Winter in Wrocaster

Chapter 1

( Artwork of Lester by my good friend Corrupted Hex on DeviantArt.)

It was about a quarter to nine. Just another 15 minutes until Lester could close up shop for the night. It wasn't that he didn't like his job, it had just been a slow day. Well, more like a slow week. Lester looked in a mirror hanging on the wall, wondering if his appearance was scaring people off. There he was. A tall fellow with a slim figure and a TV perched upon his shoulders. ' Its probably my TV head thats scaring people. That or the blood dripping down my neck from under it.' He thought. He had just turned back to his desk when the wooden chimes he had on the door jingled. He snapped his head up and his gaze met an odd fellow with a hooded cloak wrapped around his scrawny frame. The man walked to his desk. " How can I help you?" Lester asked
" I have a job for you to do." Lester noticed the man's fangs when he spoke,
" Alright. What do you want me to do for you?"
" I need you to protect this young woman." He placed a photo of a girl on Lester's desk.
" Seems easy enough. Where do I find her?"
The man flipped the picture over. Some coordinates were scrawled on the back in pen.
" This is where I last saw her before I came here."

    Lester took another look at the coordinates. He looked up and saw a grocery store before him. He watched for a moment until a woman walked out. Her hair was white and her skin was extremely pale. Her hands seemed to have crystals of ice forming on them. The most striking thing about her were her piercing red eyes. Lester recognized her from the picture. He slunk into an alley and climbed onto the roof of a building. He followed her from the rooftops. She slipped into an alley, looking around.
She walked forward a ways until someone said.
" Well lookie here boys, its the little Half-Breed."
A few more people crawled out of the alley's shadows, blocking off any chance of escape.
" You again. What do you want from me?" The woman growled.
The person sneered and walked towards her. She began to back up until her back was pressed against a wall. To Lester's surprise, the look on the woman's face was not one of fear, but rather an angry scowl. The person drew slightly nearer and the woman kicked them in the face, clipping them right in the jaw. They flew backward a little and landed on their back. The other people watching looked absolutely shocked. The person got up and growled. " Get her!"
    The woman was surrounded. She held off the other people, kicking and punching them away from her. She took a few blows herself but nothing major. Then a few of the people pulled out pocket knives and switchblades and began to advance toward her. Lester maneuvered over the rooftops to a specific spot. The woman bared her teeth, showing off two thin fangs. The other people laughed and kept advancing. She looked around with panic, but there was no way out. Then, Lester leaped off of the roof.
The woman had no time to be flabbergasted at the TV headed man that seemingly came out of nowhere. She cut another person across the face with the crystals on her hands, making four nasty gashes in their face. Lester pulled a pistol out of his coat and aimed it at the leader guy.
" Stand down, or I'll shoot."
The leader roared with laughter and the other people laughed with him.
" How about we just kill both of you?" He snickered. His lackeys continued advancing. Lester fired shots at the people, most falling dead after one shot. He moved around the alley a bit in a bloody flurry. He used his claws to mow people down left and right. He fought his way through the crowd to the leader and shot him right between the eyes. The other people gawked in horror and shock.
They scattered, quickly running off. Lester put away his pistol. The alley was a bloody mess and the woman was staring at him with a half fearful-half grateful expression. He strode over to her, stepping around bodies as he went, until he was standing right in front of her.
" You alright?" He asked.
She flinches and then says " Y-yeah. Thanks for helping me out there."
" Don't worry, I'm not gonna hurt you, I've been instructed to protect you actually."
Lester extends his hand and says " Name's Lester."
She takes his hand and shakes it.
" I'm Winter."
" Well it's good to meet you, Winter. You got a place to stay?"
" No sir, I'm not really wanted around here. Y'know, being a half-vampire half-human hybrid and all."
" You can stay with me then, c'mon."
" Wait, what are we gonna do about these bodies?"
A few wiry people with golden skin and orange eyes wandered into the alley on all fours. They weren't wearing shirts and most had long, scruffy brown hair. A collection of brown and black quills lay flat against their exposed backs.
The largest of these people, with a scarred chest and fangs that protrude from their mouth approached a body. They look up and their eyes met Winter's. Their quills raise and Lester quickly said. " Easy there Pikes, she's a friend."
Pikes lowered their quills and they and the other people started eating the bodies. Lester and Winter walked off down the road. Lester's shop wasn't that far away.
    The two went inside Lester's shop and Lester said " There's a second bedroom upstairs, go ahead and make yourself at home, I'm gonna take a shower."
" A shower? But your head."
" I know, but water doesn't really seem to effect it."
With that, Lester walked off to the bathrooom.