England 1311
A horse's nervous whine rose above the sound of long burning wood and metal armor clattering together against the bodies of the knights who approached what remained of a farming village on the outskirts of kingdom's walls. Evidence of the attack's brutality was made more apparent by the countless bodies that lay mutilated or drained of blood along the once busy market streets. True to the monsters' nature, not even the youngest of infants were spared as they feed upon civilians to support their growing numbers and fled into the very woods that aided them in the ambush. With their horses catching the scent horror that was once there, the knights treaded slowly and encouraged their steeds further into the carnage, guiding them to avoid corpses and fallen wooden structures while keeping their eyes sharp for any dangers that may be lurking amongst the rubble. A wounded vampire left behind or a recently turned familiar was always an idea lingering in the back of a knight's mind when coming across the remains of an attack.
"It appears no survivors would be a likely outcome of this recent attack," spoke a younger knight to his captain - a man whose beard was as red as a brush fire and a face as stern and unchanging as if it had been cut from stone. The man's grey eyes remained keen, even after the young man announced his opinion and he ventured on, sword at the ready and a tight grip on the lead of his horse. Upon his breast, a bright, yellow sun was painted upon his armor, blessed by the King's priest, proving himself to be a fearless leader and successful at vampire slaying. He pressed on, the other knights following close behind him when he stopped and turned his head, trying to focus on something that caught his attention. The younger man and the one beside him were quick to grab the handles of their swords and watched their leader for any indication for them to attack. A sound cut through the air and all of them readied their blade, their horses letting out a whine of surprise and resisting the urge to rear up and flee from the scene. From a collapsed vendor's post, a hand snaked its way through the gaps of fallen wood and with it came an arm and then a whole man covered in blood and dirt. The man groaned as he moved his aching bones and crawled out from the rubble with what little strength remained. The Sun Knight raised his arm, signalling for his men to hold their position and keep ready in case the man turned on them. Instead, the man looked up and gazed at the knights with his brown eyes, the early stages of middle age showing on his freshly wrinkled face. His beard was caked with blood and mud and his swollen bottom lip showed the wound, telling the origin of the blood. His face was thin and marks where his bones were most prominent indicated that it had taken little effort for the skin break over the surface of the sharp edges of his cheekbones.
The man lifted his head and gazed upon the Sun knight and his two young sides, the youngest looking no more than an adolescent recently risen from his page status and eyes as blue as the sky in spring. The other man had a defying square jaw and thin lips, looking hardened and constantly battle ready, probably the kind who finds a thrill in the slaughters of battle. "Help, please," the man groaned as his eyes pleaded the desperation in his message to the three knights, grateful when the Sun Knight lowered his hand and allowed the other two to advance upon him and drag him out of the wreckage. "Ah, many blessings from our LORD for your kindness, your honors-" his words were cut off by the feeling of sharp, cold metal pressing against his throat. The blue eyed boy turned to his partner, the stern warrior, "Why do you press your blade to a survivor's throat, Vincent?"
"My liege," Vincent called out with a deep voice that could easily be mistaken for thunder, "there is a mark upon this man's throat. I believe he has been bit." The blue eyed knight leaned over to examine the wound and was astonished to see the bite mark, reacting like his partner and holding his blade against any vital exposed area of flesh. Now battered, bleeding and a witness to the massacre of hundreds, the man's life may end by the hands of knights and not monsters, and he laughed inwardly at this premise. With his own sword ready, the Sun Knight approached the man and held his blade out, edging the tip towards the center of his chest, "Were you bit?"
The man closed his eyes, recalling the events of the attack in his head. Yes, he had a vampire latch onto him before slaying the beast with a stake of wood he had managed to get his hands onto; when the two of them fell to the ground, the impact of the monster's weight upon him was enough to send the tip in to piece the creature's heart.
The Sun Knight pressed the end of his sword hard against his skin, "Were you bit or not?"
Feeling his own mortality once more, the man let out a shaky breath, "Yes."
