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We'd been tracking the vampire for three nights and the idiot didn't even know it. He hadn't killed anyone on the other nights, so we were sure tonight was going to be the night and we'd finally see some action. Killing him before he found a victim would've been ideal, but we needed to observe and make sure we wouldn't be in for any surprises. As clueless as the guy seemed, surprises weren't on the horizon for this kill. he 'we' in the situation was myself and my mentor, homas. homas had rescued me five years prior during a vampire attack on my family. !y father, mother, two older brothers and older sister had all been killed in the attack. Why " was spared and who the vampire was that killed everyone " loved hadn't been revealed to me. "'d hoped one day " would figure the senseless act out. " slept in the same room as my sister and it should've been natural for the vampire to move on to me after he or she was done with !argaret. homas had been tracking the evil being that caused the carnage and made it into the house not long after the vampire had left me sleeping in my bed. " never understood how " slept through the screams that homas informed me could be heard throughout the woods we lived in. hat was something " always liked about homas, he never kept anything from me, even the really bad stuff. " was lucky that he took pity on me and started teaching me how to hunt the creatures of the night. At fourteen, " was too young in his book to start fighting vampires with their superior strength and speed, but " didn't care. " wanted to kill them all for taking away my family. We started small and " mostly watched as he went about his business. He trained me during the day where to stab and how to fight and for my si#teenth birthday he finally let me get my first kill. After that, " never looked back. $omehow " knew "'d never found the specific one " was looking for. homas had been tracking him prior to the night we met, but he never got a good look at him, so " was working on %ust instincts when it came to identifying him. he world had a lot fewer people in it back then, so " assumed it was only a matter of time before " would finally meet and kill the beast that destroyed my life. homas assured me that vampires tended to remain in the area they decided to hunt. hey couldn't travel during the day and they had issues trusting humans to see after them when the sun's rays were shining. " knew the vampire we were following that night wasn't the one " wanted, but it never mattered. hey all killed the humans they fed from and " had taken it upon myself to fight for the human race against them. &ntil " died or all of them were dead, " was going to continue my fight. As we got further into the woods the vampire was leading us into, " started to become concerned. He was heading away from town and homas had been sure the vampire needed to feed. 'eeding was a little difficult when you didn't have a victim. ()on't worry little one,* a deep voice said from directly behind me. (+our companion will feed him well.* ,efore " could spin to figure out how someone had sneaked up on us and how " could kill it, ice cold hands gripped my arms on each side and held me immobilized. homas didn't have the same problem and spun with his crossbow aimed at my head. " didn't take offense because my head was directly in front of the vampire's chest. " made eye contact with homas and smiled. We both knew that if he couldn't get a clear shot, " wasn't going to be alive much longer. he kill came before either of our lives and as strong as the vampire had to have been for us not to pick up on him following us, he had to be killed. -ampires were tricky and could be stealthy when they wanted to, but most of the ones "'d come across were too stupid to realize the simple facts. (Hurry up and shoot, the other vampire isn't going to be idle for long and you've got your back to him,* " instructed homas. ($uch a brave one, my Helena. " should let you know that a bolt to the chest wouldn't hurt me and " would never allow you to be killed, so your re.uest will have to be left unanswered.* he hands holding me pulled me back into the body behind me as he talked. he coldness caused me to shiver and " tried to move away, but he held firm. he fact that he knew my name didn't settle well with me. homas and " were recluses and stayed away from townfolk as much as possible. " couldn't spend long pondering where a vampire could've come across my name, though. He sounded certain that wood to the heart wouldn't catch him on fire, which was unheard of from

what "'d witnessed during my days of hunting. (+ou're a primary,* homas said with a hint of worry that "'d never heard in his voice before then. He kept his crossbow trained on me, but made no move to pull the trigger. " still had my wooden dagger in my hand, but my range of motion was too limited to try to use it. " moved my right foot to stomp on the vampire's in hope that he would loosen his grip, but " received no reaction from my attempt. /rimary wasn't a word " was familiar with when it came to vampires. "'d thought homas had taught me everything he knew, but he must have forgotten a bit because primary sounded like it was a very important distinction. " guessed that it meant he was harder to kill, but everything could be killed in some way and " hoped homas knew what would take care of the vampire. (" am the primary, if that's what you want to call me, and Helena is hurt you didn't inform her of the possibility of my e#istence. "'m going to have to teach her a lot of things in the years to come that " had hoped you would take care of. " thank you for taking as good care of her as you have, as surprising as that is, but your services are no longer needed.