Vamp Guards ✔️

S E V E N T Y-T W O

Annesa was seething, a sour hiss leaving her lips.

"What did you just say?"

A blond-haired Vamp trembled at her feet. They curled their fingers into fists, nails scratching the concrete.

"O-our followers...they are depleting every minute."

"Did that wretched Queen not send out that note for reinforcements?"

"She's...she's dead."

Annesa stared down at the Vamp. Her nails pierced into her palms, causing blood to drip past her fingers and spill on the ground.

"What?"

"She's dead. They found her in her quarters." The Vamp dared to look up. Their breath got stolen, realizing staring into a lion's eyes would've been better than having two manifested dagger shoved into their pupils as Annesa glared down.

She raised her hand and with one swift sweep of her hand, she slapped the Vamp across the face, the speed causing their head to turn and their neck to snap. They fell beside her feet, not dead, but unmoving.

With a click of her tongue, Annesa reached behind her, sliding out a small knife, one similar to the small silver ones Arlo acquired, from a holster. She bent down, held the Vamp down by their shoulder, and repeatedly stabbed it's back. Their flesh sizzled and ambers flickered from the stab wounds. The veins on their neck turned black and crawled up their jaw like tendrils.

She sighed, licking at the blood that caught the corner of her mouth. She stood and stared. Then, she started laughing.

She covered her face with one hand and laughed, a wicked cackle that drifted into the night air, spooking the birds in the trees. She grinned, chuckling through her teeth.

"That bitch lasted longer than I thought!" Annesa flicked her knife down and it stabbed in the dead Vamp's back. She slammed her foot on it, hearing a familiar crack. "She actually had me at first. I thought we made a good alliance, her and I, but I can smell greed from a mile away. And she reeked of it."

Annesa walked away from the body, a bloody footprint trailing wherever her left foot stomped. She clicked her tongue again and peered around the first village.

"I suppose she did do me some good. But if we lose here it'll all be for nothing, and I wasted months following her orders. She commanded me as if she owned me. Ha! I knew she was going to try and use us, but I was going to kill her in the end, anyway.

Annesa glanced over her shoulder, chest puffing out.

"Say, who killed her anyhow?"

There was another Vamp accompanying her presence. She stood by a tree with her hands linked in front of her. There was blood dribbling down her jaw.

"The guards she appointed, before you killed them all, claimed it was the King. They saw him leaving her room."

Annesa snorted and laughed again. "The King! Oh, how priceless it that?! Though, I am not too surprised."

The Vamp did not join in her laughing. "Annesa, you are losing this battle. Too many are dying out there. If we send for reinforcements, they won't get here till late tomorrow. You should be-"

"Are you questioning your leader?"

The Vamp froze when a hand squeezed around her throat and slammed her against the tree. She coughed.

"Who's the one who gifted you with my blood? Who's the one who saved you from that public execution? I am! And this is how you repay me!"

"I-I am only pointing out the obvious! If-if you don't-" The Vamp wheezed. "-don't do something now you'll lose!"