Ryan Aze stood in the corner of the room, his eyes fixed on the newspaper in his hand. Twenty years old, his dark brown eyes had the look of a man who had lived three centuries. He brushed his brown hair out of his face, not even looking up as the door at the end of the room opened.

The girl that walked in had a definite look of confidence about her, and it was fairly easy to see why. Rachel O'Reilly was stunning. In any other life she could easily have been a model, but the life of a model was not for her. Where was the fun? The thrills? No, the life she led now was the one she was happiest in.

The blonde girl at the table looked up from her breakfast as Rachel walked in.

"Green now?" She asked with a laugh, as she took another mouthful of her Froot Loops, her jade eyes shining in the light.

"Like it?" Rachel asked, brushing her emerald hair behind her ears.

"I do, actually." came the reply. Lilly Summers had always been a little jealous of Rachel's natural beauty and grace, although she herself was a figure of beauty. The difference between the two girls was that Lilly had a confidence problem. She'd had it all her life; her drunken father had never given her a reason to think otherwise.

As they were talking, the door opened once again. The boy that entered stood about 6'4, a good two inches taller than Ryan, and he held himself with a definite swagger, the same confidence held by his twin.

"You know, eventually it's just gonna fall out." Harrison remarked, without even looking at his sister. He didn't need to look to know that her hair was once again a different colour. It was, after all, the first of the month, and tradition was tradition. He looked over his shoulder as he put his bread in the toaster, catching site of the green. "I preferred the purple."

"Well, fortunately, I don't give a shit what you think." Rachel grinned back at her brother, pouring herself a bowl of Froot Loops. "I do this for me, not you."

"When are you just gonna make up your mind and decide who you are?" Harrison questioned her, one eyebrow raised, quizzically.

"I know who I am," the girl replied. "I'm a thief. The best in the business. Just because I change my hair colour every month doesn't mean I change what's on the inside."

Harrison thought about this for a moment before shrugging his shoulders and turning his attention back to the toaster. Rachel looked over at Ryan, his attention still solely on the paper in his hands.

"What's with him?" Rachel asked Lilly, nodding her head in the direction of the boy they had all come to think of as their leader.

"Dunno." She replied, looking a little concerned. "Hey Ry, you've had your nose in that paper all morning. What's so exciting?"

There was no reply. Either Ryan hadn't heard, or he was ignoring them.

"Ryan? Raze!" Rachel shouted, trying to break the spell that held his attention. Ryan looked up, his face in a scowl.

"You don't have to shout. I heard you the first time." He folded up the paper and headed to the door. "Conference room. Five minutes."

Lilly sighed as he left. "He's too damn mysterious. How does Renée put up with it?"

"Oh please." Rachel replied, "Given the history those two have, it'd take more than that to split them up. Besides, he's probably a really different guy with her. You know how guys are."

"True." Lilly sighed, casually looking over at her ex, as he fumbled with his toast.

* * *

Renée yawned, wiping the sleep from her eyes as she sat down at the table, wearing nothing but the pair of boxer shorts she slept in and one of Ryan's old t-shirts, which swam on her petite frame.

"Busy night?" Lilly asked, giggling at the smaller girl, who seemed utterly exhausted.

"I believe it was a wolf moon…" murmured Harrison, casually taking a bite of his toast.

"Well, we all know how energetic Raze gets during one of those…" Rachel replied, a wry grin forming slowly over her face as she looked across at Renée. The girl blushed, her cheeks turning almost as red as her hair.

Raze stood at the head of the conference table, an unimpressed look on his face. "Finished?" he asked, his arms folded across his chest.

"Oh come on, Ry. You call us all in here and don't tell us what's going on? We gotta make our own fun, man." Harrison complained, his mouth full of toast and peanut butter.

"Yeah, what's the deal?" Rachel asked, looking in disgust at her twin.

Ryan threw the paper he had been holding onto all morning into the centre of the table, where Lilly reached over and grabbed it.

