I stood shocked but quickly regained as I thought it was a tactic to catch me off guard. I’ve been purging these woods since I was old enough to walk. Surely they would know who was before them, my reputation went farther than the tree line.

But no they stood and noticing I wasn’t about move continued on. “Don’t worry this is new for me too” the vampire shifted to his other leg but held a firm gaze with his ruby red eyes.

“I infact need your specific help-“ “Don’t waste my time with a spun up story. You know who I am, what I do” I interrupted quickly. There’s no telling if a vampire is spinning a spell or distracting you for the shadows to pounce unsuspectingly.

“Yes, yes you’re a bane of my existence. Yet a babe to reality. You’re compelled to kill me and my kin here as duty demands. I would ask though you give me a common courtesy before falling my head” the leader tilted their head upward exposing their neck. Two holes still visible where their artery would be. If they were alive. “He won’t listen to you” one of the daughters whispered in a hiss. “They never listen- ahhhh uhhh!” Her sentence was cut short as the leader dropped his hand and she stuck to the earth.

I pulled my silver sword from its sheath and the light it caught from the moon beamed at the pack before me. They winced and covered their eyes while hissing at defiantly. “Oh please put that away, im not going to kill you and you’re not going to catch me if we ran. So uncivilized”

“No enough with the word play.” I spoke sternly prepared for a fight rushing towards them.

The vampire let out a sigh and released his daughter lifting his hand towards me and I froze. A simple but constricting spell using tangles of shadows around them to hold their opponent. I twisted my wrist and the reflection of moonlight revealed the strands that held me as they withered away. I spun my sword around and pulled to the left as the leader used this to rush forward and pull my sword from my hand. The smell of burnt dead flesh and the sound as he held it at his side staring down at me.

“There’s a cure.” He said blankly and powerful. He dropped the sword and looked at his hand as the burns glowed orange. Returning his gaze back to me he resumed “but you’re not going to like it”

“There is no cure. It’s why my family for the past 1000 years died hunting you and others like you. We would’ve found it by now. “

“Sasha come here” as he looked over his shoulder the brown haired daughter stood up with her eyes at the ground and slowly walked up to us. “Look at him and show him your humanity.” She glanced to the side and pulled her hood tightly slowly raising her eyes up to me through her ragged brown hair. Green eyes. “So you kidnapped a girl”

“Oh shut up boy” he snapped and picked up my sword again. His hand burning he swung it around fighting an imaginary foe. “It’s clear with your experience and my dance that you wouldn’t have stood a chance against me. This weapon, it burns but it would not harm me. We’ve long since evolved to handle light. This metal would not pierce me. Why do you think you’re the only one. Why did most of your family not live to see twenty? That’s why I need your help”

“What do I have to do with the cure.” He stopped swinging and walked back to me pulling his grey greasy hair back revealing the two holes. “It’s a bite. We’re all bitten. You know this. Vampires were humans once. Still are human, but tainted with a curse of insatiable blood lust. None of us like what we do. No one sees us in our darkest hour covered in blood standing over our victims. We ever wanted this. But you killed with out mercy to protect those around you. I am now doing the same.”

“Your blood” he finished. I stepped back “we tried that it didn’t work, we tried everything.”

“Yes I know you tortured and experimented on those you could capture. Using every mundane tool available to poke and slice desperately trying to find a fix.”

“So than how did YOU figure it out” I argued. “Sasha show him your wrist.” She pulled back her sleeve to reveal multiple bite marks. Than she pulled the other up revealing the same. “She was turned and returned. Because I wanted to make sure before I walked towards my death.” “How’d you do this without our.. my brother” “All is fair in love and war. You tortured and experimented on my brothers and sisters so I did the same. I’m not asking for forgiveness for me but life for my family”

“You don’t deserve this. I’ll kill us all here you won’t get a chance to use me!” I yelled in furious anger as flashbacks of my little brothers smile rushed through my head. “LIGHT OF SALVATION HEAR ME. PURGE THE SIN OF MY BODY. LET THE FLAMES OF FORGIVENESS CONSUME ME”

My eyes burst with flame as fire began to creep around my armor. But I felt a hand hit my forehead and push me down. As a language I never heard echoed over my chants. The flames disappeared and my eyes left burnt. “I figured you’d try that. “ as I felt cold steel down my forearm. Pain was no consequence to me or my family. We spent years in the basement of the chapel honing our bodies to attune with god. But I felt the blood and I felt the blade. As mouths clamped around the open wound. “You’re foolish beliefs lead you here. There was more humane ways to do this. But we deserve to not be slaughtered as gods sport no longer. Not when there is a way to fix this. He held me by my forehead as more and more cuts were made and more lips were felt on my skin. In a way I thought this was fair. I would die anyways and being the last they would win eventually. If my death ended then as well than I did what I set out to do. I smiled up at them not in defeat but a final stand against my enemy “ it’s finally over then” A laugh entered my ears.

Why would he laugh.

Maybe he was happy to finally die a human.

Maybe this sick game we’ve played for centuries had finally had its winner. “One final secret for the hero.” “What do you mean” I said. Moving my head side to side but only darkness no matter where I would perceive to look.

“You just made us resistant to light. Your blood is blessed with your god. Now we have it too. At the end you failed. But we are cured. We will be able to live amongst society yet again. But rule it in the shadows as we deserve. Enjoy your death little one. For it was you who gave us our greatest weapon.”