Emma Swan was not afraid of the dark. She found no fear in the shadowed alleys that lived at night, no anxiety in getting a drink of water at midnight without flicking on the light switches as she went. For Emma had learned long ago that darkness was not the thing to fear.
Of course, it hadn't always been that way. As a child the dark had terrified her. Foster homes didn't have parents to tell her there were no monsters under the bed or night lights to scare away the shadows. Instead, she was left to stay awake at night to watch and make sure that nothing in them moved.
There was only one foster family that gave her a nightlight, only one set of parents that tucked her in and checked inside of the closet and under the bed so that she knew for certain nothing waited in the shadows. She could still picture the night light even now, as vivid as the day that she arrived at their home. It was shaped like a crown, its plastic covering pink so that as the light shined through, it cast a colored glow over her room.
She used to think that if only they had kept that pink light for themselves, that if they had left a light on in their room that night, then the monsters wouldn't have gotten them. That she wouldn't have had to lay awake that night, starring at the pink glow of a meaningless light listening to their screams. Wouldn't have had to hold back her own as she heard footsteps outside of her door, the painstakingly slow turn on a doorknob, as she laid there waiting for the monsters to get her too. She maybe wouldn't have had to spend the past twenty seven years wondering why the damned creature left before killing her too, why it suddenly stopped and vanished into the night, leaving her still breathing, the blood still running freely through her veins.
For Emma Swan had learned long ago not to fear the darkness, but to fear the creatures that hid in it.
The place was surprisingly busy for a Tuesday night. She had thought that for a small town with a name like Storybrooke, and a bar name equally as cheesy that the bar wouldn't have had many customers.
Apparently, she had been wrong. Emma grumbled to herself as she sat in the corner of the small building occupying a booth tucked in the back of the room. The table was seemingly empty to the casual onlooker. Sitting in the shadows as she was, and the table half obscured from view already by a large pool table, it made the perfect hiding place.
Not that she was hiding exactly. Watching, was more of the appropriate term, waiting even. If there was one thing that she had learned over the past ten years was that the creatures were predictable. They would always go after two things above all others. Women, and booze.
Given the choice Emma would have never stepped foot into a town by the name of Storybrooke if she could help it, never would have considered it. The fact that there had been four deaths in the past month and a half all deemed an animal attack and an increasing number of disappearances had been enough to persuade her. She shifted in her seat, trying to casually adjust her belt that held multiple wooden stakes as well as a gun tucked into the waistband of her jeans.
The opening of the door caught her attention, as she looked up anxiously taking in the new patron of the bar, wondering if they would be the one she was looking for.
The first thing she could make out was dark hair. It was the color of nighttime, she thought, if he stood outside she was almost certain he would disappear entirely. His clothing would have helped with that matter. He wore slim dark jeans, fitting down into a pair of black leather boots. His buttoned shirt was black as well, thought more of it seemed to be unbuttoned than it was buttoned, and a black leather jacket topped it all off, shrouding him in complete darkness.
In fact that only color she could see on him were his eyes. They were a deep blue, the color almost off-putting or ill-fitting for a man that held no color.
Sharp blue eyes suddenly turned and meet hers. She stiffened in her seat as their gazes locked, wondering for a moment how he had been able to sense her peering at him, sitting in the dark.
He waved off the person at his side who had been attempting to have a conversation with him, before turning and striding over to her table, never breaking eye contact the entire way. It was then that she realized why he had been able to detect her gaze, as he moved with a languid elegance, a quickness and grace to every step he took, almost predatory.
Reaching the table quickly, he took her in with greedy eyes, before speaking.
"What's a woman like you doing hiding in the back of a bar?" His voice was deep and accented, and she found herself momentarily lost in the sound of it.
"Who said I was hiding?" She responded, raising an eye brow at him as he grinned.
"Ah, just the darkness you were sitting in, and my old friend called isolation."
"So wanting to be alone and hiding are the same thing?" She countered, watching as he slowly sunk into the bench seat across from her, leaning closer to her as he did so.
"Darling, a beautiful woman doesn't come to a bar to avoid company, she comes to seek it." He drew out the word it, letting the sound linger in the air heavy between them. She paused for a moment, considering her options before leaning forward as well, watching as his eyes drifted to her low cut blouse.
"Maybe I was just waiting for the right kind." His eyes darkened at that, drinking her in hungrily.
"And what kind would that be?" She wetted her lips before responding, seeing his eyes track the movement.
