CLANG

Black and white stars exploded across his vision- directionless tumbling; dark; cold; pain.

Ye Bao groaned- his nose was broken. Again.

'You've got to be shitting me.'

His proprioception snapped back into place- he was lying on his stomach with half of his body buried in the snow. The back of his neck and some of his upper back was steadily growing colder.

'Motherfucker...' He hated getting snow down his shirt. He was wearing a turtleneck, how'd that even happen?

He pushed off the ground, lifting himself out of the snow and spitting out a mouthful of melted snow and bloody saliva. Powdery snow rained down in front of his face. He reached up and gingerly pawed at his hair- ruined. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

'Sure, and why not? Why doesn't the only driver in the entire city go down this street, at this time, to run me over.'

He set his nose for the second time in ten seconds- it hurt just as much as the first time. He wobbled a bit over to the front of the car, giving a thumbs up to the indistinct driver's shadow through the snowy windshield and rapidly moving wipers.

Schwump-Schwump-Schwump

Placing a hand on the police cruiser's hood, he leaned down and snagged the rifle out of the snow by its stock, having to squint against the glare of the headlights. Grabbing the attached strap and looping it over his head, he patted the hood good-naturedly, and then, in full view of what was obviously a police officer, pulled back the rifle's charging handle.

Some snow packed around the back of the rifle fell off.

Schwump-Schwump-Schwump

He turned away from the vehicle and started toward where the vampire had gone down.

He was not in the mood to fuck around. He was pissed. So what if there was a human watching? In this weather they'd be lucky to see anything, let alone what was actually happening. He could risk it. He was going to risk it- this bloodsucker needed to get ashed.

'You know, it actually makes perfect sense...' He nodded to himself, holding the rifle's under barrel with his left hand and resting the stock's length over his right shoulder as he firmly patted snow off its frame.

'I would have been surprised if a car hadn't randomly hit me in the middle of a crisis situation.'

With his favored weapon relatively snow-free, he came to a stop and raised the rifle, wedging the stock into his right shoulder pocket- the threaded muzzle and tri-pronged flash hider unwaveringly trained on the person-sized gouge in a snowdrift beside the road.

'At least this way, Karma has spent all her weekly shit tokens on me in one go- the bitch.'

He partially rested his cheek against the back end of the stock. It was more a force of habit than a necessity- recoil had stopped being an issue long ago. Old habits die hard.

'Or wait, does smack-talking Karma sow bad karma?' He internally shrugged, whatever the situation, he'd handle it. He always did.

He channeled all of his focus on the still snow drift- a fresh coating of powder slowly covering any evidence that a murderous, supernatural creature lay in wait.

Schwump-Schwump-Schwump

Ye Bao found himself passively counting along with the windshield wipers- the sound oddly mechanical and out of place in the snowstorm.

Ye Bao's eyes narrowed with suspicion as his instincts warned him that he was missing something.

'What's it waiting for?' His grip on the rifle tightened.

'Smarter now, huh? Is it looking for an opening?'

The police car's headlights illuminated the road and falling snow a few meters beyond its hood, casting Ye Bao's shadow across the ground.

'The snow hasn't shifted- so it's not moving? Could it have moved when I was down? Possibly, but it's probably relying on sm-'

Click-Creak

Ye Bao swore and spun on his heels, rushing to the driver's side door and hip-checking it closed- a muffled yelp of surprise and the strong scent of a warm, feminine body lingering in the air above the car for the briefest second before the ferocious, cold wind swept it away.

'Son of a bitch.' He tensely shouldered the rifle as he panned around the area- vigilantly surveying the area.

In the split second it took him to realize exactly what the presence of a human meant during this fight- he'd already failed to protect her. The thought poked at something sensitive- he pushed it away.

He gently tapped on the fogged window with a knuckle to get the woman's attention, then motioned with the universal 'stay put' motion as he kept his head on swivel.

Falling snow, chilling wind, cloying darkness. Silence.

'Come on... come on, you bastard.' For some inexplicable reason, the vampire was now acting with a discouraging level of higher thought- he needed to lure it out, to kill it and put an end to this madness. And the vampire was now prowling somewhere beyond the periphery of the nearby light sources, watching from the dark- like a wolf.

An idea surfaced. Ye Bao silently cursed to himself- it was a bad idea. Terrible really. Stupid. But if it worked... then it was still stupid, but just happened to work.

Ye Bao kept his knees slightly bent as he crept away from the driver's side and came to stand directly in the center of the cone of light cast by the headlights- rifle shouldered. He hoped the glare would obscure the details of what was about to happen. He angled the rifle barrel down, then turned his back to everything- facing the police cruiser's snow-crusted windshield.

