SHOOT STRAIGHT

‘Head out to shoot. It’s been too long since you had a little fun.’

From anybody else the words would’ve been insightful, they might even have sounded caring but as Ralphy had crooned them on the phone that morning. Take a little time out for yourself, head out into the woods, do what you love. It wouldn’t have been unreasonable, except for the shoe that was going to eventually drop. Alix knew that most people would’ve read between the lines had they known what other sort of shooting took up much of her time. Hell, she could’ve been blind and still see it.

Her mouth set in a thin line Alix had packed up her cameras, the long lens that left her looking a little like the worst kind of paparazzi, her macro lens that would let her get lost in what was a spectacular landscape if you could look past the corpses and monsters that had a tendency to turn up out there with alarming regularity. A 9mm gun loaded with silver bullets, a shotgun with rock salt rounds, a .38 that her dad had given her after her first, horrifically failed hunt, loaded with wooden ammunition. The guns were packed carefully into her camera bag, the thick padded dividing walls that protected the lenses separating one occupation from the other. Grim as hell but Alix would’ve called both necessary, if it wasn’t for the fact that the latter had started to sicken her long before she’d turned up in Mystic Falls.

Headed out to the truck, pushing aside the memories of what had happened in the damn parking lot at the back of her building when she tried to get close to another victim of the Dread Doctors, Alix felt her loathing for her uncle surface again. Blood wasn’t everything but you never expected your own family to turn out to be the monsters. Green eyes cut to the building next door as she got in, Derek’s apartment, the building behind hers, Dante’s. The memories were thick here and maybe this was the time to escape them. She started the engine, maybe goosing it a little too much as she headed for the woods that surrounded the falls that gave the town their name.

Maybe out there she’d be able to breathe.

By the time she was preparing to pull off the road there was already another vehicle close to where she’d intended to go. Ralphy’s target? Alix frowned, glancing down at the phone that sat in its holder on the dashboard. No sign of a message from Ralphy, no instructions yet.

Almost scowling until she saw the guy pulling an honest to God crossbow and quiver out of the back of his truck, Alix passed him, pulling in a hundred yards ahead. She drove further into the woods than he had, far enough that her truck couldn’t be seen from the road. She climbed out, grabbing her bag from the backseat, snugging it over her shoulders before she started to hike back. He hadn’t gotten far, she could see the brunet through the trees, toting the crossbow like it was a shotgun, seemingly all tense and stiff. If this guy was intending on dealing with anything other than a rabbit out here he was in trouble.

She emerged from the trees wraith quiet, slipping her hands into her pockets before she tilted her head back a little. ”Anybody tell you about the recoil on one of those?” she asked, green eyes narrowing. Making a show of it, Alix pulled her hands from her pockets, raised them in the air. ”I’m guessing not. I’m guessing nobody taught you how to load up without looking like a traffic cop on casual Friday either.” If this was Ralphy’s plan, her giving sage advice to someone who looked like he’d be the one needing rescuing out here not the other way around, then he was more sadistic than she thought.

Tagged: CHRISTIAN CALLAWAY * Word Count: 659

This was what Ralphy would’ve unflatteringly called supe bate. The Quinns had always seen themselves as a cut above most hunters, working with just a chosen few, often leaving others behind afterwards to deal with the mess. They had been hunting for a couple of centuries, long enough to have realized that training meant everything in this job. Alix had seen her own brothers train their asses off just for the chance to be given their first solo hunt at sixteen. She’d nearly gnawed her own hand off for her own chance and had almost paid the ultimate price for it.

Hating the way her memory threw up the thought of it, Alix rotated her shoulder slightly as she kept her hands up in full sight of the guy who was already thumbing off the safety on the crossbow he held. Her shoulder had been repaired by a crack surgeon, the arm saved but she still had the scars to remind her of just how she’d let the Alpha get the jump on her.

That was what Ralphy would’ve imagined happening to this guy … if he was lucky. The fact that he’d jumped at her appearance meant that he was still a little spooked by the unexpected. The corner of Alix’s mouth slanted higher as he slowly lowered his crossbow. Mistake number two, right there.

Alix let out a low whistle, showing she was impressed as he told her he was ready for both kinds of recoil. He’d done a little research at least, although knowing something and actually experiencing it for yourself were two incredibly different things. Tipping up her chin she indicated the crossbow again. ”Have you felt them?” she asked, not out and out asking if he’d ever actually fired the weapon he held. Alix tried to hide the sharpest amusement from her smile as she dropped her gaze pointedly to the belt he wore around his waist. ”You’ve got everything in full view,” she explained. ”Kinda screams what you’re up to.” And didn’t make motion any easier when the crap hit the fan. She’d learned to pack light, not to hinder herself in any way when she was going up against things bigger and badder than her.

