Night fell upon Liverpool and an ominous darkness consumed the last drops of daylight.

Rosa was sunk into the couch, the TV blasting in the background while she read over the same bestiary pages for the seventh time. The Direhound had two pages dedicated to it, filled with information that Rosa assumed was extremely useful to hunters however, all she could interpret was that the monster was huge, strong, had unnervingly big claws and a natural murderous intent towards humankind. Oh and how could she forget, she now knew she’d had the unfortunate pleasure of meeting one of them before, and from that one experience she could verify everything the bestiary claimed. If anything she thought the pages watered the Direhound down. Compared to some of the other chapters she’d read, it was as if the Direhounds were just a common pest, like finding a rat or stray cat in your home.

‘This has to be one of the most horrific decisions in history’ Rosa thought for the hundredth time.

She closed the book with a heavy slam just as Louie entered the living room.

“Are you ready?” he asked.

“Does my answer matter” Rosa muttered.

“No” Louie admitted. He then picked up the remote and switched off the TV, allowing her to see their reflections in the glassy, black surface. God, she looked miserable … and slightly terrified. But she quickly decided that was alright, since she was about to have to face a monster whose only desire was to tear her apart and feast upon her corpse.

“This is an awful idea” Rosa grumbled.

“Probably” Louie nodded, “but I’ve not been left with much of a choice. Come on”.

At the front door was a large black rucksack. Louie knelt down and unzipped the bag. He pulled out a short, black cloak made from a thick, aged cloth.

“Here” Louie said passing it to her. It was surprisingly light for its size.

“What’s this?” Rosa asked. Holding up the cloak to get a view of its full size, she estimated it’d probably come down to just below her waist.

“It’s for you” Louie said, “put it on”.

Rosa winced, “I don’t … think it’s my style”.

Louie sighed. “I couldn’t care less. It’s enchanted, put it on”.

Rosa’s brows furrowed. “Enchanted?”.

“It’ll offer you a form of protection. I’m not saying it’ll be like wearing full mail but it’s better than nothing” Louie explained. His brows then shot up, “Oh I guess you should also take this”. He pulled out a black leather sheath with an exposed cloth wrapped handle, it looked be about as long as her forearm. Cautiously she accepted it off him and slowly pulled out the handle revealing a glistening obsidian dagger. It had smooth surface and razor-sharp jagged edge. An exotic, ancient scripture was engraved in white along the blade’s face.

Rosa stared up at Louie, lost for words.

“You said I wouldn’t be hunting” Rosa said in disbelief.

“You won’t be. It’s just a precaution. The dagger is enchanted, it’ll will hurt anything that tries to kill you. Also it costs a fortune, so make sure you don’t lose it” Louie said.

This was ridiculous, Rosa shook her head and quickly offered the dagger back to him however, he just raised his hand.

“Take it” he said firmly, “You shouldn’t need to use it. I’m just giving it to you so you’re armed”.

Reluctantly, Rosa accepted both the dagger and the cloak. She quickly slipped the cloak over her clothes and slid the sheath into the waist of her pants.

“This isn’t very responsible” Rosa mumbled.

“I never claimed to be responsible” Louie countered, “come on lets go”.

Rosa was sat in the passenger seat, the dagger placed delicately across her lap. They drove silently across the city, Rosa noticed there was barley ever another soul in sight. Her eyes wandered over to the car’s display to see that it was approaching midnight.

Rosa quickly began to grow to dislike the silence that filled the car. It made her feel on edge, like insects where constantly crawling over her body no matter how much she scratched.

“Did you ever look over the other cases?” she asked after hitting her limit.

“I did”.

“Even my father’s case?”.

“I have. I’m assuming you want to know its contents”.

Rosa nodded.

“Fair enough. Hunters have been getting slaughtered across the country. The murders have been forming a sort of trail up country, seemingly heading directly for Liverpool”.

“When will it get here?” Rosa questioned concerned.

“A week ago” Louie said gravely.

Rosa shivered. “What do you think it is?”.

“My guess it’s vampiric” Louie said, “Most hunters will probably think it’s some savage beast but the scenes are far too fabricated. I’d say it’s something powerful. Something intelligent pretending to be a mindless monster”.

Rosa stared stunned. ‘He got all that from a quick glance at a case file’.

Before Rosa could continue the conversation, they pulled up to the pavement. Her heart began to powerfully thump as she abruptly remembered why they were here.

Looking out the window at their surroundings, she could see they’d parked up on an empty, isolated street. All that could be seen was a construction site however, it looked to be abandoned like the project had lost funding near its beginning. Rusty, Scaffolding had been left standing, and partly completely floors, walls and stairs had been left to crumble, steel bars peeking out where the workers clearly had yet coat them in concrete.

