HUNTERS AND PREYS

The events are based on the ones in the show, with the addition of an OC that will shake things up. The timeline is very loosely followed, though, but you should be able to recognize and understand the developments easily.

Rated M for content at least as mature as in the HBO show. (Very Graphic Language, Violence, and Sex)

This is inspired by another fanfic, but I can't find it...

I just remember I loved the premises (about vampire hunters), but it was left unfinished. It never left my mind, and I can't even say today what I took from it and what was my idea. Anyway, the premises are the same, but it's an entirely new story.

So you could say this is a fanfic of a fanfic? I hope that's okay.

I don't own anything anyway.

As English is not my first language, you may find some strange phrasings or rookie mistakes.I tried really hard to produce a clean and well-written story, however, if you find any errors or clumsiness, don't hesitate to point it out to me, as I will gladly correct them.

SEASON ONE

Episode 101: At First Sight

It's the night of my twenty-first birthday and the girls have decided to take me to that club they always go to. They've decided it's about time I get wasted. It's about time I loosen up and get away from my constant studying and working. At first, I was kind of nervous about the whole idea. Getting dressed up, going out at night, drinking, dancing, I have never allowed myself to be that careless. But now I'm twenty-one. I'm allowed to drink. I'm a grown-up. And I'm allowed to be stupid from time to time. I've been so careful since…since I'm by myself. I've been so…grown-up. So I'm allowed to be childish, right? Does it make sense? I wouldn't know, I'm totally wasted…

At first sight, Jillian Kay was an average twenty-one-year-old. Except maybe that she was finishing med school at the end of that semester several years in advance. Except, also, that she was first in every class she took, without showing so much of a difficulty. Except that she lived alone in an almost empty house, instead of at the dormitory like most of her friends. Except that she was paying for it all by herself, working every night as a waitress, in a little bar of a tiny town not too far from the university. She was your perfect twenty-one-year-old, except for the more observant. Because anyone who took a good look into her dark eyes would see that, behind her shyness and discreet attitude, was a confidence, a strength and sharpness that should have never been seen in a girl her age.

She was pretty too, way more than she thought she was. But then again, she never thought about that. She had never been interested in boys. When asked, she'd say she had no time, but the truth was, she had absolutely no desire to even approach a boy, for anything but friendship. She knew why. With her past, she didn't need a shrink to figure it out. But she considered herself happy so, why force something that she didn't want, when she didn't even feel the need? Of course, her friends would mock her virginity and lack of experience, and some guys would try and flirt or ask her out, but she was used to shrugging it off. She truly didn't care. Plus, she had so much to hide, that changing the subject without anyone noticing was really a second nature.

Her first nature, on the other hand, was dictating her to be always on guard, to always keep a keen eye to her surroundings, to always be ready to fight. That was why, even with that much alcohol in her blood — not that much really, but it was her first time, and the few shots and beer made her feel like she was walking underwater — even with her sight reduced, her need to cling on the table to stand up and her incessant giggling, she had spotted them the very instant they had walked into the room. They were both tall — he was huge —, blonde, elegant, and they moved with a snakelike grace and an unmistakable superiority that they wouldn't be able to hide if they tried. And it was easy to see they didn't try. For a second, she wondered if she would have been able to tell that they were vampires, if she hadn't been trained to. Her eyes flickered to her friends, that were still arguing about going to the dance floor or not, unknowingly of course. The two vampires had entered by a back door across the room from them, and it was a wide room crowded with people — humans only — dancing, laughing, screaming to hear each other above the loud and thumping music.

She swallowed the lump in her throat, suddenly feeling naked without her weapons. She had always carried them on her, when she had to be out at night. A silver chain inside her right sleeve and a silver and wood dagger, a family heirloom, inside her left sleeve. Both carefully hidden and ready to use, thanks to a clever mechanism she had been trained to handle at an early age. It was the strict minimum. But tonight, she had none of those. She had decided that wearing the tight, sleeveless red dress her friends had picked out for her was more important than all she had been taught when she was a kid. She had hesitated for a long time, knowing very well that it was stupid. But, nonetheless, she had chosen the dress. Tonight, for the first time ever, she had decided to be reckless. And of course, it was tonight that she would meet the first vampires since she had left her peers.

Well aware that it was only a matter of seconds before they sensed her, the way she had sensed them — and was still sensing their presence, even turning her back to them, to face her friends —, she should have been scared to death. Instead, in her intoxicated state, she giggled, straightened up — not without holding the table to keep from stumbling down —, she turned her whole body towards them, then looked up with what she wanted to look like confidence and a smug smile on her lips. She lost the smile quickly when she was met by his icy blue eyes, glaring at her across the crowd. The intensity of his stare made it difficult for her to breathe. She could feel the power of his age radiating from him, and she instantly knew she was no match. He would crush her in a blink of an eye. And the dead serious expression he sported let her think that was exactly what was coming.

