I'm rebooting this story and taking a slightly darker and hopefully more tense beginning; I'll keep the discontinued one up for funsies in case someone prefers that one better. I'd like to thank Emerial very much for beta reading and being critical and to the point, and to others for their reviews as well. Something didn't quite sit right with the first telling, but spontaneity is a blessing and a curse. Anyway, there will be changes, but if you all want I might keep Squeak.

Tifa stood outside the mausoleum, reading the name etched in cold stone as dusk neared in the quiet graveyard that should hold her dear friend's body. Her heart twinged at the sight of that name after so many years, the man gone from their hometown and dead at the hands of night wraiths that occasionally roamed into the city from the bleak plain used in an ancient war outside the city-state of Midgar. That, and the events that followed took her down the path of a vampire hunter, a member of a secretive guild laughed at in the modern cities of Gaia. The woman thought back to all that had happened to her before this night.

Her childhood friend had come to this city seven years ago in the hopes of becoming a great warrior in their army, a necessity with the monster plagued area surrounding Midgar. Tifa figured he would return someday and perhaps be one of Nibelheim's guards after his military stint like others before him that came from the country. They had been close in secret, her father disapproving of their friendship while his mother welcomed it; the spiky haired boy had precious few he could call friend in that town.

Bastard children found respect to be a hard earned commodity.

"Cloud..." Tifa whispered as she reminisced. He left and died and then to her shock, he contacted her and his mother again. His mother had been beside herself with grief at mention of his death as he saved civilians from the night time attack five years ago, being unable to attend the funeral because of the cost and distance. Tifa, too, had been wracked with sorrow at the notification, holding on to the small gift he sent with his last letter; a silver wolf ring she kept around her neck on a leather band. When the letters from him continued after a short pause, letters that now smelled of grave dirt, it chilled both women to the bone. He couldn't come back yet, but he would when he could afford the trip. He promised he would see them again.

Tifa remembered immediately going to her martial arts instructor, the man well versed in vampire lore. As she had been such a talented student as it was, Zangan had inducted her into the ancient guild that slayed the unholy terrors of the night to keep her safe from her childhood friend after he finally convinced her of Cloud's fate. He was truly sorry that such a heroic person would become such a thing as a vampire, but he explained that no one was immune to the curse of undeath. He would look and sound the same, but it would not be the same soul she remembered in control of that body. Tifa couldn't stand the thought of someone she loved turned and twisted into a blood drinking monster.

Four years later and she stood as a rookie member, the woman assisting Zangan on a mission to destroy one of the creatures in a village not too far away; she came back to Nibelheim with a new found respect and disgust for the monsters after narrowly escaping its clutches. She kept it secret from her father before leaving for Midgar weeks later; he would not have approved of her new vocation. Neither did her friend's mother when she found out, the woman pleading with Tifa. Her son wasn't a vampire, he was too sweet a boy, too heroic a man to meet that end. It was just a mistake on the part of the papers, like her son had said in a letter. The letters would not come as often as they had in the past, but came they did. Sometimes one would show up at Tifa's door, even though she never replied back. Always mundane and always hoping to hear back from her, the demon torturing her every time the blasted things reached her. Cloud's mother, however, would write back, but of what Tifa didn't know.

Tifa awoke the night before she was to leave the village to the smell of smoke and orange lights dancing upon her walls, and when she dashed to her window the boy's house was being consumed in a raging inferno; soon the neighbors worked to put it out with what they had. Hours later it was out, the remains of her childhood friend's mother holding a singed wooden box of her son's possessions from Midgar.

The new hunter spirited it away with her before she traveled towards the great city of lights, having not dared open it yet. Tifa wasn't really sure why she even took it, she knew her father would be upset with her absence let alone her thievery. But now she had a base in the cathedral of the seventh sector of the city and several exterminations under her belt with the aid of others, and the occasional hunt of undead creatures that would cause trouble in the unseen corners of Midgar.