Red brows rose as he tightened his grip on the crossbow again, green eyes watching every move he made. She hadn’t been? What did he want, a written instruction manual on how not to paint a target on his back out here. Resisting the urge to roll her eyes, Alix smiled sweetly. ”I thought I had been. I guess I was a little too obtuse about the whole thing. You’re obviously out here to hunt and I get the impression it’s not just for Bambi. If it is then this is seriously overkill.” Alix didn’t extend a hand to him but as she dropped her own, she did reach across her body for the tab on the side of her bag that gave her quick access to the weapons compartment of her backpack. She slipped her hand into it, removing the sawed off shotgun in a smooth move. ”That are tricks to it.” Keeping the weapon down, its barrel laying down the length of her leg, Alix nodded to him. ”Alix.” She wasn’t going to offer her surname or even tell him how many years of not-so-constructive criticism she’d gotten from her dad, uncle and brothers before she’d been allowed out to play.

Tagged: CHRISTIAN CALLAWAY * Word Count: 575

Superiority had always been Seth Quinn’s game. Thinking that a family history of hundreds of years of killing things gave them some sort of leg up on hunters who’d only been in the life a few years. It was like an emperor looking down on his underlings, always certain that his position somehow gave him something over his underlings that meant he didn’t have to get down in the arena with them. Rarely had they worked with other hunters and when they did it did happen twice. Seth Quinn left them behind in his rearview mirror, with snide comments about how much longer it had taken because of their partners.

The frown that tugged at his dark brows would’ve had her dad throwing his hands up in exasperation and heading in the other direction. Probably hoping that the guy would accidentally take himself out with that crossbow before he got in the way. Alix merely brought her hands up as her brows hitched. She mimed holding the crossbow and firing it, jerking back and then her hands bucking forward, the bodies natural reaction to the force being thrown into it by the weapon. It wasn’t like a movie, it didn’t just knock you on your ass, although first time out you almost inevitably ended up black and blue for days afterwards. ”Good,” Alix said simply as she dropped her hands again.

That meant maybe he wouldn’t be dead five seconds after he encountered whatever he was going out there looking for.

Pop. The observation hit the guy with all the accuracy of her brother’s bow. He hadn’t laughed it off, telling her it was what he needed to get the job done. He went still and Alix met his eye instead as he raised bow in response to her reaching back for the shotgun. ”You did show me yours first,” she crooned lightly. ”Tit for tat … or, I guess, shotgun for crossbow.” There was a feigned breeziness to it that obviously didn’t put the guy at ease.

One red brow winged as his grip tightened on the weapon. She could smell the change in him from here but Alix didn’t give in to it, she kept the shotgun up, blasé as hell while her own awareness piqued. Alix offered up her name, her lips curling as she got his in return. Christian. Not a lie. ”Well, Christian,” she drawled, glancing at the weapon she held and then back to him. ”Not advertising what you’re up to. You could’ve taken out a billboard and it would’ve been less obvious.” At least to those who had a clue what was really out here, or the things that were skulking around themselves.

It wasn’t quite the twirling of a pistol around a finger but Alix made letting the fall of the weapon down to the line of her thigh a little flashier than she needed to. A demonstration of control that she’d practiced to make her younger brothers laugh and Rohan roll his eyes. Green eyes narrowed faintly at him as that smile continued to play around neutrally painted lips. ”Tit … tat … Christian. You want me to say it first? If I do you’ve gotta share in return…” she reminded him. ”Deer aren’t this town’s problem and we both know it. Two nights ago they found another body out here. Animal attack.” Alix raised her other hand to make air quotes. ”I’m looking for what did it. You?” Her smile broadened, sweetened as she dipped her head towards him to encourage fair play. It wasn’t exactly the truth, someone had died, but she was out here not to look for the thing that had killed the man. This was meant to be her chance to breathe air untainted with blood and supernatural violence.

Tagged: CHRISTIAN CALLAWAY * Word Count: 633

Don’t bother with him. The only thing he’ll be good for is cannon fodder. Alix could practically hear her dad’s words in her head. An echo of Ralphy’s smirking laughter behind them. They would’ve stepped aside, waved the guy into the woods and wished him well. Five minutes later they would’ve followed him in, hoping he had cleared the way, knowing that the things they hunted wouldn’t be able to resist someone coming and tickling them, irritating them to the point of mistakes.

Would the guy have deserved it? Not in the least. He was obviously well intentioned, aiming to protect this town but good intentions were like wishes, if they were horses they’d all be knee deep in crap by now. Hell, good intentions would likely get you to that point anyway, especially in a place like Mystic Falls.

