"Steve!?" I shouted, seeing him. I haven't seen him in two years and yet here he was, standing in the mess of my kitchen, pointing a gun at my face.

"Holy shit man it is you!" Steve said, taking the gun off of me and letting go of the bat. He grabbed the sandwich from his mouth and grinned as he took a bite.

I lowered the bat and put a hand on my chest, feeling it nearly beating out of body. "What the hell man?! You scared the crap out of me! I could've hit you!"

"I could've shot ya, but I didn't." Steven chuckled, mouth full of food before swallowing. "Been a long time bud." He said before giving me a hug.

It took all I got not to hit him again. Instead, I return the hug before he retracted to put the gun in his holster.

"W-what's with the gun?" I asked him with a brow raised.

"Protection. A lot of sickos out there." He responded, patting the handle of it. "Can't be too careful. Beer?" Then he went back to the fridge.

I put the bat to my side and looked at him tired. "So...where did you go this time?"

"Paris."

Ever since Steve and I were kids, he would disappear from school for a few days, weeks even before returning. He eventually dropped out so he could continue to travel. Where he goes, he goes all over the world. Why? He said he was hunting, hunting what? I didn't know.. The longest he ever been gone was two years.

"What did you do there?" I asked him then.

"Hunting."

"Hunting what?"

"You don't wanna know." See…

I hoped he became like a bounty hunter or something. He mentioned when we were kids that he wanted to me a mercenary, a soldier that kills for money. The thought of him doing that made me uneasy. So I think of him being a bounty hunter, catching guys who bail on their bonds sounded a lot better.

I dragged a hand through my hair and sighed. "What are you doing here?"

"I need a place to crash. She moved away and some other folks are living there now. I can't be weird and break into their place." Steve said, still referring his mom She. He hasn't changed one bit.

"I could've moved away."

"But you didn't. Oh that reminds me." Steve dug into his jacket pocket and tossed something to me before going back to the fridge.

I caught it and looked at it. I frowned when I realized that it was the spare key I hid outside. It was broken.

"I'll get it fix for you." He promised. "New knob and everything."

"Thanks.." I sighed softly, tossing the broken key in the trash.

I looked back at him and shook my head. "Well...I guess I can let you stay on the couch."

"Actually, I got Anne's old room already." He said, jerking his thumb up the stairs before getting out of the fridge and pulled out two bottles. "Oh and we need more food."

Steve, he really hasn't changed a bit since childhood.

Later that night, I ordered some pizza and we sat in the living room and eat right on the couch. As we ate, Steve began telling me where he was in Paris and the people he met, the women especially.

"You know, next time when I leave, you should come with me next time. It's awesome." Steve suggested as he scarfed down.

"Leave my job and join you on your hunting? Sounds nice." I chuckled sarcastically, taking a sip of my drink.

"I mean it man, when I leave, come with me." Steve said, sitting up. "You'll love it."

"I'm good, Steve, thanks though." I said softly.

"Dude, that's a load of crap and you know it." He sighed. "For years you've done nothing but sit in your parent's home and go to work. You have absolutely no life."

"I do have a life. It's not as rambunctious as yours." I told him, sitting back in the sofa. "But It's a life nonetheless."

"When's the last time you got out of the house on a vacation?"

"Two months ago." Sadly I didn't go anywhere because of money issues. but I had a nice stay-at-home vacation.

"A real vacation?"

I didn't say anything.

"How about actually hanging out? having fun? dude, when's the last time you actually got laid?"

I choked on the drink and started coughing. "Dude!"

"What? I'm just saying. You need to get out. You're rotting away here. Hell you're sister has a life and she's away at school!"

"Don't tell me something I haven't don't already know!" I growled at him.

"Alright then, come with me. Who knows, you might love it." Steve smirked.

I sighed and looked at him tiredly. "And do what exactly? You never told me exactly what you do or how you're able to go around."

"I do mostly odd jobs here and there, but hunting is really my profession." Steve said. "Trust me, the places I've went to, you would not believe the things I've seen."

"I get that, Steve, but what exactly do you hunt?" I sighed frustrated.

"Well," Steve then sighed. "I hunt bad people. I don't catch a lot since they are hard to find, but I catch them."

"And do what?"

