A Troll is Haunting Tex's

"Jump in, guys," Steve called, 'n BiscuitHammer kind of wearily clambered in and PuckIt sort of half collapsed into the back beside him with one of the hounds. He'd gone in with six. Come out with one and that sucked, 'specially I seen a couple of those hounds go down and they'd gone down hard, fighting to the last savagely snarling bite. Of course, I was the last in and I had my cell up. Wasn't leaving my pelt behind 'n Steve kinda followed my directions and we stopped outside that address.

Walked in through the door with Steve behind me but the place was silent, empty, 'n my garbage bag was there where they'd said it would be, along with his head. Needed that for the bounty and they'd left it behind. That kinda surprised me. Red's body 'd gone though 'n I guess Los Lobos had kind of left town along with everyone else. Wondered if they'd be coming back. Bounty on werewolves was damned good, so maybe not. They did hang in packs but honest to god, when you tracked one down, the professionals just swarmed in coz it paid and werewolves, they might have their own code but the Fed didn't give a fuck. They just wanted them exterminated.

Me, I wasn't turning these guys in. They'd lived up to their word to me and Voboy, even left the frigging pelt and head right where I'd dumped it. They'd followed us into that mall as well and Christ alone knew how many of them had made it out. Nope, I wasn't mentioning anything about them to anyone. Wasn't saying anything about Bear either, although Steve'd always wanted a bearskin rug. Kind of a dream of his. Nope, Bear might be some kind of a werebear but he was on the side of light 'n everything so I was giving him a pass.

Steve helped me load that garbage bag of mine into the box. It was heavy, couldn't lift it that high myself 'n I didn't want anyone else wondering what was in there and saying something. Lifting a pelt wasn't exactly illegal but the Feds did like to incinerate anything monster related. Not this time. They weren't taking this one away from me. This was my personal frigging souvenir of Texas.

Yep, I had plans for Red.

I just kinda collapsed into the truck's passenger seat and breathed in and out slowly as we pulled out and away. Back to Tex's but shit, there was something I'd forgotten and I kinda sat there wondering what the fuck it was and then my cell started beeping at me and I looked down and I frigging remembered.

Xander.

"Crap, Steve," I said. "That frigging troll lives here. Xander, that's his house coming up. There, the white wooden bungalow."

"Oh yeah," Steve said, and he was smiling now. "You good?" He looked around at BiscuitHammer.

"Good for what?" BiscuitHammer said and he looked pretty much fucked.

"Taking out a troll," Steve said.

"Bringing it back alive," I contradicted my guy and I didn't usually do that in public but ... "He's gotta get those jay-pegs of my boobs down first, Steve."

"Oh yeah," Steve said, like he'd forgotten.

"Steve," I said, dangerously serious. "My boobs are coming off of Pornhub. I don't want every guy with an Asian boob fixation jerking off over them."

Like Steve liked to do except he didn't use jay-pegs. He had the real deal to jerk off onto and it was so cool the way he'd do that and then get hard again right away watching me rub his cum all over my boobs and my nipples. That got me so hot. Come to think of it, that first boyfriend of mine, the one I used to jerk off coz I didn't do blowjobs back then, he used to love that to and my boobs, they'd been way smaller back then and they really weren't that big now.

Guys! What can you say? I always kinda enjoyed seeing them get that excited over my boobs. Maybe we should just terminate Xander and leave my boobs up there on Pornhub and all those other websites. It was kinda cool to think of thousands of guys all over the world looking at my boobs and jerking off. Just about made me want to play with myself.

"Okay, let's go do it, Chloe," Steve said. "You guys good?"

"Yeah, sure," BiscuitHammer said. "Never seen a Troll Takedown before, let's go."

"Yeah, I'm in," PuckIt said, but I could see he was looking at my Kevlar and kinda wondering. Guess someone'd be doing some quick googles before Xander took those boob shots down. Good luck, dude, coz far as I knew Xander hadn't used my name so they were just a few more anonymous asian girl boobs and god knows there were a lot out there. Not that I minded a few anonymous images of my boobs going out and so far that's all the troll had managed. They were kinda nice boobs, even if I say so myself. As long as my face wasn't up there with them, well, whatever. Steve was bugged though and I was almost sorry for the poor frigging troll. Almost.

Steve did keep the entry more or less professional and BiscuitHammer knew the score on forced entry better than I did so that through the front door thing went quite well. The bodies on the table in the dining room didn't go quite so well though. Two of them, adults, no signs of struggle and the puncture marks on the necks were pretty clear.

