CHAPTER ONE: Hunt or be Hunted

I was nervous tonight. Tonight we were going to hunt that group of vile sewer vampires and burn them!

I had been searching for weeks and weeks for a coven of vampires or a group of witches, just something to prove myself to my demanding father. Then, one night I saw a very good-looking man emerge from a sewer on the street. Of course I was suspicious. It was very plain that he wasn't actually a man, but I didn't want to jump to conclusions and end up bringing a perfectly human innocent to conviction, so I went back for five nights and discovered that every night the man would come out, sometimes bringing more with him, and scatter the streets of London. Tonight I gathered all the willing men I could find and we stood waiting in the dark damp London streets, like I had on that first night waiting for the first to emerge from the sewer. I was nervous because tonight I would put an end to all the complaints my father always threw at me. I would give my frail father hope in his son, and this made me nervous as any man is nervous before a discovery or great accomplishment.

“There!” one of them men surrounding me whispered, interrupting my thoughts.

I looked up to see the foul creature emerging again from his hole. He was so disgusting me, the knowledge of his evil, knowing that the animal before me took human lives nonchalantly made me sick. But still I hesitated in my command to attack the creature. My father always called me weak, and vulnerable I was slow to do anything harsh and didn't act immediately when I probably should. I had compassion upon any human being or animal alike, no matter how wicked.

“Go” I managed to say.

The men rushed forward with the pitchforks and torches, creating a blazing swirl of black and orange chaos around me as I ran after the vampire too.

The creature ran, calling out in Latin as he did, presumably a warning for the others. I ran with all my strength after it not noticing much else around me. This vampire was so fast! I looked around to see I was in the lead of the pursuit, a blaze of torches following behind. As soon as I turned my head back towards the vampire in pursuit, he was mid leap, I barely had time to yell out before he was on top of me. His cold body slammed me to the stone ground with titanic force. I tried to struggle against the force holding me down but it was a useless toil. Then the others came and started throwing the torches and hurling various weapons towards the vampire, who was sucking at my neck thirstily. He turned to defend himself against the violent attack, but with a stab of fear I realized it was too late. I was infected by the vampire and probably had his venom flowing in my veins already.