---

From the look on Kayla's face, Lyss could already tell that she wasn't interested in vamp hunting tonight. Oh, fuck me. Now she's going to think I'm some killer. Lyss immediately leaned back in her seat and felt the edges of her cheeks burn with embarrassment. Join a Coven, they said! Totally won't lead to murdering any being, supernatural or not! Completely stupid of you to even think of it. She gripped the edges of the stool. If only the boys could see you now. You were once a power to reckon with. Now you're looking like a fool in front of a group like this??

The Chimera Girl's comment set her off. She rolled her eyes, and was just about to say some real shit to her before Maya got to it first. Lyss raised her eyebrows, but she wasn't shocked that Maya would say something like that. Even without using her abstraction, her words could cut through air. Thank satan that someone else has some balls around here.

She heard Claudette sigh and immediately looked her way. The girl hadn't said much during the meeting, but when she raised her hand, she meant business. Business as in, filling the entire room in darkness. While the others acted as if it hadn't happened before, Lyss just busied herself with figuring out who she thought had yelped or nearly knocked themselves over. Nina. Definitely Nina. Did Izumi squeak, too? She huffed into the darkness in a show of irritation. How much longer would the sit in the dark before Kayla could answer them?

Not soon enough, the lights returned to the room. Lyss blinked as her eyes adjusted again. The silence was appreciated. She looked to Kayla, and waited for her to- Yep. She definitely just meant to rough up the goons. Some kind of pimp way to show the junkies that she was the ONLY source they could buy from. Lyss was actually happy to hear her say that they were just going to scare them. Kayla was dead serious, and Lyss was grateful that she wasn't going to mess around like the others would.

So, they were going to tango with them, huh? Lyss had done her fair share of dancing before. It wasn't easy to move through the black market without a tough spine. Even hunting apparitions had its dangers.

Kiesha's owner spouted out some more cocky words and Lyss furrowed her brows. [i]Why the fuck does she keep mentioning her chimera?[i] Why even send the poor creature away? If she loved the chimera so much, why not keep her around? Y'know, train her not to throw slot machines every time she gets spooked. Usual summoner's responsibilities. My grandma would have never allowed that kind of behaviour.

So, the beatdown was going to happen in a place called Greenwood. (Which was a suitable name for a pothead's trailer park.) Two hours from now and bring a mask. Lyss watched Kayla peace out, Oleander in tow. She glanced around at the group. Just to see who was going to actually go now that Kayla was gone. She still wasn't sure herself, but it did sound like a fun way to relieve some stress.

Elise was in. She was definitely an asset. Jessica was in too, complete with a soccer mom attitude. AND she was carpooling! How lovely. Maya was in. She could really do some damage. Herik was in, and Lyss was definitely sure that with those muscles he could take on the entire den. Well, with just these girls (and one male friend) on the list, it sounded like it would be a successful showdown.

Off to the side, and long forgotten, Lyss heard Agatha's meek voice. She turned her head to see her packing up her things, and almost felt bad for the leader. "Just give up," Emily said in such a totally bitchy voice. The hair flick made it even worse. Lyss narrowed her eyes at the girl.

"Excuse me, Emily. What decade are we in? This isn't a clip from Mean Girls." She stood up, entirely fed up with this meeting and these witchy bitches. "You're definitely no Regina George, either." She walked over to Agatha and rest her hand on the woman's shoulder. "Let's get together tomorrow to talk about these murders. Unlike the rest of the group, I have a feeling that this has to do with the supernatural." She sighed. "The police definitely aren't going to be able to do anything about it."

She gave the woman a nod before walking herself out of the door.

---

Greenwood fucking Florida.

What a complete shithole. It looked like the perfect place for some vamps to bunker down and get higher than the empire state building. She could even smell the weed drifting from the homes. Well, at least Mary J. will slow them down enough.

Lyss was in absolutely no hurry to show up, but it looked like she'd gotten there before Kayla. She casually walked up to Claudette and Madison and gave the girls a nod. "Ready to knock some pointy teeth out?" She asked, swinging around a black aluminum baseball bat. The girls would have seen her grin if she wasn't wearing a black mask that covered the lower half of her face.

---

---

"Maya we get your power is being a bitch, but leave it for the vampires. There's bigger fish to fry then your subjective opinion, girl."

It was lucky for Riley that Claudette sent the entire room into darkness, muffling all sounds, before Maya managed to retort with something equally bitchy. Not that she gave a fuck about Riley’s opinion in any way - just didn’t want to let her think Maya was the kind to back down as soon as someone said shit about her.

So instead she gave an eye roll and middle finger to Riley once the darkness disappeared, turning her attention to Kayla.

She listened to everything Kayla had to say with occasional nods, quickly committing the time and location to memory (not that it was difficult for her). Roughing some vampires up sounded like the perfect way to kill some time later that day - definitely a good way to vent after a long and rather boring week. She couldn’t wait. She stood up, stretching out her arms and completely ignoring what other people were saying, until Nina turned to talk to her.

“Are you really going to go, Maya? What if someone gets hurt? I think this is really dangerous. I don’t want to abandon everyone but I don’t know.. I don’t think I could handle that.”

“Yeah, I’m going,” she replied with a shrug, before carefully placing a hand on the other girl’s shoulder and giving it a comforting squeeze. “You don’t need to come if you don’t want to, no one’s gonna force you. But think about it this way: these people tried to hurt Kayla, and will probably try again if we don’t do this. They ain’t the kind of people to listen to reason.”

She removed her hand and jerked her head in Agatha’s direction. “Looks like you’re not the only one who doesn’t want to go… you could stick around here and help clean up or something. Don’t worry about it, anyway, I doubt people will really get hurt. I gotta go get ready but fire me a text if you decide to come, I can give you a lift.”

Maya knew it probably wasn’t what Nina wanted to hear, but honestly it was much better than what she’d say in response to most people. Comforting or reassuring people was in no way her strong point but at least she’d tried. She would’ve just told most people to fuck off with their worries. Damn getting attached to that way too kind, slightly younger woman.

Before she actually went on to voice any of her thoughts she gave Nina a nod and a thumbs up, then headed out to her car. She had just enough time to get home and grab some shit before she had to head over.

---

Greenwood Estates

Maya rolled up just a little bit after the two hours was up, completely changed cause she certainly wasn’t about to fight some vampires in a dress. She’d dug right into the bottom of her drawers to pull up a pair of black leggings and a black cropped tank top, from the days when she’d gotten into running for her ex. Honestly she looked like some white girl following the latest fitness fad and she knew it. But it was exactly the kind of look she was going for - perfectly not her. The black mask she wore added to the all black look, which she’d honestly feel disgusted for wearing if it wasn’t basically as a disguise.

“I feel like I should’ve invested in a better bat,” Maya commented as she approached the small group that had already gathered, eyeing up Lyss’ aluminium baseball bat. Old she had was an old wooden one from bygone truant days when she first moved here - not that she expected to do much fighting with it when she had her powers. She continued in a joking tone, “I’m feeling a little inferior here.”

