2

The Virgin's Blood

Serenade walked down a street in the town of Amityvale. She had lived here her entire life, so it was easy to forget how special her hometown really was. As she walked she looked around at the multitude of houses and shops that littered the town. While it was true that Amityvale was not a city, it was still the largest town in Darkovia, and also the one that was deepest within it. The people that lived there were definitely not what normal folks would call normal, because they all had to live their lives as if each day was their last. Living with the concept of death almost constantly in front of your face produced a strange kind of person: the people who lived here seemed to always be both solemn and humorous, as if they were aware that life could end at any moment and were determined to make every day worth living. Yes, even with all of the problems that came with living inside this cursed forest, Serenade was sure that she would not trade this existence for one in any other town in of the world.

She passed by a street that crossed the one she was traveling on, and her gaze passed along the other street for a bit before it rested on the large, wooden wall that surrounded the entire village. That same wall had kept all of the vile beings that inhabited this forest from storming the village for over twenty-five years. Amityvale had only two gates, one at the north entrance and one at the south, which were closed firmly every night and constantly kept under guard. Yes, the village was definitely almost impossible to sneak into. However, even with all of the precautions that the town had taken, sometimes a vampire, werewolf, or some other monster did get into the town, but every time an incident like that did occur, the vampire slayers had immediately sent out slayers and the perpetrator had been completely destroyed. The vampire slayers also kept two of their men inside the town at all times, but it had been over five years since anyone had been killed by one of the freaks, so no one really thought too much about a vampire or werewolf attack. This is not to say that they let their guard down, they would never even consider something like that, but over the years they had gradually decreased their security.

She was still thinking about that when she passed a large mirror that the townspeople kept in the middle of the town at all times to check for vampires. She paused and fixed her hair while studying herself for a moment. She was a pretty girl by any standard: she was tall for a girl and had long, blonde hair, a fair face, and normal sized ears. She was especially proud of her ears, since both her father and her mother had abnormally large ears. She seemed remarkably mature for only being seventeen years old, but she attributed this to being born and raised in Amityvale. Letting out a long, slow sigh, she continued on her way down the street until she finally reached her destination: The Amityvale Weapons Emporium. She still had no idea what "Emporium" meant, but she felt that the owner did not really care. It was not like he knew what it meant either.

She grasped the door's circular ring handle and pulled the door outward while walking into the shop. She chuckled silently to herself as she saw the shop's owner sleeping on the counter, a sword and cloth in his hands. She grabbed a bell from a shelf and walked up on him while he snored. With a yell she slammed the bell onto the counter right next to his ear and winced as the small device pealed out its anger at being so roughly handled. While she winced a bit, he let out a high-pitched scream and flung himself back against the wall, panting.

"N-no cookies!" He yelled, looking around in panic before his eyes settled on Serenade standing before him with a bell in her hand and a smile on her face as her body shook slightly with laughter. Her smile broadened as he scowled.

"Jacob, you really should be more vigilant, what if I were a vampire or something?" She flashed her bright teeth at him, and for a moment he was tempted to not be angry with her, but then his scowl deepened and his deep brows furrowed.

"Well, if you was a vampire, at least I wouldna' had to wake up. He woulda' just killed me an' let me sleep like any other decent monster, not countin' you that is."

She laughed and then suddenly became serious. "You know Jacob, you really shouldn't stay up too late cleaning those weapons. You're not as young as you used to be, and cleaning day doesn't even officially start until noon today anyway."

"I know child, it's just that I don't like makin' you do alla' the work all the time."

"Oh please, that's why you pay me and my mom right?"

"Yea, but…"

"Listen, you go and get some sleep, I'll handle the shop and clean the weapons."

He hesitated a moment before releasing a long, melodramatic sigh. "Fine then child, but I'm paying you extra for this, you hear?"

"Yea, whatever old geezer."

