Chapter 5

A Bloody Mess

When the door rang this Saturday afternoon, Angela wasn't really expecting to find Hana on the other side of the door. Hana almost never came here, except when she was with Sombra. Plus, their usual meeting place before going for a hunt was closer to the campus.

"Hana, hello. Please, come in."

"Thanks."

Angela was instantly struck by how disheartened the freshman looked. The door was barely closed that she asked:

"Is Sombra here?"

Angela shook her head and smiled apologetically.

"No, I'm sorry. She hasn't been here much this week."

Hana looked behind her, to the closed garage door. Angela felt the pain in Hana's eyes, and declared with a compassionate smile:

"You can try and wait for her, if you want."

Hana wasn't really sure what to do. She knew waiting was pointless, but then again she had nothing better to do. With a sigh, she thanked Angela and took a seat on the couch.

"Do you want to drink something?"

"No thank you."

Angela went to the kitchen anyway and checked the water in the kettle. She filled it up again and started it. When she returned to the living room she felt pain stir her heart at the sight of Hana. She was still wearing her coat, as if she'd been seating in a freezer, and the sadness in her eyes almost made Angela want to cry for her. Hana's gaze went from the garage door to the front door and back. Angela sat beside her, and the motion almost made Hana look at her.

"Hana?"

The soothing voice of the blond was just what Hana needed to snap out of her trance. Her sad dark eyes looked at Angela who smiled at her with understanding.

"Are you worried for Sombra? I think if anyone here can take care of herself, it's her."

Hana shook her head.

"No, it's not that. She's been acting strange since the Halloween party. She doesn't call me anymore, even for the simple stuff, and when I try to talk to her it's like she's avoiding me, you know?"

Angela frowned. Had Sombra acted strangely lately? Usually, she didn't really pay much attention to her. Sombra did what Sombra wanted, after all. Yes, she had noticed that Sombra was more often away, but that was pretty much it.

"I'm sure its nothing. Maybe a dangerous mission she doesn't want you to be caught in the middle of? If she doesn't come back while you wait, I'll ask her when she comes home, alright?"

"You can try."

Angela had left Hana on the coach, after leaving her a tea supposed to calm the nerves which the younger girl hadn't touched yet. She'd quickly gone to knock on Fareeha's door.

The taller girl had been doing her homework when Angela had knocked on her door. She opened quickly and Angela pointed down the hall, to Hana still seating on the couch.

"Why's Hana here?" Fareeha whispered.

"She's worried for Sombra. She said she's been acting strange lately. I don't know. Do you think she's been acting strange?"

Fareeha thought about the last few weeks. Strange wouldn't be the right term. Away would be a more correct. Fareeha hadn't seen her much in the last couple of weeks, but every time she did, she looked tired, and about to collapse on her bed. Then she began to wonder why Sombra would be avoiding Hana, and she couldn't help but blush a bit.

"Maybe..." she whispered. "Sombra's in love with Hana, and doesn't know how to tell her."

"My daughter's a freak, not an idiot."

Both girls jumped in fright as the ghost of Gabriel appeared in the hallway, right beside the two of them. He didn't look ready to laugh about it like usual, instead, he looked concern, much like Hana.

"Gabriel? I thought Sombra was taking you with her when she went on missions."

"Well obviously, she stopped taking me. Two weeks ago, actually. After her encounter with the Witch, she began to look for another lead. I guess she found it. She doesn't want to tell me, but I think it has something to do with vampires."

"Vampires?"

"She has bitting marks on her neck."

Fareeha frowned.

"Wait, but shouldn't that turn her into a vampire?"

"Nah, sharing your blood with one would make you a vampire. As long as she doesn't bite whoever's been bitting her, she's fine. The real question is, why has she let herself being bitten?"

Both girls began to think. Angela was about to suggest it may have been an accident, but this was Sombra they were talking about. An accident was only an opportunity to the Latina.

"Maybe I should call Jesse." Fareeha declared.

"You can try, but if you make him move his ass for nothing, you'll regret it. He may be happy to see you, but they won't be happy to see each other."

"Let's wait until she comes back," Angela suggested. "Maybe we can talk about it with her."

"Good luck, then." Gabriel declared before disappearing.

Hana had stayed on their couch for a better part of the afternoon. She'd jumped to her feet when the door had opened, but it had only been Lena coming back from the supermarket.

