White Eyes [Ciroton]

The Lady of Eyes watched the woman run off to the inn. And she wondered why the redhead wouldn't believe her; and she hated that. It was like when a child try to say something about his innocence, but no one would believe that he was not guilty. That child would be frustrated--and would have a right to lash out when no one wanted to believe or listen.

And Jessica felt like doing that right now... but she wasn't just like that. She'd have to set up another talk with the hunter again--in person, this time.

From the information she had gathered, the next town over wasn't a town at all; but the ruins of one. She heard it was old and burnt; ashes scattered everywhere. No one bothered to rebuild or even use it as a shelter... "No one goes there, anymore." They said.

So she would be the first in a long time, then. Her mist form took low, close to the streets as it spread out, thinning so that no one would notice. She wouldn't run there, but float; something she never usually did.

Waking the next morning, the hunter went about town to gather supplies. Despite the commination caused by the ‘Lady Eyes’ clones running rampant in the street for a short while, everything ran like normal. However, long periods of time displaced Kristina from the rest of the world, the sounds a fruitful market pounding her eardrums, making her hasten her escape into the country.

Ah, now this is the life, the ‘White Rabbit’ thought as the silence of the trees filler her ears again. Although she moved swiftly towards the next town, she still took some time to enjoy her Lord’s creations. However, as she drew closer to the town, their last exchange of words bothered her.

“I did not kill that person.”

“Frankly, I don’t care if you killed them or not, because sooner or later you would’ve killed someone else. Nothing personal, but demons are demons, and vampires are vampires.”

“So you hate me for what I am?”

“Yup, you nailed it. Or rather, it will be me nailing you with a wooden stake to the heart soon enough. Not even a vampire can run forever.”

She had no clue why they bothered her so, but a still, small voice in the back of her head told her to listen to her if they ever spoke again. The odds of that were slim to none, or so Kris thought. Nonetheless, she’d give her a chance to explain herself.

*/\/\/\*/\/\/\*/\/\/\*

All things considered, Kristina arrived at the town in record time, the day just beginning to die. However, she found the town in ruins. Collapsed buildings, charred to cinders and ash, littered the edge of the broken cobblestone streets. Approaching the former Town Square, she wanted to pin the blame for this on the vampire… however, weeds growing In between the stones told her this happened a long time ago.

The crunching footsteps of her shoes came to an abrupt halt when she came to the square. For, standing right in the center was '‘Lady Eyes’. At first, her instincts told her to jump in and attack, but she reminded herself that she would at least hear her out. She approached the vampire cautiously.

"It was a Witch-hunt."

She remembered one of her informants telling her about this town. How it turned into this burnt, desolate, ruined place. In her head, she heard the person's voice go on and on about a strong vampire who lived in this town and preyed on the people. After a while, due to fear, the people abandoned their homes, only to return with torches and pitchforks, crucifixes.

"The witch," he said "was trapped in the center of town near the dry, old stone well... couldn't flee into the buildings as they were on fire, couldn't run through the street because of the people."

As the words went through her mind, she imagined this; and her power seemingly made it a reality as she stood over the old well. She watched the battalions of angry villagers carrying torches shout and curse the vampire's name. And the woman, the vampire--who she couldn't put a face to--pale as the moonlight, clutching her heart and baring her fangs threateningly.

"They say she threw herself into the dry well... and they poured holy water after her. They assumed she was dead, but... they didn't even hear her scream."

Jessica sniffed the air around the well--and mixed in with the scent of ashes was the stale scent of water, blood, and of course... a vampire. But the scent was stale, extremely so. Perhaps the villager was right, the thing was dead--and as she heard the crunching of footsteps behind her, she was reminded of the purpose for being here.

"I knew you would come, Hunter..." she didn't know how to address this woman, but as she softly spoke, she turned and gave a polite bow.

"I don't want this to continue--I did not kill that person... I didn't kill anyone. I'm just a traveling magician."

