Lily leaned against the wall, waiting for customers.

She adjusted her leather jacket, trying to show as much of her chest as she could while still remaining warm, and then ran a hand through her auburn hair. She looked up and down the street, looking for any potential johns. People walked by, but mostly in groups, and never alone. She sighed.

Lily wasn't her real name, of course. She reserved that only for friends, not for work. She didn't care for her customers to know who she was outside of work, as that was dangerous for her. Things were especially dangerous now, with this ``Dracula Killer''out on the streets. So far three other working girls had been found with their throats torn out, and it had done as much to frighten away the johns as it did to frighten away her ``competition''. As a result, even though she seemed to be the only girl out, business wasn't doing too well.

What kind of stupid name is ``Dracula Killer'' anyway? she thought to herself. Damn media always having to name things... Still, she couldn't pretend the murders didn't unnerve her too. She could just as easily become a victim herself. However, the bills needed to be paid...

She saw a movement out of the corner of her eye, and looked down the street. Approaching her was a man walking alone. She smiled to herself; this man practically defined ``tall, dark, and handsome''. He was about six foot, thin, with shoulder length black hair, green eyes, and a noble nose. He dressed well, too, with black slacks and a long leather trenchcoat over a white shirt.

As he got close, she turned to him, gave him her best smile, and said, ``Hey honey. Looking for a date?''

The man had been looking around while walking, but now he stopped, turned to her, and gave her a dazzling smile in return. ``Normally I would say not, but how could I resist one as beautiful as you?''

Despite herself, Lily melted. There was something about him... something safe. She walked up to him, still smiling, and purred, ``Well, then, why don't we go back to my place?''

He nodded, and offered her his arm. Taking it, she couldn't help but giggle as they walked. She might be a whore and he her john, but it just seemed so romantic...

*

``You about ready to roll?'' Stryker asked his partner. Beside him, Hunt nodded, fastening her seat belt. Satisfied, Stryker shifted the cruiser into drive and pulled out of the police lot.

As the car drove down the street, Stryker tapped the steering wheel, looking around for potential problems. Routine patrol bored him. He was part of the force's SWAT detail but unless there was a hostage situation or a drug bust, he wasn't needed for it. Most of the time, then, he spent it on routine patrol.

He noted Hunt was looking at him, giving furtive glances between stretches of watching the road. He expected it; he knew he had something of a reputation amongst others in the force. It had nothing to do with his job performance. It was more the people he knew, and what little his fellow officers knew about them.

A couple of years earlier, a large interdimensional portal had appeared in the skies over the city. He had been working riot control that day, as he and his fellow officers tried to maintain some semblance of order while panic reigned. He had also heard similar portals had appeared above other major cities all over the world.

If that hadn't been strange enough, within a half-hour everyone else had vanished. As he had watched, people all around him had glowed green and faded into balls of energy that floated into the portal. He was ignorant of what had happened, wondering what was going on, until a god named Raiden appeared to him, telling him to go west. He would later learn he was chosen to fight for Earth against the invaders, who came from another realm called Outworld. He fought alongside the other chosen warriors, and eventually they won. Outworld's emperor, Shao Kahn, had been defeated in combat, and he and his forces fled back to Outworld, restoring Earth and its inhabitants to their normal state.

To this day, he never understood why he was spared. He tried not to dwell too much about it, and tried to tolerate his coworkers' curiosity. Hunt had been with the force, but this was only her second day working alongside him. He wondered idly what she was going to ask. They always had at least one question.

``Uh, Kurtis?'' she finally asked. ``Do you mind if I ask you a question?''

Here we go, Stryker thought. Aloud, he answered, ``Sure. Shoot.''

She took a deep breath, and said, ``Well... I heard you took a leave of absence for a few weeks last year.''

Stryker raised an eyebrow. This was a new one. ``What about it?''

Hunt hesitated, and then gingerly said, ``I heard you were off doing some training.''

Stryker laughed. ``Pretty much,'' he replied. ``I was training with the Seidan Guard.''

Hunt gave Stryker a blank look. ``Seidan Guard?'' she asked in confusion. ``Are they... are they some top secret government group?''

