Chapter one : Savior
It was late at night in the city, pitch black. Not even the stars shone through the clouds. The streets were faintly illuminated by a few streetlamps, casting long shadows across the damp ground. Ayleth walked steadily down the walkway, turning as a shriek echoed off the sides of the buildings. A young woman turned the building's corner and ran down the street, not noticing Ayleth. She nearly ran right into her, and sobbing, clung on to Ayleth's black cloak, speaking too frantically to tell what she was saying. "Who there, slow down miss, I don't know what you're saying!" Spoke Ayleth, grabbing the frightened woman by the wrists and prying her off the cloak. "Please, speak slower."
"H-Help m-me! He's going to k-kill me!" She stuttered, eyes still wide with fear.
"Who is? Who's going to kill you?"
"She means me." Spoke a low, snarling voice. Both Ayleth and the strange woman turned at the same time. A strange man stood approximately ten yards down the sidewalk, in the direction the woman had run from, and slowly advanced toward the two women. He was roughly six feet tall, and wore a black pinstripe suit with a blood red tie.
"Who are you? What do you want with this woman?" Ayleth commanded, immediately alert.
He let out a snicker. "I am named Emilio, and that woman is MINE." He answered with a hiss, drawing his mouth into an evil smile, revealing his perfectly white teeth, with four sharp canines. The woman let out a squeal, and tried to rise from the step to run. Ayleth shoved her back down, "Stay put, I'll deal with him. Just don't move." she ordered as she yanked off her cloak, revealing the twin swords strapped on her back, just between her shoulder blades. "So, you're a Methuselah, huh? Well," she drew the swords out of their sheathes, pointing one at the man, "You picked the wrong night to go prowling."
"HA!" He spat a mouthful of spit on the cement "As if a woman with a couple puny swords, a terran none the less, could hurt me! I'll break your spine in such a way that your legs will be paralyzed, and then I'll let you watch me kill and drain her body of blood!
Ayleth's green eyes narrowed, "Let's just see about that, you filthy insect." she hissed. He flashed forward, running full speed, fangs glinting in the glow of the street lamps. Ayleth darted to the right, and swept the sword in her left hand outwards. Emilio jumped to his right, receiving only a small cut in his forearm. "What the…" he said, looking at his wound, now a bubbling, sizzling gash. "AUGHHH! You little wench! You use silver blades!?" He screeched, clawing at his arm. "I'll kill you!" He charged once more, now with a crazed expression, hands tipped with sharp nails outstretched to shred Ayleth.
"You shouldn't fight with anger. It blinds you, you know." Ayleth said, raising her swords. She braced herself as he charged toward her and leapt into the air. One quick slash of her swords, and he was on the ground, writhing in pain. She had cut his arms, from the elbow down, completely off. He screeched and screamed in pain, shouting curses and foul things at her. She calmly walked to him, and stood square on his chest. "Shut your mouth, you foul beast." She ordered, staring at him through stray hairs that had come loose during combat. He ignored her and continued to roar in pain, his eyes rolling back and forth in their sockets. "Fine." She crouched down, still on his chest, and placed the blades of the swords on either side of his neck. She beheaded him with one fluid movement, and then rose to her feet.
"Are you okay now, Miss?" She asked the woman, who was now staring with wide eyes and an open mouth at the vampire's body, still sizzling where it had been cut.
"How, how did you do that!? Are you a vampire too?"
"No, I'm not a Methuselah. But I have had many dealings with them in the past, my family was murdered by a group of them long ago." Ayleth replied, while cleaning her blades on Emilio's suit jacket. She slid the swords back into their sheathes on her back, picked her cloak off the ground, and walked back to the woman. "I didn't catch your name, and I didn't give you mine, either. I'm Ayleth Desponia. So who are you?"
"M-my name's Eva, Eva Davinport. I was on my way home when that man, or rather that monster, began to follow me. I thought I might be able to lose him if I walked an extra block from my house and then doubled back so he wouldn't know where I live, but then I realized he was a methuselah. I panicked and ran, thank God I found you, or I might be dead like those other girls!"
"What other girls? Others have been killed here?"
"Yes, you haven't heard? There have been six deaths already, each victim was found mauled and drained of blood. All of them were women around the age of 25, about my age. The city authorities think a group of methuselah is responsible for the killings."
"No I didn't know about any of this, I have only been in the city since this morning. I'm just passing through."
"Oh, do you have a place to stay tonight?"
"Uhm, no… actually. I don't"
Eva's face brightened a bit, "Well you are more than welcome to spend a few nights at my place, it's the least I can do for you! I mean, you did save my live and all…"
"Really? That's very kind of you. I guess I might as well stay the night, all this fighting has made me tired. You lead the way; I don't know where we're going."
"Sure thing, it's this way." She replied, turning down the street.
Ten minutes later they arrived at Eva's doorstep. She pulled out a key and unlocked the door, and welcomed Ayleth inside. Once indoors, she locked and bolted the door, and showed Ayleth to the spare bedroom.
"Wait here, I'll be right back, I need to get you some clean sheets." She returned to the room a few minutes later with an armful of clean linens and a fresh pillow. She turned down the quilt on the bed and dressed it in the new sheets, and in no time had it completely made. "There you go. Are you hungry? I know it's rather late, but if you are I have lots of food downstairs, plenty of rolls and cheese and I might even have a few raspberry pastries left over."
"No, but thanks. I think I just need to sleep right now, it's been a tiring day." Ayleth answered as she pulled her cloak off and slung it over the back of a chair. Eva watched as she unbuckled the sheaths from her back and propped the swords against the end of the bed, and then removed the gun holster and belt from her waist.
"Well good night then, my room is right across the hallway if you need anything. Sleep well." She said, turning from the room and shutting the door behind her. Ayleth kicked off her boots and lay down on the bed, staring up at the ceiling. She pulled a shiny heart shaped locket from her pants pocket, and pressed the intricate button in the center. It clicked open, revealing a picture of a young couple with their new baby. The name Ella Desponia was engraved into the silver on the inside of the locket. She stared at the picture for quite some time before she finally snapped it shut, turned off the lamp on the bed stand, and fell into a deep, uninterrupted sleep.