Not far from the unraveling battle between a vampire and two (bonafide) hunters...
Helen Nate was making her escape.
She was a simple gal, who frequented the bars and nightlife littering the city outskirts. Her life had been one of relative simplicity. She followed the rules and minded her own business. But there were also times where she didn't; they were but common slip-ups. Like going on dates with suspicious personalities or stumbling home without appropriate taxi money after having one too many drinks. People didn't usually have to pay for these types of mistakes.
But Helen Nate was paying for it.
Her heels were long lost in the chase. With her breath stolen and heavy heaving tugged and pulled her chest. She was slumped in a dirty alley, her legs reduced to noodles beneath her body, strength stolen. Being hunted by a vampire was an experience that would last her a lifetime.
Helen struggled to her feet, groaning painfully as her limbs shook from weakness. The adrenaline was fast fading and left her more light-headed than anything. But the main street was just up ahead and she could hear the echoes of battle behind her; which meant the vampire was too occupied to care about her.
She clutched the dirty alley walls, her bare feet stinging from all the cuts and sores she got from running on rugged pavement. It was a bitch, but her apartment was only another ten-minute walk and she would make it back in one piece…
Soft footfalls padded on the ground and Helen Nate paused, thinking that it was perhaps the sound of her beating heart. It wasn't. The hairs on her neck pricked up and the fight or flight response was starting to kick in a second time. She looked over her shoulder.
A small silhouette approached; a child that was no taller than half her height and Helen Nate wasn't tall.
"H-hello…?" Her stuttering voice echoed. The child continued forward, the backlight was strong and obscured the kid's face in deep shadows.
"…Mama…" The child, a girl, rasped. The closer she came, the more Helen could recognize her raggedy clothes, dirt that coated her knees and elbows. Her garments seemed thin for the weather and her hair was matted. "Mama…? Where is my mama…?"
Helen straightened, the coherent sentence from the young child was convincing. Alarm was not so easily quelled. She took a step back. "I'm not your mother…" Helen said but felt a bit sorry for the girl so she added, "Where did you last see her?"
"Mama…" the child came closer. The light from the street behind Helen touched the girl's small, round face. It was red. The blood was so thick, it was like a mask where only two large eyes could be seen. "Mama, I'm so, so, so hungry." Helen didn't get a chance to scream.
"Jessie!" A third voice, also female, echoed through the alleys. A dark shape zipped through the air, cutting wind. But by then it had already been too late. The newcomer, a vampire, female, slowed and halted. The young girl was already feasting upon the human. Her eyes were wide, locked in a snapshot of her final moments where panic and fear had taken hold. The girl chewed a hole through the human neck, sliced up the meaty flesh and she slurped up blood; greedy and messy like a ravenous beast.
"Jessie…" The woman vampire faltered, her human emotions bubbling past the shroud of thirst and blood lust. "Jessie…my baby." A sob caught at her throat, taking a step forward. There was a reason why she forbade her little one to hunt. There was a reason why she didn't want her little one to kill.
…
"It is most rude of you to not relent something that wasn't even rightfully given."
"Just be quiet, would you?"
The Abe Seiji guy who spoke with a false accent continued to dog Han Li's heels, chasing after him for the black katana that Han Li had (in his mind) rightfully confiscated. It was hardly Han Li's ideal weapon of choice but it was better than nothing. It was certainly better in his hands than it was in Seiji's.
Seiji was practically breathing down his neck, reaching around in hopes of snatching his weapon back. "The one who ought to be with complain is I! For I have woefully suffered such injustice. It seems that your merit as a philanthropist was one that was but shallow—"
Han Li could feel that his patience crumbled. The vampire was just up ahead, his instincts were blaring at him loudly and the small bracelet around his wrist was burning a hole through his skin. He just wanted to get this over with, preferably without casualties, please, and thank you.
"You," he snapped, eyes narrowed and inwardly cursing at the man's superior height. "Do you want to die?"
