The huntress woke to a dull pain in her right thigh, a dark and unfamiliar room was all she could see as she lay in a luxurious bed, pillow akin to a cloud and the blanket soothing her limbs, the faint smell of lavender tickling her nose.
Eyes adjusting to the dark, she slid herself off of the bed, unsteadily pushing herself up and off, nearly falling over from the shock of her right leg shooting pain through her system.
With a grunt she stood firm. "I've survived worse than this. Just need to find out where I am."
Limping out of the room, the huntress took a look around, a dimly lit hallway seeming to stretch off into forever in both directions.
"Great. I'd best keep a knife ready-"
Feeling around her skirt, she realized she was stripped bare of her equipment, leaving her unarmed in an unfamiliar place, the only sign of life coming from her left, a faint pipe organ in the distance.
"... Might as well face my death with some dignity, then." She thought before composing herself and striding off the best she could with her damaged leg.
Coming to a halt in front of a grand pair of doors, the pipe organ had led the huntress to what seemed to be a grand hall, the moonlit hallways being completely devoid of life giving a sense of loneliness to the manor.
She wondered briefly what kind of vampire lord would live here, it seemed so unnecessarily grandiose for something so empty, so lonely. Was it out of pride, or were they genuinely alone?
One thing was for sure, though.
"Whoever is playing that pipe organ is really bad at it."
It would probably be wise not to mention that to the player as she shoved the twin doors open, the weight of the doors forcing a grunt out of her as they creaked open, revealing a grand hall filled with regal decorations scattered around the place, a large portrait of a vampire lay as the centerpiece, hung above the instrument as a smaller version of the portrait's sole occupant sat, playing a discordant set of notes that could charitably be called music, stopping as the creaking noise alerted them and sharply breathing in.
"I'm glad you could join me." A haughty, childish voice echoed through the now silent room. "Tell me, how do you feel about vampires?"
"Considering I almost died to one earlier, don't feel too great about them."
"That's unfortunate," in the shadows, the huntress could barely make out a pair of leathery bat wings as she turned around, exposing her scarlet eyes. "I happen to be a vampire too."
The hunter blinked. "A second vampire? The rumours only told of one."
"What you get for trusting rumours." She tilted her head with a knowing smile. "Drunk old men spinning fables of a hunched-over, bald monster with an unnaturally wide smile and blood dripping from his teeth from his latest victim's throat, is that what you were expecting?"
Getting up from the stool she skulked over to a light switch and flicked it, the chandelier above lighting the room fully, revealing the vampiress showing signs of having been in a scuffle, her arms dotted with scratches and her clothes torn in various places.
"Your help with my sister earlier is appreciated and I want to pay that kindness back, but I want to clarify something first; You are not leaving this mansion."
"What?" The huntress stepped back, putting the weight on her good leg. "You can't just decide that."
"Anecdotes from doddering old men mistaking shadows for hellbeasts is one thing, but a woman of your elegance and class will inevitably have some clout behind it." She sat down at a table located in the center of the room, a teapot steaming quietly waiting for her. "You don't live as long as I do without learning to take care of threats. You are a threat to me and my household's future."
The vampire gestured for her guest to sit down, which she relented in doing simply out of decency.
"Then why didn't you kill me when you had the chance?" She took the chance to pour herself a cup of tea, taking a sniff to ensure it wasn't poisoned or something.
"I don't kill humans." She stated simply, taking a drink of tea. "I drink blood as that's simply the nature of a vampire, but I don't harm humans to acquire it."
"You're doing a great job then," The huntress snarked with a raised eyebrow. "I found my way here through rumours of a hellbeast taking people in the night."
"Did you ever ask them what they took in particular, or are you assuming based on context?" It was the vampire's turn to raise an eyebrow.
"I keep to myself out of necessity. It won't do my mental state any good if someone I cared for turned out to be a monster." She half-answered, averting her gaze slightly and feeling a pang of shame at her own lack of research beforehand.
"Then I'll tell you myself. The truth of the matter is that when humans scream 'That thing took Betsy in the dead of night!'" Her impression of a panicked woman contained some disgust, as if even acknowledging the people she stole from was beneath her. "They fail to mention that I had attempted to purchase Betsy the previous evening, only to be chased off when I revealed my nature as a vampire."
"You tried to buy a person?"
"Betsy was a cow. Then she became a steak." The vampire clarified with a sigh. "Why must you assume I intended to buy a person? It's rather hurtful."
"Then I apologise if I have offended you, but I'm also stuck in a stranger's home and stripped of my equipment, speaking to a vampire that is claiming to have good intentions, yet doesn't want me to leave."
The vampire sighed. "Fine, I'll reveal my hand. You're the first human that survived my sister's… Mental state, even if I assisted you. That alone proves you're worthy of being hired."
The hunteress was taken aback. "Wait, you want to do what?"
"As it stands, I can let you go on your merry way, tell the townsfolk about me and get myself killed, or I can have a capable vampire hunter working as my loyal assistant." The vampire took a moment to drink tea and quell her parched throat. "At least, when working within my moral code of not hurting humans."
The huntress nodded, leaning back in her chair with a contemplative expression, but remained vigilant. "So say if I did accept your terms, what would I be in for?"
"You'd be my maid," She stated simply. "Your duties would include serving my sister and I, cleaning up the grounds around the manor and…" A pause as she considered her wording. "Taking care of unwanted guests."
"A maid, huh?" The huntress decided to ignore the implications of that third task. "In that case, consider me hired. What's my first task, Lady…"
An awkward silence formed as the pair suddenly realized one thing: Neither of them had uttered a discernable name.
"My name is Remilia Scarlet, but 'Milady' will do." She took another drink of tea to parch her throat while she pondered to herself. "Sakuya. Sakuya Izayoi."
"Hmm?" The newly minted maid looked up to Remilia, a smark across her face revealing her fangs further.
"Your name is now Sakuya Izayoi." She repeated, seeming to form a small attachment to the name. "For your first duty, some washed up huntress rather rudely left a pool of her own blood in the foyer. There's appropriate cleaning supplies in the designated cupboard."
"Of course… Milady," Sakuya accepted her new name, getting up from her chair only to push it aside and get down on one knee. "If it must be my duty to serve-"
"Save the theatrics for when I have the paperwork." Remilia dismissed suddenly, getting up herself to head towards the second of three exits located at each corner of the room with the remaining exit being covered by a large window, moonlight still pouring in and bathing the organ present in an unearthly glow.
"Paperwork?"
"Did you expect me, a feared vampire lord, to simply have a verbal contract when it comes to hiring? If anything, immortality gives more reason to have it all written down." There was a hint of smugness in her tone, as if she was stating the obvious.
"I see, milady." Sakuya meekly nodded before heading for the door she initially entered with a new sense of resolve.
Perhaps she was getting too old for monster hunting after all.