"Then let us slay him before he turns," the youngest man shouted and gripped his blade tighter. Unlike his partner, he dreaded the feel of flesh cutting across his blade but knew the necessity of it and the actions of his voice and body marked him as such.
"Sir Ronald, hold your sword," The Sun Knight demanded, all the while never taking his eyes off the man before them, held to the spot by the point of three blades. The older man looked around the village, scanning their surroundings and making a note of the rays of sunlight that managed to make it through the bellows of smoke that rose above them. He was quiet for a long time, the light in his eyes showing he was deep in thought. At last, his grey eyes returned to look at the kneeling figure to catch sight of a merchant's satchel, "What do you keep with you in that bag?"
The man looked up to the two knights at his side wondering if was safe to open it and show the Sun Knight to plead his case but decided against it, figuring any sudden movement may provoke them to slit his throat before a single word escaped his lips, "I-I am a merchant. These are what little goods I have left from the attack. Please, I beg you good sirs, I am not a threat."
With a nod of his head towards, Vincent held his blade closer to the merchant's throat as he leaned forward to open the satchel and expose the goods kept within: a change purse, bottles of spices from Italy and a merchant's map to various ports, merchant's guilds and travel paths. The items in his bag were all harmless and nothing to indicate he was involved in any kind of witchcraft or was in alliance with the Devil to try to explain his miraculous survival or inability to change into a Familiar after being fed upon. "Merchant goods, my liege," announced Vincent and turned his head to his leader, who lowered his blade and sheathed it, "You will come with us, merchant. Any sign of hostility or suspicious action and I will not hesitate to have my knights slay you."
The journey was long and tiresome for the merchant, who was given no horse to ride and had to be constantly aware of his own actions and the eyes of the knights who never let him stray from their sight and nudged him onward with the tips of their swords. He could not even relieve himself in privacy as there was always someone watching him with their weapon ready to strike him down. Yet, in an age of vampires attacks increasing day by day and the prospect of humans turning into willing slaves to these dark creatures, the merchant couldn't find it in him to be angry at the knights for their precautionary actions; he was bit after all and how he had not turned into any of those less than human creatures escaped him. It was days later when the merchant learned that the destination of their journey would be the Castle Walls of one of the last remaining kingdoms still standing in these dark times. Upon their arrival, the guards at the gate bowed their heads and slapped their fists against their chests upon seeing the Sun Knight before raising the iron door to allow them access.
"All hail, the King has returned," a messenger announced to the outdoor court and the guards rushed to form a line in either side of their path. The Sun Knight raised his hand at his subjects and proceeded to take off his helmet as they approached the castle entrance stairs. There to welcome him back were three elderly men drabbed in red robes, each with a sun crest placed somewhere on their person.
"Welcome back, your majesty," the first of the three spoke with outstretched hands and a smile upon his aged face. His hair was thin and the white fuzz created a halo effect upon his skull's crown in the sunlight. He was a stout, fat man whose sun crest hung off his neck by a thick, gold chain.
"I had no doubt that GOD would smile upon you and keep you safe on your journey," the second man added as he approached; his hair had long since gone and his face was much thinner and more hollow from his counterpart. His thin lips never once cracked into a smile, but remained heavy, brought by the life of constant prayer and worship. His crest hung from his waist, wrapped around a rosary and cross and with every movement he made it was accompanied by the rattling of metallic beads slapping against each other and his thigh. The King greeted his welcomers with a smile and after he had lowered himself from his horse's back, a stable boy instantly taking the horse away to be tucked away to its stable to be fed, watered and groomed.
"GOD has indeed smiled upon all of us for we did not come across any form of danger at any point in our travel. The village was indeed attacked by vampires; there can be no mistake in that. This means they are starting to venture deeper and deeper within our kingdom and we must prepare ourselves for battle at any moment." The King announced. The two elderly men nodded their heads and made a series of sounds in agreement to this grave news.
