• Rayne Lexus strode through her small hotel room determinedly. She combed through her thick black hair, pulling it up and letting it back down again. She gazed down at her clothes. The corset dress was a deep purple blue, the train shimmering in the light. Laena sighed as she pulled it on and gazed at her reflection in the mirror. As a Hunter, she had two uniforms. One was the casual black attire with the shadowed hood. The other was for momentous occasions. She groaned. Did it have to be quite so slutty? The dress ended at her waist. Ugh. She yanked on shorts and laughed shakily.
    As she swept through the room, she grabbed her sheathed blade and clicked off the lights. There was nothing more momentous than going out to kill your evil vampire brother and werewolf sweetheart...
    She walked through the lobby, eyes down on the marble floor. Every man gawked at her and every woman glared. How comical her transformation must be to them. She walked in the scary, dark woman covered in tatoos and left looking like a prostitute, right on down to the stiletto heels. Rayne shook her head and exited into the chilly black night. She had a job to do. Two, actually.
    As soon as she stepped into the shadows, she pulled on her glamour, cloaking herself in the darkness, wrapping it around herself like a favorite blanket, warm and familiar. She slung her sword onto her back and sprinted through the roads, dodging lights and the homeless who shuffled along the roads. Their cold, unseeing eyes penetrated her shield, gazing at her with an intensity that chilled her to the core. Rayne felt like she already had their blood on her hands. She had no doubt about her destination. They were both at the abandoned cemetery on the hill.
    Rayne lifted her head and looked at said hill, shrouded in iron hued clouds. It would take an hour to cover that distance, at the least! She closed her eyes and searched the plains of her mind, reaching back to the stables in London, where her black stallion was boarded. Rayne beckoned him to her, and when she opened her eyes, there he stood, magnificent and graceful. The breeze blew his thick tail out behind him and splayed his forelock across his face, tangling with the long eyelashes.
    "Hello, Damien,darling. I've missed you so..." She stroked his cheek, cupping his velvet muzzle in her hands, reveling in the way his presence soothed her. Like she had been missing a part of herself, and now it was returned.
    Rayne swung herself onto his broad back, settling into the dip right above his shoulders. The swirling tatoos of the Hunters burned along her arms and legs, sending shocks traveling through her blood as she kicked Damien into a run. She leaned forward as he pounded up the trail towards the cemetery.
    A shiver ran up her spine as the wrought iron fence and gravestones came into view, just black silhouettes against the toxic purple sky, the weak moonlight casting a watery glow. It wasn't that she was afraid of death- she was an assassin, for god's sake- it was the thought that both her brother Jeremiah and her ex-lover Arcenix were right behind that fence, watching.
    Rayne slid off Damien's back and shook out her tangled hair. "Stay safe," She murmured. And with that she was gone, walking down the grassy aisles of the dead. It was completely silent, not even the fierce winds made a sound, but the atmosphere was heavy with the weight of eyes on her bare back.
    Goosebumps ran up and down Rayne's arms and legs and her cheeks stung with cold. Where could they-
    "Hello, my sweet Rayne. It has truly been hell without you, my love."
    Rayne spun around like lightning, her eyes pricking. It's not real. That's a new Arcenix- an evil Arcenix. She thought of all the times they had spent together. Of all the smiles and laughter. Of trailing her fingers down his smooth white skin and burying her face in his silky brown hair. A traitor tear streamed down her cheek.
    He stepped forward, stroking her face softly. "Why, dearest Rayne, are you crying? Because I plan on killing you?"
    Rayne's head snapped up and she yanked his hand away from her cheek. She stared into the familiar midnight eyes that had always been full of love and sincerity. Now they were full of hostility and mock sadness. "I'm crying because I have to kill you, Arcenix."
    Arcenix barked in laughter. "Hah! You cannot kill me! I am a Were, and you are just a mere Hunter. I will pleasure in killing you. I will tear off your pretty little head and slit your wrists, then I'll drain you of blood and giving it to your brother for Christmas!" Those last words were a snarl, but his eyes were... were so full of sadness.
    Rayne cried out hopelessly. And instantly regretted it. She knew he would kill her, and she knew he would enjoy it- alot. She would not show this man weakness. Her heart ached.
    Suddenly, Arcenix gripped her wrist and spoke quickly, his voice anguished and completely his own. Something about his face told her that this was the love of her life. His black eyes were frantic and moist with tears. "This isn't me, Rayne. Brother wolf is taking over. I can't... I can't stop him. I can't make my own decisions anymore. Sometimes I wake up not knowing where I am, what I did that night, If I killed someone." His handsome face twisted painfully. "He's angry. Please, baby, kill me. Kill me before there isn't just a brother wolf, before I become brother wolf."
    She shook her head sobbing. "But I... I..."
    Arcenix took her into his arms and gently caressed her face, her cheeks, her lips. "Never cry. I always loved you, Rayne." And then he was kissing her, filling her with passion and longing she had never felt before. Her insides burst into fire as her heart shattered like ice. She kissed him back fiercely, cherishing the thought that the only man she had ever cared for, in fact, had not betrayed her. She pulled a dagger out of her belt.
    "I will always love you, Arcenix." Rayne murmured against his lips as she shoved the knife deep into his gut, his warm blood soaking her hands. She fought bile as his precious warmth soaked into her clothes. He sagged against her, his eyes fluttering closed as she lowered him to the ground. His breathing was dying down quickly, and sweat covered his forehead, but his face was a study in peace.
    "Forever." Then he went silent.
    Rayne wrenched the knife out, clenching it in her grip. She laid a beaded rosary across his chest and kissed him gently, noticing a drop of moisture that fell on to his cheek. She rose up and strode across the cemetery towards Damien, tears streaming down her face. The coolness of Arcenix's skin haunted her in the worst way. Rayne pulled her katana off her back and unsheathed it swiftly. Now It was Jeremiah's turn.