She then turned to Riley, eyebrows raising as she noted the necklace and suddenly was incredibly glad for the mask blocking too much of the smell. “Really, you made a necklace out of garlic? What are you going to do, throw it at them? I somehow doubt they’re going to be effective on actual vampires.”

"I want to get pizza after this. Madison, Claudette you know anythin' about vampires? I know you two are pretty knowledgeable with this kind of stuff."

"I've seen things you wouldn't believe, girl," Madison said to Riley as she crossed her arms against the gate. "... Vampires are not one of them." She shrugged.

"Mine neither," Claudette said. "I know about spirits, but not... vampires? I'm no expert."

But, Madison couldn't help but chuckle a bit at Maya's comment. It did look really stupid. "And girl, please tell me you didn't walk here with that around your neck?" Another chuckle escaped her lips as she tried to hold it in.

"... Ahhhh, they may not be experts, but I am," They heard the ghostly voice of Babylon as Emily walked up - the Apparition floated at Emily's side. The girl was wearing black cargo shorts, black-combat boots, a tank top, sunglasses, and a particular facemask. She looked at Claudette and said,

"... Where's your disguise?" Emily interrupted.

"Oui, I have a plan, Reed," Claudette answered as Emily shook her head.

"The world of the extra-normal is the gateway to infinite power and infinite possibilities..." Babylon started as she rested her face against her fist. "An Adept could have cursed these poor souls to be like vampires, they could have made a pact with an Apparition for power in exchange for blood, or... they could just be a bunch of imitators pretending to be vampires."

Babylon lets the words hang in the air.

"My point is," Babylon started, "Each of those options would give different abilities, and you all should be prepared for anything. Tata."

Babylon disappeared.

Jess waited for an answer from everyone, but didn't get any takers. She and Elise got into her car and took off. First up was Elise's apartment. She went inside to her fairly clean apartment, the couch had a pillow and blanket on it, and a bag of things belonging to Molly was on the floor. She went into her room and put her books away, exchanging them for a journal and pen. She then changed clothes into easy to move in leggings and a red t-shirt. She grabbed a purple scarf, then returned to the car with Jess. She could have teleported, it was how she usually got home, but seeing as they were going to rumble today, she figured to save her stamina. "Alright. I'm ready." Elise quietly remarked. Jess held back a chuckle. "If you don't mind, I'll get that scarf looking like a better disguise." Elise nodded, then the pair made for Jessica's house.

Jessica and Elise went in. Jess was glad her dad wasn't home. He'd ask questions and she was running out of excuses already. She took Elise's scarf and sewed it to being a form fitting mask that looked a bit like a pulled up turtle-neck. It hid everything from the bridge of her nose down quite well. Jess then grabbed her mask, an old paintball visor her dad had gotten her for a birthday years ago. It had a black mask and an orange tint to the goggles. She changed into a light hoodie and jeans, covering more skin seemed like a good option against vampires. She put on a pair of her work boots that she always wore when LARPing She also took her bokken, wooden katana, with her. She figured it was better to stick with something that felt more like a sword. She wasn't used to swinging baseball bats.

Greenwood Estates

After the pair had suited up, they arrived at the meeting spot. They got out of the car, already wearing their masks. Jess had her bokken resting across her shoulders, held by her right hand, and Elise was hugging her journal to her nervously. "Sorry I wasn't here sooner, had to fix Ellie's idea of a mask." She looked around at each of the girls that had already come. Someone was wearing a leatherface mask. "Riley, is that you under there? That mask is badass!" She laughed, absolutely loving the choice. She also saw Maya, looking like a fitness model with a mask on. And Lyss, looking like a badass, per usual. "Hey, nice bats girls! I appreciate the classic choice." She also noticed Claudette and Madison, who Maya had asked about what expect. Both Ellie and Jess were anxious to hear any details they could be given.

Elise remained quiet for the most part, only offering a soft "Hello." When she had arrived. She was a ball of nerves at the moment. Her stomach felt clenched, and she had an obvious look of worry in her eyes. Her mouth, if it could be seen, would show a tight frown. She was not nearly as comfortable as Jess who seemed all for a fight. Elise had put her hair in a pony tail, then hid it under her mask and t-shirt down her back. Jess' hair was just as loose as always, sticking out here and their from behind her paintball visor.

Elise only felt more nervous when Babylon and Emily showed up, but at least Babylon gave a little insight. Elise quickly scribbled down what she had said in her notes. "Interesting... I also doubt that the mythology surrounding the vampires are accurate so the garlic seems nothing than a joke. I would assume they do not have an aversion to sun either if Kayla is confident they will come out to fight us now."

"Yeahhh. Makes sense Ellie." Jess humored her. She was just excited to throw down, and with present company felt like they could do it.

---

---

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Molly had been sitting quietly with her back against the post as the group bickered and bitched at each other. She sighed under her breath. She didn't understand the need to constantly be snippy with each other. It was far from making anything productive in this dysfunctional group. But all of a sudden a blackness took the room. Not like someone turned out the lights. But as if someone took the idea of sight from Molly. She began to panic, her heart bursting to a full sprint in her chest. Molly frantically pressed herself against the post at her back for any semblance of contact that could help keep her feel any slight amount of grounded. She heard voices, but the panic made it sound like an episode of Peanuts and a teacher was speaking.

As her vision returned her panic hardly subsided. But now she could see, she get get out of here. Before the meeting had even come to an end Molly pushed herself up to stand, grabbing the pack and lighter from off the ground before she hurried out of the Casino, only just hearing the destination before she pushed herself out the door. She needed open space. In her panicked state the usually grand Casino seemed impossibly small and confining; the air stall and clung to her lips and unable to reach her lungs. As the door closed behind her she forced breaths into her lung in small, frantic breaths. After a moment she was able to take normal breaths as she no longer felt so confined. She made her way to her truck. Not ready to sit inside she decided the truck bed would do.

Using the back tire as a step Molly climbed into the back of the truck. She sat down and rested her back against the window. She shakily pulled out a cigarette and quickly lit it before trying to use the nicotine to calm her nerves.



Molly was a couple minutes late, a new record for early if she compared it to all the other times she was supposed to arrive places at any specific time. But in her rush to get out she had forgotten the exact location. She rememebered green... something in two hours. So after her time at the local store to pick up a cheap baseball bat and some generic medical face masks she spent some time in her truck searching the word green in her google maps app. Once she saw Greenwood, it clicked and she remembered that was what she said. Okay, in truth she thought it was Greenhills apartments and she stopped there first. But luckily it was only a few blocks away from Greenwood Estates. The fuck was with Florida and green-something names.

Molly stepped out of her car as she parked nearby the cars she recognized. She hadn't seemed to change out of her jeans and loose Tee between the Casino and now. The only difference was the bright blue medical mask over her face and obviously recently bought wooden baseball back in one hand, a recently opened box of medical masks in the other.

Molly walked up to the group, trying to act super normal that there was a large... 'creature' between her roommate Elise and Sin. That wasn't alarming at all and totally stuff Molly has seen all the time and she isn't a noobie One-Eye that gets freaked out over a crazy looking creature that crawled out of a Cronenberg fueled wetdream.

As she stopped short of the group she held up the box of masks in display.

