Anthony: "I see. And how have your sessions with Dr. Merriman been going?"
Mary: "Who?"
Anthony: "That well, are they?"
Mary: "Oh! Dr. Merriman, the shrink. Yeah, he says I'm fine. Good to go."
Anthony: "Good to go? And that was her official prognosis?"

Mary: "Right, you got me. I never went."
Anthony: "Why am I not surprised?"
Mary: "Because you know I'm not crazy."
Anthony: "I'm sure that must be it."
Mary: "Someday you'll believe me."
Anthony: "Whatever you say. But until then, could I get something to eat?"
Mary: "Of course. I'll show you to a table."

Mary sat Anthony at the booth behind the teenage boys; intent on having everyone she wanted to keep an eye on in one convenient area.

Mary: "What can I get you to drink?"
Anthony: "Just a water, with lemon if you have it."
Mary: "Of course. I'll be right back. Here's a menu."
Anthony: "Oh, I already know what I want."
Mary: "Okay then. Shoot, where did my pen go?"

Mary searched her pockets for a pen, but only came up with a handful of straws.

Anthony: "Is this… hold on..."

Anthony leaned over the table and reached toward Mary's face. His fingers brushed against her hair, sending shivers down her neck, before he pulled a pen from behind her ear.

Mary: "Wow! I didn't know you knew magic."
Anthony: "Er… I don't. You actually had the pen tucked behind your ear."
Mary: "I know."

She winked at Anthony and walked toward the kitchen. He looked down at the menu, half-smiling in confusion, before realizing Mary hadn't actually taken his order yet.

When she returned, she had a tray with a glass of slightly cloudy ice water, a plate of salad, and a large slice of cheesecake. She set all three items down in front of him.

Anthony: "What's this?"
Mary: "We didn't actually have any lemons, so I made you a glass of watered down lemonade. You'll love it. And I figured you for the healthy type, being a doctor and all, but also hungry, so I got you a Cobb salad. You can pick off anything you don't like. Additionally, since it's well after midnight, I got you a big slice of cheesecake. Cheesecake is healthy after midnight, as well as being at its tastiest -- it's a proven scientific fact. I'm sure you learned all about it in medical school."
Anthony: "I see. Mary, I sort of dread saying this, but…"
Mary: " You hate it all, don't you?"
Anthony: "No. Quite the opposite. This is perfect, thank you."

Mary beamed at him as the door chimes tinkled once more. She ignored them for a moment, forgetting she was meant to seat whomever had just come in. When she looked up, she saw two police officers standing at the door, scanning the room and then whispering to each other. One of them locked his eyes on something behind her and subtly reached toward his gun, letting his hand hover just over it.

Jared: "Shit! Gramps was right about her, the bitch called the cops!"

Jared leapt to his feet and grabbed the waitress around the waist, using her as a shield while holding a butter knife to her throat. The two officers were momentarily surprised before regaining their composure and drawing their guns.

Officer Chase: "Son, put down the knife and step away from the waitress."
Mary: "Yeah, put down the… what the hell? Is that a butter knife? Are you kidding me?"
Anthony: "Mary, don't antagonize them."
Mary: "Who's antagonizing? I'm not the one with a knife. If I was, I would so be doing a Crocodile Dundee impression right now."

Mary crossed her right foot over her left and used the opening she'd just created behind her to punch her attacker in the groin. The butter knife clattered to the ground as the boy doubled over in pain. She lunged forward and grabbed the knife before he could pick up. So quickly that she'd barely seen him move, the boy's companion grabbed her by the wrist and squeezed so hard she thought her bones would crumble beneath her skin, but she continued to struggle.

Mary: "Okay, okay! Uncle!"

She let the knife clatter back to the floor.

Ephram rolled his eyes and wrapped his arm around the waitress's throat until he felt her stop resisting completely.

Ephram: "Everyone calm down. Jared, get the fuck up. Officers, you're going to drop your guns and turn your cuffs over to Jared here. He's not going to hurt you. He's just going to make sure that the three of us can leave in peace."

