Hunt (working title)

Chapter One

Mithra stalked down the cold, dark alleyway. It had been a rough night, and it hadn't even begun. She was a vampire hunter, the best. Mithra Thionshe and Braedyn Renoseiv were a two-person team, utterly undefeated. Never once had their prey even neared close enough to touch either Mithra or Braedyn. The vampires, or vamps, were a tough hunt that April night. The two companions were following reports from Braedyn's contacts at the local bar, Andersen's. His sister, Meg, was one of the co-owners and lived in an apartment above the restaurant. She knew from experience the business Mithra and Braedyn worked in, as she had only recently quit. Before the partnership of Mithra and Braedyn had begun, she was the best. Meg Renoseiv had always been a name to fear in the bleak underground of Chicago, and her little brother and his best friend were the ones to follow. In return for Meg's keeping Braedyn and Mithra informed, the two worked part-time in the bar.

Mithra was jolted out of her thoughts with a poke from her partner. "Right ahead of us, Mith," Braedyn informed her, whispering.

"Ready," she replied. She reached under her long black leather coat and into her waistband, pulling out her solid black handgun. Her weapon and Braedyn's identical one were loaded with a special form of bullets containing a lethal form of liquid silver. When coming in contact with this liquid silver, vampire skin was fatally burned. The burning sensations caused the victim so much pain that they forgot about running away and allowed the hunters to come closer to kill if they hadn't died already.

The duo continued walking quietly, slowly, down the narrow alley. Their prey, two vamp youths, were preparing to feed near the end of the lane. This pack had made four kills in half as many days, and was on the hunt again.

Abruptly, Braedyn's black boot-covered foot connected with an amber brown beer bottle. Making a tinkling noise, it crashed into the brick wall of the flanking corporate building and broke into a few large pieces.

Just as abruptly, the two vamps' heads shot up as they located the source of the sound. "Shit!" Braedyn cursed as the two youths broke into a run, dropping their prey, and soon had scaled the chain-link fence at the back of the alley. Following, Braedyn and Mithra chased after. They barely had time to check on the victim, but seconds later the young girl stood shakily and began to run away. Braedyn and Mithra launched themselves at the fence and rapidly climbed over. Dropping to the ground on the other side of the fence, the pair sprinted out into the cross street. They looked around, cautiously, for their hunt.

"Damnit," Mithra swore, having seen no one. "We lost two more. That makes it, what, five this week?"

"It's all right, we can just go out again tomorrow night. Besides, I'm running low on ammunition," Braedyn told her, always the optimist.

"No, it's not all right, Braedyn. We haven't made any successful operations in over a week and there have been nine kills recently! What's it going to take for you to start taking this seriously? Do I need to be killed first?" Mithra exploded, fixing her startlingly violet eyes on him.

"Of course not! I am serious about this. I'm just half asleep because we're on our fifth mission in two days. I think you need to calm down. You're getting bitchy, too, so I know it's not just me." Braedyn calmly responded. At this, Mithra took a deep breath, knowing there was truth in her friend's words. After all, that's what they were first. Friends. They had been friends for all of their 26 years, and had always shared a special friendship. They had always trusted each other strongly, which, along with their strong senses, made them such an unstoppable team.

"Okay. I'm calm. But can you see where I'm coming from? I'm just frustrated! We have not made a kill in ages, and the packs just keep growing. I can't help but think that we can do more than we already are. I mean, if I had been a hunter before…would my parents still be alive?" Mithra sighed. "I can't help but feel guilty. You don't know how I feel, after going in and seeing what I saw."

Braedyn broke in. "I don't know what you feel? Your parents were my parents, Mith. You know how Keith and Sarah were never around. I'm in this as fully as you are. And, yeah, maybe I didn't actually see what happened to them. But I feel as strongly as you do about what we do. This is our life, now. This is our destiny."

"Okay. Point taken. What do you say to heading back to the bar and getting some food? I'm starving."

"You kidding? I thought you'd never ask." Braedyn laughed. "An Andersen's Famous One Pound Cheeseburger sounds like the best food on earth right about now."

The friends continued down Vine Street, and turned left on 31st Avenue. After walking six blocks, they stood in front of their favorite restaurant and workplace. Andersen's Bar and Grille. It was one of the oldest buildings on the street, built in 1900. A brick ivy-covered bar, it was famous for not only its good service, but also its mouthwatering one pound cheeseburgers. On any given weekend night, the restaurant would have all of its 80 seats full, sometimes with a waiting list as well. Weekdays and nights were slightly less busy, but they got good business from people leaving the movie theatres across the street or simply from people wanting to eat and drink at the famous Anderson's.

