BitN: Shay's Story

Kaji casually flipped up the collar of his coat to protect against the biting hail. It was a horrible night in North City. Hail the size of golf balls all day. At least there had been no reports of "official" business during this mess. He had the night off.

He fumbled with his keys trying to unlock the door of his small black Lexus. In the dark it was hard to see and he hated scratching the paint. The hail was murdering his gorgeous car.

He jammed the key into the lock and twisted. It broke off in the locked position. Dark alley, hail coming down, soaking wet, locked out of his car. What else could go wrong?

Stupid question.

Shay had just got off early from work. It was only about 9:30 P.M. but the storm that had been plaguing the city all day was still at it and made it dark as midnight. But in all truth, she didn't mind one bit, the hail did hurt a little but Shay absolutely adored the blackness of tonight and rain didn't bother her.

Walking toward her apartment on the other side of town she noticed a man, soaking wet fumbling with his keys and grumbling to himself. She choked back a laugh and approached him from behind poking him on the shoulder, "Hey, guy, you need some help?"

Kaji's senses tingled at the intruder. He hadn't heard her coming or felt her presence. It was like there was nothing there. Not even surface thoughts.

"The key broke off." He sighed.

"Hm... I doubt you could get a locksmith at this time of night." She wondered why she was even bothering to help him. He was just some random guy, but it was getting late and she would have a guilty conscious in the morning if she just left him.

"My apartment is just up the street if you want to wait for someone to pick you up. Or whatever. Your pick." She grumbled as she hit herself for even asking why she was helping someone. 'This is going to bite me in the ass.'

Alarms in his head went off. Every alarm. Bad idea. Get out, get backup, come back later to clean up. That was his training talking.

"Thanks for the offer and though it pains me to do it..." Kaji bashed his elbow against the quarter glass of the front window. "It... really pains me..." He tried again. "Ow." Stupid reinforced glass.

Shay was abashed. She understood that she wasn't the most innocent looking girl but to smash your own window to avoid being around her?

Was she really that scary? Could he tell she was different?

She really, really shouldn't have bothered with this guy.

Kaji glanced around the alley while rubbing his bruised elbow. He could probably break the glass with the grip of his pistol but that would just freak the girl out. He hated hail.

"There's a restaurant not far from here. I think I'll wait there for a tow truck."

She snorted, "I don't get why you would try to break a window open with your elbow when you have a perfectly fine gun on you."

It was pretty apparent and he probably didn't pull it out because he didn't want to 'frighten the wittle girlie'. Shay didn't really have a fondness for the opposite sex for quite a while, especially masochistic males.

"I'll see you," she grumbled in parting.

"Fair enough. Take care." Kaji dismissed her.

He pulled out his slim cell phone and punched in the numbers for a local tow truck agency waiting on her to leave.

'Arrogant prick.' This was the reason why she hated men. All men. Not just a few, but all of them. They all thought she was a 'little girl' and that she was creepy.

Shay continued her way home and felt her stomach grumble. She groaned as she thought of the microwave lasagna just waiting for her in the freezer!

To hell with men, she had food!

As soon as the strange girl was out of sight he hung up and redialed BitN headquarters.

"New target I want trailed. Completely immune to a psychic reading. Possibly enhanced senses as well. Track and investigate." He let the locator beacon he had placed on her while faking his elbow injury end the message.

"Yes I'll follow up on it later." He replied.

Shay finally reached home after another two blocks, 'Ok, maybe the rain is a little more annoying than I thought.' She was completely soaked from head to toe and just wanted food, a hot bath and bed.

It was then that she finally looked at her calendar. Shit.

It was the new moon tonight, no wonder she was so damn hungry. 'Why tonight? It's still too early to go out hunting and I really wasn't in the mood...' Shay started to think about the Lexus guy, "To bad I didn't remember... I could've just fed early..."

She groan again as she prepared for the night hunt.

Next morning:

Kaji yawned lazily.

"What's up for today?" He asked his mobile holographic interface.

"You are to follow up on that tracking case from last night and investigate reports of vampiric activity downtown." The tiny round device reported.

"Vampires? What section of downtown?" He asked.

"22 Acacia Avenue"

"That's near that bar I was at last night. Wonder if the girl is alright?"

He got out of bed and started to get ready for the day.

Shay was still deep asleep drooling on her pillow after that nights hunt. It had gone well and she had managed to find a thief looking for the next pocket to pick. Sometimes men's horny thoughts came in handy, especially when it came to feeding.

She honestly didn't like killing humans but she had no choice. Shay had tried to go without blood for over a month and almost died because of it. From that point on she decided to only kill people that the world could happily live without.

With a snort and grunt Shay startled awake and for some reason thought of the man with the Lexus. Why did he bother her so much?

Kaji straightened his tie as he waited at the red light. His car engine purred softly and the AC caused his hair to gently wave. It was bright and shiny today and it managed to make even the dank depressing little alley somewhat cheerful.

He was nearing a set of apartments where the killing occurred. Local police noted the body seemed severely dehydrated and had strange puncture wounds on its neck. A sleazy ex-convent with a record of petty thievery. No one the world would miss.

"Curious."

Prowling through the freezer for the lasagna she was going to eat last night, Shay couldn't stop thinking about that man. Something about him made her skin crawl and she realized that she felt threatened by him.

"Why would a stupid human be a threat to me?" Shay decided to just stop thinking about it and watch her favorite show, Death Note.

"L is so cute…"

Kaji stopped by the coroner's office to examine the body. Pudgy, grey, smelling of brimstone, pair of pristine puncture wounds in the neck... looked vampiric enough. Kaji flipped open his phone and put in a call.

