Pearl Woods's Story

Pearl sat up in her bed, breathing heavily, her clothes damp from sweat. "Just a nightmare, just a nightmare." She slid out from the covers and walked to her bathroom, taking a quick shower, brushing her teeth and putting some clothes on, a pair of dark denim skinny jeans, a white tank top and a pair of boots, she grabbed her phone, purse and keys. She left her room and went into her kitchen, grabbing some toast and a drink of pineapple juice. "I guess I'm going to have to go check out these pregnant women murders, aren't I?" She looked down at her pixie-bob, Greytail, who was just staring at her with his green eyes. She rolled her eyes and shook her head, walking over to the door, putting a thin purple scarf around her neck and a light leather jacket on. She took the elevator down and got into her black 2008 Hyundai Elantra, going to the closest murder scene.

Pearl arrived at the nearest crime scene, which was the first one sadly. "Couldn't leave anything for the people that would have been able to solve this?" She remarked, looking at some left behind police tape. She touched the ground, smelt the air, listened to the sounds around her, tasted the water, felt the cold that death left behind and looked at the scene before her. "Seeing is a fifth of knowing." She reminded herself and went to looking around. "Pregnant woman and water." She thought aloud, knowing no one was around. "What sort of demon are you? Is it even a demon?" She looked all around the crime scene before taking a notepad from her bag and putting small points down. She looked over her shoulder and noticed a small golden ring. She picked it up and put it in her back and left, heading for the library.

She drove through Spring Ave. and noticed 2 people trying to get into the finest home. She felt something a bit weird about the woman but the man was definitely human. She stopped her car and stepped out. "Everything alright?" She shouted over to them and looked at the man, he looked familiar but Pearl didn't think too much of it.

The door slammed in Jo's face and she had to take a deep breath to suppress a snarl. Why do people always choose the hard way?

"Fine then, I'll just have to break in when your passed out." Jo was able to access their medical history briefly before passing out. She didn't do to much digging around as she scanned over the more obvious facts. Actually, the entire family was in perfect health and the only current medication for both was diazepam, also known as valium. No doubt they take it at night to help them sleep, and from her history in the medical field of veterinary medicine, she knows it'll knock someone on their ass.

She wished the whole detective thing worked for her, but it didn't. Apparently there was nothing about her persona that read balanced authority figure. To be a successful detective, one needs to have the perfect balance of hardness and softness. Jo was either or, never in between. With a roll of her eyes she turned on her heels and almost stopped in her tracks. The same car she had admired back at the gas station was slowly rolling by. Obsidian eyes narrowed slightly, now that she could get better look and smell of the owner, she recognized the tell tale signs of a hunter; the sulfuric smell of rock salt, burnt gunpowder and always the faint stench of death. She was suddenly aware of the chill of the blade against her skin tucked beneath her shirt. He was either on the same case as she, or she was the one he was hunting.

Suddenly a woman's voice snapped her from her momentary lull. 'Fuckin' awesome. It's a bogo on hunter's today.' Alright, she had to play this off, she calmly walked closer towards them, as close as she dared to.

"No problem, I got this guys. And quite frankly, I don't play nice with others." She chose her words carefully on the very slim chance she was wrong in their profession, though she was rarely wrong.

Jason sat in his car as he struggled to uphold a nonchalant demeanor, at this point Jason was essentially a spy staked out on the corner of Spring St and so he deemed this approach as the most suitable to the task at hand, people rarely pay attention to the obvious. The large majority of which having little to no experience with cloak and dagger observation and infiltration-These surveillance tactics failed to obscure Jason's hunter persona, he was clearly dealing with hunters like himself.

Jason could sense them just as they sensed him, its a knack possessed by but a few.

It wasn't until he had approached them for a closer look that he came to realize that he had perhaps seen these hunters somewhere before. Another proclivity of many hunters is their ability to know a monster immediately upon being exposed to one, and the black haired chick standing near the Jengko residence was certainly suspicious-"One monster at a time!" Jason thought to himself.

Looking in his rear view mirror he could see a blond haired woman standing beside a black Hyundai Elantra, she being too far away for Jason to make any kind of assessment of personality or possible species.

