AN: Hi there! Hezza here. I'm still getting the hang of this chapter thing, so hopefully I get this right. Bear with me if I haven't. AND, I'm still working out the specifics of the rating system, so I might have overrated it. I'll fix it later if I can.

Is there a standard disclaimer for these stories? You'd think we'd already be covered, considering the nature of the site, but if I must….

D: Blade and all characters from the movies do not belong to me. I "borrowed" them, and I promise to return them in mint condition or face penalty charges.

Foreword: Deacon Frost, as La Magra the Blood God, had long since been vanquished by Blade. The deity had been silenced, but what of the vampire that housed it? The very vampire who had made Blade what he was, the Daywalker. A half-vampire with all of their strengths, and only one of their weaknesses – the thirst.

The ritual to invoke the Blood God had required Blade's blood and the souls of pureblood vampires. Blade had survived the process, thanks to a rescue and a blood donation from Karen Jonson, a haematologist who had also been kidnapped by Deacon Frost. Blade had lost his mother to Deacon Frost, and had been forced to destroy them both.

Since that time Blade had encountered genetic crossover experiments with animals and the vampire gene – guard dogs mostly. He'd also seen and exterminated an experimental vampire strain, "Reapers", that fed on both humans and vampires, regenerated quickly, and had a protected heart that was difficult to penetrate with silver.

He'd made contact with the Night stalkers, humans who were vampire hunters, and with them, had defeated the original vampire, Dracula, or Drake. They had released a virus –Day-Star – into the city, a virus that targeted vampire blood and destroyed them from the inside out.

After defeating Drake, Blade had disappeared to resume his battles with the denizens of the night.

The only surviving members of that particular group of Nightstalkers were Abigail Whistler (the daughter of Blade's late mentor), and Hannibal King, an ex-vampire who'd been cured to turn vampire hunter. With them was the young daughter of the late Dr Summerfield, Zoe, who was still years away from being ready to join the fight.

However, other units of Nightstalkers existed. A few extra fighters had already been dispatched to complete their unit, and Abby and King awaited their arrival. A man named Caulder, one of the Nightstalkers' designated drivers and the person who had manufactured Dr Summerfield's Day-star formula, had already joined up with Abby and King.

888

A lone figure walked down the empty trash-ridden streets, nervously clutching her expensive bag to her stomach. She was a young blonde girl, her white, bead-encrusted party dress implying that she shouldn't be in these dark, dirty, streets. She should have been on the arm of a handsome young man in a tux, drinking wine or champagne. Her heels clacked along the pavement, her footsteps matching her panicked breathing. She turned into an alleyway, where darkness loomed and scattered trash lay discarded in the dirt.

She knew she was being watched, she could feel it.

Suddenly two figures emerged from the shadows next to her and pushed her to the opposite wall. She was shoved into the lamplight that stretched dimly toward them from the street, so they could see her properly. She had a pretty young face, and they blanketed it with the reek of their combined stinking breaths. One of them had his hands at her throat, fumbling at her gold jewellery.

Something in the girl's eyes changed, her mouth quirked upwards in a hungry smile. She grabbed the groin of the one on the left, and lifted him from the ground and launched him into the air with one fluid motion. At the same time she grabbed the throat of the other and bashed his head into the wall. Her milky white fangs extended and she tore into his throat, with her right hand gripping his head and her left arm wrapped around him to keep his hands at his sides. He shrieked in pain and terror.

Another vampire, the missing man in the tux, entered the alleyway behind her to share her meal. His expression was one of mild satisfaction, until he abruptly and silently burst into flames from the inside–out. As the dust cleared a figure could be seen behind his scattering remains, walking forward, toward the she-vamp and her prey.

The blonde's hair was pulled sharply backward, ripping her mouth from her victim. In surprise she let him go and tried to face her attacker. She was punched in the face and kicked in the abdomen, forcing her back into the wall. She blindly swiped out at the assailant.

Her vision cleared and she saw another young woman, with medium length dark hair tied back, with black pants and a black long-sleeved shirt under an unbuttoned, thigh-length dark coat. She had a long knife belted to her right side. It escaped the vampire's notice that the knife was made of silver, as were the stakes belted to the huntress' left thigh.

The vampire swung at her again, but found her arm grabbed by the huntress and yanked straight, with her wrist twisted in the woman's grip so the vampire couldn't escape. The woman pulled the vampire around and slammed her into the wall, then whipped out a stake and struck her in the back with it. The vampire disintegrated with a high-pitched groan of anguish.