………………………………………………………………………………………………

Ralph and Victor stood at the north gate of Amityvale, and they were bored stiff. People rarely came into this town and also rarely left through the north gate. The south gate led to the forest and was where all of the lumberjacks went out and came back in, so the guards there were at least able to talk to people during their time, but the north gate led to the other towns and out of this accursed forest. People so rarely came through it or went out of it that having guard duty there was akin to sawing a rock in two. Ralph was bored out of his mind, and he knew that Victor must be too. They had tried playing dice for a bit, and then tried talking, but as the hours dragged on, both of them had lost interest in the activities, and now there was only an awkward silence. His mind was racing as he desperately tried to think of something to do before his brain liquidated and fell out of his ears when he gasped. A person was actually walking down the road towards the town.

Ralph punched Victor in the arm, picked his halberd off the ground, and ran to his side of the gate to stand at the ready like he was supposed to all day long. By the time Victor had done the same, the person was close enough for them to realize that it was a man. He wore a brown cloak, carried a large pack on his shoulders, and had a large hat that covered his head and shoulders. Once he was close enough Victor raised his hand and called out for the man to halt. Ralph shot victor a look of annoyance, it was his job to say things like that and there was no way he was letting the rookie take the only interesting thing to happen today from him. He faced the man and called out gruffly.

"What's your business here stranger?"

"I am merely passing through on my way to a camp that is farther down inside the forest."

"Oh, and what kind of camp is this exactly?"

The man chuckled. "What kind of camp do you think? It is a lumber camp."

"Yea, I heard of a couple of those, but what will you be doing there?"

"Working."

"Mighty dangerous to be lumberjacking in this forest, especially if you're far away from Amityvale."

"I think I can handle myself, good sir."

Ralph cocked and eyebrow. "Well, your story doesn't seem too unbelievable, so now we just have one more test for you, just a small thing you know, take off your hat."

The man lifted his head again until his eyes connected with Ralph's. "I hardly think that is necessary, it would be far better if you just let me through, would it not?"

There was something strange about his eyes, but Ralph just could not place it. He mind felt strange, as if just thinking took as much energy as wading through a marsh. He knew that there was something he should be doing…but just what that something was seemed far beyond his comprehension. 'Maybe…maybe I should just…let him go…he seems…good enough…'

Ralph stuttered and gasped out. "Yea, I don't see why…we should keep you, very well…you can go…"

"Much obliged."

Victor looked at Ralph with amazement until the stranger fixed him with his gaze as well. He stood still for a moment before he nodded as well.

"Yep, everything seems fine…"

They slowly walked back to their previous positions as the stranger walked into the town. "Stupid humans, it is almost sad how little they know about us, or about how many of us have passed through here. It is a good thing most of us are too smart to cause trouble."

………………………………………………………………………………………………

Serenade hummed a popular song that had been written by a bard who passed through from time to time as she ran a wet rag over an axe head. It was not double bladed, since it was not a war weapon. It was one of the many axes either Jacob, Serenade's mother, or Serenade herself had repaired for the lumberjacks but was still waiting to be picked up. There were almost as many normal axes as there were weapons inside this shop, but this was due to the fact that Amityvale was primarily a lumberjacking town. Its main export was Darkovia tree's wood, which was very valuable because most people were not stupid enough to risk their lives to cut down the gigantic trees. Still, there were enough people who were that crazy to make several towns and populate them, although most of these were made after the vampires and the others stopped making so many attacks. Still, weapons were also in high demand.

Even though vampires rarely attacked now, the local wildlife seemed to have taken over their job with great fervor. The wildlife here was definitely nothing to shake a stick at either; there were wolves the size of bears, bats the size of cats, and even the rare living dead to deal with. Yes, with all of these problems, it was no wonder that selling weapons could keep someone living rather well in this forest.

Serenade finished cleaning the axe and was about to switch over to a sword when the bell at the door rang, signaling that a customer had entered. She quickly put the sword behind the counter, cleared the rest of the items off it, and looked up with a smile.

"Welcome to The Amityvale Weapons Emporium, I'm Serenade, how may I help you?"

Standing before her was a tall stranger in a brown cloak and a large, brown hat that just barely covered his eyes. He smiled back at her and spoke in a low tone. "Thank you, I am here to conduct some business with you."