There was no distortion of features or illuminated red eyes, which usually betrayed many types of demons when viewed through a mirror, as Jason was now doing.

He heard this blond call out and witnessed the dark haired girls reaction and movement toward the mysterious blond. Jason wasn't much into 'hunter parties' and so he quickly drove away from the scene, with the intension of returning to Spring St later on in the day.

Pearl looked over her shoulder and watched the car drive quickly past. Pearl turned back around to the dark haired girl. "No need to be rude. What is it about your kind being so rude and aggressive?" She made her eyes turn an even brighter and lighter blue, not just the iris but the entire eye. "You know it might be in your best interest not to piss me off and let me help you." She glared at her before pushing past her and knocked on the door. The Filipino woman answered again, she seemed a bit more agitated. "Hey, my car's broken down and I have no battery left on my phone and I really need to talk to my husband," She smiled and rubbed her stomach. "I haven't even told him but I'm pregnant." She whispered to her and smiled, waiting to be let in.

The stare which the blond received from the now irate Filipino lady at the door could have burned a hole through steel. It wasn't until Pearl mentioned her pregnancy that the woman's expression changed from a scouring stare to the lightest, most wholesome smile.

"Oh, I love children, pregnant you say. How wonderful. Certainly little miss, you may use my telephone."

The middle aged woman escorted Pearl into her home with a hand placed lightly upon the swell of the blonds back. Then, turning her head toward the outside to cast a final glance at the rude girl in black. While still fixated on the young woman outside Mrs Jengko welcomed Pearl into her home.

A most sinister smile broke out upon the woman's face.

"So my dear.....how far along are you."

SLAM!! The door shut tightly behind them.

Pearl smiled back and walked in, when the door slammed it faded, ever so slightly then she forced it back. "You love the taste of children." Pearl swirled around, her fist curled and flying towards the woman's face. "Ignis manu!" Flames curled around her fist as she struck the woman's face, the fist mark burned into her left cheek. She then ran to the door, opening it for the Black haired girl. "Get in!" She yelled, the flames gone just as she opened the door, but the woman yanked her back by the hair, Pearl let out a scream and grabbed the woman's wrist trying to get her off. The door slammed again. "HELP!" Pearl screamed and frantically kicked as the woman pulled her up the stairs by the hair with Pearl clawing at her wrists.

'Shit!' Jo thought to herself as she the car left dust in its wake. Half of her was relieved to watch him speed off, the other half alarmed. She wasn't able to read him before peeling off. He may have just decided to move on to the next gig, or he may have found a more interesting one, her. All she could do was wish on a dying star that she wouldn't see him again.

Her attention then focussed on the blonde who wreaked of pineapples and...Fresh Step?! Oh great, cats. She used to love cats, but now a majority of the four legged furballs hiss at the sight of her. All Jo could do was raise a brow as the woman spoke, arms folded across her chest. 'Your kind,' did she make her? It wasn't until the subtle metamorphosis of her eyes that Jo understood, 'your kind' was a loose term for hunters not like her. Her hand raced for the hilt of her blade beneath her shirt. 'What the fuck is that? Demon? No...then...what?' Jo had to resist the urge to geek out and pull out her little monster diary. Instead she held fast, tensing as the woman brushed by her. Given her own condition, Jo was a little hesitant on automatically slicing up other creatures.
The woman approached the house with a different demeanor as Jo watched from the bottom of the stairs with boredom written across her face, though it was a ruse. Behind the front, Jo was eager to see how this would play out.

'Pregnancy. Damn, why didn't I think of that?' She rolled her eyes at her own stupidity. Playing your own bait, that goes into Jo's mental playbook. Though, the way Mrs. Jenko flipped like a shadey politician, well it gave her the chills and it wasn't long until her suspicions were varified.

Just as Jo was walking up the stair all hell broke loose, not literally, hopefully. She heard the whole conversation before the door flung open and Jo was greeted by the blonde's frantic demands. Suddenly a grotesque and distorted hand grabbed the hunter by the hair.

