It isn’t like most of them choose to be what they are, just like I didn’t choose to be the only daughter of one of the most celebrated hunters of all time.
Not that it even fucking mattered, they had my brothers, what did they need me for? Control. They wanted to control every aspect of our lives, right down to who we’d eventually marry. The high council made all our choices for us. But fuck that, not for much longer, not if I have any say in it.
I rounded the corner, and home was in my sights once more, but I didn’t feel joy when I saw the kitchen light come on, instead I felt dread. If my father was up this early it only meant one thing, it meant that when night came around, they would be going out. They'd be going hunting.
I pulled her earphones out of my ears when I reached the door, pulling the key from my bra and sticking in the lock, my father would know it was me. I didn’t need to make myself known. He'd have sensed me the moment I got close enough to smell.
My brothers were never out of bed before mid-day, though I suppose that it came with the job. Being up all night hunting the undead wasn’t an easy task. Not even for them.
I walked in and placed my earphones onto the small table just inside the doorway, grabbing the towel that I had left there before I left and carefully dying my damp skin. The last thing i need is to catch a cold.
Nathanial was already walking towards me, a second cup of coffee in his hand.
He knew me well enough to know I always had a black coffee after my morning run, it was as old as tradition, though normally I’d scroll on my phone or type out one of the short stories I like to write with the coffee in hand.
I wouldn’t normally drink it with company. Though today, it looked as though my father had other ideas.
I took the cup from him and gave a short nod, “Thanks.” I mumble.
“Why don’t you come sit at the table.” My father suggests, “We have something to discuss.”
Here he goes – I thought – This is where he tells me I have failed him again, for the hundredth time.
I follow him back into the small kitchen and sit down at the table just big enough for a family of four, dreading the next words that are about to leave his mouth.
“I think we have waited long enough.” He tells me as he pulls out his own chair, slumping down heavily, “The high council are demanding you make your first kill before the end of the month.”
My entire mood sours, “I thought you said that these things cannot be rushed?”
“Normally, they aren’t. But it has been a year since you turned eighteen and they have seen no improvement in your behaviour.” he rubs the spot between his eyebrows, “You can’t avoid it forever Mae, it is your duty to do as the council commands.”
I investigate the swirling black void of coffee, wondering if I could disappear into its depths without my father noticing. I just need a little more time, another month and everything will be ready, I’m just waiting for the passport.
As soon as I was out of the country, I’d be untraceable. They'd never find me.
I sigh, leaning my head against my hands, “Then i guess it has to be done, when are they sending the assignment?”
It isn’t like I can avoid it forever, but hopefully I could find a way to let another one go, vampires are more forgiving when you have a stake against their heart. They agree to almost anything.
“They already have.” Nathanial says, sliding a piece of paper across the table, “But we have to come with you, you must have a witness to confirm the kill.”
Great. - I sigh – So much for letting them go.
I look down at the piece of paper, a name and a photo of the creature I am supposed to destroy right there before my eyes, and though I have been trained to feel nothing but hatred towards the vampires, I don’t. I feel sorry for them, most of them are just trying to survive in secret, they don’t want trouble.
But the council believes that all creatures who aren’t human should be destroyed, regardless of if they are truly deserving or not. That is why I had to get away, I couldn’t live this life, and I could not keep lying to myself and to my family.
Everyone says that I was born to be a huntress, but they were wrong, my heart was too vast. I despised the thought of hurting someone who doesn’t deserve it.
No one is born into evil; it is circumstances that make us into something else. Something that we may have never wanted for ourselves.
And I do not want to be a huntress.
Fuck the high council and fuck my stupid ass father for agreeing that I need to make my first kill, i do not want to stand here in the middle of the cemetery and wait for the undead guy to arrive, but I have no choice. That choice was taken from me the moment I was born the most powerful female in the entire bloodline.My father had a plan of course, and he had gone to trap the vampire for me, he and my brothers would lead it back this way, so it was easier for me to make the kill. What they don't know however is that i have no intention of actually killing the creature. I’m going to let them go.The file said that they were an Nati vampire, which means they were born the way that they are, they didn’t choose it, just like I didn’t choose to be a hunter. I wasn’t going to kill him just because I was told that I must, I won’t let the council control me like they do everyone else I love.It’s not fucking happening.Not whilst I still have free will.“Mae, it is coming on the left.” Jake
I wake up in a hospital bed, though it wasn’t just any hospital, it was one of the strongholds of the high council, the ones that they used when the hunters and huntresses couldn’t go to a normal hospital. A human doctor wouldn’t understand what happened, and all they’d do is call the authorities. But a doctor hired by the hunter's council knew exactly how to treat someone who had been drained by a vampire. Luckily for me.Fuck, what was i thinking?I should have just killed the stupid Nati and got it all over with, at least then my father might have looked at me with an ounce of pride. I am nothing but a disappointment to him, even though I wish I wasn’t. He wants me to be as heartless as he and my brothers are, but I can’t. God, I am so stupid. Why do I have to make things so difficult for myself?The room I have been left in was small, it barely fit the bed and all the machines plus two small chairs, it was giving me major anxiety. I couldn’t wait to get out of here.The walls wer
