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It was another chilly autumn night that found Rafael lounging out of sight on a rooftop in his leopard form. He looked over the edge down at the bustling city, amused by the humans just below him. There was a gentle breeze blowing over the rooftops that ruffled his fur lightly and he rolled over onto his back to look up at the sky. There was a cresent moon dangling on spider silk high above his head, surrounded by tiny dancing specks of glitter. The music comming from the club beneath him caused the roof to pulse with the bass; this had always been his favorite spot in the entire city.

He rolled over again, standing and shifting back into his vampire form smoothly. He quickly donned a pair of loose-fitting black jeans, his usual mesh shirt, and his favorite black boots. He pulled his wristbands out of his pockets as he climbed down the fire escape, jumping more stairs than he actually stepped on and still remaining silent to mortal ears.

Joining the crowd was easy; it was twilight, the streetlamps were gradually flickering to life along the sidewalks, and no one would notice a familiar stranger wandering the sidewalks beside them. No one would ever associate him with the random killings not even the police cared to investigate simply because all his victims were usually ones who were never missed.

"There aren't enough trees in this city," he muttered almost silently as he passed a barren tree, the leaves littering the ground in colours of rotten oranges and dried blood. Maybe he would leave the city just to see what autumn was meant to look like. But no; this was his home.

He found a corner where the wall of an apartment complex met the stairs leading up to the wooden double doors and sank into the comfort of the shadows to watch and to wait for the other strangers he could sense within the city. If they did not find him first, he would find them before it was close to dawn.

A sudden flicker of dark light stole his vision for a couple moments and he knew there was a demon in his city. The nature of the light he had seen in his mind was proof enough for him. He left his shadowed corner, letting his feet lead him where they would. He needed to walk. He needed to clear his mind; demons weren't allowed in his city unless they were peaceful, and this one seemed far from quiet.

The clicking of roaches' feet reached his ears, but it did not turn him away. He continued to follow his feet wherever they would take him. He could smell the strong scent of fresh blood, the very beginnings of decay, and a lingering mortal terror; he could smell the demon's breath, the scales.

He picked up his pace, not sure whether it because of curiosity, or a desire to confront the creature, or to see if there was any blood left in the woman's veins that he might take.

He reached the alley and saw the blood-coated brick walls and the red liquid trickling down into the drain. Something had been hungry, he could tell by the gaping hole in her stomach. The near-silent slither of the demon reached his ear, but it was fading.

He left the body without a second glance and followed the sound down five different streets before the sound was too far away to track. With a sigh, he faded back into the shadow of another building to wait.

'Wait for what?' he asked himself. 'The demon? I don't think he'll be looking for another meal tonight, and I really don't think he's going to willingly introduce himself to me. Maybe the strangers?'

He tried to focus, to take his mind off the murder and the intruder, tried to reach through his shields and find the other creatures that had come into his city. No luck. He was letting himself worry too much.

"It was just one body," he muttered, quietly enough to avoid attracting attention. "I've killed before...Although I never left such a mess behind."

Finally some of the crowd noticed him and he looked away, avoiding their gaze as he easily joined their ranks. He absently wondered where he was going, but decided it didn't matter. The city was his and he could not get lost in his own home.

The dark presence he had sensed at the crime scence and had followed afterwards seemed to now be following him. He felt the demon's hunger, a tinge of insanity, determination. He shrank farther into the shadows, wrapping them around himself, or at least seeming to.

He, too, was hungry. The twilight had faded into darkness and the streetlights shone in their full artificial radiance, mingling with the neon glow of innumerable signs and advertisements. The smell of blood rushing through the veins in countless bodies was intoxicating, but he had to keep track of the demon. A fine meal could wait a few hours longer, and several months if needed.

The slither of scales on concrete grew closer and he left the shadows to draw the thing away from the crowds. He took backroads and dark allies until he was in the burnt part of his city. There he waited, sitting on the crumbling stone steps of a gutted apartment building that was soon to be demolished. He leaned back, resting casually against the stairs above him and looked past the flickering streetlamp to the glittering stars.