Sombra herself only returned the next morning, while all three girls were seating around the table taking their breakfast. The sun was already fully peaking over the horizon, illuminating the dining room intensely when the front door opened. Sombra walked in, her hair a mess and as usual visibly tired, her eyes hidden behind sunglasses.

"Sombra, good to see you." Angela declared as she lowered her coffee mug.

Sombra only groaned and walked straight to the garage. Only Angela wasn't about to let her slip away.

"Hana passed yesterday, looking for you. In fact, she spent most of the afternoon waiting on the couch."

Sombra sighed. She instantly knew what was going on.

"Then why didn't you make her leave?"

"Because she's your friend, and she wanted to see you. Why have you been avoiding her?"

"Did it ever occur to you that the things I do are a bit too dangerous for a small human?"

Angela crossed her arms.

"Then call her and tell her so. She looks miserable!"

Sombra turned back to the garage door and grunted out:

"Don't worry about me, everything's going according to plan."

She closed the door behind her without even bothering to turn the garage light on. Angela let out an annoyed sigh. Fareeha had been observing Sombra this whole time and seemed just as frustrated as the blond. Lena had only watched the entire interaction with confusion. Suddenly they heard a few shouting in Spanish, and the garage door opened once again, only for Gabe's woolen hat to fly out of the room, and land on the ground beside the table. Just as the garage door was yanked shut again, Gabe appeared on one of the empty chairs, quite unhappy.

"Vampire marks on her neck, sunglasses to hide her eyes, and irritable – but that she has always been when she's tired... Call Jesse. I think Sombra's been bewitched by a vampire."

Sombra had already left the house for a few hours when Jesse finally showed up. Fareeha had called him straight after breakfast, and while he'd assured he would come as quickly as he could, no one was expecting him anymore by the end of the day, and all three girls had gone to sleep.

Fareeha was sleeping peacefully, dreaming about the coming snow, when the sound the lock turning had awoken her instantly. With time she'd discover that the above average abilities her curse gave her never really went away, especially when she was asleep. She was already very alert and ready for action. As the door creaked open, she silently jumped out of bed and opened her own door. There was a metal clicking accompanying every step the intruder took, allowing Fareeha to easily identify where they were. She sneaked out of her room and sidled along the wall, ready to knock the heck out of the intruder. When she rounded the corner to the living room, she could even hear their slow, almost silent breathing. With the awful sound of bones cracking, she turned her hand into a set of sharp claws, and with the swiftness of the wind, she placed her claws under the intruder's jaw. There was another metal clicking, different, but unmistakably that of a weapon, and its hammer being pulled back.

"Fareeha?"

Even through the darkness, the dark-haired woman could recognize her old friend. Although he was scruffier looking than she remembered, there was only one person to wear such a stupid cowboy hat.

"Jesse, why are you sneaking in our house?" she whispered, as to not wake up the others.

"I was about to knock but then I smelled there was someone cursed inside, so I wanted to make sure it wasn't a vampire."

"No, it's not," Fareeha said as she retracted her claws with a grimace. It was always just as painful as it sounded.

Jesse pushed the hammer back and put his gun in its holster.

"Sombra's isn't here, is she?"

"She left a few hours ago."

"I'd wager that much. Her vampire lord must have woken up. Is dad here?"

Fareeha pointed to the table in the dining room, on which they had left Gabe's hat. Jesse nodded.

"You should go change. I'll have a little talk with him, and then we can head out. Two muzzles won't be enough to find a vampire lair."

Sombra tried to clean the blood dripping down her neck, but a tongue quickly took care of it. She felt like a mess, tired from the blood she'd just lost and sore, like she wouldn't be able to move for the next day or so. But she knew she had to go home, or the others would once again start to get suspicious.

She tried to untangle herself from the slack grip which held her in place and managed to sit down at the edge of the large antique bed. She felt slightly light-headed but knew it would pass.

"Stay."

It wasn't an order, she knew, even though the tone of the voice felt commanding. It was the only way age-old vampires, who hadn't felt their hearts beating for centuries, knew how to communicate. A cold finger ran along her lower back.

Sombra pursed her lips. In truth, she really did wanted to stay, but once again it would raise suspicions. Her father was already unto her, and he had probably roped the others into it.

With a sigh, she rolled back into bed. She was too tired to drive home anyway. With sadness, she thought that all good things had to end.

