Chapter One

Shh, don't let the big, bad vampire get ahold of you.

Chapter One

 

I always figured that when I would die it would be at my own hand. Maybe a deep cut across my wrist, or an over-dose of the special pills that kept me sane. Never, though, would I take a gun to my head, and pull the trigger. That would be too messy, and the last thing I wanted people to do was have to clean up another mess of mine once I die. They would already have to clean up the mess that I had created for years. The only reason I haven’t killed myself yet was because the drugs, not matter how much I took, would never kill me. And lashing out on my wrists was a mess and very ugly. Even after death, I knew my aunt would be flippin’ out on how I looked. I wouldn’t be shocked if she had a whole fashion line for me to wear for my funeral. Maybe that’s why I chose to wear her favorite shirt that she made personally for me with my normal, hunting shorts. Sure it was a fine combination except for the fact that without a corner of the shirt tucked into the back of jeans it would look like I was wearing a dress, but I didn’t really worry about that; I was more worried about displeasing my aunt.

                It’s already been six years since she took me in after the horrible tragedy that ended with my parents dead and my siblings missing. I was surprised she even chose to take care of me. As I always remember, we never got along very well, and she was always disgusted with the fact that such a horrible creature could be born into such a perfect family. I believed she did it only because she didn’t want to look bad for the press that seemed to only ever be focusing on my s**t of a life. I came from a rich, famous family, though, so it that excepted when they were murdered. Although the publicity did some good for my aunt as her line of fashion starting getting more and more famous. Not that she couldn’t have just told people to wear her clothes; many would have been privileged to wear something made by the Bay family. It could have been a duck suit, and people would have still worn it in an attempt to look ‘cool’, just like the famous people.

                I always laughed at people like that. Their lives so perfect yet they never saw that. They only saw the shallow remarks of other people about their clothes and looks, and they took every remark to heart. Those poor, poor souls, as they believed, they never really saw what a living hell of a really bad life was really like. They didn’t kill people in the middle of the night. They didn’t look over their shoulders at every action to see if they were being watched. They didn’t sleep with one eye open and a knife by their side. They didn’t have to fear everything in this world. They only had to fear the ignorance of the world around them. They didn’t have to worry about being discovered. They didn’t have to worry for their own life.

                Not that I ever worried about my life. I truthfully hated life, and have been trying to end it since I was nine. Yet I’ve failed several times and put my life into the ridiculous job of Hunting. Sure, I chose it only a few years ago as the only job I wanted to do, but I’ve found more and more that there was no point in it. What did I really think? That I could stop all the bloodsuckers of the world? As if that would ever happen, even with my kick-a*s team. I’ve been their leader for two months, a record in my book. Two months may not seem to be very long, but in the world of Hunting, two months is like a century. So much could happen, and so many could die. I’ve already lost two of my hunters only a few weeks ago when a raid went wrong. And tonight I knew something was wrong, I just didn’t know what.

Something just wasn't right.

Maybe it was the way wind blew, rushing past my already cherry, red cheeks and tangling my hair. Or maybe it was the lack of moon and stars in the sky. The sky was a sea of black with no signs of light; only the dim, eerie light of the street lamps light my way. Yet, I believe, it was the silence that wrapped around me. The only sound was the scratching of my sneakers scrapping against the concrete sidewalk, and the low whistle of the winds that seemed to talk. Something isn't right, it whispered in my ears. Turn back now.

I shook off the winds warnings, laughing a little at myself. It was just my nerves. All the fright I should have felt the past couple years was catching up to me, that's all. There was absolutely nothing wrong with this night. It was just another hunting night. Everything was perfect.

I continued to stroll down the street, my head down and out of sight from the few civilians making their way home on this stinky, summer night. It had been humid and sunny all day; it was hard to believe that school would start in a week, and soon the warm, summer nights would disappear and turn into brisk, freezing hells. Our hunting would be put to a slow down, and we would let more of those evil creatures run havoc on the human world. But we had school, and we had to blend in with the rest of the world; if we didn't we would get caught and killed with no mercy. We knew the risk of this, yet we took the chance of still meeting up every weekend to plan and hunt.

I turned down the alley, searching for the hidden door behind the dumpster to our hide out. We chose this spot in an abandon warehouse because it was more than three miles away from any of our houses, and, we hoped, that our scent would be disappeared among the wind before any creature could follow us home. It was safe. Or the safest we could get. In our world, we were never safe. We had to constantly look over our shoulders in case of danger, and always be careful to who we talk to and what we talk about. We never knew who was listening, and one bad move could cost our whole teams life. We couldn't afford to mess up.

