Raven watched the clock carefully. She was sitting at the cash register at the completely empty EZ-MART. She couldn't wait for her shift to be over so she could escape into the nightlife of Gothom. She was so tired of the happy store music that they played that she thought if she heard the song one more time, she was going to throw up.

The second hand hit the twelve. Raven gave a whoop of sheer joy and leapt up. She ran over to the main power grid and shut everything down. It was ten and closing time. She locked the sliding doors behind her and went flying across the empty parking lot to her little black Supra. Before she got in, she pulled off her uniform to reveal tight black jeans and a white tank top that was shredded across her torso, revealing the black one she wore under it. She tossed them on the passenger seat and climbed in. Starting the car, she peeled out of the parking lot and headed for the wrong side of town.

She drove at breakneck speeds down the crowded highway, dodging traffic all the way. She turned up the music as she took her black hair out of the ponytail that was part of the EZ-MART standard uniform. She shook her head and let it cascade over her shoulders in black waves. She then grabbed her phone and dialed a number.

"Hello?" answered a male voice.

"Hey, Buster, it's Rach. What's up?" she said as she drove with her knee and applied black lipstick with her other hand.

"I'm getting ready to head out for work, why?"

"I was wondering if you could get me in for free tonight." Raven capped her lipstick and tossed it into her ashtray that held other make-up.

"If you get there early enough, I can get you in the back with me and nobody's gonna care," Buster said in his deep voice.

"Cool, be there in five." She hung up and turned a corner. She slammed on the brakes and spun the car around in a one-eighty, parallel parking outside a club called The Un-Silent Night. She applied her black eyeliner thickly and then got out of the car as another pulled up and parked on the other side of the street. "Hey Buster."

Buster was a big guy with dark brown hair and lime green eyes. He was the bouncer for the club and one of Raven's best friends. He led her through a back door that came out behind the bar where the other workers were setting up for the night. Raven was one of the regulars and they knew her well. She was greeted with boisterous shouts.

"Easy boys," she said with a grin. "I'm just here to drink and dance."

"Wot?" asked one of the guys. He was from England and had a sweet accent. "Little Raven Roth isn't gonna go lookin' for someone to take home wif her tonight?" He was tall with white blonde hair that he wore in a foe hawk. His name was Jason and he was the drummer of the house band.

"Shut up Jay," Raven ordered, but she was grinning. "So, how many are we expecting tonight?" she asked.

"Oh, a few hundred." Raven whipped around and looked at Jason. "I know, 'ow are we gonna fit 'em all in 'ere? Well, Tony and I added an addition on to the buildin'." He reached under the bar and pushed a button. The back wall panel slid back to reveal another room behind the stage. Raven whistled. "Bloody brilliant, ain't it?"

She nodded as the door opened and people flooded in. The band got up on the stage and began to tune their instruments. Raven watched as people came in. Not many guys caught her interest but one did. He was tall, lean, and sinfully handsome. She bit her lip as she looked him over. His pitch black hair was spiked recklessly and his black eyes seemed to glint in the little light that was in the room.

He saw her looking at him and winked, not changing his facial expression. Raven shook her head to clear it and he was gone, lost in the crowd of people dancing to the music that the DJ was playing before the band started.

She turned back to the bar and ordered a strawberry daiquiri. She sipped it as the band started. When they played her favorite song, Raven was out on the dance floor, dancing with everyone else. She felt a hand on her hip. Turning around, she met the black eyes of the stranger. "Hello," he said in her ear. It was too loud to hear otherwise. She gave him a smile. "And what might a little minx like yourself be called?"

"Raven," she replied. "And you?"

"Richard." Raven let him dance with her for a little bit before pulling away and going back to the bar. She drank the rest of her daiquiri and watched the crowd. Richard followed her and sat down next to her.

Jason came over, as the band was done playing for a bit, and whispered in her ear, "So much for just dancin' and drinkin'."

Raven elbowed him as the door opened. The newcomer was of normal size with thick black hair that hung heavy on his shoulders. He wore black pants and a black t-shirt under a heavy black trench coat. He scanned the crowd and his eyes came to rest on her. "Shit," she breathed. He advanced through the crowd toward her. Raven leapt off her bar stool and made her way to the back door. Again, Richard followed her.

She ducked and dodged, but the man in the cloak was still following her. She went to turn around and felt the tip of a knife in her back. "Keep walking," Richard ordered. Raven swallowed and kept moving.

Once they were outside, Rich grabbed her arm. "Raven Roth, you are under the jurisdiction of the House of Blud, do not try to escape or you will be killed on the spot. Get in the car."

She obeyed, not sure what was going on. Once they were on the road, Raven began asking questions. "Who are you really?"

"I'm Richard Grayson, head of the House of Blud."

"Which is?"

"A vampiric society that hunts the hunters of our kind."

"And you think that I'm a hunter?" He nodded. "What gave you that idea?"

"Three years ago, you killed one of our best. He had bitten your older brother and you wanted revenge for him, so you killed him. Then, you got involved in killing others of our kind."

"Well, naturally," she said, looking out the window. "He was my big brother. When little sister aims for her target, she doesn't miss. He taught me."

"Exactly. Now that you're a full fledged hunter, we're going to bring you to our side."

"Great," Raven said, tossing her black hair over her shoulder. "Who was the guy in the coat?"

"That was a descendant of Van Helsing himself. His name was Gabriel and he knew that we were out for you and decided that he was going to try and protect you."

"So I ran from the only protection I had?" Again, Richard nodded. "God, I am so stupid." If Raven had known that whoever that guy was, she wouldn't have run. She didn't think too greatly of becoming a vampire and she was trying to think of a way out of it.

"Don't try it," Richard said as if reading her mind. "I have three more cars behind us, watching for you to do anything." Raven had to admit, he was good. She looked across the car at him and noticed that he showed no emotion.

He's been trained as a bounty hunter, she thought. For all the hunters out there. He's the one who's supposed to bring them all down. "How exactly-" she began as they heard shots fired behind them. Raven whipped around in her seat and saw he black Supra following them, Jason and Buster in the front seats. Damn!

Richard pulled out his phone and two-wayed the back-up guys that were following them. "Take them out," he ordered.

"No!" Raven yelled. He looked sharply at her. "If you kill them, I will rip out your barely beating heart and cram it down your throat."

"Well, that was interesting," Richard said with a look of astonishment on his otherwise blank face. He called his men back. "Don't kill them, just make it hard for them to follow us."

"They'd better not leave a scratch on my baby," she muttered, seething. Richard let a small smile slip as they drove on into the night.