You know when you wake up, but you're too tired to open your eyes? That's how Ulyena was at the moment. She noticed that she was covered with a blanket and she wasn't clothed. She all of the sudden began to worry. Where was she? Was she kidnapped? She didn't open her eyes in fear that someone was watching her and waiting for her to wake up, like they did in the movies. Ulyena could smell burning metal and oil, so she guessed that she was in someone's garage.

"You can open your eyes now. I know you're awake." A deep southern drawl made her jump as they placed a cold hand on her forehead. Ulyena opened her eyes and looked at the man who touched her. He looked like he was in his late sixty's, early seventies. He had long, white hair with a matching beard and his eyes were a calming blue, like you automatically knew that you could trust this man. "Your temperature's gone down, so that's good. Do you remember what happened?"

"Sort of." She said, but her hand went up to her face when her entire side of her face felt like pins and needles, then her ribs felt the same when her arm moved. She moaned in pain and told herself not to move. "Who was that who did this to me?" She mumbled quietly, but clearly.

"His name was Nomak, and I'm Whistler. The man who saved you was Blade. Is that all you remember?"

A sudden flash of her memory came back to her. "H-his face... It was so…" She didn't know what to say about it. It was frightening; different. She'd never even seen it in horror movies, but she never wanted to see it again. "It spit down from his chin and…" Then she looked up at Whistler. "Can I get up? I want to move my legs around a bit."

"I'm surprised you trust someone so easily, but yeah. I wouldn't try to run, though."

"Why not?" The question popped out of her mouth before she even thought about it.

He smiled in a friendly way. "You won't make it thirty feet before you re-break all those ribs that I had to reset." He turned towards the door of the small room that she'd been sleeping in. "Come on. I'll introduce you to everybody."

She cleared her throat, reminding him that she was in the nude. "Do you have anything for me to wear?"

He tossed a tee shirt at her. "Sorry, sweetheart, but it's all we got. Us men don't cross-dress around her, but I wouldn't be surprised it shit brick did."

She cocked an eyebrow, but painfully slid the shirt on before swinging her legs out of the bed. When she stood up, a pain shot through her side, but she ignored it. She'd endured worse in her lifetime. Ulyena walked slowly followed Whistler and noticed he had a makeshift brace on his leg. "What happened to your leg?"

"Long story short: fuckin' suck heads."

She stopped short. "Uhm, I'm sorry. Did you say suck heads?"

He turned to face her. "You didn't know about those, did you?" She shook her head, and he continued. "There's more out on those streets than you thought you knew, Ulyena. I'll let Blade explain it to you." He limped, leading her through a large warehouse. There were lots of gadgets that Ulyena had never seen before. Then there were welders, wrenches, screwdrivers, barrels of oil, and cans of screws, nails, and nuts and bolts. It was like you're average mechanic shop, except much bigger and had things that she couldn't identify. Ulyena used to be a mechanic when she lived in Moscow, but things changed when she moved herself to Prague. She had no other choice than to become a dancer. It paid better and the jobs were easier to find. "Hey Blade!" Whistler yelled out in a gruff voice. "Come here. She's awake."

A large, black man turned around and started walking towards her and Whistler. He was dressed in all black, and his large muscles bulged under his shirt, which looked like it was made out of spandex. He had a vest on that had metal buckles that looked custom made, and his pants and boots were the same shade of black. "Ulyena." He nodded in greeting. His teeth were a sparkling white, and contrasted against his dark skin. "I'm sure Whistler's already explained everything, so I'll just say it. You're not safe."

"What do you mean that I'm 'not safe'? I've been fine."

"Not last night, you weren't. Explain that." His tone was suddenly very serious.

"I cannot." She said. "I was walking home and I got attacked by a…"

"A reaper." He finished for her. "What do you know about vampires?"

She shrugged her shoulders. "That they're not real and they-"

"So you know what they want you to know. Nothing."

"Maybe you should sit down, Ulyena." Whistler said, and led her to a chair.

"Forget what you think you know." Blade began. "Vampires exist. They stalk humans to feed themselves and there are no exceptions."

She sighed. "So where do you fit into this?"

"Blade's a half-breed." Whistler told her. "He was born half a vampire. He has all of their strengths, and none of their weaknesses. He hunts them."

"I hate them." He clarified. "I will hunt them all down until there are none left."

"What about me? You said that you've been expecting me. What's up with that?" She asked him.

He sighed. "Nomak, the one that attacked you, has been hunting you down to kill you."

"Why?" She asked.

"We don't know, but we do know that he's been tracking you for days."

She shook her head, trying to process everything at once. "Wait, so you're telling me that vampires exist, that I'm being hunted by one, and you guys are going to protect me?"

"Nomak is not a vampire." Blade said. "He's a reaper; part of an infected strain that's transferred through the bite. They feed on vampires and humans."

"I've convinced Blade to let you stay here while we get this all sorted out so nothin' happens to you. Are you okay with that?"

Ulyena nodded. "If I'm going to stay here, though, how am I going to get to work? What about clothes? Can't I talk to anybody? What about my apartment?"

"Alright, calm down. I'll go by your apartment and get you some clothes and stuff. And we'd prefer you not to contact anyone. About work, you'll need to call 'em and say that you're going out of town because your sister is sick or somethin'."

After a silence, Blade asked her, "What are you good at?"

"Dancing."

"Besides that."

"I used to be a mechanic before I came here. I can cook, too." She scrunched her nose at a familiar smell. It was a sickly sweet smell that anyone could recognize.

Whistler nodded with a smile. "Well, the mechanics part is good. You can help dick weed, back there. As for the cookin'; you'll only be feedin' him and yourself."

"Who's this guy you keep calling names? And why do I smell marijuana?"

"Scud!" Blade said loudly.

"Yo, B. What do you need?" A guy came walking in to the room with a joint in his mouth. Her eyes widened as she recognized the man from Rush. He was the one that she gave a lap dance to. He looked like a gang member from his clothes. Baggy, light red pants, red and black shoes, a red long sleeve shirt and a baggy dark grey vest over that. His hair was the same length as she remembered, and she could see those blue eyes from any distance.

"Well, this is nice." Ulyena said in a sarcastic tone.