The fact that she was still there, still talking around this like she was air quoting every word was proof that she wasn’t them. Growing tired of those air quotes Alix gave in and changed the dance speed. She stripped away one layer of bullshit for Christian, seeing if he’d handle the next like some twisted version of pass the parcel. Eventually one of them would get to the prize in the middle. Only this prize was likely to bite back.

Alix’s mouth twisted faintly as she dropped her hand to cross her arms over her chest. The shotgun still dangled from the finger she had worked through the trigger, angled down at the ground. That hadn’t been so hard had it? She shook her head slightly. ”It’s a noble thought but this isn’t like shooting paper targets or tin cans. Whatever killed out here a couple of nights ago is likely to move fast and once it knows that it’s being hunted, it’s not likely to run away from the hunter.” It would go straight for them. She might be able to take it down, between the gun and her own claws but Christian and his crossbow had a chance of being painted across the ground by the time the thing was done.

Her intentions? Alix’s brows rose at the man’s question. It almost sounded like he was asking whether or not his son was about to be corrupted by the local harlot, not whether or not she was doing this for shits or giggles or if she was actually civic minded. ”If you’re asking whether or not I was heading into the woods to find the thing that killed that person two days ago the answer’s yes, Christian,” she said honestly. Alix turned, eyes narrowing as she swept them over the woods. ”I could’ve gone straight in there, done it before you finished tooling up but all that would’ve done was leave you back here, in the same position when the next thing that’s not a deer decides to find itself some prey.” Taking a step back, Alix tilted herself towards the woods. ”If you want to learn from someone who’s sure she’s a little more experienced, come on.” She didn’t wait for his answer, just started in the direction of the woods. She was pretty damn sure he was about to follow, either taking her up on the offer or blustering at the way she’d cut through the bullshit. ”Is it the first time you’re using live prey as practice?” she tossed back over her shoulder as she started into the brush. If they were hiking in to find this thing they might as well at least exchange small talk on the way.

Tagged: CHRISTIAN CALLAWAY * Word Count: 596

Nobody liked to be made to feel small or inadequate. She included herself in that of course. Alix knew that there was only so much room for leaner’s mistakes under these circumstances though. Monsters, the real ones who stalked these woods and left the town’s death rate rivalling the whole city of New York, they didn’t take a look at a newly minted hunter and said ‘oh sorry, hey, you know, you’re obviously new at this, I’ll give you a free shot’. They were brutal and ruthless.

She knew because in a way she was just like them. Albeit with a conscience that had her clinging on to the way she’d been, not the way Ralphy had tried to remake her into something she couldn’t stand looking at in the mirror.

Alix watched as her lowering her weapon made the guy do the same. The arrow was aimed at her legs now. Not deadly, not even something that would give her much pause if she was to test herself against it. They were coming to some sort of neutral ground here finally. She could see on his face that he wasn’t a hundred percent happy listening to her. Big headed know it all in a pretty little package. She’d heard it from hunters before, before she’d shown them what she was actually capable of.

Holding back another monologue meant to show him she’d had a right of sorts to school him, Alix headed for the woods, dropping the invitation in the air behind her. There was a chance he’d just let her go, his pride stinging enough for the dressing down she’d given him to have him refusing to go anywhere with her. Alix supposed she couldn’t blame him, she hadn’t exactly gone easy with the guy. She’d never learned to be the hand holding type though, the idea alone would’ve given her parents hives.

She heard him suck in a breath and start to follow her. Alix’s lips curved faintly as she walked, green eyes scanning the woods around them rather than glancing over her shoulder at him. He seemed to take a moment but he answered her eventually. Any crowing in her mind about her being right cut off as he admitted that his wife was attacked a couple of weeks ago. That explained it. ”I’m sorry to hear that,” Alix said lightly. She glanced at him then, slowing down enough for him to draw level with her instead of trailing behind. ”Research is a wise move. There are plenty of things out here, you go after any of them the wrong way and you might as well be swatting at flies.” You had to be prepared but even when you were there was a chance things could go wrong.

Alix rotated her shoulder, feeling the scars that had remained ever after her turning brushing against the thin cotton of her t-shirt. When those things went wrong you were lucky if you just ended up carrying a reminder of them. ”Do you know what she was attacked by?” Given what was in Mystic Falls it could’ve been any of a plethora of things. Alix picked up the pace slightly, her lips twisting into a wry smile as she hopped lightly over a downed tree. ”Over a decade. Trained for another decade before that. You can call it a family business and in my family, you don’t get to go out there and shoot ‘live targets’ until you’re thoroughly prepared.” That had been Seth Quinn’s way of doing it at least. Hammer your kids over the kid with that information until they were desperate to get out there. It was a way to keep them hooked on the family line at least.

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