chapter two

"I knew something was strange when you came to visit so suddenly," Kristina says. "I thought you were doing it out of the kindness of your heart but no. You're only here because of work."

Kimberly can't ignore the deep frown on her sister's face or how the other glares down at her mimosa and french toast. She really upset her sister with this one. "I'm sorry, Kris," she says. "But I promise you that I did want to see your show! I just had to wait until the association got back--"

"Oh fuck the association! Bunch of old heads who are always overworking you, just because you're the best hunter in the world." She angrily stabs her french toast before stuffing it into her mouth. She then points the fork in Kimberly's direction. "You're good at what you do but even someone like you deserve a break or at least some time away."

"I know and I agree but you know I can't tell them that. I can't tell mom and dad that."

Kristina rolls her eyes. "Don't get me started on our parents! You know, I asked them last month if they'll come to see my show and they said of course. Even told me what days they'll be here so I can get them tickets. You wanna know what they said to me two days ago?" Kimberly shrugs. "They told me that they can't come anymore! Said they're too busy to drive five hours just to see me dance. Like, who even says that to their own daughter?"

Now it's Kimberly's turn to frown. While their parents are proud of Kimberly and her achievements within the association, the same couldn't be said about Kristina and her achievements as a dancer. They allowed the two girls to take up ballet when they were younger, just to use the skills for vampire hunting, only for it to backfire on them as Kristina falls in love with dancing than with hunting. She did everything she could to become a dancer, which included leaving their family's home at the age of fourteen as she got accepted for a dancing school in Paris. Almost twelve years later and there's still tension within their family.

Kimberly feels bad for her sister, she's the only family she has who goes out of their way to see her dance. Sometimes Kimberly likes to use Kristina and imagine herself dancing on stage, as if she had kept on dancing like her sister. However, when her sister left for dancing school, her parents took her out of ballet and continued to train her in different forms of martial arts. Which was fine for her, she actually enjoyed hunting.

"So what's your mission this time? Is it another crazy vamp killing young girls on the street? You need any help?"

Kimberly raises an eyebrow. "You're offering some assistance?"

Kristina shrugs, leaning back into her chair. "I know that I'm not as great as you are but I know how to handle my own," she says. "Just enough to distract them long enough before you land the finishing kill."

She smiles before shaking her head. "Nah, it's fine. I actually have backup this time."

"Wow really? Then this guy must be tough if they're giving you backup."

"Well, it's not a guy. It's a woman and yeah, she's hella tough." She swallows hard as she leans forward, Kristina quickly does the same. "I'm actually going after... the, uh, queen."

"You're WHAT?" Her voice booms, other patrons turning to look at them, both Westwood sisters having to apologize for her outburst. Kristina then turns back to her sister. "You're kidding right? Isn't she, like, the baddest vampire alive? And also hard to find?"

"Yes and yes but someone was able to get a picture of her," she says. "From that picture alone we were able to find her location. My team is going to infiltrate it so we can kill her."

"So you can kill her," Kristina corrects. "Come on, we both know that the association wants you to end her life. I'm sure that once you do, they'll give you a medal or some shit. That's exciting."

Kristina goes back to eating as Kimberly just sits there, motionless. She can already guess what the association will give her for murdering the queen, though it won't be a measly medal. "They might ask me to join the council."

Kristina stops her eating. "... You really think so?" She doesn't respond. "But you have to be old as fuck to be on there! You're only twenty-six!"

"But I'm one of the best hunters of this generation. And once I succeed in killing the queen? That'll earn me the right and put me on the same status as all of them."

Kristina falls silent as she stares at her sister with worry. "This shit is crazy," she says, holding her head in her hands. "I can't picture you as a council member. Well, actually, you are serious and boring like them--"

"Excuse you!" She throws a balled up napkin at Kristina, laughing gently. "No I'm not!"

"Oh yes you are and you know I'm right! That's why you're so hurt right."

"Fuck you, Kris."

"Aw, I love you too, Kim."

The two laugh together before going back to their brunch and talking absolutely nonsense. They don't leave the restaurant until 12:30, the two of them walking out together with giant smiles and full stomachs. "So what are your plans now?"

"I have a meeting at one with my team."

"Really? Where, I'll take you there."

Before she can reject the offer, a black car pulls up in front of them. Both girls are on high alert, Kimberly ready to pull out her knives to use and Kristina... well, she's not sure what weapons her sister has but she knows that the other is ready to attack if need be. But there's no need to attack, well, no need for Kimberly as she sees who gets out of the car.

