Hannah Oake: Thoughts in an Alley

A Hannah Oake Shorty

Hannah Oake sat in her 2003 Mustang Convertible in the alley behind of The Blue Crescent Moon Club where many Werewolves came to play.  Her friend, Gem Drake, was in there tracking down a Wolf that had supposedly kidnapped two kids, sisters.  As a official Slayer for Headquarters it left her with a lot of free time because her sort-of boyfriend, Basil O’Sullivan, had put out a threat to take down anyone that harmed or troubled Hannah in any way.  Everyone was on their best behavior now or at least being really good at hiding anything.

“What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, right,” Hannah asked herself aloud, waiting for Gem to come out of the club.  She moved to turn the radio on but stopped short wanting to keep her ears open for anything useful.  She almost wished Gem had taken her inside, she really needed a distraction.  Basil, as much as she cared for him, could be a great big pain in the arse.  She was almost positive she loved him, too, but he made it damn near difficult to do anything about it. 

A moment before a man showed up in the alley, Hannah’s extrasensory Vampire Alarm went off in her head.  Like most vampires, he showed up without any visible trace of coming or going.  He was also very pale, like most vampires.  This vampire had dark eyes and hair and dressed very conservatively, much like Basil.  In fact, he looked quite a bit like Basil.  Hannah would have been alarmed if she hadn’t just left the arse at Gem’s place on the other side of town. 

With a great amount of acquired agility, Hannah slipped out of her Mustang and shut the door without a sound.  She took the stake out of the formed silver case hanging around her neck.  The wooden stake had been polished so that in had a high sheen with an addition protective spell to keep it from breaking, getting lost, or being seen by most people. 

The vampire stood across the alley, not moving even as Hannah came from around the car and stood in front of it.  His dark eyes gleamed from the light above the back door of the club.  The vampire smiled at her and a wave of lust spilled across her middle as she was once again reminded of Basil.  The man is so pigheaded!  Hannah gripped the stake in her right hand and retrieved the switchblade from her back pocket with her left.  The vampire’s hair moved slightly in the wind, falling down into his right eye.  Hannah fought the urge to walk up to the vampire and move the stray hairs from his face so she could see into his eyes.  That’s not Basil.  That’s not Basil.  Although she knew that, she couldn’t help wanting to call him to make sure he was alright. 

She took a second to glance around the alley to make there wasn’t anywhere for the vampire to go.  Her car was behind her, locked with her keys in her pocket.  The door to the club had been locked from the inside, as was protocol for such a club.  He could go back the way he came, but that seemed too counter productive for a vampire.  Hannah was itching for a fight, but felt a little out of practice since Basil’s stupid threat had prevented her from fighting anyone leaving her only able to practice on training equipment. 

The vampire still hadn’t moved.  He stood there like a freakin’ statue. 

It was extraordinary to think of the similarities between this blood sucking vampire and her beloved, stubborn Basil.  They were both about the same height, a head over her.  They both had broad shoulders and the stubborn grimace she had grown accustomed to.  She often compared Basil to Simon Cowell, but only to Gem and only when there was no possible way anyone would be able to over hear them.   

Hannah took a step forward, causing the vampire to finally move.  “About time,” she mumbled, tightening the grip on her stake.  “Oui, there, vampire,” she said, “when is the last time you fed?”

“I was thinking about right now,” he said, his voice deep (much like Basil’s) which almost caused Hannah to swoon.  “A step closer, my dear, that’s a girl.”

Hannah took an involuntary step forward.  STOP! Hannah yelled at herself.  She needed to get into the game before the game got her.  She flipped open the switchblade, made of pure, reinforced silver.  Taking a few deep breaths to steady herself as she felt the vampire release magical energy, she knew this wasn’t going to be easy.  Very few vampires could release energy like that, making their target almost drunk with it.  It caused their target to be easier to catch and of course it doubly energized them when they drank their blood, because their blood would be enriched with magic that they drank back in. 

She tried to concentrate on the vampire in front of her.  She got sidetracked instead and started staring at his lips.  Just like Basil’s . . . she thought on a magical high.  The sudden urge to cover those lips with her own caught her unaware.  It was sheer force of will that stopped her feet from moving as she remembered Basil was at Gem’s, waiting for them.  She wished Gem was there so she could use her to ground herself and take of the vampire scum.

Of course, not all vampires were scum.  No, indeed, Gem’s friend Anton Nicholls was a very nice – er- creature that often helped Hannah when she needed it.  Gem said. . .er, what?

Becoming exceedingly disoriented, Hannah stumbled forward a bit more.  There was a crash that came from behind Hannah, making her lose her balance as she turned to see what it was.  Gem and Parker were standing outside of the club, in front of the car, arguing with each other.  Gem was dragging someone behind her by their collar. 

“I most certainly can take care of myself, Parker James Samuels,” Gem said loudly, “and don’t you forget it.”  She poked Parker in his chest, making him growl. 

“Just because you can take care of yourself, Gem, doesn’t mean that you should go running off without me.”

“We aren’t even dating,” Gem growled.

“That’s besides the. . .”

“Don’t you dare – DARE – tell me that is beside the point?  It’s exactly the point.  That’s what you want and I won’t give into your macho, Alpha attitude.  I’m not like most girls.  I’ve never had this problem.  I have a wolf and a vampire who both want to get into my pants and sometimes – sometimes – I think I’m just a potential notch in each one of your belts.”

“No,” Parker said, quietly.  Gem had to be quiet to hear him.  Even the guy that Gem had been dragging stopped fighting her and got quiet.  “No, don’t you ever think that, Gem.  Don’t you ever.  I can’t stand to see you this upset.  I can’t stand to think that I’m causing you grief.  I’d step down and step aside if I didn’t love you so damned much.  That’s right.  I said it.  I love you.  Want me to prove it?”  Gem hadn’t said anything through Parker’s confession. With a sad sort of smile, Parker raised his face and arms to the sky and screamed, “I LOVE THIS WOMAN!  I ABSOLUTELY, POSITIVELY ADORE THIS WOMAN!  I WANT TO HAVE CHILDREN WITH THIS WOMAN!  I WANT TO GROW OLD WITH HER!  I WILL TEAR ANYONE APART THAT TRIES TO KEEP US FROM THAT! I LOVE THIS WOMAN!”

Gem got a little weepy after Parker’s declaration.  She dropped the collar of the guy she had been restraining and threw herself at Parker, who caught her with a few tears of his own. “Hey,” Gem said, unexpectedly, “Hannah got a vampire.” 

“What,” Parker asked, setting Gem down.

“What,” Hannah repeated, looking down at the vampire beneath her.  He’s eyes were glazed over and there were trickles of blood running from his mouth and both of his eyes.  Sure enough, Hannah’s stake was sticking out of the guy’s chest.  “Huh, would you look at that?”  Hannah got up and dusted herself off before taking her cell phone out and calling Waste Management from Headquarters.

“Looks like I’m done for the night,” she said, coming towards the couple.  “Your Wolf is getting away.”

“Damn,” Gem muttered before grabbing the crawling Wolf.  “Someone call Basil and get him to take the trash out.”  Parker laughed, pulling Gem forward for a kiss.  Hannah laughed because in doing so Gem pulled the Wolf along with her. 

“I’ll call Basil, you guys just keep the Wolf here,” she said, pulling her phone from her other pocket.  She sat on the hood of her car so she could watch the unanimated vampire and still be close should the Wolf find a way to attack.  She was really excited to see Basil.  When that overgrown bag of hot air got there, she was going to tell him exactly what was on her mind, whether he liked it or not.