The third man remained silent, looking past the king at something he found far more curious. He was a tall man whose white hair was kept tidy and pulled back, with a face heavy with age and skin, jowls making his expression seem even grimmer. Upon his person he kept a small pouch attached to his waist and close to his clasped hands which were thick from arthritis and upon his ring finger was a ring adorned the sun crest. The king then turned to him, "what say you? Why have you turned so still and silent? Do you not wish me well greetings upon my safe return?"
"Do forgive me, your majesty, but I could not help but notice the stranger who accompanies your party," The physician looked over the King's shoulder and continued watching the merchant from where he stood. The King nudged closer to the physician, lowering his mouth to the man's ear to keep this quiet, "he is a survivor of the attack. I want you to take him to your chambers and examine him. Leave no inch of skin unexamined and tell me your findings." Eyes widened, the man leaned away from the King, "You have brought with you a man from the village? Remarkable he was not bit."
"That's exactly why I want you to examine him," the king continued, "he has been." The physician's face drained of color and turned almost a sickly grey until he gazed back to the stranger and nodded, both horrified and intrigued by him, "I will bring him up to my chambers at once."
All he wanted was a warm bed, a hot meal and a strong drink, but instead the merchant received a hard chair and the privilege of being poked, prodded and examined by an old man in a cold room for what seemed like hours. The room was littered with glass tubes and flasks of all sizes, some colored with potent concoctions, and others with plants and preserved animal parts. A display of knives shone menacingly in the candle light across the room next to medical books and a copy of the Bible, worn from use - far more than any other book in the room. The merchant had to sit quietly and patiently as the physician sliced his skin with a small blade and watched to see how his body reacted before proceeding to examine the bite wound upon his neck and any other markings he had. Every moment the old man looked at him, the more he could sense this man had no more answers then anyone else was willing to give him about his miraculous escape. A knock at the door pulled the man away from him and they both turned their heads to watch the King and the two older men from earlier entire, a soft glow radiating off their skin from the candle light and a hard shine from the sun crests. "You've had your time and I've been patient. What have you found?" demanded the King. The physician approached the King slowly, every step he took heavy. He had found nothing special to explain the man's inability to change and survive with nothing more than a wound that would prove the identity of his attacker, which made The King upset with the lack of answers the examination brought him. "This can be nothing more than witchcraft. Surely this man has given himself over to the devil for such power," the holy man snarled through yellowed teeth, his sunken eyes glaring at the merchant.
"Or perhaps it is the other powers to be that have blessed him," the stout man argued, hoping for the King and the Man of Cloth to see it another way. "Speak what you are suggesting," the King turned to his advisor who grinned and signalled for the men to lean in closer. "This man could be our saving grace. A man blessed by the powers of GOD. Think about it, good sirs. A man who can be bit and stay human? Imagine how strong our forces will be if we had a man like that? Or men! What makes us not think that if he is blessed by GOD then surely the LORD smiles upon him and his family?"
"But what if the man has no family? What are we to do with that?" The King argued. The advisor only smiled, "One can make a family and have children with any maiden of their liking."
"You are speaking of sin," the priest narrowed his eyes at the advisor.
"I am not!" the stout man said defensively, "I am only trying to find a solution to our vampire plight. Our army is at its weakest after our unfortunate loss during the last great vampire war. This could be our chance! Your majesty," he redirected his attention to the silent king, "Who knows when they will strike again with such numbers. If we are to have any chance of defeating the monsters, then should we not give this a chance? Let us be wise and not turn down our sudden luck; this gift from GOD."
The King and his Priest exchanged looks, their old brains considering the man's proposal. Perhaps it was not luck that allowed the merchant to survive but he had indeed been graced by the hand of GOD and sent to the King, making their chance encounter fate instead of coincidence. At last, the priest nodded in agreement, "Perhaps I was too quick to blame the dark forces. We have surpassed our neighbouring kingdoms, so truly we are favoured by GOD almighty and for him to send us this man would only further prove his love for us and your reign, my liege."