``Nope,'' Stryker said, turning the car down a street. ``They're... well, they're difficult to describe. I was hoping to get some pointers on how to be a better police officer.''

``And...?'' Hunt asked.

Stryker grunted. ``Let's just say they were far too hardcore for my liking. Got the hell out and didn't look back.''

Hunt blinked, and Stryker grinned. At that moment, the cruiser's computer beeped. Stryker looked at it, and grimaced. ``Looks like we got someone calling in a possible solicitation.''

``Solicitation?'' Hunt said. ``Isn't this something for vice?''

``Maybe they're hoping we'll catch the Dracula Killer. Damn stupid name,'' Stryker grumbled, as he switched the car's lights and sirens on. ``Who knows. Maybe we'll get lucky.''

*

She didn't know why, but she really liked this john.

Lily walked with him down the street, heading to the motel where she normally entertained her customers. Unlike others of late, this one didn't seem at all nervous, walking with a calm sense of purpose.

``So, what's your name, honey?'' Lily purred.

The man looked at her, and smiled. ``Vitarn,'' he replied.

``Oh, are you European?'' Lily asked. She looked at his face again, closely... and thought to herself that yes, he could very well be.

``Something like that,'' Vitarn said, with a soft hint of irony in his voice.

At that moment, Vitarn turned, and started leading Lily down a dark alley. Lily stopped, and looked at him with a somewhat stern look.

``Where are you going? My place is right over here.''

Vitarn gave a soft smile, and turned to Lily, gazing at her intently. ``I think it will be much more private here, don't you think?'' he asked softly.

Lily looked back, into his soft green eyes. His soft... trustworthy... gorgeous eyes...

``Of course,'' she breathed, sliding herself alongside him.

She accompanied him down the alley, resting her head against his shoulder. After about twenty feet, he stopped, and turned to her. She smiled up at him, lost in his green eyes.

Vitarn leaned down, and kissed Lily. She gave in to the kiss almost immediately with a soft sigh. After what seemed like an eternity, he stood up, and smiled at her. Lily smiled back, unable to tear her gaze away from his.

He nodded, leaned down, and placed his lips on her throat. She sighed, enjoying the feel of his lips, and his tounge... expecting the pleasure... feeling... PAIN...

Lily screamed.

*

The police cruiser came to a stop by the curb, a few feet from an empty bus stop. Killing the lights and sirens, Stryker stepped out of the vehicle, followed by Hunt. Looking around, he sighed. Other than a couple of homeless people sitting by barricaded storefronts, the street seemed deserted.

Hunt looked over at him. ``Think it was a prank call?''

Stryker shrugged. ``Even if it was, we need to check it out.''

With that, Stryker closed the cruiser's door and walked over to the sidewalk, stepping alongside Hunt as they walked. He looked at her briefly and chuckled slightly to himself. They made quite a pair, with his tall, large frame contrasting with her short, wiry one. On the other hand, he knew from previous incidents that Hunt's thin form belied the fact she was mostly muscle and quite adept at using it, as suspects wanting to fight her quickly found out.

They continued to walk, looking around for anything suspicious, but still seeing nothing other than closed business fronts. Ahead, they saw a sign for the Taran Motel, which was familiar to Stryker from drug and prostitution stings.

Almost as if anticipating his thoughts, Hunt spoke up. ``Think we should try the motel?''

Stryker nodded. ``Yeah, probably our best bet...''

His train of thought was interrupted by a woman's scream coming from the next alley. Stryker and Hunt looked at each other quickly, and raced down to the alley entrance. Drawing their sidearms, they turned the corner, stopped, and Stryker shouted, ``Police!''

He had meant to command whoever it was to put his or her hands up, but was surprised into silence. Next to him, Hunt was similarly frozen. They saw the figure of a tall man holding a young woman in his arms, as if kissing her neck. The man lifted his head, and in the moonlight Stryker saw his lips were covered in blood. He stood up, tossing the woman aside; Stryker noticed her throat was torn open and her eyes were staring vacantly. The suspect growled, and Stryker could see two elongated canines.

``... what the fuck?'' Hunt breathed.

