It crouched low, hidden in the shadows...

It crouched low, hidden in the shadows, snarling softly. I tightened my grip on my weapon, a long dagger that shined in the moonlight. The wind blew gently against my heavy cloak, the wool protecting me from the night time chill.

“Ashleigh,” my partner whispered. “Don’t be reckless. We don’t want a repeat of last time.”

“I know, Darin. It won’t get past me this time.”

Vampires. Evil, dirty, disgusting things. All my life, I have been surrounded by them. And now, I hunt them, one by one.

With a yell, I ran forward, propelling myself against the cobblestones. I raised my arm, preparing for the initial attack. It leaped at me and was suddenly illuminated by the gentle glow of the orb above us. He was the most beautiful being I have ever seen. And he was familiar. We both stopped in our tracks.

“Damian?”

“Ashleigh?”

“Why are you hesitating? Kill it!” Darin yelled from behind me. I held up my hand to quiet him. Damian and I looked at each other for a long time. He reached up and pushed my hood off my head. The wind blew my ebony hair into my face. He smiled his beautiful smile.

“How have you been?”

“I’m sorry, Damian,” I started, ignoring his question. My hands were shaking as I raised my dagger. “I have to kill you now.”

Damian’s eyes widened. He put his hands up, as if in surrender.

“After we were just reunited? Come now, you don’t really think I’m going to let that happen, do you?”

Before I could react, before I could even think, his arm was around my waist and the dagger was gone. I couldn’t see where it went. I reached for my pistol. He touched two fingers to my forehead.

“Now, sleep.”

The drowsiness was instant. The gun fell from my limp fingers to the ground. Right before I lost consciousness, I felt a sensation like flying. And then I knew no more.

***

It was warm and comfortable. Yellow light danced on my closed eyelids. Blankets cocooned me as I started to wake and roll over. It was then that I noticed my hands were bound. I tested the knots. The ropes were tight, but not uncomfortable. My ankles were bound together as well. Starting to panic, I shot into a sitting position.

The room was decorated very sparsely, but in good taste. An oil lamp flickered on the nightstand next to the bed. A stove and oven were tucked away in the corner, a small square table and two chairs occupied the middle space of the room. All these details I took in quickly, while I reached for the necklace I always wore, which concealed a small knife I could use to cut my bonds. It was gone. I did a quick inventory. My cloak was gone, as was the light jacket I had been wearing underneath. My boots were across the room, by the only door. Someone had undressed me and taken all my weapons. It was then that he came in the room.

“Ah, you’re awake. Are you hungry?”

I glared, but he seemed unperturbed by the ice in my eyes.

“You will return my weapons to me and you will do so immediately,” I said in my most demanding voice. Damian chuckled.

“I can’t do that, Ashleigh, not when you intend to kill me.” He brought me a glass of water and held it to my lips. “Drink.”

I wanted to resist, but there was something in his voice that made me do what he said. One side effect of the spell he used on me was dry mouth and I was dying to quench my thirst. Once the water was gone, he set the glass aside and helped me into a more comfortable position. Damian pulled a chair over so he could sit directly facing me. I looked away.

“So it’s you that’s been giving us so much trouble,” he remarked lightly. “I never would have thought such a gentle soul would take up arms against us.”

“And I see you’ve gone into hiding because of it. I’m doing my job well.