Bull. How could anyone fall for such a cheap trick? Kristina pondered on her words, trying to find something to get her on. Suddenly, a thought sprung to her mind like the jaws of a bear trap shutting tight. “Prove to me you didn’t kill that woman, or anyone else,” the hunter replied simply.

The question seemed to cause an awful lot of thinking on her part, as it took a second for her to answer. “Ah, but can you prove I killed her?” She replied, folding her arms. “For all you know, I just stumbled upon her when you came around the corner, which is exactly what happened!” It may have been the emphasis she placed on her last few words, or she was beginning to get annoyed.

Although, the vampire raised a good point. She had no physical evidence to blame her as the cause of the woman’s death. Ah, but she was still a vampire, regardless. “You’re still a vampire, and as a demon hunter, I am duty-bound to hunt down and destroy any vampire, demon, or other dangerous creature I encounter!” There could be no way for her to escape that logic.

“Well then,” she replied smartly. “I guess I’m ‘duty-bound’ as a vampire to drink your blood, even though I don’t need to drink blood very often, and even then only drink from animals, as I was raised to.” She stood adamant near the old well, falling not to the billowing winds of the hunter’s contests.

As the minutes passed, she quickly felt her justification slipping from her, little by little. She was still a vampire, but she didn’t drink human blood, or so she said, but she probably couldn’t prove that. Kris paused, trying to think of another argument.

Jessica watched the hunter for a few moments as the wind kicked up dust and ashes all around them. And in that silent moment, peace reigned... but not in their minds. Jessica had observed that the redhead was thinking of something; probably another one of her ‘beliefs’ to throw on her, just for the sake of an argument, and somehow proving that Jessica did murder that person—which she did not.

A scent caught the vampire’s nose, and she sniffed the air... and wrinkled her nose. The smell came from the hunter, who seemed to have not taken a bath in at least a week. It wasn’t the first time she had smelled this; she took the scent in before, each time the hunter had appeared, but Jessica didn’t realize it was the girl’s scent right then.

Standing around doing nothing was... doing nothing. Jessi felt that she had to end this right now.

“You’d be dead already... if I truly was a murdering vampire.”

The Lady of Eyes turned away, ready to walk out on this and leave this all behind when a second scent tickled her nose. Blood... but it was fresh... and overwhelming. So overpowering that it seemed to only be there to mask another scent... a familiar scent that rushed her back to a single moment so long ago...

“Vampire...” she took a step back, spinning around, having no idea where the scent was coming from. The birds that were nearby flew off, cawing, warning of impending danger; but she couldn’t hear them over the sound of her panicked breathing.

Just as the woman was going to give chase to the fleeing vampire, she stopped. The act left her perplexed, since it seemed as though she just hit a brink wall. The vampire turned on her heel suddenly, causing the hunter to jump back a little. However, she did nothing. It seemed as though she were… looking for something.

“Vampire…” Kristina heard her say.

Vampire!? There was more then one of those sins against God around? Kris wanted to say she had hired this second vampire to help kill the hunter, but she looked just as surprised as she did. Birds perched a while away flew into the sky, escaping from the horror about to come. Sometimes, the hunter wished she had wings to escape danger too.

However, she was stuck on the ground, with little method of escape. Hearing the collapse of burnt wood in the distance, the woman forgot all about ‘Lady Eyes.’ If it frightened another vampire, obviously the one coming was far stronger then her.

The situation looked grave. So grave, in fact, that the hunter decided to flee before it was too late.

“My dear, where are you running off to so quickly?” Came the voice of a woman from across the square.

It was too late.

Turning around, the woman felt a dagger enter he heart. “No… but… how?” It was the woman she sat beside during the show.

“I must admit,” the woman spoke, coming into full view. “I thought you would take care of this pest quite easily. I am disappointed.” The ‘pest’ she referred to had to be ‘Lady Eyes.’ The regal woman wore a long, blood red dress. Green designs adorned the gown, giving it a rich, noble feel to it. Her black hair dangled down her back to her shoulder blades, flowing in the light wind of the ally. The steel Grey in her eyes looked upon the two with hunger as she continued speaking.