"So we've got a problem." Ryan stated, nodding to the article on the first page. "Lilly, if you would."

"Uh, ok…" Lilly's eyes began skimming over the page. "Uh, let's see…woman found dead in the Botanical Gardens yesterday morning…um, blah blah blah, respected teacher…oh!"

"What?" Renée asked, looking up suddenly.

"Well, it says here that it looks like she was killed by a pack of vicious dogs. She was basically shredded. Police are warning people to keep all dogs locked up at night."

"Wild dogs?" Harrison asked, with a hint of concern in his voice. "So we're talking about…"

"A wolf." Raze confirmed, lifting his head to look Harrison in the eyes. Renée reached up and put her hand on her boyfriend's, slipping her fingers into his. "Anyone listen to the radio this morning?" Raze asked the group, not surprised when he was met with nothing but shaking heads. "Well, another body was found around the same area this morning. Same M.O. But that's not the worst. The guy found dead was out with his girlfriend. She was attacked by what she described as a hideous giant dog. It was just by luck that the thing didn't kill her. They're calling it a miracle. I'm calling it a huge misfortune."

"Any idea on the breed?" Renée asked, her hand squeezing Ryan's.

"Not a positive, but based on the description…Lycanthropus Australis." Ryan replied.

"Fairly common then. And now we're looking at two of them." Rachel sighed.

Ryan looked over at her. "At least. Just because only one case made it to this morning's news, doesn't mean it was the only one."

"So what's the plan?" asked Harrison, swallowing the last of his toast.

"The usual," Ryan replied, "Destroy the bad guy, save the girl."

* * *

The basketball echoed as it bounced off the hardwood floor.

"So really, what's the plan?" Harrison asked, as he dribbled the ball towards the hoop. He took a shot, and sighed as it bounced off the backboard. Ryan grabbed it on the rebound, and dunked it easily. Tall as he was, Harrison was terrible at this game. Then again, Ryan had played for years.

"Well, Lilly and Renée are down at the hospital as we speak, in nurse outfits. We found out the girl that survived goes by the name Jade Saunders. Tonight is the last wolf moon for this month, and her first, so we've only got until midnight tonight to get her the cure. Shouldn't be a problem, a couple of "nurses" should be able to give a patient an injection without too many questions. Besides, worst comes to worst, Lilly should be able to distract anyone easily enough. She doesn't like to think it, but that girl is a lot more powerful than she realises."

As Ryan was speaking, Harrison stole the ball and went for a dunk, scoring this time.

"Fluke shot!" Rachel called out from the sidelines, having looked up from her nail file in time to see the ball go in.

"It was a dunk!" Harrison argued, "How the hell do you fluke a dunk?! It's like the easiest shot to make, if you're tall enough!"

Rachel laughed at her brother. It was so easy for her to get him aggravated. Harrison turned his attention back to Ryan, who had already picked up the ball, and was back at the three-point line. He sighed again as the ball swished straight through the ring.

"Dunno why you bother, man!" Ryan laughed, signalling for Rachel to throw him his drink bottle.

"Hey," Rachel looked up suddenly, as something occurred to her, "you said the girl, Jade or whatever, wasn't injured that bad, just a few cuts and bites here and there, right?"

"So? That's still more than enough to turn her." Raze replied, tossing the water bottle to Harrison.

"No, it's not that," Rachel shook her head, "it's just…why is she still in hospital? A few bandages and a tetanus shot and they should have sent her on her way, right?"

"Oh," Ryan had already wondered the same thing, "well, Lilly and Renée checked the net for anything they could on her this morning, and between the limited knowledge the two of them have of anything technological, they managed to find out that she has nowhere else to go. No family or anything. She was living with the boyfriend more or less wherever they could. So I guess like the street or something."

"Like all of us at one point or another…" Harrison said quietly.

"Ry, we can't leave her like that!" Rachel exclaimed. "Harrison's right, we were all on the street at one point or another, we know what it's like, and I refuse to let her stay like that!"

