The Elemental Huntress

Chapter 2 - Club 88

ELIRA POV

Willa and Rhydian were pumped to get pizza and drinks. Willa had her hair in loose curls with a tartan skirt, white crop and black wedge heels, her makeup was always green with some black eyeliner and mascara.

Rhydian didn't really change his hair much, as it was always in pristine condition, short at the back and the sides and longer on the top, styled like Alex Turner from Arctic Monkeys. He had on his black leather jacket, a nice white shirt and black jeans.

I went out in my usual getup: black crop, black ripped jeans, fishnets underneath peeking through, and black combat boots, my hair always up in a high pony so it's out of my face when I dance, just like when I fight, my makeup always consisting of black eyeliner in the shape of a cat eye.

I feel amped up and I'm looking forward to letting off some steam. Maybe even a cheeky kiss with a cute boy or a cute girl, shake my booty to some music with my best friends.

Nothing could ruin this for me...

My night out was going just as planned. Well, so I thought... After filling myself with some tequila drinks, an hour shaking my booty on the dance floor and kissing a cute boy, I feel nothing! Nothing in the sense of being drunk or tipsy, not even that kiss could rock my world. Something must be up with me. I live for my nights off where I can let loose and yet I feel sober as s**t and extremely unsettled at the same time.

What is wrong with me?

Rhydian has already gone home with some brunette and Willa has befriended a hottie behind the bar. Maybe I should 'figuratively' keep an eye on her?

Something is off, like really off. I’m getting weird vibes to Rhydian, alcohol isn't affecting me and for some reason my hair is on end, like I can almost anticipate something about to go down in here...

I get to the bar where Willa seems to be bored whilst listening to this guy speak about sports. I give her a nod as I order myself a couple more shots, wondering why they weren’t really making much of a difference, not even a light buzz. I was itching to dance and yet my partner in crime was busy being put to sleep by the sports commentator of Club 88. I figured I would go it alone and she would eventually join me.

As I reach the dance floor I catch the eye of a brooding blonde in the corner. I got the sense she was clearly frustrated with the guy to her right who had his back turned to her, talking to who I assumed was one of his mates.

I was in the mood for some fun and since I was waiting for Willa to join me I thought I would shake things up a bit.

I began to slowly move to the music, moving my hips in a way that was beginning to distract the blonde from whatever was bothering her, I moved my hands over my body in a way that made her blush. I began to look her right in the eye as I danced alone and I could see sweat appear on her forehead a little. I knew she wanted me and so I walked over to the blonde and kissed her!

I grabbed her face gently and put my lips to hers. I felt her breath catch as our lips touched. She was tense and confused at first but then she relaxed. I gently massaged my tongue against hers, wanting to taste her. She tastes like oranges and ginger, and it was delicious.

I could eventually hear the boyfriend say, "What the hell?" As he turned and saw us passionately kissing. I pulled away from the blonde and as she was recovering from what I'd just done to her, I stepped to the boyfriend and started kissing him. I wasn't as gentle with him though. I grabbed him from behind the head and kissed him, hard, moving my tongue around his fast and breathing him in. He tasted like cinnamon sticks, not my preferred taste, but it wasn't terrible.

As he started to relax and give in to me, I reached out my hand to the blonde and pulled her closer. I could feel her eyes on us, confused about what was happening and not sure how to feel. I took her hand and put it on my waist, then I took his and put it on the back of her thigh as she was wearing a mini skirt.

I pulled back from his kiss and as he looked at me, I began to look at her. He followed my gaze and when their eyes met, they began to kiss, deeply and passionately. I slowly stepped away, satisfied that I had somehow solved whatever petty argument was going on between them.

By this time, his friend had found someone else to chat to and I was free to enjoy the bliss of the dance floor alone once again.

30 minutes later, I was on the dancefloor and Willa had joined me, I was finally beginning to forget about the world around me and could really feel the music. It began to wrap itself around me and cocoon me from all the responsibility and bitterness. I relished in the moment, the way it allowed me to feel normal, even if it was just temporary.

And there it was - that feeling like something was about to happen and BOOM!

A flood of rogues and vampires came bursting through each of the exits and main entrance. This was something I hadn't seen before, both species working together, "What is this, Sunnydale?" I muttered just loud enough for Willa to hear.

Willa laughed at my remark and shook her head at me. She always enjoyed my ability to be quick-witted, even in serious moments. This was most certainly one of those moments.

Both Willa and I knew nothing good was about to come of this unless we found a way to stop them. We were certainly not dressed for the occasion, but we knew we had no choice.

