The Hunted(Raziel99+Anjeru)

Alice wasn't like the majority of the hunters that littered the streets of the city, or the world for that matter. Most enjoyed their profession, some even reveled in the ability of being able to kill a living thing(this often the more mentally twisted of the lot), some who hated that lifestyle, or even some who were just rather indifferent about it. Alice was just a hunter - there was no other definition. She didn't enjoy it, she didn't loathe it; she didn't even really think about it. It was just something that she did almost on a subconscious level.

Even now, walking down the dimly lit street towards a seemingly abandoned alley-way, her mind was elsewhere. Her fingers idily twirling the twin daggers, a ruby set in the center of each hilt, as she moved. It was a cold night, but not cold enough to bother the young woman walking in the seemingly dressy black dress that cut off just above her knees, a collar around her neck matching, as well as the foot wear. It looked almost as if the white-haired young woman had idled away from a party. Even now, she wasn't aware but moving about, stalking her vampire prey with an almost subconscious hunter awareness - often times her supposed comrades wondered if the hunter in Alice was another personality all together. Really, the girl was an enigma.

A slight fog lay across the street as she continued to move forward. The moon half hiding behind the dark clouds, bright and a complete, full circle though tinted a slight red - usually an ominious moon, a sign of foreboding, but really, it was a hunter's perfect night as the slight breeze lifted and made the silk strands of her hair dance.

He stood nearly kneeling on the rooftops, watching as the people under him idly walked around the streets of the city. He would have been easily seen by those that had the idea to actually look up at the sky, but the clouds overhead were just enough to conceal his position to those unsuspecting of his appearance. It had been a day since his last feed, and he was looking forward to getting the taste of blood again.

Alexander was in a game of cat and mouse. And while his pursuer thought that she was the one in charge, she was sorely mistaken. He had the upper hand, whether or not she was willing to accept it. He jumped down from the building, landing in the nearby alley with very little sound, keeping watch over the nearby area. There was no way she would get the upper hand on him.

The fog was useless to conceal his senses. He could smell the beating of the heart, the blood that the beat let run through the body. He could see the heat signature of every person that walked by him.

Alice came to the edge of the alley, the very beginning of the long and dark walk way, then simply stopped. Her senses were sensitive, though not quite up to par with what it was that she hunted. She couldn't allow herself to be caught off gaurd; she'd never be able to live with the fact that she'd walked into the arms of the enemy. Supposed enemy, anyhow. Suddenly, the wind howled and swept around her, the slight tickle of it causing the hairs on the back of her neck to stand on end. Something was amiss here, she knew it. Her prey was close...

Just, where was he? Alice had been tracking this particular vampire for awhile now, but he had always managed to stay one step ahead of her. Somehow though, she felt like this night was almost climactic, or quite possibly anti-climactic; in other words, she felt the clash coming. They were going to meet tonight, it just came down to who kept the upperhand. At this point, it was her prey. Frowning slightly, she began to move into the alley, the darkness of the shadows sliding over her and concealing her in its dark embrace.

His voice came from the side, just a few paces away from her, suddenly and a tad unexpectedly. Not quite though, as she had been feeling the unease all night. Alice's conscious snapped slightly back into place, her body turning towards the place where his voice originated from. Those oddly dark hues narrowed, just as dangerous as the tone of his voice. "Sorry, vampire, I'm already a bother," she started, an almost sarcastic tone riding her own voice, "after all, I have a job to do which means I have to put you out of your misery." A small smirk curled her lips as she found his form in the shadows, her own just as shrouded, though she had no doubt he could see her.

The daggers in her hands began to make her palms itch, but she did not dare make the first move against her vampire target. He was faster than her, stronger, possibly smarter - the only upper hand that she really hand was that she knew how to use her daggers without fail. She was by far one of the deadliest hunters with the family heirlooms that lay within her seemingly weak and fragile hands. "So, vampire, what happens now?" she asked almost mockingly, her body stiff and ready for an attack.

Alice didn't really react when the vampire dared to touch her; it wasn't a personal vendetta that made her do what she was doing here. It was just a job. "Nothing personal, just a job," she whispered out loud, letting him know that she didn't hate him, per se. In all actuality, it was rather unpersonal. His touch left her and he was gone, sliding effortlessly into the shadows again. This wasn't the first time she'd come this close to her prey, but never had they had so much actual interaction. She kept her feet braced apart and watched the side of the alley where she had a good idea of where he was hiding, waiting to strike at her like a snake in the grass.

