When he noticed the new moon in the sky and realised the wind was calm, he knew he had the perfect conditions for hunting. Like any good hunter, he hid from his prey. Through the slits in the bushes, he watched a man with long dark hair and a frilly trench coat swagger along the dark path. Judging by his trajectory, he could tell the man was on his way to the city. It made him think about his son, who’d recently gone there, and he hoped he was right to allow it. He knew the city was inviting and breathtaking, but it was also dangerous. The hunter could never live with himself if something bad happened.
He was about to come out from the bushes when he spotted another figure coming towards the man. This one’s clothing was ragged and worn. The hunter thought it might have been a beggar, but there was something about how this person carried themselves that told him otherwise. The first man scratched his chest with two fingers in a V formation.
The other figure returned the signal with a smile. Thinking about what the letter looked like, he came to the conclusion that the men were possibly vampires. He wasn’t sure what to do. What if vampires were conspiring to take his town hostage? Would he need to stop them? What if they were planning an attack on the city?
His worries were changed when the first vampire was attacked by the second. The downtrodden-looking vampire overpowered his victim quickly. A part of the hunter wanted to help him, but that idea was put to rest as more vampires dressed in similar clothing arrived. He scanned their apparel, noticing strange hats and blades in holsters.
The hunter had heard of stories in his town. They were stories of a specific sect of vampires who sailed the seas and raided any village, town, or city they wanted. But from what he knew, they only attacked those close to the water. Their town should have been far enough away from the coast that they should have remained only stories. He stayed under the cover of darkness while two of the pirates grabbed the corpse.
"She’ll want him," the pirate said. "The black is good for coating."
The hunter questioned who she was and what they meant by "coating". However, he didn’t have time for questions. He had to get back and warn everyone that they were coming. He raced back to the village, making sure to stay hidden from any pirates that might be nearby.
As he approached the town, sweat dripping from his face, he was surprised to find no signs of carnage. Were it not for the usual hum and drone coming from the small tavern on the main road, he could have closed his eyes and imagined himself back hunting in the forest. But the hum and drone was not as it normally was. It sounded much too lively and raucous, though the noises were unmistakably cheerful.
He took a moment to gather himself and straighten up. It would do him no good to burst into the tavern, sounding and looking like a mad-man, screaming about pirates. As he made his final approach to the tavern, he noticed crowds enjoying their drinks outside; it was a beautiful evening, but the tavern was clearly at capacity, which was what had forced them out. He tried to look and listen for any clues about what was being celebrated. As he tried to amble through the crowds to peer inside, he began hearing about why everyone had gathered.
"The brunettes are the ones for me," a man said, waving his glass around.
"Any of the lot of them, I’m not picky." His friend grabbed him by the shoulder and they both laughed.
Suddenly, the hunter knew what was happening. The pirates were already here.
He backed away from the short progress he had made towards the door, wary that someone might have noticed his actions. He had to realistically consider that he was being watched from the darkness. If he was, there was nothing he could do to escape their gaze.
His shoulders and neck hurt from trying to stop himself from looking into the darkness. He kept his head firmly fixed straight ahead, anticipating that something could emerge from the darkness at any moment. The short walk to his house felt like an eternity. He thanked the spirits for every step he managed.
Relief gripped him as his front door came into view, still undisturbed from when he left to go hunting. Still, he opened the door slowly and crept inside. Everything was as it should be, everything apart from the vacant room that his son normally occupied. Now that he knew he was out of sight and in relative safety, he found himself scrambling like a madman. He grabbed a quiver of arrows resting on a rack in the kitchen. They were designed for taking down big game. They were almost ornamental, such was their value and lack of use. From the drawers beneath, he grabbed as many hunting blades as he could, casting his eyes over the many options. For the first time, he considered which ones would be best at taking down a man.
Now fully equipped, he made his way to the back room of the house, where he knew he would find his wife sleeping. Moonlight streamed in through the window, and he could make out her silhouette sleeping peacefully. He nudged her gently and placed a hand over her mouth to prevent her from making any noise as she woke.
She gave him a confused look, which quickly turned to anger. In response, he raised a single shaking finger to his lip. Her eyes widened. She had no idea what was wrong, but she knew her husband.
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He removed his hand from her mouth and moved gingerly to the window. Flattening himself against the wall, he looked out from the side while motioning at his wife to hurry up and get ready. She changed from her bed-dress and began trying to collect some items. She had to stop when she felt her husband grab her by the wrist as he pulled her towards the front door.
"What’s happening?" She whispered softly but forcefully.
Her loving husband turned to her angrily before his face softened. "Pirates" was all he replied.
A look of shock spread across her face. As fantastical as it sounded, she knew he was telling the truth.
They considered which direction to head off in. Making for the city made the most sense, but they would have to head towards the tavern. As he looked in its direction, he finally noticed that the noise had changed. The noise was muffled and constant still, but the tone had changed. Sounds of shouting and fighting had started to ring out into the night air. In a few moments, the same noises were starting to emanate from other directions.
