The night was warm. A gentle breeze kept the air from tasting stale as the smallest amount of humidity refreshed the skin and filled one’s lungs with that youthful joy that comes from such an evening. The moon in its full glory reflected its light onto the city. Club sin had been closed for at least an hour and the parking lot was empty. A few security lights were helping to illuminate the parking lot, even though on nights such as this it was not needed. A black luxury car steadily pulled up to the front of the club. Inside the car, a man who appeared to be in his mid-twenties sat comfortably on leather seats as his radio continued to play the music stored in his phone.

   The young man smiled as he turned off his car. He slid his phone into his breast pocket as he disconnected it from the radio and instead to his headset. He opened the door stepping out just as Beethoven’s moonlight sonata began its intro. He looked around feeling as though something was off. He couldn’t understand this sensation he had all night. Looking around he didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary. Ignoring the feeling he turned his focus back to the music. He closed the door to his car and locked it. Bending slightly to look into the mirror he made sure he looked alright. After adjusting himself he walked to the front door pausing for just a moment to check the time on his pocket watch. 3:49 in the morning. He gave a slight nod in satisfaction as he reached into his front pocket pulling out a package of wipes.

   Using one, he wiped off the door handle in front of him. After feeling satisfied that it was clean enough he reached out to grasp it. He held it for a moment as the runes hidden within the artwork of the wooden door acknowledged him. He opened the door and stepped inside his hands swaying to the melody of the music playing on his headset. He moved through the main area towards the back. Where a simple black door with a gold plate clearly displaying that it led to the “VIP” area. He opened the door and continued inside. As he walked into the room he looked around. The floor was made of solid stone, the seats of the finest leather, The bar of the finest marble. He felt content knowing that no expense had been suffered in the design of this lounge. The man inhaled almost tasting the air in hunger. He moved towards the bar making certain to not touch anything in the room. He stopped at the bar, looking at the stool in front of him with a look of disgust on his face. Pulling out another wipe he wiped the stool down making sure not to leave even one speck of blood on it. He then casually moved to access behind the bar. Once again very careful to not get any of the blood on himself he wiped down the divider only then to lift it as the tempo of his music increased.

  He made as if to walk behind the bar when he suddenly froze. At least a dozen mummified remains lay piled up in front of him. Lowering the divider back to its original position he looks through the door that leads to the kitchen. When a voice came from behind him. “Anything interesting in there?” Spinning abruptly, he slipped on the blood-soaked floor. His head made an impact on the wall shattering his headset. Jumping back to his feet he realizes he was now covered in blood. Trying to wipe it off but to no avail. “Despite how nice your clothes are, at this moment son, they are the least of your concerns.”

“My name isn’t son, it's Marcus.” He stated as he gave up on the stains. He looks up, finally noticing the one speaking is actually sitting on the barstool he recently cleaned for himself.

“Ok Marcus, let’s play a game. The game is simple, you run and I try to catch you.” The man gave a slight smile. Marcus looks on in disbelief. He takes a step towards this man only to feel pain fill his entire body. “I would start running if I were you.” The man stated. Marcus turned and hurried for the back door.

Fear strapped him as he ran down the dark alley. “What is this? I'm supposed to be the hunter, not the hunted.” He shouted as he tried to escape his pursuer. He didn't know how to respond to these feelings. For the past two hundred years, nothing could harm him, nothing could make him feel fear. Yet here he was running, scared for his life.

Marcus turned down another alley trying to escape. These feelings of fear, anxiety, confusion all flooded his mind as he ran. He started to see a glimmer of light coming over the horizon. “Crap where do I go? The sun's going to be up soon.” His eyes fell upon a cracked door to an abandoned building, his haven. He darted for the door, closing it behind him as he entered. Inside he quickly went through a claiming ritual, it was rushed but it did the job. Marcus finally felt a bit of relief because he knew he would be safe for now, because surely no matter how strong his opponent was they would still be bound by the contract, right?

