Chapter 1

Hey guys! First, I'm so excited for this story! And second, this chapter is basically an explanation of how things work, there isn't much dialogue. But stay with me, I can assure you that it won't be like this all the time. I decided third person for this story because it would be so much easier to describe everyone's feelings which I'm going to have to do in some intense chapters. Alright well that's all for now. Oh and I do NOT own any of the characters of Once Upon a Time.

| 2:45 pm |

Emma Swan throws on her red leather jacket and heads to work. What exactly does Emma Swan do for a living? For now, let's just say she gets rid of bad...people. And people meaning vampires.

She pulls into the parking lot which is monitored by four guards. The only way to get in is by having a work ID or guest pass. Although for Emma and many other long - time employees, they can go in without seeing anything but their familiar face. As soon as they recognize that it's Emma, they give her a thumbs up and press the button that lifts the thick metal bar blocking the way. Emma smiles and drives to her reserved parking spot.

The company is called FH and it stands for: Fang Hunters. But the thing is, the public is very unaware of vampires. The only ones who know are the people who work for FH, and the humans that are the prey of the vampires, who only have seconds to know before they're killed. To the public, FH is simply known as a government building. Everything is highly classified here. It was easy to go with the government because although everyone believes they hide shit, no one ever really takes action. So of course FH has the Area 51 rumors and all that jazz but, nothing ever more is thought of it.

She sits at her desk and opens the top drawer to pull out a small black box. In it is a very special ring that every employee - that goes out on account of their job - must wear. She slips the silver-banded ring with a blood-red gem onto her right index finger. It's how she starts every work day. It's one of the most important things because when wearing said ring, she is able to detect when a vampire is actually a vampire. The wearer will see a slight blurry fog/light that outlines the vampire. It's very faint, but just enough to let the wearer know.

That is of course if one doesn't notice the dull red eyes and fangs. But these vampires aren't idiots, they know how to hide these things when they want to.

Emma puts the box back in the drawer and pulls out her laptop to check her emails for any upcoming assignments. About a year and a half ago, FH defeated the vampire coven that took over the woods of Storybrooke. So since then, the assignments have either been big out of town and/or state assignments or for single stragglers that occasionally find their way into this small town of Storybrooke.

Who could blame them though? Maine is almost fully covered in wooded regions. And Storybrooke specifically is known for hunting. There are way too many deer, foxes, and even coyotes that roam in the huge wooded area, so there are always people out there who hunt. These woods aren't just known for hunting, though. It's also a beautiful place just to venture through. Many people take runs, hikes, and even camp out for a few nights. This is unfortunate though because it makes it easier for the vampires. They have more prey.

Why couldn't those vamps just hunt the animals and leave humans alone? It sickens Emma to think about how many people have been brutally killed by them when there's a perfect solution right in front of them.

Truth be told, they don't kill as often as one would think. When there was a coven in Storybrooke, there were only killings two to three times a month. Now there's maybe one a month? In Storybrooke that is. There are other companies like FH around the world but this one is the best, which is why they go out and help other companies.

David passes by Emma's desk so she says, "Oh hey David! Any rookies today?" David is the Recruiter. He is the one who finds special people who are up for the job. He was the one who found Emma. No normal human being can defeat a vampire. They are much too strong so David finds those who are stronger. For example, there's Emma, Zelena, and Gold who have powerful magic. There's Elsa who wields ice magic. Graham and Snow are amazing archers who stay way behind and shoot from afar since they can't use magic. And those just name a few.

But magic isn't enough to kill a vampire. God no. Magic only weakens them. The only ways to truly kill a vampire are: cutting off their heads, tearing them to pieces, a direct and complete hit through the heart, or burning them to ashes. This requires...certain equipment. Vampires are extremely old legacies which calls for extremely old weapons to defeat them. Emma's favorite is her ebony halberd axe.

David stops in his tracks, "Actually, yes and her name is Ruby. I think you might like what she has to offer Swan. Nothing we've ever had before." He slightly smirks and carries on with wherever he was off too.

Emma was quite intrigued and was looking forward to meeting this Ruby.

As Emma scrolls through her emails, she notices one from Gold - her boss and the leader - where the subject reads 'CODE RED'. What's weird is that Gold rarely sends emails. The assignments come from the Researcher, August. He and his team find out about a killing and its location, and then emails a hunter/hunters to go solve it. Emma frowns and clicks on the email to view further details. She takes a few seconds to read. Apparently something has happened and everyone must meet in the conference room at 4:30. Emma feels a bit anxious. Nothing major has happened in a long time, and of course, she starts assuming the worst. Another coven? She questions herself. For the good of all, hopefully another coven hasn't made their way into Storybrooke once again.

XXX

Emma heads to the conference room and takes a seat next to Graham. She rubs her hands together nervously, "What do you think this is about?" She asks.

Graham looks towards her and grabs on of her hands, squeezing it quickly and letting it go, "I think you probably already know. I mean what else could it be?"

More people start filing in. Once everyone is seated, Gold stands up front and center. "Alright everyone, quiet please. As you know, I emailed you about an emergency. The best thing to do is just come right out and say it since I suspect most of you already know. There's a new coven that's found quite a liking to Storybrooke."

There's a bit of chatter in the room as everyone reacts to the news. Emma groans quietly. Yes this is her job, but when there's a huge group of vampires in town instead of stragglers, the people in town are in so much danger. And they can't exactly tell them what's going on. The people just couldn't handle it. So they stick with letting them assume it's animal attacks.

