The sun set behind the towering buildings and walls. At first, a few stars twinkled tentatively, then more and more shimmered in the darkening sky. Below, lights flickered to life in the many windows like a golden reflection of the sky. The moons rose and Ranloo paced in the old house.

Worry gnawed at him. Where was the thief? He should have been here by now. Looking out the window, he saw more people than usual moving back and forth along the street. Every time someone came too close, he retreated from the window, leaning back against the wall. Both to avoid being seen and to keep himself in check. It was hard enough to stay indoors with so many people and sounds out there, so many intoxicating smells wafting in from the street.

He wanted to go out, feel the cool night air in his face, get away from the stench in the old house and run along the streets and hunt. No, not hunt, he reprimanded himself. Hide. Find another place. This was getting too dangerous, and too smelly. He wrinkled his nose. A group of people came very close to the window. Ranloo almost forgot to back off, but at the last second retreated further into the room.

So hungry. ´I have to get out of here,` he muttered through clenched teeth.

A small scratching made him spin around, fixing his eyes in the direction it had come from. A rat. He stared at it, briefly contemplating eating it. Then he dismissed it, disgusted. The gods only knew where that thing had been.

He stepped back to the window. The group outside still lingered. Curious. They had stopped a short way off, talking in low voices. Ranloo pressed his ear against the boards, listening. He could almost make out their words despite the distance. They looked like crooks with their simple, dirty clothes, hiding their faces behind cowls and hoods, their cloaks likely concealing weapons. Walking unarmed in these parts was an invitation to get robbed or killed. He stared at the group.

One of them pointed at something and shouted, ´There 'e is!`

Ranloo started forward at their sudden movements. Realizing what he'd been doing, he punched the wall hard with his fist. The pain forced him out of the hunter state he'd slipped into without noticing. He picked a splinter out of his hand, cursing softly. Where was Sern?

Pacing in the room, his restlessness grew by the minute, fear clutching at him. Fear that something had happened to his only ally in the world right now. And fear that he wouldn't be able to restrain himself if he returned too late. He slid more and more into an absent-minded state, listening for sounds and testing the air for scents, forgetful of everything else.

He stopped and looked out. Finally, the street lay empty, only lit by the cold moonlight. Vague shouts echoed between the buildings. He considered leaving. Maybe this was the moment he should make a run for it?

Ranloo moved to the hallway and stood by the door, listening for several minutes. Then he nudged the door open, welcoming the mild air. For a while he hesitated, the need to go out pulling at him. A faint voice inside still tried to keep him from leaving, reminding him he waited for someone. Quiet footfalls reached his sensitive ears from the right. He twisted around, crouching down, ready to spring at whatever it was, all reason gone.

The teenager froze in midstep, eyes opening wide. He blanched as the vampire stared at him. Ranloo stalked towards the living, breathing human who stood petrified like a scared rabbit. His speeding heart and the scent of terror strong and alluring. Ranloo tensed to charge when two men rounded a corner a short way down the street, distracting him.

Pointing towards the boy, they shouted, ´There!` and started running.

The small human spun and launched himself at the two men. They called out in surprise and fumbled for their weapons. The boy dashed past them, ducking to avoid their grasping hands.

´Oi! Stop!` one of the men shouted. ´Get back 'ere, puck!`

He's gonna darkside me, Sern thought. Ranloo's eyes glowed faintly, like the dying embers of a fire, his posture crouched like an animal ready to pounce. Sern swallowed hard as someone behind him yelled. The vampire's attention diverted to them instead.

Without hesitation, he spun and bolted. Primal survival instincts and fear-wrought adrenaline made him rush the two men behind him. They were Olsek's men, looking for him. Their eyes widened as he charged. Their mouths opened, but he didn't hear what they said. He'd been too late. Run! Evading their grasps, he threw himself into the alley they had come from.

Ranloo instinctively followed the running boy. Like a cat, he pounced towards him. The boy escaped between the other two. It didn't matter. The men screamed as he bowled them over. He grabbed the nearest one, felt him tense and squirm to get out of his grasp.

