Just like she said she would, Sam explained everything she could to Rosa. She was born into a family of hunters, her parents would hunt together sometimes across the whole country. With Audrey in school for most of Sam’s childhood, she was left alone with her parents providing her a youth of constant travelling. Unfortunately her parents were no longer among them, the injuries from what was their final hunt were just too great to recover from. Sam was orphaned at seven, left with only her eighteen-year-old sister to raise her. They returned to their home city of Liverpool to search out the aid of the hunters. As she grew older, Audrey began to implement Sam into the hunter organization. When she was fourteen she was put through the mutation process, whatever that meant, and was allocated her first assignment. Monitor and guard Rosa Elacti.

The school morning went as normal, and Rosa found it refreshing after all the chaos that had possessed her life recently. Third period came to an end and the lunch break began. Like always Rosa and all her friends made their way to the canteen and found themselves a table. As Rosa ate the lunch Emma had prepared her, conversation flew across the table but Rosa wasn’t paying any attention. She couldn’t help but watch Sam, who was effortlessly socialising with their friends, all of them none the wiser to the truth. Rosa was impressed, Sam played the part immaculately, you would never second guess her for a seventeen-year-old, but then again was she even playing a part? Is that not just who Sam was.

“Rosa you ok?” one her friends suddenly asked, “you haven’t spoken all lunch”.

Rosa snapped from her daze. “Yeah. I’m just … thinking”.

“Everything alright?”.

“Yes” Rosa lied with a forged smile, “Everything’s fine”.

Despite giving her sceptical eyes her friend accepted Rosa’s response and the conversation moved along.

“So are you guys got any plans for Halloween?” one of them asked.

“I’ve got a party”.

“Same”.

“Taking my little brother and sister trick or treating”.

“I’ve got work” Sam grumbled.

“Same” Rosa said and technically she was telling the truth. Everyone glanced at her confused.

“I didn’t know you got a job” one of them said, “what do you do?”.

Rosa froze up, she hadn’t thought that far ahead. She couldn’t exactly tell them the truth about what she’s been doing, even if Rosa did she highly doubted they’d even believe her.

“You’re helping out your sister aren’t you?” Sam quickly asked.

Rosa was saved. She nodded. “Yeah, Em and her friend have asked for my help”. Their friends offered out their sympathies to Sam and Rosa of their misfortune of having to deal with work on Halloween and their lunch break came to an end.

As they shared the same lesson fourth period, Rosa and Sam bid their friends farewell and left the canteen together. They’d ended up leaving long after the bell and would probably be late for their lesson but as result the courtyard they walked across was completely empty. A strange peaceful tranquillity hummed upon the wind.

“Are you actually helping out your sister on Halloween?” Sam asked, “I just said that to help you out”.

“Probably. Knowing me, I’ll try and force my way into whatever Louie and Emma are doing” Rosa said.

Sam chuckled. “I still can’t believe you know Louie Huntor. And not just know, you’re also living with him” Sam said with childish excitement. Sam spoke as if she was talking about her childhood hero, as if Rosa knew Father Christmas himself.

“You work with him” Rosa stated.

“Technically yes. But he’s not the type of person to hang around and interact with the HQ or organisation. Louie only comes in to speak with Commander Ruthor or his old friends” Sam explained, her voice expressing a slight disappointment.

“Why do you care?” Rosa questioned, completely baffled by Sam’s expression, “It’s only Louie”. I mean he was her saviour, but at the end of the day Louie was just another normal man. Wasn’t he?

Sam stared at Rosa in disbelief, her mouth hanging agape. In fact she almost looked offended.

‘Clearly not’.

“He’s a living legend. Along with Zack Griffin he’s unrivalled in the hunter world” Sam informed, her eyes sparkling.

Sam’s words left Rosa lost and searching for her own. Curiosity began to burn deep within her. Just who exactly was Louie then? She thought about how everyone had respected her father’s name and memory. Just who were the Elacti’s in this other world?

Rosa went to bombard Sam with questions however, before she could even attempt to, her friends expression halted in her tracks. Sam had gone pale. Her eyes wide and pupils quivering as they aimed beyond Rosa. Rosa knew that expression. Dread. Fear.

Rosa spun around and instantly the tranquillity she felt before vanished. Standing upon the tiled roof of the furthest building across the school campus was a beast of nightmares, capable of striking more fear into a soul than a Direhound could ever hope to. A giant muscular figure coated in wild, black fur and wide, pointy ears rose from above its burning crimson eyes.

