2014 Copyright © A. M. Forest

All Rights Reserved

The door slammed shut behind Magnolia as she pulled out one of her black hunting knives from the inside of her boot, flipping the knife into a hammer grip before moving further.

She took a step forward into the dark alley—it's always the dark alley—cautiously, noting the dead-end on her left before heading towards the street. On the right of her stood three large dumpsters that reeked of mildew, pipes going up the opposing building that spilled a mysterious liquid into the alley, and mice scraping in the garbage. Steam glided across the ground as she got closer to the opening, however it revealed nothing except that she was alone.

Magnolia sighed in disappointment before holstering the knife.

She was really looking forward to a good fight.

As she raised her hand to knock on the door, a firm grip landed on her shoulder. The person forcibly spun her around to face someone she'd never met.

Magnolia's gaze sharpened on his features, noticing soulless black eyes before anything else. He was several inches taller than her and he smiled at her brightly, confirming that he was a Nightwalker when she saw his fangs. He was dressed in nicer clothes—more high class compared to most of the attire in the club—wearing a black button down shirt, black dress pants, designer shoes; high threat.

Before she could reach into the holster again, he pushed her with overwhelming strength, slamming her into the wall next to the door.

Dizziness consumed her longer than she'd care to admit before he attacked again, punching her in the stomach. His fist was the only thing holding her against the wall as he leaned in close and yanked her head back by the hair using his free hand.

"You must be new around these parts. Care for a little fun?" the Nightwalker hissed before pulling her head back further, to nuzzle her throat. "Hmmmm...is that French vanilla I smell? Quite a contrast to this disgusting alley," he licked under her chin, "Yes, you will be a delightful dessert for the evening." She detected an English accent as she reached down into her boot..

Finally being able to feel the handle, she hissed out, "Sorry, I'm not on the menu."

Quick as a viper she struck, startling him back a few steps before swinging the knife again. In a fluid motion, she kicked him square in the chest before going into close combat mood. With each swing, her slices got deeper along his chest and arms, tearing through his shirt.

But, he was faster than she had anticipated. With his inhuman strength, he punched her square in the jaw, stunning Magnolia long enough to land a kick to her side.

She stumbled as he swung a clawed hand at her, tearing through the sleeve and chest of the dress, making her back several steps. She swiftly rubbed away the blood from her chest before glaring at him.

"Who are you?" No one has been able to lay a finger on her in several months, and he managed to inflict damage multiple times.

He wiped his nose with a chuckle, ignoring her question. "You aren't as easy as you appeared to be," He tilted his head as his wounds healed. "Definitely not as easy as the others," his smile grew taunting, showing off his sharp fangs.

They began to circle each other. "So you killed the other three hunters?"

He smirked; everything about his demeanor taunted her. "It was my gift to them." He gloated.

Magnolia took out her other knife, ready to attack. A small smile appeared on her lips as she took in her opponent once more. She was starting to enjoy herself.

