Chapter 6-Abandon All Hope

David felt warm, which was a rarity for vampires considering their lower body temperature. It wasn’t a biological function that granted him warmth, but the power that flowed inside him. A power that he was learning to control.

Danica had been quick to teach him how to manipulate his aura. She put him through his paces when they weren’t doing combat training or spending the night out on the town doing frivolous things that preluded an hour long fuck session (she liked to call their romantic coupling that, as she still riled him up just like their first night).

They would sit in the forest for hours, their hands clasped and fingers laced, Danica channeling her energy into David’s hands to help him bring out his own power. It was a simple exercise for a beginner, the teacher helps the student draw out their energy to manifest. David had done this a couple of times and he found it easier each time he did it.

“Try not to go around firing energy blasts until your body fully acclimates to using this energy. Use too much and you’ll tire yourself. Not a situation you want to find yourself in a battle.” Danica told him. “For now, focus on just drawing it out, then we’ll focus on the fun stuff.”

David did just that, working hard every morning, afternoon and night to manifest his aura. It was odd to see, as his keen eyes could spot faint waves of energy flowing off his hands as he channeled his aura into them. The energy appeared as invisible waves of heat emanating off his hands to his keen eyesight, yet it enfolded his hands like a second skin.

Danica was adamant about having him learn how to manipulate his aura as fast as possible. Her reasons for this were not only to lessen the sun’s effects on their bodies but also to help him live among humans better.

“By focusing your aura into your stomach, you can turn it into a sort of furnace. I and many older vampires use this technique to fake eating and digesting physical food to appear more human.” Danica said. “As soon as we swallow the food it’ll go to our stomach, where our aura will basically burn anything we eat up until nothing’s left.”

“So that’s how you do it.” Daniel muttered.

“You have to make sure you’re keeping all your energy focused into your stomach, because if you lose concentration, then your body will reject the food and force you to cough it up. That’s not something you want to go through.”

“Speaking from experience?” David said cheekily. Danica punched his arm hard enough to make him wince. “Ow.”

“Focus. This is important if you want to live among humans. These days people are getting more aware of certain quirks and habits, and people begin to notice if someone doesn’t eat food on a daily basis in public places. Hunters especially pick up on these kinds of things.” Danica said.

David nodded. “Well, it’ll make having dinner with my parents somewhat easier.”

At the mention of his parents, a look came across Danica’s face. David frowned and asked, “What? Did I say something?”

“David, there’s something we need to make clear.” Danica said slowly. “While you may live with your family right now, it is too risky for you to remain in Rosemary.”

“Excuse me?” David said confused. “I’m getting better at controlling my urges and your fighting lessons—“

“It’s not that. You are a vampire, David. You age slower than a human, and that alone will be something that people will begin to notice, especially in a town that has a closely knit community like Rosemary.” She said. “You’ll put yourself and by extension me in danger by staying here and you should consider leaving after a while.”

“Leaving? How do you expect me to do that? I’m all my parents have.” He said.

“It doesn’t matter. Once they notice that you aren’t aging, do you think that they’ll still want you around?” She asked coldly. “Even the most caring parents will be wary of having a vampire in their home, especially a newborn.”

“That…” David had no reply to that.

“Or would you rather have that little wench you’re so enamored with find out your secret?” David glared at her for the insult. “Forget about her, David. It’ll make the transition easier. Never form lasting connections with humans unless they’re loyal to you, the real you, in some way. No one short of our human servants should see even a glint of your fangs, do you understand?”

David huffed and went to stand up, but Danica’s hand shot out to grab his arm in a tight grip. He winced from the force of her grip and glared at her.

“I didn’t say we were done.” Danica said in a tight voice. “Not until you understand what’s at risk. If you fail to heed my warnings, then you’ll only invite disaster upon yourself, and I refuse to allow my progeny to get himself killed from his own stupidity!”

“Stupidity? In case you’ve forgotten, I never had a choice in the matter. You may have given me a chance for revenge, but now I’m stuck as a fucking predator living among sheep, constantly worrying if Anna or my parents find out about me.” David growled.

“And no amount of whining will change that. Unless, of course, you’re planning on ending your oh so terrible existence” Danica raised a delicate eyebrow. “If you are, then go ahead. It’ll save me the embarrassment of having a coward for a progeny!”

David snarled and ripped his hand out of her grasp, but then she shot up and slammed a palm into his chest. He went flying back into a tree and she was in his face in a flash, nose to nose with him.

“Let me make one thing clear. This is your life now. You are no longer human. You are a vampire, and thus you are man’s natural enemy. Your parents, that girl, Barbatos, they’ll all try to kill you as soon as they see your fangs, and the sooner you understand that, the sooner you’ll move on with your life!”

She let go of him and threw him to the ground. David got back up to his feet, but when he looked up, she was gone.

XXXXXX

David walked home in a bad mood. That was probably the first real argument he had with Danica, and he was sure it wouldn’t be the last regarding that subject. What was worse was that she was partly right. Humans and vampires rarely got along, especially when it came to living in small communities like Rosemary.

Would his parents really disown him if they knew what he really was? Would Anna, the sweetest woman he knew, really run from him in fear and shun him? David wanted to think not, but fear can make people do things they wouldn’t normally do. Vampires had a bad reputation in Rozzaria, and many were raised to fear the predators who could be living among them. He didn’t want to think about what his parents would do if they learned about what he was now.

“I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it.” He told himself. He stopped in front of a house and took a moment to realize that it was Anna’s flat. “Wait, how did I get here?”

He must have been so caught up in his thoughts that he didn’t realize he walked all the way to Anna’s house unconsciously. David sighed and decided to pay Anna a visit. He did walk all the way here after all.

“Hopefully she’s free with all this shit going on.” David muttered to himself before knocking on the door. But as he tapped the door, it swung open, completely unlocked. “Huh?”

David knew Anna to know better than to leave her door unlocked for any reason, especially if she was at home. Looking down at the doorknob, David saw that the lock had been broken in a discreet manner so that no one would notice it from the outside at a glance. It was a break-in.

“Shit.” He hissed and pushed his way inside the house. “Anna? Anna, are you in here?”

David looked around, sniffing for her scent. He recognized Anna’s sweet scent immediately, but there was also a second scent, one he did not recognize. David growled, his fangs lengthening and eyes slightly turning red.

“She’s not here.”

David spun around and threw a punch at whoever spoke to him. His fist was caught in the hand of another man, one taller and stronger looking than him.

“Who the hell are you and where did you take Anna?” David snarled.

Ethan frowned when he felt his hand slowly being pushed back. “I didn’t do anything, fledgling. That is the truth. But I do know who did it.”

“Who?” He snarled.

