Christopher had guts, I had to give him that. And the fact that he owned the Firebird hadn't escaped my notice. He had a nice car.

I went to the motel the bartender had mentioned, booked a room, and was asleep by one.

Waking up proved to be a bit of a challenge. My body sought rest after fighting the ghost, but I had to get up. I had a long drive ahead of me.

I left my key at the desk and hit the road. I saw Christopher run out of the motel, getting in his car even as he watched me join the morning traffic. I'd lose him soon.

I stopped for the night in a tiny town you normally wouldn't notice. I stayed at a bed and breakfast, enjoying the homey feel of the place.

I reached El Paso the next day. I saw no signs of Christopher anywhere, but that didn't mean much when he'd chased after me like he had. It was late to start working the case, so I decided to go to a club. Why not? the last week or so had been nothing but work. I could have fun once in a while.

Outside the nightclub was the Firebird, and at the entrance of the club, a tall brunette guy wearing combat boots, jeans, and a black trench coat. Christopher, and he seemed to be having trouble getting in.

I opened my door and stood with my arm on the roof, still half in the car. I'd rather have the option to be able to drive away without being seen.

"Come on! It's a night club!"

"We don't like your type around here, Emo boy."

I rolled my eyes and got out of the car, slamming the door. This got the attention of the bouncer.

"I was just telling your friend here, we don't accept your type here."

"My type? My friends are all in there, and if you don't let me in, the whole bar is going to be wondering why you won't let a cute girl in," I said, tossing my bangs out of my eyes.

The bouncer stepped back a little, shocked by my face. I normally hid my face behind my bangs for a reason.

"Go on in. You might talk to Blake while you're in there. I'm sure he'd more than love talking to you."

"Can I go in, too?" Christopher asked, glancing at me. My bangs had fallen back in my face, so my secret remained hidden.

"You know this guy?" the bouncer asked.

"He's my...er...it's complicated."

"You want him in there with you?"

I looked Christopher over, pretending to be making a decision on whether to let him come with me or not.

"Sure, why not? I'm probably going to get a drunk or not be paying him any attention anyways."

The door opened, and we both went in. The music couldn't be heard yet, but the bass pounded, and the vibrations could be felt in the floor.

"It's complicated? Seriously?"

"It got you in, didn't it."

"You could've just said I was your boyfriend or something. Maybe your brother."

"After seeing my face, he knew you weren't my brother, and I don't lie about guys being with me or not."

"Have you actually had a boyfriend since...you know."

"No."

"What does this face of yours look like?"

"If I show you, it will only cause problems."

"For you or for me?"

"Both."

"What kinds of problems could seeing your face cause?"

"Faces are identities. My face would reveal something very clear about me I don't want you to know yet."

"Are you a criminal or something?"

"No! Nothing like that. Well, you might think so, but no."

"Then what is it?"

"I'm not going to tell you! Now don't make me go outside and tell that bouncer I changed my mind."

The threat silenced him, but I could feel him steaming with curiosity beside me.. We walked on, and the music reached my ears. It was an electronica song right now.

When we started seeing people hanging out, the music was a steady beat in the hall. When we reached the door to the bar and dance floor, the crowd was huge, and the music was so loud it threatened to break something.

I went straight for the bar. Christopher grabbed my elbow and pulled me close enough to yell in my ear, "Wanna dance?"

I stared at him, and several clubbers cleared the floor as the song changed to a slower one. I actually knew it. Counting Stars by One Republic. He held out his hand.

"Alright…" I said. A half smirk twitched at the right side of my face as I pulled Christopher after me to the dance floor.

Several cat calls followed me, while a few girls whooped at Christopher. There weren't many people here who slow danced.

"So, what were the odds of you coming to the same nightclub as me?"

"What were the odds of us even meeting?"

"One in six billion. But it only takes one."

"Why'd you ask me to dance?"

Because you're interesting. And there's a lot I don't know about you. Besides, I don't want you dancing with any of the other guys. It's hard enough to get you to talk to me as is."

"Yeah, well…"

"What's your favorite color?"

