Free Death of an Immortal by Duncan McGeary Page A

or when two of them walked over to their table.
    “Sylvie? Is that you?” one of them said.
    The two men stood over them with big grins.
    “Yeah?” she said in a neutral voice.
    “It’s Peter Saunders. I dated your sister in high school.”
    “I remember you,” she said. She obviously didn’t like the guy, but was trying to be polite.
    “Hey, I heard about what happened to Jamie. I’m sorry.”
    Sylvie softened a little and her eyes grew moist. “Thank you, Peter.”
    He sat down in the booth next to her, and she had to scrunch closer to the window to make room.
    The other man loomed over Terrill. “Scoot over, man,” he said, and pushed his way onto the seat. Terrill gave way reluctantly. They both smelled of sweat, of healthy young male. Once, Terrill would have torn them to pieces for their rudeness, but now he stayed silent.
    “Yeah, I was sorry she moved to Portland,” Peter said. “She was the best piece of ass in Bend.”
    Sylvie stiffened. Peter looked over at Terrill challengingly, as if to ask, “What are you going to do about it?” Terrill stared back, but still didn’t say anything. It wasn’t the reaction Peter was looking for. He seemed a little disconcerted.
    The guy next to Terrill spoke up. “She never would put out for me.”
    “No?” Peter said. “Well, you are one ugly son of a bitch.”
    “Not even on the second date.”
    “Well, I heard she was selling herself over in Portland. Once those bastards over there hollowed her out, maybe you could’ve afforded her.”
    “Come on, you guys,” Sylvie said. “Get out of here.” She didn’t sound as much angry as sad.
    “Why? Jim here was wondering if you put out for free. Or do you cost money too?”
    “That’s enough,” Terrill said. The tone in his voice froze both men. They stared at each other, as if challenging each other to say something. Peter looked Terrill up and down and seemed to decide he wasn’t much of a threat. Both men were huge, steroid-inflated jocks. Terrill was as tall as they were, but nowhere near as muscled.
    “I like your duds, man,” Peter said. “Obviously, you can afford her. Jamie always was a skank, ever since middle school. Sylvie probably costs more, being that she’s so much fresher.”
    “Stand up,” Terrill said.
    The two jocks looked at each other, grinning. They were about to get what they came for. No doubt they didn’t expect Terrill to put up much of fight. They stood up and waited for him.
    He took his time, wondering what he was going to do. If he fought these two men, he doubted he would be able to control himself. Any other time, any other place, he would have taken the chance. But not here, not in front of Jamie’s little sister.
    He tried to stare them down, and they backed away a step in response. If there had just been one of them, it probably would’ve been over. But each of them was egging the other one on.
    Peter took a swing at him, which he easily evaded. But Jim came in low, from the other side, and Terrill was slammed against the edge of the table. The air went out of his lungs and he collapsed to the floor.
    Both men started kicking him, and he put his hands over his head to protect it. He wasn’t afraid. Under the cover of his hands, he was trying to minimize the damage, taking notice of what part of his body was being struck. He hoped that was enough to satisfy the young men’s bloodlust.
    He fought the urge to tear them apart. His fangs started to extend, but he kept his face down. He thought he heard a gasp from Sylvie but didn’t dare look at her. A kick to his neck left him gasping for breath, and his fangs and claws retracted. That had never happened before in the face of danger. He wondered about it as he continued to take the blows without resistance.
    It’s the girl, he thought. He didn’t want to turn into a monster in front of her. He didn’t want her to know that he was her sister’s murderer. He wanted desperately to look like a good man to