“What the hell is that?” Rosa muttered. Sam tightly grasped her arm and ragged them both into a sprint across the courtyard. Rosa was dragged inside the closest building. She looked back. The creature was nowhere to be seen. Sam’s grip remaining a steel vice, she led Rosa through the buildings corridor’s. From a quick scan of the halls and rooms, Rosa figured out they were in the English block, which was found near the front of campus and led out onto the school’s entrance courtyard. That was good, they kept the school gates open at all times for sixth formers, meaning they could escape. But then again should they run for it? Rosa thought, would they be able to escape this creature?

As Sam continued to hurriedly drag her along the corridor Rosa glanced out the windows of the classrooms they passed, searching for any hint of the monster’s location, but there was nothing. They came to a halt inside an open room where numerous corridors joined together.

“We need to get out of here” Sam whispered in order to not alert nearby classrooms, “we can’t risk it attacking innocents”.

Rosa nodded in agreement. “What the hell is that thing?” she questioned, keeping her voice low.

“A vampiric monstrosity called a Camaz, named after the Mayan death bat. For as you can see good reasons” Sam informed, “think of it as giant bat mixed with a werewolf”, Sam’s voice fell even lower, “this is way out of my league”. Rosa heard a metallic clink from Sam’s shoulder bag as she pulled it closer to her side.

“So what’s the plan?” Rosa asked, pulling her own bag closer and feeling the dagger it contained firmly on her back.

“We make a run for it” Sam said.

“Do you think we can escape?” Rosa asked.

“Yes” Sam nodded however her voice suggested the opposite. Rosa observed as Sam took in a deep breath and let out a long exhale. She turned away from the windows to face Rosa with determined eyes. “Can you call your sister or Louie?” she questioned.

“My sister” Rosa confirmed and retrieved her phone, quickly finding Emma in her contacts.

“Alright we’re going to slowly make our way to the exit” Sam told her while the phone buzzed.

Steadily and constantly keeping an eye on their surroundings they made their way through the rest of the building. By the fourth ring Emma answered.

“Emma” Rosa said desperately, “we’re under attack at the school and need help. Desperately”.

‘We need to go. Now!’ Rosa heard her sister tell someone. ‘We’re on our way now Rosa sit tight. Is Sam with you?’ Emma asked, concern lacing her voice.

“Yes” Rosa replied.

‘Good stay with her. We’ll be outside the entrance soon’ Emma informed before the call ended. Suddenly Rosa was ragged once again and before she knew it they we’re sprinting down the building halls.

“It was outside the window” Sam told her, “It’s getting desperate meaning we need to get away from everyone here unless we want to risk them getting torn apart”.

“We’ll fight it outside” Rosa said. Her voice carrying a confidence that she didn’t know she possessed. “Do you have any weapons?”.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

“I have my rifle. But this isn’t a creature we can fight Rosa. Best case scenario it kills us instantly so we not devoured alive” Sam said.

“It wants me yeah?” Rosa said ignoring Sam’s pleas, “so I’ll go out first and act as bait. When it attacks you shoot”.

Sam glanced back at Rosa stunned. “I’m not risking your life Rosa. In case you forgot, my whole job here is to protect you” Sam stated.

“You won’t be risking my life. I will” Rosa said, “and when you shoot it in the face you’ll also be protecting me. So, no matter what, you’ll be doing your job. Plus you said we can’t stay here, we can’t risk the monster harming any student or teacher”.

Rosa heard Sam curse under her breath but she made no attempt to argue. They reached the end of the corridor, the school’s entrance visible through the window integrated into the door.

Stopping in front of the door Sam turned and faced Rosa. “You understand failure here means death right?” Sam asked. Her eyes were dark and intense, they weren’t of the friend Rosa knew, that was the gaze of a warrior trained to hunt the supernatural.

“Death is all I’ve been surrounded by recently. What’s one more acquaintance” Rosa joked, though she could tell her humour never reached her eyes.

Sam nodded. She glanced around searching for any students or teachers and then unzipped her bag. She retrieved a number of items, all clearly pieces of some kind of rifle. With no wasted movements and expert speed, Sam assembled her weapon. Rosa stared stunned, before she could even get a good look at each individual section Sam had assembled a sniper rifle. The firearm had a varnished wooden body and dark grey metallic barrel and scope. Rosa glanced up through the door at the courtyard she was about to sprint across. If she was going to enter a battle with a monster she might as well be as prepared as possible. As Sam performed some final checks on her weapon, Rosa unzipped her own bag and pulled out the dagger Louie had given her. A weapon supposedly enchanted so it could harm any monster she faced.

“Leave you backpack on” Sam told her, “although it may slow you slightly it’ll offer some protection and you may be able to throw it as a distraction”.

Rosa nodded and pulled her bag back onto her back. Gripping the dagger tightly she stood.