I kicked the green dumpster out of the way quiet easily. I was pretty tough for my age and height, but I guess I had to be with all the crazy legends I fight against. My legs were my best weapon too, for I could run long distance without breaking a sweat, and could kick dumpsters without breaking a toe. In my team that's happened more than once to most of them. It was classical joke amongst us all, one of the few things we ever joked about. I ducked under the wooden planks that blocked the door from when this place closed down, and stepped inside.

No light flittered in the room. With all the windows being covered with more wood or sheets, we usually had a light in here. Without one it was pitch black during the day, and scaring black at night. I reached for my flashlight attached to my belt, but found the little loop that held it empty. D****t; I left it sitting on washer before I left. I sighed; time to do it old schooled. It took a few seconds but my eyes eventually adjusted to the darkness around me. It wasn't perfect, of course, but at least now I could make out the boxes and other objects around me. I groped my way to the corner of the room where I knew a lamp would be. I shuffled my feet along the ground, hoping not to trip on anything, but I only ran across one thing and I quickly stepped over it before continuing on my way. I made it to the lamp and switched it on, blinking at the sudden light. The light wasn't very strong, but it did light the room a little so we could see. But it also created many shadows around the room, and, to me, they all seemed to dance and grow closer together when I walked by. It was almost like they were reaching out for me.

I laughed a little at myself. No, they weren't reaching out for me. I've been told that for years, and was even given medicine, but the stuff never seemed to work. I was cursed to witness the dancing shadows alone.

I turned around and froze, my breathing hitching in my throat. Wh-h-at was this? This couldn't be true. I rubbed my eyes, but the scene didn't go away. All there was blood. Even the smell of blood and death filled the air. It was horrible smell, almost like flesh and rust baking in the sun. I pinched my nose to make it go away, but it was still in my memories making me gag in my throat. But tears started to form in my eyes and roll down my cheeks as I realized where all this blood was from. It was my team. They lay there on the floor with their eyes opened wide, filled with the last emotion of life. Fright. Their throats were ripped out and blood spurred from the wounds. And to make it ten times worse, a boy stood in the middle of room with a bloody grin.

"Another one had come to seal their fate I see," he said, still smiling. His voice was thickly accented, and his words slurred together a little, but it was still clear.       

I stared at him for a few seconds, not sure of what to say. But what could I say? Why’d you kill my friends? Of course he would have killed them; we were vampire hunters. To them we were meant to be killed as much as they were meant to be killed to us. I watched him and studied him, thinking of some way to kill him.

The boy was only about sixteen, maybe seventeen at the most. His skin was the color of worn out bronze and his hair was like chocolate as it barely covered his eyes from view. But I could still see them and was amazed. His left eye was the like the ocean while his right was like freshly grown grass sprouting out in the spring time sun. I bit the inside of my lip. He seemed to be like any other teenage boy, yet as my eyes traveled to the inside of his arms I knew to think otherwise. His right arm was marked with the black silhouette tattoo’s that twirled and whirled up his arm.

I narrowed my eyes at him. He killed my team. My whole team! How was that even possible? We were one of the best in the country. Hell, we were the best. If he could have killed them all that could only mean…. “Who are you?” I asked, venom in my words.

                “Why does that matter,” he asked. His voice was thickly accented, his words slurring together. “I am going to kill you in only a matter of minutes.”

                “Whatever happened to the warning you get? I thought it was you get one warning and banned before you are hunted and killed,” I said.

                The boy smiled, and I gritted my teeth. I knew that smile from somewhere. “So you do know the laws. I always believed vampire hunters were stupid, and did not pay attention those types of things.”

                I lifted an eyebrow. “Why do you think we wouldn’t listen to the laws?”

                “Well it seems that you do not listen to your own worlds’ laws. I had always believed that you would ignore ours.”

                I frowned. “You believed wrong. We, or I should say I, know the laws. They deserved a warning, a branding, a second chance. You had no right to kill them,” I spat. He had no right to kill them. He had no right.

                He seemed unfazed and a little bored. “Yes, maybe so, but I have the right to do whatever I want. Including killing some stupid hunters. Anyhow, they did not get a second chance if their leader already had one.”

                I froze. “What?” I asked. My voice was sharp and unsure.

                “You are on your second chance, if I am correct,” he said, a smirk appearing on his face. “Actually, I know I am correct. I remember you; you were the smallest and most dangerous hunter I had ever laid my eyes on. You are very interesting, may I say.” 

