Hounds in the Night

So maybe it was stupid of her to volunteer to be the bait when she was the smallest of the three. But honestly, it wasn't as if she could keep letting her friends take the lead and not pull her own weight in the group. She shuffled along in the cold air, her stomach fluttering anxiously as she pulled her jacket closer to her body.

At nineteen she could easily pass for sixteen or seventeen without effort. She worked up some fake tears as she walked, seemingly alone, down the street. As she began to pass a small coffee shop that was closed for the night a man stepped out of the shadows. He peered at her curiously from under his blonde fringe.

"Are you lost?" he asked, his voice soft and silky.

Oh, he's good.

A delicate sniffle, "No. I'm just scared. It's awfully dark out."

"Let me take you somewhere where there's light. Are you a run away?"

What is this, a B movie?

"No. My parents kicked me out as soon as I was legal."

Another sniffle and a soft sob.

"Poor girl," he had her arm, leading her down the street in the direction of a parking garage.

"We can cut through here to get to my place quicker."

Sure buttercup. And next you'll tell me I'm safe with you.

She nodded, pressing closer to him.

"Don't worry, child, you'll be safe with me."

And there it is.

They walked through the parking garage in silence. When they finally met with enough shadow he whirled her, pushing her against a pillar. She couldn't help it when the breath choked in her chest or the fear that rushed to the surface. She hadn't brought much in the way of weapons, too hard to hide them in the clothes she was wearing.

"You aren't scared are you?" he leaned in nipping at her lips.

"No." The quiver in her voice was genuine, but she was smiling on the inside.

He leaned in, breathe ghosting over her neck. "That's a shame, I like it when they are scared. Will you scream for me?"

She didn't get a chance to answer, the next thing she knew she was watching the ashes settle into a pile at her feet. Her friends: River and Riley standing there. River was still holding the stake.

"I could have taken him," the last girl pouted as they headed home, the sun streaking in the sky as it rose.

"We know", Riley said, flipping her blonde hair from her eyes, ruffling her hair affectionately.
"Damn it, don't do that, Riles!" she complained. River rolled her eyes.

"Look Raine," River said fondly, "We're just looking out for you. We know you could have handled him."

Raine sighed, she wasn't happy with her friend but she let it go. They were a team, whether she felt useless or not.

"So, what's next?" she asked, her black hair falling in her face. She brushed it up into a ponytail with her fingers.

"Chicago," Riley said softly.

Raine didn't answer, she'd hoped to never go back there again. Raine clutched at Riley's hand watching the memories that passed away with the night.

____________________

They were knocking on the door of what looked to be an old warehouse.

"You're sure this is the place?" she asked Riley. Beside them River nodded.

"I can smell them in there," she said, eyes glowing amber beneath her auburn hair.

Slowly, oh so slowly the door opened. There stood the cuddliest boy in glasses, ever.

"Alright Patrick?" Riley asked, these people being her contacts, her friends.

"Come in quickly," he muttered, "Pete is refusing to sleep and is wandering around."

It took ten minutes for Raine to unload all seven of her bags into their warehouse.

"Why do girls always pack so heavily?" he questioned, looking at the smallest of them. Raine stuck her nose in the air.

"I'll have you know only two of those are personal items."

"The other five?"

"Enough weapons to impress the military," River muttered.

"You're just jealous of my flame thrower," Raine said matter of factly.

"Actually, I'd rather steal your mini uzi."

"Get your own beeshe."

"I had one. You lost it when we had gotten taken hostage in Miami."

"Don't blame that on me," Raine laughed, "I told you not to look that demon in its eyes."

"Shut up you two," Riley said with a grin at Patrick.

"They'll get along with Pete well."

"Who'll get along with...who the fuck are they?"

"Riley, River and Raine. They're the back up I called."

"You called girls?" Pete gave a bitter laugh, "This is war, not tea time."

Rivers eyes bled to amber in anger, while Raine's hollowed out and began to shine with a violet light the same color as her own.

"Not girls," Patrick muttered, more to justify his actions than to take up for them, "I called a born-hunter, a lycanthrope and a witch."

Pete sniffed in derision.