The waitress struggled once again, trying in desperation to get the upper hand. Ephram simply pulled his arm tighter around her throat until he could hear her breathing become labored.

Anthony: "You're cutting of her airway!"
Ephram: "Yes, that's sort of the plan. Jared! Seriously, get the fuck up."

Jared struggled to his feet and walked toward the two police officers.

Officer Foreman "Stand down, kid. I will shoot if you do not stop where you are."

Jared grinned and kept walking, picking up a steak knife from the table next to the door. The officer blinked once, then tensed and fired his weapon as Jared lunged at him with the knife. Jared took a step back, trying to regain his balance. He glanced down at the bullet hole in his shirt.

Jared: "You're going to pay for that. This shirt cost fifty bucks."

Jared grinned and stepped back toward the police officer.

Officer Foreman narrowed his eyes and fired twice more at Jared, who didn't even flinch with the next two shots.

Officer Chase: "Holy fuck! What's he on?"
Officer Foreman "I don't know, but call for back-up and an ambulance."

Then, with a single fluid movement, Jared stepped forward and locked Officer Foreman into a tight embrace. Mary, light-headed, confused and unable to move in Ephram's arms watched helplessly as Officer Foreman slumped to the ground, pale and lifeless. Once Jared turned back toward her and his companion, she saw the gleam of red in his eyes. His lips matched, bright red, a single drop of blood smeared at the corner of his mouth.

Officer Chase: "Holy Jesus! Dave! Dave, are you okay? What did he do to you? Dave?"
Mary: "Oh, shit…"

Mary glanced back at Anthony, flashed a brief and unsure smile, then in a surge of adrenaline broke free of Ephram's grasp and hurled herself at Officer Chase, praying he was still too shocked to pull his gun on her in confusion. She felt the wind go out of both of them as they collided, but she didn't slow down until she felt the door to the diner give out, the glass crumpling before it finally broke.

Before she could make another move, she felt herself being pulled back inside the diner, watching as Officer Chase fell through the broken door and landed outside. Her back hit a barstool and she bounced, the momentum sending her to the floor next to Anthony. She blinked twice, trying to get her bearings, and saw only the look of horror and confusion on Officer Chase's face as he scuttled backwards, away from the diner door and into the parking lot.

Anthony: "Good job, now we're alone with no police back-up."
Mary: "You're welcome. We went from having one dead cop and one nearly dead cop to having the entire police force showing up. He was just about to call for back-up, remember?"
Anthony: "I take it you're a glass half-full kind of girl, then?"
Mary: "Well duh. I'm the one who fills up the water glasses, aren't I?"

Anthony stared at Mary incredulously before bursting into laughter.

Ephram: "What's so god damned funny?"
Anthony: "My girlfriend. She's completely mad."
Mary: "Your girlfriend?"
Anthony: "That's the plan at this point. God help me."

Mary narrowed her eyes.

Mary: "You think we're going to die, don't you."
Anthony: "Probably. But if we don't, I'd very much like to take you out to dinner."
Mary: "That's nice, but no thank you."
Anthony: "What? But I thought you wanted to…"
Mary: "Didn't you ever see Speed Two?"
Anthony: "Speed Two? That movie with Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock?"
Mary: "No, and that's exactly my point."
Anthony: "Okay..."

Mary: "Don't get me wrong. I'd still love to go out with you. But not until we run into each other at the grocery store and I'm all gross and normal and boring."
Anthony: "I'm not sure that's possible."
Mary: "That's true. I don't really cook so it's unlikely that I'll ever be at the grocery store. So maybe you run into me at the hardware store. There's a place that knows me my name. Not that I'm a lesbian. I just need… lots of wood."

Mary: "Never mind. On second thought, as soon as we get out of here I'm going to crawl under a rock and never be heard from again."
Anthony: "Somehow, I sincerely doubt that."
Ephram: "Would you two shut the fuck up!"

Mary: "Sure thing. What's your plan?"
Ephram: "Well, since you let the cop go, first you're going to help me out of here, and then I'm going to eat you."
Mary: "What about your friend?"
Ephram: "Fuck him."
Mary: "Before or after I help you out of here?"
Ephram: "What?"