There were roughly 10 vampires and 5 rogues to our team of just two. They had no idea we were here, and I couldn't wait to surprise them.

The first thing I did, was scope out how they were blocking the exits so that I could get as many people out as quickly as possible. I snuck up on one vampire, knowing I would need something to stake him through the heart, I snapped off a leg of a table and staked him with it. It had been a while since I'd killed a vampire, but I never got tired of seeing them turn to dust, watching his look of surprise just fade away.

I pushed open the fire exit and peeked outside to see if there was a party waiting for us but there wasn't. This whole operation seemed rather amateur, and I couldn't wait to get to the bottom of it once I had gotten the people inside to safety. I ran back inside and started gathering everyone, telling them which exit to escape through.

As I was making my way through the crowd, I caught some vampires feeding in the corner. I was hoping it wasn't the couple from earlier. I was relieved when to see that it wasn't. I quickly staked the Vamps before they could cause any real damage. The place was mayhem, people screaming and running for the exit I had created.

Rogues were fighting Willa and some other randoms who must have been werewolves too. As I caught the eye of one, I realised that it was the blonde from earlier as well as the guy I assumed was her boyfriend. I didn’t know how I felt at that moment because of the fact I had made out with two werewolves, but I couldn't focus on that right now.

The security guards were trying their best to hold up a fight, but they had no clue what they were up against. It was only a matter of time before the police arrived. That was something I really wanted to avoid. Moonlight Tech didn't have a relationship with law enforcement in this town. This was above my pay grade, so now our biggest priority was to wrap this up before the police started arriving.

WILLA POV

Tonight was going well, at least it felt like it was. I was hanging out with a cute boy; a little boring since he couldn't stop talking about how he's the captain of some football team blah blah blah, I honestly wasn't listening and only really cared that he was nice to look at. Also, Elira has been acting weird and I will most certainly harass her about it later.

She thinks she hides it well, but I read straight through her. I was going to suggest we hit the dance floor, as I knew that would likely cheer her up, when she gave me a casual nod and ordered herself some shots. Before I had the chance to say anything, she was gone. I figured I would give her a little time to herself before I joined her.

A little while later, Elira and I were wrapped up in being one with the music. It's a thing we find really helps distract us from our usual day to day life. Suddenly, I noticed Elira had stopped moving and seemed like she was listening to something I couldn't quite hear. Moments later, we both hear a loud BOOM, and the place is swarmed with Rogues and Vampires.

Elira made her usual quick-witted comment which made me laugh. We looked at each other and knew we were the only ones who could stop them. I couldn't help but roll my eyes and think sarcastically, that it was going to be fun fighting vamps and Rogues in this outfit.

It happened so fast; I was fighting off two rogues when Elira finally came back into view. There was something off about her, almost like she was glowing, as though her aura was suddenly visible or something.

Everything about tonight was completely strange and, considering what we do for a living, I'd say that's saying something.

"We have to wrap this up quickly before the police arrive". I shouted to Elira as we tried to communicate amongst the noise and fighting. "If we don't, this mess is going to be an even hotter mess" she responded as she threw her daggers at two more rogues.

We were down to just one rogue and five vampires. Elira was yielding a sharp object to dust the vamps with, but not before I would try and get some information out of them. So far, we had come up empty and we knew the police were minutes away from arriving.

Our plan was to capture and torture a rogue or vampire if we had to, which was going to be a fun challenge since there were still 6 of them and 2 of us. Elira quickly threw me her sharp object for the vampires while she went after the last remaining rogue. She knew it would be easier to torture a rogue for information, so I went after the vampires. I had two already in my sights. I swiftly staked the first after dodging his right hook and as I came up I then staked the other in the back. This was the most exciting part of my night and that realisation sucked!

I then went to look for the remaining three vampires. I found one in the public bathroom trying to feed on football guy. He was begging not to be hurt as he's important to the team etc. I couldn't help but roll my eyes before continuing to stop the vampire from honestly doing us both a favour. Another vamp dusted and two more to go.

I was in stealth mode going down a hallway to check on the final exit when I could hear them on a radio. The chatter got my attention because I could clearly hear them discussing their mission. "Mission Tango is a failure, abort, I repeat mission tango is a fail, abort!" The words were loud and clear for me and the two remaining vamps. What a shame the only way they would be able to abort is with my makeshift stake through their hearts.

ELIRA POV

After giving my 'stake' to Willa, I began to go after the last remaining rogue. My aim was to capture and torture. Before I could go through with my plan, I needed to notify Rhydian. I quickly unlocked my phone and proceeded to call him.

