Fall Into Your Sunlight.

The knife was in her fingers and she was rolling onto her knees with the blade up before it even registered that her phone was ringing. There were people on the hill with her, and she was startled. She was in a low position, but close enough that if necessary she could do damage. Reaching the ankles would be relatively simple, and a quick slice would be all it would take to put them out of commission.

And then she recognized the sound of her phone, and rocked backwards to put her head between her knees. "Jesus, don't do that." She mumbled, clicking off her phone. "I said call first, not when you were standing two feet away." She added, throwing herself back onto her back to peer up at the faces above her. Her fingers fumbled in her pocket for her pack of smokes, and once the box was in her fingers, she realized it was empty.

Fantastic.

"You okay?"

"Peachy. Sorry. I don't particularly like being startled. Something I learned back in Dallas. People creeping up on me are usually bad news." Eve shrugged, and motioned for them to sit. Her fingers brushed through her hair again, and she sat up on her elbows placing her camera in her lap. "Anyone wants to take a look, feel free." She said, her head leaning back.

"Eve?"

"Yes, sorry. I am here. Just a little spacey. What?" She looked immediately to John, her eyes wide. He laughed, unable to help himself.

"Introductions?"

". . . Right. That's like asking me to play Beer Pong. I can't do it without feeling awkward."

"Ha, you were fine with me."

"Ah, and there's the rub. I'm not good with groups."

"Speaking of beer pong, are you any good?" It was a new voice, and Eve looked up to find the owner and she scoured him with her eyes for a bit before she nodded.

"Decent. I'm Eve."

"Kennedy." He extended a hand, and Eve took it. "We'll be playing beer pong eventually."

"Don't corrupt it, and we're good." She replied, head tilting back to stare at the stars again. In the blackness, she could make out a lot more here than she did in New York. She had already found Vega, and with the lens on her camera, had found the Ring Nebula just below the star.

It was a while before she spoke again, and even this time, her voice was timid. "Garrett."

"Yo." Came the response. They had all figured she would get through introductions on her own time, and were waiting for her to continue, to feel them out. They hadn't interacted with another human in ages, and Eve was different.

She looked at him then, and nodded. Reddish hair, glasses, the typical golden eyes. He was shy, she knew, but as they had talked around her website, they'd gotten pretty brazen. A smirk graced her features. "I owe you a kiss, don't I?"

His eyes widened, and he stammered out a negative reply. Eve only laughed. "No worries. But I do keep my promises."

"Good to know." It was a new voice. The blond. "I'm Jared. Rat Boy over there would be Pat."

"So what was with the Ninja move back there?" Pat. It had to be.

Eve rolled her eyes and picked up her knife again, realizing her camera was gone from her side, and in the capable hands of Garrett. She twirled the blade in her fingers, and sighed softly. Dallas had been a mistake. A huge, costly mistake. The scar on her neck was testament. It was over her old one. She let out a breath. "Dallas." She mumbled, and Garrett's head snapped up to look at her.

He knew. She had told him over a chat session.

"Dallas." He echoed, grimacing. He was on her right side, right beside her and his hand came to rest on her arm. He felt cold, but that was a comfort; her blood was boiling at the memory. He stared at the scar on her neck and felt something in him clench. "Shit." He mumbled.

"Hey, none of that now." Her voice tickled their ears, and they all turned to look at her. "I don't need pity. I taught myself how to defend myself against any new threats, it's no big deal." She shrugged, and leaned over to peer at the image Garrett was stuck on. Her heart leaped to her throat. Of course; one of the only images of her she had.

It was taken just over the hill, and in a stand of trees. She had wedged it in between branches, and set a timer. She hated doing that as she never knew how it was going to turn out, especially an image of her, but she had done it anyway. Her head was turned slightly away from the camera, one hand raised as if to brush away a spider web, and the wind had caught her hair and was blowing it. She had the strangest expression on her features, a secretive smile. Out of the series of images, it had been the only photograph worth anything. The lighting added an ethereal quality to it, making it almost spooky.

John was looking over her shoulder at it, and everyone crowded around the camera. She swore if any of them were breathing, they would have stopped, the way they were ogling that photograph. "Jesus, Evie, that's gorgeous." Garrett breathed, and for the second time that day, she felt her face flush with color.

"Thank you." She mumbled, half-articulating the words.

"No, seriously, Eve." Kennedy nudged her gently. "These are great."

