“Wakey, wakey,” a voice cooed in her ear.

Jinx blinked wearily, trying to force open her heavy eyes. Her mind felt hazy, and her body wasn’t hers. She tried to move, but her useless arms and legs stayed put. Jinx peered out of her half open eyes and all she could see were blobs of color, they almost seemed like monsters.

“Come now, you bitch, get up!” the man shouted striking her hard across the face.

He pinched her chin between his thumb and forefinger, forcing her head up. She blinked a little as he came into focus, he was a hideous thing. He had a large bulbous nose, and tobacco stained teeth. His face was covered in scars, and his one eye was the color of spoiled milk. He grinned at her, and ran a hand through his greased back hair.

“Well good morning, Sleeping Beauty,” he chuckled. His breath smelled like old eggs. Jinx couldn’t help but gag a little. She tried to pull away, but he had her firmly.

“Oh your not going anywhere, you pretty little thing.” He reached into his dirty black jacket and pulled out a pair of silver handcuffs. The man forced her arms behind her and secured the cuffs tightly. They cut and sliced into the soft skin of her wrist. Jinx winced as they dug deep into her veins.

“Who the fuck are you?” she spat angrily.

“The name’s Daryck, but you can call me Dar, since we’re about to get nice and personal,” he said with a wink.

Jinx’s eyes darted around the room. The walls were the same minty green as hospital bedding, and the floor was concrete painted grey. There was a small door on the far end of the room and a large autopsy table sitting in between. Along the wall there were rings which Jinx concluded were probably for hooking up prisoners. The florescent lighting threw the entire room into an eerie sort of glow. Jinx felt her heart quicken at the thought of what might go on in that particular room. The man stood slowly, he never took his eyes off her. She scooted into a corner, feeling trapped. She pressed her back into the wall secretly hoping she might just phase right though it.

“Take it easy dame. I’m not as scary as I look. I’m scarier,” he laughed boisterously at his own joke. His laugh echoed loudly in the confined room. Jinx tried to pull at the cuffs, but they only dug deeper into her skin.

“Why am I here? What are you going to do to me?” Jinx asked in a low whisper.

“Well doll, recently an associate of mine was doin’ a job see, and you decided it would be funny to ruin the aforementioned job.”

“Vinnie was mine. I got to him first. That’s the name of the game,” Jinx snarled.

“Well you see, my associate wasn’t very pleased with this, and lost out on a great deal of loot. So, unless you can compensate for the missing funds, I’m afraid you’re going to find yourself with a bad case of the deads.” He smiled at her like he was trying to be charming, or funny. To Jinx, it didn’t come across as either.

“This is ridiculous!” she shouted, her fear being replaced by anger. “Where is that moron?! What is he, too scared to take care of me himself!?” Suddenly the door swung open.

“Not too scared at all, Lovely, just don’t like to get my hands bloody.”

He smiled at her. His hulking mass took up most of the door frame which effectively ruled it out as an escape route. Jinx forced her self up on the wall. When she was finally standing, she took an attack stance. It was difficult with her hands pinned behind her, but she wasn’t going down without a fight. The two men laughed at the woman as she lowered her torso and snarled at them, baring her two large fangs.

“That’s enough of that, lady,” Dar said as he strolled around the table in an attempt to grab her. Jinx planted her foot firmly into the ground and let the other one connect boldly with his jaw. The sound was awful and she was almost sure she had broken it. Dar fell against the large autopsy table clutching at his jaw.

“Get that bitch and tie her to the peg, James!” Dar growled, pointing at the large ring over Jinx’s head.

The brute, James, hurried around the table. Jinx ducked back down. She let the tension coil in her legs so that she could spring at him with as much force as she could. James lunged at her and she met him head on. She sank her fangs into his exposed throat, clamping down tight. With a swat of his hand James smacked her away. Jinx hit the wall hard, her head slamming hard against the concrete. She tried to stand, but her legs felt all wrong, and she slid back down to the ground.

James stood over her, looking particularly menacing. He took her by her upper arm and pulled her up off the ground. He undid her hand cuffs, shifted both her hands to her front, and cuffed them back up. Jinx tried to pull away but everything was spinning. She could barely stand on her own. He dragged her over to the ring, pulling both her hands over here head as he hooked her into the device and secured it. He grabbed her face and forced her eyes to his.

“Maybe that will keep you settled,” he sneered. Rage boiled up in Jinx. She bared her fangs and snapped at his hand.

“You better hope to God I don’t get out of this. ‘Cus if I do, I can promise you, I will kill you and it will not be pleasant,” She snarled.

“I’ll hold you to that, Lovely,” he laughed. Blood poured down the side of his neck, his shirt soaked with the sticky red substance. He didn’t seem to care. He knew it would only be a few more minutes ‘til the wound closed. Jinx always found the rapid regeneration to be one of the perks of being a vampire. Dar stood slowly still cupping his jaw, a little stream of blood trickled down his chin.