"Of course, are you coming to buy, sell, or trade?"

"I am here to sell."

She raised an eyebrow; people rarely came here to sell anymore unless they were merchants. "Your goods had better be of good quality, we at the emporium only accept those weapons that are of the highest quality since our customers' lives are at stake."

"Indeed, well, I am no judge of weapons, but I am sure that you would be able to tell for yourself. Just take a look at them and tell me whether you will buy them or not. I suppose you can just keep the ones you will not buy. I have no use for them anyway."

He swung the pack from around his back and set it on the counter before untying the crude string that bound its top, and lowering the end until the weapons inside it started to pour out on the counter. Serenade systematically pulled out each weapon, examined it, and set it aside.

The first five swords she pulled out were sturdy, but unremarkable, next came a higher-quality bow and good arrows, and then came a matching sword and shield that were very finely crafted. She grinned a bit at these and instantly reformed her price, she would give a bit more, but not too much. She did have to make a living, after all. Even as she was about to set a price she pulled out the last weapon, and despite her businesswoman-like composure, she gasped. It very well could have been the best sword she had seen in her short life. The sword was made from a bluish-gray material that she had never seen, the hand guard was intricate, and the handle seemed to be made of rubber. She gazed at it and the customer smiled again.

"If you say 'Slythrin Lathna' the blade becomes electrifying."

As soon as he said those words the blade hummed loudly for a moment before going back to normal. Serenade decided to take his word for it. Inside the bag were a few more trinkets and also something that looked like a metal forearm that she could not place a price on. She was about to offer the customer a price when she caught herself. It was policy to make the customer offer first and then barter them down.

"How much do you want for all of this?"

"I figure that two thousand gold is an extremely reasonable price."

She had to try very hard to not gape at this man. She could easily sell just the strange sword for more than three times that much. She was about to instantly agree with him when a thought entered her mind.

"And just how did you come by all of these various weapons?"

He tilted his head to the side slightly before answering. "I hardly think that matters, but just because I know you will buy them anyway I will tell you. I procured them from a group of bandits after I killed them all."

She raised one eyebrow. "This bandit group, it wouldn't happen to be John and his group would it?"

"Yes, I believe that was the leader's name."

"Hmmm, well, good riddance, We'll all be happier without them, but did you kill Krystal too?"

"Was that John's sister?"

"Yep, that's her."

"Unfortunately yes, I did."

"Well that's too bad, me and her were friends when we were young."

"I am sorry for your loss, but I have already been through this conversation. Will you buy them?"

"Heh, of course, I'd have to be daft to not accept your price."

"Yes, I suppose you are correct."

Serenade ran to the safe in the back of the store, unlocked it, and ran back to the counter with two thousand-gold coins. He collected the money, she collected the weapons, and they bid each other farewell while he headed out of the store. As he was about to go out she called after him. He turned around.

"It's getting late, you sure you want to be staying out at night? If you want I could give you directions to Amityvale's inn."

"That is not necessary, the business that I have to attend to is far too urgent for me to stop."

He opened the door, and stepped aside as another man stepped in. They exchanged glances and the second man seemed to shrink down a bit before the first customer walked past the second man and disappeared around the corner into the dusky evening. The second man walked up to Serenade and she immediately recognized him.

"Hello Michael."

"Please Serenade, call me Mike."

"Sure thing Mike, are you here for business or just stopping by?" This was just a rote question she always asked him. She knew he was just there to talk to her, because he was always there to just talk to her. He came into the shop about two or three times a week, and many people in the town had already accepted them as engaged, although Serenade had no idea where they got them from. She usually liked talking to Mike, but she really liked someone else.

She still liked the idea of flirting while she still could, however, and so she indulged in it whenever possible with any boy or man she thought would be fun. Her mother scolded her for it but she saw no harm in it. It was not like she was cruel; she just liked to get reactions out of men. Mike was being rather ardent though, and she made a mental note to put him down a bit more so that he would let up on all of the attention he was giving her.

