Disclaimers: All night world ideas and characters belong to LJS, anyone else belongs to me. Please ask if you wish to use them. The species of Glittawitch comes from an on line rpg. Its owners are Ivy, Star and Nikki.
Summary: They're called the Serpents. They lure and tempt the Night People to them and kill them. Elysia and Automne, two best friends, make it their duty to destroy and expose the Night World. But when Desio Redfern is sent after them, he gets more than he bargained for...
Part 1
Midnight. The witching hour. She stood alone in the small town's park, waiting. He would be here soon. Her lips curved into a knowing smile. Men were fools. They never could resist her. The ones who thought they were the most dangerous were the most stupid.
As if on cue, there he was, smiling that idiot grin he thought was sexy. His blond hair was glinting in the moonlight, his silver eyes shining. Animal eyes, like the animal he really was. He thought she had no clue as to what he was.
He was in for a surprise.
"Hi there," he said, a swagger barely hidden in his voice. "I thought you weren't going to come. It's dangerous for nice girls to be out alone so late."
She smiled at him. "I'm not a nice girl." And before he could make a move on her, she pulled her concealed stake out, sliding it into his heart cleanly. The idiot vampire stared at her, startled. She gave an innocent smile. "Told you so," she said.
"That was quick," another voice said, stepping out of the shadows.
"I'm a fast track kind of girl," the first one said. "They're not worth wasting any time over."
The second girl shrugged slender shoulders. "Oh, I don't know, you can have fun with them before you kill them."
The first stared. "You're serious fucked up, you know that?"
"Yeah, I know." The second girl kicked the body. "I guess we should get rid of this."
They both picked it up, lugging it over to the deep pond in the centre of the park, and, grunting, hurled it over. A splash sounded as the body dropped into the water.
The two girls walked away into the shadows.
* * *
The figure hidden amongst the trees watched them walk away. The two vampire hunters known to the Night World as the Serpents, due to their ability to lure any unsuspecting Night Person to their deadly beauty and make them suffer horribly. What had made the girls be this way, no one knew. But it was his job to hunt them down and bring them to the Council.
If they make the Night People suffer. Why shouldn't the Night People make them suffer in return?
* * *
Elysia groaned, pulling the covers over her head as the alarm clock went off. She hated Monday mornings. Yet another school day of playing the nice, innocent popular girl, who supposedly had everything she could ever want.
If they only knew, she thought, smiling a little, reaching out for the alarm clock and throwing it against the wall to shut the damn thing up. No one knew about her little...hobby, you might call it. If they knew she was a vampire hunter, they'd think she was insane. As far as her small sleepy town was concerned, vampires were a myth, ledged and superstition that were never going to come true.
Hah! They had no idea about the little hidden society amongst them. They were there, she knew they were. But of course, they had no idea who she was either.
"Elysia!" a booming voice was yelling and pounding on the door. "Get up you lazy little bitch!"
"Go to hell!" Elysia shouted back. "I'm up. On second thoughts, find somewhere other to go than hell, you'd probably scare the shit out of Satan himself."
There was another loud thump on the door, mutterings Elysia wouldn't repeat, and sounds of the annoying intruder going away. She hated life here. Her parents had been murdered by vampires sent after her. Why they'd been after her, she'd had no idea. She guessed some council jerk had spotted her and decided to make her his trophy. Providing she had breath in her body, that would never happen.
She'd been shipped off to her older sister Tallia's. The house was ordinary, a small two bedroomed apartment in a small town in the middle of Nebraska, where there was more corn than people. Shame The *Children of the Corn* cult in the sad Stephen king movies weren't real. That would be interesting. Hunting down them would be different to vampires, they might provide more of a challenge. It was also a shame Tallia was such a bitch.
She showered and dressed in a tight white top and a long swirling skirt, her golden blonde hair rippling down her back, violet eyes sparkling brightly. Violet eyes were supposed to be a trait of the Harman family of the Night World, the witches. Witches, some of them, at least, weren't as bad as vampires. She was willing to tolerate Circle Twilight. Circle Daybreak, she couldn't stand. No matter what they said, there was no way she would work with any vampires or shapeshifters. She shuddered at the thought.
She gave her reflection a kind, gentle smile. The perfect student. The perfect friend.
The perfect killer.
* * *
Automne stretched leisurely in her king size bed. Sunlight was streaming in through the white filmy curtains bathing the room in a soft, golden glow. She smiled, contentedly. Personally, she liked her life. She had a wealthy family who spoiled her rotten, gave her everything she could want, she was popular, smart, had everything any one could ever ask for.
Who would ever think of her as a vampire hunter?
Most people wouldn't think she was strong enough, she gave off her wimpy little rich girl impression very well, and the vampires that fell for her, were usually very sorry.
And that was how she and her best friend Elysia had earned the nicknames The Serpents among the Night People. They used their looks and charm to lure the unsuspecting victim to them, and then had fun making them suffer for making their own people suffer. Just like the serpent had tempted Eve into taking the Forbidden Fruit from the tree in the Bible, then ended up suffering in return. Of course, the Bible was just a load of crap. There was no God. If there was, why would he allow monsters like the Night People to exist. Monsters like her family...
She shook her head. No. No one must ever find out about that. If Elysia knew she would kill Automne.
Her family only spoiled her to make sure she kept her mouth shut about their little secret, making her spy on the hunter known as Serpent. But what they didn't know, was that Automne herself had ended up hunting down her own people. They shouldn't exist. It was wrong.
Or did they know? They had been giving her some very strange looks lately. Going out their way to make sure they didn't upset her or anything. Now, that was more than a little strange. What was happening there? What were they up to?
Automne sighed heavily, deeply sorry for herself, and got out of bed, feeling hungry. The hunger was something she tried to ignore, refusing to feed it. Sometimes the need drove her insane, made her do crazy things. Elysia already thought she was a little fucked up.
If she only knew the truth, Automne thought sadly, showering and dressing. She placed her hands on her vanity unity and looked into the mirror, seeing what everyone else saw, a pretty girl with cheekbones to die for, milky white skin, soft, sensual mouth, gentle auburn locks, and ordinary brown eyes. Of course, the brown eyes were contacts, used to hide her real eyes. But underneath, she saw the glowing yellow eyes of the monster she really was.
Only she saw it, because she knew it was there.
She shook her head of raven locks and turned away, snarling a little at the growing hunger. It had been over a month since she'd last fed properly. She would have to feed soon, before...
Before what?
* * 8
"Did you see them?"
Desio Redfern frowned. He had seen them. And they were indeed, very real. The huntresses known as the Serpents. He'd felt sure they were just a myth. No vampire hunter should have been allowed to live and kill so many night people. And now, it was his job to bring them to the council. If he lived through it. He'd sent that idiot Tyler after them, and he'd met an unfortunate end. But that didn't mean they were as bad as the rumours implied.
He looked at the young woman ahead of him. She was the current leader of Circle Midnight with a place on the Night World council. And she had been the one who'd given him the task. Everyone knew Trinity Redfern-Harman didn't take any crap from anyone. You did what she said or you died. Unpleasantly if she had her way, which she usually did. That was the advantage of being half witch, half vampire.
"Yeah, I saw them," he said blandly.
"So when are you going to bring them to me?"
"As soon as I can. It's not like it's gonna be easy, Trin."
