Nat reclined in her room in her Bleecker Street brownstone building... The one she'd bought with her inheritance back in '64. Only recently had she begun to rent out the rooms, starting a sort of boarding house. She had only one person renting half of the bottom floor.

Right now she had three girls over for a visit - her friends Lydia, Zazu (She changed her name often... It had been Kiki, Francis, and Reggie in the past three years.), and Marie. Naturally, her friends didn't know about her condition, and neither did her sole boarder. She had kept a secret for many, many years, and intended to keep it well. Natalia didn't live in fear, but walked at day and lived a semi-normal life. She didn't need much sleep, and didn't feed very often so as not to attract suspicion... When she did feed, she would post alibis on Twitter, saying that she was in other places, and would make her "plans" known to friends.

She would go to clubs to pick up drugged-out clubbers and take them "home" - else known as the brambles of Central Park - to devour them. She would then put the evidence in her hobo bag and take it to the basement of her building to dispose of it. Her system had worked for a long time, and the new system of alibis helped her greatly.

Her friends flipped on the television, to the news channel that Natalia had been watching the night before. Something caught Nat's eye, and so she stopped them from changing to another program.

"Wally," sighed Zazu incredulously, "they're talking about vampires... This is ridicu-"
"HUSH," Natalia whispered harshly, "I've gotta hear this!"

A stern-voiced woman appeared on the screen, with a scene of commotion in the background. The city's lights illuminated the street, which was sort of stopped and clogged with people. The young men and women, who had just been going off to their clubs, looked bewildered and frightened. They were gathered around a smoking, overturned motorcycle. Many were leaving the scene hurriedly.

"The smell of garlic is in the air," said the reporter, "and vampires are reportedly on the loose. On this street there have been a few reported attacks, and a vigilante is said to be taking care of the case. Police are coming to the scene. Officials believe that these "vampires" are really just one sick person on a killing spree... Similarities in the deaths have been noted. People are advi-"

Click. Marie was now flipping through the channels.

"Did you... Hey, Marie, stoppit! " Marie muted the tv, which was now showing a 'Girls Gone Wild' ad. "Did you guys see that? There's a vampire hunter! A hunter in the city!"
"Nat, you're obsessed with the supernatural. I think it's maybe... not so good," said Zazu.
"Guys... I'm really scared. Maybe you should go."
"Why, are you a vampire?!" giggled Lydia while Natalia's heartbeat quickened at the remark, "C'mon Nosferatu... But don't biiiite meeeee!"
"It isn't funny! Those kids getting killed are just like mu-... uh... us! Go home and stay inside tonight, okay? Just get a taxi and go."

Lydia, Marie, and Zazu could tell that Nat was serious. They left the building grudgingly and went down Bleecker to 6th, where they hailed a cab. Natalia stayed in her room, where she changed into a pair of specially-engineered protective leggings, (she had friends at FIT, and they had the strangest assignments...) knee-high fireproof boots, a bulletproof vest and a long-sleeved, dark gray, billowy dress to hide it. She looked like another hipster, but was well protected. She put her big switchblade in her bag and tied back her long, brown hair.

The skinny girl was surprisingly strong and as armed as she liked to be, without being obvious about it... She didn't look like the stereotypical vampire and tended to act more human, so she could go and blend into the surroundings. She was going to check out the scene and identify this new hunter, but she wanted to stand her ground... No tussles tonight. But first, she'd stop to eat. No, not feed, but just grab a bite to eat... She was starving! To Hanson's diner, if it was still open!

Natalia snagged a taxi on 6th and directed him toward the commotion, but made him stop ahead so she could walk. She tipped him generously and began walking toward the diner, eying the pandemonium two blocks ahead.