have been sick for days. My 
parents- jesus- my fucking parents. Do I have to go into the details ? I 
really don't want to do anything right now but get a cigarette and smoke it.'
    Lisa stepped back and looked at the girl. 
    'You smoke ? You can't be more than fifteen.'
    'Almost sixteen,' Anne said, straightening up. 'And yes, I've been 
smoking for almost two years now- well, only a year that everyone has known. 
When my parents first found out, they forbid me to smoke, but I started to 
gain weight and my grades dropped, so mom and dad made a deal- I'd play at 
least one sport and keep up a B average in school, and they'd let me smoke. 
It was going pretty well-'
    She was going to start crying again, so Lisa decided to distract her.
    'What brand ?' she asked, stepping behind the counter and taking a pack 
of Marlboro Lights 100s for herself.
    'Those.' 
    Lisa grabbed a second pack and tossed it to the girl.
    'How much do you smoke ?'
    'About half a pack a day.' She ripped the cellophane off, absurdly 
walked over to the garbage and threw it out, and then quickly lit one.
    'God, I haven't had a cigarette since before sundown yesterday.'
    If Lisa had any doubts about the girl, the way she went after her 
cigarette quashed them.
    'It doesn't bother you that I smoke, does it ?'
    Lisa smiled. People were so odd. This girl's entire town had ceased to 
exist, and her concern was that a grown woman who'd been smoking since she 
was younger than she was might mind her indulgence. Of course, it beat the 
waterworks by a wide margin.
    'Of course not. I could never do what I do if I didn't smoke. It would, 
if you'll pardon me, drive me fucking nuts. The thought of lighting a 
cigarette after I stake a vamp-'
    'How'd you know to come here ? I didn't know what was going on until 
yesterday.'
    'I have- contacts. And this is, well, I wouldn't exactly call it a job, 
but it's pretty damn close.' She extended her free hand. 'My name is Lisa 
MacDonough. Vampire Slayer, at your service.'
    Anne pumped her cigarette, returned the hand. 'Anne Virginia. Scared 
teenager. At your service.'
    'Well, Anne, I'd rather you got the hell out of Dodge, but it sounds 
like you need a ride. And I can't leave until I find the nest.'
    'You're asking me where the vampires would go to hole up during the day, 
right ?'
    'Well, I wasn't actually asking, but I'll take any ideas that you might 
have on the subject.'
    Lisa drew on her cigarette, let the smoke expand in her lungs, and 
allowed herself to feel peace. She hated the first set of kills after the 
holiday because it was possible to let yourself forget all this vampire crap 
for a few days. They typically laid low between X-mas and New Year's eve, 
when they were wont to have their annual ritualistic feeding.
    'We don't have a school. But the Town Hall is the biggest building in 
town and it's got a mondo basement.'
    'That goes to the top of my list, then. I hate these goddamned rogues.'
    'Rogues ?' Anne said. She then pulled hard on the cigarette. 'What's a 
rogue ?' Lisa watched the girl's tight, long exhale and allowed herself to 
relax some more. She liked Anne, and that would make this easier. Usually, 
she didn't like tagalongs.
    'Well, even vampires have rules. The Code of Law, they call it. And this 
kind of wholesale carnage, turning a whole town, is way outside the rules. 
Which means we might not even be safe in the daytime. They'll send somebody- 
with the same job I have, only by the time the sun goes down- at the very 
latest- whomever they send will add me to the list.'
    'Well, we'll be gone by sundown, won't we ?'
    'Yes, but they'll send someone who can stand a little sunlight. I'd 
rather not be seen here, and you definitely don't want to get involved. If I 
take you back to my car, will you promise to stay put ?'
    'I guess,' Anne said, trimming her cigarette and blowing the most 
wonderful cloud of smoke. 'I mean, if you told me to strip naked and sing 
YMCA on Main Street I wouldn't argue with you. You seem to know what you're 
doing. But what are planning to do ?'
    Lisa hesitated. There was a good chance that the girl's parents were 
holed up with the rest of them and-
    'Hey, don't look at me like that. I understand exactly what you need to 
finish here. Whatever is wearing my parents' skin, it's not them and I don't 
want it- don't want them- to be the way I remember them, you know ?'