Trinity's head tilted to one side, her long raven hair falling in a shawl of shimmering black around her. Her ever changing Redfern eyes held him transfixed. Desio shook his head. Women were a pain. And Trinity was one of the worst. Their relationship had been off-and-on for the past two hundred years or so, and she never got any easier to deal with. "I know that. That's why I gave you the job. Oh, and here's someone else you'll be working with." Trinity turned and made beckoning motions with her finger.
Desio frowned. He wasn't used to having a second party. He did things his way and no one usually questioned him. He was renowned for his ruthlessness. If someone hired him to get something done, he got it done, regardless of what he had to do.
The girl who was coming out of the shadows was small with long, flowing golden hair. She looked around the same age as him and Trinity, which of course meant nothing. She could be anywhere from twenty to twenty thousand. She was dressed in a tight revealing black top and black leather trousers and high black boots that made annoying tapping noises. She had two tattoos on her upper right and left arm. One was of a black poppy on the left, and on the right was what looked like a symbol, a wolf's paw and two stars. Her dark lips were curved in an amused smile.
He glared at her. She lifted a slender, pale hand and waved. Trinity snickered. "I'm sure you two'll get on fine," she said. "Desio Redfern, meet Aurelia Wolf."
Aurelia Wolf. Oh great. He got stuck with the bitch from hell. He'd heard about this girl, she was supposed to be cruel, cold and remorseless. Pretty much like him. Also, he'd heard she was also a royal pain in the ass if she didn't get her own way.
He sighed. This was not going to be fun.
"What's the matter?" Aurelia asked with an innocent smile. "Can't handle the competition?"
"Drop dead," he snarled.
Aurelia laughed, a beautiful, melodic sound. "Been there, done that. Think of something else."
Desio gritted his teeth and returned her stare. At this rate, he was going to end up killing *her* before he got anywhere near the Serpents.
* * *
Elysia sighed, putting on a bright and cheerful smile, greeting people who called her name as she walked down the hall of the high school, looking for her friends. They sat around in their usual seats in their first classroom. The perfect people. Everyone one in her group was stunning, slender, smart and spoiled.
How dull, Elysia thought. Completely boring. It's times like this that makes me so glad for a secret life.
"We have a few new students," Orchid Redwood said. She nodded over to the other back side of the classroom, where a tall, red haired boy sat. He was dressed in dark clothing, a scowl darkening his handsome face. He also, Elysia noticed, looked bored out of mind, as if he was wishing he could be anywhere but here.
He glanced over at her at that moment, and something...something seemed to happen. There was a strange sort of electricity in the air as their gazes connected. Oh no, Elysia thought, this can't be what I think it is. Please, God, no. The last thing I want right now is a new soulmate to deal with...
But it didn't feel like a soulmate connection. Of course, her own soulmate was long dead. She frowned, pushing away unpleasant memories trying to emerge. She wouldn't think about him now. She just wouldn't be able to deal with it. Not here in school with a bunch of people wanting to know why she was so upset, and then having to come up with an excuse to tell them.
Of course, she'd always debated on telling her own crowd the truth. And that would give the Night World even more reason than they already had to want her dead. She wondered vaguely how many assassins were set on her right now, and what the price the Council was paying them to bring her and Automne down.
At that moment, Automne sailed into the classroom, auburn hair shining, outfit stunning, showing off her beautiful body. She turned to come and join her friends, and suddenly stopped dead. The bright smile faded and her face went white as a sheet.
Elysia followed her gaze...to the new boy at the back of the classroom. He was staring at her, his expression just as surprised. Then his lips curled into a mean smile and he waved at her. Automne just stared at him, a fine tremor taking over her body. Automne was *shaking.*
"Automne?" Elysia stood up and headed over to her, touching her friend's arm, gently. Automne turned to look at her. Her skin was pasty, sickly white. She looked awful. Her expression was shocked, and terrified. Automne? Afraid? Automne was never afraid. Who the hell *was* this guy? What had he done to Automne to make her so scared? Someone was going to have to answer some questions here.
"Automne what's *wrong*? What is it?"
Automne opened her mouth, but now sound came out. Her words died on her tongue. She started to say something, but the words trailed off into a mutter. "I - I - I have to go now," she said, and turned and ran out of the room. Elysia had never seen her move so fast, not even when chasing a vampire.
She glanced over at the new boy. He looked amused at Automne's reaction to him. Yet at the same time there was something else there. Whatever it was was gone before she could identify it.
The teacher came in then and the class started, preventing Elysia from approaching the boy. But all through the period her mind kept returning to the little scene between him and Automne. What was happening there? She glanced around, noticing Orchid and one of the other girls, Krystal, smiling at him flirtatiously. He returned their seductive gazes with an unimpressed scowl.
But something about the boy's eyes caught Elysia's attention. They were large and gold, like the eyes of a hunting predator, and the artificial lights of the classroom just seemed to reflect back at her. She noticed something on the side of his neck. Something small and black. A tattoo of a black iris. He was a vampire.
Black irises were Night World symbols of lamia, the born vampires. But the mystery remained as to why Automne was so afraid of him. Vampires never scared her. She'd hunted down and tortured some of the Night World's most deadly assassins. They had been dark and ten times more frightening than this guy, and their reputation and personalities had had no effect on her. Compared to them this guy was a fairy tail prince.
And yet he'd scared the shit out of her.
Why?
And who was he?
* * *
Automne raced into the girls' room, slamming the door shut, muttering a brief spell to make sure no one would come in and disturb her. He could *not* be here. Not him. Anyone but him. She gripped the sink and stared into the mirror above it, barely recognising her own reflection.
Her face was sickly white, her eyes wide and frightened, her hair wildly dishevelled. What the hell was wrong with her? She dreaded to think what this would do to her reputation. How was she going to explain all of this? Especially Elysia.
An even more terrifying though struck her. What if Elysia found out the truth? Desio loved to brag. Why was he here? The council had probably sent him to bring them in.
She shook her head, completely confused, upset and frightened. She didn't know what to do, or who she could talk to. Elysia would be appalled if she ever found out the truth.
Everyone would be. No, no, no, she thought. *Nobody* would ever know the truth about her. What she really was...the monster she was inside...
She took several deep breaths to calm herself down. She would have to face them all sometimes. She pulled out her brush and ran it through her hair, splashed some water on her face. She removed the spell she'd done, and headed out to face the consequences.
* * *
Instead of going to class Automne hid in the library until the period was over. No one would ever think to look for her here. She could see the curious looks of some of the students as she browsed casually through the shelves, she could clearly see they were wondering what Miss Spoiled Popularity was doing there.
Normally, Automne loved the feel of eyes on her, knowing she was perfect, and knowing that everyone wished they could be like her. But this...This was different. She could feel something else. Someone else was watching her. And it wasn't a passing curiosity. They were probing eyes. She could feel the presence of someone watching her. Someone who meant to harm her.
Hah! As soon as she found out who, they were going to be very, very sorry. Automne scanned the people in the library. They all just looked like the general riffraff of ordinary students. She had no sense of any Night People there. Of course, she could always be missing them. Night People were masters of secrecy and blending in.
Head held high, she walked out, feeling the probing eyes on her all the way. The person - if there really was a person - was following her. Automne glanced around quickly, but she could see no one behind her.
Second bell had already rung and students were scattering about to get to their next period. Not paying attention to where she was going Automne bumped into someone. She glanced around, annoyed, her eyes flaring.
"What's your problem?" someone said, sounding annoyed. Automne sighed heavily with relief. It was only Nyrissa Blackbrook. Nyrissa was one of her closer friends. She had been joined by a new girl Automne didn't recognise. She was small with golden hair and blue eyes, dressed in a pale blue top with delicate flowers stitched in and a short blue skirt. She looked rather innocent. Just another ordinary dumb blonde.
