The air around her already had a stale scent to it, a hint of sex and sweat mixed in. The breeze just wasn't strong enough to really move the smells around and bring in the fresh clean air. Rati didn't even hesitate when she sensed them. Two she thought, though she wasn't completely sure. The nerves inside her body immediately coiled, while the outside of her never even twitched. The young woman just kept strolling down the street, heeled leather boots making a slow tattoo on the pavement.

She was waiting for them to make the first move. If they attacked a human, then Rati would be forced to act. If not she wouldn't have to worry and she could just go get herself a red eye espresso. That sounded nice to her, a hot cup of joe to shake away the sleep that kept a few last tendrils wrapped around her.

Rati's eyes strained against her will as they attempted to look behind her. That would just give herself away and that would give the vampires the upper hand. The loud sounds of the night clubs masked any real noise that she could use to locate the creatures of the night. They were close, so close, but she just wasn't sure where. A group of drunken girls wearing next to nothing suddenly stumbled into her, knocking her off her feet and to the ground, her back slamming into a silver trash can in the alley.

"Watch where the hell you're going!" Rati hissed at the girls, eyes narrowing as they simply laughed. One girl laughed so hard she fell over as well, skirt flying up to show of her thong. Rati's eyes rolled as the others bumbled around to help their fallen compatriot to her stilletoed feet and continue to their next bar on the list.

Shonasha silently followed Cecilia as they passed into some cramped alleyways that no one would have ventured to without a very good reason. As she leaped up to the rooftops with practiced grace and ease, Shonasha followed shortly behind her, stopping shortly to spot a good place for his footing. 'You and me both," he said in answer to Cecilia's qualms about having fed later. It would have been extremely dangerous for him if he hadn't met Cecilia earlier. He would have both a clan and a hunter to deal with.

He followed Cecilia without another sound until they came to rest by a billboard. The air was chilly up there where a light breeze blew for but a second. Beneath them the heat of the city night raised to the star covered sky bringing with it all of the scents of the city, those sweet and foul.

He took in the feel of the presences below and just as Cecilia exclaimed quietly to herself, Shonasha noticed her too. She looked just like any of the other humans wandering the streets on that night except that she, unlike the others, knew those of his kind that hid in the shadows. At Cecilia's signal he crouched down and watched the human as she walked on seemingly unaware of their presence.

He watched as the red-headed woman continued on down the street and was knocked over by a group of drunken women. Their oblivious cackling echoed all the way up to the post he and Cecilia had taken above the city. The hunter snapped bitterly at the cackling women who stumbled off to their next destination as she got to her feet.

"What do you want to do?" Shonasha whispered to Cecilia next to him, "She doesn't seem to have noticed us if appearances serve for truth."

"It appears she hasn't been alerted to our exact presences, but she does know a member of our kind around us. Every Vampire Hunter from birth knows what one of our kind are." Cecilia said, taking a new interest in this Vampire Hunter as she walked down below. Such an unkept appearance was unheard of fifty years ago; Vampire Hunters were brought up to have a groomed appearance and an almost impartial interest to the rest of human society. To see such a wrinkled appearance and an apparent disgust with what a drunken female was doing near her person.

"For now, I believe we wait. Appearances can be decieving; she might be an excellent Vampire Hunter. Maybe this is a new tactic to try and make let down our guard." Cecilia explained. How many, from both sides, had died because they had underestimated their opponent. No, Cecilia wasn't going to take the chance of making her appearance known to this Hunter, especially since Sho was with her at this time. He was still inexperienced when it came to this town; if they were to be split up....he might end up dying because he had unknowingly cornered himself. Even now, there was probably news being circulated that a new vampire had been found in the Clan's territory. There was no mistaking that Sho would now be targetted.

"Do you have anything to say on the matter, Sho, while we wait to see if she is truly as unaccomplished as her appearance says she is?" Cecilia looked at him, wondering if he had any experience with such Vampire Hunters, "Perhaps there are other Vampire Hunters are around waiting to see if we approach her."

The sense of the two never wavered, it had simply stopped moving. That meant a few things to her Hunter trained mind.

One, they could be feeding. Not usual, feeding in groups, but she had heard of stranger things. They also might have decided that numbers were strong. One to watch for Hunters, the other to feed, and then left foot kick, swing twirl dip and change places in the feeding tango. That wasn't likely to her though, the sense wasn't quite right for it.

Or two, they were watching her, gaining a sense of her. Perhaps waiting like circling lions to see who would pounce first. If that was the case, then there was no need to poke the blow fish so to speak.

Rati nodded, more to herself than to anyone as she came to the second conclusion. No spilt blood, no reason for her to act. Her parents would be oh, so proud of their little girl now. She could almost hear their annoyed voices in her ears. 'You don't need to wait, just kill the blood-suckers. Do you need to wait for a tick to be latched onto you before you squish it under your finger? You kill it, they aren't human.'

