—A/N: This movie fic is rated R for violence, language and adult situations—
It was way past midnight, a normal person would have been asleep by now. But his life hasn’t exactly been normal for a long time now has it? He sat there on the edge of a bed that wasn’t his wearing his nothing but his jeans and a chain with a silver cross hanging from his neck, his almost black hair hanging down to his eyes. The room was set up so two big mirrors were set up on the walls on either side. Despite the darkness he could see the huge scar going down his back in the reflection, right down the middle of his tribal tattoo. A memento of a battle that nearly cost him his life, one of many way too close calls. And he was getting tired of coming up with excuses for why it was there. God, he could have used that battle system they came up with in that one.

The silence in the room was broken as the first few bars of Savin’ Me started playing. He grabbed his cell phone and didn’t even bother checking who it was. There would only be one group who would be calling this time of night. “What do you got?”

“Matt,” his contact answered, “sorry to wake you, but we got a situation.”

His blue eyes looked up at the refection of the woman behind him, “I wasn’t exactly sleeping Troy.”

“Oh!”, Troy quickly got the meaning. “Well… oh geez.”

“The situation Troy,” he was sounding annoyed at this point.

“Right,” he cleared his throat over the line. “We spotted a class one in sector 7H. We think it might have a hostage, but our spotter can’t get that good a look inside the building. We’d go in but we don’t want to do anything that would endanger the possible hostage.” Sector 7H, that was five blocks from where he was.

“Right, I’m on it. Tell Big Red I’ll report in after I’m done.” There was an audible sigh as the call ended. Chances were good Big Red was there and heard it. Not that he cared at any point, the guy was a jackass to begin with. He finished dressing and grabbed his brown leather duster off the chair. He put it on looked back at the woman for a moment. Reaching into one of the duster’s pockets he pulled out a wad of twenties and left it on her nightstand. Yeah she was definitely worth the money all right.

As he exited her room and headed down the stairs he ignored the stares he got from others he passed. He stopped caring about what other people thought a long time ago. Matt hit the street, walked up to his custom Harley and drove off. As he rode he tried to clear his head of all but the bare minimum of thought. Thinking too much would get you killed. How many times was that driven into his head over the years? But no matter how hard he tried his mind, in situation like this, his mind always went back to the damn night.

<<<>>>
A ten year old boy was sitting in an office of a police station with a blanket wrapped around him. He barely acknowledged anything or anybody around him. He was staring straight ahead into nothingness. All he was seeing were the flashes of teeth and fangs and blood splashing, his parent’s blood. He shivered slightly despite how warm the blanket was making him. On the other side of the door he barely heard the two police officers talking. “Poor kid, seeing something like that got to fuck you up,” the first one said.

The second one agreed, “No kidding. Did you see the bodies? Their necks were fucking torn out. Kid keeps saying they were attacked by vampires if he says anything at all.”

“I know that the first thing that popped in my head when we got there. But I bet you anything it was a bunch of hopped up kids who saw one too many late night horror movies.”

“Or a cult or something.” Both of them stopped and he heard a set of footsteps coming closer. They stopped and he glanced over to the door the third shadow in the window. “Is there anything I can do for you Father?”

“Yes, I was wondering if it would be alright if I talked to the boy,” he answered. “Try to comfort him in some way, somebody should be there for him now.”

“I don’t know Padre,” the first police said. “I mean social services hasn’t even arrived yet.”

“It’s ok Joey,” the second one said. “The Father is a good man, he baptized my kids for crying out loud. Go ahead Father, take as long as you need.”

“Thank you my son.” The cops walked away as the door opened and he looked at the newcomer. He had brown hair that was graying at the temples and wore the usual black clothes with the white collar. He had a very kind face, but there was still a bit of sadness to it. “Hello son, I am Father Gerald Mulligan.” He sat in the chair next to him, “May I ask you what your name is?”

