Samantha waited outside the supermarket. She could see Esther and Henry chatting away over their coffee mugs. She had not expected to have to fight this evening. Even so, she was always prepared. She pulled the short case from the trunk of her car and pulled it over her back. It looked like nothing more than a violin or saxophone hard case. In it were her blades. She squatted next to the car to keep an eye at the two doors that led into and out of the supermarket.

She was used to waiting. Many hunters did not like this part. They wanted the fighting over and done with. The waiting for them was painful. Samantha did not mind. It gave her time to put the wagers together, to understand the odds and know what she was gambling. She reviewed the details of meeting Henry. She replayed each of his actions, studying his movements and what he said. She ignored the content and focused solely on the physicality of him.

She looked past his thick glasses and ordinary clothing. He had been wearing brown slacks that looked a bit rundown, as if he had been wearing them for too many years. Samantha tried not to think that he probably had been. To live for that long, she still could not understand it. What must it be like? She squashed the thought before it brought her down the rabbit’s hole. She knew the danger of living past the one hundred twentieth year. She knew he was not what he appeared, that he was a monster that was no longer technical human. He truly was immortal, unlike her. For all of her knowledge and training, she knew she was just a child next to him. A child she may be, but she also knew that there was no way that he could physically match her.

She knew all about the body. Before she had gone through her training she had been a sports medicine doctor. She had worked on setting limbs and healing muscles. She understood the pressures that the body could take. She understood what the body was made of, and most importantly, she understood how it aged. Or didn’t in her case. Her bones and body were that of a thirty year old, the year she had learned the incantation.

The air was cool but the rain had stopped. Samantha sat comfortably on her haunches. She watched Henry and Esther continue to chat. Henry looked calm and they continued to flirt. Samantha had her hand on Henry’s lap more often than not. Samantha felt the hard case on her back. She thought through the odds of the upcoming fight again. The wager this time was easy: the odds of Esther being involved were forty percent. If it happened, she would buy the new car she’d been looking at the dealership. It was a red sporty model, something that she usually did not splurge her money on. It was a reward for winning over Esther. She had so much she wanted to teach her. She wished she had gotten to her before Henry found her. It would complicate matters. There was much to be explained.

The overhead parking lights flickered on as dusk turned to darkness. Samantha stood and stretched for a few moments before returning to her haunches. She saw Esther get up from the chair and wave backwards as she walked out the door closest to the coffeehouse. Samantha expected Henry to follow, but he didn’t. He saw back down and picked up a newspaper that had been lying on the cushy chair next to him. He stared at the newspaper and then moved from the hard chair near the table to the cushy chair that had held the newspaper. He looked to be making himself comfortable.

Samantha thought about approaching Esther as she walked out, but decided not to. She had all the time in the world with Esther. She knew today was about Henry and finishing her job as a hunter. She had already contacted the guild about her find. They had not responded, but she knew even if she failed, there would be others after her to put a stop to this monster. If what he had told her about his age had been true, then he was the oldest immortal she had heard of. The guild’s records were not open to her, but from speaking with the historians that lived in the house, usually immortals did not last past two hundred years. There were too many young hunters out there who were looking to make good on their deals.

Henry continued to sip his coffee late into the evening. Samantha would get up to walk around for a bit every thirty minutes or so to ensure she remained limber for the fight. The parking lot emptied as it passed eight o’clock. The coffeehouse closed at nine, and Samantha figured she would only have to wait until then to finish this. From previous experience, she knew there was one more exit in the back through the loading dock. She figured Henry would make his move at closing time further into the store to throw her off. It would be difficult to watch both exits, she knew. If their roles had been reversed, that’s what she would have done. The odds were good he would do the same. She would likely pretend to go out the back and circle around the front in the hopes of getting to her car. She had it at three to one that he would do the same.

Samantha found herself chewing at the ends of her hair as she waited. She chose a spot near a parked car just beyond the closest parking lamp post. The wind picked up and Samantha smelled rain in the air.

The coffeehouse door opened and Henry stepped out. He reached his arms out to his side and stretched with his head looking upward. He cracked his neck to the left and right, and then looked directly where Samantha was squatting in the darkness. He walked toward her. Samantha stood up and stepped into the circle of light created by the lamp post above her. She loosened the straps on the case over her shoulder, flipping open one of the clasps to ready herself. She had practiced the motion many times and she did it unconsciously. She knew what the hilts would feel like when she pulled out the blades, and knew how fast the case would fall to the ground once free of her hands. For a hunter, training was everything. It was how she stacked the odds in her favor. She would practice even the smallest of movements to ensure there was no wasted effort and no wasted time. Fights were decided in split second decisions, and she knew from experience that those who waited to make the decision during the fight were already lost.

