Gatiss Underbelly (Open)

Name: Blue Monell

Race: Siren

Age: 23

Appearance: She has sharp, severe features. Her hair is brown and her eyes are green. Her hair is straight and thin and only comes down to her shoulders. She has dark, oxblood lips. She is thin and tall and has no curves, kind of like a model. She has a habit of collecting shiny things and she wears them as jewelry. Her eyes are slits like a cats. She is also very pale.

Alliance: Werewolves, though she isn't as devoted as they are.

Personality: She is a very persuasive person, as are all Sirens. She is likeable and is also very kind. She isn't entitles and believes in fair trial for everyone. Blue doesn't try to hold prejudices and does not believe in hate, though she doesn't like vampires very much.

She is very open with people about her life, and does not like lying. Despite other people's allegiances or race she will always try to help someone.

History: Her parents were human and very devout Catholics. When they saw her eyes and her powers they sent her to live with a priest who thought he had to save her. She was raised in the Church and is still very religious. She didn't get into trouble there, and she saw her parents frequently. When she was eighteen her parents put her through college. Blue decided that she wanted to be a priest (please overlook the fact that she is Catholic. There are vampires in this SB, so...) and she became one. Her parents were killed by a rogue vampire the night of her ordination so she started helping out the werewolves.

Other: She wears a lot of crosses around her neck and carries a dagger with her for self-defense reasons.

Name: Per-Sivert Nilsson (calls himself Peter now, since no one can pronounce his name).

Race: Whitelighter

Age: Stopped aging when he was 22, but is actually 118.

Appearance: 6'2, athletic build. Blue-gray eyes, fair skin, dirty blonde hair, strong jaw. The farm work he did in his youth has given him clauses on his hands, and a couple of scars. The most noticeable scar is the thin line right across his cheek. His eyes are warm and he's almost always smiling, which makes him look very kind. He always whistles or hums when he has nothing better to do.

Spoiler

Alliance: Rouge, like Dante.

Personality: If described in three words, it would be: Kind, caring, playful. He has been that way his whole life, since he always had to take care of his siblings (even his older brother) when he was alive. He's proud of what he does as a Whitelighter and will stop at nothing to make sure the one he's bound to is safe and sound.

He laughs and smiles a lot, and always tries to look at things from the bright side. It can actually get a bit annoying. The happier he is the more he talks. The only dark moments he has is when he remembers the trenches during the war and/or the starvation before his family emigrated, but he normally manages to suppress those memories.

He's very observant, even though his almost constant smile and humming/whistling makes him seem lost in thoughts. Since he's been in the military he knows how how to handle most guns and he knows how to fight, but he only uses those skills if the life of the one he's protecting depends on it.

History:
Before death:
Per-Sivert was born on a farm in southern Sweden during the early 20th century. After three years of droughts and crop failures, which caused both his grandmother and youngest sister's deaths, he and his family decided to emigrate to America together with several of the neighboring households.

They ended up in Illinois, built a new home and started a farm. They were far from rich, but at least they weren't starving anymore. For three years the family lived happily in their new home, but then the first world war started. Per-Sivert's older brother (who had always been a hothead) went back to Europe and joined the German army to be able to defend Sweden (mainly against Russia), Per-Sivert didn't want to let him go alone, so he followed. They both died in the trenches on the western front.

After death:
At first there was darkness, but then came light. Strong, blinding light that quickly faded. He was surprised when he found himself in California, sitting in a small audience watching Harry Houdini fail his first attempt of being buried alive. He was acutely aware of a small girl in the audience who was terribly afraid. He couldn't see the girl, but he knew who she was, how she felt and that he had to protect her. It only took him a few minutes to reach the conclusion that he had returned from the dead in the form of a guardian angel.

He followed the little girl for 77 years, gradually learning how to control his powers during that time, and was by her side when she died of old age. The moment she died he was bound to a new person. This time it was a elderly man, married to a woman who also had a Whitelighter. That was how he found out what he had become. He followed the man for 4 years, until the man died of old age and Per-Sivert was bound to Dante.

Dante was the first contact he ever had with someone supernatural who wasn't a Whitelighter. When he first approached Dante it was in the hopes of revealing who he was, but he never quite got the opportunity, so he ended up simply pretending that he was a human. They became friends, which was a relief to Per-Sivert, mainly because he hadn't had a proper friend for almost a century, but also because it made it much easier to protect Dante.

