Author's Preface
Vlad tried hard to remember the last time he ever went to a bar. He prided himself on being the more responsible one within the trio, and avoided participating when his friends decided to get a taste of some liquor blood. There was a time when he would go from tavern to tavern and suck dry the poor fools who spent a good coin on cheap booze, only to realize that their simple night of fun would be their last. He was one of those fools when he worked for the army. There wasn't much else one could do to erase the horrors of war from their mind. Life was an endless battlefield for everyone, and the ones who served at the front could only attest to this reality.
He wondered if it was the same for the huntress. Was the sudden, inexplicable urge to fill her belly with rum a prerequisite for the darkness in her heart that she was so desperately trying to extinguish? Or perhaps there was something else that was going on behind her seemingly facetious persona? Killing monsters for a living couldn't be an easy job , he thought. Yet, his newfound companion was swinging carelessly from side to side to the beat of the music as if she had completely forgotten about their mission. With a glass full of liquor in one hand, her eyes were glued to the forty-inch TV that was hung on the wall of the crowded bar. A celebratory roar, along with a mouthful of her drink, escaped her lips when the bearded man on the screen landed another strike on the one with tattoos all over his arm and chest. "Did you see that?" she would exclaim, turning to him with a glimmer in her eyes, and then, shortly after, she would continue with her task of shouting at the two men fighting, along with the rest of the crowd. Sometimes she would cheer when the other one landed a hit, which confused the vampire, but he didn't want to ask questions he couldn't be bothered to hear the answer to.
What further confused him was the amount of alcohol she had demolished since they arrived. It was enough to drown a bear, but even so, she didn't show any signs of slowing down and downed yet another glass as if it were filled with apple juice instead of rum.
"You appear to be in good spirits," Vlad remarked, resting his head in his palm, overtaken with boredom. "I suppose it is the end of our venture?"
"What are you saying? We still haven't caught that evil blood sucker," said Dani, taken aback.
"You haven't forgotten about our mission?"
"Of course not!" she exclaimed a little bit more passionately than she'd like. "Just because we took a short break doesn't mean I've given up. Don't think of running away either. When we catch him, Imma need you to hold him down while I kick his teeth in." She swung her fist to demonstrate.
"Are you in a condition to do so?"
A little smirk formed on Dani's lips. She didn't give him a direct answer, and instead pulled a small dagger she kept in a hidden compartment of her left boot. The blade twirled between her nimble fingers, and without sparing more than a glance at the dartboard, she sent it flying across the room. Bullseye. A short round of applause came from the drunken crowd, after which they all redirected their attention back to the fight.
"Does that answer your question?"
“I have one more thing I desire to ask, if you don't mind," said the vampire without lifting an eye from the huntress.
“Then ask."
"Why did you choose this occupation? You're a capable woman, I can see. Though I've seen many hunters more skilled than you lose their lives fighting things less dangerous than a vampire. Do you not fear that one day you may meet their fate?"
Dani took a minute to think, then groaned in a melancholy tone and a deep sadness in her eyes:
"My parents were killed by monsters."
"My condolences," his voice was deep with regret, thinking back on all of his victims before he took his vow never to kill again. An abrupt laughter broke his reverie.
"I'm sorry," said Dani through tears, giggling. "I was joking. That's such a cliche. My folks are alive and well, they don't want to talk to me, that's all."
"And why is that?"
"They disowned me when I was eighteen because I joined a gang."
To that information, Vlad responded with a peal of stifled laughter, exposing his long, sharp teeth, which he then carefully hid behind his palm. The expression on the huntress' face remained unchanged, however.
"Something funny about that, ey?"
"My apologies. Your sense of humor is rather morbid for my taste. I don’t seem to understand it,” he explained.
“I wasn’t joking. I used to work for the mafia before I became a huntress. They made me do terrible things. Things that I’m not proud of,” Dani uttered the words with a hint of gloom in her eyes before forcing a smile. “But that’s all in the past.”
