Scarlet paced back and forth, occasionally glancing out the window. She shouldn’t call. She shouldn’t. She shouldn’t. She glanced at her phone before sighing. Nope. She shouldn’t. Couldn’t.

Was it paranoia? Probably. Yes. Maybe? No. She was just worried, right?

No. No no. She was just looking forward to seeing the little hunter squirm as she got put into pretty, cute little dresses. Yes. That was all. She just wanted that to happen soon and was tired of waiting for Violet to be home. Totally reasonable and mundane worries was all.

Yet she couldn’t shake the knot of worry in her stomach. A part of her wanted to turn into a bat and go flying after Violet just to make sure she was okay, but she knew that was silly. She’d be home in an hour or two. Besides, it wasn’t quite dark yet. While the room she wrote in was chosen specifically because the sun didn’t peer in through it most the day, if she went outside she’d get a little burned. She glanced out again and sighed. Maybe. The sun was just about down.

Scarlet took a seat and stared at the blank page. Just a little writing. Just a little bit of writing.

Instead, she switched back to the maps search and looked over the town once more. Sure, it took a while to drive out there, but she was a fast flier. The fact she could fly over everything meant it was far faster.

Maybe she could make up some lie about wanting a vacation, thinking it’d be fun. She could totally get the little hunter all blushy and squirmy if she could find some way to bury her in girly, cutesy outfits while there. It didn’t necessarily have to be an ‘overly protective courtier’ thing. Did it?

Scarlet got to her feet again and started pacing. No. NO. She was NOT going to do that. Violet was a grown woman. An experienced hunter. She knew what she was doing. Hell, the girl had caught HER. Trapped her in that stupid net. She was probably already on her way home. Was it too early to call again? Make sure she was on her way? Yes? No?

If only Scarlet could do some writing. If she did a bit of writing, she could lose herself in her work. Unfortunately, her own story had taken a rather dark turn and writing about Lily’s struggles against the foul machinations of the Nightmare Court would likely only make things worse. Violet was just doing some basic snooping, she couldn’t be in any real danger. She was smart.

Was she, though? The necklace could have been affecting her in who knew what ways. Sure, she looked cute and adorable with her lil tiny chubby tail, but what if the dragon side caused her more trouble? Worse, what if she ran into a REAL dragon? What if there were more steps to the curse? She glanced out the window and sighed. Finally.

The sun was down. The sky was still a bit lit up from it, but no more direct rays was all Scarlet needed. She could go. Maybe that was what she needed to do. Just find something to take her mind off things. She pulled open the top drawer of her desk. Sure, she was supposed to toss the necklace into a safe or something, but that could wait. If she found someone who could figure it out before Violet got back, then maybe she could help her break the curse tonight.

Maybe she could feel less like a useless, pathetic little excuse for a vampire. Maybe she could shake off that small knot of worry that kept forming in her stomach. She eyed her phone once more. It was weird, wasn’t it?

Scarlet gave a soft sigh. She was a vampire. That was supposedly supposed to be ‘awesome’. She knew there were a lot of people who idolized creatures like her, even with the legal issues. Violet was a hunter, she dealt with vampires quite often. She knew how dangerous and wild they could be.

Could be.

But Scarlet was anything but. She knew she had her moments. But that was more instinct than anything else. She had an old manor, but it was a mess and borderline falling apart. She had a servant, but the servant felt more like her babysitter and boss than the other way around. She couldn’t even see right without her glasses, what kind of vampire needed glasses?

Meanwhile, Violet had only been in her life about a week or so and was already fighting off werewolves and curses and who knew what else. Scarlet never imagined she’d be the drab, boring one in any relationship with a human. But here she was. Violet had even been the one to kiss her first and decide they were in a relationship. Gahhhhh. How could she be so impulsive?

Scarlet felt her stomach flutter with little butterflies before shaking her head. No. She was not going to be boring. She was going to be amazing and cool and a useful vampire who swept her little hunter off her feet. Other vampires did that stuff all the time, why couldn’t she?

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

Scarlet startled rifling through the drawer again before another wave of dread began to wash over her. Where was the necklace? It had to be here. Didn’t it? Oh no no no no. NO!

She felt like she was going to have a heart attack, if her heart still beat. Where was it? It was supposed to be here. Wasn’t it? She HAD put it here. Had Violet taken it? No. She would have said so, wouldn’t she? Maybe? Oh no. What if Violet had come rifling through her things while she was asleep and took it. What if it was dangerous and somehow chasing her?