"This is Aurelia," Nyrissa said. "She's just moved here."
Automne glanced briefly at the girl. Despite her innocent appearance, the two black tattoos on her looked a little out of place. And like symbols. A black poppy and a wolf's paw with two stars. What were they? She wasn't giving off any of the usual signals that Night People gave. Maybe she was a new species.
Elysia would have to be told about this. And this was something at least, that she could talk about.
"I heard you ran out of class this morning," Nyrissa said. "Something to do with some new guy who'd showed up. What was that all about?"
Automne frowned. "Nothing," she said hastily, using all the brainwashing power she could master. "I just thought I recognised him from somewhere but it turned out I didn't after all."
Nyrissa's eyes went blank for a moment, then cleared. "Oh. Okay. Well, we gotta go or we'll be late."
Automne noticed Aurelia giving her a strange look. The other girl had *known* she had done something to Nyrissa's mind. Who the hell was this girl? *What* was she?
Something would have to be done about her, and their new friend with the red hair as well.
* * *
Desio frowned. He still couldn't believe it. Automne. She really was one of the Serpents. It had been a long time since he'd seen her last, almost two centuries. She had changed completely. He remembered a powerful Glittawitch with midnight blue-black hair, blazing golden eyes who terrified humans and Night People alike.
And now, Automne Sinne Frost had turned into a wimpy little human girl. She'd dyed her hair a normal colour and wore contacts to hide her bizarre Glitta looks. Killing her was going to be damn close to impossible. He knew Glittawitches weren't immortal, but he'd never know anyone who'd successfully killed one. He doubted that even Aurelia couldn't pull that one off.
She put on her own wimpy innocent dumb blonde act very well. He had to admit he was impressed with the way she'd come in and wormed her way into the Serpent's crowd already.
But he was disappointed. Automne...he would never admit to his feelings for her. For one thing, Trinity would be pissed, and second...he already had a soulmate.
But she was gone. Murdered by the Serpent called Elysia. He could feel himself shaking with fury as he thought about it. She had been dying when he'd found her, covered in sticks of wood, looking like a human pincushion.
If anyone got that little bitch, it was going to be him. He didn't care if he had to fight Aurelia for the right to killing her. He didn't even care if he had to kill Aurelia herself to get a clear shot at Elysia. Sapphyre deserved to be avenged. And he would avenge her.
* * *
Aurelia watched the Serpent girl walk away. She'd covered herself up very well. She'd betrayed the Night World, betrayed her own Glitta heritage. Aurelia wondered what the House of Frost would think of Automne if they knew of her secret life style. Of course, most of them probably already knew, they probably had assassins of their own sent after her.
You didn't betray your kin and get away with it.
That's what she'd thought anyway. Ever since her own sister, her twin, her own flesh and blood had walked out on her, after vampires had murdered their family, she'd been in search of the bitch but had never found her.
And she, personally, hated the Redfern family. They all deserved to drop dead. But at least they paid a decent amount of money for her assassination charges. She'd never been forced to work with one before. She tolerated Trinity, being half Harman. She liked the Midnighters better than the Twilighters. She seemed to run into very few of her own clan.
But here, so far, her innocent dumb blonde act was working. She'd had no problem worming her way into the crowd the two Serpents were part of. She smiled brightly, lying about her family, hobbies and things as the questions were answered.
She spotted Desio across the room, he seemed to have into trouble blending in either. He already had a crowd of female admirers. He smiled and waved. She fought an urge to give him the finger. Damn Redfern. She'd kill him as soon as she was done with this assignment.
* * *
Elysia pushed her way through the crowd girls gathered round, smiling and flirting with the new boy. She wanted to find out what he'd done to Automne. He turned and stared at her for several long moments. The smile on his handsome face turning into a scowl of hatred.
Elysia stopped, taken aback. Why was he looking at her like that? She was positive she'd never seen him before.
He stared at her for a few seconds longer, and then shoved the girls aside and ran at her, his gold eyes blazing with hatred and fury. Elysia didn't back away from the attack, instead she ran straight for him, blocking his punch with her arm, kicking him hard in the groin. She winced as she heard the material of her skirt rip. Damn. That skirt was one of her favourites too. And he'd made her ruin it.
She aimed a series of punches and kicks at him, and he countered every single one. This boy knew how to fight. Students were gathering around in a circle, some of them leering, chanting. Some screaming with terror, running. Teachers were appearing now.
Elysia knew when to stop. She pulled back her attack. He reached out and grabbed her arm, hissing into her ear, "You're lucky this time you little slut. You won't get away next time."
"Who *are* you?" she hissed back.
He gave her a strange smile. "You'll find out before long." And then he pulled himself together and walked away. One look at him and people made sure they got out of his way.
Elysia flushed, looking around. Everyone was staring at her in shock. It was her turn to flee from the room.
* * *
Automne arrived in the classroom to find an unusual state of disruptions. Students were gathered around in clusters, all talking amongst themselves. She felt a brief stab of pity for the poor teacher who was still trying to continue with the lecture, despite the fact that no one was paying the slightest bit of attention.
"What happened?" she asked Orchid, who sat in their usual spot with Nyrissa and the new girl Aurelia.
Orchid just shrugged. "Elysia and the new guy had a fight. And not just nasty name calling."
"I didn't know she could fight like that," Nyrissa said dryly.
Automne frowned. "What happened?"
"She came into the classroom, he just looked at her, then ran at her. Like you looked at him, then ran away," Orchid said languidly. Orchid always seemed languid and aloof, her thoughts always on herself. It seemed there was nothing more to Orchid Redwood but her exterior. Nothing on the inside, just a hollow, empty shell of beauty and perfection on the out. Her act was as good as Automne's, and it made Automne wonder what she was hiding. Who was Orchid really?
Who was anyone really? Did you really ever know another person? No matter how long, how well you thought you knew them, everyone she'd ever met seemed to have something they were hiding. Elysia looked like a Harman, exactly the same pale gold hair and violet eyes, and she refused to say why; Orchid was loose, cool, and had the traits of a vampire, there was this new girl, Aurelia, with unfamiliar symbols in black tattoos on her arms. Black symbols, a Night World trait. A poppy and a wolf's paw and stars. What did they *mean*? A new clan, maybe?
Nyrissa seemed to be the only one of the crowd who was ordinary. She didn't look as if she was hiding anything, she didn't have an act like the others. Of course, that didn't necessarily mean a thing.
They were all looking at her, expecting her to know what was going on. But she didn't. She didn't know any better than anyone else did.
She turned away from her friends, letting them think what they wanted. She didn't really give a damn about what they thought of her. Right now the only friend that mattered to her was Elysia. Obviously, Desio had some sort of problem with her too.
She knew he'd been after the vampire hunter that had killed his soulmate. But here was the twist; Desio's soulmate had been human. A human girl named Sapphyre he'd met over two hundred years ago while they were having an affair. She had been at the height of her Glitta glory, being bad and crazy Frost and loving every minute of it.
And she hadn't really minded toying with a vampire. It had been something new to do. And then she had caught him with a human. Naughty little vampire. Loving humans was forbidden, even back then. She had been amused when he'd begged her not to report them. She had told the human to run, and the human, surprisingly, had not been a stupid one. She had run.
Only then, running had turned out to be stupid. As soon as she had gone, they had heard a scream, and found the human dead. Staked, a symbol drawn on her head, a large S with a forked tongue coming out the top. The calling card of the vampire hunter known as Serpent.