He grinned a bit too widely and answered. "Well, I was just returning home from my job at the inn and I saw that you were in, so I decided to come by and see if you were able to come with me to see something really interesting. But… Who was that man just now?"

"Hmm? Oh, that was just some traveler who came to sell the weapons of John's gang."

"John's gang? So you're saying that that guy killed all of John's gang?"

"Yep, I guess it's a good thing you didn't join them last week isn't it?"

"Yea, I suppose so. Well, anyway, are you free?"

"Well, that depends, what are we doing?"

"Okay, that's the best part. Some of the guys and me have found the best place to hang out at night and we were wondering whether you would like to come with us tonight. It won't just be you either; we're getting almost all of the regular people to come tonight. It should be pretty dang fun. So, you comin'?"

For a moment, Serenade wondered whether she really should or not. She was supposed to watch the store, but she wouldn't be blamed if she shut up the store early. She could just tell her mother that she had been at the store late and since Jacob was not going to wake up until tomorrow he would not be able to call out her lie. She was worried about whether it was proper for a bit, but decided that she did not care.

"Sure, I'll come, when do we meet?"

"Well, We should probably leave right now. It might take us awhile to get there."

"Okay." He stepped outside of the shop for a bit while she fixed everything up and cleaned the last of the weapons. By the time she stepped out of the store, locking the door, it was almost dark.

"So, are we heading out the normal way?" she asked Mike.

"Yea, so let's split up and meet right outside the wall," he replied.

They went separate ways and Serenade was careful to make sure that no one really noticed her as she walked through alleyways and in the shadows, until she got to the greatest secret the teenagers in Amityvale had: the stairway. Over the years, several large vines had grown over the impermeable wall, and a while ago someone had carved small hand and foot holds into the wood behind a few of the large vines. The holds continued all the way over the wall and back around the other side and were very hard to spot if you did not know where to look. Serenade and her friends had been using it to get out of the town, when they did not want anyone to know that they were getting, out for a very long time. Her friends and her had always been very discreet about using the stairway and also about whom they told about it. They never let anyone who had ever ratted anyone else out know about it and they never used it on a whim. So far, no one had discovered it so they seemed to be doing well.

Mike got there only a few minutes after she did and she watched out while he climbed. Once he got to the top he looked around while she climbed. She was halfway up when Mike shook the vine, a sign that someone was coming. She started climbing faster and just vaulted herself over the top of the wall when a man walked by. For one tense moment he studied the wall, but then he shrugged and walked past it. Serenade sighed and both Mike and her took turns climbing down the wall on the other side before walking into the woods.

Once they had made it past the tree line, Mike brought a lantern out from under his cloak and let its light shine along the dark forest. Serenade noticed two sheaths on his belt and figured that they must be his short sword and knife. She decided that was good, it was better for him to be armed like she was. She also had a short sword, but she did not have time to carry a knife and so she was glad he had brought one. It was not a good idea to walk about in Darkovia, and that went double if you were without weapons.

She was confident that she could hold her own against another person with a sword, and she had at least practiced with every other kind of weapon she could think of with Jacob, but it was good to have another person around with a weapon. Mike might also be better with her with a short sword anyway. They walked for about ten more minutes before Serenade began to get worried.

"Why is this so far away from the city? If something happens, we won't be able to get back in time."

"Don't worry, it's not far from here, and besides, there's a lot of us there."

"Okay, if you say so."

They walked for a bit more before he stopped next to a tree and was about to turn to the right when he looked at her.

"Now, before I let you in, you have to promise me that you won't tell anyone about what we have here okay?"

She rolled her eyes. "C'mon, you know me."

He just stared at her.

"Okay whatever, I promise."

Mike smiled and looked back at the tree for a moment before swiftly turning around and lunging at her. For a moment she saw his knife in his hand but then he hit her with all of the force he could muster. The wind was knocked out of her as she hit the ground with him on top of her. She was about to struggle when she felt his knife at her throat. She looked into Mike's eyes and he smiled at the horror she must have been exuding.

