Castlevania Nocturne: A Guardian's Tale (Part 1)

The Hunt

Edited 2/23/24

A frantic knock on the door woke us up.

I immediately jumped out of bed, pulling my dark cloak over me with the dagger in my hand.

"Stay back!" I halted my daughter, who came running to the door with her unsheathed sword gleaming in the firelight. Emma obeyed staying away from the door, her body rigid and tense, ready to leap forward and strike at any moment.

The knocking hastened, followed by a desperate cry. Slowly I creaked open the door, gripping my knife behind my back.

"Madame! Madame help us!! Oh God please!!!" A bloodied man begged.  Two humans stood at the door wounded and traumatized. A young man and  woman. The  woman was crying as the man pressed a wet crimson cloth against her neck. She bled profusely and nearly collapsed. I asked no questions and  hurried them in, helping carry the bleeding woman into the infirmary and laying her on the sick bed.

"Let me see her wounds." I told them. Slowly the man let off the cloth from her neck, revealing the extent of of her injury.

Fuck!!! I swallowed the curse behind my teeth. I knew a vampire bite anywhere. The  young man babbled panicked at me, begging me to save her despite his own injuries. "Keep stanching the wound." I ordered the man, hurrying to the cabinet with the anticoagulant moss.

"Mother what has happened?" I heard Emma's footsteps come running in before I stopped her. "I need you to stay back and out of sight!" I commanded her in Romanian. "It's  a vampire attack! I don't want them seeing you and panicking." Emma halted. "What can I do?"

"Activate the ward on the door and keep watch! Do not engage if you see anything!"

"But Mother if they-!"

"Not now Emma!" I went into nurse mode, quickly collecting the dried moss and steeping it in water. Once the moss filled like a sponge, I told the man to remove the blood-soaked cloth, pressing the moss against the bitemarks on her neck and holding it there.

"Vampire saliva has a natural anticoagulant that keeps the blood flowing." I  pressed the moss against her neck. "This moss does the opposite, it helps staunch the wound and stop the bleeding. Once that is under control I will stitch the wound and tend to yours." I always try to explain how my treatments work so they can understand what I was doing. It was a more modern world, but many people still clung to superstition  because that is what they knew. Explaining how medicine works takes away the mysticism that might attract suspicious eyes.

Once the woman's neck stopped bleeding, I padded it with anesthetic. "This might hurt a little but it will stop the pain." The woman cried at the sting but was still. The man  took  her hand and watched me suture the bite marks. Once the wound was stitched, I pulled up an antibiotic shot. "Do not worry. This is an injection that will prevent fevers." She twitched at the shot, but was otherwise fine.

"She's going to be fine." I reassured them once the suturing was done.  The man and women wept freely, thanking me. "Think nothing of it. She's lucky to have survived a vampire attack. You both are. Now let's see your wounds. Not too serious. A couple of good gashes that shouldn't be hard to stitch up."

I worked on treating the other human. Mother, can I come in? Emmaline cautiously asked through telepathy. Yes, my dear. All is well and they have calmed down. I'm sorry for shouting.

They didn't react when Emma came into the room, at least not in fear.  They watched her, intrigued by her gold eyes and beauty.  "I guarded  the door and there was nobody outside."

"Thank you Emmaline." I sighed. "This is my sister who hunted vampires in the American Revolution ." Their gaze cast on her in awe. Emma greeted them plainly before asking if I needed anything. "I think we are good for now." I confirmed.