She rose to retrieve her daggers from the dartboard, where they were still firmly wedged in. Now that people had started leaving, the clacking from her heavy boots could be heard throughout the bar. Her "hunting boots," she called them—an essential part of her arsenal and one she would never leave at home upon taking a request. They had a metal plate on the tips of her toes, one sturdy enough to withstand kicking a scaly creature in the face. Their grapplers gave the impression of being ripped out from the tire of a truck, adding an extra two inches to her height. Stylistically, they didn't go well with the rest of her sporty outfit, but effectively, they served their purpose. With the right speed, strength, and accuracy, they proved deadlier than the machete she was carrying. Soon, one of the men who walked into the bar at that moment would have the misfortune to find out for himself exactly how painful a blow to the ribs from them was.
The man in question had the features of a bear, with a broad belly, the shadow of which wasn't enough to obscure his pistol. His friend had a similar one hanging from his holster. His face was riddled with scars, and a part of his ear was missing. The bite marks from the beast that had torn it off were still prominent, and he put no effort into hiding them behind the long strands of his graying hair. On his skeletal hips rested a scabbard housing a bayonet with similar engravings to those of Dani's weapon. A strange coincidence, Vlad thought at first, but then, when the two started walking towards him, it hit him like an electric shock what the men were after.
"Daniel, we must leave this place at once," he whispered to the huntress.
"It's Daniela," she corrected him. "I agree with you. One more drink and I'll have no money for gas. Let's go."
She downed whatever was left from her rum and turned her head to see the large man she had so far paid no attention to materialize before her. He was as big as he was dumb, and therefore possessed enough stupidity to put his hand on her shoulder.
"Before you leave, may we ask you a few questions, love? It would only take us a few minutes," said the man with a reassuring smile, that only served to further stoke the flame inside Dani's eyes.
"Get your paw off of me," said Dani, calmly.
"We're in quite a bit of a hurry, gentlemen," said Vlad. "I'm afraid we cannot spare you a second longer."
"Your paw is still on my shoulder," repeated Dani.
"We assure you, our research is crucial," said the older one, his voice stern and filled with authority. "Whatever business you two have can wait. We insist that you stay."
There were a few things Dani hated more than being ordered around, and coincidentally, one of them was being ignored and the other being touched without her permission.
"Oi, move your hand pichko !" she snapped, jerking his hand away by force. "Are you fuckers working for the police? If not, then piss off!"
"Don't you raise your voice at us, woman," said the older one. "You have no idea what's at stake here. There are forces beyond your comprehension lurking in the shadows, waiting for foolish girls like you to let their guard down and be reduced to a pile of bones. We're not some ignorant police officers. We're hunters."
Dani snickered at the words meant to strike fear in her heart and, as an answer to his warning, pulled out her machete.
"And so am I," she added in a more serious tone.
"This friend of yours. Is he a hunter too?” asked the older one.
"He's my partner."
"Aren't his teeth a little sharper than any regular human?"
"He was born this way. You have a problem with that, old man?" She got closer. Underneath her furrowed eyebrows glistened two hazel-brown pupils like those of an angry tiger. But for the two men, they more resembled the gaze of a kitten given their small frame. The younger one found them adorable, if not jarring, though when she redirected them at him, he found that they were filled with nothing but animosity.
"Is your partner allergic to sunlight?" he asked. "He looks to me a little pale."
"I have iron deficiency," said Vlad, who by now was more than convinced neither of them fell for their obvious lies.
The old hunter rested his hand on his bayonet as he lowered himself to Dani's eye level. She didn't flinch when he started her down like her old coach before he made her run laps for misbehaving in his class. He hoped that his tired expression filled with contempt would serve as a final warning before he had to use force.