To damn bad, she thought to herself. I don't care if we're supposedly related to 'The Vanhelsings' (which she knew had to be a lie. Really? Literary figures such as that? You had to be two to believe it, or just stupidly zealous.) They don't bother me, and don't kill someone, what the harm in letting them be. She sighed, and mulled things over before deciding.

Rati's hand went through her hair one more time, and she headed into a bar nearby. Her senses locked onto the specific, 'feel' of the two. No reason not to keep an ephemeral eye on the two. Not even a quick whiskey and coke. She pushed open the door and headed for her little nook, a private seat in the back reserved for her, one of the regulars. She shot out almost a dare in her mind to the two watching vampires as she slid in. 'You gotta ask your self one question. 'Do I feel luck?' Well, do yah? Punk?' A smile danced across her deep red lips, corners upturned ever so slightly.

Shonasha looked out over the edge of the building they were perched upon, and watched the woman duck into a bar. He looked at Cecilia as she mused aloud about the unkempt woman and then asked him what he thought. "What is your clans policy on Vampire Hunters? Do you strike them down as soon as you find one to save yourself the trouble, let them go until they do something worth the trouble or wait, and watch?" Every clan had it's own way of dealing with Vampire Hunters, he had learned that before. He preferred to keep a careful watch on them, after all they could just be wandering through much like he had been doing until recently. Which course of action was the right one he didn't know, but he was part of this clan now, and he was willing to do whatever was their way of doing things. Cecilia after all didn't seem like an overly inhumane person, he was sure that he wouldn't dislike there ways over much. "As I am joining your clan, I'd like to do it your way."

That made him think of something, "Say, Cecilia, how is the rest of your clan going to know that I'm with you guys. After all, Rosalyn only saw me, she didn't exactly get any details. I don't know what kind of conclusions she drew from that, but they could be good or bad. How does your clan distinguish members?"

"We prefer the watchful approach, though there are a few of us that are less patient. They're normally the ones who have to warn the others; partly so that they're not alone in their watch if the Hunter decides to spring and partly so that the other, more calmer, member of our clan can keep the situation in check. We'll only attack if they start it. That way, if they survive the encounter, they have only themselves to blame and can't go crying to their Daddy and Mommy figures that the mean-old vampires were ganging up on them. That isn't to say that some of them don't do that regardless." Cecilia chuckled, tapping a finger to her lips as she watched the Hunter girl walking into one of the bars. Not the one that Cecilia herself had visited that very night, but one that could be frequented by vampires if they were looking for an easy meal. Thankfully, it didn't seem as if any of her Clan members were within. The message that a Hunter had been spotted would have been passed about pretty quickly, so only the unluckiest would be caught at this moment. It did make her wonder though; was this Hunter one of those whiney ones that normally showed up? If so, this was going to be one headache of a night.

"Don't worry about the Clan though, Sho, since you were spotted with me by Rosalyn." Cecilia grinned, "I might not look it, but I'm one of the most trusted within the Clan, a sorts of leader whenever needed, so Rosalyn will know you're one that can be allowed within the territory. We'll give you a formal introduction later, that's all that's really needed, but for now it's suffice enough that I'm allowing you near me. Believe me, if I gave the Call, they'd know soon enough you weren't welcome anymore. Already Rosalyn will have given everyone a pretty good sketch of you. She's quite talented with a pencil."

There was a bit of a glow behind the last of Cecilia's words, showing how fond she was of the little human girl. Some would call it weakness, but others would call it strength. What was more frightening than a crazed vampire who was tracking down the attacker of one they considered their own? No, it wasn't a weakness, it was a warning of what would happen should anything befall Rosalyn...or anyone within her Clan, to be honest. They all looked out for each other, even if some didn't get along as well with some as they did with others.

The glow faded as Cecilia's body snapped back towards the bar where the Hunter girl had gone. Her body had gone rigid, before starting to shake. Was it horror? Fear? Oh no, it was laughter. Laughter at what the Hunter had mentally challenged. Cecilia began to chuckle before it began outright laughter; really, this girl was too much!

"This is quite entertaining!" Cecilia crowed to Sho, wiping an imaginary tear away from her eye, "How long as it been since a Hunter mentally contacted us?"

Licking her lips, Cecilia sent a reply of her own, reverberating within the mind of the Hunter to show a taste of her power, I do, but perhaps you might ask yourself that same question, sweet Hunter. Do you ask for a trouble that you might find out is too much too late? Don't attack and you shall not find out, but attack and you have no one to blame, but yourself.

