Carpathian 16 - Dark Demon

to dress in your Sunday best," Natalya said. "Although the alternative is rather disgusting."
    A flicker of anger rippled across the man's face, but he hung onto his smile. His teeth weren't so white and appeared pointy and sharp. "Please put down your stick."
    "Do you think I'm going to make it easy on you? I'm not really happy with you, Freddie boy."
    This time the anger stayed. Brown stains appeared on his teeth. "I am not Freddie. Who is Freddie? My name is Henrik."
    "You don't get out much do you? Haven't you ever watched the late night movies?
    Freddie's a regular star. A very ugly mass murderer, much like yourself. I really don't care what your name is. I care that you persist in following me and I'm damned tired of it. So take your best shot, Freddie boy, and let's get it over."
    Henrik's breath came out in a long hiss of anger. "You will learn respect."
    Not bothering with a retort, Natalya launched her attack, freeing her sword as she sprang at him. The sword arced through the air slicing toward his neck.
    Henrik dissolved into vapor, streaming away from her, a shriek of rage echoing through the forest. He faced her several yards away. His thick black hair was gone to be replaced by long white very disheveled strands.
    "I should have known you'd be a sissy. Vampires are supposed to be such bad asses, but you're all such babies. You wanted a fight." Natalya continued to goad him. "I've got things to do tonight. I don't have time to play your little games with you."

    "You go too far. I don't care what the order is. I'm going to kill you," the vampire snarled.
    She smirked at him, giving a small salute. "Nice to know you can think for yourself. I thought your puppet master had you too well trained for free thinking."
    The branch above her head cracked and broke off, rocketing toward her head like a missile. Natalya leapt forward, going on the offensive, ramming the sword straight at Henrik's chest. The branch slammed into the ground exactly where she'd been standing.
    The vampire parried the sword away with a sweep of his arm. He was enormously strong and the contact sent violent vibrations up and down her arm so that for a moment everything went numb and the sword slid out of her hand. She kept moving, spinning nearly in midair, already reaching for her guns. She drew both, rapidly firing as she raced at him, the bullets slamming into him repeatedly, driving him backwards away from her.
    Henrik jerked with each bullet, staggering, but staying upright. As she reached arm's distance, she holstered one gun and drew a knife, holding it low, close to her body as she drove toward him.
    He attempted to shift shape, reaching for her with contorting arms and clawed hands. She drove the knife into his chest, deep into his heart and leapt away to keep the blood from touching her skin. She'd learned from experience it burned like acid. She'd also learned vampires could rise again and again.
    She whirled around and raced for her sword. The wind rushed over her, a whirling eddy of leaves and twigs. Wings beat strongly above her head and talons materialized out of the sky, dropping at an alarming rate of speed straight toward her eyes. Natalya dove for the ground in a rolling somersault, coming up on one knee, guns in both hands, tracking the huge bird. It had already dissolved into mist. The droplets shimmered and began to take the shape of a human.
    She waited. It was impossible to kill a vampire without form. Already Henrik was stirring, tugging at the knife buried in his heart. He called weakly to the new arrival. She heaved a sigh. "Die already! Sheesh, the least you could do is put yourself out of your misery and get it over."
    "Good evening, Natalya." The voice was hypnotic, almost mesmerizing.
    "Well, if it isn't my good friend Arturo." Natalya faced the vampire with a false smile.
    "How nice to see you again. It's been a long time." She gestured with her gun toward the writhing vampire. "Your little sissy partner is making so much noise. Would you mind finishing him off so we can talk without the background music? If there's one thing I can't stand, it's a whiney vampire." Deliberately she continued to goad Henrik, knowing the angrier the vampire, the more mistakes they made in battle.

    "You haven't changed much."
    "I've gotten meaner." She shrugged and grinned at the newcomer. "I'm losing my tolerance for your kind."
    Arturo glanced at the bleeding vampire clawing at the ground. "I see that. He is rather loud,