And We shall Smyte the Wicked (closed)

[BLACK BART]

It seemed ridiculous. I stood trapped. Not by the walls of mere wood and iron, nor by the walls of the building I stood within, for neither would hold me...not what I was, a creature of the night..

Instead I stood waiting...knowing...SHE was soon to arrive and the final dance would begin, our fates as they were would merge and from the old lives we lived one would walk away...the other?

Well that was to be seen. I couldn't begin to tell you what was about to happen, more accurately I can tell you what had happened, where it had begun and maybe at the best of time...why?

I faded into the shadows to wait, bound by the greatest of all bonds a vampire faces...his honor...and to pass time began to recall the events that placed me here.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

1900...a historic event, at least to me, the day I was reborn. Not in the biblical sense mind you, more the "dead, now alive again" class, one that was all too familiar to my family, my ancestors for that was what we were.

But rather dead. and almost alive, the class given by the "hunters" to indicate the "undead" before they killed them.

My name is Ren, Renbow Dubois, and at the tender age of twenty three I made a slight mistake, I let the animal I hunted get the best of me. A mistake that in any other situation might have meant my quarry simply escaped and I went hungry, but not in this one, for to make a mistake when hunting the undead was often fatal...or worse.

Worse for you became one of them, three small bites and you were turned, living for the night and the dark red, fresh blood our new souls craved. Worse because you were frozen in time, your features forever as they were when you died, your hair color and length, your eyes, your skin quality...all of it never to change if you did care...or could see yourself in a mirror. Once changed there was no reflection...a vampire was at the mercy of others to know, if I asked another, would they tell me my eyes were still blue...my hair light brown...all I could see was my skin on my lean figure, pale now as I shunned the light, the muscles and skin of my six foot frame that of a young man when I was taken.

Worse because all that you knew as a human mortal grew old, and you viewed them simply as ...dinner. Old friends, lovers, even family became just that, something you needed to drain from them, something I needed...to survive.

It boiled down to that. Life. or death, in the final end, even a hundred year old vampire knew that lesson, learned it well...or died trying.

As my creator did...she let her guard down and wide eyed took it to her grave, but not from the teacher she expected, rather her student...

I'm rambling. The musings of a crazed one, or one who spends his time in the darkness, seeking out others to draw temporary amusement from as I had that night in DeadMan’s Bluff, when in my arrogance I had become aware I was about to become the hunted...

Hunted by one who I used to be and could never become again.

 

[Sweetp4u]

Kara Christinson

Memories come and go but for someone who grew up as she had, nothing sticks out. Training, school, sleep.. all of it repeated day in and day out. Night after night.

"It is a family tradition!" Her father's words echoed in her mind.

"You must exercise self-control, time will come for you to date Kara.." Her mother's words. Both lay dead, the last hunt having been a fiasco. It stings only a little now, for it had been four years ago this night she lost the both of them. A single child to this family, she had nothing but her Master Trainer now. Her father's brother, Uncle Tobias.

She did as instructed, missing all the things most girls her age were doing, but she had accepted her place in life after reaching a young age. She trained hard for years, college and more training. She moved into the real world, but was carefully and closely watched by her Uncle. 18 came and went, working and training. Still no dating, still nothing outside of repeating the pervious day. Her whole life was centered around one thing.. Hunting.

Her mind wanders back to her last birthday, her 18th birthday...

"You are now ready kara. You have trained well, you have accomplished so much more than anyone your own age has in this day and time. You are a weapon, knowledgeable and skilled, you have no need of me now my dear." Her uncle's words. She hadn't protested this, she had bested him every night for three long months, she had earned this! Blood, sweat and tears she gave! She gave up a normal childhood, friends, dating, movies.. All of it. She did so because it was her destiny, her obligation. A family Honour...

"Thank you Master, I will do my best to prove my worthiness." She had bowed and taken the offered weapons from his out stretched hands. Her father's Silver dagger, her mother's cross and a specially crafted hand gun. All silver, for a purpose.

"You must deliver justice! You must avenge your parents, your entire family! We have hunted this area for generations, and that creature still looms in this city. Kill his people, his slaves, and take his heart. This is my last order to you Kara, you are now a Huntress in your own right.. But whatever it takes child, whatever it takes.... His words had been hard, cold and hissed at her. He harbored great hatred to this man.. demon..

She snapped back out of her thoughts and stared into her mug of coffee. The diner was empty, as it was most nights, but she had a 6th sense that told her the target was near by. If only her family had this gift as well, perhaps they'd be alive today.

Yes, she had discovered a odd form of ESP in the past year. A tingling really that shot down her spine, nothing more nothing less.. But it told her when they were near her.

"Need any more coffee Kara?" She turned her head and greeted the waitress with a smile.

"No thank you Dee, I think I've had my fill." The woman nodded and moved off to clean something or another, leaving her to her silent musings. Her eyes never stayed still, constantly searching the faces of passing strangers, the streets, the skies, the dark inky depths in alley ways. She could not read a book for this constant wandering of her eyes made it too impossible. Another thing she gave up, good stories.. Sighing she paid her tab and left the diner. It was time to hunt and this new underground club was opening tonight.. Perfect place to hunt those who welcomed evil. Goth children and vampires willingly sharing their diseases.