"I dunnno if anyone forgot to bring a mask, or just simply didn't have anything mask like. So I brought these, in case." She explained casually, trying not to seem nervous about receiving any quips about her.

Jess chuckled as Sin interacted awkwardly with Elise, effectively ignoring Jess. "Awww, Ellie, I think she likes you." She punctuated the sentence with a wink toward Ellie. Meanwhile, Ellie awkwardly received the attention, and wasn't sure what she could do to keep anyone from stopping Sin, or why anyone here would. Still, she nodded. The chimera appeared and seemed aggressive. Elise gulped and took a step back, intimidated, yet fascinated by the creature. She began scribbling notes in her journal about the appearance and behavior of the Chimera. "I doubt she has feelings for me Jess, and even more so I doubt that I'd be ready for such a venture. It's what some might call, too soon."

Ellie waved to Molly as she joined them. She was sweet, quiet, and easy to live with. Ellie was also happy to have help with the bills. Jess raised an eyebrow at the package of masks. "You didn't buy that stuff, did you? Paper trails, man! You don't want anything leading back to you." She thought that was obvious, even for those who hadn't done crime like herself. There was a chance you could drop things, and if police are involved, they can track you with it. Ellie wanted to defend Molly, but wasn't sure what to say. "Many of us are new to this Jess, please cut her some slack." Ellie smiled over at Molly, though Molly wouldn't see the smile. Elise also glanced back at Sin and her Chimera. She couldn't deny that Sin was attractive, but also unpredictable, and Ellie had lost her girlfriend of 3 years only months ago. She couldn't open her heart like that. Plus, Jess was probably wrong anyway.

It didn’t take long for the meeting to devolve into chaos and arguing, but then again that was the normal. Once Claudette had calmed everyone and Kayla had answered questions, it seemed like the meeting was coming to a close. Ellie suggested that Izzy come along to play support, and while she had really wanted to go to a party later tonight, Izzy knew pretty much everyone else in the coven was probably going to go. Of course, that just couldn’t stand. Izzy felt the fear of missing out hit her as everyone began their preparations. Maybe if they got done quick, she could still go? After all, the night was still young. Izzy took public transportation back to her apartment, it was her normal way of getting around. However, after looking up Greenwood Estates, it was clear she’d probably need a ride. Well, at least the two hour prep time gave her enough time to sober up. Even though she’d really rather not.

---

At her apartment, Izzy rummaged through her extensive closet. She needed something that didn’t make her stand out, which given her clothes, was nearly impossible. Plus she needed to take into account the fact that she might be going out after. Sighing, the red head crossed her arms and looked at all the clothes laying on her bed. Behind her, Izzy could hear her phone blowing up like crazy. It was a Saturday night after all, people wanted to have fun. Eventually she turned and grabbed her phone. Ignoring all the notifications, she pulled up a number and texted her favorite Uber driver.

you workin tonight?

unfortunately yea, my bills are due

awesome, can you come pick me up in a few?

i promise i’ll make it worth your time ;)

sure thing princess

see you in a bit

Excellent. Now that that is sorted, Izzy took another look at her clothes. Maybe she should just bring some with?

---

”Thanks for the ride, I’ll give you your reward when you pick me back up.” Izzy gave the driver a flirty wink as she put on her black mask and black Champion hat. She exited the sleek black car and waved goodbye before spotting the rest of the group and joining them. She had done the best she could dressing plainly. She had a sleeveless black Florida t-shirt with black shorts and pink sneakers. Her hair was formed into two twin french braids that went down to her waist to prevent hat hair.

”Wow, did everyone bring bats?” Izzy surveyed the group before taking out a small beige folding knife the size of her palm. She had gotten it as a gift from her uncle to protect herself, but she’s never really used it except to open mail. ”I just had this lying around. I hope that’s alright.” Izzy swung a drawstring bag from over her shoulder and rummaged around her change of clothes to pull out a water bottle. She took a long swig from it. For once, there was actual water in there, but that doesn’t mean she didn’t have a separate flask of vodka in the bag as well. ”Anyone want some? Don’t worry, it’s water. Gotta stay hydrated and all that,” She held out the pink plastic bottle to the group, and shook it as if to prove it was water.

"... I can't put into words, I'm a huge fan!"

"Oh, uh, thanks."

Kimberly stammered out as she walked away from the ice cream shop with her partner in crime: Rowan Campbell. She was wearing jean shorts that were a few inches away from being wildly inappropriate, a wheat-colored shirt-sleeved button-up, and brown boots - and some sunglasses to protect her from the hot Florida sun. How somebody would recognize her out here was a mystery! More of a mystery than the ones she solves. She took a quick lick out of her ice cream cone.

"I loved that episode where you fought the monster on the haunted bridge in Virginia... how do you get it to look so real?" The fan asked. She was a girl with bright curly hair, glasses, wearing tights, and a T-shirt with some band on it that Kimberly didn't recognize.

"Oh, I'm a special effect master," Kimberly said, "Been practicing that stuff all my life."

"But, you look so young," The fan said.

"... Well, my secret is that I have a team with me to make the show come to life!" Kimberly was quick to come up with a convincing answer. "They love the show like I do." She smiled widely.

"Can I get a picture with you?" The fan asked.

"Sure," Kimberly said, "Make sure you get in, Rowan." Her companion wearing a plain red T-shirt and jeans with combat boots got into the selfie and the two smiled. With Kimberly's smile being wide and she put the peace sign up while Rowan was merely half-smiling.

The fan pressed the camera button and she all giddy said, "I'm going to put this everywhere."

"Great, glad you appreciated it," Kimberly said. "I gotta be somewhere, so... I hope you have a great day!"

Kimberly and Rowan walked off from the fan.

---

"... You know people are catching on, right?"

"Yeah, I know..." Kimberly huffed as she shook her head. "People aren't stupid."

The two walked down the busy streets of Tampa. It was the middle of summer and people were vacationing and were more or less minding their business. Kimberly lapped up a bit of her ice cream as she saw the beachfront. It was beautiful here... Florida truly was a near-perfect Paradise. Unfortunately, they weren't here for pleasure... even though Kimberly wouldn't have minded it. They were here for business, some cold-hearted business. They approached the beach for some privacy, as they rented a beach towel and an umbrella. Roughly planting it into the ground as they got their protection from the sun.

Kimberly could watch the beach all day long... this was miles better than Farmer Hill. Though, she wondered how her abstraction hasn't changed yet. After some reflection, she realized that her own was rooted in how she felt boxed into Farmer Hill. Trapped even and desperately wanting the fastest way out - mixed with her life of photography of course. Now that she's escaped (not that there's much to escape from, the place is flattened) why hasn't her ability changed?

"So, uh, Kim," Rowan asked, prodding the question. "I know you're having fun relaxing, but what's the plan here?"

That was a question with no... simple answer if Kimberly had to tell the truth. They've been on this case for so long and they've been faced with some... grim realities. To tell the truth, she didn't know if there was a plan, but they had to find a way. She helped beat the Glutton, she'll bring a close to this.

"We should probably head up to New Port Richey soon as possible," Kimberly flatly spoke. "Then we follow the trail until it leads us to her."

"... Then what are we going to do when we find Annabelle?" Rowan said, "You know you can't beat her."