Snapping out of her reverie, Tifa's hand slipped over the sacred dagger in her hand, ready to release her dearest friend from undead misery, and her other over the ring covered by her jacket. She had mere minutes before the vampires of the city would awake from their death-like slumber, and her target possibly laid here; it had taken her almost her entire stay in Midgar to track down his particular burial spot out of so many. It was as good a start as any, and even if he had moved on it could be used when he couldn't use his new den. She moved forward, ignoring the anguish in her heart as it poured out from the proverbial open wound.

It was small, cold and light-less inside, made of smooth grey stone with a simple coffin in the back where sunlight would not reach. The stone was slightly damp to the touch when her hand came to rest upon a wall, the stone plain and undecorated. Tifa activated her light materia, the orb spilling soft white light into the tomb. Moving towards the coffin she hesitated a moment as she looked it over, hands lightly brushing the polished top. 'This is what they buried you in.' A shaky sigh passed her lips, then Tifa undid the clamp to see what lay inside.

'No...' It wasn't him. This was a victim he must have stowed away in a hurry, the skin of the male stark white and his jugular torn open. She ignored the images rushing into her head as she closed the coffin back up, and began wondering what to do. If she waited and followed him at a safe distance, she could perhaps find his lair that way. 'But if he recognizes me...'

She could be in more danger than she thought.

Tifa left as the last glow of the sun settled beneath the horizon, pulling up the hood of her jacket and tucking her hair inside. No, he wouldn't be on alert for her if he didn't know she was there in the first place. Just another citizen of the city, and it had been seven years. While his head of spiky blonde hair and expressive blue eyes could be considered unique, her own dark hair and ruby eyes had been sported by others around. That is, if he still kept the look. She mentally shrugged and quietly watched from a spot near one of the entrances; the area having just enough foot traffic at that hour where she wouldn't look suspicious.

The vampire hunter waited for what seemed to be half an hour by her reckoning before she caught a glimpse of her target, her heart jumping into her throat. He looked almost exactly the same as she remembered him if but slightly taller and his skin deathly pale. His clothes were dour and black, one side covered in black fabric as if wearing half a robe. But that was all she could properly make out, that and his large sword hanging lazily from his back. He took no notice of her or anyone else as he went about his business, silently gliding into the cemetery without so much as a glance upward. She bit her lip; the hunt for his lair would be on.

"Tifa! What are you doing in such a glum place like this?"

The woman snapped her head towards the source of the voice, hoping against hope her target hadn't heard the woman chime her name. "I could ask the same thing, Aerith," she said as she tried to keep the anxiousness in her voice down.

The green eyed woman smiled, looking up at the sky and then back at her friend. "I have a date tonight, and I was passing through when I saw you." She looked the part, wearing a casual white dress with sky blue trim. A soft white cowl laid on her shoulders, keeping away the slight chill of the air.

"Oh. I was just taking an evening walk." Tifa shrugged, then took a quick glance at her target; he was still moving away from their position and into the growing darkness. 'Maybe he didn't hear her after all.'

Aerith nodded, then glanced at the cemetery. "I get a lot of customers that want bouquets for resting loved ones. You'd think it would just be for lovers, or celebration. But remembrance is almost as big a chunk of my business as hot dates and attempts at making up for a mistake."

"Hm. There's a lot of death in the world, isn't there?"

"Yeah." The flower girl turned back to Tifa, cocking her head slightly as she smiled. "A lot of people left behind, too." She turned away, waving. "I'm gonna be late at this rate. See you later, Tifa!"

"Good night, Aerith!" Tifa turned back towards her target, the vampire already gone; at the very least she knew where he might hide during the day and the direction in which he came. Part of her wanted to reenter the cemetery and see if he was in the mausoleum; the vampire hunter immediately remembered the large broadsword on his back. It would be hard to use in a cramped spot like that, but he had other powers at his disposal as well. Not worth the risk, even if it was tempting.

Walking off towards sector seven and home she watched the streets for danger, though the risk was generally low in the early evening or relegated to the slums of the sixth sector of the round city. Still, her time in Midgar and the jobs her hidden guild had given her showed her a part of the underbelly of the city-state. Where ever there was life there were creatures to feed on it, from the craftiest vampire to the sewer dwelling ghouls who in earlier centuries would roam battlefields and mass graves. There were always victims, but in a place with millions of souls a handful of missing persons wasn't something the average person worried about.