“My brother, Felix. He mentioned his displeasure about your actions against the hunters, but I didn’t think he’d be foolish enough to go this far.” Ethan said. “I’m guessing he kidnapped your girl to lure you into a trap or something.”

David narrowed his eyes and took a step back. “Why the hell would he do that?”

“I guess to teach a rowdy newborn a lesson or something. Regardless, your girl’s a good friend of my woman, so we can’t exactly have that, can we? I take it you have his scent?”

David nodded. “Already have it.”

“Then you better get going. I don’t know how long Felix will be cordial.” Ethan said.

“Why are you telling me all this?” David asked. “He’s your brother, right?”

“I’m not in the business of kidnapping innocent women or keeping hostages. This is not the kind of thing we need with all these hunters sniffing about.” Ethan sighed and rubbed the back of his head. “Look, just go already. I know your sire will be out for my brother’s head and I’d rather not get in her way if I can handle it.”

David looked at Ethan for a moment before nodding his thanks and running out the door, sprinting down the street on the trail of Anna’s scent. This was exactly what he was worried about.

XXXXXX

David tracked Anna’s scent to the far edge of town near the warehouse district where cargo was stored for the ships coming into port. With night already here, the place was devoid of people who might get caught in the crossfire or witness the coming confrontation. It was the perfect area for a fight between two vampires.

Anger surpassed David’s natural avoidance of violence. He was driven not only by his need to save Anna, but also to kill the bastard who thought to put her in this situation. All this because he sought justice? Apparently humans don’t have a monopoly on reckless behavior.

David paused a moment at the front doors to the warehouse, listening quietly to hear anything coming his way. Anna’s scent was strongest here, and though his eyes were capable of seeing in total darkness, he could find her anywhere in the main storage area. He walked deeper into the warehouse, walking between towering stacks of crates and large barrels while trying to keep the sound of his footsteps light. The kidnapper already knew he was here, but David wanted some form of surprise on his side.

“Welcome, newborn!” The sudden sound of someone speaking almost made David jump and he spun around, looking for the speaker. “I’m glad you came. You didn’t waste any time did you?”

A man walked out of the shadows, a blank look on his face. It was Felix, and though his posture appeared calm and collected, David could see the muscles in his shoulders tensed in case he decided to get violent.

“You kidnapped a good friend of mine. Where is she?”

Felix wordlessly pointed to one of the shipping crates a few feet away from them. David looked over there and saw Anna sitting lying on top of it, unconscious. He could smell no blood on her, and her breathing was normal, though a bit slow as if she were asleep.

“What did you do to her?” He growled.

“I simply knocked her out. Wouldn’t do to feed on her seeing as I already have my own blood donor.” Felix said shrugging. “She was just bait to lure you here.”

“Your brother told me about that.” David said. “He said you’re out for my head because of what I did to that hunter.”

“Correct. Your reckless actions have put all of us in danger. There are more hunters in this town than there have been in decades. All because of your impulsiveness!” Felix sneered.

“So the reason you’re doing all of this is to teach me a lesson? You’re one for a little flare aren’t you?” David said, taking off his jacket.

“I’m only doing this because no one else is willing to. They’re all too damn afraid of your sire. But she’ll understand that no one is above vampire law, not even her or her progeny!” Felix hissed, his eyes turning red and his fangs extending.

David had enough of his talking and crouched low before lunging at Felix, his claws heading toward the man’s face. Felix easily dodged his opening strike and spun around faster than David could process, kicking him in the face. David was sent crashing straight through a pile of crates and slammed into another pile.

“Damn.” David grunted, his cheek throbbing in pain. He quickly got to his feet and rolled away to avoid a downward kick that left a crater in the wooden floor. David jumped back and threw a series of punches at Felix, making sure to watch out for any counterattacks.

Danica taught him that vampire battles were often quick yet destructive. A battle between two seasoned vampires is short, due to both combatants knowing how to utilize the full extent of their powers and exploiting even the smallest opening available. In a battle like this, where one of the fighters is still getting used to their abilities, the battle could be one-sided. Like it was right now.

David attacked Felix with everything he had, but Felix was clearly no pushover despite his posh appearance. By studying how David’s muscles tensed and which limb twitched before making a movement, Felix could basically predict what David’s moves were. David was able to almost do the same, but his form was sloppy and many of his movements were practically telegraphed to the man. Sparring was one thing, real fighting was another.

“Your form is atrocious.” Felix smacked aside David’s fist and kicked him in the chest. “Clearly Danica’s fighting skills didn’t pass on to you!”

Felix shot forward and punched David straight into a pile of crates. David tumbled through the debris and got to his feet, his foot hitting something metal. He glanced down and saw that it was a crowbar. Obviously it wasn’t silver, but it’d still cause enough damage if used right.

David knelt down and discreetly snapped the crowbar in half with his foot, leaving a pointed, jagged edge sharp enough to pierce flesh. When Felix charged at him again, he lashed out with a right hook that Felix easily batted away. Though this was just a distraction to take his eyes off David’s left hand, which shot up and buried the crowbar right into his ribs.

Felix gasped in pain as the sharp point stabbed right between his ribcage and into his intestines. With David’s strength, he was able to bury half of the crowbar into his side before jumping away from Felix’s flailing arms. Felix coughed up blood before reaching down and slowly pulling the crowbar out of his stomach, grimacing at the pain.

“You…bastard!” Felix snarled, his face looking less and less human by the minute. His lips pulled back to reveal his teeth, fangs fully extended, and he was letting out inhuman hisses that only made his monstrous visage more menacing.

David shot to his feet just as Felix lunged at him. They threw punches at each other, but caught each other’s fists, and were set in a deadlock. They glared hatefully at each other, their muscles bulging as they tried to overpower one another.

“Maybe I did screw up. But neither of us can change that, even though I wouldn’t change it for the world!” David growled.

David tried pushing back against Felix, but as he pushed his opponent a few inches backward, he heard a faint click from above them. Instinctively he broke the deadlock and leapt away from Felix just as something silver flashed across his vision. Then he saw Felix take a long silver stake right into his head, stabbing through his skull and into his brain.

Felix froze, his pupils dilated as he tried to process what happened. Then another stake flew from the shadows and caught him in the back of the neck, severing his spinal cord and Felix’s eyes went blank as he collapsed to the ground.

David looked around him and saw several men hidden in the shadows, all wielding crossbows that were pointed at him. He took a step back and had a silver stake shot at him that nearly hit his foot. David hissed at the shooter and prepared to make a run for it.

“I knew you had fallen.”

David froze and turned back to see Barbatos walking toward him, a broadsword in one hand, and Anna’s unconscious body in his other. David gritted his teeth and faced the veteran vampire hunter.