"Silver. What's yours?"

"Red. Natural hair color?"

"Black. Only the blue is dye."

What do you do when you're not on a job?"

"You mean, like, what will I do if I ever go home?"

"Yeah."

"Well, first, I'll probably finish high school. Online, since it'll be faster."

"Do you think you'll ever stop hunting?"

"No."

"Was I right in any of my guesses in where you live at the cafe?"

"I live in Romania."

"What brought you to the states?"

"Revenge. I want to kill the demon who took away my life."

"Okay, okay. How did you get the name Nikolai? I mean, isn't that a guys name?"

"My parents thought I was going to be a boy, and didn't have any girl names picked out, so they called me Nikolai anyways. I've never minded, so it just stuck. My middle name is Luthin."

"And your last name?"

"Tanessi. Yours?"

"Mandel. And my middle name is Bender."

The song ended a few moments later, and I let go of Christopher.

"You got your dance. I'm gonna go to the bar."

Christopher reached after me, but I slipped between two other clubbers and vanished from his sight.

I took a seat at the bar and asked for a water. It was too early to start drinking.

"Hey," a guy said, leaning against the bar beside me.

"Hi."

"What's your name?"

"Nik."

"I'm Blake, Nik. Would you like to dance?"

"No, thank you."

"Are you sure? I could show you a good time."

"You're not my type," I said, shoving the blonde guy away.

"I'm every girls type. You just have to realize how much you want me."

"Go bother some other girl."

"The bouncer out front is the one who recommended you for me. I have a feeling he was right. So come on."

"Get away from me. Blake, right? I don't like being bothered by strange guys. And I definitely don't like guys who get in my face and try to force me to do things."

He grabbed my arm and yanked me from my seat. I caught myself on the bar, and he put his arms on either side of me, blocking me from going anywhere. I leaned back, trying to keep as far away from him as I could.

Someone grabbed Blake and tossed him on the floor.

"I think she said for you to quit bothering her."

Christopher stood over Blake, glaring at him.

"Back off, dude. I saw her first," Blake said, starting to get up.

Christopher put a foot on his chest, forcing him back down.

"She said to leave her alone, so leave her alone."

"Alright, alright. Chill, dude."

Christopher took his foot off him and glared at a small crowd gathered around us. Then he grabbed my wrist and pulled me after him through the crowd, out into the hallway.

Outside, the bouncer asked, "Leaving so soon?"

Christopher stomped past, tugging me with him.

"Get in the car," he growled, pushing me towards the Firebird.

I slammed into the car, catching myself on the hood. I scowled over my shoulder at him.

"Get in the car!"

"No!"

I started walking away, back to my own car, but Christopher grabbed my shoulders and turned me towards him.

"Just get in the damn car."

I yanked myself away.

"Leave me alone. I was fine. Just because you've known me for a couple days, doesn't mean you have to start acting protective of me. Stop acting like a boyfriend!"

"You were not fine. That guy was all over you."

"If he'd tried to take me anywhere, I would've been more than capable of dealing with him."

"What? You mean with this?" Christopher scoffed, holding up my pistol.

I felt the back of my jeans, but it really was mine.

"Give that back."

"Get in the car."

"No."

"Then you don't get this back."

I threw up my hands and went around to the passenger side of the Firebird. I slammed the door and glowered out the window.

Christopher got in and sighed. All the tension in his muscles relaxed, but I was still a live wire.

"First things first," he said, turning towards me and yanking off the fake ear tips, revealing the pointed ones underneath. "What are you?"

I sighed. I knew I shouldn't have talked to this hunter.

"What are you?" he demanded.

"A Changeling! I'm an elf that's been raised as a human. Even with all the differences between me and humans, I didn't know. Not until I became a hunter. Then, while I was researching for a case, I stumbled on some stuff about Changelings, and I figured it out."

"Give me one good reason I shouldn't kill you."

I turned my head and stared at him. The truth was, I couldn't think of one.

Christopher held my own pistol to my head.

"Give me one reason." That was when I heard it in his voice. He didn't want to kill me, but I was a supernatural creature. If there wasn't a reason to let me live, then by a hunter's rules, I must die.

