From Embers

2 - The Employee

Nearly two minutes passed before Sen entered the rose garden. The stench of human blood permeated the air. Through the bushes, he could see two people left standing. One dropped heavily to the ground, dead. The final survivor, hunter or gardener, he could not tell.

Claws extended and eyes turning black, he snuck up from behind the bushes and grabbed them. His talons pressed into their neck, an easy kill if need be.

He hissed, "Who are you?"

A throaty chuckle escaped the mystery person's mouth. "I've worked here for five years, and you don't even recognize me?"

Sen didn't respond.

"The name's Jai-Jai, in case you were wondering."

Sen did not let go immediately, his eyes darting to the dead bodies that lay around them. The ground was greedily soaking up the liters of blood trickling out of her victims. All five hunters, dead. His throat was dry; the need to feed ever present.

Two of the hunters were sporting head injuries and missing digits from their hands; one finger, he thought, might be under his foot. The third had a weeding hoe through their neck. The fourth had been attacked first, their body punctured from the hoe, but no weapon left in their being. The last outsider flailed his arms weakly on the ground, part of his skull caved in and two arrows embedded in his eyes. He grabbed anything he could reach to try and inch forward, but he soon stopped moving. The two watched him take his last breaths as he choked on his blood, cursing the existence of monsters.

With a dull thud, the bloody garden spade Jai-Jai held dropped when Sen released his hold on her neck. She turned, letting out a shaky breath. Although not short in stature, she still had to bend her neck to look up at Sen. They stared for a minute, both taking in the sight of each other.

All his instincts were shouting in his head, dangerous. Dangerous. Dangerous! But, in all the screaming inside his head, beautiful, was the one word that stuck with him. Jai-Jai stood covered in blood; if any was her own, he could not tell.

Her long, thick hair curled around her face. Beautiful. Her breath heavy and uneven, hands clenched as she stared him down - no fear in her eyes. Never before had a human looked at him with no fear. Beautiful. At that moment, Jai-Jai exuded power. Sen almost kneeled and promised lifelong loyalty.

Sen tried to read the woman; her face showed no emotions, her posture stiff as she sized him up. He watched her try to wipe blood splatter off her cheeks. It didn't help, only mixing the blood and residue dirt from her hand. Her lips parted slightly, he could almost see the words stuck inside her mouth, blocking any sounds from leaving. He stood stoically, making no effort to talk.

The gardener spoke first, "Is Mara alright?"

Sen nodded. "Are you? She said you were hurt."

Looking away, Jai-Jai stepped back. "I guess luck was on my side today, a couple of scratches, but nothing serious." She gave him a lopsided grin. "Can I get past? I think I've tempted fate enough by living here. Probably shouldn't stay covered in blood for too long."

Sen stiffened, a little offended that she thought he couldn't control his bloodthirsty urges. Stepping aside, he let her by. As she left he watched her kick something small. His focus changed when he glimpsed a tear in her shirt. An arrow lay to his left, it's sharp end missing.

Grabbing her arm, he swung her around. "You were hit?"

Her breath hitched, avoiding his gaze. Sen reached forward, but Jai-Jai swatted his hand away. Lifting the corner of her shirt, Jai-Jai exposed her stomach - there was no wound.

"It must have ripped during the struggle." Jai-Jai pulled her arm out of his grasp. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I really need to clean myself off before I go back to work."

She wasn't able to get far before Sen spoke.

"How did you do it?" He called after her.

She stopped walking but did not turn around, "Do what?"

"This." He pointed toward the dead bodies. "You should be dead by now. You're a gardener; when did skilled killer become part of the job description?"

Jai-Jai turned her head towards him. "I am a gardener working on a vampire estate in the middle of troll territory, I need to know how to defend myself," her tone was frustrated.

"What you did goes beyond any self-defense moves. You killed five well trained and armed men with gardening tools in minutes. Who are you?"

"How do you know they were well trained? You didn't see the fight."

In a blink, Sen was crouching next to the body of one of her victims.

"You don't get muscles like these," he ripped a sleeve off the corpse, pulling its arm up to show the infuriating woman, "without serious training. They attacked us at our home. Must have been feeling pretty confident that they'd make it out alive."

"Muscles don't prove anything," she retorted, "they attacked a child and a gardener. Only underhanded cowards would do that."

"Who are you?" Sen repeated, his snarl showing fangs.

"An employee." And she walked away.