The Vampire

“3 more bodies drained of blood were found in the lower town, near the river. The bodies are yet to be identified. According to the po-” I sigh as I switch off the radio. I try to calm myself down. It’s not my fault. I keep repeating in my head. It’s not my fault, but I could have killed it if I had reached earlier. I take deep breaths. Guilt consumed me. I could have saved the lives of innocent people. “Three more goddamnit” I grab my hair in frustration as I think of the dead bodies. “Calm down Nova” “What do you mean calm down?!? Three more, Lia, three more! That’s 9 this week, and it’s only Tuesday” I roar with rage, causing her to shut her mouth. I glance at the blonde. Her eyes widened in alarm as her hands were quivered. Shit, Did I frighten her?? Well duh. The little voice in my head answers. Another sigh leaves my mouth. “I’m sorry”, I mumble before focusing on the road. She looks at me, as if stunned by my apology. “It’s alright”, Lia replies, still petrified. 3 today, 6 yesterday and 15 the past week. They were back. But why, how and why here out of all places? Too many questions, but no answers. My mind sprung onto the endless possibilities that might have led to it. Maybe I should step back and look at the situation from a unique perspective. Maybe I missed something. I was confused. There were no clues, no evidence that it’s them. Only the fact that the bodies were drained of blood. “Do you think it’s them?” Lia questions. I debated if I should answer her question or not. I don’t wanna scare her yet, after all she is new to all this. “They are the only creatures that can do this” I reply “But dad told us that they can’t enter the town cause of the acqua- alist-” “The Alistrolia shield” “Yeah, yeah, that thing. How did they enter then?” “Beats me. I am as clueless as you are” I reply as we both indulge in the poison of our mind. My head feels queasy feeling the pulse on my temple. It beats erratically against my fingertips, my heart unable to relax. No creature can cross the Alistrolia shield. It is a shield that protects the entire town of Astrid Falls. It is created by Aliva Rona, the most powerful witch ever to exist. She created the shield in 1997, the year I was born, and no creature could enter the town until last week, which marked the 18th year since she created the shield. They say the shield repels all the negative energy and mystical creatures up until now. Lia interrupts me from my chain of thoughts with her very own stupid question. “So now we are supposed to kill them?,” Ofc, we are supposed to kill whatever that’s been causing this trouble. Isn’t that obvious? One of these days, I might kill her instead. “We are hunters Lia, it’s our job to kill all creatures that stir up trouble”. “But why us?” I wonder that too. “That’s what happens when you are born in this family, love” I reply, turning on the volume of the song playing on the radio. After a good 15 mins, we reach a mansion, “The Blacks”, the oldest mansion in the town belonging to the great Sirius Black, the founder and one of the first few people who settled in the town of Astrid Falls. The mansion is my home, was the home of all my ancestors and is the home of all the hunters around the world. We, Hunters are the ones who hunt demons and supernatural beings. We save the world for the better good. We are the warriors who protect the earth from evil. From Shapeshifters to Werewolves, we were to kill these creatures before they cause any trouble. For we are the Hunters of the Shadow. The legacy of the Hunters runs way back to 1530 when Sirius Black found out about the mythical creatures when his wife was brutally murdered by a vampire. After the death of his wife, he strived to protect the world from the evil out there. He spent his life dedicated to studying all about the mythical creatures and wrote “The Ultimate Guide of Hunting”. He established the Hunters and the Committee, and centuries later it still exists. From the age of 10 we were taught to learn the art of hunting and by 13 we were to fight alongside our respective families. Since Lia turned 13 this year, the faculty asked me to take her along with me to Europe, where I have been living for the past 2 years, fighting evil. All of a sudden, mysterious deaths took place in Astrid falls which caused us to return to our town. Since we were halfway to Europe, it took us way longer to return. If only I drove faster, I would have been able to save the lives of the deceased. I try to stop thinking about all the deaths that took place these past few days. I then park the car and toss the keys to the guards and enter the mansion with Lia. Once we entered, the hall full of commotion came to an end as all the eyes scanned both our figures. Lia stood behind me tugging my shirt, nervously. “Hello Mr Black”, I bow down to the man seated in the centre. I gesture my sister to do the same. “And hearty regards to the committee” I continue. “What took you so long”, Mr Black questioned. I could sense the disappointment in his tone. He wanted his best hunter back in town investigating the deaths, but to his dismay, I reached later than I was supposed to. I look down at my feet, avoiding eye contact with the blond man. Aaron Black is the head of the Hunters. He is the best hunter to live and is often referred to as the ‘Second Sirius Black’. He is the mastermind who runs the committee and assigns all the tasks. “Meeting dismissed”, Mr. Black announced as all the members packed their belongings and started making their way towards the exit. Soon it was the only 3 of us, Mr Black, Lia and me. ‘You too, Lia” Lia’s face marks disappointment but she quickly masks it and ascends towards the staircase. I patiently wait for the old man to speak but unfortunately he doesn’t. He wanted me to break the silence. “Mr Bla-” “You don’t have to address me formally when no one’s around, Nova.” He chuckles as he poured two glasses of wine “My apologies for disappointing you. Since we were halfway to Europe, it took longer than expected” “It’s alright, now that you are here, I want you to get a night’s rest and investigate the matter” “Yes Sir” “Nova, don’t be so formal, I am your dad for god’s sake”, He speaks while offering me a glass of wine “Hmm”, I say as I accept the wine and go upstairs