"Wouldn't you like to know." He arched an eyebrow at that.
"I would, had you not already found the right company." He said smirking at her. She chuckled darkly.
"That's awfully presumptuous of you." She paused, taking in his overly attractive face, wondering if there was a chance she was wrong about him. "You think all it took was five words for me to want to sleep with you?" He grinned at her again, something horrible dangerous looking, and all the while enticing.
"All it took was one."
It continued on like that for a while, flirtatious banter and heavy gazes shared over the table. All the while she couldn't make up her mind about him, there was something different about him than the others she had hunted. He was more meticulous in his movements, everything form the way he spoke, to the way he twisted the heavy rings on his fingers felt planned.
It wasn't until twenty minutes later that he suddenly stood from the table and extended a hand for her with a raised eyebrow that he was making it easy for her. Not that the bar approach with the creatures was ever difficult, but with the playful tilt of his head and the promise in his eyes, she didn't hesitate in placing her hand in his as she allowed him to pull her from her seat, and guide her through the crowded bar.
Once they were outside, neither of them said anything, hands still intertwined. Biding her time for the perfect opportunity, she faltered a bit as he suddenly pulled her to the side of the building, ducking quickly into the alley of the bar.
"What are you doing?" She asked a bit breathlessly, as he pushed him self closer to her, as she backed into the brick wall behind her.
"Being impatient." He responded as he pressed closer still, running his hands down her sides until they came to rest on her waist, pressing his nose into her hair before beginning to kiss her neck. She gasped in surprise, feeling consumed by his greedy hands and lips as he kissed up and down her throat, sucking on her skin.
Her head fell back against the wall, granting him better access as he trapped her against him. All coherent thoughts left her mind as she grabbed a fist full of his leather jacket, biting back a moan as his lips left her neck and slowly traveled up, before back down again.
She was snapped out of her momentary loss of sanity at the feeling of something sharp against her skin, scraping down her neck trailing up and down. Cursing herself a fool in her mind for getting so wrapped up, her hand that wasn't still clutching his jacket slowly traveled behind her back, moving as slowly as she could she started to pull a stake from the back of her belt.
She wondered in that moment why she didn't feel the same repulsion towards him she did towards the others. The thought of the others she had killed touching her the way he was sent shiver up her spine just thinking about it. But him actually doing it send a very different kind of shivers.
Just as the sharp fanged teeth started to puncture her skin, she raised her arm. The stake held clear and high in the air, beginning its arch and descent towards its victim, before his hand shot out and caught hers in its swing, moving with unnatural speed.
Her breathe caught in her throat as she tugged against his arm, attempting to free her own but he didn't move, only tightened his hold.
He chuckled against her neck, the noise something dark and throaty and dangerous as she wondered what exactly she had just gotten herself into. His fangs still exposed, they scraped precariously against her skin as he laughed, never puncturing the skin, always skimming above it.
"Now this is a different approach than the hunters I'm used to dealing with." He said, his voice deeper with lust or anger, she wasn't sure.
"Well, you've never dealt with me before." She responded, trying again to free her arm from his.
"And what a damn shame that is." He responded before lifting his head and peering down at her, teeth still pointed and sharp. She meet his gaze head on, ignoring the shivers of fear and desire that went through her as she took him in.
"You just had to go and ruin the fun?" He asked, tilting his head at her and he looked at her questionably, as if trying to figure something out.
"Who said that this isn't fun?" She responded.
"We can still have fun." He said, rocking his hips into hers as she resisted the urge to gasp, his obvious arousal pressing into her. He sank back into her then knowing her had her well and trapped between the wall and his body as he lowered his head and sniffed her neck, the blood rushing strongly beneath her skin.
She used his distraction and took the opportunity to knee him hard between his legs. He fell slightly away from her with a grunt, his arms loosing as she ripped herself from them forcefully, not wasting time as she brought the wooden stake towards his prone form, before he suddenly disappeared in the spot that he had been.
Moving blindingly fast he was suddenly at her side, reaching his arm out for her as she flung the stake at him again, only to have it blocked forcefully with his hand.
"You're a clever one are you?" He asked grinning. She grunted against his hold.
"Just trying to do my job and kill as many blood sucking leeches as I can." His unoccupied arm flew to his chest at her words, his hand coming to rest on his still heart.