It rang about three times before he finally answered out of breath, which clearly meant one thing at this hour. I kept my cool and waited for him to speak "What's up Elira, is everything OK? I know you're smart enough to only call me like this if it's an emergency." He sounded flustered but concerned as he spoke, "If you mean by the swarm of vampires and rogues that are now terrorizing the patrons of our favourite hangout spot, club 88 then yes, its an emergency. Willa and I have single-handedly taken care of it so don't worry your panties off too much about it, we just need some assistance getting out of here with our prisoner." I couldn't help the sarcasm as I explained the situation.

I was currently holding the rogue up against the wall in a throat hold. Everything else seemed like it had begun to die down. Willa must be doing well with staking those vamps, which was of no surprise to me.

"OK, I will put some pants on and be there in less than 10 minutes." He quickly hung up the phone and I was left to deal with the rogue until then, and the uncomfortable feeling I had about him needing to put his pants back on. Some minutes later, Willa came back with a cheeky grin on her face. We both knew what that meant, Willa's staking mission had been a success.

I gave her a proud nod and continued to hold off this rogue, while Willa found something to tie him up with. Willa swiftly came back with some rope and zip ties, not that it was necessary as I had not long knocked him out, so he wasn't exactly conscious enough to escape. I was also wondering how she managed to find both rope and zip ties in a place like this, but who was I to question it.

Five minutes later, we were in the car park, loading the unconscious rogue into the van. We could distinctly hear sirens getting closer and knew we had seconds to get the hell out of there. We sped off, just a moment before the cops pulled up and I couldn't believe I had forgotten to take care of the security footage. "s**t, I will have to head back here tomorrow as early as possible, I forgot to wipe the security footage." I was frustrated and didn't notice Willa's little grin at first. "Not to worry it's been taken care of; I was waiting to see how long it would take you to bring it up." Willa was trying not to laugh at my expression. "Gee thanks, not sure if I should hug you for being on top of it or kick you for being such a smart ass about it." Willa simply smiled and poked out her tongue at me.

Within an hour we were back at the villa with the rogue tied up in the back garden shed that we had turned into our own little interrogation space. He was finally coming to, and I couldn't wait to start the interrogation process so I could shower and pass out.

To my surprise, it didn't take long at all, a simple flash of a shiny object intended to do harm and he cracked. I shouldn't have been so surprised, as rogues don't tend to have the same kind of loyalty to their fellow wolf like real packs do. "I'll talk, I'll talk, you don't need to get so serious about that thing now ok. We were forced into it by the vampires. They said they would kill us all if we didn't do as they asked. They offered us some land in reward for our service to them." The rogue was frantic as he started to tell us everything.

"What was the vampire's plan? Are there more of them? What is their next move?" I couldn't get my questions out fast enough; Rhydian could tell I was beginning to get impatient with this whole ordeal and Willa was looking at me with a worried look on her face. "Why don't you head inside and wash up, we can take of this." Rhydian gestured for me to head inside for a shower and to be honest I was grateful.

My whole body ached, and I couldn't quite figure out why I wasn't feeling like myself tonight. I knew that I had been feeling a little off earlier, but I was really starting to notice it more as the night progressed.

This would have to be a task for tomorrow, I thought to myself, as I stripped bare and got into a steaming hot shower. Showers were my safe place, the place where I could relax and just be one with the water running down my body. I quickly cleaned myself up and got dressed for bed.

I was certain that Rhydian and Willa would find out the motive behind everything that happened tonight. What I wasn't sure of was myself. I knew I hadn't been feeling like myself tonight and it was clear in Willa and Rhydian's eyes that they could see it too.

We had one final day before the school year started and I knew tomorrow was going to be painful, between finalising everything before term, debriefing my parents, Moonlight Tech and dreading the school year in general. I was well and truly going to be a sulky teenager.

I love being around people and socialising, so you would think school would be the perfect place for me to enjoy myself, but nope! I hate school because the schools I attend are always full of Werewolves. Although not the kind I usually have to worry about, something about them just makes me uneasy. So, I hate school.

As I was brushing my hair in the bathroom mirror, I noticed it, a strange colour reflecting in my eyes, as though they were mine but not mine, like they were faintly glowing. What is happening to me? I am human, yet I am experiencing heightened senses and glowing eyes. I have never heard of this before. What the hell does this mean?

So many questions are running through my head, it's making me dizzy. I must focus on the bigger picture. I couldn’t help but think to myself, come on Elira, get your s**t together! I needed sleep, that would fix everything. Let's deal with everything else tomorrow.

I lay down in my bed and embraced the fact that sleep could not come quick enough!