As her feet moved across the glutinous floor peeling themselves up with each step, before sliding into the familiar red leather seat. As soon as she had sat down, her eyes widened as the voiced reverberated within the confines of her mind. Had she sent her message to them? Could she? The voice however was very definite about it. That was not how all of this usually went, but she was not about to let the whole thing get to her. It would be letting the vampires win.

A waiter came over sliding her drink across the table, the ice clinking against the glass sides softly. His eyes made a quick gesture to her that she caught just barely. It meant that something odd was going down, that someone had dared to mess about with a patron of the bar. It was a quiet place, but tight-knit, and protective of anyone who wandered in, and didn't cause trouble.

Rati knocked her drink back quickly, the cold carbonation hitting her throat and sliding down into her stomach to cool the fire of anxiety that lay there. She placed the drink back down on the napkin, cover up the words that read, 'out back' in heavy black ink. You worked long enough at the bar, and you got let in on her secret. She then stood up and headed towards the bathrooms, then moving past them and to the red light exit. The red light glinted in her eyes and light the creamy skin to create almost a mask. Slowly, carefully she pushed the door open and peered into the alleyway. There she saw it, the fangs gleaming slightly in the poor light before plunging into the neck of a girl, a regular of the bar.

Okay, Rati thought to herself. It's feeding, you know how long tell it's not, start timing. The seconds ticked by in her head, and it became clear that this one had no intention of letting the girl live. Muscle memory kicked into action and she felt the tensed ligements uncurl to release their force. Her hand was on the stake, and she began the move from her crouch into an attack on the feeding vampire.

Cecilia did not hear a reply back, a smile slowly spreading across her face. Well, apparently this Hunter's thoughts had not been for her hearing, but rather a sort of self-acclamation. Oh well, if it scared the girl, then by all means let it. If the Hunter got too cocky, then Cecilia would be forced to act to show the strength of the Clan. One leg astride the side of the building, she watched the club for any activity and soon found some.

A low growl rumbled in her throat as she noticed that another of their "neighbors" had decided to feast upon the fine cuisine of her clan's territory. This vampire was a weakling, half-crazed with hunger or stupid enough to believe his transactions wouldn't be documented and properly punishment. Perhaps it was a luck of the draw that Cecilia happened to be here, but it didn't really matter. This vampire was an outsider and partaking in food that was not suppose to be for their consumption. Punishment would be in order.

Yet, would it be Cecilia to exact the punishment? It seemed the Hunter had gotten wind of this one vampire and was following. What she saw next nearly made Cecilia give a cry of surprise, but she instead sealed her lips into a white line. The Hunter...was letting the vampire feed? Normally they would jump the moment the vampire had shown its fangs! Instead, she was waiting, but for what? Although Cecilia wanted to punish this intruder for their insolence, she instead sat on the edge of the building and watched.

"Take a seat, Sho." She said absently, patting the concrete beside her as she continued to watch. If the Hunter was waiting for the vampire to relinquish the prey, she would find a corpse soon. Already, Cecilia could hear the prey's heart growing weaker as her life's blood was being sucked out.

"What will you do next, little Hunter?" Cecilia leaned forward, about to intervene if the Hunter still refused to move. She thought quietly to herself, I will not allow one of our territory's inhabitants to die from the fangs of a rival clan. That will mean less for my clan if we ever go into hard times. If you wish to strike, do it now...

He was reassured but what Cecilia said. It was good to know after all of his running that he finally wasn't in danger any longer. He smiled to himself as he heard the fondness in her words as she mentioned Rosalyn. There was a strong attachment there.

He followed the stream of the conversation between the Hunter and Cecilia, feeling it better to observe in his position. He wanted to see exactly how things worked here, and perhaps, his many years alone had made him forget what it was to have a real conversation with someone. But he watched and was a bit surprised by the gall of the hunter to send off such a message and the quick and clever reply that Cecilia sent back.

There was no reply. The reason became obvious when he noticed the vampire feeding just behind the bar she had gone into. From Cecilia's reaction, he assumed he was an outsider. This could have been him just an hour ago, but at the same time, he knew that it could not have. This was a newborn. He was ravished and foolish in his hunger. Not even a half-witted vampire would have neglected to notice the hunter nearby, and to go so far as killing his prey in such a public area, this one was a fool.

When Cecilia motioned him to sit, he moved to the spot but more perched there than anything. He knelt at there on the rooftop, both hands gripping the cement and one leg hanging off the side ready to push off if they needed to go in a hurry.

"We're going to let her kill him?" He asked without taking his eyes off the scene. His mind was already calculating the possible results of this. The hunter might think that she could walk all over them and they wouldn't do anything, but than she was also doing them a favor, getting rid of a rogue they didn't need. He waited for her reply, and to see what the hunter would do.

