joining the dots [holden]

[RUE ANETA SOLIS]

all the pretty visitors came and waved their arms

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and cast the shadow of a snake pit on the wall

It was dark.

Well, of course it would be freakin' dark otherwise why the hell would it even be nightfall in the first place. Rue was never this agitated; she was in fact one of the most relaxed people around, but whenever it came to matters of her son, that was when she went apeshit. She had been out for the whole day, helping out a friend at her grocery store, and with each hour that had passed, Rue's anxiety had increased. She had left Leo at home alone since the afternoon, and her overprotectiveness of her son had made her worry and wonder over and over again on whether he would be okay at home alone or not. The brunette knew that she should have left him with Sidda, but she had been unable to reach her best friend for some reason. Bringing Leo to work was out of the question, so she was forced to allow him to sit in the house by himself for the time being.

When she was done, it was then the huntress realized how dark the sky had become. Already on the verge of panicking, she dismissed herself and quickly hurried down the streets, not even pausing to look at where she was going. Rue was determined to get home to her son. She knew full well that he was probably alright and having a good time all by himself by watching Spongebob, but she was still afraid nonetheless. Nothing concerned Rue more than the safety of her son, and anything could happen while he wasn't on her watch.

It was then she realized that she was being trailed. Although she had not been in combat for years, Rue's keen huntress senses were still on high alert. She could almost hear the footsteps pitter-pattering behind her, soft as raindrops. Not in the mood to fight, the brunette hurried forward, and heard her pursuers give chase. She broke into a run, both fear and annoyance changing to adrenaline to keep her going. But her pursuers were soon right in front of her, snickering, snarling vampires who pushed her back. Rue glanced around. She was surrounded. She resisted the urge to screech her frustration and barrel her way through, but she had her own vow to keep. Rue would not initiate in combat anymore, let alone throw a punch lest she gave into temptation of going back into the hunting world. She wondered what she should do.

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[HOLDEN GRANT AVERY]

[style=width: 390px; height: 10px; background-color: #D16619; text-align: center; font-family: arial narrow; font-size: 11px; color: #FFF; letter-spacing: 3.5px; padding:5px;]IT USED TO BE WE OWNED THE NIGHT

Holden hadn't planned on going out tonight but an old hunter buddy of his had called him up saying he was in town and invited him out for a drink. He had agreed for old time's sake seeing as he actually did like the guy and it had been a few years since they'd last seen each other. It seemed that a lot of the hunters he worked with were just passing through and once the hunt was over and their mission completed they moved on to follow some new lead or trail. Having more solid roots was important to Holden though hence why he had stayed here in Manuka. Plus he wasn't as hard core about the life as most of them were and couldn't imagine simply hunting full time with nothing else to balance it out. Seemed like it'd be a fairly lonely and hard life really.

All he really ever wanted out of it was to make sure his family was safe which meant going after only the very real threats and not just any supernatural creature that happened to cross his path. Some you wouldn't even be able to tell weren't just another human unless you knew otherwise and a lot of them were actually decent people who wouldn't hurt a fly. So the whole attitude of 'shoot first ask questions later' wasn't his thing and he honestly wasn't a fan of hunters who sported it. Cost him a few friendships here or there and possibly put him on the list of what they would consider untrustworthy so to speak but that didn't bother him much. He'd learned you simply had to develop a fairly thick skin over the years.

The evening meet up had been enjoyable though and it'd been nice catching up, exchanging stories and laughing over a few of them. It wasn't overly late when they had parted ways and left the bar but the sky had turned quite dark in that time. Never one to mind the dark though Holden sauntered down the sidewalk towards his truck, parked a little ways down the street. One thing about the city he hated, not much parking. Most of the time he walked to wherever he needed to go but this time the distance was a bit farther from his house than he wished to go on foot so he'd prepared to simply park a good distance away if it came down to it. Which it had but over all it wasn't so bad and the section of the street he'd found an empty spot was a quieter one with less businesses around to fill the spaces as quickly.

He was just about to his vehicle when he heard the sound of feet pounding at a quick pace against the pavement. Glancing upward he caught sight of a lone figure running down the sidewalk on the opposite side of the street. He might have taken her to be a random jogger out for a night run had it not been for the group of people coming quickly behind her, their movements fast and stealthy and immediately setting his senses on edge. Ducking down he hurried the last few yards to his truck and concealed himself behind it just before the woman's pursuers finally caught up to her and very quickly had her surrounded. Very, very quietly he unlocked the door to his truck, thanking heaven he had just recently oiled the hinges as it opened silently. Reaching behind the seat he put a pair of night vision binoculars to his eyes, his jaw tensing a bit at the much clearer features of all involved in the fight across the street. Vamps. Dammit that was not what he wanted to see.