Soon enough she found herself in the arms of her vampire lover, the strange woman she'd been sharing her nights with for the past two weeks or so. At first glance, she didn't look strange. She looked like any vampire might look like. Drop dead gorgeous, with long black hair and piercing red eyes. While she'd assured Sombra she used to be an Indian woman, centuries of being undead had turned her skin pale and cold. Not that Sombra cared.

With a shiver, Sombra sank in the vampire's embrace and wrapped her own arms around the woman's waist. She closed her eyes, and let sleep wash over her.

Fareeha drove them around town, on the account that Jesse had been driving the last couple of hour, and while he didn't show any sign of tiredness he didn't want to risk it.

"Vampires can be very easy to find, or a real pain. If Sombra found them first, I'm assuming it's the latter." Jesse explained. "They try to mask their smell so hunters can't track them."

"What do vampire smell like?"

"Rust and very cold ice."

Fareeha nodded. It did sound like the strange smell Sombra had been carrying around with her lately.

"It's not easy to miss when you're a hunter, but you should find it as well. Usually, vampire lairs are built next to a smelling place. It's what makes them both easy and hard to find. When they are lead by dumb people they settle in between a photoshop and a soap shop. Two smelling places to mask their own."

Jesse gestured with his fingers a two before he went back to his explanation:

"They are also easy to find when they settle next to a fish shop. They'll never settle next to the butcher shop, because the smell of blood would turn most of them crazy real fast."

Fareeha quickly assimilated all of the informations Jesse gave her and tried to use her small knowledge of the city to find the right place.

"How about a leather shop? There's this place in the old market making leather stuff."

Jesse seemed to consider her idea for a moment.

"The smell of leather is a bit close to that of meat but more bearable, and strong enough to mask them."

"Plus, Gabriel said she'd been searching the old market for a witch recently."

"So she could have unnerved a vampire lair with too much sneaking. Alright, partner, let's check it out!"

Sombra jolted awake to the sound of gunfire. She instantly sat up and noticed Satya was already up and dressed, walking toward the door. When another gunshot rang, Sombra knew who it was.

"Wait," she said.

Satya stopped dead in her tracks and turned around.

"You should get dressed and go. I don't know how your hunters deal with treason, but I'll make sure this one doesn't get time to see you."

Sombra shook her head. Another shot rang.

"Sleeping with a monster isn't really treason. Stay. You'll die if you step outside."

Satya frowned, and Sombra explained:

"It's my brother out there."

While Satya seemed to debate whether to go outside and help her creations or stay with her lover, Sombra picked up her glasses on the nightstand, got up and quickly dressed, picking her clothes from the stone cold floor. With a cold rhythm, gunshots continued to echo down the hallway, each and everyone just a bit closer than the last. Once Sombra was done with her belt she turned back to the vampire, who hadn't moved, still debating with herself.

She sighed and came to put a hand on Satya's shoulder.

"Let's just wait. He'll be here soon, anyway."

Finally, the vampire nodded and sat back on her bed. There was yet another gunshot.

"You promised me you wouldn't tell anyone where we were," she said to Sombra.

Sombra stood in front of her, arms crossed.

"And I kept my words. But I told you my friends were getting worried and suspicious. Too bad. I was having quite some fun." she added with a smirk.

"So, what now?"

"Now we see what my brother wants."

"How can you be so sure it is him?"

Sombra smirked as she glanced at the door.

"My brother uses a six shot revolver, meaning that his shots are rhythmical but slower than with any other type of weapon. Because its an ancient weapon, his shots are loud, meaning even if he shot someone at the front door we could hear it in here. And most importantly..."

Her explanation was cut by another shot, quite louder than the others.

"He needs to reload every six shots, just right like now."

Satya frowned.

"This doesn't seem like quite an efficient way of mass killing."

Sombra shrugged.

"He likes it. Plus, he never misses a shot."

Jesse was panting, and visibly tired by the time he made it to the farthest door in the underground den, which he assumed belonged to the head of the lair. There was dark thick blood running down his naked arms, and staining his poncho and leather gloves. He unloaded the six empty shells in his gun, then reloaded, and kicked the door open, wishing it was the right one.

He quickly found Sombra on the other side, looking quite displeased. Standing tall beside her was the vampire who had taken control of her.

