3

Contact

O'Hare airport was as bustling as ever. Outside her cramped plastic container, Selene could hear hundreds of humans scurrying past, yanking their luggage off the conveyor belt.

Her trunk was jostled a few times as it collided with other containers and suitcases. After an hour of no one choosing the lone overweight trunk, she felt her container being yanked off the conveyor belt to make room for the next flight's luggage.

Selene retreated back into unconsciousness for a few hours. It was still daylight outside her blackened haven. Besides, it would take awhile for her trunk to be processed for delivery to the address duck taped to the top and sides. Although she had never traveled this particular route, Salene estimated a solid five hours before she was packed inside the delivery truck. Until then, she could wait.

* * *

Selene awoke to the mingled scents of plastic and gas emissions. She was inside the truck.

Bringing herself to full consciousness, Selene un-holstered her berretta and attached a silencer to the barrel. This done, she aimed in the approximate direction of the padlock and fired. A satisfying clink let her know that she had hit her target. Without hesitation, Selene pushed the lid open and drew in a deep breath.

Her departure from the trunk had displaced several boxes, but the driver hadn't seemed to notice. Carefully, Selene placed the now broken padlock in the trunk and restacked the boxes. Now for her next great feat.

Tentatively, Selene forced the lock on the back door. Peeking carefully outside, Selene took in her situation. She was in luck. On a practically empty highway, no one would notice a black clad figure suddenly jumping out of the back of a delivery truck. Thanking her good luck, Selene waited for the truck to slow near the desired exit ramp before jumping into the accommodating snow banks.

The cold acted as adrenaline to her sluggish system. Quickly rolling out of the deepest of the snow, Selene wrapped her scarf over her ears and struggled her way uphill to the Shell station.

When she stepped inside, the clerk glanced in her direction, quickly discerning that she wasn't a local before returning to whatever entertainment there was behind the counter. Selene bit her cheek to stop her teeth from chattering and made for the counter.

"Hello," she greeted, not bothering to hide her accent.

The middle-aged clerk didn't smile but looked at her attentively. "Fine storm we had last night," he said conversationally.

Selene nodded before providing the next phrase, "I'm told there's a diner that serves free coffee during storms."

The clerk nodded sagely and produced what looked like a lotto ticket. "Left, middle, left," he instructed, pointing to the three consecutive rows of scratch-offs.

"Thank you," she said before accepting the ticket. This done, she marched back into the cold and made a left at the next street.

Vaguely, Selene wondered at the irony of her present circumstances. As a death dealer, she had spent years trying to track down and exterminate the renegades. Now, they were the ones she was attempting to contact. Selene frowned. Even though their contact protocol had been compromised, new information was slow to move between vampires on separate continents. Thus, Selene was now staking her chances on the possibility that the renegades had set up outposts for European defectors who hadn't yet heard of the change in admittance protocol. Given her conversation with the gas station attendant, she may just be in luck.

"That or I'll be full of bullet holes by morning," she mused with a slight scowl.

Between the folds of her coat, Selene held a berretta ready. She wasn't interested in being ambushed unawares.

As she turned the final left, she slowed. The road dead-ended at a cozy home. Through the brightly lit windows, Selene could see a family celebrating what was apparently the littlest girl's birthday. She was about to dismiss the family when she suddenly caught sight of the little girl's eyes. Poking the cake happily, her eyes glowed a piercing blue.

Selene almost gawked. Never had she seen a vampire of such young age. Even attempting to turn a human before the age of sixteen was strictly forbidden in all of the covens. But this child was different, for the girl could hardly be called anything but a child. Behind her glowing blues, Selene could detect no humor or ire at the situation she was in. On the contrary, she seemed to be truly focused on smearing as much of the cake on her face as possible before her parents could wipe it off. Selene stared in dumb fascination for a solid minute before the simple truth hit her: the girl hadn't been turned. She had been born. Selene's mind reeled at the implications.