And she knew Desio had been on the hunt for them ever since. She had drifted away. Something had happened, and she'd hidden, hidden away from the Glitta world, not wanting to be a part anymore, wanting to be human and hide and run away. She had been attacked by a vampire herself, and instead of playing with him; she had fought and killed him.
A figure in black had approached, obviously with the aim of helping her, but had watched, fascinated, while she finished the vampire off without a problem. She had pulled off her mask then, and introduced herself as the Serpent.
Two hundred years later. Was this the original Serpent or the next descendant? Automne had just assumed she was the next descendent. And that was how she and Elysia had met, and somehow, after that, teamed up. One Serpent had become two.
And now Desio was back.
Had he recognised her? She had changed her looks completely. Anyone would recognise a Glitta if they saw one. She'd changed her hair colour, wore contacts to cover her eye colour, her surname had changed. She had picked remote relatives in a small town where surely no one could find her.
This was becoming very, very confusing.
* * *
When class finally ended Automne made her way out quickly, pushing her way through the crowds of students, who were looking at her, whispering behind their hands. They were as curious as to what was happening as she was.
She didn't have any answers. She found Elysia sitting under a tree in the front grounds of the school. She seemed lost in thought. When Automne approached, she looked up. Without a word Automne sat down.
"I think we need to talk," she said. What she was going to say, she still hadn't figured it out yet. It was bad enough to be an immortal, inhuman goddess type creature, and a killer, but how did you tell that to a vampire hunter who hated anything mystical?
"Who's that boy?" Elysia asked finally, turning to look at Automne. There was an expression of confusion on her face.
"An old boyfriend," was the only thing Automne could think of. "We had a fling a while back. But I guess I wasn't really his type."
"He's a vampire." It was a statement, not a question.
Automne frowned. "How did you know?" Vampire powers were less useful during the daylight, and it generally wasn't easy to sense them.
"He has a tattoo of a black iris." She was obviously waiting for an explanation as to why Automne was interested in a vampire.
"I dated him before I knew about vampires," she said finally. It was a lie, but Elysia didn't need to know that yet. "What about that other new girl, Aurelia. Didn't you notice something strange about her?"
Elysia was still frowning. "I haven't met her yet, why?"
"I think she's from Night World. She's got black tattoo symbols on her upper right and left arm. A poppy and a wolf's paw with two stars. It can't just be a coincidence. I don't recognise the symbol."
"Black poppies are symbols of something called Wolf Clan, a group of more powerful werewolves. The star and wolf's paw the symbol of a group of elite Wolf assassins, known as the Bitch Brigade."
Automne didn't say anything. She had never heard of this Clan. She had been kind of out of it in the field of Night World and the supernatural for the last fifty, sixty years or so. She had been more focused on just getting rid of vampires. Leeches. Monsters. They weren't really people. Why the hell she'd ever let Desio touch her was beyond her now. What had she been thinking?
"What do you want to do about our new friends?" Elysia asked.
Killing them seemed to be the best solution. It seemed if the one girl was a Night World assassin, then it was likely that Desio was too. She'd heard of someone amongst the vampire hunters who sounded just like him, they called him the Human Hunter. But of course, killing humans wasn't just Desio's limit. He had a knack for torture and causing pain. He'd passed some of his knowledge on to her. Of course, torturing vampires and other supernatural beings was easy - everyone knew what hurt them.
"The Night World sent them after us," Elysia said, again stated more than questioned. Sometimes she seemed to just know who the Night World was sending and who their biggest and most dangerous were.
It was uncanny, and almost freaky, but Automne had never questioned it, knowing she had secrets of her own she'd rather die than reveal. Shame her species was almost impossible to kill.
"Why did you fight with Desio?" she asked. The fact had slipped her mind, but now thinking of him had suddenly illuminated it again.
It was Elysia's turn to frown. "He started it. I was going after him to demand to know why he'd upset you so much and then he just sort of ran at me and I had to defend myself. He seems to hate my guts, but I don't know why. I don't recognise him, and the name Desio means nothing to me."
This truly was a mystery. "Maybe it's not just you Desio hates," she said slowly. "It's the Serpents. One killed his human soulmate."
Elysia smiled without humour. "He has a *human* soulmate? Poor girl."
Automne didn't smile. The image of Sapphyre's body covered in pieces of wood like a human pin cushion flashed before her eyes and she clamed down hard on a shudder. "Not anymore. The original Serpent vampire hunter killed her. Thus, why he hates you."
Elysia didn't say anything. There was a look of almost utter concentration on her face, as if she were trying to remember something. But looked as if she was failing. "We kill them," she said finally. "Only solution to save both our asses before the council come and get us."
Automne nodded. "Get them before they get us."
They sat there in silence, not looking at each other. Automne didn't know why she was so unhappy. She didn't understand why the idea of killing Desio bothered her so much. She felt nothing for him. Not any more. Not since...
No. No way. She wouldn't think about *that* now.
Concentrate on the task at hand, destroying the Night World assassins before they did something.
They seemed to have done plenty already.
* * *
Desio was annoyed. She was *here*? But how was it possible? The Serpent Vampire Hunter was a human. Unless she was an Old Soul. But if that were true, then she'd just keep coming back and back and killing more and more Night People.
And Automne? The question still posed as what to do about her? Did he tell Trinity the truth? That she was rally one of them and just having a little identity crisis? That was believable. All they needed was to remind her of who she was, and there'd be no problems.
But why should he care about saving her? His relationship with Automne had ended. He meant nothing to her, and he knew it. He had seen who she was now. He just couldn't get over the change in her. He wondered what had happened to make her resort to hunting down her own kind of people.
If he asked, would she tell him? He doubted it. She'd probably slug his face in and kill him. Could he get her before she got him? He looked around the crowded cafeteria, full of human vermin munching on their sickening burnt cafeteria sludge passing itself off as food.
So many people, in such a small space, and his hunger was staring inside him all the time. He sat at a back table alone, eyes narrowed, a scowl on his face. He was about to get up and leave when he saw two girls approaching. One was Aurelia, and the other he didn't recognise. She'd been one of the girls staring at him all morning, but that didn't really mean anything to him. Lots of girls stared at him, no matter where he went. It was annoying.
The two girls sat down at the table. "It's lunch period and they're still alive?" Aurelia said. "God, you're slow."
Desio opened his mouth to yell at her, but realised the other girl was still watching him, a smile playing around full, lipsticked lips.
Aurelia waved dismissively. "It's okay, Orchid's one of our spies."
Desio frowned. There was definitely something different about the girl, a certain...aura, he supposed was the word. She seemed...too aloof. As if she were looking at everything from a distance.
"I hear you're supposed to be quick on your assignments," Orchid said, still with that annoying, languid smile. "But maybe it's feelings for that little witch getting in the way?"
Desio stared. "How the hell would you know anything about that?" he snapped.
Orchid smiled. "I know a lot of things."
Aurelia was smiling, and not bothering to hide it. He realised then why she must like Orchid, the girl was as much of a bitch as she was.
"I do not have feelings for Automne. It was in the past, it's over with," he snapped.
"So kill her," Aurelia said with a shrug.
Desio frowned. "I want the other girl. You can have Automne."
"Why? What's so special about Elysia?" Orchid asked. "Why'd you try to kill her before?"
Desio looked up and met her eyes. "I have my reasons. She's mine, you two can do what you want with the other one."
