Hush, don't say a word.

Emily Matthews. Don't waste your time with silly pleasantries. I know that I won't. Without passion, we would truly be dead.

[cmcreid-warriorprincess]

"Aw man, sounds wild. I mean, the library fines alone." Havensdale had always been considered a 'safe haven' for supernaturals, the McReids had made sure of it. Of course, anyone who crossed a line was swiftly dispatched... her mom's motto. Lila McReid was open-minded, but she never would have approved of her daughter falling in love with a vampire. And neither would bloodline hunters like the Matthews. It made Krystal a little nervous.

"Right. Well, you don't look a day over jello shots," she joked, waving to the bartender for a scotch and soda. "Yeah, Karen's here. All three of the kiddos are babysat tonight so the night's wide open."

[evolution-of-emily]

"It was wild. Fun though. We lucked out; we cleared them out just ten minutes before the Mommy-and-Me-Storytime was set to start. Can you imagine vampires and toddlers mixing?" Sarah grimaced at the thought. One of the big rules she and the rest of her family followed was to try to avoid getting civilians involved. It was just a mess, and Sarah did not like messes.

"Krystal McReid, you are a liar and a flatterer. I found two grey hairs the other day, which means that legally, I am not allowed to have jello anymore. Wait, sorry, three kids? When did that happen?" Okay, maybe she hadn't kept up with the McReids as much as she should have.

[kmcreid]

Shit, it had to be Sarah Matthews. Karen gave her a sheepish smile, looking down at the ground before nodding. "Yeah, I know. Thank you," she added, promptly putting out what was left of the cigarette. Karen hadn't seen so many other bloodline hunters in Havensdale since... Well, her mom's funeral. "How are you, anyway? I saw Julia was here too. Everything alright on your side of town?"

[evolution-of-emily]

As soon as Karen put out the cigarette, Sarah gave the younger hunter a smile, pleased that she had made the right decision. "Glad to help out." And she was, especially when Karen was involved. "Yes, Jules is here. We did a bit of a sister road trip. For business, not fun, sadly. The job never stops, I'm afraid."

[kmcreid]

Karen had quit smoking ages ago... and that was why she was hiding outside, away from the twinkling fairy lights and roaring fire pits, where no one could see her. Because this one didn't count. And she could not face Krys' shit eat grinning about it. So, when she heard a noise behind her, she almost stumbled trying to waft the smoke away from her. Should she eat the evidence? No, that's unhinged. Don't do that. Damn it, she was totally busted.

"Can we both agree you didn't see anything?" @havensdalestarters

[evolution-of-emily]

Was Sarah surprised to see Karen outside, a cigarette in hand? Not necessarily. She knew how much the younger hunter had been through the last few years. Was she disappointed? Of course. A good hunter knew better than to do something as unhealthy as smoking. But Sarah did like Karen, wanted what was best for her, so she sighed and let out a begrudging, "fine. But just this one time. I mean it, Karen."

[cmcreid-warriorprincess]

"The rumours are true," Krystal grinned. It only took a minute before she felt her eyebrows raise as she realised who it was. "Oh my god, Sarah Matthews. Hi. The passage of time is totally a bitch, huh?" When had she last seen them? Her mom's funeral? "How are you? Did you want, um, a tequila?"

[evolution-of-emily]

"I know it's been a while since I made it back east. Things in Los Angeles have been insane. There was this whole vampire colony in one of the public libraries..." It had been fun to clear out. Although, when Sarah thought about it, the last time she had seen Krystal had been Lila McReid's funeral. God, what a tragic day. "Tequila? I'm not twenty anymore. Scotch and soda please. Is your sister here?"

[cmcreid-warriorprincess]

"Dare I say... Tequila?" @havensdalestarters

[evolution-of-emily]

"Oh my god. Is that...Krystal McReid? You cannot be old enough to drink. Absolutely not."