"I'll find a way."

"You keep saying that," Rowan chuckled. "Life always finds a way, yeah - but death will find a way this time."

"I want to help her, Rowan, I really do."

"But maybe she's too far gone."

"It's... the curse," Kimberly said, "If we break it, we can bring her back... besides, this is like the first time we're a step ahead of her!" Kimberly smiled.

"So, I think we'll go to the crime scenes-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Rowan cut her off there, "Love ya' and all, but that's not a good idea."

"Rooooowan, let me finish!" Kimberly admonished him, "We go to the old crime scenes and see where the Recollections take us."

"Sounds like a plan," Rowan paused for a second before he asked, "... And what about Saul?"

"Well..." Kimberly said as she played with her fingers for a second. "... We'll cross that bridge when we get to it. Right now I think Annabelle is the main priority... I just really want to help her before she really crosses the threshold, y' know? The point of no return. I think if she snaps she'll kill a bunch of people."

"I hear ya'," Rowan answered. "... What about the others, y' know? The support group you told me about?"

Kimberly sighed, "Well... Penny, Zoey, Min, and Hagan are missing. Justin and Tuyen are chasing after another problem and I feel like it's not my place to ask them to help with my problem. I doubt we'd get help from Rita, Billy, Caelea or Rien... and even if we did they're all over the place. Besides, I think the two of us are more than capable." She said.

"And..." Rowan said, "What about that Coven you heard about?"

"Ehhhhhh," Kimberly shrugged. "Sure, let's give them a look in case they have something to do with Annabelle."

---

The hum of a diesel engine in the distance caught The Coven's attention.

Old Ford truck, it's color faded from the sun and it's model easily older than anyone in the Coven was, a bit beaten and weathered- came to a stop by the group. In the passenger seat was Kayla and Oleander. Now, some of those without critical thinking skills might assume that Kayla had broken one of her own directives- to park a few minutes walk away. They would be correct, but the difference is that the vampires of Greenwood Estate knew Kayla was coming. Her goal in having the rest of the group park out of the way was that, if things went south, they had alibis. Nothing was more attention grabbing than a convoy of vehicles and occupants wielding weapons from bats to... onions?

Kayla furrowed her brow and regarded Riley's garlic necklace and antics with hidden humor, obscured only by a maroon bandana that covered her face. Her outfit was mostly the same as it had been before- but this time had forgone her typical leather jacket, wearing only her tank top and black jeans. However, she had taken a to a pair of leather gloves and what appeared to be steel toed boots. Wrapped around her forearm and secured in her grip was a chain. It appeared she had no other weapon on her.

"You're a bit confused, but I like the spirit." she commented to Riley, stepping out of her car and putting her weight onto one hip. She held the door open for Oleander, and shut the car door as soon as the dog had hopped out of the passenger's seat. "Thank you all for coming." she said, regarding all of them evenly. She took a moment to eye the weaponry each person had arrived with and had it not been the mask they would have absolutely seen how wide her smile was.

"I take it none of you have done this before." she stated, her eyebrow raising as her half hidden expression fell into a smirk. "Alright, crash course," Kayla said as she reached out and took the end of Lyss' baseball bat, and with deft hands moved it to various points on her body. The first and foremost, across the sternum. "Aim here. The torso's a big place. You'll bruise 'em bad and break rips but you wont kill them." she explained, and then moved down, directing Lyss' bat to her knee. "This is also a good spot. You'll take someone out of a fight. And potentially cripple someone for life. It takes fifteen pounds of force to dislocate the knee. A bat can swing with over a hundred."

She placed her hands over Lyss' and angled her hand upwards, placing the bat in the crook of her neck. "Collarbone is a good place. Easy to break. Across the back is good, too." she lifted the bat and held it against her temple. "Aim here if you intent to end someone's life. Girls, do not aim above the shoulders today."

Kayla dropped the end of Lyss' bat and nodded to the other woman. "Remember, they arent expecting any retaliation. Just follow me, and follow my lead. Only jump in if you think someone on their side is going to. You follow me in there, you dont leave without everyone else. Now or never, girls."

Kayla turned without another word and began walking into the Greenwood Estate, lifting her arm and making a 'follow me' motion with her hand. Time for heads to roll.

"God damn it, woman!"

"What!?"

"We can't keep eating this crap!"

"Well, how's that my problem!?"

"We need blood now!"

"You turned us into these things!"

"Look at us, we're better than ever!"

"Jimmy got his fucking arm broken by a dog!"

"That was a tough dog, I know!"

The two heads of the new... "Vampire Clan of Florida" argued in the background while the entire living room was filled with various other vampires in their early to mid-twenties. Sitting around, eating potato chips, pizza, and the blood of cats and other animals unfortunate enough to get caught. They were smoking cigarettes.

"Oh my God...." One of the female vampires said, "... They're like ruining our whole vibe here."

"Shut up." Another one said.

However, one of them watching the window hopped up and shouted, "It's her!" They said as they saw Kayla approach and the arguing stopped. "That bitch that sold us the fake weed is here, Pa!"

"Well, well, well..." The leader of the vampire Coven said as he walked up and looked out the blinds. "Dumbass is just coming right at us... Get mah gun."

---

When Kayla walked up to the Greenwood estate "Pa" kicked open the door with a Remington twelve gauge slung over his shoulder and he had a grin on his face a mile wide. He was a massive man at six-six and had a huge pot belly and probably about two chins. He had a thick beard on and was otherwise bald, but when he grinned he revealed four sharpened canines. As he stepped out with a confident swagger the rest of his minions came out from behind him.

"Heh, you gotta lotta nerve showing your face here again, bitch," Pa said as he swung the shotgun back over his shoulder and cocked it. "You hurt my boy so now we're gonna hurt you back."

Kayla didn't miss a beat. She made it to the man just as he had stepped out the door and jabbed the man with fluid, precise fist to his throat. A strangled, gasping sound came from the vampire as he doubled over, hands clutching his throat by instinct in a vain effort to reestablish his ability to breathe. The chain in Kayla's main hand came loose as she released her hold on the end in her hand, and she swung the excess around the larger man's neck. She heaved, pulling the man forward by the chain from his already off-balance position and over into the dirt. Kayla stepped diagonally away as the man fell and grabbed the tail of the chain when he hit the ground. She pulled against it, planting her knee and putting all her weight squarely between the man's shoulder blades to pin him as she strangled him.

"You wanna fuck with me?!" She roared, her eyes lighting up like molten metal in an inhuman, unnatural way- as if the devil inside her was waking up. "You wanna send some motherfucker after me?!"

Kayla seethed, her ungloved hand lighting up as it began heating up like she was living magma. The end of the chain that she was holding began turning an eerie red- the heat trailing down each link ever so slowly towards the man's neck.

People at the door, Kayla a voice whispered in her head, and her anger was quelled, if only for an instant. She snapped her head towards the door and let out a low whistle, sending a snarling Oleander to guard watch her back in case more people came through.

"Hey, get her!" One of the vampires shouted as they all hopped outside bearing fangs and claws.

