Shadows danced off the walls as Elizabeth made her way along the sidewalk. The sun had long since set, and darkness had crept over the town. However, the streets were far from empty –in fact they were littered with groups looking for a party or some other form of amusement. The stars of the sky were just barely visible beyond the lights of the city, the moon only a fragment of the light which led her way.

Like a few others who wandered the streets, she was on her way home. She had spent the last few hours of her day studying at the city library. She had things to worry about, like paying rent and passing her classes. In some ways, she found her world dull. It was led by the meaningless cares of just trying to fit in. Too much time was spent meeting expectations. But this was just a part of being human – and a part of her cherished the simplicity. Being human was simple, and she no longer had to spend her time constantly on edge preparing for an attack. Spending time at the gym was called a hobby, not mandatory for survival. And this was life, the hand that fate had dealt her. She was alive – but that meant that she was human, even if she didn’t agree with it.

A chill down her spine stopped her in her tracks. She turned on her heels, coming face to face with a vampire. White coated her vision as her head slammed into the concrete of a nearby wall. Desperately she shook her head as she tried to regain her vision and orient herself with the world. She should have seen it coming – she had already been attacked once in her lifetime as a human. But still, it took guts to target a human in a crowd – picking them up and dragging them into the alleyway. She had to give the vampire points though, smashing her head into a wall was sure a good way to try and incapacitate her so she couldn’t go running away. A rush of energy passed through her, her instincts to survive. She heard a terrible crash, and following sounds of cardboard boxes falling over. She shook her head as she felt herself go weak. Lifting her eyes, she watched as the vampire pushed his way up. He let out a hearty laugh as he rested his hand upon his shoulder and rolled his neck.

“Feisty, aren’t you,” he growled. In seconds, the vampire had her pinned against the wall, this hand around her throat.

Her blood ran cold as she forgot to breath. For upon his neck was a tattoo identical to the mark upon her arm. Chronos.

At last. Proof enough that the thing he'd been tailing for days was a vampire. Proof enough for Abraham to strike . He had to admit, though, this one had guts, dragging a girl like that in to an alley at this time of day. The tattoo on his neck had greatly increased his suspicion, but only an attack could provide proper evidence and opportunity.

By now he was poised on the rooftop above, waiting for the moment that he had a clear shot, when the girl would be too weak to fight and get in his way. Once his moment arrived, the action was almost a reflex. Flicking the knife through the air, towards the back of his neck before leaping off the roof, weapon firmly in his hand to kill the attacker with.

The girl was almost a second thought, kill first and deal with the victim afterwards. Knowing that she would ask questions about the attacker or about his method, it was best to ignore them until the creature was dead and he was sure they were safe. With his knife lodged in the back of the creature's neck, and another planted firmly in to it's chest with a snarl, he held firm, not looking at the girl until it stopped twitching, keeping his hood and scarf firmly up to hide his face from anyone watching. Abraham could then push the body aside, and focus on the victim, a young girl, from the university, most likely.
"Are you bleeding?" He asked, not moving anything away from his face in an attempt to uphold his anonymity.

She drew in a deep breath as the vampire fell away from her. Placing a hand behind her, she steadied herself upon the wall. Relief rushed through her, grateful that she had not lost her life tonight. But anger rushed in quickly upon watching the scene play out before her. The very act stirred at the memories of a distant past. As the vampire stopped moving, she found her anger grow even more. How was she supposed to know more about this vampire if he was dead?

The question stirred her out of her thoughts, and she reached up with her right hand to touch the back of her head. She winced as she felt the gash that the attack had caused. “It’s not too bad,” Elizabeth answered as she glanced at the blood that coated her fingers. Wiping the substance upon her jeans, her attention was drawn back to the corpse. “What do you plan to do with that?”

Why she was asking, she wasn’t sure, for she knew that the hunter would most likely burn it – or find some other way to destroy the evidence. Clean up was always the most tedious part of the job. Her gaze rested upon the face of the fallen. Even now, without the threat of eminent death, she could not recognize the face.