"Ah gross!" Jo hissed before kicking off her heels and hicking up her skirt to a managable height. The knife that her fingers have been itching to wield finally made an appearance as she threw her shoulder into the door. It gave way suprisingly easy, which made Jo stumble upon entering the house.

The blonde was more than halfway up the stairs, all that was visable were her flailing limbs. Jo hopped up the stairs two by two in order to catch up to the woman in trouble. She wrapped one arm around the blonde's waist and the other thrust her knife into the assailant's...uh...achilles heel? Jo pulled her blade back to her as she contorted her face into horror and confusion, things on the monsters foot were backwards.

Either way the beast let go of the blonde with a unnatural yelp. Jo helped to prop the hunter on her feet before standing and trying to gain some distance between herself and the whatever it was that was trying to eat/kill them. An ominious shadow quickly overcame her, eyes glanced over the darkening walls. Was she being overshadowed by wings? The powerful blow to her back focused her back to the task at hand, and knocked the wind out of her. She found herself tumbling down the stairs, the world around her whirling into a confusing mess. Jo landed on a table, the legs breaking beneath her impacting blow. She lay there dazed a moment, trying to get her wits about her.

"Argh" A sharp pain snapped Jo back into the situation she was in, her double vision focused on her bleeding midsection. She may heal quikly, but she still feels pain and an oversized splinter had impaled her. She groaned slightly as she pulled the wood from her body, her cells already working to replicate and repair.

Obsidian irises glanced up at the disgusting disfigurement of the Analan as it approached quickly. Her eyes then scanned for something, anything that may work against this creature. It was safe to say she was winging it at this point, there was definately no hand book for this little side show freak. Jo ran for the fireplace where fire pokers lay beside it. She hoped against hope that this bitch was just over confident in having iron fire pokers in her home, or maybe it wasn't even her home at all. Maybe she posesed goul like properties and could change into her last victim.

Whatever the case, she barely made it towards her goal as the beast was upon her, she turned in a nick of time. The heavy reaching hand spearing itself on the tip of the iron poker. 'How the hell can you function with backwards fingers?'

"Hey Blondie, a little assistance!" 'Especially since you got me in this mess.'

Pearl was free to react as the Analan attacked Jo. "Ignis!" She called, the fireplace light up and the Analan was distracted long enough for Pearl to run into her, knocking her off Jo, she helped her up and got into a fighting stance. "So how do you defeat these things?" She whispered to Jo as the Analan recovered.

The two female hunters were far too busy battling the grotesque Analan spirit to notice Jason's quickly approaching vehicle, the breaking and smashing sounds going on inside the biulding drowned out the screeching of his wheels as the Lincoln came to a stop only inches from colliding with the structure.

"OK, what the hell do I do now." Jason thought.

The literature seemed to be particularly vague as to how one should deal with the Analan, though Jason did remember something about their young as a way to get to the spirit-creature itself. The only problem was where to locate this creatures child, was this the house where the beast was staying or did Jason and the other hunters interrupted something when they showed up upon its doorstep.

Now that Jason was up close he was able to hear the commotion which was no doubt much louder on the inside, its a wonder why no one had called the authorities, but then Jason remembered the vacant houses on this street-No one to call for help.

Making his way to the back door Jason let himself into the home, luckily the door was not only unlocked but slightly ajar.

As Jason crept through the darkened house he tried to remember what the had heard regarding ways to dispatch an Analan, all he could come up with was what he had learned from rumor. It made sense in a way, the Analan were obsessive when it came to their children, their whole existence revolved around acquiring offspring through their unnatural ways.

The sounds of struggle, which seemed to be coming from the living room, had suddenly stopped, he then heard one girl call the other. Earlier Jason had driven away and therefore never learned their names, as a result he wasn't able to distinguishes who was calling who.

Hearing one of them being refereed to as Blondie help a bit in distinguishing them, it was sufficient enough; he now had an idea of who was where.

The two hunters had apparently grouped together and Jason was about to join them when suddenly he heard the light sounds of crying-A baby?