“We’ve been tracking this elusive one for some time now. A womanizer of proper wives and mothers, going from house to house feeding on innocent women and ruining lives.” Barbatos shook his head at the dying Felix, whose wounds were struggling to heal with the presence of silver within his body. “It took us a while to corner him, but we have you to thank for that, don’t we?”

“Let her go.” He growled.

“I’m disappointed in you, David. I wanted to believe that your heart was not so weak as to be coerced into giving your soul to live as an unholy creature, but people have a habit of disappointing me.” Barbatos continued, shaking his head. “Pathetic.”

Barbatos swung his sword and swiftly cut into Felix’s neck, severing the man’s head and killing him instantly. The hunter did the execution with such speed and nonchalance that it deeply unnerved David.

“This is the fate of all vampires, David. You know this, and yet you still turned to the other side anyway. Such a shame, for you had potential.” Barbatos remarked. “Though you’ve squandered it for a measly attempt at petty revenge.”

“My actions were justified considering your dog killed my friend!” David snarled. He made to lunge at Barbatos, but froze when he held the sword to Anna’s unprotected neck.

“Don’t even try it. My men will shoot you down before you get the chance, and I don’t want to have to hurt this young woman to make you heel.” The hunter said darkly.

“You bastard. You call yourself a protector of man but you’ll threaten an innocent woman like that?” David sneered.

“Don’t lecture me about innocence, vampire. I’m sure your sire has taught you how to hunt and kill unsuspecting people to feed on.” Barbatos replied. “And what’s one woman compared to the hundreds of people living in this town, at the mercy of vampires who hide in plain sight.”

“You like to talk all that shit about us, but hunters…no, people like you are more a danger to humans than us.” David said. “Now I won’t tell you again. Let. Her. Go!”

Barbatos lifted his sword to point it at David. “Make me.”

Before David could even think, he crouched low and sprinted forward, moving too fast for the archers to follow. Stakes stabbed into the ground behind him, not even grazing his feet as he charged at Barbatos full force with the intent to rip his face off and retrieve Anna. Unfortunately, no plan survives contact with the enemy.

Johnathan Brisby descended from the upper scaffolding with two silver blades in hand. He landed on David’s back and stabbed the two blades into his shoulders. David fell forward to the ground and Barbatos used this moment to summon two energy blades with his aura to impale David’s arms to the ground, keeping him in place.

“No!” David roared, struggling to break free, but winced when Johnathan pressed the blades harder into his flesh.

“Be still, leech. Make any more noise and I’ll cut out your tongue.” Johnathan said. He looked up at Barbatos. “The area’s secure. No sign of any other vampires in the district.”

“Good. We’ll leave this one alive and see if his sire will come to save him. In the meantime, Johnathan, take this girl to the carriage. We’ll interrogate her to see if she knows anything else.” Barbatos said. Johnathan sent him a concerned look. “What is it?”

“Barbatos, we’ve already caught the vampire. We don’t need to involve the girl in this.” He said.

Barbatos frowned. “She may have had prior knowledge of this man being a vampire ahead of time. Anyone associated with him is a potential suspect and will be dealt with accordingly. If she’s innocent, then that’s fine. If not…then she’ll suffer the punishment all traitors face.”

Hearing this, David struggled harder, but Johnathan struggled to hold him down. Barbatos laid Anna to the ground and nodded to his partner.

“Go get the carriage. I watch over him.” He said before looking up at the other hunters on the upper levels. “As for the rest of you, I—“

Barbatos was cut off when something fell from the upper scaffolding. It was a head, ripped screaming from its body. The head of one of the other hunters. Barbatos and Johnathan were quickly on guard, looking up to the shadows as more heads and even headless bodies fell down from their hiding places.

“We have another one.” Barbatos announced.

“His sire?” Johnathan whispered.

“Probably. All of our hunters are dead. The ones outside most likely as well.” Barbatos kept his eyes on the shadows as they talked. There was no light, not even from the moonlight. And with their only sensor possibly dead, they were walking blind here.

Of the two, the pair thought that Johnathan would be the one most likely to be targeted, as vampires often go after the weakest of the bunch, and of the two of them he was weaker than Barbatos. So it came as a great surprise when a beautiful woman with long golden hair slammed into Barbatos with enough strength to send him crashing through several crates.

It was Danica.

Johnathan cursed and pulled his swords from David’s shoulders to attack, but Danica lashed out with a dark purple energy whip that slammed into his chest and knocked him back. This took him off David, and Danica easily shattered the aura spikes impaling his arms before leaping at Johnathan, who was quickly put on the defensive.

David stumbled to his feet and ran over to Anna, looking her over. He gave a relieved sigh when he saw that she was unharmed, just sleeping. Whatever Felix had given her had put her out like a light.

David’s relief vanished when he felt something behind him and he spun around with lightning fast reflexes just in time to block the sword thrust at his chest with his hands. Barbatos stared into his eyes, a bleeding cut above his brow that was slowly healing over thanks to his aura.

“I’m going to make you pay!” David snarled.

“You can certainly try.” Barbatos replied and slashed at David’s head, forcing the vampire back.

XXXXXX

Johnathan had once been looking forward to spending the rest of his life with the beautiful Mina. She was an intelligent, outspoken and beautiful woman who was not afraid to speak her mind when given the chance, which unfortunately meant that she was rather against their arranged marriage. Johnathan took it in stride, aiming to win her over slowly so that she’d love him back, or at least didn’t hate him entirely. He was willing to give her the entire world for her affection.

Too bad Mina felt differently.

There was another reason that Mina was so against their marriage—she was in love with another man. And now just any man, a vampire noble. Johnathan did not know the noble’s name, nor did he care, but he later learned that Mina had no only had Mina slept with the noble but she also allowed him to feed off her several times as well. When Johnathan had caught them in the act, he tried to kill the noble, but failed miserably and was soundly beaten before the noble vanished into the darkness along with his beloved Mina. That was three years ago, and Johnathan had yet to find them both since becoming a hunter.

He trained hard to get to where he was now. Hunting and killing hundreds of vampires and searching all of Eura for the slim sign of his former fiancé and her vampiric lover. He found no sign of them anyway, but he had forged some close bonds with the men of the Order. Barbatos was a good man, though he tended to go too far if not restrained. Johnathan had come too far to fall now to some nameless leech in a backwater town in Rozzaria.

Johnathan flooded his body with auric energy to increase his movements, slashing away with his short swords at Danica, who easily dodged and evaded his strikes. The vampire only made small movement, tilting her body just enough to let his blades sail past her. It was clear that she wasn’t expending much energy fighting him, and he knew that he was likely outmatched fighting her like this.

“I don’t have time for this. You’re just toying with me.” Johnathan grunted.

