ALRIGHTY THEN. So first of all THANK YOU MUCHLY to everyone who reviewed and faved and followed and all that from the last chapter! It made this old IZ fan smile it did.

Anyway I would like to kind of apologize right now for the awful, awful slices of Spanish I put into this chapter. Yeah I don't speak Spanish in any way shape or form so please forgive my terrible attempts at using it.

So yes, READ ON DEAR READERS FOR NOW IT GETS SRS WITH THE VAMPS YO.

This night was a total bust. I had driven off into the darkness with the energy of a firecracker about to explode and now I was sitting alone under a tree in the Gabriel Reyes Memorial Park, drinking a bottle of water I'd bought on my way here. I'd decided that yeah, I would stop at Chicky Licky... not for Gaz of course, but for myself.

After one chicken wing fast food meal that probably shaved a year off my life I decided to go do something I hadn't done in a very long time. I decided to go hunting for creatures of the night in my local park. In my youth the park had been crawling with monsters, mutants, weird creepy things that scared the bones off anyone who went near them and that wasn't just because it was in a pretty shady area to begin with. That had never deterred me of course, I had simply pushed ahead despite the risk of being mugged, kidnapped or worse.

Never managed to get any really good photos though, which was typical of my luck.

Now I was sitting here after a good two hours with nothing to show for it but a whole bunch of missed calls from Gaz, followed by a flurry of very angry texts and a bunch of photos of what I thought might have been a wendigo but turned out to be someone playing Pokemon Go in a badly made Pikachu costume.

So here I was. Alone. Drinking water and deleting pictures from my camera. This was a total waste, but at least it was a waste that I had chosen rather than it being thrust onto me.

I took a small amount of pride in that. This had been my night for better or for worse and it felt good to know that I had gotten out and actually done something I enjoyed for once. I'd forgotten how much I'd missed this. The night air still had some of the humidity from the day, making it cool but not cold. The park held the smell of fresh grass and swaying leaves. The moon glowed through the mournful vale of grey clouds and I could feel the rough bark on my back through my trenchcoat along with the cold plastic of a camera in my hands.

This was what I should be doing. Not wasting my life working in the stupid IT repair section of JojaMart. I sighed however as I knew that even this moment was fleeting. Eventually I'd have to go back home, suffer the wrath of my little sister then tomorrow go and do my nine to six shift at JojaMart. The cycle would continue, the wheel would keep turning and I'd be dragged along behind it with rope around my ankles.

I finished the last of my water in a swift gulp and put the bottle into my open backpack, which was laying right at my side. I'd barely used anything in there, though honestly I hadn't expected to. I knew that the chances of me finding anything were slim and even then I wasn't going to chase after it. I was done with chasing, not after what happened last time I got too eager to capture something on film.

The camera made a small beep as it finished deleting the blurry and entirely worthless pictures and I got up, pulling myself to my feet and steadying myself against the tree with my free hand. Grabbing the backpack I slung it over one shoulder and decided that twelve midnight would be a somewhat reasonable time to head home.

Though a sharp growl in my stomach made me decide to drop by the Quick Stop across the street for a midnight snack. A paranormal investigator's rich rewards... though knowing the content of my bank balance it'd be a bar of soylent green and another one dollar bottle of water. I was trying to cut down on soda, the last thing I needed was a dental bill.

As I walked back through the park towards the parking lot and further on towards the shop, I couldn't help but feel that horrible weight setting back onto my shoulders once more. I'd taken the night for myself sure but I inwardly wrestled with the idea that it'd ultimately produced nothing. I could have achieved the same thing by going out to get Gaz's food and watching steams all night.

But surely this had been a good thing, right? Going out, getting some night air, doing something that was at least a little fun. The conflict raged in me even as I walked across the parking lot, thankfully noting that my car was still there and hadn't been broken in to, and across the empty street to the Quick Stop.