Ye Bao's heart beat pounded in his ears and adrenaline flooded his system- the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end as the feeling of being watched exponentially increased. He would have to time this per-

Ye Bao moved before he was even conscious of the decision, spinning around while tucking his chin in to his chest and lashing out with a right elbow at shoulder height. The strike caught the vampire across the jaw with a solid crack.

Keeping his head down, Ye Bao maintained his momentum and followed up with a left-handed haymaker, catching the vampire in nearly the same place as his elbow had- a louder crack. The creature fell sideways to one knee, its left hand flashing out to catch the ground as it reflexively supported itself. A boot slammed into its chest, sending it sprawling onto its back in the snow. Gunshots rang out- the vampire's figure flinching and erratically jerking as puffs of blood and clothing were blown off its torso and arms. It wasn't enough, he needed to hit it in the head or heart to ensure a stunned-state. He took a step forward-

The sound of a handgun cocking.

"Put it down, now!" an angry woman's voice shouted against the snowy wind.

'You've got to be shitting me.' Ye Bao stopped, but didn't lower the rifle- keeping his eyes trained on the downed vampire. His keen sight allowed him to see shattered bullet fragments being pushed out of its body- the skin knitting itself together.

"Last chance- place it on the ground, now!"

The last of the bullet fragments were pushed out, the vampire stirred as it slowly started rising- a parody of a bloody snow-angel imprinted in on the ground. He didn't have a choice.

He took another step- raised the rifle.

Bang!

Ye Bao staggered forward a step as a sledgehammer slammed into the middle of his back- the rifle's barrel dipping.

He caught a flash of blurry movement in front of him. The vampire appeared in front of him- slapping down the rifle hard enough to nearly break Ye Bao's trigger finger as he reflexively fired off a round into the snow at their feet. Then a fist caught him in the left eye- his grip on the rifle slipped away.

Ye Bao entire head snapped back as he felt his left eye socket fracture. The world on that side went fuzzy, then completely dark- he could only see out of his right eye. The pain was both excruciating, yet dull- as though his mind hadn't caught up to the damage sustained. He didn't see the next strike. Or the next. But he felt the pain exploding across his entire body as blow after blow landed.

Then he was weightless- flying. The back of his head hit something cold and soft. He couldn't feel his arms or legs. His entire body felt like a giant bruise- everything hurt. And it only grew worse as his bones and muscles shifted and cracked- sliding back into place and reconnecting. He gritted his teeth.

'Get up, you weak fuck. Get up!'

"-ir, stay ri- don't move!" The woman's voice was garbled and difficult to hear over the ringing and throbbing in his ears.

Ye Bao managed to get onto all fours- every shallow breath like inhaling glass shards. Some blurriness returned to his left eye.

"I said... don't take- on the ground! You-'

Bang!

The sound jarred him out of his stupor- his bloodshot eyes snapping open.

Bang!

Ye Bao finally stood with gritted teeth- raised his head. His eyes widened.

'That's... how...' His heart skipped a beat.

The world ground to an agonizing crawl- the snowstorm's harsh movements entering an odd state of motionless movement that blended into a single, colorless amalgam. The howling, cutting wind slowed to a single, soft note.

Ba-bump

The sound of his own rhythmic heartbeat- slowly pounding at his temples like some cruel countdown.

Ba-bump

His vision was filled by a single, still-frame snapshot: an extremely familiar policewoman standing behind the driver's door, her forearms resting on top of the door frame- the sidearm pointed at the vampire; the vampire- its body language preparing to pounce on her; the rifle stock- just beyond reach.

'It can't be...'

That wasn't her. He knew that. He knew it wasn't her.

Ba-bump

An overwhelming urge to protect resurfaced in his heart- so strong it hurt.

Ba-bump

He'd made a similar choice so very long ago; a sacrifice he'd never truly recovered from- a dormant scar across his heart as fresh as the day it was ripped from his chest.

Long-buried images flashed through his mind. A beautiful smile, candle-lit dinners, dancing lessons, showering together- another life... a lifetime ago.

Was he fool enough to make that choice a second time? He didn't know.

What he knew deep down, however, was that he was still the same man. A man who wouldn't be able to live with himself if he didn't try. And the price of failure... he'd paid it before. Could he do it again?

Ba-bump

There was a ringing in his ears that had nothing to do with the weather. He felt suffocated- like iron bands were constricting his chest. A lump sat in his throat. Anxiety, remorse, regret, guilt, uncertainty- every pent-up emotion he had so carefully learned to avoid threatened to overwhelm him as he allowed himself to be led down memory lane.