All that mattered to him was making sure Elysia was dead. She'd murdered his soulmate in cold blood, she deserved to die. As for Automne...why couldn't he get her out his mind?
* * *
Summary: They're called the Serpents. They lure and tempt the Night People to them and kill them. Elysia and Automne, two best friends, make it their duty to destroy and expose the Night World. But when Desio Redfern is sent after them, he gets more than he bargained for...
Part 1
Midnight. The witching hour. She stood alone in the small town's park, waiting. He would be here soon. Her lips curved into a knowing smile. Men were fools. They never could resist her. The ones who thought they were the most dangerous were the most stupid.
As if on cue, there he was, smiling that idiot grin he thought was sexy. His blond hair was glinting in the moonlight, his silver eyes shining. Animal eyes, like the animal he really was. He thought she had no clue as to what he was.
He was in for a surprise.
"Hi there," he said, a swagger barely hidden in his voice. "I thought you weren't going to come. It's dangerous for nice girls to be out alone so late."
She smiled at him. "I'm not a nice girl." And before he could make a move on her, she pulled her concealed stake out, sliding it into his heart cleanly. The idiot vampire stared at her, startled. She gave an innocent smile. "Told you so," she said.
"That was quick," another voice said, stepping out of the shadows.
"I'm a fast track kind of girl," the first one said. "They're not worth wasting any time over."
The second girl shrugged slender shoulders. "Oh, I don't know, you can have fun with them before you kill them."
The first stared. "You're serious fucked up, you know that?"
"Yeah, I know." The second girl kicked the body. "I guess we should get rid of this."
They both picked it up, lugging it over to the deep pond in the centre of the park, and, grunting, hurled it over. A splash sounded as the body dropped into the water.
The two girls walked away into the shadows.
* * *
The figure hidden amongst the trees watched them walk away. The two vampire hunters known to the Night World as the Serpents, due to their ability to lure any unsuspecting Night Person to their deadly beauty and make them suffer horribly. What had made the girls be this way, no one knew. But it was his job to hunt them down and bring them to the Council.
If they make the Night People suffer. Why shouldn't the Night People make them suffer in return?
* * *
Elysia groaned, pulling the covers over her head as the alarm clock went off. She hated Monday mornings. Yet another school day of playing the nice, innocent popular girl, who supposedly had everything she could ever want.
If they only knew, she thought, smiling a little, reaching out for the alarm clock and throwing it against the wall to shut the damn thing up. No one knew about her little...hobby, you might call it. If they knew she was a vampire hunter, they'd think she was insane. As far as her small sleepy town was concerned, vampires were a myth, ledged and superstition that were never going to come true.
Hah! They had no idea about the little hidden society amongst them. They were there, she knew they were. But of course, they had no idea who she was either.
"Elysia!" a booming voice was yelling and pounding on the door. "Get up you lazy little bitch!"
"Go to hell!" Elysia shouted back. "I'm up. On second thoughts, find somewhere other to go than hell, you'd probably scare the shit out of Satan himself."
There was another loud thump on the door, mutterings Elysia wouldn't repeat, and sounds of the annoying intruder going away. She hated life here. Her parents had been murdered by vampires sent after her. Why they'd been after her, she'd had no idea. She guessed some council jerk had spotted her and decided to make her his trophy. Providing she had breath in her body, that would never happen.
She'd been shipped off to her older sister Tallia's. The house was ordinary, a small two bedroomed apartment in a small town in the middle of Nebraska, where there was more corn than people. Shame The *Children of the Corn* cult in the sad Stephen king movies weren't real. That would be interesting. Hunting down them would be different to vampires, they might provide more of a challenge. It was also a shame Tallia was such a bitch.
She showered and dressed in a tight white top and a long swirling skirt, her golden blonde hair rippling down her back, violet eyes sparkling brightly. Violet eyes were supposed to be a trait of the Harman family of the Night World, the witches. Witches, some of them, at least, weren't as bad as vampires. She was willing to tolerate Circle Twilight. Circle Daybreak, she couldn't stand. No matter what they said, there was no way she would work with any vampires or shapeshifters. She shuddered at the thought.
She gave her reflection a kind, gentle smile. The perfect student. The perfect friend.
The perfect killer.
* * *
Automne stretched leisurely in her king size bed. Sunlight was streaming in through the white filmy curtains bathing the room in a soft, golden glow. She smiled, contentedly. Personally, she liked her life. She had a wealthy family who spoiled her rotten, gave her everything she could want, she was popular, smart, had everything any one could ever ask for.
Who would ever think of her as a vampire hunter?
Most people wouldn't think she was strong enough, she gave off her wimpy little rich girl impression very well, and the vampires that fell for her, were usually very sorry.
And that was how she and her best friend Elysia had earned the nicknames The Serpents among the Night People. They used their looks and charm to lure the unsuspecting victim to them, and then had fun making them suffer for making their own people suffer. Just like the serpent had tempted Eve into taking the Forbidden Fruit from the tree in the Bible, then ended up suffering in return. Of course, the Bible was just a load of crap. There was no God. If there was, why would he allow monsters like the Night People to exist. Monsters like her family...
She shook her head. No. No one must ever find out about that. If Elysia knew she would kill Automne.
Her family only spoiled her to make sure she kept her mouth shut about their little secret, making her spy on the hunter known as Serpent. But what they didn't know, was that Automne herself had ended up hunting down her own people. They shouldn't exist. It was wrong.
Or did they know? They had been giving her some very strange looks lately. Going out their way to make sure they didn't upset her or anything. Now, that was more than a little strange. What was happening there? What were they up to?
Automne sighed heavily, deeply sorry for herself, and got out of bed, feeling hungry. The hunger was something she tried to ignore, refusing to feed it. Sometimes the need drove her insane, made her do crazy things. Elysia already thought she was a little fucked up.
If she only knew the truth, Automne thought sadly, showering and dressing. She placed her hands on her vanity unity and looked into the mirror, seeing what everyone else saw, a pretty girl with cheekbones to die for, milky white skin, soft, sensual mouth, gentle auburn locks, and ordinary brown eyes. Of course, the brown eyes were contacts, used to hide her real eyes. But underneath, she saw the glowing yellow eyes of the monster she really was.
Only she saw it, because she knew it was there.
She shook her head of raven locks and turned away, snarling a little at the growing hunger. It had been over a month since she'd last fed properly. She would have to feed soon, before...
Before what?
* * 8
"Did you see them?"
Desio Redfern frowned. He had seen them. And they were indeed, very real. The huntresses known as the Serpents. He'd felt sure they were just a myth. No vampire hunter should have been allowed to live and kill so many night people. And now, it was his job to bring them to the council. If he lived through it. He'd sent that idiot Tyler after them, and he'd met an unfortunate end. But that didn't mean they were as bad as the rumours implied.
He looked at the young woman ahead of him. She was the current leader of Circle Midnight with a place on the Night World council. And she had been the one who'd given him the task. Everyone knew Trinity Redfern-Harman didn't take any crap from anyone. You did what she said or you died. Unpleasantly if she had her way, which she usually did. That was the advantage of being half witch, half vampire.
"Yeah, I saw them," he said blandly.
"So when are you going to bring them to me?"
"As soon as I can. It's not like it's gonna be easy, Trin."
Trinity's head tilted to one side, her long raven hair falling in a shawl of shimmering black around her. Her ever changing Redfern eyes held him transfixed. Desio shook his head. Women were a pain. And Trinity was one of the worst. Their relationship had been off-and-on for the past two hundred years or so, and she never got any easier to deal with. "I know that. That's why I gave you the job. Oh, and here's someone else you'll be working with." Trinity turned and made beckoning motions with her finger.