Shaking her head, she did not understand human nature nor vampires, but then again she didn't want to understand them, she wanted these demon spawn dead, really dead.

She entered the club without hassle, seemingly to fit in dressed all in black and leather, her pale features and big blue eyes also helped. She looked to be undead herself having spent so many nights hunting and days sleeping, thank god for inheriting all that family stash! She'd be homeless without it..

She stood looking into a flashing mirror, knowing it was a two-way but studying herself. Would she draw this man out of hiding? The one who was responcible for this clan.. He knew who he was, and she was guessing he was here somewhere, or someone close to him was..

I've changed for you, I know you're here somewhere.. Can you read my mind? Are you listening to me? I bet you are.. You have to be aware I am coming for you... Look for me, I dare you... Soft brown hair, lovely deep blue eyes.. can you see me yet? tall, slim as well... I saved myself for you, you bastard! Can you smell the virgin blood? I bet you can.. Her thoughts gave way to the smirk in the mirror as she stared, her features twisting into a cold calculating scowl. [/I] Whisper my name, let me know where you are... Kara, know who I am.. Know who hunts you..[/I] She taunted but wasn't sure if he was really there or not.. She knew one was, and one was enough to spread into thousands.

She turned away from the mirror, shedding her coat and retrieving a ticket. She had her weapon in her boot, it was all she needed to cut the bastards head off...


description: 5'7", 34C-26-36. Stacked, tight and alluring in a different way. Not a modern looking beauty, more mature features. If it pertains to training of any kind, she knows it kick boxing, guns, self defense, karate, etc etc etc. there ya go BB, hope you like.

 

[BLACK BART]

Ren

Whisper my name, let me know where you are... Kara, know who I am.. Know who hunts you..

I knew her. Knew her too well in fact, for her own good, and if I were careless...my own. I survived by not being careless, my not responding to the simple jibes of someone who had everything to gain if I did, and myself...nothing.

Still...it was the name that drew my attention, a name from a past better forgotten, one I knew was beyond returning to now.

She was of age...She was by now, fully trained and capable and She was a virgin...wise in announcing it, knowing the power of that declaration and it's value to Us.

I could feel the common interest in my brothers and sisters, the stirring as thet sensed her and the raw energy possessed within in her, not the lust as a human might feel to the vessel, but the greater draw to the prize that lay within that vessel.

I smiled, then released the vessel I held in my hands, her limp, lifeless body dropping to the floor, no longer needed to contain what I had selfishly drained from her and refused to give in return.

"Eternal life comes to those who are worthy" I needlessly spoke as I stepped over her corpse, knowing the ones that moved behind me would dispose of her and knew the lesson of the "gift" well enough they didn't need reminding. What they did need...

"A Hunter is in our midst, remind all that we will NOT try to detain or approach her, we will NOT attract attention to ourselves this evening. It is time to move on to another club to feed and I will decide when to attend to this minor detail myself."

It should have been enough, all that served me knew too well, knew that failing to obey me meant the end to thier eternal existnce in the most painful manner possible. The "Word" was law and it was mine...but not to one that had yet to learn the lessons...not to Her.

It was done, my flock should have been safe for the eve, my word was spread like wildfire and my brothers and sister began to disperse. All except Gregory, the youngest and most willful of us, he lagged behind in curiosity, forgetting another lesson...

"Never play with your food"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

ooc: Like it? Looks like she's one to sink my teeth into...

 

[Sweetp4u]

Kara

She moved stealthly through the club, light on her feet and ever alert for a possible attack. The chills ran up and down her spine and she smirked even broader.

Yessss! One was coming...

"Hello?" A younger man said to her as he stopped before her.

"Hi there.." She replied, her eyes darting over his features, noting the pale skin and black veins barely visible under his skin. Yes, he was one of them alright.

"Would you like to dance or something?" His mocking tone, the curve of his lips, the fangs barely peeking out.. he figured he had her.

"Are you a gothic fan?" Her comment one to distract and make him think twice.

"What? Oh.. Yeah, I guess I am." He shrugged his shoulders looking at someone as they passed by us.

The two vampires made eye contact. The tall lanky whisp of a girl silently warning him to back off and leave. Gregory was having none of that.. For this she was thankful.

"How about we just go somewhere a little more private to chit chat?" She did not wait for an answer but walked towards the back alley exit door. Once outside, she knew other's were lurking but they weren't approaching.. Why? They had to know whom she was, didn't they?

"You know.. you shouldn't come into dark places with a stranger.." His tone was laced with mirth, his attitude growing more cocky as he circled her. He paused to whisper in her ear, "Perhaps you like strangers, no?"

Her eyes followed him as he continued his lazy circle until he stood before her.

"Yeah, I have this thing for strangers.. they really turn me on..." She purred, seemingly to stretch a little she reached for her dagger in the back of her pants.