[evolution-of-emily]

Name: Sarah Matthews Age: 32 Species: Bloodline Hunter Hometown: Los Angeles FC: Lucy Boynton

the oldest of the three sisters that make up the Matthews family of bloodline hunters, Sarah definitely gives off big sister energy. Some might call her a real bitch. Sarah prefers to think of herself as effective and efficient.

hunting is Sarah's life. Yes, all bloodline hunters say that, but Sarah means it. When her little sister lost a fight to a werewolf and was turned, Sarah stepped up to be the one to kill her. It was tough, but it was what had to be done. Except Hallie vanished the same night.

it's been six years and there have been countless monsters since Hallie, and Sarah is busy raising her own daughter, Emily, to be the best hunter on the west coast. Not just that, Emily is going to excel at everything. Sarah is determined to be the perfect mother. You have her word on that.

however, Hallie is never far from her mind. Wolves need to be put down. Sarah just got a new lead lead, and it's promising: Havensdale. Sarah's been there before, there's a real community of hunters there. So, it's off to Connecticut and hopefully her sister once and for all.

Notable Connections

Emily Matthews: her daughter, aged 7 (born 1992)

Hallie Matthews: her youngest sister, hasn't seen her in six years, is on strict orders to kill her on sight @charlotte-the-confused

Julia Matthews: her younger sister @lulu-matthews

Karen and Krystal McReid: knows them of course, does not know about Krystal's whole dalliance with a vampire and would be extremely unimpressed if she did @cmcreid-warriorprincess @kmcreid

TBD: other hunters

[jakehowells]

"I can't do that," Jake replied to her snarl as calmly as he could. Three years ago, it would have been a different story. He would have pounced on the chance to get into a real fight, bloody knuckles and bared teeth, but now... He had to take the diplomatic road, first. He had to be a leader, and he had to keep himself alive. The pack had already lost too much, he couldn't add himself to that list. They needed him too much.

Something told him that Emily Matthews wasn't about to back down without a fight. He didn't really need her to, so long as she was distracted long enough for Katie to be clear. If she could run back to the safety of Montgomery Manor, Jake would make a run for it too. And if Emily was going to chase one of them, better him. Against his better judgement, his claws had started to show, but he kept his hands by his sides. "We don't have to do this."

[evolution-of-emily]

The calmness of his voice took Emily aback, made her pause for a second (and pausing around wolves was dangerous; give them any space to maneuver, and they would take advantage of it). Wolves were not supposed to be calm, after all. Her years of training had taught her that, and she was not sure how to respond. But her training had also taught her to never let her guard down, and that was exactly what she was going to do.

And there it was. Out of the corner of her eye, Emily could see his claws appear. The calmness was a lie. It was just like she had thought. "Do what? Have me force you out of my way so I can finish what I was doing before you interrupted me?" As she spoke, she shifted her weight a little, in preparation, ignoring the slight twinge in her shoulder that still hadn't faded. "Yeah, I guess we could avoid that if you would just move."

[joeysalvatore]

"Yeah, it's... ah, it's rough." Joey could feel himself digging this hole deeper and deeper, and he desperately wanted to stop. He nodded along with her suggestions, hoping the worst had passed now. Well, until the full moon. "Thank you, that's good advice. Solid. My- My dad owns the gym here so we have lots... lots of ice packs. I'll be good as new."

[evolution-of-emily]

"It sounds like it." Emily could more than sympathize. She remembered what it was like to over-exert herself, to not know her limits, and how annoying it was to have to take a break and recover. "Wait, really? He has excellent taste in TRX equipment. I'm a huge fan, not going to lie." Not that Emily was going to fangirl out of gym equipment; or, at least, she would try to keep it to a minimum.

[jakehowells]

Normally on a full moon, Jake would turn like always. A born werewolf, he'd never known anything else and frankly, he wouldn't want to. These days, he spent less time playing and more time stoically watching over the pack. A poor stand in for their real leader, but it'd have to do. Tonight, there was something in the air. A tension, maybe? Jake had a bad feeling about it, either way. He'd decided to stay on two legs tonight.

