The wind howling next to her ears, the clock counting behind her back, but louder than either was the question circling in her head: What was that!?

  It was obvious what they were, yet some part of her still refused to believe she had actually stumbled into one of them, let alone an entire nest.

  Jane pulled her head back to the real problem: Where the fuck would she go?

  The dorm was the first thing that popped up, but the academy was practically a maze. If she tried to navigate the halls, she might just run around the school until he caught her.

  Storming into a crowded place wasn’t an option, either. Jane doubted anyone here would help.

  She needed somewhere hidden, somewhere she could find, somewhere that would be a disadvantage to both of them.

  The forest.

  Surprisingly, her arms were the first to give up, aching from pulling up the dress as she ran. The thought of ripping the fabric crossed her mind, but there was one big reason not to: it was borrowed.

  She made a small stop at a garden bench. Her fingers crawled on her back as she tried to unlace the bodice and stripped down to the slip dress beneath. She left the pile on the bench and turned back to the treeline.

  The forest opened in front of her.

  With just one breath, she ran into the unknown darkness.

  ***

  Ten minutes had passed. Maybe fifteen.

  She had been running non-stop. Every muscle in her legs screamed, burning as if they were bitten by thousands of fire ants. Branches whipped against her bare arms, leaving stinging scratches.

  She didn’t dare to stop, but she knew she’d be caught if she kept running aimlessly.

  Jane slammed her shoulder against a random tree. Her chest was blowing up and down, soaking in sweat. Her eyes scanned around the dark forest, looking for a hiding spot.

  There

  Standing still and steady, a hollow tree.

  Jane crawled inside. The space was tight, barely wide enough to cradle a single body. Small spaces usually irritated her, but tonight, the rough wood pressing against her back was comforting.

  The hollow trunk amplified the sound of her own heartbeat, denying her effort to control it. She stared into the darkness beyond the opening, waiting for something to break the silence.

  Her fingers curled around a stone she had picked up from the earth. The sharp edge dug into her palm before it could hurt anyone else.

  In that moment, a foolish hope bloomed in her chest, that magically, someone would come and save her. She missed her mom, her dad, and even their arguments every time they were stuck in the same room too long.

  But every dream came to an end.

  Crunch.

  The sound of crushed leaves tore through the silence, followed by the voice of a loud intruder. His legs glided on the ground in an unusual rhythm, like a patient cat circling around the corner. The once perfect suit now hung looser, buttons undone down to his chest.

  No one would mistake this for a gentleman wandering the woods in search of his Snow White.

  “Leaving the pin behind was cute.” He tilted his head, a little smirk playing on his face. “But we never need it.”

  He took a deep breath, inhaling the air lingering around.

  “Besides, you smell so…” He closed his eyes and faced his head up to the sky like he was savoring the word before it left his lips. “… delicious.”

  When those eyes opened again, they were no longer wandering. They were fixed on one single direction.

  One step.

  “Where are you, little lamb?”

  Two steps.

  “If you don’t come out, I will have to find you.”

  Three steps.

  Everything went silent.

  The tree shuddered. A soft rain of leaves drifted down in front of the hole. For a split second, the motion broughtJane back to when she was sitting by the classroom’s window, watching the autumn leaves fall.

  A drop of tear ran down from her eye, blending with the sweat on her cheek. No magic.

  The instant the light at the entrance shifted, she moved. It wasn’t exactly smooth, more like an old robot moving its body or a grandma testing her joints, but at least she didn’t trip this time.

  Jane slammed into him with every ounce of strength left in her. Her hand swung forward with the rock clutched tight.

  Taken by surprise, he could only tilt his head to the right. The sharp edge slashed across his left eye, shattering his composure.

  She immediately raised her arm for a second strike, but he caught her wrist in a grip. Before she could even think of running, his legs raised up and his hip twisted to one side.

  The world took a turn.

  Her back hit the ground with a heavy thud. An aching pain spread across her chest like someone just knocked a hammer on it.

  This wasn’t just the difference between men and women; it was human against something beyond.

  She could only watch in horror as the wound she had carved began to stitch itself together. The shredded eyelid slowly reformed, leaving only a burning red pupil staring down on her, a single reminder of her little resistance.

  The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

  “I didn’t plan on killing you,” his voice brushed against her ear. “But now… I might just savor every drop of fear as you realize you’re dying.”

  Jane felt a sharp pain as he tore open her flesh, no surprise there. What did astonish her was the immediate wave of comfort that followed.

  She had never touched a single drug, yet nothing could rival this. The pain vanished, replaced by a heavy numbness. Her pupils dilated, the world dimmed, sensation faded away, even the gritty dirt she had been gripping onto lost its texture.

  Everything faded, except for the constant slurping sound right next to her ears.

  A small, breathless laugh escaped through her lips.

  All that threatening, and he still ate like an animal.

  He would be disappointed to find there wasn’t even a drop of fear left in her blood.

  But there was grudge. She refused to die like this, pinned to the ground helplessly as her life drained away. Yet all she could do was twitch her fingers, desperately trying to regain control of her body.

  And there was regret. She regretted wasting all that effort just to buy a few miserable and frantic minutes. She regretted ever coming to this school, only to get herself killed on the first day.

  And God, everything she’d hidden away in her room. Would someone go through it after she was gone?

  Jane slowly closed her eyes.