Other: Up for love, bi.

*is joining after all*
Profile coming up today :3

Name: Cristina Medici (never ever Cris or Tina)

Race: Whitelighter

Age: seems around 17, but is actually way older

Appearance: She looks like an example from a picture book when it comes to angelic appearance. Her hair is messy and falls in curls, so light it almost appears white. She wears fringes, which somehow always stay straight. Her eyes are blue, seeming purple in the evenings or by the candlelight, her lashes are long and her skin is flawless. She enjoys taking baths whenever she can, especially if there's a chance to put flower petals in the water, and adores wearing big, comfortable hoodies. She's petite but with her curls, and seems even younger than she is because of the clothes she wears. Cristina's lips are full, she has a small nose and big eyes, and is generally looking innocent, sweet and calm.

Alliance: At the moment, werewolves, though it's never really her choice

Personality: Cristina indeed is calm, she's mostly kind to people and doesn't like being forced to battle someone else. Physically, at least. She is witty and sarcastic at times, persuasive when she needs to be and quiet when she sees that the situation asks for it. She's deeply empathic, curious about the world around her and adores making up stories, observe people and wonder about their lives.
She is, however, able to be very serious, very protective and very controlling. When someone tries to hurt the person she's bound to protect, Cristina will do everything to protect him/her, and will not stop until she's sure he/she is safe again. She hates people who try to tell her what she should think or do, and she loves birds (because she'd more than anything like to fly) and music. She also enjoys staring at the flames for a long time, though she can't help but imagine the heretics' screams as she does that.

History: Cristina was born a little princess to the family of bankers. Her name wasn't very known outside of their home, as her father - especially after her mother's death - didn't want her to get hurt or lost. Florence, her home city, at the time of her birth was rich and, as much as she knew, happy place to live in. She was never bored in her family home, as she always liked hiding under tables and observe the guests, and following her brothers around as they learned what they needed to know to keep the family safe and wealthy.
She met Machiavelli in the time he still stood side by side with the Medici's, and followed him around the palace as well, mostly trying to imitate his way of thinking. She failed miserably as a little kid, but he seemed to find it interesting so now she does have her ways of being cunning and manipulative when it's necessary. She was always nice to everyone she met, and took care of her siblings even though she was the youngest child, always talking nicely and acting as a peacemaker.
Cristina died as the Borgias turned against the Medici. She was 16 and she was poisoned by her brother, so she wouldn't be killed in a worse way.

She wasn't quite expecting to see gates of Heaven opening up in front of her, but she most certainly didn't expect to wake up in the country and time she didn't recognize, either. It took her a while to realize that it wasn't the fault of the language that no one talked back to her - she wasn't seen by people at all, and she grew scared and lonely very fast. For reasons she couldn't understand, she started following a boy in the street, eventually figuring that she can do things to help him. As she grew more sure of herself, she became as visible to other people as they were to her, and learned how to use her abilities. The boy, Aaron, survived the Tudor period with Cristina's help, and she watched him age, has his own family and, eventually, die of old age. She was then bonded with another person, and another, throughout history until today. Except for Aaron, however, all of her protégés seemed to have the luck of being drawn into the world of the undead themselves - she guarded a girl who learned she was a vampire mate and died giving birth; a man in Victorian era that tried to kill Cristina when she wanted to stop him killing himself, and then killed himself out of despair, because he couldn't manage to cheer up a banshee he fell in love with; an old woman who got bitten by a vampire - after that, she changed and got too mad for a young Whitelighter such as Cristina to handle, so she wasn't bonded with anyone for a while after that. The last person she got to protect is a young boy who got bit by a werewolf after he got lost in the woods. Cristina was asked this time if she wanted to let the more experienced person take care of the boy, but she knew she can do it - and she still does.

Other: Cristina protects just one of them, but the boy - Alexander - travels in a pack of other werewolves, being at the same time a protege of others of the clan. Cristina's loyalty doesn't lay with them, nor with anyone for that matter - but she will protect him if he gets threatened, and sometimes that includes protecting the whole pack. She is up for love, bi, and has never really been in a relationship, since she doesn't like getting attached to people and then watching them die.