                My jaw locked, and a growl released from my throat. “You were the one who branded me. You’re the one who gave me the ‘second chance’ instead of killing me.” I shivered from the remembrance of that night. It was my first time hunting, and let’s just say everyone was on their second chance except me. “You killed everyone but me, even if the leader was on their second chance. So you still had no right to kill my team.”

                He laughed a short, humorless laugh. “I did that out of pity. It sickens me to see such young children throwing their life away in a helpless cause. I tried to give you some sense, but it seems that you did not listen to me.”

                I grinned. “I have listening problems.”

                “Of course you do. Now because I do not take pity on you anymore, and you are rather annoying for killing too many of my kind, I am going to have to kill you,” he said, taking a step toward me, and still smirking like he had won a prize.  

                “Go ahead,” I whispered, the words rolling off my tongue.

                He stopped and looked at me with an appalled expression. “Excuse me?”

                “I said ‘Go ahead.’ I want to die, is that a problem?”

                “Yes!” he yelled. “You have life and you want to die? Do you understand anything?”

                “I understand what I need to understand. And yes, I want to die. Why would I want to live? I have nothing left in this world, and I hate life. But why does my life matter to you? You are just going to kill me anyhow,” I stated.

                “Maybe so, but life is something to value. You have already thrown yours away, and unlike everyone else who would fight to fix it or are just throwing it away.”

                I shrugged. “I hate life. I could have fixed it easily, sure, but I found no point to. What is lying ahead of me anyway?”

                He shook his head. “You are a stupid girl.”

                My eyes widen before narrowing into little slits. “Excuse me?”

                He raised an eyebrow. “You are a stupid girl,” he repeated, smiling.

                “No one calls me stupid,” I hissed. “Now I’m going to have to kill you.”

He just laughed, and suddenly I couldn’t breathe. Something was blocking my airway, and when I looked the boy had his cool hand clapped firmly around my throat. His hand was like ice, making my body shiver even in the warm, humid air. His eyes were enraged with angry as he lifted me off my feet. My heart thunder against my chest, and my lungs were using up the little air I had left.

"No human has ever killed me before you stupid girl. I highly doubt that you will be first. Now do you understand, or do I need to explain again?”

                I shook my head, hoping he would put me down so I could breath, but he just kept looking at me with a curious look. He lightened his grip to where I could breathe a little, but it still wasn't enough air for me to feel comfortable.

"You look a little young to be a leader," he said, tilting his head to the side, studying me.

I narrowed my eyes. Was he making fun of my age? “You look a little young to be dead,” I mocked.

I was thrown across the room without any time to even think. I just remember seeing that fire enraged angry in his eyes then I was flying through the air. I crashed into the boxes stacked on the other side of the room, and crumpled to the floor. The boxes fell on top of me, making it difficult to get back on my feet. But I got up, throwing the boxes off of me, and stared into the eyes of the boy. He looked surprise, like he didn't accept me to get up.

"What the hell was that for!" I yelled, clutching my fists.

"H-o-ow did you get back up?" he asked a little alarm.

"Did you really think I become leader because of my size? I don't get hurt easily, and throwing me into a bunch of boxes won't do m-" I stopped, and suddenly clutched my side. "What the hell?"

I looked at my side where blood was spurring out. It took me a few seconds, but I finally saw the nail that was dug deep into my side, pinning my shirt to my body. The pain of it piercing my skin started to form as I still stared at it in shock. It didn't hurt me enough to cry, but it still numbed up my whole body with pain. But the scariest part of it was the blood squirting out, and the vampire who was trying to kill me. I fell to the floor, with the boy on top of me. He had a new look in his eye. Hungry.

"You smell delightful," he whispered, leaning his head close to my neck.

He lowered his head into my neck, and I closed my eyes waiting for the pain. His cool lips pressed against my skin, his tongue roamed across it looking for the perfect vain. When he finally found it, his fangs gazed across my skin before sinking in. I yelped as the first pinching pain ran through my body. I shut my mouth in an attempt not to scream as all my blood stopped in its usually flow, and traveled to that one little area. It was like my heart was beating backwards as it beated faster, pounding in my chest like thunder. My body was tense and unsure for it was used to fighting against the pain, yet now I was summiting to it. I was defenseless. I knew this even after I felt the blood stopped being sucked away and the boy got off me laughing.

"You are delicious. But now the sun is coming and I have to leave. What a waste of blood," he said before he left. It didn't take long until the pain was the only thing I felt, and my body went completely numb with no blood. I sighed and closed my eyes and waited for the darkness to consume me. But I didn't get darkness. No, I got something much, much worse. My worst nightmare.

 

Author's Note

comment whatever you think. thanks.