SWNOVELS Chapter CHAPTER THIRTY
ANNIE WAS WAITING FOR THE BUS on 8th Avenue; she had sensed something untoward in the gentleman with the expensive-looking briefcase and pinstripe gray suit; he also wore a white shirt but no tie. The vampire thing was new to her, and she was enjoying it. It would take a while to get accustomed to, but it was a huge step up from her previous condition. No more pain and no more struggling for breath. Every day she felt like she was drowning. Every morning she felt cheated when her eyes opened to start another day. It was as if the sun had finally risen, and she could enjoy life’s beauty again. When her heartbeat for the first time as a vampire, it frightened her. She thought a vampire had no pulse but discovered that the heart did beat occasionally. She had Googled it.
Annie was tiny and fragile looking, with silver hair and blue eyes. Some of her wrinkles had tightened during the transformation, but unfortunately, she still looked old. She thought that her vim and vigor could power the entire city, and the fact was that she could lift that bus over her head had she wanted to do so. Being turned by the Master certainly had bonus points. Some nights she went out with her red purse displayed prominently, hoping to attract a mugger; she hadn’t yet succeeded, but she thought that sooner or later, she would bag one. In her mind, it was time for the people to take back the streets. Annie would fight anyone that was taking advantage of another.
Why Annie suspected the fellow who resembled a banker was up to no good, she had no idea. It was like a hunch but a lot stronger. She felt like attacking him even before he got on the bus; the feeling was that strong. The vampire took note of all the different people getting on the bus. She hoped some of them weren’t taking their last breaths because of that bozo in front of her. Annie was new at this game and wasn’t sure how a fight would play out. A baker’s dozen entered the bus, including Annie. She sat behind Elmer in his fancy suit and closely watched him. She wondered what he had in his briefcase. Annie watched and waited; she could feel him tense as he looked around, probably searching for a suitable victim. A 4-year-old girl playing with her Barbie at the back of the bus; she could detect how happy she was. The calm mood on the bus was about to change drastically.
It didn’t take long after the bus pulled out before his fangs came out, and he attacked the beautiful young blond in front of him. Elmer was exceptionally fast as his fangs went for the young woman’s neck to drink her blood, but Annie was faster. She punched him and knocked his teeth out before he got to her neck, sending blood flying. His fangs grew back immediately, but he was surprised he hadn’t sensed another vampire. The bus screeched to a halt and erupted in screams.
“What the heck is going on back there?” said the bus driver.
Everyone feared for their lives. Vampires were on the bus! Annie grabbed Elmer by the seat of his pants and the scruff of his neck, tossing Elmer out through the window; she then went out after him. She figured everyone on the bus was scared enough, so she had to get him out. Much easier to fight outside, where there was more room.
“What are you gonna do now?” said Annie. It was a bit of a humorous scene with the 90-year-old preparing for battle with the vampire that looked thirty-something. She beckoned him towards her with slight movements of the fingers on her right hand. He couldn’t help but smile.
“Death is coming for you.”
Elmer couldn’t mind her; he couldn’t even read her aura. She made him more than a little nervous because he figured there must be powerful magic involved. Attempting to blur off rather than be the subject of perusal of all those faces on the bus, he found his way blocked each time. He was scared that a red sheriff would appear if he remained too long. Annie was at least twice as fast as he was; Elmer knew then he would have to fight the old woman. He pulled a machete out of his briefcase and tried to cut her head off, but she was so fast that she ended up behind him kicking him in the butt, driving him up and over the bus, catching his knees on the roof as he went over.
Elmer screamed his loudest. “You die now, you crazy bitch!”
“I don’t think so.”
Everyone on the bus watched the battle and cheered for the old woman, so he showed them his fangs as a threat. He attacked her four times with punches and kicks that would have killed a human, looking for the best opportunity to take her head, but she deflected them. He tried his best to punch her in her little old face; the result was that she broke his arm at the elbow. It healed, but it was painful. Elmer swung the machete viciously, and each time was a miss.
There were sirens in the distance.
The more she effortlessly dodged his attempts to kill her, the angrier he got. Elmer attacked Annie like a maniac, screaming and swinging. But on the third swing, he discovered that his machete was gone, and she was holding it. His look of disdain was a complement to Annie.
“That’s impossible.”
Annie cut Elmer’s head off as his bones fell to the pavement; the bus cheered for the old woman. She took a bow, kicked the bones across the street, and blurred off.
“Wish that was my grandmother.”