"Then it is settled. The man will be a guest within my kingdom and treated as my brother. When he bares children, we will make them into great knights. What army of vampires can take down knights who cannot be affected by their poison?" The King declared.
The merchant was treated to his heart's desire that night, as well as the night after and every other night that followed. He dined with the king and feasted upon fine meats and drank from golden goblets as he sat, dressed in fine linen and silk. The King appointed him his personal merchant and from there he advised him what foreign items would fetch a handsome price and what was worth any amount of gold or attention. Women of immense beauty held conversation with him as they drank the finest of wines long into the night and he shared his bed with almost every other. As the months went on, his eyes and heart fell for one woman of grace and beauty that he had never encountered before. She was the daughter of a duchess and had not yet been promised to any royalty, with a petite frame and childlike face that never left his sight whenever the two inhabited the same room. One night, he approached the King, who had been rather insistent that he should choose a wife soon, and told him of the elegant woman of his heart's desire. Of course, the King's lips were pressed hearing the news but he had been told that this man was blessed by GOD himself and he arranged to have them married, despite the words of concerns from his other advisors and the royal court.
The merchant and his young wife had two sons, within two years' time and when the boys were of age, the king convinced the merchant to allow their sons to follow the path to knighthood. One night, as the village rested their weary heads for the night, the warning bells chimed and the horns were blown. Vampires were spotted and had started climbing the walls that protected the castle from the outside world but now proved to be nothing more than an inconvenience to the beasts whose sharp talons easily dug into the stone work and hurled themselves towards the top. Guards lined up and fired row upon row of arrows down at them, some creatures being hit mortally, others shaking off the arrows and advancing with haste, their teeth bared and their wet bodies shining in the moonlight. Within the castle, knight readied themselves and frightened staff and royalty found shelter in their bed chambers and behind closed doors. The merchant held his wife close to him as the screams of servants inside and the snarls of monsters just out the window clashed in an orchestra of fear and panic. She wept in his arms, terrified and praying for the safety of their sons who were living amongst the knights in the neighbouring tower. It was only a matter of time until the beasts made it over the walls and guards bared their swords and shields, striking the intruders down to the best of their ability. For every vampire that met its end, three men followed in death and the creatures gained more access within the castle's walls. Shouts from knights below and the clash of steel added to the symphony of war and the battle raged on. Only the threat of sunrise forced the creatures to fall back but not without leaving a massacre behind them and the gruesome task for the survivors to strike down those infected. Dawn's light blinked into their bed chambers and the merchant lifted his head from his wife's golden hair to take a look outside to see the damage done.
The king, adorned in his armor walked solemnly through what remained of his castle and called for a meeting amongst the royal court and all those who were lucky enough to survive the night. The grand throne room was a sorry sight as the King sat upon his throne with his wife at his side and looked over the dwindling numbers of the members of his court and kingdom. The merchant, present with his wife, had been looking around in hopes of seeing any glimpses of his children when the king rose from his throne and broke the silence, "We have suffered a great loss this day. I can only express my deepest condolences for those who have lost loved ones but I think we know what had brought this ill fate upon us." His hand darted out in front of him, pointing an accusing finger at the merchant and two knights promptly grabbed the man from behind and brought him forward to throw him to the ground before the King's feet. "You have betrayed us! You are a fraud and a liar! Your blessing was no more than a curse," the King hollered at him.
"What have I done to offend you, your majesty? Had I not given you my sons whom I was told were to be blessed like myself? Have they failed you? If so then it is not my doing, but theirs," the merchant pleaded his case before the king as he looked up at the infuriated man whose face was now as red as the beard that covered his jaw.
"Your sons have done more than failed us," the king snapped at the merchant, making the man wince and pull himself closer to the ground, "Whereas one had died, which I can forgive, the other was merely bitten. Under the influence of that bite he turned and did far more damage than anyone could have imagined. Your eldest had potential, he had strength, and instead he turned and cut his fellow men down like twigs with the very blade Sir Vincent had taught him to wield! Your survival can now only be explained through witchcraft and you have used it to take advantage of me and my generosity!"