"What if I told you..... " His head was instantly splitting with warnings from circling clansmen. "NO GREGORY! DO NOT SPEAK!" They warned him, time and time again they had warned him.

"Told me what?" She played coy.

"That you were my meal?" He turned his sappy sweet smile on her and let it linger for a split second before he lunged for her.

Twisting her body around and to the left she swung her dagger point up and right into his throat.

The impact of his body sent her forward, ripping the blade free. Stumbling against the building wall she turned instantly, flipping the dagger in her hand to weild yet again as a weapon.

"And what If I told you.. You were my prey?" She was breathing heavily from the adreniline rush. She stood stock still, his hands clutching and trying to staunch the flow of blood from his ripped artery. He gurgled and bubbled little bits of blood on his lips. He could not seem to speak, which was just as well..

She jumped again at him, arcing her weapon and slicing his neck fully open. Standing there, blood spattered, she watched as he sank to his knees on the cold ungiving concrete.

"I sentence you to death, yet again. For being an abomination to this world. For countless deaths that came at your hand. Rest in peace, may your soul be redeemed..." She wasn't a religious nut, but she remembered those words well from her father's lips.

A wail came from above, the frail girl jumping down and clutching this gregory to her chest. "YOU KILLED HIM!?" She gasped, shaking with anger, pain and lust for Kara's blood.

"Yep.. And you're next." She bent down and pulled the 9mm from her boot. "These are loaded with pure silver bullets, make peace with god.." She fired one round into the woman's skull before she could react. Both bodies began to instantly deteriorate before her eyes.. In a few minutes they would be nothing but dust in the wind.

"YOU KNOW I AM HERE! COME OUT DAMN YOU!" She shouted out loudly, knowing that somewhere, really near by, their leader was waiting.

Her face stung a little, reaching up she wiped and found blood.. her own judging by the pain in her cheek. That bitch must have moved faster than she thought and lashed out.. Or someone had? She turned and ran down the alley, looking for her target.

"Damn you, don't make this hard on yourself...." she sighed, looking for any signs, be it a car or fleeing bodies..

 

[BLACK BART]

Ren

The building was empty. Devoid of my chosen ones and safe from the hunter. I could feel the common anger and curiosity as they left, a tinge of doubt replaced by their own assurance their Master knew what he was doing.

My children. It was in a sense quite accurate for I had chosen them and created their new lives, now replacing all that they knew with my own sense of reality, to guide them through eternity with my own rules as if actually their parent.

And as a parent I felt the pain in losing them and the anger at the one who took them from me...That anger brimming to the surface of my mind and body and guiding me to the one responsible to exact...punishment.

I stood inside the upper room of the club, then felt the eery feeling of my body dissolving, becoming near liquid, then changing to a gaseous state, floating in the still air of the room as I guided it...

Downward to the floor, along the hall and towards the open window of the hallway and into the nearby alley...to touch the grungy surface of the road and towards...her.

She stood wary. her eyes searching for sign...gun held in a two handed grip as she kept the wall to her back, moving in sweeps as her voice taunted the air.

"YOU KNOW I AM HERE! COME OUT DAMN YOU!"

The words were vehement...the tone filled with hatred, passion, anger...her eyes flashing as she waited to be challenged.

Alive...her heart was pounding and her scent...even in my ethereal state I could smell her, she was indeed...still a virgin, making her all the more desirable for the blood she held within her.

Grinning I swirled around her, letting my form wrap itself around her body, climbing up thighs filled with strength and promise, curling around her trim waist and full bosom to carress her face...



"Damn you, don't make this hard on yourself...."

The words came out softly, her tone changed and reminding me of a time not so long ago...when we were not adversaries...

"It is you that makes it difficult" I returned, using a trick of my mind to make the words seem to come from her right side and further down the alley, causing her to spin and point the deadly pistol towards it.

It was all I needed...a split second to once again become a solid form, to pluck the weapon from her hands and discard it, listening to it skitter down the rough tar surface as I plucked weapon after weapon from her bodice...

All before she was able to turn back, her facing telling me her disgust at being tricked so easily, knowing but not accepting her fate.

"Difficult to be pleasant with such an alluring prize for the taking."

And as her head turned I struck, my hand leaping forward to strike her, not to kill but to stun...for one did not destroy such a prize as she...not before she was thoroughly...enjoyed.

Still she tried, her shoulder and head moving, trying to avoid the blow, avert it's effect and prevent what was coming.

Her capture. And as she fell I caught her, wrapping my arms around her form and moving into the darkness, swiftly before her gunshots brought the attention I did not want and to admire...my prize.

 

[Sweetp4u]

Kara

"RELEASE ME!" She shouted out, her anger rising as his form took shape and carried her across the ground. He was trying to take off with her, but he was in for some a shock if he thought she'd go willingly!

Yanking on her chain around her neck, she pulled out the cross and shoved it into where his face would be if he materialized fully. "BE GONE!"

His wicked laughter caught her off guard, his grip loosened on her some what but did not release entirely. There was a familiar prickling down her spine, his voice.. Something about his voice brought back a vague memory she couldn't quite grasp.