Mary: "Rhetorical question. Listen, I know what you are. The vast majority of the cops don't. They don't know how to deal with you, and I don't want to see anyone else get killed. So I'm going to help you, okay?"
Ephram: "Damn straight."
Mary: "But you're not going to eat me. I've never taken 'Negotiating 101,' but I imagine that if you give up all of your leverage, you're not likely to get any cooperation after that."
Ephram: "Sure, okay. Whatever."
Mary: "Good. Now, I work here, so I know the ins and outs of the place. You're going to follow me to the back entrance. It's where the trucks unload. Officer Chase has probably stopped panicking by now, so we don't have much time. You and your friend can slip out unseen, and if you make a run for it you'll avoid the entire Deception Pass police department chasing after you."
Ephram: "Good plan."

Ephram grabbed Mary by the elbow and pushed her toward the kitchen.

Mary: "Just remember I'm not coming with you. I can't run as fast as the two of you, so I'd only slow you down. And if you stopped to feed on me, the police would catch up with you, and I personally know that the chief of police knows exactly how to deal with your kind. This town seems to be a magnet to all of you, and she knows it."

Mary locked eyes with Ephram, willing him to believe her bluff. She'd lived in quite a few places in her life, and none seem to be so saturated with the supernatural or paranormal like Deception Pass. She banked on the vampire believing that the town had some sort of special properties that drew the strange, mysterious and evil toward it. There was a momentary flicker of confusion in Ephram's eyes, followed by acceptance of what she was saying. He nodded, and she felt slightly chilled that the ruse had worked so easily. She tried to ignore the paranoia telling her that perhaps her bluff was far closer to the truth than she wanted to admit.

Mary: "Good then. See that door? Run through it and don't stop until you're in the woods. There are a lot of mosquitoes, so you two should be right at home. You'll hit the highway within a quarter-mile. Just call someone for a ride, I'm assuming one of you has a cell phone."
Ephram: "Of course. But you're coming with us."

Ephram shoved Mary toward Jared, who seemed to be almost completely recovered from the gunshot wound. Jared grinned and started dragging her toward the door that led to the alley.

Mary: "What did I tell you? My life equals your leverage. I'm not going with you. That would be a very bad plan."
Ephram: "Who cares? We're in charge, not you."
Mary: "The fuck you are."

Mary shifted her weight in a defense move that Mr. Hinsu had taught, sending Jared off balance enough so that she could easily turn and free herself from his grasp. She lunged toward the counter, grabbing a wooden spoon as Ephram rushed at her. As quickly as she could, she plunged the wooden spoon into his heart.

Mary: "Oh, fuck."

The spoon end of the wooden spoon snapped off, doing no damage whatsoever to the vampire, but leaving Mary with a relatively sharpened wooden shaft that fell to the floor.

Ephram: "Nice try, bitch."
Mary: "I so meant to do that."
Ephram: "Sure you did. Now come on."

Mary dropped to her knees and rolled, picking up the remains of the wooden spoon as she tried to stand up in the same movement. Unfortunately, the action-movie move didn't translate well into real life and she wound up back on the floor. Ephram and Jared broke into startled laughter at her failed stuntman acrobatics.

Mary: "You could've just gone, you idiots."

Mary sighed heavily and pushed herself up to her feet in a more traditional manner.

She spun and plunged the remains of the wooden spoon into Ephram's heart, twisting her ankle as she did so, then fell back to the floor. Despite the poorly choreographed move, Ephram looked shocked before crumpling to his knees and exploding into dust.

Jared: "You killed him!"
Mary: "Yes I did. Now get the hell out of here before you find out what I can do to you with a box of toothpicks."

Mary twisted herself around and reached toward the counter, pulling herself upright. She took a deep breath, relieved that the vampires had been taken care of with minimal damage. The kitchen was quiet, and she began to feel uneasy as she realized that it wasn't just the kitchen. The entire diner was silent. She frowned and pushed open the swinging kitchen door as Anthony's voice suddenly screamed for her to run.

Mary: "Oh, you've got to be kidding me…"