“You’re just figuring that out?” Danica said calmly, weaving around his forward thrust and slashing her arm down on his outstretched arm.

Johnathan was just barely able to avoid losing his arm by jumping back away from her. Danica leapt forward to pursue him, but she was suddenly surrounded by a large coffin made of auric energy, with several dozen blades sticking out of the box. Johnathan clenched his hands and all the swords stabbed into the coffin at once, impaling the vampire within.

He didn’t let up on his assault, not stopping until there was nothing left of the vampire but blood and tissue. But unfortunately for Johnathan, he underestimated the abilities of a centuries’ old vampire more acquainted with her powers than most of the vampires he’s hunted in the past.

“Boo.” Came a whisper in his ear.

Johnathan’s eyes widened but it was too late, as six black tendrils pierced his torso, causing blood to spray everywhere. He gurgled as blood came up his throat, and he fell forward when the tendrils were pulled from his back. Johnathan fell to his knees and blood pooled underneath him as the vampire he thought he mortally wounded calmly walked up to him.

“My you hunters are really an arrogant bunch.” Danica said idly. “Did you really think you had me there? I’ve fought stronger hunters than you who’ve died fighting me, so what made you think that I could be bested by someone like you?”

Her leg shot out and kicked Johnathan in the face, throwing him onto his back. Two teeth fell from his bloodied mouth and he wheezed as he struggled to remain conscious.

“You, a man who was abandoned by his fiancé for another, stronger man?” Danica smiled cruelly. At his shocked looked, she nodded. “Yes, I know who took your lover, and let me tell you that she’s spending her married life as happy as a woman can be. She just gave birth to her second son two months ago in fact.”

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

Half dead from losing so much blood, Johnathan could barely comprehend her, but he knew what she was talking about. The woman he loved, the woman he would have given everything for…the woman who betrayed her kind and abandoned him for a demon, was happily living her life with a family of her own. All while he spent his days chasing after monsters and risking his life with men who were barely any better than the creatures they hunted. Was he being punished for something? What did he do to deserve this?

“Normally, I’d sit back and watch you agonize over the news while the light leaves your eyes, but I’m in a bit of a hurry at the moment.” Danica walked over to him and grasped his head in her hands. “Here’s a quick death for a poor bastard like yourself. Be glad I already fed earlier to make this less humiliating.”

With a quick twist of his head, Danica broke Johnathan’s neck in a single motion and let his body drop before strolling away without another care. She paid him no mind once he was dead, and left his body there to collect dust, waiting for someone to collect it, if at all.

Such was the horrible life of a vampire hunter.

XXXXXX

David snarled as he pressed his attack against Barbatos, slashing away with his claws only for his attacks to be deflected. He knew that his moves were painfully obvious to the experienced hunter, and his superhuman powers were of little help if they weren’t used properly. It was only his fury that kept Barbatos from countering him with a fatal move of some kind, though he’d gladly seek an opening to deliver the final blow.

Like right now. Barbatos’s right hand shot up and tried to sink a silver stake into the area just under his ribcage to strike his heart. David’s arm moved and batted his hand aside, hitting it with enough force to fracture the bones in the hunter’s hand. Barbatos grunted and leapt back, slashing at David’s head with an aura blade he formed around his other arm, narrowly missing David by inches.

“You’re a pretty skilled fighter, David. Not very experienced, but good enough for a newborn.” Barbatos commented. “Your teacher must have been thorough with you.”

David wasn’t in the mood for talking. He leapt at Barbatos, avoiding the aura blade before trying to grapple the man. Barbatos easily avoiding his grasping claws and delivered a quick slash that left a shallow cut in David’s shirt. It was hardly a serious wound but enough to make David pause and give Barbatos an opening. He thrust his palm into the vampire’s chest and released an aura blast that sent David flying back into a pile of crates.

David coughed as air returned to his lungs and jumped back to his feet, only to see Barbatos on top of him with another silver stake in his hand. David angled his body so that it only stabbed into his right shoulder, but the pain was enough to make him hiss angrily. David grabbed Barbatos’s arm and squeezed it tightly, earning a pained grunt from the man. Barbatos went to draw another stake, but David moved faster, delivering the same palm thrust to the hunter’s chest that knocked him back into a crate, shattering it.

Barbatos coughed up blood, wheezing a bit as a sharp pain flared in his right side. His left arm hung limply at his side, dislocated from David gripping it so hard. He looked around the warehouse and spotted his sword lying just a few feet from him. Not wasting even a second, Barbatos pumped auric energy into his legs and sprinted for the sword, pushing his body to its limits. Even a newborn was dangerous to fight in close quarters and he needed to gain some distance.

Barbatos reached out to grab the sword, but David was just a few seconds faster. As soon as the hunter’s fingers closed around the sword, David leapt on Barbatos’s back and sank his fangs deep into the man’s shoulder. Barbatos howled in pain but pushed back to stab his sword backwards. The blade sank right into David’s stomach, but David did not relent. His sank his teeth in deeper into the man’s flesh before pulling his head back and tearing off a huge chunk of flesh and clothing along with him.

Blood spurted everywhere, and Barbatos knew that this was a fatal wound. He fell forward and spun around, swinging his sword at David’s head, hoping to behead the vampire. Riddled with bloodlust and rage, David raised his arm and channeled aura into it to further protect himself. The sword only managed to sink a few inches into his arm before he reached down and snapped the tip of the blade off, and stabbed Barbatos in the shoulder.

“Not so intimidating now that you’re hurt, are you?” David growled. The wound in his stomach stung but he ignored it. He was too angry right now. “It feels different when it’s your blood being spilled, isn’t it?”

Barbatos sent an energy blade shooting at David’s head, but he sidestepped it and kicked Barbatos in the ribs, shattering two with that single kick. The hunter coughed and groaned, blood still spurting from his wounded shoulder.

“I don’t care if you call me a demon, or a monster, or whatever the fuck you inquisitors call people different from you. I could care less what other hunters do in the rest of the world, but when you threaten the people I care for, your life is forfeit!” David snarled. He stomped down on Barbatos’s other arm, smashing the bone and rendering the hunter defenseless. “Well, nothing witty or scary to say to the newborn?”

David bared his fangs and began slashing his claws across Barbatos’s chest, his claws ripping and tearing away at the man’s flesh. Blood splattered across his body but he paid no attention to it as he unleashed all his rage on the hunter. Bestial growls emerged from his throat as he completely disemboweled Barbatos, hollowing his entire torso out right down to his spine.

Everything was a red haze to him, and when he came back to his senses, David found himself crouched over the brutalized corpse of Barbatos, his final expression one of pure horror and agony. David’s eyes slowly went down to his bloodied hands, the blood still slightly wet, and pieces of bone marrow and entrails stuck under his fingernails. And the smell…it actually made him gag.