"The hell are you doing here, idiota!" she shouted.

"Hum, I'm sorry, I was called because you got yourself bewitch by a vampire."

"Do I look bewitch to you, you moron!"

He looked into her eyes for a second and knew she'd once again rolled everyone in the mud.

"Then why didn't you tell dad!"

"Because I don't need to tell him everything I do!"

"Goddamn it Sombra! I just destroyed three vampire lairs tonight, I'm tired, you could show me some gratitude!"

She quirked an eyebrow.

"Three?"

"Yeah, three. Cause Fareeha couldn't point me to the right place, and it smelled like vampire everywhere."

Sombra exploded in laughter, as Satya continued to watch their exchange with confusion.

"Oh my god, you're even more of a moron than I remembered! But seriously, get out of here, take dad and go back to wherever you were, and let the professional deal with the mess."

Jesse shook his head.

"I ain't leaving until this lair is destroyed as well."

"Which is why I'm going to take care of it."

Satya, feeling this whole conversation wasn't going in her favor, quickly got a hold of Sombra's arm and her neck, pressing just enough to make the huntress feel uncomfortable. Sombra, surprised, didn't even dare to try and wriggle out of the vampire's grasp. Jesse suddenly chuckled.

"Alright, and I'm out. You deal with this, I'm waiting outside."

He turned around, doing a two-fingers salute and walked out. However, Satya's grip on Sombra didn't slacken.

"If you want to kill me, I'm warning you, I won't go down without a fight," she whispered viciously in Sombra's ear.

Sombra smirked.

"Me neither."

Jesse had been waiting outside for a good ten minutes, cleaning the vampire blood off of him and playing with his gun. When he heard steps coming closer, he put his revolver back in its holster and smirked.

"Took you long enough."

"You're one to talk."

Sombra emerged from the lair, and closed the metal grid behind her, locking the place for good.

"You're really an idiot, you know?"

"If you wanted to keep your love affair longer, you should have told dad."

Sombra shrugged.

"It's never good to delay the inevitable."

The siblings made their way toward the car, leaving behind them the entrance to the vampire lair, between a soap shop and a photoshop.

"For what it's worth, I think you made a pretty couple."

"Shut it."

As the two argued to the car, a shadow watched them go from the top of a nearby rooftop. While Jesse didn't seem to notice it, Sombra felt the shadow's presence and smirked. The shadow returned her smirk, flashing two pointed fangs under the moonlight.

"May we meet again," she said, before disappearing into the darkness.

Sombra woke up late in the afternoon, her head feeling heavy and her eyes burning. She was aware of how much she still wanted to sleep, but she knew there were better things to do. She got up, stretched and passed her hand on her neck. The bite mark was still there, slowly heal. It would leave a scar, she knew.

She got dressed quickly and opened the garage door. The sun came pouring inside, and she had to blink a few times before she finally felt ready to walk to the kitchen. She found a mug and started the coffee machine, and found a pack of cookies in one of the cupboards. She quickly took one out to munch on it.

"Well, look who's awake."

Hearing the voice of her father didn't seem like a strange thing at first, until she realized something was amiss.

"Why are you still here? Where's Jesse?"

"Well, it seems your brother used the fact that you were still asleep to leave without me. Not so stupid after all!"

Sombra sighed angrily for a good ten seconds. Then she shrugged.

"Alright, whatever. I have work to do."

She picked up her mug of coffee and held the cookies' package under her arm as she returned to her bedroom. There, she sat in front of the computer and took a few seconds to consider how much of a mess she looked in the black screen's reflection. Finally, she booted the engine, and took her phone out, to quickly make a call.

"Sombra?"

"Hi Hana, I'm sorry we didn't get to see each other so much in the last few weeks. I was dealing with a bunch of vampires, couldn't risk you getting bitten, you know? Anyway, I got this new mission I'm going to need your help with."

"Really? What is it?"

"Witch hunting."

A/N: Hi guys! I wish I could have left an Author's note to yesterday's chapter as well but I woke up late so I had to post it as quickly as possible! So as you may have guessed, the Witch from chapter 4 is the big antagonist. As fo Satya, well, you'll see...

I would like to thank penchou for the review, I hope you liked this chapter and there is defintetly going to be more monster hunting from the group so stay tune!

Anyway, I'll see you guys tomorrow, and Happy Halloween!