Currently Untitled

-THEN-

.Syracuse, New York
July 17, 2006.

"What the fuck Aerick!? Why the hell can't I go with you!? You are so....ARGH! You can't always play solo hero!"

A woman about the age of twenty-one paced around the white walled hotel room, the expression on her face easily described in two ways-angry and frustrated. Frustrated about the fact that no matter what she said, he would not hear a single word, angry about the fact that, yet again, she was being told...no, ordered to stay behind. Apparently he seemed to think that whatever Aerick Jakob Riley said was law. In the four years that she had been hunting with him, this was the fifth time that he had made her sit on the sidelines while he kicked ass and took the glory of the kill all for himself. When it came to hunts that were pretty big, they always seemed to be conveniently "too dangerous" for her to involve herself. However, weren't all hunts potentially dangerous as they put their lives on the line to rid the world of one more supernatural baddy? Either way, her brother didn't seem to want to hear any excuse or explanation. So much for being a team.

"Mack, you know full well why I don't want you going! Just...stay here and don't do anything stupid! These things are WAY too dangerous, and you don't know how to deal with them yet!"

Running a hair through his shoulder length raven hair, he sighed loudly. He was about to go out there and deal with quite a few vampires on his own, and now he knew he was in for the wrath of the little sister to deal with as well. She never seemed to understand that everything he did was to protect her, to avoid placing her in highly dangerous situations. Hell, he didn't even want her coming along and involving herself in this life to begin with, but he knew she'd find a way regardless. Of course, this swayed his decision about whether or not to take her under his wing and teach her the tools of the trade, but she still had a lot to learn and dealing with vampires was one of those things.

"Well maybe if you actually GAVE me a chance, I'd be able to learn! I SO am not going to sit on the sidelines while you go waste that many vampires on your own, that's suicide Aerick!"

She stopped pacing, glaring at her brother slightly as if to show that she was putting her foot down on this one. He meant business...so did she. Then again-no matter how much she fought-she had a feeling that he was going to try and force her to sit this one out, which seemed to anger her even more. She was twenty-one, not twelve and she had proven several times that she was more than capable of holding her own in any situation. Hell, he was the one who had trained her and she had become nearly as good as he was in a short amount of time.

"This is not up for discussion. That's it, the end...stay here and don't even think about involving yourself. Just...humor me and listen for once, Mack?"

She watched as he left, ending the argument right then and there with a slight slam of the door. He was pissed and it was all too easy to tell. Good, at least he felt the same way she did. Waiting a good ten minutes or so, she grabbed a few weapons and a small backpack before slipping out the door. If he honestly thought for one moment that she was going to just sit this one out, he was dead wrong. Plus, she was looking forward to wiping that grin off his face when she kicked some major vampire ass when he thought she wasn't capable of doing so.

Even in the late evening, the heat was unbearable. Why did the weather pick that night-of all nights-to be horribly hot and humid? Mackaela pressed her back against a wall, wiping the sweat off of her forehead. "You're not ready for something this dangerous", he said. "Don't even try to involve yourself, just stay in the hotel". Who the hell did he think he was? He never had a problem with her going after vengeful spirits and other "dangerous" things; why not these? Honestly, how hard was it to kill a vampire? It's as simple as stabby stabby, ha you're dead. So, why was he being such an over-protective son of a bitch?

She grumbled under her breath as she pushed off of the wall with a slight brush of her palms, continuing her walk to the location of the vampires' nest. If she remembered correctly, it was only a few blocks away from the hotel in some abandoned warehouse that had once served as a factory of sorts. Why the vampires chose that instead of something a bit more remote, she didn't know but she also wasn't curious enough to exactly want to ask one. Walking briskly, trying to clear her thoughts so she could stay focused, she brushed past a few passersby as she kept her head lowered so as not to draw too much attention to herself. Turning the corner she remembered turning earlier in the day with her brother, she glanced up as the warehouse slowly came into sight.

Autumn brown orbs settling on the abandoned warehouse, she arched a brow slightly at the vampires' choice of hideout. It looked more like a spot for a bunch of college kids to throw a rave or a group of kiddies to have a cool clubhouse or something, not a residence for fourteen vampires. From that point on, she would need to be extra careful. Not only did she have to avoid being seen by all fourteen vampires at once, she also had to avoid being caught by Aerick. Damn, if he found out that she followed him with every intention on wasting the bloodsuckers herself, he would flip shit.

With a backpack filled with enough stakes to pitch a circus tent, she looked for any way that she could get in. Finally finding a poorly boarded up window, she barely managed to squeeze through; landing on the cold concrete floor as quietly as she could so as not to bring any unwanted attention to herself. Taking a moment to allow her eyes to adjust to the dim lighting, she began her walk through the warehouse; taking cautious, calculated steps. The entire time, she was trying to think of a plan, a way to take these things out without being dragged away in a body bag after it was all said and done. Hell, even if she and Aerick had been hunting together, two against fourteen weren't really good odds at all. Her heart racing, she kept as silent as she could, eyes scanning the area for any movement.

"You wouldn't be planning on killing us with THOSE, would you?"

The vampire reached for the bag, snatching it right off her back. She froze, unable to move either from fear or from the fact that she was dumb enough to look right in his eyes. The glint in his eyes was frightening enough but, the smirk was even worse. Opening the bag and turning it upside-down, he glared at Mackaela as the stakes fell to the floor.

"You pathetic human! You have been watching too many movies, staking us in the heart won't kill us!"

He smirked, slapping her across the face so hard that she fell to the ground, scrambling to get away. He quickly caught up, grabbing her by the hair and dragging her away toward the other side of the building. It seemed like there was some sort of friggin' vampire convention with how many were sitting there, looking at her with the look that said one thing...dinner. This was not looking too good for her, it was bad enough that there was more vampires than she thought and, only one of her but, she was already in their grasp, their captive and, probably their next meal.

"Doesn't look like we'll be going far for our meal tonight. It's apparently been delivered."

The vampire practically threw her down to the ground as if she were a piece of steak being thrown to the dogs. Then again, it wasn't that much of a difference. This was just great, why didn't she wait at the hotel like Aerick had told her to? Why did she think she could go after these things by herself? Now, she was going to die because of her cockiness, because of her pride. The vampire kicked her in the stomach, causing her to double over in pain. Closing her eyes tight, she was ready to accept her morbid fate. What else could she do?

"Get the fuck away from my sister you blood sucking son of a bitch!"

His voice seemed to echo throughout the building, her brother had finally decided to make his presence known. As much as she knew he'd give her hell after everything, she was glad to hear his voice, knowing that everything was going to be alright now since he knew how to waste the damned things. She pulled herself up just in time to see six or seven vampires come at him at once. He fought as best as he could, sword swinging, knocking heads off one by one. Eventually, there were too many of them, he was getting tired and it was too easy to tell. Four more rushed at him, a couple of them holding him still. She struggled to stand, wanting nothing more than to run to the aide of her brother, but it was too late. Everything seemed to happen at once; two vampires restraining her, not allowing her to break free no matter how much she fought, and the rest going at her brother, ripping his throat out with ease. Gazing at her brother's lifeless form as it fell to the ground, she could do nothing more than scream.

"Aerick!"