She held to that corss, pushing it towards him and fighting off the hands that tried to detain her own. The growl of anger was building inside her as three more alley's came and went, he was moving too quickly for her liking, dragging her further from her weapons.. She had her wits and her training left, it would be enough.. If she could keep him at a distance.

 

[BLACK BART]

Ren

An angels fury.

I now knew what it meant to be holding it as we moved faster and faster down the narrow alley, distancing ourselves from the club and the teeth I had pulled from her.

But not all her teeth it seemed as she squirmed in my tentative grasp, half turning and forcing the silver cross into the center of my ethereal form and demanding again that I set her free.

I laughed at the demand, set on enjoying my prize to the fullest and not being denied it, not knowing or caring who the prize I carried away was...just WHAT.

I held a virgin hunter in my hands, a prize by either standard, one to savor as I drew it's life blood from it and taunted it, but to find BOTH in the same vessel?

My power over the undead would increase tenfold...and the legend of my reputation would grow even more...

My prize squirmed in my hands again, her voice growing even angrier and intense as we rose into the nights air, climbing...climbing ever higher over the buildings....then the trees beyond...and finally the quiet waters of the man made lake.

"Be still my PRIZE" I chastised her, growing impatient at her attempts and the squall that came from her throat.

What could I do? While her face was averted I could not look into her eyes and calm her, could not take control of her mind and still stay in this form...

I would turn her, I decided, then began to change my hold on her, from around her waist to hold her higher and spin her, forcing her to face me as she renewed her effort to fight me...

"BE STILL, KARA!" I made a demand of my own, one hand locked in the cloth over her chest, the second fixed in her hair and twisting...forcing her head back so she would have to look into my eyes...

And as the wind swept the thick strands of her hair away I centered my attention on her closed eyes, knowing as we rose higher and higher over the waters she would open her eyes eventually...if only to see where to push that infernal silver cross of her. My own face began to form, my eyes ready to claim her mind when she opened hers...and then her entire face came into the moonlight as the wind held her hair back...


Kara?

Her face...as I had dreamed of it every night, the face of the one I had pledged a promise to...and never told who I truly was...

I choked out the word shocked, forgetting the value of the prize I held and remembering who she was...loosing my grasp and trying to focus on returning my face to the mist before...

Before she opened her eyes and recognized WHO held her, who I was and invoked the promise I made to her so long ago.

Time slowed the second broke into hundreds of mille-seconds and I could see the muscles of each of her eyes react, responding to the tone of my owned shocked voice...I knew she would see me...her eyes would open before the features of my own face would dissipate...and I would be forced to tear savagely into my prize...not savor it as I had planned in my mind...

With regret I did the one thing that would guarantee me she wouldn't gain a hold over me and still be able to return to claim my prize...the one thing that I could to make sure I would be able to take my time draining her and savor her to the last, sweet drop of red blood...

I opened my hands and set the furious angel free...

 

[Sweetp4u]

Kara

Struggling she fought hard to be released, keeping her eyes closed to keep him from controlling her. She denied his demands by not doing as he barked at her.

"NO!" She spat out, angry and growing angrier by the moment. She felt the weightlessness and knew they hovered somewhere and as she finally started to look at him, see where to shove her cross, he released her!

She paniced a second, a yelp escaping her lips before she twisted and began to fall. She caught a glimpse of water and did her best to get her feet first. She tried to suck air into her lungs but couldn't, she closed her eyes and folded her arms, she knew how to swim..

SPLASH! She hit the warm water and sank like a stone for a few seconds. She struggled then to swim and break the surface, the key was not to panic.. She'd be alright if she did not panic!

She broke the surface and inhailed, coughing and splashing around as she whipped back and forth, looking for her adversary.

"YOU COWARD!" She yelled and broke out coughing. God damned filthy water! She made it to shore and began the long walk back down town.. She needed her weapons!

She cursed him every step she took, every single second she was growling with anger until that last mile. She was worn out, and down right dead on her feet.. It had been a long night.

"Chicken shit.... " She was thankful he dropped her however. She would have been easy pickin's if he hadn't. The cross wasn't working.. perhaps because she did not believe in it? She tried to do her best, but her mother was the faithful church lover, not her.. Her and her father had relied on weapons and knowledge, not relics...

She found the alley and began hunting in the dark. Everything was silent now, the club was closing it's door and only an occassional partier could be heard joyfully swaggering away from the doors.

"WHERE IS IT!" Damn him! Damn him to hell! If she lost her father's gun, he'd be in a world of shit!

 

[BLACK BART]

Ren

Body still in the wraith like state I hovered over the city mulling over my choices. Honor and all it's restrictions demanded I keep the oath sworn with the then young woman, yet survival demanded I somehow find a way to make her revoke her own and thus break the pact between us.

The young woman had grown up, now returning as a deadly and deeply despised enemy of my kind, one that thanks to my own history I was well informed of...a hunter. Her life was dedicated to destroy my own race and my clan, my duty was to kill her as quickly as possible to protect them and my oath prevented just that...