It's a little known fact that twenty four hour grocery shops are weak points in the reality of the world, along with old motels and highway attractions. Places where the barriers between worlds wore thin, especially at night, and one certainly got that impression when looking at this place. That slightly unreal florescent light streamed out onto the street through half-draw metal shutters, along with the neon sign above the store and the windows were covered in posters advertising products that I'd never heard of and would never try. The store seemed so weirdly removed from the dark, empty world around it, like an alien ship landing in the middle of a barren field.

And yet it also fit right in. A model example of life in the near-city suburbs. Cheap and easy convince built out of cheap and easy materiel, lit by cheap and easy lights and filled with cheap and easy food.

The doors swished open and the cool, slightly recycled air of the shop greeted me. I glanced to the front desk but no one was behind the counter, and from beyond a back door I could hear something whirring loudly. Probably some kind of cleaning machine. I shrugged and moved on, stepping into the food isles and looking along them with the kind of bored interest. I wanted to pick out something that wasn't just sugar in a bar form.

Before I knew it I had found myself wandering to the back of the store when I heard the automatic doors swish open once more.

I glanced up and immediately regretted it. The man who wandered in looked like he'd been scraped up and put together out of sewage parts. His shirt barely fit his skinny-fat body, his blonde hair was limp and greasy and his skin had pox marks. I wasn't stupid, I could tell right away that this guy was on something, though what I had no idea. The best thing to do would be to ignore him, pay for my food and leave before he freaked out and did something horrible.

I grabbed whatever was close at hand, which was some kind of oatmeal bar, and went towards the freezer to get a bottle of water. However the man moved directly towards the front desk and the moment he reached it he banged on the counter and loudly yelled out, "HEY! HEY ANYONE IN THE BACK?"

I'm not sorry to say I winced at the sound of his voice. He sounded like he'd dumped a brewery into his head. For a moment I considered just abandoning the idea of buying anything and leaving. I reminded myself however that as a child I'd faced certain doom on several occasions, I couldn't turn into a coward now I was an adult. I'd just wait for him to buy whatever he wanted, buy my own stuff and go.

No big deal.

The whirring sound from the back ended and from out the back came a woman who really didn't seem any older than I was. I had to admit for a moment I stared. She had long, dark red hair tied back in a pony tail, dark eyes and a slim build with tanned, Latino skin. She was actually very pretty, though I had to admit no matter how nice she looked the whole effect was ruined by the crappy green and brown uniform she had on. Poor girl, someone that good looking shouldn't be shoved into the kind of terrible uniform that wage-slave jobs like that entailed.

"Gimmie some Huff and Puff cigarettes." The man's demand was swift and harsh.

"Whatever." Her voice had a hint of an accent, making her seem just slightly exotic. Even so I turned my back to open the fridge door and grab a bottle of water. Behind my back however I continued to listen in, feeling the tension in the store rise with every second.

There was the sound of a package being slapped down on the desk.

"That'll be seven ninety-nine."

Suddenly the very air in the store seemed to change, just as I heard a soft metal clicking sound. I turned my head and my eyes widened.

The man was pointing a very sharp and very large looking hunting knife at the woman.

I froze. My heart went from normal to crazy in the space of a second and my stomach flipped. Inwardly I cursed myself. I was the self-styled hero of earth! I'd faced down a psychotic little green alien a thousand times as a child! Why couldn't I do anything now? I felt the cold of the bottle seeping into my fingers but still I didn't move. Shamefully I just stood there and watched as the look of shock ran across the young woman's face.

However what she said next did throw me off just a little.

She groaned in irritation and rolled her eyes, "I'm not even supposed to be here today! Ugh!" Her expression faded from shocked to... a kind of bored annoyance. "You don't want to do this. Seriously."

"Look, bitch, I need money so just empty the till and I won't stab your stupid bitch face."

"Walk away, right now. I'm in no mood to deal with people like you tonight."