Desio frowned. He wasn't used to having a second party. He did things his way and no one usually questioned him. He was renowned for his ruthlessness. If someone hired him to get something done, he got it done, regardless of what he had to do.
The girl who was coming out of the shadows was small with long, flowing golden hair. She looked around the same age as him and Trinity, which of course meant nothing. She could be anywhere from twenty to twenty thousand. She was dressed in a tight revealing black top and black leather trousers and high black boots that made annoying tapping noises. She had two tattoos on her upper right and left arm. One was of a black poppy on the left, and on the right was what looked like a symbol, a wolf's paw and two stars. Her dark lips were curved in an amused smile.
He glared at her. She lifted a slender, pale hand and waved. Trinity snickered. "I'm sure you two'll get on fine," she said. "Desio Redfern, meet Aurelia Wolf."
Aurelia Wolf. Oh great. He got stuck with the bitch from hell. He'd heard about this girl, she was supposed to be cruel, cold and remorseless. Pretty much like him. Also, he'd heard she was also a royal pain in the ass if she didn't get her own way.
He sighed. This was not going to be fun.
"What's the matter?" Aurelia asked with an innocent smile. "Can't handle the competition?"
"Drop dead," he snarled.
Aurelia laughed, a beautiful, melodic sound. "Been there, done that. Think of something else."
Desio gritted his teeth and returned her stare. At this rate, he was going to end up killing *her* before he got anywhere near the Serpents.
* * *
Elysia sighed, putting on a bright and cheerful smile, greeting people who called her name as she walked down the hall of the high school, looking for her friends. They sat around in their usual seats in their first classroom. The perfect people. Everyone one in her group was stunning, slender, smart and spoiled.
How dull, Elysia thought. Completely boring. It's times like this that makes me so glad for a secret life.
"We have a few new students," Orchid Redwood said. She nodded over to the other back side of the classroom, where a tall, red haired boy sat. He was dressed in dark clothing, a scowl darkening his handsome face. He also, Elysia noticed, looked bored out of mind, as if he was wishing he could be anywhere but here.
He glanced over at her at that moment, and something...something seemed to happen. There was a strange sort of electricity in the air as their gazes connected. Oh no, Elysia thought, this can't be what I think it is. Please, God, no. The last thing I want right now is a new soulmate to deal with...
But it didn't feel like a soulmate connection. Of course, her own soulmate was long dead. She frowned, pushing away unpleasant memories trying to emerge. She wouldn't think about him now. She just wouldn't be able to deal with it. Not here in school with a bunch of people wanting to know why she was so upset, and then having to come up with an excuse to tell them.
Of course, she'd always debated on telling her own crowd the truth. And that would give the Night World even more reason than they already had to want her dead. She wondered vaguely how many assassins were set on her right now, and what the price the Council was paying them to bring her and Automne down.
At that moment, Automne sailed into the classroom, auburn hair shining, outfit stunning, showing off her beautiful body. She turned to come and join her friends, and suddenly stopped dead. The bright smile faded and her face went white as a sheet.
Elysia followed her gaze...to the new boy at the back of the classroom. He was staring at her, his expression just as surprised. Then his lips curled into a mean smile and he waved at her. Automne just stared at him, a fine tremor taking over her body. Automne was *shaking.*
"Automne?" Elysia stood up and headed over to her, touching her friend's arm, gently. Automne turned to look at her. Her skin was pasty, sickly white. She looked awful. Her expression was shocked, and terrified. Automne? Afraid? Automne was never afraid. Who the hell *was* this guy? What had he done to Automne to make her so scared? Someone was going to have to answer some questions here.
"Automne what's *wrong*? What is it?"
Automne opened her mouth, but now sound came out. Her words died on her tongue. She started to say something, but the words trailed off into a mutter. "I - I - I have to go now," she said, and turned and ran out of the room. Elysia had never seen her move so fast, not even when chasing a vampire.
She glanced over at the new boy. He looked amused at Automne's reaction to him. Yet at the same time there was something else there. Whatever it was was gone before she could identify it.
The teacher came in then and the class started, preventing Elysia from approaching the boy. But all through the period her mind kept returning to the little scene between him and Automne. What was happening there? She glanced around, noticing Orchid and one of the other girls, Krystal, smiling at him flirtatiously. He returned their seductive gazes with an unimpressed scowl.
But something about the boy's eyes caught Elysia's attention. They were large and gold, like the eyes of a hunting predator, and the artificial lights of the classroom just seemed to reflect back at her. She noticed something on the side of his neck. Something small and black. A tattoo of a black iris. He was a vampire.
Black irises were Night World symbols of lamia, the born vampires. But the mystery remained as to why Automne was so afraid of him. Vampires never scared her. She'd hunted down and tortured some of the Night World's most deadly assassins. They had been dark and ten times more frightening than this guy, and their reputation and personalities had had no effect on her. Compared to them this guy was a fairy tail prince.
And yet he'd scared the shit out of her.
Why?
And who was he?
* * *
Automne raced into the girls' room, slamming the door shut, muttering a brief spell to make sure no one would come in and disturb her. He could *not* be here. Not him. Anyone but him. She gripped the sink and stared into the mirror above it, barely recognising her own reflection.
Her face was sickly white, her eyes wide and frightened, her hair wildly dishevelled. What the hell was wrong with her? She dreaded to think what this would do to her reputation. How was she going to explain all of this? Especially Elysia.
An even more terrifying though struck her. What if Elysia found out the truth? Desio loved to brag. Why was he here? The council had probably sent him to bring them in.
She shook her head, completely confused, upset and frightened. She didn't know what to do, or who she could talk to. Elysia would be appalled if she ever found out the truth.
Everyone would be. No, no, no, she thought. *Nobody* would ever know the truth about her. What she really was...the monster she was inside...
She took several deep breaths to calm herself down. She would have to face them all sometimes. She pulled out her brush and ran it through her hair, splashed some water on her face. She removed the spell she'd done, and headed out to face the consequences.
* * *
Instead of going to class Automne hid in the library until the period was over. No one would ever think to look for her here. She could see the curious looks of some of the students as she browsed casually through the shelves, she could clearly see they were wondering what Miss Spoiled Popularity was doing there.
Normally, Automne loved the feel of eyes on her, knowing she was perfect, and knowing that everyone wished they could be like her. But this...This was different. She could feel something else. Someone else was watching her. And it wasn't a passing curiosity. They were probing eyes. She could feel the presence of someone watching her. Someone who meant to harm her.
Hah! As soon as she found out who, they were going to be very, very sorry. Automne scanned the people in the library. They all just looked like the general riffraff of ordinary students. She had no sense of any Night People there. Of course, she could always be missing them. Night People were masters of secrecy and blending in.
Head held high, she walked out, feeling the probing eyes on her all the way. The person - if there really was a person - was following her. Automne glanced around quickly, but she could see no one behind her.
Second bell had already rung and students were scattering about to get to their next period. Not paying attention to where she was going Automne bumped into someone. She glanced around, annoyed, her eyes flaring.
"What's your problem?" someone said, sounding annoyed. Automne sighed heavily with relief. It was only Nyrissa Blackbrook. Nyrissa was one of her closer friends. She had been joined by a new girl Automne didn't recognise. She was small with golden hair and blue eyes, dressed in a pale blue top with delicate flowers stitched in and a short blue skirt. She looked rather innocent. Just another ordinary dumb blonde.