I had tasted her blood...the scratch inflicted on her cheek had still been bleeding and as I carried her aloft I had sampled it, two lone drops but enough to answer a multitude of questions...and give me a few, small advantages.

Advantages that I would use, I knew, as I lowered my self to the alleys once more, taking my immortal form and reaching out for her mind as she searched for her valued objects on the rough stone street.

A gentle entry into her mind...a search to find the images of myself as she remembered our last fond farewells years ago, to push them forward in her mind and to bring forth the emotions she had felt at saying farewell...

It would suffice, enough to cloud her judgments if only temporarily, to allow me to appear as the friend she once knew...and not the enemy she would kill...from that point I hoped to gain enough answers and room to protect my own...

I bent and retrieved her silver pistol from under a pile of refuge, my gloved hand protecting me from it's effects and then made my voice gentle as I called out to her, stepping into dim light cast by an incandescent bulb.

"I believe this might be what you're searching for, Miss....?"

 

[Sweetp4u]

Kara

She jumped at the sound of the voice and whirled around. Standing not ten feet from her was a man, holding her weapon.

"Christinson.. Kara.. Thanks... Mister?" She moved forward only slightly and waited for the tell-tell tingles but there were none worth mentioning.

"Have we met before?" Her hand extended to take her gun, but paused as she eyed his face. "You look some what familiar to me." She gave a lopsided smile, timid but there. She wasn't used to people approaching her, but she hadn't been out long neither.
By now she was hunting or being hunted, not socializing with strangers.. handsome stranger but still someone she should be cautious of.. Cities breed psychos..

 

[BLACK BART]

Ren

We were friends a few years ago" I teased and reversed the gun, handing it to her butt first. "But then I see you've forgotten me already?"

How different she looked now when I saw her as the person I used to know and not just a meal. If I could turn her, get her to accept my kind? I would have the blood I so cherished and the woman as well, one fit to spend eternity with, an ally that would be able to watch out for herself and the others, as well as be fit to spend that eternity with.

"How have you been Kara, I've often thought of you and missed you, though knowing your time in training was what kept you from me."

A smile and yet I was wary, I still clouded her mind but she was trained now, instinct and logic guided her when all else failed.

"You're even more lovely of a creature then we last saw each other."

 

[Sweetp4u]

Kara

She stood a moment staring hard at him before it dawned on her just whom he was.

"Oh my god! Ren?!" She broke into a big grin and then lost it momentarily as she stared at him. "It's been..... wow.. awhile." She took her piece and tucked it back into the holster in her back.

"Yeah.. " She flushed a little, her eyes adverting away from his handsome features. She used to have a big crush on this man! Hell he didn't look a day older than when she saw him last!
"Training, schooling.. Pretty much took up my time.." The words trailed off, again memories coming through her mind. The oath she gave to this man, a foolish little 'crush' moment he took to heart and vowed the same. She flushed yet again, not sure if she should appologize or laugh at her own behavior.

The oath... She meant those words then and from the few minutes standing in the dark with him, she still meant them today as well.

"Well.. we can't stand here forever.. Would you like to go get a cup of coffee or something?" She motioned out of the alley towards the street. Go somewhere and catch up..

"You've got to tell me how you've been these past 8 years.." She smiled pushing down that uneasy feeling again and again. It was merely a reflexive thing, Ren wouldn't harm her!

 

[BLACK BART]

Ren

Ren
"You've got to tell me how you've been these past 8 years.."

What could I say to her? I had taken control of the city, destroying the current vampirical government, replacing it with my own structure, killing the Master of the city myself and now waited for her to destroy all my efforts?

"I've been busy Kara, politics have been my passion of late and I've found I have a knack for such things"

She was beautiful, her eyes shining, her cheeks rosy red and her entire body....alive with the vigor of youth.

"I'd enjoy sitting with you and catching up where we left off Kara."

An honest enough reply, she was to be my chosen one and there was no other I'd love to pass time with, to talk away the night until dawn...

"There is a cafe a few blocks down, a quaint place where I frequent, the mother and father are from the old country and serve an excellent krumkake and coffee."

Neither of which I had ever tasted, the owners were quite aware of who I was and granted me the privilage of being thier guest in return for my protection...

We walked side by side and chatted of the days we had shared, the late evening boat rides, the swimming in the river, our taunting each other as we swam in our underclothes and her blushing when she took my dare to swim "au naturale"...

And then I held the door open for her, pretending not to notice the three that swept out the back door, a group not of my own clan that had begun to peruse the tiny cafe and daring me to remove them...

Kara stiffened, her hand moving swiftly to the still unfettered pistol on her hip, then relaxed as I moved between her and them if by accident.

"Tell me Kara, do you still respond to someone daring you as eagerly as you did in our past?"

 

[Sweetp4u]

Kara

"Tell me Kara, do you still respond to someone daring you as eagerly as you did in our past?" His voice held mirth in it, his eyes deadly serious and she turned a bright red from embarassment as well.

"No one has.. dared me in awhile Ren." She smiled a little, fighting down the urge to go hunt the three that just left the diner. She knew they were vampire, she could feel it in her soul. But how could she with Ren there?