The sudden quake that had rippled through the town cemented his decision. He needed to be ready for anything. He needed to do whatever John would do. Keep them safe, all of them. It was after curfew now and all bets were off. Jake should have been with the pack, he should have been with the Resistance. He shouldn't be keeping tabs on her, still. But he couldn't help it. Katie was family. She'd always be family, and he would recognise her anywhere on a full moon. His attention was quickly pulled from her passing fur, though. He moved faster than ever before, coming around her left-hand side. Not the smartest move to make, especially with a hunter as notorious for killing wolves as Emily goddamn Matthews. "Leave her be." @evolution-of-emily

[evolution-of-emily]

Full moon nights were usually some of Emily's favorites. Maybe it seemed counter-intuitive, given her utter hatred of werewolves, but the knowledge that she might run into one of them, that she might get into a true tussle, it gave Emily a rush like no other. Yes, she liked going on patrol no matter what, knew how important it was, but full moon nights were special, no doubt about her.

It was frustrating though. Ever since the stupid dome had trapped them all here, not all the wolves were turning regularly. Almost as if they were able to choose. But a monster never would have that level of choice. It took a little longer, but, ah, there it was, some fur tangled on a bush. The hunt was on. Emily decided to keep her bullets to herself for now, to start with bare hands, just for the fun of it. She thought she had seen the actual creature, but before she could really start the chase, something-someone cut in front of her. No, not just someone. Jack fucking Howell. A wolf himself. How dare he. "Get out of my way," she snarled.

[sinfulbcll]

"Something like that. I think you'd make a wonderful spokesperson, and your merch would fly off the shelves. We can team up, I can make your novelty t-shirts," Stella teased. She moved closer to Emily while she sorted out her bag, barely keeping her hands to herself. She was very keen to get her somewhere safe and tended to. "Just let me know what you want me to hold-," she held out both of her hands.

[evolution-of-emily]

"Having The Stella Bell make my merch? If that happened, it would be a guaranteed success," Emily laughed. "Sounds like the start of an incredible business partnership." Emily decided that she was going to take Stella up on her more than generous offer; the state of her bag really was less than great, and having a spare set of hands would be great. "How about this?" Normally, she'd just the silver-handled knife, but as Stella was a civilian, she decided to hand it to her.

[indigomood]

Special Ops: Lioness (2023 —)

[kxllercarmen]

"I didn't stutter," she said, raising her brows and hardly fighting off a smirk. Carmen didn't dwell, and she certainly didn't let herself think about the maybes and what ifs. This was their reality. Still, she might like to go back to a time when they were sparring. Fighting each other, and the obvious tension. Before the dome came down, before the Institute fell, Carmen might have wished she'd done something more about it. About her.

Carmen did smile then, letting out a little laugh. "Anytime." She lingered, admittedly, before pulling back. And then she pulled out the rest of her quickie medical supplies. "Alright, where else are you bleedin'? There might even be a lollipop in it for you if you're good."

[evolution-of-emily]

"Well, in that case." Emily returned Carmen's eyebrow raise with one of her own. It was nice to flirt with the other woman, was probably the closest to normal fun that she had these days (she considered her fights with the wolves and vampires fun, but she knew that she was an outlier in that respect). "I'll make a note of that."

Emily sighed, shook out her shoulder once more, reveling in the lack of pain. "You are a miracle worker. Better than any doctor I know." At Carmen's next offer, she shrugged. "You don't have to do this. I can clean myself up. I'm a big girl, and I know you have other work to do besides looking after me."

[joeysalvatore]

"Huh?" Joey was desperately trying to pull his focus from the way his side burned. It had to stop soon, right? He cleared his throat, focusing on what she had asked. "I mean, y-yeah, I'm all good. Just... Overdid it in the gym, you know how it is-," when had he ever said 'you know how it is'- "Thanks, though."

