They turned their attention in the direction of the voice, and both Callum and Van let out a simultaneous gasp.

The Bloodsucker was standing in the doorway, blocking their only exit. His red eyes glowed in the darkness of the catacombs, and he had a sinister grin on his face, flashing his sharp fangs. He had long claws instead of fingernails, and they were clenched around Quinn’s throat.

Quinn gripped his wrist, trying to pull his hand away, and the Bloodsucker had his other arm twisted painfully behind his back.

“Let him go,” Callum demanded. He took a step forward, but the Bloodsucker clicked his tongue and dug his nails into Quinn’s skin, and he hissed in pain.

“Get off of me!” Quinn struggled, unsuccessfully, and a bit of blood ran down his neck where the claws dug in.

“You’ll drop your weapons and behave like good boys if you value his life,” the man threatened. He eyed the wooden stake in Van’s hand. “One wrong move and I’ll rip his throat out.”

“Who are you?” Callum asked, putting his hands up to show the man he was unarmed.

He glanced at Bram, who was sitting on the floor against the chair where he’d been chained up before. His chest heaved with quicky, panicky breaths, and he had a strange look in his eyes, like he wasn’t even mentally present anymore. Sweat and blood ran down the side of his face, and he was trembling. Was it because of the Bloodsucker?

“Vladimir Poenari,” the man said, and his grin got wider, “but the locals have taken to calling me the Bloodsucker.”

“Why are you preying on this town?” Callum asked. “What do you want?”

“Don’t bother asking him that,” Van told him, never looking away from the man as he dropped his stake on the ground. “He’s a vampire—all he cares about is consuming humans to satiate his hunger.”

Vladimir laughed, and the way it echoed around them sent a chill up Callum’s spine. How were they going to get out? They needed to get Quinn away from him, and they needed to get Bram out. Would they be able to do it? He was certain they wouldn’t be unscathed, but could they at least escape with their lives?

He shoved Quinn away from him, and Callum grabbed him, pushing him behind him protectively. Both their pistols were on the ground—would he be able to grab one of them? He had no idea what Vladimir was truly capable of.

“What a fantastic day I’m having,” Vladimir said with a grin, eyeing Callum up and down. “I get to punish little Bram for running away, and I get a full three-course meal that came to me on its own.”

“We have no intention of being consumed by you.” Callum eyed his pistol by Van’s feet. At least if he tried to get it, Quinn wasn’t in the line of danger anymore.

“Don’t even think about it,” Vladimir said. He took a threatening step forward and lifted his hand, showing off his claws. They had Quinn’s blood on them. “Even if you did manage to get it, what makes you think that little gun of yours could do any damage?”

“Why are you worried about me grabbing it if it won’t hurt you?” Callum asked, and his smile went away. The look in Vladimir’s eyes made his heart race in fear, and he pointed one long, bloody claw at Callum.

“Maybe I’ll kill you last,” he said. “You can watch me kill everyone in this room, and then, when your face is contorted with grief and fear, I can consume that precious, rare blood of yours that little Bram loves so much, and he’ll get to watch the life leave your eyes.”

"What are you talking about?"

Van lunged at the Bloodsucker, pulling another wooden stake from under his coat. Vladimir scowled as he caught him by the wrist, twisting until Van was forced to drop it. He growled in pain, trying to pull free, and Vladimir bared his fangs.

“I guess you’d like to die first.”

“Not a fucking chance!” Van pulled a fistful of black ritual salts from his pocket with his free hand and threw it in the man’s face. Vladimir shouted in pain and released him as he backed away, rubbing his eyes.

While he was occupied by Van, Quinn and Callum rushed to retrieve their weapons off the ground. They surrounded the Bloodsucker, who was still blocking their escape route.

Vladimir laughed, still rubbing his eyes. When he lowered his hands, the skin around his eyes was a bit red, and blood ran down his face like tears. He was terrifying to look at, and Callum’s courage was faltering. He’d spent months in Umbra Harbor trying to convince himself and everyone else that vampires weren’t real, but there was no way Vladimir was human.

“You’re going to regret that,” he told Van. He bared his fangs as he let out a sinister, animalistic snarl.

He tried to go at Van, but Callum pulled the trigger of his pistol, and it let out a deafening bang that echoed all around them and made his ears ring. Vladimir stumbled and hit the wall, gripping his arm, and he shot a hateful glare in Callum’s direction.

“What’s wrong?” Callum asked, pulling back the hammer again. “I thought my weapon couldn’t hurt you.”

“Let’s get the hell out of here,” Van said. He grabbed Bram under his arm and hauled him to his feet, and Quinn kept his weapon fixed on Vladimir while he moved towards the doorway. Callum didn’t move yet. They needed to get Bram out.

Vladimir laughed and rubbed his arm, and the bullet fell in the dirt. The end of it was flattened, like it had hit a wall, and the shoulder of his shirt had a hole, but there was no blood or injury.

“Nice try,” he said, “but I’m done playing with all of you now.”

