The night air was cold, colder than usual as a thin sheet of rain fell and soaked those who hurried back and forth. The moon was high in the sky though mostly it was concealed by the dark clouds that drifted across the blackness on invisible currents as the city went about its business as usual. Bleary eyed workers made their way home, others emerging for their night shifts. Criminals and police officers did battle as they always had and always seemed to. The youth of the city was of course at its bars and clubs, drinking and partying unaware of the other world that existed, the other world that came alive as the sun set to prey on the unsuspecting and the helpless.

Down an alleyway, away from the eyes of the city a young clubber struggled as the beautiful woman he had met just a few minutes ago buried her fangs deep into his neck, her strength far exceeding his own despite her petite size. A few moments later a pair of his friends shouted his name and followed down into the alley, only to discover his already cold body, his eyes staring at the sky with a look of terror splayed across his features and blood dribbling down his neck.

Miles away in a dark park a woman walked alone under the few streetlights that lit the path. An odd tingling sensation griped her as she looked around, doubling her pace as she pulled her hood tighter to keep the rain out. Suddenly stood before her a man, or what she assumed was a man, his appearance instant and sudden to her eyes. Startled she made to scream, but the man simply gazed at her, his eyes piercing into her as he spoke softly

“Silence. You are mine now. Follow.”

The words were spoken softly and relaxed, however they were all she could focus on as she found herself following his instructions to the letter, helpless to resist as she did as the stranger bid – she followed him to her doom.

In the top floor of a penthouse apartment the wealthy undead mingled with each other, talking, laughing, sharing in stories as they drank from the many young girls and boys that stood around as if in a trance, seemingly happy to be used as little more than walking blood dispensaries.

This and more happens practically every night, the humans of this world powerless to resist the fates chosen by those with power over them. Only those who were aware, those who through one means or another have awakened to the nightmare that is reality have even a slim chance of survival. There exists a few amongst the number of humans who have made it their profession to fight against these foul creatures of the night, to remove their unholy stain from this world.

But what happens when the line between prey and predator mix? What happens two very unlikely individuals meet, their goal oddly aligned? One fighting the nature of his existence, the other embracing her own. Will they be able to stand against the tide together? Or both be washed under the sanguine waves never to emerge again.

Rashel trudged through the streets, her ear buds buried in her ears as music blared. She was dressed in a white singlet with a blue open flannel on top, black jeans and a pair of black heeled boots. She sighed, looking around as she walked, her wavy waist length raven hair flying as she turned her head, inspecting her surroundings. Rashel face was blank as she walked into the bar which she worked at, her brow furrowed slightly as she walked inside, going behind the bar where she could serve drinks for people, taking her ear buds out of her ears finally when someone came up, tucking her phone in her back pocket with a small sigh as she looked up at the elderly man on the bar stool. "What can I get you Mr. D?", she asked with a smile which the man returned. "Just a beer princess", he said with a slight nod, turning to the football game on the television. Maddy smiled slightly, shaking her head as she went and got him the drink, sliding it across the bench, then moved, serving others. Yes. Rashel was known as "The Bar Princess". She smiled, shaking her head at the thought of it. Mostly everyone called her "Princess" or people who knew who she was and what she did called her "The Cat". Everyone who came to the bar on a regular basis knew most things about her, but there was one thing that some of them didn't know. She was THE most feared vampire hunter throughout the world.

@Tsar Gatto

Tony waited silently as his eyes stared fixated on the old wreck of a house he was watching, his eyes widening as he suddenly spotted the man he had been watching for. The house itself was large and obviously once was a very attractive property, even if those days were long gone. In the blink of an eye he had leapt from the small ledge he’d been sat on and was racing through the unkempt garden with inhuman speed. He stopped to the side of the man and leant causally against what was left of an old stone wall, waiting as if he’d been there for some time.

“Isn’t it a bit late to be visiting the old Dimont house isn’t it?” Tony asked from the shadows.

The man screamed and swung around, dropping the bag he had been carrying as he did. It clattered to the ground and all manner of silverware and other valuables came spilling out onto the path. Obviously he had been looting the place of its remaining valuables. He stared from the bag on the ground up to Tony and hesitated, obviously fearing the repercussions of theft from his previous employers.

He reached into his tatty jacket quickly and pulled out a wooden stake before pointing it at Tony and stuttering “S..stay back you… I know what you are!”

Tony continued to smirk as he retorted “and I know what you are Christopher, a weasely little human… and a thieving one by the looks of it too. How about we just talk like more civilized people?”

But before he had even finished speaking the man lunged forwards with the stake in hand. He was quick, quicker than Tony had expected him to be, but certainly not faster than he was. In one swift motion he aggressively slapped the stake away sending it flying into the undergrowth as he pinned the man against the rotting wall of the house, lifting him into the air slightly as he did so.

Tony’s smooth smirk had vanished and a look of anger and rage had now dominated his features.

“Tell me what happened to the Dimonts!” he growled, his teeth rapidly growing into sharp points as he slammed the now quivering man into the wall.

“Please no!” begged the man “They’re dead!”

“I know they are dead, who killed them!?

The man hesitated a few moments before he said “I don’t know… some hunter. Someone called The Cat… a girl!”

“The Cat?” Tony asked raising his eyebrows.