"Kimberly, are you ready to go?" Wren's eyes go over to Kristina, a smile slowly slipping onto his face. "Long time no see, Kris. Missed me?"

"Absolutely not," she replies. "I should've known that the association paired you with my sister. Their two top hunters going after the queen? What a perfect duo."

"We could be a perfect trio if you came along with us."

"No way, I have a show tonight. And even if I didn't, I wouldn't help. I'm not a hunter, just a dancer."

Wren takes a step forward, Kristina doesn't move. She's stubborn, she would never step back even if the person is Wren. "And what a lovely dancer you are," he says. "I've been planning to see your performance, I see that it's the Nutcracker and that you're playing Clara!"

"Let me guess, you got that from my Instagram."

"Of course! I still have post notifications up for your account."

"Creep."

"Okay," Kimberly says. "We need to go. I'll call you tomorrow, okay, Kris?"

"Yeah, that's fine with me," she says. "Be safe." She then looks up at Wren. "If she dies, I'll kill you."

She then walks off, not giving either a chance to say anything to her. Wren looks down at Kimberly with a smile. "I think she likes me."

"Sure she does, Romeo." She opens the passenger side door. "Let's go, didn't you say that we have a meeting at one sharp?"

"That we do! Let's go."

The car ride is silent, Wren doesn't try to talk to her nor does he turn on any music, which Kimberly appreciates. She uses the time to scroll through social media and do a last minute check on her emails. Nothing once again.

At 12:50 the two arrive outside of a rundown restaurant. Wren leads the way inside, Kimberly follows behind him. The interior matches the exterior, it's poorly lit, the wallpapers are an ugly green with some weird pattern, tables are scattered about, and there's one bar in the very back of the place. Already sitting down are three others who drink from the glasses in front of them. Wren walks over to the table, pulling over two chairs for him and Kimberly. "Welcome Kimberly, to your new team! Come, sit, and meet everyone. They're all amazing."

Well, Wren is right in a way, the team is amazing but in their own special ways. There's Reggie, the forty year old with two boys back home. He tells Kimberly that Council Member Joseph is his uncle. "He's a bit of an ass but at least he loves my kids, that's the only thing that matters to me."

Then there's Clarence, thirty-two and a bachelor. He's an attractive guy, Kimberly will give him that, but his head is too far up his ass for her, his personality being complete shit. "My favorite mission? The time I slept with these two chicks who turned out to be vampires! Killed them of course but whew, they were great in bed!" Disgusting, really.

And lastly there's M. M doesn't say much, doesn't tell anyone his age or any interesting facts. He just sits there quietly, with his hood on and hands folded carefully on his lap. Kimberly finds the mystery that surrounds him to be interesting.

There's no need for Wren to introduce himself, she's known him since they were seven. Childhood friends, both coming from elite vampire hunting families. If there's anyone who can rival Kimberly it would be Wren. He may walk around and act like an airhead but he's the most serious hunter Kimberly knows. And one of the most skillful ones alive.

"Now that we're all here, we should discuss our plans for tonight," Wren says. "As you all know, we're going to infiltrate the queen's mansion. It's thirty minutes east from here, very big, very beautiful, checked out this morning without all of you! You think the council will let me have it when we kill her?"

No one answers him but Clarence does chuckle. "There's a gate in front of it, of course there is but that's fine. We'll use M here to get it open. He's our hacker. He'll get us in, keep us all connected, and then get us out." M nods his head. "The four of us will enter together but then split up. Our mission is to take down all vampires living inside the mansion while the lovely Kimberly here goes to kill the queen."

Clarence nudges Kimberly. "You get the best job out of us all! To think, you'll be the one to kill a beauty like the queen herself."

Kimberly frowns, sipping her water. "Oh joy."

"Once Kimberly kills the queen then we'll all leave, head back to the car with M, and get the hell out of there. I'm sure some vampires might chase after us but that's fine, we'll be able to handle a few stragglers."

"It all sounds easy enough," Reggie says. "What time will we be leaving?"

"I'll pick everyone up around seven tonight. Make sure to be prepared with your favorite weapons and wear all black." He calls a waiter over. "If we're lucky, we'll finish everything within an hour or two."

Keyword if. If this was any other mission, she would agree that it would take all of them just an hour to complete it. But this mission is different, there's no guarantee that they'll finish this within a certain time frame, much less make it out alive. But Kimberly isn't too worried, she believes that they'll be fine. Because their team has a council member's nephew, a horny hunter, a mysterious hacker, Wren, and her. They'll be fine, really.

