Eight for the Outcast

Disclaimer: I do not own Devil May Cry or any of the characters

Chapter 1: Vampires don't exist

.

.

.

.

.

The news blared as the man behind the bar turned up the volume to an almost deafening decibel. Everyone, with the exception of a lean figure in a long, black leather coat, turned their attention to the broadcast.

"So far, there have been 8 murders in the city since Tuesday of this week. The police have no possible suspects as of the moment and the citizens in the areas around the murders are in a state of panic. The police are doing their best to keep the stress as low as possible," the woman reported, looking just slightly frightened herself.

"Janelle is it true that the victim's blood was all drained upon discovery?" asked a man from the studio.

Janelle cleared her throat and nodded in a professional manner, "That is true. The police are baffled at this, and are calling this the Vampire Case for now because of that evidence. There were even two puncture wounds found on each victim's neck, as if they in fact have been bitten by a vampire. Authorities believe that it is just some prank conjured up by an insane mind. We will have more on the matter in just a few"

People in the small diner began talking amongst themselves; some were worried as others just brushed it off. The food was still being handed out despite this, and it pleased the lean person at the booth near the back that the newscast wasn't going to stop the people from bringing her the meal she had ordered. Long locks of curly, dark brown hair flowed over her shoulders and down her back with choppy bangs covering her forehead. Radiant violet eyes swept the crowd in the diner with little interest. Her face had sharp, yet elegant and noble features. She looked like a model that had just come from a show in her short, black and deep purple, lacy dress under a long, black leather coat that reached her ankles. Stiletto shoes that matched the purple in her dress added length to her already long, milky legs.

One of the women behind the counter finally brought over the food that had been ordered almost an hour ago. She wouldn't have minded the wait so much if she hadn't ordered a meal that could have been prepared in less than two minutes.

"A salad with extra tomatoes and Italian dressing and a glass of Pepsi," the waitress sat the food down, "Enjoy, miss"

"Thank you," the woman sitting replied, forming a smile with shimmering lips

The waitress walked away without a second glance, trying to make her way back behind the counter through the sea of worriers. The woman in the coat took out a sleek cell phone and dialed in a number as she popped a sliced tomato into her mouth. An answer to her call came after the first ring, "Yes?" a man asked in a voice that would have had any woman get chills of pleasure by just the sound.

"Listen, Isaiah, there have been attacks in this town as well," her beautiful voice stated professionally, obviously not affected by his voice, after swallowing the tomato.

The man on the other side of the line sighed irritably at the news before speaking, "He's going to keep taking eight victims everywhere he goes until he gets back to the coven. The best thing to do is keep your identity a secret as you can, as you have been doing , and keep trying to track him before he can make it here"

The woman looked out the window and up at the moon in the sky that was partially eclipsed. She said nothing for a moment, even though she knew Isaiah was patiently waiting for a reply.

"Isaiah?"

"Yes?"
"If I can't catch him in the next town, I'm going to pay a visit to that man I told you about a year ago," she took a sip of her Pepsi, waiting for a reply.

It was Isaiah's turn to be thoughtful; she could barely make out his breathing as she waited.

"I don't encourage the notion but…" the woman could hear some other voices in the background, probably some of the others in the coven passing by his room, "Only if you can't stop the outcast in the next town ok? I have to go now. Mother is wanting to know about what is going on. Be safe Annette, alright? I don't want to lose the only sister I have left"

Annette smiled, wishing she were there to hold her brother, "I'll be fine brother, don't worry about me ok? Just look after yourself and the others until I get back, can you handle that responsibility?"

"Are you mocking me? Of course I can handle it!"

One week later…

Lady crossed her legs and looked down at the briefcase that Dante put down onto the table. The restaurant was hardly busy and this one in particular didn't have any customers that put their noses into other's businesses. She opened the case and a pleased smile stretched her lips as she saw the cash that was inside.

"It seems that every time I pay you and Trish back, more gets added to my tab," Dante sat down across from Lady who closed the briefcase, "I'm starting to wonder if this tab of yours is just a scam"

"Oh, quit complaining. If you hadn't destroyed that building in the last mission, the amount on your tab wouldn't have gone up," Lady shook her head, "The mayor of that town almost had you doing community service if I hadn't said anything"

"Next time tell the demons to show up in some open field or something then," Dante leaned back and formed a bridge with his legs up onto the edge of the table, interlocking his hands behind his head, "Besides, don't you think it's a little unfair that you come to me to take care of some of the jobs and then make me pay you for it. Where's the compensation for the work I did?"