"... Ooooh, I like her." Babylon said amused as she watched the scene with a delighted smile on her face. This was just tooooooo juicy just watching her assert herself. Perhaps she does have a spot in her future empire. Babylon laughed as she floated by Emily and cheekily rotated towards her host. "... What curse do you think would work best?"

Hmph, Emily couldn't help but crack a smile herself. Kayla went straight for the jaw, just like Emily would. Except she would have done so much quieter... it would have carried a lot more meaning in her book. However, Emily crossed her arms as she thought about her odds before she raised her hand. "Hold off on the curses, Babylon."

"Oh, why not help your friend?"

"... Let's see where this goes, first," Emily said. "Remember what you told me."

"But at least... fine," Babylon shrugged.

A thick wall of smoky black darkness appeared between Kayla and the house the vampire Coven was in. Masking Kayla from sight and sound as Madison flew over with a dark-purple aura around her. Midflight Madison muttered, "The Jaws." Before transparent, ghostly, bones appeared around her taking the shape of some sort of eldritch armor made out dinosaur limbs and skulls. She landed a few paces away from Kayla and she looked her shoulder.

"Got your back." She affirmed her. While Madison didn't approve of all of this chaos and bullshit, even she had to admit that it was pretty badass. Maybe she underestimated Kayla just a little bit. However, these motherfuckers were armed and she wasn't going to bet on Kayla suddenly having an abstraction that renders her bulletproof. Madison herself was unsure if she was bulletproof, but she bet her odds on the Jaws than Kayla's abstraction.

Claudette winched when Kayla struck the patriarch but remained behind the tree, poking her head from the side to get a good view of it. If it got out of hand then Claudette would have used her abstraction to at least dampen her heat-based abstraction. However, she had a bit of trust in Kayla... she was the one who had to assert that nobody kills. For that, Claudette could respect her.

The vampires began to pierce through the darkness and attack the Coven. One threw a punch Madison's direction and loudly yelped as fingers were broken. Madison just looked at him as she kept her hands in her pockets. "... Nice one." She threw a punch the way that sent him flying right back through the darkness. She peered over her shoulder and saw the freaks coming out of the other trailers too.

However, one of them was shirtless on the roof of the trailers with the confederate flag crudely painted on his chest (Classy). He had a bottle of some beer that Madison would never touch in a million years in one hand and a fucking katana or something in the other. He downed the alcohol before he started violently convulsing as he was covered in a thin layer of fur, his ears began large and pointy as his face extended a bit as new razor-sharp teeth filled his mouth. His arms stretched until they were skeletal and a thin layer of skin formed a batwing as his feet were turned into claws.

"... Well, that's new," Madison said to herself as she watched the transformation. Other vampires were transforming too and now Madison was glad that she came. She firmly planted her foot into the ground as she eyed the nearest one in the sky. She focused as she realized that she needed a little stress relief. She darted off into the air and grabbed the nearest flier and tossed him directly into the other one.

"That rules out my theory," Babylon says as she shrugged as a few of them came at her. Babylon chuckled as with a mere wave of her hand a pentagram covered in a pink aura like fire appeared out of her hand and hit the ground. It exploded into a pink blast of energy as they stopped attacking her... and began to get a lot handsy with each other as they devolved into a mess of kissing and other inappropriate actions. "...That'll only work so much." Babylon said with a shrug.

"Give me the fire curse," Emily ordered her.

"I thought you hated that one," Babylon said.

"Just do it," Emily said as Babylon lifted the lust curse and the vampire sex pile ceased and her red pentagram appeared over Emily's head. She crossed her arms. "Now... light this bitch."

"Heheheehehehehe, with pleasure," Babylon fired a sigil at the ground and various glowing red "cracks" appeared before they started shooting out burning out flames.

"You'd get the hell away from me if you knew what was good for you," Emily said as she casually walked through the flames towards Kayla... and didn't notice her outfit was catching flames itself. All that mattered was that she was tanking the fire with a demon by her side... and a burning pentagram over her head. If Kayla wanted to intimidate these people, then Emily was doing a helluva job because they were running away in fear of the two.

Jess declined Izzy's offer of water, but did think it was nice of her. But that hardly mattered, because that's also when Kayla showed up. Jess remained a fair distance away from Kayla at first. "Holy shit, is that a shotgun?" She asked herself as the massive leader came out. His weapon was hardly worth worrying about though as Kayla took him down like a complete badass. "Fuck yeah! Get him Kayla!"

After the initial attack, panic ensued. Madison and Emily jumped into action, and Jess was right behind them. A swarm of vampires were making out and getting hot and heavy, the next moment they were covered in flames. "Damn, sure wish I could shoot fire." Jess thought to herself. She was also in awe of Madison's quick dispatch of enemies, throwing them around with the Jaws like they were nothing.

Jess brandished her wooden sword and eyed a trailer that had four goons running out. Three were beer-belly men, each in their mid twenties, and some daisy-dukes wearing bitch. The guys were hooting and hollering, wearing their stained muscle shirts and brandishing a hockey stick, a baseball bat, and a fucking sledge hammer. The girl was armed with a broken tequila bottle. Jess didn't wait. She focused and muttered, "Extension Middle!" her sigil shone in front of her onyx necklace as a bright orange energy flew down the wooden blade, reaching several feet further with no weight difference, just a slight strain on her stamina. Luckily, the energy copied the weapon it was on, so it would just make solid contact, the same as wood.

Jess dashed forward, aiming a thrust at the hammer-boy's sternum. It made solid contact, and he flew backwards into the trailer, making a humongous racket. Jess then threw a fast kick at the girl's stomach. The girl tried to swing, and caught Jess' leg, but took the hit and dropped the improvised weapon. The other two men pressed forward, swinging their bat and hockey stick wildly at her. She parried, and took a few steps back before taking a well aimed swing at one's knee. He went down nice and sweet. "And then there was one." Jess said, smirking, hardly noticing the cut on her leg from the bottle. She pointed her sword at him and focused, and shouted "Extension maximum!" She wasn't sure if she even had to say anything, but she found that it helped her to vocalize when using her embueing spell. The orange energy shot forward and pushed forcibly against the hockey stick user's chest. He fell back, groaning, along with his cohorts. She was glad that it managed to work, she had learned at the coven that her abstraction didn't do extra damage to extra-normals, but figured they probably just felt like they'd been walloped with a sturdy stick in weak spots.

Jess kept the twenty foot extension going when she noticed flying creatures too. "This is fucking awesome!" She would swing strategically at low fliers, aiming for wings. She managed to make sickening contact with one of the fucker's wing and it came crashing down.



Elise had taken a step away from Sin and her monster when Kayla showed up. She demonstrated her badassery which horrified Elise. She felt like she was taken back to the day she became awakened. She screamed "Stop!!!" Strangulation had a PTSD effect on Ellie, and she dropped to her knees, reliving the moment her girlfriend Ashley was strangled to death. She couldn't bring herself to look up again until there were already batlike creatures around. Ellie shakily opened her journal, glad for this escape. She began jotting down what she observed about, not only the vampires, but the other girls too. She leaned against the same tree as Claudette and observed.

Vampires: Capable of transformation and enhanced strength. Not weakened by sun. They seem to have similar endurance as any other extra normal.