Spoiler

OOC: You can do with the pack more or less whatever you wish - none of them will be my POV character. It's a big pack, so if you for some reason need to kill a werewolf, you can do it, just don't touch Alexander without my permission.
Also, maybe I need to note that I imagined Cristina being a member of Medici family. I like the period, the country and the possibilities it gives me, but I didn't actually go through their family tree and follow the true history. I will make sure, if I mention anything, to be more or less correct, but most of the things about her past will still be just imagined for the purposes of character development.

Name: Reyla Barron

Race: Human

Age: 21

Appearance:

Spoiler

This is Reyla

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She has two of these, the bullets of these guns have Silver FMJ's that allow for extra piecing damage though flesh and metal surfaces, especially effective on werewolves.

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The knives used for this are personally made with tiny amount of C4 that explode after being shot at an enemy. The blast from these have enough power to destroy the inside of a Vampires chest, including the heart.

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Alliance: Night Hunters

Personality: Reyla is that one trigger happy woman that you wouldn't ever want to tick off, and has been this way though most of her life. Tho she enjoys the night, she believes that the night belongs to her, there is no room for the paranormal for her. Tho she does enjoy the dangerous life style, she also loves a fight. Not once backing down from a fight. She has a fear of the paranormal, but she doesn't react how she should by running away, instead she shoots it with enough lead to poison five people. She is also a thrill lover, she loves to feel the adrenaline in a fight, she loves to feel fear, and taking on the paranormal is the no better way to get that rush of adrenaline. But in her downtime, when she's not on a job she sits in back of Night Hunters eating pizza, counting cash, or doing business for setting up for the next job. She's an all around laugh happy girl, cracking jokes and hanging out like anyone else would when there not on the job.

History: Reyla grew up in a middle class home, with parents who were Paranormal hunters, Reyla was kept in the dark about there dangerous job for large amount of her life. Even at one point of her life when she was ten, she saw a vampire, who was feeding from a neighbor, because of this the vampire tried to get rid of her before Reyla could rat out her out. Reyla saw the fangs of the vampire, and surely thought she was going to die, but out of the blood, a gun shot went off, and seconds later she was being hugged by her mother. The memory of the incident traumatized by the event, and her parents then knew it was time to stop hiding what there jobs. Her mother and father ran a business in Gatiss known as "Night Hunters" a place where you can hire Paranormal Hunters to track down and kill a paranormal creature that caused trouble in the city. Her mother and father were the owners of the business.

After the incident, her parents believed it was time to bring her into the business despite her being at such an early age. She trained how to shoot guns, stab, and learn weaknesses of every paranormal creature known to mankind, and learn to keep a little of everything to deal with any situation. Over the years, she grew and learned, and became what her parents wanted her to be, when it came time to take on her first job. Was when tragedy struck, the job was simple, drive out a pack of werewolves that was in a near by forest that made hit and run attacks on the livestock of a farm. But there was much more than that, it was an ambush, Vampires, Werewolves, Ghosts, Demons all came after the hunters. Her parents told Reyla to run, and she did, her parents fate was never known, and the guy that hired them on for the job had already skipped town. Reyla had just inherited her parents business, this was all three years ago.

Present Day: Reyla works steadily at her parents business, doing the job they left behind for her, she never knew what became her parents, and is still investigating where the employer has gone to.

Other: Nothing else comes to mind.

Name: Louise Moore

Race: Human

Age: 23

Appearance: Slim and unfashionable, Louise prefers cardigans and jeans to crop-tops and booty shorts. She has long brownish hair that doesn't really do what she wants it to, but she gave up on it a long time ago. She's got light blue eyes, thin lips, and a round face.

Alliance: Louise. And reluctantly House Melissa.

Personality: Fiercely independent. When her parents wanted her to join the family farm, she left home and went to law school. She loves books and literature, and sitting in lectures for hours on end. She's passionate about justice and procedure, but she does know how to have fun. If running and classic novels are considered fun.

History: Born to a rural farm family, Louise has lived a comfortable enough life and doesn't really have much to complain about. She's always aspired to more than her parents ever seemed to, and set herself seriously on her education at a very young age. She pursued the highest honors, and is very happy to be following a career in law. Her family once fell into a terrible lawsuit - of which she doesn't like to speak - which was settled unfairly and not in their favor, and inspired her to become a person who can award justice to those who deserve it.

