Predator and Prey ~~ Practical Insanity & xoxDicexox

[Practical Insanity]

It had been five months since the murders began. Young men and women of all different ethnicity and walks of life had begun turning up dead in the streets of Baltimore, Maryland five months ago today. That is how things started, at least. The Baltimore PD and the Behavior Analysis Unit of the FBI had labeled the killings to be serial, despite the wide demographics that they covered. This was due to the shared signature of every killing - they were simply tore all to hell. Guts and gore were the best way to describe the crime scenes and the city was in a panic. Police patrols doubled in the first month, then tripled n the second. The whole time, more and more federal agents were being stationed in the city to attempt to curb the murderous rampage.

Three months in, the agents working on the case were thrown a curve ball. The murders did not stop, but they changed so radically that they believed that a whole 'nother killer had sprouted overnight. It was not until two weeks after these new murders started that the police noticed that the previous murders had stopped. This caused them to assume that something had happened to change the killer's profile.

For the passed two months, the demographic of the victims changed radically. The victims were all white and between the ages of twelve and thirty. There were still victims of both sexes, but males were more common. In addition, the mode of murder had changed. Previously, the stomachs had been torn open and guts had been strewn about. Often times, the hearts would even be missing entirely. Now, however, the method of murder was a simple and clean decapitation... if you can call that clean. In most cases, there were burns on the victim's body, but not in all cases. In the cases where there were burns on the corpse, aconitum flowers were also found near the bodies.

The city was in a state of absolute panic and many people had fled the area with no plans to return. One such person as Logan Savage, a young man of twenty-four who had just graduated from college with an Emergency Medical Technician's degree. Logan's reasoning for leaving the city, however, was not the same reason of most. Logan did not fear the faceless serial killer that was rampaging about the city. Logan feared the hunters that were hunting his kind.

Logan was a werewolf and a member of a pack that had lived in Baltimore since the city was first founded. The first three months of murders were the work of a rogue pack that had strayed into the town and started hunting people for food - something that his pack had not done in centuries. The more recent murders, however, were werewolf killings at the hands of the city's Hunter Association. Logan's pack had been hiding under their noses this whole time but now that their cover was blown, the hunters were out for blood.

Logan made sure to tell his pack that he was leaving, and told a select few where it was that he was going should they decide to join him. Where was he going? The small town of Winchester, Virginia. It was about an hour and a half out of Baltimore - plenty of distance to shake the Hunters but close enough to return if he truly needed to. Little did Logan know, this town had a history with creatures that went bump in the night...

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The small town of Winchester was in a celebratory mood this hot summer evening. Despite it being nowhere near Halloween, the streets were filled with people in costumes. Some were dressed as vampires while others were dressed as the infamous vampire hunters that were rumored to have founded the town, which according to legend, started as the vampire hunter's camp during a great inquisition near the founding of the Thirteen Colonies. No one took this legend seriously, of course, but Logan didn't doubt that there might have been some truth behind it. After all, he was a werewolf. He had never met a vampire face to face, but he knew that they were out there and he definitely knew of the hunters that protected mankind from his nightmares.

The main street of the town had been closed down to vehicle traffic and stands had been set up along the roadside, selling 'Human Blood', which Logan had discovered was just fruit punch, and all sorts of vampire and vampire hunter nick-knacks. There was everything from faux vampire tooth necklaces and earrings for jewelry to wooden crossbows that shot little plastic darts for the kids. It was Logan's worst nightmare - a hunter convention where you couldn't tell who was a real hunter and who was a clueless civilian.

Being the new kid in town, Logan did not know anyone. He had been standing off to the side with watchful eyes nearly all night. His clothes were intentionally dark to help him hide in the evening darkness, seeing as it was nearing nine o'clock and this freakish festival was nowhere near over. His look started with black boots which rose into a pair of sturdy black denim jeans. His shirt was a sleeveless dark-grey wife-beater, but he had a black short-sleeved button-up shirt over top of that.

He watched the crowd from his place among the branches of a roadside tree. Most people seemed to be going about their way without so much as noticing him overhead while others glanced upward and sniffled giggles. His acute hearing could often overhear the girls who noticed him talking to their friends, wondering who the cute and 'mysterious' new guy is. It seemed that this was one of those towns where everyone knows everyone.