Kayla: Her abstraction seems to take a side seat to her raw aggression. It's hard for me to watch her fight. Her abstraction synergizes well with her style. Abstraction RANK A

Madison: Fearless and strong. The Jaws seems fully invincible to the attacks from the vampires. The Jaws allow her to fly upon bone wings with speed and accuracy. Abstraction RANK S

Emily: As awful as she is, and as horrifying as Babylon is, they are an asset. They work quickly and can take out large groups at once. A wide variety of curses, but against the vampires they opt for Fire and Lust. Abstraction RANK S

Jessica: She has the ability to channel energy through a weapon. This seems to work against the vampires, but to no surprising degree. She fights recklessly but effectively. Her abstraction is a good match. Abstraction RANK B

She continued to keep as vigilant eye as she could on the field to help those who needed it, but she was still shaking, and her notes appeared sloppy. She was more focused on observation for study than to help.

Molly listened intently as Kayla ran through the 'beat down crash course'. She hadn't really been violent in her life. She was definitely much more passive and submissive; at least before Hraesvelgr. But even then, the improvements were minor. At least before activating her Mark of Dread. As the explanations came towards an end she felt her nerves having reached a peak, unknowingly growing as the demonstration went on. She noticed how her hands became clammy against the wood of the back she held much more firmly than she remembered. She took a few deep, quiet breaths in a futile attempt to calm her nerves.

As things kicked off she was a bit taken aback. It all seemed to escalate so quickly. Though what did she expect? They did come here to beat the shit out of some vampires. She shook her head, trying to loosen the grip her nerves had over her muscles and to start moving. Everyone was doing their part. She wouldn't prove Emily right, she was useful to this group. She had a place here and she could prove it. Right here, right now. If only she could move.

Will a burst of stubborn willpower Molly forced herself to move. Running into the 'battlefield' with bat in hand. She saw a smaller male off to the side that seemed to be waiting for an opening against one of the distracted girls and decided to go for him first; he seemed a size she could handle and not afford him the opportunity to attack one of her Coven members from a blind spot. Molly began a straight directly towards the male vampire, though his eyes snapped onto her as she approached. She nearly stumbled as her fright sky-rocketed, making her legs stiff until she had to come to a stop nearly ten feet from him. She held her bat like she would strike; but it was obvious in her eyes she was stiff with terror. What if she wasn't strong enough? What if her attack missed? How fast was he?

The male before Molly could tell she was locked up in fear. Like the opportunist he was, he quickly lunged at Molly before she could compose herself. He cleanly struck Molly, splitting her lip and sending her back a few feet. As the searing pain scorched through her from her lip and how her body hit the ground instinct quickly kicked in. Without her acknowledgement her Mark of Dread activated, like a sense defense mechanism she had no control over in the moment. All that fear coursing through her suddenly ignited like jet fuel, burning pure energy throughout her entire body. She was no longer locked up, she was set free. A blistering warm rushed through her veins as she felt she was finally in control.

The vampire scoffed, not realizing the change that took place within the girl he just struck down. Molly slowly rose to her feet, a smirk painted across her lips; confidence burning in her eyes. Slowly within the air around her thick, needle like blades began to form out of twisted bone. Though they deteriorated into nothing but ash as soon as they formed. Having reminded herself that she couldn't kill. The vampired blinked rapidly, seeming confused with what he just saw. Or if he even saw anything at all but maybe some spots appeared in his eyes and his blinking removed them. He decided he would put Molly down once more. He lunged at her once again, but this time she was ready. And the knowledge she attained from the Mark of Dread made it easy for her.

As the vampires strike came thrusting towards Molly's face she easily ducked slightly to the side, letting it catch nothing but the air over her shoulder. With seemingly practiced precision Molly threw a powerful jab into the center of the Vampire's thigh. Striking the muscle with enough force to pinch it between her knuckle and his femur making it convulse in a spasm. He yelped in pain but was quickly silenced with a following upper cut, catching his jaw and slamming his mouth shut with enough force to crack teeth and lifting him off the ground. As he crashed to the Earth he was unconscious from the sudden, overwhelming pain.

Molly observed the surrounding area, as she did twisted bone began to wrap around her fingers in a sort of brass-knuckle manner. As her eyes fell upon the first non-occupied vampire she could find she immediately burst into a full sprint towards him. He held a crowbar in his hand and quickly noticed Molly charging his way. Confident in himself he began to run straight towards her. As the were about the close the distance the Vampire took a swing at Molly, aiming for side of her head; though Molly didn't dodge this time. As the Crowbar came towards her sudden within the arm a wall of twisted bone and flesh appeared, blocking the crowbar with a bone crackling sound on impact. But Molly remained untouched. Successfully defended Molly easily slipped into close quarters. She send a strong, low jab into his lower rib; the bone-knuckles impact shattering his rib on impact. Though she knew this wasn't enough to put him down for the fight. With quick, fluid motions before he could recover from the first strike she went into her onslaught. Right fist to left hip, striking at the nerve and making it hard to stand, left first to broken rib once more to disorientate once more, step back into lung kick into center of right knee to dislocate and possibly shatter the knee cap, before he could fall over a final quick jab to throat to disrupt air flow; not enough to suffocate but definitely make it difficult for a few hours.

As the male collapsed into a wheezing groan of man-baby she heard a rushing of wind coming at her from behind; the bat-like creature. Within a flash of a moment the knuckle deteriorated from around her fingers and was soon replaced by a large skeletal scythe. She spun around quickly, striking with seemingly practiced ease and removed half of the assailants left wing. The bat zipped pasted her without touching Molly, shrieking in pain from it's missing portion of wing before crashing into the packed dirt and into a tumbling roll. Despite the pain the creature began to push itself to its feet as if it weren't done fighting. Molly's scythe deteriorated and quickly replaced with five baseball sized balls that seemed to float around her. Without a motion the balls of bone soared through the air in a straight line, impacting powerfully into the creatures upper body with enough force to knock it on its ass and groaning.

They were given two hours, before they had to meet at a trailer park called Greenwood with masks to hide their faces. Herik decided it would be best to eat and get out of his uniform, before meeting up. He spent an hour at his favorite diner: Adrian's Skillet. It's a nice little play usually visited by the elderly and mostly staffed by senior citizens during the day and college students at night. They had the best food in Tampa. He pulled a yellow shirt and his brown thong sandals out of his duffel bag, then went into the restaurant with the bag on his shoulder. He was greeted by Yvonne, she always worked the afternoon shift. She took his order after he sat down in his usual booth next to the window where he got the most sun. The portion sizes were larger than the average person could eat for a decent price. He put away two plates of five large pancakes, eight sausages, and four scrambled eggs. He had orange juice instead of coffee, he preferred sweet and a little tart to bitter. After he paid the check, he went to the bathroom and changed out of his trunks and into blue jersey shorts.

