Part 3
The feeling had been like nothing Sherry had ever experienced before. She had been so nervous she didn't think she would be able to pull it off. Ever since the first time vampires had terrified her. Being able to actually /stake/ one of the monsters...
Well, it had been like on TV, they didn't go 'poof' and turn into dust. And a good thing for her, it hadn't been icky like on that old movie, /The/ /Lost/ /Boys/. The vampire Sherry had staked had sort of - just withered into a pile of bones, his skin had dried up and become leathery.
With help from her instructor, they'd disposed of the corpse. It hadn't been as hard as Sherry would have thought.
"So how do you feel now?" Aisling Hill, her mentor, asked when they reached his apartment. A pent house in the rich part of town he lived in. She dropped her jacket on his red suede couch, rolling her shoulders.
"Sore. I guess all that training paid off."
Aisling smiled, heading for a room he'd set up as a gym, placing the stakes he'd concealed around himself back in a wooden trunk full of weapon. Sherry smiled, leading against the door.
"It wasn't him, though."
Aisling looked up at her, his head tilted to one side. "It's highly unlikely that the first vampire you stake will be the one you want to get."
Sherry shrugged, wincing. She must have pulled a muscle during the fight. Then again, she had gone for the shock method, the vamp hadn't put up that much of an attack. She'd been about to kiss him, when she'd pulled the stake on him. Maybe one of the oldest tricks on the book, but for a vampire hunter's first kill, it wasn't bad.
"I'm positive Merelyn Redfern was involved in this. Hell, that bitch was the one who set everything up." Sherry scowled at her reflection in a mirror on the wall opposite the gym room.
The ordinary girl-next-door type, tall and thin, acceptable dresser, ordinary brown hair worn loose to just below her shoulders, unremarkable green eyes. With a crowd, she just blended in. No one at her high school really knew who she was. Maybe that was what made her a target for Merelyn and her bitch squad.
"Yeah, we're going to have to work on that," Aisling said, heading for the kitchen. "Merelyn Redfern can't just vanish. People would notice and the Night World mafia would be on us before we knew what was happening."
The thought of the Night World as a mafia was kind of funny, but in another way, it made a weird sort of sense. Sherry was still having a hard time trying to accept that a bunch of vampires, witches and shapeshifters lived amongst regular people. The good news was that there were people like her and Aisling who could /do/ something about it.
"I don't see how. It's so unfair that the popular crowd can get away with everything. And I'll bet it's not just the Night People. It's so pathetic! And the truth is hardly anyone really *likes* then anyway."
Aisling smiled faintly, bushing his blond bangs out his eyes. "Life sucks, so does high school, but you have to deal with it. I'll cheer you by finding out another vamp to kill."
Sherry brightened. "Yeah, okay, you do that. Call me when you do." She waved goodbye and headed home.
Maybe being a nobody when you're a vampire hunter was a good thing. The Night People wouldn't know who you were until it was too late. Aisling had never disappointed her before. It seemed unlikely that he would this time.
* * *
The feeling had been like nothing Sherry had ever experienced before. She had been so nervous she didn't think she would be able to pull it off. Ever since the first time vampires had terrified her. Being able to actually /stake/ one of the monsters...
Well, it had been like on TV, they didn't go 'poof' and turn into dust. And a good thing for her, it hadn't been icky like on that old movie, /The/ /Lost/ /Boys/. The vampire Sherry had staked had sort of - just withered into a pile of bones, his skin had dried up and become leathery.
With help from her instructor, they'd disposed of the corpse. It hadn't been as hard as Sherry would have thought.
"So how do you feel now?" Aisling Hill, her mentor, asked when they reached his apartment. A pent house in the rich part of town he lived in. She dropped her jacket on his red suede couch, rolling her shoulders.
"Sore. I guess all that training paid off."
Aisling smiled, heading for a room he'd set up as a gym, placing the stakes he'd concealed around himself back in a wooden trunk full of weapon. Sherry smiled, leading against the door.
"It wasn't him, though."
Aisling looked up at her, his head tilted to one side. "It's highly unlikely that the first vampire you stake will be the one you want to get."
Sherry shrugged, wincing. She must have pulled a muscle during the fight. Then again, she had gone for the shock method, the vamp hadn't put up that much of an attack. She'd been about to kiss him, when she'd pulled the stake on him. Maybe one of the oldest tricks on the book, but for a vampire hunter's first kill, it wasn't bad.
"I'm positive Merelyn Redfern was involved in this. Hell, that bitch was the one who set everything up." Sherry scowled at her reflection in a mirror on the wall opposite the gym room.
The ordinary girl-next-door type, tall and thin, acceptable dresser, ordinary brown hair worn loose to just below her shoulders, unremarkable green eyes. With a crowd, she just blended in. No one at her high school really knew who she was. Maybe that was what made her a target for Merelyn and her bitch squad.
"Yeah, we're going to have to work on that," Aisling said, heading for the kitchen. "Merelyn Redfern can't just vanish. People would notice and the Night World mafia would be on us before we knew what was happening."
The thought of the Night World as a mafia was kind of funny, but in another way, it made a weird sort of sense. Sherry was still having a hard time trying to accept that a bunch of vampires, witches and shapeshifters lived amongst regular people. The good news was that there were people like her and Aisling who could /do/ something about it.
"I don't see how. It's so unfair that the popular crowd can get away with everything. And I'll bet it's not just the Night People. It's so pathetic! And the truth is hardly anyone really *likes* then anyway."
Aisling smiled faintly, bushing his blond bangs out his eyes. "Life sucks, so does high school, but you have to deal with it. I'll cheer you by finding out another vamp to kill."
Sherry brightened. "Yeah, okay, you do that. Call me when you do." She waved goodbye and headed home.
Maybe being a nobody when you're a vampire hunter was a good thing. The Night People wouldn't know who you were until it was too late. Aisling had never disappointed her before. It seemed unlikely that he would this time.
* * *