Ali saw red and it wasn't just the fire now burning her home, it was from the smiling face of a man she thought dead.

She again forgot everything she learned in her dreams and ran at towards man smiling at her from the edge of her apple grove.

In no time she was before him, not even giving him a chance to react to her, she slammed into him fist first.

It was like hitting a brick.

"CRACK!!!"

Pain blasted through Ali's hand from the right hook she threw.

The force of the blow had Ali stumbling away after the punch, her legs felt like they had turned to jelly, she tripped over the loose ground, sending her into a backwards roll

The man she hit didn't fair much better ,the speed and force of the punch knocked him into a tree behind him with such force that loose branches started to fall around him.

Tears flowed down Ali face as she cradled her damaged hand.

The pain for a tantalizing moment overwhelmed her as the meal she had eaten the night before threatened to regurgitate with every unsteady breath she took.

Then, through the gaps in the trees by the light of her now burning home, she saw the massacre of the jackalopes.

Some still lay twitching but the few others she could see, hanging on some of the trees, had their heads smashed and bodies torn apart like a child's teddy bear.

Mary was shouting something at her. Her mind couldn't yet register the words.

Then she looked up at the arsonist that she attacked and he was walking towards her causally.

"It seems you remember this face, that's good news. " the arsonist said, his voice oddly different from the last time she heard it, the pitch sounded higher and more sickly than she recollected.

"I still don't have a handle on this body's addiction to fire. But that's my problem. " he said as his hand reached into a pocket before pulling out a lighter.

"Would you believe i have five of these on me?, I just can't stop myself from lighting them up."

"That's what happened to your house by the way. I did that just to get you all outside so I could kill you but then I got excited and the damned rodents tried to push me back again. Don't worry I took care of them for you."

"Just when the flames really started to come to life." The arsonist continued "for a moment there I thought you guys wouldn't make it out and I'd have to rush in and kill you before the fire did."

The arsonist smiled down at her, his jagged fangs showing as he flicked the lighter in his hand on and off all the while looking at the house burning.

The arsonist's face suddenly fell but then quickly recoverd.

"Oh drat, they got the hose out. Don't you people realize the artistry in the fire?."

Ali ignored the meandering arsonist and breathed deeply then stood up the way she was taught in one smooth motion, with the same momentum taking one step forward, which for her brought her with in his range. Ali raised her other leg with the same smooth easy grace and launched a forward kick into the man's chest.

Using his body as a springboard she increased the force of the impact as she rebounded off him with a twist of her foot and with the next step she was back in her original position.

The arsonist however, felt the full force of the sudden impact, a crack like thunder shook the area even making the flames on the farm house flutter. His chest shattered as he was blasted back like a shot from a cannon.

Sending him sprawling and bouncing from the recoil off a nearby tree then to the ground in a mixture of dust and leaves.

Ali took another breath to steady herself, her hand throbbed something fierce but a grin threatened to break out on her face at the sight of her tormentor on the ground. ...until he wasn't.

The man went from a crumpled body, to standing.

His chest where her foot had landed was caved in and his head was at an awkward angle yet he stood still, not even blinking as he looked at her, still amazingly with a death grip on the lighter as he started back lighting it on and off.

"Nice trick, karate? " He asked as he stumbled forward, but seemingly only realizing after a step that his leg was broken, as it had landed badly under him when she kicked him.

"Damn it, now I really need a drink."

Ali looked at his fangs and realized he didn't mean alcohol.