Vayne whimpered, scared wet crimson eyes rapidly darting between the shadows of the small chamber, the emaciated weakened form of the young vampire's body already shaking uncontrollably as if reacting to the imminent appearance of some kind of grotesque and unspeakable horror that had yet to make itself known to Quinn's warm, compassionate amber eyes.

The wind caresses Vayne's skin, the night's shadowy veil thickens and it isn't long before the scared huntress suddenly burst into tears, fresh salty creeks silently rolling down her pearly white cheeks, loosely following the still wet tearstains of the Night Hunter's previous outburst even as the ranger's gentle embrace tightens in a futile attempt to ward off Shauna's unjustified fears.

"It's alright, Shauna, everything is okay now. No one is going to hurt you anymore. I promised you that I would protect you no matter what, remember?"

The ranger's soothing voice suddenly draws the huntress attention and Vayne gasps, her fragile neck almost snapping by the hasty way she abruptly jerks her head in order to face her lover and current caretaker. The liquid rubies of her eyes suddenly going wide like saucers the moment Shauna lays eyes on the troubled younger woman.

The night hunter freezes, silently staring into the familiar amber eyes of the woman lying on the bed right next to her as if only just now noticing her, frantic red eyes inspecting her worried soulmate that from Vayne's point of view somehow seemed to have appeared out of thin air even though Quinn has been casually stroking the noblewoman's hair for almost an hour.

"W- What? Who's there! Where did you come from? You can't be in here, he is going to get you too! Don't you see the black figures closing in? Haven't you already noticed the cursed witches starting to surround us? Run, you have to run! You have to get away from them!"

The young vampire is delirious, anxiously pointing at the door, eager to get her lover to safety, but Quinn doesn't answer Vayne's questions and she just leans in and kisses the tortured creature's sweaty forehead, her hands still stroking the night hunter's pale skin and bandaged appendages all the while whispering to her calm reassurances.

The scout smiles softly and kisses Vayne again and again, sneaking a little bit of crimson blood inside the starving vampire's pale lips hoping to reignite the bright spark of life inside the lifeless depths of Shauna's empty glassy eyes, but the vampire just keeps sobbing and quaking.

Vayne is distracted, too lost, too shattered, too busy searching for nonexistent threats and ghosts inside their chambers to notice Quinn's desperate attempts to help her, her fearful sanguine gaze still wondering across the room, scanning the harmless shadows created by the cheap hextech lamp on their nightstand for skulking beasts and demons.

The vampire is scared, so very scared, always scared, always on guard, always nervous. Vayne keeps searching for beasts, seeing ghosts, listening into the night for assassins, harking for hours, expecting to be attacked by werewolves.

"We have talked about this before, Shauna. There are no monsters or evil entities hiding under the bed, the vanity table or the closet, waiting to ambush us. Nocturne is gone and he is never going to hurt you ever again. Y-you are safe here."

The Night Hunter just shivers and sobs, even more tears escaping from her puffy eyelids at the mention of the sinister dream-demon's name, her beautiful red, deep crimson eyes still staring at the murderous army of ghosts and sinister ghouls crawling out of the walls and waving at her from the windows, their hysterical laughter and amused noises the only sounds actually reaching her ears.

The demons are mocking her, spitting at her or smirking at them wickedly and even though Quinn is actually right and there is no one else inside the room except for the two of them and the occasional gust of wind and the dust particles descending from the ceiling Vayne keeps jumping at every faint shadows and distant barking sound coming from down the street. All the while releasing small broken croaks of fear and chewing at her bottom lip, that is now torn and bloody.

And even though Quinn just keeps stroking her back and desperately squeezes her hands trying to comfort her, Vayne is too distracted by the cruel demons living inside her head for her to actually pay attention or even react to her melancholic mate's presence and Quinn can only embrace the trembling woman and pray that Shauna's mind will someday recover.

But alas Shauna Vayne was never really meant to regain her sanity after the Eternal Nightmare had so brutally ravaged her mind and shattered her very psyche like a bug squashed underfoot.

It was unfortunate really, but it seems like the morbid tale of the courageous Night Hunter would end the same way it had started, veiled in immense pain and tragedy.

Note and also Spoiler alert for Hunters and Scouts. This chapter was inspired by an idea I had about Vayne permanently suffering from the aftereffects of Nocturne's mental intrusion in O. H. A. S. It wouldn't really surprise me if Vayne started questioning reality or seeing things after her little adventure. One of the possible endings I had planed for the series was Vayne spending whole chapters interacting with Quinn only to realize at the end that she had never escaped from Nocturne's clutches and that she was still trapped inside a nightmare for seemingly years.

The other ending I liked was the opposite, in which Quinn accepts Vayne's advances and spends her daily life with Quinn and then we suddenly see some milky white bleeding into Vayne's red eyes meaning that either a part of Noct is still in there and is slowly surfacing or that Vayne is actually dead and that Noct has actually stolen Shauna's body and claimed her identity.

I loved that ending, but in the end I decided to go with something happier and lighter. This chapter is also showcasing the possible negative consequences of the life of a monster hunter and the two possible outcomes of a battle. The victorious hunter being (Vi) and the one that has fallen (Shauna) being the hunted. Well, haunted in Vayne's case so I played a bit with the titles in order to make a pun and show both sides of the coin.