"See anything down there, Scarlett?" yelled Spencer from the surface; his voice echoing off the walls of the abandoned cellar. I held the tiny, dim light as firmly as I could, trying not to tremble. I saw nothing but broken crates and rotten, wooden shelves. What looked like broken wine glasses were all over the concrete floor, cobwebs were almost in every corner and the sound of scurring rats echoed. The damp smell of the cellar made me nauseous; I held my breath and looked up toward the cellar entrance.

"I don't see anything, Spence; can I come back up now? The smell down here is gonna make me puke." I heard a sigh of disappointment and frustration. Though I could only see his silhouette, his posture made it seem like he was giving up.

"Alright," he said, "come back up, but be careful. The stairs are wooden and they don't look very stable." He walked away from sight and I began to make my way up the rotting stairs. Even a slight wrong move and I could be as good and dead. The underground cellar stretched down at least 2 stories. Although the fall really isn't far, the fact that I could fall on my head made it deadly.

Step by step, closer and closer to my exit. The stairs made a noisy creak, the kind that makes it sound like it's about to break in any second. I heard my heart pounding louder and louder; a cold sweat trickling down my back and forehead. Finally, I reached the not-so-green grass on the surface and quickly threw myself on the ground before the last stair completely gave way. I lay on my back on the wet grass, I smiled with accomplishment.

I closed my eyes for a split second and the sunlight was suddenly gone. I opened my eyes only to find Spencer standing above me.

"Scar, what are you doing?"

I closed my eyes again. "Resting…"

He grabbed me by my arms and pulled me up to my feet. "You don't have time to rest right now, neither do I. If you want to rest, we have to search the entire area for those damn leeches first unless you want to die in your sleep—"

"We've been scouting the area since morning and we found nothing! How much longer do we have to search before we work ourselves to exhaustion?" I asked. Spencer groaned, but said nothing and walked away. He knew I was right and really saw no point to continue the argument.

I closed my eyes once more and took a deep breath. It was hard to believe how fast and easily our world came crashing down. Not just for Spencer and I, but for everyone. All thanks to the very beings that weren't even supposed to exist.

Vampires.

Three years ago, murders began to take place in small towns, then suburbs, then cities, but these murders were strange to begin with. The victim's eyes were always vacant white and their bodies were completely drained of blood. The murders escalated to the point where no one knew who or what was responsible. Then came the message.

Every TV, radio, news broadcasting system…everything was taken over by that one message announced by a man with pale skin and long dark hair named Vladimir Coals. At least we all thought he was a man.

"Good evening everyone. My name is Vladimir Coals and I will be taking over this broadcasting system of yours for the time being. As you are all aware, there have been many murders recently across the world and I thought it would only be appropriate if I go ahead and tell you that I am responsible. But of course, I didn't do it alone." His once dark eyes brightened to a crystal blue and smiled evilly. That single smirk sent shivers down everyone's spines. "Come on out, my children," He continued," its dinner time." The TV screens cut off and there was nothing but static. You could feel that the world fell silent, but not for long.

Blood curdling screams and bodies dropping, drained of their life liquid. Vampires came from almost every direction. Not just in our little city, but the entire world. Massive armies of them came flooding into unsuspecting cities and towns. In just a matter of weeks, the human race was in the mercy of the vampires.

Unfortunately, these weren't the vampires from the Dracula movies; not the ones that burn in the sunlight and hiss at the sight of a cross. These vampires were able to walk in sunlight without even getting sunburn, they can drink holy water if they wanted to and they laughed at the sight of a frightened priest holding a cross like a shield. So far, no one knows how to kill one. I honestly don't think anyone will ever get close enough to find out without being killed first.

Well, no one but my brother and I, that is.

My name is Scarlett Joan Stone and my brother, Spencer Stone, and I are vampire hunters; the only hunters so far. We've been hunters since the invasion started and we were pretty damn good at our job. About a week after the invasion, I was attacked by a vampire and just out of quick reaction; I shot the leech in the head with a near-by gun. Little did I know that the gun was equipped with silver bullets. It was then that Spencer and I found out that the only known way to kill these creatures was by injecting silver into the blood. If my mother saw me now, she wouldn't see the same little girl that she remembered.

Before the invasion started, we lived with our mother, Joan; hence my middle name. We never really knew our father and we were her only family. She raised us like no other and knew us better than we knew ourselves.

Unfortunately when I was ten, she was diagnosed with lung cancer. Spencer and I did everything we could to take care of her. A week before the invasion, she died in her sleep at the age of forty-three. Spencer, being the oldest son at 23, took over the household and what was left of the expenses. I was so heartbroken; I couldn't eat or sleep without her running through my head. My mother was everything I had and so much more. I couldn't even imagine my life without her.

But now, I have no choice but to do so. Spencer and I have been fending for ourselves since the invasion of the leeches; that's what Spencer calls them. We don't usually stay in one place for long; we only go where the people needed us. We were known throughout almost the entire country not only by the humans, but also the vampires. We have been hunted down countless times and, of course, our lives are always in danger and we have to stay alert at all times. But the most important rule we abide by is not to trust anyone; not even humans. There are many humans that not only work for the vampires, but also kill for them for promises to become a fellow vampire. That's why we both made a vow not to tell a living soul how we kill the vampires for fear that they would find a way to reverse the poison. By then, we wouldn't know how to get rid of them and have to find another way, which puts me at risk.

According to Spencer and many others, my appearance resembles that of a vampire. I, too, have pale skin, pale blue eyes and small, but noticeable, 'fangs'. Although the vampires can in fact sense a human, it isn't the skin that they smell, but the blood. Some vampires, while feeding, consume so much human blood that sometimes they would be mistaken as a human by their fellow kin. Not only because of my appearance, but also because of my thin and tall stature, I can inject myself with a reasonable amount of vampire blood and have it stay in my blood stream for a couple hours to a day. If I inject too much, it's possible that I will be turned. Normally, it's not a vampire's blood that turns a human, but the poison from their fangs; but that does not mean that the blood isn't deadly. Most humans would die from injecting vampire blood straight into their blood stream. Thankfully, my body can sustain the blood and then some. As long as it is in my system, I can temporarily assume the same powers as the vampires. A very good side effect if I do say so myself.

Though I was only eighteen, even Spencer says that I'm the best fighter and shot he's ever seen, and he would know; he was in the Marines.

Right now my main goal is to find the very bastard that brang the humans to their knees and get rid of him once and for all. Watch out, Vladimir. I'm coming for you.

*PLZ R&R AND TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK! :)*