she’d seen on Brianna’s neck.
The Hanta grew stronger...angrier. Desirous of battle.
It had taken Denny just one call to find the address of the woman. Denny changed in to her hunter leathers and waited for nightfall atop a marble mausoleum as she had been doing night after night for six months.
“Is that a...is that a chick up there?”
Three hoodlums in black hoodies and white high tops stopped in front of the eight-foot tall mausoleum and stared at Denny, who hadn’t moved from her crouched position.
“Holy shit, it is!”
All three gawked at her as if looking at an odd fish in an aquarium.
“Hello, boys.”
One jumped back.
“Don’t be afraid man. It’s just a girl.”
Denny grinned. “Oh really? Can a girl do this?” She leaned over the statue and flashed her red eyes at them.
All three jumped back.
“ Dios Mia !” One yelled, stepping behind the other two. “It’s a...a...”
A slight smile made its way across Denny’s face. “A demon? Why yes. Yes it is, and your dios can’t help you any more than those little pea shooters you use as extended dicks.”
Hopping off the mausoleum and landing spritely on her feet, Denny let her red eyes glow redder and hotter. “You think you’re some bad-ass evil street punks? Well fellas, you got zippity-do-dah on me, and if you don’t want to me to kick your asses so hard you become hunchbacks, then I suggest you just mosey on over to the other side of town and steer clear of this neighborhood.”
All three took off running, leaving Denny alone in the graveyard. “Seriously? You flash a little redeye at them and they run off like a bunch of little girls?” She chuckled the Hanta’s laugh. “Pussies. They just don’t make thugs like they used to.” Denny laughed out loud.
Her Hanta had never really been funny before.
Interesting.
It took Denny fifteen minutes to walk to Ray Ann’s house. The woman lived in a smaller shotgun house in an area of town where most of the houses were rentals and in desperate need of repair.
“Well, what in the hell did she expect dating a low renter? Good manners? Exquisite behavior? Respect? Come on, Brianna. You deserve better than that.”
Putting on a baseball cap as her only method of disguise, Denny walked around to the back of the house and kicked the door in. The wood from the door frame splintered as the door ripped off its hinges and flew six feet into the kitchen, landing just inches from a woman’s feet.
“What the fuck?” Ray Ann growled, reaching into a drawer.
Denny moved with such speed, Ray Ann froze long enough for her to slam the drawer on her hand. “Uh-uh, asshole, this is one time when you don’t get the upper hand. No pun intended.”
“Jesus Christ! You’re breaking my wrist! Get the fuck off me!” Ray Ann tried hitting Denny with her free hand, but Denny caught her fist. For a moment the two women glared at each other.
Denny felt the Hanta within. “Oh honey, when I’m through with you, your wrist won’t be the only thing broken.” Denny leaned on the drawer.
“Fuck! Do you know who I am?”
“A wife beater?” Denny’s voice got lower and lower. “An asshole? Stop me when I’m wrong.”
Denny opened the drawer and shoved it so hard, the wrist bones easily snapped. Ray Ann howled like a beagle in heat. Then Denny grabbed Ray Ann by the throat and pinned her to the kitchen wall. Her broken hand and wrist lay limply at her side. “Listen here you piece of low-rent shit. I’m the person who’s come to exact the pound of flesh from you for your abuses of Brianna.”
“Is... that ...what this...is about?” Ray Ann choked out.
Denny squeezed her neck harder, her fingers digging into Ray Ann’s skin. “I ever hear you utter one bad syllable, one negative word, or lay one more hand on another woman, I’ll come back here and cut you into teeny tiny pieces with my really bad-ass sword.” Reaching inside her vest, Denny pulled Epée out and, with the flick of