Disclaimer: Darkstalkers is a trademark of Capcom.

Vampire Hunt

By

Dr Facer

-2-

The Story of the Hunter.

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My name is Baby Bonnie Hood. I am a Dark Hunter. It is my job to fight and eliminate creatures that live in the darkness and haunt humans and I take pride in what I do. I am considered one of the best in the world for a reason, I never fail. Right now, I'm waiting to see the person who wants to hire my services. I was summoned here with the promise that if I killed a certain vampire, I'll get a million in return. I'd been thrilled at first. Vampires, unlike werewolves or zombies; are always very careful and tend to stay away from problems. In any case, I've spent the last three weeks getting to know this city and trying to find information about this vampire I am supposed to destroy.

I was not surprised when the mayor called me to his house. It was only natural for him to do just that; I am after all, the best Dark Hunters in the city right now. The mayor's mansion was not a very interesting place, but I have to admit that it was elegant and exhibited quite a good taste. As I walked through the excessively elegant corridors, I realized that probably; the mayor was as corrupt as I've heard. I didn't care about it though. I'm in this mostly for the money.

The mayor's office was a contrast to the rest of the mansion, since it was not as exaggeratedly luxurious as I expected. When I asked, the mayor admitted that it was his wife the one who loved expensive furniture and clothing. He quickly changed the subject, telling me the real reasons as to why he wanted to see me. He wanted me to save his daughter. I listened carefully as the mayor told me how a vampire he thought was a fine young man attacked his daughter and infected her. It was a shock to hear that the little girl was infected; Vampires never sire children. I asked the mayor if I could see the girl. He agreed and I was taken to the infant's room. As I imagined, the habitation was sealed and four men stood outside, obviously there to stop the girl in case she tried to escape during the night. The light in the room was minimal, which reassured my opinion that the girl was indeed transforming.

I was amazed that the girl was still human. The mayor's wife was there and she explained me they had been using a special serum to hold back the infection. She also said that the serum was not working as well as it used to anymore. The serum no longer stopped the early symptoms of vampirism. For the last two days, the girl had been feeling incredible pain anytime sunlight touched her and she was not eating solids anymore either; her diet consisted only in meat stew, for she would not eat anything else. The girl, Amanda was her name, was taking her situation rather well. I imagined that she trusted her parents would help her.

Amanda told me than other that her low tolerance to sunlight and some strong need she had from time to time, she felt normal. I asked her to describe me the need she felt. As I expected, she said that sometimes, when her parents hugged her, she felt like biting them. I examined her mouth then. No surprise there. It was already changing; soon she would have fangs and a different muscular complexion. After meditating on it for a while, I judged that thanks to the serum the girl's situation was not nearly as bad as I first thought. I could still save her.

"There are two things I could do now." I told the parents of the infant, "I could kill the girl to keep her from suffering, or I could find and kill the vampire who infected her."

The reaction of the mayor was typical. He ordered me to kill the vampire at once. I didn't agree at once, I only agreed until the mayor signed a contract where he accepted to pay me five millions for my services. I was happy the mayor agreed. I feared for a moment that he would call Donovan or Hsien Ko to do the job. I guess he didn't know those two would have done the job for free. When my negotiations with the mayor ended, I spent the rest of the day preparing for the job, deciding which strategy I should use to find and kill the vampire.

As I walked out of the mansion, I found that I was worried for Amanda. That was not normal. The only other person I've ever cared about besides my parents was my grandmother. As I tried to understand why was I so worried for the girl, I realized that Amanda reminded me of my best friend, the one who was killed by a werewolf when I was six. Maybe that was why I was so determined to save her. When the night arrived, I forgot about my childhood tribulations and left the hotel I crashed at, ready to start the hunt.

Most of the monsters mock me because I have a dog follow me everywhere. Fools! They don't know how useful my puppy is! He can smell traces left by any kind of monster even if they're already weeks old. I adjust my red hood over my head and follow my dog inside a dark alley. What I find in the alley is not what I'm looking for. Instead of a vampire, I find a worn out zombie eating trash. The living dead recognized me and tried to escape as he shouted in fear. Deciding that he could have information, I used one of my landmines to stop him. The creature survived the explosion, which was good. I forgot to lower the explosive charge and was fearing that he wouldn't make it. Standing in front of the burned zombie, I force him to tell me about the vampire master of the city. The zombie told me that the vampire I was looking for was known as Joseph, he also was kind enough to tell me where Joseph used to eat. I left the zombie with a small present, one of my special apples. As soon as I'm out of the alley, I stare at my shadow, the wicked grin it has fills me with pleasure. When a loud explosion is heard from the same alley, the grin of the shadow grows as does mine. I just love my explosive apples.

