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I woke up a few hours before sunset. I lazed around for a bit not ready to get out of bed or off my phone. Then someone started knocking at the RV door, refusing to leave. I still felt like I’d been run over several times by a truck. Crawling out of bed I yelled at whoever was knocking to come in assuming it was Hunter. Instead, I saw someone I hadn’t seen in a few years. He wasn’t a bad person, but he still brought back bad memories.
“Sheriff, what do you need?” I asked as I looked at the older man standing inside my glass-covered living space.
He took note of the damage, hands on his hips. I should have known the noise from last night wouldn’t go unnoticed but never thought he would come in person.
“Did something happen last night?” He asked.
He sounded more like a disappointed father than mine ever did. I shrugged not having a cover story for what happened.
“You’ll never believe me if I told you.” I said sounding as worn out as I felt.
“Vampires?”
Ok, maybe he would believe me if I told him. I froze shocked that word came out of his mouth. Did everyone on the planet know more about vampires than I did?
“I didn’t believe in them until three months ago. Then, this jackass comes rolling in and threatens our town along with a few around us. Somehow, I got in contact with the big government agency that deals with this stuff. Like those X-File people. They said if he sticks to feeding on approved victims, he and his little pack can live free. Who would have thought monsters had rights?” The Sheriff said clearly disgusted over the idea.
If it was up to him, he would have killed any vampires invading his small town. I doubted a normal human who didn’t have access to superhuman strength or silver swords could take down monsters. His hands were tied, and he hated that.
“I met that jackass last night.” I told him and opened my mouth so he could see the sharp set of fangs poking out.
He appeared shocked and I saw his hand reach for his gun. Because the sun was still out, he held off shooting me knowing I wasn’t a full monster but didn’t know how.
“They have a friend of mine hostage. I met someone who can help me take him down tonight. I don’t know if we’ll be able to pull it off, but I don’t care if I die or not. I just need to save her.”
The older man studied me for a long time. I didn’t know what was going through his head. I respected him. He always tried to do the right things regardless of if he was a bit clumsy with how he did so. I hoped he didn’t offer to help tonight. Aside from having access to guns, he didn’t have any kind of power to fight against real monsters.
“I was told to call that agency if these vampires started to target outside of the approved victims. They can eat people with no family to miss them, the homeless or criminals. I fully disagree with anyone getting fed to monsters. I couldn’t save those people, but I can try and save you. You count as these creatures hurting someone they shouldn’t. I know that agency is backed up, but they might come in two or three days because of what happened to you.”
What he said felt weird. I lived in an RV. I did hold down a job, but I had no close relationships. I’d barely spoken to my family in years, and I had no hopes of a future. I was exactly the kind of person who those vampires should eat instead of someone with more potential.
“Don’t bother. It’s not a big deal I’m like this now. The guy I met is going to call the same agency, but they won’t show up on time.”
“They wait until they do. It doesn’t make sense for you to go rushing into a fight.” He sounded exactly like a stern father telling a child not to do anything stupid.
“I can’t wait. They’ll kill her and come for me anyway. Besides, I can hold my own. I’ve taken a few jerks down before even with my bum leg.” I flexed.
“They made the mistake of taking it easy on you because of your bum leg. Listen, if you’re doing this because of what happened to Rudy and your sister-” He started but I cut him off.
“This has nothing to do with that.” I said sternly.
We got locked into a standoff. He wanted to say I was only doing this because I couldn’t help two people, I cared about years ago. The past wasn’t related to what was going on now. Summer was kidnapped by vampires who would kill her if I didn’t do something. Simple as that.
“Alright, just be careful. There is nothing wrong with running away and regrouping. I’m sure your friend doesn’t want you to get hurt trying to save her.”
I agreed with him on that last point. I was tired of running. It felt like I’d been doing that for far too long. A voice called from us from outside. The Sheriff was ready to shoot but I told him it was just Hunter. We both walked outside to meet him.
“He knows what’s going on.” I told Hunter.
The other man took something from his pocket and tossed it at the Sheriff to catch. It looked like a coin of some sort. The older man looked confused over the exchange.