“Ready?” Sam asked. Rosa glanced down at her friend who was pulling a small vial from her shirt. It contained an opaque and cloudy liquid.

“Ready” Rosa confirmed.

Sam downed the vial’s contents and readied her rifle. “Go” she commanded.

Without hesitation Rosa burst through the door onto the courtyard, instantly entering a sprint. She pushed her body as hard as possible and blitzed towards the entrance gates. Rosa didn’t dare look back but within moments there was an ear shattering bang. That would surely alert the entire school but hopefully they’d be out of sight by then. Rosa sprinted through the gate and onto the street, not slowing down for a moment. A rifle roared again, this time a lot closer to Rosa than she’d like to admit.

“Drop to the ground!” Sam bellowed. Rosa dived to the ground and the air violently rippled across her back. A large shadow rocketed over where her body once was and crashed down into the road ahead. Rosa stared up into burning crimson eyes. Her body scrambled back and she recovered to her feet. The camaz stood on all fours before her in all its terrifying, vampiric grotesque. Sam was right, its appearance resembled the gruesome birth of a vampire bat and Lycanthrope. Nine-inch razor claws on its hands and feet, long canine fangs sprouted from its bloodied maw and huge, leathery black wings were stitched across its arms and torso.

The camaz recoiled as something struck its arm and the shot of a firearm echoed through the air. The monster let out a guttural growl and its fur began to stain crimson, it turned away from Rosa back towards the school entrance where Sam was sprinting towards them, her rifle held high. Something was different about her, Rosa noticed, something strange and terrifying. As if she’d sacrificed part of her humanity for bestial power. Sam was moving faster than should be humanly possible all while carrying and operating a sniper rifle. Her eyes where completely engulfed in white, no iris or pupil to be seen, and black veins rose were distinctly visible beneath her skin around her eyes and neck.

‘Just what the hell was in that vial?’ Rosa questioned.

Sam fired off another shot at the monster’s head, however this time the camaz was ready. It moved with unreal speed, that Rosa couldn’t even comprehend. In the blink of an eye the camaz was in front of Sam its claws raised high. Its arm became a blur as it swiped for Sam’s head. To Rosa’s disbelief, Sam managed to duck and barley avoid being decapitated. With determination in her expression, the hunter advanced even closer pointing up her rifle, giving herself a guaranteed angle at the camaz’s head. However, to even Sam’s surprise the camaz clamped down onto the end of her rifle with its jaw. The thick muscles on its neck bulged beneath its fur and the rifle was torn from Sam’s hands and lashed across the street. Sam let loose a curse but without delay she leapt back and pulled out a mat black pistol. Instantly she began unloading the weapon’s cartridge into the camaz. The bullets struck into the monster’s chest but unlike the sniper rifle had little effect, hindered by the creature’s thick fur and muscle. With an annoyed snarl, the camaz advanced.

Rosa whistled. “Over here!” she shouted before launching herself into a sprint. Like everything recently the monster seemed to be after her, so she placed a strong bet on it focusing her instead of Sam. Unfortunately she was right.

Before she even ran ten steps, the camaz hit her hard. It felt as if a car had rammed into her back. Rosa went flying across the road and without even giving her a moment to recover the monster was on top her, its hot, foul breath suffocating her. Saliva dripped onto her face snapping her from her pained daze and she felt the dagger fortunately still in her hand. Rosa’s body moved on its own, she plunged the dagger between the monster’s neck and shoulder. Smoke began to leak from the wound and without pause the camaz let out an agonizing roar. Suddenly the monster tightly clamped its claws around Rosa’s hand, threatening to break every bone from her wrist up. With ease it pulled the dagger from it neck and turned Rosa’s body into a ragdoll. She was dragged up off the ground and violently thrown across the road, smashing into a car door. Her nervous system screamed as if it had been set on fire and every molecule of air rushed from Rosa’s body in a pained gasp. Her body slumped to the ground, the dagger clattering down beside her head. She tried to raise head but her body wouldn’t respond to her, all she could manage was to barley open her eye lids, revealing distorted vision. Through blurry eyes she could make out burning crimson above her and the shimmer of claws raised high, Rosa tried to grab the dagger and sit up but no matter how much she strained her body wouldn’t listen.

