The shrill screech that tore from Alice's mouth caught the man slightly off guard, though it did not completely stub him. He suddenly leapt forward with impressive speed and drove a booted foot directly into Alice's mid-section and sent her hurtling down onto the floor.

His face was twisted into an anger ridden expression of impulse. Someone surely might have heard that scream, at worst one of the evening nurses or doctors. He had to eliminate her now! He would worry about concealing the corpse and slipping away later-so. For now, he needed to focus on killing this harpie wench before she alerted half of New York with another batty screech.

He stepped forward toward the crumbled woman and withdrew his hands from behind his back, where they had been even amidst his initial offensive.

In his right hand he held a sharp, iron stake that was over a foot long and resembled a giant nail almost.
In his left hand he wielded a silvery, glinting meat cleaver with a black handle.

The phony policeman approached Alice, both of his crude weapons extended out before him in a defensive manor.
His face was contorted in a expression of hatred.

Alice coughed and gasped as she lay on the floor. That... No one had attacked her like that before! Not even the strange Enduro! Green eyes looked up in blurred confusion as she saw the man pull out a stake and giant knife. The latter was more terrifying. A person with a knife, it was a personal weapon. Closer quarters and Alice shuddered as she spied hatred on the man's face. He truly meant to use that on her!

Bolting to her feet Alice did the worst possible thing. Her access to the door was blocked and thus not viable. While the tailor did possess a sharp tongue and dangerous needles and pins. Those thing were not as effective as that knife would be. So turning on a heel, missing proper shoes horribly. Alice jumped out the window. Hurling herself through the glass and to the ground below. Praying this wasn't a suicidal option. She was trying to avoid death after all!

"Dammit!" Snarled the man as he rushed forward toward the now shattered open window. Bits of crumbles glass crunched beneath his feet as he approached the windowsill and looked down, practically leaning out of the window.

She had leapt from a third floor window, though the farce officer knew better than to doubt her survival. He knew far better than to do that.

He just spied her figure below, surrounded by shattered glass, though between the darkness of night and the height, he couldn't very well make out if she stood or had fallen.

But it didn't matter, he had to get down there, fast, before she escaped.
It was then he heard shouts of surprise and voices of demand from outside the door, up and down the third floor hallway. Shadows could be seen streaking along the bottom of the door left and right.
The man cursed to himself, and could be seen from below withdrawing back from the broken window.

Alice had stumbled and fallen as she landed, giving a sharp cry. Looking up sharply in fear that he had some form of gun or something worse, Alice breathed a sigh of relief as she realized the man was withdrawing from the window. Had someone heard and come? Dare she hope? The answer was no. No, she did not. That man could very well be on he way down to finish her off, though she knew not why. Why did she suddenly start attracting the crazy folk of New York? It was New York, and thus there were very crazy people if the last two nights were anything to go by.

Fear made her blood run cold as she thought of the night and the crazed man. Of Liam standing over her. She couldn't stay here, he'd find her. Either one could find her. All the crazy man had to do was come down the stairs and then be ready to take potshots at her! Standing, Alice blessed the nurse who had given her an actual gown and not just the lace up the back kind. Moving carefully out of the glass, the woman bolted down the street. She would worry about figuring out where she was later, now she needed to run. The hospital didn't apparently have help available, so where did? Her home? Absolutely not! The police? That was more likely if she could find them! Though they would probably think her crazy. Alice considered herself crazy for jumping. Dodging into an alley, Alice took another turn and tucked herself behind a dumpster. Wincing at the dirt and grim. Flithy. But it was better than dying!

Back at the hospital, the fake policeman now stood outside in the asphalt parking lot, standing right in the midst of the pile of shattered glass where the young woman had landed. His head spun about as he looked around, his eyes swiveling to and fro in their sockets. A single bead of sweat rushed down his temple and down toward his jaw.

Goddamnit!

He couldn't see her anywhere.
His stake and cleaver were still gripped in their respective hands.
With an angry growl and a stomp of his foot, he rushed off into the maze of parked cars, his feet streaking across the black tar surface of the parking lot.

Nearby, a shadowy, cloaked figure watched from the rooftop of a close-by apartment building, his presence indicated by the silhouette of a hunched form wearing a wide-brimmed hat.
He watched the blue-uniformed phony racing across the far parking lot with a surmount of displeasure, before vanishing from the rooftop with a simple backward shuffle.