. . .

They arrive at the mansion close to eight at night, everyone wearing black as told and prepared with weapons of their choosing. Wren parks the car a distances away from the place, all lights are off as the car remains hidden among the trees and bushes. The only light inside is M's laptop but even that is dull within the darkness. "The gates will open in five minutes," he says. He sets down four earpieces for the others to take. "Please use these, this is how we'll stay in contact with each other and it'll help me keep track of where you are. Whatever you do, don't lose those, got it?"

Everyone nods as they carefully put the earpieces in. Then the four of them slowly and carefully get out of the car, making sure not to make too much noise. Wren leads the pack, eyes scanning to make sure there's no vampires around. "Alright, let's move." Everyone does as he says and quickly and quietly head towards the gate. There are two vampires who stand outside of it, acting as guards for the gate. Reggie handles the two on his own, waiting for M's signal that the cameras are down. He throws a knife into one's chest as a distraction, then he punches the second one and sends a wooden stake into their hearts. The first vampire pulls the knife from their chest, ready to use it against Reggie. But they soon drop it, screaming in pain as if they've been burned. Reggie then punches the vampire twice and then stabs them with a wooden stake as well. Both bodies fall to the ground and crumble to dust. Reggie picks up his knife with a smile. "Splashed the handle with holy water before I tossed it."

"Interesting."

"Why didn't you do the same with the blade?"

"It took you twelve seconds to defeat them."

He stares down at Kimberly. "Excuse me?"

"It took you twelve seconds to defeat them," she says again. "You only need five seconds to defeat a vampire, for you, you needed ten seconds. But it took you twelve. Any longer and you would've been dead."

He's baffled, they all are. "But I killed them, isn't that the only thing that matters?"

She wants to say more, to give him a reality check, but it's that look from Wren tells her to zip it. They're also on a tight schedule. "Don't mind her, Reggie, she's just a perfectionist. Shit that her parents drilled into her." Wren pats the other's back, pushing him towards the entrance. "Okay, let's go inside. Remember to be on high alert throughout. Use your earpieces and only refer to everyone by their codenames got it?" They nod. "Let's clear this place out, I really want to buy it as soon as its current tenants move out."

. . .

Kimberly ducks from a swing then she stabs the vampire with a stake, destroying the vampire. Ever since she left the others, she's killed at least eleven of these things, though it doesn't feel like a lot. But eleven is a pretty big number to achieve in less than two hours, however with this type of mission that they have, it feels like she's not achieving what needs to be done. I should be hitting the twenties by now, she thinks to herself, carefully making her way down the hall. There doesn't seem to be anymore vampires, even M tells her that he doesn't see any on his laptop using the mansions security system. "You're good, Void, keep going. Keep going straight then turn right, her room will be down there. It'll be the third door on your left."

"Thanks, M," she says. Following his exact directions, Kimberly keeps close to the wall, stake and knife ready just in case someone pops out. She's safe all the way there, the hallway is dark minus the flickering ceiling light. God, someone should really switch out that light bulb. She breathes in, breathes out, breathes in, and breathes out again. This is it, the moment she's been waiting for, the moment everyone has been waiting for. For her to murder the queen.

Hand on the doorknob, she slowly opens it, preparing her mind and body as she does so. And when she's inside, she's completely caught off guard by the sight of the room. It's huge, as to be expected for a woman built for a queen. Large windows, a vanity, a closet on the right, a bed sitting next to the windows, a dresser, and a door that probably leads to a bathroom. Even with the large amount of space, the room still felt so empty, especially because there's no one inside.

"Shit!" She says, eyes scanning everywhere. "Where the hell--"

Kimberly doesn't get the chance to finish her sentence, not as a body pushes her down, hands pressing down on her throat. She's been in this position once before, when she was first learning how to kill a vampire. When the first vampire she ever encountered had tackled her to the ground, it tried to choke her out before biting into her neck. Of course back then she was able to kick it off and kill it, her parents applauding her for her achievement. This time shouldn't be any different, Kimberly should be able to kick this one off with no problem. But she can't, not as she makes direct eye contact with the one above, as her heart skips a beat and breath is short.

She's reminded of Clarence from earlier, of when he nudged her and called her lucky for being able to kill a beauty like the queen herself. At the time, she found him foolish for calling a vampire beautiful. But she realizes now that she's the foolish one. Because he is right, the queen is the most beautiful thing she has ever seen in this world. And even as she's being choked and questioned by the queen, none of it stops her from saying that one thing.

"You're beautiful."

She's screwed.