The Black Rose

Chapter 1

"Rena." A short young woman with her hair in a ponytail called out to a certain hunter with long black hair, dark brown eyes, and porcelain white skin. She had been practicing her shooting until she heard her voice. The girl put down her gun and walked over to the shorter woman.

"Yes, Takamina?"

"We just got new info on a certain vampire in this area," the woman called Takamina showed Rena a picture of the vampire. She had long raven black hair and pitch black eyes, contrasting with her pale, snow white skin and rose colored lips. "Her name is Black. She's been appearing quite frequently around here."

"I know what to do," Rena saluted to her group leader.

She retrieved her gun and refilled it, putting a few extra bullets in her pocket, just in case this vampire happens to pick a fight.

"A hunter's job is to exterminate all vampires..." she recited in her head. "I'll eliminate them, every last one."

"Rena-chan!" She felt a pair of arms hug her waist and a familiar voice call her name. She turned and saw none other than Jurina hugging her with her catlike grin.

"Jurina, let me go. I have a mission."

"Eh~? Don't go yet, I wanna stay with Rena some more~!"

"No," Rena separated from her. "Listen, I know you want me to stay, but this one is extremely important."

"Oh, come on~ Do you really have to go right now? It's not even past 7 yet, the sun hasn't even gone down. You can wait until then, can't you?"

Rena pondered on the younger girl's thought and looked out the window. Indeed, it wasn't even dark out yet. She knew vampires only came out at night and rarely ever in the daytime, and while they were stronger in the dark, especially during a full moon, she figured Black would be easier to find once the sun went down.

"Alright, I guess I can stay for a while. But only until sundown."

"Yay~ Thank you, nee-chan!" Jurina hugged the girl again.

Ever since Jurina became a hunter, Rena always had to look after her spoiled little sister. Jurina was always seen clinging to Rena, always by her side. Even when Jurina was a baby, Rena had taken care of her from the start.

Jurina was born when Rena was six years old. Her parents showed the young Rena everything she needed to know on raising baby Jurina. She had watched Jurina grow and mature, from her first steps, to speaking her first word (which was, in fact, Rena's name), every second, every day, she was with her sister. Playing games with her, walking her to school, cheering her up when she was sad, and letting her sleep with her when she was scared.

When Jurina was 15, their parents were killed by a vampire. The two siblings were left alone to care for each other, trying to survive in the world on their own. Without Rena, Jurina would have nothing. She was the only family she had left. So, when she was finally old enough, she became a hunter like her sister, so she could protect Rena from those awful creatures, and to make sure no child would end up in the same fate they were, or worse.

Now Jurina is 18, and she's matured into a beautifully blossoming young lady. She would still act a bit spoiled and maybe a little childish sometimes towards the elder girl, but Rena still loved her sister and was there to take care of her.

"Nee, Rena-chan~ Let's have curry for dinner tonight~"

"Jurina, you know if I'm out late, it'll be past your bedtime when dinner's ready."

"I'll still eat it~ A girl's gotta eat."

"A girl's gotta sleep, too."

"Mou~ don't be mean~" Jurina pouted.

"Rena," Another voice called out as the two were walking down the hall. Rena saw a short figure along with a tall, boyish looking figure. She immediately recognized them and smiled.

"Yuko-san! Sae-san!"

"Yo, Yuuchan, Sae-chan!" Jurina immediately hugged the two girls.

"I see you're doing well as usually, J," Yuko pet the girl's head. "What's goin' on, Rena? Something come up?"

"I got a new mission from Takamina. I'm going after a vampire named Black tonight."

Sae's face suddenly turned serious. "Do you mean the Black? The one with long hair and black eyes?"

"You know her?" Rena's eyes widened.

"Know her? I fought her. That's why I got this!" Sae pointed to her own collarbone, where a scar had marked her skin.

"That was from her?!" Yuko said in surprise.

"She's incredibly fast. Didn't even see it coming."

"She sounds strong," Jurina looked at her sister with worry. "You gonna be able to beat her on your own, Rena-chan?"

"Don't worry." Rena patted Jurina's head. "I'll be fine."

"Just... come back unharmed, okay? I don't wanna lose you."

Rena nodded.

"Yeah, you go get 'em and show that vamp who's boss! Kick her lil' fanged ass!"

"Yuko!" Sae slapped her shoulder slightly.

"What? I have no doubt Rena will win. My money's on the legendary hunter, Gekikara!"

"I told you, I don't go by that anymore," Rena giggled.

"You still can!"

"Alright, Yuko, that's enough," a certain voice rose as a tall woman walked up to Yuko. "You two, get back to training. I need to chat with Rena."

"Jeez, Sayaka, you're such a buzzkill," Yuko sighed before receiving a slight grin from the tall woman. She and Sae went off as Sayaka turned to the two siblings.

"Everything alright?"

"Yeah, we're okay, Sayaka-san."

"Just let me know if Yuko gets on your case. She kinda tends to speak her mind, a little too much."

The two giggled at the comment.

"We were talking about Black. I'm facing her tonight."

"Is that so?"

"Yes."

"I've heard about her. Apparently she's very high rank. Strong, fast, too. You be careful, okay?"

Rena nodded.

"Good. Ah, and Jurina-chan, Takamina and I wanted to do some special training with you. She wants you to meet up in Room 8. You up for it?"

"Yes, ma'am!"

"You go on and get warmed up," the tall girl patted Jurina's back.

"Hai!" Jurina saluted and went off.

Sayaka then turned to Rena.

"Mayu told me about this vampire. She's got every piece of info on her."

"As expected. What'd she find?"