* (" have no idea what you mean,* homas responded. (" see. 0hildren, why don't you come out of the woods1 " want to get Helena home and settled before the sun even thinks about rising.* " didn't like the sound of anything the creature said. "t was clear he was able to read my mind and that disturbed me almost as much as the idea of him wanting to take me home with him. " gave homas a pleading look to let him know he should %ust shoot the bolt even if it wouldn't kill the thing behind me. here was no way " would make it out of the situation alive from my point of view. homas moved his finger slightly, but stopped as we listened to leaves crunching under the feet of multiple people. " was able to see five vampires make their way out of the woods in front of me and " had a feeling there may have been more behind us. 2ne of the vampires " saw in the clearing was the one we'd been chasing and he smiled and waved at me he look of hatred he received in return didn't need an e#planation. he rest of the vampires " could see were all males and they all seemed to be overly happy about something. 0atching two hunters in the woods was most likely the highlight of their week. ("'m sorry, Helena. " don't know of anything with me that would kill him and if he wants you alive, he won't allow the bolt to hit. All " can really do is chose how " die,* homas said as he flipped the weapon around in front of his chest with the bolt pointing at his chin. (3o,* " yelled not wanting to see homas die. He'd been my family for five years and the thought of him being gone along with my actual family was difficult to even think about. His finger pulled on the trigger, but the bolt didn't move. He continued trying to get the thing to fire a few more times before moving it away from his chest to get a closer look at it. he vampires had all stopped moving and were %ust looking on in amusement. (+ou want him to live1* the vampire behind me asked. " almost didn't respond to him because the .uestion seemed rhetorical. (+es, " want him to live.* " stared at homas and tried to read what was going on in his mind. here was no emotion other than hatred on his face and " already understood where that was coming from. here were many reasons " wanted homas alive, but the main one " could come up with was because he was the best hunter " knew. "f the vampire behind me didn't want me killed, " knew he was planning on turning me and that meant " would need homas one day soon. (" had planned to feed my children with him and they are going to be greatly disappointed if " grant your wish. +ou don't want that, do you1* he monster leaned down so his mouth was ne#t to my neck and he started gently nibbling. (As you've already guessed, you will be one of us very soon and you don't want to start off on the wrong foot.* His nibbling disgusted me and " started to feel my stomach roll. " hated feeling his touch at all, but his mouth touching my skin was over the line. " tried kicking with my legs, but he %ust held on and continued licking and teasing my skin with his teeth. (" want to kill every one of your children, so them being disappointed means very little to me. "t's bad enough you have me locked in your arms, do you really have to play with my neck like that1 "t's rather gross.* he thing didn't seem to like my words because he stopped playing around and bit down hard to break my skin. " gasped at the pain and felt his left hand move from my arm over to my stomach so he could hold me

tighter against him. he pain was brutal, but it didn't last long when he removed his teeth and %ust started sucking on the wound. " knew the little bite wasn't meant to turn me or even start the process. He seemed to be savoring me and it was enough distraction for me to grab the dagger out of my right hand and stab him in the thigh with my freed left hand. "t should have at least caused him pain, but he didn't even move away from his spot on my neck. "n fact, it only caused his body to grind into the back of mine and a slight moan, that sounded nothing like pain, to escape his lips. He bit down again, probably to get the blood flowing better, and " grabbed the dagger out of his leg. !y first idea didn't work and that left me with few options. His hand blocked my stomach, so " aimed higher hoping "'d be able to push through my bones from the awkward angle. " looked up at homas and saw him shake his head slightly. " didn't understand the move and it didn't stop me as " %erked my hand towards my chest with as much force as " could. " felt the tip of the dagger make it to my flesh before my hand was halted. he vampire hadn't moved and " was unclear on what had stopped me. " tried again and the second time " found the dagger flying out of my hand. " heard laughter come from the vampires surrounding us and realized someone was playing tricks on me. he one behind me swiped his tongue up my neck and straightened himself back up. ( hat will do for now. oo much more and you'll make me forget why we're all here. homas, as you apparently are called, if " let you live, do you promise to be a good little boy and stop killing vampires1 !y bride seems to have it in her mind that with you alive there will be a chance that she won't live long as one of us. "'m sure by now you've realized how foolish her way of thinking is, but " want to make sure you understand the situation. +ou've been chasing after something for a number of years and you're not going to find what you've been looking for.