Mithra and Braedyn, more relaxed once the tension was gone, continued into the restaurant. Calling out greetings to the various customers and waiters, they made their way across the large room to the bar. Once there, they pulled up two vacant stools and sat.

"Hey, you guys, you working tonight?" Brian, the bartender, asked them. He was a tall, gangly 27 year-old who had worked with Meg and Daine, the other co-owner, since they had restored the old building as the restaurant it had started out as.

"Nah, we're just here to eat. I work tomorrow 10-6, though." Mithra told him.

"Yeah, I'm working tomorrow too, but 10-4. I have something going on later." Braedyn said mysteriously.

"Oh? Since when?" Mithra and Brian asked at the same time. They glanced at each other, and laughed. Brian winked a deep green eye at her as Braedyn just rolled his eyes. "Since this morning."

"Ah! Got a hot date, do you?" Brian snickered. Mithra laughed again.

"Yeah, right! Braedyn hasn't dated in a full year!" Mithra playfully shoved her friend's shoulder. Realizing he wasn't laughing, she looked into his eyes. Usually they were a pleasant baby blue, but now they were icy.

"As a matter of fact, I do have a date." Seeing the shocked and literally 'uh-oh' look on Mithra's face, he continued. "What? You didn't think I was capable of recovering from Marisa? I'm not a little boy, Mithra. I can take rejection. Just because we dated for four years until she brutally broke my heart," he said bitterly, "doesn't mean I can't recuperate."

"Sorry. I – I, er, didn't know," Mithra mumbled, trying to regain the conversation. She shook her long, straight black hair slightly. "Erm. So, are you excited?"

"Yeah, who and where?" Brian asked.

"Yes, thanking you very much." Braedyn replied, his eyes returning to their normal, friendly colour. "I finally asked Anne out," He continued, naming a waitress. "We're going to a movie and dinner tomorrow night."

Mithra leaned over to whisper heatedly in her partner's ear. "I thought we were going hunting again tomorrow! You told me, and we have to keep trying! The packs are just going to keep growing if we stop now. We can't give up!"

"I'm not about to! Don't you ever feel like all you do is hunt and work? I sure as hell do! And don't try to tell me you date; you haven't had an actual date in as long as I have! You just pretend that you have all these boyfriends to make Brian jealous!" He whispered back.

"What do you mean? Make Brian jealous? Never! I do not like Brian!" Mithra whispered furiously. By this time, Brian was down at the opposite end of the bar feeling left out of the conversation and Mithra's face was a bright fire engine red.

"You don't think it's obvious? Mith, you two flirt all the time! Half the time when you laugh at his jokes they're not even funny! Although it is pretty amusing to just sit back and watch you guys." Braedyn laughed. "You should just ask him out already!"

"No way! I'm not taking his rejection! Gosh, we work together! Imagine how embarrassing that would be!"

"He would never say no to you! You're drop-dead gorgeous, and besides: he's practically in love with you! Haven't you ever wondered why he's always talking to you instead of me?" Braedyn argued.

"Well…maybe, but still! No way would he say yes to me!"

"Whatever you say, compadre." Braedyn got up and walked down the bar to Brian. "How about two burgers, Bri?"

"Sure, man, they'll be out in a minute. Just ketchup, mustard and mayo on Mith's, and what on yours?" Brian responded.

"Tomato, onion, pickles, ketchup, mayo, lettuce, mustard: the works." Braedyn ordered.

"'K, they'll be up in a minute. I'll bring them over to a table if you guys want to sit down…?"

"Sounds good, we'll be over at table 5," Braedyn said, pointing to a booth along the front windows. He walked back over to Mithra, who was banging her head repeatedly against the wooden bar counter.

"Why me? Why?" She reiterated.

"'Cause you're so addicted to trouble," Braedyn answered her rhetorical question. "Come on, we're going to go sit down while Tony makes our burgers," he said, naming the cook. Braedyn began walking towards their table, towing Mithra behind him.

Ten minutes later, their burgers arrived and although Mithra was still aware of the fact that Brian might possibly like her, it was in the back of her mind. They were debating more important things. Like how they were ever going to stop the packs from growing, and whether or not they should invest in another full-time hunter. In more words than one, business.