“Flare”. Rosa just about heard Sam call out through her ringing ears. A burst of flames struck the camaz’s back. The monster snarled and spun away from Rosa towards a blurry figure, that Rosa figured was Sam. There was an orange glow in her raised hand that quickly began to fade. The blurry Sam equipped her pistol once again and began unloading shots at he monster’s head. However, the camaz was too fast, it leapt between the shots and blocked with its body. In an instant the camaz was next to Sam, it pounced and the hunter managed to roll out the way. Slowly Rosa’s vision began to return and she watched as Sam weaved in between the monsters slashes and charges, avoiding each one by a hair. Suddenly the camaz flew high into the air and came plummeting down on top of Sam. Rosa’s body screamed as she attempted to force it to move but the only response it gave her was agony. Her vision became clear as the creature came down on top of her friend.

“Vis” she heard Sam chant. Sam’s hand trembled as it tightened into a fist, like it was struggling to contain a powerful force. The space around her fist began to distort, as if it was being pushed away and Sam threw a punch. Her fist cracked against the camaz’s jaw and suddenly an invisible force erupted from Sam’s fist and slammed into the camaz.

The monster was launched back, it flew across the road and smashed into a car with enough force to cave in the door. However, unlike Rosa the camaz didn’t seem too fazed by being thrown threw a car. With a rageful growl its hands clawed deep into the car and it pulled itself free. It glared at Sam with murderous intent. Rosa managed to turn her head enough that she could get a good view of her friend. She felt what colour was left in her skin drain. Sam was hunching over and panting like she’d just ran an entire lap of the school. Whatever, she’d done before had taken everything she had left in the tank.

The camaz charged towards the hunter. Sam tried to leap out the way but to Rosa’s panic she was too slow. The camaz powerfully struck Sam, with such force Rosa heard something crack. Sam was sent skidding along the ground. As she came to a stop the camaz slowly stalked towards her however, friend couldn’t do anything but clasp her ribs and force painful breaths in and out her body. Rose watched helplessly with horror-stricken eyes as impending death approached her best friend. The camaz stood over Sam. The hunter glanced up at the creature a dark, stoic expression masking her face and she stared her death in the face. The camaz raised its claws.

“No!” Rosa managed to scream, the words burning as they left her throat. Suddenly something surged inside, Rosa didn’t know what it was she’d never felt anything like it before, it was like pure heat was flowing around her. Beginning from deep within her chest it rushed around her body like a rampaging animal, filling every space it could find and as Rosa screamed it erupted from her body. The air quaked and it almost seemed like space was bending. Without warning the camaz’s arm snapped backwards and a sharp sound of bones splintering echoed through the air. The monster let loose an yelp and stumbled back from Sam, who just stared bewildered by what had just happened. Which was a very good question, what had just happened?

‘Was that me?’ Rosa wondered, thinking back to that strange power she’d just felt inside her.

However, despite her confusion and queries she didn’t have any time to think as the monster turned back to her, a hateful, guttural growl burning in its throat.

‘Mierda’.

Sam, tried to get to her feet and attack but whatever injury she’d gained halted her, a violent pain flashing across her desperate eyes. The camaz grew closer, Rosa cried at her body to move, and surprisingly it listened. She quickly noticed that her pain had been subdued and she could actually feel her limbs, well just about. Clumsily Rosa grasped her dagger and rose to her feet leaning on the car for support. The fact that it had lost an arm no longer seemed to bother the camaz as it charged forward on three limbs and leapt towards her. Rosa raised the dagger, she just needed once hit, she thought. Suddenly there was an ear-splitting screech on the road. A black blur slammed into the camaz, knocking it out the air and down the road. Hands grabbed hold of Rosa and she flinched back into someone. Glancing back she was met with Emma’s face contorted by stress and rage.

‘If Emma is here then that means-’.

Rosa’s head snapped back towards the monster. Louie Huntor stood before the camaz.

Like it was all the monster’s only instinct, the camaz pounced at the new combatant. However at even faster speeds, Louie dashed forward and grabbed hold of the camaz. Using its momentum against it, he swung the monster through the air and slammed it down against the asphalt ground. Without delay the camaz sprang back up towards Louie, but the hunter stepped to the side and tore one of the creatures canines from its maw. Not giving the creature a second to even realise what had happened to it, Louie plunged the fang into the camaz’s eye. The monster recoiled back screaming and blood spurted from its burst eye. Without warning Emma claimed the dagger from Rosa’s hand.

“Louie!” her sister called out before launching the dagger at him.

Louie caught the weapon with ease and stepped into the camaz. He stabbed the camaz through its chest, into what Rosa could only guess was the monster’s heart. The camaz screamed and black smoke billowed from the wound. Suddenly the monster’s body was set ablaze by violent, bright blue flames. The creature let out a few final whimpers before the flames turned its body to ash.

“Everyone in the car” Louie said, before collecting Sam’s rifle and rushing to the girls side, picking her up off the ground. Instantly, Emma began to pull Rosa away towards Louie’s car that was still running in the road behind them.