“You didn’t tell me how crazy she was. I wouldn’t have agreed to help if I had known how much of a pain she was!” he shouted at James, his face turning bright red.

“Suck it up you sissy! Look she’s all cuffed up now. Put a muzzle on her if it’ll make you feel better. But honestly, I don’t see her going anywhere,” James said half to Dar and half to her. His mockery only added fuel to the burning, fiery hatred Jinx was harboring for the man. He fake smiled at her, and she returned it with some effort. Her body was still aching all over from the impact against the wall. If it weren’t for the cuffs holding her up, she surely would have fallen back to the ground.

“I am going to get out of here. I have other business to attend to. Can you handle this?” James said, slapping Dar across the head.

“Ow! Yea I got this, geez!” Dar said, shrinking away from James’s hand.

“Well it’s been really… interesting, Miss. It’s a shame things had to end this way, but such is life. Farewell.” With that, James exited the room, leaving just her and Dar.

“Well, it’s just you and me now doll. You’re gonna pay for this.”

He pointed a chubby finger at his jaw. He walked over to her slowly, his revolting eyes scanning over her body. He licked his scarred lips and a sick little smile danced across his face. Jinx glared at him, she didn’t need to be a mind reader to understand what was going to happen next. Dar’s stubby little fingers worked their way towards his belt. He undid it slowly, drawing out the motion. Jinx pressed herself flush against the wall, trying to put as much distance as she could between her and the terrible man. Dar slowly undid his button and fly. His tongue lolled out to one side, on his face an expression of anticipation and hunger.

“I swear to God, if you come near me with that thing, I will cut it off,” jinx said lowly.

“When are you gonna realize? The more you fight, the hotter you are.”

Dar closed the gap between them quickly. He pressed his body against hers, and Jinx had to suppress a gag. She turned her face away from his, not wanting any part of his mouth on hers. His breathing was heavy and erratic, his excitement was obvious. She tried to push him away, but she couldn’t get enough force built up to move him. Dar placed his hand on the side of her face and pressed her cheek against the wall.

“No way I’m gonna let you snap at me, crazy.” With his other hand, he lifted the hem of her dress around her waist. Jinx struggled against him with all her might. She couldn’t have been more horrified and helpless. Big wet tears rolled down her cheeks as she sobbed silently, and continued to struggle.

“Give it up girly, you’re all mine,” Dar breathed into her ear. His fingers played with the lace edge of her panties. He groaned softly as he pressed his groin against her. Jinx stopped fighting, it was hopeless. She was trapped and nothing was going to change that…

The door flew open suddenly, clattering loudly as it hit the wall. Dar glanced over his shoulder, obviously not as startled as Jinx was. He lowered his hands back at his sides and turned away from her. Jinx shook herself, trying to get her dress back down over her hips.

“Who the fuck are you?” Dar asked coldly.

“I’m here for the girl.” Jinx knew at once who it was. She raised her head. There he was, tall and handsome. His deep brown eyes stared angrily over the barrel of his Magnum. A wave of relief came over her, which was silly because he was just as dangerous as Dar, maybe even more dangerous.

“You think you can just waltz in here and take her??” Dar laughed.

“Yea, pretty much. Now if you’ll just uncuff her and bring her here…”

Dar exploded with laughter. His whole body shook as he cackled loudly. With lightning speed, Dar threw himself at Victor. He grabbed at the Magnum, but Victor had anticipated his move, and lifted the gun out of his reach. For a vampire, Dar was incredibly clumsy. He tripped over his own feet and fell against the wall. Victor gave his hind quarters a firm kick, which made him fall to his knees. Victor pressed the barrel of the gun to the back of Dar’s head.

“I’m not going to ask you again. Go get her and bring her here,” Victor said as he cocked his gun, just incase Dar didn’t get the message.

“Ok, ok, geez!” Victor backed away from Dar, but never once did he lower the Magnum. Dar walked around him, keeping his hands visible. He undid the latch that held her hands above her head.

“Now step away,” Victor said, pointing to the corner opposite the door.

Dar complied, pressing his back against the wall. Victor reached for Jinx and grabbed her by her arm. He grabbed the cuff keys off the table, leading her by her arm through the door which he pulled closed behind them. They hurried down a candle lit corridor. The halls were all dirt and rocks; it looked almost like a mine shaft.

“Fancy seeing you here,” Jinx laughed. She just couldn’t help but find her awful luck amusing. Freed from her captors by the hit man sent to kill her.

“Yea, this is my regular hang out. Didn’t you know?” Victor said, never breaking stride.

“Victor, we really must stop meeting this way.”

Jinx was laughing harder now, so hard tears streamed down her face. Victor shifted his gaze towards her, a sly smile creeping across his lips. He yanked her forward as they came to a large steal door. With a heave he shoved it open. On the other side sat a huge stair case, it seemed to go up endlessly.