A woman was waiting for him at the end... the road leading to her was cracked, the buildings decrepit and crumbling, a bouquet of dead and wilting flowers in her hands. Yet despite it all, she wore a radiant smile that reached her eyes.

Ba-bump

The sound of his own voice, so many years ago, full of life and happiness, unweighted by suffering and responsibility- 'I promise...'.

"Goddamnit!"

Ye Bao's eyes went completely bloodshot as he called upon his other half without any of his normal discipline or restraint- utterly opening himself to that which he'd dedicate his life to destroying. Thin, black veins popped out against his neck like corrupted, leafless tree branches. His mending body shuddering beneath the sudden strain.

Then he moved- everything around him warping into an unrecognizable oblivion as his enhanced mortal perception struggled to process visuals at such a speed. He was suddenly too afraid to even think errant thoughts, such was his focus- he had never pushed himself this hard. The sensation was entirely alien- frightening in its intensity; seductive in its promise of power.

He may have been screaming. He couldn't tell. He couldn't hear.

He desperately ignored it all- the absence of natural sound and sight. Instead, he preemptively stifled the rising tidal wave of emotions through pure force of will and self-hatred- focusing the entirety of his willpower, strength, and presence of mind on placing himself somewhere in front of the indescribable, non-Euclidian mass that was most likely the policewoman.

Ba-buummpp

Reality slowed and stretched even further, distorting to an extent which strained his mind, before suddenly collapsing back in on itself- his senses returning with all the subtlety of an avalanche carrying crates of explosives.

The transition was jarring.

Howling winds roared in his ears, frigid wind broke against his face and tore at his clothing, the biting cold froze him to the core as he reflexively gasped for air.

Direction, orientation- neither possessed meaning as his limited, lagging perception caught up to reality. Only for reality to slap him across the face with the weight of the human condition behind its palm. It was too much. Far too much. Darkness crept in at the corners of his vision. He felt his mind start to fade- a migraine riding the coattails of a weighty haze of fatigue clouding his thoughts. It was as though he'd spontaneously developed narcolepsy to deal with such a shocking experience.

Ye Bao gritted his teeth and screamed inside his own head- desperately combatting the overwhelming drowsiness with pure stubbornness alone.

And then suddenly, as quickly as it had come, the disorientation and sleepiness evaporated on the wind. His ears popped. The mental fog lifted. He opened his fully repaired eyes.

The world had returned to normal, only this time, he was standing in between the vampire and policewoman. The vampire didn't even acknowledge Ye Bao's presence, instead rushing forward as though to move through him.

Ye Bao furiously met the charge head-on, a gleam of onset madness in his bloodshot eyes. He tucked his right arm in- elbow at his side as he committed his entire momentum to a shoulder tackle.

The pair met with a meaty thump, and a powdery burst of snow. Ye Bao violently swore under his breath as fire burned down his arm- he'd shoulder tackled brick walls softer than this fucker. But his practiced form and supra-human constitution won the exchange- barely. If this vampire was capable of something other than throwing a punch the situation would have been severely more difficult. In fact, Ye Bao didn't understand how it could be this physically powerful, with damn perfect manipulation and control of its vitae.

The vampire actually grunted for once as it staggered back a single step, its upper chest visibly caved-in beneath its torn shirt. But the next second- the skin shifted as its regeneration went to work. Ye Bao's expression darkened.

'This is... It's too young, this shouldn't-' a profoundly frightening thought derailed him. It had been a long, long time since his blood didn't sing of victory- it knew something he didn't. It was scared, respectful.

"Oh fuck..." His eyes widened.

Ye bao dropped into a martial stance and angrily shouted over his shoulder-

"Get out of here! Go!"

The policewoman blinked- unmoving, her sidearm still trained on either man.

"Please!" A hint of desperation coloring his urgent tone before he looked back.

Himself and his superiors had greatly underestimated the severity of the situation- this vampire's background was going to get them all killed unless it was put down.

Adding more strength to his back foot, he dashed toward the vampire- sending up a cascade of snow that obscured the policewoman and the vehicle. There was only one thought in his mind as he shifted his body into an opening approach attack sequence.

'I need to buy time.'

The vampire snarled, similarly meeting the challenge and rushing out to intercept the target of its sinister compulsion.

A raven, black as midnight, was perched atop the police precinct's highest corner- silently observing the life or death struggle in the street below. It's intelligent eyes flashed with indiscernible intent.