Put it aside, there is always tomorrow..And she hadn't seen him in some time, it would be nice to catch up.. Stare at his beautiful face a little longer before reality set in.

She shivered a little and moved down the rows of tables until she reached the corner. She had a perfect seat there and no one could come up behind her.

Sliding into the corner, she invited Ren to sit with her.

"How about you Ren? Other than politics.. Married yet? Kids? Hell you look the same as when I saw you last.." She smiled a little more friendly than before, the vampires were gone. "Time has been kind to you.." She didn't want compliments so she hurried to push that aside with, "Tell me whats been going on in your life? Love, loss, passion, hobbies?" She had no life as a hunter, she did not want to bore him with her life, nor hear him laugh when he learned her real profession.

No one believed in the undead, but she knew better than that. The waitress came and she ordered herself a cup of coffee.

 

[BLACK BART]

Ren

Scowling inside I smiled outwardly and took the chair to her right, it placed my back to the counter where the two owners stood, worry in the eyes of both and disbelief at what they were witnessing. All that worked or served in the City knew there was a new hunter in town, and the rumor that another faction was trying to topple the current power made the already tense situation...worse.

Now three of the opposing clan had run away as the hunter and the current master sat having coffee and cake...

It was enough to make me grin, concentrating on holding my fangs back and giving Kara a toothy but normal looking smile and being rewarded with one of her own.

"How about you Ren? Other than politics.. Married yet? Kids? Hell you look the same as when I saw you last.."

"I lost my true love once Kara, so no...no marriage yet." I answered truthfully "And her and my lifestyles wouldn't be contusive for children."

. "Time has been kind to you.."

The compliment made me smile and look at her, her eyes meeting mine and making it so easy...so accessible if I wanted to...I glanced down at the still untouched cup of dark coffee and lifted it to my lips, enjoying the smell but knowing that was as far as I dared.

"I don't know why I order coffee, I love the smell and the charm of chatting over it, but hate the taste" I joked and lowered the warm cup to the table, then sobered as I recalled her first words.

"No one has.. dared me in awhile Ren."

"I've often wondered what it would be like if we were still...together" I confessed honestly to the full grown woman before me. "And now that you've returned I can't believe my luck and question if there is a catch?"

It was as close as I'd ever come to doubting her being her, or telling her outright who or what I was and risking her life with mine.

But then? She was already a marked person, her life never certain from day to day, and I toyed with the idea...

"I've found another passion to wile away the days whilst you were gone, Kara, and I wonder if you'd like to accompany to share in it as well?"

The idea was intriguing, tomorrow was the grand opening and it promised to be a performance unlike any mortal or immortal had ever seen before...

"You've grown into a beautiful woman Kara, one that could easily steal a man's heart away if you chose to, yet I see no ring on your finger." A gentle yet sincere tease and one I intended to have the answer to "Is there someone I should be jealous of then or a career that has caused you to hate men?"

 

[Sweetp4u]

Kara

"I am sorry you lost her.." Her smile was genuine in her sympathy. She felt a little jealous over the unknown woman, but it wasn't her place to feel thusly.

She chuckled over his comment on coffee, "It is an aquired taste I'm sure.. It took me awhile to get used to it as well." She noticed the owners acting strangely but said nothing, merely noting it. Were those four back often? She counted three, but had a feeling four were there. Odd, very odd. She must be tired to be losing her senses.

"Together Ren? We were merely friends.." She chuckled again, "I was just a foolish little girl.. And thank you. I like to think I grew up to be.. well at least close to my mother in looks.." She teased and winked at him before sipping her coffee.

"I dont know about stealing a man's heart away, but I haven't really found the one for me.. Surely you understand that?" She paused eyeing him for understanding in what she meant.
"Anyway, I think I will know the right one when he comes along.. Maybe I am foolish but I believe in that melting, all consuming type feeling when the right one ...." She trailed off not wanting to finish the sentence of foolish girlish dreams. But she believed in that feeling, it would happen sooner or later. Someone would come along and she'd melt... She hoped.

"No one to be jealous of... I do not hate men!" She laughed and tossed her napkin at him, sinking back in time a little, feeling like that young carefree girl again. "I work.. well I am a bounty hunter kind of.. I track People.. But I can't get into it. You remember all the training I had to go to? The variety of classes and schools.. All to learn how to be a better hunter.." She trailed off there again and sipped her coffee, wishing to dismiss the topic. She hated to lie to people, especially old friends. The silence was strange, but not. IT was hard to explain, but she didn't feel alone even in the silence.

 

[BLACK BART]

Ren

It was maddening and yet a test as well. I was concentrating on the lovely woman in front of me, keeping her awareness focused on me and not on the others outside, and yet I could feel that she was aware.

So be it. I let the energies of the three that had fled return, damping the presence of my own horde as they flocked around them, as well as my own energies as we spoke.

And then to let her thoughts come into my own mind, to sort thru what she was saying as well as what she was feeling, the loneliness of being a hunter and having her own kind scoff at her as well as being hated and despised by the very beings she didn't know, but condemned to death as well.