"This is Aurelia," Nyrissa said. "She's just moved here."
Automne glanced briefly at the girl. Despite her innocent appearance, the two black tattoos on her looked a little out of place. And like symbols. A black poppy and a wolf's paw with two stars. What were they? She wasn't giving off any of the usual signals that Night People gave. Maybe she was a new species.
Elysia would have to be told about this. And this was something at least, that she could talk about.
"I heard you ran out of class this morning," Nyrissa said. "Something to do with some new guy who'd showed up. What was that all about?"
Automne frowned. "Nothing," she said hastily, using all the brainwashing power she could master. "I just thought I recognised him from somewhere but it turned out I didn't after all."
Nyrissa's eyes went blank for a moment, then cleared. "Oh. Okay. Well, we gotta go or we'll be late."
Automne noticed Aurelia giving her a strange look. The other girl had *known* she had done something to Nyrissa's mind. Who the hell was this girl? *What* was she?
Something would have to be done about her, and their new friend with the red hair as well.
* * *
Desio frowned. He still couldn't believe it. Automne. She really was one of the Serpents. It had been a long time since he'd seen her last, almost two centuries. She had changed completely. He remembered a powerful Glittawitch with midnight blue-black hair, blazing golden eyes who terrified humans and Night People alike.
And now, Automne Sinne Frost had turned into a wimpy little human girl. She'd dyed her hair a normal colour and wore contacts to hide her bizarre Glitta looks. Killing her was going to be damn close to impossible. He knew Glittawitches weren't immortal, but he'd never know anyone who'd successfully killed one. He doubted that even Aurelia couldn't pull that one off.
She put on her own wimpy innocent dumb blonde act very well. He had to admit he was impressed with the way she'd come in and wormed her way into the Serpent's crowd already.
But he was disappointed. Automne...he would never admit to his feelings for her. For one thing, Trinity would be pissed, and second...he already had a soulmate.
But she was gone. Murdered by the Serpent called Elysia. He could feel himself shaking with fury as he thought about it. She had been dying when he'd found her, covered in sticks of wood, looking like a human pincushion.
If anyone got that little bitch, it was going to be him. He didn't care if he had to fight Aurelia for the right to killing her. He didn't even care if he had to kill Aurelia herself to get a clear shot at Elysia. Sapphyre deserved to be avenged. And he would avenge her.
* * *
Aurelia watched the Serpent girl walk away. She'd covered herself up very well. She'd betrayed the Night World, betrayed her own Glitta heritage. Aurelia wondered what the House of Frost would think of Automne if they knew of her secret life style. Of course, most of them probably already knew, they probably had assassins of their own sent after her.
You didn't betray your kin and get away with it.
That's what she'd thought anyway. Ever since her own sister, her twin, her own flesh and blood had walked out on her, after vampires had murdered their family, she'd been in search of the bitch but had never found her.
And she, personally, hated the Redfern family. They all deserved to drop dead. But at least they paid a decent amount of money for her assassination charges. She'd never been forced to work with one before. She tolerated Trinity, being half Harman. She liked the Midnighters better than the Twilighters. She seemed to run into very few of her own clan.
But here, so far, her innocent dumb blonde act was working. She'd had no problem worming her way into the crowd the two Serpents were part of. She smiled brightly, lying about her family, hobbies and things as the questions were answered.
She spotted Desio across the room, he seemed to have into trouble blending in either. He already had a crowd of female admirers. He smiled and waved. She fought an urge to give him the finger. Damn Redfern. She'd kill him as soon as she was done with this assignment.
* * *
Elysia pushed her way through the crowd girls gathered round, smiling and flirting with the new boy. She wanted to find out what he'd done to Automne. He turned and stared at her for several long moments. The smile on his handsome face turning into a scowl of hatred.
Elysia stopped, taken aback. Why was he looking at her like that? She was positive she'd never seen him before.
He stared at her for a few seconds longer, and then shoved the girls aside and ran at her, his gold eyes blazing with hatred and fury. Elysia didn't back away from the attack, instead she ran straight for him, blocking his punch with her arm, kicking him hard in the groin. She winced as she heard the material of her skirt rip. Damn. That skirt was one of her favourites too. And he'd made her ruin it.
She aimed a series of punches and kicks at him, and he countered every single one. This boy knew how to fight. Students were gathering around in a circle, some of them leering, chanting. Some screaming with terror, running. Teachers were appearing now.
Elysia knew when to stop. She pulled back her attack. He reached out and grabbed her arm, hissing into her ear, "You're lucky this time you little slut. You won't get away next time."
"Who *are* you?" she hissed back.
He gave her a strange smile. "You'll find out before long." And then he pulled himself together and walked away. One look at him and people made sure they got out of his way.
Elysia flushed, looking around. Everyone was staring at her in shock. It was her turn to flee from the room.
* * *
Automne arrived in the classroom to find an unusual state of disruptions. Students were gathered around in clusters, all talking amongst themselves. She felt a brief stab of pity for the poor teacher who was still trying to continue with the lecture, despite the fact that no one was paying the slightest bit of attention.
"What happened?" she asked Orchid, who sat in their usual spot with Nyrissa and the new girl Aurelia.
Orchid just shrugged. "Elysia and the new guy had a fight. And not just nasty name calling."
"I didn't know she could fight like that," Nyrissa said dryly.
Automne frowned. "What happened?"
"She came into the classroom, he just looked at her, then ran at her. Like you looked at him, then ran away," Orchid said languidly. Orchid always seemed languid and aloof, her thoughts always on herself. It seemed there was nothing more to Orchid Redwood but her exterior. Nothing on the inside, just a hollow, empty shell of beauty and perfection on the out. Her act was as good as Automne's, and it made Automne wonder what she was hiding. Who was Orchid really?
Who was anyone really? Did you really ever know another person? No matter how long, how well you thought you knew them, everyone she'd ever met seemed to have something they were hiding. Elysia looked like a Harman, exactly the same pale gold hair and violet eyes, and she refused to say why; Orchid was loose, cool, and had the traits of a vampire, there was this new girl, Aurelia, with unfamiliar symbols in black tattoos on her arms. Black symbols, a Night World trait. A poppy and a wolf's paw and stars. What did they *mean*? A new clan, maybe?
Nyrissa seemed to be the only one of the crowd who was ordinary. She didn't look as if she was hiding anything, she didn't have an act like the others. Of course, that didn't necessarily mean a thing.
They were all looking at her, expecting her to know what was going on. But she didn't. She didn't know any better than anyone else did.
She turned away from her friends, letting them think what they wanted. She didn't really give a damn about what they thought of her. Right now the only friend that mattered to her was Elysia. Obviously, Desio had some sort of problem with her too.
She knew he'd been after the vampire hunter that had killed his soulmate. But here was the twist; Desio's soulmate had been human. A human girl named Sapphyre he'd met over two hundred years ago while they were having an affair. She had been at the height of her Glitta glory, being bad and crazy Frost and loving every minute of it.
And she hadn't really minded toying with a vampire. It had been something new to do. And then she had caught him with a human. Naughty little vampire. Loving humans was forbidden, even back then. She had been amused when he'd begged her not to report them. She had told the human to run, and the human, surprisingly, had not been a stupid one. She had run.
Only then, running had turned out to be stupid. As soon as she had gone, they had heard a scream, and found the human dead. Staked, a symbol drawn on her head, a large S with a forked tongue coming out the top. The calling card of the vampire hunter known as Serpent.
