I stared wide-eyed at Sam for a few more seconds. I couldn't believe it, but she seemed serious. She actually wanted me to pick a fight with a drug dealer.

I never got in fights before. I had no idea how to start one. Even before I knew I was trans, back when I still thought I was a guy I hated fighting. I was a big tall guy who got nauseous at the thought of violence and conflict.

Now I was a tiny woman, I felt even more averse to the whole idea regardless of whatever supernatural advantages I had.

Sam watched me for another second or two then sighed "Tara this is the thing. This is what you need to get past. It's not your size that's holding you back, it's your attitude. Your fear. You've had three years of combat training, three years of practice, three years of learning the ropes with me, but you're still scared."

She shook her head slowly and added, "You're like a cat who's afraid of mice. You're a predator Tara. Humans are prey. Even if we don't actually do that in this city, it doesn't alter the fact of who and what you are."

I gulped, "So... How do I start a fight? I mean, I've never done this before."

Samantha rolled her eyes, she looked almost exasperated. "Ok fine. Go up there, try and buy some drugs off him. Tell him you want E. Or meth. Then try and fucking take it from him, like you're going to rob him. That'll set him off for sure. Then just roll with it, see what happens and respond. You know how to fight, we've spent countless hours training and sparring. So just go with it."

I was still anxious and hesitant.

Sam could see that and she sighed again. "I'll be right here watching ok? If things somehow go wrong, I'll bail you out. And I've got my flask, if he somehow manages to hurt you, I've got your pick-me-up handy."

"Ok Sam," I half-whispered. "I'll try."

She gave me a supportive smile, "You can do it."

My stomach was churning as I turned and started walking towards the guy. He was standing at a corner, leaning against the side of a building. It wasn't a well-lit area, and the corner he was hanging by led to an alley or something.

He'd seen me and Sam already, he saw us talking and now he was watching as I approached. I could imagine what he was thinking. We were a couple young girls, probably naive. Maybe he thought our discussion was an argument about which of us would try and get the drugs. From the look on his face he wasn't the least bit worried. He had no fear of me, or of Samantha.

As I got within a couple meters he said "Hey there sweetie, what's going on? You look a little nervous."

The guy looked like you'd expect a drug dealer to look. Tall, skinny, baggy pants, sneakers, loose oversized hoodie, baseball cap on under the hood, earbuds in his ears. He looked about twenty-five years old, with a day or two worth of stubble on his face.

His hair was dark and the bit I could see sticking out under the cap looked sort of matted and greasy. His eyes were brown, and sort of sunken a bit like he didn't get enough sleep. His face was pale, he obviously wasn't out in sun that much. And his scent wasn't very appealing, the odour of stale tobacco and weed hung in the air around him.

I gulped, of course I was nervous. I asked softly "Uh, do you have any... My uh friend and I are looking for some uh, E?"

He grinned and I could see his teeth hadn't been cleaned in a while. "Yeah I got E. You got cash? I need a hundred, I'll set you and your girl up right."

I didn't actually have any money with me at all. I thought for a moment then tried to act, I stuffed my hand into my jacket pocket like I was reaching for cash. I hesitated though, like before pulling out the money. "I want to see it first. So I know you're not just going to rip me off."

The guy laughed, "Oh you're a wily one. Ok baby, here you go."

His left hand fished around in his hoodie pocket then he pulled out a little baggie containing a half dozen white tablets. I honestly had no idea what E looked like, and for all I knew he was showing me some aspirin.

I gulped, "That's it? You want a hundred, for that?"

"You got it girlie," he stated. "Now let's see some cash."

I nodded, then used a little burst of vamp speed and lunged forward. I snatched the bag from his hand and turned to run back towards Samantha. Then I froze.

She was gone. She wasn't there waiting for me like she said.

That moment of hesitation was all it took and the guy had a hand over my mouth. I felt something hard jammed in my back and he growled "You little bitch I knew it!"

I didn't resist as he dragged me backwards into the alley, I was still sort of frozen with the shock of Sam abandoning me.

"Your girl sent you to rob me, then she fucked off and left you huh?" he stated. "Now you're mine, girlie. Nobody robs me!"

Once we were a few meters back in the alley he turned me around and gave me a shove.

I stumbled backwards a little deeper into the darkness but stayed on my feet and quickly turned back to face him. That's when I saw what he had jammed in my back. He was holding a gun, and he had it pointed at me.

He was about two meters away from me, and he leered "Ok girlie, lets see the goods. Hand over the money, all you got!"

My eyes flicked around him and the alley as my mind raced. I knew with my speed I could get past him, then I could just run off. But he might actually shoot me as I was fleeing. Instead of running past him, maybe I could run at him and grab the gun. Or better yet, knock it away. I had the speed and strength going for me. Then when he was disarmed I could escape.

He still had it pointed at me, and I flinched slightly as I heard a click from it. I realized he probably just cocked it or flicked the safety or something. It was meant to be threatening, and it cranked up my anxiety another couple steps.

"Now, girlie!" he shouted at me.