 

[xoxDicexox]

All her life Crystal Greer, mostly called Crys by her friends and family, had grown up knowing that the stories so often told around the end of October were based on truth. Half the point of them being stories was so that the masses would not think too much on them, it helped keep the panic from rising. Since she could walk weapons had been placed in her hands and at first it had been play but as she grew older the play turned into training. Training quickly with her turned into skill. Before she knew it there was a vareity of weapons she knew how to handle, some more than others. Honestly the woman favored the blades, they were the ones that could finish the creatures she hunted off. Next best thing to them was fire. Always she had a lighter and a pocket knife on her at the very least. When questioned about it she would just smile and laugh saying her Grandpa told her those two things could get you out alive if anything happened. It help cover them as an old mans odd ways he passed onto his offspring, but it was not far from the truth. Like the rest of her family she had been born into the war and also told to keep it to herself. This helped her to quickly learn how to live a double life. The people in the small town knew her to be the favorite granddaughter of the Police Chief who had just finished college and was taking some time off before working for the police. Truth was she had gone to college, but not the typical. Sure she had to write papers and such, but there were a lot more physical classes involved.

The fact the festival was going on as if it was a story did not get under Crystals skin one bit. The fact that the people were safe enough to all be in the same area having a great time was tribute enough. Sure her family had been the ones that had made this possible, and herself having a good hand in it. By the time she had been thrown to the bloodsuckers the war had been mostly won but there were stragglers still. There also were times she would be called out to other placed to help with a certain situation that required her to be a bit more brutal than most. Crystal held nothing back when she was hunting and her family swore she was the best Hunter there had been in many a years. It was her duty, and she followed through to the very last moment. Whenever she had to go she always just said she was on a trip her grandfather was sending her on since he was too old to go handle matters himself. It was the truth in a sense and people accepted it. Who would want to question the Chief of Police or his family in the small town?

Having been at the festival since the set up Crystal had gone home to change and check that she was not needed anywhere. It was a quiet night thankfully. All the creatures within her call zone seemed to be smartly hiding. There was of course the worry of some wolves with the recent break out up in Baltimore but so far they seemed to have fled elsewhere. That was all and good though, she preferred vampires over the smelly dogs. The speed she could deal with, brute strength being a female was just not where she excelled. All her training made her stronger than most women, but it was nothing in comparison to a full blooded fur ball. After getting the all clear she went about dressing herself. Just for kicks she pulled her costume out she wore every year, it had become tradition ever since the movie Van Helsing came out. Thigh high velvet boots with tight black spandex pants. Then the buckled corset with the elaborate blouse and jacket. The only thing that she skipped was the hair. Instead she kept her natural blonde hair and just curled it slightly. Once dressed it was a short drive, her spot still empty out of respect, and she walked into the crowd.

The people of the town exclaimed when they saw her and some of the kids playfully stood next to her dreaming to be her side kick. It was cute, but she would never wish it upon them. Ashlyn, her childhood friend, came running up to her out of breath with her toddler niece on her hip. "Crys!! You have to see this. He's to die for!" The tall lanky red head practically squeaked grabbing the huntresses hand and dragging her further into the crowd. She said nothing just let her stubborn friend pull her along. Who could she be talking about? There were some attractive men in the town sure, but they all knew them for the most part unless they were there with the contractors that fixed the roads from time to time. Soon enough they came to a stop and Ashlyn pointed at the man wearing black some other women were oogling over. He was handsome. Damn. Tall, dark, and handsome. "I told you!" The other woman said but the toddler started babbling and getting louder. "Time to return you to mom. Go say Crys. You have the guts for it after all." Ashlyn teased before going back off into the crowd. Crystal watched the back of her traitorous friend and shook her head. Why not? It was good to know who was in the town.

Taking in a breath Crystal sauntered up towards the man but did not look at him. It was habit. Stalking prey was something best done when the prey did not know it was being stalked. Eventually her boot clad feet reached close to the man and she looked up at his dark hair and eyes. Nope. She did not recognize him at all. He would be able to smell the vervain tea purfume she had on. It was another habit. Not only did she drink it religiously but when out and about would spray it on her to keep her safe. Of course she mixed it with some other natural scents that went well with it, but it was very apparent. "Hey, you're new in town. I'm Crystal, it's nice to meet you. What brings you to the wonderful town of Winchester?" She asked blunty. Sure she was an amazing huntress but social situations were not always her forte. Still she stuck out her hand to shake and had a genuine smile across her face her bright green eyes outlined in eyeliner to add the dramatic effect of the outfit. Hopefully the stranger would be friendly, it just made things easier.