"So," Max said, plopping onto her bed and untying her boots, "what next?"

  "Well, a couple towns over there's been some gruesome killings," Haley replied. She hated the hunting business, but she wasn't going to let her little sister travel alone. Max was a little under eighteen, yet had twelve years of experience in monster killing already. Haley, who was twenty-nine, could only imagine what things Max saw on a day-to-day basis. Haley never gets involved in the hunts as long as she can avoid it.

  "The local law enforcement ruled them out it as grizzly attacks, but... well... it doesn't look like a bear attack." She swallowed down a wave of nausea as she showed Max the pictures of the case report on her laptop. "Also," she added, "I've never heard of a bear who eats human hearts."

  Max studied the photographs on the screen, nodding. "Looks like a werewolf to me. I say we stay here for tonight and check it out in the morning."

  "Yeah, okay," Haley sighed. Even though she was the oldest, she never got to call the shots. Max knew more about hunting than her, and Haley just went along with it. The truth of it was, Haley felt like she owed her sister. She'd saved her life from an angry skinshifter once, and driving her around and doing research was her way of paying her back.

"Please... please d-don't h-hurt me..." the woman cried. "I- I-I'm s-sorry... I didn't mean it..." Her whimpers filled the alleyway as the creature stood over her with a dagger in hand.

  "You should be more considerate to other people," it sneered. "You shouldn't have rejected me, blondie."

  "Hey dickwad!" a voice called from behind the attacker. It turned to see a teenage girl, her gun raised. "Get away from my sister."

  It laughed, the sound echoing off the walls of the buildings around them. "Or what? You'll shoot me? Oh, I'm so terrified," he teased. "You really think a bullet can stop me?"

  "Yeah. When it's made from silver..." The shot went off and the shifter fell to the ground. The young girl ran to it, kicking him in the head for good measure. She turned to her sister who was still lying on the concrete, frozen in shock. "Haley? Haley can you hear me? Ha--"

  "Haley? Hello? Earth to Haley!" Max said, waving her hand in front of her sister's face. "You okay?"

  Haley blinked, coming back to the present. "What? Oh, yeah... Just thinking, that's all..."

  "Don't hurt yourself," Max chuckled, earning herself a bitchface. "Get some rest. We leave in the morning."