Her night wasn't finished, but just beginning. Vampire hunters were partially nocturnal, waking in the afternoon and sleeping sometime before sunrise. She would make an early lunch and report to the cathedral in a search for any information or jobs from desperate citizens. Cloud, he was a personal mission; no one's blade or stake belonged in his chest but hers, it was her duty to him. She would go back tomorrow and scout the area in an effort to find his lair, now that she had some idea of where he was possibly located.

'Almost home...I wonder if this alley would make a good shortcut? I skipped breakfast...' She moved towards the shady street and then stopped herself, blinking. It's not that much further to go, she thought. Hurrying back off towards her home she continued to look out until she finally made it through her front door with a sigh. She wondered back to that strange thought earlier as she made her lunch; had she been followed, had he heard Aerith call out her name?

There wasn't much she could do, if that were the case. Tifa wasn't even sure if they were in earshot of the vampire. She took a glance outside, her porch and the surrounding street deserted. Still, she felt an uneasiness in her gut that told her something was amiss. Grasping some of her materia and socketing it into her right fighting glove, she headed back out into the night and towards the cathedral several blocks away.

She looked about her surroundings, watching and waiting for just about anything at this point. Occasionally she would hear the sound of flickering wings nearby, putting her on edge. Still, nothing came bursting out of the shadows at her; part of her wished something would to break the tension she felt. Walking into the plaza of the large stone-wrought church Tifa glanced at the bubbling fountain and flicked a gil into it out of habit before entering through the large, wooden front doors; she quietly entered as an evening mass continued on and went into a quiet corner that held an unmarked door.

Tifa entered the room, the space lit with a calm and low light. There was a bulletin board with jobs requiring completion and several bookshelves with choice knowledge on various subjects, from mythology to lore on various unholy creatures. Tifa would read those books occasionally, finding it dreadful that vampires weren't even the worst creatures known to the church. Their duty as vampire hunters was to return the undead back into the cycle of rebirth that they had escaped; they called themselves "vampire hunters" because they specialized on that intelligent undead creature that had devious magics and terrible cunning.

The vampire hunter looked over the jobs available and picked one involving ghouls that had been sighted in the area, something she could easily solo. The other jobs listed might take several hunters to complete and they were spread out as it was, though the members of the guild were told they would soon be able to push their influence into the city and not rely on nearby towns for recruits as much as they had been.

She wondered if the precious few others based at this cathedral were out on other jobs or on their way to find new ones; one of the new recruits who lived in the cathedral's living quarters for the priests and others was probably not quite ready for any solo missions into the darkness. Being that Tifa was the second newest member she would assist with lesser dangers while the eldest would have the rookie assist in a vampire hunt. Finished with her business she left the room and sat on a pew for the rest of the mass, enjoying the quiet ritual and leaving her feeling better than she had entering. As it finished she lingered a few moments before joining the church goers on their way out.

Leaving quietly she flowed out with the citizens who were at the mass earlier, aiming for the abandoned street the creatures were spotted at several days ago. Tifa knew the area well enough from previous jobs and where she would be more open for a fight and where to retreat to in case more showed up. They weren't particularly numerous or intelligent, but those claws made for troublesome melee and possible infections that would be difficult to treat.

The woman silently made her way towards a hiding spot within some clutter and glanced about in the shadows for anyone or anything in the area; it was so far clear except for the skittering of a rat here and there. Then, after many minutes she heard the familiar scratch of bony claws on pavement, and she tensed. The faint scent of carrion followed as several of the pale, humanoid creatures came into view slowly as they hunched on all fours in the dim light of a half moon.

The reason for their appearance came soon after, the sound of dragging and footfalls coming closer; Tifa hid further and listened with quiet breath. The voice was deep and heavy like thunder in her ears, the owner unseen from her vantage point.

"Take care of her for me." A soft thud followed, then the sick sound of gnawing and slowly retreating footsteps came afterward. Tifa waited several minutes before peeking out to observe the scene; there was no point concerning herself with the deceased that the ghouls were feeding on, and maybe the authorities would come across the remains later, giving a chance for identification.

