The Scent Of Vampires (Book 1)

Chapter 1:The Smell of Vampires

In a crouched position on top of a dilapidated roof, Zephora viewed the decaying city. It was nearing dusk, a time when strange creatures began to go bump in the night. A time when supernatural beings came out in full force. Call it a sixth sense, but she could always feel when vampires were near. The little hairs would stand up on the back of her neck, not to mention the smell of blood and death that accompanied them...some of them anyway.

There were basically two types of vampires. The ones that killed their prey and the ones that didn't. The vampires that didn't kill, would typically make you forget any encounter with them. The only way one would know that they had been used as a blood bank, was from the lightheadedness from blood loss and the obvious pin-prick bite marks, either on the neck or occasionally ones wrist.

There was a time when Zephora didn't know there were differences among vampires. She assumed they all killed their prey. After all her close encounters with vampires over the years, she finally figured out that while both had the scent of blood, only the ones that killed, smelled of decay and death.

While Zephora wasn't sure why she had this strange ability, she was grateful for it. She had been able to avoid the worst sort of vampires for the most part; the Killing Vamps. She still didn't trust any vampires as far as she could throw them (which wasn't far); Even if she was stronger than your average human. But that was another story all together.

At the present, Zephora found herself in a perplexing situation. She could smell vampires near, which that in itself wasn't abnormal. The abnormal part was, that she could smell both kinds of vampires together at the same time. They usually avoided each other on matter of principle. Such stark contrasts in their treatment of humans, meant they didn't get along all that well.

Still crouching, Zephora stealthily moved along the roof top, using the old cinder block roof ledge for support. She could hear a lot of commotion coming from below on the west side of the building. Creeping into the shadows of the now darkening sky, Zephora peered carefully over the side, into the garbage strewn ally below.

There was a dark haired male vampire towering over a smaller figure who was on their knees with hands bound behind their back. It appeared to be a female vampire with long red hair. The male vampire sneered, back handing her hard across the face at something she said. She fell to the ground face first, unable to hold her self up. In a flash the male was gone, leaving the female where she lay.

It took a moment, but Zephora realized that the smell of death had disappeared with the male vampire. Now that was interesting to her.

Zephora made it a point to avoid vampire affairs all together. Yet, she found she couldn't help but be curious at what had just transpired in the ally.

It also dawned on Zephora the place where the, now obviously a killing vamp, had dumped the female vampire, was on Moon-Howler territory. Moon-howlers, or sometimes known as werewolves, would not tolerate vampires on their land. They would kill the female vampire on sight without remorse.

After an internal debate, Zephora decided to carefully check on the female vampire. She didn't really want to to help a Neck- biter, the name for vampires that wouldn't necessarily kill their prey, but for some reason the unconscious female's vulnerable state plucked slightly at her heart strings. Not to mention if moon howlers found the female Neck-biter, there was bound to be problems between the two species of
Others.

Others were what humans called all super natural beings; whether they were, vampires, Moon-howlers, Spell-casters who dabbled in magic and potions , or any other non-human.

The male Klling-vamp that had left the female on Moon-howler land could only have one of two motives: He either wanted to kindle flame to the fire that was the very hostile relations between Moon-howlers and Neck-biters and Killing-vamps, or he simply wanted the female dead and for whatever reason wasn't willing to do the deed himself.

Either way, a conflict between these particular Others would cause problems not just for their own kind, but humans always unavoidably become casualties to their feuding. Zephora cautiously made her way down from the roof into the darkened ally. Careful to keep to the shadows as much as possible, she approached the bound female. The Neck- biter was not moving and appeared unconscious. She scanned her surroundings to be certain no threat was close by, then quickly but cautiously examined the unconscious female.

On closer inspection, the neck biter looked as if she had been beaten. She had bruises all over her face and neck, as well as bite marks. Vampires were known for their supernatural healing abilities. It was only when they were weakened over time from blood loss that their healing abilities diminished.

Whoever the Killing-vamp was, he obviously drained her of blood and beat her, knowing she would suffer. Even if Zephora couldn't stand most of their kind, a small twinge of sympathy flowed through her as she relived her own encounters with Killing-vamps.

Maybe it was this sympathy that prompted her to do something she never thought in a million years she would do. Next thing knew she was dragging the female out of the ally. While the girl was mostly unconscious, she would occasionally moan and pull on the bindings around her wrists. Zephora had left them bound for safety reasons. She knew nothing about the Neck-biter and helping her was extremely risky.

Zephora began to move faster, when she heard a howl in the distance. She didn't want to get caught by Moon-howlers dragging a semi-unconscious neck biter through the streets.

Suddenly, the female became more alert and broke free of Zephora's hold. She tensed waiting for the female to attack or run, but she did neither. As if she barely had the strength, the redhead lifted her head and looked at Zephora for a moment. Neither one of them moved, as they tried to decide if the other was a threat.

Then, the girl fell unconscious again. Zephora only managed to catch her right before she hit the ground.