towards the library. The old library is filled with books all about the mythical creatures. From how to spot one to how to kill them, all the secrets lay hidden in these ancient books. The content of these books has been corrected as the years go by, additional information found was stored in these books. There were many shelves divided into different sections depending on the creatures. Each book had hundreds of pages written by different hunters. To an ordinary person, these books are just fiction but to us, they are our guide to become a hunter Skipping thru the shelves I come across the smallest restricted part of the library The Vampires There isn’t much known about the vampires, for they are the most dangerous of all the creatures. The only people who came across a vampire are Sirius Black and Aaron Black, my father. My father restricted everyone from going to the Vampire section. No one knew why. There was only one book on Vampires written by Sirius, and that’s it. My father never spoke about vampires, so no one knows much about them other than that they drink blood. I tried to pull the book of Vampires out of its shelf, but I couldn’t. There was a shield around the book. I should have known, my father doesn’t want anyone near the book, he most probably hexed the book. But why? Why isn’t anyone allowed near the book? Why doesn’t anyone know about vampires? Why isn’t anyone allowed to utter the word Vampire? Questions upon questions and no answers. I know nothing about vampires, but I wanted to save the life of the dead people. Why do I feel guilty? I never feel guilty for any deaths, but from the past week, it frustrated me on how I couldn’t do anything and part of me thought it was all because of me. “Nova”, a deep voice spoke from behind me. A gasp leaves my mouth as I turn around and find my father looking at me , furious. “Didn’t I tell you to stay away from the book?” I bite my lip, not knowing how to respond. I then muster up my courage and ask him, “Aren’t the Vampires the only creatures that are capable of doing this?” He looks at me before sighing. “Yes, they are back and I want you to bring an end to it” “But I never killed a vampire” “There’s a first time for everything” “But how did they cross the Alistrolia shield?” He turned his head around and shrugged his shoulders, indicating that he didn’t know how, but my instinct told me that he knew the reason. “Are you sure you don’t know?” “Why would I lie to you?” He has never lied to me, but why do I feel uneasy? “Where were all the bodies found?” I ask him. “Most of the bodies were found near the river, They were all drained of blood. We told the Citizens that there is a wild animal on the loose and it’s nothing to worry about.” He explains. “And one more thing, all the bodies had the letter ‘V’ engraved on their flesh”. “V?”, I ask “V”, he confirms A Vampire killing people and marking them with a letter? What does ‘V’ stand for? Vampire? How sappy and narcissistic can one be. I debate if I should ask my dad about his encounter with a Vampire. He had forbidden me to ask about it. Before I could ask him, Lia entered the library, calling us for dinner. I am lost in my thoughts. Why does ‘V’ sound familiar? What is the cause for Vampires to return? Why did it all start on my 18th birthday? I need fresh air; I need to get rid of my thoughts and start fresh. I need to go out. “Father, I am going for a drive” “It’s late” “I need to”, I plead. “I really need to go out dad…. please” “Fine”, he says as I thank him and leave the mansion. Taking the key from the guard, I sit in the car and start the engine. Suddenly my dad comes and knocks on the window. “What’s wrong?” “Take this with you. These are the only things that can kill a Vampire,” he says while giving me a wooden stake and a gun. “A gun?” “A gun with wooden bullets. Wood and sunlight kills a vampire” I then thank him and leave in my car. So wood can kill them. Then why didn’t anyone take any action against the vampires? Was dad waiting specifically for me to return? Why doesn’t he allow anyone to read the book? Why is hiding things? I make my mind to go to the River in the lower town, where the last body was found. Maybe I’ll find something over there. It was a 15 minute drive from the mansion. Since it was midnight, I wouldn’t find anyone over there. The roads were empty. It was pitch black except for the headlight of my car. Buzz-Buzz My phone, which is kept on the passenger seat, vibrates. I try to take it, but it falls down. “s**t”, I mutter as I try to take it while keeping my eyes on the road. I then leave the steering wheel and take my phone from the footrest. “Yes”, I shrieked when I finally got it. I then focus on the road and all of a sudden I see a man right in front of me. “f**k”, I scream as I quickly stamp the brake, making the car to stop abruptly. But It was too late I hit him I hit the man. My head hit the steering wheel while the man was thrown against the windshield causing it to break into pieces. He rolled over the roof and fell backwards. The car then hit the tree on the side of the road. I gasp for breath. My nose was bleeding but all I could think of was the man. I killed an innocent being Anxiety and Guilt consumed me. I was the cause of someone’s death. Hunters are supposed to protect the people and I killed a person. Fuck!? Did I cause the death of an innocent man!? What will the Hunters say? What will my dad say?! I checked the rear mirror and saw the man lay on the road, immobile and injured. He is still alive, I can save him I get out of the car, panicking. I was about to run towards him when suddenly, He stood up, his back facing me. he was completely fine.. “How?” I hit him with my car, he smashed against the windshield and rolled over the roof. He shouldn't be able to stand!! He should be injured He chuckles and breaks his knuckles. I could feel my heart beating rapidly against my chest. How can he survive that?? The mysterious man turns around Red His eyes. Wine Red My palms were sweating.. I couldn’t think straight. I wanted to take the gun given to me by my dad but I couldn’t move. It was as if I was frozen in the spot. Looking at my frightened expression he smiled, showing his long, sharp fangs. His teeth glistened under the moonlight. Vampire He is a Vampire.