chapter one

Breath in, breath out. Breath in, breath out. Keep your breathing steady and it must be hushed, it must be so quiet that even you can't even hear it. Your footsteps must be light and graceful, as if you're a prima ballerina gliding across the stage during a showing of The Nutcracker. Don't ever stop looking around you, always remain on high alert, make sure that you're not being watched or followed. And when you see your prey, make sure you have a firm grip on weapon of choosing, hold it with pride and confidence, it must not slip out of your hand. Then, dash forward, make sure your arm is raised as you attack. Don't give them the chance to react, you only have five seconds to end their life. If you go over that time limit then you're dead. Forever gone from this world.

Make sure to count it in your head.

One.

Two.

Three.

Four.

Fi--

Oh, they're dead. Spectacular! You've outdone yourself once again! Now you have to keep this up. Follow this routine and you'll get by. Follow it exactly and you'll live to see another day.

. . .

The woman on stage awakens, looking around to see that she has fallen asleep under her Christmas tree. And beside her is her Nutcracker. She smiles and holds it close, the music ends when she does so. The audience stands to their feet, all clapping and cheering loudly because of the phenomenal performance. Kimberly is among the audience, standing and clapping just like them, smiling up at the woman on stage. Another fantastic performance, splendid as always!

The cast all took the time to bow then the curtains closes. The house lights come back on, the auditorium is filled with chatter. Everyone talks about the chilling performance, of each dancer and how flawless they all were. Kimberly continues to smile, soaking in the compliments as if they're for her. She can't help but doing so, not when she shares a name and face with one of the dancers. To be specific with the woman who played Clara.

She picks up her bag and program and follows the wave of people leaving the space. It's slow and crowded but within minutes, she's standing in the lobby off to the side as everyone else leaves the building all together. She rocks back and forth on the heel of her feet, humming the overture from the performance. She stands there for five, maybe six minutes before she hears someone shout her name.

"Kim! You made it!"

She turns, her smile even wider than before as her arms open wide and wrap around the other woman. The other returns the gesture, giggling as the rock from side to side. Those around them point and smile at their outburst, others stop and point all together, in complete awe of what they're seeing.

Well of course they would stop and gawk, it's the uprising ballerina Kristina Westwood who has taken the ballet community by storm with her flawless and moving performances. And she's this production's Clara, the same ballerina who left all of them with goosebumps because of her dancing. If Kimberly was some ordinary audience member, she probably would've done the same.

But she's different because she knows Kristina better than anyone else. While Kristina may be the beautiful and graceful ballerina to all of them, she's also Kimberly's loudmouth and spontaneous older twin sister. She gets to see a Kristina that no one else ever gets to witnessed.

"So, be honest, how was it?"

"It was great, you were great."

"Was I really?"

"Of course. Would I lie to you?"

"Always!"

But even so, the two sisters laugh loudly, pulling apart from each other just as some of Kristina's cast mates come over. Without their costumes and makeup on, Kimberly is unable to figure out who is who.

"So this is your sister?" says one, looking Kimberly up and down. "Wow, you guys really are twins! You look so much alike, well, except for the, ya' know."

Kimberly knows exactly what he's referring to. While Kristina has dark brown faux locs down to her back, Kimberly walks around with a shaved head, something she got on an impulse just two weeks ago. Before, her head looked exactly like Kristina's and if she kept it up, the two would've been identical. But even without it, the two still share the exact same features. Of dark brown skin that always get darker the more they spend out in the sun, dark brown eyes that hold all of their secrets and emotions, to their body shape and heights that always mirror each other. Though, Kimberly will tell anyone in a heartbeat that she's the taller of the two.

Kimberly and Kristina, Kim and Kris. The twin daughters of Mr. and Mrs. Westwood, that's who they are and more.

"Hi, Kimberly, Kris has told us so much about you." The blonde girls holds out her hand, smiling gently. "I'm Vera, I played the Sugar Plum Fairy."

Kimberly takes her hand and shakes it. "Hi, it's nice to meet you."

The guy joins in, he takes her hand into his. "And I'm Isaac, I played the Nutcracker."

"Nice to meet you, Isaac."

"Same to you, Kimberly."

She pulls her hand away just as Kristina looks between her friends and sister. "The three of us are going out for some drinks, to congratulate ourselves for an amazing opening. Wanna join us?"

Kimberly shakes her head. "Nah, I'm gonna head off to my hotel. Still tired from driving earlier today."

Kristina frowns. "You know you didn't have to do that," she says. "You could've came earlier or just watch tomorrow's performance."

"Sorry, couldn't do either. I had work late last night and stuff I need to do tomorrow."