    It was the right answer. Lisa let this part of the fear subside. The girl 
would do as she was told and that was so goddamned important right now. She 
needed to play by Lisa's rules with no deviation or she might just not make 
it. Neither one of them would. Watching your own back was hard enough.
    'All right, let's go. Stay close, and stay quite.'
    'I can still smoke, can't I ?'
    'Honestly, I'd be disappointed if you didn't.'
    They walked about half a mile. The town was dead in more ways than one. 
There was only the sound of the wind, banging wooden signs and old shutters 
with merciless precision. It was Vermont in winter, but the cold wasn't quite 
what Lisa remembered. She liked winter in general but not the cold because it 
sometimes dulled your senses. That was where smoking was a tremendous advantag
e, because it helped to keep her sharp.
    Lisa's '˜car' was really an aging jeep, the kind of vehicle that you 
could count on for some of the weird things she had to do. It had temporary 
plastic windows, one of which was usually open.
    'Do you really not know how to drive ?'
    Anne smiled. 'Well, I didn't want you getting rid of me. I can drive, 
even a standard. But I'm not the best driver in the world.'
    Lisa handed her the keys. 'Sit behind the wheel and keep the engine 
running. Sometimes I have to make a quick exit.'
    Anne tapped ash from her cigarette. 'So I'm the wheel girl ?'
    'Yeah. Right after I take care of the vamps, we'll knock over the bank 
and go shopping. How does that sound ?'
    'Like a joke ?' Anne said hopefully.
    'Maybe,' Lisa replied noncommittally. She lit a cigarette and began 
walking towards the town hall, carrying her bag of tools in her left hand and 
her cigarette in her right.
    It was so terribly lonely out here. She hated the rogues because they 
made it necessary for her to do things like this. Sweeping towns that had 
been decimated was not fun- and going into a nest was dangerous. But Anne 
showing up had been a big bonus. It wasn't all that often she got to take 
anyone out alive- although there were other issues there she hardly wanted to 
think about.
    She reached the front lawn of the town hall with a new sense of fear. 
Something was here, something that had nothing to do with the nest.
    Stopping, she drew on her cigarette and tried her best to relax. What it 
was that was terribly wrong her was beyond her. But certainly there was some 
unquantifiable presence. She had an idea what it was, but until she saw it 
she couldn't be convinced what it was. Who it was that they might send.
    Suddenly, there was an hand on her shoulder. She glanced back and saw an 
all-white cigarette in that hand and for the first moment, she absurdly 
thought it was Anne. Turning angrily she instead saw Monica.
    'Monica.'
    'Lisa. It's a pleasure to see you again. Maybe after you finish, we can 
spend a little time together.'
    'Goddamn it.'
    Stepping back, Monica drew on her cigarette and smiled at the vampire 
killer who was going to shortly be her ally.
    'Truce, slayer. You help me wipe out this nest and you walk out of here. 
No problem, no harm, no foul. Maybe after we're done, you and I can fuck a 
little. I'm seriously in need.'
    'I don't go both ways, Monica. And if you're serious about a truce, 
that's fine. Clean the nest and I'll high tail it out of here.'
    'Don't you mean we ?'
    'What ?' Lisa asked, feigning innocence.
    'That little girl you picked up.'
    'I thought you liked teenagers,' Lisa quipped.
    'I love them. But I don't think you'd let me lay a tooth on her.'
    'No, you're right about that. Look, Monica, I can handle this nest 
myself.'
    'A little c-4 and it's boom boom, right ?'
    'Exactly.'
    'Nice, but I need to confirm that you get our little rogue first. You 
know my rules and yours are different.'
    'I was going to make an effort to do that-'
    'But when push comes to shove- especially when there's a civilian 
involved, you'll go boom-boom without a second thought. I can't play the 
game that way.
    'Well, maybe you should take the day off, then. It's not going to be 
safe for either of us to be here much longer. Words gets out fast when 
something like this happens and I'm sure you don't want to be here when the 
rest of party shows up.'
    'Then let's stop squabbling and get to work.' Monica took one last draw 
on her cigarette, dropped it to the ground and crushed it out.
    Lisa did the same and took a good long look and Monica. This was the sort 
of job where you always doing things you swore up and down you would never 
do- each day was a study in doing the undoable- but still, having a vamp 
watch your back during the most dangerous of possible circumstances was 
hardly what she wanted to do.