“Some vampires have mind control powers. If he was under some sort of spell he would have flinched suddenly coming into contact with silver.” Hunter explained.
I didn’t even consider the idea of the Sheriff working for the other side. He gave back the coin and Hunter gave him a silver dagger just in case Noir decided to visit him for whatever reason. I doubted the vampire really cared about what a human was up to. But it did make me feel better he was a bit more protected.
“I’ll still make the call and tell them to send someone out here ASAP. These vampires aren’t your problem.” The Sheriff told us.
“They’re not his problem but they are mine. I get paid for this sort of stuff.” Hunter explained.
“Then you’re crazy.” My older friend said the words I thought for a while.
“I’m not. My mother had me tested.”
We all stood in stunned silence at the response.
“Was that a Big Bang Theory reference?” I asked slowly.
“I don’t know what that is.” Hunter replied as if we were the crazy ones.
Did this guy only watch vampire movies? We decided to drop it. The Sheriff left promising to support us the best way he could. He offered to drop off some weapons, but Hunter told him guns wouldn’t work against anything but a weaker new vampire. A phantom pain of where I had been shot flared up. It had healed without a scar, but I still felt bitter about it.
Hunter and I spent until sunset getting ready. He gave me some tips on how to fight and offered to let me drink some of his blood to get stronger. Apparently taking it directly from the source gave some sort of boost compared to just drinking from a bag he’d brought over. I couldn’t do it. My fangs retracted at the thought of biting down on his neck. It may be a mixture of not being into guys or the memory of him kicking my ass that made my body react the way it did. I did risk going feral if I took in too much power I wasn’t ready to control, so overall I didn’t think the risk was worth it. He accused me of making excuses. I didn’t care what he had to say, I wasn’t going to neck him.
We didn’t need to wait long after the sunset for Noir and his goons to show up. The Sheriff had lied about a gas leak to empty the RV park to ensure no one else got caught up in our fight.
Noir stopped a good distance away in case I had any smart ideas. Red glowing eyes stared from the darkness of the nearby forest. He brought a lot of backup. Some of them didn’t even look like vampires because of what blood they had drank recently. I hated how hard my heartbeat gave away and how stressed I felt.
“I did what you asked now show me if Summer is alright.” I demanded with only a slightly shaking voice.
Noir looked at my feet to the still bodies of the twins he wanted dead. He raised a hand so one of his minions could drag Summer into sight. I wanted to run to her, but I stayed still. My entire body was tense. Another vampire walked forward to retrieve the bodies. Just before it reached them Noir spoke up.
“Do you really think I would fall this this?” He asked in a low voice.
One of the bodies shot to their feet, the spell Hunter out on himself breaking. He cut the vampire in front of him in half was one quick motion of his sword. He got ready to continue his attack when my body moved on its own. To my horror Noir got inside my head. I could do nothing but watch as I attacked Hunter. I twisted his arm back making him drop the sword. I then grabbed it to throw it as hard as I could off into the forest. He recovered and shoved a silver coin hard onto my forehead, breaking off Noir’s control.
He gave me a disappointed look but didn’t say anything about my weakness that caused us to lose an important weapon.
“You may not have brought me the twins I wanted, but you did deliver the Hunter that has been a thorn in my side. One of my dear girls went after you last night and didn’t return. I didn’t think you could have won against her, but I doubt you can handle the rest of my newly formed clan.”
Noir opened his arms dramatically making him look more like a massive tool. All the vampires around us hissed or growled trying to strike fear in our hearts. I hated to admit it, but this looked bad. I only won against the monster the night before because of the sword I now didn’t have. I held a silver dagger that was much easier to handle. But I doubted we could win in a fight with so many creatures when Hunter was knocked out in one hit from that female vampire.
Noir gave the silent signal for his vampires to attack. One jumped down from the RV, eyes glowing and face distorted. He landed on me as I stabbed the dagger deep into his chest. Before I went down, I saw one of those larger creatures leaping towards Hunter. I tossed off the limp body just in time to see the monster’s mouth inches away from his face. I thought he was dead at that moment.
