Disclaimer: I don't own the Nightworld or it's concepts. Those belong to L.J. Smith. However, the main characters and plot in this story are mine.
The Executioners
Rain. It was going to rain and sometime soon. Jenny Carlson could smell the dampness in the air as she walked casually down the darkened street. She glanced automatically at the sky as lightning flashed in the distance. She hoped it held off until she was done with business.
Throwing a glance over her shoulder, she saw the dark shape following her, trying to decrease the distance between them without being noticed. Jenny grinned into the night. Everything was going as planned.
On the outside, Jenny looked completely harmless. Her blond hair and innocent blue eyes combined with her short build fooled everyone into thinking she was just a normal teenage girl, nothing different from anyone else. And that was the way Jenny liked to keep it. It wouldn't do to have anybody guessing that she was a tried and true vampire hunter.
She patted the small object lying in its protective sheath underneath her jacket. It was her knife, a gift from Daniel, the man who had trained her. Its blade was carved from lignum vitae, the hardest wood on earth and often the choice for vampire hunters. The knife could pierce the skin of a vampire like it was butter. She also owned a few other weapons made from lignum vitae, but she had left them packed into the trunk of her car. She wouldn't need them, not against a single vampire.
Jenny didn't have a huge reputation as a vampire hunter like some of them did. Sometimes she wished she did, wished she could have vampires shaking in their boots simply by telling them her name. She would give anything to have the reputation of The Cat, an elusive vampire hunter in the Boston area. Nobody knew who The Cat was, but vampires knew they didn't want to mess with him or her. Despite Jenny's efforts to build a name, her record just wasn't all that impressive. Sure, it was quite sizable and one of the best in the area, but compared to some of those other hunters, mostly on either coast it seemed, she was nothing. She sighed. One day she would be known, she promised to herself. Those bloodsuckers would be as afraid of her as they were of The Cat. For now, she would just concentrate on the one behind her.
Jenny had spotted him sitting on a bus bench in the old district of town, his shoulders hunched as if to ward off the chilly October night air. He didn't fool her. She knew it was just an act; he could be completely naked and not feel cold. Strict training and years of experience had taught her to notice the signs. The way that guy was sitting perfectly still on that bench was not normal. He stuck out like a sore thumb. Lucky for her, too bad for him.
She stopped her car a few blocks down from him, and walked back in his direction. She glanced at him as she walked by and gave him a small, innocent smile. He took the bait, just like she knew he would. As soon as she was about a hundred feet away, he stood up and walked after her. It was just a matter of time.
Up ahead, Jenny saw an alley between two buildings. Perfect. There was still the occasional car passing by and she didn't want to be seen. When she reached the alley, she pretended to drop her purse. Its contents spilled onto the sidewalk. She gathered them up quickly, as if she were worried, and cast a sideways glance at her stalker. He was closer now, and she could see a grin form on his face. He was probably thinking it was too easy.
Jenny reached for a tube of lipstick and knocked it farther away, in his direction. Like she knew he would, he suddenly appeared in front of her, leaning down to pick up the lipstick for her. She stood and he handed it to her, smiling brilliantly. Jenny noticed he had almost unearthly good looks. Dark hair, dark eyes, and a killer smile, not to mention the kind of body that probably made most girls throw themselves at him. She almost hated to ruin it.
She looked shyly up at him and said, "Thanks." Look at me, I'm all alone and helpless. He grinned at her.
"You know, you shouldn't be out here this late. It's dangerous." His voice was deep and provocative. Even with her knowledge of what he was, Jenny felt herself drawn to the voice. She would not be swayed that easily though.
"I like danger," she said in a throaty voice, turning to flirt mode. "And are you dangerous too?"
His grin got wider. "Only if you want me to be."
She giggled. God, she sounded so genuine she even irritated herself. She deserved an Oscar or something. "Are you volunteering?" She flipped her hair over her shoulder, deliberately flashing her neck at him. Yummy. His eyes automatically darted to her throat. He licked his lips and tore his eyes away.
"Why don't you let me show you?" He stepped into the alley. She glanced into it, but couldn't see much. Shadows filled the space. She wouldn't be able to go too deeply inside or he'd have the advantage of vampire sight over her, if by some small chance she messed up her initial attack.
"But I hardly know you," she said, in the tone of voice that let him know she wasn't really worried about that.
"You said you like danger," he said. "Let me show you how much you can really love it."
She followed him a few feet into the alley and then stopped. It was dark, but she could still see. She slipped her right hand under her jacket and wrapped her fingers around the handle of her knife. "Well, where's the danger?" she asked seductively.
"Right here," he whispered and bent over her, as if to kiss her. Jenny didn't give him the chance to go for her throat.
"You're wrong," she whispered back, feeling the warmth of his breath on her neck. She pulled out the knife. "It's right here." She shoved the knife into his chest, right where his heart would be. He gasped and stumbled backward, his hands automatically clawing at the wood stuck inside of him. His eyes, glowing like molten silver, stared at her in astonishment. She smiled as he fell to the ground, twitching in agony. "Surprise!"
She knelt down in front of him, staring into his eyes. The silver was fading as the twitching became less. "Die already, dammit," she hissed at him. Finally, the light in his eyes went completely out, and all that remained of him was a shriveled husk of a body. Jenny found it fascinating that when killed in this manner, a vampire's body mummified, closing in on itself, its skin becoming tough and leathery. This one no longer looked the lady-killer of a few minutes earlier. He was just some dead thing. Jenny reached forward and pulled the knife out of his chest, automatically wiping off the blade on the sleeve of his jacket. She slid the knife back into its sheath and stood. "Guess this just wasn't your day, was it?"
Whistling, she stepped out of the alley and walked back to her car. She felt on top of the world. She always did after a recent kill. She felt refreshed, almost . . . cleansed, in a way. She was going to be late for the meeting now, but that no longer mattered to her. She felt she had done the world a great service.