After the first two generations, vampires had lost their ability to reproduce through procreation. Although many scientists had attempted to rectify this apparent biological limitation on their species, vampires could not reproduce amongst themselves. This, perhaps more than anything else, was what had driven Victor to forbid unions between lycans and vampires.

Yet, in contradiction to tradition and science, the vampire girl was studiously smashing frosting into her curly blond hair.

Abruptly, the boy—who appeared about fourteen but could easily be older than Selene—looked directly at her. His expression immediately serious, he spoke something to his parents without breaking eye contact. A moment later, the parents disappeared from the window. The boy continued to stare.

The front door burst open and two angry parents emerged armed with a shotgun and two semi-automatics.

Selene took cover, a berretta in each hand. Shots whizzed past her head, erupting in light as they collided with cars and neighboring houses indiscriminately. Selene almost cursed. UV rounds. Just what she needed. To make matters worse, the shots had probably alerted the entire neighborhood to trouble. If she wasn't careful, she may be facing local justice. Selene paused in her musings, her mind racing as all the pieces fell into place. The family wasn't in hiding. They hadn't even bothered to draw the curtains. And the sound of the bullets hitting the houses hadn't been right.

To confirm her suspicions, Selene unloaded three rounds into the nearest cheap vinyl pane. Selene cursed. Reinforced steel plating. The only thing getting through that was a missile.

The final confirmation came in the form of a fully transformed vampire dropping on her from the nearest roof. Selene rolled in time to avoid getting her head crushed and unloaded the rest of her clip in her attacker's chest. The vampire yelped in surprise and fell to the sidewalk. Selene ran.

Reloading on the way, she switched to fully automatic.

Around her, the neighborhood came alive. Previously darkened driveways shown like Christmas trees, illuminating her escape for any pursuers. As if that wasn't difficult enough, new vampires were constantly joining the chase. She couldn't run much longer.

Suddenly leaping to the right, Selene landed squarely on the shoulders of one of the newest pursuers. Jerking his head back, she heard an immediate snap. The nearest vampire, a housewife, unloaded a shotgun five feet away, but she aimed high to avoid hitting the vampire Selene was still perched upon. Taking advantage, Selene rolled to the ground and kicked the housewife's feet out from under her. So, not all of them were trained. That boded well.

Turning on her heel, Selene headed straight back for the horde of vampires. Although her odds of survival in close-range combat weren't good, they were a hell of a lot better than as an open target for long-range gunfire. Selene emptied her remaining clips at point-blank range. Even though the silver bullets wouldn't kill them, a few attackers would be out of commission for at least ten minutes. Hopefully, that would buy enough time to escape this death trap.

Switching her grips to the guns' barrels, Selene launched at the closest group, swinging her guns like miniature clubs. Although not nearly as effective as bullets, the guns served well for knocking out a few teeth. Blood flew from broken jaws and noses. Just as she beat one group back, however, another replaced it. There were too many of them. Selene's mind raced, trying to piece together an escape route from glimpses caught between the ever increasing hordes. If she hadn't spent the entirety of her immortal life fighting, she might have simply dropped her guns and allowed herself to be shot. As it was, she wasn't willing to just lie down and die.

"Enough!" someone shouted above the noise.

Immediately, a deathly quiet settled over the crowd, leaving only Selene's panting and the sharp sound of approaching footsteps. Warily, Selene eyed the vampires as they slowly backed away, creating a ring of empty space around her. Abruptly, the crowd parted and closed up again, a lone figure marching through.

Selene looked levelly at the stranger. Tall and pale, she held the commanding presence of an unquestioned leader. Coal black eyes and midnight hair complemented her voluminous frame, hidden as it was by the bulky Green Bay Packers coat. "I should have known," she spoke in a thick Michigan accent. A smirk tugged at the corners of her mouth as Selene struggled to place her face. "It's been a long time, Selene."

FIN