“I guess this means I’ll have to kill you both myself.”

“Wait, what!?” Kristina gasped. “Why would a filthy vampire kill her own kin?” It was then the woman realized, much to her anger, that she hadn’t had a bath in a week.

“I don’t need this little b**** taking my territory, you bigoted hunter. I’d rather kill her and have all the humans here to myself.”

Casting a quick glance to ‘Lady Eyes’, she saw the troubled look on her face. “We’ll just leave. I don’t want any trouble.” Kris quickly nodded in agreement, a first, she figured, for a hunter and her prey.

“No, I don’t think I’ll be doing that. I’d rather kill you, then scatter your blood across my borders as a warning to any vampires who may come later.”

The hunter felt her heart sink, and looked ‘Lady Eyes’ in her namesake. She wanted to formulate a plan, maybe even try and kill the vampire. However, he gut feeling told her they could not win. “Run!” Kris shouted to her former prey. For the time being, she’d listen to her plight. Besides, this older woman seemed more bloodthirsty anyway.

Quickly, the two ran the closest street, the thousand-year old vampire sighing. “Why do they always want to do this the hard way?”

"We should split up...!" Jessi told her; but at that exact moment, the hunter seemed to realize that her prey was quite possibly using this situation to escape. This annoyed the young vampire a lot; this redhead who did not bathe as often as she should read all vampires as monsters.

This made her slightly angry as well, reminding her of the demonic humans who took away her mother; and she felt that this person was no different: determined to rid the world of the scourge, going so far as to falsely accuse someone just to have a God-given reason to murder another living--or sort of living--being, because the stereotype made them all monsters.

And...while she could be a total monster if she put her mind to it, right now, there was a real monster chasing them.

At that moment, she felt the hunter's hand on her shoulder, as if they were in this 'together'. They were, but if they split up, it would be easier for them to escape. The hand gripped her tighter as the sound of shrieks closed in, getting closer and closer.

Bats...

"Let go of me, and run...!" Jessica slapped Kris's hand away and immediately started in a sprint away, heading straight into the unwelcoming fog that was beginning to settle.

There was no time to protest, no time to stop her, no time to get away. If the stories she heard were true, then this vampire could catch up to either in the blink of an eye. Yet, subconsciously, she knew she had a point. Besides, if she lost her, she could just pick up the trail again… if she hadn’t grown weary of vampires by the night’s end.

Darting off down the other ally, predictably, half the bats decided to follow her. Here eyes darted around the ruins in a mild panic, looking for something, anything to use against them if they caught up to her. The thought they were merely playing with her emerged from the back of her mind, causing her stomach to drop. If worse came to worse, how could she fight off so many bats, or a powerful vampire?

Drat! For once, I wish I were a witch! She thought bitterly. She’d helped arrest a couple of witches in the past, and they could deal with problems like this with a wave of their arm! If it didn’t mean selling her soul to the devil, she’d try to get magic so fast… alas, she couldn’t.

Turning a sharp corner, she thanked God that it wasn’t a dead end. How absurd would that be, anyway? Still, as the bats began to catch up, she felt her breath begin to shorten and her chest grow tight. To save energy, she resorted to hopping great distances in a single bound. Happily, this threw off her pursuer… or rather, pursuers quite a bit.

Quickly hopping around a corner, she came to a dead end… but jumped clear over it. Now, why didn’t she think of that before? It would’ve saved less time worrying and more time on trying to get away. The bats now flew like a black hurricane towards her, just able to keep gaining ground. However, she knew she couldn’t keep this up all night while the old vampire probably could.

Trying to throw her off with another sharp turn, without any warning at all, she ran straight into ‘Lady Eyes’ of course. She toppled headlong over the traveling performer, and she too the same, coming to rest a few feet from each other. The bats reunited to form the shape of the vicious vampire once more.