"I have not sold my soul to the devil! I have been a faithful man of GOD for all my life," the merchant was now crying and shaking with the uncertainty of what the king had in store for him and confused as to why GOD would bless him and not his children. He had taught them to worship GOD and the church since they were infants and was a devote Christian himself.
"Enough!" The King's words roared through the throne room and the world fell silent, only the soft sobbing of the merchant fearing for his life and the cries of his wife for the life of their children hovered in the air.
When those deep grey eyes looked upon the merchant, a clenched jaw and a deep breath silenced those sounds as well as the King looked down upon the shaking man, "You have been my friend for these many years and I cannot bring myself to end your life. But for your betrayal to me and this kingdom I hereby banish you and your wife from my kingdom. May whatever GOD that allowed you to survive the massacre of that village years ago, allow you to live past these walls."
The heavy thunder of iron gates closing behind them was the last thing the merchant and his wife would ever hear of their former home, the last day of guaranteed safety and comfort and now the two were to fend for themselves in a world full of monsters and nightmares that would hunt them in the darkness. Rainclouds had gathered over head earlier that day and the clap of thunder welcomed them to their new lives as heavy drops of rain splashed against their bodies. His young wife, still weeping over their loss, followed behind him and stumbled over loose dirt.
~~~~
Her petite hands slapped against the hard surface of the desert ground as the wind picked up and blew sand into their faces. With her in position, the four men fell back to take cover amongst the abandoned shacks and vehicles of a place that would have once been called a vibrant town in the heart of the barren wasteland; its only purpose now was to collect dust and slowly rot into a ghost of its former self. The youngest of the men paused on occasion to look over his shoulder and then to the figure kneeling in on the ground, her dirt stained plain beige dress hanging off her body loosely and blowing softly in the wind while her short sandy blond hair appeared not to move an inch, only softly brush against the nape of her neck when the wind picked up a little more strength.
"Hurry up," one of the older men snapped and the young man rushed to join them, taking refuge with the one that called him behind a former market whose window still claimed they had the best jam in all of Jericho. The other two men were positioned and ready behind another building just across the empty road, clutching their guns close. One was checking over the condition of his gun, and the other looking up to the sky to watch the light fade behind the horizon. The youngest couldn't help but look around the corner to check on the girl, left exposed to the oncoming danger unarmed and remaining motionless with her head bowed and shoulders slumped forward. A strong hand gripped his shoulder and pulled him back, "Keep your damn head out of sight." The leader scolded and cocked his rifle before nodding to the young man to do the same, which he did with shaking hands. This was his first hunt and he had volunteered for it the moment he had turned eighteen earlier that week.
"Won't be long now," Elmer spoke in a low grunt, his voice hoarse from years of smoking and life's overall hardships, "a scout said a vamp was spotted around these parts just last week. Jeremy, dammit kid, cocking your gun won't do shit if you keep the safety on!"
Jeremy looked down at his pump action Remington and fumbled to turn the safety off, his blood pumping with adrenaline and the anticipation of shooting his first vampire. "So that girl," he finally spoke with his gun ready, "do we just leave her?"
Elmer closed his eyes and focused on the sounds of the still town, hearing the crunching of sand beneath their feet and the soft flaps of fabric coming from the beige dress, "That's the plan."
Jeremy licked his lips before he asked "What if she gets bit?"
"She always does," Was the reply and Elmer held his breath as a new sound made itself present, sharp claws scratching against the hard ground and a low growl as the creature approached what could potentially be its next meal. The girl's body froze up as the sound grew closer, knowing what was about to come next. The vampire bared its teeth as it stopped its advancement and let out a roar before it sprinted towards the figure in its path. Its feet slapped against the ground as it closed the gap between it and the frozen figure in the road, body glistening in the moonlight and its teeth bared, ready to be plunged into tender, warm flesh.