Not too long after that, I stood outside a Nightclub. I know the vampire will not enter this place if he sees me around so, after a moment of hesitation, I decided to climb up to the nightclub's roof. From there, not only will I be out of sight, I will also see if my prey enters this place. Near midnight, my dog became anxious and I had to put him inside the picnic basket to shut him up. The dog's anxiety was a good thing, though. It meant the vampire was near. I peeked down the building and saw a man that stood out from the crowd. He indeed was very handsome, probably the best-looking vampire I'd ever seen in my life. He was powerful too, I could feel it. Not too long after my prey entered the nightclub, he exited again and this time he was not alone. He had a young woman at his side. How clever of him. Walking around with a human practically shielded him from every dark hunter in this city. I must praise his little trick. The only thing I could do now was to follow him and hope that he either kills or lets the woman go so I could do my job.

After an hour or so of walking, Joseph finally entered an old house. It was a two stories tall, run down house. There was probably a basement here, too. The house was not what I expected a vampire would be living in. Vampires love sophisticated stuff. I circled the house several times to search for an entrance that would give me some advantage but sadly, I found none. I was forced to walk to the front door and prepare a direct attack on my prey. Not that I dislike direct action, in fact, it's all the opposite. A head on fight is always so very stimulating and fun!

I find that the door is not locked. Surely Joseph thinks he's too powerful to bother with locking the doors. Perhaps he thinks all of the Dark Hunters in the city are not a threat. I will have to prove him how wrong and weak he is. After placing my loyal puppy inside my picnic basket, I enter the house. I walk slowly, expecting an attack any time I turn in a corner. I know I shouldn't worry. As all vampires, Joseph will probably wait until I enter his chambers or wherever he chose to stand his ground.

I'm not surprised by what I see when I enter the luxurious living room. Joseph is standing there, looking at me. He is holding the girl, using her as a shield. I hate it when a monster uses this dirty trick! Now how am I supposed to hurt him and kill him? To add to my bad mood, Joseph laughs at my appearance. That was the last thing I needed him to do. Also, it seems he's never heard of me! Well, the worst for him. He's moving slowly now, obviously he's debating if he should try a surprise attack or not. He is a useless fighter, I can see it clearly. With his looks, Joseph is surely one of those vampires who prefer to charm their way out of every tight spot.

"I have seen grains of salt that looked more dangerous than you." Joseph laughs at me. I guess he's not going to try and be charming with me.

"A grain of salt is dangerous if it falls in your eye." I reply as I wait for his imminent attack. He doesn't disappoint me; tossing the girl aside, he dashes and tries to hit me with an uppercut. This is a move that I can counter easily. I only have to sidestep the rising punch. As he sails by my side, I reach inside my picnic basket and pull the hidden trigger that activates the rocket launcher. When Joseph realizes that I dodged him, he turns, just to be hit by the small, yet powerful rocket I just shot. I smile when he cries in pain and stares at me with concerned eyes. He understands that I'm not playing now. The next thing he tries is to use his vampires against me. That's insulting! All I have to do is to shoot my trusty machine gun to kill all the little critters. The only good thing so far is that the girl Joseph was using as a shield was smart enough to get out of the house when she had the chance. I can fight without holding back.

My next move is to fire a round of silver bullets at him. He avoids a few, but most hit him. I'm surprised he is still standing, his chest is bleeding badly now. Well, things will get worse for him in just a second. He jumps at me and tries to bite me. How foolish of him! At the last possible moment before he bites me, I spin and bounce over his back; once there, I use my silver knife to slit his throat open. I know that the wound in his throat is as bad as the ones in his chest and the shock of it distracts him long enough for me to pull out my custom shotgun. Before Joseph can figure out what is happening, I blast his right leg with my weapon.

Now that he is in the ground, staring at the mass of burned flesh and splintered bone that used to be his leg, I'm sure he realizes just how weak he really is. Joseph crawls lamely to the nearest corner; his face finally showing me the emotion I like the most: Fear.

"Why are you doing this?" He asks. Obviously, he forgot who he's dealing with.

"I hate poverty; that's why I have to do this, I'm not bad." He is shocked when he hears my response. Well, it's true, I don't like being poor, and I don't think I'm evil. What I didn't tell him was that I also want to save the little girl he infected.

"If it's money what you want, I'll give you plenty!" Just as many other Darkstalkers, Joseph is offering money in exchange for his miserable life. He should know that this is a waste of time. I walk to him and I stop just when the barrel of my shotgun touches his bloody chest. Shaking like a leaf in the wind, Joseph babbles poor excuses to try to save his life, how sweetly pathetic! Like if he really has a chance to make me change my mind.

"I'm sorry, but I'm afraid this is the end of the line for you. There's a girl that must be saved from the darkness, and the only way to do it is killing you." I said this as I take aim for his head. Joseph is crying now? When was the last time I saw one of these beasts do this? Never; every other monster that I have hunted, has died cursing me.

There's only one thing that he shares with the rest of my preys. He too, is giving me his fear as his last gift. How sweet of him! I smile softly at him. Right now; my finger is slowly squeezing the shotgun's trigger…

KA-BLAMM!

"Thank you, my dear prey." And with no regrets, I walk out, leaving his corpse behind.

Next: The Epilogue.