It didn’t take long for Mark to find the entrance to the cave. The opening was left uncovered, and he could see a pile of brush off to the side. Apparently they weren’t worried about being found, which their second mistake was.

Mark gripped the stake in his right hand as he made his way to the entrance, being very mindful of the debris around him as to avoid alerting the others. As far as they knew, Mark was taken care of. He had the element of surprise on his side, and he struggled to keep himself from merely rampaging inside the hideout after Jack. Part of him was taken aback at his reaction to Jack being taken, the rage he felt as he watched Jack get dragged away, the scene replaying in his head. That part of him was on the back burner though, as his fore front thoughts were focused on getting inside, getting Jack and killing every mother fucker in there. He stepped inside and moved silently along the wall. The cave was damp and musty due to the amount of rain this area had, which left a chill settle in his bones. Very little light reached into the cave, making it almost impossible to see, if you were human. It was a good way to help prevent people from trying to escape if they couldn’t even see where they were going. For Mark though, it wasn’t much of a problem. The area was still dimmed, since there was very minimal light coming into the cave, but he would be able to see the others clearly. Lukas had explained that the presence of some light was needed in order for them to see clearly at night. Usually, the light of the moon provided more than enough light to see as if it were day, but in situations like this, where almost no light is present, it would hinder their vision. But for some reason, bodies could be seen in these situations.

When there is enough light present, everything looks normal as if the sun was high in the sky. But once the light dissipates, their vision changes, and bodies almost look like they are emitting light, surrounded by a red haze. According to what Lukas had said, no one knows why it is, or why it only happens when little to no light is present, but it’s helpful in situations like these.

As Mark moved further into the cave, there were a few, small branching corridors that lead to dead ends. As he continued down the main one, he could hear sounds of life, voices and laughter. He could see light trickling in from around a corner, enhancing his vision. He slowed his pace as he listened for heart beats. He picked up on seven steady thrums, one slow and one frantic. Someone was unconscious, and the other was definitely a human. Which one was Jack though? He paused in his place against the wall. He needed some kind of plan. At most there were seven vampires in there, and he wouldn’t last long without some kind of strategy. He figured a distraction would be the best way to go, separate them and take them down. Looking back down the way he came, he could see an array of stones and rocks scattered on the ground. He figured that was the easiest and quickest way to go about this. Not wasting any time he made his way back down, grabbing rocks as he went until he got to one of the corridors and ducked into it. Holding the largest rock, he threw it into the wall a little ways down and was satisfied with the echoing crack it made through the cave.

The voices he heard from before halted, and after a moment he heard someone give an order to check on the sound. Three sets of footsteps broke away from the group and started heading towards Mark. He sunk further back into the opening he was in, setting into a crouch, ready to move the moment someone came into view. The footsteps were slow, but they were loud. They didn’t seem to be overly worried about what caused the sound if they weren’t bothering to quite their steps.

Mark held his breath as they neared, readying himself. He watched as he saw two of them step into his view, both unaware of his presence and pounced. He dove straight into the man closest to him with enough force to collide with the woman beside them, taking them both into the opposing wall. The woman let out a yelp as her head bounced roughly off the rocks, stunning her, as Mark used his stake to take out the man above her. As he pulled it out he was yanked back by his shirt and thrown to the ground, but recovered quickly, getting to his feet and readying himself for an attack. He had to get this done quickly, knowing the others would have heard the fighting, and he couldn’t afford to take them all on at once. He lunged for the man that threw him as the woman was still getting her bearings. The man was ready for him and dodged out of the way, but Mark stopped his momentum and pivoted at the last second, diving back and getting his arms around the mans waist. He lifted him up and brought him down to the ground hard, straddling his waist and bringing the stake down again. It was times like this he thanked Lukas for actually training him how to fight rather than relying solely on his enhanced abilities like most.

The woman jumped on Mark's back, having recovered her senses, and tried to use her fingers to gouge at Mark's eyes. Mark threw himself back taking them both to the ground. Her grip loosened and he rolled off, grabbing at her neck as he got to his feet. He could hear others running to their location.

Stake still plunged in the other man's chest, Mark pulled the woman by her hair up to her knees, using his feet to keep her there, He grasped either side of her head and with a groan, he mustered his strength to snap her neck and twisted with enough force until he ripped the head clean off as two more men arrived to the scene. He felt the blood soak through his clothes and cover his arms. He hated this method, always preferring to use his stake or even a sword to behead someone, as it exerted a lot of energy and was pretty horrific to witness. It was barbaric, but it had the desired effect he hoped for as the two others came to a pause at the scene in front of them, giving him the time he needed to go back and grab his stake before advancing on them. Three down, four to go.

