Unsuspected Dangers

I've got writers block with this one....Suggestions are appreciated. Help me finish it! :)

Tessa shot across the street...Keeping to the shadows to avoid the eyes of her pursuers.

Holding her breath, she squeezed between some lumber that was leaning against one of the many houses under construction on Maple Street. There had been a fire here. Arsenal, a couch set on fire and flames spreading throughout the neighborhood, leaving it black and smelling of hickory wood. The three men who had been chasing her ran passed. They had been chasing her for over twenty minutes...She was sleek, quick, and dressed in a black leather jump suit. She had been watching them for weeks...The bar where they were often located had been their hunting ground. Those men hunted unsuspecting girls, unaware of the dangers, just out to have a good time.  They weren't men...They were monsters...Vampires. Undead...Blood drinkers...Murderers...Tessa had been hunting them for years under the name Aisha. Vampires kept weird names...Cyrus, Hannibal, sable. Old names that weren't necessarily unusual. 

"Next time...You’re dead." She muttered as she followed the monsters. They ran through an alley. The alley was a dead end...

"Perfect" She thought as she stalked down the alley, careful to make no noise. She had trained her body to be in perfect control, never making noise, always hidden until she wanted to be seen. Tessa continued to stay closely behind the vamps until they realized it was a dead end and turned, just in time for one of them to get a high kick to the face. She hit the pressure point with precision that took years to learn. The other grabbed her wrist, but she countered with a twist, reversing the hold until she wound up on his back. She hooked her fingers under his jaw bone and pulled, until she heard the pop that meant it his jaw was dislocated. The vamp snarled and reached for her. She pushed off of his back, tucked and rolled. By then the man had turned and was rushing towards her. She jumped, intending to kick off of his chest...Then slipped in the puddle she had landed in. She landed on her back; she was in shock, the air knocked out of her. The man grabbed her and, so fast it was a blur, slammed her against the wall. He snapped his jaw back in place. Of course it healed instantly.

"You think you can beat a vampire? You’re a slayer aren't you? “The man panted.  His breath smelled like cigars and death. Tessa took special care not to look him in the eye. She couldn't risk being a vampire’s slave, even if he couldn't hypnotize, it was too dangerous. 

"I've done it before." She said breathing slowly. Her heart was racing. No doubt he could hear it. Vampires could hear a pin drop in a room full of screaming sirens. They could also smell fear. They say it tastes better when their victims are scared, makes the blood more potent. Tessa fought to slow her heart. The man smiled. He knew she was scared, and she was. She had never been caught like this before. It was rare for her to even loose concentration let alone her balance. Even if she did slip, she never fell. Now it would be the death of her. The man leaned in sniffing her neck. Tessa squeezed her eyes shut, preparing to feel his teeth sink into her neck...Then the man gasped, and faded into dust. A sharp wooden stake clambered to the ground with the suddenly un-solid body. Tessa watched in amazement, staring at the ground and the stake. Until someone cleared their throat. Tessa jerked her head up at the noise. There standing where the knocked out vampire used to be, was a tall dark haired boy with a long, black over coat, open to a black t-shirt and a pair of snug, but perfectly fitted, black jeans. He had a strand of short hair hanging over his fore head and large yellow eyes the color of cats.

"Uh, um, th-thanks" She stammered, shell shocked. He raised an eyebrow, and studied her. He looked her up and down, from her blond hair tied in a long pony tail at the nape of her neck, to her aqua blue eyes, and all the way down to her knee-high-swayed-leather boots, and back. She shifted self consciously. 

"How did he sneak up on me? What is wrong with me today?" Tessa thought, frustrated. 

"Are you ok?" He said his voice gentle yet seductive. Distracted by his voice Tessa didn't answer right away. The boy, who looked no older than 19 continued on to the next question.

"What were you doing out here? Don't you know it’s dangerous to be out here at night? There are a lot of people who would probably like to hurt you out here." He said. He seemed to avoid the mention of the men he just killed and his voice had turned cold and hard.

"I’m..." She had to think about it for a moment and decided to give her fake name. "I’m Aisha" She said holding out her hand and taking a few steps forward, careful to stay steady. He shook her hand. His hand was cold and rough, and large he jerked it away after a second. She swallowed hard, she didn't know why but she was having a hard time not throwing herself at her rescuer and riding off into the sunset. It was like a magnet, or something.

"Don't be ridiculous, nothing ever really happens that way! He'd think you were crazy or traumatized; anyway, you’re a vampire slayer. You can't have anyone to care about; someone will find out, someone will use them against you." Tessa thought resisting the urge. The man swallowed hard his Adams apple bobbing slightly. Tessa cocked her head.

