Victoria shouted and stumbled to a halt when Alex all but appeared in front of her. In her haste to keep from running into him, she slipped on the loose gravel and fell backwards. She caught herself on part of the fire escape and just managed to keep from hitting the ground.
	[b]“...But there’s something in this alley...”[/b]
	“Yeah,” she said in a shaky whisper as she pulled herself up and backed away from him, her eyes wide and glistening. “You.”
	She shook her head at his request to come with him and his claim of an explanation. She would hear none of it. No more excuses. No more lies. She had chosen to let someone in, and it backfired in the worst of ways. Like it always did. That it was to one of [i]his[/i] kind…
	“I don’t [i]ever[/i] want to see your face again,” she interrupted before he could get past “I’m sorry,” her voice an octave high than normal even in its quietness. “[i]Leave. Me. Alone, filthy bloodsucker![/i]” She managed to shout the last, then turned once more to leave the alley, searching for anything she could use as a weapon to fend him off if he tried to stop her again.