"Don't struggle Sera, I'm just going to kill you here, that's all. I've wanted to for so long, but I had to make you think we were friends and make you think I was infatuated with you."

While he was talking she was desperately trying to think of what to. She had to keep him talking. She tried to say something through his hand.

"What's that? You don't want to die? Well I don't care if that's what you said or not, you're definitely going to die tonight my swee-"

She rammed her right knee into his groin and his words cut off as he yelped in pain. She then brought her other knee up and lodged it under his stomach just like Jacob had taught her. With that as leverage, she pushed off with all of her strength and twisted her entire body to the right, throwing him off of her. He hit the ground and she started running towards the town screaming at the top of her lungs. Mike cursed and was up in an instance. He saw her hair flash behind on of the trees as she ran away with the lantern in her hand, so he leapt to his feet and charged after her.

Serenade did not like having to take the lantern with her, since it gave away where she was to Mike, but she had no other choice, she could not find her way back in the night. She had quit screaming since she needed to conserve her breath for running, but she hoped that the people on watch at Amityvale had heard her and might be able to come in time. She had to push those thoughts out of her mind and think solely about how to escape what was happening to her.

She thought back to all of the races they had done as children and wondered whether Mike was a fast runner, but that was no good because Mike had been fat when they were young. She was the most athletic girl out of her circle of friends but there were a few boys who could outrun her. She just had to hope that Mike was not one of them.

She had been running for about four minutes when she saw the edge of the forest and her heart leapt with joy. She would be able to make it. She would get back to town and tell everyone what happened. She felt a burst of happiness, which made her run all the faster, but this only lasted until Mike crashed into her from the side, sending the lantern flying and her sprawling to the ground. She started struggling and was about to cry out when he quickly hopped over her knees and landed on her chest. He shoved his hand over her mouth and once again placed his knife at her throat. She tried to struggle a bit more, until he cut a small line across her neck. The pain stilled her. Mike smiled and bent his head next to her ear.

"You know what's the best part?" He whispered, "I can just leave you here and they'll think that a vampire killed you. I'll get off free. But there's no need for you to worry about that, my sweet, you'll be dead soon enough."

She tried to buck her hips and throw him off, but he was prepared and just adjusted his feet to take it in stride before slamming back down on her stomach.

"That wasn't very nice, what you did back there, I suppose I'll just have to pay you back somehow." He lifted his knife from her neck and sliced it across her cheek. Her scream was muffled but her tears ran as freely as the blood that flowed over her skin and filled her mouth. With the edge of his knife, Mike lifted the edge of the cut and whistled softly.

"Wow, it goes all the way to the other side of your mouth, let's see you be pretty now whore," he replaced the knife at her neck, "oh well, it was fun slut, but now you'll have to…"

His words trailed off, and his eyes became vacant. He looked down at his chest and noticed two points of metal protruding from right where his heart was. He looked back at Serenade.

"I'm, I'm sorry Sera," he gasped out before slumping to the right.

She kicked him away and looked at the man who still held the spear that had pierced Mike's heart. With a shock she noticed that he was the customer from earlier. He had taken off his cloak and hat and now wore some kind of a black, leather costume. He looked at her and his eyes glowed red.

"Vampire." The word escaped her mouth before she could keep it in.

"Yes," he put his foot on Mike's back and pulled out his spear. "One less scum on this earth. Still, no point in wasting the blood." He lifted Mike up, pushed his head to the side, and dug his teeth into the veins inside his neck. Serenade watched, fascinated, as all of Mike's veins bulged before slowly deflating again as the vampire dropped him to the ground with every drop of his life sucked out of him.

"Hmm, virgin blood, I did not expect that." As the vampire turned to walk away Serenade finally found her voice.

"Wait, you did this for me?"

"You could say that, if you wanted to, or you could just say I was hungry and that I killed him and, once I was satisfied, I left."

"But, why did you stay so near our town? I thought you had urgent business."

"I do, but I can tell evil intentions when I see them, and when we passed as I headed out of your store, I knew he would try something like this."

"But, why didn't you help me earlier?"