“While I’m glad you find this all amusing, we don’t exactly have time to stop and chat about it. I’m sure whoever that guy was has already alerted his boss. Once we go up these stairs, we will be in the back lot of 45th street. You keep your hands low so your jacket covers those cuffs. We’ll walk quick and calm, no funny stuff. Got it?”

“I like it when you order me around,” Jinx giggled, feeling a little more then delirious. Victor stared at her wide eyed. Jinx couldn’t help but notice how adorable he was.

“Sorry, I’ll stop talking,” Jinx said.

She turned away from him and began the hike up the stairs. Victor followed close behind, his breathing loud and shaky. It grew worse as they ascended through the barely lit stairwell. Jinx glanced back at him over her shoulder and he kept his head down. His wavy, black hair shook as his breath passed through it. One gloved hand clutched his chest right above his heart.

“Are you ok?” Jinx whispered.

“Shut up and keep moving. We’re almost out,” he snapped. His hand gripped a little harder at his chest. Jinx didn’t question it. She just picked up her pace a bit. At the top of the stairs was a large set of cellar doors.

“Open them,” Victor gasped, his breathing sounding even shakier. Jinx shoved open one of the heavy metal doors. It landed against the ground with a loud clank. Daylight flooded into the cavern, blinding them both. Jinx threw her hands over her face trying to shield her eyes.

“Hands down,” Victor whispered.

He pressed the gun a little harder against her. He grabbed her with his free hand, and led her out of the dungeon-like stairwell. Jinx glanced around, trying to get her bearings. The two stood in a small field behind a large, abandoned building. The grass, what little of it that there was, was brittle and hard. It cut into Jinx’s already battered feet. A rusting chain-link fence closed in the lot. Jinx considered making a run for it, but where would she run to? How long would it be before Victor found her again? She was dancing with death, and at some point the song had to end. She looked over at her savior, her captor, her killer.

He stood stoically, his dark eyes daring her with danger, his strong jaw clenching and relaxing. She didn’t know anything about him, but she wanted to know everything. Something about him fascinated her. Perhaps it was because no one had ever looked at her the way he did. He looked at her, through her, in her. Jinx felt a cold shutter crawl up her spine. Victor stepped to her, taking her by her upper arm, and pulling her close to him. He stared deeply into her eyes, it was almost intimidating. Her breath caught in her throat, she hadn’t seen him this way before. He seemed fierce.

“This ends today,” he said between his teeth.

He tightened his grip on her arm, leading her around to the front of the building. The city block was surprisingly empty, only a few people hung around. Jinx did as he asked and kept her hands down. He dragged her along by his side, his Magnum poking out of his coat sleeve. No one seemed any the wiser, some people even tipped their hats to say hello.

Victor tugged her along for a few more blocks, but at that point her feet were killing her. They had been torn apart by all kinds of trash and debris. He finally stopped in front of an old, run down house. It was a decrepit thing, with boarded up windows, big gaping holes, and old rotting wood. Something about it looked…off. Jinx tilted her head a bit, and as she had suspected, the entire house was leaning to one side.

“Let’s go, move,” Victor said as he prodded Jinx up the ancient wooden stairs.

The porch was a mine field of splinters and broken glass. Jinx tried to step around it, but her efforts were fruitless. Victor pushed open the creaky door. He threw the light switch, which lit up the old sputtering bulbs. The room was covered in a thick layer of dust. It was obvious that no one had lived there in a rather long time. The whole entry way was empty, just a bunch of cobwebs and floor boards.

“Go over there and get on your knees,” Victor said, pointing to the farthest corner in the room. Jinx looked at him, hoping to see some sort of expression. There was nothing but coldness. She moved slowly over to the corner and fell to her knees, facing him.

“Turn around and face the wall,” he commanded.

Jinx complied. There was no use fighting anymore. She thought about her family, and how much she missed them. She hoped she’d see them when she was dead, but who knew if vampires went to heaven. Maybe they were monsters, and destined for the fires of hell. Either way would be a welcome relief. She was tired of running away. Ever since she had turned, all she ever did was run. She could use the peace. Someone else would take up her work, and maybe one day someone would set things right.

“For the record,” Jinx said over her shoulder, “I never hypnotized you. I know vampires are supposed to be good at that stuff. I never really was. I’m more of a fist fight you in a barroom, type of girl. Just wanted you to know that.”

“Shut up!” Victor shouted.

The gun in his hand began to shake. He stared at her. His gaze no longer cold, but laced with a mix of anger and confusion. Jinx turned back to the wall and closed her eyes, bracing herself for the pain. She muttered a quick prayer and asked for forgiveness. This was it. This was the end of the song, and her dance partner stood poised ready to take her life. Nothing lasts forever…

The shot rang out...