I'm pickin up good vibrations (OPEN)

[whatmatters]

It was a fairly bright night, the full moon of the second waning at a slow pace and the remaining glow casting about the city streets. All things considered, it was a fairly pleasant evening and the sounds of late night pub activities wafted through the air as if to pointedly suggest that nothing was amiss. Ringer didn't believe in that false serenity and the sight a couple strolling arm-in-arm somewhere down the road annoyed her a little. It was that ignorance that she was trying to protect. Still, she couldn't help the slight envy at having her own normality stripped away from her years ago.

She wandered Lewisham and Greenwich mainly, knowing the areas were hot spots for activity and wanting to stretch her muscles. There were silver bullets in the magazine of her Sig Sauer, tucked safely away in its shoulder holster beneath her jacket. There were a couple wooden bolts in her back pocket, a knife in her combat boots, and a roll of gauze in the inside pocket of her coat. She liked to be prepared.

A.

Ringer was distracted by the soft glow of a lantern outside a picturesque home as she rounded onto the next street, nearly - or literally - running smack into whoever might be coming the other way. She immediately withdrew and scrambled to regain her bearings, offering an apologetic expression in the hopes it might be some simple Londoner who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. "Sorry, I wasn't paying attention. Are you okay?"

B.

There was a noise not far away, the next street over, and Ringer wasted no time in seeking it out. Perhaps it was simply a cat jumping on a trash can, but it was as likely some asshole monster causing trouble. Or maybe that was wishful thinking. Whatever the case, she drew her 9mmm and held it down at her side, mostly concealing it to the casual observer as she came up on the area. One wrong move and the source of the noise might find the barrel facing in their direction.

C.

[Anything else! Feel free to write a prompt or message me with ideas.]

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[emotioneater]

He hesitated a brief moment, internally debating as to whether or not he should lie. The truth won out in the end by a fraction of a hair. If he answered no, there were too many questions she would start asking and none that he had a good answer for. "If I say yes, you know that gun isn't gonna do a whole lot of good. Want t'put it down now?" Hey, a vampire could dream. He smiled in a nervous way.

Cooper looked down at the body as a twinge of regret passed over his face. Too slow and now someone else had paid for it. For the sake of his conscience, he hoped the man had liked to kick puppies in his spare time. "Nope. He's at the gates of St. Peter by now. Young pup drained him dry."

[whatmatters]

"Say yes and find out," she answered evenly. Technically, he had yet to confirm what he was and Ringer was a stickler for the details. He was right it would do nothing more than hurt him and likely piss him off if she shot him, but sometimes just hurting a vampire was worth the bullet. The bastards usually deserved it and his nervousness only made her all the more suspicious.

She noticed the regret and wondered if it was genuinely for the loss or envy for whoever had made the kill. Apparently the guy knew what or who had done this, at the very least. "You're old then. What's your name and what's the name of the vampire who did this?"

[emotioneater]

"Tch. That's rude, commenting on someone's age when you've only just met them." Oh, who was he kidding? He was as old as the hills. It was more of a deflective tactic than anything else. He knew who had done it, but like hell was he going to give up a fellow vampire to a trigger-happy hunter.

"My name's Cooper. Do I get yours in return or will I get shot if I ask?" He had to give the newborn time to get away if he was still in the area. Get him away from the hunter.

[whatmatters]

Ringer nodded as she lowered her weapon, coming to hold the weapon casually in one hand at her side. It served not to give away the gun's normal location while stating she didn't intend to be a threat right now. Cooper's response confirmed both his status as a vampire and his age by confirming neither, unless that was a tactic in itself. She was so distracted with the cortisol and adrenaline in her system that she didn't even think that the other vampire might be close by.

"Ringer," she answered easily, doing surprisingly well at hiding her fear at the present situation. She was, after all, a younger and relatively unequipped hunter and he was an old vampire. The girl knew she was at a clear disadvantage and was taking a risk even by keeping the gun to the ground. "Are you going to take him to hospital or were you reveling in the kill?"

[emotioneater]

Cooper visibly stiffened when Ringer asked if he was reveling in the kill. He turned to her with fire in his eyes and a finger pointed in her direction. "Let's get one thing clear here, Annie Oakley. I don't like hunters. I don't like guns. I don't like you. But I especially don't like killing for no reason. He didn't need t'die."

Cooper had done his share of killing people in the past. There was plenty of blood on his hands. He still could and did upon occasion when the blood lust rose up and overwhelmed him. But he'd never enjoyed it or taken sadistic pleasure in it like some vampires did. His conscience was too strong to have anything but a sense of self-loathing each time he drained another victim dry.

[whatmatters]

His visceral response was more than she could have hoped for. His dislike for her was neither unexpected or a problem in her mind and she persevered, unperturbed, in trying to make things better. Even if it meant potentially taking on an ally that she would rather see in ash. "I agree. Help me find the vampire who did this so we can stop him."

Vampires were a unique breed for a hunter like Ringer to deal with. Their mere existence was a threat to humanity and protecting people usually meant seeing that the vampires were removed. Sometimes stupid people volunteered to be fed on, something the girl had mixed feelings about, or the creatures would feed on animals or out of bags. At least, she'd heard rumor of such things. Perhaps those could stay. One step at a time, Ringer.

[emotioneater]

Cooper considered the offer seriously. A hunter willing to team up with a vampire? Now he'd heard everything. Something held him back from saying yes. "If we find him, will you kill him?"

He wasn't willing to go that far just yet. This vampire was dangerous, but he was also scared and all alone. He hadn't asked to be turned. Cooper wouldn't condemn him unless he was completely beyond hope of being saved.