Alice shivered and sat against the cold brick wall. Why was everyone out to get her? The raven haired tailor shook her head in frustration. Even those thoughts made her sound crazy! Alice pinched the bridge of her nose. She didn't want to move from her hiding place, but she did need to move didn't she? To go back to the hospital, hope the man was gone. That was risky. To go the police was risky as well. Though her scream, the broken glass, and a crazy man after her. Her green eyes closed tightly.

She was nuts. The horrifying incidents were making her seem like a schizophrenia patient. "I just want a normal, quiet life." She whispered, curling into a ball. Her hands running through her hair as she combed out the tangles. A pointless task in a filthy alley. What to do? What could she do? Go back to the hospital? Or the police? Or home? Home was risky. She didn't want to lure the man to her beloved shop. "What is going on? What do I do? What did I do to cause this?" Alice whimpered weakly. Chewing her lip, the tailor wiped away the tears falling down her cheeks. "What the hell is happeneing?!"

Thunk!

A loud, heavy sound echoed throughout the alley, off the walls and into the air.
It was the combination of heavy boots against the alley floor and the dropping of heavy weight against the earth. It was the sound of someone dropping to the ground from above.

Standing in the alley, on the opposite side from where Alice had fled to, was a tall, dark man in a heavy coat with a rather ragged wide-brimmed hat. On his feet he wore leather boots, weathered and marked from ware. On his hands were black leather gloves, and around his face he wore a heavy bandanna, hiding his appearance from prying eyes.

His left hand was at his side, lax and open, while in his right hand he gripped crossbow, a bulky heavy weapon with a black stock, a narrow long-range scope fixed on it's back, and from the end of the bow pointed a menacingly sharp arrow, the black head glinted even at the distance.

The mysterious man stood still, silent and unmoving, aside from his left hand, which now curled into a tight fist, the leather glove protesting in a straining of material. Unseen eyes bore into Alice from beneath the wide-brimmed hat.

And of course it got worse. Supposed date turned cannibal, a crazed false cop who tried to murder her from drinking blood-never mind the fact she had done so- and now there was some strange man who really needed to take better care of his clothes. Alice shrunk back against the wall, tucking herself in closer to the dumpster. Like that would help, her cynical thought was bitter. Why was all this happening?! And more than that, why was it happening to her. Alice had never done anything to anyone, aside from maybe be a tad bossy about clothes. Trembling, Alice closed her eyes tightly.

He was looking right at her, she couldn't ignore that. Of course he had a weapon, which only meant she should comply. The alley wasn't a dead end, but that crossbow bolt looked like it would hurt going in. Standing, she peered out from behind the dumpster. Her hands up slightly as she wished she had a heavier dress to hide her shaking legs. From fear or cold, it didn't matter. Both were viable. "D-Don't shoot, p-please?" Alice whispered, eyeing her escape and knowing it wasn't likely. She looked like hell, felt like hell- mentally at least- and the poor lass just wanted to end all of this madness and wake up from the nightmare. "I don't have any money, I'm not a threat. What do you want-?" Her voice cracked as she tried to muster a glare at the mysterious figure. He really needed some fashion tips.

The shrouded man remained in place, unmoving and silent, his crossbow and fist remained at his sides. Though the silence was short.

"What I want," he said loudly, his voice a neutral yet menacing tone,"is for the world to be cleansed. For this city that I call home to be purified of all evils of the shadows. What I want is the total annihilation of all Nightborn."

His silence returned as his words echoed through the alley.
He shifted his right fingers around, adjusting his grip on his crossbow.

He continued,"It's quite nostalgic you know. You and I, here like this, in an alley like before no less. Granted minus my partner, but only for now. He'll catch up shortly I'm sure. I wish I could say it's good to see you doing so well after what happened to you. But considering the factor of your now 'well-being', well, I'm afraid there can be no pleasantries between us, Alice."

The tiny tailor blinked her emerald orbs. "Nightborn-?" She whispered, confused. What was he talking about? Cleansing? Was he some strange church nut, unlikely with the crossbow. "Cleansed-?" But it was his words afterwards that floored her. She knew him? Absolutely not with that horrible fashion. If he came within a mile of her shop, she would have fixed it. "Alley like before-?" She whispered, peering a bit further out from behind her cover. Lured by the possible knowledge of what was going on.