"Are you arguing with me?" His voice was rising, even shaking a little. Clearly whatever courage the man had gained through the substances he had put into his filthy body weren't holding out. For a moment he seemed to take a single step back, then he screamed some vague profanity and the knife sailed in an arc through the air.

The bottle fell out of my hand, along with whatever snack bar I'd picked up. I moved before I realized I was moving but it was all too slow. I could see it already in my mind's eye, the knife crossing across the woman's face, blood flowing everywhere, screaming and horror and pain.

But that didn't happen.

Because in the blink of an eye she had grabbed his hand.

And then there was a crunch like the sound of a thick branch being snapped against concrete and his hand was pointing the other way. The wrong way.

The man screamed but a second later he was stopped by a fist smashing full force into his face. He didn't so much as fall down as fly backwards across the store, landing right into the middle. There was blood splattered across his face and the smell of iron and copper filled the stifling air. His nose was practically flat and I could spot several teeth in a small trail leading towards him.

My eyes were entirely focused on the terribly still body of the man for only a moment before being drawn away by the woman who now jumped over the desk and walked towards him mumbling. "Maldito sea, I hate meth-heads." Then she growled slightly and I saw them.

Her fangs.

"Can't even take a drink, ugh." She knelt down beside him and shrugged. "Ni modo."

She had fangs. She was talking about taking a drink. She had just snapped a man's wrist with one hand and punched him several feet across a store.

She was a vampire. I was looking directly at a vampire.

And to think, I thought this night was a bust.

"You're a vampire." I spoke without even thinking and immediately I slapped my hands over my mouth.

The woman, amazingly, jumped a little in surprise and her eyes flew up to spot me hanging by the fridge. She blinked at me then slowly rose to her feet. I noted her hands twitching into fists and for a moment it seemed that she was unsure of exactly what to do.

I saw now her eyes weren't dark, they had simply appeared that way. They were actually a sort of dark, deep blood red.

Slowly my feet began to move. Inch by inch I started to make my way towards the exit... the one which stood far behind the vampire Quick Stop girl. How the hell did I get here? Suddenly the world of ten minutes ago seemed an eternity away and now I was walking through some horrible nightmare.

That blood smell refused to leave my senses and I was even a little thankful. It kept reminding me that this was real. There was a broken man laying on the floor with blood gushing out of his nose and mouth and with a wrist that had clearly been snapped like a twig.

The woman watched me for a moment longer before saying. "You saw all that?"

"Yeah, I did." I replied in a voice that, to my own surprise, was almost calm. Perhaps my years of battle-banter with Zim were actually paying off. In fact, the longer the situation continued the more it seemed to come flooding back to me. Be calm, keep your eyes on the enemy, try to get to more favorable ground, keep aware of your surroundings. If I could get to my car I'd have a better chance of getting away, if I could even get outside I could maneuver better.

I also remembered, in that moment, that I had a small bottle of holy water and a stake in my backpack. Like I said before, going out on these late night missions meant I always went prepared for anything. There was also some old silver passed through my family, a lighter, salt, a book on demon trapping circles and a can of underarm spray.

What? Chasing paranormal creatures was sweaty work.

The woman turned to face me fully, her red eyes suddenly roaming over what she could see of my figure and giving me the distinct impression I was being eyed like frozen meat at a supermarket.

"You know I can't just let you go, right?"

My blood froze.

"It'd be easier if you just let this happen." She began walking towards me, clearly cutting off my main escape route. "Seriously, hombre, don't even try to run."

So I immediately turned and ran. My legs took me in a circle, darting across the store and hopefully moving around to the exit. However the vampire was fast. Really fast. Before I could even get to the center isle she was in front of me like a flash and I saw, for a split second, the long fangs in her mouth and the way her nails had become razor-sharp claws.

Acting on instinct I did the first thing that came to mind. I grabbed the closest thing I had to me and threw it at her full force.

Perhaps acting on instinct of her own the vampire sliced at the object, though what happened next was probably not her intention. The air exploded into white powder and for a moment I could no longer see or breathe.