I lunged forward with a burst of speed and tried to do like Samantha taught me. I moved to my left and swung my right fist upwards to strike his wrist. If it went right, the gun would be knocked up and clear.

It almost worked too, but when my punch connected there was a flash and the noise was deafening. I felt like I'd been hit in the shoulder with a baseball bat and I stumbled sideways and fell against the alley wall. My left ear was ringing, my right ear wasn't working at all, and I was temporarily blinded.

Then the pain hit and felt myself sinking down to my knees as I clenched my jaw tight to keep from crying out.

My vision and hearing both slowly came back as I saw the guy standing there swearing angrily as he held his right hand against his chest. Apparently I broke his wrist, and he wasn't very happy about that. The gun was on the ground at his feet.

I turned and looked down at my right shoulder and felt a wave of nausea.

There wasn't much blood, but there was a hole right through the top of my shoulder and my arm was hanging funny. Some part of my mind recalled one of Sam's anatomy lessons, and I knew the bullet had broken my collarbone. The pain was worse than anything I'd ever experienced before, but at the same time I was sort of detached from it.

Samantha's words kept going through my mind. I'll heal. It'll be fine. It's just a bee-sting. It won't even leave a mark.

I still had my jaw clenched tight, and with my left hand I used the wall for support and slowly pulled myself back up to my feet.

The dealer stared at me with wide eyes, like he couldn't believe I was getting up. He ducked down and grabbed the gun with his left hand.

One thought went through my mind loud and clear: I did not want to get shot again.

He hadn't even started to stand up when I reacted. I launched myself at him and drove my knee into his face. I didn't hold back, and I felt a crunch as I hit him.

The guy landed on his back over a meter away, the gun skittered deeper into the alley, and I stood there staring wide-eyed. He was unconsious, his nose was broken and his face was a mess. Blood was streaming from his nose and oozing from his mouth.

And it smelled so good.

I glanced around then dove at him. I completely ignored my own injury as I hauled him up off the ground and put my lips on his. His mouth was full of blood and I took it all in. Hot, glorious, fresh, and no taste of plastic at all. There was an aftertaste of tobacco and weed, but that was lost in the beautiful metallic flavour of fresh hot living blood.

I pulled back and spat out a few extra teeth that wound up in my mouth, then I went back for another drink.

After another mouthful or two I heard Sam's voice behind me. "That's enough Tara. Leave him, we have to go now."

I dropped the guy as I spun around. She was in the back of the alley. I had no idea how long she'd been there, but she already picked up the guy's gun.

She seemed to know what to do with it, she clicked something then tucked it away under her jacket. She gestured upwards at a fire-escape ladder and said, "Unless you want to hang around and beat up some cops, we should be leaving."

I hesitated as I licked my lips. What I wanted was more blood, but I realized she was right. We needed to go.

Sam led the way, she jumped up and caught hold of the ladder, then quickly climbed up to the roof.

The blood was already doing its thing, the pain in my right shoulder was dull. My right collarbone was still broken but my left arm was fine. I followed her lead and jumped up, then with my good arm and my legs I was able to climb the ladder and join her on the roof.

Sam led me along the rooftops to the end of the block, then it was a two story jump back down to the pavement. My feet tingled a bit and my shoulder ached when I hit the ground, but I didn't really notice. Ten minutes later we were in a small park and sat down together on a bench.

I was still a little high from the bloodrush, and just watched as Sam reached over and shifted my right arm into a better position for the broken bone to continue healing.

She then smiled at me. She didn't look amused, she wasn't about to crack a joke or something. She actually looked proud of me.

"Holy shit Tara, that was amazing!"

"What?" I demanded. "You fucking abandoned me!"

She shook her head, "I moved closer, so I'd be right there if you needed help. But you didn't. You did the whole thing yourself and I'm really proud of you."

My eyes widened as the whole experience started to sink in. "Sam I could have killed him! I broke his wrist and his face..."

My stomach lurched and I whispered, "Oh shit! I drank from him, I fed on a human. Sam I broke the Covenant!"

She put an arm around me, "No Tara, you're good. You didn't kill him. You didn't bite him, you didn't drain him. Hell he didn't even know what hit him. You're totally good, all that was fair and clean."

I was still nervous, and the blood-high was starting to fade. My shoulder was throbbing, and I felt nauseous as the whole thing replayed in my mind.

Sam was still holding me, and she was acting like the whole thing was some kind of fantastic success instead of a bunch of failures and screw-ups.

"Sam I fucked up. I couldn't even disarm him, I let him shoot me." My eyes widened as that sank in, "Holy fuck I got shot!"

She shook her head "Tara you did great. Seriously. The first time I got shot I lay on the ground and cried like a baby. Fuck, the first twenty times I got shot I fell down and cried. You... You fucking took it, and you got right back up and you did the guy! I mean, you were like, fuck that! Once was enough!"

I turned to stare at her. For a moment I thought she was just acting, like just trying to make me feel better about how bad I messed up. But she looked and sounded serious. She was actually impressed.

She kept talking, "I was right there, I thought I was going to have to jump in and help out? But pow! You were perfect Tara, like by the book perfect. Fucking Isabelle would have been proud if she saw that."

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