And she knew Desio had been on the hunt for them ever since. She had drifted away. Something had happened, and she'd hidden, hidden away from the Glitta world, not wanting to be a part anymore, wanting to be human and hide and run away. She had been attacked by a vampire herself, and instead of playing with him; she had fought and killed him.
A figure in black had approached, obviously with the aim of helping her, but had watched, fascinated, while she finished the vampire off without a problem. She had pulled off her mask then, and introduced herself as the Serpent.
Two hundred years later. Was this the original Serpent or the next descendant? Automne had just assumed she was the next descendent. And that was how she and Elysia had met, and somehow, after that, teamed up. One Serpent had become two.
And now Desio was back.
Had he recognised her? She had changed her looks completely. Anyone would recognise a Glitta if they saw one. She'd changed her hair colour, wore contacts to cover her eye colour, her surname had changed. She had picked remote relatives in a small town where surely no one could find her.
This was becoming very, very confusing.
* * *
When class finally ended Automne made her way out quickly, pushing her way through the crowds of students, who were looking at her, whispering behind their hands. They were as curious as to what was happening as she was.
She didn't have any answers. She found Elysia sitting under a tree in the front grounds of the school. She seemed lost in thought. When Automne approached, she looked up. Without a word Automne sat down.
"I think we need to talk," she said. What she was going to say, she still hadn't figured it out yet. It was bad enough to be an immortal, inhuman goddess type creature, and a killer, but how did you tell that to a vampire hunter who hated anything mystical?
"Who's that boy?" Elysia asked finally, turning to look at Automne. There was an expression of confusion on her face.
"An old boyfriend," was the only thing Automne could think of. "We had a fling a while back. But I guess I wasn't really his type."
"He's a vampire." It was a statement, not a question.
Automne frowned. "How did you know?" Vampire powers were less useful during the daylight, and it generally wasn't easy to sense them.
"He has a tattoo of a black iris." She was obviously waiting for an explanation as to why Automne was interested in a vampire.
"I dated him before I knew about vampires," she said finally. It was a lie, but Elysia didn't need to know that yet. "What about that other new girl, Aurelia. Didn't you notice something strange about her?"
Elysia was still frowning. "I haven't met her yet, why?"
"I think she's from Night World. She's got black tattoo symbols on her upper right and left arm. A poppy and a wolf's paw with two stars. It can't just be a coincidence. I don't recognise the symbol."
"Black poppies are symbols of something called Wolf Clan, a group of more powerful werewolves. The star and wolf's paw the symbol of a group of elite Wolf assassins, known as the Bitch Brigade."
Automne didn't say anything. She had never heard of this Clan. She had been kind of out of it in the field of Night World and the supernatural for the last fifty, sixty years or so. She had been more focused on just getting rid of vampires. Leeches. Monsters. They weren't really people. Why the hell she'd ever let Desio touch her was beyond her now. What had she been thinking?
"What do you want to do about our new friends?" Elysia asked.
Killing them seemed to be the best solution. It seemed if the one girl was a Night World assassin, then it was likely that Desio was too. She'd heard of someone amongst the vampire hunters who sounded just like him, they called him the Human Hunter. But of course, killing humans wasn't just Desio's limit. He had a knack for torture and causing pain. He'd passed some of his knowledge on to her. Of course, torturing vampires and other supernatural beings was easy - everyone knew what hurt them.
"The Night World sent them after us," Elysia said, again stated more than questioned. Sometimes she seemed to just know who the Night World was sending and who their biggest and most dangerous were.
It was uncanny, and almost freaky, but Automne had never questioned it, knowing she had secrets of her own she'd rather die than reveal. Shame her species was almost impossible to kill.
"Why did you fight with Desio?" she asked. The fact had slipped her mind, but now thinking of him had suddenly illuminated it again.
It was Elysia's turn to frown. "He started it. I was going after him to demand to know why he'd upset you so much and then he just sort of ran at me and I had to defend myself. He seems to hate my guts, but I don't know why. I don't recognise him, and the name Desio means nothing to me."
This truly was a mystery. "Maybe it's not just you Desio hates," she said slowly. "It's the Serpents. One killed his human soulmate."
Elysia smiled without humour. "He has a *human* soulmate? Poor girl."
Automne didn't smile. The image of Sapphyre's body covered in pieces of wood like a human pin cushion flashed before her eyes and she clamed down hard on a shudder. "Not anymore. The original Serpent vampire hunter killed her. Thus, why he hates you."
Elysia didn't say anything. There was a look of almost utter concentration on her face, as if she were trying to remember something. But looked as if she was failing. "We kill them," she said finally. "Only solution to save both our asses before the council come and get us."
Automne nodded. "Get them before they get us."
They sat there in silence, not looking at each other. Automne didn't know why she was so unhappy. She didn't understand why the idea of killing Desio bothered her so much. She felt nothing for him. Not any more. Not since...
No. No way. She wouldn't think about *that* now.
Concentrate on the task at hand, destroying the Night World assassins before they did something.
They seemed to have done plenty already.
* * *
Desio was annoyed. She was *here*? But how was it possible? The Serpent Vampire Hunter was a human. Unless she was an Old Soul. But if that were true, then she'd just keep coming back and back and killing more and more Night People.
And Automne? The question still posed as what to do about her? Did he tell Trinity the truth? That she was rally one of them and just having a little identity crisis? That was believable. All they needed was to remind her of who she was, and there'd be no problems.
But why should he care about saving her? His relationship with Automne had ended. He meant nothing to her, and he knew it. He had seen who she was now. He just couldn't get over the change in her. He wondered what had happened to make her resort to hunting down her own kind of people.
If he asked, would she tell him? He doubted it. She'd probably slug his face in and kill him. Could he get her before she got him? He looked around the crowded cafeteria, full of human vermin munching on their sickening burnt cafeteria sludge passing itself off as food.
So many people, in such a small space, and his hunger was staring inside him all the time. He sat at a back table alone, eyes narrowed, a scowl on his face. He was about to get up and leave when he saw two girls approaching. One was Aurelia, and the other he didn't recognise. She'd been one of the girls staring at him all morning, but that didn't really mean anything to him. Lots of girls stared at him, no matter where he went. It was annoying.
The two girls sat down at the table. "It's lunch period and they're still alive?" Aurelia said. "God, you're slow."
Desio opened his mouth to yell at her, but realised the other girl was still watching him, a smile playing around full, lipsticked lips.
Aurelia waved dismissively. "It's okay, Orchid's one of our spies."
Desio frowned. There was definitely something different about the girl, a certain...aura, he supposed was the word. She seemed...too aloof. As if she were looking at everything from a distance.
"I hear you're supposed to be quick on your assignments," Orchid said, still with that annoying, languid smile. "But maybe it's feelings for that little witch getting in the way?"
Desio stared. "How the hell would you know anything about that?" he snapped.
Orchid smiled. "I know a lot of things."
Aurelia was smiling, and not bothering to hide it. He realised then why she must like Orchid, the girl was as much of a bitch as she was.
"I do not have feelings for Automne. It was in the past, it's over with," he snapped.
"So kill her," Aurelia said with a shrug.
Desio frowned. "I want the other girl. You can have Automne."
"Why? What's so special about Elysia?" Orchid asked. "Why'd you try to kill her before?"
Desio looked up and met her eyes. "I have my reasons. She's mine, you two can do what you want with the other one."
All that mattered to him was making sure Elysia was dead. She'd murdered his soulmate in cold blood, she deserved to die. As for Automne...why couldn't he get her out his mind?
* * *