Moving with a burst of supernatural speed, he raced down the rest of the dusty road until he reached a small, white gate and fence surrounding a two-story brick home. Without pause he jumped the small, three-foot gate and only stopped once he was on the front of the wraparound porch.
Pressing his back against the brick wall near the front door, he listened and could hear four distinct voices inside. One female—Charmaine, the owner—and three males. Rex instantly recognized Stanley’s arrogant voice from a video he’d watched. The vampire who Stanley had stolen from had taken the youth in and given him a place to live, tried to teach him a work ethic, but the foolish male had stolen from his new leader instead and run. Soon he would pay for his crimes.
After circling the home and checking the outlying areas for any more supernatural beings, Rex returned to the front door. It would be sunrise soon enough and he was tired of this hunt so he decided to go for the direct approach. Instead of storming in and destroying Charmaine’s home, he knocked on the front door.
Everything went silent so he called out, “Charmaine, make yourself scarce. Stanley, come outside and make this easy on yourself. You can’t run forever.”
For one long moment silence reigned but then there was a flurry of movement inside. Rex heard Charmaine mutter dumbass before there was a crash and breaking of glass from the back of the house.
On another burst of speed, Rex rounded the house and raced after the vampire dashing across the land behind the house. The nearly full moon and stars above gave him plenty of guidance, though he didn’t need it with his night vision. Charmaine owned this pecan orchard but it wouldn’t give enough cover for the rogue vamp to hide for long.
As Stanley neared a big pecan tree he looked over his shoulder and brought something up in his hand.
A gun.
The sight of it enraged Rex, his vision going red. How pathetic, using a modern weapon. He dodged to the right as a bullet whizzed past his head. It made a soft sound as it embedded in a tree trunk. Using the trees as cover, he followed the obnoxiously loud—clearly untrained vamp—by sound alone.
“I don’t want to hurt you, man!” Stanley shouted.
Rex measured the distance using his senses. Maybe fifty yards to his right. He flew past three giant trees spread out evenly in the orchard, closing in. Only twenty five yards to go now.
“Listen, I’m sorry. We can work this out. I’ll cut you in on what I took.” Stanley’s voice was whiny and shaky now.
Even more pathetic. First he actually shoots at me, then tries to bribe me. Whoever had turned Stanley should be staked. Vampires used to be more discerning when they turned a human.
Rex headed in the direction Stanley had called out from, slowing when he neared a huge pecan tree on the very edge of the orchard. He knew Stanley thought he had the upper hand, but Rex could scent him.
Feigning that he was looking around, he used all the strength in his legs and jumped high into the air in a fluid movement. Stanley’s eyes widened as Rex landed on the branch next to him. The rogue started to raise his weapon-wielding hand but Rex grabbed his wrist and squeezed, breaking Stanley’s bones. The gun fell from his fingers as he screamed, tumbling to the grassy earth below.
“Didn’t anyone ever teach you that stealing was wrong?” Rex asked as he wrapped his fingers around Stanley’s neck. He squeezed tight, making his point clear; try to run and I’ll rip your head off. He didn’t need to say the words for the dumbass to understand. “We’re going to jump down then head back to my SUV. Then you’re going to come with me and pay back all the money you stole.” And likely be tortured for a while, but that wasn’t Rex’s business.
Stanley’s eyes glowed a bright amber as he shook his head. Taking Rex by surprise, he punched out at the branch with his non-broken arm.
Rex went for one of his blades as the branch cracked and broke. Stanley slashed out with his claws, slicing into Rex’s forearm as the branch gave way beneath him. So amped up on adrenaline, Rex barely felt the dig into his flesh, but he let the guy go and jumped down as Stanley fell. The vamp’s arms flailed as he fell backward.
Rex’s feet hit the ground a second before Stanley did, his boots thudding softly. Stanley landed on his back and started to roll over when his eyes suddenly widened, going bright amber before he turned to ash.
What the hell?
Spine tingling, Rex crouched low, backing up toward the tree as he scanned the area for more threats. Using all his senses it took less than ten seconds for him to realize he was alone. A couple cows made groaning sounds about a hundred yards away but there were no people—human or supernatural—in the direct vicinity.