Fuck, fuck, fuck! What hunter goes out during nighttime without so much as a silver knife? What am I supposed to do with my ridiculously thin silver necklace? It probably won't do much more than irritate him. I try to think but my mind is blank, so I close my eyes, but not before I notice the rising rage in his. He knows what I am. I ought to figure out what to do next, because this could definitely be the end of me. With my eyes closed, I can sense him even more strongly. I can sense his anger, his desire for blood enhanced by my mere presence. I can sense his muscles tense as he prepares for attack. My mind is still blank, but I can feel my own body tense in response; I feel my training kicking in. I will know he is planning to move before he even budges, and I will be ready to defend and counterattack. But I also know already that it is useless. Even a fully trained and experienced hunter would need back up to take down a vampire that old.

It's not fair. I don't want to die like that…

I'm being pulled back to my senses — or out of them — by an arm around my shoulders. Dawn, always ready to party, tries to drag me to the dance floor.

"Come on! You need to dance it out! You look like you're going to fall asleep!"

I don't know what she's talking about but I know I surely can't go dancing right now. I feel nauseated from the fear and pretty self-conscious, to say the least.

"I think I need to sit down, we'll go dancing later, I promise." I say in her ear. She sighs disappointedly and goes anyway with Shirley, while I sit at our table with the others. I take a sip from my beer, already liking the taste, as I refocus, my eyes on my drink.

I feel him move, but not as I expected. He just follows the other vampire — way younger and still unaware of my presence —, and I vaguely wonder if I would be able to defeat her. Maybe if I was sober and armed, with an element of surprise, I could. She's not that young either. They go sit at a table, not far from where they stood, and I have to look their way to understand they are following a small bald human who is talking excitedly. His constant gesturing and babbling would foul an uninformed eye to think he is at ease with these two vampires, though I know he is not sweating from the heat. I can't hear what he's babbling about, but he's keeping the woman's full attention, while the man is scanning the crowd, his face now emotionless. Though I just need to focus on him to sense his attention is still on me, and his anger, while subsided and in check, is still very present.

I'm surprised to note he is behaving. I should have known he wouldn't kill me right there and then in front of everyone, but I was still expecting some sort of reaction. Wait, am I disappointed? The alcohol in my veins and the strangeness of the night make me yearn for some sort of action. I laugh at my stupidity. Vampires mainstream now, right? Of course, my presence angered him, but you can't erase thousands of years of hatred in merely two years! If you try to relax, have a good time, don't worry about him, he will sense you're no threat and leave you alone! Simple as that.

Holding that thought, I stand up at once and inform the girls I'm joining our friends to dance, rallying a few of them with me. So I elbow my way into the crowd and, to follow Dawn's advice, I dance it out. With my eyes closed, my hands in the air, my body constricted by the crowd keeping me from falling altogether, I let myself go. To be honest, I really don't know what I'm doing and what I look like, but it feels kind of good. I let my mind wander back to the tall vampire to find him still focused on me. To my great pleasure, I can sense perplexity so, to confuse him even more, I decide to send him happy thoughts. I just hope he won't think I'm mocking him; really, I'm just trying to be normal.

In more than a thousand years of undead life, he had met his share of hunters. He had killed a few; he had seen some of his kind annihilated by others. Mainly, his maker had taught him to avoid them when he could, or, when he couldn't, to assess their strength in order to know when to fight or flight. And to never underestimate them. Even if they were only humans, hunters knew how to kill quickly and efficiently a vampire, turning their upper strength and rapidity against them. They began their training as soon as they knew how to walk, and even before that, they had been fed with vampire blood exclusively, during the first years of their life. They were faster and stronger than humans; they had tremendous learning ability and memory; they were able to sense the presence of a vampire before they could even see him; they could not be glamoured. Some also said they could smell a vampire's past life on him, especially his human life, but he granted very little credit to that myth. It had also been said that they were immortal. That, he had proven wrong.

At his age, he knew he could easily kill at least eight experienced hunters in a fight. At ten, they started to become a challenge. That is why he was perplexed at the sight of that little girl hunter in the middle of the crowd, dancing like nothing could harm her. He knew she had spotted them as soon as they had entered the room. He had felt her heartbeat increase with fear at the sight of him; he had felt her tense and get ready for battle; and then he had lost her. She had become another face in the crowd, as if she had forgotten about him. The peculiar scent of her blood the only thing keeping her from fading away. And now he was watching her dance.

He was instinctively thinking about ways to kill her. He needed to get her out of this place, isolate her somehow. Then he would sink his teeth in her throat and drain her to death. He could almost taste her blood in his mouth and couldn't resist licking his lips at the thought. But that is not what he would do. Maybe later.

