Charlie Swan: Vampire Hunter

17

Over the next two months I help the Cullens deal with a rouge herd of centaurs, some sirens, a group of pixies who started harassing anyone going in or out of the court house and two covens of vampires. I'd gotten used to one of the children giving me a time and place, generally at night and nowhere near the final destination. Carlisle always gave me a ride on is back, then they formed a circle around the target and moved in on them. I stayed on the outskirts, sword out and ready, but I rarely had to use it. They seldom tried negotiating with the creatures, and the creatures rarely took the offers. In the case of the centaurs they were more drunk than anything, and left as soon as the Cullens approached. The others chose to fight and quickly lost. 

After the pixies there was a lull in activity from anything supernatural. The Cullens didn't talk to me, and I didn't talk to them. I hardly even saw any of them around town. 

I knew something was up when Carlisle, who always sent one of his children to retrieve me, knocked on my door. 

"What's up?" I asked, noting his disheveled hair. 

"We need you for a job. I wouldn't ask on such short notice but we need you." 

I nod and grab my sword form inside the door. "Where are we headed?"

He shakes his head and bends over for me. "No time, I'll fill you in on the way over. Climb on."

I'm taken aback by how fast Carlisle can actually run. His speed was always super human, but it was never this extreme. The houses and trees blur as we pass but Carlisle's words are still audible over the air whistling past my ears. 

"An extremely powerful coven of vampires has moved in. They are camped new the house and the others are trying to fend them off. I'm hoping that the surprises of seeing mortal attacking them will help turn the tide but it's a long shot. I know I haven't given you much voice abut coming, and if you want me to I'll put you down and you can go back home, but if we are to stand a chance we need you."

I don't bother to reply, knowing my voice will be lost to the wind and Carlisle takes my silence to mean I'm going to fight. And I will fight, down to the very last breath if I have to. I may not seem like much, but the Cullens need me and I am not planning to let them down. 

We arrive to a grim scene. The Cullens are facing down ten angry vampires with blood red eyes. We approach from the side, staying out of sight, moving form tree to tree waiting for the right moment to enter the fray. The fight seems as though it has just begun, each side hanging back and trying to feel the other out. 

The turmoil started quickly. Carlisle joined his family, the head of the attacking coven lashed out against Emmett and just like that the whole scene was a blur of movement. I lit my sword and waited. 

I don't wait long before facing my first opponent. A young woman breaks away and runs at me. I raise my sword  getting ready for the fight. She runs at me so fast her edges blur. I don't bother trying to get out of the way, I'm nowhere near fast enough. Instead I make a show of letting my sword tremble, plying up the fear I'm fleeing. The vampire slows when she's just out of the reach of my sword. I take a deep breath, she snarls and launches herself at me. I push my sword up into her chest, lighting it on fire only after it's entered her flesh. She goes up in flames with a scream. 

I douse the flames on my sword and turn back to the bigger fight, waiting for my next opponent. He's a huge guy, bigger even than Emmet. He backhands Alice and lumbers my way. As far as vampires go he's pretty slow and not graceful in the way the Cullens are. I take a different approach with him, first side stepping his huge fist then sticking a foot out to trip him and driving my sword into his back. 

We fight long into the night. I start to tire as the piles of ash grow around me, but the Cullens never slow down. They are a blur of motion, fighting tooth and nail against the other vampires. It is when there are only three vampires left that I finally take a breath, a moment to take in the carnage around me. I feel a rush of air and turn, raising my sword, just in time to see the fist coming for my face. I hear the connection of the first with my face, I feel the exposition of pain across my cheek bone, then another in my stomach, a sharp sting in my neck and then it all fades to black.