[whatmatters]

Fair question. She met his gaze evenly, her fear waning slowly as their conversation continued. The more they spoke, the less likely Cooper was to spontaneously decide to kill her or worse. "Will he continue hurting people if I don't?"

Ringer wouldn't outright lie unless she had to. She wasn't beyond agreeing to keep the creature alive and then killing them if they turned out to be the danger she worried they were, but she was also confident such a rash action would result in her own immediate demise. While willing to die for her cause if necessary, she had no eagerness to throw her life away.

[emotioneater]

He looked thoughtful as he considered her question. Cooper wasn't a mind reader, but he'd had enough firsthand experience and had seen enough newborns to understand how they worked. "Yes," he replied quietly.

"But it's not his fault," he continued on quickly. "He didn't ask to be turned. Right now, he's scared 'n confused. He's running off of pure instinct and all that's telling him to do is feed. If I can find him and isolate him till it passes, he won't be able to harm anyone else." Something Cooper wished someone had done for him when he was a young vampire.

[whatmatters]

"It wasn't his fault. He didn't ask to be eaten." Ringer gestured to the corpse at Cooper's feet. She hid her frustration with her fear, voice level and expression little more than dismayed. It was one of the few good things her father had helped her to learn. There were merits to Cooper's plan though, something she couldn't deny, and having a vampire ally to help take down other vampires.. Unless he was merely building his own army.

"We find him, you isolate him. And then?" She paused briefly, hoping to emphasize the weight of what she was asking. "Can you take him to another country? Or make sure he only eats witches? You can't guarantee he won't continue killing people even after the instinct has worn off."

[emotioneater]

"I hadn't quite thought that far ahead." That was actually the first lie he'd told. Cooper already knew what he was going to do. He was getting this newborn to join Islington. Once he was under the protection of the nest, hunters wouldn't be able to touch him. Whether he went willingly or whether Cooper had to strong-arm him was going to be the real question.

He knew better to suggest that to a young hunter. She wouldn't see that as a compromise, only a line of potential bodies waiting to crop up farther down the line. "It's all well to speculate about what we might do and could do 'till the night's done, but we don't even have him yet."

[whatmatters]

Interesting, how he was so willing to lay down his own terms before agreeing to work together but then became seemingly dismissive of hers. Ringer had read enough books, played enough chess, and been naturally gifted enough to recognize certain strategies. She was oblivious to Cooper's actual intentions, believing that either he sincerely hadn't thought that far ahead or that he had other plans that would remain a mystery to her. Either way, it didn't bode well.

"You don't want to work together," she commented lightly. It wasn't a question or an accusation, but an observation. "Okay. If he doesn't hurt anyone else, I'll leave him alone. If he does, I'll do everything in my power to kill him. Will you take care of the body?"

The one at his feet. If the man was truly dead, the least they could do was either dispose of it or call 999 and avoid some kid stumbling on it.

[emotioneater]

"Then we both know where the other stands." He understood where the hunter was coming from. He just didn't agree with her course of action at all. First thing she was going to do was run back home and tell someone about this, he just knew it. A group of hunters against one rookie vampire would only end one way. If he didn't find this newborn vampire soon, the only thing that would be left to find would be the bloody stakes they were going to ram through his heart.

He sighed and pulled out his cell phone. "If I must, I must." It wouldn't be the first time he'd had to explain a suspicious body to the police. There was no way he'd be a suspect. They'd most likely believe it had been a rabid animal attack from the wounds on the body.

let me know if you'd like me to edit

[whatmatters]

"I know you don't want to kill him. I also know that you're suggesting you don't want to see him hurt anyone else." That was, really, all she understood of what Cooper's intentions were. While Ringer had laid hers out clearly and concisely, the vampire preferred to remain a mystery. It might be enchanting if it wasn't such a cliche.

She quieted as he called, not wanting her presence to be known to the police unless necessary. Although it was unlikely she would be considered even a potential perpetrator, there was no reason to take that chance unless he decided to inform on her.

After a moment's pause, she frowned slightly and walked forward to close the distance between them. Ringer slowly and very deliberately reached for the pen in her pocket and held it up to display it for him to show it was no threat. She uncapped the instrument and, if he would allow it, moved to write her mobile number on arm. It wasn't flirting. This was strictly business, so that he had no excuses for not controlling it if the young vampire went on a rampage again.

No, it's good!

[emotioneater]

Cooper stayed on the phone, answering the operator in a short, curt tone. They'd chalk up the lack of emotion to shock when they eventually found him. He stiffened up when she approached him, but relaxed when he saw the pen in her arm, allowing her to write on his skin.

He moved his arm to read the number written down. If the situation hadn't been so serious, he would've made a crack about her being so forward with giving out her number after only one meeting. Though he was supposed to stay on the line with the emergency services, he abruptly ended the conversation and hung up after urging them to get there as soon as possible. He didn't want them to get suspicious when he started talking to Ringer again. "You better make yourself scarce before they show up if you don't want to answer any questions."

[whatmatters]

Ringer pocketed the pen and took a step back when she'd finished, waiting to listen to the call. It occurred to her that she should probably take her leave soon, to avoid being a party to the whole thing, when he spontaneously hung up. For some reason, it surprised her that he hadn't remained on the line. The words that followed only served to unnerve her further and she glanced at him, eyes narrowing in suspicion for a second.

"Thanks," she replied, the suspicion clear in her tone. It was gone as quickly, replaced by the same apathetic voice as before. "Call me if he kills again or ends up in an territory you shouldn't visit."

Ringer gave him one last puzzled glance before she turned and began walking away. It was one of the first vampires she had met whom she could actually talk to and the conversation had not gone at all the way she expected. The hunter wasn't certain if she had made an ally, if Cooper would try to manipulate and use her, or if she'd never hear from him again. Only time would tell, she supposed.