Sniper
Author's note: Look at first chapter for disclaimers.
I eventually got the courage and strength to stand from where I was sitting and proceeded into the parlor, which I was almost relieved to see full of overly-dressed aristocratic vampires. Well, almost relieved that is. They are still quite annoying.
A maid was apparently awaiting me outside of the door of what I believe was a study of some sort.
"Come, lovely, let's just get you out of those charred leathers. You look like an over baked chicken", she cackled in her cockney accent. How obnoxious. She led me to my room, same as the last in all its loveliness.
"Thank-you", I said as I dismissed her and went into my room. The windows were open to the pouring rain outside, slapping hard on the ledge of the roof as it fell down. I then turned around to the full-length mirror on the opposite side of my quarters. Indeed, the maid was correct earlier. Parts of my uniform were crispy and starting to peel off, especially on my right shoulder where I had been burnt the worst. The skin there was red, swollen and very dry. I brushed my fingertips against it lightly to feel their coolness spread over the burn. I led my hand up to my hair, apparently it too was singed and also had dried blood clotted within it. My face was still lightly swollen and it was in severe pain when I splayed my fingers across the length of it.
However, I was still filthy and went to summon the maid outside my door to draw me a bath. She did so and left without saying a word, thank God. I couldn't stand to talk with anymore ignorant servants! Do they even know there's a war going on?
I had to peel off what was left of my clothing, an annoying task indeed. The water felt soothing on my skin, but despite the steam rising from the water it was not warm to my touch. I wasn't sure whether to be disappointed that I could not feel warmth such as that so comforting to come from warm water, or to be ecstatic that it wasn't burning my wounds.
I eventually got out of the tub, and wrapped a towel around myself to go into my room and find something suitable to wear. I opened the armoire in my room to find a new uniform, boots, coat, some dresses and dress shoes which I do not intend to wear any time soon, and a note: "Down stairs in forty minutes- Kahn". I slipped on my uniform and boots, and went to the door but remembered my hair, which felt like one giant tangle. I reached for a comb on my vanity and started to brush through my beyond shoulder length hair. It was too long for me to handle and so I took a ribbon on the vanity, bound my hair with it, picked up the scissors I found in the drawer within my vanity and with one quite cut, that tangled mess of hair was gone. Good ridden. I can't imagine how Adriana can handle hers.
I went down the staircase and walked into the room in the back where I heard the loud gun-shots. I was correct that it was the training area of this mansion's death dealers. Kahn was in the back room, examining and helping to restock weapons. He looked up to see me and gestured for me to come over.
"Nice hair, you look like a bloody Englishman now", laughed a man standing next to Kahn, who quickly nudged him in the ribs with his rifle to shut-up. He did.
"Hello, Kahn." I said, still nervous on what to say to explain what happened. "I really did not mean to be left behind or cause you any difficulty-"
"It was a bad judgment call on my part to let Viktor send you out on the first hunt. As the leader I must take partial responsibility for what has happened to you. Tonight though, you'll be stationed with Adriana, Edward and Mary on top of 18th street, there were sightings of lycans there a few days ago so you'll be stationed as snipers on top of that building." I nodded at him. "We are to shoot down these lycans and kill them off, one by one." Adriana then walked into the room with a male death dealer with slicked back blonde hair and a female death dealer with red braided red hair.
"Oh Selene, you chopped off your hair. What a shame." Adriana said to me, picking up a lock of my hair. "No matter, probably better like that anyways. I heard what happened, are you feeling better?" She asked, showing moderate concern.
"Yes, thank-you." I then looked back to Kahn who handed me a large rifle and pouch full of bullets. "Kahn, don't I need a scope?" He laughed.
"No, don't bother. Vampires have better sight then humans, especially in the dark."
"We can also smell those lycan bastards coming from a mile away. They reek of sewer here. In Hungry they usually rinse the smell of themselves in the rivers. Here, it is too filthy to do so. Oh, pardon me, my name Edward, nice to meet you Selene." He said to me, unusually, he didn't have any English accent like the others here did. As far as I could tell, he must have been from France. I suppose death dealers are from everywhere in the world.
I inclined my head in response to what he had said to me.
"And I'm Mary, pleasure to meet you", Said Mary, her thick Irish accent coming through in her voice, I shook hands with her, she had a very strong grip.
And after meeting these other vampires we departed on foot, supposedly said by Kahn to be more inconspicuous, towards London.
The night went smoothly, we arrived at our location to "stake out", as Adriana referred to it, and waited for the Lycans to arrive. We were on top of a seven story building, laying at the four corners of it on our stomachs, guns laying in ready position beside us.
I suddenly caught air of a horrible stench. Such as when you leave lamb out in the sun for too long and it beings to fester. The scent was slowly getting stronger as it came towards us, Edward crawled over to me and tapped me on the shoulder. He pointed down and towards my right, straight at a small lycan in human form apparently. I lifted my gun up further, aimed...I had a shot....I took it.
The lycan fell in the middle of the street, I had shot it in the chest. Humans began to gather round the fallen lycanthrope and the humans were gasping and asking what killed it.
"Good job", said Edward, whispering in my ear. "We'll depart back for the mansion now, Adriana and Mary killed two others back there." Adriana and Mary were already on the ground below us, how they got there I do not know.
"Edward", I whispered, "How do we get down from here."
He gave a slight laugh, "we jump. It's simple, just stand up and walk off the building." I must have taken a gulp or something, "Heh, don't worry, we're like cats, we always land on our feet." He then helped me up and as I was standing on the edge of the building, he tapped on my shoulder. Scaring the hell out of me and causing me to fall to the ground below.
"Well, it's always hard to jump the first time", said Adriana who helped me up. I had accidentally landed on my knees.
"What about that lycan's body? Aren't you worried what the humans will do with it?" I said.
"No, other lycans pick up their own dead very shortly usually. We might kill them, Selene, but we have no right to desecrate the bodies. We kill and we leave. And in return, they do the same. It is the only morality left in this war." Said Mary, staring at the sky as we walked back to the mansion.
And now all I could think of were the desecrated bodies of my family, strewn across the floor of our house.
I suppose this morality only applies to those who are immortal.