"Mizu, cross check our vampire database for section 11 downtown. Anything that might have sired a new vamp?"

"Nothing apparent." His partner's voice replied.

"What about our tracker last night?"

"Was in the area at the time. Eagle eyes place her at Range Apartments right now... watching TV."

"Video?"

"There was a camera set up, we haven't retrieved it yet."

"Guess that's my next stop. Who's on call?"

"Ran."

"I'll go alone." He said quickly.

Shay yawned sleepily again, "It's only 10 a.m.! Why am I up so early my shift doesn't start until 7..." She signed in annoyance and stared at the clock willing for it to go faster.

"I will just have to go out today and actually do something!" She announced to no one in particular, except for her pudgy cat, Fang, who was currently rubbing up against her legs.

10:00 a.m. rush hour.

Kaji took a cab back to the pub.

Shay took a quick shower, grabbed her purse and took off from her house. She had no idea what she was going to do today but she badly needed out of the house.

"I need… some… ice cream!" And with that, Shay made her way to the ice cream parlor across the city.

Kaji decided to take the next hour or so off once he reached the pub. He didn't like the busy parts of the day. He felt vulnerable.

He ordered a Scotch neat.

As Shay made her way through the city, she passed by the city's pub and low and behold, that man was there. Seeing him again got her blood boiling and her senses more aware. Shay decided that she would go order a beer. She would find out who he was and why she felt threatened by him. She entered the bar and sat down right next to him.

Shay growled lowly so only he could hear, "Why do you make the hairs on the back of my neck stand up?"

"I know you?"

"I'm the chick that tried to help you last night if you have such a short memory. Your welcome" Shay grunted at the ignorant man next to her, "Now answer my question, what are you."

"A cop."

Shay growled angrily at the supposed 'cop'. All she could think about was why she even was bothering with this guy, in the end she decided that it really wasn't worth it and got up to leave.

"Ok then, copper, I'll see you." Shay quickly hurried out the bar's door and continued on her way to the ice cream parlor determined to wipe this stupid little encounter from memory.

"What was that all about?" He wondered.

Kaji pulled his collar tighter around his shoulders and hugged his warm coffee.

Nom Nom Nom… Shay very much enjoyed Rocky Road ice cream even on cold days like today. The cold never really bothered her much nor did the dark. She continued to munch on her snack and pondered about what she could do today.

"Target located." He reported.

"Tail her." The daily lookout told him.

"Easier said than done. She's made me."

"Use your 'masculine charm.'" The voice over the radio chuckled.

"Remind me to take you out to lunch sometime. A nice poisonous plate of puffer fish maybe."

'I think… that I will have to go to the library today…" Shay pondered aloud to no one in particular. She had wanted to go and have some free time to read her manga but had not gotten the chance to since she started her job at the bar.

She finished her ice cream and started the mile walk to the city library.

Kaji followed her to the library. He buried his face in a book. Something about hot blooded California girls.

He was getting ready to "bump into" her when something big hairy and ugly walked in. A troll in human clothes. He smelled of blood and wild mojo.

Shay sat herself down in the graphic novels section of the library and picked up her favorite anime, Death Note. All of a sudden she felt an evil presence and she could smell that man again that she had tried to help before.

"What the fuck is going on…" She grumbled from her face behind a book, "I just want to have a nice, quiet day to be a nerd-geek…"

She set down the anime and peeked around the corner to see a huge… something not human and that man staring at it like he was in shock. 'What the fuck…'

"When did we get trolls in town?" Kaji checked in with home office.

"Shouldn't have any... lemme check the underground channels... standby." The watcher said.

"We should really issue nose plugs standard in field kits." Kaji complained.

The troll sat down in the biology section...

"Ew… Is that a… Troll???" Shay had never seen one outside of her comics and manga but this would be what one looked and… smell like! She plugged her nose and decided just to go back home. Today was too weird of a day for her to be out.

She quickly grabbed the newest manga and ran to check it out from the library then went on her way back to her apartment as fast as she could allow.

"Ah hell... I missed the original mark." Kaji muttered.

"Hey, mon, you know how to spell mobile trocho-ginglymus?" The hairy man/troll asked.

His breath could rot cheese.

"Try 'ball joints.'" Kaji suggested and hastily retreated.

She finally got in her apartment, a normally half hours walk condensed into just 10 minutes. 'I really should've just left that guy alone! Really!' Shay groaned to herself. She looked around and checked her apartment for anything unusual but didn't find anything out of place so she settled down on her cozy couch to read.

"Trackers and eagle eyes put the first mark in her apartment." Home watcher responded.

"Good. Send those videos from last night to my desk and I'll check them out this afternoon and put someone on this troll. I don't know what he wants to know about human joints but trolls like to eat parts of humans. Like ears."

Kaji flipped his cell phone closed and signaled a taxi to take him back to the office.

After a short day break, a hot bath to wash away the troll smell, and some high caffeine mocha chinos Kaji returned to his desk to scroll over all the information his cronies at the BitN headquarters had dug up. It was not much. Some interesting videos they had no business taking though... what was with that blue bathroom scene?

Shay kept feeling the hair on the back of her neck stand up as if she was being watched. She couldn't shake this feeling since the run in with that… GUY! First he doesn't want her help, then he just ignored her, and now he was following and possibly watching her?

Stalker much?

Deciding to do another sweep of the house for spyware, Shay put down her manga and started in the bathroom because… well she would learn if he was a pervert or not and she could hunt him down and kill him like the dog he was.

And low and behold, up in her air vent reveled by a little blinking light, was a camera…