The suspect stepped back, and they could see his trenchcoat changing... as if a fog had lifted, they saw the trenchcoat become a pair of large bat wings. The suspect grunted, turned, and ran down the alley.

Stryker blinked, and took off running after... whatever it was. His thoughts were racing; he had met gods and demons before, but whatever this was was new to him. Apparently the ``Dracula Killer'' is an actual vampire, he thought to himself. Who knew?

He could hear Hunt running behind him, catching up, breathlessly calling in backup on her radio. They reached the alley's other end, opening up to another street. Stryker quickly looked around, and saw movement in the opposite alley.

``There!'' he shouted, and began running again. Hunt continued to run behind him as they skidded into the alley.

They looked around. It was a dead end, but there was no sign of the vampire. Hunt looked around, almost panicked. ``What the hell is that thing?'' she said nervously.

``A vampire, I guess,'' Stryker replied, looking around. He had a bad feeling about this.

``A... you're kidding, right?'' Hunt kept swinging around, looking in corners and shadows.

``Nope,'' Stryker replied. ``Makes sense, though.''

``It... makes... what?'' Hunt gave him a quick look, before looking around again.

Stryker grunted. ``It's still a suspect, and it obviously thinks we can hurt it or else it wouldn't have run.''

Hunt nodded, calming down. She turned, and at that moment a dark shape landed right in front of her. She tried to step back and bring her firearm to bear, but the vampire swung his arm, knocking her aside and into a wall.

Stryker spun around. He quickly flipped his pistol around in his hand, grabbing the barrel, and smashed the handle into the side of the vampire's skull. He staggered in surprise, but quickly recovered, bringing a booted leg up and kicking Stryker in the chest. Stryker staggered back a couple of feet, wind knocked out of him, but raised his arms in a block. He did so in the nick of time, as the vampire followed up with three punches, none connecting due to the arms.

Stryker stepped back and then lunged forward throwing two punches. The first punch hit the vampire's chest, but the vampire caught Stryker's wrist on the second one. The vampire twisted, and Stryker found himself spinning in the air and landing on his stomach with a thud.

The vampire stepped forward, and brought his boot up, ready to crush Stryker's neck beneath it. Before he could do so, he staggered. Hunt had recovered and had tackled the vampire from behind in a last ditch effort. The vampire pivoted on his heel, spinning around, and Hunt lost her grip, crashing to the ground. As she tried to stand up, the vampire grabbed her arm, and squeezed, breaking the bones underneath. Hunt shrieked in agony.

Stryker shook his head, looked up, saw what was happening, and raised his weapon. ``FREEZE!'' he shouted. The vampire looked back, grimaced, and pulled Hunt to him, holding her against him as a shield.

``I would not use your weapon,'' the vampire sneered. ``You may hit your compatriot.''

And I probably would, Stryker thought to himself. He wasn't about to lower his weapon, though. ``Let her go,'' he said. ``No one else needs to be hurt.''

``I do not think you're in any position to be giving demands,'' the vampire chuckled. ``I have your friend here. If you move against me, she will die.''

``And soon you'll be outnumbered,'' Stryker pointed out. ``She already called for backup. More officers will soon be here, and there's nowhere for you to go.''

The vampire smiled. ``I will be long gone before that happens. You will be all alone, and I will be back in my home realm.''

Home realm? Stryker thought. He had a bad feeling about this.

``What the hell is going on...?'' Hunt whispered, clearly baffled.

``It's all right, Caitlin,'' Stryker said softly to Hunt. To the vampire, he said, ``I don't know where you plan on going, but there's no way out of here. Let her go, or you are going to regret it.''

The vampire snorted. ``You are no threat to me, mortal.'' He reached up, and pulled a necklace out from under his shirt. He touched the pearl-like gem on the necklace, and it began to glow. ``I will take your partner with me as my next meal.''

Behind them, a blue vortex of energy began to appear. Shit, he's creating a portal, Stryker thought to himself. He had seen portals before during the Outworld invasion, of course, but hadn't expected to see one now. As he watched, the vampire pulled Hunt with him back to the portal, grinning. Hunt couldn't see the portal itself, but saw the glow of it reflected on the alley walls.