Other: Louise is little interested in romantic relationships, and finds her own company more rewarding and pleasant than that of most other people.

Name: Melissa Boland (born Méadhbh Ní Bheoláin)

Race: Vampire

Age: Around 1508, things get messy with calendar changes. Physical age, 32

Appearance: Your classic Irish ginger, and proud! Melissa has red curly hair, freckles, green eyes and a curvy figure.

Spoiler

Alliance: Melissa. That means House Melissa. The sanctity of life, and honesty.

Personality: In a word, maternal. Melissa takes in the lonely and the lost to House Melissa alongside the strong. She doesn't care who you are, if she can keep you safe, she will do everything she can to keep you safe. In fact she can get a little stifling. Over protective, like any mother. She's also very old and very strong so despite her charges being fully grown adult vampires, if needed Melissa can control them.

Melissa's a pacifist by nature, and spiritual. Due to her vampirism, she can't go to Church anymore, or touch a Bible, or say a prayer. It nearly broke her in the beginning. The fact that she is damned damns her. So she tries not to think about it and instead tries to live the best life she can, eternally helping others and living up to her own morals: the sanctity of life, honesty, compassion, respect. She follows them with the religious fervor she can no longer channel elsewhere.

History: Born in rural Ireland to a miller's family, when the monastery at Cill Dara was opened by Brigid, a woman to whom Méadhbh looked to as an idol, her family were more than happy for her to enter the convent there. The monastery was a place of rest for weary travellers, with the happy little village growing alongside it, the nuns and monks nurturing the place under the huge spreading oak tree. In Melissa's mind, it is a totally idyllic place, with the monks illuminating great handwritten Bibles, the bells calling them all to prayer.

Then came the raiders- not the Vikings, they didn't come until later. But in the dark of the night came vampires, wrecking their unprotected little habitation, killing and maiming many, and turning others. Brigid immediately put those who were turned in the Sanitorium, prayed over them with her rosary beads and her tears, but that only caused agony to the many who were not destined to survive the process. Only one did- Méadhbh.

Of course she couldn't stay. Even the sight of a holy person like Brigid pained Méadhbh. The two of them spoke and they recognised Méadhbh was no longer human, that there was something seriously wrong. Many in the monastery wanted to kill Méadhbh, but Brigid would let no one in her charge kill another. So instead, in the dead of night, Méadhbh slipped away.

Time passed. Méadhbh became Mary, became Maria, became Marieke, became Maeve when she briefly returned to Ireland, Moira, Merry... She had to keep travelling. She hated it, hated not having a base. Slowly, she began to attract others to herself. It began with a German vampire called Georg. More came. Over the centuries, Méadhbh- now Melissa- accumulated a family of about thirty, that provided some much needed stability to her life. But even then, many left, many were added, many moved away, many stayed as the coven moved on, many died. Gatiss seemed like a dream, a rumour of Utopia that vampires around the world would tell her about. Eventually, she decided to find out.

It was real. Melissa dropped to the ground at Phoenix's feet when she found out that vampires were welcome. Some of the coven moved on when Melissa decided to settle permanently. But more stayed. They bought a huge house, with additional apartments either side. Melissa found a job in the bank, found a place on the council. She loves Gatiss, because it is the home she craved for fifteen centuries.

Other: She's quite physically strong, one on one she could probably beat any of the other vampires. However she hates fighting, and her weakness would be that she won't kill or even hurt you, just disable. So shock factor gets her every time- even when she traps you, you still can have the upper hand.

Spoiler

I was bored, so I decided to make another character.

Name: Damianos (Damian)

Race: Vampire

Age: 2750 (or close to, at least)

Appearance: 5'11, dark brown hair, soft brown eyes, tanned skin. He looks very laid back, kind of a typical beach guy. He doesn't smile that often, but when he does it's only to cover his anger or cruelty so it isn't pleasant at all. His soft curls keeps falling into his eyes, and he never wears anything else than shorts or worn jeans and a t-shirt. Oh, and he never takes of his shell necklace and leather bracelet. Never.