"Because no one should be coddled and protected to the point where they cannot protect themselves. I waited until it was obvious you were not going to protect yourself."

"I tried to." She had no idea why she was arguing with someone who could decide at any point that he was still hungry and finish her off, but she was not going to leave the conversation at that.

"Maybe to a certain degree, but you were not fighting for your life, as you should have been. Your short sword is still in your sheath, is it not?"

She glanced down at her sword with astonishment, with all of the excitement, she had forgotten about it. Then she looked down in shame, before looking back up at the vampire. He was staring back down at her while cleaning his blade.

"Um, thank you for saving me."

"It was not a problem, you can tell them that he was killed by a vampire if you do not want to sully his name, or you could just tell them everything."

She had not anticipated this kind of a feeling from a vampire; it was almost like compassion. She stood up and moved closer to him.

"What's it like being a vampire?"

"Cold." He finished cleaning his spear and placed it behind his back, where it seemed to disappear.

"Is it really that bad?"

"Yes."

"Then why did you become a vampire?"

"I had no choice, the vampire who bit me decided that I should be one."

She was still walking towards him and was very close to him now. "And how did that feel?" She moved right up to him and tilted her head to the side.

He leaned closer to her, whispering. "Do you really want to know?"

"Yes." She gasped out, almost unable to breathe.

"It feels like having your life, innocence, purity, and soul ripped out of you." He pushed her away from him and in a moment he was gone. Serenade looked after him for a moment before she felt the blood from her cheek flowing down onto her shoulder. She composed herself, and then ran screaming towards the town. When the watch finally found her she told them that a vampire had attacked Mike and her and that Mike had told her to run while he battled the vampire.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

The next day, Serenade was packing her belongings into a bag when her mother entered her room. She stood in the doorway for a moment before quietly speaking.

"Sera?"

Serenade did not stop packing. "Yes mother?"

"Are you sure you want to do this?"

"Yes mother."

"But, going off to join the paladins…Why would you do something like that? Don't you like your life here." Serenade could tell that her mother was starting to cry again by the way her voice was faltering.

"Yes mother, you and Dad have made my life here as good as I ever could have hoped, but this is something I must do. I cannot allow myself to be a victim for my entire life."

"But, that's why we have the village guards."

Now Serenade stopped packing and turned around to look her mother in her eyes. "Mother, that isn't the point. The point is that there are too many people in this world who let themselves be victims for their entire lives. They live each day in fear of what might happen to them, while at the same time they do nothing except place the responsibility of protecting them on someone else's shoulders. They resist what happens to them up to a certain degree, but once their subconscious limit is passed, they simply crumple to the ground and resign themselves to whatever fate will be bestowed upon them. Sometimes the guards are there to save them, but sometimes they aren't. I cannot accept life as a victim anymore."

Her mother was crying openly now. Her tears stained her cheeks and her entire body moved every time she stifled her urge to sob. With a visible effort, she wiped the tears from her eyes and straightened to her full height. Her voice cracked a bit as she spoke, but she used her authoritative voice. The voice Serenade knew no way to disobey.

"Fine, I can see why you would choose this. I give you my permission and blessing on your journey, and I hope that you become a great paladin, but you must promise me that you will come back to visit us in two months. Okay?"

Serenade smiled and hugged her mother one final time. "Okay mom, I promise. I'll come back after I've been there for two months."

Her mother smiled and cried for a few more minutes, until Serenade gently unattached herself from her and finished packing her belongings. She went outside after saying goodbye to her father, who had already said that he was in favor of her getting out of this forest. Outside was a group of merchants who had been scheduled to leave the town in a week, but had decided to leave today because of the attack. They had come from the other towns on their annual trek through Darkovia, and now that they had come to the last town, they were heading back. Serenade had used some of the money she had saved up by working at The Emporium to pay for passage with them and food. They would take her all the way to the city that was the home of the paladins. She threw her pack onto one of the wagons and walked out of the village with it.

"Never again will I need someone to save me. I will never be the victim again," she swore silently to herself as she said goodbye to the town that had been her home all of her life.