    For her own part, Monica actually seemed to be genuinely sincere. 'I'm 
not going to turn on you. In another place and time you and I can duke it 
out. I have forever, and judging from what I've heard about you, you'll be 
around for a little while yourself. We don't need to settle anything here 
today. You know the mantra. This isn't about me- or you. It's about them. So 
just try to fucking relax for fifteen minutes and then we can go our merry 
way before the black helicopter crowd puts down and ruins everyone's day.'
    'Blood oath,' Lisa said. She then bit herself on the hand until she 
bled, no easy feat.
    Monica had far less trouble drawing her own blood. She was impressed that 
Lisa understood what the blood oath entailed- she could see in her eyes that 
she knew exactly what this meant to her kind. They shook hands and formed the 
bond and that was that. Any thoughts Monica might have had of going back on 
her words, slim and distant though they had been, where now entirely gone.
    They walked up to the double doors side by side. Lisa drew an hand 
crossbow from her bag and Monica swung the door open. There was an hiss and 
Lisa shot the crossbow, hoping that she was right in thinking that it was a 
female hiss.
    The bolt caught the former Sarah Friday square in the chest and drove her 
backwards into the hallway. She didn't move. She would never move again.
    Monica stepped over the body without looking at it, and it went to dust. 
She didn't say anything. In fact, as the doors closed behind them, Lisa saw 
that the vampire had her eyes closed. Lisa put down the bag, drew out a pair 
of stakes, and closed her own eyes as the blood bond strengthened between 
them. She saw and felt what Monica did.
    There were three more on the main floor, two behind doors up the hallway 
and a third waiting in the dropped ceiling just five feet in front of them. 
Lisa belted the stakes and reloaded the crossbow. They took two steps and 
Lisa aimed and fired. They stepped to the sides of the hall as the body came 
crashing through the drop. It tangled in a flourescent light fixture and they 
jumped as the whole arrangement came hurtling out of the ceiling to smash on 
the tiled floor.    
    'Nice shot,' Monica paused to say, just before turning to stop the rush 
of a teenaged girl who'd slipped through the door she'd been hiding behind.
    Lisa waited for the second one, who emerged just as she saw Monica reach 
out calmly, catch the girl by the head, one hand on each side of the skull. 
She effortlessly twisted and there was an horrific snapping sound as the girl 
went limp and sagged into the wall.
    'Stake-' Monica said, her voice flat and atonal.
    Lisa tossed her one and brandished the other as the second vampire leapt 
the last five feet between them, hoping to use his weight- he was quite 
portly, Lisa noticed detachedly- to overpower her. She bent her knees and 
accepted his momentum, falling backward and pushing him up at the same time. 
Realising he was going to sail over her, he tried to reach back with his 
hands and catch her, but she was already twisting around underneath him and 
he caught only air.
    And then floor.
    She drove the stake home before he could recover.
    'You are good,' Monica said, impressed, as Lisa reloaded and handed her 
another stake.
    'Lots and lots of practice. At least I'm sweating.'
    'I only sweat when I fuck, and that's just for effect.'
    Lisa almost laughed.
    'I don't want to have to go through the whole nest this way,' Lisa said 
slowly. 
    'I know. You fragile mortals. One mistake and it's all over. Not much 
they can do to me.'
    'Who do you think it is ?' Lisa asked, as they walked down the hall 
towards the door with the '˜Stairs' sign hanging half off of it.
    'If I'm right, it's a gentleman who calls himself Mongo. One Jason 
Alexander Montgomery, late of Auburn Hills, Michigan. Been working his way 
east, one fuck up at a time.'
    'This is the guy they almost caught in Buffalo ?'
    Monica snorted. 'Yeah. Went back for a little T and A after cutting down 
half a bar worth of shivering Buffalonians. Bastard. I read the version they 
printed in the paper. Clearly, the cops didn't want the local folk thinking 
vampire, but you could have printed on the front page in 70 point text.'
    'What took you so long to find him ?'
    'Wasn't looking. Just happened to be in the neighbourhood and got the 
call.'
    'Came down out of the mountains, eh ? I wondered where you went after I 
killed your little boytoy.'
    Monica stopped a yard shy of the door.

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