The Price of Blood

Chapter 6: An Intruder at Midnight

TW: Blood, Gore, Injury, Violence

Nothing excited Victoria quite as much as the thrill of the hunt. The sound of her prey's feet splashing in the puddles and hitting the ground with their heavy thunk-thunk made her heart race wildly. She had always enjoyed the satisfaction of beast hunting. But hunting undead had taken on a new and wondrous thrill. Maybe it was just her desire for revenge that drove her to take down the undead as she did now. Over the years, it had become like a calling she could not resist—like a dog never being able to help but chase a rabbit. Once her prey was in sight, there was no resisting the call any longer.

Erratically, the vampire zigzagged through the streets in a desperate attempt to lose her in the maze of ramshackle debris and crumbling houses. Eventually, he led her to the edge of the district near the forest. He ran into the trees as fast as his legs could carry him. Victoria paused at the tree line to catch her breath. As much as she desperately wanted to catch the vampire, she had no idea how many more were potentially out in these woods. It would be foolish for her to just run headfirst into the woods without backup. She didn't even have Riven with her. As she heard the vampire running away into the woods, she spots several eerie blue lights glowing deep within the woods, leaving a sort of trail for the vampire to follow.

Backup or no, Victoria had absolutely no idea where she was. If she didn't take this chance, there was no telling if she'd have this opportunity again. Following the blue light, she started into the woods at a light jog. She drew her sword as she went, ready and waiting for someone to launch themselves at her at any moment.

Even though she could see well in the dark, the blue light made it hard to see more than a few feet in front of her. Relying on her hearing and sense of smell was not her preferred method of hunting prey at night. And with the bumbling idiot in front of her crashing his way back to his nest, hearing anyone else approach her would be near impossible.

Her heart nearly skipped a beat when a voice whispered to her over her shoulder as the blue lights made a circle around her. She turned in a circle, bringing her blade up in an arch to kill whoever was behind her. But her blade met nothing but blue light and empty air. She whipped around in another circle, desperately looking for the source of the voice. But she was alone in the forest aside from her prey that was currently getting away.

"Slay the vampires...." The voice whispered. "Slay the cult...."

The blue orbs of light made another circle around her before darting ahead of her, following the sound of the vampire getting away. Curious but now thoroughly on edge, she followed the light. The disembodied voice followed her, chanting the same two sentences over and over as she ran. Another light appeared in the distance, brilliant and golden--a bonfire, surely. She saw her target stumbling towards the flames, could hear his cries of a hunter in the woods as she closed the distance.

"Slay the cult..." The voice said one final time as the blue light finally dissipated. Unable to resist obeying the voice, she rushed forward.

Despite knowing she was running into a camp of vampires that could potentially be dozens strong, a strong excitement rose up from her chest. White flames danced to life down her blade and coated her hands. Her pulse quickened. His cries of a hunter in the woods hot on his trail were like those of a wounded animal just moments before the kill. She pounced from the shadows upon the vampire as he coughed and sputtered on the ground at the edge of the camp, driving her blade through his chest. Several people in the camp shrieked as Victoria withdrew her sword from his back and brought her dagger out of her boot to slit his throat.

"Good evening," Victoria said as she looked up at the crowd of almost two dozen vampires standing over her. She could see the white flames along her hands  Despite the odds, the lack of any movement to retaliate on their part gave her a boost of confidence. Harold had been quite insistent on her not being reckless and destroying her new armor like she had with the last. She was definitely not getting out of this fight unscathed, though. There was no doubt in her mind.