He did not bother to check his pockets; he knew which knives he had with him and where they were. He knew how many bullets he had in his clip and how many spare clips he had brought. He doubted the gun would do more than slow the demon down a little, if that, but the power and force contained within the Browning comforted him. He was accustomed to human foes.

He could smell the demon above him, but he couldn't see him yet. Insects were everywhere, but he managed to keep them a safe distance from his body with little more than a mild suggestion. He felt the cold of scales a moment before the creature's tail wrapped around his body. He greeted the demon with an unflinching gaze, his face neutral, his free arm resting lightly against the scales.

He had seen worse. The dirty, stringy hair didn't bother him; nor did the missing teeth or the hooked nose. The only thing that came close to bothering him was the yellow eyes and, maybe, the long claws that served as nails.

"Good evening," he said calmly, carefully reaching into the demon's mind and pulling up the most recent memory of death. "You're pretty messy, you know. All that bloo everywhere; leaving the body in the middle of the street. You have to be more careful or someone might catch you."

//Catch you and stick you in a lab where you'll be poked and prodded and finally dissected...//

Rafael himself shuddered at the thought of any creature being stuck in a lab against their own will.

Rafael turned his head and watched the ground get farther and farther away, listening quietly to the demon's ranting as they ascended the burnt framework.

"And what if I don't know where the others are?" he asked.

He had been trying to find the exact location of the strangers all evening, and he really didn't think he would be able to find them now.

He began to worry when he heard the singed woodwork begin to creak.

"This building can't support both of us, you know," he said in warning, having no desire to fall back the distance he had just been taken.

There was more creaking, louder; he could feel the wood beginning to bend under their weight and hoped the demon would either go back or grow wings. It wasn't the falling that bothered him; it was the idea of landing and possibly being squished by the demon that worried him.

Rafael quickly shifted into his leopard form, the change healing his wound and ridding the acid from his veins. He landed smoothly on his feet a small distance away from the scaley demon, his retractable claws fully extended and his mouth set in an unhappy snarl.

//I told you!// he spoke into the demon's mind. //I told you it was going to fall. Demon, you don't listen! No wonder you were sent away from Hades.//

He wanted his knives, but in this form, he could not use them. It was what he hated most about his second form; his clothes had never shifted with him because they were not a part of him. This is also why he never changed form around anyone he didn't know very well unless it was neccessary.

//If I give you a button, will you go away?// he asked, eyeing the small pile of clothing briefly before turning his attention back to the demon.

Rafael let the demon leave, deciding it would be better to save this particular battle for another time. With a quick glance around him, he shifted back into his natural form and quickly dressed. He needed a meal and a shower. He could still smell the demon's scent on him despite the change and it made him edgy.

Less than an hour later, he was sitting comfortably on a bar stool in one of the nicer clubs watching the mortals dance and talk and drink. He occasionally sipped at the drink in front of him, savoring the taste of altars and inscence that the green liquid contained. He tasted blood, as well, and suspected it belonged to the waitress that had been trying to befriend him for the past week.

He looked around, thinking that he was looking for her, and instead found one of the strangers. Their eyes met and he gave the newcomer a welcoming smile, knowing that if the stranger wished to meet him, he wasn't very hard to find.

Jadelyn sighed as she watched the clubbers and bar-hoppers pass in front of her shop. Well, it wasn't quite her shop yet..but it would be. She smiled as she leaned back against the door, one hand brushing against the wood of the frame as the other hand brought a cigarette to her lips. She took a slow drag, exhaling the smoke towards the sky.

It had been not even a week since she entered the city and she had already found the perfect spot for her studio, The Bleeding Rose. Her eyes took in all the neon signs around her and the boys and girls stumbling along the street. Her lips curved into a grin as she finished the cig, flicking the end into the busy street. Perhaps this wasn't such a bad place for an all-night tattoo studio. Sighing, she let her head fall back against the rough wood of the door and closed her eyes. She stretched her legs out, camo pants sitting low on her hips showing the flash of stomach between her pants and black corset. She wiggled her toes, heels resting against the cool stone of the sidewalk. It was a perfect night and Jadelyn was content with just sitting outside breathing in the pulse of the city as the world passed her by.