Mark took the other two down with ease. They all seemed to be weak fighters compared to the original three he had encountered the day before in the forest. Those had most likely been the scouts who were to keep an eye on the perimeter of the hide out. He was soaked in blood, his body was starting to ache and his face was burning something fierce from that asshole who broke his nose earlier, but he was running purely on adrenaline now as he made his way to the main cavern, now with only four heart beats. The slowly thrum on an unconscious person and three others, all at various frantic paces now. Mark grinned at the fear he could smell off the remaining vampires. He walked right into the cavern, the element of surprise long gone at this point, and barely managing to conceal his reaction on the sight that greeted him.

The room was dimly lit with lanterns strewn around the walls, sheets and dishes strewn around in disarray on the ground. Off to his left was a young girl, barely a woman, who had her hands bound, eyes wide and frantic. She was dirty, hair knotted and greasy and had blood covering her neck and right shoulder from what he could only assume was multiple feedings. She huddled in on herself, shaking with barely contained sobs, though she wasn’t Marks main point of focus.

In front of him were the two remaining vampires, one gripping a stake in her hands, teeth bared as she growled at Mark, while the other, a man, was gripping Jack's unconscious form by the hair and holding a blade to his neck.

Mark struggled to tamp down on his heart as it thrashed in his chest. He could see the man smirk as he heard Mark's beating heart, and he tightened his grip on Jack, pressing harder on the blade as a trickle of blood made its way down his neck. Mark took a step forwards, which was mirrored by the woman, but both halted as the man spoke up.

“Unless you want me to cut this man's throat open I suggest you back the fuck up.” Mark stopped immediately, and after a moment's hesitation went back to his previous position. The woman followed suit. Rage and fear were battling inside Mark for dominance as he tried to work his mind to a solution that would leave Jack relatively unharmed. He looked over Jack for any sign of serious injury. His ankle looked swollen, possibly sprained or broken, and he had some blood in his hair, probably from being knocked out. He was thankful that it seemed they hadn’t fed on him. Mark forced himself to keep his focus on the vampires in front of him.

“The rest of your guys are all dead, and unless you want to join them, I suggest you let both of the humans go and leave.” Mark managed to get that out with more confidence than he felt. The man shook his head, laughing under his breath.

“I have to say, I’m pretty impressed. You took out eleven of my guys, three of which who were fairly skilled fighters, and you’ve barely sustained any harm to yourself. Lukas trained you well.”

Mark's eyes widened fractionally at the mention of Lukas’s name, which did not go unnoticed.

“As you know, Lukas was fairly competent in his… line of work,” the man spoke with disdain heavy in his voice. “And it hadn’t taken long for word to spread that he had taken a young raven head apprentice under his wing, or the skill he seemed to possess. You’ve built up quite a name for yourself there sonny, but you’ve made a mistake today.” He paused, his grip on Jack's hair tightening as he pulled him up, Mark tensing with the action. “You revealed a weak spot.” He loosened his grip after a few moment, but Mark remained tense as he struggled with trying to come up with some plan of action, his options very limited. Any action he made at the man would be intercepted by the woman, and would give plenty of time for him to kill Jack. He looked at the woman, whose teeth were still barred, but she was in obvious enjoyment over the situation. Mark had a hard time containing his own snarl at this predicament.

“Drop the stake, and kick it over here.”

Mark hesitated for a moment, but the slight tightening of the hand in Jack's hair had him dropping the stake and sliding it over. He nodded at the woman who quickly grabbed it and held it in her other hand.

“Get on your knees, keep your hands where I can see them.” The man demanded. Mark obeyed, keeping his palms up and to his sides as he kneeled. He nodded at the woman again, and he made her way over to stand behind Mark. Mark noticed some movement to his left, but he kept his focus on the man in front of him. The woman grabbed his shoulder and raised the stake, and awaited the order form her master.

“Once you’re taken care of, we’ll be moving on, and I think we’ll take him with us. Make him my own personal blood bunter. I’ll make sure to have him begging for me to feed on him, all thoughts of you wiped from his mind and replaced with me.” The man was practically beaming with pride at his words, which had the desired effect on Mark as he seethed, air coming out of his nostrils in short and loud puffs. He signaled the woman behind him, and as he felt her move to bring the stake down, Mark shouted “Now!” Turning and catching the woman’s arm before she had a chance to strike. Behind him he heard the man groan, as the woman who had been crying in the corner rammed into him and he heard the knife clatter to the ground. Mark quickly swung his leg in a sweeping motion and took the woman out at the feet, grabbing his stake from her hand as she dropped it in favour to try and brace her fall,  which was pointless as he brought it down to her chest. He spun around to see Jack on the ground and the man advancing on the girl, his teeth bared, as she scrambled to get away, losing her balanced as her hands were still bound.