Spoiler

Alliance: House of Damian
They're a motley crew of violent vampires who only have two things in common.
1. They're at Damian's beck and call, and are absolutely loyal to him. Whether out of fear, respect or convenience differs, but they all do as he says. Those who break orders tend to go missing..
2. They like blood, and they don't care how they get it. At the moment Damian intends to stay in Gatiss until he catches Louise, so he has ordered them to follow the laws of the city. They're not very happy about it though, and people has started to disappear around their hq.

Personality: The first impression of him is often a positive one. He seems easy going and laid back, but if you look into his eyes you can see that he is both distant and cold towards everything and everyone. His smiles often make people take a step back, since he only smiles to hide his anger or cruelty. The wider his smile is, the greater is the anger/cruelty. His fangs makes it even worse.

He doesn't trust anyone and treats everyone like they're his minions. It isn't unusual that he tortures and/or kills people from his own house. He's actually a bit lonely, although he'd never admit it. He doesn't let himself feel anything (except boredom, and he is almost constantly bored), since he thinks feelings would make him weak.

What he wants, he gets, and he isn't used to being refused anything (he's actually quite spoiled). He'll go to extreme measures to get what he wants.

When it comes to fighting, he prefers not to. Damian is very intelligent and uses blackmailing and scare tactics rather than his fists. If he has no other choice than to fight he uses his followers. Some people thinks that he can't fight, or is too scared to, but they couldn't be more wrong. Guns, blades, fists, it doesn't matter to him, he can use all of it. Though he doesn't want to. Why fight yourself when you have minions (he's a bit lazy)?

History: Damian was born to a vampire and a vampire mate in ancient Greece. He was raised to be an aristocrat and politician, and that was exactly what he became. He used people as steppingstones until he reached the top. He became the leader of the city state Pharsalus, but only remained leader for about a month before getting tired of it and resigning.

He traveled the world, doing all kinds of stuff and gathering followers for about a thousand years before finally settling down in Venice, where he had fallen in love with a vampire mate. They got married, but their happiness only lasted a couple of years. Damian's best friend killed his wife out of jealousy, and then Damian killed him. After that Damian never trusted anyone again.

He traveled around Asia for several decades, before coming to America and gathering even more followers. He longs for someone that he can trust, and came to Gatiss after he heard about Louise. He hopes to have a child that he can raise to be his companion, someone who won't betray him.

Other: Feel free to join Damian's house. He gains followers both by being kind, cruel or simply useful, so you can have whatever relationship you want with Damian (though I'd appreciate a PM first).
Also, feel free to interact with the members of his house. Kill one or two, or do whatever, but don't kill them all of at once.
And oh, he's not up for love..

Sarah Vaudeville

Gatiss was all black and yellow, shadows, sodium lights and silence. Sarah loved the city like this, when she was by herself at one o'clock in the morning, after the people had gone to bed but before they stumbled out of the nightclubs, the light rain misting everything up and settling on Sarah's face and hands. The raindrops reminded her of her skin.

It made her feel almost human again.

She wasn't quite sure where she was now, somewhere deep in human territory. The day had been too sunny for any of them to leave the house apart from Fatima who did so in a burqa, gloves and sunglasses to go on the blood bank drive and collect what they needed for the week. Sarah was full up on B-, and Melissa had given her permission to go for a walk and feel the air on her dead skin.

She was just about to turn around and head home when a breeze blew by and Sarah caught two distinct scents she did not expect. The first was that murky, dirty scent of a werewolf. She wondered what a werewolf was doing around here, and hoped it was one she could beat up. But the second scent was far more distressing. A scent she knew only one person carried- Liam.

High heeled boots echoing off the walls of the surrounding houses, Sarah ran towards the smell. There was a pub ahead, filled with human laughter and music. The smells were coming from just before that, and Sarah swung herself into a tiny alleyway, mainly filled with bins and rubbish.

There was a werewolf.

And there was a human. A vampire mate. But it wasn't Liam.

Damianos
One leg over the armrest, the other over the backrest, head touching the floor. If he had been a human the position would've been very uncomfortable, but he wasn't a human.. And the world looked less boring when it was upside down, but only slightly. He didn't bother to cover his mouth when he yawned. There was no one in his throne room anyway. It wasn't really a throne room. More like a very spacious living room.

He could hear light steps approaching. The person stopped and introduced herself to the guards, and they let her through the front door. A knock on the door. He didn't bother to answer. Another knock, more persistent this time.

