3 months later….
The moon hung low and red over the pine forest like a warning sign. Sarah adjusted the scope on her crossbow as the two women crouched behind a thicket of cedar and bramble, the night alive with the hum of insects and the distant hoot of an owl.
“It’s close,” said Joan, her voice low and steady. “Get ready.” Her fingers curled tighter around the hilt of her machete, its blade coated in a thin sheen of silver nitrate. “Can you smell it?”
Sarah nodded, her nostrils flaring slightly. The air was thick with rot and iron. Vampire stench. Fresh.
“I’ll circle left. You take the high ground,” Joan said, already moving. “Remember what I told you and you’ll be fine.” Her dark jacket then blended into the shadows as she slipped between the trees like smoke.
Nervously, Sarah watched her go, then turned toward the ridge. She climbed fast and quiet, boots barely brushing the forest floor. From above, the clearing below looked peaceful. She knew that it was anything but.
Then she saw it.
The thing was hunched over an animal carcass, its limbs too long, its skin pale and almost translucent under the moonlight. Blood dripped from its chin as it tore into muscle with jagged teeth, too many and too sharp to be human.
Sarah raised a flare gun and fired.
The flare burst above the clearing, bathing everything in red light. The creature shrieked and twisted toward the sky, already sprinting before its scream had faded. But Sarah was faster.
She emerged from the shadows behind it, crossbow aimed with surgical calm.
The sound of “thwip” was the only sound as the arrow flew through the air, seeking its intended target.
The bolt struck just below its left shoulder. The vampire staggered, then recovered, letting out a feral snarl as it turned and leapt toward her. Remembering her training, Sarah dropped the crossbow and drew her knife—long, black steel etched with runes and passed down through three generations of hunters.
It tackled her, teeth flashing—but Joan was also now there.
Her machete sliced through the vampire’s neck in a clean arc. The head rolled, steaming where the silver touched flesh. The body collapsed, twitching once before going still.
The forest fell silent again.
Breathing heavily, Sarah wiped blood from her cheek and kicked the now dead vampire.
“Too sloppy,” she muttered. “It almost had me.”
Joan gave her a look. “But it didn’t. That’s what matters. You’ve now learned for next time.”
They stood for a moment, looking down at the body. It was already starting to disintegrate, skin blistering and curling like burnt paper.
“That’s the third one this week,” Sarah said quietly.
Joan nodded. “Yes. Something’s stirring them up.”
They both looked toward the mountains in the distance, where storm clouds gathered unnaturally fast.
“Let’s get back,” Joan said. “We’ve got work to do.”
And together, they vanished into the forest, two shadows moving with purpose—hunters in a world where the night was never empty.
-Until next time….