Louie switched off his car and stepped out. He opened up the back seat where he’d placed his rucksack earlier. The bag rigorously ruffled as Louie searched around inside, he pulled out the same long black case Rosa had seen him with earlier as well as a small box and what locked to be some kind of whip forged from silver chains. He then efficiently unpacked the cases, revealing a pair of large, silver pistols that vanished behind his back as well as a shinning sword. Rosa’s gaze locked onto the weapon’s guard, it stretched out slightly onto the base of blade and had that strange symbol carved into the steel, the same one she’d seen at both the HQ and on the Bestiary, it glowed subtly white. It’s base resembled a crucifix, with small curves at its centre and sides and two sharp bent lines emerging from the top and bottom.

Stolen novel; please report.

“What’s that symbol?” Rosa asked.

“It’s the mark of the Hunters” Louie informed her. He then sheathed the blade upon his back and attached the coiled chain onto his waist.

“Reminds me of a crucifix. Are the hunters a religious organisation?”.

“No”.

Rosa frowned, “Just a coincidence then”.

“Not quite, they are related. It’s just the hunters came first” Louie stated. He then lowered himself to where she had a full view of his body through the door. “Are you coming in or staying here?” Louie asked.

“I’ll stay here” Rosa quickly decided.

Louie nodded and tossed the car’s keys onto her lap. “You can lock the car if you want. I’d just recommend you don’t turn on the car’s radio” he told her.

Louie then shut the door and wandered across the road towards the construction site. Rosa lowered herself down into her seat slightly as she watched him enter the abandoned structure through the shadow shrouded hole it called an entrance. He took a left turn and then was gone.

Rosa settled into her car seat and sunk into the cloak draped around her upper body. She sat motionless, the dagger heavy on lap as she stared into the shadows in which Louie had vanished.

‘How long did a hunt like this usually take?’ she wondered. She probably should’ve asked Louie that before he left. Rosa continued to patiently wait in an eerie silence. Every moment she expected to hear a fight break out. Expected to hear the roar of a monster, the eruption of gunshots, the cries of a dying beast or even just getting a glimpse of the flashes from gunfire. But there was nothing, only silence, sometimes the occasional howling wind. Rosa continued to wait, her eyes locked onto the digital clock on the car’s display. Minute after minute passed and nothing changed. She glanced back the construction site. The building was big but Rosa didn’t think it so large for nothing to occur.

‘Surely it shouldn’t be taking this long’. Rosa had witnessed how fast Louie kill the Direhound the other day and as a result didn’t believe that something would happen it him. Maybe it’s hiding and he’s unable to track it down? Maybe it moved territory?

‘No’ Rosa decided. Louie didn’t seem like the type to make such a mistake and he definitely had the capabilities to track the monster down.

‘So why is it taking so long?’ she asked herself again.

What if the monster is no longer in the building, the thought suddenly burst into her mind. What if Louie actually can’t find his prey because it’s no longer inside and instead out here … hunting her.

Fear brewed. Rosa quickly locked the car and huddled down into her chair, her grip around the dagger tightening. Keeping low, she scanned around the car. She didn’t catch sight of anything however, then again she couldn’t see anything anyway. The street they’d found themselves on had extremely sparse lighting directed only near the construction site as a result, darkness consumed anything more than a few metres away from the car. Something could currently be watching her and she wouldn’t be the wiser. Especially to her right, there was a tree line where you couldn’t see anything past their shadowed trunks. Rosa tried to get control of her breathing but it was no use, it grew erratic as her paranoia flourished. The louder the silence grew the further her fright festered. She crouched down even further to the point where only her back was on the car seat. She couldn’t stay here, her fear fuelled mind decided, she was just a lamb waiting for slaughter here. Rosa removed the dagger’s sheath and brandished its blade. She steadily raised herself up to where she could see out the car’s windows. Again there was nothing. She continued to carefully scan around. Her gaze found its way to the back of car where it came to a halt. Her eyes locked onto the darkness and the shadows of trees and shrubbery playing at its edges. This felt familiar. Suddenly her mouth went dry and something overcame her body. Before Rosa realised what was happening she’d unlocked the vehicle and dived across the driver’s seat and out the car. She rolled as she hit the ground and launched herself into a full force sprint towards the construction site. She charged her way inside and instantly spun holding out her dagger towards the entrance, waiting for some kind of monster to walk through.

Nothing came in.