She twirled a dagger in her hand idlely, beginning to contemplate what her next move would be - the first move of their encounter. Alice didn't know why she was doing this job, she had just been doing it, training for it, for as long as she could possibly remember. She couldn't see, or even comprehend, doing anything other than this. At times, she wondered if the vampires deserved to die, or if the humans were simply too afraid of them to coexist. Was her prey truly deserving? She didn't know, nor did she linger on it for too long. A job was a job, this was the only one she knew. Still watching, she continued to wait, refusing to give him the advantage.

Alice stood still for just as long as he spent watching her. It was almost like they were staring each other down, though she could only very slightly make out his silhouette in the blanket of shadows that coated the alley. She didn't return anything to his verbal taunts, and carefully executed a quick flip back to avoid his weapon. A soft click as she righted herself on the cement and dashed forward, leaping as agilely as any feline, at the spot he held admist the bricks of the wall. He was gone, of course, when the blades of her weapons struck the bricks and she flipped around, quickly running down the wall back toward the ground of the alley.

She thrust up both her hands, one at each side, blade at the ready, to keep him from getting an open shot at any of her vunerable spots. Eyes darting quickly and carefully to find him in the darkness. "Come out, come out, wherever you are," she taunted jokingly as she moved a step back, toward the opening of the alley; best to draw him out into the open where she stood a better chance at dueling him without so many disadvantages against him. Best never to fight a beast in its territory - a vampire's territory was the darkness and the night itself, but outside of the alley, gave her better odds.

She pursed her lips and tsk'ed her tongue when he came to place himself between her and the enterance to the alley. "Tsk, tsk, vampire," she murmured in a slightly mocking tone. "Afraid you can't take little ol' me out in the open? Surely someone of my little stature couldn't take on the big bad vampire?" Mocking him probably wasn't the best course of action, but sometimes riling a beast could incite an anger than would cause them to become, well, sloppy. She doubted he would end up that way, but she only needed him to slip up once.

She twirled the daggers in her hands and simply watched him, tsk'ing her tongue now and then, waiting for him to move now that she faced him. His body clearly in the way of the path to the open streets. "So, what shall you do now?" she asked curiously.

She stared him down almost indifferently. To her, this was simply a job; you don't let your emotions effect your work. Therefor, she didn't allow her emotions to even thrive when in the hunt. "Shunned, huh? Hmmm..." she seemed to contemplate his words, tapping the very edge of the dagger against her lips. Very softly, she nicked her lip, drawing a bead of blood, allowing it to slide free. Alice had always been told by her prey that her blood was highly tempting and more often than naught, her prey tried to feed upon her. "To bad for your suggestion, that I'm already what you'd call a...social outcast. This is all I really do, it's all I've ever done," she mused, softly. "I don't really see surrender happening, I'm afraid."

Alice could see the effect her blood had on him, it was exactly as she expected. They had never figured out why she was so alluring, the scent of her blood so tempting, but she knew why. He was not falling for it, but she knew that now he wouldn't be able to get the scent out of his mind, which was step one. His blade came spinning at her and, as she knocked it aside, she slid her tongue along her lip, sealing the small cut; cunningly disguised as she got rid of his projectile. She snapped her attention back to where he had been, finding him gone, but not in the least surprised. "Mmm, hiding again, I see," she mocked as she began to once again edge her way out of the alley. He couldn't let her out into the open, this was the best way to lure him out besides with her blood, which still, the scent hung in the air.

Alice caught his movement out of the corner of her maroon hued eyes, but she couldn't let on that she could see him, so before she would have normally seen it, the next thing she knew, the top of her dress now pooling at her waist. This left her torso mostly exposed, her milky white skin almost glowing in the darkness of the alley. Her c-cup breasts were held up with a black, lacy bra, the clevage of white skin almost threatening to pool over the tops. She pursed her lips thoughtfully and turned her gaze back to him. "Hm, so, the clothes now?" she asked curiously. "You think that will end this? I'm sure you've had to fight naked, think I can't?"

Alice stared him down thoughtfully as the strap of her bra was slit and the material thus hung off half awkwardly. She ripped it off her and her pale orbs spilled into view, cherry nipples peaked upon each in the chilly air. She seemed unfazed by her nudity and braced her legs apart, narrowing her eyes as she speculated the new circumstance of their fued. "In case you hadn't figured it out yet, I'm not exactly...like the other hunters you've come across," she mused, daring to step closer to him, her feminine scent wafting in the wind to him. "I have my ways of dealing with human men, or rather, of not dealing with them. I'm not...human," there was a slight pause as she stepped closer, "I'm more of what you vampires call a...hybrid." The daggers were pulled up close to her curvy body as she pulled stance.