"I don’t know about stealing a man's heart away, but I haven't really found the one for me.. Surely you understand that? Anyway, I think I will know the right one when he comes along.. Maybe I am foolish but I believe in that melting, all consuming type feeling when the right one ...."

Her face was pure emotion as she spoke and for a brief time I was lost with the passion of her words, the quandary she felt at being a hunter and at the same time...a woman.

And with that moment returned her awareness, her face showing confusion as her natural given talent expanded itself and she felt others outside of us.

And finally her remorse. At not being able to tell the whole truth to anyone, even one she called...a friend.

"There need be no secrets between us Kara, as it was in the past so could it be now, we accepted each other for what we are and didn't judge."

If it only were that simple. As the fury outside our cafe grew in intensity so did the one deep within my soul and I cursed both for what I must do to deal with them.

 

[Sweetp4u]

Kara

"Yes we did, didn't we?" She smiled, the waitress came and refilled her cup and left just as silently.
"I wish it were that simple, but I am afraid it isn't.." She shivered again and glanced around the cafe, checking windows and doors. They were still outside, lingering in the darkness and waiting.. But for what?

"So.. Where you hiding these days? I haven't seen you in quite awhile, and yet here you are again.." She chuckled lightly "It's almost as if you appeared out of thin air.. I've been in this city now for a year and haven't run into you.. Guess this was luck or fate?" She sat slowly spinning her cup in her hands, but her eyes were on his face and features as if trying to read his thoughts, see what he was thinking?

She was loathed to end the evening, but she would have to go soon and get some rest before tomorrow night.. She didn't want to leave though. She was liking their little corner too much, something she should not allowe, but was happening.. Caring.

She was beginning to care again, and want to be with him. The old crush or the same raw emotions coming through?

"I hunt vampires, Ren.." She whispered, looking down at her cup and waiting for the laughter. "There are four outside right now, waiting.." She didn't flush, she spoke the truth, now would he laugh at her?

 

[BLACK BART]

Ren

"So.. Where you hiding these days? I haven't seen you in quite awhile, and yet here you are again.."

"I've kept my nose to the grindstone, like you." I returned, knowing her activities had made my own campaign that much easier and yet it had honed her own skills as well.

"When I was aware it was really you that had returned I came as quickly as I could, but our schedules were opposite and I seemed to always miss you. But now? Now we share this moment and should be grateful."

She was the one probing now, sending gentle tendrils into my mind to carress it and read it, and I gently blocked the attempt.

Our time was running short and I regretted it, as well as the battle was to come outside once we left, for if handled wrong Kara would be invloved.

"I hunt vampires, Ren...There are four outside right now, waiting.."

She whispered it as if ashamed, something suddenly becoming interesting in her cup, and I knew her need...

"As I was too at one time, Kara. Why else would I be allowed to move within your family and not be confronted by your uncles?"

Did she know the secrets of her family as well as I did? Did she know how often a hunter was turned and in turn had to be eliminated by thier own kind?

I wondered how deep her training had gone. And how much she had been told...

"As I said, there need be no secrets, it is your choice"

The battle was about to come, the question was...what sides would we find ourselves on?

 

[Sweetp4u]

Kara

"They told me nothing Ren, only that you decided not to hunt again." She had momentarily forgotten Ren was with her family hunting before she was out of preschool.

It sent off warning bells and her head jerked up as her eyes landed on him hard.

"Jesus Christ!" She muttered as the knowledge now came to her.

"They didn't? Did they?" She had a sinking feeling someone fed Ren to and for their cause.

She searched his face, her eyes narrowing, waiting for that familiar tingling to come over her. Had he shadowed it?

"Ren?" She fumbled over the lump in her throat, she always wondered why he vanished without a word. Why her family never spoke of him as they used to...

 

[BLACK BART]

Ren

"Ren?"

The question hung in the air and my heart stopped, literally.

Desperation, pain and the knowledge that if I were...she would have to begin her killing spree with...me.

And with my death my horde would swarm her, hunt her until the end, and in the end it would be her death that would break the oath.

Survival. Of myself and the woman I intended to possess and to keep the oath I had pledged, not knowing my future at that point in time.

"Kara, You are a hunter. TEST ME" I demanded, opening my hands to show her I meant no harm and would allow it.

And she did. Or thought she did. For as she prepared her senses I did so myself, and as she spread her energies over me I dampened them, letting her feel only the love and caring I felt for her, the memories of our times together and what joy it brought me. I felt her mind picking it's way thru mine and guided it, touching each probing tendril with one of those memories to remind her of what we used to be to each other...and still could.

And then she pulled back, eyes brimming with dampness as she softened and let her guard down again, and I interceded.

"You will need help for those who wait outside. They are the real danger and I will not...can not allow them to harm you. I will accompany you and walk you...home"

It was as if she were back in high school, and I would escort her home each night from her late classes, but this was not the past we both knew as we rose and moved to the door and opened it.

 

[Sweetp4u]

Kara

She had held his hand, it was warm to her touch. She had closed her eyes and tried to feel something, see anything. Use her insight and found nothing but love and friendship.

