enter the vampire gauntlet…

__________________

I’m just an ordinary vampire in this god-forsaken world.

The people down below, the mundane, don’t know that hungry eyes are watching them. Lucky for them, ignorance is bliss.

For a century and a half, being a warrior, a watcher, and a loyal servant of the House of our Lord Waurgahn, I’ve grown tiresome.

Until that night…

It was no ordinary night. It made my blood boil.

Moira.

My comrade in arms since the Wolfpack Slaughters was on watch with me. We’ve made a good team throughout the decades. While a metamorphic showing up irregular these past years, we’ve played this game. It became a popular game among the watchers alike. A game where one of us is the bait and the other is the lifesaver. It is referred as My Saviour. The trick is, once we lured the morphic after the bait, the lifesaver waits for a specific amount of time before helping out and either catch it for interrogation or mark another one for the slaughter. Also, to make it these kinds of nights more interesting, we’ve made the waiting period longer. It made it so much better. It brought the word fun to a new level. It made the monotony wash away and stirred the blood once in a while. It was our lifeline.

What’s the use if it doesn’t make you feel alive inside?

This time, waiting longer meant a mistake that will never be forgotten.

I blame myself for this. I was the stronger one. I was the one with more experience. Apparently I wasn’t the faster one nor wise as my fellow clansman claim I’m to be. Although I considered her my equal, her respect for me went beyond that.

Passage un mille duex cent cinquante.

Run one thousand two hundred and fifty. This is the number of games we played so far between us. It could be more. It could be less. When centuries pass, you tend to lose count, so far as I know it, it could be one hundred thousand or hundred fifty but I digress. I do that from time to time.

Back to the game, the first one to spot the prey automatically becomes the lifesaver. So with keen and cautious eyes observing the sporadic crowd below, I’d almost dismissed it. The subtlety of this particular prey hinted enough and gave him away. I waited for a few more seconds to let Moira spot it but it was good enough to fool her too. So I’d motioned to her that the game is afoot and judging from her expression on her face, she was obviously perturbed that she didn’t spot it first. So I gave a mocking bow and there she went. Effortlessly, from the ledge to the air, she flew down gracefully. In a way, it was almost poetic.

I admit there’s more to our comradeship but like any bare woman’s neck, it’s like gravity, I’m drawn to it no matter how much I resist. The warrior in me reminds me of this nonsense, otherwise it’s futile. It’s the thirst that gets to me until the very moment I see the sun for the first time…as a vampire.

Her unfaltering instincts made her stand out in our lot of warriors. In other’s eyes, especially the upper class bureaucrats were another story. You see, she’s not of pure blood. She was merely turned by our previous Lord of the Blood Rising two centuries ago. Many hated her and thought she should be banned from the order and to live with the lower class, the mundane. That’s pure bullshit. As the years passed with countless assassination attempts since her turning, she was still able to climb to the top of our social structure. She earned it. She proved herself time after time, again and again.

Even after this entire struggle, few considered it was an insult for me to have such an outcast by my side. A half-breed like myself got more respect than that. However, none, not even one and not even a whisper, was said that to my face. “Hell to be paid” would’ve been an understatement if it happened. I guess having a Count as my father coursing through my blood had to do something to do with it but I’ve had my fair share of discrimination of having a human mother. Like myself, Moira and my mother never got the full respect that a true vampire richly deserves. All I can say is, we’re not the only ones that went or gone through this.

Again, back to the game.

Before the stroke of midnight, Moira made it’s way into the crowd below and searched for a suitable place for the right moment to begin the run. This portion was called the gauntlet. This is where we let the morphic catch our scent but since the night was damp and cold, it made it much harder. Since it’s an animal, it also had natural instincts that it was being followed. Because about a half a dozen times, Moira hid stealthily between the mundane, cracks and shadows before the morphic turned around. This shows two traits of themselves, suspicious and more to the point stupid.

The way she moves and operates, she’s good. In more ways I can admit, better. Better than I am. Maybe it’s youth. Maybe it’s stale blood. Maybe it’s the effects of boredom and growing tiresome in this day in age. But whatever it is, I’ve already had a head start. I digressed again didn’t I?

Down below the gauntlet had begun and I can foresee the path Moira was going to take. It led to an abandoned church. It was big enough to handle a small insignificant battle and being a forgotten holy place, no one will be the wiser to investigate it.

Once she got close enough she hid again with the intention of being caught. The morphic slowly backtracked and was able to see her. Soon enough, she stood in plain sight. Her aura beckons him with a passion that makes it drool. She purposely threw a silver bladed dagger and the morphic easily deflected it. Even though they arrogantly think that they were only people in the area, all around, the mundane paused and took notice. They nervously backed away. Some however ran away. To them, they see two ordinary mundanes starting a fight. To Moira and the morphic, two rivals dating back to the Age of No Sun, waited and wanting to fight in their natural form.

From that moment on I had an oddest feeling. I noticed Moira looked to her right that caught her attention but I couldn’t see what it was from where I was standing. My gut feeling was to go now and investigate but I didn’t move. Remembering back to that second, I still don’t know why I didn’t. Maybe I wanted to see how she handled things that were unexpected. I’m still not sure. Looking back at it now. I should’ve gone with my first gut feeling.

Moira turned around and ran. I took it as the sign for the gauntlet actually to begin. Soon after, the morphic followed her as expected. They both traveled through series of passageways throughout the town leading to the barely lit path to the abandoned church. I see that Moira made it in first. Then the morphic approached and halted just before the entrance. Again I should’ve gone but the curiosity got to me therefore I waited again. Then the morphic changed into its true form, a werewolf. He howled like the animal he was. He looked left then he looked right. Seconds later, two other morphics came into view and changed form at the same time. This is when I decided to go, which was way too long as our game permitted. From afar, their eyes gradually intensified neon red as if they absorbed the power of the moon and entered one at a time.

It was a setup from a setup and my blood started to boil.

I deduced that they finally picked up on our game over the years and somehow turned that game for their advantage or pleasure for that matter.

How could I be such a fool? How could I be so arrogant to think that this was going to be an easy slaughter? This guilt is the price I’m paying now.

I made my way down to the ground and through the passageways to the abandoned church with a vengeance. I believe I’ve knocked down about a dozen mundanes without knowing it. I didn’t care and arrogantly, I doubt they were able to do something about it. It’s not like there pathetic existence is worth noticing but again, without them, there will be no food chain.

Time is running out as if my blood was draining and I can’t stop it. And for the first time, I lost my composure no less self-control.

So be it.

From the sounds coming from within the abandoned church it sounded like a slaughter. But who’s getting slaughtered? I’m afraid with the odds against Moira, it might be her.

__________________

being bored one time ago while watching this type of movie I came up with this…and no…it wasn’t twilight.