“Matt…,” he said quietly as he brought his knees closer to his chest, “Matthew Johnson.”

Mulligan smiled warmly, “It’s a pleasure to meet you. Although I wish the circumstances of our meeting weren’t like this.” Matt bottom lip started quivering again. He closed his eyes and tried to stay under control. Mulligan put an arm around him and held him close, “Don’t hold it in son. It’s alright, they wouldn’t want you to contain this type of pain.” The boy finally let go started crying into his shoulder.

“I’m… I’m alone,” he said between the sobs.

“No my boy, you are never alone,” the priest told him. “They may not be here in body, but they will always be with you. Watching over you where ever you are.”

Matt looked up at him with pleading eyes, “Are you sure?”

“My boy I have never been more sure of anything in my life. And I know, God willing, you will see them again.” A couple of more police officers walked by taking about the apparent cult killing. Mulligan looked down at the boy. Uncertainty started growing in his eyes. Making sure nobody could over hear he softly said, “I also know that humanity hates the unknown. They have this overwhelming need to try to make sense of what they don’t understand by turning it into something else. Even if they see it with their own eyes that can’t comprehend it. They say something human did this to your parents. But you and I know better, don’t we?”

“You believe me?”, none of the adults he talked to so far believed him. They kept saying he was in shock and was letting his imagination run away with him.

“Yes I do son, for I have seen them myself. I lost my mother in the same way. Back them somebody came up to me and offered me a chance to put a stop to them.” Mulligan looked him in the eyes, “I want to make you that same offer. We can train you to stop them. You can stop them before they do this to anybody else.”

“But I don’t want to hurt anybody, it’s wrong.”

Mulligan smiled softly at him, “Believe it or not but I’m glad you answered that way. If you were out for revenge I would have rethought my offer.” He patted him on the shoulder, “You don’t have to answer right now. You can think it over as long as you like.” Mulligan stood up but Matt grabbed his arm.

“Will I,” he said uncertainly, “will I be helping people?”

“That is what we try to do son. I won’t lie to you, there are times we fail in that duty.”

Matt looked up at him, “I want to help save people.”

Mulligan nodded then kneeled before to look him right in the eye. “I glad to her you say that. I’m going to have to go now and contact the organization I’m with. We’ll arrange it so you’re taken care of by a family that works for us. You’re training will begin a soon as you’re settled in.” He put both hands on his shoulder, “I said I wouldn’t lie to you. The path you are about to take is going to be a long and hard one. You are going to be forced to do things you were told were wrong. Do you still want to do this?” He nodded his head yes. “Alright son, you will be seeing me again.” He left the room and Matt was alone again. But for some reason he was a little less afraid now.

<<<>>>
Matt pushed that memory out of his head. Thoughts like that would definitely get him killed if he wasn’t careful. He emptied his mind as best he could, only allowing the bare minimum of thoughts as he drove toward his destination, concentrating on what he was taught. When Troy told him they had a hostage that put his radar up. These things never took hostages, not unless it was a trap. Trap or not he had a job to do, and it didn’t involve saving anybody. He reached sector 7H, a run down section of the city. One of those places politicians say they’re going to rebuild to revitalize the economy. Then forget until it suited their needs again. Parking his Harley roughly in the middle, he got off and looked over the buildings. A building that looked like it hasn’t been used in a long time caught his attention. Something moved in one of the windows of the upper floor and it looked like something they would use. Matt studied it and sighed, “Would it kill them to pick a building that didn’t look like it was condemned?”

He was suppose to be dealing with a class one, he could handle them no problem. But intel wasn’t exactly reliable lately, better bring it just in case. Matt reached into one of the bike side bags and pulled out a silver metal belt. It had to bumps on the outside to help regulate the power. The front was a buckle that had a round crystal jewel imbedded in it and an empty slot on the left side of it. He put in on and snapped it closed in the back then covered it with his duster. Patting the coats’ right front pocket he headed for the building.