"You're not a real hunter, are you, sweetheart?" he said, his face so close that she could not only count every single scar on his face but probably guess from what creature they were from. The wrinkles forming on his forehead were like the rings of a tree trunk, making her wonder if she could also guess his age if she added up their numbers.
"Of course I am. Where do you think I got this machete from?" Dani argued.
"The possession of a runic weapon alone doesn't mean you're one of us. Show us your hunter's ID and we might consider letting you go."
For a moment, there was silence between the four of them. Nothing could be heard but the friendly chatter of the people at the other end of the bar, accompanied by a country song coming from the jukebox. Vlad glanced at Dani, who glanced back at him and then back at the old hunter. He glanced at his partner and then at the vampire, and then back at Dani. The younger hunter didn't move his eyes away from the huntress. Vlad leaned in closer to Dani, his voice barely more than a whisper.
“What is the matter?” he asked with a growing concern. "Show them your document so we can leave this place at once."
"About that…" she said in an equally quiet voice.
The vampire prided himself on his speed and sharp eyesight. On the battlefield, he was unmatched even during the days he still fought as a human. He was well known for his skill both among his comrades and the enemy. But even he missed the moment his companion spun around and wedged her foot in the fat hunter's ribs, effectively breaking two of them in the process. He only heard the agonizing howl coming from the large man's trembling lips, and his mind gathered the rest.
The old hunter tried to put his hands on Dani's neck and apprehend her, but she was quicker. A headbutt to his pointy crooked nose put an end to his attempt. Unlike his friend, who was still weeping on the floor, he didn't give up and continued throwing fists at her until one landed on her temple and threw her off balance. She quickly got back up and launched another kick, a hair's breadth away from his face. Despite his old age, he didn't lack in skill when it came to fighting and dodged nearly all of her attacks, even the ones his weary eyes were barely able to see. His passing at fifty was proof enough of his talent, considering most people who had the courage, determination, and, to some extent, lack of better judgment to engage in combat against beasts didn't enjoy the merits of a long life. Seeing how his opponent was struggling to stand on her own two feet gave him enough reason to believe victory was in his hands. Though his strategy had one fatal flaw—he fought without a weapon. The hunters' codex forbade them from drawing a weapon where there were civilians, unless he was fighting to protect them from a monster. The person whom he believed to be the vampire terrorizing this town didn't get in the way of them wrestling. He was nowhere to be seen, in fact. The same went for his injured partner.
A punch to his clavicle drew his attention back to the fight. Dani rested her arms against her knees and used her right hand to wipe away the blood from her torn lip. Her eyes spelled malice and mischief, which were only emphasized by her wicked smile.
"I'm done playing around," she said. "Don't be misguided. Our little tussle served only as a way for me to observe your attack patterns. I now have everything I need to take you down."
Thinking it was a poor attempt to intimidate him, the old hunter charged at her, ready to take her out while she was still out of breath. She hit him in his blind spot. It took a split second before his eyes were facing the ceiling, the bright lights burning his retinas. She had put him in a triangle choke; her grip was tighter than a python's, and despite his best efforts, it was only a matter of time before he passed out. The last thing he saw before his mind faded was the blurry image of the vampire standing before him.
"You're the last person I expected to ditch me," said Dani before she angrily pushed the old man's body to the side. "Perhaps I made a mistake thinking you were less of a coward than Ian."
"I went asking if someone could call one of these loud beeping cars to give medical attention to the man whose ribs you broke," said Vlad as he helped her get up.
"You mean an ambulance?"
"No matter." He shook his head. "Why did you have to cause all of this mayhem? You should have simply shown them your ID so they could let us go."
"They wouldn't have let us go, Vlad."
"How do you know?"
Dani's face darkened. Droplets of cold sweat started to form and drip down on her now pale cheeks. Her pupils became the size of the tip of a needle as if she were staring at Saint Peter himself.
"I'll explain once we get out of here."