He moved almost too fast for me to see. His fist contacted the monster’s face. An explosion of white light nearly blinded my eyes. The jaw was blown apart, and pieces of bone and blood flew outwards. The beast collapses as Hunter started to jog on the spot, hands raised in a boxer stance. A slight white glow came from his fingerless black gloves. I could hear his steady heartbeat. He was cool and calm and that pissed me off. How did he take one of those things out so fast when he had trouble before?
I realized he had pretended to get knocked out as a test. He tossed me to the other vampire to see if I was truly a victim or made up some sort of sob story to lure out the twins. I could have died. It would take a lot for me to fully forgive him for that.
Larger monsters came towards him. Human or not, he held his own. I helped by distracting the smaller ones. The dagger caused too much damage for them to heal quickly enough to recover before another blow. It was a good weapon, but I wouldn’t be able to use it for much longer. The flesh on my hand already started to burn through a glove Hunter gave me. The weapon felt a hundred times heavier than it should. I wasn’t entirely human anymore. Silver didn’t agree with me, and I was feeling the drawbacks of being around it.
Within a few minutes, I noticed Hunter’s breathing get harder. He wouldn’t be able to fight forever. We made a dent in the small hoard. Noir didn’t appear upset over the casualties on his side. He could just make more. If we could just keep this up, then we may have a chance.
Then the tide turned in the worst way. The vampires backed off as three more showed up dragging behind what I never wanted to see. They had the twins, the pair too scared to struggle. They were dropped at Noir’s feet. Both holding each other for support.
“Finally! Things are going right for me! Soon no one will ever be able to doubt my power!” Noir cackled and it made my blood run cold.
“Kidnapping them isn’t anything impressive. I bet they came right out if you lied and said you were holding us hostage.” Hunter said, his unimpressed tone mocking the powerful vampire in front of him.
Noir stopped laughing and glared in his direction. The twins gave a small apology showing that was exactly what happened. I liked those two but they weren’t the brightest bulbs.
Noir reached down and grabbed Mauhus by the throat. He lifted the smaller vampire off the ground and then ripped his claws deep into flesh. I shouted at such a terrible sight. I moved to try and stop the attack. More vampires got in my way. It felt like no matter how many times I brought down the dagger I wasn’t getting any closer. By the time I made a path, Noir had moved onto Uma. The screams of pain caused my body to stop in its tracks.
To be extra cruel, he tossed both bloodied bodies a few feet away from us. The twin’s stomachs were nothing but a mess of gore and their throats ripped out. My vision grew blurry. The smell of blood made my stomach churn and mouth fill with saliva. I didn’t know if I was going to puke, or if my new body wanted that blood.
The world was spinning. It didn’t feel like I was standing on steady ground. My hands shook so much that I nearly dropped the dagger. My breathing grew rapid. I couldn’t handle this. I was going to fail to save anyone. I didn’t want to see more death. Not again. I wasn’t strong enough to do anything. My legs strained against staying still. I wanted nothing more than to run.
A hand on my shoulder brought my mind back.
“You’re spiralling.”
Somehow those words forced me to breathe. I tightened the grip on the dagger trying to steady myself. The twins weren’t dead yet. Didn’t Hunter say vampires were good at healing? If we got them help fast enough, then maybe they could be saved. We weren’t done just yet.
Noir may have been reading my mind. He snapped his fingers to summon something from the forest. A creature larger than my RV slid out from between the trees. The body a mixture of a lizard and a bat. It stomped its feet, the glowing eyes seeing a meal.
I counted seven more weaker vampires, including the one holding a terrified Summer.
“I got the big one you get the rest.” Hunter said turning to face the new threat.
“Seems fair.” I agreed, feeling as ready to fight as I ever would be.
“I really wished you would have bitten me.” Hunter said and took one step towards the larger monster. “No homo though.” He added and I choked on his dumb comment.
