I scramble to my feet, the spell in my mind shattering like glass. "Wait!" I  cry out, but the vampire is gone.

Gone like the wind.

My hand touches the side of my neck where her fangs had been, expecting to feel two teeth marks but my skin is smooth, as if it all happened in my head, and none of it was real. Except it was. I know it was. But why did she let me live?

"Naomi! What the hell happened here?" my brother's best friend, Clyde, yells out from my right.

He runs up to me with... no one other than Thana Blade right behind him, her stupid pretty red hair flowing over her shoulders like the Red Sea. Her signature cherry-black hunter's bow is strapped to her back with the sack of arrows, the dark purple strap matching infuriatingly well with her black leather outfit, just like mine except she has the Blade family symbol on the right side of her chest: a silver stake entwined with rose vines. The same symbol is tattooed on her wrist, the red outline of the flower peeking out from under her sleeve.

"Yeah, what happened, Rayne?" She smirks, her blue eyes glinting at me like two sapphires. Two very amused sapphires.

I drop my hand and try to act as normal as possible.

Brushing off the dirt from my clothes, I turn to Clyde. "Nothing. I just fell, that's all."

I'm not exactly lying. After all, I did fall. But I'm still covering up what actually happened. Part of the reason is that I don't want to give Blade the satisfaction of seeing that I managed to let a vampire escape me for the first time. And maybe also because I don't want them to know that I've encountered my first Elite vampire, and she... something happened, something that I still can't figure out.

Clyde scrutinizes me, his face partially concerned and partially not believing me. Who can blame him? I wouldn't be the first human to lie about being bitten by a vampire.

"Alright," he exhales. "Let's just get out of here and go home. Our mission for today is over."

Wait, over? But we're supposed to have one more hour to hunt these... these... bloodsuckers. And I need to find the vamp bitch who had attacked me and... just left without sucking me dry. Why? Why couldn't I kill her? I needed answers.

"But–"

"Naomi!" He glares at me. "You've done enough for today. You too, Thana," he says to my rival, who scoffs in disappointment.

She folds her arms over her chest. "Wait a minute, are you punishing me because of her? You know my goal for today was–"

"I don't care. You two. Home. Now." Without another word, Clyde turns and walks in the direction of town.

With a frustrated sigh, I make sure my brother's hunting knife is safe in my gear before I start to follow him. Just as I pass Blade, she shoves me in the shoulder.

"You're such a bad liar," she snarls. "'I just fell'. What bullshit. You got defeated by a fucking bloodsucker. Did it bite you? Huh? Let me see." She tries to unwrap my collar.

"Get your stupid claws off me, Blade!" I swipe away her hands.

She grins, her perfect white teeth taunting me under the moonlight. "What are you, afraid I'll find something?" She pulls down my jacket, exposing my neck.

"I said stop!" I shove her. She stumbles and falls backward, dragging me down as well thanks to her hold on me. We both crash to the ground, with me landing on top of her. Grabbing my shoulders, she rolls me over so now I'm under her. She exhales, her warm breath on my skin a drastic difference from the Elite's. But only in temperature.

Her smile turns into a smirk. "Look who's the bottom now."

With a growl, I push her off me. "Fuck off."

She gets back to her feet and readjusts her strap, the arrows behind her clinking together. Before she can say another word, Clyde appears between us and stands as a barrier as I get back up.

"You two, I swear if you don't stop fighting like little girls, I'll tell your parents that you can't behave like the twenty-one year old adults that you are supposed to be, which means no more missions. Is that clear?"

He pins us down with a deadly stare until we both nod. If there is one thing to get us to calm down, it's the threat of not being allowed to go on missions. Killing vampires is our life's purpose, and losing that, even temporarily, is not something either of us wants to risk. No matter how much we want to strangle each other to death.

Releasing his hold on us, Clyde resumes walking, all the while keeping his attention on us by looking back every few seconds or so. Blade and I continue to exchange glares, but we keep our distance. But I know she's enjoying this. Any chance I get a reprimand, she practically celebrates.

Plus, Clyde will tell my mother about what happened and whatever story he will concoct, I will have to deal with the scolding that will come right after. And nothing is worse than the cold disappointment from her.

