30 Days of Writing Prompts

Day One: Grace

"Oh, for fuck's sake." Grace rubbed at the dark stain on the hem of her gray T-shirt, scrubbing furiously with slender fingers. She paused at the door to the lab, shoving her hunting knife back into its sheath. "Of course I'd be the one to get demon guts all over me during a 'routine' hunt."

She pushed open the door, grimacing as the strong smell of disinfectant hit her nose. She often wondered why Tsillah, the vampire who fed on psychic energy instead of blood, would ever need to disinfect anything when she wasn't dealing with biological matter. But, well, who was she to question the blue-haired vampire?

The ground floor was set up almost like a doctor's office, though Grace knew that Tsillah wasn't a doctor. There were waiting rooms, offices, and even a front desk with a pretty, blond nymph behind it. The nymph looked up, her eyes an almost iridescent shade of green, and a smile lifted the corners of her mouth. "I take it you're here for Tsillah?"

"As always." Grace didn't stop at the desk. She didn't have to. Instead, she moved straight towards the elevator, folding her arms across her chest as she waited for the "ding" that heralded its approach. Instinctively, her foot started to tap against the tile floor, the leather of her jacket crinkling as she tapped her fingers against her arm.

Finally, the elevator doors opened, allowing Grace entry. She jabbed the button for the basement, where she knew Tsillah would be since the damned woman always seemed to lock herself down there even when she had competent assistance these days. Grace's son, Niklas, had taken an interest in the process of manufacturing the drugs Tsillah was known for, and Tsillah's daughter was a savant when it came to chemistry.

Honestly, had Maeve and Niklas not been half-siblings, Grace could have pictured the two of them becoming a power couple one day. Instead, the two just made good business partners, even though they were related.

Finally, the elevator stopped, a mechanized voice announcing her arrival as the doors slid open to reveal the basement lab. For once, Tsillah wasn't locked in her office, hidden behind a mountain of papers, and staring at a bulletin board with intricate formulae written on every piece of paper that would fit on its surface. Instead, the vampire had her back to the elevator, hunched over a microscope.

Grace cleared her throat loudly, shoving her hands into her pockets, fingers closing over the familiar shape of her "lucky" Zippo. Tsillah straightened up, and she paused for a moment. Grace imagined that she was blinking in an attempt to bring herself back to the present. Finally, she turned around, the light catching on the intricate tattoos that covered her from the neck down. "Oh, Grace! Just the--" She trailed off for a moment, her brow furrowing. It gave Grace the moment to wonder if Tsillah dyed her eyebrows too or if that bright sapphire was her natural hair color. Since, well, her eyebrows matched her hair.

Grace looked Tsillah in the eye, even if it was an uncomfortable experience. Tsillah's eyes were a pale silver, almost the same shade as the whites of her eyes. The only real contrast there was the pupil, the only spot of dark color in otherwise colorless eyes. "Grace. Is that blood?" Grace hadn't noticed that Tsillah was looking at the stain on her shirt.

"No?"

"That's... that's not a question you're supposed to answer with another question!" Tsillah threw up her hands and stalked towards a cabinet on the other side of the room. "Here. Put this on. If Kai sees you with blood on your shirt, you're going to be in deep shit. You're not supposed to be hunting anymore."

"Yeah, well, Kai can fucking bite me." She took the black T-shirt Tsillah offered, tugging off her leather jacket and the shirt she was previously wearing. Even standing there in her bra, Tsillah inwardly winced at the myriad of scars that littered Grace's torso. Sooner or later, she'd have to examine each and every one of them. For science, of course.

"Well, knowing Kai, he will. And you'll probably enjoy it." Tsillah shrugged, leaning against the table she'd been working at. "So. What was it this time? Werewolf? Vampire? Spirit?"

"Demon Prince." Tsillah's eyes widened at Grace's description, a low whistle parting her lips for a moment. Grace shrugged once more. "I wasn't hunting it for my sake," she argued. "I was hunting it for Kenzie. There are still four more Princes out there that were responsible for the torture she experienced before she met Kai. I'm going to either kill or capture them."

"Ooh, lofty aspirations. Didn't that almost get you killed the last time?"

"We don't talk about the last time."