"Fuck!" PuckIt said and his gun was up and all ours were. My Remington was kinda covering the nearest doorway coz vampires, even new ones, they're preternaturally fast.

"Vampires?" BiscuitHammer asked and I guess for him it wasn't a superfluous question coz it wasn't like he'd had a whole lot of experience with real frigging monsters before this weekend.

"Yeah," I said, rather shortly and we cleared the ground floor. Nothing except a lot of kids' toys and stuff and fuck, Mom and Dad were on the dining table and they'd been dinner for something but where were the kids? Dessert maybe?

"Check upstairs," Steve said and his kukri took the heads off 'n PuckIt bagged them. Me, I tapped a couple of those stakes through their hearts. These two weren't coming back anytime soon, not now. I'd seen more than enough vampires to last me a lifetime. Didn't want any more.

"Chloe, you and PuckIt guard the stairs," and him and BiscuitHammer were moving, looking like those military dudes in movies as they covered each other and the doors upstairs were banging and there was a sudden wailing scream from upstairs, a shot and then another and PuckIt was off and up as fast as he could move.

Me, I held my position the way Steve'd trained me but I swear I heard a kid's voice from the basement, a frightened little sob and Jesus, I couldn't ignore that so I slid down the stairs, silent as a snake, 'n it was dark down there but I flipped the lights on and darted through the doorway and spun and ...

Oh fuck!

Three of them. An adult vampire and two kids. Two kids I recognized. The ones we'd rescued from the chupacabras. Except now?

Now they were vampires and the fangs showed. The fangs and the mindless hunger in those young eyes.

I looked at those two little kids snarling as they looked at me, those long white fangs exposed, hands clawed and on their faces, there was nothing but hunger and that vampire that'd turned them must've turned them that first night coz it was only day before yesterday that we'd rescued them from those chupacabras and rage and sadness filled me coz you gotta be frigging evil to turn kids and they musta been completely terrified and that vampire behind them, it smiled and it's hunger touched my mind and beneath my Kevlar, my crucifix flared white.

That pale tongue flickered like a snake's from between thin, nearly invisible lips and this wasn't a master or it would've turned my mind by now, I knew, even though I was avoiding eye contact and do you know how hard that is to do? Its nose flared and I knew it was scenting the air, scenting my blood and it smiled. Smiled in anticipation of feeding on my blood and Steve and BiscuitHammer and PuckIt were upstairs. There was only me down here in the frigging basement and they had me cornered.

I looked at Aaron and Amelie and I knew we'd failed them. We'd rescued them from the chubacabras and we'd left them with the cops and the cops had turned them over to Child Protection Services or whatever the fuck they were called down here in Texas and they'd put them here and that vampire had walked right in and killed the adults that were supposed to be looking after them and protecting them. The bodies were in that dining room behind me, drained dry and the poor little kids, they'd never stood a chance.

"I'm sorry," I whispered to those children, but there was no intelligence, no awareness in those two sets of young eyes staring hungrily at me. To them, I was food. Nothing but food and I swear I was gonna consider becoming a frigging vegan if I survived this.

That vampire musta caught that thought 'n it threw its head back and laughed and that was the last mistake it made coz in that moment I flicked my Remington over my shoulder and down and pulled the trigger and thank fucking Christ I had one up the spout coz that 12 gauge special hit that vampire in the chest and tore it open. That hollowpoint exploded, fragments of silver and vaporized holy water filling that cavity with flaming agony as that 12 gauge thunder echoed through the house. Thundered again and again as I emptied all five shells into that vamp and blew it apart before it even had time to scream so that the last couple of shots exploded in the wall behind coz that frigging vamps chest and heart 'd been completely frigging vaporized.

It was that unearthly wailing scream that snapped my eyes around. Released from the control of the vamp that'd turned them, those two kids were in that frenzy of hunger that newly turned vampires feel and PuckIt 'd told me about this and I screamed and threw myself backward, my hand finding my Ruger as I hit the floor on my back and drew up knees up, kicked out as my Ruger flowed into my hand from that ankle holster.

