I've been reading books of old the legends and the myths

There were a million things in Piper's mind that she checked off that she had done wrong tonight. She'd stayed at the bookshop too late. She'd worn headphones instead of being alert. She hadn't held a weapon in her hand just in case. She had taken the darkened alley because it was five minutes shorter instead of staying on the brightly lit streets. She'd... She hadn't been careful, hadn't been cautious. That was solely to blame for the way the young girl had been targeted by the vampire, and why she'd been forced to bolt as fast as she could back down that alleyway. She'd hoped to burst out onto the streets and be free of the vampire - surely she could get enough of a head start that he wouldn't pursue her down a city street. The western district may not have been as populated as downtown, and yet a woman being pursued surely wouldn't go unnoticed, right? But Piper was not able to escape, instead the collision of her and another body robbed her of whatever short advantage she might have had over the supernatural creature.

The dazed young woman hardly had the ability to react to her new companion's grunted inquiry of what exactly she had been doing. After all, wasn't it obvious? It wasn't as though she enjoyed running down darkened alleyways in heels late at night. Still, the brunette boy was spared the full extent of her reply by the reappearance of her undead foe, that hiss making Piper's muscles freeze up. Despite all the self-defense classes and extensive coaching that her father had instructed her on just in case this happened, Piper found herself paralyzed to actually move. Fortunately, the human - or at least, he looked human enough until the vampire remarked that he was a hunter - seemed to have more preparation for this kind of situation. Normally, Piper might have protested to the way he spoke to her or the way he hoisted her to her feet, but now she was too grateful for some sort of backup in this situation to protest. How lucky the girl was to have run - perhaps all too literally - into the hunter. She might actually survive this encounter!

Piper was silent as she took in the situation. The two men sized each other up, debating over who would win the prize. The hunter wanted her safety, the vampire her blood. At least the hunter seemed determined that she wouldn't become the latest murder victim of the vampire. Piper let out a sharp gasp as the vampire lunged towards them, her body scrambling backwards to put more distance between herself and the being so desperate on consuming her blood. But it was that flash of blue light that caught her attention. The flaming dagger seemed to surprise the hunter as equally as it surprised the vampire and Piper. What kind of Hunter was this? Though, of course, Piper didn't dare question this gift she'd been given by asking that question aloud. Instead, the woman watched as that dagger went hurling towards the vampire. But Piper wasn't able to see if it struck or not before she was grabbed once more and drug down the sidewalk.

The cry of the vampire caught Piper's attention, her head briefly turning back just in time to see the pursuing vampire start after them. The hunter couldn't run faster than the vampire, and Piper could hardly run as fast as either of them, especially in heels. She voiced this concern aloud, her nose wrinkling at the man's gruff reply to her. "Then what is your plan?" Piper snapped back at him, though she wasn't given the luxury of a response before she was wrenched backwards and out of his grip. The sheer force by which she was thrown to the pavement knocked all the air from her lungs, completely preventing any attempt she might have made to flee again. This was how she would die: at the hands of an enraged vampire with nothing left to do. At least they couldn't say she didn't put up a fight. She'd just accepted and begun to anticipate the pain of a bite when the vampire was knocked off of her just as quickly as he'd positioned himself above her.

Piper scrambled to a sitting position just in time to see the two wrestle, the hunter finding some sort of upper hand as he managed to find himself on top of the undead man. Piper knew, logically, that she should have used this time to flee herself. She should have let the hunter deal with the vampire - after all, that was his job, wasn't it? But Piper didn't run, she didn't even immediately rise to her feet. Instead, she watched in horror as the vampire struggled to claw at the hunter. Piper expected some sort of weapon used on the vampire, some sort of way to immobilize or arrest him. What she didn't expect was for the hunter to punch the vampire. She may have never seen a hunter work, but she was certain that was nothing short of ineffective.

The vampire may have been stunned by the punch to his face, but it lasted for only a matter of seconds before he composed himself. Piper scrambled backwards and to her feet as the hunter was thrown off and to the side with a force that sent the man tumbling nearly to the girl's feet. Piper was unsure if the motion would steal the air from the hunter's lungs in the same way that very motion had knocked her breathless, and yet she wasted no time as she scrambled to get in front of him. Her hand reached into her bag, pulling out the instrument that she should have had in her hand in the first place. Piper held the pure silver pocket knife firmly in her hand as she held it out in front of her, her own body standing between the hunter and the vampire, some inate feeling to protect the boy forcing her to stand between him and certain death. "L... Leave us alone," The girl said firmly, trying to put forth an appearance of far more confidence than she felt. "Leave us alone and I won't kill you, vampire."