"You wound me love." He yanked suddenly on the stake, pulling her forwards as she caught herself before she fell into him. "I wasn't going to kill you darling, I only wanted a taste." His voice was bordering on intoxicating even as he said such things, drawing out each word, his eyes practically glowing.
She kickoff out a leg, catching him unexpectedly on his side, hitting the side of his knee causing him to stumble in his stance. He regained his posture quickly even as she swung out an arm, managing to just barely graze the side of his cheek before he leaned away from it.
Huffing in frustration she blocked a hit of his own, coming straight for her head and grunted at the force of the blow, wondering how he was so strong and fast, even for one of his kind.
She dodged another hit of his, ducking below the swing of his arm and kicking out again, managing to sweep his legs out from under him and he fell to the ground. She quickly scrambled to stand above him, planting a leg firmly on his chest hoping it would hold long enough as she started, once again, swimming the stake towards him.
He yanked her to the ground suddenly, managing to switch their positions. Her eyes closed as the back of her head hit the cold cement, groaning at the impact. When she opened her eyes he was hovering inches from her face, gazing down at her in frustration, both of his arms locking her in place.
Angrily twisting her head away from his, she struggled under his unnatural strength, regardless of knowing she couldn't overpower him. She eventually let out a frustrated sounding noise before lifting her chin and defiantly looking up at him, meeting his ice cold blue stare with that of her own.
His gaze almost seemed to soften for a moment as he took her in and once again she used his moment of distraction to try to roll out from under him, but he caught himself quickly and only planted himself more firmly onto of her.
"Damn it woman! Why are you trying so hard to kill me?" He asked and had she not been afraid he was about to kill her should would have laughed at the exasperated look on his face.
"Do I need one besides you being what you are?" He glared down at her and she continued before he could interrupt. "You've been sloppy with your killings. They've already found four bodies in the woods calling them animal attacks. How many more are they going to find?" She practically spat out the words at him, wondering if tomorrow they would find hers. She couldn't believe how stupid she had been, she was just supposed to case out the place tonight, see who was there. But he had drawn her to him, or maybe she had just been drawn to him. And she was helpless to stop his advances towards her.
"Bodies in the woods? What?" He sounded genuinely confused she thought, but brushed it off, why would he admit to killing those people. His eyes suddenly hardened as if a far away thought occurred to him and he cured under his breathe, the words sounding harsh and cruel under his tongue. "That wasn't me." His grip on her arms tightened at the words, anger radiating off of him in waves.
"And you expect me to believe that?" She bit back at him, still trying to push him off her her, feeling suffocated with him so close to her. He laughed darkly at her words, a cruel smile playing at his lips.
"It doesn't matter if you believe me or not. It appears that you've just stumbled across a war zone. For there are far worse things in this town than me hunter." He proclaimed ominously, his hold loosening slightly at his words.
She froze as he looked for a moment as if he was going to say more, but she didn't give him the chance, instead she shoved him off of her rolling to her feet. The fact that he let her do so not lost on her.
He remained looking at her the entire time, a look she couldn't discern playing across his features. She resisted her natural instincts to go at him again, but knew that she wouldn't win, at least not tonight. He was far stronger than she thought, and the only thing tonight would lead to if she tried again, was her death.
"Until we meet again," He said breaking the uneasy silence as he cast her a heavy look, a warm feeling pooling inside of her against her will as he did so. "Good luck hunter." Was the last thing he said before vanishing into the night, the shadows seemingly swallowing him whole.
Sinking against the wall for support as her legs gave out, Emma let out a long breath she hadn't known she was holding. She realized she was shaking, her body sore from the unfinished fight, hating herself as desire still sat just under the brink of her thoughts.
Resisting the urge to curse herself an idiot for what had just transpired, she pushed herself off of the wall, forcing herself to walk with steady legs as she started back in the direction of the Inn she was staying at.
She didn't care if the blue eyed man had been telling the truth, weather or not he had killed those people was entirely irrelevant. For the fact of the matter was that he was one of the monsters, and they had all killed.
Memories flashed through her as she gripped her hand, forming a white knuckled fist as she breathed heavily through her nose. She didn't need reminding of what they had done, of what they could do. She had seen enough of their blood shed to last a life time.
And she was going to make sure that they paid for it.
Not quite sure why I felt the need to write this, but I always love stories like this and have always thought it strange not many CS ones exist. Maybe everyone is just really sick of vampires lol. Not sure if these will be more to this or not, but please let me know if you would like to read more and if you enjoyed reading!