After eating, the pair separated to return to their respective homes. Mithra lived in a studio apartment positioned above a Chinese restaurant named Yen Ching's. It was a very spacious living area, one she had begun to buy after leaving college three years before. She was still paying off for the apartment, not to mention her college student loans. Though she only worked part-time at Andersen's, they paid her well. And occasionally, she and Braedyn were hired by individual clients to rid them of vampires. Though it did not happen often, when it did they were paid extremely well for their labors. Usually, the clients were families trying to justify or avenge a family member or friend's death. This was always the most disappointing and heartbreaking part of their job.

Mithra reached the ground floor of her building and slowly began to climb the stairs leading to her apartment. Once reaching her front door, she rummaged through her bag until she found her long blue key chain. It had been a gift from Braedyn, and upon seeing it, she laughed, releasing her built-up tension. It had that effect on her every time. He'd bought it at a local thrift store, and it proclaimed loudly, "Boys are stupid. Throw rocks at them!" To alter this, Braedyn had taken a fine-tipped cloth marker and had written "Except for me!" after every phrase.

As Mithra turned the keys in her lock, she suddenly got the chills. The sense of general foreboding that settled over her was a cloak, masking her senses. Shaking her head and cracking her neck, she shivered and walked over the threshold of her home. As she entered, she kissed a single finger and placed in on top of the solitary horseshoe hanging on her wall over the light switch. This had been a ritual of hers since she was a small child, no matter what house, apartment, or trailer she'd lived in. It was a symbol of not only luck, but power and strong wits as well. After she flicked the switch up, her apartment flooded with light.

After she'd settled in, Mithra lounged on her couch in her pajamas, equipped with the TV remote and a glass of orange smoothie. Ten minutes after tuning into MTV's Viva La Bam, she was asleep with the remote and empty glass on the couch beside her.

She was in a deeply familiar room, though she didn't realize exactly where she was until she saw the horseshoe. It was her living room. Not hers, but the room belonging to the house she'd lived in as a child. She could still find her way around blindfolded, she bet. This room, this house…they brought memories flooding to her senses, both pleasant and unpleasant. It was the house she'd grown up in. On the other hand, it was the house she'd lived in when she first heard the news. "Hello? Is this the residence of Marie and Will Thionshe?" The voice had inquired. "I'm sorry to inform you, but your parents have been murdered. We need you to come and identify their bodies." That had been the start of her hunting. Right then and there, she had taken up the business.

Jolted out of her memories, Mithra heard a voice behind her. "Mithie, is that you, hon?" the voice called out.

"Mom?" Mithra asked incredulously.

"Of course it's me, honey. You're in our house!" An apparition of her mother became slowly visible. "What's the matter, Mithie? You look as if you've seen a ghost!" Her deceased mother chuckled. With this, Mithra began to shiver violently. The thin, misty body of the mother she'd known and loved began to twist and reshape to form another figure. Soon, Mithra could pick out her father's face.

"Mousie!" He called joyously. "It's been ages since you've been out to visit! Great to see you as always, sweetie." He looked deep into her eyes. "What's the matter? Can't take seeing your dead parents? I thought you loved us!"

"No, no, no, not possible, no, no, no, only a nightmare," Mithra chanted over and over, rocking back and forth on her feet. "This can't be happening, no, no, no."

Only a nightmare…?

{₪§₪}

….Φ.…

After separating from Mithra, Braedyn started towards his house. He lived in a two-story house on Grand Street, which was four blocks north of Andersen's. Braedyn enjoyed living there but sometimes he couldn't help but wish he had someone else to fill it with. Though these thoughts were always ephemeral, they made him think quite a bit about his life. He'd only ever been in one long-term relationship, and that had ended badly. Braedyn dated Marisa Tomeii for four entire years of his life. Although she was an extremely beautiful woman, she was incredibly cunning and shrewd. She had manipulated the then naive 22 year-old boy's thoughts until they centered on one thing: her. He had lost almost all of his friends, save for one. Mithra. She meant more to him than air before, but after she was the one to break Marisa's spell…he began to worship her. Not literally, of course. But after the two friends had begun to grow up and before Marisa happened, they'd grown apart. After the Marisa Incident, as they referred to it, they had become as close again as they were when they were growing up. The two friends became inseparable once again.