"I'm not running away. I'm not surrending. I am no coward," she stubbornly held her ground, though she stood half naked in the cold air of the night. The cold didn't seem to affect her much, though the hairs on her arms and neck stood on end. "Why do you persist in pushing me to a surrender?" she questioned.

[/color](hehe, cruxnic)

She seemed completely unperturbed with ripping the rest of her top off, and he felt a inhuman chill go up his back. He could see why so many vampires had fallen to this one hunter, and he took a half step back, bringing the bladed arm up in a defensive stance. "Hybrid." He said in a half drawl, half hiss. With that realization, he found his chances of victory slimming down to near-zero chance of victory. He had no mind to run, but his mind was in overdrive trying to figure out a way to win this battle. Sadly, there were few answers that came to mind. If she was truly a hybrid, trying to go for a mortal wound would be foolish. Her feminine scent was thick in the air, as well, and trying to blow it away would leave him open...

The blade arm went back in, and he took a rather neutral stance. "That would explain why you are so difficult to kill. And trying to deter you would be foolish in itself, knowing the circumstances..." He looked at her with a half sly look, his hand reaching for his stomach. "Therefore, I think I will do your work for you. I would hate to give you that satisfaction." The blade on his arm extended, piercing him through the stomach and out the back. The sly look never left his face as he fell to the ground.

Alice watched him closely, sensing something coming but not entirely sure as to what it would be. He dropped his guard and took an almost neutral stance, throwing her suspicion into overdrive. By the time he had finished his 'defeat' statement, and was moving to stab himself, she was already moving though she did not move fast enough. He was on the ground by the time she reached his side; kneeling down rather cautiously at his side. She slid one dagger into her boot and held the other one at the ready as her eyes glowed a dim red at the scent of blood. She leaned down only slightly, touching a finger to his neck to search for any sort of pulse to signal if he was still breathing, or alive - well, alive as vampires could be.

She couldn't feel anything and she knew there was always a possibility that he had retreated into himself to feign death. He was attractive, she noticed, this close up, quite handsome actually. Almost a shame that she had been sent to hunt him, though she was unaware of why she had been sent after him. What had he done to warrant hunting? He didn't look like the normal vampires she hunted. A little uneasy now, she took her fingers from his neck and went to rise up.

The moment Alice was looking up into his eyes, a blade pressed to her throat, her bravado nearly faulted. Never had a vampire gotten so close to her, nor such an attractive one. She'd slipped and in a big way. She only narrowed her eyes up at him, at his words, before the slightly dimmed red orbs were drawn away for a moment by the sound of men and dogs. He was gone within a moment, with an impromtu parting shot, and she sat up slowly, sliding the dagger into her other boot and her eyes dimming to a pale grey blue. The human cops approached her and she played the part of the frightened victim, allowing one man to slide a jacket around her to hide her nudity. She didn't care all that much about her nudity when hunting if it came to that, but she felt vunerable in front of the humans.

Within a few hours, she was dropped off at her apartment building, or temporary place of housing really. She followed her vampire here and had been here a few nights hunting him, so she had asked the society for a place to bunker down. They'd given her the key to this apartment situated almost in the center of the city, on the third floor, in one of the corners. She stripped off the remaining pieces of clothing on her body and showered, stepping out a bit later in a lavender towel.

With a small yawn, her hunter persona seemingly at bay, she padded into the living room, her long, almost silver, hair clinging to her damp skin. She curled up on the couch and slid her daggers beneath the pillow before falling into a much needed sleep.

When Alice awoke later, she felt...different. That something was wrong, in some odd sense of word. And she was right. There was no sign of any physical harm to her, but when she concentrated, she felt different inside. Suddenly, she knew what had happened. Knew by the way her body felt, the way her neck tingled, and how stimulated she felt. Suddenly in one night, the hunter had become the hunted. She swallowed and grapsed the daggers, sliding slowly off the couch and stalking every last inch of the apartment until she was satisfied that she was alone.

Alice dressed in tight black jeans, a leather corset, black armbands, boots, and her usual one personal arsonal of two daggers and a pistol. She left the apartment and tried not to think of what had happened suddenly feeling so...vunerable to her prey...rather, she felt like the prey herself, something an experienced hunter like herself had never felt before.