Daughter of Nyx

Empousai

Real-life vampires stood atop the hood of the bus. Thick blood dripped down their lips and onto the bus. They stared at us with killing intent. I've read about these savages somewhere in a book but they seem scarier in real-life. They weren't anything you would expect of a traditional American vampire. These girls had the fangs and pale features, but they had a copper leg and another furry goat leg. There were two of them, doubling up the horror. 

"N-Nico?" my weak legs nearly collapsed as I hung onto Nico's shirt. Weirdly, not knowing why I would pay attention to details like this, they wore torn down uniforms. Somewhere in my mind, I wished they were just apart of some annoying Halloween-loving gang. But Nico's gaze looked as if he's seen and dealt with this before.

"Nessa, get back," Nico's grave tone commanded me to follow exactly what he says. I backed away, off the road but couldn't take my eyes off the terrifying sight before me. There were pieces of clothing soaked in blood littered on the hood. I couldn't help but wonder if any of them belonged to the driver. Nico pulled out an impressive silver sword and glared at the two.

Suddenly, the vampire lady, or empousa on the left leaped onto Nico as the other shrieked, her eyes locked onto me. Nico, even with his amazing sword skills couldn't take up two. One of them snatched Nico's sword and threw it yards away. I watched as my body, paralyzed, stood there doing nothing and as Nico kept dodging, fending for his life. I watched as the other one crawled up to me slowly, as if teasing me. 

I felt like I could do nothing even through the weeks of intense training. I stared in horror as one of them tried to sink its fangs into Nico. Time slowed by then while I reached the peak of fright as the only other person who really cared about me was about to die.

No, I have to protect him. He's going to die. Because of me. Nico...... Nico. NICO.

"NICO!" And then, I bursted. 

It was like all the energy of the night, all that darkness was sucked into my body, making me feel invulnerable.

Out of nowhere, a sword similar to Nico's sprung into my hand, a glint in the starless night. As if it was normal, I charged and in that moment, I felt like nothing could stop me. I swung with full force and the sword slashed through the monsters like they were slices of cake. I stopped them right before one of them was about to connect Nico's neck with her fangs. 

So many different scenes flashed in my head, one of them were very clear and I realized it was one of my subconscious memories. Of a woman in pitch black gown. And jewels that filled the dark cloth as though they were glittering stars in the endless night. She had her back towards me and everything she wore were in a pricey category and were dark and smooth. It was weird though, since my dad and I were anything but listed under the rich, noble or important. 

The empousai's wide red eyes were the last I saw before I collapsed, perhaps on Nico, the sword nowhere to be seen. A humanoid shadow hovered above me and hopefully, they weren't of the empousa's. All of my energy drained. Whoever it was, whispered my name over and over again as I blacked out.