He found that a fence surrounded the place, no surprise there considering the look of the building, that he easily climbed over. Locating a busted out window he went inside. He didn’t bring a flashlight, one of the many lessons drilled into him. Light is your enemy, the enemy will spot you before you even see them. Instead he used what illumination he was getting from the outside environment to navigate the near dark hallway until he located a stairwell. Reaching into his coat he pulled out a wooden stake, just incase there was a surprise or two waiting for him. Surprisingly the stairwell was practically empty, outside of the occasional scurrying rodent. Matt exited the stairwell a floor above the one he saw the movement. Always try to attack from above, another thing drilled into him. He looked around and suppressed the urge to cuss out loud, there was a huge gapping hole in the wall and floor. Great now he had to worry about breaking his neck on top of everything else.

Well at least it made looking around a little easier. He found what he was looking for on a section of the floor that looked like it would still hold his weight. Two men were circling a red headed woman tied up to a chair. At least he thought she was tied up, it looked like there was a blanket wrapped around her. That sounded some more warning bells in his head. Then he saw the edge of the covering move. That wasn’t a blanket around her. “Oh fuck me,” he muttered.

The “hostage” tilted her head slightly, he was heard. Raising the stake above his head Matt jumped down and targeted to the closest one as he passed under him. His target looked up and jumped toward the woman as the stake impaled the floor, “Help me!”, the woman screamed. “Please you got to help me!”

“Zip it bitch, I know what you are.” The look of panic on her face quickly turned to disdain as she stood up and the “blanket” reveled itself to be a set of wings. Her eyes turned red as fangs grew from her teeth. Yup, that was a class two. The other two only grew a set of fangs. Feeling the weight in his front pocket he decided not to use the system just yet. Matt cracked his neck and tried not to look worried, “So these two man whores belong to you or are you just borrowing them from somebody else?”

The woman didn’t look amused. Raising a hand she pointed a finger in his direction, “Kill him.” The two class one charged him as ordered. He designated the one coming at him faster “Ren” in his head. He ducked his initial swing and punched “Stimpy” in the jaw. The Queen got involved faster then he anticipated, hitting him in the chest with a palm strike. He flew back ten feet into the wall and slowly slid to the floor. God, he was lucky that didn’t cave his ribcage in. But he survived worse than that, barely. “I would tear you apart myself, but I promised my pets that I let them have the honor of killing you.”

Getting to his feet Matt grunted, “Geez, did you talk you talk like that before whoever it was stuck his fangs into you?”

“Don’t talk to the mistress like that!” Ren told him

“OK, you’re the new turn.” Ren came at him. Matt spun out of the way and drove a stake through the vampires hand and into the wall. “They always talk too much.” Stimpy stalked him slowly. Grabbing the edge of duster he brought it up and spun around repeatedly. Stimpy kept striking the coat until Matt dropped it and kicked him in the chest. Then he turned around and uppercut the queen.

Her head snapped back. She twisted her head back around and licked the stale blood from her lips. “Was that supposed to hurt human?”

“Not really, but this should.” He flipped the pin of the grenade that he was holding in his hand and tossed it up. Matt smiled slightly as it went off in a bright flash of light. The queen and the other cried out in pain. “Heh, told ya so.” Matt kicked her away and then turned with a roundhouse kick that caught Stimpy in the head. Reaching back into the duster he had a stake in each hand.

“ARGHH!”, Ren ripped his hand from the wall and attacked Matt before he could react. He jumped and wrapped his cold hands around his neck and forced him to the floor. The impact caused him to drop both stakes. Slowly increasing the pressure he told him, “I’m going to rip your head off meat!”

The Queen’s vision cleared and she saw hat was happening. Licking her lips again she said, “Do it my pet, and I’ll let you do whatever you want for the night.” Ren grimace turned into a sick little grin as various thoughts ran through his head. Darkness taking over his vision Matt felt around for the pocket and found it. He pulled out what was in there and pressed it into Ren’s side.