"I make sure they never hurt anyone else again." He said.

I could tell something else was up but I didn't want to press the issue. I didn't like how he said that but I didn't make any of it. Instead, I took another bite of pizza.

Emerging through the doors, I found myself standing on a balcony. Lights from the stage below were dim, but i could make out figures below.

I scooted myself closer so I could hear them talk clearer. The voices sounded familiar. One of them which was Steve's, that I knew for certain.

As I got to the edge, something all of the sudden jumps right in front of me. A creature in a blue robe. When it pulled it's hood off, it revealed an ugly monster with big bulging green eyes, grey dead skin that looked like it was sewn up like a doll.

"Darren!!!" The creature hissed my name.

I screamed and fell on my bum, scooting away from it as it came closer.

"RUN...RUN!!!" He screamed, lunging right at me.

I managed to scoot out of the way just in time before the boards broke, sending me plunging down in the darkness below.

When I came to, a blade was coming right at my face, I ended up grabbing the wrist and pushed them off. I got on my feet, two knifes were in my hands, there was fire everywhere. A pile of the dead lay scattered across the ground.

I turned to my enemy. The person who ruined the lives of the people I loved. Who killed those closest to me. I felt in raged, blood thirsty even facing him. The need of preditorical killing.

We both lunged at each other, both blades aiming at each others. The knives plunged in our chests and-

I sat straight up screaming, sweat just pouring from my brow, clinging to the sheets.

"Darren!" Steve shouts, running across the hall, kicking the door open and hand his gun out like how the police use their guns. "What the hell man?" he asked me when he realized that there was no danger.

"S-sorry…" I gasped, covering my face with a hand. "Just a nightmare, sorry for waking you up."

"I'll say." He grumbled. Steve then narrowed his eyes. "Dude?" he points at my nightstand, which next to my alarm were the medication I had gotten from the doctor earlier.

"It's just some sleep medication….I have a hard time sleeping." I muttered.

Steve tucks the gun away in the waistband of his pants before walking in my room and snatching one of the bottles and looking at them.

"Darren, these are antipsychotic pills. She forced me to take some when we were little. Why are you taking them?" Steve asked, narrowing his eyes at me. "You aren't skitzing on me are you?"

"No, Steve I'm not. I'm…" I sighed, shaking my head and looking at the time. It was past two in the morning. "Listen, I'm sorry for waking you up. Go back to bed."

Steve gives me weird look before putting the bottle back on the dresser. "If you say so buddy…" He mumbled before leaving. "Night…"

"Night…" I replied before he closed the door.

I then quickly reached over to the medication, grabbing my sleeping pills, popped the cap open, took a couple out and swallowed them whole before laying back down.

The next day after breakfast, I got ready for work and walked out. Steve followed me, wanting to buy a new lock for my door.

"Why don't you have a car?" Steve asked me as we came to town.

"I uh..failed the test several times…" I told him with a yawn. It was the truth. Reasons why, because I keep falling asleep and it was becoming too dangerous to do so.

"You definitely need a good rest." Steve sighed, seeing the dark bags I had under my eyes. "How long have you been having nightmares?"

"A few years now...since we were kids." i admitted to him.

"Oh…" He muttered. "I see. What were you dreaming about anyway?" He asked me then.

"You…" I looked at him tiredly. The face of in my dream burning in my mind, seeing Steve and I killing each other in a gruesome fight. "You don't wanna know." I told him. I know it was a dream, that it wasn't going to actually happen, but still...it scares me.

"Whatever man," Steve grumbled. "You should see a shrink about that."

"Who do you think prescribe the meds from?"

"Oh."

I appreciate that Steve has my back, but there was nothing for him to do about these nightmares. I held back a yawn as we walked before Steve grabs me by the arm and made me stop.

"What?" I looked at him.

"Hush, do you hear that?" he asked me.

"Hear what?"

"Quiet and listen."

I grumbled before sticking an ear out. At first I thought he was being crazy, but I started hearing something. A sound of drums beating in a rhythmic beat.

"What is that?" I asked him.

"I dunno. Let's check it out."

Steve and I took off. We followed the sound to the middle of town. There was a crowd huddling around a corner, where the drums were at their loudest. A girl's voice sang out from what sounds like a microphone.

