I sat on hard bench as I had been instructed to do but having been sitting in the same spot for almost an hour a sort of numbness had taken over most of my lower limbs. My plum painted lips pulled down in a frown as the fall breeze ghosted over me, ruffling the fine strands of my snow colored hair into my face. I groaned as a shiver raced through me. I pulled the light coat tighter to around my body in hopes of keeping out the chill that was attempting to creep in.

The annoying crackling feedback of the bug in my ear sparked with renewed life, "Target headed in your direction Black Widow." My twin brothers deep tenor voice echoed through my brain. I deepened my frown at the use of the ridiculous code name. I should be at home in my warm bedroom studying for my english midterm tomorrow. Instead I'm out here in the cold, hunting demons with my crazy family and freezing my ass off. All Cons and zero pros.

I narrowed my green eyes as I spotted a shadow moving up the abandoned park pathway to my left. Instinctively I tightened my hand around the hilt of the blessed throwing knife in my jacket pocket. My muscles tensed as they readied for battle, it was a memory action that brought a calmness over to my mind and spirit. The shadowed figure wandered ever closer to in my spider web and a familiar hunger began to build inside of me.

It was the same thing for all offspring of the seven great druid families. Our blood reacted to demons in a particular way—it was a siren song not easily ignored no matter how hard one might try. I had fought the call many times but in the end the need to purge overrode everything. It was the curse of the druids—a tale as old as time. We were made to keep the balance in the supernatural world. Personally I would give anything to be a normal person in a normal family who lived completely oblivious.

The demon approached me with a seductive smile on his lips. To the normal human they would have seen an attractive young male on an evening stroll but I knew that the soul that had inhabited the human flesh was long gone. In its stead was a wolf waiting to devour the innocent with an insatiable hunger. My frown faded as I forced my lips to turn upward into a returning smirk of my own.

"Isn't it a little late to be out here by yourself? Places like this can be dangerous for beautiful girls." The demon fished.

I tilted my face upward to meet the demons gaze head on, doing my best to look innocent, "But I'm not alone—" He lifted a questioning brow, a suspicious light firing in his brown eyes. I twisted my grip on the blade hidden in my pocket, "You're here with me."

His eyes roamed lazily over my body and I did my best not to gouge them from their sockets. He took a step closer to me, right into the finely spun web I had drawn an hour earlier. The blood in my veins warmed and hummed at the demons nearness activating my soul magic. The demon hissed as the binding circle he had stepped into revealed his true nature. I found myself staring into black pits of hellfire as I rose from the bench, gritting my teeth against the stiffness of my limbs.

"Druid!" It tried to move towards me but the binding circle kept it frozen in place. It growled in with rage, swiping clawed hand through the air as if they would be able to catch me. I pulled out the hidden blade, flipping it around in my hand. I was purposefully taunting the beast before I sent it back where it belonged. This was nothing but a low level demon, something my younger siblings could have handled with their hands tied behind their backs.

"Even if you strike me down.There are thousands more waiting to take my place—" The demon hissed at me, saliva dripping from it's fangs.

I stilled the blade in my hand as I leveled the demon with a cold gaze, "Tell them we'll be waiting for their arrival with cake and red juice." I tightened my hand around the blade before I pulled my arm back and let it fly. It hit its mark perfectly, nailing the demon right between the eyes. Its head snapped back as its lips parted. A high pitched death scream echoed through the abandoned park, fading into the darkness overhead. I watched with disinterest as the body shriveled in on itself like a dried out piece of fruit before finally combusting into ash.

The blade clattered to the broken pavement with a familiar clang. I sighed as I stepped forward, bending over to retrieve my weapon, "Black Widow has disintegrated the target." I whispered under my breath in annoyance, hating my brothers code name for me.

"Good work Black Widow. Meet up with Pumpkin Queen at the rendezvous point." My brothers voice broke through the feedback.

"I resent the fact that you're still calling me Pumpkin Queen Darren! Yet you give Poppy the cool code name? She barely even hunts with us anymore..." Jocelyn whined in a whispered reply. I rolled my eyes in a silent response to my younger sister. I reached up and pulled the bug from my ear not wanting to listen to what sure to turn into a bickering tournament between the two of them. I carried myself down the path at a brisk walk wanting to put an end to the night as soon as possible.

My hair whipped about as the wind began to pick up, a hint that there was an incoming storm. That's all I needed to make this night perfect, getting drenched in rain. A strange prickle raced up the back of my neck, causing the fine hairs to stand on end. My eyes narrowed as I scanned the shadows around me, the feeling that I was being watch burned against my chilled flesh.

My soul magic remained dormant which meant whoever was watching me was not a demon but that didn't mean they were any less dangerous. I shoved my hands deeper into the pockets of my coat, making sure I held firm to my source of protection—the blade in my right pocket.

I continued my pace trying to keep myself from giving in the paranoia that was swirling in my mind. Someone was hanging around in the shadows, it felt like a bad omen in the back of my mind—something I shouldn't ignore. The sound of rustling behind me had years of training and instinct taking over. I spun on the heels of my boots, pulling the knife from my pocket at the same time. My lips were pressed together in determination as I moved swiftly with the intention to kill.

I came face to face with the wide eyed terror that was my younger sister. The tip of my knife was a centimeter away from cutting into the flesh of her creamy neck. We both paused in silence for a moment—neither of us breathing. Her tongue flicked over her lips as a sign of her anxiety, "Christ Poppy! Are you trying to kill me?" She snapped as her wide eyes began to narrow into dangerous slits. I snorted and pulled my knife back, relaxing my body, "If I was trying to kill you, you would be dead." I let my eyes scan the space around us but the presence that had been hanging about seemed to have disappeared.

"Don't joke about my life!" Jocelyn screeched in my ear. 

I frowned as I turned my eyes back to her, "Don't be so dramatic. You're still alive aren't you?" I heard her sputter at my response as I turned away from her with an eye roll I was famous for. She mumbled angrily under her breath as we started heading back towards 'the mystery van' as Darren liked to call it. All I wanted at the moment was to get home, study and try to pretend that I had spent my night like every other college freshmen. 

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Song: Walkin' after midnight --Patsy Cline 

A/N: I won't be posting anymore of this story until I'm finished with 'A Grimm Fairytale' which I believe there is probably about ten or so more chapters until the end. So you won't have to wait too long. This is me being nice and giving you a preview ;-) consider it an early christmas gift. 

Also the song was kind of meant to be ironic. hahaha (That's my sense of humor for you)