Chapter Two

I jerked awake with a barely suppressed gasp, the breath lodging in my throat. I hadn't meant to go to sleep and my boom-box was still spouting some sort of bass-filled dance number. I didn't know what had woken me up – that had been one of the kindest dreams I'd had in a while – but I knew it wasn't good. I could feel it. Living on the streets for almost half your life gives you a knack for things like that.

I rolled and pushed myself into a half crouch, my eyes flicking around the rooftop, peering into every seemingly empty hidey-hole and cluster of shadows that looked big enough to hide something worth running from. Slowly, still searching the space around me, I reached out and turned the boom-box's volume nob down to "off". Silence dense enough to make me uneasy choked the cold night air, speared every now and then with the blast of a car horn and the mumble of thousands of people still out and about in the sprawling city bellow. Light from the skyscrapers around me cast eerie shadows that attached themselves to any object foolish enough to get caught in it. I knew whoever was up here with me would never be that stupid. I wouldn't see them until they were ready for me to.

Without thinking too hard about it, I snatched my bag from the ground and leapt, spinning to face the other way in the same movement. It killed me to leave my boom-box behind but I couldn't run properly with fifty pounds of metal on my shoulder – and my bag had my life in it. Literally. I knew I wouldn't survive two days without it. The pack hit my back with a muffled thud and then settled snuggly into its usual place between my shoulder blades as I forced my arms through the straps. I resisted the urge to look behind me, my shoes barely touching the hard grey concrete as I ran.

Straight for the edge of the roof.

Now, don't panic. I'd already scoped the place out, and this had been my best escape route. Just a few feet down and over was another building with three fire escapes branching off to the north and west - the east being blocked by a huge, seemingly unnecessary brick wall. The city was full of those. It was as if the builders had come along, built things, then looked at them and thought "Hang on. We didn't really need that, did we?" and walked off to put their next stuff-up together.

I took a deep breath as the ball of my foot hit the ankle-high wall that ran around the roof, and forced myself to keep up the momentum as I dove head first into the air. I don't think whoever I was running from expected me to be so prepared and I heard a vicious swear emanate from behind me. It almost made me smile.

I curled my body slightly in mid-air and my pack ended up taking the full brunt of the impact as the weightlessness of being airborne literally crashed to the ground. It still hurt, just not as much as it could have. I was suddenly extremely thankful for all the time I'd spent wrapping the stakes in layers of my clothes. It didn't matter that the stakes weren't charmed to put me down – a sharp stick will kill basically anything if you put enough force behind it. I flowed into a roll and surged to my feet, using the lingering drive from the fall to push me back into a sprint. I reminded myself to control my breathing as I knew it would take a while to shake whatever tail I had. A long while. I couldn't afford to get all puffy after just a few measly miles.

The shadow cast by a hulking big air vent a few paces in front of me moved and that made the decision easy. My shoes skidded slightly as I whirled to the north fire escape. I just hoped there was no one waiting for me to do exactly that.

Yeah, because life is just that kind.

Not one, not two, but three shapes emerged out of nowhere, almost completely blocking my only exit. I picked up the pace, if it were even possible, and cannoned straight into one of them. I think it was more surprise from the sudden attack than my actual strength that made him stagger and fall, his hands instinctively grabbing for me. His head hit the ground and he went limp as I landed on top of him. I didn't have time to hope that I hadn't actually killed him and I pushed off of him, launching over the two feet of space between me and the fire escape.

Because there are some very distinct differences between the two parties that were after me. One, I didn't have a white man's chance in Harlem of knocking a Strigoi off its feet – let alone knocking one out – and two, the undead didn't work in teams. Everyone who was lucky enough to have a set of fangs or a parent with some knew that.

So that just left the guardians. I'd spent countless sleepless nights trying to figure out which would be worse.