Before anyone could react or even see him move, Vladimir was between them and the doorway again, a sinister grin on his face. He took a fistful of Quinn’s hair and yanked his head back to expose his throat before sinking his fangs deep into his skin.

Quinn cried out in pain, trying to push Vladimir off of him, but he wouldn’t budge. Blood ran down his neck and soaked the front of his shirt while he struggled.

“Get away from him!” Callum ordered, his gun aimed at the Bloodsucker. He couldn’t pull the trigger though. His hands were shaking too much. What if he hit Quinn? “Let him go!”

Vladimir laughed as he drank Quinn’s blood greedily, and Callum started to panic. His heart was beating hard in his chest, and he felt out of breath, like he’d been running too long. How could he save Quinn? Could he save him?

“I said get away from him!” Callum lowered his weapon and pulled the trigger. It hit Vladimir’s leg, and his knee buckled a bit, but he didn’t release Quinn, and angry tears filled Callum’s eyes. He threw his gun to the ground with a cry of frustration.

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Bram was standing back, his gaze lowered. He looked tired and broken. There was no way he would be any help. The terrifying display of brute strength Bram had demonstrated in the past would be no use to them. Was it because he only did what Vladimir told him to do? Had he been under his control the entire time?

"Let him go," Callum said quietly, putting his hands up. "Take me instead. You can kill me if you want, just let Quinn go."

Vladimir released Quinn and shoved him into Van. He fell to his knees, clutching his wounded neck, and his eyes were wide with fear as he made eye contact with Callum.

The Bloodsucker turned his full attention to Callum then. Quinn’s blood ran down his face, and he grinned, baring his blood-covered fangs. Callum hoped he could keep him busy long enough for the others to escape the catacombs.

“I supposed I can consume you first,” Vladimir said. “You should have left town when I gave you the chance.”

Callum took slow, deep breaths, trying to will his body to stop trembling as Vladimir approached him. He had never been more terrified in his life, but he needed to protect the others. It might not buy them much time, but at least they could regroup somewhere outside of that tiny room where they were all trapped.

He inhaled a sharp breath as Vladimir grabbed him by the front of his jacket, and Callum never broke eye contact with him. He didn’t dare look anywhere else. He didn’t want to see Van or Quinn’s face while he gave himself up to this murderer. He couldn’t look at the broken expression on Bram’s face. He hated this man, but he wasn’t going to let anyone else die if he could help it. He closed his eyes as Vladimir leaned in, his icy breath on Callum’s neck.

The pain of the bite never came though. Instead, the room was filled with the familiar chirping that Callum recognized as bats. They swarmed all around the room, and both Van and Quinn ducked down, shielding their heads.

Vladimir made a noise of annoyance, swatting at them as they circled around him, forcing him to step back from Callum.

Van took the opportunity to try to have another go at the Bloodsucker. He tried to get him in the chest, but Vladimir twisted around while he tried to wave the bats away, and the wooden stake went deep into his back instead.

He growled in pain and clutched his injured shoulder before he spun around and lashed out at Van with his claws, throwing him back against the wall. The stake was deep in the back of his shoulder blade where he couldn’t reach, but he tried anyway, clawing at his own back while the bats continued to harass him.

“Are you all right?” Callum asked Van. He had large gashes in his arm from the Bloodsuckers claws, but he didn’t seem all that bothered by it. He just shrugged and wiped the blood away as best he could.

Van snatched one of the torches off the wall and gestured for them to follow him. Quinn rushed out, but Callum stopped short at the door, his eyes wide with shock.

“Where did Bram go?”

“Who cares?” Van asked, grabbing him firmly by the arm. “If he already escaped, there’s no reason for us to stay here and get killed. Come on!”

Callum took one more concerned look around the empty room, stained with blood and now full of swarming bats while Vladimir struggled to get them away from him, and no trace of Bram besides the blood on the chair where he’d been chained up. He swallowed hard, a bit hurt by the thought that Bram would just run off like that, but he couldn’t dwell on it. He pulled the door shut and scrambled to get the lock out of the mud. It clicked shut, and he left the Bloodsucker trapped inside with the bats.

“Are you okay?” he asked, looking over Quinn with concern. He was clutching his bloody neck, but he nodded.

“As long as you can still walk, worry about any injuries once we’re out in the sunlight,” Van demanded, pushing past them. He walked quickly, taking long strides, and they had to walk faster to keep up with him. Callum stayed a few paces behind, listening for any hints that the Bloodsucker might be coming after them again.

Callum eyed Van as they rushed back through the catacombs, stumbling and slipping clumsily through the mud. Van had said he’d dedicated most of his life to hunting all manner of dark creatures, including vampires. How many horrors had he witnessed to be so calm when Callum couldn’t even get his heart to stop racing?

They didn’t stop until they were back in the old church. Callum let out a long breath of relief, struggling to catch his breath.