"Thank you," she said again, this time a little louder.

The conversation turned then, to where she had been and her experiences elsewhere and she found herself growing increasingly comfortable around them all. She explained that New York had been home for forever, and despite her traveling around the country, she would always go back for a month out of the year to see how things had changed. The last time she did, she had decided to move to Tempe. New York was scary now, and it wasn't safe. Too many mutations, too many ways that she could easily and eagerly die.

"Bat-like things?" John looked skeptical, but Eve just nodded, and gestured to the house in the distance.

"I'm getting tired, and it's getting late, and I think I'd feel safer if we were all inside." She said, softly. Just as she was standing, she heard a twig snap, and brought the knife up, blade first, spinning to face the noise. There was nothing there. But then again, she didn't have the best eyesight in the world. "Now would be good, guys." Her voice held an edge of panic in it, and she took cautious steps backward in her descent. There was something there, she could feel it.

"Evie?" Garrett asked, one hand gently touching her shoulder once they reached bottom. She looked to him, heart leaping at the worry in his eyes.

"Key is under the owl. Get inside, don't worry about me, I'll be there shortly. Go!" Her words were rushed, breath hissing as she continued moving. "I said 'go!'" She hissed, shooing them on. She heard the door, and the gate, and she let out a sigh of relief before stopping. Now there was no one to get in the way, if it came down to a fight.

A moment later, Eve threw herself to the ground, just as something passed overhead. It was far too big to be a bird, and it growled. Well fuck. She clambered to her feet, and slipped one foot back, raising the blade in defense. It came at her, and she dodged, diving cleanly out of the way. Turning to face it again, she waited until it leaned back to scream, before taking two running steps and planting her foot in it's side, her other foot coming around to hit it in the face. When she dropped, seeing it stunned brought an immense amount of satisfaction to her lips. And then a wing shot out, smacking her squarely in the chest, knocking her onto her ass.

Eve, however, wasn't one to give up so quickly, and after dodging it a second time, she took off in a dead sprint toward the house, running up the door, one. "One, two, three." And on the third step, she pushed herself backwards, coming down just as the bat-like creature reached the door, slamming the blade of the knife down into it's skull, feeling as it cracked and the sticky mess of blood and brain matter that quickly spurted over her fingers, cascading down them as it fell to the cement. She jerked the blade out as quickly as she could, and then stood there for a few moments, catching her breath.

"Eve!" The door was opening, and the five of them slipped outside to see if she was alright. She felt dizzy and weak-kneed she collapsed forward, right into Garrett's arms. "Are you alright?" His lips were at her ear, and he was bending to pick her up.

"Dude, how the fuck did you pull that off?" That was Pat, she thought.

"New York." She rasped, her throat dry as the adrenaline burned off. "I just. . . need water."

New York? How many had she dealt with there? "How many?" Kennedy's voice was soft.

"Eight in the last few years, but New York is entirely over run. Do me a favor? Don't feed on other vampires. That happens." She was aware she was in Garrett's arms, and being carried, but everything felt distant. She thought it might have been shock, but she couldn't be sure.

"You looked like Alice." Garrett whispered and she stifled giggles. Leave it to Garrett to reference Resident Evil.

"Well thanks, I think." She said, laughing. "But, I think I would have to bow out. You'd be the resident zombie killer here, not me."

"Dude, Eve, your house is huge." John mumbled. "Which way is the kitchen?"

"To ze left, mai friend. To ze left. Top right cupboard is where the glasses are." She replied, already falling into a pattern of normalcy with them. Back in New York, she was carefree like this. It was nice, to have friends again, even if they might be thinking of her as food. "It's good to be among friends." She added, even as Garrett placed her on the couch. Her hand remained on his shoulder, and she pulled him down next to her, before leaning against him.

It wasn't very long before she had fallen asleep, her breathing shallow and even, her eyes closed. John stood in the doorway, rolling his eyes, a grin on his face. Garrett was looking at Eve wide eyed, like she was going to bite him. "She's just asleep, Gare, don't worry."

"No, I know, but why me?" He asked, as John took a seat beside him. John merely shrugged. It wasn't his place to say, and he wasn't one to make decisions for other people. If Eve was going to fall in love with Garrett, so be it, but he wouldn't back off without making it clear that he could be good for her too.

He wasn't thinking about the consequences of dating a human as damaged as she was. After all, she was still human. And what happened when they got hungry?