"It would just end up being my money in the end anyway," Lady countered

The silver haired demon slayer opened his mouth to argue the point she had made, but found he couldn't. He took his legs off the edge of the table and leaned forward as the pizza he had ordered was almost to the table. Dante and Lady spent the next few minutes playfully arguing over the money situation again; Dante did so with a mouth full of pizza half the time. That was, until Lady changed the subject after the waiter had filled up Dante's glass for the third time.

"Have you heard of the events occurring in the towns nearby, Dante?" she asked, fingering the glass of ice water.

"A little bit…the Vampire Case right?"

"That's the one. You know as well as anyone that a human can't fully drain every last drop of blood from a person's body in such a short amount of time, and with just two small puncture wounds," Lady looked up from her glass of water, seeing that Dante was coming to the same conclusion she was.

"You're saying it's a demon," he finished his drink, "It does look like it, but I can't make any assumptions just yet. Vampires don't exist anyway, right?"

He only shrugged and shoved the last of the pizza into his mouth. Lady looked out the window and sighed, "True, but we can't rule out that option yet either. I'm going to look into it a little more, maybe have Trish help out"

"I hear that it's eight people in each town," so Dante was interested after all, "There's gotta be a reason behind that. Wait, am I going to be getting charged for researching too? Because if that's the case, forget it"

A devious smile played across Lady's face, her mismatched eyes sparkling, "That's a good idea," she said before laughing, "But no, I feel sorry for you so there won't be a fee"

"Remind me to keep my mouth shut about anything like that in the future. I'd really hate to have something else to pay for," Dante smirked, the two obviously joking with each other.

"Trust me, I'll think of something else," Lady returned as she stood up, "I have to go now, I'm supposed to be meeting a client in about an hour. Keep a lookout just in case victims start showing up around here, alright? If I find anything first, I'll let you know"

With that, the woman headed out of the restaurant. Dante heard the purr of the woman's motorcycle before the motor roared and she sped away. He was about to leave until he saw Enzo show up, who waved as soon as he noticed Dante. The pudgy man made his way to Dante's table and sat where lady had previously been.

"Have you heard about the Vampire Case yet, Dante?" he asked, removing his hat and setting it on the table.

"I was just talking with Lady about it, why?" Dante asked, not too thrilled by Enzo's presence when he had wanted to be alone for the rest of the night.

"Well, a body has just turned up; about forty-five minutes go…well, forty-seven if you want to get all technical," Enzo informed, his face red and sweaty from more than likely running around looking for the demon slayer, "The weird thing is that it happened in a crowded club. They found the guy's body on the bathroom floor all shriveled up"

Dante's eyes narrowed; so now the attacker was in the same city as him. Now waiting for him wasn't a problem, it was finding him. He stood up and grabbed Rebellion, which had been placed next to his seat.

"Enzo, you get the bill, I'm heading out," Dante made his way out of the door before the meaty man, still sitting, could argue.

*************

The hills of her stilettos echoed against the tile of the bathroom floors. The door to the men's restroom was locked so she could examine the body without interruption. She kneeled down next to the shriveled up form up a man in his twenties who now looked well into his hundreds. His face was frozen in a silent scream with his head lolled to the side. 'Vampire Case…They have no idea just how fitting that is…no idea,' she shook her head and stood up to her full height, which easily could have been measured at 5'7". Her long, dark brown ringlets bounced as she turned her head towards the open stalls, deciding to look inside to see if there was the small chance of a clue being left behind. However, just as she had figured, there were none. There wasn't even a hint that a struggle had taken place here. Just a poor, shriveled up man who didn't deserve what had happened. She adverted her violet gaze over to his form with sorrow. She didn't like seeing people, innocent people, dying.

Deciding that there was nothing else to do here, she left from where she had came after unlocking the bathroom door. Jumping up with inhuman grace, she left through the opening in the ceiling and moved the tile back over to hide that she had ever came through that way. She made her way to the roof and pulled out her cell phone, the wind toying with her curls and tugging at her long leather coat. It rang twice before her brother answered with the usual 'yes?'

"He's made it to this town, before I could even make it to that man. I couldn't catch him in the last town, either. I didn't even catch a glimpse of him…nothing at all. He's getting faster, Isaiah"

"This worries me," she could almost see him frowning, "Go to that guy as soon as you can. Tell him we can pay him whatever he wants…that we just need help. With him helping us, we stand a better chance against the outcast. Damn it all!"