Ren screamed in pain and jumped off of him. Matt scooted away and tried to get the air back into his lungs. Ren held his smoking side and demanded, “What the fuck was that?”

Matt held the object up for them to see and grinned. It was a rectangular crystal with a golden cross on it. Inside was a brightly glowing substance, “Liquid sunlight, gotta love it.” He pulled the left side of the duster away to reveal the belt and held the up by the left side of his face with his right hand, palm facing out. “Henshin,” twisting his hand around he slid the crystal into the belt. The jewel on the belt started glowing brightly. The vampires recoiled from the light

Ren vision cleared and saw a figure come at him as the light faded. He found himself crashing through the ceiling. Lying there with his skin still smoking and watched the figure jump through the hole and landing in a kneeling position. He finally got a good look at him. The human was wearing a brown suit with black armor around his chest, shoulders, hands, feet and head. Silver accent was around the edges and at his knuckles, elbows, knees and around the big red eyes on the helmet. Two antennas were attached to the top and the mouth plate looked like the mandibles of an insect.

“What the fuck are you?”, he hissed

“I’m a slayer,” he answered while standing up, “that’s all you need to know.” The queen and Stimpy jump through the hole as well and stood behind him, uncertain of what to make of his change of appearance either. Stimpy ran at him hoping to catch him off guard. Without even looking back Slayer hit him with a backhand that sent him flipping over. Ren came at him with a wild punch. In one motion he caught the attack, broke his arm and tossed him away. Flexing his right arm slightly, a thin silver spike extended back from his elbow going the length to his shoulder.

Ren clenched his teeth as he forced the bone back into place, “Do I look like a wolf to you?”

“Lesson one newbie,” Slayer went in and slashed him across the chest. The wound was glowing slightly and the smell of burnt flesh was evident in the air. “Silver just isn’t for werewolves.” He attacked the vampire without mercy, backing him up with each blow. Slayer spun around and drove the spike through the vampire’s chest and into the wall.

The silver was burning were him were it came in contact with his flesh. Grunting from the pain he said, “I’m still alive meat.”

Slayer finally turned his head to look at him. There was a slight edge to his voice when he said, “That’s because I didn’t pierce your heart dipshit.” Ren’s eyes went wide as he twisted his arm up causing the sliver spike to rip through his organs. Slayer pulled it out of his, slicing up through his chest and heart. The vampire didn’t get chance to scream as he quickly turned to burning ash. The queen saw this and ran for the opening and jumped out of the building. She spread her wings in mid air and flew away. Slayer ran to the hole and watched her leave, “Hey! I haven’t dusted you yet!” Stimpy caught him off guard and tried to throw him out the hole. A second spike from his left arm pierced him in the gut. “And here I was thinking you buddy was the dumb one.” Slayer spun and punched Stimpy in the face. The silver on his knuckles leaving burn marks in his flesh. He kicked the vampire back and stood straight.

“Wanna see a cool trick, it’s called a rider kick.” He placed his hand on the jewel and spun it. Shining as it spinned the bottom of his right foot started glowing. Slayer jumped up and kicked the vampire in the chest. It stumbled back as a burning cross appeared on his chest and start growing. Slayer extended two fingers and crossed the air in front of him, “Go with God.” The cross finally grew so big it engulfed the vampire leaving nothing but ash, “Now burn in hell.” Walking over to the hole he pulled the crystal out of the belt and the system deactivated. Matt looked in the direction the queen went. What in the hell was wrong with intel lately?

<<<>>>
The queen didn’t fly far. She landed on a rooftop a couple of blocks away and kneeled before the man standing there. He wore a black trench coat over his dark colored clothing. His hair was slicked back and his eye were black, the sigh of a master vampire. Behind him by the roof edge were three more. Bald male twins wearing dress pants and a vest with no shirt, one in black the other in white. A third man wore leather pants and a ripped black T-shirt, his long blond hair tied back in a ponytail. Keeping her head down she addressed the master vampire, “Lord Ludwig.”