Okay, the mental image of the little necklace trying to crawl on the ground like a worm after Violet made her snicker. Scarlet took a slow, deep breath and picked up her phone again. Obviously Violet came up, looked in the drawer for a pen or something, grabbed the necklace and left. Right? She’d just call and make sure. That was all. That was all. She took a second to calm herself before reaching up and pulling her glasses off before rubbing her forehead, taking a few seconds to calm herself.

It definitely wasn’t her using it as an excuse to check up on the girl or anything.

An unfamiliar voice answered on the fourth ring. “Hello?” the voice asked.

“Uhhhh, hello,” Scarlet said. “Is Violet there? She--”

“She’s in trouble,” the voice said. “Who is this? Are you another hunter? I’m sorry, she has you marked down as ‘Likes red’.”

Scarlet didn’t move. She just stared ahead. “What do you mean, trouble? Where is Violet?”

“She’s back in the woods, she said it was some kind of angry spirit thing and--” Scarlet didn’t even wait for her to finish. She just clicked the phone off and raced to the window. She yanked it open before turning back into a bat in a puff of smoke, only to take off out the window.

A few moments later she returned through the window, turned back into her vampire form and grabbed her glasses, sliding them on before turning back into a bat and flying out again.

------

Oh gosh. Oh gosh, if she had to breathe Scarlet was sure her lungs would burst. As it was she wondered if her wings could actually fall off from flapping too much. Vampire bat wings were NOT made to fly like this. Was she out of shape? When was the last time she actually just flew like this? Even if she knew it was magic and didn’t really mean the same thing, it still FELT like she was exhausted. How did humans do things like this? If Violet could see her now, she’d probably laugh her butt off.

On the upside, she at least had a pretty good idea of where the hunter was.

An almost crystal clear sky, only a few clouds anywhere, then one part of the forest covered in thick clouds and heavy rain? She knew more than a few vampires who would have done this exact thing if they could. Hell, she’d known one who did this at least once a month just to show off. Thick rain and fog worked for a reason. She wasn’t looking forward to flying through it, wherever Violet was, she’d better be--

Scarlet went almost entirely still, only barely catching herself when she started to plummet towards the ground, quickly turning it into an awkward dive.

Blood. She could smell it. Fresh. Dragon blood. Violet’s blood. She dove down to the ground, turning back into herself with a puff of smoke.

Oh my gosh, why did it have to RAIN so much? She barely made it three steps before her clothing was soaked through, her glasses were borderline useless and she was sure she looked more like a drowned cat than a fearsome creature of the night. For what wasn’t the first time in her (un)life she was thankful for the fact she had plenty of other tools to stalk her prey. For example, smell.

Even through the rain and mud, she could smell Violet. The scent lingered in the air, so strong it made her drool. It took all of her self restraint to avoid leaning down and touching a drop or two with her fingers, just to taste. Just a little.

Her hunger quickly became a secondary worry when she realized just how much blood there was. Whatever had hurt Violet had done real damage. Scarlet started moving quickly through the rain and fog.

Little trails of blood were in the grass and against the trees. Branches snapped, gouges dug in the mud, plants trampled. There was even a little trail dug in from a tail. Signs so clear she could occasionally see them even with her soaked glasses, but even with them the thing that stood out the most was the smell.

Then, ever so softly, a whimper. A pained, agonized whimper. A cry like something in danger. Afraid.

Fortunately, she was a predator. And her prey, more or less, was hurt. There was nothing easier for her to track. She took off, racing through the fog until, to her surprise, she burst out from it.

She stood still for a moment before through the wet glasses her eyes fell on Violet, her back against a tree. Something towering over her. Struggling to fight back.

Raw, primal rage coursed through her, a rage she didn’t even know she could feel. She lunged forward. “MINE!” she yelled.

Scarlet sailed through the air, launching straight into the creature’s back.

Only to fly through it and crash face first into a tree, landing a moment later in a confused heap on the ground.

Not the most dignified rescue and she was now pretty sure her glasses were cracked. A moment later she felt something land on her back and wrap around her throat, choking the life from her. Which, honestly, would have been more frightening if she had any life to remove. As it was, she mostly just felt confused. Why had she just gone through whatever that thing was?