#elementalhqstarter

Agust tapped his pen against his notebook in frustration. It had to be well past midnight now. He couldn’t have written more than a couple verses, and he’d been holed up in this dingy McDonald’s for hours. Sighing, he leaned back, causing the joints in his back to pop satisfyingly. Squinting against the bright lights, he gazed around the mostly abandoned joint, save for a few others and himself. Without meaning to, he found himself staring at a fellow night-owl. Hunched over the table, they could not have been very comfortable.

Sure enough, the asshole was banging his secretary. What came as a bit of a surprise to her, though, was that the secretary wasn’t a human. And while Ivy was snapping pictures of the two getting down and dirty in Mr. Hot Shot’s car, the secretary must’ve heard the clicking of her camera. The glowing amber eyes of a werewolf stared her down as her finger froze on the camera’s shutter release button. With a groan, Ivy stuffed her camera into her bag and took off out of the alley in a run. No way in hell she was going to get into a fight tonight. But unluckily for her, she ran smack dab into someone the second she was out of the alley. A grunt busted from Ivy’s lips as she bounced backwards, only barely catching herself before she fell on her ass. “Oh, fuck! I am so fucking sorry!”

Something inside of her was screaming, hoping, begging for her to put a stop to her madness. But she didn’t. She couldn’t turn herself in. And as more time passed, the urge to do it grew smaller and smaller. While the urge for blood? That was only getting bigger. It was that urge that drove her to Mulligan’s. It wasn’t the worst bar she’d been in, but it certainly wasn’t the best. And her instincts, something within her told her that this was a safe place. Perhaps even a place where she could sneak off to find a meal. Jesus, was that really what she was calling it now? These were people. People. And here she was, eyeing them all to see which one she’d lure out of this bar and into the parking lot. Her fingers danced along the rim of her glass as she cast her eyes around the room. She wasn’t sure what she was looking for, only that she’d know when she found it. Hunger was building in her stomach, gnawing at her insides. She would have to feed tonight, or risk the hunger getting so strong that she’d attack someone in broad daylight. And that was a risk she didn’t want to take.

As a wave of pain hit her abdomen, Kat hissed. She was more hungry than she’d thought. Or was she always this hungry? Fuck, it was hard to tell. She felt like she was losing her mind. And even the burn of alcohol did nothing to quench the fire she felt in her gut. But when she finished her drink she ordered another nonetheless. Perhaps she could drink enough alcohol to calm herself, if not take away the hunger completely. While the bartender made her drink, she put her head in her hands. She’d tried doing deep breathing once, and that had only ended with her attacking her neighbors. Scents were too strong, noises were too loud, everything was just too fucking much. And though she’d been like this for a few days, she still wasn’t used to the overload of sensations. Kat only prayed that one day she would get used to it. But before she could lose herself in the noise around her, something caught her attention. Someone slid into the chair beside her, and she couldn’t stop herself from peeking out from her fingers. 

“Hello.” Oh, fuck. What was she doing? Talking to strangers was a good way to end up eating strangers. But she couldn’t stop herself. Her mouth was moving without her really realizing what she was saying. Maybe if she made conversation, it’d be easier to get them out of the door? “Here for the booze or the burgers?”

She was just a few paragraphs away from finishing the report when a knock sounded at her door. A twinge of hope ran through her chest as she hopped out of her chair and ran for the door. Pulling it open, she forced herself to smile. “What can I do for you?” 

Making her way through Queens was a familiar journey. She’d walked these streets countless times. But tonight she was on the trail of a new vamp, following closely behind them as they stalked through the city. It didn’t take long before the vampire twisted and turned their way to a vacant street. One with only a single girl walking along the sidewalk. Though her heartbeat picked up, June forced herself to keep quiet. She wouldn’t attack unless the vamp gave her reason to. So she simply watched from her spot on the fire escape, eyes honed in on the vampire as he began speaking to the woman. Sure enough, the conversation was cut short when he lunged for her throat. June hopped off of the fire escape and darted over to the vampire. Calling forth lightening from within her, she placed her hands on either side of the vamp’s head and let her powers run wild. 

It was violent, sure. But she’d heard countless tales of how brutal this vamp could be. He even fed off of children, and June felt no remorse and the vampire began twitching and convulsing in agony before her. But prolonging the kill was unnecessary, and so after a few seconds of frying the asshole’s brain she pulled a stake from the sheath strapped to her thigh. In no time the vampire was ash. One of the greatest things about vampires was how damned easy it was to kill them. A stake to the heart and they went poof. No mess, no clean up. Easy peasy. Unfortunately, the part that wasn’t easy was dealing with victims. In her line of work, June rarely ever had to do it. But since she’d started hunting with a few of her old Elemental friends, talking to victims of supernatural attacks was becoming a regular occurance.