Silver spikes work on vampire kids, I found out right then as I kicked out. They screamed as I spiked them and those silver spikes must've hurt as I kicked them away 'n I knew I'd been lucky that they were outa their minds and they'd come straight in. My kick sent them back, clear across the room coz I hadn't been holding back and I aimed and fired without thought, mind blank, watching as Aaron tried to place himself between that first bullet and his little sister and I put that first bullet through Aaron's heart, seeing him stagger, seeing the sudden intelligence and awareness in his eyes, seeing his mouth frame "thank you" as death took him with a second bullet though his head coz I didn't want him to see his sister die.

Amelie, and I don't even know if she still knew that that was her name, she looked at her dead brother, the brother who'd protected her in life and even now, turned, he'd still tried to protect her in undeath 'n she screamed wordlessly, a shrill cry of rage and hunger and she leapt and my bullet snapped her head back in mid-air and my second took her in the chest and they were all those specials and they tore the life from her in what I hoped and prayed was an instant and then Steve was through the doorway and BiscuitHammer was right behind him and there wasn't a moment of hesitation from either of them as they emptied their 1911's into the bodies, double tapping each one.

Pushing myself to my feet, I looked at the bodies and I knew what I had to do and I did it. Ruger back in my holster as the silver flare of my crucifix died away, flipped my MUSAT knife out and I knelt and sawed that vampire's head from whatever was left of its body that it was still attached to and bagged it. Wasn't a heart to take, thank god. Looked at the kids lying there, bodies bloody and torn by our bullets and I wanted to cry but I knew I had to do this to and I knelt and Steve was there, his hand on mine, his voice gentle.

"I'll do these, Chloe."

I looked at him through eyes full of tears. "We failed them, Steve. We rescued them and this happened to them and we let them down, it musta been so terrifying for them."

Steve took my knife and I held the girl's shattered head gently as he sawed through the neck, my tears trickling down my cheeks. "I'm so sorry, Amelie," I said, lifting her head, kissing what was left of her forehead coz even dead I wasn't going near those fangs and I bagged her and then I held Aaron's head and I said the same to him and I kissed him and bagged him and said a prayer for them both.

I didn't watch when Steve took their hearts and bagged them, but I knew what we had to do. Burn them separately and sprinkle the ashes over separate bodies of water and these two kids, I knew what I was gonna do. Take them home, take them north and find a couple of clear cool mountain lakes surrounded by hills and pine trees and I was gonna burn them and sprinkle them there where it was peaceful and beautiful and quiet and I was gonna pray to God for their souls coz it hadn't been any fault of theirs they'd been turned and I know what the Church said, that vampire souls were damned for all eternity but surely he could give these two a miss and I was gonna pray for that just as hard as I could.

I was still crying when the basement door at the back of the room opened and next second three 1911's were pointed at the tall black guy in jeans and a casual short-sleeved shirt that stood there.

"You have come to rescue," he said, and yeah, it was that Nigerian 419 accent and right away I knew we had us our troll.

"Xander." I smiled and it wasn't a friendly smile at all. "Hi there."

"Gook slu ... ,' he stuttered. "I mean, uh, this pleasure so unexpected. Great franchise opportunity in online marketing is now available for minimal depo..."

"Shut the fuck up, Xander," Steve snarled, and his 1911 was jammed into the troll's face. "We're taking you in and handing you over to the Feds." He grinned. "They're real busy right now Xander, got no time to waste on a 419 troll, so they'll probably just terminate you."

"He put jay-pegs of me up on every porn site on the web, Steve," I reminded my beloved. "We need him to get them down."

"We negotiate," Xander said. "I take them down, maybe while we do that we talk about twenty million dollars I need to deposit in safe account on behalf of Al Jawhara bint Abdulaziz bin Musaid Al Jiluwi, daughter of Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia who is ...."

"Shut up, Xander," Steve said. He sounded rather firm to me and I knew how light that 1911 trigger was. Xander was about a fraction of a millimeter away from instant death. I kind of wondered how many 1911 rounds a troll could take before it died. Call it idle curiosity. Coz I'd just killed a vampire and two little kids and I wasn't thinking of them as vampires, just as little kids and Xander'd been here and what the fuck, he hadn't even tried to protect those little kids so he frigging deserved to die as well and good fucking riddance.

Xander looked down and that black black skin paled. "You kill little children," he said, and Jesus, he was good, there were tears in his eyes. "Xander is not knowing these two in house."

"Hey, look in here," BiscuitHammer said.

"Stay out," Xander said, his voice suddenly urgent. "Is dangerous chemicals in there. Hazardous to health..."