Was he the one who took her to the hospital? Who saved her from the maniac date she had? For essentially that was what it had been before the creep had tried to kill her or whatever. "You took me to the hospital-? You saved my life?" Alice asked, looking curiously at the shadowy man. "I- Please?" She begged weakly. Her voice breaking as she pleaded for answers. "Do you know what's going on? What's happening-?" Alice didn't really care about running- she doubted if she could. But answers, she needed those. Alice wrapped her arms tightly about herself as she leaned against the wall. "Please, I just need answers. I need to know what's happening. What did Liam do, and why me! What is so special about my blood!?" She sobbed, stress eating away at her.

The mystery man remained silent, fist still clenched, his crossbow still tightly in his grip. He only stared at Alice for a good minute or so.

He finally spoke, his words etched from his hidden lips like a serpent from it's lair,"You truly don't know what happened. This is quite tragic on your behalf."

Silence echoed again, yet only briefly,"Well you see, that creature, that fiery haired snake, Liam Enduro, the one that attacked you, well, he infected your blood. You see, when he seized upon you and fed from you, when he drank your blood from your neck, he was appeasing his appetite. He was quenching his abominable thirst for human blood. That man, that creature in human form, was a Vampire."

The masked man silenced himself once more, letting the reality of the revelation sink in, though briefly, as he continued speaking immediately.

"Yes, I said a Vampire. A dark one, a blood sucker, a demon of the night. He stalked you and lured you to your misfortune so that he could drink you blood, that he may drain you of your precious red liquid. After he was done drinking from you..." the man paused briefly,"it seems that he for whatever reason decided to turn you. He infected your blood with his own I'm afraid, with the cursed blood of a Nightborn."

The masked man took three exact steps forward toward Alice, his face still shrouded by his mask and hat, and the darkness of night.

"Tell me Alice," he asked,"do you remember drinking anything? Do you remember being forced to swallow some liquid that tasted of blood or metal?"

Alice blinked slowly at the man. Her thoughts freezing in place as she grasped for reality that wasn't there. "Vampire-?" She whispered, the terror in her voice was obvious. Her eyes wet from tears of confusion and terror. "Vampire." She stated again, sitting down hard on the ground. The alley was disgusting and grimy but the tailor was beyond caring. The poor lass stared in shock at the man. "Liam Enduro- He was a vampire-? But they don't exist. Their myth- I don't like myths." Alice whispered, pleading for this nightmare to be over. To wake up in her lovely bed.

As the man took those dreadful three steps forward, Alice flinched back into the brick wall. Having been attacked twice- cornered three times. She was stressed, on edged and terrified of practically everything. Did she drink something? Yes, yes she did. But the question was if she dared tell this stranger that it was so. Would he believe her? Would he call her mad? Vampire- blood drinker. Blood sucker, as the man called Liam. "The bastard." She whispered, "H-He called my blood ambrosia. I drank something. Don't know what." She admitted, a hand straying up the where the wound on her neck had been. "I- Please-" She looked up at the threatening figure, "Kill Liam Enduro?" Alice covered her mouth with a hand. She had asked for a death of another person. But that man- that man had tried to kill her! She was horrified by what she had asked, but she also truly wanted it. Though she would never be able to do it herself.

The masked man chuckled almost instantly at her impulsive request.
"Oh we intend to, we have had him in our scopes for quite some time now," said the man,"but that filthy leech always manages to elude us in the end. Just like the other night for example. We ambushed him amidst his feeding, and fully intended to kill him then and there, but alas he just slipped away once more. His luck won't last though, we will kill him soon, all it takes is one false play on his part. So, believe me to your core when I saw that we will kill him. Liam Enduro will die."

The cloaked man took three more steps forward toward Alice.

"But you see," he said,"I'm afraid that you must die too."

Without warning he snapped his right arm up, a slight rattle coming from the crossbow he now pointed at Alice.
The black arrow was aimed right at her chest, and the slim scope atop it's body glinted at her like a grim black eye.

"It's nothing personal, Alice," his tone was dry and un-remorseful,"despite the unfortunate circumstances you have suffered, despite the tragedy you face, I must kill you. What Liam Enduro forced you to drink was his blood.
When you tasted of his blood, you were eternally cursed with the immortal blood of a Vampire. You are Vampire Alice Lynch, and it is my duty as an Inquisitor to destroy you. There is no redemption, no turning back. You are a Vampire now, forever cursed by Enduro's blood. In all actuality, I'm doing you a favor."

