-1The cars engine thrummed throatily as my foot stomped on the gas pedal, mashing it against the floorboard. The gain of speed pushed my body against the seat, buried the back of my head into the soft upholstery and I grinned baring every tooth. The people in the cars around me opened their mouths screaming silent rebukes and gestured madly but I ignored their complaints as I wove through and around the slow cars. The radio sang, unawares of the of the car charging through the traffic, I turned it up and added my voice to its song. It was a good night to be alive, but a better night to die. The comfortable weight of two .25's rested under my arms and a sawed off double barrel rode in the seat beside me like a quiet and dangerous passenger. The traffic fell away as I left the commercial district and entered a maze of empty warehouses, I turned sharp corners the tires screeching in anger as the car slid threatening to plow into the tall metal buildings. Ahead of me my destination squatted alone amongst the other buildings. Grabbing the gearshift I wrenched it, the engines thrum rose into a whine and the car bolted forward. The radio's song reached a howling climax and the nose of the car smashed against the giant metal doors or the warehouse. One headlight shattered against the door but the other showed the movement of creatures dashing away from the speeding car. Jerking my foot of the gas and slamming it on the brake I could smell the brakes burn as they squealed in agony. The car skidded to a stop and I opened my door grabbing the shotgun that rested on the passenger seat. The creatures that called the warehouse home gathered around the car hissing angrily at me, the intruder in their midst.

"Did I interrupt something?" I asked pulling the trigger of the sawed off unloading its barrel into the nearest creature. The animal screamed clutching its chest as it incinerated in coruscating fire. "Or is the party just getting started?" The other barrel caught another vampire in the head causing it to go up in a flash of fire and ash.

"King!" One near the back of the mob hissed.

"One and only, lets dance." I shouted pulling the twin guns from under my arms. Pointing the guns at anything that moved I pulled of a rabid succession of shot and the air filled with the drifting ash of the bloodsuckers. I had cut the mob down to an even thirty when both guns gave a weak click, empty, not good.

"Out of ammo?" The vampire closest to me asked snidely stepping closer to me.

"Out of ammo, but not out of hope?" I grinned pulling a short knife from my belt. Thrusting it toward the vampire I pressed a button on the side, the blade shot out and struck the vampire in the chest, jerking back I whipped the vampire and the trailing silver wire around the room. The vampire screamed and ashed, the wire cut through the other creatures like a knife sending their ash into the air. The floating ash tickled my nose and throat but I staved of the coughing jag. Now only thirteen vampires left standing, but the silver wire of the chain blade had wrapped around a support pole and was stuck, now I really was screwed.

"You're going to be fun to kill, King." One vampire growled stalking closer to me. I could just barely hear the thrum of a motor cycle in the distance, the cavalry was on its way.

"Oh, I don't know, I think I'd be pretty boring." I said shrugging and backing towards the car.

"I beg to differ." The vampire said sadistically swatting me across the room away from the car with one swipe of its arm. Slamming into a pile of boxes I wheezed and slid to the floor trying to catch my breath.

"That wasn't very nice, no cookie for you." I panted trying to stand. The vampire stalked over to me and kicked my ribs forcing the air back out of my lungs.

"That's okay, I'd rather eat you!" He shouted reaching down and hoisting me to my feet. I tried to kick him, but he backhanded me and I blacked out of a minute, when I came around his fangs were inches from my neck.

"Hey! Fuckface, drop the boy!" I heard the twang of a bowstring and an arrow and I jumped as an arrow came through the vampire's chest. The bloodsucker dropped me as he began to ash and I looked up Mom a.k.a Abigail King stood behind by the car drawing another arrow from the quiver on her back. The rest of the vampires turned to run at the sight of her but in mere seconds they all lay on the ground ashing. Walking over she hoisted me from the ground by the collar of my jacket and started dragging me towards the car.

"You are in so much trouble right now." She said shoving me towards the passenger's side.

"Is this about the car?" I asked opening the door and sliding in. She loaded her cycle into the trunk then got in the drivers side.

"Is this about the car? You stole the car, your father's guns, wrecked the car…and almost get yourself bit. I could kill you. And what you've had your license for maybe a week?"

"I only broke the headlight, and Dad said I could barrow his guns any time I wanted." I said trying to save my ass.