***
The dark alleyway they found themselves in wasn't any more pleasant than the bar they fled mere seconds ago. Neither was the queer concoction of smells oozing from each corner. The bark of stray dogs around them was even louder than the people screaming inside during the fight. Though if there was one thing the vampire was grateful for, it was that their wild symphony drowned out the hurling noises Dani made as she was in the process of emptying the contents of her stomach until it was reduced to nothing but a pit of acid. Never in his life had Vlad seen someone exude so much liquid from their mouth, even during his days when he was still getting at terms parting with the taste of ordinary foods.
She turned to Vlad with her eyes watering, legs trembling, and ready to give in at any given moment. In a raspy voice filled with regret, she muttered:
"I'm not an official hunter. Never took the stupid exam."
"Why?"
"Because I'm done working for assholes. If there is one rule all hunters abide by, it's 'kill everything out of the ordinary'. Do you think they'd let me be friends with Ian after discovering he's a vampire?"
"You claimed he wouldn't hurt a fly."
"It's all the same to them. There is no good monster but a dead one." She gave him a sad smile. The popping capillaries under her eyes gave her a ghoulish look. During the many nights she spent drinking and throwing up, she would sometimes catch an unfortunate glimpse of her reflection, realizing what was displayed in the mirror matched what was on the inside. She would grimace. She would open up another bottle and forget just as quickly what made her sad. And so the cycle would continue. "You must think I'm pathetic. I can see it in your eyes." Her voice was low from exhaustion, close to a growl.
"Not at all."
"Is that so?"
"Perhaps only a little bit. You’re unquestionably not the brightest person I've met," Vlad blinked twice, unsure of what to say. "Do you think the hunters might have been after the upir? If you didn't rush to attack them, they could have given us a lead."
"They probably thought you were the upir. I basically saved your life back there, mister goody two-shoes." Dani crossed her arms defensively. "Either way, we can't go back now."
"What do you suggest we do, Daniel?"
"Daniela," she once again corrected him.
She didn't know whether it was because of the alcohol or because of the few jabs she caught with her thick skull that the world around her was spinning. Somewhere in the spiral, as she tried her best to focus her eyes on a single spot, she saw a pack of dogs gathered around a manhole. No doubt attracted by the smell of something putrid. It caught the attention of the vampire as well, who, until now, had his senses obscured by the fumes of vomit exuding from the pavement. That scent was all too familiar to him. The scent of fresh blood being spilled. Under the tranquil streets, whatever lay in the sewers was not meant to be discovered by the blissfully unaware people walking on them.
A simple glance between the two was enough for them to know what they needed to do next. Vlad walked over to the pit and picked up the iron lid. Dani was small enough to fit through the hole. Inside, she saw under the beam of a flashlight what she had already anticipated. It made her stomach turn once more, though there was nothing left that she could hurl back to alleviate her disgust. Her lips twisted in a moue. Two blank eyes were staring at her as if they were frozen in time, the only remnant of life being the vermin worming around their sockets. The mouth hung open like a black hole, now serving as the nest of cockroaches and the like. Whatever remained from the rat-eaten skin, draped over the stiff flesh like it was a piece of thin white cloth covering the carcass. It looked like by the time he drew his last breath, there wasn't a single drop of blood left in his body.
She leaned in closer to observe for injuries, expecting two finger-sized holes around the carotid artery, but what she saw took her by surprise. The holes appeared to be too far apart and too small to be done by a vampire, but whoever made them surely put in the effort to make them seem as if they were.
"Did you see anything worthy of notice?” asked Vlad as he extended his hand to help her climb back to the surface.
"I was right to think the real culprit wanted to frame you guys," said Dani while dusting off the webs and grime from her tracksuit.
"The upir?"
"I don't think we're dealing with an upir, Vlad. I may not be the best detective in the world, but I know a thing or two about making a murder seem like it was done by someone else. We should go back and warn your friends in case the real killer wants to use our absence as an opportunity to take them out."
