He knelt, grasping the back of my neck.

“It will only hurt for a moment.”

Just then, I struck. My hand whipped out in a practiced movement and the weapon it held pierced his heart. I twisted repeatedly until his mouth went slack and the light faded from his eyes. With a last wrenching shove, I pushed him off and wiped my bloody hands on my pants.

“You were right.” I was out of breath from my exertions. “It only hurt for a moment.”

Much later when I arrived home, I was whistling. The night hadn’t been a total waste after all. One had gotten away, but one would be prowling the dark no more. My mother was asleep in the room we shared. I’d tell her about it in the morning. It was the first question she asked on the weekends. Did you get one of those things, Catherine? Well, yes, I did! All without me getting battered or pulled over. Who could ask for more?

I was in such a good mood, in fact, that I decided to try the same club the next night. After all, there was a dangerous bloodsucker in the area and I had to stop him, right? So I went about my usual household chores with impatience. My mother and I lived with my grandparents. They owned a modest two-story home that had actually once been a barn. Turned out the isolated property, with its acres of land, was coming in handy. By nine o’clock, I was out the door.

It was crowded again, this being a Saturday night. The music was just as loud and the faces just as blank. My initial sweep of the place turned up nothing, deflating my mood a little. I headed toward the bar and didn’t notice the crackle in the air before I heard his voice.

“I’m ready to fuck now.”

“What?”

I whirled around, prepared to indignantly scald the ears of the unknown creep, when I stopped. It was him. A blush came to my face when I remembered what I’d said last night. Apparently he’d remembered as well.

“Ah yes, well…” Exactly how did one respond to that? “Umm, drink first? Beer or…?”