The woman turned to the man clutching himself and staring in terrified awe at her and where the vampire had stood. She then looked down at the barely conscious, bleeding man, still clutching jewellery at her feet and she stared at him with a look bereft of pity. She would waste no cure on this scum of the streets.

She gestured with her hand and concentrated, and the bitten man burst into flames much like the male vampire had, leaving no evidence of her kills. She walked away without a second glance at the surviving thief, who backed into the wall and cowered from her.

888

"Abby." A male voice said from the shadows to the sentry on guard. Abigail turned and acknowledged the newcomer. She'd seen the jeep pull up and had been expecting the new fighter.

"Kevin." She said. "I thought Caitlyn was coming with you." She stood at the railing just outside of the building, under a UV spotlight. It wasn't working right then, but there was a normal light beside it, illuminating her post.

Kevin stepped into the light and grinned. "She was itching for a kill, and when she sensed some suckers, she was on her way. Don't worry, she assured me it wouldn't take her long, and she knows the way here."

He wore dark pants and boots. He was Caucasian with dark brown, slightly curly hair and a clean-shaven face. His eyes were dark brown, and he had the kind of sweet smile and charming attitude that appealed to women, and he knew it. Kevin was the kind of guy that flirted to make a girl fond of him and to make her feel good about herself.

Under his dark brown jacket was holstered two guns, filled with silver bullets, and a silver-plated knife was hidden beneath his jeans, strapped to his right shin. There were more weapons in the jeep, both his and Caitlyn's.

"There shouldn't be that many vampires left in this city, not since we set off the virus." Abigail said, looking out across the bridge toward the city.

"She said that as we came in, that the sucker population had definitely gone down. Which leads me to the question, why are you guys still here if there aren't as many of them to exterminate?" Kevin stood at the railing next to Abby.

"We've got no one to look after Zoe while we go hunting. With less chance of an encounter here, it's safe enough to send one of us out while the other stays back at base. Now that you guys are here, we can relocate to somewhere a little more populated. We'll be leaving tomorrow."

"Cool. I don't want to stay around here if I'm just going to get bored." Kevin smiled. "Does that mean that King is out hunting?"

"Not really hunting, just patrolling." Abigail shrugged as she spoke, as though she didn't think it was necessary. "The only vampires in the city should be those that have come here within the last two weeks, so he's not really expecting to fight tonight. We're all prepared for it anyway, just in case."

Kevin nodded. "So where's Zoe? I haven't seen her in years." He grinned.

"Inside, sleeping. She's still …" Abby looked a little sad for a moment, "She's still a little depressed about her mom."

Kevin nodded. "She would be. Give the kid time. You know, it's weird to have a Nightstalker who's not lost somebody or been affected by the vamps in some sad way. It's what motivates us, it's usually what gets us into the business in the first place."

"So what got you in? I never heard the story."

"Well, I …" Kevin started, and sighed, grinning.

"You flirted with the wrong girl, didn't you?" Abby teased him.

"You could say that it was something like that."

888

The sun was minutes away from rising, the atmosphere was already becoming lighter. King was heading back towards the base on his motorcycle. Caitlyn stepped out into the street and waved him to her.

"Aren't you supposed to be wearing a helmet?" she asked slyly, when he pulled up.

"Well it's nice to see you too, Caitlyn." Hannibal said, with good humour.

Caitlyn laughed. "I was only thinking, it would seem kind of ironic after fighting all of these so-called deadly vampires to end up killing yourself with a simple bike accident. Anyway, how've you been?"

"Pretty good, but it's not like there's been a lot of action around here lately, so I've been getting bored." Hannibal shrugged.

"Bored?" Caitlyn said playfully. "I just killed a couple of suckers about an hour ago. I'm sorry you missed them. I'll save the next ones for you then, so you don't lose your touch."

"Me, lose my touch? I don't think so," Hannibal said, acting as though she'd offended him. Then he got serious again. "You sense anything else around here?" he asked.

"Hmm," Caitlyn glanced around. "It's nearly daytime, but I don't think there are any more around anyway. That virus did some great work."

"Yeah," Hannibal said. "It's too bad it only worked with Drake's blood. We could rid the entire world of them."

"But then what would we do for a living?" Caitlyn asked with a smile. "Can I get a ride?"

"Why sure, pretty lady, hop on board" he said, adopting a cowboy accent, "But I'm afraid I don't have a helmet for you, what with the danger of bike accidents and all."

"Whatever." Caitlyn laughed, sitting behind him.