They landed hard on the cobbles, Ranloo on top. He forced the man's head back and sank his teeth into his soft neck. The man kicked at him furiously, screaming. Hot, reviving blood filled Ranloo's mouth, invigorating him, making him feel alive.

Sudden pain exploded in his back. A sharp blade scraped along one of his ribs and punctured deep. With a gasp, he released the man, reared up, and turned. The thug's eyes stared from a pale face as he backed away, pulling out another knife from his belt. His hands were stained dark with blood.

Ranloo coughed and something rattled in his lungs. Angry at the pain and still hungry, he charged. This man was bigger, more powerful than the first, and as Ranloo attacked, he swung the knife wildly. Ranloo wrapped both hands around his neck. The flailing knife cut deep into his left arm, drawing blood. With a roar, anger welling up like a red wave, Ranloo let go with his left and tried to grasp the man's right arm.

They fell to the ground, kicking and screaming. The knife stabbed fiery hot into Ranloo's left side again and again. Screaming in rage and agony, he managed to catch the man's arm. He bashed it repeatedly against the cobbles until there was a satisfying snap of breaking bones, followed by the clatter of the knife hitting the ground. The man gasped for breath, almost strangled by Ranloo's hold around his throat.

Ranloo drew a few rattling breaths and hissed in pain as he tried to calm down. The man underneath him struggled, but his attempts to get away weakened. Ranloo bent forward and bit deep into his throat. Victory at last, and life for another night. New strength and vitality flowed into his hurting body. He didn't stop until the man relaxed and the heartbeats in his chest stopped.

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Sern paused at the end of the alley. Breathing fast as adrenaline coursed through his body, he stared at the ruthless fight. The vampire received several stabs in his side from the big man. Screaming and fighting, they rolled on the ground. Ranloo pummelled the man's arm into the ground until it snapped with a sickening crack.

Sern flinched. Ranloo bent down, his long hair blocking Sern's view. The big man stopped moving.

That could have been him. Sern steadied himself against the wall, light-headed from fear and excitement. Unsure whether to run or go along with the plan, he hesitated. Save the vampire? He almost laughed at himself. Had he gone totally mad? He shook his head. He'd run out of options. Besides, Ranloo needed him. And he was a nice person.

´Yeah, very nice,` he muttered. But what choice did he have? He'd already burned his bridges, might as well go on. He'd just have to be more careful from now on.

Sern started back towards the vampire when Ranloo stood back up. Bloody, fangs bared, and eyes glowing, he groaned and clutched his bleeding side. He looked up, straight at Sern.

He tensed. Is it my turn now, he wondered, unable to move.

Ranloo groaned at the throbbing agony in his arm, back, and left side. He looked down, horrified at the amount of blood that covered his clothes. His tunic clung to his side, dark and wet, and blood ran down to stain his breeches.

Trying to stem the flow with his right hand, he looked around and spotted a boy in the mouth of an alley. Sern. Regaining his composure, he glanced down at his feet. At the dead man. Clamping his teeth together, revulsion at his own failure rose inside him. Cold hands of despair gripped at his heart.

´Oh no,` he moaned.

´Ranloo?`

Sern's quivering voice drew his eyes up again. Seeing the pallid face of his only ally, who he had almost killed, he staggered back. ´No,` he said. ´Don't come closer. Stay away from me!`

Sern's forehead furrowed. ´You gotta come with me now,` he said with a faint tremble in his voice. ´Before the rest gets here.`

Ranloo didn't understand. ´The rest?`

A faint scraping from behind reminded him, the first man he'd attacked still lived. He turned. The deathly pale man lay on the ground, a hand clasped against his neck as he edged away from the vampire.

Guilt over harming him, and anger that this man who had seen him still lived, made Ranloo unsure whether to kill him or let him live.

´Come now!` A sharp whisper.

Sern beckoned urgently for him to follow. He shook his head. Three men rounded a corner further down the street. The men he'd seen earlier. Friends to those on the ground. They pointed with cudgels and shouted.

