<sup>The forest was perfect for hunting. Especially at this time in the day. Dusk. Campers were busy setting up their tents for the nights, and hikers that had come in the day were making their way back to their cars, ready to head home and rest.

A blonde man was lighting a fire, unaware of the vampire that was watching him from the shadows. He waited until the slim man sat down on a log and shivered, holding his hands up to the fire, before he attacked. It was easy- one swift movement and Nikkolas was behind him, snapping his neck. He grabbed the man's neck and drank his fill before grabbing his body and tossing it under a fallen tree nearby. He covered it with dirt and leaves, hoping that wolves or bears would do the rest to the flesh.

He turned around, shoving his hands in his pockets, before walking away, dead leaves crunching under his feet. He wasn't being as stealthy as he was before, and planned on going into the city for the rest of the night until he saw a new face in the distance. He cocked his head to the side and squinted.

"Hello? Is someone there?" He decided to play the dumb card, even though he was sure he saw and smelt a body in the woods near him.</sup>

outfit

~*~

Staying with Mason had made teaching him all the easier. They really took care on one another and life was much easier than it had been living next to Jack. She could go out when she wanted to, come home at whatever hour she wanted to and didn't need to worry about her daughter at all. She didn't know whether that last part was a good thing or a bad thing, it just made life a lot easier and right now she thrived on easy.

Tonight she'd decided to go out into the forest simply because it was a safe place to practice her magic without worrying about people watching. Her store was closed now anyway so she had no other obligations than to herself. It was time to look out for number one and try not to hurt anyone.

Sitting down on a fallen tree, the witch knew she wasn't entirely alone in the woods, but she also knew that nothing could hurt her unless she let it. And who knew, maybe she wanted to be hurt? Just to feel something again. Ever since that last fight, she'd been more or less numb to any kind of feeling at all, and she didn't want to be so comfortably numb, even rage would be better and she couldn't even find that.

"Don't go skulking in the shadows like some creep," she chuckled in reply to the vampire's question and made herself a fire to keep warm. "Unless you need to hide a body or something, then there are much easier ways to go about it."

<sup>Nikkolas scoffed. "Excuse me, but I'm no creep. I'm a vampire. You know. Shadows and fangs and rah. This is normal for me. You, however, should be at home brewing potions or turning people into frogs or whatever it is you do." He grinned, letting himself relax as he took a few more steps closer to the fire, but kept his distance. He knew he couldn't feed off of a witch, and he even recognized this one. Well, only slightly. He liked to familiarize himself with all the supernaturals in town, but especially witches. It was nice to have those on his side.

"There's no better place to hide bodies than the forest, love. Haven't you ever watched Law and Order? They're always in the forest. Always.

He chuckled to himself and eyed the fire again, hoping she was in the same joyful mood he was and that he wouldn't have to make a break for it. Although, if it did come down to a fight, he might stick around for a bit. But those damnable witches had burned him more than once. He tilted his head to the side, examining the female. Who was she? He was sure he'd seen her before; at least heard of her. She must've been relatively high-up.... no! She was the one dating that wolfy-council-man. Or were they married? Ugh. Those council members. The only reason he didn't slaughter them all is because of all of those super-kids and witches and werewolves and it would be so messy and blah.

But back to this one. "Seriously, have we met before?" He raised his eyebrows and pointed in her general direction, smiling faintly. Then he waved her off. "Well, actually, I'm sure we haven't met face-to-face, I would have remembered." He batted his eyelashes as best he could. Once again, witches were nice allies.</sup>

Another chuckle escaped the witch at the vampire's notions of what was normal for both of their kinds. "Lucky for you then that I deal more with rings and charms than that kind of magic. I like working with vampires, we have a lot more in common than people think." Amanda absolutely hated to be compared to the witches in cartoons that sat at home and brewed potions, but maybe that was because potion-making was one of her greatest weaknesses. She could probably make an antidote for a poison to save someone's life, but that was about it.

Amanda really didn't mind vampires though, more often than not, her partners were of the undead variety simply because she enjoyed the thrill of being reminded she was merely mortal after all. Besides, she knew it pissed a certain werewolf off and she loved any excuse to make his life miserable. "I just meant it's always handy to have a witchy friend that can just burn the remains to cinder or bury them without effort. I know all too well how easy it is to hide someone in the forest."

She wasn't out to hurt the vampire, in fact, she'd never hurt a vampire if they didn't do anything to her. Though the way he kept examining her made her raise an eyebrow. "Trust me, unless you knew my former employers or have commissioned a daylight ring from me, we've never actually met. What kind of lame line is that anyway? Does it ever work on anyone, or do you save your cheesy remarks for the petty humans?" Yeah, ok, so she was slightly bitter. Vampires had it so easy, they could just make someone stay with them for however long they wanted the company and just terminate the relationship when the time came and drop the body in the forest.

"But where are my manners, please, sit? I promise I won't hurt you and you don't even have to promise you won't bite. Unless you want to of course. I'm Amanda," she smiled slightly, hoping she was at least making a good effort to be nice to the vampire. Vampires made great friends and they were good at taking the edge off things without her going out and seriously hurting someone on her own.

<sup>"Oh, please. I don't actually have to talk to most of the humans. They fawn over me like bees to honey. Look at these eyes. Do you see these eyes? Blue. Yeah. They love it. I remember one girl, she said, 'They're the color of the sky!' but that was sort of cheesy so I ended up throwing her in the lake-- anyway I would love to have a seat."

He grinned and sat on the fallen log, his hands still in his coat pockets and his eyes still bright and playful. It looked like he wouldn't have to fight with this witch today, thanks to his good mood. The hiker was enough to satisfy him for the night. Although maybe later he'd run out and grab a prostitute or something... oh, well. Those thoughts were for later.

"Nah, I got my daylight ring from some bitch in Alaska. She gave it to me in exchange that I never set foot in the state again. Something about cursing my life into the fiery pits of hell. I dunno. Alaska was boring anyway." He laughed again, but only because he was in a good mood. He wondered where that witch was now? Probably dead. It was at least 180 years ago... Maybe he needed to plan a trip up to Alaska soon. But, once again, his mind was straying. He focused his eyes on the witch in front of him.

"Nikkolas is my name. I'm sure you were wondering." He leaned in a bit and grinned a toothy smile before straightening back up.</sup>

The witch couldn't help the chuckle that escaped her as she listened to the vampire talk. He was actually good company, even if she didn't know him. It just proved once again that she had more in common with them than with regular humans since she was so easily bored with humans and pretending to be something she wasn't. She absolutely hated trying to fit in and be a regular human, as she craved to use magic as much as humanly possible.

"I'd say never going to a boring state like that is a small price to pay for a ring. I usually charge money, promises and something to track down the vamp with, just to make sure they keep their word. Well, I used to anyway. Until I stopped giving a fuck who they killed during the day, now I only charge money. After all, a girl's gotta make a living." Amanda really didn't care what people used her rings for anymore.

"Well, of course I was curious, talkative as you are. And now you're not a stranger anymore either. You'd be surprised how much fun you could have with a friend who doesn't give a damn about the consequences about anything," she smiled. Oh, she'd go to great lengths to have fun and make sure certain friends had fun as well.