"Black only comes out at night. And she has incredibly speed, faster than any vampire we've faced before. She's also known to seduce her targets and hypnotize them before she drinks their blood. When they wake up, they have no memory of what happened."

"But not me," Rena grinned. "She won't break this," she pointed to her head.

"I know she won't. Just be careful out there. We will wait for your return."

"Yes, ma'am," Rena saluted to Sayaka. Sayaka saluted back and walked back down the hall.

Sayaka was the leader of the group. She was definitely one of the strongest hunter's the team had, along with Takamina (who was in charge of combat training) and of course Yuko. She, Yuko, and Sae had been together since they first became hunters, and knew everything about each other.

Also on the hunter team was Mayu. While she wasn't as strong physically, she had perfect accuracy with a gun and an IQ of a whopping 205. She could obtain any and every piece of information on anything and everything in the world; a human encyclopedia. If there's a way Rena can defeat Black no problem, Mayu is sure to know it.

She walks over to intel and sees Mayu in front of several computers. She seems tense, pounding away at the keyboard. When she finally stopped and sensed Rena's presence, she stood up and stretched her arms.

"Hey, Rena. What brings you in?"

"I need information on Black. Give me all that you know."

"Gotcha."

Mayu then walked to another corner of the room, where dozens of metal cabinets were at. After some searching, she pulled out a folder containing Black's files.

"Here you are." She pulled out a couple of pages from the folder and handed them to Rena.

"Thanks."

"Let me know if you need anything else."

"Of course."

Rena left and looked through the files as she walked down the hall.

"Black. Age: 118. Rank: Royal."

Rena's eyes widened when she saw that word. "A Royal..?!" she whispered.

She had never faced a Royal before. She had heard that they were extremely powerful and dangerous, that it was almost impossible to kill one.

Rena is starting to worry. She's afraid that she couldn't make it after all.

She then looked back down and continued reading.

"Defeated 100 Yakuza members and survived without even a scratch."

Rena covered her mouth, trying not to scream.

"100?!"

Rena gulped as she continued reading.

"Possesses inhuman speed; nearly impossible to catch or trap. Said to have strong hypnotic powers. Do NOT look her in the eyes."

Rena looked away from the files. Now she was feeling really nervous about this mission. She had never thought she was going to go up against a vampire as fierce and powerful as Black, let alone, a Royal. She looked at her gun, reading an engraving etched in the side.

"Even the darkest hearts can be saved by the Light."

She developed a serious look on her face as she held the gun close and thought back to that night, the moment she decided she wanted to become a hunter. It was the night she lost her lover. Someone she had loved her whole life, and she had lost him to the very vampires that she hated more than anything.

"I won't forgive the vampires... A hunter's job is to exterminate all vampires... I'll eliminate them, every last one..."

"Rena?"

Rena then looked up and saw Sayaka and Takamina looking at her.

"The sun's gone down already. You ready to go?"

She stood up. "Yeah... I'm ready."

---------------------------

Once it was dark, Rena started the search for Black. She went to the scene by motorbike. "Scene" isn't the right way to put it, for it's just a place where the yakuza usually roam around at night, smoking and gambling and doing heaven knows what. She began searching the city, looking for any strange activity occurring.

Rena parked her bike somewhere further from the place and covered it, in case someone noticed it and alert the others. She wandered around, always staying alert. As an experienced hunter, she knew better than to let her guard down. She went in the direction of the docks, it was empty except for a couple of boats floating on the water.

Suddenly, she heard something. Her head sharply turned in the direction of the sound, trying to find who, or what, was causing it.

"Who's there?" she called out.

"Hot blood in a frail body."

Taking her gun out of its holster, she crept towards the source of the sound. She pointed her gun, searching for what could've been making the sound, when she saw a pair of glowing red orbs shining in the darkness.

"Vampire..!"

"For you, there is no tomorrow."

She cocked her gun.

"Vampire... I'll kill you!"

Just then, a gust of wind blew by and the orbs were gone. She felt a strong presence behind her that sent chills down her spine. She slowly turned around, coming face to face with the very vampire herself, Black.

"You..!"

Black continued. "You have come to kill me?"

She disappeared again and Rena could hear her voice in her ears.

"You dare challenge a Royal?"

Just then, that same chill came as Black whispered coldly in her ear.

"Foolish human."

Rena aimed her gun and shot a bullet, but Black was gone again. Rena looked around blindly in the darkness.

"Where are you..?! Come out, Black!"

"I'm over here."

Black appeared to her left. Rena shot another round, but Black was gone.

"Behind you."

Rena turned around and shot another bullet, but still, the vampire was nowhere to be seen.

Round after round, Rena shot and missed. Soon, her gun was emptied.

"Damn it!" Rena put her gun back and pulled out her dagger. It was made of the hardest steel mixed with silver, which was deadly to the touch of a vampire. On the blade was carved the initials "M.R." It was a gift from her father.

She held out the blade, slashing it whenever she saw a chance to strike. Each time she saw those red eyes, she'd attack, but miss as she'd disappeared the very second after.

This game of cat and mouse continued for an hour. Rena was starting to grow weak and was running out of breath. She could feel her heart pounding in her ears because she had used up so much of her stamina from fighting. She fell to her knees, trying to catch her breath.

She suddenly froze, for she felt a cold hand cupping her neck from behind. Her body couldn't move and she wanted to scream, but couldn't find the strength.

"This is it then? I'm going to die?" Rena closed her eyes.

She then felt a sharp pain as the vampire bit into her neck and started drinking her blood. Rena began to struggle, trying to break free from Black's grip. However, the next moment, she fell limp. She was hopelessly trapped as Black continued to drink her blood.

Her vision blurred as she felt her body turn cold and she passed out.