Chapter 3

Night time had already begun its mark hours ago, yet Miranda was still struggling to hit her own designated mark. The degree of exhaustion that she never felt before with the Roses was quite frightening, she never would have thought she would not be indoors so late at night, not to mention for the very first time of her life, she was starved for several hours.

Not to mention it was dark and cold in the forest, it was nearing the end of fall, and the temperatures were dropping rapidly over the past week. Unfortunately for Miranda, she was not aptly dressed to brace the cold. The dark surroundings did not help much either, making it more and more difficult for her to hit the target as it became increasingly troublesome to find the misdirected dagger.

All these were becoming too much to bear for the little girl, despair had begun to hit her. Papa…. Mama…. Tears started to flow down again, but this time, Miranda did not allow them to run for too long, rubbing them quickly with the back of her hand, and stared at the target with enhanced determination.

Papa and mama were no longer here… the scary monsters got them! But… I am here… Miranda was taught before the basics of Godhood, in which the Roses made it a habit to pray for God before beginning their meals, and every Sunday they would go to a church to pray with the other villagers. Thank God for sparing my life. Miranda thought, clasping her hands together and performed a simple prayer, her eyes closed momentarily.

Once she was done, her eyes opened with a whole new light, focusing on the target sharply. She grabbed her dagger once again, in what may could have been hundreds or thousands of attempts, this might be the one to make its mark.

It really did.

Miranda flung the dagger after pulling her arm backwards and with all her strength, directed it all towards the dagger so it would generate enough force to cover the distance. Most of her failed attempts were due to the dagger not flying far enough, or even if in those few tries they managed to cover enough distance, the aim was way off.

But not this time.

The dagger stabbed right inside of the chalked circle, with the side of the circle just millimeters away. The tip of the dagger just managed to stuck deep enough for it to not fall off from its own weight. Seeing this marvelous sight, Miranda fell onto her knees, tears bursting again, but this time tears of joy, she shot her arms up high and let loose a joyful cry.

The wooden door from the wooden shack opened soon after, "Get inside", the mysterious instructor commanded. Miranda quickly sprung onto her feet and dashed into the welcoming door, her stomach doing all the thinking right now.

Inside the shack, a platter filled with bread was laid down on the table in the middle of the room. Miranda rushed onto it but hesitated as the bread was within reach. She still held a sensation of fear towards this cruel savior of hers.

"Just eat it," was the reply she got, and it was enough to convince her that it was okay to eat the food. Forgetting to wash her dirtied hands, she did a quick pre-meal prayer, and begun her feast.

As Miranda was busy munching her bread, the man was sitting on his rocking chair, his right arm rested on the armrest and his head tilted towards the raised fist, his left foot was placed on top his right thigh. He took out his daggers and begun polishing them. "You managed to hit it," his expression remained aloof, as if still dissatisfied. Miranda was too occupied with her food to give a reply, or maybe she didn't even hear it as the man was pretty much mumbling to himself.

"After eating, go to bed. Bath will have to wait until tomorrow morning. There's a river nearby but it's too dark and cold right now." The man began to chatter more, up to the surprise of Miranda. She faced to look at him, and nodded after some quick pondering. Obviously she would prefer a nice bath before hitting the bed, but being in uncharted territory now, she had no choice but to remain obedient, that's the best thing she could do.

Miranda continued chewing down her hard-earned dinner, and the man just sat at one place watching her. Miranda did return the gaze, and couldn't help herself and wonder.

"My name is Miranda, what is your name?" Mrs. Rose had taught Miranda to properly introduce herself before asking of other people's name, this was some basic manners, and Miranda had just done that. All she could hope was to be a good girl and prayed that nothing worse will come to her.

"Alberto." The man nonchalantly replied. "Vampire hunter." He added, giving the answer of the next potential question that may arise from Miranda's mouth.

The little girl was astonished, Lidoris was also guarded by its own team of vampire hunters, but they were instantly overwhelmed by the horde of evil and totally stood no chance. Yet this very man in front of her managed to brave against the odds, and was sitting there unharmed.

Multitudes of questions began to pop out of Miranda's head, but she couldn't find herself to pick any one of them to ask before Alberto stood up from his rocking chair.

"Early morning tomorrow, after meal and bath, I will train you," said Alberto as he pointed to a laid down mattress at a corner of the miniature house, indicating that was where Miranda will be sleeping tonight, his tone once again commanding as always. Every word came out of him was cold and emotionless, and this did not help to ease the feeling of anxiety from Miranda at all.

Unlike her previous foster parents, who were kind and loving, this very man was an exact opposite. As if he showed no compassion to her.

But he was the one who saved her. He will train me? What does that mean?

Miranda was utterly puzzled but helpless to do anything about it. All she could do now was to obey this man's words. After finishing her meal, she helped herself to her bed and it wasn't long before she went into deep sleep, her body and mind totally exhausted from the events transpired today.