"Oh, did he now?" She asked twitching slightly. "Well we'll have a talk about that when we get home. Are you okay?" She asked her voice softening slightly as concern overtook anger.

"I think so, maybe some cracked ribs, I'll live."

"That remains to be seen." She said starting the car and driving us uptown towards the suburbs. She was definitely upset, she kept brushing one hand through her hair, the few gray strands intermingled with the red caught my eye, I wonder how many of those were because of me?

"I'm sorry, but I have to take up the family business sometime." I said trying to calm her.

"No, no you don't. Your father and I fought long and hard so that you and your sister wouldn't have to. If I ever thought that the vampires who survived Daystar would come out bigger and nastier I never would have released it."

"Zoe gets to kill vampires, why shouldn't I."

"Zoe isn't my daughter, not really anyway. Her mother was killed by a vampire, she has every right to hunt them down."

"It's in my blood, I'm a King, a Whistler. Blade is my godfather for Christ's sake, I have to kill vampires."

"You're only sixteen, Andy, you can't legally carry a gun."

"Legally? What does the law have to do with it, they just stood back and let the vampires take over."

"The police weren't equipped to deal with the new race of vampires, neither were we, the Night Stalkers were smaller so we adapted faster. The police gave up after the werewolf vampire hybrids. They deal with human crime, and they help with the familiars."

"Well, I want to help with the vampires."

"Why can't you be more like your sister, she wants to be a Doctor, you want to kill dead things."

"Hannah is only 10, of course she wants to be a doctor, last week she wanted to be a princess." I said as we pulled up in front of our house, Dad stood in front of the garage tapping his foot running one hand through his gray-streaked beard. He looked more worried then mad, but when Mom lit into him about he guns he would get mad real fast. Zoe stood behind him still dressed up after a night on the hunt. She wore some of Mom's old hunting gear, her mom's old coat, and sunglasses. She looked anxious, she agreed that it was time for me to hunt, but she never would have let gone against mom's wishes like I did. Mom shut off the engine and got out of the car, she stalked towards Dad, I got out and went to hind behind Zoe.

"You okay, kid, you look a little beat up." She asked glancing over her shoulder then turning to watch the fight.

"Nothing that won't heal." I said flinching as Mom shouted a word I didn't even know she knew.

"What's going on?" Zoe asked getting ready to break it up before Mom started throwing punches.

"She found out about the guns, thank goodness she didn't notice my chain blade." Zoe paled somewhat, she really didn't want to see a fight between Blade and Mom either.

"How many'd you get?"

"Twenty six, one had me pinned when Mom showed up, so I still need practice."

"You did better than I did my first hunt, I got twelve, and then one actually bit me. It's a good thing the cure still works on the new vampires. God if Mom had known that some of the vampires would live through the virus and start evolving to look and act more like Drake she would never have used Daystar."

"That's what Mom said tonight, but they had know idea, they thought the virus would be the perfect killer." Finally Mom took a swipe at Dad's head, which of course he ducked, but still Zoë ran in to separate them.

"He could have been killed, or worse changed, how would you have felt having to hunt down your own son, huh? Dipshit!" She screamed before Zoe dragged her into the house. He leaned against the car and I went to stand beside him.

"Fuck me sideways." He murmured staring at his feet.

"I'm sorry I got you in trouble, Dad." I said leaning near the damaged headlight.

"Your mother's right, Andy, it was stupid of me. You're too young to be hunting vampires."

"Zoe started hunting when she was 18, I'm only two years younger, besides I'm a boy."

"What's that got to do with anything?" Zoe asked as she walked across the yard and leaned against the car beside me. "I've been told to notify you that you are spending the night on the couch." She said apologetically to Dad. He just sighed and shook his head.

"I didn't mean anything, just that boys get stronger faster than girls."

"I can still pin you, squirt." She said grinning. It was true too, but Zoe spent most of her time working out and shooting guns. Mom could still pin me too, you have know idea what muscles you build up when you work with a bow and arrow.

"How many did you ash?" Dad asked his curiosity finally getting the better of him.

"Twenty-six, probably more if I'd had the uv arch with me." I said hinting.

"That's not my department, it's your mothers, and I'm not stepping on her toes right now, she might deck me."

"How'd Mom find out I was going hunting tonight?" I asked looking at Zoe and Dad.