“Get up woman,” he ordered and she got to her feet. “I told you to leave him alone.”

“I know my lord, but I had to test him for myself. That battle system of his makes him almost invincible.”

He raised an eyebrow, “Almost?”

“The humans created that thing. That alone means it is flawed.”

Ludwig crossed his arms in front of him, “Then why didn’t you stay and test that theory?”

“I…I…,” she stammered, “I wanted to get word back to you about his strength. I could not do that if I perished in battle with him.”

He stroked her cheek with the back of his hand, “How thoughtful of you.”

She clasps his hands in hers and held then to her cheek, “Everything I do is for your pleasure my lord. Give the word and I will raise an army that will erase every particle of his being from this earth.”

He smiled at her, “You always were my favorite.” Her smile turned to shock right before she turned to ash. In his left hand was a knife with a blade of silver pointed right were her heart used to be. “But you would have messed up my over all plan. And I couldn’t have that.”

<<<>>>
Matt parked his bike in front of an old church and paused to bow his head slightly before entering. Not in prayer, to steady himself for what was coming up. Walking through the pews he crossed over to the side and entered the confessional. Waiting until the paneling behind the screen slid open he crossed himself and spoke, “Forgive me Father, for I have sinned. It’s been,” he counted on his finger, “four days since my last confession.”

“Go on my son,” the priest said solemnly.

“I killed two people tonight Father. Well they used to be people. There was a third but she got away during the conflict.”

“This is most distressing my son.”

“I ain’t exactly cool with it either. But I’m doing the Lords work. Or that’s what they tell me at least.”

“If you feel you are doing the Lords work then I can not condemn you my son.”

“Thank you Father. Also, I was with a woman right before. I picked her off the street and had carnal relations with her.”

After a moment the Priest said, “Well my son I suggest…”

“Let me tell you, she was bending in ways I didn’t think a human could bend.”

“I don’t think this is…”

“She said her name was Angel.” He whistled, “Let me tell you she made me believe in heaven.”

“My son!”, the Priest said with a little more authority. “The confessional is not the place for bragging.”

Matt turned to the screen and grinned, “If you can’t brag to your priest who can you brag to?” The wall behind him opened up revealing a hidden passage. The Priest came into view a moment later and looked at him sternly. He had a head full of gray hair now and he wore glasses. But Father Mulligan face was still the same as the first time he met him. Matt smiled and wiggled his fingers in greeting

Sighing loudly he said, “Why do I put up with you?”

“Because I’m letting you live through me,” he answered as he joined the Father in the hallway. “With this whole celibacy thing you got going on this is as close to any kind of action you’re going to get. Unless you and one of the nuns are getting a little freaky in the confessional when I’m not around.”

The Father wagged a finger at him, “That is only the product of your perverted imagination.”

“Hey, it could come true. I’ve seen the way Sister Lillian looks at when she thinks nobody watching. I’ve seen her without that habit on, she’s hot.”

“Sister Lillian is a good and virtuous woman. She would never do anything so base.”

Matt grinned again, “Get a little of that holy wine in her and I’m sure she’ll do thing you only dreamed of, and then some.”

Mulligan shook his head in defeat and started down the hallway, “Sometimes my boy, I wonder exactly how many gray hairs I would have if I didn’t have to deal with you.”

Matt followed him, “Come on Father, you know your life would be boring without me around.”

Smiling to himself he replied, “Of that my boy I have no doubt.” The hallway lead to spiral staircase heading down. Then on the sub floor there was a door with a palm reader that Mulligan placed his hand on. There was a click and he opened the door so they could enter. They looked over the room that was about half the size of floor above them. A row of computers filled the middle of the room, a couple of them were currently manned. A good chunk of the room was cut off by a railing that blocked off a good size hole in the floor. Various wires connected the hole to the computers, light and various other items in the room. They told Matt that this was a bomb shelter back in the day. Nobody could answer when he asked about the hidden door and hallway upstairs. A man in a black and red robe stood near the computers. He didn’t look pleased to see Matt there. He guessed he did hear that Big Red remark. Mulligan addressed him, “Cardinal Murphy, I didn’t expect to see you here.”