“Well, well, well. I do believe your flight is quite over, Ms. Hunter and Ms. Intruding-scum.” She spoke softly as the two winded women began to stand once more. “Why not just go quietly? It would make it oh so much easier for all of us.”

"W-wait...!" Jessica stood firm in front of the hunter, facing the vampire, "What is it you want?"

The older vampire seemed to be startled at this slightly out-of-place question. It was an odd thing to ask to one such as her; the answers would've just simply be "blood", "more blood", "punishment for encroaching on territory". This one wasn't different, she had given in to her vampyric nature and therefore, having lost her sense of heart, she was little more than a cunning, vicious animal.

"Leave us alone and we'll leave your territory." Jessi stated firmly, but the old one didn't budge at all, instead... she laughed. Heartily, at that.

"I've never had such prey before!" She grinned, "I must admit, this is quite amusing... oh, I could let you run around in my little maze more... but... mm... hungry..."

She eyed the hunter for a brief moment, ogling her, licking her lips. And after that brief moment, Jessica was swept aside and the vampire had gripped the hunter's neck. Jessica rolled along the ground roughly, her body bumping over old bricks and wood, cutting her forehead and lips.

She looked up from where she lay, and saw the vampire's fangs closing in on Kris's neck.

There was no time to think, only act. Before the foul vampire could hinge her jaws around the hunter’s neck, she drove the dagger at her side into what would’ve been the heart. The ploy works a bit, causing the vampire to drop her prey and allow her some distance. The pale façade of the vampire screwed up in a mixture of anger and rage as she faced the source of her pain. She was so confident that she was a weakling she dropped her guard and got injured.

Blood poured out of her chest and onto the ground, weakening her a little bit as the wound healed itself. “My, my, aren’t we a feisty morsel?” The animal replied. Suddenly, hundreds of the first vampire appeared out of nowhere, trying to confuse and disorient the second, far stronger and older vampire.

“Come on!” She shouted, grabbing the hunter’s hand. “Let’s get out of here!”

The two ran down the streets, retracing their steps to find the exit. The illusion wouldn’t stave the elder off their path for long. They needed to get as much space between them as possible. Yet even as they fled for their lives, Kristina felt no desire to hunt the vampire that grasped her hand. If she really were evil, she would have let her die. But, the monks back in Rome taught that all non-humans were evil… could they have been wrong?

“Listen,” Kristina started. “If we don’t make it out of this, my name’s Kristina.”

The vampire looked to her and cracked a small smile. “Call me Jessica.”

Running down the street, the two heard naught but the sound of their footsteps in the light of the eternal moon. It’s full, ethereal beauty shined down to the scene far below, unconcerned as it ever had been about the plight of those who dwelled on mother Earth. Suddenly, there came a blast from the wall beside them. The vampire launched out at the two, knocking them to the ground at high speed.

The two slid across the broken cobblestone streets, winded and littered with scrapes and bruises. Chuckling in the moonlight stood the vampire; satisfied her prey would run no more. A sharp pain echoed from the hunter’s left leg, bent on a funny angle: the leg was broken. The hunter reached behind her back for her bow to shoot at the vampire before she could draw any closer.

Alas, when she pulled on the bow the sight that met her eyes made her stomach drop: the bow was broken like a twig. The bowstring dangled limply played with by the slight breeze that began to blow through the deserted and ruined streets. In desperation, she reached into her quiver and began to throw the arrows with all the strength she had. Yet, the blessings on the arrows did nothing against the ancient creature. Sure, they penetrated the skin, but as soon as she pulled an arrow out, she healed right over again.

Slowly, the vampire walked towards her, cackling. “It is useless. Soon, you shall be my next meal.” A smile spread across her face, like that of a lion circling its prey, waiting for the opportune moment to strike and end its life.

“Over my dead body!” Shouted Jessica, standing on her feet.

“Yes, invading scum, that was the plan,” retorted the ancient vampire. “I think I’ll kill you first. I want to have fun drinking that hunter… but… if you don’t want to die, then do the job yourself, and I’ll simply let you walk free.”