Marcus looked around himself for a place to sit. Finding a box he wiped it down before setting on it. He was trying to clear his mind when it hit him, his hunger, that was right he was about to feed when everything happened. He never got a chance to feed. He rummaged through his pockets hoping to find something that could help, but to no avail. Wondering what he should do next he heard footsteps coming from the other side of the building,” Ha what luck there must be some squatters staying here.” He sneered knowing his next meal was right around the corner. He gracefully stood up and followed the sound of the footsteps, gliding to make sure he could not be heard. This was his specialty, he prided himself in the fact that not even others could sense him approach if he didn't want them to.

He rounded the corner, careful not to be noticed. But as he came around there was nothing. Confused, he started to look around trying to find his prey. Suddenly emotions that he wasn't supposed to have overwhelmed him fear, anxiety, confusion. “How could he be here? This is my domain,” Marcus cringed at the thought. Panic started to set in. “Nobody can go against the contract!” Looking around he knew something was wrong, this whole night something had been wrong. “We don't hunt our own kind, yet I am being hunted. He is able to enter my domain without permission, how is that even possible! Nothing makes sense, why me. I’ve lived a good life after I was reborn. I don't massacre people, I only take what I need. I didn't show myself to the masses, matter of fact I have never told anybody what I am. Why is this happening to me?”

Marcus tried to focus on the task at hand and stop freaking out. He had to defend himself or he needed to escape. He made his way to the entrance. As he passed a window he noticed the sun was up, “IT'S MORNING.” Marcus' panic grew, he was stuck. “What can I do, could I fight?” Marcus remembered earlier he didn’t even know what happened. That's why he decided to run in the first place. “No that won’t work,” he thought. He was not the type to try and fight a losing battle. “Maybe I can rationalize with him. I mean he has to be intelligent, right?” Marcus thought aloud.

He tried to prepare himself for whatever was to come. But as time passed he realized it was quiet. He didn't even sense any presence in this building except for the occasional rodent scurrying around. Marcus wondered how much time had passed, one, two, maybe three hours of sitting, waiting, afraid to sleep Marcus realized how tired he was “I'm going to need rest soon.”

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Marcus went over everything in his mind. “This was all wrong,” he thought, “I’m the apex predator of this realm. The strongest race, being hunted? How absurd!” He had enough, he stood and shouted,” Come out you coward, are you too afraid to face me! If you show yourself I will destroy you.” He stood there waiting for a reply that never came. He didn’t hear even a rodent scurry. Maybe nobody was there. “Ha,” he laughed as relief washed over him. It had all been his imagination, of course, nobody could enter his domain.

He decided to find somewhere to get some rest until nightfall, and then he would leave this city never to return. He looked around until he found a recessed area that had no light. He started cleaning it trying to make sure that there was no dust in sight. “This should do.” He said to himself. He pulled an old shelf over to block the entrance and made his way back to his sleeping spot. Marcus laid there as exhaustion washed over him, drawing him into a deep sleep.

Evening came too fast, he thought as he awoke. He lay there still groggy when he realized something was off. His instinct told him it was still day outside, but if that were the case why did he awaken? There was a bump and the telltale feeling that he was moving. Confused, he tried to push the shelf out of the way. Something was wrong, terribly wrong, the shelf was gone and in its place, there was a stone slab. Then it hit him, this is not where he fell asleep and on top of it he was completely sealed in. Panicking, he started to strike at the slab that was at his head. Nothing but a loud thud as he hit it, it did not give one inch. This was bad, Marcus thought, “really bad.”

Now we know it's kind of odd hearing of a nightwalker hating tight spaces, but Marcus couldn’t stand them. Unless he was sleeping of course, he would rather be out in the open. Enjoying the pleasures of life. The excitement of the living, as he called it.

He tried to think of a way to escape when he remembered that it was daytime. Even if he did escape this confinement he would be badly injured, or even killed by that cursed sun. For lack of better terms he was temporarily screwed,There was nothing he could do until nightfall. So he decided to calm himself and wait. When the sunset, he would make his move, “hopefully” he thought “I should be able to think of something by then.”

It felt as if he was traveling for hours. Marcus tried to get some more rest but found it difficult with this ominous feeling of despair surrounding him. After what seemed like an eternity his instincts told him it was dark out. The container carrying him came to an abrupt stop. Marcus steadied himself for what was next

He realized something was different, he felt nostalgic and wonderful energy seeping into his being. All the worry and fear he was feeling before had been washing away as if something wonderful is about to happen. Marcus tried to place this emotion but the best that he could do was as if a family member you haven't seen in centuries, was about to come home.