"Defeat it? I don't even know what THIS is." Jo shrugged as she digested the fact that she was working with a witch. She'd have to address that later, as now they had more pressing matters. 'Mental side note, check self and belongings for hex bags.'

The sudden smell of burning rubber filled her nostrils and Jo was left slightly confused, not that being in the know seemed to be the theme on this job. This thing has got to have a weakness, the only issue is finding it. Bodily harm doesn't seem to be doing the trick and blow to the head is no good without a gun. "You go that way, I'll go this way. I'll keep her busy, you figure it out."

With those words a wounded hand knocked Jo into the wall beside her, the monster's blood smelling of raw sewage. Jo painfully pushed a rib back into place before opening her mouth. "Hey you fugly Bitch! Have you had enough?"

Pearl skipped to the other side of the room, avoiding the woman. "How am I supposed to do that?!" She shouted at Jo and then looked at the bookcase beside her. "Never mind." She whispered and grabbed a book on legends. She flicked through the pages looking for something. "Ugh nothing!" She moaned and threw the book at the Analan. She grabbed another and flicked through the pages, The Analan. "Found something!" She smiled to herself and it described the Woman perfectly, except for the part about the baby. "Keep her deformed as busy!" She told Jo as she run from the room, checking the downstairs for a baby, before running upstairs. A guy was standing in the room. "Ignus manu." She called and put her flaming hand out. "I will hurt you, just give me the baby, you male Analan?" She asked uncertain.

Things were getting a bit hectic in the only occupied house on Spring Street. The black haired female hunter was downstairs injured and sitting against the living room wall near the entertainment center.

The Analan spirit-creature glided just above the floor, carried aloft by its immense black wings as it slowly approached Jo Lovely.

Jason was still standing in the doorway of the fifth bedroom where he had located the Analan's offspring. Pearl was closing in on his position, she had mistaken him for an Analan spirit-being, like the one standing in the living room, who was about to wrap its hands around Jo's neck.

"Give me the baby, you male Analan?" Jason heard the blond female hunter call out from behind.

She could see Jason standing in the doorway and shadowed by the blue glow issuing from the moon outside, as its soft hued beams slightly illuminated the hallway.

"There is no such thing as a male Analan." Jason said softly as he slowly pivoted around to face Pearl, in his hands was the malformed and winged offspring of the Analan below.

"You know what must be done, right?"

Jason looked down at the small creature cradled in his arms and then back up at Pearl.

"You may not want to watch this."

"Well maybe there is, we just haven't heard of it, or seen it." Pearl thought aloud and then she dropped her hand. "I have seen worse." She told him and looked down the stairs. "It isn't even human." She shouted down the stairs. "Mummy Analan just left the baby up here all alone, anyone could walk up and oh I don't know kill it!" She turned to Jason. "Now!" She told him, turning back to watch the Analan and Jo, she was not in the best place right now. "Wait, what if this doesn't even work?" She asked, turning around to look at him, her confidence was less now.

"Yep, piece of cake." Jo weakly threw her the okay sign, not that she could see it. Jo however, could see the shadow looming closer. She rose to her feet only to have creepy fingers wrap around her throat and slam her against the wall behind her. Another finger wriggles and worms its way into the already shrinking hole in her abdomen and all Jo could do was clench her teeth to stop herself from wimpering.

'Any day now.'

Her wishes were answered with perfect timing as she heard Blondie's taunts from upstairs. The analan heard it to, whatever the fuck that is, as she could feel a certain tensness in its grip before it released her. Jo crumbled to he floor in a sheer coughing fit, the walls of her esophogous now free to breath in deep breaths.
The creature hurried its way to the second floor, conveniently taking the express route and bypassing the stairs entirely. Jo sat there a moment, just needing to take a little breather. She had no doubt that she would hear the blonde if she needed her help, though she was sure she could take care of herself...almost.

Jason had convinced himself that the death of the infant could somehow be the instrument of the Analan's death, he obviously had no real way of knowing this as a certainty, but it was the only option open to them.