She withdrew from him and her smile broadened. "You are just you.. As always.." She sighed, happy to know he had not be bait, had not been used. She was grateful for it and really relieved! She did not want to have to hunt him.. And truth be told, she couldn't hunt him.

She remembered the oath of protection she made to him and he made to her. They would never harm or intentionally hurt each other. Be it by any means great or small.

"The oath..." She smiled sadly, remembering all their good times.

"I remember the oath.." She let it go and stood up, the energies outside were getting chaotic and frightening.

"We need to go outside Ren.. They are in a rampage of some kind.. hunger or something.." She whispered, throwing cash on the table to cover the coffee and tip.

"I'd like you to walk me home.. I think they've come for me.." She wasn't sure but they were lingering out there for a reason. Be it her virgin scent she used as her aid, or just because she was a hunter... But they were waiting.

 

[BLACK BART]

Ren

We moved outside, into the cool air and with our shoulders to each other, our eyes watching for what was to come.

A mass of bodies swarmed about. Some hovering, some standing on the concrete, all with fangs and claws fully distending and eyes blazing.

Four were not mine. They were at the center of the chaos and held thier by my own, grim fear written on the faces as they moved in a slow circle to face the dangers that held them.

And now a greater danger came. A hunter and a master, side by side and into the midst, and it seemed that the chaos lessened, that the ones that hovered suddenly fled, leaving only the four to face us.

I smiled, knowing the battle that was to came and looking frorward to it, following Kara's lead as she drew her pistol and cocked it, then triggered off a round that nearly tore off the first vampires head.

"Leave at least one for me, Kara" I chuckled and ran beside her, careful that I appeared to be what she had identified me as..."Though I need a weapon to kill them with, unless you wish me to use my bare hands?"

And then we were with them, thier movements like lightning, the hiss and howls of thier voices complaining at us and promising to drink our blood,a promise I wished I could give in return. And as the first came to grips with me a flash of silver came thru the darkness and I reached up with a gloved hand to grip it...

 

[Sweetp4u]

Kara

Stepping out into the fresh air, it was seconds later they were surrounded. Some fled, but she paid no attention to them, she leveled her gun and fired, one down, three to go.

"Leave at least one for me, Kara" Red joked with her.

"One? Ok." Flashing him a grin, she reached for her blade as he spoke for a weapon. She was right with him and knew what he needed. Handing over her blade, she fired and another exploded into dust.

Pointing she aimed at the third man but he kicked at her as he lept. She whirled and tried to fire but got only a resounding click.

The gun was empty.

"DAMN IT!" shoving the gun down her waist, she grabbed for her dagger and stood facing a lone man. Ren made quick work of the other and was turning in their direction.

"Bitch!" The male hissed at her, lunging and grabbing her with his fingers. He tossed her backwards and into a pile of garbage bags just as Ren grabbed the man. She fumbled to get up, rolling and losing sight of the two battling. She needed to get back in there!

"REN! Watch out!" She called out, fighting off the bags falling on her and stumbling from the pile. Crawling, she got herself upright to see the final man was gone.

Did he kill the vampire? He had to if it was gone..

"Get him?" She panted a little, wiping her hand across her forehead to remove something slimey she didn't want to identify. Shaking her head, she knew she needed to be more careful and carry more ammunition with her! This was twice tonight and two different vampires who had gotten to her body. Dangerous.. Deadly mistakes she couldn't afford to make.

 

[BLACK BART]

Ren

It was too close. The final enemy was over Kara, claws and fangs ready to tear into her tender body when I reached him, thankful for the debris blinding Kara so that I could use my speed as I moved to the beast.

Beast...It was what he was to me, anyone that would threaten Kara and my own position as master, he deserved exactly what came to him...

I handed him his heart, chuckling at the pain and horror in his eyes as I used Kara's knife to cut off his last scream, then stood watching the knowledge that he was truly dead spread over his features as his body began to crumble under him, then collapse to the concrete in a mass of smoldering ashes and smoke.

Then too even that was gone as I offered Kara my hand, thankful for the obvious fact that she was allright, proven by her cursing herself for her gun running empty and her near death.

"What should I expect tomorrow night then?" I joked as we brushed each other off, my hands running over her to pick off the residue of the pile in the street. "To bring my own weapons to the date?"

Or an escort of my own choosing, I thought quietly to myself, and took her arm to do as I promised...to walk her safely home.

It didn't take long, Kara's head on my shoulder was something I didn't want to give up so quickly, but I found myself on the doorstep of a quaint cottage she had rented..

And excusing myself.

"Unlike you I have work to do yet" I teased "And then I need to get some sleep, I want to be at my best when I see you again...8 pm...in my car."

Would I say it was a thrill when she kissed me chastely on my cheek? Or should I say it was only the lead to a much greater sensation when she surprised me and pulled me to her, letting her lips flatten against mine as her mouth opened?

I was still smiling as I moved down the street and out of her sight, her knife still in my pocket and forgotten, trying to beat the dawn...and the death it would bring.