She winced at Isaiah's sudden outburst, "Calm down. Getting angry will only blind you from what you really need to be thinking about. I'll go to that man tonight since it isn't too late, you just concentrate on the duties I gave to you, understand?"

"Understood," he breathed, "Love you Annette, talk to you next time"

"I love you too brother, now get some rest"

**************

Both Trish and Lady had appeared at Dante's office after the incident, just like he thought they would. He leaned against his desk and scanned over the news article that Trish had printed out just moments ago. The news of the murder in the club had been posted only minutes after it had been discovered. It turns out that both women found out about the incident right after he had left Enzo at the restaurant. The paper held no new information about a possible suspect or how they were draining the blood from their victims so fast.

"I've noticed something, besides there always being the eight victims," Trish spoke, "There are always three women victims and five men. And, they are always murdered in the same order; one man, one woman, two men, two women, and then two more men. Always in that order. This mean's that tomorrow's next victims will be a woman"

"Really?" Lady asked, "I never noticed"

"It's obvious that the authorities haven't caught on yet. Half of them aren't very observant anyway," Dante put the paper down, "So, what do you have planned ladies?"

Lady crossed her arms, "Well, we can't exactly try to be bait for this guy. His attacks are pretty random. The best thing to do is just keep a really close eye on this town"

"I have to agree," Trish nodded, some of her long blonde hair falling over her shoulder, "But we still need to be careful. We don't know exactly what we are up against. It is best to play it safe"

The woman that resembled Dante's late mother turned her gaze over to Dante, her blue eyes telling him to follow the same advice. He only shrugged, "I'll do my best". Trish not only resembled his mother, but sometimes unintentionally played the part, too.

"Well, I got a small job to get done tonight," Dante stood away from his desk, "If you find anything else out, let me know"

He grabbed his long red coat and slipped it on before grabbing Rebellion. The two women followed him out side before going their separate ways into the night. Dante watched until the two were out of sight before he decided to continue walking away from the Devil May Cry.

"Please, wait!"

Dante stopped and looked around for the source of the voice. Light footsteps and the fluttering of fabric could only be heard, the silver haired demon slayer not able to pinpoint where it was coming from. He could hear a woman's heels right before a slim figure jumped down in front of him, her ringlets floating for an instant in the air. Glowing violet eyes gazed up at Dante as she stood up to her full height. He was prepared to grab out a gun, should she decide to attack.

"You're the handy man that will take any dirty job, right?"

So she came with the password.

"More or less," Dante couldn't exactly tell what the woman was. She wasn't demon, that was for sure.

"My name is Annette, I've come to you seeking assistance against the man who is responsible for the Vampire Cases," she greeted, "I'll have my brother wire about five million to you by the end of the night, and other six when this incident is over with"

Dante whistled at the amount, realizing that the murder couldn't just be an average demon attacking humans. It was either that or she was just really generous with the pay. Either way, he wasn't going to complain. Annette was patiently waiting for a response.

"I'll take it, but right now I have to get to another job. You can follow along and tell me or you can wait in the Devil May Cry until I come back, your call"

Annette nodded, her dark curls bouncing, "I'll follow, it'll be faster that way. But what's the job?"

"Just some small demons trying run a family out of their house, nothing special"

She looked at him as if that type of job was beneath a man of his caliber, but said nothing as she started to follow him. The city lights that lit up the night sparkled around the city like earthly stars. People walked past Dante and Annette either sluggishly or hurriedly, both occasionally bumping shoulders with them on the narrow sidewalk. At one point, Annette was forced to quickly dodge a beer can that had been thrown out from one of the bars, the customer obviously drunk and mad. When she looked to her side to see Dante, she found that he was already ahead of her. Annette swiftly closed the distance between them with inhuman grace, appearing beside him like some apparition.

"Do you mind if I ask what you are exactly?" Dante questioned

The woman let out a small chuckle, "You wouldn't believe me if I told you, nobody would. They'd think I was crazy," she held her smile as she looked up at the city lights with an almost childish delight; "I'm going to miss these sights once this whole ordeal is over. It's nice to finally be away from that mansion, even if only for a little while"

"Your parents have you locked up or somethin' to protect you against the big bad wolves?" Dante joked

"Funny and ironic, but no. It's just to protect the whole coven, that's all. If people discovered us, they'd hunt us down for sure," she looked a little dismayed, "We aren't bad people, but human's are quick to make assumptions just by who and what people are without getting to know them"

Thirty minutes of silence elapsed after the conversation before the two arrived at the address Dante had been given. However, what he saw was an abandoned warehouse when he was expected a house where a family had been living. He repeated the address in his mind as he looked at the street name once more and the number spray painted onto the side of the rusted building in blocky numbers. Annette looked up at him, just as confused as he was.