* (" understand who you are and that there is nothing " can do to stop you from claiming her and no way " can put her out of her misery once you've finished with her.* $omething in homas' voice seemed alien to me. (" can assure you that her life will be very en%oyable and misery won't be an emotion she'll ever feel again.* (+ou don't know Helena as well as you think you do if that's the case. "'ve taught her to hate your kind, not that you didn't help that along by killing her entire family. Why didn't you take her along with you back then1 $he'll never be happy now that she knows the truth about your kind.* " had figured out the basic identity of the vampire behind me, so " wasn't surprised by homas' words. " %ust wished " could do something to kill the monster. " hadn't e#pected to find some super vampire when " finally met up with the murderer. ("t wouldn't have made any difference, homas. " would have hated him no matter what.* ($uch bold words and you don't even know me yet. "'ll have to do something about changing your mind. How about " promise to let homas live, even though he hasn't made any promises to me as far as killing my children goes1* (" want that, but it in no way will change my opinion about you. +ou're a killer and belong in a pile of ash on the ground.* (We'll have to agree to disagree on that thought for now. homas is allowed to leave and you have two minutes to say good4bye, you will find " can be very generous and " sense you have a few things you'd like to ask the man. 0hildren, the town is yours since you're being denied the hunter. 5at your fill, but no death. !y bride seems to have an issue with it.* he vampire released my arms and gave me a tiny shove forward. " sensed he made no move to leave the clearing while the others ran off. " didn't bother to turn to verify as " ran over to homas and wrapped my arms around his waist. ("'m so sorry,* he said holding my head to his chest as he petted my hair. (" should have found someone to take care of you instead of allowing you into this world.* ()o you really think that would've made a difference. He's deranged and has obviously developed an unhealthy fascination with me. He's called me his bride and licked me. )o you know how gross that was1* (We've never talked about it before, but " assumed your mama had taught you about the things between a husband and wife. 0ain, seems to think that's how it's going to be between you two and " don't think he's ever been told no.* (0ain1* " asked confused. homas had said he never saw the vampire that attacked my family, but he seemed to know him by name. ("f he is who he claims to be, that is his name. "'ve only heard rumors that he actually e#isted and never e#pected to find him in our woods. " won't be able to kill you if he makes you himself, which " suspect is his plan. He is a lot stronger than " imagined he'd be. "'ll find a way to help you though. " don't know how, yet, but "

will make you human again.* (Ah, " hoped to let you two have your moment, but you really shouldn't waste your life that way, homas. $he won't be leaving my side from this day forward and she will be a vampire by the end of the week. " highly doubt you will take her from me or be able to find a cure. +ou should spend your life having a family of your own. Helena and " will be starting ours soon and it will be cute if our child grows up to chew on yours.* " stiffened hearing what the plan for me was. homas had been right in assuming !other had taught me the ways between a man and woman, but " didn't want to have that type of a relationship with a vampire. " had always hoped in the whimsical way a young girl does that homas would eventually be the one " ended up having a family with. (-ampires can't have children,* " pointed out something that " thought was obvious. homas had assured me of that much when " worried early on about how fast new vampires could be made. 5verything " knew about vampires had come from homas and " trusted his teachings. (We are %ust going to have to prove everyone wrong. 3ow, homas if you would be so kind to release my bride, we can be on our way. We have a lot of distance to cover in a short amount of time.* (" don't want to go with him,* " said holding on to homas tighter. (And " wish " didn't have to stand by and watch him take you. +ou've been family to me, Helena and no matter what he says, "'m going to find a way to bring you back to me.* ("'ll hold you to that. 3o matter what he does, " promise to remember what you've taught me and maybe "'ll be able to help our cause from the inside for a while.* " worked to hold on as he tried to work my arms off him. (0ain is getting agitated from you touching me, darling. " don't think his promise to let me live will last much longer if you continue holding on and we need to say good4bye for now so " can get to town and help those who will need it once the vampires are done. +ou've seen what they can do and even if they've been told to keep everyone alive, that doesn't mean they won't make a mess.* " felt like crying, but " kept the tears at bay as " backed away from homas. !y fate seemed to be sealed and others needed him. ("'ll see you soon, homas,* " said trying to make the words true even though " worried they weren't. (As soon as " have a solution to the problem, Helena. ry to get him to allow you a few more days in the sun if you can. 5ven if he can't see it, you are a creature of the light.* ("'ll do what " can,* " replied. homas grabbed and held my hand for a split second before he took off running through the forest. " was left alone with a vampire that seemed resolute on ending my life. "t ranked as the second worst night of my life and " had a feeling it was %ust beginning.