"What?" he drawled. The female vampire entered. He had never seen his little assistant upside down before. Her nose looked big from this angel.

"I've gotten a few reports about the location of a vampire mate." She waited for him to tell her to go on, but he didn't, so she went on anyway. "Just rumors, but I think there might be some truth behind them." He kept his silence. "In Gatiss."

"Gatiss?" he wondered out loud. "Then we should go there. I haven't said hello to Melissa in over a decade."

"Three decades, my lord."

He nodded absentmindedly and sat up properly. "Prepare the journey. Make sure the windows are tinted this time." There was a smile playing in the corner of his mouth, and his assistant knew all too well what that meant.

"How many do you want to take with you?"

"My guards and servants.. And anyone else that wants to come. But they'll have to follow the laws of Gatiss."

His assistant made a face. Blood from a bag wasn't the same thing as blood directly from the vein, but in this case it was better to lay low. His followers wouldn't like it, but he didn't care. If anyone broke his rules he'd have them beheaded.. Or torn to pieces, it depended on his mood.

"I'll take care of it." She bowed and left the room quickly.

---

They arrived three days later, after midnight. The cortege of black vans with tinted windows attracted more attention than he would've liked them to, but it couldn't be helped. A large group of vampires from his house had insisted on following him to Gatiss, trying to prove their loyalty, no doubt.

His assistant had managed to buy an apartment building, big enough to house them all. The penthouse was luxurious, just like he wanted it, and all the windows had been replaced with special glass that didn't let any UV rays through.

"Contact Melissa and tell her I want to talk to her."

"Yes, my lord. Anything else?"

He waved his hand lazily, and she left.

Dante Xiv

I caught her scent the moment I stepped out of the forest, and I'd been tracking her ever since. I wasn't letting her get away. I wasn't going to let more of those beasts roam the streets. The ones that were already here gave me enough trouble.

Her knowledge of my following her just made the chase more fun. Since there was no longer any need to be cautious, I got down on all fours and set off towards her. She'd already started running, but she wasn't getting away from me. I guess she knew I'd sniff her out no matter where she hid, so she settled with running all about, but in high heels? Poor thing.

She ducked unknowingly into an alleyway and froze. I followed in her footsteps and stopped where I was. She turned to face me and I stood up on my hind legs. In the moonlight she looked almost innocent, genuinely innocent, but I couldn't let that stop me.

It's going to be a shame killing her, she was a pretty mate.

Reyla Barron Arrival - One Year Prior

Arriving in Gatiss it was a heck of a sight, I wanted to spread business though out the states, mainly to the major cities, first I was going to need to buy a building, after some looking around, I finally settled on a small building that was very cheap, but only because it was in a real state of disrepair. The painting was peeling off the walls, the place was dusty, there were even a few rooms that had broken walls here and there. Yea, I better get this place cheap, or I'll go find somewhere else to set up. After talking with an owners and staying in a hotel for at least a week, I was going to need to make lots of renovations to this small building, time to get to work.

Present day...

After a full year of work, paying for fixes, new paint on the walls, one of the rooms turned into an armory and load it up with plenty of weapons made of silver, guns, swords, daggers, you name it it's loaded with it. Then a sign is put up in some bright purple letters, and even put in advertisement out in the news papers for the business. I had finally opened the place up. I walked forward admiring all the changes I had made to this place, a billboard put for clients for paranormal creatures that have eluded the Night Hunters, a bounty would be placed, a one or two thousand dollars more than the agreed amount of money from a client to get hunters out and about to hunt the requested paranormal creature. I expanded the building to include a firing range, training room for children who hunters with children wanted to enroll, earliest enrollments are normally at age ten, but students are not allowed to hold any guns until there eighteen, there trained how to work a gun when there sixteen and seventeen and be trained to hunt paranormal creatures, study the weaknesses of each paranormal creature, how to identify a paranormal creature, and other such things.

There I was sitting at my desk in an empty building that was waiting for Hunters from across the states to gather once I put the word out that the next building in the chain was up and running and waiting for clients and hunters alike. Because Gatiss was a major city, I knew that there were criminal paranormal creatures, and with it clients that wanted those criminals chased off or killed once I had a signed contract paper from the Mayor of Gatiss. Business would soon flourish, and I would have teams of Hunters searching and dealing with clients problems, and the money would be rolling in.