Gold continues when everyone calms down again, "The group calls themselves the Shadow Bloods and their leader goes by Fiona. How do I know this? Because she paid me a personal visit last night. Before I could even think to attack, she was gone. You thought the group we defeated a year or so ago was hard? That was child's play compared to this new coven. They are stronger, smarter, and faster. And they like playing games. Especially if it's Fiona who guides them." Gold sneers.

Zelena rolls her eyes, "Stop exaggerating. You're just trying to scare us and make sure we're on our toes." She crosses her arms. A couple people mutter in agreement.

"I'm not exaggerating, I'm preparing you for what's coming. And you should be scared, this is going to be our toughest challenge yet. We don't and I repeat, we don't leave today. We simply prepare, research, and train. That's it." He says sternly.

The room is silent. Everyone is shocked or scared. Not really for themselves so much but for their families and friends. The most they can do in tell them to stay inside and hope they listen. As soon as vampires discover who's apart of FH, they go after their closest friends and family to weaken them and anger them. People who fight with extreme anger fight poorly.

This is a dangerous business to be in. Emma often regrets working in this place because of the most important person in her life: her adopted son, Henry. He's four years old so when Emma goes to work, he is watched by his nanny, Belle. She tries not to ever discuss Henry or have any pictures of him anywhere. The less everyone knows about him, the better. That way he isn't as much of a target to those damn bloodsuckers. People are aware of him but they know not to bring him up.

Everyone is dismissed and goes back to their desks to try and prepare as much as they can for the Shadow Bloods. Emma sighs. She pulls out a water bottle from under her desk when someone approaches her. She tries not to stare for too much time as she looks at flawless long legs. She finally makes her way up to an unfamiliar face. The girl has long wavy brown hair, huge eyes, and a sharp nose. She wears a red hood, which Emma thinks is a bit interesting, but she doesn't question it.

"Hey, I'm Ruby!" She flashes a huge grin and holds out her hand.

Emma shakes it as she says. "Ah so you're the newbie. I'm Emma. So I heard about you earlier, what exactly can you do?"

"The famous question." Ruby giggles, "I'm a...werewolf."

Emma's eyes go wide. She's a werewolf? Well shit. "Damn, that's - that's awesome!" Emma grins, she can't help her excitement. This badass wolf is going to contribute so much. Emma can picture it now, Ruby tearing off limbs upon limbs as Emma weakens the victims with her magic.

"Well Ruby, I think we are going to get along just fine. If you have any questions, just ask me. I've been here for so long." She shakes her head.

"Thank you. And if you have any questions about, you know, feel free to ask." She says with a smirk.

"Well now that you mention it…" Emma trails off, not really knowing how to ask.

"You want to see if firsthand, don't you?" Ruby asks knowingly.

"Yeah...yeah I really do." She admits.

"Well alright then, here goes nothing." Ruby states and is about to transform there when Emma quickly stops her.

"Wait! Not here. We have a training field in the back, that will give you more space."

Ruby blushes, "Right right, I knew that."

Emma laughs, "I'm sure you did." She grabs her phone and they make their way to the back doors of the building.

"It's safe out here right?" Ruby asks suspiciously.

"Yes, the vampires would be stupid if they actually tried to come here with our equipment and security. All of the wielders of magic came together and cast a protection spell against the vamps that surrounds the whole building and the land it sits on. It was quite a process, but it was worth it. And as for the public, there are gates and guards everywhere. We're good."

Ruby nods. "My hood helps me remain human, I haven't had much practice yet with the transformation. Actually David came to me shortly after I gained this ability. He said I would be trained here though. But for now, I need someone to put the hood back on me." Emma nods in understanding.

She then watches as her hood is untied and falls to the ground around her feet. Ruby's eyes suddenly glow yellow and within seconds, Emma sees a huge wolf standing just a few feet in front of her. She blinks her eyes. That was so quick. And boy was she intimidating. Emma couldn't believe that Ruby, a very slim and cheerful girl could turn into this beast. She was impressed to say the least.

Ruby starts running circles around Emma, causing her to laugh. She spins as she tries to keep up with Ruby's speed, but quickly falls behind. Emma pulls out her phone and starts recording her.

After several minutes passed with them playing around, Ruby trots back towards her robe and lays beside it on the ground. Emma takes the hint, grabbing it and putting it over her body the best she could.

Then Ruby is human again. Her yellow eyes slowly fade back to brown.

"Ruby, that was amazing! Seriously, I envy you." Emma playfully glares at her.

"Thanks Emma, and it's so exhilarating. When I'm a wolf, I feel...free. The air around me is so different than when I'm human. It's sort of hard to explain." She shakes her head. "But hey, I never asked, what can you do?"

"I possess strong light magic. Gold claims it's the strongest light magic given to me by an old, ancient spirit called The Savior." Emma rolls her eyes. "I still think that's just a story though and that he was just trying to make me feel special so that I'd join FH." She shrugs.

"Ooo very cool. I always wanted to try magic. But I guess it just wasn't meant to be." Her brow furrows.

"That's alright, you have something just as great, if not greater. Now come on, I will introduce you to my friends." Emma pulls her towards the door to meet with Graham and Snow.

So is this something that I should continue? (I will probably continue it either way, just wondering what you think). And don't worry, our dear Regina will be seen in the next chapter. :)