“Wow. I was going to step in if he got off a serious blow on you but you killed him more inventively than I thought you would. ” Danica stepped up next to him, inspecting the ravaged corpse with a proud smile. “You’ve certainly proven yourself as a true hunter, David. I expected no less from my progeny.”

David abruptly turned and vomited at her shoes.

XXXXXX

One Week Later

The sky was a dark grey hue and the air smelled moist with condensation, a sign that rain was on the way. A thick cover of mist had fallen over Rosemary and the surrounding forest. The town was unusually subdued because of the weather, with the only people walking the streets being those who had something to do.

The grass and trees were damp against David’s fingers as he stalked through the brush, trying to be as silent as possible. The forest was quiet, but to him he could still hear the faint sound of birds chirping and insects buzzing about, though he focused his senses on the massive brown bear just a few feet in front of him.

He was starting to get the hang of hunting animals. They were different from humans, more acute with their hearing and a bit more slippery too. David mainly focused on the predators like bears and mountain lions, they were more filling. It was trial and error learning to hunt them without taking a few hits himself, but he felt he was getting the hang of it.

David crouched low, his eyes focused on the brown bear before him. It hadn’t caught his scent yet. He waited until the bear’s back was turned before sprinting forward in a burst of speed, flying for the first two feet before running the rest of the way. When the bear finally sensed him, he was already on top of it, wrapping his arms around the animal in a tight hug that was strong enough to crush its ribs and lifted the bear off its feet. He slammed the bear to the ground, ignoring its vicious growls and violent thrashing before he sank his fangs into its side.

His teeth sank into its flesh like a knife through butter. Hot, warm blood flooded into his mouth and went down his throat to pool in his stomach. He growled and hugged the bear tighter as he drank greedily, ignoring the sound of snapping ones as his arms tightened around the bear.

David drank and drank until the bear’s veins ran dry, and only then did he stop. He dropped the big furry body of the animal and took a deep breath, panting a bit. He always got a bit of a rush handling large predators like that. There was something a little invigorating about fighting animals that would have torn him to pieces as a human. Maybe it was his own predatory instincts acting up, he didn’t know. But at least it was better than taking out those instincts on a human.

David walked over to the tree branch where he hung his coat and reached inside to take out his pocket watch. It was almost sunrise. Time to head back home.

“Back to cold reality.” David sighed, throwing his jacket on and giving the dead bear a pat on its cold body. “Thanks for the meal. Your sacrifice wasn’t in vain.”

XXXXXX

The sun rose but the skies remain full of dark grey clouds. It was as if a dreary haze had fallen over the town of Rosemary since the harrowing events that struck a week ago. The people were noticeably subdued and even depressed, but one couldn’t blame them considering the circumstances.

The day after David and Danica’s fight against the vampire hunters brought about the discovery of their mutilated bodies. It was a horrific sight, as Danica was very thorough in her slaughter of Barbatos’s men. The less said about David’s complete butchering of Barbatos himself the better.

Obviously the deaths of so many hunters in a single town definitely brought about the attention and intensive investigation of the Order. But Danica had taken measures to take the heat off them. She and David, who was still weary from his ordeal, had planted false evidence of the “murderers” having skipped town to hide out in the wider city far from Rosemary to escape the hunters. Danica was an old pro at this, and thus her smoke trail worked well enough that the Order sent dozens of hunters to the nearest cities in search of vampires that weren’t even there. It allowed them a chance to breath.

As for David, he was coping the best he could, though not as well as he liked. He had nightmares about what he did to Barbatos after that night, and would remember his awful butchering of the man’s corpse every time he tried to drink blood. It got to the point where David resorted to drinking animal blood to keep healthy, swearing off human blood entirely. He may be a monster biologically, but he will not be one socially. David was afraid of his power, and of losing control like that. Even now he still felt as if he could feel bits of human flesh under his fingernails.

The only bright side to this mess was that Anna was safe. At Danica’s insistence, he brought Anna back to her friend Harriet’s place, where she was taken care of by her and Felix’s brother, Ethan (who wasn’t mad that his brother died fighting David. His actions warranted punishment for pulling a stunt like that in an Order hot spot like Rosemary). Anna made a full recovery, told by Harriet that she had a fainting spell and was out for most of the evening. The girl accepted the explanation and was staying with Harriet for the time being under the pretense of being watched over for her health, and not to protect her from vampires with grudges.

Which brought up another point; David and Danica’s actions were bringing too much heat upon the vampire population of Rosemary. David hadn’t noticed it until Felix brought it up, but there had been a rise in vampire killings by hunters since he was turned. Barbatos was very thorough and efficient in his annihilation of any and all vampires he found, and he took out half of the major nests in the area already.

“Your sire may not have told you this, but you killing that hunter had attracted too much attention to us.” Ethan told him the night he returned with Anna. “I’m sure Danica never had you meet the other vampires in town, has she?”

“No, she hasn’t.” David said, just realizing it. He had been too enamored with training and reveling in killing his friend’s murderer to notice that. “What does this mean? Am I a pariah?”

“In a way. Remote communities like this are perfect for our kind because they afford a certain level of privacy and protection from the Order and its hunters. Many of the vamps here don’t even know how to fight properly, only hunt. You kill one hunter, and more will come looking for the killer, which means that you started a chain reaction that led that hunter team to his.” Ethan explained. “And now with his death, more will come, and it’ll be even harder for us to live here.”

“I…I hadn’t thought of that.” He said, a bit at a loss for words. “But Danica’s working on a way to lead the hunters away from Rosemary.”

“Which is all well and good, but keep in mind that Barbatos had killed lot of vampires while he was alive. Those lucky enough to escape his gaze had already left town. Even if the Order leaves Rosemary alone now, no one will feel that the town is safe anymore.”

David didn’t realize any of this. He sat on the couch in silence, processing the fact that he essentially drove dozens of vampires from their homes, however indirectly. Ethan saw his growing remorse and patted him on the shoulder.

“Hey, it’s not your fault, at least not intentionally. Your sire should’ve taught you to restrain yourself when it came to your emotions. Vampires are easy to anger, especially ones with unfinished business.” He said.

Since then David had avoided Anna, not wanting anymore vampires seeking to vent their rage upon him to use as a hostage against him. He knew the only reason he wasn’t being attacked at almost every moment was because of Danica, who was probably the most powerful vampire in the town. Still, he couldn’t risk Anna getting hurt because of him. He had to distance himself from her, less some other nutjob make a go at her.