The other two dhampirs dove for me but I was already off the roof. The cold night air fluffed against my face as I flew. I actually over-jumped the fire escape completely, but just managed to reach out and wrap my fingers around the side bars. My arms were nearly ripped straight from their sockets as my body continued to fall. My fingers were jerked away from the cool metal and I didn't even have time to draw a breath before my shoes hit the fire escape with a loud, metallic clanging sound. My legs buckled and my knees cracked sharply as they smacked against the floor. My arms flew out in front of me, just barely halting my face on its way to being flattened. The world seemed to throb around me, an aching reflexion of my pulse pounding against my battered skull. The tinny ring of the still vibrating metal around me resounded in my ears. I tasted blood in my mouth and couldn't tell whether I'd bitten my lip or broken a tooth. My eyes stung with pain-filled tears.

I could hear shouts from above me and I forced my arms to push my suddenly leaden weight off the hard steel. My legs felt detached as I ordered them to do their job and hold me up. My hands tingled as I stumbled and had to catch myself on the railing. I only allowed myself enough time to squint upwards and take a few short breathes before I was off down the stairs. I'd fallen about three stories before catching the railing and then another one before pancaking myself on the tiny space between levels. The guardians had had enough time to put two of those stories behind them and they were moving a lot faster than I was. I basically fell down four flights of stairs in my dazed, hurrying state before finally regaining some sense of balance. I took the stairs two at a time and all but dove over the small turn spaces, but I could feel them getting steadily closer. I still had more than twenty stories to go and I knew I wouldn't get passed ten of them before my pursuers caught up with me. The only way I could've gotten to the ground before them was if I jumped, and I wasn't quite that suicidal.

I almost tripped as an idea slammed into me.

I ran a few more levels, my heart all but exploding in my chest and abruptly stopped. I risked a glance up only to jerk my head back down again in panic. Barely one level separated me from the first guardian. There was a window beside me and I backed up a little before hurling my foot towards it. It was an easy smash and it rang out, a nice, loud shatter. I quickly reached in and ripped the blinds down, casting them aside as if someone had trampled on them. I didn't know what went on inside the building but it must've been something important as there was a piercing wail and a hot red light flashed through the room. Hoping that the guys on night duty weren't heavy sleepers, I backed up and ducked under the railing, swinging under the level and hooking my legs through the underbars.

My hands were slick on the smooth, unmarred steel and the only thing that kept me hanging there was sheer force of will. My whole body was shaking, with fatigue and a big helping of fear. My bag was a backbreaking weight pulling me down and my arms burned as the guardians piled onto the landing above me. Their shadows hovered for a moment, indecisive. My breathing was loud and ragged and my lungs trembled as I drew in a huge mouthful of air and held it.

"Do you think she–"

Someone shushed the voice viciously. They all froze. My eyes widened until they hurt. My heart was pounding louder and louder in my chest as the air inside it grew stale, the pressure pushing against my ribs. Can they hear it? The quaking in my limbs turned into an outright seizure. Oh God, they can hear it…

The silence stretched for a few, never-ending seconds and then a voice that sounded in charge spoke up, low and calm, with an undertone of power – like someone used to being top dog. A slight accent twisted the words in weird places. "You three – search the building. Meet us at the bottom. Not one scrap of paper gets left unturned, you hear me?" They answered with the crunch of light feet against broken glass. And then, there were two. My lungs were threatening to tear my chest apart. "You, come with me."

My arms almost didn't respond in time for me to pull myself closer to the underneath of the level above as the dhampirs quickly descended the stairs beside me.

"You don't think she went in, do you?" the other dhampir asked, just as he passed below me. My heart was screaming at me, pounding so hard I thought it might shake me from my hiding place.

The dhampir in charge – for the love of God – paused beneath me, and I risked tilting my head just enough to see him taking his time to lean over the bars and peer down into the darkness. I couldn't see their faces and didn't want to risk letting any more of my hair fall out of place. The following, thoughtful moments ticked away, mocking the frantic beating of my heart with their cool, calm and collected rhythm. Finally, the foreign guy answered. "I think she's smarter than she seems."

I waited until I could no longer feel the vibrations of their footsteps through the bars before unravelling my legs and swinging carefully down, still careful not to make any more noise than absolutely necessary. I fought the urge to curl up in a ball and nurse my aching everything, and began climbing again. This would probably be my only chance at getting my boom-box back, and I would be damned if I was going to pass it up.