Henry McDoogle approached Samantha, stopping outside the circle of light. He wore a loose jacket over a light yellow t-shirt. He seemed calm, and Samantha again searched him for weapons with her eyes. If he had any, they were likely short weapons, perhaps daggers in the back of his belt. It was also possible that he fought without weapons. She had come across one such immortal. He was faster, but her steel was faster, and the fight was over just as quickly as the rest.

“You are such a young thing,” Henry said. “You waste your precious years in these ridiculous hunts. Don’t you know what a gift you have? You do not owe that guild anything.”

“They gave me my immortality and taught me about the dangers you present to everything I voluntarily left behind in my old life.” As Samantha spoke she crept forward toward his position. She kept the car on her left side so she could control the direction of the fight. She wanted to keep him on the strong side of her swords. The odds were much in her favor if she controlled the side on which he would attack.

Henry did not move. His hands were clasped behind his back. “This guild of yours, do you ever see its leaders out hunting us? Did you ever question how old they were? You might be surprised by their answers. There are wars going on that you don’t understand. You think this hunted, hunter war of yours is real? You think that you’re a threat to me, that you’re going to pull out those two short swords you keep in your violin case and strike me down where I stand. You are a naïve fool, Samantha.”

Samantha smiled and opened her mouth as if she was going to respond. She waited for Henry to blink, and when he did she dropped the case, flipping open the latch, and grabbed the hilt of her two short swords. Speaking only got you so far. Once you decided what to do, there was no reason to hold off to discuss or rationalize it. She had decided when they were in the coffee shop that she was going to kill Henry. Whatever he said now, whatever reasons he tried to give to avoid that fate, they were all too late. The talking let her get in position. It was now time to strike.

The swords felt good in her hand. She felt the case bounce off the back of her foot as she had planned. She had some problems with the strap during her practices, and knowing where the case was in relation to her body cured her of those problems. Her right sword went high over her head, and her left-hand sword—which was slightly shorter than the other sword was held in front of her. They crossed at the top, giving her control of the situation in front of her, and slightly blocking the view of the direction of her swords for her opponent.

Henry stood there. The surprise was complete. He did not make a move for his sword, or try to get away from her attack. She was halfway through the lunge when she felt a small smile break out on the left side of her mouth. The thought of how easy it was going to be to kill such an ancient immortal flitted through her mind uncontrolled. She kept her concentration and as she took the second step toward him, she dropped her right sword so it was ready to sweep his legs if needed and positioned her body at a slight angle, the left blade moving across her body to complete the front swing that would leave a gash across his chest. Such a strike would usually end the match if he didn’t manage to throw up an arm or weapon to block it. Even if he did, she would be well positioned to continue the attack and press him against the cars behind him, or into the open ground. He may try to run at that point, and the odds were flying through her head too fast for her to follow or bother with. Her concentration was on the fight, and she ignored the noise that went through her brain.

She was already beginning to flick the blade across Henry’s chest when she felt a riveting force that pushed her backwards and off her feet. She fell to the ground, the sword in her left hand falling away, and the slightly longer sword in her right hand nicking her above the knee. She cut into her pant leg and felt the tip of the blade scrape across her skin. She gritted her teeth and rose up to her knee ignoring the pain. She held the sword point in front of her.

Henry stood in the same position with his hands still folded behind his back. He looked down at her. She had been pushed fifteen feet away, almost to the position she had been waiting in for the past two hours. He shook his head very slowly as he looked down at her.

“We weren’t done with our conversation yet, Samantha. It was very rude to attack me when we were just getting started. As I said, you are very naïve and have a lot to learn about how the real world works. What you still don’t understand is that who you hunted in the past were not the real immortals. The guild would not put someone as inexperienced as you against the likes of us. We’re in different leagues, even different games, if you will.

“Now, before you get any ideas, there are three ways this will play out. The first is you will get up, grab that other sword of yours and rush at me again. Who knows, maybe this time you’ll get close enough to strike me. I will tell you that the odds are against that happening. You do care about the odds, don’t you, Samantha? The second way is you are going to pick up your other sword and run away. Perhaps you’ll run for your car, or maybe you’ll go into the supermarket and hope I care enough about keeping this private that I don’t follow you. Perhaps you’ll try to slip out through the loading dock. You did worry that I would, didn’t you?

“You see, Samantha, there are many things you don’t yet understand about this game. You think your touching power is unique? Did you really think you were as special as the guild said? They were using you, Samantha. They use everybody.”

Daily word count: 2,270.

Words remaining: 23,685 (26,315).

I passed the midway point today. I left off in the middle of another action scene. I’m a bit interested to see where it goes. I had another headache today. The weather has been strange in Seattle. It was sunny and almost warm during the day. It was freezing this morning and raining yesterday. I just wish it would make up its mind.