"Hey don't look at me, I was out hunting too." She said raising her hands defensively.

"I don't know, she might have noticed the guns missing, but she hardly goes to the arsenal anymore unless we're on a job."

"I told her." A deep voice said from the shadows. Zoe and I jumped but Dad just peered into the shadows and chuckled.

"Now, why would you want to do that?" He asked as Blade stepped into the light of the garage.

"He's only a boy, he didn't need to be out there alone." Blade said cracking his massive neck.

"You could have told one of us, we would have went with him." Zoe said glaring at the Daywalker. He shrugged and threw something at me, I could see the flash of silver, I caught my chain blade by the handle and slipped it under my coat.

"I'll go talk to Whistler." He said turning toward the house.

"You better be ready to duck and weave." Dad called after him. Blade turned and grimaced the streetlights glinting off his fangs. "I still don't think he likes me very much." Dad said getting off the car and heading towards the garage.

"You want some coco? I want some coco." Zoe said grabbing my wrist and dragging me towards the house. When we opened the door I could hear Mom and Blade talking, well actually Mom was shouting and Blade was talking in the eternal growl that was his voice. When we got in the kitchen Zoe took off her dark glasses and slipped them in the pocket of her coat then set about making coco. Once she had the milk warming on the stove she sat down at the table, letting down her hair she shook it out and ash drifted down to the kitchen table.

"Does your hair always get like that?" I asked looking at the remnants of dead vampires on the table.

"Sometimes, not always, tonight I was in a bad mood so I used these." She said raising her sleeves to reveal two gloves with silver blades coming from the knuckles. They looked like they'd been stolen from the Shredders closet. "And these." She said smiling. Her teeth were capped with long silver fangs.

"You bite them? Aren't you worried about infection?" I asked staring at the silver shining from her mouth.

"They ash as soon as I bite, there is no blood, but I am getting tired of having ashes all over me." I nodded my red hair was covered with ash where Mom had killed the creep trying to bite me. "Does your mother know about he tattoo?" She asked grinning again. I just shook my head no, my eyes widening. I had gotten a tattoo a couple of weeks ago, it was in the same place as Mom's, it was off a dove carrying a stake. I liked it but Mom would probably freak out for a number of reasons, number one: that I had had to take off my pants to get it. I had wanted one like Dad's but they were illegal now, all vampire glyphs were considered gang signs. He was supposed to get his lassered off, but wanted to keep it as a reminder of how stupid he once was. I had only seen Dad's once, because of the 'interesting' place where it was, and it had been a while since I saw Mom's because she wore more conservative clothing now. I was able to hide mine well enough because I wore normal cloths most of the time, but I had a few pairs of jeans that showed it, like the ones I was wearing tonight, but the vest Dad gave me covered it up.

"You still putting the lotion on it?" She asked getting serious.

"Yes, Zoe." I said even Zoe thought I was just a kid.

"I'm not treating you like a kid, I was just checking, they can be painful if you forget." She said reading my mind like always.

"Really, how would you know?" I asked suspicious.

"Well I suppose you're old enough to see." Standing she turned her back to me and lifted up her long coat. On her back between her shoulder blades was a picture of a woman I did not know framed in black roses.

"Is that Sommerfield?" I asked looking at the tattoo.

"Yeah, that's Mom." Zoe said letting the coat drop back down. It seemed that everyone I knew had tattoos, I was beginning to wonder when Hannah would come home covered in them. Finally after the coco was finished and Zoë had poured us both a cup I heard the heavy thump of Blades boots coming down the stairs. He nodded to us as he passed and I sat up a little straighter, a couple of minutes later I heard the sound of Mom coming down the stairs. She stood at the door looking at us for a moment then came in and poured herself a cup of coco.

"Here's the deal…"

"Yes!" I said chugging my arms.

"Don't get too happy just yet, you're allowed to hunt, but not on school nights, and you have to have your father, Zoë, or me with you when you go hunting. You're also going to have to start training, you can't go by yourself until you can pin all three of us."

"At the same time?" I asked my jaw dropping against my chest.

"No, one at a time, but it you can't pin us you'll get pinned by a vampire."

"Thank you!" I said jumping up and hugging her around the neck. I turned and ran to tell dad.

"Oh, Andrew, I like that tattoo, but you're grounded for getting it."