“I did,” Matt said as he leaned against the railing, “just like a rat, always showing up like you least expect it.”

“If anybody knows anything about rodents,” the Cardinal replied smugly, “it’s you Johnson. I hear you have a slight problem with the intelligence we gathered for you.”

Matt looked him right in the eyes, “If you call walking into a three on one without knowing it, and one of those three being a class two, a slight problem? Then yeah, I do.”

“A class two?”, one of the men from the computers, naturally he was wearing glasses, turned to him in disbelief. “Are you sure?”

“Can a class one can fly dumbass?”

“Watch your language,” the Cardinal admonished. “This is still a house of the Lord.”

Matt crossed his arms, “Like it’s a word he hasn’t heard before.”

“Getting back to the matter at hand,” Mulligan interjected. “This is slightly disturbing news. Do you have any how they could have arranged this apparent trap Troy?”

The geek with glasses thought it over for a moment. “Well they could have spotted our trackers and they way we do things. And with the battle system going active a few months ago, they might be trying to get the wearer before he uses it.”

“Guess you’re gonna blame that on me too”, Matt said sarcastically.

“Nobody is blaming you for anything,” Mulligan told him.

“It’s not your job to question the way we gather intelligence,” The Cardinal told him. “Your job is to eliminate the targets we send you after. Not to let one get away.”

“And my life depends on the intel you gather.”

“And as a slayer you should be ready for anything when you are on assignment.” Their eyes narrowed as they started at each other. Everybody could feel the tension in the room. Mulligan once again stepped in as peacemaker.

“I might remind everybody that this isn’t the first time we had to change the way we do things. The vampires have become wise to our way before. It was only a matter of time before something like this happened. The battle system obviously sped that up.”

“You are, of course, right Father,” the Cardinal said while trying to get his temper under control. “The vampires have always been a tricky lot. We’re going to have to pay more attention to that in the future.”

“Says the man who not in the field.”

“And what is that suppose to mean?”, the Cardinal asked.

“It means me and the other slayers I’ve talked to have seen this coming for a while now. We saw the signs. Nobody in charged cared to listen.” Matt glanced over to Mulligan, “Well, one did at any rate.”

“And the paranoia of the slayers is well known,” Murphy countered, acting like he just won the argument.

Mulligan finally spoke up for him, “Matthew is many things, but paranoid is not one them.”

“Thank you.”

Murphy nodded in concession, “Perhaps, but it is rather hard to take somebody dressed like a locust seriously.”

“It’s not like that was my idea,” Matt told him. “I wanted something cool, like a beetle or something.”

The Cardinal got that not pleased look again. “We gave you the battle system because of the Father’s arguments for you. Your abilities and record are among the best in the slayers. That I will not deny. But your attitude leaves a little to be desired.”

“And I was always amazed they give the title of Cardinal to any smuck off the street.”

“We can take that belt off of you and give it to somebody less…. spiteful,” the Cardinal threatened.

“Then maybe I can start getting some halfway decent intel again.”

“Shouldn’t you be concerning yourself about how to do your job more effectively?”

“Shouldn’t you be doing something to an alter boy?” The room went dead silent. Mulligan wanted to step away from the boy but stood beside him. The Cardinal was visibly shaking from the anger he was feeling. Finally he headed for the stairway to leave. Matt lowered his head and watched him out of the corner of his eye. “Later Big Red.” Cardinal Murphy paused momentarily before exiting. He broke out into a big grin as the door closed behind him.

“Perhaps we should see if that particular emergency exit will still open,” Mulligan gestured to a door on the far wall.