"Now!" Elmer pushed past Jeremy and fired the first round at the creature, the other two men coming from their covers and following his lead. The beast howled as bullets pierced its muscular form but that did little to affect its speed and it pushed off its hind legs to attack the girl from above and temporarily escape the cascade of bullets fired upon it. A mighty thunder clapped through the air and the beast fell next to the ground with a heavy thud, the projectile from a pump action making a clear wound in its head.
Jeremy stood half paralyzed with fear and astonishment at what had just happened, his gun still clasped tightly in his grip as Elmer lowered his rifle and clapped him on the shoulder with all his strength, "Great shot kid! Alright boys, let's drag her back to the jeep and head home. Tonight we drink to the birthday boy!"
The drive back to Salem was a celebratory one, with the other three men of the hunting party constantly complimenting Jeremy on his once in a life time shot - one shot right through the head. Elmer had even checked his barrel to confirm that the kid had used one shot and one shot only. As they drove up to the hunting cabin Elmer and Jeremy volunteered to stay behind to put the guns and bait away as the other two headed home to give their wives and children a kiss and hold them tightly in their arms, letting them know that they were all safe for another night. As Jeremy gathered all the guns and ammunition from the beat up jeep, Elmer opened the back and pulled the catatonic girl from the vehicle, sparing no time to drag her into the cabin and throw her into the room which had been modified to meet her basic of needs. He made no eye contact with her even as he closed the door and locked it before opening the feeding slot and shoving in a roll of bread and a cup of water, most of it splashing onto the ground and getting soaked into the floorboard. Since he had taken charge of the hunting party, he was responsible for the wellbeing of the bait girl, which was a hard thing to do. The most he ever dared to do was look at her long enough to know the thing couldn't be any older than in her early twenties. Dragging her place to place had told him everything he needed to know about her figure; everything about her was thin and tiny and they kept her hair short for the simple fact no vampire claws could get tangled in it which would make it harder to get the blasted thing off of her once it was good and dead.
Jeremy sat in the other room, passing an apple between his hands while in deep thought. Elmer watched him for a moment before shaking his head and walking over to the small table sitting under the window to grab a flask of locally made whiskey, "You keep handling that fruit like that it's going to be all bruised and ruined by the time you take your first bite. Wouldn't want to waste a rare birthday present like that now, would you?"
"I wonder if she likes apples," Jeremy whispered to himself as he continued to pass the fruit from hand to hand.
"She?" Elmer raised an eyebrow before closing his eyes tight from the sting of the alcohol running down his throat which caused him to cough a bit. The batch was strong and sour, nothing like the good stuff they keep in the closed off cities.
"The girl," Jeremy nodded his head in the direction of the other room where the girl was being held until they would need her again.
"We don't talk about her," Elmer pressed his lips together tight, screwing the cap back on his flask and placing it gently on the table in a fluid motion that instantly directed Jeremy's attention to the man's entire body language. His back had stiffened up and his muscles were noticeably tense and the way he decided to fiddle with the placement of the flask was a desperate grab to find something else to focus his mind on.
"Elmer, she's a young girl. How we treat her is nowhere near to human. I mean if the pastor knew exactly what we were doing I'm sure he would have a word or two to say about it-"
"It was the pastor's idea in the first place," the older man snapped and glared at the now silent and startled young man who sat only feet away from him. He had stopped passing the apple about and it now sat still in his hand, no longer filling the air with the sound of its crisp, hollow sounding flesh being tossed between palms.
He shook his head clasped his rough hand over his mouth and dragged it down, feeling the day's stubble against his chin as an exasperated breath flew through his nose, "It was a long time ago, kid. Hell, you were nothing but a child yourself. This stranger came through the town one day with this kid, couldn't have been more than eight years old and he had her leashed like some wild dog. Pastor Reynolds was the first to approach the man and demanded his reasons for treating the girl like that." Elmer paused to look up and saw Jeremy staring straight at him, not having moved an inch since he snapped at him. The legs of a chair screeched across the wooden floor as he pulled out a seat for himself and leaned back to reclaim the flask he had spent so much time fiddling with over on the tabletop.
