Free Stalking Darkness by J.L. Oiler

her.
    “Guess
you did a bit too much assuming.” Cadence took a few more steps toward the
woman, closing to within striking distance. “So tell me, did Claire or the
others know you betrayed them in the end?”
    She
watched a smug grin turn Julie’s lips as she raised her sculpted brows, “Claire
cried for you, screaming at me to save you as I watched them rip her throat
out. The others were too drunk to care. They just laid there and waited to die.
You should have been smart enough to join them in that endeavor.   Only Brad begged to save himself and in the
end, Anton made him one of us. Of course, we use him like the little bitch he
is. Everyone needs lap dog.”
    “You
should have made certain I was dead, Julie. I trusted you.”
    “Foolish,
foolish girl”
    “Once upon a time, not anymore.” Cadence twisted her head to the
left, hearing the vertebra in her neck snap and crack in preparation. “So any
other surprises you want to share before I kick your sorry ass?”
    Using
the woman’s stunned expression to her advantage, Cadence struck first with a
hard open hand slap that rocked Julie’s head to the side. It wasn’t a blow
meant for injury, but for insult. By the seething anger she saw coming from her
former friend, it worked.
    Instantly
Julie launched herself forward, sending both of them rolling across the floor
among the broken plastic cups and spilt drinks. Arms flailed about as they
clawed, snapped and scratched at one another.
    “You
fucking bitch, I’ll make certain your dead this time,” Julie screamed as she
sat astride Cadence’s waist. “I’m going to rip your heart out.”
    “I…don’t…think…so!”
Allowing her own fangs to slip past her gums once again and the rage of the
monster she’d become to awaken, Cadence tossed the woman off and sprang
straight to her feet. Striking out hard, she smashed the heel of her hand into
her former friends nose, the cartilage cracking on
impact. Julie stumbled across the floor away from her, landing on her ass as
Cadence looked about for something to finish this fight.
    Julie
stared at her, fear and tears shining in her eyes as she watched a chair
shatter against the floor and the woman she’d left for dead stroll toward her,
a jagged chair leg stake in her hand.   Cadence was tired of playing with the woman,
the time for retribution long past due.    Julie made one last effort to turn the tables, jumping up from her seat
on the floor, intent on scratching out the eyes of her enemy. Instead, she met
with a roundhouse kick, which sent the woman back to the floor. With an angry
scream, Julie jumped up and charged at her.
    Using
her own momentum against her, Cadence jumped forward to meet her, gripping the
stake tight as she moved the sharp end just to the left of Julie’s sternum and felt
it penetrate the skin as the bones popped and snapped. When it was over,
Cadence leaned over the dead body of her former friend, blood coating her hands
where it sprang up around the crude object, which completely penetrated the
chest and stuck out from the other side. Jumping back as the body burst into
flames, she looked down at herself.
    “Damn,
that was a lot messier than I expected,” she grumbled to herself as she used
the pant leg of her jeans to wipe some of the sticky red blood from her hands.
    The
sound of a sharp angry roar from behind her caused Cadence to spin around. Her
mouth went dry as she watched one of the large males she recalled seeing the
night of her death barreling down on her. He streaked across the floor at her,
a broken beer bottle gripped in his hand, fangs dripping from any number of
victims who’d fallen to him. She knew this was not going to be good. He was far
too close, moving far too fast and she had no time to prepare. A few feet from
her, Cadence sucked in a deep breath in preparation to the attack, only to
catch a glimpse of movement to the bastard’s immediate right. Phynix struck a
split second before he reached her,