"Wait for me!" a smooth, high-pitched voice carried on the wind. Caroline looked up from her quick breakfast of bitter coffee and a stale bagel to see a skinny girl with tangled dirty-blonde hair running towards her, her feet splashing in every puddle. The mine shaft lift gate started to lower and the girl reached the lift just as it started descending. Caroline could feel her face stretching into an amused smirk, and she tried to force her lips back into a straight line before the girl noticed.

Caroline leaned against her rusty pick and, in the dim firelight emitted from her lantern, read the small, crumpled roll of paper she held between her pointer finger and her thumb.

-Make a dagger

-Find vampire poison orbs

-Find vampire suppression crystals

-Steal processed vampire serum from Vampire Slayers Drugstore

Easier said than done.

As the mine shaft lift aligned itself with the floor, a cold draft blew through the dark corridors, echoing through the stone like an eerie chorus of voices. Caroline shivered. She almost wished that the girl had made it to the lift before the gate closed. Caroline took a deep breath which was more rock-dust than air and, choosing a path at random, marched down the corridor. Before long, she reached a cluster of rich inky-black crystals, glimmering in the flickering lantern-light. 

She set down her lantern on a relatively flat outcrop of rock that jutted sharply out from the wall, picked up her rusted tool, and began hacking away at the crystals, sure the old stone walls would collapse in on her each time her pick connected with the wall.

An hour later, drenched in sweat, she sat propped against the wall with a small cluster of crystal shards lying around her. Another cold draft swept through the tunnel, causing a few crystals to go skittering across the floor and making the lanterns above her flicker dangerously. Despite her exhaustion, she hefted her pick and collected the shards she'd acquired, then took a swig from her flask and strolled down the corridor, picking up her lantern on the way. She passed several signs along the way, letting them guide her towards the more inhabited areas of the mine shaft. Once she'd reached the small city, she casually walked around, trying to pretend she fit in so she wouldn't be arrested, and tried to find the blacksmiths forges. She spotted the Vampire Slayers Drugstore first, but ignored it as it would be easier to make an unnoticed getaway with stolen goods at the end. 

When she finally found the forges, she wandered far from the drugstore, which meant she'd have to retrace her steps which really bummed her out, as she was tired and sweaty. So when the blacksmith asked her what she wanted crafting, she just handed him her reminder note, carefully folding the last reminder over so it was hidden from view. He nodded and handed her note back almost instantly. As she waited, she watched customers slowly trickle into the store one by one. Good thing she'd gotten here early, or she'd be waiting a while.

When the dagger was finally forged, she held it an arm's length from her face, studying the dagger and noticing every imperfection. To be fair, there were little of them. Satisfied, she sheathed the dagger and walked back to the drugstore, as poison orbs were likely to be out of stock with so many customers about. As she was about to go into the drugstore, she noticed a tangle of dirty blonde hair waiting outside the orphanage, which gave out free scraps of leftover food everyday at noon. Now that Caroline could see her clearly, she could see that the girl was as skinny as a scarecrow and definitely needed more food than one bowlful of scraps a day. Caroline found herself feeling sorry for the girl, and, uncharacteristically, she decided she was going to buy food for her. After all, she did need a cover story to get her out of that shop. No one just went in and out of Vampire Slayers Drugstore without buying anything after all. 

She slipped through the old western bar style double doors and headed straight for the serum. Luck was on her side, and few people were wandering the store. Glancing around to make sure there really was no one watching, she pocketed a dozen, then, since the opportunity presented itself, she also nicked a couple of poison orbs of the shelf, deciding she might as well pay for those as well. She tucked her leather pouch of loot underneath the flannel she'd tied around her waist. The various other knick-knacks bouncing around her waist helped disguise the small lump the loot bag raised. Then, she headed over to the food section, which consisted of several shelves of stale bread and cold canned soup, and pulled off six loaves. She unloaded her baggage at the counter, where a scruffy man smoking an old fashioned pipe leaned against the desk. He glanced at the products, then spoke gruffly, "That'll be twenty dollars."

She handed him a note and he went cross-eyed looking at it, then rifled through his cashier and pulled out a twenty and a ten. She pocketed them and shoved the food into her backpack, then carefully put the orbs in the front pocket of her over-sized shirt. Then, she braced herself and walked up to the girl in the line. She dragged her out by the shirt and unzipped her bag, handing her a loaf of bread. The girl looked up at her, her eyes sparkling with disbelief. 

"Well, eat it. I didn't buy it for nothing!" Caroline rolled her eyes.

As the girl tore into the bread, Caroline noticed the roots of her hair were a bright flame-red. She looked the girl up and down, quickly evaluating her newest companion. The way she held herself, even in her current state, hinted that until recently she'd lived a life of royalty. Even the ravenous way she ate was well mannered, as she ate in small bits, not biting off more than she could chew, which suggested she'd been brought up as high class and taught manners from early on. Last of all, her clothes were a dead giveaway to the eye of someone who knew what they were looking for. They were torn and dirty, but from a close distance it was quite obviously a royal dress, silky turquoise with gold trim and black lace. She'd found a royal runaway.

In those days, royal runaways were as common as sparrows. They were in almost every inhabited area and they weren't always the brightest, as they usually didn't bother to disguise themselves. This girl had at least dyed her hair, which would have made her extremely easy to spot since it was a distinct bright red. 

"Your hair needs a touch-up," was all Caroline could think of to say.

The girl was so startled by this comment she dropped her half eaten bread into a shallow pile of hay. Her face twisted in disgust, but she pulled the bread out and continued to nibble at it.

"Oh it's okay, I just felt like trying a new colour combination, dirty blonde with red roots?" she shrugged.

Caroline sighed, "You're a terrible liar."

She sagged. "Please don't tell anyone! I just wasn't cut out to be a princess, and ever since my parents had a son, they've been looking at me different, like I'm an unwanted pest. i was sure they were going to kill me last night..."

Caroline softened a bit. "It's okay, there's no need to let anyone know. Hey, what's your name anyway?"

She looked dubious, but she held out her hand. "Erin."

Caroline accepted Erin's handshake, then slipped one arm around her bony shoulders and gently guided her towards the mine shaft lift.

"Say, Erin, I'm the leader of a group, the Vampire Hunters, you ever heard of them?" she nodded eagerly. "Well," she continued. "I was wondering if you wanted to join my fine band of rascals, seeing as you're on the run yourself. Many of us were on the run to begin with, so you'd fit right in!"

Erin was about to reply, but she was cut off by the shrieking of the Vampire Slayers Drugstore owner.

"Somebody's nicked some o' my serum they have! Find the little weasel before they get away wit'it!"

A dozen guards seemed to melt out from the rock, and they started jogging around at an easy pace. A couple passed near where Caroline and Erin were, and Caroline gulped. The legends were true when they said that the mine shaft city was guarded by men of stone. The guards were made entirely of stone!

"How about we run first, ask questions later?" I joked.

"Agreed," she nodded.

We sprinted for the lift.