But before she could get a single word out, the girl was running for the nearest street. Screams were pouring out of her throat, loud and piercing against the still quiet of the night. “Aw, fuck.” June followed the girl out of the alley, a low groan making it way from her lips. Luckily for her the girl just kept running. And no one seemed to notice that she’d walked out of the exact same alley as the weird screaming lady. New York, man. New fuckin’ York. Shrugging her shoulders, June turned on her heel to go back the way she came, only to come face to face with someone. “Oh, uh. What’s up? How’s it going? You, uh, you having a good night?”

Parties might actually be Ivy’s least favorite thing. In fact, the only thing that came even close to beating it were almonds. She hated almonds. But, unlike almonds, parties were at times necessary for her job. It might surprise some people to know just how much they actually showed about themselves at a party. And there was never an easier time to take someone off guard and get them to answer questions. Drunk people liked to talk, especially to pretty girls. But the Saints & Sinners party was a whole new animal. She’d been to Saints exactly once before, under the watchful eye of a vampire. And it was the same now as it had been back then. Loud, crowded, full of people half dressed and grinding on each other. The only difference was that now everyone was dressed in costumes.

She was sipping on a mimosa carefully, keeping it slow to not let herself get buzzed. But the thrum of alcohol in her veins was pleasant enough to distract her from her own anxieties. Which let her focus on her task, watching everyone. If Saints was planning something for tonight, she was going to make damned sure that no innocent lives were taken because of it. So when she saw a couple head back to the VIP section, her heart sank. It was obvious that the male was a vampire, and by the way he was dragging the intoxicated girl toward the VIP section, it was obvious just how hungry he was. The elemental stood up slowly, eyes darting around trying to find a way to enter the VIP section without being seen by security. Her feet carried her towards the back before she could find one, desperation rising up in her chest. Maybe she was just being paranoid, but she didn’t want to see that girl’s face end up on the news tomorrow evening. 

A hand stopped her just before she got to the curtains separating the VIP section from the rest of the club. “Sorry, ma’am. VIP only.” It was another vampire, security detail. He was much larger than her, and definitely wouldn’t let her go without a fight. Fuck. How could she convince him to let her in there? “Look, my friend is back there and she’s way to drunk to be alone right now. Especially with some guy that she doesn’t know. Please, just let me go get her and take her home. Please.” She let the desperation she was feeling for the girl shine clear in her voice, hoping that the vampire would let her go. But here merely shook his head, “If she’s back there, she’s safe. We don’t let things happen to our guests here, ma’am. Your friend will be returned to you by the end of the night.” With that he gently shoved her back into the crowd, taking up a defensive stance in front of the door. 

Ivy had to force herself not to gawk at him. What the fuck could that mean? Your friend will be returned to you by the end of the night. The words kept ringing in her ear. On the surface they were calm and reassuring, but he said them with such callousness, with such disdain. What were they going to do to that poor girl? But to keep security from throwing her out, Ivy made herself turn around and walk away. Before she panicked or caused a scene. Nausea washed over her at all the various possibilities. So many things crossed her mind, not one of them ending up with that girl being safe at all. What the hell were they doing back there? They weren’t killing people, she didn’t think. There’d be too many witnesses here, too many people missing friends. So they were truly giving the people back. But what did they do to them behind closed doors? What would make them open up their exclusive doors just for this one night? They let in dozens of humans and supernaturals that they didn’t know. For what? What would make them change their exclusive patterns for one night?

 Ivy’s feet stopped directly in the middle of the dance floor as a thought crossed her mind. Bodies curled around her, moving along to the steady beat as her heart stuttered in her chest. “They’re turning them.”

But alas, the song was over far too soon. Good Charlotte could only be good to her for so long. As the music slowed to a close she saluted the crowd, “I’d like to thank you all! You’re all beautiful, wonderful people. Except you.” She pointed at a creep that had hit on her earlier, “You’re just an asshole.” Turning a smile back to the rest of the giggling crowd, June continued, “Good night, hotties and gentlepeople. I’ll see you at the bar.” With a wave she made her way off the stage. The alcohol was a pleasant thrum in her system, but the buzz was mostly gone. Stupid elemental bullshit. Walking over to the bar she scrambled onto a stool, “Gimme some shots, pal! Vodka, I don’t give a shit what brand. I just want it to burn.” 

Her eyes scanned the bar, looking for anything to capture her interest. At first glance there was nothing new, it was the same old crowd she’d gotten used to. But then her eyes landed on someone different, someone she hadn’t grown accustomed to seeing get shitfaced by her side every night. Curiosity got the better of her, and June decided to make her way over. As soon as the bartender’d put down her shots she picked them up and walked over to the stranger. “Hey there. Care to join me for a shot?”