"Stranger told 'em that he had found her in a town called Babel. He was passing through to see if he could scavenge anything that might bring him a quick buck – see the town was attacked by vampires a few nights before so he felt he would be doing no harm take'n a few things. What he didn't expect to find was a survivor, and a young girl nonetheless. She had a clear bite mark on her neck but looked like any other kid who just watched her entire town get massacred. Her parents too, probably. Long story short, he was look'n to sell her for whatever price he could get. So the old Pastor did what any sensible man would do - he used whatever he could collect from the Church's donation collections and whatever other rations he could scrounge up and bought the child. Damn if he didn't also promise her a good life here too."
There was a pause as Elmer lifted the flask to his mouth and tilted it so far back that he didn't take the time to breath between gulps of sour whiskey.
"Then what happened?" Jeremy finally spoke, his mouth gone dry and curiosity eager to hear more.
With the flask polished dry, Elmer bit his lip and held down grunt in response to the familiar burn, "That night there was a vamp attack."
Jeremy's eyes widened and he took a sharp inhale.
"Yeah you remember that night; it was the night your sister died. We had sent a hunting party out that night to follow up on a vampire sighting. However, by the time they were due back, that damn pack had caught us all off guard. Lots of good people died that night. Lots of good people."
Silence filled the room, an unexpected moment of mourning between the two of them, the occasional sound of a dog barking from outside faint in the background.
He cleared this throat after wiping away a tear with his wrist before continuing, "After it was all done, the pastor had called for a meeting of all the survivors. Something in him changed. The light in his eyes had been taken away and what was looking back at us with a look on his face I had never seen him wear before. He was probably getting ready to accept what he was gonna do and in order to do that he would have to put his humanity aside for the greater good of it all. That's when he presented the girl, a scrawny thing with dirty blond hair and the biggest brown eyes you'd ever seen on a child. She was covered in blood from a bite mark on her shoulder and everyone took a step back fearing she was gonna turn but there was no sign of it ever happening. Pastor told us that a vampire managed to rip through the door of the church and attacked his pregnant wife before he could lead the three of them into the cellar for safety. The girl was with him when it happened and after calling to his wife he dashed across the room to grab the rifle he kept loaded behind the pedestal. The vampire heard him move and was about to grab him next when the girl screamed and the thing turned and latched onto her instead. Gave him enough time to retrieve the gun and shoot the thing dead. Sad to say, he had lost his wife and unborn child but when he discovered the girl was relatively unharmed, only a wound on her shoulder to prove she was attacked, he came to a grim conclusion that she would be used to save ourselves from any future attacks. It was not an easy decision to make but we all agreed to it."
The air in the room had grown incredibly heavy and Jeremy remained still and quiet, half expecting the story to continue but also unable to understand the unsettling mix of guilt from learning that his safety all these years relied on the dehumanization of a young woman and her unwilling sacrifice. Now as a member of the hunting party, he was burdened with this truth and did not need to be told that it was a secret that needed to stay hidden from the generation entering adulthood. Only the survivors and the hunters would be cursed with this knowledge.
"Jeremy," Elmer looked at him and pocketed the empty flask before he leaned forward with the intent to comfort the young man. Before he had the chance to, however, the door opened and one of the members of the hunting party poked his head through, out of breath and panic in his voice.
"We got trouble. There's a pack heading this way. That rouge vamp was a scout and the damn things must have followed the tire tracks back here."
Elmer shot from his seat, the chair flipping over in his haste as he ran to the cabinet and grabbed his rifle to follow the other man out and prepare for battle. Just before he crossed the threshold of the doorway, he turned back to Jeremy, who had already retrieved his pump action Remington, cocked and checked to make sure the safety was off, "Use her if you have to, kid."
