[ WP ] Only one person in town is willing to go outside after dark . I really wish he 'd hurry the hell up with my pizza .

`` Tony's late.'' 
 
 It was dark outside; it was almost always dark this time of year, the sun catching fleeting glimpses over the glaciers before dropping back into the endless night. It was snowing, but it was almost always snowing too, the roads impassable to all movement, at least for things that touched that ground. Becki was high, but Becki was always high, and where she kept her stache of extremely potent marijuana over the course of the long winter was at least as mysterious as where people had been disappearing to for the past few months, although there was considerably more interest in the medicinal marijuana. All in all, it was a very average night for the small town, except for the fact Tony was late. 
 
 Huan was smoking up with Becki that evening and they'd ordered pizza from the only guy in town who would still deliver, let alone go out at night. It was rumoured that Tony had an exorcism spell burned into the roof of his Toyota Corolla and was only safe from the evil that stalked the town because he was a virgin. All Huan knew was that she had ordered a large pepperoni pizza and breadsticks and she was starving. Becki was a great friend, with great weed, but she was terrible at keeping the pantry stocked. 
 
 `` He'll get here,'' Becki said with lazy confidence, hanging upside down from the couch and paging through a back issue of Cosmo she had stolen from the dentist's office after his body had been found, headless with the heart ripped out, strung up from a tree last week. 
 
 `` What if something happened?'' Huan said, looking out the windows to the dark street. One of the lights flickered and failed in the distance. There were no headlights. 
 
 `` Girl, you're just paranoid,'' Becki said. `` Just relax.'' 
 
 Huan stood up. `` We have to find him.'' 
 
 Becki squinted at her with bloodshot eyes. `` No, we do n't.'' 
 
 `` I'll do it myself, then,'' Huan said resolutely. She picked her parka and snow pants off the armchair, put them on, jammed her toque on her head, and shoved her feet into her snow boots. 
 
 `` Wait,'' Becki said, unfolding herself from the sofa and reaching underneath it. `` Take this.'' 
 
 It was a machete engraved with Latin phrases and protective sigils. They'd become popular in town in the fall when they nights were getting longer and the local police force had all been murdered, but this one was both bigger and more intricate than anything Huan had seen before. `` Wow,'' she said, taking it and hefting it. `` This is awesome.'' 
 
 `` Be careful,'' Becki advised. `` Check if the corner store is open too, I want some candy.'' 
 
 Huan threw the six deadbolts on the door and the combination safe lock, and stepped out into the night. It was freezing cold, the wind cutting through her heavy parka, eyelashes freezing together for a moment when she blinked. She shuddered. Wind chill was one thing, but even the weatherman could n't accurately predict the cold dread of suspected supernatural activity. 
 
 She barely made it to the sidewalk through the icy banks of snow before she saw headlights come around the corner, with the low growl of a'91 Corolla without a muffler. She huffed a sigh of relief and lowered the machete. 
 
 It pulled to a stop with a shudder on the curb. The door opened with a creak and Tony clambered out of the low car, giving her a friendly smile. `` Hey Huan,'' he said. `` What are you doing outside?'' 
 
 `` You were late and I was a little worried,'' she said with a laugh. `` Sorry, I'm silly.'' 
 
 `` It's dangerous out here,'' he said, and even in the dim light, Huan could see how his teeth were just a little too long and sharp. 
 
 `` I know,'' she said, and then got to the crux of the matter. `` You brought the pizza, right?'' 
 
 `` It's in the back seat,'' he said, and his eyes flickered to a fathomless black, absorbing even the dim light from the street and the shuttered, silent houses on the block. The snow sizzled when it hit his skin. 
 
 `` Awesome,'' Huan said, and swung the machete with all her strength. 
 
 Becki was back on the couch when Huan came back in, stomping the snow off her boots, holding the pepperoni pizza in one hand, the machete in the other. She perked up at the noise and called out, `` Oh, nice, I heard the car. See, you did n't need to be worried about him.'' 
 
 `` Yep, no worries there.'' Huan propped the machete against the umbrella stand; she would deal with the blood after she'd had a slice or two, because she was fucking famished. Even with all the murders and disappearances, it was nice that evil still delivered.
