The Hunter

I stood there, rooted in place as I watched my house burn down. Everything I ever knew was crumbling into ashes. The blood of my family ran bright red, a stark difference of the fresh snow that had just fallen. Our house wasn't the only one burning, our whole community was up in flames. I felt the heat coming from my left, but I didn't dare move from what I knew was another building collapsing. I couldn't remove my eyes from the scene in front of me. My little sister laid there, her neck in an awkward angle with her little hand stretched out in what was a feeble attempt to reach for our mother. My beautiful mother, laid there in a pool of her own blood. I dare not move her, afraid to see the wound that caused her to lose so much blood. “Gen,” I heard a strangled voice from my right. I looked over to see my father slumped over on a building that had already burned down. I ran to him, sliding in the snow to reach him. I didn’t care that my jeans were soaked now. “Dad, what happened?” I asked, hating how shrill voice sounded. He coughed. “We were attacked. We tried to fight back, but he was too strong.” He said, his voice coming out shaky. “OK, let me help you.” I said, panic lacing my words. I roamed over his body, only freezing when I felt the hilt of the sword that was embedded deep into abdomen. His bloodied hand came to rest on my shaky one. “My dear daughter, I am too far gone to be saved. You need to get out of here.” He said, trying to make his voice strong, but failing. I shook my head vigorously. “No, I am trained for this. Let me help you.” I begged. He gripped my hand, causing the tears to betray me and fall down. He smiled weakly and reached out to my cheek. I leaned into his calloused hands. He coughed again, this time blood spewing out. I felt my throat go dry. “You need to get away.” He said, his voice barely above a whisper. Tears continued to roll down my cheek. His thumb, rough from holding swords and guns, rubbed away a fat tear that had fallen. He was once a strong warrior, but now, he could barely breath without wincing in pain. “No, I can help you. I can save you!” I spoke in a desperate attempt to sound strong. I gripped the hilt. “Run, Gen, get away.” He said barely audible. The hand he had on my cheek fell on his lap. I watched as his whole body went slack. His once bright golden eyes, stared onto nothing. I felt a sob bubbled up in throat. Before I could l let my emotions take over, I heard the sound of shoes crunching in the snow. I froze in place, afraid to look behind me. “Oh little pup, I didn’t realize I left one alive.” A cold stony voice said from behind me. I turned my head slowly and froze once again at the sight before me. The memory of this man forever seared into my brain. A tall man stood before me; clothes soaked in blood. The shadows from the fire played on his ghostly pale face, making every feature more animalistic. His toothy grin showing elongated canines that were soaked in the blood of my pack mates. His slender fingers were complimented with equally long sharp nails, some that had remnants of skin and blood hanging from them. But that wasn’t what scared me the most. His red eyes gleamed with hunger and pure evil. A vampire, that was what killed my family. A vampire who slaughtered my friends and burned my house down. I felt a low growl come from deep in my chest. This only made him chuckle “No, little pup, your growls don’t scare me.” He spoke as his predatory steps made my heart race. I knew what I had to do, but my body wasn’t cooperating. His smile only grew wider. “Thank you, little pup, this was an evening I truly enjoyed.” I glanced over to my family one last time, feeling my muscles bulge in anticipation to move. In one single movement, I leaped into action allowing myself to transform. I felt my claws dig into the dirt that was deep under the snow. I was light and small enough that I knew I could out run him. My father knew this and was confident enough in my speed, or else he wouldn’t have told me to run. “You little b***h!” roared the vampire. I knew these woods like the back of my hand. I was often the runner of my pack, luring the vampires out to lead them to be ambushed by the warriors of my pack. I took off in speeds other wolves envied. I had to out run this vampire. I heard his shoes crunch in the snow in the distance as he followed me. I ran fast, faster than I ever truly allowed myself. In A short amount of time, I reached the little town of humans. I changed my trajectory and ran to the waterfall I knew led to a river. I heard the crashing of the water before I saw it come into view. I jumped over a boulder and I could feel myself weightless before gravity set in. I transformed back to my human form and dove into the ice-cold water. I knew the vampire couldn’t catch my scent in the water. This was my only escape. I reached the floor of the river, contemplating on drowning there. I only surfaced when I felt the air running out of my lungs. I took one last look behind me before I began to swim downstream. I swam until my muscle ached and possible hypothermia set in. I crawled out of the river, chest heaving from exhaustion. I laid there for a moment, naked on the shore. I had long abandoned my clothes as they got shredded when I shifted. Night was turning in early morning. I found a spot deep into the woods and curled up in a hole I found in a tree. I let the exhaustion pull me into a nightmare filled sleep. I was alone, cold and had nowhere else to go.