Chapter 3: The Hunter Soars

That same night in Los Angeles, Lisa got home from work at the Denny's at ten. It was raining, though it was not even cloudy when she had gone to work at eight that morning. She was wet and exhausted. All she wanted was to sleep and forget the bills that needed to be paid with the pennies she got paid from her two jobs. She opened the door, threw her purse at the kitchen slash living room slash dining room table, and locked the door behind her. Kicking off her shoes, she began taking off her work uniform. Just as she finished taking off her clothes, her door bell rang. Pulling on a white terrycloth robe, stolen from the Radisson hotel, Lisa went to the door and looked out the peep hole. At her door step stood a young boy, no more than twelve. He was dripping wet, crying and looked horribly pathetic.
Lisa unlocked the door, and opened it for him. He looked up with teary eyes from a soaking wet face, "I can't find my mommy."

"Oh you poor child, come in... come in," She wrapped her arms around him in a comforting embrace. He seemed to move a little, and his shudders stopped, suddenly a sharp pain sprung from inside her womb. She looked down and saw a monster before her, bathed in blood, still appearing as a lost child, and she screamed out her murder. Lisa fell to her knees, leaning on the child. She felt its head nuzzle against her neck, and a sharp pain as fangs sunk into her jugular, the lights grew dim and Lisa passed out.

An ear splitting scream cut the silence of the midtown slums, the final cry of a woman, screaming out her pain to the uncaring world. This neighborhood heard these cries almost nightly. The only reason tonight was any different from most other nights was that someone was listening. "Base, this is Falcon, subject four-seventeen has been sighted. Do I have permission to silence him?"

"Falcon, this is base, silencing of target four-seventeen has been authorized. Good hunting and silent skies Falcon. Base out."

The door to the apartment burst in. A man in a black combat suit with a black leather trench coat strode into the room. "Get off of her monster." The Hunter's smooth voice did little to hide his hatred of the vampire. The child turned to him letting Lisa's body fall to the ground, "please help me, my momma, she's dying."

"Pathetic. You have been sentenced to eternal silence for crimes I don't even need to mention." The man pulled a handgun from a holster on his right hip. The gun gleamed a brilliant black in the light, looking like a longer barreled version of a desert eagle with a custom made clip, chamber, and scope. His first shot missed, as the vampire began to move too fast to hit, or at least so it thought. The second shot went off in the right direction as the Hunter felt out his prey. The third shot hit the child directly in the chest. The vampire screamed out, as a burning pain seared his being. The flesh around the wound began to emit green smoke and melt.

The Hunter holstered his gun, and pulled another. Looking like an old six gun from the old west, the specialized demon silencer or SDS would project rounds specifically designed for the different known demons. Rather than the standard issue field pistol, which fires injection rounds, when they enter a target the metal outer covering of the bullet will rupture and the inner capsule will break. Contained in the standard injection rounds is a stable solution that will cause anyone struck with it to collapse to the ground in pain. It has various effects on the target based on the type of demon it is. The green smoke meant a low level vampire, either freshly turned or pretty weak.

The Hunter loaded a single round into his SDS and fired it directly into the vampires head. The child burst into flames immediately and turned to ash within moments. "It's as easy as pie once you got them pegged. Base, this is Falcon, four-seventeen has been silenced. Reporting all clear, one victim on the scene, please send the cleaners. Falcon out."

Lisa lay on the floor; her stomach split open, and blood seeping from the bite on her neck. She was still breathing shallowly, but it was clear she would be dead quickly. The Hunter knelt down beside her, and withdrew from the inside of his cloak a ten inch wooden stake. He raised it into the air, and plunged it into her chest and through her heart. The stake would prevent her from turning.

The Hunter spun around and walked out of the house without a backwards look. He closed the door behind him, looked towards the sky, "One more down, thanks for the clear skies and good hunting." The Hunter started on the long dark walkway towards his small apartment, thinking about the path that had brought him to this point in his life. He mentally played back his own life story.

"The name is Williams, Lee Williams, and if you ever call me Lee or Williams I will kill you. That isn't a threat, just stating the facts. My mother was a crack whore, she popped tricks in the trailer whenever she could, just to make enough money for her next fix. I was small growing up and hated being home, so I spent all of my time at the dojo near the school. I never wanted to go home when I was young, who would? So that was my life, and I grew up faster than any one in my grade. When I got to High School I was a black belt in Aikido, and Jujitsu, and spent all of my free time with my Sensei, he didn't make fun of me. My training had taught me to be patient, courteous, and strength. My upbringing taught me not to take any shit. I'm not violent but if you start something, I will end it.

"The first week of high school the head quarterback of the football team was passing by me in the hall with some of his cronies, he decided that I would be a good target for him to use to proclaim his alpha status. He attempted to trip me into the locker, not a good idea. I tried to ignore it, but he would not give it up. He taunted me with the claim that my mother was a whore, and she serviced him nightly, he didn't even have to pay. Something snapped in me, and I could no longer take it. I leaned into the locker, pushed off, spun and kicked him in the head. One second after it started it was over, he lay on the ground, and his minions stared at me blankly. I had never lost control like that, and it frightened me. I left school and just started walking.

"I must have walked for hours, but the next thing I knew it was dark and I was at the docks, near the abandoned warehouses. The docks were very quiet. The only sound was the noise of the water gently lapping at the pier. I sat upon the side of the bay, letting the song roll through my head. I watched the black water and tried to calm myself. How did I lose control? I had never lost it before, always being focused and restrained. Due to my training I knew that I couldn't get into a fight over something stupid, I would wind up killing someone.