She glanced around and the nearly dead street and then miles and miles of dried prairie lands that lead up into the hiking trails. He didn’t have a car in the parking lot instead behind some of the large boulders that were scattered on the other side of the street they approached a hidden car.

  Not a car she realized a dune buggy. She glanced at him and wondered if her evaluation of him being a hiker was accurate. Before she could decide whether she really trusted the situation an accented voice called.

  “I believe you told me you didn’t recognize him.” The voice was cool and dangerous and Misery still felt the shiver down her spine. Misery looked to Koa who turned to the Blonde vampire with no fear. Simply annoyance. Which was enough for her to pull herself out of fear rolling a round spherical object that Grove made or found way before her time with him.

  The blonde vampire had an energy that nothing could or would dare to get in his way of completing what ever he needed to. He didn’t look annoyed or even affected simply ready to handle. Misery found herself smirking searching for the place to poke.

  “Well as you can see he is one of those hiker types and I may have left out some details but who the Hell wants to spend more then need be in a space with someone who gives off the energy that the could and would flick you off the map if it made things a little simpler.” Misery glided through. The blonde vampire who in fact hadn’t been looking at her but at Koa for most of his time there turned his violet gaze to her.

  “I have no business with humans unless they warrant the need.” He informed her. Misery stared at him, well wasn’t that the most vague set of criteria.

  “Isn’t that just a way to say that it’s a switch in your head you flick when it suits you?” Misery challenged. The blonde vampire raised his brows looking surprised that his dismissal was countered. He turned to Koa.

  “How did you end up finding her?” He asked. Koa let out a stringed sigh.

  “I was staking out a group when they split up and I lost most of them. I found two that I thought weren’t too much of a threat. Their mouths were more prominent then their brains. They were though causing some trouble. This one offered me their license plate number. Nothing else transpired involving her but the police did speak with her. I came to do damage control and it turns out that she helped that along.” His tone was like someone reporting to a higher rank which made sense but didn’t tell her how she should be reacting.

  “So why is she with you?” The blonde vampire asked. Koa grimaced and looked at her. Misery crossed her arms around her sketch book which his eyes fell to.

  “Could you show him what you showed me?” Koa asked. Misery stood rooted. Koa sighed and walked toward her she prepared to throw one of the balls. Instead of touching her she realized when he stopped he was going to try to compel her.

  From Grove’s book and paranoid musings, she knew that compulsion was basically overriding your instincts and in sighting one they’ve chosen. The best way to prevent that was to focus on something too big to override.

  Which was why she focused on the warmed metal in her pocket. The compass made her feel steady and she focused on the emotion in her that overrides any other, an unrelenting insistence on staying herself. Preserving memories even painful ones, moving forward at her own pace and holding onto things that matter.

  She cocked herself through the compulsion and stepped forward.

  “Fuck off.” She breathed dangerously. Koa’s well sharped brows flew up. She turned to the blonde vampire.

  “I drew both you and him, including the vampiric runes that I recognize most of on him and less on you.” She offered willingly and freely holding her sketch book tightly.

  The blonde vampire’s eyes narrowed on her. And his chilled tone this time didn’t rock her in the least.

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  “And tell me how you know about vampiric runes and how to decipher them?” He asked her. Misery huffed a laugh raising her brows looking over the two taking careful note of where they were and what they were doing.

  “Fortunate circumstances.” She breathed. His face fell a few shades darker, and he started toward her she pulled out the little ball prepared to throw it.

  Before the action was complete though tires squealed and someone whipped off the road right across from them. Ramming to a halt. The souped up truck was covered in the Death to All Night Crawler, sigils.

  Misery hissed out a breath she’d had to chase off more then one person trying to tag the mini mart the symbols. The vampire’s attention was no longer on her. Something flew out of the truck and shattered with a thud on the ground. Misery recognized the large glass jug as member’s mark holy water.

  “Who the hell even thinks that would work.” She scuffed shifting back and to the side.

  “Fucking. Blood suckers!” One of the guys shouted and tossed something else out. Four guys continued to throw things at growing intensity. Most with little to no affect.

  Koa started forward.

  “Stop this now and Leave.” His tone trilled out but before he completed the command, they blasted ear puncturing heavy music that she’d enjoy on a different occasion.

  Two of the four jumped out of the truck with various strange looking weapons. The blonde vampire shoved her away from him.

  “Go.” He growled heading forward. The grounded truck fucks swung and the vicious vampire deflected and attempted to disarm them while the other truck fucks flung things at the vampires.

  None of them even glanced at Misery which tickled her curiosity. She walked a bit out of the way so that no one took notice of her because of proximity. She went to the truck bed and looked at the random shit tossed all around, including larger more dangerous weapons that would have had anything handled right away. She also opened a box and found poorly organized and executed notes and theories on how something with effect a vampire.

  It read almost like a theoretical physicist giving a entry level highschooler a description of a research project and letting them compile bits of information. Leaving Misery to being pretty sure that, the truck fucks were not the brains of this and left her pretty sure that those in the truck were likely not the type to make backups.

  Misery smirked. Open a cartage and poured the gun powder over it. She took a couple steps back tossed her sketch book safely into a crunch bush pulled out a different one of Groves projects and her switch lighter and lit the cartridge and arched it onto the truck.

  It took a few beats but then the back flew up in glorious shades of oranges staining the black truck. Flames flickered and the two truck fucks vacated their interior protection. They were shouting and swearing. The one guy running his fingers through his hair like she’d ruined his life. He swore and lunged for her.

  She dodged him easily pulled out two metal sphere’s from her pocket.

  “Hey catch.” She called to the other. Blinking his hands went up and he did catch them. As his hands closed around the spheres the smoked starting out grey but blowing in waves of pink staining him as little electric bolts ran through him.

  He crashed done jittering and gasping.

  Her hand was in her pocket when the dune bug flew past her and the two in the fight, she was ignoring grabbed the buddy who lunged at her leaving behind the pink and floored one.

  Misery sighed and took in the burning truck, and looked past in at the vampires who were limping toward her. Koa looked a little battered but the blonde one looked pretty hurt. Koa supported him but didn’t look sympathetic.

  “You doubt the need for my investigation now?” Koa snapped at the blonde. Misery crossed to the pink puff that was trying to get up.

  “You blood sucking-” Misery made a spectacle of lifting her foot and pressing him into the ground leaning forward with the action. Misery met his eyes, then glance at her nails that were chipped.

  “What’s your name?” She asked softly. Fear flickered across his face. He opened and closed his mouth. “Fine, I’ll call you Jon. Well Jon I’ll be honest with you, I care about life, whether it be my own self-preservation, the lives of those around me be it vampire, shifter other things that could terrify you.” Misery informed him like she was going off on a tangent then honed in on his gaze again. “Tell me Jon, do you value your own life?” She asked to replace her lighter with her blade snapping it open motioning out conversationally. “Or are you the type willing to die for a cause you know nothing about?” Misery asked him.

  Fear turned to panic.

  “Please, this was a dumb idea. I’ll leave. I’ll leave right now and never bother your people again.” He insisted. Misery leaned her weight again summoning every ounce of her chosen name.

  “Oh, Jon.” She breathed affectionately. “I’m not a vampire. And that’s exactly why I will be what haunts your dreams far more.” Misery assured him. He was petrified to the spot and only then did she back off of him. “Get up Jon. Go. Live, Grow. Find a value in your life that isn’t tied to another’s destruction and beg what ever you hold more then yourself that you haven’t done more then can be forgiven.” She commanded.

  He shook to stand and limped as fast as he could down the road.