The strange thing was, a reason came to mind.

"Because I can't die. Not until I kill that demon. Not until I get revenge. It's my fault my family is dead. The demon was looking for me. I have to kill it."

Christopher hesitated before lowering the gun.

"Alright, Nickolai. How much have you lied to me?"

"None. My parents thought their child was going to be a boy. I had also just been born when my birth parents switched us. Or were you thinking of something else?"

"You lied to me about being human."

"I never claimed to be human. You assumed. The only thing I do to hide my identity is always have my bangs in my face, and cover my real ears with fake human ones."

"What does your face look like?"

"Since you know, I guess it can't hurt showing you."

I pulled my bangs to the side, and Christopher gasped. I let my bangs fall back in place before turning back to the window.

"What are the patterns next to your right eye and under your left?"

"Under my left are just three small dots. The pattern by my right eye is specific to my bloodline, but I've never seen another person, much less an elf, with it."

"What do the dots mean?"

"They're just there. Every elf has their bloodline mark on their face, and one distinctive thing that is unique to them."

"You should get a haircut. Cut your bangs so people can see your face. Neither of the marks are girly, really, so you would still pass for a boy."

"You don't think my face is weird, or my piercings are creepy?"

"Nah. I'm kind of curious about the spikes on your left ear, but the piecing in your right eyebrow and the ring spider bite on the left is pretty normal."

"Well, the spikes going down the side of my left ear are permanent. They can't be taken out, and I don't plan to remove them. I got them a couple weeks after my fifteenth birthday, as a reminder. A reminder of the pain, and of the revenge that I seek. The eyebrow piercing and spider bite were just because I wanted them."

"Well, your overall look from that is pretty edgy and dark."

"Is that good or bad?"

"I like edgy and dark."

A blush crept over my cheeks. I was glad he couldn't see it.

"Well, I really must be going. I have a case to work tomorrow."

I got out and closed the door, walking quickly to my Ford. I'd gotten in before I'd realized Christopher still had my fake ear tips.

I sighed. No use going back now. Maybe I could get them from him tomorrow.

I found a cheap hotel and crashed for the night. I dreamt from another person's point of view. They were really tall, whoever they were. Seeing my own face, with a haircut so I couldn't hide, I could understand how I could so easily charm people. And yet, there was a quality about it that seemed boyish. Christopher was right, I could still pull off being a guy.

When I woke up, I turned on a police scanner while I did more research on the internet. Apparently there'd been five victims, all under the age of thirty, and all disappearing on the same bridge.

"We've found the body of one of the victims of the bridge case," the scanner reported. I got up and ran to my car, heading for the scene.

When I arrived, the Firebird was already there. I held a fake FBI identity up for a local police officer.

"Go on in. Your partner is already here."

"Thank you."

I ducked under the tape and walked around an ambulance. There, several officials walked around the front yard of a small house.

"Is this the victim's home?" I asked a nearby officer.

"Yes, sir. The victim was first seen by an officer coming to check if there were any clues to the victim's where abouts. Instead, he found the victim."

"Are we sure this is a homicide?"

"It's something, alright. The guy was killed somewhere else, drowned, and then stabbed in the heart."

"Wow. Okay, thank you, officer."

I got closer to the body. The guy was still damp. Blood pooled in the grass and dirt. He'd been stabbed here.

"Are there any sources of water on the property, apart from in the house?"

"No. And he doesn't own a tub, either. Only a shower. Unless someone drowned him in a sink, he was killed somewhere else."

I jogged up to the house. I tended to pick up on clues local police missed. I ran straight into Christopher.

"Hey. Did you see anything...different?"

"No, but you might have better luck. You're the expert."

I glared at him before going further into the house. I got no strange vibes, detected no trace of witchery or any other curses, found no sulfur, or any other traces of the supernatural. The house was clean.

"We won't find anything here," I told Christopher when I met him back outside.

I went to the same woman I'd spoken to by the body.

"Ma'am, are there any bodies of water nearby?"

"Nothing within five miles."