As for Danica…he hadn’t talked to her since the incident. He kept his distance from her once he was done dry heaving at her feet and retrieved Anna. He moved back into his family estate, ignored and avoided her at every turn, pushed her away. He knew she wasn’t hurt by his refusal to be near her, no Danica was stronger than that, but he knew she was probably extremely irritated, which was dangerous. Still, he could barely sleep well after what he did to Barbatos. Drinking blood was one thing, but to carve up another human being like that…it made him dizzy just thinking about it.

So he holed himself up from the world, ignoring Danica and Anna equally, going out early in the morning to hunt in the forest, and spending the rest of the day indoors to avoid the sun, and then returning home to rest. He continued this pattern for the entire week, and he felt that he was managing on his own just fine. Fighting bears and mountain lions was a surprisingly good past time to hone his combat skills, though he was sure that Danica had something to say about that.

The only downside, aside from treating Anna like she didn’t exist, was that he needed to feed more often on animals now that he was abstaining from human blood. Vampires could essentially drink all kinds of blood if need be, but their bodies processed human blood best, as it made them healthy. Animal blood, primarily blood from non-human mammals, also did the trick, but only for a short while. After seven days of drinking animal blood he was already starting to feel the effects.

“It doesn’t matter.” David told himself as he headed back home. “I’m already a danger to everyone I know and love, so it can’t get any worse than this. At the very least I’m keeping myself in check.”

That what he often told himself to sleep easier at night. It didn’t.

XXXXXX

It was a cloudy Tuesday morning when he left his estate to visit the town. He was heading to the newly built library that just opened up and wanted to see what they had in store. Probably wouldn’t be as vast as the library in the next city over, but he needed something to occupy his time that wasn’t hunting or seeing how many drinks it’ll take to get drunk (it took a lot, he found out thanks to his body breaking down the alcohol faster than he could drink).

Thankfully the library was mostly empty, and David quickly made his way to the second floor away from any prying eyes to a section he wanted to check out. In the shadow of the bookcase and away from the sunlight shining through the window, David felt like he could finally relax.

“David.”

“Shit!” David hissed, jumping at the unexpected sound of his name. He looked to the side and saw Anna standing there, her arms crossed over her chest. “Anna.”

“David.” Anna said frowning.

“Fancy meeting you here.” David said while thinking, ‘How did I not hear her coming? I can’t be that out of it.’

“What is going on with you, David?” Anna asked. “You think I don’t know that you’ve been avoiding me this entire week? You’ve been acting strange ever since…ever since that incident.”

David looked away. He knew from Isabella that Anna sometimes had nightmares about the attack. “I’m…I’m…”

“Ever since the death of John’s murderer, you’ve been acting really weird. In fact, everything started taking a turn as soon as you met that strange woman.” Anna said, still glaring at him. “What’s going on that you refuse to tell me? Why are you avoiding me, David?”

“It’s not because of you!” It partly was, but she didn’t need to know that. “It’s…complicated, Anna. That’s all I can say.”

“That’s not good enough. I want to know what’s making you distance yourself from me.” Anna demanded. “I’m sick of dancing around this issue and I want an answer.”

“Anna,” He tried to say, but Anna cut him off.

“Is it that woman? Is she making you do this?” When David spun around to face her, Anna nodded. “I know about that woman you’re spending time with. Has she done something to you?”

“It’s none of your business, Anna. Leave it alone.” David growled and pushed past her. Anna’s hand reached out and snatched his wrist.

“Of course it’s my business, David!” She said loudly.

Frustration bubbled up within David’s chest and he spun around to glare at her. “NO IT’S NOT!”

It came out louder and rougher than he intended, and Anna flinched from the harsh look in his eyes. David’s anger simmered down like a dying flame and he took a step back. He tried to say something, but no words could form, so instead he turned and quickly made his way downstairs and out of the bookstore.

XXXXXX

“So this is where you’ve been.”

David could tell smell Danica a mile away, her scent a combination of lavender with faint hints of blood. He didn’t look at her, even as she sat next to him on the bench, making sure she sat in the shade. The park wasn’t full today, though there were people here and there walking past them on leisurely strolls.

“How’d you find me?” He asked.

“You’d know if you stopped trying to avoid me. In fact, you’d know a lot of things if you stopped acting like some tragic protagonist in a novel.” Danica said, staring at him with her usual enchanting gaze. “Sitting in the middle of a park out in the sunlight? If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were trying to kill yourself.”

“Give it time.”

Danica’s hand shot up and wrapped around his throat in the blink of an eye. Her pale blue eyes glared into his though her expression never changed. David gritted his teeth as he felt her fingers put the slightest amount of pressure on his windpipe, ready to crush it if she had to.

“IIs that what you want then? To die? Because that’s easier said than done for most people.” Danica hissed. “They’ll bitch and moan about life being too hard for them and beg for death, until someone finally grants their wish and they have second thoughts. There are only a handful of people at a time who truly mean it, and you are not one of them. So kindly stop with this embarrassing self-loathing phase like you’re some gothic vampire from a Penny Dreadful and get your shit together!”

David’s hand shot up and gripped Danica’s wrist, snapping it at the joint with a faint but audible crack. Danica didn’t even wince as her hand went limp and pulled her arm back to her.

“Unlike you, I still have a conscious.” David replied. “I’ll deal with my issues my own way. You deal with yours in your own way. Leave it at that.”

David and Danica stared at each other for an unknown amount of time before Danica huffed and stood up. Then before his very eyes, she made motion with her broken wrist and her hand reattached itself with a sickening crack, her hand returning to normal in just a few seconds. Another reminder of just how old and dangerous she was.

“Very well. Continue your delusions.” She said and nodded to him. “I won’t be too far away. I want to see your little glass palace shatter around you when you finally accept your new reality.”

Danica briskly walked away, leaving David alone on the bench. Frustrated and angry, he sat on his bench stewing from Danica’s little intimidation tactic. His exhaustion from sitting out in sunlight for so long didn’t help, but in his stubbornness David refused to move to a shadier place.

This was his favorite spot in the park to sit. He’d be damned if he was going to let a few rays of sunlight chase him away from his personal pleasures.

XXXXXX

David sat in that park for the rest of the afternoon and well into the evening. It wasn’t until the sun had gone down and the park was nearly deserted that David awoke, realizing that he had fallen asleep sometime earlier.

“Nighttime,” David muttered, looking up at the moon. “Maybe I should leave. I can’t keep this up forever.”

“Keep what up?”

It was only thanks to Danica’s intensive training that David didn’t hiss when he shot up off the bench in surprise. Anna stood there, hands raised as if to calm a startled animal.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you.” Anna said softly. David calmed his breathing and straightened his overcoat.

“What…what do you want?” He asked, looking away from her.

“Do I really need to explain why I’m here to talk to a good friend of mine?” Anna replied. She sat down and took his hand to pull him back onto the bench with her. “Sit with me.”