Like a panther she leapt onto her prey, a grim smile set on her face. The stupid creature heard the sound of the door metal door slamming against the bricks all too late. He released the girl, who slumped to the ground with nary a groan and caught Rati by the wrist. The grin widened slightly as a booted foot came up quickly and ground into his chest. The vampire groaned, releasing her wrist as his hands became wild and slashed at anything. Thin lines of blood bloomed on Rati's skin, bright against the dusky colour. Her shirt also ripped, four lines running across her chest. However she did not slow down, and as quickly as she sustained the slight injuries, the vampire's eyes widened. The stake had become firmly embedded into his heart.

Light from single bulb above the door caught the dust as it exploded over Rati, over her hair and clothing, mixing with the blood on her face. The stake clattered to the ground, the wood showed charring, but still seemed usable. Gracefully she swooped down and picked it up, in the same motion heading for the girl's body. A quick check showed the girl to be alright. Low on blood, but nothing a trip to the hospital wouldn't fix.

"Stupid woman." She muttered under her breath as she flipped out her mobile and dialed for an ambulance. a hand moved up and brushed the shallow wounds on her face. Lucky shots from a vampire doing the proverbial button mashing. Rati thought to herself in disgust. And I really like this shirt, too.

Okay, so the Hunter had saved the human, but Cecilia didn't seem pleased at all when the girl brought out that new-fangled device people called cell phones nowadays. It was one thing for a Hunter to be helping a prey whose life was being drained below the danger point, but it was quite another for general public to have the attention brought to them. If too many of these kinds of cases got out, word would be spread about a "cult" of vampirism once again. It had taken so much time for the last to quiet down and many true vampires had been driven almost to insanity. More attention meant less prey walking about alone or people looking more carefully at those they talked to. Cecilia wasn't about to let this stupid fledgling start another famine.

She didn't speak to Sho, but merely fell down to the ground below. If he wished to follow her, then by all means do, but right now was a time for action and not words. This Hunter was not going to make this 9-1-1 call. If she did, then Cecilia would fight her to take the human girl away from this place. Either the call wouldn't go or the call would be considered a fake. There would be no other options.

"I must insist you close you cell phone, Hunter." Cecilia said, giving a small bow towards the Vampire Hunter, showing she had no intention to attack, but her eyes never breaking contact. Who was to say this Hunter wouldn't attack from Cecilia just being a vampire? "I can't allow this to be brought to the attention of the general public. Though I must thank you for getting rid of that pesky problem; less retaliation to my clan, you see."

Cecilia watched the Hunter, quite aware of the stake firmly grasped in her hand. Any moment towards her, anything threatening at all, and she would strike.

"So..." Cecilia said over the silence that was engulfing them, "Might you concede to my wish or will this call have to become another prank for the law enforcement to complain about? I can assure you the girl will be fine; just some bed rest and a good meal will make her good as you. You Hunters used to bring ones in like this and help them in recovery; has this been replaced by another protocol?"

Shonasha followed swiftly of Cecilia's heels. While he was sure she was capable of handling herself in the situation, there was no denying that this lady hunter had skills and it was true what they said about safety in numbers. That, and he wasn't coward enough to standby and watch a woman face any danger alone. He wasn't going to offend her by insisting she needed her help, but he would be there just in case.

When he reached the hunter, he copied Cecilia's bow, but remained quietly behind her, a foot or so behind her left shoulder. He eyed the scene. The vampire's prey still lay on the ground, passed out from her lack of blood. Dust clung to her hair and laid about the ground. He unconsciously dusted off his pants. The hunter stood by the victim, cell phone in hand. Other than a few scratches on her face and her torn shirt, she was unharmed. The stake was still grasped between her fingertips, a danger to the both of them there.

Cecilia questioned the woman and they waited for the answer, should it come in words of violence.

"Yes, in fact, we have installed a new protocol. One that they've been spending years on, not to mention a bit of selective breeding, bribes and forced education. We have in place a network of people within the hospital and rescue services. I call in, give a special coded response, and they move in. The girl here gets the proper care she needs. not just bed rest and a bowl of soup, which doesn't work, all the time. And the hospital gets the report of an accident. She was drunk, fell and injured herself, bleeding out before people found her, or some other such jazz. It's not my position, so I don't know and don't care. We're just modernizing with the times and improving the survival rate."

Rati's head finally turned to look fully on the two vampires that had interrupted her call. Her dark eyes locked onto the female vampire as her red hair slid across her face and into her eyes. She did not make any movement to rise, but her muscles were already recharging for another battle.

"Now if you don't mind, Charlie will be waiting for the code. I believe she's working this sector tonight. I'd also rather like getting this woman some care. The longer we dally, the harder it'll be for recovery." She stated with a slight gesture of her head to the prone body. The mobile then raised up and she hit the send button.