It was flour. I'd thrown a bag of flour at a vampire.

And incredibly it worked.

Running entirely on snap decisions I turned and darted as fast as my legs could carry me down the center of the store while behind me the vampire screamed out in anger and confusion. The doors, thankfully, opened before me and I was out into the cool night air. Because of the trajectory of the flour my glasses were still clear enough for me to see and I quickly spotted my car, still parked and patiently awaiting my return.

I made an immediate be-line for it but before I could even get close something flew and smashed right into my shoulder.

I yelled in pain, falling into a stumble and almost tumbling to the floor. I heard the sound of something plastic bouncing off into the night and stupidly I stopped and turned, looking back to the gas station. There she was, standing in the half-light of the store almost completely in silhouette apart from those red eyes which seemed to glow in the darkness.

From the front of the store she called out, "Alright, you got lucky, once. But you can't escape." Again my stomach flipped as her voice rose in irritation. "And now you've made me mad because this is my only uniform and you got flour all over it!"

"Sorry, I know that feeling." I called out before I could stop my stupid mouth from moving. "I work at JojaMart."

The vampire paused and then grinned. "So ending your life would be doing you a favor? Well, thanks for the tip."

And then she started running towards me. I started running away, not towards my car however, towards the park. Why I chose the park I wasn't sure but in my head I rationalized that I knew the park like the back of my hand. It was my battleground and perhaps there I could win.

Win? Was I seriously thinking about winning against a freakin' vampire? One who had literally less than five minutes ago just twisted a man's wrist around with one hand?

Apparently I was. My heart was pounding, adrenaline was rushing through me, I was having a thousand thoughts a second and I was doing everything I could not to throw up everywhere out of fear and yet... this was the most alive I had felt in a long time. This was what I had missed. The chase, the madness, the bizarre reality of the situation. The feeling like my life was on the line but with a sliver of hope that I could succeed. The knowledge that I was confronting the unknown and fighting to survive.

Oh how I missed you, paranormal world. Even if you were trying to kill me.

Incredibly I entered the park first and immediately turned to my right, diving into a bush which I knew was actually hollow in the inside despite looking remarkably full. Only a second later the vampire shot past me. Literally shot past me. Her speed was incredible and part of me wondered if the only reason I'd beaten her to the park entrance was because she'd let me. I heard her footfalls to come a stop and the world went quiet apart from my own breathing, which I tried desperately to contain despite my burning lungs.

I could hear everything. The sound of the distant park waterfall, a pair of cars which passed by behind me, the sound of some a thousand insects calling out into the night.

The sound of the vampires footfalls walking through the park slowly.

Part of me expected her to call out insults and to explain her master plan. However I reminded myself that she certainly was not Zim and this was far, far more serious. She was going to kill me. She was going to drain my blood and leave me in some dumpster somewhere for the police or raccoons to find, whichever arrived first. What she was going to do with the man who was bleeding out on the Quick Stop floor I didn't know but I doubted he had a nicer fate awaiting him.

As quietly and as calmly as I could I reached into my backpack and began rummaging around for what I knew was in there. The holy water would help some, hopefully, and the wooden stake would prove invaluable. My fingers closed around the small bottle which once contained eye-drops but now was filled with holy water. Holy water that I got from an exasperated Catholic priest... ten years ago. Hopefully blessings did not have expatriation dates.

I steadied my breath and whispered to myself. "Alright Dib, this it is. Time to be a hero... and not to talk to myself because the last thing you need is for her to-"

"I can hear you, you know."

"Right. Shit."

The world seemed to explode at that moment. I leaped out of the bush just as she appeared before me, fangs out and grinning wickedly, claws flying at breakneck speed towards my chest. Thankfully I had already popped the top off the holy water and I squeezed the bottle with all the effort I had in my exhausted body. It hit her square in the chest and up her shoulder just as her claws grazed past me, missing my chest but only because they raked across my left arm first.

