WITH ALL MY LIVES

The night felt the longest with the complete silence in her surroundings. All she could hear was the sound of her raging heartbeat and the shortness of breath that resulted from her running with no specific direction. Even the sound of crickets she usually hears wasn’t around. It was maddening, but she kept going. It felt endless. She couldn’t remember how long she had been running, but she had to if she wanted to live. The woman stopped after a moment and looked around. It was dark, but her eyes had already adjusted to it from running in complete darkness. She could see the shapes of the trees, the branches scattered all around the wounds, and even the shining eyes of forest animals that seemed harmless during the day. She lost count of the times she tripped and fell, but the drive to stay alive kept her going. She gasped loudly as she felt a cold hand on her neck, even before she thought she was safe. The man she had been fleeing appeared in front of her, his eyes glowing crimson

"Never hesitate, huh?" Karina mumbled as they reached the headquarters to report. The other members looked at each other with confused faces. Alice didn’t mind her taunts, and they went on their way. She's too enraged to care about the woman's bickering. They were welcomed by the secretary of Clarisse Monroe, the head of the hunter’s association in their country. She was better known for her alias, Black Lotus. She was also the woman who saved Alice’s life. "You’re pretty early. I assume nothing went wrong?" She welcomed the team with a huge smile. Alice heaved a sigh. She still doesn’t get how the woman who was deemed the deadliest hunter who’d killed the most vampires has the bubbliest personality. People who didn’t know the woman would easily think that she was harmless, then die if they tried to do anything reckless. Alice rolled her eyes but answered anyway, "The only problem here is that you put newbies right into the field. Do you know how these kids cowered in fear earlier?

Alice could see desire in Elijah’s eyes, and she wanted to gouge his eyes out for that. He grinned innocently as the woman took her seat, wearing a straight face. "Why are you doing this?" She didn’t beat around the bush, but the man ignored her and called for the waiter. She looked at him dead in the eye when he asked what he wanted to eat, but Elijah simply shrugged and ordered himself. "I also ordered for you. Don’t worry, I have an exquisite palette. " His eyes went straight to her neck. It glimmered crimson for a split second. Alice glared at him after the waiter left. The restaurant is spacious, and every table has its own section, so the people could have the privacy that Alice used to interrogate him. "Let’s cut this crap. Tell me, why are you doing this? Do you really have a death wish? " She was more than willing to kill the vampire if there was one. The vampire shrugged, "You were the one trying to find me. Shouldn’t I be the one who’s asking you why? " He threw back t

Alice checked her things before leaving the headquarters. The moon was already up, and she decided to go for a hunt. Hunters usually never do hunts alone, but mostly with three people or at least a partner. But Alice is always an exception. She had a bad history of leaving her partners and going on her own way until Black Lotus just let her be instead of being everyone’s source of stress. "Block my way again, and I will break a rib or two." Carl didn’t flinch and kept using his over six foot frame to block the way. He was worried about what was happening to Alice, and so were the other people in their team. The woman rolled her eyes and walked to the side, but Carl blocked her again. She glared at the man and then punched him. Carl managed to catch her hand, but the woman was fast enough to make a counterattack. He ended up on the ground writhing in pain, holding his crotch. "I told you not to block my way. I’m not in a good mood." She picked up her bag and left. She passed Art on

Black Lotus looked at Alice with curious eyes. She didn’t know if she should ask or not, but Alice beat her into it. "If you want to say something, then do it already." Alice gave her report and sat down. She preferred to be out, but she needed to talk to her mentor. She heaved a sigh while thinking that Alice would never change. She taught her to be stronger, but the woman was already strong enough even before they met. She would have survived without her in any case. "You looked hammered, and so did Karina and Arianne. When I said to train your team, I didn’t say to give the kid a hangover. " She pointed this out with a sarcastic smile. Alice crossed her arms, leaning her back against the chair in a lazy manner. "It wasn’t my fault, okay? I went there alone, trying to drink my misery away, but those pesky people planted a tracking device, which wasn’t so obvious by the way," She rolled her eyes, "So yeah, it wasn’t my fault." Black Lotus imitated her annoyed look and answered,