Hunt

Prologue

Sharp gusts of wind blow swiftly through the long green branches of nearby trees, indicating a storm, the branches aggressively rubbing against each other, whispering an unfamiliar melody.

Through the air travels a musky, fresh smell -another indication that a storm is on its way- and surrounds the lone figure standing in the center of a clearing, as if awaiting her doom.

Suddenly, as if by an invisible force, the figure steps forward, and determinedly walks towards a seemingly random direction; but she know better.

The fall leaves crunch under her feet, her face flushed from the cold harsh wind, the sharp smell forewarning rain mingling with her warm breath. Her shoulder length chestnut brown hair flows behind her, almost as if she were underwater, her piercing amber gaze staring straight ahead, slightly watery from the harsh wind.

She gets lost in thought, only to reappear as a dark, looming Victorian mansion comes in sight, her slender face hardens into a strange expression, her formerly soft eyes, hold a dangerous glint, a clear warning for anyone to step into her path.

The mansion was beyond words, it looked very vintage in a priceless kind of way, the long weathered with age stone walls gave it a rustic kind of feel, the massive glass pane windows let the light through, 'it's probably made from that special kind of glass that vampires like to use, speculo', she concludes while openly gaping at the impressive mansion. 

Her heart starts beating at a rapid pace, pumping her blood into her veins vigorously, her tall figure tenses up, getting ready to fight, to kill.

She insures her heavy wooden throwing knives are strapped securely in place, easy and quick to reach, and then guardedly checks the precious wooden stake, loaded with Vervain and ash from the white oak tree, which is carefully stashed in the inside of her faux leather jacket, it may seem useless to a human, but its deadly to a vampire, any type of vampire...

She quietly creeps around and through the trees and, as inconspicuously as she can, leaves the protection and safety of the forest and runs right into the hands of the enemy, but she knows what she must do.

'I'll make it quick', she thinks to herself as she swiftly brings herself up to a landing that looks like a wide baseboard, and hastily presses her back under a large glass panel window, she stills for a couple of seconds listening, making sure she hadn't been heard, before stealing a secretive glance inside, she glimpses a long, fancy, granite dining table, white marble serpents holding it up on each corner, 'no wood,' she notices, 'of course, no vampire is that stupid,' she thinks to herself.  The table is surrounded by matching granite and marble chair, with a soft looking, velvet cushion on each one, and like the table, the chairs are held up by serpents with menacing, gaze-less stares, a chill goes down her spine.

'Snakes must be the family emblem,' she notes.

She silently leaps down and presses her back against the wall, listening to any indication that she might have been heard...

She doesn't notice anything over the sounds of distant thunder, so she slowly turns to the side and-

Something hard presses her against the wall, something cold, something still, something lifeless.  Her burning face is pressed against against the cold stone wall.

She shivers.

Maybe it's the cold, or maybe it's the fact that she is balancing on the thin edge of death.

She goes limp against the vampire hoping to catch him off guard, and it miraculously works, his grip on her loosens, a bit, but just enough for her to reach one of her throwing knifes, as the stake is pressed between her and he wall, she grabs the handle of one strapped to her thigh and abruptly turns around catching him of guard for just a second, but once again, just enough for her to discreetly take aim, but not enough to free the stake, his time he holds her at arms length, "You must not be very bright if I caught you off guard, twice," she grins mockingly as the knife leaves her hand, slicing through the air and smoothly embedding itself into the vampire's shoulder.

He growls a low, dangerous threatening growl, his hand immediately goes to his shoulder giving her the much needed space to break free from his death grip, and pull out the stake holding it threateningly over her shoulder.

Her grin widens when she realizes this was the vampire she meant to assassinate, the oldest son, and therefore the heir of the Seraphino family, 'he isn't very smart to be out here', she thinks, 'but then again, he couldn't be that smart if I caught him of guard TWICE.'

'This is easy', she takes a step forward.

His eyes flash with hate, a look she has seen on many vampires before they felt her wrath, then they would be full of pain and agony, 'I'm unstoppable', she thinks a bit too cockily. 'Too bad I have to kill him quickly, or I'll be late for my chemistry exam.'

He harshly pulls the blade out of his shoulder, they take fighting stances, analyzing each other's weaknesses, and turn in a full circle, like wild cats, ready to hunt their prey, each looking for a chance to attack.

A drop of cool rain hits her warm cheek, startling her, she better get back before the storm becomes too heavy.

The ever so slight tick of the vampire's body towards the left warns the hunter a fraction of a second before he strikes, 'not a very good fighter, either', she notes as she swiftly dodges his attack, pivots on her toes and strikes the vampire with the stake, missing his lifeless heart by mere inches, he quickly turns around and strikes her with the back of his hand, sending her flying through the air, she hits the wall with a sickening crack.

She goes still, not a word, nor a breath.

Confused, he slowly steps towards her, she looks very still and lifeless, like a wax figure, her eyes are closed and her pale face gives off a ghostly aura, but he can still hear her weak human heart beating.

Unguarded, he takes long, tall strides towards her and stands still, towering above her, the rain is starting to fall harder, the sounds of thunder deafening to his sensitive ears, the lightning blinding to his delicate eyes.

Suddenly, her deadly stake goes flying through the air, like a vicious Cobra striking, twisting through the air until it abruptly stops, impaling itself right through his undead heart.

His eyes widen for a moment, which seems like ages to him, they stay in their places staring into each other's eyes, his full of hate and disbelief, and hers mocking and smug, without warning, he goes limp, his body falling forward towards the hunter, threatening to crush her, but she rolls to the side at the last moment, hearing the body fall to the moist with rain and blood ground with a dull thud.

Minutes later, she steps back admiring her handy work: the vampire's uninhabited body was nailed to the wall, hanging from his left hand, a throwing knife through his palm, his thick, crimson, blood dripping slowly, drip......drip......drip..... was the sound it made, faint over the sounds of the raging storm, as if nature was mourning over it's loss, "yea right", she quietly chuckles.

On his forehead, the following words were carved: "Spooky be-earlied Halloween!", proposing a mocking but dangerous tone, a threat.

'I'm unstoppable,'

She thinks, walking back into the woods, the storm angry and loud above her head.

***

Don't mind this, just me keeping track of a couple of things, lol.

(10/7/2020) 12:37 am

Word count: 1288