My arm exploded in pain and I screamed out as the sleeves on my trench coat were torn to ribbons, followed by plenty of red blood. However it seemed that my holy water worked as she yelped in both shock and pain, steam immediately rising from where the water had hit her, soaking through her work shirt and onto her skin.

She recoiled almost immediately, patting desperately at where the holy water had hit her and I took my chance to dart away, rushing deeper into the park and heading for a dense clump of trees and bushes which had once represented my favorite camping spot. Now it seemed to offer my salvation.

There was a scream of rage and I knew she was once again giving chase.

If only I could get to the trees I could-

Something hit me. Something hit me hard in the side and instantly the wind was completely knocked out of me. I flew sideways and landed into a tree, practically folding around it like a sack of potatoes. Everything hurt. Everything. Every part of me was in pain as I fell into a bush, this one was not hollow. This time I felt sharp branches and twigs sticking into my sides and my arm felt useless at my side.

My vision was swimming. I could feel my backpack at my side. I could feel the keys in my pocket jabbing into my thigh. I could taste blood in my mouth. I could feel my heartbeat through my temples. I felt like I was about to throw up. Up above the moon emerged through the clouds and for a second the world was lit with a silver light.

Then a shadow fell over me. A pair of terrifying red eyes looked down at me with a mixture of pity, irritation and... hunger.

"It's been a long time since I've had to actually fight for a meal." She spoke calmly, coolly, as if our chase hadn't even bothered her, though I could see her shoulder was still smoking just slightly.

I gasped for breath and again my stupid mouth would not stop, even now, even at the end. "I'm... glad I... could... enter... tain... you."

She smirked. Then laughed lightly. Well at least I made a cute girl laugh before I died horribly, that's good, right? "You're a funny guy. Shame I've got to kill you, hombre."

Then she reached down towards me.

GASP. HOW WILL OUR HERO ESCAPE? HOW BAD WILL THE SPANISH GET? HOW LONG CAN THE CAPS LOCK HOLD UP? TUNE IN NEXT TIME FOR ANSWERS!

Well actually the caps lock ends now.

AND ALSO I GOTTA LIST ALL THE REFERENCES FROM LAST TIME SO HERE DE BE.

JojaMart + Mr Morris - Both taken from the wonderful game Stardew Valley! That game be too addicting yo... but FARMING GASP.

Hope's Peake College - This one is a bit of a fudge but the origin is Hope's Peake School from Dangan Ronpa. Dib was a SUPER HIGH SCHOOL LEVEL PARANORMAL INVESTIGATOR.

Scully - From the X-Files of course. Why wouldn't you name your car Scully?

Glados + Portal air freshners - From the awesomely awesome Portal series!

Mi-Go - The Mi-Go are from the works of H.P. Lovecraft. Expect a TON more references from his works, especially the Cthulhu Mythos.

3DZ - The 3DS obviously.

Doom Guy - THE DOOM GUY. RIP AND TEAR. From Doom 3.

Fighters of The Storm 2 - A somewhat complex reference because it's a reference to a thing within another thing. Basically it's from Overwatch, BUT IT'S SOMEWHAT INTERESTING BECAUSE OF A REFERENCE MADE IN THIS CHAPTER! See if you can get what I'm pointing at with the two references.

'Roommate fighting crime with her sisters' - The joke here is that Bubbles from Powerpuff Girls is Gaz's roommate. Because ha-ha clashing personalities!

Mystery Skulls - BECAUSE MYSTERY SKULLS. ALWAYS MYSTERY SKULLS. Also Child this has to be a new record right for how fast I've referenced the Mystery Skulls in a fic. First chapter and all.

'Orange lamba logo with 3 in the corner' - Half Life 3. I BELIEVE PEOPLE, I BELIEVE.

ANYWAY so next chapter will be by next week! Leave me some reviews and tell me what you think and if you wanna see anything referenced or name dropped in the next few chapters! Hope you all had fun, thanks for reading and see you all next week true believers! EXCELSIOR!