But I was also here for a reason, and that reason was personal, Gatiss was home to a recent sighting of Damianos, a client of my parents who set them up to be killed by all kinds of paranormal creatures. I never did find out my parents fate, but I didn't need bodies to know for sure that they were dead, when I tried going after Damianos, he had already skipped town, with no clear place that he had gone to. But now I caught word and made for Gatiss right away, that Vampire was somewhere in this city, and it was my mission to find, and put his eternal life away, for good.

Emile Greene

The strobe lights flash and the air pulses with thewub wub wub of earblasting dubs ten music. The crash of bodies on the dance floor. The smell of sweat and that all-too familiar human scent, intermingling in a delicious yet awful concoction. This was the Lucky Seven night club. This was home.

For a while this wasn't the haven that it is now. It used to be the same as any other club, drunk guys hitting on me, making vulgar jokes. But after a few warning flashes of my various knives, they backed off. No one messes with me anymore. Now it's just a safe place to escape, to forget about, you know, me being a vampire and all. That was, until I smelled the dirty, grimy smell of a werewolf. Not good.

Trying not to draw too much attention to myself, I slipped past the dancing bodies and out the door, following the musky scent. I rushed out into the cold night air- or at least I presume it was cold, I can't really feel much of anything now- and ran off toward a dark alley, where the most potent wolf-smell was emerging from. Great, I think, sarcasm dripping in my mind, It hand to be an alley. . Sighing, I took out six of my knives, three in each hand, wolverine-style. I always did like the idea of built-in weapons-other than my fangs of course.

I stepped into the alley, ready for anything. Except for what I saw next. A werewolf and... "Sarah?"

Louise

Class had run late. Louise wiped her eyes sleepily as she staggered out of the university lecture hall, regretting letting her roommate insist on dressing her that morning. Maggie had a much... different sense of style than Louise, and that landed Louise in a pair of three inch heels, red pleated skirt, and tight black cardigan.

She felt like a school girl in a dirty movie.

Yawning, she adjusted her glasses on her nose and set back toward home. It was a fairly warm night, and the twenty minute walk would be pleasant even if it was in the dark. Luckily for Louise, she wasn't much afraid of the dark.

But when she caught a glance of the looming black figure following several feet behind her, anxiety crept over her. She'd never been followed before, not like this, not on a Tuesday night in Gatiss. Gatiss was supposed to be a safe place.

Chill out, Louise, she told herself. You might be dressed like a floozy but that doesn't mean some punk is going to come after you. But even so, she slipped her hand into her bag to ensure her little pocket knife was within reach.

Ten minutes from home, the figure behind her grew closer, his pace quickening. Louise couldn't help herself; ignoring everything she'd ever learned about evading creeps on the street - which admittedly wasn't a whole lot - she started to run. But her heels made her unstable and the man behind her only gained.

Louise cursed as she circled into a dark alleyway, hoping to find someplace to crouch long enough to get her shoes off. Without the toothpicks Maggie had called heels supporting her, she was a good enough runner to make it to the safety of her own home.

But the alleyway was empty, holding only a dead end for her to press back against, tiny knife in hand, as the immeasurably hairy figure approached.

"Well, crap," she muttered, closing her eyes and baring the knife in front of her as the figure lunged.

Spoiler

Take it away, Stella. I'm no good at action scenes.

Sarah

"Hey!" Sarah shouted. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

The werewolf twisted in its jump, landing a couple of feet away from the girl. It and the girl both stared at her, the girl with rabbit eyes. Oh great, thought Sarah. She's scared. That's just what I need.

The werewolf growled. Sarah put her hands on her hips. "You know the laws. A mate is considered property of whatever vampire coven finds them first, and not the next meal of whatever idiot werewolf happens to wander along."

"What kind of laws are those?" The girl was trying for sarcasm, but again, mostly fear. Sarah rolled her eyes.

"Shut up."

"No."

Sarah ignored her. The werewolf was beginning to circle her. Sarah glanced around, he must have been a rogue- no. There was somebody, or something, up on a rooftop. A partner? A pack member? Sarah couldn't tell. It looked to be in "human" mode, but even her vampire vision couldn't tell through the fine mist of rain.

"Who are you anyway? What are you doing around here?"

"Well-" began the girl.

