Alex had almost given up hope when the shouting broke the cool silence of the night. It wasn't that Bexley was a large place (it was rather small actually) and it wasn't that there was anything in the way or night life either, that caught him off guard. It was that out of a small park near homes burst first the vampire he had met in passing some days ago...and then people.
Angry people with swords that glinted in the night's light and made the pale vampire go a little paler still.
For a moment he wished Percy was there, strong and resolute, and powerful. Percy was great on the powerful, having led a careful life in that no one had ever walked away alive that once raised a weapon against him. His sire, in a word, was ruthless.
Alex, in a word, was a chicken.
Yelling out in surprise and a bit of fright, the boy vampire turned on heel and started to run. He didn't care that his hat was left on the cool, damp pavement.