“Whatever floats your boat Father.” He followed the Father out the door. There were now in a long well lit underground pathway. Matt knew this passage pretty well. The opening was across the street in front of the church, he be close to his motorcycle.

“You should really mind what you say in front of the Cardinal,” Mulligan said after a moment. “He is in charge of operations in this region. And I won’t be around to shield you from him forever.”

“The worst he can do is kick me out,” Matt said as he started patting himself down. “And more than likely I’ll keep doing this just to spite him, because let’s face it this is all I know how to do. Besides at the rate things are going you’ll be outliving me.”

“I wish you wouldn’t say things like that Matthew,” Mulligan said with a hint of sadness in his voice. “The old should never out live the young.”

“And when you’re called home, you’re called home. Doesn’t matter how old you are. Somebody I respect very much taught me that.” Mulligan lowered his head so Matt wouldn’t see the mixture of pride and sadness on his face. He kept patting himself down, “I know they’re here somewhere…” Matt reached inside the duster and pulled out a pack of cigarettes, “Ha, knew I didn’t drop them.” He put one in his mouth as was about to light a match when Mulligan coughed. Matt looked at him and saw he was pointing at something. To his right was a no smoking sign hanging on the wall. “Forgive me Father,” he said as he removed the cigarette and bowed, “but I’m about to break an unwritten commandment.” Matt struck the match against the sign as he passed and lit up. Taking a long drag he tilted his head back and blew out the smoke, “Oh, daddy needed that.”

Mulligan watched him leave and said, “Yes my boy, my life would be very boring without you in it.”

<<<>>>
Driving though the city Matt headed for a barely lit neighborhood. Getting off his Bike he walked up to an unmarked door. He knocked three times and waited. A small panel slid away revealing a set of eyes. They narrowed in annoyance but the door open anyway. Matt ignored the door person and walked into the dimly lit bar. As he headed for the back of the place he passed several different types of people. Some were dressed in their finest while other wore a more causal look. The regulars of the place paid him no attention, but some were giving him looks of anger and distain as he passed. Like just about everything else in his life he shut it out and took a stool at the bar. A man in a tuxedo walked up to him and stood behind him. When Matt didn’t pay him any attention he cleared his throat. Finally he said in a rather snooty tone, “Excuse me sir.”

“You’re new here,” Matt replied flatly.

Acting like he never spoke tuxedo went on, “But I do believe you are in the wrong establishment.”

“I think I am in the right place.”

“And why would you think that sir?”

The bartender walked over and set a glass of an amber colored liquid in front of him, “Straight up, as usual.”

“Because it’s the only place I found that has a decent bottle of scotch,” Matt answered before taking a drink. “Thanks Sam.” The bartender just nodded.

“Never the less sir, I must ask you to leave,” Tuxedo said while trying to look imposing. “I will throw you out if I have too.” Some of the regulars at the bar picked up their drink and started moving away.

Matt looked at the mirriorless wall behind the bar, “Do you want to set him straight Sam or should I?”

Sam got Tuxedo attention and took him to a quiet part of the bar. The regulars moved back to their spot when it looked like things weren’t going to get physical. Tuxedo was flustered, “Do you know what he is?”

“Yeah I do,” Sam answered. “More importantly I know who he is.” He made a stabbing motion to his chest. Tuxedo eyes went wide and looked back at the human, “But we got a deal going on, we leave him alone, he’ll leave us alone.”

“But he’s a slayer. He wants to kill us.”

“And thanks to that deal this is neutral ground as far as he concerned,” Sam explained. “All he wants to do is relax and drink in peace. He’ll have one drink, maybe two, then he’ll leave. No muss no fuss. But so help me if you do anything to screw this up I’ll feed you to him myself.” Tuxedo nodded and the waited on a group at the far end of the room. Matt sat there and nursed his drink. After a bit a blond haired woman in a very tight blue dress sat on the stool next to him. She eyed him for a long time after ordering her drink. He checked her out to out of the corner of his eye. Out of habit from his job of course.