"Does he feel the same?" Tessa thought hopefully. She stifled the flaming hope quickly before it reached her eyes. Her mother used to say that her eyes were a mirror to her heart. That was before, when the vamps, hadn't taken her, and drank her dry. Before she had to watch them circle her and then strike, had to hear her scream, had to watcher her eyes fade, all light going out of them. Her mother had worked for vampires, at a bar on Third and Oak, called Moonshine Bar. She didn't know they were vampires, until she walked in on one drinking from a teenager. She had run home and told her 7 year old daughter to hide in the vent. She had barely gotten the cover back on when they burst through the door. They were wearing cloaks, black, with emblems on them, a Griffin with an arrow through it. They all grabbed her. She had begged, her aqua blue eyes filling up with tears, she had put her head down and put her hands together as if she were praying, her black hair hiding her face from the vampires, but not from Tessa. Tessa could see everything from her little hiding space. Run. Her mother had mouthed the word once before the men attacked her. Tessa had been too scared to move or make a sound she had just sat there and watched. Hadn't moved until she had heard the front door click closed and waited until she thought they were gone. Then she had kicked the vent grate off, crawled to her mother, and screamed. She had screamed for over 20 minutes when the police came. She had been lying by her mother, just screaming. Someone had touched her arm, she had stopped screaming, and gave her statement, which no one had believed, and hadn't spoken another word, not in the foster homes or anywhere else. Until someone had come in to adopt her. It was a woman by the name of Clare James, she had sat in front of her and tried to get her to talk, then she had asked Tessa's social worker to leave the room, and she had said.

"I know that your story is true. Vampires killed your mother."  Tessa had jerked her head up, wide eyed.

"Can we kill them?" She had said. She had only been 9 at the time but she was bound and determined to get revenge. Clare had nodded and held out her hand. From then on Tessa had refused to leave Clare's side, until they had gotten the paper work worked out and Clare took her home. Clare taught her martial arts and about pressure points and how to stake a vampire. Tessa was 14 when she staked her first vampire.

"You should get home." The boy said. He seemed angry. He looked only at the ground. Never even glancing at Tessa’s face. Then he turned and started to walk away.

"Wait!" Tessa reaching out and grabbing at his sleeve. Her fingers closed on air as the boy turned and skidded out of reach. His glare fixed on her face. His yellow eyes ominous against his pale skin.

"What’s your name?" Tessa said ignoring the look he was giving her.

"Mark......Mark Fletcher..." He said, speaking slowly, through his teeth.

Mark Fletcher...She didn't know why but the name seemed familiar...MARK! They were best friends before...the incident. They used to be neighbors...Used to play under the bridge by the river everyday...And walk home holding hands...

"MARK? Is that really you? It’s been forever!" She gushed walking towards him. He backed up a step.

"Yeah...It has...Tessa." He said still glaring his yellow eyes locking on her. His hands balled into fists.

"What’s wrong?" Tessa asked. Getting pissed that he wasn't as happy to see her as she was to see him. He was acting like she was a vampire

"Wait...How did you get to Manhattan? How do you know about vampires....AND WHY THE HELL DIDN'T YOU CALL!?!" She said, glaring back. He didn't answer just glared harder. Tessa wanted to hit something, she has always had an anger problem. They stood there for a few short moments just glaring at each other until Mark abruptly turned on his heal and stalked quickly away. This time Tessa said nothing, just followed behind him. She knew he knew she was there but he ignored her. Tessa was frustrated. She wanted to run and give him a hug and never let go. Why is he acting like this? she thought.

 

 

Author's Note

This one is kind of rough...Not finished yet. Ignore grammar problems, How is the story line?

Reviews

[Arsenic Nemesis]

XDD that last line made me chuckle mortal, very nice. A sweet story line, I'm interested into seeing how it'll develop should you chose to continue it. I must say that I did enjoy this, a nice choice of words and the description on the fight scene was pretty good too, nice job~

[Havatara]

The story is good so far. I would say maybe to say how old she is, because right now she seems really young, maybe 15 or 16, and even though it makes sense that she's as old as Mark, it still would be nice to know for sure. And where do you WANT to go with the story? If you want us to help you finish it, well, we're not going to WRITE for you, but maybe we can help you outline what happens, if you need to get from point A to point C, but you don't really know what point B is. Does that make sense?

[Doug Ordunio]

Does it work? Sort of… There are several things you should change merely to separate this story from all others of this type.

1. Perhaps have the vampires wear another color besides black? Black is a bit too obvious.

2. You tell us everything. The vampires might be more unusual if they had a distinctive way of speaking…

3. So the vampires smoke cigars? Why not make them smoke a very elegant brand, just to show how cool they are? Something other than your typical liquor store stogie.

4. How does fear smell? Might be interesting to get into what makes that aroma different.

5. Seems like all the vampires you describe are male. Might be nice for some normal men to populate your story. or maybe soe distaff vamps?

Anyway, those are some quick thoughts…

Right on!
DO

[Dreamer<3]

I like the storyline(:

[KATHY SUE SILLS]

THE STORY LINE IS WONDERFUL!!!!

[JulieNorell]

I dont think so....They have different tones.....The other one has more of an ironic comedy...This one shows a sense of danger....But thanks for the comment anyway!

[Deck_As_Heck]

i think it starts out too much like your other one.