The woods were saturated in darkness. The only sounds to be heard were the hooting of owls and the scratching of dead leaves skimming the ground.
Two dark figures darted silently about among the trees. One of them, a male, was called Russell. He was tall and broad, with dark hair and skin that blended well with the sable night. The other was a slender, sexy female named Marissa. The two were not ordinary human beings, judging by their graceful and stealthy movements. In fact, they were not human at all. They were vampires. However, in this situation nature seemed to be turned upside down, for the vampires weren't hunting, they were the hunted. And the hunter was no creature of the night. He or she was human.
The pursuit had begun perhaps an hour earlier. Russell and Marissa had been part of an attempt to take revenge upon the founding families of Mystic Falls during their own fireworks festival. The plan went to hell when a screeching noise brought the vampires to their knees, and nearly all of them were taken by the police and burned, with the general public barely noticing or questioning the occurrence. By some miraculous stroke of luck the pair had been unnoticed and managed to escape, or so they thought.
Russell and Marissa were not fleeing from their pursuer out of cowardice. They merely wanted to draw him far away from the town so that no one would here him scream as they slowly tore him apart out of anger due to their foiled scheme.
"I think this is far enough," hissed Marissa. "Let's hide behind this tree, and when he approaches, we'll ambush him."
Russell was the submissive type and did as he was told without protest.
After a minute of waiting, the pair heard the hunter approaching. His footsteps sounded slow, almost casual. Neither vampire could wait to feast on his blood, and they wished he would pick up the pace.
Suddenly the footfalls stopped. Marissa sadistically imagined the stupid human halting out of fear and confusion and her lips curled. Then the sound of a switchblade slashing was heard, and the sweet scent of blood wafted into their nostrils on the night breeze. The hunter had drawn his own blood.
On an impulse Russell zoomed toward the source of the smell.
"Russell, NO!" Marissa ordered, realizing the hunter's intent. There was the sound of a whip being cracked, a grunt of pain, a sharp stab, and the sound of vampire flesh drying out upon death.
Marissa began to run. Who the hell was this guy? Could he really be human? Her heart sank as she heard footfalls behind her. He was chasing her, with surprising speed.
Then something hit Marissa on the back. It shattered and she was soaked in a stinking liquid. She fell to the ground feeling pain beyond belief as the skin on her back was burned and eaten away. It hurt so bad she couldn't even scream. She felt her attacker straddle her back and then a stake pierced her heart and the world faded away.
The hunter stood victoriously over his fallen prey. He wore a hood/ mask like that of a medieval executioner. His lean arms were left bare by his black muscle shirt, and he wore black cargo pants and combat boots.
"Well, that's the last of them," he hissed from beneath his hood. "I wonder where that John Gilbert guy went off to. It's time that he and the good mayor give me my paycheck." With those words said he walked away into the darkness.