He chuckled breathlessly for a moment, the adrenaline in his veins set him on edge despite the fact he'd done this a million times before. He'd never had anyone ask about the vampire before. It was proving to be an unusual attack, from beginning to end. He shrugged, a faint smile on his face behind his scarf. "Take it home, dissect it if there's any time, then destroy it." He told her, watching for her reaction.

There was a few moments pause, before Abraham spoke again. "Are you sure you're alright? Let me get you a cab home, at least?" He offered, looking the girl over. There was certainly more to this attack than there usually was, and questions crowded through Abraham's head, if he had more sense, then perhaps he would ask them.

Offering out a hand to the girl in an attempt to seem less savage than some people assumed he was, he nudged the body with his foot, looking at the mark on his neck. "Or I'll walk with you, just to check you're not in shock." He insisted, genuinely concerned for her health now.

"I see," she quietly responded to his answer. A frown tugged at her mouth as she ground her teeth together. How much would the man enjoy if a vampire had said the same about one of his own? Of course, he had no idea who she was. And that was how it should be. She was human, and needed to resign herself to such a life. Yet, here she was talking with a vampire hunter while standing over a corpse. This wasn't normal. And what was to say that this wouldn't happen again. That another vampire with the mark of Chronos wouldn't pop out of the woodworks. Maybe this was just a random happening. Still... was she going to let this all slide and ignore this reality?

She began to deny his help. Began to move slowly away from the wall that was her support. But the world swayed a bit, and she found herself reaching out for his hand. "A cab should do me just fine - unless there are more guys like him out there. I don't need another experience like this again tonight."

Abraham shrugged slightly, his eyes flicking between her and the dead vampire on the floor beside them both. "I can't say for certain, but there's always a chance." He told her, rubbing slowly at his head for a moment. She was so calm, like she'd had that happen before, or like she knew what the vampire was. Perhaps she had known? He opened his mouth again to speak, but changed his mind, closed it and hummed slightly.

He was careful to keep his distance as he supported her, looking around to check that the two of them were still safe. She didn't seem to approve of him, whether it was his method or the fact he was holding her in an alley way, dressed entirely in black. "He wouldn't have had a second thought about killing you. You're sage enough now, though." He tried to reassure her, keeping the exhaustion out of his voice.

She was quiet for a moment, battling with the words that her tongue did not wish to utter. Never in her life had she thanked a vampire hunter. And yet, here was one, desperately trying to make sure that she felt safe. "Thank you," Elizabeth finally expressed her gratitude, a heavy feeling settling within her. She owed him her life. Perhaps this would have been easier if he had just disappeared back into the shadows. "For I probably would have been... could have been killed if you hadn't shown up."

"How did you learn to fight like that?" Elizabeth asked. It was a horrible attempt at small talk - or at least that's what she hoped it came across as. For the conversation allowed her to keep her thoughts aligned. If she was able to get him to talk more - than there was less of a chance that in her weakened state that she'd say something she shouldn't have. She was already starting to wonder that her anger for the hunter was already obvious. And she hoped that he believed that shock was the reason she was handling this situation so calmly.

Abraham shrugged, a little unwilling to share that information. Things like this, he remembered being told, always stay secret. It wasn't an unpleasant memory, but it was hardly something that would make him smile. "It's a family... Tradition." He murmured eventually, his voice low. It made him sound ashamed of what his family did, and he supposed he was. As far as she was concerned, she'd just witnessed a murder.

"Are you sure you're alright, though?" He asked, remembering her wiping blood off her hands, on to her jeans. "If you need to get checked out, I'll make sure you get there." The offer made him feel sane, like everyone offered to help a girl who had just been attacked to the hospital. She was probably a student, training in something normal. He didn't want to admit his jealousy. He probably shouldn't acknowledge it at all. He should've stayed relaxed, prepared and detached. God forbid that he ever had feelings.

