She moved quickly as the door suffered another blow from the Vampire. She hoped no one inside the bar could hear it over the loud music coming from the main room.

She threw up her arm and twisted her head in the opposite direction, slamming her elbow into the glass. It triggered the fire alarm the second she breached the glass. She’d forgotten it was wired to go off in case of that happening. Bob would start to clear the bar and the fire department would be notified. Cops and firemen would arrive but she’d probably be dead by then. It was possible that the Vampire might take off.

He hit the door again and more cracks appeared in the wood. Worse, the section of frame with the dead bolt splintered. He was about to bust the thing in.

She grabbed the fire extinguisher and was grateful the owner was almost anal about safety. He always kept the extinguishers filled. Some drunks smoked in the bathrooms and had caused a few small trash fires by not completely putting out the butts before they tossed them away. She removed the pin and pointed the hose toward the door. She stepped to the side and glanced at the axe, then prepared to squeeze the lever to spray the fire retardant.

Two more hits and the door was torn open. The pale freak entered. His eyes still glowed but he’d taken the time to pull up his pants. They looked wet near his crotch, a dark stain proof of the blood she’d spilled. She hoped it hurt like hell.

She let loose with the spray, hitting him in the face. She aimed for his eyes.

He threw up his hand, roaring out in surprise, hopefully blinded. She pitched the entire container at him. It hit him in the chest, knocking him over since he was already off balance and scrambling backward, and he landed back in the alley.

She lunged, grabbing for the axe.

He was still on the ground, wiping at his eyes when she ran out the door after him. Vampires recovered fast. It was something she’d never forget. She didn’t want to die but she still paused when she raised the weapon, gripping the handle with both hands. It was gruesome to consider chopping off someone’s head, regardless of the dire circumstances.

“You bitch!” he yelled. “I’m going to take you to my nest and we’re going to tear you apart limb by limb. You’ll die screaming! I’ll—”

She swung for all she was worth the second he lowered his arm and opened his eyes.

He must have seen the blade coming, because he jerked before she struck his neck. The sharp metal sliced through and she saw his head come off his body in that split second. Blood gushed—but then his entire body seemed to explode.

Ash flew into the air, almost like a big balloon popping, filled with the stuff. It surprised her, and she almost tripped over her own feet to jump back. The axe clattered to the ground and she felt tears burn behind her eyelids from something irritating them. She rapidly blinked and was able to see again.

Ash covered the ground where his body should have been. The wind blew, stirring some of it enough to see a dark stain where he’d bleed. The ash stuck to it, looking like a gross gray-and-red mixture of mud.

Jadee was in a state of shock as she looked down. Ash had landed on her sweater too.

“Oh fuck!” She frantically slapped at her clothes, the urge to puke strong.

Loud sirens penetrated her awareness and she realized the fire truck and police were close. How in the hell am I going to explain this? They would think she was insane if she told them a Vampire had attacked her. They’d lock her up in a mental ward. Other Vampires would come after her, and God only knew what else.

She had to act fast. She forced her body to move as she bent, picking up the axe, the ice pick and grabbing the fire extinguisher. She entered the bar, closing the busted door as much as she could. She set everything down and tore off her sweater, grateful she’d worn a tank top underneath. She turned it inside out and used the sleeves to frantically wipe off anywhere her fingerprints might be on the extinguisher, replacing it in the casing. The axe and ice pick had blood and ash stuck to them. She gripped both and ran into the hallway off the back area.

The music still played in the front of the bar but the tables she could see were clear of customers. She shoved at the door to the large closet where they kept cleaning supplies and scanned the top shelf. She grabbed the bleach and tossed the weapons into the small sink that sat in the corner. She doused them and then turned on the water to rinse the bleach away when the strong chemical began to sting her eyes.

The sirens stopped, telling her the police had reached the front of the bar. The inside fire alarm still droned on. She replaced the near-empty bottle of bleach and used her sweater to grab hold of the axe, trying to dry it and wipe off her prints if any remained after the bleaching it had taken. The blood was gone from the blade. She shoved the ice pick back into her pocket after wiping it down too. She yanked open a storage cabinet, shoving her sweater under a stack of bar towels, then rushed out of the closet and replaced the axe.

Jadee hesitated, glancing around, trying to think of what to do next. Her mind blanked until she stared at the damaged door. The Vampire remains were still out there. They might test them or something.

She exited through the back door. There was a water hose a few feet away attached to the building, to wash chairs and tables down in case someone puked. She turned it on and directed it at the ash. It turned into a gray mess but she hit the blood area the most, then turned the hose elsewhere, spraying it in every direction it could reach. She also bent, took out the ice pick, and shoved it behind the wooden pallet, out of sight.

The back door was shoved open and a cop with his gun drawn stepped out. He pointed it at her and she froze, only easing her thumb off the sprayer so the water stopped.

“I work in the bar,” she told him.

He didn’t lower the gun. “What are you doing?”

“I went to take out the trash and got a phone call from a friend. I was talking to her when I heard someone kicking at the back door and stepped out from over there.” She jerked her head toward the Dumpster. “It was some guy wearing a baseball cap. He went inside and then the fire alarm went off. I was afraid but I snuck over here and grabbed the hose. He ran outside and I nailed him with water. He ran that way.” She jerked her head toward the main street. “He’s wet.”

A fireman and Bob stepped outside. Bob looked relieved. “Thank God you’re okay, Jadee. I got everyone out front but then realized you weren’t there. I remembered you’d taken out the trash.”