Jon escorted the young lady, who he learned was named Tohka, back to her home situated on a stretch of road away from any other buildings. At first glance, Tohka appeared to be not much older than Miya, but he knew looks could be deceiving. She was certainly pretty, and more than a little heated if the way she gripped his arm was any indication.

She played her part well. A lesser man would probably assume this was the luckiest day of his life.

“Well, looks like we're here. Anything else I can do before I take my leave?”

Tohka gripped his arm insistently, her face flushed and her eyes filled with want. “Would you...like to come inside?” She asked in a heated voice.

He shrugged before plastering a fake grin on his face. “If you insist.”

She led him by one hand to the steps of her home, her curvy backside bouncing from left to right with every step she took. Tohka finally released his hand and opened the door whilst beckoning him inside with a wave of her little finger.

“Right this way.”

Jon stepped inside, his hands securely in his jacket pockets. Looking around the small one-story home, he noted the interior looked normal enough, but the smell in the air told a different story.

As soon as they were inside, Tohka took a few steps forward. Keeping her back turned, she dropped her coat onto the floor, revealing her slender, backless dress and turning two sultry eyes to him.

“I was hoping you'd let me thank you properly for saving me. I have a little surprise waiting for you in the bedroom if you're interested.” She shot back playfully.

“You can thank me however you so choose, Darlin.” He replied, continuing to act dumb.

“In that case, follow me, my big strong hero.”

He bit his tongue to keep himself from laughing. She was really laying it on thick and the thought of some hapless guy falling for this routine was almost too amusing to handle.

Jon watched her disappear down the hallway before following. As he walked through the upscale home, he passed by a trail of discarded clothes leading to the bedroom. First a pair of stiletto heels, then a carelessly discarded red cocktail dress, next was a red bra, and finally a matching red thong.

He followed the trail of clothes all the way back to the bedroom, whereupon he was treated to the sight of Tohka splayed out on her side seductively at the center of the bed, her shoulder-length hair brushed to one side, without so much as a pair of underwear to cover herself.

“Well, what are you waiting for?” She pouted, her face flushed. “I don't do this sort of thing for every guy, you know?”

He crossed his arms over his chest. “Look Doll, as flattered as I am for the show, I think you can go ahead and drop the whole grateful damsel in distress routine now.”

Tohka gave him a confused look. “What do you mean?” She brushed the spot on the bed next to her while biting her lower lip in need. “Aren't you gonna come take care of me? I'm so wet I could-”

“Oh, come on!” He interjected, an amused grin on his face. “You can't seriously tell me that works on other men. No guy on Earth is that thick, right?” He sighed and shook his head. “Oh, who am I kidding. Of course they are.”

She gave him an annoyed frown. “Look, if you're not interested all you had to do was say so.”

“Drop the act, Sugar. I know a vampire when I see one.”

A pang of fear flashed across her face. “V...vampire? What are you talking about?” She chuckled nervously.

“I'll give you credit for the commitment. But at this point you're just deluding yourself. The stench of blood in this place is so heavy I can practically taste it.”

Her lips curled into a twisted grin. Slowly, she sat up on the foot of the bed and stood.

“So you figured it out. My, but aren't we observant.” Her voice had completely changed. No longer did she sound like that frail little wallflower. Now her words dripped of malevolence and death. “So if I may ask, what was it that gave me away?”

“Aside from the stench of death, there's one major flaw with your little hunting strategy.”

She cocked a brow at him. “Oh? And what would that be?”

“It's simple really. Any man with even a shred of common sense would know that this is a setup. No normal lady would invite a complete stranger back to her home after being assaulted like that.”

“I guess it's fortunate for me then, that most men don't have a shred of common sense.” Tohka chuckled sardonically. “But I'm more curious about you, personally. You appear to be human, yet you radiate with untapped power.” She licked her lips at the thought. “What did you say your name was again, Handsome?”

“Names Jonathan Hyodo. I’m just a simple college student, nothing more.”

“Well Jonathan Hyodo, as amusing as this has been, I'm afraid we'll have to cut our time together short. The sun will be rising soon, so I’m afraid you have to die now.”

Her hair turned white as a sheet as her features twisted and contorted into a horrible shell of what they once were. Her fingers grew talons and her fangs grew to monstrous proportions. The blonde beauty was no more. Tohka had morphed into a hunchback bat-like creature complete with wings.

“You had the chance for your last moments to be that of pure ecstasy! Now you shall know only pain as I...”

The creature let out an inhuman wail as its knees spontaneously exploded, separating its shins and feet from the rest of its body. The vampire squirmed and writhed in pain on the floor.

“Aggggh!! My legs! What did you do to my legs?!”

He had drawn the weapon so fast she hadn't even had time to register what happened until it was far too late. In his hand was a still smoking Smith and Wesson Model 26 with pearl grips.

“A gun?! Impossible! Human weapons cannot hurt me!”

“These ain't your average rounds in this thing.” He retorted. “I melted down a maltese cross made of pure Macedonian silver to create the alloy in these .44 explosive tipped cartridges. The core is mercury charged and the weapon itself has been blessed by the Vatican.” He cocked back the hammer and aimed directly at her head. “For all your talk of being invincible, you lot sure do go down easy enough if you've got the right arsenal.”

“Damn you! There wasn't supposed to be a Hunter here! The Fallen would have warned us!”

“Yeah, about that. See, I ain't exactly your typical Hunter.” He showed her the mark on his hand. “If you'd been paying attention, you would have seen this thing. Thanks to it, the Order and I have had a bit of a falling out.”

The creature reeled in horror. “Th..that's the Mark of the Great Beast!”

He took out his pack of cigarettes and popped another one in his mouth. “For the record, I didn't ask for this infernal thing. Hell, I'm still not entirely sure what it is. I just know ya’ll are drawn to it like flies to a cowpat.” He pulled out his lighter and lit his smoke.

The creature cursed at him, hissing and snarling as it backed away from his mark.

“This just ain't your lucky day, is it?” He goaded while taking a puff of his smoke, his gun still pointed at the vampire. “You were probably drawn to my mark without even realizing what this thing is.”

The creature morphed back into the angelic form he remembered from earlier. The young blonde clutched at her bleeding stumps while tears streamed down her pain-ridden face.

“Jon, please! Please don't hurt me anymore!” She pleaded in between pitiful sobs. “I'm sorry for what I did. I was wrong. But I beg you, please. I'll do anything if you let me live.”

He cocked a brow at her before taking the smoke from his mouth. “Anything?”

She beamed up at him. “Yes, anything. I'll give you whatever you desire most if you just let me...”

A loud crack of the gun followed by her brains splattering the surrounding walls and bed brought an abrupt halt to the conversation as total silence enveloped the room. Jon holstered the gun beneath his jacket and took a long drag from his cigarette.

“In that case, when you get to Hell, tell the bitch who killed my family I said hello.” He responded bitterly to the remains of the vampire Tohka.

The corpse began to dissolve into a pile of coagulated blood on the floor. All around him, the room's lavish interior began to peel away, revealing a derelict, run-down building devoid of any human life. With the vampire's death, the illusion slowly began to dispel itself.

Jon exited the roach-infested building and returned to the street. The first rays of dawn were approaching and the streets of the town his campus was located on were beginning to spring to life once more. With a heavy heart, Jon slowly made his way back to campus. The eyes of thousands of other creatures still on the back of his head. That feeling of dread hadn't gone away.

Then again, it never did.