Slowly Rosa lowered the blade. Something heavy powerfully dropped down behind her. Instantly Rosa spun around. She was greeted with the ferocious eyes of a Direhound. She pointed the dagger at the monster and a guttural growl escaped from its frothing maw. The monster slowly began to stalk forward, its gaze locked onto to her every movement searching for an opening around her dagger.

Well at least she knew it wasn’t outside stalking her.

‘Oh god, I’m going to die because I gaslighted myself’.

The memory of her hiding under the stairs flashed in her eyes, she remembered the helplessness she felt. No she couldn’t die, not here, not yet.

“Mierda” Rosa muttered as she slowly backed away, never lowering her blade. The bestiary pages she realised, Louie told her they’d explain everything she needed. She felt her fear began to waver, in fact she sensed something new burning inside her soul. Rage.

Rosa stopped retreating back and stood her ground, she couldn’t risk triggering the monster’s predatory instincts. She’d only carefully step back when the Direhound approached, constantly making sure to stand her ground. The bestiary described them as quite simple creatures, stating they have the potential to be dangerous however, possess a low level of intellect and are driven only by their murderous nature. Rosa could take advantage of that. Soon the Direhound began to grow restless and its movements grew impatient, just likes its pages said it would. It pounced, its jaws open aiming directly for her throat. However, Rosa predicted its behaviour. She managed to move even before the monster, ducking under its bite and thrusting the dagger deep into the creatures neck. Despite the thick muscle and fur the knife tore through it all with ease, Rosa felt like she was stabbing into water. She quickly put all her weight upon the blade, the stab wound wouldn’t be enough, she needed to slice open the monster’s throat. Faster than she could react the Direhound started to back away. Damn, she was too late. The monster recoiled back with such force Rosa was lifted off her feet, luckily the knife slid out before the Direhound could throw her. She landed back on the ground and practically jumped away, narrowly avoiding five razor sharp claws. Blood leaked from the stab wound however, the beast was seemingly unharmed, all she’d accomplished was making the monster furious. Rosa bit her lip, she’d wasted her one opportunity, even if the Direhound wasn’t very intelligent she doubted it would let her do that again. The beast charged, in a panic Rosa held up the knife praying it would just run into it and die. Suddenly she felt something grab the back of her cloak.

Rosa was dragged away, leaving the Direhound to maul empty air. She turned to see Louie.

“The fuck happened to you not hunting?” he questioned.

The monster snarled at them and pounced. Before Rosa could even process the situation, she was lifted onto Louie’s shoulder and he sprang across the room. He placed her down on the ground before drawing his sword. Without hesitation, he charged directly at the beast with inhuman speed. The Direhound attempted to tear him apart but Louie weaved between slashes with ease. Rosa stared amazed, she couldn’t believe what she was witnessing. The Direhound couldn’t hit him no matter how many times its swung its claws or snapped its jaws. Louie made the monster look like child play, he practically danced around it with an unnerving sadistic smile, his sword majestically spinning and twirling through the air like it was an extension of his own arm. The Direhound roared as it wound back its arm however, in a silver flash the arm was suddenly severed from its body. Before the beast could even register the pain Louie’s sword tore through the air separating the Direhound’s head from its body. Rosa watched breathlessly as the monster’s limp body slammed into the ground.

Slowly she stood as Louie gave his sword a fast swipe in the air removing all blood from its blade.

“That was amazing” Rosa stated as she sheathed his weapon.

He turned and gave her the expression he’d been using all day, a mix between amusement and confusion. Maybe she should give it a name? Amusion possibly?

She felt her cheeks flush slightly. “I just meant the way you fought … it was very refined”. She winced at her own comment. What the hell was she saying?

Louie chuckled. “Thanks”, he glanced down at the dagger in her hand, “I saw the wound you put in its neck and combined with the fact that you didn’t lose the blade, not bad at kid”.

Rosa felt a small smile grow on her face and Louie walked away and pulled out his phone. She wandered over to the corpse. Even with its humongous frame and weaponry, it looked so pathetic now. She stared into its lifeless eyes that desired to end moments ago and felt nothing. Her eyes found the small wound in the side of its neck. She’d almost done it. All on her own, she’d threw aside her terror and acted, almost killing the monster on her own. Rosa felt a strange sensation in her chest, was she proud?

“Come on Rosa we’re done here” Louie announced.

Rosa quickly nodded and stood. “Thanks for saving by the way” Rosa said, she then offered the dagger back to him.

“Keep it” Louie said, “I’ll need to get you a proper sheath for it though, can’t have you constantly sticking in it your pants”.

“What do we do now?” Rosa asked.

“We go home and get some sleep” Louie said.