Herik looked in his trunk for anything he could fight vampires with. Because of conflicting information about what they could do, he decided he need the basics. At least a wood stake. Oh wait, Kayla said not to kill anyone. Okay, so no stake. That's fine. He didn't want to take a life, even though it's a vampire. They had emotions and families too. Would a cross do the trick? Maybe some holy water, but he didn't know a priest. He couldn't ask his mother. She knew all sorts of people. Oh wait, he does have a cross. He closed the trunk and slid into the driver's seat. On his rear view mirror hung a rosary his mother always wore around his neck. She gave it to him when he started his life guard job over fifteen years ago. She said it would keep him safe. He couldn't wear on the job, because it was too long so he hung it up in his car. He pulled it off the mirror and placed it around his neck. He was ready to go.



He arrived at Greenwood right after Kayla. There was traffic on the way and he got turned around on the GPS a few times, but he made it. He parked the last in the line down the street from the trailer they were supposed to have it out at. He climbed out of his car and got half way to the group, before he remembered he was supposed to wear a mask. He didn't have one, so he improvised with red shirt he had in his bag. He tore it along the seam on the sides and around the neck. The pieces of the front, back, and sleeves were left. He tied the front piece around his face and stuffed the shambles in his pocket. He assumed the fight would get bloody. Maybe someone will need to clean up after they're done.

He caught up to them on the tail end of Kayla saying, "You follow me in there, you don't leave without everyone else. Now or never, girls."
Oh, it's happening now. Great! He kept his smile, though he was a little nervous about resorting to violence. He's not sure how much a vampire could take and he didn't want to hurt anyone too bad like he did when he was sixteen. Kayla didn't have any reservations about that, because she jabbed the man that opened the door in the throat, then choked him out with a chain cloaked in her magic. Ellie screamed behind him, so he turned around to see her on her knees shaking. He looked behind him, the fight escalated when everyone else joined the fight and vampires that transformed into bat attacked them. He wasn't expecting this. It was violent and grungy. He looked back at Ellie and Claudette. Claudette would fine if something came their way, but Ellie's magic wasn't combat oriented. She'd be a sitting duck if anything came her way and Claudette wasn't there to protect her. He decided that he'll keep an eye out if he needed to come back and fight the creatures. With more hands on deck they'll finish it quickly and Ellie wouldn't need saving, because it'd be over soon enough.

Herik only ran a few feet from the tree when a vampire swooped down to grab him with its claws. He reached for it, grabbed its ankle, and set his feet into the ground, shifting his weight and holding steady so it wouldn't be easy to lift him off his feet. The vampire flapped its wings stronger, but Herik wouldn't let go. He pulled down, muscles and veins bulging in his arms. It shrieked and flapped harder, but he pulled it down harder, hands gripping fur further up its leg until he had it around the waist. He shifted his weight back on his heels, bent backwards, and threw the creature in a suplex. Herik's back hit the ground, but he barely felt it. He quickly rolled onto his feet and grabbed the creature around neck and locked it in a choke hold, his bicep cut off its breathing. Oh right, Ellie. She's right there. He can't choke it out. She yelled after Kayla did it to the man. He let it go, but flipped it onto its back and punched it in the face, until it blacked out. His hand hurt and he's sure he broke something, but he didn't dwell on it. He's used to adrenaline masking the worst of his injuries.

He barely moved a foot before another came him, clawed hands ready to tear into him. Herik was significantly taller and more muscled than this one. He elbowed the creature's nose. He punched it in the face right at the joint that kept the jaw hinged. It broke under his hit and went down. He was lingering on the outskirts for Ellie just encase. One came him fist raised. Herik slipped passed the fist, and tucked the vampire's arm into his armpit, pulled, then kicked its feet out from under him. It hit the ground, where he wrestled it onto its stomach with its arm bent back and up onto its shoulder blade.

"Tap out!" He yelled at it. The creature struggled, until Herik pushed its arm up and it dislocated from the shoulder. The shriek pierced his ears, but he didn't let up until it stopped moving. He smashed it face into the concrete, then moved onto the next one. This ran at him, so he rushed it, got down low, grabbed its legs, and flipped it over his back. The creature hit its head on the way down, knocking it out. Herik backed towards the tree, but kept enough distances to fight comfortably.

---

At the sight of Leatherface, Lyss couldn't hide her bemusal. Her eyes crinkled and her eyebrows rose slightly. The voice gave her a clue to who it was underneath the horror film mask, but her jumpy nature was an easy tell. "Hey, Riley." Lyss would have said more, but she had to keep quiet so that she wouldn't laugh at the wiggling necklace of garlic around Riley's neck.

Pizza sounded great.

Maya approached, looking like she'd just been on a run. Roughing up a group of vamps counted as a workout in Lyss's book. She almost envied Maya for wearing such a comfortable outfit. Lyss herself was in an the same all black ensemble from the meeting of (already and soon to be further) ripped jeans, a pair of Timberland boots, and a black v-neck tee. It would be as easy to move in as leggings and a crop top, but she was sure that the jeans would prevent her legs from getting scuffed up. The boots would also hurt if she kicked a bloodsucker in the right place.

Lyss simply winked at Maya when she called her bat inferior. She swung the bat around lazily and turned away as the girls began to rat on Riley's garlic necklace. If none of them knew what vampires were like, how could they know that the garlic was a myth? She rolled her eyes, and would have explained the nature of vampires to them if Babylon hadn't beaten her to it.

Babylon continued to babble on, and Lyss busied herself with surveying the trailer park while she waited for Kayla to show. From the looks of it, it seemed like the entire park was inhabited by the pricks. They probably drank the humans that lived here before. Her brows furrowed. We may be outnumbered here. Can these girls take that on? She glanced back at the group to see Jessica and Elise show up too. Jessica seemed pumped as always, but Elise looked like she was about to test her fight or flight reflex. Lyss nodded to the pair, but preferred to listen to the girls talk. She was saving her energy for the fight. Which was taking a little too long to start. Lyss huffed softly and leaned her weight onto one leg, the bat resting against the nape of her neck.

"Sin" showed all by herself. With no beast in tow. Lyss watched her summon the chimera, snake tail and all. As annoying as Quinn could be about of abstraction, Lyss had to admit that she was impressed by her skills. She might have looked like she was struggling, but Lyss recognized a seasoned summoner when she saw one. The fact that Quinn could stand her ground against a wild beast such as the chimera was enough to give her a few brownie points too.

More chatting, more people arriving, and Lyss wondered if Kayla had told them two hours just so they'd be there on time for her arrival. Then again, Kayla probably didn't care when the girls arrived. She probably would have scared the vamps on her own. Lyss felt dependable now that Kayla had asked her, and the group too, for help.

So, Lyss waited patiently. She continued to watch the trailers. Looking for signs of movement in or outside of them as she waited was enough to pass the time. Pizza, pizza... Where should we go?

In the distance she heard a rumbling, and she turned her head to see Kayla's ol' reliable making its way towards them. [i]Wonder what the vamps are thinking of this sight. Moderately large group of girls with masks and weapons just chilling, and here comes Mrs. Big and Bad rolling down the lane. Are they quaking in their flip flops, or loading their shotguns? It was the south, after all.

I gotta get a chain like that. Can't wait to see how she uses it.

Thank god someone else let Riley's necklace slide. Does no one believe in cutting the ill informed some slack?