"I... have to drain her...?" Jessica looked down at the dark cobblestones; she would never even consider such a thing! That witch...! How could... how would... She shook her head her body visibly showing signs of defiance. Jessica hugged on to her arms, her fingers gently feeling the ripped cloth of her jacket and the small scrapes and scratches on her skin. She sighed and shook her head again defiantly, but with the eyes of the two upon her, she couldn't resist.

There was no way she could run now! All her illusions were useless! Useless! The vampire closed her eyes tightly and gritted her teeth. What could she do now? This woman was just... Oh... this was too much. Jessi couldn't do something like this. And if she didn't, neither of them would get out alive--even if she did, there was no guarantee that she'd leave alive.

She had to do it... it was the only way one of them would live. It seemed so selfish to her and yet, it was the only way out. Jessica had to.. take this person's life. Take Kristina's life. It seemed, in the distance, she heard Kristina calling out, but she was too wrapped up in her own thoughts and emotions to pay attention to anything. Jessica's own footsteps echoed in her mind as she began treading across to the woman on the ground.

Slowly, she knelt down next to Kristina, tears dripping from her chin. Forcefully, she took the woman onto her lap and held her hair, pulling on it so that more of her neck was exposed. In that moment, she shrouded the both in an illusion of Jessica biting her. The illusionist knew this facade would last for a few seconds, so she had to be quick.

"Kristina..." she whispered under the blanket of illusion, "I don't want us to die... I don't want to die... but if I don't do it, she'll kill us both. Kristina... this will be the last chance we have to escape... but... I have to give you a fate that may be worse than death." With that, she bared her fangs, signaling that this would be what Kristina would become if she went through with it.

Time was short. What could she say? What could she do? How does one handle a situation like this? If she was correct in her meaning, then Jessica would turn her… into a vampire.

She’d rather die.

Yet… if she didn’t, she’d have to face the fact she’d condemn someone else to the same fate. Sure, she had previously hunted them, but this ‘Lady Eyes’… no… Jessica… was a nice person, even if she had fangs and possibly needed blood every now and then…

Her mind began to swirl with thoughts and emotions, all the more foggy and confusing since the illusion wouldn’t hold out forever. Would she reject, and in turn have that vampire… no… that monster, kill them both? Or, would she sacrifice her own life and become a vampire in order to save Jessica? The Hunter in her screamed out to her, telling her to say no.

But the Christian inside her asked ‘What would Jesus do?’

She clenched her eyes shut, heart racing in anticipation of the sharp pricks as she quickly let out, ‘Do it, before I change my mind.’

Her eyes shot open as she let out a silent scream, the twin points of pain causing her blood to slowly boil. She flashed a glance at the ancient monster, content written all over its twisted face. The illusion had broken just in time, but as the seconds slowly passed, Kris began to feel weaker. Stars started to flash before her eyes, looking up to the sky, she saw a shooting star pass her eyes… the last thing her human eyes would ever behold.

She stood there, a wicked smile etched upon her face as the human passed out from loss of blood. She had no clue why she didn’t think of it earlier. Even from here, she sensed the human’s life force drain away to nothing. When it was finally gone, the other vampire stood up.

She shot her a look that would kill a normal man behind clenched teeth, the hate ebbing off of her like a drop of blood into a pool of water. She pondered her words for a minute. She wasn’t particularly hungry, now that she thought about it, and there were easier meals out there…

“Yeah, I’m satisfied. You have until sunrise to get out of my territory, or else your life is forfeit.” She turned her back on the weak, lesser vampire. “It felt good, didn’t it? To take the life of another person? Sooner or later, we all give in to our true nature. Do not forget this, child.”

With that, the vampire split into many bats and left the young vampire to loom over the corpse of the hunter.

Jessica watched with grueling anger as the vampire split into the black bats; hundreds of them, tiny, like a thick smoke with screeches and cries. They hung around for a few brief moments, as if observing what was about to unfold. But surely, they were moving away into the night, at least, little by little, until a few of the tiny creatures remained. Angered, Jessica swiped a rock from the stone street and tossed it straight at them--she missed, but only because they were darting around the moment they figured out what she was up to.