"Shutup, Xander," Steve said, kind of emphasizing his words with his 1911.

"Take a look, Chloe," Steve said, 'n I joined BiscuitHammer.

"Shit," I said. Then, "Bring Xander 'n he can explain this," coz sitting at the back of that room, silent as a bunch of terrified mice, were half a dozen young kids, five, six, seven, a couple that were maybe three or four but all silent. The mute silence of terror.

"Explain," Steve said, and his voice was cold and I knew Xander was about to die if he didn't explain and explain fast.

"This foster home," Xander said. "Mr. and Mrs. Axler, they are fine people, take in foster children. Take in me many years ago, provide me with room in basement..."

"The children, Xander, what the fuck are they doing here?" My own voice was cold and I knew what we were all thinking coz this dude 'd plastered images of my boobs all over the web. Pervert. Little kids. I'd shoot him myself, on the spot and too bad about my boobs.

"He rescued us from the bad person," one of the kids piped up. "The bad person came and killed Momma and Poppa and Xander got us into his room and kept the bad person out."

"You did?" I asked Xander. "What about those two?"

He knew which two. "They must've just come," Xander said. "I didn't know they were here."

"Crap, Steve. He saved those kids from that vampire," I said. "We're not gonna terminate him."

"Hand him over to the Feds, they'll terminate him," Steve said and okay, we were getting somewhere.

"Shut up, Xander," I said, before he said a word coz I knew he was gonna say something and I knew Steve. He was still mad about my boobs being out there online.

"You want to cut a deal, Xander?" I asked.

"Sure, yes," Xander said. "For nominal fee, I throwing in fifty million ..."

"Shut the fuck up about that four one nine shit, Xander," I said. "We're talking your life here, troll. Jerk me around and we will hand you over to the Feds and they will terminate you immediately. Let's get that clear. Are we clear, Xander?"

"Perfectly clear," and all of a sudden his English was word perfect.

"Good," I said. "Here's the deal, and I am not frigging negotiating, Xander. My way or the highway. Or the Feds, anyhow. Got it?" Coz my 1911 was pointed right at him and so was Steve's and so was BiscuitHammer's and the kids just sat there, mute and terrified and we'd take care of them next. Not like that, no. They weren't vampires, they hadn't been turned. Get them outa there. Somewhere safe.

"Got it." Xander seemed kinda resigned now 'n Steve was just standing there waiting to shoot Xander. Sucks to be a troll I guess.

"Here's the deal, Xander," I said, firmly. "You're gonna take all those boob shots of me down from Pornhub and those other websites and you're gonna troll the Literotica trolls and you're not gonna troll Literotica itself or any of us authors. Am I clear?"

"You are clear, Chloe," Xander said, perking up, if a sleazy Nigerian 419 troll could ever be said to look perky.

"And you're not getting away," I said. "We're gonna keep an eye on you. We clear."

"Internet access?" Xander asked.

"Of course," I said, "Gonna need it to get those images of my boobs down aren't you. Just don't fuck with me or any of the other Literotica authors. And no trying to swing the votes in Literotica competitions either, up or down. That's just so disgustingly low-life."

"Deal," Xander said.

"Come on then," I said, 'n Steve and I escorted that troll upstairs while BiscuitHammer found something to cover the bodies and then walked the kids upstairs and out.

"In the box, Xander," I said, and it was my Remington 870 I was holding now, loaded 'n Xander looked at me and looked at my 870 and he climbed into the box and he looked at that big tool box and he shrugged and climbed in and Steve padlocked it.

"You think he's gonna be okay?" I asked, kind of concerned.

"Who gives a fuck, Chloe," Steve said. "It's a Troll." He grinned. "They're pretty adaptable, probably won't look anything like a 419 troll when we open the box up. Now let's get the kids in the back with you, 'n us guys can squeeze in the front."

"Kay." I did and the kids did and they were happy to be out of there and so was I and the heads and hearts were in the box so we were good and the kids were looking around at the burning houses and the Guard Humvees and Steve kinda tossed something through the front door and ran back to the F350 and that house whooshed up in flames as we drove away and guess that was the vampire bodies taken care of and we had the heads so we could claim the bounty. On the adult.

Wasn't going to turn those kids in. That'd be too much like blood money or something. Those two kids were gonna be sprinkled on mountain lakes back home and maybe that'd help their souls. I hoped so coz vampires or not, I felt like crap over killing them.