It hit him suddenly as the world outside erupted in explosion of screams, horror and nightmares sending Jeremy back 12 years into the past, remembering the small boy huddled in the deepest corner of the underground shelter of his home and hearing the terrified screams of his parents and older sister trying to fight off the monsters that invaded their home, hearing his parents call out for each other and cry out when his sister was overcome. He never saw the carnage but he held his breath as the blood trickled through the floorboard above and collected into tiny red puddles. His movements were reactionary as he headed towards the holding room and threw the door open, holding his rifle to the girl who looked up at him startled and fragile in the poor light. "Move. Come on, move out," he commanded and kept his eye on her as she got up and did as she was told. Once she was within reach, he lunged forward and grabbed her thin wrist to pull her into the main room and push her towards the door. Her body stiffened at the sound of screams and snarls around them and she let out a shaking breath before turning to face the young man who had backed away from her with his gun at the ready.
"Don't look at me like that. Turn around and face the door!" His voice cracked in his state of panic.
She faced forward instantly, standing still and not looking at the door in case a vampire ripped through it; she would much rather just feel the weight of the beast and the sharp sting of its teeth sinking into her body than watch it coming at her and anticipating the inevitable.
They stood like that for what felt like forever, his finger never leaving the trigger as he compulsively licked his lips. "I-I'm sorry," he whispered at last, praying she was listening to him, "I know it ain't right, but it works."
The glass behind him shattered and the full weight of a vampire collided against him, sending Jeremy crashing onto the table, sending silverware and flasks scattering across the ground as the predator wasted no time to feast upon its fresh kill. The gun went off before he hit the floor, missing the girl entirely but close enough to elicit a scream from her as she brought her arms up to shield her head. The scream had caught the vampire's attention and it looked up in her direction, blood smeared all over its mouth and let out a feverish roar as it left the drained corpse of Jeremy behind and advanced towards her. Stricken with fear, the girl slowly edged her way towards the wall until she felt the cold wood press against her back. The beast gave no warning before it leaped at her and she managed to dodge the attack just in time to fumble towards the ground a few feet away. The creature crashed through the wooden panels of the wall but turned right around to sniff her out and opened its mouth to bare its fangs before making another leap at her. As the beast ascended from above, she reached out to snatch a carving blade that had fallen to the floor from its earlier attack and she prepared herself for the worst, crying out when she felt the full force of the attack upon her small frame.
The heavy clunk of boots upon a wooden porch as dust and ash danced around was the only sound the stranger made as he took his time to inspect the devastation of what was left of Salem. His black coat remained motionless as he stalked through piles of splintered wood and stepped over the corpses and bits of flesh left behind, not even paying attention to the dried puddles of red sand that shifted under his feet. Taking in a deep breath, he relished in the scent of another successful battle won in the war between man and vampire and smiled, the sunlight catching his fangs at just the right angle to make them shine. A black scorched hat cast his face in shadow, making him a figure of almost pure darkness even in the daunting afternoon sun. As he passed a shed with a broken window he paused for a moment and turned his head towards the open door, standing absolutely still for only a moment before making his way inside. A broken table, glass and silverware littered the floor and within the clutter were two bodies. Or, at least, what appeared to be two on first glance. Under the shattered window was a dried up corpse of a young man and just feet away, hidden in shadow and protected by the sunlight was the body of a fallen vampire. The black stranger approached it and quickly turned it over, pushing it into the sunlight were it quickly shrivelled up and fell apart into a pile of ash. Trapped beneath it was a young girl, a blade carefully poised upright upon her breast and covered in the beast's blood. Her body was still although her breathe was shaky as she looked at him with her large brown eyes and seemingly ignoring the obvious bite wounds and claw marks that had begun to scab over sometime in the night. The black stranger looked at her curiously, his keen predatory, yellow eyes taking in everything before he reached out and grabbed her.