“You fucking bitch,” He growled out as he reached for her, a scream tearing itself from her throat. Mark ran at him and knocked him to the ground, the two of them rolling and grappling with each other. The man ended up on top, straddling Marks hips and grabbed Mark's arm that was holding the stake before he could use it. He twisted Marks arm, causing him to release his stake with a yelp, and then grabbed both of Mark's arms, pinning them. He leaned close to Mark's face, snarling. “I changed my mind. Now, I think I’ll kill the brat, but I’ll make it nice and slow.” He paused and smirked down at Mark. “I wonder, how loud do you think an Irish man can really be?”

Mark pictured Jack, loud and expressive Jack, bound and at the mercy of this monsters, as screams were torn from his throat echoing in his head.

Mark lost it.

Using all his might, he bucked his hips up, causing the man to lose his balance and loosen his grip on Mark's arms. Mark rolled quickly switching their positions, and before he really knew what he was doing, he bared his own teeth and latched onto the man’s neck.

The man screamed as Mark tore savagely into the skin, ripping it apart. It fueled Marks rage, which had reached a crescendo in his mind, blanking all his thoughts as he relied on basic primal instinct. He continued to tear and rip at the man beneath him, his teeth scraping on bone, until he pulled back, grabbing the man’s head and ripping it off, tossing it aside. The body stilled, and Mark stayed where he was, heaving as his body tried to come down from the high it was on. He could hear the blood rushing in his ears, and his heart beating out of his chest. He sat there for a while, letting himself calm. When he had his heart rate and breathing under control he stood, his face grim as he walked over to the girl. She started to shuffle away from her place on the ground, but Mark merely walked over to her, crouched down and tore her bounds off.  He was vaguely aware that the she was staring at Mark with wide terrified eyes but Mark paid that no mind has he stood back up and walked over to Jack.

He knelt in front of Jack, as he brushed a few strands of hair from his face, then turned it gently to look at the injury on his head. It has stopped bleeding, but he was likely to be out for a while still. He looked at his neck, the small cut made by the knife already closed. He slipped his arms under his body, and carefully hoisted him up, cradling him into his chest. He turned to the girl still sitting on the ground, eyes still wide as she stared at him. Mark was sure he was quite the sight, with blood covering his body and face, as he felt the man’s blood still dripping down his chin. He looked like a monster.

“Thank you, for saving my life, and Jacks. They’re all gone now, you can safely leave and go back to your home. The wounds on your neck will be healed by tomorrow.” Mark tried to put some kind of warmth in his voice, but he was too drained. His mind was numb, and right now he just wanted to make sure Jack was safe and away from here. He knew once they were back to the confines of the cabin, that Mark would fully comprehend what he had just done, but right now he didn’t have the energy.

The girl stayed frozen for a few more moments, before nodding. She stood slowly, eyes never leaving Marks. She was still scared, he could see it in her eyes, but there was curiosity in there as well. She hesitantly walked closer to Mark who tightened his grip on Jack. She stopped a few feet away.

“You’re like them.” Her voice was soft, and the accent was a bit more subdued compared to the man in his arms.

“Yes.” It hadn’t been a question but Mark answered none the less.

“Are ya some kind of demon? I’ve never seen anythin’ like ‘em before, but I’ve heard stories about blood sucking demons and spirits.”

“We’re vampires, though I guess we could be some kind of demon.” Mark smirked a little. They were much closer to the devil than God.

“Vampire? Weird name.” She paused before continuing. “You killed them and saved me and ‘im. Why?”

“It’s what I do. They are monsters that need to be stopped, and what better way to kill a monster than another monster?” She nodded slowly, and he watched as fear slowly faded to trepidation. She didn’t seem to think he would do anything to her, but after the display she just saw, Mark couldn’t blame her for being hesitant.

“What’s your name?” Mark asked, changing the subject.

She hesitated for a moment before responding “Aileen.”

Mark smiled at her, hoping it he was able to put some kind of warmth into it. “Aileen, I’m sorry for what happened to you, what you had to go through,” What you had to witness, “but you are safe now, you can go home. I wouldn’t bother telling anyone the truth though. By the time you’d be able to bring anyone out here to try and prove it, I’ll have disposed of the bodies and cleaned the mess. Tell the locals that the group moved on, and that you had managed to escape.” Mark was hoping she would keep quiet. He needed time to make sure Jack was okay before he got out of here, and having a mob brought on him would complicate things.

Aileen’s lips twitched slightly. “I’m not going ta tell anyone about ya if that’s what yer worried about. You saved my life after all. Besides, they brought me over from the previous town. Guess they liked my company.” She sighed, looking down at her feet, then back at Mark. Her eyes flicked down to Jack, his arms reflexively gripping tighter. “Is he goin’ ta be okay?” Mark nodded.

“I’m going to make sure he gets the attention he needs.” She looked back a Mark, a small smile gracing her lips and she turned to leave. As she was walking she turned back. “You’re not like ‘em, you know. You’re not a monster.” She didn’t wait for a response as she continued on her way. Mark stood there, watching her leave, wishing that those words were true.