On his final word he raised his left hand and gripped the underside of the crossbow, holding it firmly and securely, aiming steadily at her heart.
His finger crept toward the trigger.

Alice gave a slight sniff as the man drew even closer. Vampire. She was still skeptic of the entire thing. But she had drank blood. That man, the insane one, mind. Enduro as well, they both seemed hung up on the blood thing. But as the cross bow was raised, aimed inches from her chest. Alice flinched back.

She was young. A tailor. Her life was making pretty clothes and happy customers. Enduro's voice that was giddy from her blood echoed to her. Words she wanted to forget so badly. Words that had damned her quite literally. "At least I won't be his feeding concubine." Alice whispered, trying to smile and failing miserably. Tears tracking down her cheeks. She wanted to run but she was just so tired. "I didn't want to know what that meant." She whispered, her voice shaking. Alice is it didn't have the strength to resist, to fight. Everyone was insistenton killing her. "Please don't make it hurt." The tiny voice wavered in fear. Alice truly didn't want to die. But what could so do? He was so very close. Too close. She could scream- lot of good it did her last time. She could run- though that was unlikely. That bolt would pierce her first.

Sniffing, Alice dabbed at a eye. "And get some better clothes than that." She advised. If she was going to die she at least was going to give a bit of fashion advice before hand. "You look like a bad excuse for a vampire hunter costume convention. I mean really." Her voice quavered as she criticized the horrible outfit. "Slim it down, perhaps more sleek- then you won't have to deal with all the strange stares you must get." Her lips trembled as she wiped at her eyes again.

The masked hunter blinked and shook his head mentally.
Here she stood, facing her death, and all she had in her arsenal was quips about his clothing? He was surprised instincts weren't kicking in and her trying to attack him. True, she obviously was warped with obliviousness, but still yet, she wouldn't even attempt to fight?

Without extinct though, what with no preempt knowledge of her abilities, there's little for her. A pity, almost.

He refocused himself, aiming the bolt right for her heart, his finger sliding over the trigger. No time for games or final words, she died now.

SNIIKT!

A sudden shredding noise cut through the air, followed by silence.

The Vampire hunter suddenly dropped his crossbow, which clattered loudly to the ground with a loud clatter.
Behind his bandanna his eyes were flared wide, and his eyebrows and the flesh across his face quivered almost abnormally.
He stood frozen in place, his arms both now limp at his sides.

A sudden, loud pattering of water could be heard.

No, not water, but blood.

Blood was spilling onto the ground behind the hunter, former a small yet fast-growing red pool.
A weak groan escaped from his covered lips, and he slowly lurched forward and landed on the ground with a heavy thud. His hat slipped from his head as he fell and went rolling past Alice toward the alley opening. Across the fallen man's back were three long, wide slash marks that extended from his right shoulder down to the center of his back. Blood was deeply soaking his ragged clothing as it seeped from the three strange marks.

"Are you alright?"

Alice shrank back against the wall, flinching as a shredding noise cut through the end. Was that what death sounded like? It didn't hurt either. But there was the problem a bolt going through her heart surely would hurt. No two ways about that. Opening one emerald eyes as keen ears picked up the splash of water. Alice soon was staring with a mixture of desire and horror. For that was not water, but blood. The delightful scent filling her senses.

As the man fell at her feet, the tailor flinched back from the corpse. The three slash marks showing how he had died. Though staring at the corpse Alice found it wasteful that that blood was just spilling out onto the street. Surely she could make better use of it... Unaware or perhaps uncaring of the fangs that now sprouted from her, the tailor eyed the corpse hungrily. Waste not, want not they said and surely this applied. Though her thoughts were paused at a voice. Looking towards the speaker. Alice flinched a step back from the corpse of the man, having been so intent on the possibility of feeding earlier. "w-who-?" Who had saved her? Why? "No, I am not." She whispered covering her mouth with horror at what she had been contemplating and about to do.

"Better than worse for ware I'd say. Your still alive." Responded the voice dryly, the voice of a young woman.

It came front Alice's front, just past the corpse of the fallen Vampire hunter, who was now pooled in blood. Their was a slim figure standing in the shadows, the dark silhouette of a thin framed woman in a skirt with long, flowing hair.

The unseen woman spoke again, her voice commanding and assertive,"Why did you just stand there? You weren't even trying to defend yourself. And what's with the hospital gown?"