Seiji flinched but his face was one of unconcern. "That is not on my list of things to do. But if justice so requ—"
"Stay put if you don't want to die," Han Li snarled, his impatience ripe. "I'm serious. And once the sun gets its ass over that horizon then I'll return your stupid sword. I don't want this weebass shit anyways." Any other day, he'd settle for all manners of 'weebass shit' but that day just wasn't it.
For the first time, Seiji seemed shocked, his eyes widening and Han Li felt internally pleased. The Housian accent dropped once more, "It's not 'weeb ass', you uncultured pig—"
"Stay," Han Li repeated through gritted teeth, jabbing a finger at Seiji's chest. "If you want to live, stay here. I won't be responsible for your death."
Seiji merely rolled his eyes and puffed out his chest. "You aren't the only hunter in New Lidway. Get over yourself, kid." Without a second glance, he marched on forward, completely disregarding Han Li's warning.
Han Li didn't even know what he was expecting. The words fell on deaf ears and he could feel his whole body bristle, nerves tingling from annoyance. And yet he found that he couldn't, for the life of him, walk away. Han Li couldn't let this idiot suffer his fate, even if it was deserved.
He swallowed his apprehension and ignored the way his eyes pricked and oxygen lacked. Han Li, too, marched onward.
They found their vampire around the next corner. But the scene that unfolded before them was one unexpected.
"This is most—" Even Seiji tripped over his words, his lips pulled into a cautious line.
"Fuck," Han Li cursed. Several details of the mission fell into place as understanding blossomed. All too late now.
Wet, squelching sounds echoed. A woman lied next to the wall, dead, her head barely hanging on by threads of meat around an exposed spine. Their vampire in question was in no better state, kneeling, with a visage masked with ghastly white. She was still alive; the draining of blood isn't enough to kill a vampire, but she had barely the strength to even look up at them, her lips trembled with unspoken words. It was a miracle that she still held onto vestiges of human reasoning in such a state.
The culprit was a smaller form with lips latched onto the larger vampire's neck, sucking loudly and happily lapping up the blood of another corrupted blood.
Han Li steeled himself, his hand circling tighter around the katana's handle. Cannibalism, even among corrupted bloods, was not common and spelled bad news.
The little girl, the vampire, let go and turned around with those shining red orbs. A wet thud. Her irises were sharp, vertical shaped like a cat stalking at night time. "Mama, I'm hungry. I'm so, so hungry," the voice was youthful in only guise, haunting and without soul.
"This your last chance to get out of here," Han Li breathed.
"Wouldn't even dream about it." Seiji didn't miss a beat.
Seriously, what was Han Li even expecting? And why couldn't he rid himself of the dread that festered in his belly? A bitter chuckle escaped his lips but there was no time to wallow in self-pity for frustration over low IQ strangers.
The little girl's physical form dissipated into a black mist, startling the two hunters. It was a blood phasing form. Han Li's mind was churning, corrupted bloods didn't often acquire this ability so easily. It must have been the result of devouring a sorcerer's life essence.
The black mist fluttered, its wispy form outlining the rough shape of a massive lance. They had but milliseconds to dodge. Han Li pushed Seiji out of the way, the two of them tumbled as the spearhead shot past them. It didn't take long for the shapeless black cloud to recover.
Seiji fished a bead-like item from his coat and threw it at their vaporous foe. The bead-like thing ricocheted off the alley wall. A loud bang sounded and smoke was released. The black creature convulsed and weaved out of the holy water-infused mist.
"We're going to need more than that!" Han Li hissed.
"You need not remind me!" Seiji drew out a handful more; five in total and scattered the smokescreens around them. Han Li's eyes and skin itched, his throat felt positively scratchy from allergy.
But it was a worthy sacrifice; a blood-curdling scream sounded through the air, long losing any semblance to its human origins. It was but a grotesque blob of flesh and blood gathered. Though Han Li couldn't see it clearly, there was the definite shape of bubbling and twitching shadow behind the veil of sacred mist. There was a gurgling sound, wet and popping and crack crack crack.
Han Li gulped, shooting the idiot next to him a glare.
This fucker wasn't going to die on Han Li's watch, he secretly vowed.