"Well, here is my present to you." She growled before lunging at him.

~~~

"You're an idiot," Magnolia said simply, looking at Joseph's beaten up face as he sat on her black leather couch.

He moved the ice pack away from his face to glare at her. "You told me to give you a five minute head-start." He half-shrugged, and then grimaced at the pain when he moved.

She loosely grabbed the arm belonging to his dislocated shoulder. "I'm going to have to pop it back in." Magnolia stated, looking at him for confirmation.

He nodded quickly.

"On three..." She began, getting herself into the right position as she watched him brace himself. "One,"

Pop!

"AHHH!" He screamed, pushing his face into the couch cushions to muffle the rest of the scream.

When he finally relaxed, he spoke up. "You...said three!" He gasped. She watched as sweat built up on his brow above his blackening eye.

She looked over his bruised cheek and pushed the ice pack back to his face before turning around to look over the medical supplies on her coffee table. "You know, I think you should learn how to ignore me sometimes."

She grabbed the sling and tenderly put his arm in it, watching him wince at the pain it caused him to move it, before turning to her own wounds. The cuts the Nightwalker gave her across her chest were already healing and with a quick shower and some hydrogen peroxide, they would be gone by morning, along with the purple bruise she knew blossomed on her jawline.

"If you didn't jump in front of me, the assailant wouldn't have slammed you into the wall and floor."

He cringed, "Well, I thought you needed help..."

Right after Magnolia lunged at the creature, Agent Austin Dumbass Joseph decided that was the perfect time to come out into the alley, gun drawn in hand as she'd told him, calling out her name.

She glared at the injured Dumbass in question; she had the vampire right where she wanted him when Joseph had jumped directly in front of her to stupidly 'protect' her just as the vampire lunged at Magnolia at the same exact time, causing the Nightwalker to slam into the brittle human.

Strength was a major factor in vampire hunting, and Joseph didn't have the strength necessary to withstand the blow. With Magnolia's attention on the unconscious agent, the Nightwalker took the chance to get away, leaving with her name and an idea of what he's up against.

As she examined Joseph's bruised and bloodied face, her glare softened to a frown. Magnolia found herself pushing a stray blonde curl off his forehead to catch his attention.

"I think it will be best if you stayed here for the night, Joseph." She heard herself tell him those words, but couldn't seem to stop them from coming as she eyed the already-purple bruise on his right cheekbone. 

He shook his head and tried to get up from his sitting position, grimacing at the pain the movement caused. "No, no, no... I am perfectly fine to drive home." He insisted between clenched teeth.

Perfectly fine, my ass... Oh, I'm going to regret this.

When he got about halfway up, she pushed him back down onto the couch. "It's late, and you're injured," Magnolia began, a sigh escaping her lips. "You'll make easy prey for any predators out there right now. Just stay here for the night and I'll help you in the morning." She gave him a stern look before moving quickly into the kitchen.

She walked over to the refrigerator and pulled out a jug of apple juice. The cravings were too much to ignore at this point, with Joseph here or not.

Quickly, she snatched the pill bottle next to juice, grabbed two red pills and used the apple juice to help it go down. She could feel the effects immediately after she swallowed, her cravings coming down to a minimum as the juice filled her up. As Magnolia wiped her mouth, she turned to see Joseph staring at her. 

"What?" She snapped, glaring at him. 

He averted his gaze, wincing as he did so. "Do you have some pain pills?"

She sighed before throwing the empty bottle into the recycle bin as she walked over to the cabinet that contained all the medicine she rarely used. Swiping up the small bottle of oxycodone, she headed back into the living room.

"Here, take this." She told Joseph, putting a pill in his unscathed hand. "I hear it knocks out elephants, unlike someone I know." She smirked, watching a smile appear on his bruised face.

After swallowing the small pill, he looked up at her, his familiar round blue eyes filled with gratitude. "Thank you, Haunt; for everything you did." He told her firmly. Then, he broke out into a small chuckle. "Even after you promised to kill me if I got in your way,"

Her smile faltered a few seconds before it stretched wider. "I did, didn't I?" she laughed. "Well, I'll just have to remember that next time."

Magnolia got up from her sitting position and walked back into the kitchen. "Are you hungry?" she asked, taking out a frozen pepperoni pizza. She heard a faint 'yeah' while she pulled it out of the box and stuffed it into the gas oven; which was personally requested.

Never know when she'd need to blow the house up.

"So, Austin, tell me about yourself." Magnolia started, leaning against the wall near the entrance to the kitchen.He shrugged still staring at the fireplace. "Not much to say; I can't remember anything before my nineteenth birthday. I was found after that by our division and haven't gone on any mission until now."

She looked at the back of his head, confused. "What happened?"

"Car crash. Woke up in the hospital handcuffed to a bed and was told my name was Austin Joseph. No family or friends came to visit me, so I must have been an orphan and a fugitive; well, that's my conclusion." He sighed, clearly frustrated by this.

So that would explain why he doesn't recognize me. She thought to herself. You can't stay mad at him for something he doesn't remember, Magnolia. "I know." She whispered to herself.

He turned his head in her direction, "You okay, Magnolia?"She cleared her throat. "Yeah. So, how did you get wrapped up in all of this? The vampire hunting and all."

"Well, when I was in the hospital, a man in a very expensive suit came into my room and handed me a card. His name was Alrec Titan."

Magnolia paused before speaking, "Alrec Titan? As in the CEO of Aztech Corporations?" 

"The very one. He claimed that he knew who I was and what I could do; said he would pay for all my medical bills and make the police matter go away, all in exchange for working for him and only him, no questions asked. As a kid with a prison sentence over his head and no memories of the crime--or anything for that matter--it was an easy decision." Joseph sighed, avoiding her stare. "It took a couple of months, but with the help of Professor Rodgers, I was back in the business of computer technology. I still don't remember any fundamental memories of my childhood, but he helped me access my muscle memory which kept me in touch with the computers."

The beep from the oven saved her from an awkward reply. "Pizza's ready..." Magnolia announced as she turned to walk into the kitchen to collect the food and plates for them both. 

After quickly cutting the pizza into slices and checking the fridge one more time, she came back into the living room with two slices on each plate, a cool bottle of white wine, and a bottle of ranch.

Joseph thanked her as she set the pizza in front of him with the ranch. He pointed at the ranch, "How did you know I like to eat my pepperoni pizza with ranch?"

Magnolia froze mid-bite when she realized what she'd done. It was out of habit to grab the ranch for him, just like when they were kids. "Uh, I read about it in your file." She said quickly before she scoffed down the pizza. Joseph raised an eyebrow. "That isn't in my file. I would know, I check it every day to make sure nothing changes; and if it does, to be aware of those changes." 

He said nonchalantly as he put the ranch on the pizza."You'd be surprised what Professor Rodgers knows about you." She muttered darkly, taking a bite of the second slice.

He thought about it for a second, then shrugged, his attention grabbed by the food. They finished the pizza in silence. She opened the wine a poured it into the two glasses she got up to fetch from the counter. Magnolia sighed after taking the first sip from her glass.

"This cabin doesn't have any spare bedrooms, so you can take my room." She stated simply, swirling the liquid in the glass as she watched the lit fireplace. 

"Yeah... no. I'll just take the couch." He said taking a sip from his cup. He made a face before setting it back down. "I'm not going to take a woman from her bed."

Magnolia eyed him with a small smile before downing the rest of her drink. "Suit yourself. I'm going to take a shower." She set the glass on the table before going to the closet in the hallway, pulling out extra sheets and a blanket. "Here you go. Don't worry about cleaning up; I'll do it in the morning." 

He took the blankets carefully with one hand before nodding. She turned around to head to the bathroom, but paused. "Don't bother me unless someone is dying; even if that was the case, don't wake me, I am known to have a happy trigger finger in my sleep." And with that she left for her much needed shower.

~~~  

edited by Shrutiluvbooks

Love always,

Jelly