[evolution-of-emily]

"Overdid it at the gym? I've been there before." More times than Emily wanted to admit, but hey, that was life, wasn't it? "Look, it's probably just a pulled muscle. Maybe a strain. The absolute worse thing you can do is not deal with it. I'd recommend a little stretching, a little bit of ice. You probably don't need a doctor yet, though."

[kxllercarmen]

"Right. How much does being a sexy, badass, recluse, pay again?" Carmen quirked a brow in her direction, but let it slide, for now. She wasn't going to change Emily's mind, she knew that. Still, a gal could dream. Even if the dome wasn't up, Carmen doubted the Institute was a place Emily would want to call home. A smirked tugged at her lips when Emily replied. "Sounds brutal. Sad I missed it."

Carmen didn't wanna see her in pain (not like this) so she was happy to oblige. "I'll give you the works," she said, moving closer to her. Carmen lingered there, spending a little too long staring at her lips. "One..." her voice was soft as she met her eye again. "Two..." Carmen leaned forward, lips almost catching hers, before she gripped her arm tightly and successfully shoved it back into place. "Three."

[evolution-of-emily]

"Oh sorry, I must have misheard. Did you just call me both badass and sexy? Careful Caffrey, you might make me blush. Or make my ego utterly explode." For all of her joking, though, Emily was determined to keep doing things her way. Minus the occasional scratch, it was working well enough for her. "Oh, it was absolute carnage. Completely glorious."

For all the big game that Emily liked to talk, her shoulder wasn't exactly comfortable. Yeah, dealing with a dislocated shoulder wasn't exactly pleasant, but it was certainly better than the alternative. "Give it to me good," she agreed, doing her best to smile at Carmen, glad to have the distraction of the other woman's closeness to take her mind off of things. And there was the shove, the pain and immediate relief of her shoulder returning to place. "Fuck," she managed. And then, "thank you. I owe you, one."

[joeysalvatore]

"Shi---," he hissed unexpectedly, clutching his side. Joey had thought this damn thing had healed already, pain no longer included until... Well, the full moon. @havensdalestarters

[evolution-of-emily]

"You okay kid? The way you're favoring that side...There are some stretches that'll help with that. I speak from experience."

[christopherbites]

"Ouch, my heart," Chris laughed as he hoped that Emily would take her best shot. Everything was so dull these days, he could use a little pick-me-up. He tilted his head, eyes running over her injured arm and then back to her face. "You don't? I'm still talking about it to this day but I'm biased. There's no bigger fan of the McReids than me," he grinned. "But I'm willing to pencil you in anytime, Emily. I would love to see you try-," he started, flashing his fangs before adding- "But I'd rather you at full speed."

[evolution-of-emily]

"Didn't know that you even still had a heart. Or were capable of feeling pain." She really needed to stop snarking at the vampire and getting busy moving back to safety, and yet, she couldn't help herself. Not when Christopher Andrews was involved. "But I'll jot that down." As he continued to talk about the McReids, she could feel anger building in her, replacing the throb of her arm. The flash of his fangs was enough for her. "Who's to say I'm not currently at one hundred percent?"

[sinfulbcll]

"They should sponsor you then," Stella countered with a slight smile. There were a lot of things that Stella didn't know about this town, even now. And a lot she didn't care to know. As long as Emily was alive, that was enough. Yes, the bar was in hell. "Yes, yes it would. Before you exit these negotiations though, I would like to walk you there. I can hold your bag or hand, or whatever."

[evolution-of-emily]

"What, like a Crossfit sort of thing?" Emily asked with a small laugh. "Although, I wouldn't necessarily be opposed to that. Especially if it meant getting free merch." Good, they had reached a point of agreement. And honestly, Emily was more than happy allowing Stella carry her things. Or hold her hand, as the case may be. "Sounds like a plan. Let me just..." She did want to make sure that her spare knife wasn't in danger of poking anyone.