The creature screeched in fright before darting off into the midnight sky. Jessica's eyes followed it, lifting her eyes way up to the heavens. In her ear, she heard a heartbeat... a faint, distant heartbeat. It was the hunter's. She was still dying. And when she was very close, holding on to that life with less than an inch, Jessi would have to do the final part and keep her promise. There was a tiny part of her that wanted to leave her--run away and move on to the next place, just leave her let her die. She was a hunter and a very stubborn one; that had accused and annoyed Jessica to some extent before they had to work--or rather run--together.

Jessica blinked. Through the parted clouds she spotted the pale moon and that there was a ring around it, a faint halo of light. She thought it was eerie, simply because it fitted the evening perfectly. In the back of her mind, she heard the heartbeat decelerate, becoming fainter with each passing second.

It was almost time.

The young vampire turned back to the pale, frail looking body on the ground. She knelt down beside it, sitting on her heels as she pulled the body back onto her lap. Kristina was lighter, now, and thinner... her hair stood out even more against her white skin. This is the part that's going to hurt her the most, she thought. Slowly and carefully, Jessica bit into her own wrist, wincing a little. Gently, she parted Kristina's lips with her fingers and let the blood drip into her mouth and onto her tongue. A vampire's blood was needed for the reawakening--nothing else would do.

When more than a few drops were given, Kristina's body instinctively moved up towards the smell of blood. She had not opened her eyes yet, but her nose was working just fine, as were her lips and teeth, biting hungrily into Jessica's wrist and beginning to pull the blood away from her, as if taking back what was once taken from her just a few moments ago. Jessica grimaced in pain and looked away, closing her eyes. It was an oddly horrifying thing to do... she had just damned a person; something she had never thought about doing all her life. Kristina was still drinking away, on instinct, she would take all that she needs and nothing more before opening her eyes, signifying that the ritual was complete.

And then they would see if there would be pure vampyric instinct or human emotion... or... a bout of insanity; a mixture of both.

Seconds seemed like eons to her as the stars in front of her eyes danced and twirled like leaves in the fall caught in a strong wind. Newfound instincts flooded in like water as warmth spread from her mouth throughout her body. As first, they threatened to extinguish the fire of her soul, to supplement this new warmth with the fire that raged in her heart. No, she wouldn’t let that happen. The candle burned all the brighter, pushing the threat back.

She wouldn’t walk away from this with her tail between her legs. Her resolve would never be stronger after this night… although she knew in her heart that from now on she would wait. No longer would she assume the worst of anyone, or anything, and only kill those who wished harm on the innocent.

Her eyes slowly fluttered open, fully regaining consciousness. The hunter immediately pulled her head back from Jessica’s wrist, falling limp. She hit her knees and rolled onto her stomach, expecting a wave of fiery pain any second. Alas, that pain never came.

She rolled onto her back and dug her hand under her tunic, retrieving a golden cross… her Hunter’s Cross. The Hunter’s Cross, given to all of her kin to aid them, would burn at evil on contact. Kristina remembered the day she got this cross well, and she never took it off since. Never. She breathed a sigh of relief, knowing if it didn’t burn her now, it never would.

“It doesn’t burn,” were the first words out of her mouth. Followed by a small chuckle, she looked into Jessica’s eyes. “This cross burns all evil on contact,” she explained. “So if it doesn’t burn me, and I’m a … vampire… now, then that means that… maybe not all of them are evil.”

Jessica stood up, rising to her full height. “I accept your Apology. Now, we have to get out of here before sunrise, or else that truly evil vampire will come back.”

“Right,” Kristina replied, standing up. “I’ve had enough of this place anyway.” After picking up the splintered remains of her bow and the arrows that littered the street, the two vampires left with all haste for the edge of the monster’s territory.

One day, I’ll come back and finish the job, Kristina thought about the vampire that toyed with them so.