David wasn’t in any state to refuse her. They sat together on the bench in the empty park, the only sounds being that of the nocturnal animal life that roamed the park at night. After a while, David opened his mouth to speak, but Anna beat him to it.

“I’m sorry if I was being too forward back at the library. I know you’re stressed and me imposing myself upon you isn’t helping at all.” Anna said. Her hand was still gripping his and he shivered as he felt the soft skin of her fingers caressing his hand. “I’m just worried about you, David. So many things are happening right now, and I’m afraid that you’ll get yourself hurt or worse. I’m sure people have already told you this, but you haven’t been the same since your siblings’ deaths, and losing Jacob has only made your pain worse.”

‘You have no idea.’ David thought with a barely audible snort.

“Anna,” David began, unsure of how to give this news lightly. Deciding that it was best to just tell her, he steeled himself and said, “I’m leaving Rosemary.”

Anna froze and she felt her grip on his hand tighten. “W-What?”

“I’m leaving. I’m not sure when, but I’m planning on leaving town with Danica.” He said. “You were right earlier. I am in trouble, but not the kind you’re thinking of. Ever since I got involved with Danica things have been spiraling out of control for me and I just need a change in scenery to…I don’t know. Recover or something.”

“If she’s the reason, then why don’t you leave her?” Anna asked. David shook his head.

“It’s not that simple, Anna.”

“Is she threatening you or your parents? There’s no shortage of gangs in this part of the country, and they’ll often prey on the nobility.” Anna pressed on. “I can get the police to investigate—“

“No!” David exclaimed. “It’s not that.”

“Then what’s going on? This mess clearly has something to do everything that’s plaguing you.” Anna pleaded. “Please, I just want to help.”

David looked to her and grasped her shoulders. “You’re helping me just by being here. I’m sorry I can’t tell you more Anna, but it isn’t that I don’t trust you. I just want to keep you safe, especially after you were just attacked. I need you to trust me on this.”

Anna’s eyes started to water and she tried to speak, though no words could form as her emotions choked her up. She and David had known each other since childhood, and even when Anna left to work as a private tutor they still kept in touch. There had been no final goodbyes between them, as they knew they would see each other again. But something in David’s tone told her that he was leaving her for good, and after everything that happened, she couldn’t handle that.

David gave a little grunt of surprise when Anna pulled on his arm and wrapped him in a tight hug. David sat in her embrace frozen, before he let out a breath and hugged her back. Neither of them said anything, they just sat there hugging each other. This might be the last time they can have a real talk in private.

Over time, David allowed his shoulders to loosen up and let the tenseness fade from his body. He inhaled and sighed. He never noticed it before, but Anna smelled nice. Really nice. Her scent certainly made him feel calmer. David moved his nose to her bare neck and inhaled deeply, his arms tightening around her. Losing himself to his feelings of serenity, he took in more of that heavenly smell, his mind slowly going blank.

David didn’t even realize what he was doing until his fangs pierced the skin of Anna’s neck and the first drops of her blood touched his tongue.

XXXXXX

When David came to his senses, he recognized the taste of blood in his mouth. He quickly made a realization and pulled his head back, his breath coming out in panicked gasps when he saw the bleeding marks on Anna’s throat.

“No, no, no, no, no…” He muttered over and over as he looked Anna over. She was pale, her eyes was closed, as if she were asleep, and she wasn’t breathing. He couldn’t hear her heart beat. “No, no, NO, NO!!!”

“Oh, David…” He heard a sigh behind him, but ignored it.

“Anna, wake up.” David whispered, laying her body across the bench. “Please, Anna, wake up.”

“I told you the consequences.” Danica said mockingly. “I warned you the folly of feeding only on animals.”

“Anna, don’t do this to me.” David cried.

He heard Danica walking up to him from behind. She placed a delicate hand on his shoulder. “David, this is what happens when you refuse my help…”

“SHUT UP!” David spun around and backhanded Danica across the jaw, though she barely flinched from the blow. “This is all your fault!”

“My fault?” Danica smirked. “Are we going back to that topic again?”

“You…you made me into this!” David snarled, his eyes turning red and bloodstained fangs emerging to full length.

“I only gave you the power to gain your vengeance. Everything that happened after is your fault.”

“I didn’t ask for this. I didn’t ask to be a fucking monster!” He replied. He punched her in the face, and again she barely moved. “You forced this curse upon me, you whore!”

“You weren’t complaining when I was riding your cock a day later.” Danica sneered.

David landed another punch to his face and was about to hit her again when he found his fist caught in her iron grip. The small cut on Danica’s lip sealed up and she gave him a dry, almost bored glare.

“I see you still aren’t willing to listen. Very well, we’ll go the tough love route.”

Danica pulled her fist back and slammed it into David’s chest hard enough to knock him off his feet and send him flying back several feet before landing on his back. He coughed and wheezed, feeling a sharp pain in his chest as his chest cavity healed from the powerful blow. He opened his eyes and saw Danica descending upon his position and rolled aside just as her heeled boot slammed into the spot where his head just was. He rolled to his feet with a snarl, baring his fangs and readying his claws.

“So now you’re going to fight?” Danica sniffed. “Fine, let’s get this done before sunrise.”

David hissed and charged at Danica, throwing a barrage of punches and swipes at her upper body that she easily blocked or redirected. Danica didn’t even put that much effort into fighting him, and that only made him angrier. He faked overextending himself to draw her in, and Danica did just that with the intent to punish him for his arrogance. Instead he gripped her arm tight enough to break man’s elbow and uppercutted her in the chin.

Danica slammed back into a tree and David grabbed her leg, spinning around to throw her right into a nearby bench, making it bend almost in half. Danica hissed, finally showing some emotion and dodged his next attack, slamming her body into him and sending them both landing atop a tool shed. David crossed his arms to block her barrage of punches before twisting his legs to hook around her own and flipping her around so that he was on top and slammed a punch into her jaw.

There was an audible crack, a broken jaw for sure, and Danica spat out blood before scowling at him. “Is that the best you can do?”

David responded by delivering a two handed strike to Danica’s chest that sent them both crashing down through the roof of the toolshed. He went to rip out her throat, but Danica delivered a kick to his chest that sent him through the thin metal wall of the shed and back outside. He tumbled along the ground before managing to regain his senses and come to a stop, only for Danica to suddenly launch another powerful strike to his nose that sent him crashing into the tree behind him.

If the difference in strength had been a river between him and Felix, then it was a gaping canyon between him and Danica. She was somehow stronger and faster than him and he just barely managed to fight her on even ground, if you could call it that. A lesser vampire would have been killed by Danica earlier in the fight, but David’s rage gave him the adrenaline rush he needed to handle this woman. This monster.