“You haven’t heard of her?” the man asked still trembling “she’s gotten rid of anyone around here with links to the royals. Word is she is looking for the Redferns…”

Tony frowned as he thought. It was true he had been away for quite some time, tracking down leads elsewhere. He’d heard that Hunter Redfern was abroad, but his searches had all come up empty, but he hadn’t thought anyone else would be hunting him – especially a human at that.

“Thank you friend” Tony said his face quickly resuming a smirk before he sank his teeth into the man’s neck. He tried to struggle away, but it was no use. Tony savoured the taste for a few moments before he pulled himself away. It would be so tempting and easy to drain him to the point of death, to quench his thirst in its entirety. But he had no interest in killing anyone unnecessarily, even a insignificant worm like this man.

“You will leave now and never return to this place” commanded Tony as he stared into the man’s eyes hypnotically “You will not remember this conversation”.

With that the man blinked and Tony was gone.

Christopher stood there for a moment rubbing his neck, wondering why it was suddenly a little sore. Shrugging he turned and walked pulling his jacket about himself tighter. It was a cold night and he had no idea why he wasn’t at home huddled before his fire, safe and sound.

Rashel looked up, a small smile spreading her ruby red lips as she spotted the others, both females and males, stood at the door and beckoning her over. She them grinned, slipping her apron off and dropping it on the counter before jumping lithely over the counter, making her way towards them.

Without a word, she slipped past them and moved onto the sidewalk, moving her pace slightly faster, her heeled boots clicking slightly as she walked, the repeated; 'click, click, click, click' filling the streets, echoing off of the walls. The sidewalks and streets were deserted, hardly anyone around at all. One of the young men in her vampire hunter 'team', Aston moved to her side, grinning as he pushed his blonde hair out of his face.

"So what's the leech's name we're hunting today?", he asked, arching a brow as she glanced over at her.

Rashel simply grinned, shaking her head slightly as she easily recalled the name from one of the books she'd read when she'd broke in to the vampire records library. "Tony", she said with a nod, glancing back to make sure the team were still following easily.

Snickering, the blonde next to her shook his head. "Tony? What a wimpy name for a vampire!", he laughed, shaking his head. "These bloodsuckers just keep getting even more boring", he said with a sigh, shaking his head.

Rashel grinned. "Tell me about it", she said with a small laugh, stepping into an alleyway. She moved towards a ladder, then quickly climbed up agilely, hee feet speeding over the rungs with ease. She quickly swung herself onto a timber roof, brushing her hands off before continuing to walk, the others soon rushing to follow behind as they headed for a club where vampires usually hung out, looking their snack of the night; someone to sink their teeth into, then drain dry, or simply just torture for their own amusement.

Once they reached the club pounding with music, Rashel turned to the team, holding out a bunch of photographs. "Right. This is what he looks like. Take one each and corner him when you find him. One of the other team members will cone get me because you will be pairing up. Got it?"

A chorusing of "Yes boss", was quietly heard before they all rushed off, Rashel moving to a table and ordering a water whole she waited, keeping her own eye out for him.

@Tsar Gatto

Tony walked down the street with one hand in his jacket pocket as he flicked through his contacts on his phone with the other. He pressed dial and lifted it to his ear as he listened to the dial tone and waited, numerous rings sounding before there was a click and a woman’s voice on the other side answered “Hello?”

“Jules... its Antony”

Silence.

“Listen I’m back in town and I need your help, can you meet me at Julian’s place?”

More silence.

“Jules?”

“That’s it? Eight years and you just call and ask me to meet you?” came an exasperated response.

“Shall we say twenty minutes?” he replied smoothly.

The woman sighed before agreeing “Fine, twenty minutes” before she hung up.

Antony hated dragging Jules into what he was doing, but he needed to know which players were still in the game – and she owed him one. Jules had been turned by a rather nasty lamia who had proceeded to torment her and make her life hell. Tony had killed him some nine years ago the last time he’d been looking for someone to lead him to Redfern, not that he’d had any success – it was always the same story. She was a sweet girl who’d been trust into a world of monsters and violence overnight and he’d felt that she’d been robbed of a life, it was least he could do to help her adjust to her new life – show her there was another way than being a monster herself. Right now he needed to know two things, first being who was running things, second was find out exactly who this Cat was and just how serious of a threat she was. Little did he know he’d be finding out much sooner than he expected.

***

Antony walked into Julian’s exactly twenty minutes later, though he stopped in the doorway and took the scene in. Things had definitely changed since he’d last been here, the once fairly sophisticated bar had turned into what looked to be a slightly seedy club with pounding techno music and an array of flashing lights with a mixture of vampires and human clientele – though the latter seemed to be unaware that they were on the menu as they partied obliviously.

He frowned as he made his way into the crowds, eyes scanning as he looked for Jules. The place was filled and he quickly realised this wouldn’t be the place to have a real conversation. He’d do one round of the place and if he didn’t see her he’d wait outside, there was no way he was going to spend more than a moment longer than he needed in this place. It’d really gone downhill like everything else in this town. As he moved through the crowd he eyed up a group of rather unimpressed looking men stood in one corner beside a security door, obviously the entrance the VIP area. They glared at him as he moved past and he waited to see if he’d be recognised, but he assumed not as none of them responded. With a last few glances around he moved and made his way towards the exit, Jules wasn’t here yet it seemed. As he walked he noticed the eye of a young blonde man following him, something not quite right about his expression Tony took a few moments longer and noticed his partner. It seemed that tonight may be more interesting than he originally thought as he flicked his eyes back to the door and continued walking.