"Where is this bridge, where these victims are disappearing?"

"About eight miles North of here."

"Also, can you tell me, how long has it been since he disappeared?" I asked, gesturing towards the dead man.

"One week."

"Was he the first disappearance?"

"No. He was the fourth."

"Is there a specific time interval between disappearances?"

"Yeah. About a week apart for each one."

"Thank you." I hurried back under the tape and glanced around for the Firebird. Christopher was leaning against it.

"So?"

"Victims are about once a week. This is the first vic found, but the fourth to vanish."

"How far is the bridge?"

"Eight miles North."

"How long since he vanished?"

"A week. Which means, whatever this is, it should appear again tonight."

"To the bridge?"

"To the bridge. It's our best clue right now."

We parked in the lot of a family dollar store on the East side. The bridge didn't seem to be very busy, even being nearly two o'clock. I'd slept in that morning.

We couldn't find anything strange about the bridge, and the water was too dark to see anything in. I mentioned trying the banks of the creek, but there didn't seem to be any nearby ways down.

"You want to go get dinner, then?" Christopher asked at five, when we'd looked everywhere possible.

"Might as well. But we need to be back by nightfall."

"Will you accept a ride from me yet?"

"Not as long as I have my own car. Where do you want to meet?"

"Olive Garden alright with you?"

"Sure. Been a while since I had Italian food."

I followed the Firebird to Olive Garden. It was only a fifteen minute wait.

"Strange. They're normally busier," Christopher commented.

"Yeah."

"You alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. It's just, I'm not used to my ears showing."

"I'm not giving you back the fakes."

"Why not?"

"Because I like your real ears better."

"But, hunters-"

"Won't be a problem with me around."

"Why are you being so nice to me? I'm a supernatural. You're a hunter. You're supposed to kill things like me."

"I want to help you. You want revenge. I'm going to help you hunt down the demon that took away your life, and your naivety."

"Why, though?"

"Because you're interesting."

"What's so interesting about me?"

"Well, you're supernatural, for one. Two, I've known a few girls who were tomboys, but none quite so much as you. Then there's your wonderful, sarcastic, dark sense of humor."

This caused me to laugh.

"What?"

"You're just so naive about me!"

"Well, I've never actually hung out with a supernatural before. You're the first one I've ever talked to and had a pleasant conversation with. And you're definitely the first I haven't killed at the first meeting."

"What do you want to know about supernaturals?"

"What do you do all day?"

"Supernaturals aren't so different from humans. We might have different needs for food or environment, but we just live our lives, same as humans."

"What does that mean though? What do supernaturals do?"

"Well, we have to sustain ourselves, for a start. Yes, some of us have to eat meat, but some creatures try to be decent and don't eat humans. Those who don't eat humans generally try to fit in with them. A lot of us have normal jobs. Some of us even become famous and humans are none the wiser. We have families. We mourn the loss of those families. Some of us can die. Others can't, unless we're killed."

"Can you die?"

"No, I can't. Not unless something kills me," I said gravely.

"You sound upset by that."

"Think about it. You're an immortal being that watches the world go by for centuries. You look like a twenty year old, max, for the rest of your life. You can't ever truly fit in, you're constantly in danger of being hunted. You don't have any friends, any loved ones, because you know if you get attached, you'll just have to leave them in a couple years because they'll start noticing. They'll start noticing, that you never change."

"Your life sounds awful."

"That's what it is to be an immortal supernatural. Living in Hell on Earth."

"Have you ever killed a human?"

"No."

"What do you eat?"

"I don't like much meat. I pretty much stick to the veggies, grains, and the poultry."

"Do you know why your parents switched you with a human child at birth?"

"No idea. I never actually saw my parents. I was switched before either of them even looked at me."

"Do you remember your entire life?"

"I remember more than most humans, but even I don't remember everything from when I was a baby."

A waiter came and led us to a table. I ordered a caesar salad, and Christopher got Mozzarella sticks.

"So, have you considered my thought on getting a haircut?"