Lyss straightened as Kayla began to look the group over. The only tell that Lyss was ready to get to action was the firm grip on her bat. She even allowed herself to the teacher's pet for a few moments. While Lyss was already aware of these weak points, (there's was a reason she owned an aluminum bat), she was glad that Kayla was demonstrating to the others who might not. Lyss returned Kayla's nod with one of her own and laid the bat against the back of her shoulders. Each arm came up to rest her wrists against the top of it, her hands dangling over the other side.

While her adrenaline was already beginning to pump through her veins as she followed Kayla, she preferred to keep her body in a relaxed position. First and foremost, the girls were there for intimidation purposes only. If things went south, Lyss would certainly jump into action.

Well... Let's just say things went incredibly south. Lyss, who'd remained a bit behind Kayla and stood staring the vamps down, had gotten herself caught up in watching Kayla absolutely [b]dominate[/i] the massive head honcho. She smirked beneath her mask as she watched. She would have done well in Miami.

Unfortunately, and just as expected, the rest of the gang retaliated. Lyss had also considered watching Kayla's back, but it looked like Madison had that bit covered. Instead, it was Lyss's time to wreck a few vampire's pearly whites. She turned to put her back to Kayla and her new bitch of a vampire and grinned as she saw other suckers emerging from the adjacent trailers. "Hey, suckfaces! You mess with my friend, you get the louisville slugger treatment." She shouted, pointing her bat towards Kayla and then towards the group.

The four goons, all males wearing a range of wife beaters and low hanging jeans to ripped tees and basketball shorts, the usual Florida crackhead attire, saw Lyss and slowly began to spread out around her.

"Bro, was it the bong rip we just took or am I seeing shit?" One red-eyed guy asked his buddy to the left.

"Nah, man, she's actually there. She's that shit-weed bitch of a dealer's girlfriend or sumthin'."

"Would you two shut up? I've got the munchies bad and this chick smells better than ma's fried chicken."

"Aw man, you're right. I bet the bitch dealer tastes good too." The second vamp agreed, pulling a pocket knife from his cargo shorts. The others grinned. The first vamp lazily picked up a wrench from beside of a beat-up honda civic. The third remained off to the side with a devilish grin, likely waiting for an opportunity to grab their meal. The fourth, who had remained silent throughout the conversation, released a puff of smoke as he stopped holding the smoke in his lungs and smirked. "Yo, these girls are witches. What-what if," he stopped to laugh for a second. The three vamps, and even Lyss, stopped to give him annoyed looks. "What if they had a spell to get us all really fucking high?"

Lyss had enough of waiting around. Without giving the vamp's another second to banter, she cocked back her bat and swung it right into the fourth vampire's stomach. She turned away from him as he doubled over and glared at the other vamps. "No wonder you couldn't tell good weed from oregano. You're a bunch of fucking idiots."

Seeing their smoking buddy on their knees, vomiting up whatever the contents of their stomach had been, managed to sober the fuck out of the others. Lyss raised her bat, watching the two bro's snarl as they advanced towards her. The third still remained off to the side. I see you, snake. You're just giving me more time to take care of your friends.

The vamp with the wrench came at her first, swinging the hunk of metal straight for her head. Lyss ducked to the side and spun, bringing her bat down onto the man's forearms as she came back around to face him. She then raised her elbow closest to his face and slid her arm over until it connected with his larynx. The vamp's cry was instantly cut short as he choked against the blow.

His buddy with the knife lunged at her from the right, and Lyss had to immediately retreat to avoid his blade. Even though he was high, she could tell that he was skilled with a blade. He'd definitely cut enough blunt wraps to know how to use it. Probably a few throats, too.

The two paced each other for a second, both watching each other to see who'd make the first move. Lyss was smart enough to know that if she swung first, he'd easily slice into her like a piece of cake. One swing is all you get against a knife. Wait for them to go first, and hit him on the knee. They'll drop the knife, and you can get another swing in while they drop.

The vamp must have realized she was smart, and so he took a different approach. He spun the knife until the blade was pointing downwards in his hand. Raising the blade above his head, he thrust it downwards towards Lyss's chest. With no time to swing at his exposed ribs, Lyss dug her heel into the ground, gripped both ends of the bat, and held it up to block his arms from coming down any further. The two struggled in a power hold for a moment before Lyss found an opening. Shifting her weight onto her right leg, Lyss kicked the vamp right in the groin. The vamp cursed, but the force of his arms pressing downwards released and Lyss found her second opening. She knelt down onto the ground close to his body and pushed herself upwards with her feet. Her shoulder connected with his solar plexus, and she effectively knocked him back far enough that the blade wouldn't reach her. It was then that she swung the bat, the long aluminum weapon crashing into the side of his knee.

Lyss quickly stood and kicked the blade away from the groaning vamp. She looked around, noticing that the fourth vampire was gone from her sight. "Guess he got scared," she murmured, casually turning to walk away from the scene. She heard rapid steps approaching her from behind and grinned. Just as I expected. She looked over her bat for a second, assessing any dents or scratches. Satisfied with it's condition, she firmly wrapped each hand around it's base, spun around on her heels, and felt the bat connect directly with the yellow-stained, sharp incisors of the one vampire that tried to surprise her.

---

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Ellie continued to watch the fighting and take notes. She had a front row seat to Herik's fighting, and he was amazing. The chokehold did bother Elise but she was already in panic mode, trying to calm down, and he broke the hold quickly. Molly... was amazing. Elise had never expected this level of skill from someone who wasn't even extra-normal. Lyss seemed as if she'd been doing this her whole life, easily taking out vampire after vampire in brutal fashion.

Then she saw Sin. Her Chimera easily tossed grown men too and fro, with little effort. He kept them at bay with fire, but Sin seemed a bit too confident in her abilities. She had trouble just taking on one. Ellie knew there was little reason for her to go out there though, she'd be no help in a fight. Instead she continued to write.

Lyss: She seems skilled with a baseball bat, and had little need for her Abstraction here. Abstraction RANK N/A

Herik: He's amazing. He's not even an extra-normal and easily thwarts every vampire he goes after. Abstraction RANK N/A

Molly: Another non-extra-normal, yet she does have an abstraction. Odd, but powerful it reminds me a little of the Jaws. Abstraction RANK A?

Sin: Her summoning is powerful, but it seems has its limits. Heize (Chimera) can breathe fire and demonstrates incredible strength, but when surrounded, his effectiveness drops. Abstraction RA-

Elise abruptly stopped writing when she heard a gunshot. She looked up to see an injured Quinn, defenseless and weakened. Elise took a breath. She couldn't teleport to Quinn, because she'd never been there before. She would have to run. She screwed her courage to the sticking place and ran as fast as she could toward Quinn. There were flying vampires and a few grounded ones, but Herik and Jess were spread far enough between Ellie's path that she was almost completely un-noticed. She got to Quinn, and grabbed her hand. "You'll be ok!" Some fat vampire was about to pounce the girls, but the two vanished into thin air, the fat vampire made hard contact with the ground.

The two reappeared back by the cars. "Izzy!? Can you heal Sin!? Sh- She's been shot!" Elise was a bundle of nerves and was panicking actively. She paced and her breaths here sharp and short. She definitely wasn't cut for this thing. At least not yet.