The Hunt.
Prologue
In the sky finger painted orange and red, the sun was setting; changing what had a been a rare, gorgeous day of heat back into smoky darkness. The wind whipped through the trees, demolishing leaves and rattling still branches. Stood upon a high boulder, a cloaked figure watched the sun fall into oblivion and behind a gleaming city full of colour and sound.
The hooded figure descended from the rock, splashing into the surrounding river and preparing for the journey onwards. While the city had seemed lush with life from afar, upon closer inspection it was bare, with few people milling around the trash-strewn streets, and many lights taking over the abandoned roads.
Travelling deeper into the maze of buildings found the figure facing a small bar that looked to have seen better days. With hesitant steps but a strong hand, Isabella Swan reached out to pull open the door, only to be forced back into the wall by the blunt force of the door swinging outwards.
Gasping in pain, Isabella clutched at her ribs beneath her cloak, her breath breaking out in harsh gasps over her parted lips. Two men wrestled each other to the ground to her right, throwing punches at every available opportunity. Cloak swishing behind her, Isabella walked briskly past them and into the dark, dank depths of the bar.
Despite the creeping presence of nightfall, there were few patrons inside and the bartender threw Isabella a surprised glance from the corner of his eye. Making her way over, Bella sat upon a bar stool and waited quietly to be served. The balding bartender briefly washed a glass with his dirty rag before banging it unceremoniously in front of her.
"Hood comes off if you want to be served, boy," the man rasped, his throat seeming to revolt against words.
Isabella sighed deeply, waiting for the ringing of the glass upon the wood to stop before lowering the hood of her thick, woollen cloak. The bartender assessed her with small, bloodshot eyes and then leered, the right corner of his mouth kicking up and revealing an unpleasant set of rotten teeth.
She watched as he took note of her thick, brown curls and scattered freckles. His small eyes bulged to take in the unpleasant and fading scar above her left eye and the way her lips didn't quite match. The look on his face repulsed Isabella, internally causing her to cringe away from such a leer, but on the outside, she did not flinch.
"Oh-ho. Well, young miss, whit' de ye want? Ye'll need to be showing me some identification if you'll be wanting yourself a beverage, mind." The man grinned and leant forward from his side of the bar, watching Isabella intently.
The young woman grimaced. "I don't require a beverage, just a room to rent for tonight."
Nodding his head, he grabbed ahold of the glass and began to scrub it with the dirty rag once more, smearing dust deep into the base. Isabella's lip curled and she vowed not to ever have a drink in this place, no matter how long she stayed. "I see young miss. Well I'd normally ask wer' yer' parents are but I'll no bother. Only room we 'ave available is on the top floor."
The young lady snorted indelicately. "Of course. That will do, thank you."
The bartender beamed, revealing even more of his ruined teeth. "Fantasti' Well miss, that'll be thirty dolla's for the night, and tha'll includes the breakfast too. I assure ya' our chef is quite the cook."
Bella repressed her next lip curl and simply nodded. "I'm sure they are. Here." She dug into the pocket of her cloak and handed over the required amount of money for her stay, and in exchange he dug into his pocket and fished out a rusty key with a number four engraved into it.
She took the key quickly, eager to call it a night and hide away in a relatively safe place. She was interrupted by rather a mucus sounding cough, courtesy of the bartender, and so turned back to face him with a raised eyebrow and thin mouth. "Yes?"
"I'll be needing ya' name… for the book o'course."
"Of course," she placated. "It's Bella."
Turning her back on him once more, and ignoring the feel of his eyes pinning, and following her, Isabella made her way to the doors labelled 'apartments' with a stiff back. She would have taken the elevator, had it not been broken but the lack of cleanliness left little to be surprised about in terms of maintenance.
After climbing the steep, worn staircases to her room, Bella finally reached the door labelled with a number four; unlocked it, and let herself in. Ensuring she locked it behind her, she glanced around and took in her 'room.' The bed was tiny but fortunately, she was tiny enough to fit, and there was a similarly tiny bathroom separated by a thin wall.
Walking back into the 'room' she murmured to herself, "why am I not surprised?"
She threw down her small set of keys onto the wooden table, sending up a cloud of dust in protest, and walked over to the window, gripping the heavy curtains and preparing to yank them shut. A glimmer caught her eye and Bella looked down into the dark alley beneath her window, her brown eyes finding and focusing on the woman below.
The woman was stunning, and the glimmer that had caught Bella's eye was her flaming red hair which fell in tight curls across creamy shoulders and highlighted her gold dress. As Bella admired the sleek neck and soft collar bones, she noticed that the woman raised her hands very slowly into the air.
Isabella's heart stuttered, believing she had been caught in her admiration when she noticed the gun. The gun pointed right at the red heads gold dress. Dropping the curtains, Bella flew out of her room, ripping open the lock and door, pounding down the staircases and past the bald headed bartender.