Because unfortunately, as a result of losing to that Elite, not only did I come out of this mission with less kills than Blade, there's a chance that I've been bitten. A chance, because maybe I was just dreaming. After all, I did end up in a place I didn't recognize, without any recollection of how I got there.

That's how dreams work, right?

❀*̥˚───❀*̥˚

My mother's voice is as cold and calculating as her blue eyes. As Head of the Protector Guild  and descendant of one of the oldest vampire hunter families, she sits on a tall stone chair at the end of a fourteen-foot table in a large room under our house known as the 'Meeting Room'. Roughly six chairs sit on each side, with the stone one at the  end. She summoned me immediately after Clyde, Blade, and I returned from the mission.

"So, Clyde informed me that he heard of a commotion before he discovered you, and I quote, 'frantically looking around, crying out 'wait!' as if somebody else has been there". Is there anything you'd like to add pertaining to that statement, Naomi Rayne?"

"Yes, ma'am," I say, carefully thinking over my words. "Clyde must have misheard the 'cry,' and the only 'commotion' that happened was me falling down on my as–"

"Language, young lady," she reminds me.

"-- on my behind, ma'am," I quickly correct my words.

She scrutinizes me, like the respected vampire hunter that she is before pushing up her glasses on top of her raven black hair and letting out a disappointed sigh, one which cuts through my heart like a knife.

"I will choose to believe you. However, that little 'incident' seems to have cost you the most kills for this mission. The first time that has happened in a long while. You have been doing so well with your long streak. I very much hope this will not continue during your next mission coming up in two days."

I bow my head slightly. "No, ma'am. It will not happen again."

"I hope not. Otherwise, you will be a disappointment and a disgrace not only to me and your father, but to your brother as well."

There it is, the words that I hate to hear the most. Disappointment. Disgrace. Especially in my brother's memory, the one main reason why I've embarked on the path of becoming a vampire hunter. That, and the fact that I didn't have a choice anyway since my parents didn't have a second son.

I glance up at her, the corners of my mouth twitching as I resist the urge to say something I'd regret. The light from the chandeliers above us glints off her face, showcasing her high cheekbones and sharp features. Not a wrinkle was in sight, which, for a fifty-seven year old, seems pretty odd, but that's the advantage of having good genetics I guess.

She waves her hand at me. "You are dismissed."

I find my way back to my bedroom, weaving my way through the numerous corridors and staircases illuminated by the ambient lanterns hanging on the walls, each embedded with the Rayne symbol:  a sword-impaled human heart with marks of silver bullets and surrounded by a circle of red-thorned roses. The same symbol etched on my outfit and tattooed on my wrist.

Closing the door, I step in front of the tall, silver mirror in the middle of the room and proceed to undress. I place my brother's knife on top of the walnut table before taking off my leather jacket. Cold air suddenly nips at my exposed arms, despite the room being warm, but I ignore it. I bend my neck to the right to take a look at the place where I felt the Elite's fangs, but there was nothing there. No marks, no change in color, absolutely zero signs that she had bitten me. Maybe she didn't bite me then, and it was just all in my head.

With a relieved sigh, I  relish the feeling of being free from the heavy clothing for a few seconds and pull my skin-tight black shirt over my head, my bra following. Just as I throw them onto the back of my chair, cold air again strikes my skin like tiny needles, except this time it feels much colder, like freezing rain. I glance around my room, especially toward the window that may be open and all that sensation is just wind. But it's closed shut, with not the slightest breeze disturbing the maroon curtains.

And yet, it feels as if something, or someone, is blowing tiny gusts of snow all over my naked upper body, wrapping me in a cold, soft embrace. It's not even unpleasant, to my surprise. It's... exhilarating.

Looking back into the mirror, I notice that my entire skin is pale red, the hue spreading all the way up to my forehead. I take a deep breath, my chest rising as I realize the last time I've felt this. Earlier that night... when I had encountered the Elite.

And that's when her hypnotic whisper spreads through the room, sending chills down my spine. 

"We'll meet again soon, Naomi Rayne."