Esther waited patiently for the deal to be conducted. She didn't understand the language Dietrich spoke and continued to suffer from a dull, but pulsing headache. She and Dietrich were trying to conduct some sort of deal with this "Joecker" character who really looked more like a bad clown than anything else. His hair was very greasy and he smelled. She tried to scan for movement in the darkness as her beautiful companion worked out the deal. It wasn't as if there was not enough security for the meeting. The clown had brought his own men with automatic weapons and her group had come with super-human automations for defense.

"at-de Carnuvul-drouns?" Her angelic-looking male companion questioned the clown. "Yez" the greasy clown answered with a sly grin. She caught movement out of the corner of her eye near the top of the warehouse from a dark recess between two crates. A clink sounded nearby causing the two parties to look at each other suspiciously for an instant.

BOOM!

The warehouse instantly filled with smoke and chaos erupted from both parties. Shots rang out from the "Joecker's" men as the beautiful young man grabbed Esther by the arm to lead her to an exit as he yelled at two of the autojagers to guard their retreat.

Esther coughed on the smoke and a voice rang out from the darkness "I'm coming for you Esther!" Confused and frightened, she looked back and saw nothing but smoke as she ran with the angelic man out the door. More shots fired and two of the autojagers charged into the smoke towards the voice with an inhuman yell. Adrenaline surged through her veins as she tried to keep up with the young man now holding her hand leading her forward. She heard a faint cry and the guns stopped firing. A few seconds later she heard the clang of a blade . The young man with tea-colored eyes tugged her forwards as she struggled to keep up and directed her towards a ladder. She glanced back and saw the second autojager trailing behind and further behind a pair of blood-red eyes.

She climbed as quickly as she could, two to three rungs at a time, and yanked her shotgun from her side when she was at the top. "Hurry, Dietrich!" She screamed and aimed her gun down the ladder hole. Another scream erupted from the dark pit as the second autojager engaged in combat. No sooner had Dietrich cleared the top of the ladder had the blood-red eyes appeared at the base of the ladder. The moon illuminated the creature's face which was sprayed with blood from its eyes down to its fully fanged mouth. Though it wore a diadem of silver hair, it was clothed in black and held a scythe.

"Esther!" It screamed. She didn't know if she could even defend herself against such a monster so she aimed her shotgun down the man-hole as it started to ascend and fired yelling. It screamed falling a few feet to the bottom. She doubted it would be that effective if it had taken down two of the automations, but she did whatever she could to delay its progress toward her.

Why is it after me? She hurriedly shoved the thought back.

Dietrich tugged her forward once more pulling her into a nearby alley. "Thanks! I think you saved both of our asses back there. That was fast thinking." He panted out as they ran forward then turned down another alley. They ran and ran trying to weave their way through the grey maze of derelict streets and alleys. They finally slowed to a stop so that Dietrich and Esther could catch their breaths. The autojagers never tired.

They were in a tight spot. They couldn't go to anybody for help – well besides who they had had the meeting with. She couldn't remember much, but from what Dietrich had told her, there had been some sort of altercation when they had first arrived in this city and the authorities were hunting for them. So they couldn't go to any populated area, especially with the automated bodyguards since they had been somehow involved. "Are you ready?" Dietrich asked softly.

"Yeah." She responded breathing more deeply.

They walked at a fast pace weaving and winding through the back alleys. She could tell that they were not going straight to their hideout – presumably to take care that that they were not followed. She didn't hear anything behind them, so they were probably fine. A monster like that would probably be noticed, more readily than their automated bodyguards, even in the back alleys.

Why did it want me? How did it know my name? Is it something that has always been after me? The thoughts flitted through her head, but she brushed them aside again.

As they made their way back, Esther's head began a slow throb and an uneasy feeling set in. Dietrich kept glancing back and noticed Esther with concern "Are you okay, Esther?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just get this feeling that we are still being followed."

"Let's hole up in a spot where we can watch and wait them out." Dietrich suggested. "Come on." He helped her up onto a creaky fire escape and onto the roof of a building a few stories high. The air was fresher there, and Esther gladly sat down. The last automated bodyguard cleared the roof –

POP!

A dark form swung in and kicked the two automations off the roof into a several story fall. The monster! Esther reached down for her gun as Dietrich gestured with his hands. It was not the same monster as before – it was clothed in black, but had no silver crown, and it moved extremely fast. It's head had long pointed ears which stood straight up and darkness trailed its form – like a bat. She reached for her weapon, but the dark form caught her in the side with its foot before she could raise her weapon. It was hard blow that sent the weapon flying away and her skidding across the dirty roof. She grunted as she stopped, disoriented and in pain. It growled to Dietrich in a guttural language as strings glinted in the moonlight surrounded the attacker.

The strings were Dietrich's power. He used them to attack bind or attack opponents. The bat-creature – no, it was a man – attempted to rotate his bladed gloves around to disrupt the strings. Dietrich brought his hand up into a fist and snapped the strings down sending the Bat-man tumbling to the ground.

Suddenly there was a ringing in her ears and Dietrich stumbled back, shocked. He frantically gestured, but his strings hung limp and unresponsive. The Bat-man slowly rose to its feet and growled something as Dietrich backed away with fear in his eyes.

Ignoring her hammering heart, Esther charged the beast distracting him as Dietrich took out his pistol. She watched for its counter and adjusted her leap. However, she abruptly realized that he was more trained than she because she found herself being vaulted in the air. The landing knocked the air from her lungs as she heard the shot of Dietrich's pistol ring out into the night. She dimly saw the Bat-man tackle Dietrich to the ground and heard the clatter of the gun as it struck the roof-top. It was all going to be over.

Suddenly the Bat-man went flying, hitting the side of the roof entrance to the building. Dietrich's two remaining autojagers moved faster than the eye could follow bearing down on the Bat-man. A flash blinded her and when she could finally see, the Bat-man was gone. Esther and Dietrich slowly got up wincing and quickly made their way off the roof. They ran several miles in the darkness before they stopped to make sure that they were not being followed.

Her head, side, and back ached. But it seemed that those were the least of her problems. There were at least two monsters that hunted her in the night. She didn't know how she could fight them off, but she would at least try.