Chapter 8

Everything seemed to happen at once.

The far window of the living room shattered, showering the room in glass as a black figure dove through, rolling to an elegant crouched stop on the floor. Izzie was already moving away from the wall, out of reach, drawing both her daggers from their sheaths and dropping into a defensive position.

She met the gaze of her intruder.

Two murderous red eyes locked with hers.

His face was twisted into a gruesome snarl as he bared his fangs at her.

Within a split second, he was in front of her, using his supernatural speed, but she had anticipated his attack and her dagger was already swiping up in preparation.

He realised last second and leant back, but he wasn't quick enough to get away, the dagger grazed a long bloody line across his chest and she heard the hiss where the silver touched his flesh.

Before he could recover from that she had already brought her foot up and booted him squarely in the chest, throwing him to the ground.

Without wasting a second she ran forward, driving the dagger down towards his chest aiming at his heart.

He rolled before she made contact, forcing her dagger into the floor and wedging it into the floorboards.

She pulled desperately at it, but it wouldn't budge.

The vampire blindsided her, knocking her away from it and pinned her down by her shoulders. His grip was so tight that she could feel her collarbones starting to give way. He reached up and grabbed at the neckline of her shirt trying to pull it down, but hissed and pulled his hand back as his skin touched her silver necklace.

She used his shock to bring her knee up between his legs, clocking him square in the balls. He cried out in pain and his grip wavered.

Taking the opportunity she threw him off of her, grabbing her remaining dagger and driving it down into his leg.

He screamed out, grabbing her wrist and crushing it in his grip.

She felt the bones shattering but didn't scream, she grabbed the dagger with her other hand and twisted it.

Thankfully he let go of her wrist as he grabbed for the handle of the dagger, trying desperately to pull it out.

She took the chance while he was writhing on the floor to run back to her other dagger.

She braced her feet either side of it and pulled hard.

She heard the wood groan and start to splinter as it began to give.

Damn, how much force had she put behind this damn thing?

There was a sudden snap and the blade came away from the wood, unfortunately, she wasn't ready for it and it sent her hurtling backwards. Her back hit the ground hard, knocking the air out of her.

She rolled onto her belly quickly, trying to force herself up, only to see the vamp had already clawed his way to his feet, dagger still protruding from his leg.

He was about to lunge for her and she saw her life flash before her eyes.

She'd been taken off guard.

This wasn't her at all.

If she'd have only grabbed some more weapons from her room, maybe she would have had the upper-hand.

Why did she think two daggers would protect her?

This vampire was well trained and hardy, clearly pureblood or a turn with a few centuries behind him.

They knew she was a Slayer, why would she have assumed they would send an inexperienced vampire to get rid of her?

She had been foolish and now she was about to pay for it.

Three gunshots rang out in the room, nearly deafening her. She watched as the vampire staggered backwards, his attack long forgotten.

Within seconds he was gone, he didn't even make a sound. If she hadn't known what she knew it would have been like he had just disappeared.

"Izzie!" she heard Jake call and loud footsteps as he ran to her.

He grabbed her, pulling her to her feet and helping her over to the couch.

"Are you hurt?" he asked, frantically checking her over.

She couldn't help but notice that he focused mainly on her neck and wrists, but at this moment, she really didn't care.

"What the hell happened?" he cried, holstering his gun, as he kept a hold of her with his other hand.

"They know," she breathed, still trying her best to catch her breath.

The silence that followed was heavy.

Jake knew exactly what she was saying, but she couldn't tell exactly how he felt about it.

His expression was somewhere between panic, shock and anger.

"I'll have to inform the guild," she said sadly.

This could be the end of her career after she was just gifted with a priority target.

She'd never make it into the elites.

She'd have to move far away and live in a protected Slayer community.

No phones.

No Internet.

An uncharted island, cut off from the rest of the world.

It was something she never imagined for herself.

She'd told herself she would never get herself into a position where she would ever have to consider it.

Now look at her.

One vampire managed to mess her up with one little statement.

A statement that could have easily have been a lie.

Probably was a lie, considering recent events.

"Did he say he knew?" Jake intruded on her thoughts.

"What?" she frowned, not quite sure what he meant.

"Did he say that he knew? Did he say that he'd been sent by someone? Did he say anything?" Jake asked, his expression very serious.

Izzie just shook her head still frowning at Jake.

What did that have to do with anything?

"Then we don't tell the Guild anything," he shook his head, "This could still be a random attack. Could even be a vigilante vampire who overheard and decided he could take you."

"He still escaped, Jake," Izzie sighed, "If you are right and it was a vigilante that didn't tell anyone else, then hell sure as hell be going to tell them now."

"He won't get far," Jake assured her, "I had jelly beans already loaded, silver nitrate will be coursing around his system now, he won't get far before it hits his heart."

Jelly beans were a sort of ammunition they used. They were small silver balls, that were filled with silver nitrate. They were designed to pop a few seconds after an impact, releasing the silver nitrate into the system.

They were quite effective against most creatures that were affected by silver.

Older, stronger and pureblood creatures, however, could survive it if they got help fast enough.

"He was a powerful vamp," Izzie gave him a grim look.

Jake shrugged, "Powerful or not, I hit all three shots straight into his chest. Trust me, he won't last long enough to speak a word."

Izzie wished she could feel reassured by that, but again that awful gut feeling was nagging at her.

Jake finished boarding up her broken window, just as Izzie came back inside from speaking with the police. One of her neighbours had heard the gunshots and had called them.

Izzie had come up with a believable story about how she and Jake had been messing around with their air rifle and had managed to smash the window.

She'd been let off with a warning and apologised for worrying her neighbours.

"Sorry," he whispered, just in case the police had decided to do a lap of the property, "I panicked and didn't even think about the silencer not being attached."

Izzie waved off his apology, "You saved my ass, a little conversation with the police doesn't bother me."

He still cast an apologetic smile but did let it go.

"You want to stay at my place for a bit?" he inquired as he grabbed up the last of the extra nails and put them back in her spares tub.

"I don't know," she replied honestly.

 Her logical side said it would be safer for her, there was always strength in numbers and Jake's house was one of the most protected.

His father was the leader of the Slayer Guild after all, he kind of had to be protected.

The other side said that she wanted her home comforts and as much as she wanted to impress Jake's father, she didn't really fancy living with him.

He was a cold, stern man, most likely from his many years in the business. He didn't really come across as approachable and she felt like she'd be walking on eggshells living within his house.

"If you're worried about my dad, then don't be," Jake told her, "I'm living in my own cottage my parents' estate. It'd just be us two."

Now that sounded much more appealing.

His family's estate was huge, and knowing Jake he wouldn't be living in a house anywhere near the main stately home.

"You'd have your own room," he tried to entice her.

She didn't need any more enticing, she was sold.

"Okay," she agreed, "Just for a few days while we figure this out. Your dad doesn't need to know."

"Exactly," Jake nodded, a grin spreading across his face, "And, we can finally have that damn movie night!"

Izzie laughed and shook her head.

Trust Jake to think of that first.