The dark shrouded woman took a step forward, revealing herself from the shadows.
She had long dark brown hair which hung carefree down past her shoulders, she was built slim and somewhat petite, yet her face carried a strong no-nonsense look about it. She wore a loose-fit white shirt that hung from her narrow torso, and a black skirt and simple black shoes to accompany the skirt.

She stared deeply into Alice, noting her shaken and somewhat disoriented state, as well as the hospital gown. Her haze drifted downward slowly to the fallen hunter, then back up to Alice. Her face held a stony expression, which seemed uncaring and disregarding.

"Your a Vampire, your recently turned aren't you?" She inquired.

She took another step forward, stopping just short of the dead man before them.

"I can see it in you," she continued,"a newborn is easy to read. You stick out like a sore thumb."

She stepped closer towards Alice, stepping around the corpse between and stopping just a few feet from Alice. Her piercing eyes bore into Alice.
"Look," she said,"I'm not going to hurt you. My name is Liza. What's your name?"

Alice blinked at the woman sheepishly. She probably should have fought, Alice thought. This woman was right on that account, but then Alice reasoned her fighting wasn't something that would be overly effective. "I came from the hospital?" She squeaked slightly in protest. If she could fight halfway decently then perhaps the tailor wouldn't be in the hospital in the first place. "If I had another choice of gown, I would have worn that." Alice offered weakly from behind her hands.

Though the tailor about had another heart attack as the woman identified her as a vampire. "I-I am? He said I was. Am I?" She whispered in confusion. Her large green eyes looked horrified at the corpse. "I stick out-? The sore thumbs mostly due to the gown?" She offered the excuse. But the words did ring true. She did stick out horribly, Alice glared down at the down. As the woman- Liza- stepped between Alice and the corpse, the tailor's face fell. She had been eyeing all the blood. "Alice. Alice Lynch?" She offered weakly. "I'm a tailor?"

"Do you know what's going on-?" She whispered, terrified still. Biting her lip, the raven headed woman ducked her head shyly. "A-Are you going to kill me too-? Or drink my blood-? Or anything of that sort?" Her green eyes flickered over Liza's face with a worrisome look. She really was on the short list of 'catching a break'. And Alice really wanted that break.

"No, Alice," Liza stated, plainly and loudly,"I'm not going to kill you. Nor shall I feed from you now."

She stood still and unmoving, her amber eyes remained fixated on Alice, her stony expression was unchanging.
She looked down to her left at the dead hunter, then back around to Alice.

"Your lucky I came along, he would have killed you on the spot." Liza said.

She bent down and picked up the crossbow from near the man's limp hand.
She held it firmly in her right hand, casually turning it from side to side, examining it. After a minute, she pitched it back down with a clatter next to the corpse at her left.

She looked back to Alice and said,"I don't know what's going on with you, what you've been through, why your out here in a hospital gown, or anything..." she paused, exhaling lightly through her nose,"but I suggest you come with me." She said flatly.

She turned away, her back now facing Alice.

"It's not safe out here for you newborn. You won't last a day."

She turned back only slightly, looking over her shoulder at Alice, her amber eyes intense and assertive as they were earlier.

"Follow me, if you want to live, and if you want answers." She stated.

Alice had no doubt the hunter would have killed her. No doubt that something was terribly wrong. Vampire. The word shook her to the core. A monster of myth and legend. Vampire was what that bastard Enduro had cursed upon the poor tailor who only wished to run her shop in peace. Her eyes filled with tears as she though of that well worn and golden room, of her lovely little shop and the many designs she needed to work on. The Timeless Tailor. She couldn't leave it. She couldn't! It was her life, her living, her everything!

She bit her lip. The hospital would wonder where she went. A crazed man- who she could and would spin off to be someone appearing as Enduro had broken the window and frightened her into running. That would satisfy them and the police. Attacked twice in a row? That was serious and her running had saved her life. She hated lying but it was a trait that ran in her family unfortunately. She had run from the man and gotten horribly lost and confused in the city. Finding her way home after loosing the attacker, unable to call or solicit help. Alice fabricated the lie and promised herself she would return to her shop soon.

"I need to return to my shop soon. Tell the hospital what happened, the police." She whispered, following after the woman. Her feet aching from the harsh cement. She was not used to going barefooted. "I work as a tailor and- If you'd like I could maybe make you something for your help?" Alice offered timidly, though it was very much meant well.