The two share a look, having a whole conversation with their eyes before Kristina pouts, breaking eye contact with her sister. "Fine then! But you better make time for me tomorrow, I want to hang out with you now that you're in my city."

"Of course," Kimberly says. "We can get breakfast around ten. That works for you?"

"Make it brunch at eleven and you got yourself a deal." Vera and Isaac say bye to Kimberly, the two heading off to the exit. Kristina almost follows them before she turns back to Kimberly, stare hard and full of worry. "Be careful okay, Kim?"

Kimberly grabs her sister's hand, squeezing it gently. "I will, I promise."

. . .

She shuts the door behind her and immediately falls onto the hotel bed. While not as comfortable as the one in her family's home, it'll do for her time in the city. It was silent except for the hum of the cars outside and the muffle sounds of people in the hallway. All of it was just random noise but she took it in, breathing it in, letting the noise soak into her bones. It brought her comfort in the strangest way possible.

After a while she picked herself up, reaching down for her bookbag beside her bed. There she pulled out a thick folder, a blue notebook, and her laptop. She flipped open her laptop and turned it on, the old piece of junk groaning back to life, taking almost twenty years just to turn on. Then there was her thick folder, Kimberly popped that open as well. It was filled to the brim with letters, documents, and old newspaper clippings that dared to spill out. She paid no mind to either things, she just took out what needed to be taken out and spread the information out on her bed. When she ran out of space, she even put some of it on the wooden desk and table in her room.

The documents ranged from news clippings from a few days ago to one's that were yellowing and crumbling after fifty or so years. While the ages all varied, the overall topic was still the same: The Vampire Queen Strikes Again!

Articles that talks about seeing the woman, of how more men have fallen victim to her evilness, and how many cower because of her beauty and ruthlessness. She's said to be the most powerful vampire in all of history, so many try to either see or stop her, all have failed.

Kimberly, however, will not fail. Because she is the best vampire hunter of all times. While Kristina is the creative one of the duo, it's Kimberly who takes up a different type of physical activity, one that makes her the golden child in their parents eyes.

From the first time she could hold a fork in her hand, Kimberly has been trained to eliminate vampires. From stabbing them in a heart with a wooden stake, to beheading them, and even breaking their fangs if they try to bite: Kimberly knows it all and has even earned the title as one of the best vampire hunters in all of history.

Which explains why her family and the hunter association gave her this mission: to murder the vampire queen. For years, no one has ever seen her face until recently. Some lucky bastard was able to snap a picture of her face and quickly sent it away to the association. With the picture within their possession, they were able to track her down and get her specific location in order to end her once and for all.

Kimberly is to sneak into the queens liar, kill her followers, and then the queen herself. Simple as that, they'll even give Kimberly a team to help her. She's obedient, always does as she's told, so she accepts the mission without any hesitation. Besides, it's in the city that Kristina lives in, it gives her the perfect opportunity to visit her sister for once!

She pulls out a picture of the vampire queen, staring at it for the nth time since receiving it. It's a shot that was taken miles away, the camera zoomed in just to see her face good enough to be able to notify her. Long honey brown hair that flows down her back and a grey pants suit that she wears with such power and confidence, that even Kimberly can't help but to be amazed. And this is a picture she's looking at, not the real deal!

She places the picture onto the wooden desk with some of the other documents, stepping back to give everything one final look of approval before she picked up her laptop.

After that, Kimberly gets onto her laptop and did her usual nightly routine. She checks her emails, both her personal and business one. Checking to see if the association sent her anything else or any updates that her teammates have for her. There isn't anything, the last thing there is confirmation about her hotel that the association paid for. No emails from her team, huh. She wonders if she should reach out to them first, would email or texting be better?

Just as she decided on emailing, her phone buzzes. She checks it, expecting a drunk text from her sister, only to see someone else's name pop up.

WREN: We'll meet at 1 pm. Don't be late.

Well, there it is. A very dry text message. She responds back.

KIMBERLY: kk thx

KIMBERLY: where am i meeting u

WREN: I'll pick you up from your hotel.

KIMBERLY: just tell me where

KIMBERLY: i have plans at 11 am

KIMBERLY: i can just meet u

WREN: Where are you going tomorrow? I'll pick you up from there.

She groans at his stubbornness. She could return the energy back but she's too exhausted to do so. So she just sends him the address and clicks off her screen, tossing her phone onto her bed. Looks like she'll be going straight to work after brunch with Kristina, how fun.

She looks outside her window, taking in the scenery. There's nothing special about what she's looking at, it's just the city that she's met with, and yet it's beautiful to her. There's calmness in the busy city. With one final look, she closes the curtains, separating herself from the city that calms her.