“For fuck’s sake,” he muttered. He could hardly believe anything he’d just witnessed, and where had Bram gone? Had he really fled the catacombs and left them all behind?

“Vampires can’t come out in the sunlight,” Van said breathlessly. He wiped the sweat from his face, but just ended up streaking his skin with dirt instead. They were all a mess, and Van seemed to be the only calm one. “We’ll go back to town and attend to our injuries and regroup, and then we’ll come back and deal with the Bloodsucker when we’re better prepared.”

“Better prepared?” Quinn rubbed the side of his neck where Vladimir had bitten him and scowled. “Is that a fucking joke? You think we can come back and fight that? What the hell even was that thing?”

“I just told you.” Van rolled his eyes, fixing the front of his shirt and jacket. “It was a vampire. Did you think I was kidding when I told you there was a Bloodsucker tormenting the town? You read all my letters.”

“I just thought it just was some M.O. for a serial killer!” Quinn let out a loud, frustrated sigh. “How are we supposed to take on something like that?”

“You’re not.” A menacing laugh echoed around them, and everyone’s eyes widened in terror.

Hundreds of bats ascended from the hole in the floor where Callum had fallen earlier. They flocked all around the group of men, screeching and flapping while they all tried to swat them away.

As the bats cleared, Vladimir was standing in front of Callum, who took a fearful step back. Bram was on the ground beside him, unconscious, being dragged by the collar of his shirt.

“Callum!”

Quinn put himself between Callum and the Bloodsucker, drawing his pistol, but Vladimir slapped it away like it was nothing. It flew out of his hand and down into the catacombs where no one would be able to retrieve it before he struck Quinn in the stomach. He gasped, his whole body going tense as he gripped Vladimir’s arm before he slumped forward.

Callum shook his head in disbelief, tears running down his face as he struggled to breath, staring at Vladimir’s bloody claws sticking out of Quinn’s back.

“Let that be your final warning,” Vladimir said, looking at Callum. He was no longer smiling or laughing—clearly not amused by the morning’s events. “Leave this town, or I’ll kill you along with little Bram and everyone else in Umbra Harbor.”

He dropped Bram on the ground before pulling his clawed hand out of Quinn’s stomach. Blood spilled everywhere, and Quinn dropped to his knees. He licked the blood from his hands before he turned into a colony of bats before their eyes. They flew out of the old church through the broken roof, vanishing deep into the forest.

Callum knelt down to catch Quinn as he fell back. Quinn’s breath came out in small, shallow huffs, and more blood soaked his clothes with each one. Callum shrugged off his jacket and wrapped it tightly around him.

“Quinn!” He pressed his hand firmly against the wound as blood seeped through his jacket. “Fuck… You’re gonna be fine, all right? You’re okay.”

“I’m tired,” Quinn said softly, leaning heavy on Callum. He closed his eyes and coughed a bit, grimacing in pain.

“Don’t go to sleep!” he demanded, and Quinn opened his eyes a bit, and Callum’s heart started to race more. What could he do? They were miles from any help. “We’re gonna get you out of here, just stay awake.”

“Mr. Harker…” Van was quiet, his gaze lowered and shoulders dropped in defeat. “We can’t—”

Bram groaned in pain, shifting a bit before he opened his eyes. He sat up slowly and clutched his head in his hands. He didn’t seem any more injured than before, but he was still covered in blood, so it was impossible to tell.

“Cal,” Quinn said, his voice so quiet that even Callum barely heard him. He placed a bloody hand over Callum’s and forced half a smile. “It’s okay.”

“It’s not okay!” Callum pressed his face against Quinn’s shoulder and sobbed. “You should have just let him kill me!"

Quinn didn’t respond, and his hand slipped off Callum’s, hitting the floor with soft thud. He exhaled one last breath, the half-smile still on his face as he closed his eyes.

Callum hugged his lifeless body and screamed in agony. He couldn’t breathe. He was so sad and angry, and he didn’t know what to do anymore. Why did Quinn have to be the one to pay with his life after everything the Bloodsucker had done?

Bram seemed to finally be out of whatever daze he’d been in when they were in the catacombs. He sat on his knees and reached out to Callum, a sad, sympathetic look on his face.

“Callum…”

“Get away from us!” Callum shouted, slapping Bram’s hand away from him. He glared at him, his entire body shaking with anger, and he could barely speak through his sobs. “Haven't you done enough?”

Bram was the Count, and he’d done nothing for months while the Bloodsucker had tormented the town. He stayed holed up in his manor, allowing Vladimir to get more powerful and more comfortable, and now Quinn was dead.

They’d faced down the Bloodsucker, and Bram had done nothing. If he’d acted sooner, they wouldn’t be there, and Quinn would still be alive. The thought filled Callum with so much anger that every inch of his body hurt, and he couldn't stop trembling.

“You’re the one who should be dead,” Callum growled through clenched teeth, and even Van seemed shocked by the statement. Bram looked like he'd just been slapped in the face. “Just go back to your estate and hide away! It’s what you do best.”