Vampire AU for one_shot

[howbraveyouare]

Karen was usually such a careful vampire. She had lived for over a hundred years without so much as a close call, always avoiding even the best vampire hunters, but there was something about Frank Castle. He was sharper than the others. Better. Driven by something that she didn’t completely understand. She’d heard about him through the undead grapevine. He had quite the reputation for snuffing out vampire lives.

She hadn’t expected to run into him in that alleyway. As she fed on a man who’d intended to slip a pill into her beer, she heard him approaching, cornering her. Karen let her prey slip from her arms, weakly tumbling to the ground half-conscious. Her head turned to look at him, blood smeared around her lips. She was ready to fight if necessary, but instead she defended her actions.

“He’s scum. A date rapist. Would you really save him?”

And save him from what? Karen never killed her prey. She simply took from them and left them frightened, something she felt they all deserved. No one would believe them, anyway.

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[ex_one_shot695]

Frank stood over the vampire and drew the stake from within his coat. She wasn't the one he was looking for, but when he spotted the two in an alley, he had to step in. Frank didn't live by any hunter's code, though. There was only one vampire that actually interested him; he'd just keep going on like this until he found his target.

"Yeah, you go around just doin' the world favors, I'm sure." She made it sound like she was doing the right thing by sucking on that guy's neck. Maybe the man was of bad character, but that didn't make her a good person, either. She wasn't even a person.

"I'm lookin' for a vampire. Goes by the name of Blacksmith. He's in charge of a big group. You know him?"

[howbraveyouare]

Karen huffed indignantly. He was probably a jaded man, given his occupation, only willing to see vampires in a certain light. She was very specific about who she fed on, though, and sometimes, yes, she felt like she was doing the world a favor. That was beside the point, though. As her loser of a meal groaned on the pavement, she froze at the mention of Blacksmith. Of course she knew who he was. He was a vampire with a lot of pull. She thought she might know where he was, too, but why should she tell this guy when telling him would put her at risk?

“I know him.” She said rather vaguely. “Why are you looking for him?”

[ex_one_shot695]

"He killed my family." Frank was a man out for revenge. He didn't care how many vampires he had to go through to get it done or how much blood he had to spill. The man is ignored for now, so long as he stays out of the way.

"You wanna get rid of scum? Tell me where I can find the Blacksmith. Or maybe you're just feeding me a bunch of bullshit." Acting like she cared about doing the right thing and only going after evil people who deserved it. No one deserved it more than the Blacksmith did.

[howbraveyouare]

Karen looked uneasy. “You don’t understand. He has a lot of influence. If I tell you where he is, I’m as good as dead.” Of course, being cornered by a vampire hunter, there was a chance she was as good as dead right then. Her chances weren’t looking very good at all.

“I agree, he’s scum. He kills just to kill. But…” Karen shook her head. She was clearly shaken up. In her head she was weighing the pros and cons of putting her life on the line for a stranger who didn’t even like her. It would be great to get rid of the Blacksmith. One less asshole vamp. Doing so, though, could cost her everything.

[ex_one_shot695]

"If you don't tell me where he is, you're as good as dead." Perhaps threatening her wasn't going to get what he wanted. If she was a good person, or the closest thing a vampire could be to one, he might try a softer touch for once.

"Look. He's scum, like you said. If I kill him, you've got nothing to worry about." If Frank can kill him. If not and they find out Karen ratted on him... "I'll protect you."

[howbraveyouare]

She pressed her lips together tightly. It was like being between a rock and a hard place. Karen felt like she should tell him where the Blacksmith was, even if he wasn’t threatening to kill her, just because the man was a disgusting representative of their race, but she knew there would be consequences.

Karen sighed. “Fine. Fine, I’ll tell you. I’ve never been there, but I hear he takes a lot of his prey back to a converted warehouse in the meat packing district. I don’t know where he lives. That’s the best I can give you, but… But I can help.” She sniffled, sounding dangerously close to that overemotional point when tears came. “You might need someone on the inside.”

[ex_one_shot695]

Frank operated on the belief that vampires were lying and manipulative, so her tears didn't appear to mean much to him. "You said you've never been there. How does that make you someone on the inside?" Aside from just being a fellow vampire. Frank wasn't sure that would be enough.

"And what makes you think I trust you?" He didn't have a real reason to believe anything she had just said until he confirm it for himself.

[howbraveyouare]

Karen stepped closer to Frank. She had plenty to be afraid of, but she could act like she didn’t. Folding her arms across her chest, she tried to look tough. Honestly, Karen was one of the younger vampires in town and that meant weaker. She’d only been around since the 1960’s and hadn’t had much of a chance to build up strength or notoriety. The Blacksmith could have squashed her like a fly. So could this hunter, but Karen could bluff.

“I know you don’t trust me because you can’t see past my fangs. People like you never can. The fact is, though, if you have a vampire on your side you have an in. I can get into places you can’t.”

[ex_one_shot695]

"You kill people. Who knows how many you've killed." Frank's hands aren't clean, either, but at least he knows the people or vamps he's killed deserved it. Frank doesn't know what her track record is based off of one low-life.

"You could just as easily turn around and tell the Blacksmith how to get to me." He sees that as a lot more likely than her helping him.

Even though he's saying all this, though, he's clearly considering it. Frank reaches into his coat and tosses to her a pair of silver handcuffs. "Put 'em on."

[howbraveyouare]

Her jaw drops open as she catches the cuffs. It shouldn’t be surprising that he doesn’t trust her but it’s offensive all the same. “You’re an asshole,” She blurts, glaring at him with her fangs showing.

Still, she snaps on the cuffs and walks closer to Frank. Now she’s pretty much at his mercy. There’s no way out of these things. Karen is going to make it abundantly clear that she’s unhappy about the situation, though, by pouting and shooting daggers the entire time her hands are bound.

“Are we headed to the meat packing district, or what?” She taps her toe impatiently, raising an eyebrow at Frank.