She raised her eyebrows in suspicion at his response. How could anyone think that such actions were a family tradition? But she remained silent. There was no reason to ask him more if he wasn’t willing to go into details.

“I’m fine, really,” she tried to reassure him. Never had see witnessed a vampire hunter stick around so long. Perhaps things had changed in twenty-one years. Perhaps the humans were a bit more careful at treating those who had encountered a vampire. “I’ve been through worse.” The sharp bitterness of the truth tainted her words – dying was far worse than a bump to the head. However, the fact that her head was throbbing with pain made her reconsider the offer. And the more she thought, the more she wondered if she had pain killers and first aid kit to deal with her wound. “But… perhaps a quick stop for some painkillers wouldn’t hurt.”

He nodded, very slightly. She seemed a little curious about the whole "family" thing, but she said nothing of it. It shouldn't have to be a major issue. It didn't bother him often. If she had cared, she would have asked him about it, and she hadn't. Time to move on.

"My house is around the corner. I have plenty of things for that." He offered, before realising how creepy that sounded. He shook his head, pressing a hand to his forehead in embarrassment. "No, I don't mean that, I'm sorry. I promise there's no bodies or anything there, but you don't have to go in if you'd rather not." He babbled. He didn't speak to many people any more. Not unless he killed them after. Most victims were going unconscious before he got there.

Elizabeth smiled as the man stumbled to find the right words that would hopefully save him from too much more embarrassment. It was a risk to continue to spend time with this hunter. However, she prefered the idea of going to his house rather than showing up at a convience store while bleeding. That would get too many people involved - and she didn't like the idea of people seeing her in such a weakened state.

"A quick stop would be just fine," she agreed to his offer. "Just as long as you aren't lying about there being any corpses hiding in your closet."

The future was too unpredictable. She shifted her right arm, doing her best to keep the marking out of his sight. The mark had never proven to be a problem growing up in a world where no one knew its meaning. But now, she was unsure what the hunter would do if he managed to see the mark of Chronos. He would probably kill her before sitting down to hear her side of the story.

Abraham nodded, his eyes looking briefly to the body, then back to her. He smiled back at her, a little uneasy about the whole thing. She was odd, but he could easily dismiss that as the fact she had hit her head and was probably in shock about the entire attack. Still, that was no reason to be entirely calm about her. The entire attack had been strange, even if he didn't consider her.

"This way, I suppose." He said eventually, his voice sounding a little uncomfortable about taking her to the house, in case the two of them were being followed. No. His nerves were getting the better of him, and he focused on the pavement before him as he started to walk the short distance to the house, pausing a few metres down the street to wait for... The girl. He made a mental note to get her name, just in case she did collapse, or something. He wasn't used to dealing with conscious humans.

She contemplated the future and what actions she could take. She couldn't just start interrogating the man about vampires. That would be too suspicuous. Perhaps she could ask about his family - as he haf claimed that hunting was a tradition.

Lifting her gaze she noticed that she had begun to lag behind. "So you really live close by then," she stated as she caught up to him. He seemed wary - but she could understand why. Were they alone? Or was it possible that someone was keeping tabs on her. Her eyes scanned the shadows and the rooftop. Something caught her eye, but she tried to brush it off. Her head had been slammed against a wall, so maybe it was just her mind playing tricks.

"I hope I'm not ruining any of your evening plans to stop and help me."

They started to walk together once she had caught up, finding an easy enough pace to walk at. It would only take a couple of minutes to reach the house at this speed, and he didn't want to rush her in case she did have a head injury. "I've not had evening plans in quite a while." He told her, before smiling slightly and turning on to a quieter street. "It's just down here."

He'd lived there his entire life, apart from a few short months away from the house after... That. It was a large enough house, far too big for him on his own, but it was home. He didn't want to leave it behind. It looked older than it was, but was in decent repair apart from the stiff lock that meant the key never went in right the first time. It just looked like a family home, although it was only him who lived inside. He paused on the doorstep as he unlocked the door. "I understand if you'd rather not come in."