Panic and anxiety tear through me at the same time as i scramble out of the bed, searching for my shoes, i quickly find them under one of the chairs and pull them on, ignoring the sharp pain in my back. The vampires had found the hospital, and they were coming to finish what they had started. They were coming to kill everyone.I had to warn them, even if it slows me down, I couldn't just leave everyone here to die.Maybe it was stupid, but I had to take the risk.I quickly stumble towards the door, my hand inches from the handle when I hear several screams from just outside, I was already too late. I couldn’t save them, not now, not without dying myself.I had none of my weapons on me, not even the dagger I normally keep in my sock, they take everything from you the minute you arrive. No weapons are allowed in the hospital.That rule just killed everyone here, maybe even me.I quietly walk backwards away from the door, my eyes wide as i make my way towards the window, making as little
I yawn, trying not to stretch out my body as the pain in my back worsens, I’ll definitely need some painkillers to help me. For some reason I am just not healing quick enough, and that is a problem. A very dangerous problem. But there is nothing I can do about it right now, so there is no point in worrying, the doctors will know what to do.The doctors, where are the doctors? I haven’t seen one in a while.I open my eyes, looking around the strange room that I haven’t seen before, my heart rate increasing rapidly. I’m no longer in the hospital, I realise, it was attacked and I … I was captured by the Nati vampire I spared.Fuck. Where has he taken me?I look around the room, dark maroon wallpaper lining the walls, a tv and a small sofa in the corner to my left and a bookshelf littered with books and a chair to my right. I was laid on a four poster bed, white curtains tied at the edge, and as comfortable as it was, I needed to get out of here before he comes back and decides to finish
I flinch back a little when he lifts his hand and strokes it down my cheek, every nerve in my face on fire, it’s like his touch awakens something in me that I never knew was there. And I don’t want it to be there, I don’t want to feel this way, I can’t feel this way. It’s too dangerous.What the fuck is wrong with me?“Open your legs.” He commands, removing his hand from my face and kneeling down in front of me.I clench my legs together instead, my heart racing inside of my chest, fighting to break through my breastbone. What is he going to do to me?“Open your legs, hunter.” He says again, more forceful this time, “I won’t tell you again.”Reluctantly, I do as he says, slowly opening my legs so that my underwear is exposed, and what’s underneath it.My body is tensed in apprehension, and I’m fighting to catch my breath, how can something be so terrifying and yet so exciting at the same time?“I’ve been wanting to taste you since the moment I laid eyes on you.” He says, slowly tracin
The Nati vampire watches me in silence as I eat the toast and drink the coffee that he brought, they were both cold, but I didn’t mind. It isn’t like I had an abundance of food and drink choices lying around. Nor did I have the courage to ask for something else. I’d much rather deal with scraps than ask him for anything.The way that he looks at me is different from anything I have experienced before, and it fills me with feelings that I don’t want to think about, feelings that will do nothing except get me killed.I have to tread very carefully around this creature if I ever want to make it out of here alive, and I intent to. I will not allow myself to be destroyed by him, in more ways than one.I place the empty coffee cup onto the window sill beside me and glance out of the window, I’d like nothing more than to go for an evening run to stretch my muscles and help my body heal, but I know that it wouldn’t be possible. He isn’t exactly going to let me run around his estate, and besid
“We can do this the easy way, or the hard way, little hunter.” he says, snarling in my face as my visions blurrs. “The choice is entirely yours but hear me when I say I can make your time here, much, much worse. Do you understand me?”I struggle to nod my head, my voice barely above a whisper, “Crystal clear.” I gasp.Mihai drops me, my back landing on the edge of the window sill as I crash into the ground, coughing as my lungs fill with as much air as they can.Why was he so impossibly strong? He was stronger than any other Nati I had ever met, and I have met my fair share of them over the years.Maybe I truly was lost to my family.I whimper as I try to stand, my back screaming at me in protest to the movement, landing on my back must have done more damage than I thought. I manage to move onto my hands and knees, crying out as another fit of coughing overtakes my lungs.Who knew that being choked could hurt so much. They never mentioned that in the books I read.Mihai takes a step t
I’m forced awake when the door slams open, the Nati vampire entering with a big smile on his face and a box in his hands. I slowly sit up, the pain in my back is slightly better, but I decide to be cautious anyway.“I’ve brought something for you.” Mihai says, placing the box onto the bed beside me.I stare at the box like touching it would give me leprosy, “No, thanks, I’m good.” i say, trying to politely decline.The Nati vampire frowns, “Open it.”I shake my head, “I don’t want to.”I'm not opening that god damn box, knowing my luck it’ll be the decapitated heads of my father and brothers.“I suggest you open it, little hunter, i only have so much patience.” He warns, his eyes flashing a deep crimson red.Fuck, then i guess i have no choice.Anxiety spirals through my mind like a tidal wave, I am really hoping that it isn’t anything gruesome. It's not that i can’t handle it, it’s more that if it is someone i care about, I can’t kick his ass for it. Not in the state I am in.My body