Then music began blaring, a sound of a guitar played. Steve and I moved through the crowd till we pushed our way to the front.

Playing on the sidewalk, was a girl with bright dyed blue hair in a high spiky looking ponytail, wearing a two tone red shirt, black leather looking jacket, blue jeans and brown boots. She also wore a black gothic looking choker that had spiderwebs on it. She was playing an electric guitar that was plugged into loud speakers, where other sounds of instruments were coming out, singing into what I could see was a wireless microphone. She looked twelve and yet she was playing like a pro. Her voice didn't match the age she was and that was pretty cool.

What caught me a little off guard was the fact that she had one eye greenish blue and her other eye was covered with a black eyepatch.

"Wow, she's pretty good." Steve told me while we both listened to her play. The crowd also liked her as some of them clapped to beat, some even danced to the song.

I had to admit, she did play well for a kid, so well that I ended up tapping my foot to the beat.

The girl danced around the circle the people made for her, her fingers playing flawlessly without missing a rhythm. A few kids who were in the crowd that were on the way to school were singing along with her which only intensified the crowd's reaction.

During the song, she literally disappeared with a puff of smoke. The music stopped suddenly.

"What the hell?" one of them asked. All of them were wondering where she went all of sudden.

"Okay, that's weird." Steve said, looking around.

You said it bud, I thought.

Where did she go?

Just as we were seeing where she took off, the music resumed, blaring loudly again.

All of our attentions turned to the roof above a book shop across the street. I blinked when we all saw the girl appeared on the roof jamming. The audience loved that and cheered harder as she played. The look on the girl's face was full of confidence and joy in what she's doing.

"How did she get up there with all that stuff?" I asked Steve, amazed how she got from the ground to the roof with her stuff.

"I have no idea but that was awesome." Steve laughed, whistling at her.

I chuckled and watched the girl perform. I was very impressed at this. The song she was playing wasn't what I hear on the radio nowadays. It was an old song but it was well known song. She was playing as if she had written it herself which was pretty cool.

The song went on for a bit before she ended it with the police appearing to stop her.

A policeman called her out on his mic from his patrol car. "Miss, I'm ordering you to come down from the roof now." He said. "Along with your stuff."

"Hmm," The girl smirked, a mischievous look in her eyes. "If you say so!" She tossed something at her feet, blast of smoke clouded her and before we knew it, she was gone again but she didn't went too far. "I'm off sir!" I look and found her standing right on top of the car! She had a guitar case slung across her little chest.

The policeman got out of his vehicle and looked at her mad. "Get off now."

She shrugged and jumped off of the roof instead of sliding down, landing perfectly on her feet with a gracefulness of a cat. She still had the mischievous look on her face as she snapped her fingers.

The policeman's uniform suddenly fell apart! The uniform was in ribbons, only leaving the man in his white underwear with hearts all over and handcuffed to his car!

Just about all of us bursted out laughing in sight of him. As cruel as it was, it was funny, Steve especially got a kick out of it and was doubled over. The cop was baffled as he struggled to get the cuffs off of him. His face was pure red with embarrassment as he was displayed in public.

"I believe you may want these." the girl giggled, holding the keys to his cuffs.

"Young lady! You are in big trouble for this!" The policeman snapped at her. "Gimme the keys!"

"Oh?" She giggled, clapping her hands together, the keys were gone! "I don't have them." She then points inside of the car.

I peered into the car and gasped. The keys were inside, taped to the window just far enough to where he can't reach them.

"Officer, I didn't do nothing. You can't touch me." The kid then turned to us. "Unlock the man when I make my escape." She giggled before making a run for it.

"Let's go." Steve said, still laughing at the policeman still before taking off running after her.

"Steve!" I shouted at him. I sighed before taking off after them. Something told me that I was going to be late for work.

Running down the street, I was lagging behind, finally realizing that Steve had gotten much faster over the years, too fast for me. What was worse was that the little kid was faster than both of us put together. She was leaving both of us behind in the dust.

"Hurry up, Darren, we're going to lose her." Steve called out from over his shoulder. "I've seen guys faster than you."

I cursed under my breath before I picked up the pace. This was ridiculous! I'm not that kid running across the soccer field shooting up hat tricks any more! The girl's twelve and Steve has experience with this type of endurance.