His side in pure agony, Ranloo staggered after Sern into the dark alley, followed by running footsteps. He couldn't breathe. Holding the wound with his right hand, his left hanging useless down his side, he tried to keep up with Sern. Every breath he drew produced a gurgling rattle. Each movement made blood drip to the ground, leaving a red trail over the cobbles.

Sern glanced back every now and then, a worried look on his face.

´Keep going,` Ranloo wheezed. He didn't hear the men behind them anymore. Maybe they had stopped to care for their comrade? He pushed onwards. Best to flee the scene while they still could.

Together they ran through narrow alleys and crossed dark streets. They sneaked past a patrol of city guards, and entered the older part of Jaris.

´Almost there,` Sern reassured the vampire.

Finally, they arrived by an old broken fence, overgrown with vines.

´Through here.` Sern went first through the hole in the fence, then reached out and helped Ranloo through. They were stung and scratched by the thorns as they entered the old graveyard.

´Fitting,` Ranloo mumbled as he looked around, wincing with every step.

´Here.` Sern pointed to the old temple. ´We can hide in here.`

Ranloo looked at the ruin, took a step back. ´Are you crazy!` he wheezed. ´That's a temple!` He took another step back and groaned. He eyed his hand, covered in blood from his side, then clutched at himself again and shuddered.

´What about it?` Sern asked, concerned. ´It's abandoned an' you gotta rest.`

Ranloo looked at him as if he'd said something half-witted. Sern faced the temple, and it dawned on him. Temple. Holy building. Vampire.

Horrified, he asked, ´Will it end you?`

´I don't know.` Ranloo looked at the broken building. ´What deity is this temple for?`

´I dunno.` Sern shrugged. ´But it's not the sun god's,` he added hopefully.

Ranloo sighed and lurched forward. ´Maybe it'll do. I don't feel anything from it.`

Sern breathed a sigh of relief. It would all have been for naught if the hiding place wasn't at all useful.

They entered through the small wooden side-door. Ranloo slumped down on the dusty floor as soon as they got in, groaning, his breath rattling.

Sern didn't know what to do. ´You gonna be alright?` he asked, scared this had been too much.

Ranloo moaned, clutched at his side, and lay down.

Glancing around the dark room, Sern brought out a small rushlight, placed it on the floor, and left. He needed fire. Returning quickly with a stick he'd poked into a lantern, he used it to light the wick.

Sern's eyes widened. A knife stuck out of Ranloo's back. That couldn't be good.

The vampire lay wheezing on the floor, his hooded eyes locked onto the small flame.

´I gotta get that knife outta your back.` Sern edged up to the bleeding elf.

Ranloo nodded.

Good, Sern thought. He was still lucid. ´I want you t' know I'm doin' it t' help you,` he added, scared of what might happen when he started pulling at it.

´Do it,` Ranloo rasped. He coughed and blood flecked his lips.

Sern curled his fingers around the handle, braced against Ranloo's back with his other hand, and pulled. Ranloo whined and tensed.

Unable to remove the knife, Sern cursed. ´So sorry, but I gotta pull again.`

Ranloo grimaced but nodded. This time Sern pulled harder. The knife was stuck on one of Ranloo's ribs. Biting his lips, Sern twisted the knife to get it loose. Ranloo screamed, the sound echoing in the empty room. The knife slipped out and Sern tumbled backwards and landed unceremoniously on his rear in the dust.

´Oof!´

Ranloo writhed on the floor, groaning and whimpering. A new pool of blood formed beneath him. Sern cursed and hurried to a bag he'd left in the room earlier. He grasped a new shirt, removed the one he wore, pulled the new one over his head, and cut the old one into ribbons with his knife. Then he dressed Ranloo's wounds as best as he could. Ranloo didn't protest, didn't complain, only suffered the pain quietly.

Distressed, Sern worried that Ranloo would die after all. He'd be truly alone then. But there wasn't much he could do about it. He sat down, leaning against a wall. Being exhausted, he soon nodded off to sleep.