``I SAID FREEZE!'' Stryker shouted, getting to his feet quickly, keeping his weapon aimed at them. Hunt, seeing the look on his face, nodded. She then raised her foot, and brought it down on the vampire's boot. The vampire yelped in surprise, and loosened his hold on her. She then kicked back, forcing him to let go. She staggered away, leaving Stryker free and clear.

The vampire hissed, and stepped into the portal. At that moment, Stryker fired two shots, aiming for center mass. The first bullet hit the vampire's shoulder. The second struck the glowing gemstone. It shattered in a flash of light. There was a quick scream from the vampire as the portal quickly vanished, and he fell to the ground with a wet thud.

Stryker blinked his eyes, letting them adjust to the dark alleyway now that the light of the portal was gone, and approached the vampire. What he saw appalled him. The vampire had been halfway through the portal when he shattered the gem, and the portal's closing had sliced him in half lengthwise.

Sickened, Stryker stepped away from the gory ruin and walked over to Hunt. He found her sitting against the far wall, eyes glazed over in shock. Kneeling beside her, he pulled out his radio.

``Did... did you get him?'' Hunt asked.

``Yep, he's down,'' Stryker replied. He pressed the talk button on the radio, and clearly said, ``Code 30, officer needs assistance at Cortes and Himmerick...''

*

Soon, the alley was a hive of activity. Several police cruisers had arrived, along with several unmarked vehicles. Yellow wooden barriers had been placed at the entrance to the alley. Around him, several crime scene techs were taking measurements. What remained of the vampire had been loaded into a body bag and was being wheeled into the back of a waiting hearse. Uniformed officers were keeping the public back, while also giving Stryker some strange looks.

This ain't going to do much for my standing with them, Stryker mused, as he stepped over to the only vehicle in the alley. Hunt was being loaded into the back of the ambulance in a stretcher, a morphine drip on her arm. He stepped by her as she was being loaded.

She looked at him weakly. ``So much for being your partner for a while, huh?''

He smiled reassuringly. ``Don't worry about it. As soon as you're back on your feet we'll be working together again.''

She nodded, as she was pushed into the ambulance and the doors closed. As Stryker watched the ambulance pull away, he heard a man's voice behind him say, ``She'll be fine. Once her arm's set and she checks out, we'll talk to her about what happened.''

Stryker turned around, to see a tall, broad-shouldered man standing there. He wore a crisp grey suit and silk tie, and his short dark hair and mustache were impeccably trimmed. Stryker was glad to see him; Ed Ramirez was the detective in charge of the Dracula Killer case.

``Hey, Ed,'' Stryker said, leaning against the wall. ``Thanks for coming so quickly.''

He nodded. ``We were already in the area. We were doing random sweeps to see if we could catch the Dracula Killer. Guess you got lucky.''

``I'm not sure you can call it that lucky,'' Stryker sighed. ``Hunt's out for a while and another victim is dead.''

Ramirez gave a little shrug. ``Still you nailed him... or it. Ever seen anything like it before?''

Stryker would normally feel a little miffed at being thought of as an expert, but given the circumstances, it didn't bother him. ``Nope, but then, for all I know it could be from any one of a hundred different realms. It tried to escape home before we stopped it.''

``Right,'' Ramirez said. ``I'm going to talk to the brass, but we'll probably end up calling the feds on this. Stick around for a bit... I may need to talk to you a bit more.''

``No problem,'' he replied, as Ramirez turned and walked away, approaching some of the crime techs. He pushed off the wall, and looked out the alley, and then around him. He knew the feds would end up calling the Outerworld Investigation Agency, the multinational military force formed after the Outworld invasion to deal with these kinds of incursions. Two of its founders, Sonya Blade and Jackson Briggs, had been fellow chosen warriors during the invasion. He didn't look forward to dealing with the feds, but at least he'd be helping friends.

He then smiled to himself. Despite the surprises, they had actually caught the Dracula Killer. He leaned back against the wall, content that at least they had done some good.

Author : Scott Bishop

Creation date: 2011-5-27-9-48

Modification date: 2011-5-27-9-48