As he lay there not knowing how he should react. He prepared himself for whatever was going to happen next good or bad. The container shifted and slammed onto the ground Marcus had to brace himself to not be thrown around inside. Then he felt the container being dragged. He was curious as to where he was being moved to, but he made sure to remain silent. Moments later he felt another jolt and then there was nothing. He heard no sound, no movement, and also the energy that he felt before had lessened. After a few moments of waiting he tried once more to move the slab above his head. As he pushed on it this time it budged. Excitement almost took control as he tried to get out of his prison. “I hate tight spaces,” he stated as he pulled himself from the container. Once out he took a look around, he was in a basement of some kind. The area was abnormally large for most basements. Off in one of the corners, he noticed what looked like a sleeping chamber of some sort.

Marcus heard what sounded like a door opening. He quickly hid himself waiting to see who his assailant was. As the footsteps made their way down the stairs, what he saw completely shocked him. The man looked as if he was late twenties and early thirties. He wore a black t-shirt with dark blue jeans. He was around 6' tall with dark hair and was sporting a rather dark tan. He didn't have a large build but you could tell that this guy didn't sit around watching TV all the time. Nothing of this person screamed great destroyer or scary predator. He just looked for lack of a better term normal.

When the man made it to the bottom of the stairs Marcus noticed that the slab that had been blocking him in was still laying on the ground. Worried, he sat nervously. The man paid Marcus no attention. He walked over to a table that was by the wall and stood there for a moment. Finally, in an almost ancient voice calmly said, “Nightwalker, we have two options here. You can keep hiding and I will just kill you or you can come out and see what truly awaits.”

Marcus believed his words but felt that both choices would have the same ending in the end. He sat there for a moment contemplating his choices then made his decision. “my sire taught me that we were once a warrior race.” he said as he stepped out of his hiding place. “and as for me, I would rather go down knowing what is waiting for me, than to be swept away without even trying.” He proclaimed ready for a fight.

“Well this is nice, I thought your kind were all cowards. More willing to hide than face your problems head-on,” the man turned around to face Marcus, “it's good to see not all of you lack the fighting spirit.”

Marcus finally got the chance to look at his pursuer. Marcus saw something he didn't expect, sadness. He was almost swept away by the emotions that flooded him. But in a blink, those same eyes held nothing but coldness. “You are going to tell me where your nest is.”

Marcus looked at him confused. “I don’t have a nest.”

“Don’t lie to me I know your kind you can’t help but convert others to help raise your own power.”

“Well usually you are right but I’m not like that” Marcus stated. “I pride myself not to be lost to my desires.”

The man looked at Marcus as if he didn’t believe him. “Ok mister willpower” he retorted, “tell me why were you at that club?”

“Well of course it was to feed. We all need to eat. But I don’t kill anybody. I just drink what is saved for me”

“And why would they save you any?”

“That’s simple, it's because I own the club.” Marcus was feeling both pride and annoyance in having to explain his way of life to this man.

With that the man looked at Marcus and said. “And that brings me to believe you have a nest. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be involved with this nightclub.”

“No, I promise I don’t have a nest. You can only have a nest if you are part of the ones that turned you or you turn others. And as for me, my sire left a long time ago and I have never turned anyone so it is impossible for me to have a nest. And if the nightclub closed I would have to find another place to find my blood and I don’t want to have to go through all that trouble.”

The man still had a look of disbelief on his face. “Well, we will see if what you say is true or not. I would advise getting some rest because you will be very busy from here on out.”

“Are you going to let me go?”

“Don’t get too excited I have just decided to let you live, for now anyway. By the way, don’t try to escape you won’t be able to.” With that, the man turned around to leave.

Marcus stayed standing until the man made his way back upstairs. After the man left Marcus finally lost all the strength in his legs and just sat on the ground. Not knowing how or why he was still alive or what the future held for him. He laid back, not able to fight the feeling of fatigue any longer. His eyes closed allowing him to finally drift off into slumber.