If he was comfortable to joke around, then he believed we could handle this. He knew more about vampires than I did, so I trusted him. We split off, him clashing around away with the beast. I tore through the other human-formed monsters. After four the dagger became too much for me to use. I dropped it letting myself go semi-feral. I clawed at eyes and ripped at throats with fangs. I let them injure me if that meant I got close enough to snap my teeth down on their flesh. The pain didn’t matter anymore. I would heal fast enough. The only thing that mattered was defeating the ones in my way.
A blast of heat and light came right after I finished off the last minion. To my horror, I saw Hunter get blown back. Whatever he did took off the head of the monster he had been fighting but it hurt him almost as much. His chest was badly burned, and he was smoking. His hands were as burned as his chest, his gloves missing. He stood long enough to collapse near the twins. His last action was reaching out trying to take hold of one of their hands.
The only ones left standing were Noir, Summer, and me. He had roughly taken hold of her after the last vampire tried to kill me.
I was out of energy. My wounds weren’t healing as fast as before, and my entire body throbbed with pain. My legs shook ready to give out at any second. I gasped for air trying to recover. Noir twisted Summer’s arm behind her back when she tried to take a step in my direction.
“Get your fucking hands off her.” I growled my chest full of hatred towards that man.
Noir’s expression turned into a confused one. He glanced down at Summer and his mouth grew into an amused smile. Soon he started laughing in a way that made me want to rip out his throat even more. Summer looked like she was about to cry but not because of the pain of her arm getting twisted back.
“Her? You think Summer is a girl? Is that why you’re playing a White Knight?” Noir mocked between laughter.
Summer tightened her lips, eyes towards the ground and tears threatened to spill out. She was thinking about how deep her voice was, and how flat her chest looked. She chewed on her lips wondering how I would react to something she never tried to correct me on.
“Damn straight I know she’s a girl.” I said, my voice as certain as I felt.
A silent grateful expression came over her face. She blinked away tears and did something none of us expected. In a flash, her smaller body turned and climbed over Noir so her teeth could reach his neck. She used fangs to tear out flesh before he gave her an order to stop. Noir saw Summer as weak. He never gave her an order not to attack him because he never saw her as a threat. He had enough time to react but didn’t because his brain didn’t believe what was happening. Summer knew she was weaker and waited until she was close to him. This entire time she played the damsel in distress waiting for the right moment. That didn’t come without risks.
I screamed when I saw Noir force his hand through her stomach. Even with his throat ripped out he was able to fight back. He withdrew his arm and grabbed a hold of the back of her shirt. She was tossed aside, my body finally moving. I caught her. She gasped in my arms, eyes barely open and face covered in blood. Noir blindly shot out what I assumed to be magic trying to kill us.
A blast was going towards where the twins and Hunter were. I knew if it hit them, they would die. I raced over and blocked the attack with my back. The power making me drop poor Summer to the ground. I could only place my body between all of them until Noir calmed down.
He gasped enraged over his wounds. I didn’t have the strength to do anything but sit up and watch his wounds slowly heal. As he held his torn open neck, he started to drink vial after vial of blood. When he ran out, he turned on one of the bodies of the fallen vampires. Within seconds he drained the body dry.
His wounds healed, but he was almost as low on energy as I was. I could feel how weak he was but couldn’t do a damn thing about it. I felt a hand take mine. Summer reached over; her face strained. She mouthed a single word. One I never wanted to think about again.
Run.
Her eyes closed. I took hold of her limp body trying to find her weak heartbeat. It was there but unless I did something soon, she was going to die. All of us were.
My mind raced trying to think of what do to next. Where did I drop the dagger? Could I find it in time? What about the sword? No, I couldn’t leave these four behind. If I moved they died. If I didn’t kill Noir, he would kill us. Could Summer drink some of my blood and recover? What if she drank some of Hunter’s? Would he be able to live through that?
You’re spiralling.
Recalling those words did nothing to help. The smell of blood was overwhelming. I couldn’t focus. No matter what I thought of I saw no way out. Noir could control me if I attacked him. I was powerless. Utterly powerless to save anyone. My chest hurt over that realization so much that it felt like it was going to cave in.
In that moment I had nearly given up hope. I wasn’t aware that right next to me I had what could save us shining in the moonlight.