His shout of surprise followed her out the door, curling over the pounding of her heart and sending her anxiety levels spiking. "We close in twenty, if yer not back, yer not getting in!"
As Bella screeched to a grinding halt on the street, the cold night air burning her cheeks, she felt her heart lurch in fear. The lamplights that she had seen from her window, previously flooding the streets, were all off and the roads were plunged into darkness. She was swamped in it, and the thick, heavy night pressed in on her, cutting off the rational voice telling her to scream.
Cracking her neck and preparing for a fight, Isabella set her jaw and began to sneak down the dark alleyway. Squinting in the darkness, she found the spot where the red head had been, expecting to find a dead body, but there was nothing but empty space. Searching the ground for clues, Bella found nothing and retreated further in.
Crunching made her pulse pound before she realised it had been her that had stepped on broken glass. Thankfully her shoe had protected her foot from being pierced by it but didn't protect goosebumps of awareness flaring over her skin. Whoever had been holding a gun earlier, knew she was here now.
Holding still in the darkness for several heartbeats, Bella warily watched her visible surroundings, all too aware that her back was exposed. When no one came out of the shadows to attack her she took another step forward and stopped again at the sound of another noise. What was that?
She cocked her head to the side, trying to decipher the sound and comprehend the meaning of it. Sobbing? Coughing? Crying? No, it didn't match. It was brutal, primal… hunger… eating… drinking. Bella froze. Slurping. It was the sound of someone slurping because they were enjoying a meal.
Another step in and her foot brushed against a cool object, but Isabella already knew what it was before she looked down. Because she already knew what she was about to find, and she was already prepared when she picked up the gun, and it was covered in warm blood. The blood coated her palm and she dropped it in disgust.
The heavy metal crashed violently onto the concrete ground and took Bella's pulse with it. Wanting to run but rooted to the spot, she was frozen solid. A vicious breeze whipped past her, stinging her soft skin and Bella hissed in surprise, pulled from her frozen stupor. She knew what scene she had found; she'd grown up learning all about them after all.
Standing tall, Isabella watched a spot in the darkness and did not flinch when a single light set the alley ablaze and washed over the red head. With swinging hips and feisty confidence, the red head prowled out of the shadows with both hair and eyes on fire. Matching crimson stained her gold dress and creamy skin.
Taking a single handkerchief from the breast support of her dress, the demon wiped the mess away from her mouth and smirked at Bella. "It seems you have disturbed me. Lucky for you, I was done."
Isabella grimaced, aware what awful sounds the wounded gun-wielding man would have been making had he been left with venom spiralling through his veins. "It seems I did," Bella responded flippantly.
The redhead's eyes flared in wonder at Bella's nerve. Putting one spiked heel in front of the other, she walked like a model on the runway to where Bella stood and brazenly stroked over her cheek with ice cold fingers. Cursing internally, Bella flinched. The redhead laughed breathily, her blood scented breath washing over Bella's face.
"What do you want?" Isabella asked, jerking violently from the redhead's grasp.
"Answer mine first: why are you here?" The demon bit out.
Bella fixed her jaw. "I thought you were in trouble, I had come to help… It seems I tried to help the wrong… person."
"How noble."
Isabella couldn't determine if she was being sarcastic or genuine so she waited for the redhead to talk again, which she promptly did. "Oh well. I suppose I'll have to end you."
The demon's lips peeled back, revealing razor sharp teeth and her feral eyes. Bella jumped in quickly, diverting her attention. "I'm looking for someone."
"Yes sugar, we all are," she smirked.
Bella rolled her eyes. "No. I'm looking for someone supernatural, like you."
The redhead's eyes flared again, and Bella knew this to mean interest. "Really? And you know what I am, I take it?"
Bella nodded firmly. "And I know you couldn't give two shits about helping me, but I can make it worth your while," she bargained.
When the demon spoke again, she seemed to be only consulting herself. "There is something about you… You're not afraid of me; never were. You know what I am, what I'm capable of, and yet… but how? So many, many questions." She paused to finger a lock of Isabella's hair before whispering, "what's your name, little one?"
The light above the two women flickered, sparkling in the demon's red eyes and off her sharp teeth. "Bella."
Tugging her hair as leverage, the redhead brought Bella as close as she physically could until their lips brushed and she could count her eyelashes individually. "The reason you aren't dead is because you've gained my attention, Bella. As long as I'm entertained, you stay alive."
Bella wanting to nod, but was afraid it would cause them to outright kiss and she was positive those fangs were going to tear the flesh of her lower lip. The red head wrapped Bella's single curl around her finger and grinned.
"My name is Victoria."
AN: Massive thanks to my beta Cheri!.