Her boots displaced sand as she touched down on a spot of beach well out of the way of any light. Human eyes couldn't adjust to this kind of dark but Detta could see the faces clustering around the not-too-distant bonfires perfectly. No food. Not yet. There was still one more stop to make.

She walked the short way across the beach, heading for the stairs that led up to the road. Sand in the boots was not fun and she had no idea how it could possibly get there. They were up to her knees! It's like she poured the sand in herself without realizing it. Or osmosis was gong on on her soles.

The video games beeping and lights flashing of the arcade assaulted her senses as she cut through in order to get to the Boardwalk. All of the sound and music and noise of the Boardwalk that was collected and harnessed into this one room was overwhelming. It twisted around in her stomach and almost made her sick. Thankfully the doors to the Boardwalk were in sight and she stepped up her pace.

The comic book shop was around there somewhere, tucked back in an inconspicuous place amongst other stores she couldn't care less about. Detta's feet were carrying her too fast and she'd blown by the store by the time she even realized she passed it. It was nestled between a faux rifle range and a gift shop slash snack stand that had baby blue and pink cotton candy bags hanging all over the place. Inconspicuous.

One of them, the thinner one, noticed her as she noticed him, and dodged behind the counter, all the while keeping his eyes strategically trained on her. He wanted his body to convey stillness but his fidgeting arm tattled on him. Looked like he was searching for something under the counter.

The other one came into view, the stockier one, and was oblivious to what his brother was looking at. As Detta walked closer, she was able to single out his words, chiding his brother for something or other, as he held a large binder in his hand. It wasn't until Detta was actually in the store that the kid connected the dots and finally saw her. He moved faster than his brother behind the counter.

Detta approached the counter, various books all lit up on display in the cases, and the slender one removed his hand from hiding and brought it up. With it came a gun that he placed gently onto the counter, the barrel pointing at her. Even though he tried to place it down silently, it wasn't silently enough for Detta's ears. She didn't need to see it up close and personal to know it wasn't a real gun. It was a squirt gun. Ha!

She casually approached the counter and flopped her hands on the glass, mindlessly tapping her hands to a beat that didn't match the radio. A gentle snore from her right told her that yes, there were a couple of extra lumps of people behind the counter, slouched all over themselves. Parents, maybe? She could probably decapitate the kids and these two wouldn't blink. Detta diverted her attention from the comatose humans back to her goal, and smiled as broadly as she could. Their eyes twitched with fear but the rest of their faces remained stony.

"What do you want, neck sucker?" said the stockier one, tucked safely behind his brother. The other seemed to notice this and gave him a look through the corner of his eye that he didn't see.

"Is that how you treat all your customers? It's not good for business, you know," Detta said jovially.

"Neither is having a walking corpse in the store. Now what do you want?" said the other, this time getting eyes from his brother.

"I assume you got a phone call from a squeaky little boy in the mountains?"

"What's it to you?" Stocky asked as he tried to make his voice as low as possible.

"Well, I'd think everything since it was about me."

Skinny put his hand on the squirt gun and pointed it directly at her.

"Maybe you should go or you'll end up a hat rack like your friend."

Detta rolled her eyes and yanked the gun away from the boy. His hand recoiled automatically and Detta waved the squirt gun at both of them. She then pointed the barrel at her hand and squirted a couple of times, letting the water drip from her fingers. She looked up at them wide-eyed and questioning.

"S'posed to be holy water?"

The brothers retreated a couple of steps, eyes wide and mouths gaping.

"I thought you said it was blessed!" said Skinny through clenched teeth.

"Took it out of the church myself. Maybe they missed it," said Stocky.

"Miss shit, dumbass. I'm on public property," Detta retorted as she tossed the toy back at them. "The public's welcome, so am I."

"You're not welcome!" Stocky shouted, grabbed the gun and squirt Detta in the face.

She clenched her eyes against the squirts of water and let it drip off her skin. She opened her eyes to see a weary-looking zit swallowing hard.

"I really don't want to get into technicalities of ownership with you," Detta said as she wiped a drop away from her eye. "So you're just going to stand there and quiver and listen, okay?"

The brothers took a couple more steps back, forgetting the squirt gun that'd now failed them twice.

"Would you stop moving? Like I'm going to do anything here."

