"I know you're unlikely to hit the ideal performance within a year," said captain Wagner, his voice booming. "Honestly, that's normal. But you could at least try to kill one without emptying an entire clip."
Once again, Alice stood over that atypical shooting range, trying to nail a chupacabra. The previous day someone managed to actually kill one, but that just made things worse. The monsters were now dodging, bobbing and weaving across the track, making them even harder to hit. The recruits kept shooting, though, and today a few people managed to kill one. Including...
"Got one!" said Marcia under her breath. She stood to the right of Alice, who hadn't managed to kill one yet.
At least someone's making progress, though Alice, frustrated as she kept shooting.
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Alice sat in a classroom setting with images projected on the far wall as Agent Swan went over the weapons they used on vampires specifically. In addition to the sonic device and mist machine, their guns would be armed with silver bullets, crosses etched into the metal. Killing them was almost exactly like killing a chupacabra. One bullet to stop their movement, and one more through the heart to kill it. Silver was rare metal compared to others, so they couldn't afford to go full auto when using silver bullets, hence the training. Two bullets were ideal, but only the most elite of the Night Hunters did that consistently. It would be a long time before they reached that level, if at all. The easiest way to kill a vampire was by letting sunlight into their hideout during the day, something they wouldn't always have the luxury of doing.
Agent Swan also went over the mental abilities of a vampire; how they could control those they fed on and how their glamour worked, how a vampire could alter its own image in people's minds but had to drink someone's blood to gain complete control over them. Once they had control over a person, they could even extend their glamour over that person, slightly altering his clothing or physical appearance. Only slightly. They couldn't make someone look like a completely different person.
Most of this was familiar to Alice, and as Agent Swan talked about this, Alice tapped her pen on her desk. Something had been on her mind lately, and while she diligently paid attention and took notes, she waited eagerly for when Agent Swan would ask for questions. Alice had a particularly important question to ask.
But before she could ask, agent Swan went over a subject that interested Alice greatly.
"There are four classes of vampire," said Swan, pacing back and forth at the head of the classroom. "First is the newborn class, those that haven't been vampires for very long. These are easily repelled by crosses and completely disabled by loud sounds, bright lights, and strong smells. They also have limited mental abilities, only able to control humans.
"Next is the feral class. These are rare and result from a vampire being unable to access human blood. You see, a vampire can survive on the blood of animals but requires human blood to maintain human intelligence. A diet of only animal blood degrades a vampire to the mental state of an animal, driven purely by the instinct to feed. These lack any sort of mental abilities or human intelligence but are dangerous in a different way.
"Many supernatural creatures, such as vampires, witches, or even goblins, require an invitation to enter a place of dwelling. If they enter a home uninvited, they leave their power behind, which can make them helpless. A vampire, in particular, is susceptible to this because vampires are effectively dead already, their power being the only thing keeping them animated. For that reason, entering a house without an invitation will kill most vampires instantly, which is something to keep in mind.
"This rule, however, doesn't apply to supernatural animals. Animals can't understand the concept of an invitation, after all. Thus things like werewolves, yetis, or wendigos do not require an invitation, nor do vampires that have gone feral. Ferals also don't recognize the significance of the Christian cross and are thus not repelled by it, though bright lights, loud sounds, and strong smells will still disable them. You will recognize feral vampires by their lack of any sort of glamour.
YOU ARE READING
The Crucivire
VampireAlice Hayes is haunted by the disappearance of her brother. The morning after a sleepover, the family he was staying with was found dead, and Arthur gone. The most twisted part is that someone dressed up their murders to look like vampires did it. I...