Ryan watched as Rachel got fairly emotional during her speech. It was rare to see her feel passionate about anything, ever. "I'm already ahead of you, Rach. The girls should be bringing her back with them, assuming she wants to come, and, well, believes them about everything."

Harrison looked at his watch. "They should be back soon, they've been gone a while. I'm gonna head upstairs and take a shower."

* * *

The tall black-haired girl sat in the kitchen of the building the others had all come to know and love as their home. Everything was stainless steel, and it all shone. Next to her sat Lilly, with Renée opposite them. As Ryan walked in, fresh from his own shower, Renée stood up and kissed him. After all of their years together, the two of them still sparked.

The twins followed him in, and as they stood side by side, it was impossible not to realise that they were related. They stood with the same confidence and swagger, and were both good looking. Rachel looked over at her brother, and found him ogling the pretty young girl that now sat on the kitchen bench next to his ex. It was fortunate for the whole group that their break-up had been on good terms, and they had remained friends. Knowing what he was thinking, Rachel leant in close to her twin and whispered in his ear.

"Her boyfriend was just eaten, remember? Try and wait at least a month before you pounce on the poor girl."

Harrison scowled at her. "Please, how pathetic do you think I am? I wasn't even considering hitting on her." Rachel raised an eyebrow at him, to which he just rolled his eyes and looked away.

"Guys, this is Jade, Jade, this is Ryan, Rachel and Harrison." Lilly introduced, motioning to the three that had just entered.

"Nice to meet you," Ryan greeted the girl with his unique smile. It was a smile that looked like it didn't belong on his face at first. It crept over him slowly. Renée stood close to her boyfriend, her arms around his waist, and his arm over her shoulders.

"Uh, we're really sorry." Harrison told the girl, with complete honesty in his voice.

"For what?" she asked, a little confused.

"Uh, for your boyfriend…"

"Did you know him?" Jade looked Harrison in the eyes as she asked this, and it was suddenly clear to him that she had some European blood in her somewhere down the line. Perhaps Turkish, or Greek, maybe even Maltese. While at first glance she seemed Caucasian, upon closer inspection, her dark eyes and structured cheekbones told another story.

"Well, no…it just…seemed like the right thing to say…" the boy stammered, caught off guard by the question.

"Oh." the girl replied, looking at the floor.

"So I'm guessing the girls filled you in on the basics?" Rachel asked, motioning her head to Renée and Lilly.

"Kind of," came the reply, "mostly that the supernatural stuff you see in movies is real. And that Michael was killed by a…werewolf…" she continued, obviously having a hard time saying not just that her boyfriend was dead, but that he had been killed by something that wasn't even supposed to exist. "And that I was bitten and would have turned tonight, but they got the cure to me in time."

"And that we want you to stay with us, at least for a little while." Lilly finished for her.

"Right." Ryan said, thinking about all of this. "Well here's the stuff they didn't tell you: every one of us here has a talent. Some not as obvious as others, some of us are a lot more powerful than the rest of us put together," he explained, looking specifically at Lilly and Renée as he said this, "but whatever our skills, we are all a vital part of this organisation."

"We call ourselves Silver Bullet." Rachel took over, having been thought of as second in command ever since she had joined the team. "This building used to be nothing more than an abandoned factory. Using the money we pull in from the phoney charities we've set up, we were able to revamp this whole place into what you see now, as well as continue to fund ourselves. We have the best equipment possible."

"So, you're scamming people out of their money?" Jade asked, looking more than a little shocked.

"Not exactly," Harrison cut in, "see, they think they're donating to help save lives. And that's exactly what we do, just not in the conventional way you'd think."

Ryan picked up where Harrison left off, "We fight evil. Demons, monsters, vampires, the whole deal. We are the ones that the evil things fear."

"There are a lot of things that go bump in the night…" Lilly started.

Renée looked up at Jade, a sudden coldness in her otherwise bright blue eyes. "We are the things that bump back."