There was something enticing about this little brunette in a red dress. Her dark skin reminded him of sunshine. And, most importantly, she had an innocence that made him want to play. She was pretty. Too young to be beautiful, too small to be truly graceful — despite her typical hunter's catlike walk —, definitely too carefree to be an experienced hunter. But she was. Everything about her was of a hunter, and yet not entirely. If he focused enough, he could smell the vampire blood in her vein and that infuriated him. He could also smell her virginity and that automatically aroused him. Hunters were not renowned for their virtuous lifestyle. They usually died young, so lived fast. She was somewhat of an exception, and it intrigued him. Without even adding the fact that she had knowingly decided to ignore him. He had to know more about this girl.

After dancing for a while, I needed to go to the bathroom. My friend Shirley came with me, and I'm now listening to her rambling about a guy, and the difficulty to study and maintain a relationship at the same time. I'm vaguely wondering if it's not a little bit hypocritical of her to complain about lack of time, while she's at a club on a Thursday. It's kind of hard to concentrate on what she's telling me though, because I'm still wondering if I'll survive the night. The fact that the vampire has not yet reacted to my presence here doesn't mean he's not waiting for an opportunity to drain me first chance he gets. As I'm safe while I'm inside and in public, I guess I'm going to have to wait until the sun is up to get out of here… It's going to be a long night.

When we exit the bathroom, I'm startled to note the two monsters are not where I have left them. I must be really out of focus. Wait. It's worse than that. I grasp Shirley's hand as I finally spot them. She smiles at me, mistaking my panic for excitement. They are at our table. I stop dead in my track; my mind goes blank once again. Should I hide? Would it be as stupid as it sounds? But my fate is chosen for me as they all turn to see us arrive. Shirley pulls me by the hand, and before I know it, I'm less than five feet away from them. And I have to break my neck to meet his eyes; I don't think I have ever met someone this tall. Or is it his towering power that makes me feel so small? They are both eyeing me with interest, a menacing smile on their lips that could be mistaken with playfulness. But I know better. The tension in both their bodies mirrors mine, as all their instincts demand a fight, while mine demand that I flee.

This is why, when the bald man hugs me with a familiarity, with which I am not used, even he senses something's not right. So he tries to be comforting:

"So Jill — right? — your girlfriends here tell me this is your twenty-first birthday! Let me offer you a bottle of champagne to welcome you into my club."

Dawn looks so excited; I think she's going to burst. She practically jumps to reach me before she screams in my ear.

"M. Hermann is the owner; we've known him for a few years. But he's selling the place to this gentleman, Eric, — and I can distinctly hear trepidation in her voice as she pronounces his name — so he thought we should meet him."

Then, she adds in what she thinks is a lower enough voice: "He's a vampire!"

I try to smile at her but fail miserably.

Her discomfort was so obvious he could not repress a laugh. But he then swiftly turned to the other girls, his eyes quickly scanning them to decide of the most attractive. He settled on the bouncy one, the one talking into her ear. She was almost devouring him with her eyes and, as he was in such a good mood, he thought he would do her a favor. He kept his gaze exclusively on her as he talked, using his most seductive tone.

"Ladies, as I'm buying this club, I wondered if one of you 'regulars' could fill me in what makes it such a nice place to come to."

He wondered lightly if he was trying to upset her, make it up for her ignoring him in the first place, or just be provocative. Probably all of the above. He wanted to assert his full dominion, but he was also testing her reactions. He wanted her to attack. He wanted her to come to him. She didn't.

The whole scene unfolded in front of me, without me being able to move an inch, unable to think. Dawn was conversing with the guy, flirting openly with him, and he was flirting back. But with an I'm-such-above-all-of-you attitude that would have gotten to my nerves if I had any nerve left available. I was in some sort of a trance. My eyes were fixed on an imaginary point on the wall behind them. All of my senses were in alert mode. Both of the vampires were isolated from the rest of the crowd in my mind, and I was aware of every flexion of the tiniest muscle in their bodies; I could even feel them blink — a residuum from their human life. Without looking at her, my hunter's sixth sense could feel the woman studying me carefully; I could feel her restlessness from the whole situation, despite her cool, collected, almost bored exterior. The man, who was now known as Eric, was much more relaxed; he had probably understood what little a threat I was to him, and was visibly toying with my nerves as he invited my friend for a drink.

I am now in the process of going home. It's still the middle of the night; we're waiting for a cab outside the club, and my friends don't notice how hard it is for me to breathe. I said I wanted to leave after Dawn had gone away with him. They think I'm jealous he didn't choose me. Most of them are. They all rivaled in tricks to make him look their ways. I just stood still, as neutral as I could. I stood there, nauseated, as he was leering at their throats.

I am now in the process of going home as I'm torn between letting her do whatever the fuck she wants and saving her life. It's when I enter the cab that I realize I'm just a coward.