6 years later

Gripping the edge of the sink, I looked at myself in the mirror. Reaching up I gingerly touched the puffy skin around my right eye, dark bruises already forming. It was going to be one hell of a shiner.

Sighing, I slowly undressed myself, wincing at the pain aching through me and I checked myself for other injuries. Apart from a couple of scratches and a few more already forming bruises, I looked ok. My body was littered in scars and I was proud of each and every one. They showed me just how much I'd grown as a hunter. Each scar told a story and reminded me why I was doing this.

I was getting tired of this life. Of hunting and chasing the things that go bump in the night. It was a never-ending nightmare, a nightmare I knew I'd never wake up from. But I couldn't stop. Not until I found them. Not until I stopped them all.

Walking back into the motel room, I rummaged through my bag, pulling out a white tank top and baggy shorts before slipping them on. Grabbing the thick file I had left on the desk, I sat cross legged on the bed.

For 4 years I'd been tracking the vamp nest who had left me for dead and took my daughter. Grief, confusion and loss had quickly turned into wanting vengeance and anger for what happened. And once I'd found out the truth that monsters were in fact real, my only thought was to hunt them down and kill every last one of them.

I researched and researched, making sure I knew the lore of every monster I encountered, training everyday to become a better and stronger hunter. Strong enough to take them down myself. I had left everything behind after Ava was taken, my friends and family, my home and my job. I couldn't carry on with that life after what I had went through. After losing the only person important to me. After losing my baby.

Nobody believed me when I told them what happened. The search for Ava went on for a month with the locals rallying to help with the search. But nothing was found. And so they gradually stopped looking. I had begged and pleaded with them, continuously telling them it was monsters, vampires who had taken my daughter.

But they thought I was having a psychotic break from the trauma of losing my daughter and nearly dying. And so I was thrown into a mental ward with the hopes I'd stop harassing them with tales of monsters. I learnt quickly to keep my mouth shut and do what they wanted me to do. It took me a year before they finally released me and I quickly left town, knowing there was nothing they could do for me now. I would always be seen as the crazy woman who lost her daughter.

They had left me for dead that cold night, four vampires draining the life out of me. I looked down at the scar on my thigh left by the vamps, similar ones on both arms and my neck. A constant reminder of what happened, a reminder that I survived, and my daughter didn't. And that I had a job to do.

I shook my head, not wanting to think about it anymore and took out the map that was in the file and spreading it out on the bed in front of me. I'd marked each town they had passed through with a red cross. It had taken me awhile to find them, to figure out their patterns, 3 years of hunting, 1 year of interrogations and killing every monster I could find until I finally got the answers I needed. And so began the chase, hunting them from town to town, taking on other cases when I could but always keeping up on their trail. Every time I managed to catch up with them, I'd kill at least half of the nest before they would get away and by the nest time I managed to catch up to them they would have kidnapped and turned more people to replace the ones I'd already killed to use against me. To keep me away from the leader of the nest.

I knew that I should ask for help, but I wasn't exactly known for making friends. I hunted alone for the most part, occasionally meeting up with other hunters if they needed an extra hand. But that was few and far between, I was, as they so kindly put it, a 'real nasty bitch', who was reckless and dangerous. I didn't care what they thought. I was a damn good hunter that got the job done. I didn't have time for holding hands and sharing my feelings.

I knew the vamps I'd just killed were a part of the nest. Newly turned vamps were left as a decoy to let the main nest make their getaway. I had maybe a day or two before they would all leave, and I knew they would take more people to either turn or eat. Probably both.

I made a red cross on the map of the town I was in, checking which way they could go. It looked like they were following a mostly straight line and it did concern and confuse me. What if they had split up? Using a decoy nest for me to follow while the other nest went their own way undisturbed. My gut told me that I was on the right path though, and I'd seen glimpses of the main vamp, the vamp who had taken my daughter.

Sighing I threw the file to the side and rubbed my temples. I was getting a headache. Reaching over to the side table I grabbed the foil pack of pills I'd placed there and popped two into my mouth swallowing them dry. Scooting up the bed, I climbed under the covers and lay my head down on the soft pillow, reaching out to turn off the lamp. The room fell into darkness and I turned to my side, my hands tucked under the pillow, the steady ticking of the clock on the wall lulling me into a restless sleep.

"Ava!"

I ran towards the small figure in the distance, their back turned towards me, long dark hair flowing down her back like a dark waterfall. Stopping a few inches behind her, I gingerly reached forward and touched her shoulder gently. "Sweetheart?"

She turned slowly, her eyes wide and her face speckled with blood. "Why didn't you save me?"

I took a step back, my own eyes widening as bite marks appeared on her neck, blood beginning to flow steadily down her neck. "Ava...I'm sorry..."

She raised a finger and pointed at me. "You should have saved me. You were meant to protect me..."

I took another step back, tears filling my eyes as I watched the blood soak through her flowery white top turning it a deep red. "I'm so sorry...please..." I sobbed, looking at her through tear filled eyes, "I tried to get to you...I tried..."

She shuffled forward, more bite marks appearing on her body, more blood soaking through her clothes, her finger still pointed at me. "This is all your fault..."

Stumbling over my feet, I fell backwards onto the floor and I scrambled back as she continued to walk towards me. "Ava..." I sobbed looking up at her, "I'm sorry..."

Her eyes turned red as blood began to pour out of her eyes, dripping down onto my legs and she smiled widely. "You will be..."

I screamed as she lunged towards me, my hands raising to cover my face...

"No!"

I shot upright in bed, my breath ragged, a thin sheen of sweat covering my body. Throwing back the covers, I ran to the bathroom and dropped to my knees in front of the toilet as I expelled the contents of my stomach.

Sitting back onto my legs, I took in a shaky breath before standing and walking over to the mirror. I knew I wouldn't be able to go back to sleep now, the nightmare was still fresh in my mind. Splashing my face with cold water I took in another shaky breath. I couldn't keep doing this. The nightmares and lack of sleep were sometimes just too much for me to handle. I sighed and walked back into my room, my stomach still feeling queasy.

Grabbing the file again I flicked through it. I'd already killed the missing people the vamps had changed, leaving them to be found by the local cops. I knew the rest of the nest were hiding, most likely in an abandoned house or killing the owners and claiming a house their own. It would be close by the building they left the newbies in so that they could watch. It was like entertainment to them, a show they liked to watch. They knew I knew what they were doing, and I played along for the most part. There was a couple of times I'd caught them by surprise, finding out where they were hidden, managing to kill a few of the more important vamps in the nest. They were more careful now though, taking measures so that I found it more difficult to find them.

And it worked for the most part. It was frustrating knowing they were watching me kill the innocent people they had taken and turned into blood thirsty freaks. It pained me knowing they didn't stand a chance, having been turned almost immediately.

I looked at the map again. The building I'd killed the vamps in was part of a large piece of land surrounded by dense forest and fields, most likely farmland. So that meant that there should be a house on the property, one that I didn't see or notice while I was out there. It was 3:30am, still dark enough to cover my tracks and scope out the house. Grabbing my stuff, I quickly changed back into my jeans before checking my weapons. I slid my gun into the inside pocket of my jacket, a small knife in my ankle strap and picked up the biggest machete I had.

My heart was pounding in my chest, adrenaline coursing through my body at the thought that I might have the drop on them. Slamming the motel door behind me, I jumped into my car, my tires squealing as I sped out of the parking lot towards the property.