The ghouls were focused on their meal, knobbly backs to her. She readied her dagger and the vial of holy water that clung to her belt, covered by the fabric of her jacket and slowly stalked towards the creatures. Quickly, she made a strategy for dealing with the three ghouls, which to attack first and which to disable. They weren't the hardest thing to kill if one striked first, just like any other creature. The problem was getting the jump on them in the first place.

Her foot came down too hard on a bit of stone and pointed ears swiveled; she damned her waning luck as she pushed forward into her first target to at least injure the ghoul, then smashed her vial of holy water on the second one to a chorus of angry, throaty hisses. Tifa gave a roundhouse kick to the third as it leaped at her, then used her palm on the first to push it back by its forehead. The second was stumbling about as the holy water drained it of any energy it had, the beast sinking to the ground.

The vampire hunter's fist glowed, and flames leapt onto the first ghoul before she stabbed her sacred weapon into its chest; the hiss from its gaping, gory mouth silenced as the creature's flesh became dry and ashy. "First one down...!" she whispered to herself.

The third recovered from the kick to its face and charged, Tifa ripping out her weapon from the dead ghoul and readying her defenses as the claws of her attacker came closer. She dodged the vicious swipe and gave a strong upper cut to the chin before driving the sharp weapon into its belly as it writhed upon the cobblestone alley; it blindly clawed as she pushed the spindly arm away. The hunter dug deeper after the ghoul attempted to kick her, retaliating with a swift kick into one of its legs before the dagger sliced upwards into its heart.

Tifa stood up after retrieving her weapon, quietly observing the last ghoul that struggled to stand, the holy water chaffing its near translucent skin. She wondered if any of the ones she killed used to be vampire hunters, or just victims unfortunate enough to gain the ire of darker powers. They were disgusting but pitiable, that was what she learned; they too were victims of the night that needed to be freed.

"I'm sorry this happened to you, to your friends...I hope your next life doesn't meet an end like this." The hunter ignored the gory remains of the trio's meal that laid next to the monster, and she pierced the back, between its ribs to quickly kill it. There was no need to prolong the suffering of the damned, she thought. The ghoul shuddered a bloody sigh from its mouth before collapsing, the silence deafening in the wake of the skirmish. Tifa removed the dagger as the creatures began to dissipate; the only thing that would be left might be some ash and undigested leftovers.

She quickly scanned the area, then made her way as quietly as she could out of the dead end street the battle took place on after looking for a remain she could use as evidence of the deed. Tifa settled on a hard clump of ash that sometimes occurs when ghouls disintegrate. The last thing she would need is either their master showing up or possibly the authorities discovering her near a savaged body, and that would mean questions that she didn't have the right answers to. The vast majority of people didn't believe in these things anymore, and whether it was because of their secrecy or man's technology making everyone complacent she was unsure.

As she meandered through the streets she remembered that she would have to look out for Cloud's hideout; the reward for the ghouls could wait, and the night was still very young. Deciding that she wouldn't wait until tomorrow she walked briskly as she headed back towards the edge of the other sector, hoping for a glimpse of her childhood friend. She wondered if she really could finally do it; this was someone close to her heart and not another stranger. No, she knew she had to be strong so they both could move on, she with her life and his with the cycle of rebirth.

It hurt like hell to think about it. But, he was already dead. It wasn't him in there anymore.

As she made her way into the next sector the hair on the back of her neck stood on end and she spun around, Tifa had been stalked by another ghoul! Clenching her weapon in her left hand so she could lead with her right she charged the sneaky monster, and at the last moment as it stood still did she realize her terrible mistake; it was an illusion that disappeared as she hit it with her fist, her momentum slamming her into a brick wall with a grunt. Her weapon clattered to the ground as her grip on it weakened.

Tifa groaned as she shook her head, steadying herself before hearing the sound of feet hitting the ground behind her. She gasped, then before she could turn around cold hands wrapped around her from behind, one covering her mouth to prevent her screams from alerting any in the area. The hand on her abdomen spread out and a tingle that only materia creates issued from the palm. Icy lips brushed her ear, and before she could react to the monster restraining her it whispered a single word to her: "Sleep."

She felt like she was falling into oblivion as everything went black.