And hold the phone was that...? Holden squinted a bit as he focused on the woman caught in the middle of them. A very faint smirk tugged at one side of his mouth. Holy hell if it wasn't Rue Solis. He'd hunted with her a good amount of times back in the day until she'd practically dropped off the face of the earth one day and never came back. He'd heard through the rumor mill that she had a kid now and that was why she'd left in the first place but he only put so much stock in things he heard second hand. It was definitely her though no doubt about it and he wondered briefly how she'd found herself in such a tight spot though he wasn't surprised at the lack of weapons seeing as she had been out of the game for a while now. Likely hadn't even been expecting anything of the kind to occur. Thankfully he did have some weapons on him though not many specifically meant for vampires. Putting the binoculars down he reached back behind the seat again and pulled out a sharpened stake, kept there at all times out of force of habit and for his own peace of mind.

Unfortunately he only had the one so he'd have to make good use of it. Also pulling out a wicked looking machete style knife he slipped that inside his jacket before carefully closing the truck door. Quietly he slipped around his truck, making good use of the other cars around for cover to get in closer. It seemed these were fairly young vamps judging from their boldness as well as their focus on Rue and not their surroundings which worked perfectly to his advantage. This was it. Go big or go home. Gripping the stake tightly Holden swooped in behind the closest vampire and shoved it straight through its heart before pulling it out with a quick twist. A gargling shriek rang out from the male vampire he'd attacked as it fell to its knees and then the pavement dead as a doornail. "Hey Rue, long time no see," He greeted her with a tense grin, whipping out the machete as well and tossing it towards her. "Think fast!" He hoped to God she still had those reflexes in working order. It might not kill them like the stake would but it could definitely slow them down and at least gave her something to defend herself.

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THIS TEMPLATE WAS MADE BY WITHOUT A TRACE?! OF CAUTION 2.0.

[RUE ANETA SOLIS]

all the pretty visitors came and waved their arms

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and cast the shadow of a snake pit on the wall

Unsurprisingly enough, Rue wasn't afraid. Years of training and combat and having your own life on the line at all times had instilled a fearlessness in the young woman. Not to forget the other quirk of the fact that she had grown up with death all around, her metaphorically speaking. Rue had been a cold, ruthless hunter that wasn't afraid of anything. That trait had by no doubt almost killed her many, many times, but she had always her fellow hunters to back her up. Now, while being surrounded by vampires, the single mother could almost literally feel something old awakening inside her that was actually grinning. It wanted her to stab something, kick something, punch something, do anything as long as it involved combat. It longed for the thrill of the hunt, and the thrill of ending the lives of those that foolishly messed with her. It was what being a hunter was all about, keeping the peace and doing whatever normal humans couldn't. Rue suddenly felt like a policewoman for some reason. It wasn't a pleasant feeling.

"Well, fuck me." she murmured, looking around. There were about five of them, and they had left no room for her to squeeze through and escape. She doubted that she would make it far though, the five would catch her in no time and finish her off. Fuck, she wasn't about to allow herself to be leech food tonight. The thought of her son being all alone in the world without her to look after him fueled in her the desire to survive this annoying encounter. Her grey eyes blazed with determination, and she locked gazes with the closest vampire, analyzing him. Perhaps a kick to the nose...lord, did she still have her reflexes? Her strategy's most crucial ingredient was speed, and she hoped that her playing ball with Leo and catching whatever he threw at her for sport had helped. She was adamant that she was still going to be breathing tonight. Plus, these stupid goons looked young, freshly turned, she would manage.

And then she saw it, a dark shade slinking in behind the circle. It felt like an old hunter's routine, throwing in one of them as bait while the other snuck in and stabbed their opponent in the back. Rue couldn't help but grin at the nostalgia, only for it to fade away when one of the vampires snarled at her. "Fuck off," she growled, launching a nasty kick to its shin. It wouldn't do much, but it would hurt him, and that was all that mattered. Suddenly, havoc broke around her, the vampires scattering. A grin broke her features when she looked at the gasping vampire in front of her, a stake protruding from its heart. "Damn right." was her jovial reply at seeing a familiar face. 'It has been too long."

If it wasn't Holden Avery! Hell, she hadn't seen that face in ages. In fact, she had not seen any of her fellow hunters faces in a long time. The closest she had ever gotten to Holden at this point in time was through Sidda, but otherwise, Rue hadn't seen him ever since she dropped hunting. She remembered the times when the both of them hunted together, and they were quite the team. Thank goodness he was around, she'd thank him later. Right now, the brunette hoped that her old friend had shit for her to use because hand to hand combat wouldn't be enough to deal with these mofos. "Shit," she swore when the machete came flying over, but she managed to catch it in her hand, thankful that she didn't accidentally cut herself. Kudos to those ball games.

Feeling more confident now that she had a weapon in her hand, Rue glanced around. Four more buggers to go, and then they could go home. One of the vampires lunged for her with incredible speed, and she swiftly ducked, slicing the blade upwards towards his chin. It was messy, but right now, Rue was out of practice, and she didn't give a shit. The vampire howled in pain, and she quickly removed the knife from his now messy, bloody chin. He was definitely not going to be moving for a while. "Just like old times, eh?" called the huntress to her friend. "I've been out of the game too long I'm afraid."

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