"Are you sure this is the place? I thought you said it was a house?" she looked back at the building

"I think the caller is also my target for tonight," Dante scratched the back of his head, "happens a lot. Let's go in and find that suicidal bastard"

Dante slid open one of the large rusty doors, the wheels screeching against the tracks from years of neglect. A mammoth of a rat ran by at the sudden intrusion towards a hole in the opposite wall and squeezed its huge body through the opening. Annette walked in ahead Dante before he stopped sliding the huge door open. Both glanced up at the only light that was lit, a small lamp dangling from a high steel beam in the center of the building. Even though it was bright up above, down below it cast an eerie light on a shriveled up body of a woman.

"Damn! He's moving faster than before!" Annette cursed, clenching a slender hand into a fist.

"Were we called here just to see this?" Dante sighed irritably

"No," a voice echoed, "That's just the welcome"

Dark shadows began fluttering across Dante's and Annette's visions before they saw a tall man standing under the light next to the murdered woman. Shoulder length, dark blonde hair glistened in the shallow light cast down from the lone lamp up above as piercing red as stared at the two across the room with a lust for blood. A face that should have looked like a handsome angel's was contorted with malice as a white suit seemingly tried to portray a hint of false innocence. However, the suit itself was stained with some of the man's murderous intent as some spots of blood could be seen. With speed that not even Dante could match, the man was in front of Annette and pressing her against the wall. While his hands were around her slender neck, he scowled at the woman before turning an angry face towards Dante who was prepared to shoot.

"Do that and I break her neck. And don't think I'm bluffing," he sneered.

"L..ouis," Annette gasped, her hands firmly gripping his wrists.

"Still remember my name? I'm touched," his expression held as he turned his red eyes back to her.

Dante was itching to pull out Ebony and Ivory, but Annette's life depended on his decision right now, "What are you trying to accomplish by doing all this blondie?"

"Why, it's revenge! Simply that," Louis laughed insanely, his hands still around Annette's neck, "Plus, I enjoy drinking all of that blood I had missed out on for over 400 hundred years! The act of taking in all that blood is simply intoxicating. The young and rebellious taste the best"

"How long…do you think you can…get away with this?" Annette struggled to breathe, her fingernails digging into Louis' wrists

"For as long as I feel like it"

Annette smirked and chuckled, "Not as long as you're close to me"

Louis was completely bewildered as to what she meant by that, even when it was clear to him that he had the upper hand in this situation.

"You weren't there when my powers developed you imbecile," an instant after those words had left her mouth, her hands sprouted fire. She held onto Louis for a moment longer to let the flames spread up part of his arm. The man screamed out in pain as he watched the fire dance up the sleeve of his suit before he was able to pull away.

"Bitch! You'll pay for that! Once I'm done here, the coven is next and I'll wipe them all out!" Louis cradled his arm and disappeared.

Dante watched as the flames slowly vanished from Annette's hands without leaving a single mark. She rubbed where Louis had grabbed her, his grip still stinging, "I guess I failed to explain to you the situation on the way here like I had promised," violet eyes met with ice blue, "It's a good thing you didn't shoot, or you would have caught the ricochet"

"I'm taking it that the lunatic we just saw was the man you want me to go after," Dante took another glance at the shriveled up body in the center of the room, "But I need you to explain to me what is going on and why. And what do you mean ricochet?"

The woman dusted her coat off, "Let's go back to your shop. It's probably best if I explain things there so there aren't any interruptions"

Slowly, the woman's goddess like beauty was beginning to make sense as the situation sunk in.

.

.

.

.

.

A.N. Well, here's the first chapter of my new Devil May Cry fanfic. I usually don't like to post stories unless they are 100% finished, but I thought I'd make an exception since I haven't done anything in so long. I'm still trying to improve on my writing, so if you have any constructive criticism I welcome it =D.

Thank you so much to both Tori-chan and Deb-chan!! Thank you for proofreading my stories Tori-chan! And thank you so much for your support Deb-chan!

I hope you can look forward to the future chapters of this fanfic (and keep your fingers crossed that I can finish it lol)