If there was anything good about the world 20 years ago it was the fact that a hunter was blessed with a sense of certainty when it came to dealing with monsters and spirits, there were centuries old remedies for such things, but this was a whole different ballgame. These days there was no certainty in such matters, many of the creatures that hunters were forced to battle were completely new.

As Jason held the defenseless creature in his arms he began to have second thoughts. Jason was just about to turn around and place the infant-creature back into its makeshift crib, but then he saw the momma-beast approaching the blond haired girl from behind.

The obscene cracking and popping sounds of its knuckles echoed through the hall as its clawed fingers bent from their back-turned position to one of attack. Jason didn't quite know what to do, the mother creature had taken him by surprise, allowing very little time to formulate an idea of how to dispose of the infant-creature.

The best plan he could come up with in that moment was to throw the infant down onto the floor and hopefully break its neck, but before he could manage it the baby's black wings spread out and it immediately took flight.

!!Note to hunters...baby Analan can fly only a few hours after being born.!!

The mother Analan was only inches away from the unsuspecting blond, as the claws upon its sinewy, slender fingers dripped with anticipation.

Jason was distracted by the flying baby Analan which hovered over his head. Then, from the corner of his eye Jason saw the adult Analan standing directly behind the blond and without thinking or really aiming Jason pulled his Walther P99 from under his shirt and fired-Direct hit between the eyes. The Analan fell to the floor with a loud thump, not dead, but merely stunned.

Unfortunately this would only help delay its attack upon the two hunters, the only sure fired way to kill the Analan was to destroy the baby, or at least they hoped it was.

A bullet wouldn't kill an adult Analan, but what about a baby Analan? It certainly wouldn't hurt to try and find out. With this in mind Jason repositioned his weapon to fire at the baby monster fluttering above.

Another monster suddenly appeared behind Jason-It was a familiar type....A Cambion.

"Do you know how hard it is to come by one of them." The Cambion said to the terrified and stunned hunter.

Pearl watched as Jason went to kill the baby, only for it to fly. "What the fuck?" She exclaimed, not noticing that the mother was behind her. "Shoot it!" She called but then he turned his gun on her. "No!" She cried ducking down just as the bullet flew past her head, she looked at the body lying just behind her. "You could have killed me!" She screeched at him before going over to the stunned body, she lifted her foot and kicked her in the face. "That's for pulling my hair." She turned back to see some man approach Jason. She hid behind the wall, hoping he hadn't seen. Where did he come from? Who is he? She thought to herself before looking at her hand then down the stairs. Save him or help her? She asked herself, then decided on helping Jo. She snuck over the body and tried to creep down the stairs. She seen Jo sitting down. "Are you okay? Are you hurt?" She whispered to her, she kept checking that the man hadn't followed her or anything.

Standing before Jason Blackburn and Pearl Woods was a bonified Cambion from medieval legend, a half-human, half demon, the offspring of an incubus and a human woman, such creatures were even more rare then the Analan. The child of the incubus is in danger from hunters until it reaches its seventh year of existence, at which point it becomes increasingly difficult to differentiate one from a human being.

Although this Cambion was devilishly cunning, as it is generally understood, though its appearance was anything but Angelic. The reason for this departure from its common nature remains a secret however, for this particular Cambion was not what it appeared to be.

The creature stood before the two hunters in its beige dress-shirt and jacket vest, bald headed with the bloody remnants of its last meal still smudged upon its face. The Cambion had black eyes, but unlike the garden variety demon, they possessed black billiard ball pupils with the rest of the eye remaining white. This unique physiological attribute gave the appearance of shining rings of pure white when seen under dark conditions.

It was only when the Analan acted aggressively toward this new creature that Jason realized the two were apparently deadly enemies. The mother Analan charged the demon and attacked it, or at least it tried to, the Cambion simply raised its hand and touched the Analan's forehead, causing the spirit-creature to be instantly reduced to ash.

The Cambion then raised its opposite hand and made the infant Analan vanish as well.

"What the hell? Cambion don't possess......."

Before Jason could get the thought out the Cambion itself had vanished.

It seems as though the hunters have a bit of a mystery on their hands. Why would a creature from medieval legend abduct a Philippine spirit of putridity.