Damn that just made me sound really old…

When I emerged out of the alley way, I ran into Steve who was just standing there baffled.

"I could've sworn she came through here." Steve puzzled, scratching his head.

"She's fast for a little kid...Why are we chasing her again?" I breathed, leaning against my knees out of breath.

"I just wanna know how she did that, that's all." He muttered. "Who was she?"

"How should I know?" I replied with a grumble. "Let's go, I gotta get to work. Got mortgages to pay, grown up stuff."

"Since when did you get so anti-fun?" Steve sighed.

I grumbled something under my breath before standing up. "Now, let's get going. I'm going to get an earful from my boss…"

Steve waited a moment before we made a U-turn back through the alley way and made our way down the streets.

We came around a corner when I noticed something at a little diner across from us, sitting next to the window, was the girl.

"Steve, there she is." I pointed out to her. "I gotta go."

"Call in." He smirked before going towards the diner.

"C-call in!?" I snapped. I knew Steve would pester me if I don't and would hold it over my head. So I pulled out my phone out of my pocket and called my job telling them I had to take a sick day.

After getting my eardrums busted by my boss, I was given the day off before hanging up. Steve owes me big time for this.

Going inside of the diner, Steve was sitting on a booth. He sees me and nods his head towards the pinball machine in the corner. I turned my head and saw the back of the kid playing the game.

"Aren't you going to talk to her?" I asked him with a mutter.

"Not yet." He chuckled in a whisper.

"Then why are we here if you aren't going to-"

"You know boys, instead of stalking me, you can sit in my table and buy me some breakfast." The girl suddenly cuts me off.

Both of us froze in place when she turned her head to look at us over her shoulder with her good eye, giving us the same mischievous glint as she continued to play the game without looking at the machine.

"Wait, what?" I stummered. "We weren't…"

"Weren't what? Stalking me? you guys tailed my butt from the police. Instead of conniving, buy me breakfast." She giggled. "Or otherwise, I'll scream and get you boys in trouble. Two grown men chasing a twelve year old girl, not gonna sit well in a prison. Especially you, Brownie." She looked at me.

Both Steve and I made a face.

"Dude, I think we just got hustled by a kid." Steve chuckled, climbing off of the booth.

"Yeah you did." the kid was still smirking before turning her head back to the game.

Not wanting to get sent to jail, Steve and I walked over the table and scooted inside. It was a while before the girl finished the game.

"Ah yeah! New high score!" She did a victory dance before strutting over to the table and sat in front of us just as a waitress carrying large plates of food - pancakes, sausage, scrambled eggs, loaded fries and a large chocolate milkshake. She knew we would be here...little brat.

"Well played, girlie, well played." Steve complemented her., seeing all of the food that was being lay out before us.

"Thank you, Dolores." She beamed before eating.

"Anything for you boys?" the waitress asked us. With the food the kid ordered herself, I'll be broke before I could pay the mortgage off.

Steve chuckled. "I'll take whatever she's got." Unless you're Steve Leopard who got money in his pockets.

"I guess...grilled cheese with a cup of coffee." I sighed in defeat. What have I gotten myself into I wondered.

The waitress written down our orders. "Be back in a moment." She said before leaving.

"So, what should I call you boys?" the kid asked us, taking a sip of her milkshake.

"Steve," Steve said. "My friend here is Darren."

"Steve, Darren, nice to meet the guys paying my free food." the kid giggled. She wiped her hands with a napkin before extending out her head over the table. "I'm Nyx."

"After Stevie Nicks?" I asked. Stevie Nicks was a big singer in the states. Anne used to listen to her all the time.

"Oh I wish." Nyx said. "My mom was a big mythology buff. She named me after one of the Goddesses, don't know why though."

"Nyx, Goddess of the Night. Nice!" Steve said impressed before grabbing her hand and shook.

"Bingo." Nyx said before turning to me.

I reached up and shook her hand as well. "Well, nice to meet you too, Nyx."

"Likewise, boys." Nyx nodded before returning to her food.

If I had known what my life was going to be, I would've hop out of the table and took off from the Diner. Nyx, who knew that this little girl was going to give me a one-way ticket straight to Hell.