"What the hell is a dog and a midget witch gonna do?"

The sharp tongued man was saved from having his throat ripped out by River as Raine let a small amount of her power out, pushing the boy against the wall.

"River is a leopard," Raine said quietly, pressing herself into his face, "And next time you insult her, vampire, I'll leave you to bleed on your cement floor."

Pete shuffled off to some unknown part of the converted warehouse while the girls got settled.

"I'm gonna patrol," Raine said as she stepped out of the front door of the warehouse just as the sun began to set.

*****

She was clad in black jeans and a violet sweater. Her black leather jacket hid the shoulder holster. She had a smaller gun at the small of her back, loaded with silver ammunition. All of her weapons were of a high silver content. With the exception of the fey, silver had a way of either killing or severely damaging the things that go bump in the night. She shook her head, clearing her mind and opening the natural senses she had. She could feel something like magic, almost necromancy. That was the feeling she associated with vampires. She followed the trail of the magic to the cemetery.

Third night newly risen.

What ever it was that animates vampires, that magic, it was moving away from her and she sped up to catch it. She put a silver plated bullet through the back of its forehead and watched the ashes settle. Shaking her head she continued her search. She killed two more newly risen and three more beside that who were there to collect them.

A strange feeling shifted through her stomach as she walked through the headstones. Her eyes roamed, looking for whatever it was causing the ripple along her skin. There was snarling and she was suddenly running, tripping over headstones and statues. She flung herself into a ditch, lodging under a fallen tree. She began cursing as claws ripped at her shoulder.

She screamed in pain and then it was ripped away from her, landing in a mangled heap. Blood was seeping through her jacket from the wound as a delicate pale hand ripped her from beneath the tree. Fingers pressing into the wound, drawing blood and stopping it at the same time. Her breathing was shallow and she pulled the first ragged breath she could before forcing words out.

"When the fuck did Chicago get hell hounds?"

He laughed all velvet and silk and she shivered. He'd sat her on her feet and was now sucking on his blood covered fingers.

"The demon lord Oryanis brought them with him when he tried to take over my territory."

"You killed him."

"Naturally."

"But you let the hounds run free."

"They are an amusement." He closed his eyes, licking off the last of the blood, "You'd better get that shoulder looked at."

She knew him well enough to know that that was her dismissal. She started to pass him and head back to the warehouse. Light headed she started to fall. He caught her, laughing.

"Need a little help, Love?"

She tried to shrug him off, he just laughed again, pressing her into the wall of a mausoleum. He pushed her leather jacket off her shoulders, watching it pool to the ground. His hips were holding her in place and he sighed as he rid her of her shoulder holster. He shred her shirt where the claw marks were, opening it to the still bleeding wound.

He began lapping at it, like a cat with creme. His warm tongue sweeping over her torn skin. She could feel his excitement as he ground his hips into her. The tip of his tongue pressed into the cut making her scream in pain. He caught her lips with his own, her blood on his tongue as it invaded her mouth. Her head lolled to the side and he took the opportunity to lick at the wound a few more times. She gasped again and started to slide down the wall despite his hips. He chuckled as everything went dark.

"Welcome home, Raine," he smirked down at her.

When she woke up it was in the emergency room. It took a matter of seconds to get her discharged (she walked out of the hospital) and she hailed a cab and headed back to the warehouse district. She had the cabbie drop her off a few streets over and walked the rest of the way, rubbing her forehead.

When she walked through the door she was attacked by River, who was holding her jacket and shoulder holster.

"We've been worried sick. Found this on the doorway. It's covered in your blood."
"Hell hound," Raine said simply.

"When the fuck did Chicago get hell hounds?" Riley muttered to herself.

"Apparently a demon tried to settle here," Raine said, "and he brought his pets with him."

"Well, shit."

"Oh, he's dead now," Raine said off handedly, pulling her shirt off as she headed for the room designated as her own. She was in the middle of a bath when River, Riley and surprisingly Pete pushed their way into the room.

"From now on we implement the buddy system," Riley started.

"You smell like William!" Pete accused. Raine flushed red, still trying to find something to cover herself up with while still in the water.