David took a few minutes looking around the deserted building. Maybe we can get out…

But the doors were barred. Literally, someone had taken steel rebar and somehow had welded it to the sides of the door frames. The windows were all boarded up, and there was no way to get out of them, not without making a lot of noise.

“David,” Mari hissed. “Over here!” There was a pile of junk on the side, looking like someone had cleaned up the place, shoving the largest bits of broken furniture and chunks of concrete into one big pile.

David ran over to where Mari was, crouching behind a table that had been turned over on its side. They waited quietly, barely daring to breathe. Slowly the light brightened, and then a figure scrambled out of the hole in the ground. It was short, a few inches shorter than Mari, although the dark cloak and hood obscured the figure’s body.

Are they a bum? David frowned, then blinked as the figure turned side on to them, and he saw what was bringing the light.

It was a floating globe in its—no, definitely her hand. It gleamed with the same light as the crystal had, as she made a negligent gesture with her fingers, and the globe floated up into the air, before it zipped into the crystal. Right after that, the crystal started glowing as brightly as a 100-watt light bulb.

What the fuck? If that’s some kind of aetheric energy, where are her tools?

Then the girl pulled off the cloak and tossed it over to the wall, to hang on a bit of rebar sticking out of the wall. David stared, even as Mari started in surprise.

Her hair was in a bun, gleaming in the light of the crystal.

Blond and red? She had time to get a dye job? But that wasn’t the big thing. She yawned, and David saw the prominent incisors, white against her lips.

A vampire? Is she a vampire? Fuck, had they stumbled into some ridiculous college game?

No. College students didn’t conjure up glowing balls of light. She turned and walked over to the scorched place on the ground, squatting in front of it and lifting her hand and saying… Words.

Nothing David understood. David stared as a glowing ball, this one brighter than the crystal started to form.

And not just light. Mike could feel the heat from it. At that, the figure nodded, walked back over to some of the boxes, and pulled out some…

Instant noodles? Since when did magic people from… wherever the hell she was from use store-bought instant noodles? She grabbed some bottled water, filled a camping pan with them, then sat it over the glow on the ground, stirring in some spices as she nodded at her dinner. Then she went back and started to stare at the map.

Now, David got a better look at her face. She did have prominent fangs, but other than that, she looked… well, pretty normal. Good looking, especially in the shirt and jeans she was wearing…

Okay, the fact that she had what looked like an over-sized revolver on one hip made her a little less good looking. But, if you subtracted the fangs and the fact that she was between them and the way out, David bet she’d be able to get a date any time she wanted.

Then she yawned, turned back to the maps, and took out a plastic ruler and pencil. She started making notations while muttering to herself. Glowing symbols appeared around her, shimmering before they vanished into the thin air.

Is she doing homework? David almost lost control and laughed at that. Here they were, hiding behind a pile of junk, and a girl who might or might not be a vampire was doing something while she was waiting for her noodles to finish. And speaking of that…

The girl got up, stretched again. And went to squat over the bubbling noodles she’d prepared. David stared and then felt a poke.

Mari. She gestured at the hole and the way the girl’s back was turned to them.

David shook his head. There’s no way we can get out without her seeing us. She’d have to stay turned around for the entire…

And then David’s phone rang. David frantically dug for it, hitting the screen, but the girl had whipped around, and suddenly, the entire chamber was plunged into darkness, only a little light leaking in from gaps in the boarded-up windows.

Okay… not goo—FUCK!

David shouted, Mari’s scream loud in his ears as a bolt of bright violet light smashed into the pile, sending fragments all over the place. He grabbed Mari and pulled her out from it, running as fast as he could. Another bolt, this one shimmering with greenish energy, nearly hit him, but it came close enough so that his left arm and leg just felt utterly numb. David fell to his side, his breath whooshing out when he hit the ground.

Mari turned and held out her neutralizer and flashlight.

“Mari, fucking run!” David shouted. What are you going to do, give her a sunburn?

But one hand holding her flashlight, one hand holding her neutralizer, Mari spun around, the light catching the girl, that big gun in her hand.

David had never seen a gun that big.

Especially not one pointed at him. Her eyes were gleaming in Mari’s flashlight beam, a shimmering mask over them—and then Mari, still screaming like a banshee, fired her neutralizer. The mask just flared, the light bright enough to illuminate the entire room. The girl screamed in shock and pain and staggered back, just in time for a howling Mari-torpedo to run right into her. Mari knocked the girl over, pushing her to the ground, even as clumsily flailed away.

“That’s for trying to kill us! That’s for scaring the shit out of me! That’s for making me almost piss my panties!”

David managed to get up, feeling pins and needles all over his side, and then reached down and grabbed Mari. “Mari, she’s out!”

Mari paused, stared down. The girl’s eyes were closed, bruises forming on her face.

“Oh, God.” Mari stared. “Did I kill her? I killed her, didn’t I!”

“No, I mean, she’s breathing…” David stared. “And she’s… shit, she’s waking up!” David looked around frantically. “I… Rope, Mari, grab that rope!”

Mari scrambled off the girl and grabbed the rope while David held her down. She was stunned but still starting to struggle when Mari came back. Before the girl could do anything else, Mari and David wrapped her up in the rope, tying it tightly around her, her arms trapped between the rope and her body.

“David, what if she can… Blast us with her eyes?” Mari asked.

“She’s not Gort, Mari,” David said. “She was using this.” He picked the gun up and frowned. He’d thought it was a pistol but…

The barrel is solid. No way for bullets to go through it… The cartridges were big, and they felt a little bit like…

Like full containment units. David put the weapon down, pointing away from him.

“Okay,” Mari said. The girl was coming back, flinching in the flashlight beams. David turned his flashlight up and put it down on the ground, the beam hitting the ceiling and spreading a dim light over the room.

“Wow, nice eyes,” Mari said. “Special contact lenses?” she asked.

The girl just glared up at her, her violet eyes narrow. David could see the tips of her incisors as she pulled her lips back from her teeth.

Yeah, they were big. Wonder if she’s thinking what I’d taste like.

“So!” Mari chirped. “We just snuck into a campsite, almost got killed and beat the crap out of a camper. What do we do now?”

That’s a good question. David shook his head. Right now? I don’t have a fucking clue.