If Detta's ears weren't magnified with undead powers, she'd hardly be able to hear her own voice over the clanging pinball machine and radio, not to mention the Boardwalk outside. But sure enough, the brothers stopped, having understood her perfectly. They were too trained on her to hear anything else. Detta leaned over the counter and motioned with one finger for them to come closer.

Skinny sneered and Stocky raised an eyebrow, obviously skeptical.

"What are we, chum?" Stocky asked. "We're not moving. Whatever you need to say, say it from there."

"What'd I say?" Detta's hand flopped over, her palm turned towards the ceiling. "You two'll be in the same condition after I leave as before I came in. Promise." She held her hand out in mock scout's honor.

"Like we'd take the word of a Hoover with fangs," said Skinny.

"This is getting annoying," Detta mumbled to herself before picking her voice back up. "Okay, you can either walk over here yourselves or I can pull you back over and I break my promise. Your choice."

The brothers looked at each other, reading each others' eyes since their faces were blank, before Stocky opened his mouth. "We got a stake under the counter and we're not afraid to use it."

Detta threw her face into her hand and blinked at them. "Do you have any idea how bat shit insane you'll look if you attack me with a stake?"

"Just watch your teeth," Stocky retorted as he and his brother inched forward to rest up against the counter again.

Their bodies couldn't be any tenser if they were strung up on racks. When she was sure they were close enough and listening, she unloaded her warning.

"You got a year so I suggest you train wisely."

"Why doesn't your breath stink?" Skinny asked.

Not the response she was expecting. "What?"

"Day sleepers are supposed to have bad breath. You don't," Stocky answered. "Did being all dead do something to change that?"

The words skidded and stumbled out of her mouth. "I brushed my teeth and just spit out my gum. Did you hear what I just said?"

"Great. Not only does Colgate fight gingivitis and blood stains, it kills rot breath too." Stocky didn't seem to be getting it.

"Do you understand the words I'm saying?" She wasn't bothering to hide the irritation in her voice. "I'm giving you a year before I hunt your ass down and snuff you from the earth. Got it?"

"We took our your friends like flies. Like you're any match for the swatter?" Skinny said, doing his best to tuck back the fear behind his bravado.

"You know, humor's a good thing to have, especially in your final days. I'd hold onto that if I were you. It'll make dying easier."

"All you're doing is giving us time to prepare," Stocky said. "Not smart."

"So you'd think." Detta smiled wide and straightened herself up. "Use the time wisely, boys. I wouldn't waste it if I were you." She knocked once on the glass case and took their stoic faces in before turning away and walking out of the store.

These two would probably be the most fun with all their weapons and pseudo-know-how. She wouldn't be bored hunting them. That's for sure. Marko liked to play with his food as much as she did. No doubt he'd see the humor in it too.

Detta weaved her way through the crowded Boardwalk and stopped when she got to the end with the wharf squarely in sight. She didn't know how Maria was reacting to the sudden disappearance of Detta, Max and the boys, especially Dwayne. She'd done everything she could from roaming into the pier area since it all happened, just so she wouldn't have to confront Maria. What would she possibly say to her? That kind of lie couldn't be formulated off the cuff and Detta knew she wasn't good enough to pull it off convincingly.

She was sure Max's lawyer had already started what needed to get done with Max's business. Max had told them about his special lawyer once in passing. The guy was some kind of ghoul that dripped into a bucket under his desk. He wasn't physically pleasant but was discrete to Max's vampire status. Detta met him once since Max died. It was a short meeting but long enough for Detta to find out his personal possessions were willed to her (well, technically, willed to whatever progeny he sired that may outlive him) and that he'd be taking care of the business. Fine by her since she didn't know the first thing about business management. And she made the ghoul promise to keep Maria in her position. He reassured her, in all his oozing glory, that Maria would be more than fine, especially after she got her promotion.

Detta doubted that, what with Dwayne no longer around and Maria thinking he just vanished. She considered going over to the store just to give her some closure but it'd open the door for too many questions. They were answers that Detta just couldn't give her. Maybe she'd write her a letter without a return address while her and Marko were out traveling around. She could tell Maria about Dwayne, explain his death in terms she'd understand, and be done with it. Questions were just too awkward, especially now.

Detta carried herself away from the Boardwalk and into the bowels of the town. She was her own bait to catch dinner for her and Marko. Sure enough, it wasn't long before there were a couple of thugs. She and Marko would need a full stomach and their heads on straight in order to justify whatever decision they came to about the question rotting in the cave. It was time to make up her mind.

xXx

Reviews are always appreciated.