Maneater

The Bunker

It's nighttime, so I grab my sword and head downstairs. This town isn't as populated as most, so the bar isn't packed. I sit at the bar, and the owner's wife smiles. Her name is Claire, and she's been nothing but nice to me.

"You better watch your back out there. We have a Witcher in town."

She sets a glass of water down in front of me. "A Witcher won't be a problem for me."

"You can never be too safe."

I set money down on the table and headed outside. Earlier, a woman had come up to me, begging me to take care of a man named Mike. She wouldn't explain any details, so I had a feeling she was just trying to get rid of him. I don't kill innocent men, so I decided I would watch him first.

The man leaves a building, whistling to himself as he walks down the street. I stay in the shadows and follow him. There's a girl walking by herself, I grab my sword and wait to see if he does anything.

"Get home safely!" He calls out to her.

She smiles, "You too!"

I continue following him, and he looks behind himself before darting into the woods. What a weird place to go this late at night. I follow him, making sure to leave some distance between us. He's looking around nervously, and his hands are fiddling with something.

He stops at what looks like an underground bunker and kneels down to unlock it. He opens it and gives one last look around before climbing in. I wait a couple of minutes before entering it as well. When my feet hit the ground, I bring my sword out in front of me and start walking down the narrow hall.

"Please let me go, I won't tell anyone."

The man laughs, "I'm not falling for that."

I turn a corner and find myself in a small room. There's a girl chained to a wall, while Mike kneels down in front of her. He grabs her chin roughly, "Now be quiet."

I stalk towards them, my sword ready to swing. The girl makes eye contact with me and screams. Mike turns around just in time for me to swing at him. He rolls out of the way and picks up a sword of his own.

He swings it around wildly, I dodge most of his swipes at me, but the room is too small for me to move around. His blade slices through my shoulder, and I growl.

"Shit."

I dodge his sword and bring my blade down, slicing him right through the torso. He falls limp, and I let out a sigh, touching my bloody shoulder. The girl is crying now, so I slowly walk up to her with raised hands. "I'm not going to hurt you."

There's a set of keys sitting on a table in the corner. He was taunting her. Leaving the keys to her chains just out of reach. I unlock the cuffs around her wrists, and her arms drop weakly.

"How long have you been in here?"

She rubs her red wrists, "A long time."

I help her stand, and the two of us exit the bunker. We walk into town, everyone's eyes falling on us as she stumbles behind me. A woman lets out a gasp, "Samantha?"

The girl behind me turns to the woman, her eyes just as wide. "Auntie?"

The two embrace each other, both crying into each other's arms. I clear my throat, "Do you know this woman?"

"This is my niece. She's been missing for three months."

The woman looks back at me, "Thank you, thank you so much for finding her."

I nod and drag myself back to the inn. My shoulder hurts, but I ignore it. When I take my usual seat at the bar, Claire sets a glass of ale in front of me. "Are you alright? You're covered in blood!"

I use my sleeve to wipe my face, "I'm alright. Most of it isn't mine."

She gives me a wet cloth and a mirror. "You should at least wipe the blood off your face."

"Toss a coin to your Witcher. Oh, Valley of Plenty."

"Shit," I mumble to myself.

The singing bard sits next to me, still singing his ridiculous song. The crowd watches him with cheerful eyes. The song ends, and he turns to me, "Hello, beautiful."

I lift my head up to look at him, and he lets out a yell, nearly falling off of his stool. "It's you! Why are you following us?!"

"Because I want to eat your heart and feed the rest of you to my pet wolves. Just like I do in your song," I say, glaring.

He lets out a nervous laugh, "Songs travel fast, don't they?"

"Jaskier, who are you talking to?"

I look back to see the girl I had saved. Her eyes widen slightly, but she smiles, "It's nice to see you again, Maneater."

"Likewise."

Her eyes trail down to my shoulder, and she frowns, "That's a deep cut. I think Geralt has some elixirs, I'm sure he won't mind me taking one."

"It'll heal on its own, but thank you."

"No, you saved my life. The least I can do is treat your wound. You stay right here, I'll be back."

She leaves the bard and I alone. He gives me a stern look, "I wouldn't leave if I were you. She's very adamant and can be quite scary when angry."

I turn back around and continue drinking. The bard still sits next to me, much to my dismay. A tap on my uninjured shoulder startles me. I immediately grab their wrist and twist it back.

"Your reflexes are much faster than a human's."

I let go of their wrist and mumble to myself, "Fucking Witcher."

I turn around to see him and the girl standing behind me. The girl smiles, "Rub some of this on the wound twice a day."

The Witcher holds the small vial out to me, and I glare. "Thanks, but I don't need your help."

I walk upstairs to my room, making sure I shove him along the way. My ankle hurts, I must've twisted it during the fight. But, I continue limping to my room and sigh as the door closes behind me.

Of course, the very people I was trying to avoid are residing in the same inn as me. Just the thought of the Witcher makes my blood boil. My mother's words echo through my head, "Never trust a Witcher. They'll use you and leave you for dead faster than the slice of your blade."

I never understood how she knew so much about Witchers as I was never allowed to leave the house as a kid. She herself rarely left. She would always send my dad out for us. Until the day, he didn't return home. We had thought that maybe his snarky remarks finally got him in trouble, but it turns out that he had abandoned us.

That was the first time I felt the betrayal of a man, and that was the day I decided to never get attached to anyone.

Author's Note: I forgot to mention this earlier, but this story will be loosely based on the show. So, it won't be as book or show accurate as most fics are.