Walking up the long sidewalk to his front door, Braedyn continued thinking. Not about Mithra this time, but about Anne. He was too excited for words, waiting for this date. Although it was only a mere dinner and a movie, he was thrilled to be dating again. He hoped it would lead to another date, though if it didn't, it was all right with him.

Once inside his house, Braedyn glanced over at his answering machine, to which the new message light was flashing. He threw his jacket and guns onto his couch, and walked over to the machine to press play. The first message was a telemarketer calling to see if he'd like "a brand new low low price of 10% financing rate on his house!" The second was from Anne, who was simply calling to confirm the time and meeting place for their date the next night. But the third…

"Braedyn. I need you." Mithra said in a whisper. "I'm freaked out of my mind here. As soon as you get this, please come." Braedyn raised his eyebrows at the message. "Mysterium Tremendum Et Fascinans." Hearing this, his eyes widened. The 26 year old bolted from his home, sprinting over the steps and down the street. 'Mysterium Tremendum Et Fascinans' was their code phrase. Roughly translated from ancient Latin, it meant 'Oh great and wondrous mystery'. But to the friends, it meant something like 'Get the hell over here, I'm in deep shit".

He hadn't even remembered his jacket.

{₪§₪}

….Φ.…

Ean narrowed his eyes at the unruly prey that lay before him. He was angry. Very angry. Two days without feeding did not make a happy vampire, no matter whether you be weak and powerless like the yearlings Ean took control over, or as impressive and dominant as Ean K'Dervvich himself. Ean was an old soul, one of the damned that had been around for countless centuries. He and his family line had been vampires since the beginning of time. Including the exploited Dracula and numerous others, the K'Dervvich line was one to be feared. Always. Even the youngest, newest fledgling knew enough to be frightened when a K'Dervvich vampire was near.

The boisterous young human teenagers continued to scream and shy about. Ean sighed with impatience. The humans were a scared race, as it were. They always made such an enormous fuss about the feedings. They were alarmed at even the revelation of something remotely paranormal, let alone something or someone who had been around since the dawn of life. Not to mention someone who survived off of the ruby red essence of other living beings.

Finally giving up, Ean stalked towards his prey. He was hungry, and incredibly impatient. At last, he could feed. As he reached the youths, he reached out with calloused, pale hands and snapped the first teenager's neck. She would be dessert. The boy was first. He would be the challenge, as he stood almost as tall as Ean himself at 6'5". Ean always liked a challenge before he ate.

The tall, lithe vampire grinned as he moved slowly towards his first victim. Snickering, he said to the boy, "Scared, little boy? Don't worry, it will only hurt until you die."

The boy, unintelligently, glared back at Ean. "Die? I will not die. I will fight until you are the one found lying cold and lifeless on the damp streets. I will not stand by and watch fate be determined by someone such as you-"

Here, Ean cut him off. "Stand by for what, little boy? It will take little more than the flex of my smallest finger to injure you beyond repair. As for your empty threat, I am already cold and lifeless. I have existed on this damned earth from nearly the time at which it was created. And you wish to speak to me about matters of fate? I think not." Ean snorted dismissively. He moved a foot closer to the boy. Narrowing his eyes, he attempted to judge how long he would need to take this boy down. Two minutes, he figured. He'd done it in less. But he was tired, and starting to get a headache from the lack of blood.

As Ean moved closer and closer, the boy began to look nervous. At least he had the sense to begin to be frightened. Ean moved closer and closer. The boy whipped his head from side to side, looking for an escape route. Ean moved closer and closer. Soon enough, he was less than a foot from the boy's face. One minute, thirty seconds. The boy stumbled backwards, tripping and falling onto his back. Ean's smirk dripped with malice. One minute, forty-five seconds. Ean bent over, reached out, and placed a strong hand on the boy's neck. One minute, fifty seconds. "Your time is over, little boy," Ean said, then placed his second hand on the opposite side of the warm, fleshy neck and snapped it with one quick movement. One minute, fifty-three seconds. Bending, Ean kneeled at the boy's side. As the ancient being felt his teeth begin to grow, he bowed his mouth to the freshly killed boy's neck. Ean Lysander Otieno K'Dervvich sank his vampiric fangs deep into flesh, glad to be eating again.

{₪§₪}

….Φ.…

A/N:

"Hunt" is a working title; so if any readers have suggestions, PLEASE TELL ME!

I'm really proud of this story so far, please REVIEW and tell me what you think.

~Ave