"Shut up." Sarah stared at the wolf. The wolf growled.

On a full stomach, Sarah could take a werewolf, easily. But she'd only had half a glass of blood that evening- she had been grumpy, and when she was grumpy she refused to drink bag blood. Not that there was anything better coming, but it still made a statement. And then there was that partner.

Had she had fresh blood coursing through her veins, and no vampire mate to worry about, no humans to alert in the pub next door, Sarah could take two mutts in five seconds flat.

Damn it, I need to drink more, she thought. The wolf was getting closer. Sarah nudged him with a foot. He yelped and jumped backwards.

Silver tipped stilettos. She had Emilie to thank for that.

But the wolf advanced again. Sarah sighed, seeing no choice in the matter. "Alright, if you wanna fight, you're gonna get a fight." She unzipped her leather jacket and tossed it to the ground, taking position, waiting to pounce. About six feet away, the wolf did the same. Sarah waited until her breath was-

"Sarah?"

She turned her head for a split second. Emilie was standing at the mouth of the alleyway. In that split second, the werewolf jumped. In the same split second, Sarah went flat to the ground and the wolf went over her head. In the same split second, Emilie somersaulted into the alleyway, and tossed her first knife. It didn't hit, but the wolf certainly seemed shocked.

Side by side, Sarah knew they only had a split second more to make up a plan. She shot her eyes up to the figure on the rooftop. Emilie nodded. Sarah jerked her head towards the girl.

Emilie sniffed. Her eyes narrowed. Then she nodded again.

"See you later, ballerina," Sarah said to her, and ran over to grab the human girl's arm. "Come on."

"Come where?"

"I don't have time to talk to you!" The girl wasn't budging. So, with a sigh, Sarah lifted her over a shoulder and ran off as Emilie and the werewolf flew into a one on one duel.

Sarah grinned. She and Emilie didn't always get on. But she had to say, she fancied the vampire's chances.

Melissa

"Look, all I'm saying is, you put that gold in the vault, we're going to have twenty leprechauns knocking on our door by next week."

"I like leprechauns. Such an entertaining race."

Melissa rolled her eyes. Seth grinned, laughter lines showing around his eyes. He was old in this light, and Melissa was the youngest she'd ever look. It was funny.

Seth locked up the last box. "We'll talk about it tomorrow. It's one o'clock in the morning."

"My night's just getting started. I better go home check on the coven. Sarah was in foul form earlier, no idea why-" Melissa cut off, holding up a finger, as she heard her phone's ringtone. After a second of searching, she discovered it under a pile of paperwork. She frowned at the Blocked ID, but answered nonetheless. Seth stood by, waiting for her to finish before they locked up the bank and left.

"Hello, Melissa Boland speaking."

"Mel. It's been years."

"Damian." Melissa saw Seth's eyes widen. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"I thought I'd inform you that I've decided to pay a visit to your charming little city."

"Gatiss or Kildare?" she asked, in the vain hopes he meant the rural Irish town she was born in.

"Which do you think?" Damian said. "I'd love a catch up, if you're free. How long has it been- thirty years?"

"Thirty seven," Melissa informed him. Her mind was already whirring- Phoenix would need to know about the House of Damian, Melissa herself would have to convince him not to kill- but why was he here?

There was only one way to find out. "I was wondering if you were free later tonight, actually," Damian said.

Melissa bit her lip. Refusing Damian's request was not a good idea. "I think I can squeeze you in somewhere."

"Why don't you come to our new lodgings on Beckett Avenue, four o'clock?"

"I'll be there." Melissa hung up, and stared, mouth hanging open, at Seth.

Dante Xiv

Damn.

I could only watch while the mate was thrown onto the vampire's shoulder and carried away from me. I bared my fangs and let out a piercing howl into the now quiet night.

I sniffed the air and turned to the woman now facing me. Vampire.

"Your friend is lucky..." I told her, standing on my hind legs.

She kept her composure, but I could tell she was surprised. Stepping towards her, I let my body shed and squish itself back down to the size of a human, pulling out a wooden stake.

"... had I known she was such a good fighter, I might have put up a challenge." I continued, twirling the stake in my hand.

She readied herself to attack me, probably thinking I was going to use the stake, but I simply walked past.

"I don't know you. I have no reason to fight you."