“You did,” said another man. “I saw it. You’re a really bad shot, Paulie. Also, your breath stinks and you wear ugly ties.”

The man named Paulie didn’t respond to that for a moment. Then he said, “You guys suck.”

“Ah, Paulie...”

“Paulie, come on...”

“No, shut up. My wife buys me these ties, you know she does, and you know she’s colour-blind and not that bright. And I’m sorry if my breath stinks or I’m not the best shot in the world. But I thought we were friends.”

“We are friends, Paulie.”

“Friends forgive each other the little things. But fine, if you want me to check on the dead monster, I’ll check on the dead monster. We wouldn’t want any blood to get on any of your ties, would we?”

Paulie came forward slowly. He stood over Annis and prodded her with his foot. Then he hunkered down.

“It’s really ugly,” he said. “But I think it’s a she.” He sounded puzzled. “And I can’t see any blood.”

Annis opened her eyes and Paulie jerked back, but her nails were already skewering his face. She heard the others cry out, heard them panic and reload. There was nothing they could do now, though. They were already dead, they just didn’t know it yet.

She threw Paulie aside and sprang to her feet, charging them as they backed away. Every swipe brought a cry of pain and a spray of blood. One of them grabbed her and she took his arm off. Another fired point-blank into her head and caught the ricochet in his own chest. They screamed and begged and slipped on blood and Annis took the last man’s head off with a single bite.

She was aware of alarms and distant shouts, and then a growling. She turned. The vampire stalked towards her. Bone-white and hairless. Big black eyes. Big teeth. A monster. Just like her.

It sprang at her and Annis went down, snarling. Claws tore at her, fangs tried ripping her throat open, but that blue skin of hers was as tough as any armour. They rolled over and over, the world doing crazy tilting somersaults all around them. Compared to her own blue hide, the vampire’s alabaster skin was soft and tender, and her teeth cut through it with ease. The vampire shrieked and twisted, its claws raking across her face, almost taking out one of her eyes. The vampire was suddenly free, but she reached out, grabbed its foot, brought it down when it tried to leap away. She crawled over it, her claws leaving bloody furrows in its flesh, and its shrieks reached a new pitch of desperation and raw fear as she crawled up towards its neck.

*