“You’re not like us, are you?”, she finally spoke.

“In the ‘got a pulse’ sort of way.”

“And you’re not scared to be here with the rest of us? I mean most human men I’ve met run away leaving a little wet trail behind them when they find out what I am.”

“I can take care of myself.”

“I bet you could.” She eyed him again hungrily, “So… you ever do it with a vampire before?”

“Once,” he admitted, “but I had to thaw out for a week.”

“Oh you poor baby,” she leaned in and griped his forearm. “But I got to admit, there are a lot of stone cold bitches out there.”

He turned in his seat to look at her, “You’re one to talk.” She laughed and nodded in agreement. “So you got a name?”

“Angela,” she said. “But I don’t usually give it out to a human I just met. So what about you? Or should I just call you pulse.”

“The name’s Matt.” They sat there and made small talk, feeling each other out. After a moment he realized a tall individual was standing besides him. He was bald and was wearing black dress pants and a vest. The newcomer looked really angry with him at the moment. Angela looked annoyed that the guy was there, so chances were good this wasn’t a trap. Still he got ready just in case. “You need something?”

“What are you doing with my girl breather?”, he demanded.

“Breather?”, Matt laughed. “Is that suppose to be an insult? God you must have a brain the size of a fucking pea cause I’ve heard way better than that.”

“I am not your girl!”, Angela told him. “This is exactly why I broke up with you.”

“We’re not broken up,” he shot back. The tone in his voice said that was the last he was going to hear of it.

Matt leaned back against the bar and studied him for a bit. To Angela he said, “So, they got dickheads like this in your world too?”

The big guy put his hand on Matt’s chest, shoved him against the bar and held him there. Sam saw what was happening and tried to intervene, “Hey now we don’t want…”

“Shut up you geezer,” the big guy shouted. “With my connections I can own this hole in the wall you call a bar.” He stared Matt in the eyes and grew his fangs. No change in eye color though, defiantly a class one. “Hell, I just might any way if you’re letting trash like this piece of shit in no question asked.” Matt stared right back not showing anything. The big guy didn’t see his leg right kick out. His kneecap shattered and his leg bent backwards. He stumbled back on his good leg and shouted, “I’m gonna tear you’re chest open and use you as a toilet!”

There was a stake in his left hand before anybody knew it. Big guy tried a swing but his leg kept him off balance. Matt got inside and stabbed him right in the heart. Brushing the dust of his duster he finished his drink in one gulp and put some money on the counter, “Sorry about the mess Sam.”

“I didn’t see anything,” Sam said as he handed tuxedo a broom and dust pan.

“See you later after things calm down.” As he exited the bar he looked over the other patrons, almost like he was daring them to try something. They still had the look of anger and disgust on there face but now some fear was mixed in. Glancing over the bar he noticed Angela disappeared. He didn’t notice any wings on her, not that you could hide them with that dress at any point. When he reached his bike a flash of movement out of the corner of his eye caught his attention. It was on the rooftops. Nodding to himself he walked in the direction he saw the movement for a bit before turning into an alley. He went a few yards before Angela dropped in front of him in full vampire mode. “A little more attached to dickhead than you thought?”

Angela hissed and attacked him. Matt blocked or dodged most of her blows. One thing was for certain, she was trained to do this. She jumped up and planted both feet into his chest. He rolled as he fell backwards and got to his feet quickly and charged in. Matt was able to force her against the wall pressing his forearm into her chest and neck to pin her there. She returned to normal and smiled at him, “Looks like we’re both nice and warm now.”

“So?”, Matt asked keeping the pressure on.

“So are you going to ‘stab’ me or what?” Matt slowly started ginning. He grabbed her by the hair on the back of her head and bent her over a garbage can. “I am so glad Beth told me about you.”