Sylvia Grau was taking a break from nursing school, waiting tables at a truck stop on US 34, far enough away from her parents in Omaha that they didn't stop by the dingy little apartment she shared with two other girls, but close enough that she could drive up and drop off a load of clothes every once in a while. Sylvia, named for her grandmother, was a beautiful, petite blond, much stronger than she appeared, in every way one could imagine. Over the years, she had learned to speak her mind, much like Grandma Sylvie, and most customers who dropped by the greasy spoon either loved her or hated her.
Tonight, she had the luxury of serving two fairly attractive young men whom she found to be rather annoying. One of them, the shorter of the two, blond with a bit of a scraggily look and some foreign accent, was so loud he bothered some of her regulars, truck drivers who stopped by here several times a week. When she had asked him to try to keep his voice down, he had become very rude, prompting her to tell him, if he didn't like it he could go back to wherever he had come from.
The other fellow, a taller man with dark hair, seemed a bit more compassionate to Sylvia's position. She had several tables and was the only waitress on the night shift. When she had brought his fries out cold and served him Diet Coke instead of regular, he had empathized with her frenzied state. Nonetheless, whenever she had told his companion to shut it or get out, even the nicer of the two men had glared at her in such a way that Sylvia began to feel cold chills up and down her spine.
Sylvia, however, was not one to take guff from anyone. When she noticed they had left only five percent as a gratuity, she approached them at the door. "Hey guys," she said, "I have a lousy tip for you, too. Play in the highway."
The shorter of the two locked eyes with the feisty blond and said, "You should really be more careful who you talk to like that. One of these days, it might come back to bite you."
Sylvia scoffed at his remark. "Whatever. Just don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out." She turned on her heels, clicking away in her self-proclaimed ridiculous uniform, and went to refill coffee for her real customers.
Out in the parking lot, Giovani was miffed. "How dare that little bitch talk to us like that," he snarled.
Jack shook his head. "Some people," he agreed. "Well, like you said, one of these days, she'll get what's coming to her."
"Yeah," Giovani agreed. "And today is that day."
"What?" Jack inquired. "What do you mean?"
"She can't talk to us like that and get away with it. As soon as her shift is over, we're gonna make her pay. Come on, Jack. Don't you want to teach her a lesson?
Jack considered his brother's statement for a moment. "Of course, I want to teach her a lesson. But I don't want to kill her."
Giovani realized he had not yet trained Jack to be as ruthless as he was. "No, not kill her," he assured his younger brother. "Just scare the hell out of her, that's all."
This seemed like more of a possibility to Jack. "How can we do that without letting her know we're Vampires?" he asked, the idea sounding more and more appealing to him.
"We'll just sneak up on her while she's getting in her car and let her think we're going to rape her or something, and then we'll tell her she's a bitch and leave," Giovani explained.
Again, Jack considered the plan. "What if she calls the cops?"
"My license plates are untraceable. Besides, if those two Vampire Hunters haven't been able to catch me in all these years, what makes you think the cops can?" Giovani reassured him.
After a moment, Jack consented. "All right, but we're not going to hurt her, right? I mean, after all, she might have a mouth on her, but she didn't do anything to us. Not really."
"Sure, sure," Giovani replied. "We won't hurt her. Just scare the shit out of her."
Giovani surveyed the parking lot and realized that there were a few spots toward the back of the lot where a cluster of cars was parked together. This appeared to be the location for employee parking. It was the middle of the night, and the light above the three older model cars parked there did not provide much in the way of illumination. In fact, it was sputtering and flickering so much, it hardly seemed useful at all. There was a copse of trees to the right, the expanse of the parking lot to the left, with the practically deserted highway several hundred yards away in front. A small, rundown hotel sat behind the truck stop and to the left of the cars. Giovani decided to move his car to the hotel parking lot and walk back to the cluster of trees, waiting for Ms. Sylvia to make her way out to her car. Hopefully, she would be alone, but even if she wasn't, he was prepared to handle multiple victims that night.
Sitting on a blanket of freshly fallen snow in the woods, the two brothers waited, hashing and rehashing their plan of attack. At the end of the day, Giovani knew it didn't matter. Once he went in for the kill, his instincts would kick in, as would Jack's, and they would coordinate together in such a way that the young blond wouldn't stand a chance. He just hoped that he got to hear her scream at least once before he sunk his teeth into the soft flesh of her neck.
In the hour and a half or so that Giovani and Jack waited, only a few trucks pulled in, refueled, and pulled away. A few of the patrons inside left, but no one entered the restaurant. Eventually, Sylvia came out the door, still clicking in her uncomfortable low-heeled uniform shoes. The distinct smell of greasy burgers wafted around her. But it was another smell, the scent of the fresh, warm blood coursing through her veins, which began to make Giovani's mouth water.