Sylvia knew all of the rules about going out to one's car at night. She had done the same thing hundreds of times, and nothing even remotely scary had happened. She knew not to dig in her purse, to have her keys ready, and to be prepared to hit the panic button if necessary. Unfortunately, her car was so old, there was no panic button. She had other ways of defending herself, however, and though she was a bit distracted, thinking about the difficult customers she had served that night, she wasn't completely unprepared.
She was definitely caught off guard, however, when the force of a body slamming into hers sent her careening into the back bumper of her car. She hit the trunk hard, her chin smashing against the metal. She could taste aluminum in her mouth and was certain she must have bitten her tongue.
Though she was pinned against the car, she wasn't prepared to go down without a fight. She thrust her elbow back into her attacker, catching him below the ribs, and swung her purse as she did so, hitting him in the shoulder.
Even if her assailant had been a typical man, it might not have done much. It had little or no effect on Giovani whatsoever, and he began to laugh. "That all you got, bitch?" he asked, shoving her into the car even harder.
Sylvia cried out in pain as her leg dug into the bent-up corner of the license plate. "Get off of me, you psycho!" she screamed. She looked around for the other one and saw him standing behind the creep who had her pinned.
"I warned you," Giovani snarled, baring his teeth, fangs protruding. "You should be more careful who you're rude to, little girl."
His voice was almost a growl, and paired with the inhuman shape of his front teeth, the glowing gray eyes, and the demonic grimace, Sylvia began to realize she was not facing any regular deviant. There was definitely something supernatural about this freak. She refused to let him see her panic. Stifling a scream, she pulled the only weapon she had out of her purse, and closing her own eyes tightly, sprayed him directly in the face with pepper spray.
Giovani was not expecting it. Though his threshold for pain was certainly higher than the average human, he still reeled back in agony. Sylvia took the opportunity to kick him directly in the scrotum, and as he doubled over in a fresh wave of pain, she brought her massive handbag down on the top of his head.
At first, Jack wasn't exactly sure what to do. From the moment they had stepped out from behind the trees, Giovani had gone off plan. Nothing was going remotely the way they had discussed. Yet, watching the petite, blond waitress knock his brother around was beginning to piss him off. As much as he didn't want to actually hurt her, he was extremely irritated. There was no way he could just let her get inside of her car and drive away.
As soon as Giovani went down, Jack stepped forward. He moved so quickly, Sylvia wasn't prepared for it. She still held the pepper spray firmly in her grasp, but he grabbed her hand before she could push down the lever to spray him. He twisted her arm behind her and slammed her fist into the trunk so hard it left a dent in the metal. She screamed in pain, and he heard a sharp snapping sound from where her shoulder was clearly dislocated. Without letting go of her mangled arm, he shoved her hard into the trunk and ripped her purse out of her hand, tossing it over the trees into the woods. Her car keys were attached to the pepper spray, and as Jack turned to throw her purse, still holding her against the car with the weight of his body, Sylvia reached back with her now free hand and picked up the keys, jabbing them into his stomach and pulling them straight down, hoping to cut him.
The pain from the keys was barely noticeable to Jack, and he grabbed them from her and threw them across the parking lot. Being this close to her, he could smell the scent of the fresh blood coming from the wound in her tongue, and he found the aroma intoxicating. He knew his fangs had revealed themselves, and he was very much tempted to sink them into the wiggling girl’s elegant neck. If Giovani had not stepped between them just then, he may have actually done so, but the recovery of his brother brought him back to his senses, and he stepped back, letting Giovani address the situation.
Sylvia was without any sort of weapon now. She began to scream for help, hoping someone inside the restaurant or passing by on the highway would hear her. Giovani laughed, and then backhanded her across the face. "No one's going to help you, you stupid bitch," he snarled.
Jack glanced back toward the truck stop, realizing they probably were close enough that someone might hear. "Giovani," he said quietly, "we should probably let her go. I think her arm is broken, and her mouth is bleeding." A fresh stream of blood trickled down her chin from where Giovani's hand had made contact with her lip.
"You're right, brother," Giovani agreed, nodding. "We should let her go." He backed up a step, giving Sylvia enough room to take off toward the trees but not in any other direction.
She hesitated at first, not sure if he meant it or not. She took a step away from the car, waited to see if he would grab her and pull her back. Her arm was burning, and she wasn't sure if it was broken or just dislocated. After a second step and no movement from either of the men, she broke into a run, holding her right arm against her body and pumping with her left. She had no idea where she was going, but she was trying her best to get away, despite the horribly uncomfortable shoes and the slick surface.
Giovani waited patiently until Sylvia reached the trees. Once she made it between a break in the first row of pines, he calmly said, "Okay, now, go get her."
Jack was a little stunned at first, not sure he heard correctly. "What?" he clarified. "Did you say go get her?"
"Sure," Giovani confirmed. "Go on. She's seen too much now."
He was hesitant at first; part of him felt sorry for the girl. In his former life, he would have thought she was pretty. Now, however, she just looked like a good meal. When she had been standing right next to him, close enough to smell, he had wanted her. With her scurrying off into the woods, the distance growing between them, the urge to hunt her down and prey upon her was increasing with each footfall. He glanced at his brother one more time, briefly, before taking off after her at a full sprint.
It only took Jack a few seconds to catch up with her. She didn't even have time to scream before he knocked her to the ground. Sylvia planted face first in the snow, the pain in her arm almost unbearable as it made contact with the frozen ground. Jack flipped her over, holding her body down with his knees. Instinctively, she covered her face with her arms. He pushed them down with one arm and held them across her chest. As he bared his fangs and bent toward her neck, he realized that she was sobbing. He only paused for a moment before sinking his teeth into her neck. After a few moments, the whimpering stopped. Her body continued to spasm a bit longer before becoming quite still.
Jack heard footsteps behind him and knew Giovani had come to see if he had completed the task. As he stood, the pressure released from parts of her body he had been resting on, and a fresh flow of blood began to drip out of the puncture wounds in her neck, leaving a shallow pool of crimson on the crisp, white snow. Her eyes were closed tightly, as if she had been bracing herself, and blue circles began to form beneath them.
"Well done, little brother," Giovani said, patting him on the back. "I knew you had it in you." He reached into his pocket and produced a small knife, which he used to cut a slash in Sylvia's throat, the puncture wounds no longer so apparent. He slipped an opal ring from her finger, making it appear as if she had been robbed. He handed the ring to Jack and said, "Your first trophy."
The two of them circled through the woods back toward where Giovani had left his car. "Was it okay that I killed her?" Jack asked quietly. "Am I going to get in trouble for that?"
Giovani laughed. "In trouble? You mean with the Hunters and all that? We don't live our lives based on what they tell us we can and cannot do."
"But, you said there were rules…." Jack began.
"Aw, brother, there are only rules if you get caught," Giovani said in a maniacal sing-song voice.
Part of Jack wanted to yell at him, fully realizing that taking Sylvia's life could very well jeopardize his own. The other part of him wanted to laugh along with his brother and enjoy a good kill. In the end, Jack's amusement let Giovani know he had won his brother over to the dark side.