"Actually, I have. I think I will. It'd be nice to not have to look through a curtain of hair anymore. I'll just get my bangs shortened, and I'll be fine."

"I'll take you to a place tomorrow."

"I can go by myself. I told you back at the club, stop acting like my boyfriend."

Christopher's eyes narrowed, and he glowered at the wall rather than look at me.

Our appetizers arrived and I ate about half of my salad and one of the Mozzarella sticks. Christopher ate the rest of them and part of my salad. I had Fettuccine Alfredo, and he ate Chicken Parmesan.

I was about to ask for a check, but Christopher ordered a dessert to share. Molten lava cake. It was delicious, when it had cooled enough to eat.

Christopher paid the check, refusing to let me. We walked out together.

"Are you still mad?" I asked quietly.

"No. I'm not mad. I never was. It's just frustrating that you won't let me try to help you."

"I never asked for your help, and I certainly don't need it. I've been fine on my own for two and a half years."

"What you've been doing isn't living. It's surviving."

"Have you ever heard of the Winchesters, Christopher?"

"Yeah, of course. Almost any hunter has."

"Well, the Winchesters do almost the same thing I do."

"No. It's not the same. You have no friends, no family, no one you care about. Those boys have each other, and some friends they've picked up along the way."

"Well, the biggest difference between them and me, the reason they have others and I don't, is I'm not human. I am not a human, Christopher. You have to understand that. I was raised as if I were human, I act human for the most part, but I am not one of you. I don't have friends, or family. My family was taken from me, and I lost any friends I had when I left home."

"I'm trying to be your friend. Heck, I'd be fine with just being your partner and working together."

"You're a human, Christopher. I'll still be here long after you're gone. I don't want to get close to anymore humans. I don't want to watch anyone close to me die. Do you know what it's like to live with the guild of innocent lives on your hands? Five people are dead because of me!"

"You should be thankful you didn't have to go with them."

"You don't get it. You just don't get it. The world is against me. I'm not only being hunters by hunters, but by other supernaturals. There is nobody on my side, and everywhere I am, there's only danger."

"I'm on your side."

"Why? Do you want to get killed?"

"At least if I'm with you, you know whether I'm dead or alive. Leave me behind and you'll have no idea."

"Shut up! Just shut up!"

Everything was silent around us. We were seven blocks of traffic from the bridge, but I still heard the crash, the whoosh of a lot of flying water.

"Come on!"

I grabbed Christopher's hand and dragged him to our cars.

"What is it?"

"The bridge!"

He glanced at the sky, where twilight was unfolding. We went as fast as the law allowed to get to the bridge. The bridge was dark, and a three block radius around it was empty. We parked by the dollar store again and raced to the railing. Neither of us could see anything in the murky water.

"What are we looking for?"

"I heard something crash into the water. I picked up on it because it was an unusual noise. It sounded big, like it might be a car."

"I don't see anything, do you?"

"No."

"Great. Now, come on."

He pulled me away from the edge.

"Wait…" I murmured.

"What?"

"I don't know...I sense something. Another supernatural. It feels similar to a ghost, but it's not."

I followed the bridge in some. The middle of the bridge was gone.

"Christopher!"

He ran to where I stood, taking in the jagged edge of the bridge.

Suddenly, the other supernatural presence I'd said got stronger. It was behind us.

Slowly, I turned to look. A sopping wet, teenage looking girl stood there, shivering even in the Texas heat. She was wearing a simple white dress that reached her ankles, and her hair hung in her face. Her hands seemed strangely pale.

"Christopher…"

As soon as he turned, she was gone.

"What?"

"I saw a girl. She was sopping wet, and she was wearing a white dress. She looked like a teenager."

I glanced over my shoulder, and the bridge was normal.

"Look!"

He turned back to the bridge.

"It's like it was never broken."

"Yeah…"

"Let's go. I don't want to hang around here until we find out more."

I let him pull me away, but kept looking over my shoulder. Just before we got off the bridge, I saw her again. Only, this time, her hair was tossed back. Her face was as pale as snow, and her lips ruby red. Her eyes shown purple. She smiled an evil little smile, and then she was gone again.