"Move!" he grabbed at his wife's wrist, hurting her for the first time in his life.
They headed away from the tavern and in the direction of the city. They were heading in the opposite direction of the coast. As they made it to the edge of town, they could just about make out the outlines of men forcing down doors, weapons drawn. They ducked down behind whatever cover they could find. Darkness alone was no good to them. Looking on in horror, they saw the men reappear from the doorways, bodies slumped over their shoulders. These intruders wasted none of their time searching for trinkets and treasures; their real prize were those who dwelled within.
It wasn’t long before the commotion started to wake those who were still to be visited. As candles and torches started to light, the scene that they revealed was an organised massacre. The pirates were careful to sort the bodies into very specific piles.
He had started the night stalking prey. He was now acutely aware of the role reversal that had taken place. A life is only ever taken out of necessity. Blood was never spilled needlessly. Those that were hunting him, however, had complete contempt for the life they were taking. He couldn’t make out their faces, but from the way they went about their work, he could tell that they revelled in it.
Some of the hunters from the town held the belief that animals did not feel pain in the same way that people do. It was probably just some small way of attempting to justify to themselves what they had to do. The creatures that were feeding as they went about their killing here, however, were very deliberate in the distress they caused, seemingly driven by some great anger.
The moments he took to analyse their behaviour were fatal. He heard his wife scream out in horror as something grabbed her from the darkness.
"You hurt her and I will kill all of you," he screamed as he spun around, trying desperately to get his eyes to adjust to the darkness.
The pirates laughed at him.
"You humans are so funny," one of the voices said. "You can’t kill us."
The hunter nocked and released one of his arrows in one fluid motion. It struck the pirate in the head, taking much of what it struck with it.
"Nobody touches her." He nocked another arrow in his bow and killed a second pirate.
"Try that again," the voice came from behind his wife. "And see what happens to her. "Drop your weapon."
The hunter looked between the pirate and his wife. He refused to let his wife die, but he knew what vampires were capable of. The hunter dropped his bow on the ground... then rammed into the pirate. He pushed his wife out of the way and punched their attacker . In the blink of an eye, the hunter was on his back and the pirate overpowered him.
"You humans are stupid. To think we were once like you, it’s pathetic. "
As the pirate raised his sword, the hunter’s life flashed before his eyes. He thought of his wife and son. He couldn’t believe he’d never get to see his son again. He longed to hear his voice again and listen to his stories of the city, but that was only going to be a dream. He stared at the pirate, refusing to die as a coward.
The sword was close to his face, but it didn’t hurt him. Another sword pierced through the pirate’s torso and forced it to slump to the floor. The hunter looked up at his saviour. His wife stood, sword in both hands, struggling to even keep it raised.
"I didn’t know you were good with a sword."
"Neither did I."
He gave his wife a smaller knife that he had found earlier, hoping she wouldn't have to use it.
"We need to get out of here," the hunter said. "They’ve overrun the village."
"But,"
"I know what you’re thinking. He’s in the city, and that’s where we’re going. "
"Those things are there."
"And so is the guard. Nobody will touch us once we’re there. "
They committed to making the final dash for the tree-line. The carnage was even worse than before. The bodies of the dead littered the streets while the survivors were carted away.
"Why are they doing this?" his wife asked.
"It’s what they do," he replied. "Their morals are corrupt."
"Please don’t let them take me. I’d rather die. "
"Don’t say that."
"Watch out!"
The hunter turned to find a vampire lunging for him. He shot it dead. Unfortunately, the sound of his wifes shout had attracted the attention of others.
"Stay behind me."
The hunter and his wife were soon swarmed by the pirates . He fired arrow after arrow at them while his wife parried mocking stabs from those that surrounded them. The enemies didn’t stop coming, but his hands were growing tired. He stopped only when his fingers instinctively reached for the quiver and were left wanting. The attackers pounced on him, but he was saved by his wife, who jumped in the way.
The hunter's wife rammed her small blade through one of them that was foolish enough to try and grab her. As she wrenched the blade out of the body, she felt a blade pierce her back. The sensation lasted only a second as it expertly punctured her heart.
The hunter helped his wife to the ground and gently removed his blade.
He kissed her forehead and turned back to the advancing enemies as tears streamed down his face.
A cavalcade of whinnying horses forced him to turn and watch a small number of villagers escape. He could see by their annoyance that the pirates hadn’t expected that to happen.
"I thought you killed the horses," one of the pirates raged at the other.
"I thought you did," another responded.
"She’s going to be furious."
“She's not my captain.”
Even though he knew it would be the last thing he’d do, the hunter laughed. He mocked the idiotic pirates as his final thought turned to the son he’d never see again. Just as one of the pirate vampires sliced him in half, he hoped Matthew would be safe.