First written and submitted to a flash fiction contest, I’ve expanded this short story and continued it as a series. This is the first in the series, which will soon be hosted online.

EPISODE 1: Burning Down the House

I strode inside the saloon and saw Missy leaned against the bar, her skirt seductively pinned above her dark ankles, her head cocked to the side so her riotous black curls dangled beside her ears.

               “Need a date tonight, Ray?” She asked me.

               “No, I’m here on business,” I pulled Jeff Malone’s wanted poster from my pocket to show her.

               She cocked her eyebrow at me, “You do realize I keep clients’ secrets, right?”

               That was all the confirmation I needed. “Guess I’ve got my answer.”

               Missy laughed until she caught my expression. “What’s the problem?”

               “Did Jeff have anything with him when he came in here? Maybe a big bag?”

               “I can’t -,”

               “Annabelle,” I dropped my voice, using her real name, “please, it’s life and death.”

               “I’m not losing coin for you, Ray.”

               “You might lose your life,” I snapped, “Missy, has this place got garlic?”

               She frowned, “Why, you gonna cook something?”

               I ignored the question, “Get it and bring it upstairs.”

               “Ray -,” Missy protested.

               “Now!” I ordered, running up the staircase, my silver-strapped wooden stake now in hand.

               The second floor greeted me with sounds one expects to hear in places such as these; women pretending to be more enthusiastic about their current predicaments than they were, and men who were happily ignoring the charade in favor of pleasure.

               Taking careful steps down the long wooden hallway, I listened past the shouts and cries, until I came to a perfectly silent room, and opened the door.

               What I found was grotesque; a humanoid with white lips-cracked and dry-pulling away from teeth with receding gums, head almost entirely devoid of hair, and skin completely devoid of color. Its eyes so pale, the irises showed clear in the candlelight. Jeff’s broken neck was in its mouth, the man’s head bent at the sort of angle one doesn’t survive.

               Vampire.

               It dropped Jeff, blood dripping down its chin. Its eyes met mine, catching me off guard. It lunged, tackled me to the ground, knocking the stake from my hand. I struggled to hold it back with my arm, long fangs aimed at my throat.

               “Ray!” Missy cried.

               “The stake!” I yelled, “I need it!”

               Missy’s skirts swished, and the stake rolled toward me, stopping just inches from my body. I freed my right hand by sacrificing my left arm to the vampire’s fangs. They sank deep, and I hissed at the pain.

               Footsteps to my left announced the arrival of a second onlooker. Their identity was confirmed when I heard the Reverend Jon’s voice say, “I knew that Ray was no good!”

Reverend Jon didn’t like me. I didn’t care; I had no use for him or the god he served who wanted people enslaved.

               My right fingers slipped against the silver bonds of the stake until I finally found purchase. I grasped until I could grip it. I poised the pointed end up, then allowed the monster’s momentum on top of me to ease its heart onto the stake. The monster thrashed, destroying my clothes, revealing my secret before dying.

               Jon demanded, “Ray, explain this now!”

               “Got the garlic, Missy?” I asked.

               Missy rushed to me, offering a garlic bulb. I took it, peeled away the skin and popped it into my mouth. Chewing, I looked at Jon, “Which part? The part where I killed the vampire or the part where I’m a woman?”

               “W-witch!” He cried, running downstairs.

               “You ain’t safe here now.” Missy murmured.

               “I know,” I sighed, as Missy wrapped my arm with her scarf.

               We looked to the floor as commotion began below.

               “Guess that’s my cue to leave. You coming?”

               “I can’t.”

               “Why?”

               “I belong to-,”

               “You’re a person.”

               “If we’re caught…”

               “We go to the next town.”

               She took a breath, “How?”

               “Out the window.” I lit a match and set the monster’s coat on fire.

               Missy leaned her head out the doorway and yelled, “FIRE! FIRE!”

               I peered out the door to watch as patrons and evening ladies ran from their rooms in varying states of undress, while Missy and I made our escape down the side of the building.

               “You really hunt those things?” Missy asked as she got on my horse, Shadow.

               “Yep, them and others. I’ll teach you.” I told her as I got on behind her.

               As fire poured out the window above, Missy snuggled into my chest, and we rode into the night.