Dust And Shadows

Let The Game Begin

||Julia's POV||

"The one and only... Julia Martin!" You gotta be kidding me. Out of all the professional female, vampires killers, it had to be me. Why did I even come to this bloody dinner? Definitely not to kill vampires, for fucks sake! People started congratulating me and I kept saying fake thank yous with fake smiles. Not only will I have to kill real vampires, alone, but I'll still need to watch out for Taylor. Suddenly I felt Kayden take my hand. I tried to get out of his grip, still mad at him, but he wouldn't let me. "You can be mad at me later, now listen. This is like playing cards for us, Julia. For you, it will be life threatening. I want you to remember everything you've learned and let Taylor do the work. Try to stay close to him but do not and I repeat, do not let him see you. He will try to hurt you. He knows who you are and who I am, I know him quite well actually, a few years ago he was in our Shelter. He knows how you fight so stay out of his sight. I don't know how good he is, but surely he can kill them. You'll be given a choice of weapons. Pick a silver-wide sword, you're good with those. He'll go for two short knives as he is quick and strong. I need you to be put at all times, do not let your guard down and most importantly, keep yourself alive, Julia. Good luck." He explained as he kissed my forehead and soon I and Taylor stood in front of a very happy Catherine and Peter, near the open window.

"Have you picked your choice of weapons, dears?" Catherine asked us very sweetly. "A pair of silver knives, but those sharp ones, not the wide ones." Kayden was right. Then, she turned to me. "I.. um... a wide-silver s-sword." I stuttered and she nodded her head. Suddenly someone put something against my wrist. "What the hell?" I asked as the cold metal bracelet-looking thing tightened around my wrist. "It's your locator and your sensor. How else are we supposed to keep track of all the vampires you kill?" Peter asked me and I looked back but couldn't see Kayden.

"It's time! Lets wish our players good luck and a safe return! Remember, there can only be one winner! You have until dawn, let the game of Hunt begin! " Suddenly I was pushed out of the open window and as I was petrified as to what the hell happened I landed on some wet ground, covered by darkness. The window was a portal. No, it's actually happening... I quickly stood up and noticed a shining thing next to me. The sword. I picked it up and it was heavier than I thought, wider and shorter than the ones in the Shelter. I quickly looked around, and saw a dense, dark, horrifying forest around me. The only thing I could hear were the trees brushing against each other, the moonlight was my only source of light and the cold made my hair stand on my arms.I could hear my heart beating really fast and feel the cold air inside my lungs. I remembered Kayden's words. Find Taylor.

I've been walking for what seemed like a really long time, until I heard a branch snap. I quickly snapped to the location of the sound and pointed my sword to it. But nothing came,  just silence. After a while, I just kept walking. I felt really scared, yet I kept telling myself everything will be alright and that as soon as I find Taylor, he'll just kill them filthy creatures and we'll return home. 

Then, I found him. He was killing a vampire. He quickly threw it to the ground and put one of his knives through his heart. I watched as the vampire's bright red eyes lose their glow and his open mouth filled with sharp teeth slowly closed.Then it turned to dust. But when I looked up at Taylor, he wasn't there anymore. I quickly took a step back and hid further behind a tree. I looked around but he was nowhere to be seen. I turned around and immediately had a knife painfully pressed to my throat. "Well, well, well, who do we have here..."

I tried to move my sword but that only resulted with him pressing the sharp side of the knife deeper into my skin, making me wince. "You lied to me." I hissed and he chuckled. "Did you seriously thought I didn't know you or you lover boy? Damn they really must've hit you hard in the head." I let my sword fall to the ground and he pressed me against a tree. "You know, I always wanted to fight against you, pity that the chances aren't the same anymore." He came closer until our faces were centimeters apart. "I don't want to hurt you, Taylor, and you don't have to hurt me." He looked me in the eyes. "You're right. But you're saying this cause it's my knife pressed against your delicate neck, and not the other way round. I am going to win this tonight, but I'll look like a fool if I'll kill all the vampires myself, they'll think it was, too easy." Suddenly he grabbed my waist and pulled me towards him. I looked at him disgusted. "So, cupcake, you'll have to kill the smaller half yourself." The knife slowly dug into my skin causing a little blood to spill. "Please stop, it's hurts." I asked of him but regretted it when he started laughing. He pressed it harder and tears formed in my eyes as I winced. "Shhh, honey, it's all right. I'll take the knife away if you agree to my plan. We'll stay together and I'll make sure you don't get killed in the process. What do you say?" I say go fuck yourself you selfish son of a bitch! "Fine. Let go of me." And he did. I took a sharp breath and a few steps back. He picked up my sword and handed it to me. I quickly took it from him. I will not let this selfish bastard win.

"Are we just gonna sit here and wait?" I asked after ten minutes of waiting. "Yes. They are hungry and desperate for blood, and they can sense us from miles away. All we have to do is wait for them to find us." Suddenly he looked at me with a serious face.

"And they just did." My heart stopped at those words and I got into my position. He did too. I heard some branches snap and kept turning into different directions, Taylor must've noticed because he didn't like what I was doing. "There are the maximum of two vampires, cupcake, no need to turn to all 4 directions," he said and I sighed. "But I don't know where they're coming from." I argued and suddenly I felt him behind me. He put one hand on top of mines to control my sword, and one on my waist to control my movements. I felt his warm breath on my ear. "Take and deep breath, clear your head. Julia, concentrate." I did as he told me and looked one more time at the forest before me. I looked closer, and saw a dark figure, with red glowing eyes. Taylor let go of me. Suddenly I heard an ear piercing scream and it was coming at me, running as fast as it possibly could, ready to bite into my flesh with its sharp set of teeth, and I stood there, petrified, not able to move as I held my breath. "Kill it!" I heard Taylor scream behind me but I couldn't move, all I could see was its glowing evil eyes and when I thought it was the end, the creature stopped right in front of me, my sword in its rotten flesh. The glow from its eyes disappeared, and its body turned into ashes, blown away by the wind. Only then I noticed that it was Taylor who took a hold of my arm, making the sword go into its body. He saved me. I exhaled a deep breath but soon I was pushed against a tree painfully. "Are you fucking stupid? How hard can it be? You nearly died if not me! Are you out of your mind?" He shouted at me and I looked into his dark eyes. "Get off of me! I was scared, okay?!" I shouted and he grabbed my chin making him look at me. "We don't get to be scared, Julia! Fear clouds your mind!" Before I could say anything I saw a figure behind Taylor and he must've sensed it because he stiffened. But he didn't realize how close the vampire behind him was. Before he could reach for his knife the vampire attacked, trying to bite into Taylor's shoulder but I pushed Taylor away with all my might, and to my surprise it actually worked and Taylor fell to the ground, not bitten. But the vampire saw a new target, me. He came at me with all he had but I had my sword. I tried to put it through its flesh but he stopped it and took it away from me before throwing it behind him. But before he could do anything I don't know what got into me, and I hit the vampire right in his jaw, making him fall to his side as he leaned against a tree. I took my chance and run as fast as I could towards the place where he threw my sword. I almost fell to the ground as I saw it but quickly recovered. I grabbed it and got ready. But before I noticed what was happening Taylor stuck his knife right through his heart, and the creature turned into ashes. I exhaled a deep breath and started panting. Taylor stiffened. "Julia, come here right now." I didn't need to be asked twice.

And as we were back to back, we noticed there were more. We were surrounded, by at least 10 more vampires.

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Hmmmm... Kayden or Taylor? ;)

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