When Danica charged at him, David spun around her and slammed her face into the trunk multiple times before unleashing a barrage of bone breaking punches to her face. Danica took several of them head on before flickering from his sight and elbowing him in the spine with enough force to send him smashing through the trunk. The tree shuddered and tilted, but miraculously did not fall.

“You’re centuries too late to fight me in a head on fight, boy!” Danica snarled. “Though I must admit, you’ve lasted longer than some of the other worthless brutes who thought they could handle me!”

She walked around the tree and gripped his head to lift his head, but a flash of silver caught her eye before she felt a sharp pain in her knee—a sharp piece of wood. David stabbed the wood shard into her leg and used her brief stagger to break free and land a solid blow to her jaw that dazed her. Circling around Danica, he dug his claws into the tree trunk and heaved, using every ounce of his strength to topple the tree right on top of her with a tremendous crash.

“Shit!” David grunted, stumbling back in pain. Though his wounds had healed, David’s whole body ached with lingering pain from Danica’s relentless blows. He recent feeding had provided him some strength, but compared to Danica, he was just getting by on luck alone.

‘I can’t do this.’ He thought weakly. ‘I have to get out of here!’

Just as he thought that, he heard the sound of wood shattering behind him and spun around just in time to see Danica’s demonic grin staring back at him. She leapt at him with her claws fully exposed and he caught her hands in his, lacing their fingers together and pushing against her. The two vampires grappled in a deadlock in the midst of the ravaged park area.

“Very good. You’re actually doing very well for your second vampire battle.” Danica praised, easily pushing against David’s strength with no visible sign of effort. “As expected of my progeny!”

“Shut up!” David growled.

The ground under their feet began to crack and deform as they pushed against each other. The area around them looked like a battleground, with trees uprooted or torn apart, a tool shed smashed to pieces, and several patches of grass completely torn up by the constant fighting. It was only a matter of time before someone heard their fighting and acme to investigate. Danica knew this and decided to get this fight over with.

“You may want to kill me right now, Darren, but rest assured that you’ll only embarrass yourself in trying.” She told him, staring into his blood red eyes. What a lovely color they were. “But as fun as this fight has been, we need to wrap this up!”

Danica yanked one of her hands free and launched an uppercut to David’s chin, throwing him up into the air. She jumped up and rammed her shoulder into his gut before throwing him back into the ground headfirst. He crashed into the ground with tremendous force, and his skull actually cracked from the force of the impact. Dazed and hurt while his head began to heal, Danica landed behind him and gripped his head in her hands.

“You will thank me when you wake up.” She said softly. “That girl was just one attachment you needed to cut in order to be truly alive.”

With that, Danica put some pressure on his neck and twisted his head sharply to the side, snapping his neck completely.

XXXXXX

Darren didn’t know how long he was stuck in darkness. For a moment, he thought he was dead, but when his consciousness slowly returned, he realized that he wasn’t dead, just…immobile. His mind was a dark haze as he was cast in a dreamless sleep, and it was hard to do anything really.

But soon that darkness began to fade, and as his senses slowly came back to him one by one, he found that he still couldn’t move. And he noted that he was encased in a small space. When his hearing returned, he heard the sounds of scratching and digging above him. Then he felt shaking and grunting, muffled as if he were hearing it through a wall. After a few minutes, the darkness above him was suddenly broken by the pale light of the moon above, and suddenly he saw a face hovering over his.

“Welcome back to the waking world, lover.” Danica smiled.

David tried to speak, but couldn’t. She sighed and grabbed the front of his shirt, lifting him up with one hand and gripping his neck with the other. A simple twist of her wrist she snapped his neck back in place and realigned his spine.

“Ah!” David gasped, his body shuddering from the sudden surge of feeling returning to his body. He grunted and fell to the side, gritting his teeth in pain.

“Oh relax, your nervous system will heal in just a few seconds. Best get used to the feeling, because you’ll find yourself doing this when you’re really desperate.” Danica said.

“What…” David rasped, his throat dry. “What did you do to me?”

“I broke your neck. Injuries like that won’t kill you, beheading does just the job, though it takes longer to regenerate from that than a cracked skull.” Danica said, brushing her hands off and standing up. She was wearing a tight white blouse that clung to her ample chest and black riding pants with heeled boots. Not exactly the type of outfit for digging, but Danica wasn’t one to worry about such things.

David looked around and saw that they were surrounded by tombstones. His heart, which was still beating rapidly, turned cold when he spun around and spotted his name on a tombstone, along with his date of birth…and death.

“No…” He muttered. “No, no, NO! What did you do?”

“Covering our tracks. Killing that girl was the last straw, David. We’ve drawn too much attention to that this town already. Another vampire killing would have led to another Order team rolling in and we don’t need that right now.” She said coldly.

David flinched when he remembered what he did to Anna, and the violent battle he had against Danica. “Anna, where is she?”

“Dead, that’s all you need to know.” Danica replied.

David shot up and gripped the front of her blouse. “Where is she?” He shouted in her face.

Danica calmly backhanded him and sent him crashing into another tombstone. “She is to no more concern to you. You made sure of that.” She said. “As for your earlier question, I faked your death and reported it to the authorities. Your parents were quite broken up over your false death, but I made sure they were compensated for their troubles. The funeral was lovely, and a few kind words from me helped your parents find some closure in losing you.”

Through his pain, David felt his anger rising at how she made herself seem like a benevolent benefactor for helping his parents. She saw his scowl and shook her head.

“Let it go, David. You made a mistake that was caused by you ignoring my warnings. It would have been avoided if you just listened to me.” She walked over to him and helped him to his feet. “Help me put the coffin back and we’ll get started on moving. Your old life is over now. Deal with it and move on. A vampire’s life is never easy, and this is hardly the worst thing you’ll see or do in this life.”

They shared a look, and for a moment David thought he saw some sympathy, or at least pity, in Danica’s eyes before she let stand on his own. She gently took his hand and led him back over to the grave (calling it his grave was still too unsettling to consider) and together they put the coffin back into the earth and refilled the hole.

Neither of them said a word to each other as they made their way to the docks. As Danica had already moved her things onto the ship, all they had to do was sneak through town to reach the boat, which was easy as they leapt across the buildings and houses unseen and unheard by the humans.

David never got the chance to see his home one last time, or say his final goodbyes to his parents. And Danica said nothing about what she did with Anna’s body, only knowing that she was being labeled as a missing person by the police. As he boarded the ship leaving Rosemary with Danica, David gave his home town one last look as they sailed from the docks. He muttered a prayer for his parents and for Anna’s soul, hoping she’d forgive him for his sins in the next life.

When the ship was far enough away from the town to where he could barely see it, David knew that this was a closing chapter for his old life. His human life.

The sheep had died, and the wolf had taken its place.