By One Drop of Blood

Part 10

 "There is no way to escape!"

Seeing his only chance of escape in fighting his way free the vampire is pressured into attacking. The roof tiles create an uneven and somewhat slippery surface. I already got a problem in my military grade boots but the vampire got it a lot worse in his fancy shoes. Jumping over the tiles he comes increasingly faster towards me. Our weapons clash. The rusty sabre while still looking fragile to the core is withstanding my new weapon. Also the sword is not rusting away by a mere touch. I have to guide the much heavier sword with both hands while the vampire is able to swing his weapon his one hand. He is undoubtedly more agile while I should have more weight behind every swing. The problem is that the undead creature is bestowed with supernatural strength. Only because I am packing sprits to every move I can parry the vampires blows. Fencing back and forth we trade blows. Finding an opening in the undead man's posture I cut into his shoulder. If was hoping for the weapon cause some holy damage but to no avail. The small moment of thought is enough for the vampire to punch my face with the handle of his weapon. The increased strength brings me down to my knees. Stepping towards me the vampire points his sabre at me.

"You never stood no chance-"

Coming closer and closer, the vampire is not noticing the obstacle is his way. The rising sun takes a glims at the undead man and instantly causes his face to catch flames. He flinches and hides right back inside the still shadow covered part of the roof. The sun has left his sun with serious burnings. I raise up the sword so that its tip is bathing in the sunlight. Within seconds the metal heats up but is not hurting me despite its immense heat. The vampire is seeing what the weapon is doing and that I must have stumbled across its special trick by accident he gets back to his goal of killing me. Walking besides the spot of sunlight we engage again. This time I feel much more confident because of the weapon doing whatever it is doing. The vampire is also much more cautious with his attacks. He is frightened by the sword and whatever it is doing. Stabbing and swinging the sword at him he steps back until we reach the end of the roof. With him standing there without an option of dodging I position the sword for the final stab to the heart. Finding his courage in the face of death he attacks while dodging around my attack. His counter cuts my left arm and for that also a deep cut. I hope the sacrifice is is worth. I was also able to land a hit. Right to the vampires lower chest. While my wound is deep and hurts a lot the wound to the vampire is deeper and is permanent. This time the sword is able to damage the undead. With a spin I gain a lot of movement to swing down the sword. The undead man is barely able to deflect my attack on the cost of his sabre being jammed away. The wound on my arm hinders my movement from performing any other heavy attack. The vampire is holding its side. Dropping to his knees with blood pouring from the wound the vampire realises that it will not win this fight. I am not strong enough to raise the sword for beheading the vampire. The sunlight is coming closer by the second. Soon enough the whole roof will be lit. The undead man has lost. Realising this he falls on his back.

"You may strike me down but we are already stronger. We got senators, mayors and even more powerful individuals than the entire government on our side. The time of you small humans is over and the time of us godforsaken creatures will begin. We will return your palaces back to dust and step over your broken bones."

He still tries to threaten me. I am no fearful man and he can not say anything that will prevent me from ending what is called his life here and now. Lifting the sword with the still strong arm on the grip and the weakened hand along the cross guard I position it over the undead's chest. Jamming the sword through the vampires lower abdomen and into the roof impales the undead creature. Unable to flee from the rising sun his body is slowly approached, touched and covered by the sunlight. The undead body catches fire. The feral nature of the vampire becomes apparent again. Its scream has nothing in common with a human scream. Just a loud screeching noise like an animal that is dying. The flames consume its body burning away to the last piece until nothing but dust is left.

From below the roof the other men shout up to me.

"Sir, are you alright?" One of the men asks.

"Yes, only a small injury." I am downplaying the wound a bit. It is bleeding and that not very lightly. Dragging the sword from the roof tiles I store it on my side and get ready to climb from the roof. The men where so courteous to throw a hook onto the roof where I could climb down.

The hubris brought the vampire to his downfall. He thought he could hide his actions behind the questionable laws of the south. He thought because no one gives a shit about the lives of enslaved people he could get away with his hunt. The mansion is outfitted with a telegrapher. Contacting the authorities makes the whole process of transacting the formalities a lot easier. The soldiers that arrived first are not happy to encounter four northern soldiers inside a slave farm with the slain master to their feet. The men are not educated in vampire affairs. I do not want to blame them. No citizen should have to invest any time in the cruel process of anti-vampire combat. We got nothing else to do than just wait for whoever is coming. The morning sun is already rising and we prepare our departure. It is horrible to see the still imprisoned slaves being left in this hell hole. We are able to save them from certain death at the hands of a monster but can not free them from slavery.

A coach is holding in front of the burned down fields. We were sitting on the porch waiting for someone to come by. We were just waiting for anybody to arrive. Someone we could push all the tedious work to. Out of the wagon steps a man clothed in a long black coat, sunglasses and a top-hat. The last shadows from the distant trees fall across the plantation. From the long shadows the man steps towards us.

"Good morning sir, you're the governments inspector, I guess?"

"Noo... I am thee... new homeowner." he answers with long pauses between the single words.

The man is fishy. Every single detail about him screams suspiciousness. The way he wets his lips before speaking. His angled glasses that hide his entire eyes. Who would buy a burned down farm, especially if the previous owner was detected to be a vampire and was killed just several minutes ago? How was he able to acquire the mansion and the surrounding farm this short in the first place?

"If you gentlemen would excuse me..., I have to inspect the newly acquired estate."

Without any further words he is stepping through us and into the mansion. This man is up to no good but there is absolutely nothing we could do about it. He disappears into the house with the cycle of slavery about to take another round.