  The moon tonight was beautiful. A full moon, she guessed. Its white light seemed to spread everywhere, dissolving her vision, dissolving her thoughts,...

  ****

  Jane woke to the dull thud of something hitting the ground.

  Her head spun, the world still tilting as she tried to make sense of why she was still on earth and not heaven.

  From afar, two figures were fighting, their movements casting flickers of light in the dark. The smaller shadowwas slowing down; each strike weaker than the last.

  A red flower bloomed on his chest, turning her whole world red too.

  Jane recognized that outfit...and that grunt she heard whenever his joints acted up. She forced herself to see through the dizziness, her arms trembled as she pushed her body halfway off the ground.

  “D-Dad…? What are you doing here???”

  He turned toward her voice; pain carved into every wrinkle on his face. One arm dragged uselessly at his side, the other clawing at the dirt until he reached the vampire’s feet. With the last of his strength, he held on.

  “Run…” he rasped through clenched teeth. “Jane, run.”

  The same man who had reminded his daughter to live with a straight back was now on his knee, begging for her life.

  It felt like a cold hand was squeezing her heart.

  Through the tears and the trembling, Jane kept running. Her palms and knees scraped against the ground as she forced her body forward. Rocks and dirt tore into her skin, but nothing hurt more than the burning tears about to fall from her eyes.

  She should have run the other way. She knew that. But her legs gravitated toward him, just like every time of the year when he returned from a long business trip.

  “No… No, no, no— Please... don’t.”

  Everything happened so fast.

  The vampire turned to her. She could see its smirk even from this distance. Without hesitation, it reached down to grab the old man by the collar and lifted him into the air.

  Her father’s legs kicked, searching for ground. His fingers clawed at the creature’s grip, desperate to break free.

  Then—

  CRACK.

  The sound was loud.

  His arms and feet dangled in the air. His neck bent to one side, forming an unnatural lump beneath the skin. His eyes were still open, and till the very end, they had never once left his daughter.

  “NOOOOO!”

  Jane reached him just in time to catch his body. A dagger sank deep into his chest; the same one she had always insisted he carry. Tears welled in the corners of her eyes, but she couldn’t let them fall.

  Not yet.

  “Even heaven knows better than to strike at mealtime,” the vampire said while wiping his hands.

  The words might have sounded like a joke, but now his voice carried no warmth. His eyes had recovered their original form, with a darker and wider pupil. The calm veneer had cracked, revealing the monster beneath.

  He moved first, fast and ruthless, toward the girl who was still bowed over her father’s lifeless body.

  “What the—”

  He choked.

  A hand clamped around his neck, trapping his words inside his throat, lifting him off his feet.

  He stared down in shock. His gaze met hers, and every hair on his body stood up. Her eyes were filled with so much anger that his instincts screamed at him to get out.

  Then, the wish to flee was granted.

  His body was thrown away and slammed into a tree. Leaves fell everywhere like the first time he entered this forest. Only now, the roles had changed.

  He dropped to his knees; one hand clutching his chest as a wet cough of blood sprayed the earth.

  One step.

  Two steps.

  Three steps.

  He rose from the ground, his gaze locked onto her with a caution he hadn’t shown before, at least not to any victim.

  Jane moved before he could brush off the dirt. Her body moved faster than her thoughts. Each strike was wild but lethal. There was nothing left inside of her but a voice looping in her skull: Kill him. Kill him. Kill him!

  The vampire weaved around her swing, left, right, until he caught both her arms and locked them against his ribs.

  She froze for only a second. Then, she pulled her head back and slammed it into his face.

  Crunch.

  The sound of bone against bone echoed through the woods. Blood ran down from her forehead, mixing with the gore streaming from his deformed nose.

  He stumbled back, covering his face as if pressure alone could chase the pain away. That pain snapped him out of his manic state, leaving only one broken mind in the room.

  Every time he moved, she moved faster. Every time she missed, she repaid him with another punch, each one thrown like she wanted to shatter both of them.

  There was nothing to predict. She dodged when she could, and when she couldn’t, she took the hit and kept going.

  Jane slipped behind him and ended the “cat and mouse” game with a stomp to his knee pit.

  The crack was loud. He collapsed to the ground, blood spilling from his mouth. And this time... he didn’t heal fast enough.

  She didn’t stop.

  Her hand gripped his collar, dragging him across the dirt toward her father. Her body was covered in wounds, her breath ragged, but her eyes stayed determined.

  If the vampire could see, he might have seen the unnatural light burning in them.

  “He didn’t even get to die with his eyes closed,” she said, the words escaping through the small gap between her teeth.

  Her eyes turned red with veins and sparkled with tears. It was the only moment during their whole battle that reminded him she was a human.

  “And you will pay for it.”

  She pushed the dagger into his heart.

  The resistance of his muscle, the wet tear of flesh, the sick sound of metal scraping bone. It all filled her senses but was soon forgotten.

  The body beneath her crumbled. In the blink of an eye, he burned away to nothing but a pile of grey ash.

  One less body to bury.

  “Hatchu!” she sneezed. Jane sat back on her heels, staring at the pile of dust. Even dead, he could still find a way to haunt her nose. The corner of her mouth rose upward, then slowly dropped.

  She didn’t forget what she had done. She couldn’t; her hands were still burning from gripping the dagger.

  Dad was still staring at her. In all their years, they had never held eye contact for this long.

  She had cried before, over the idea of his death. Jane didn’t know why she kept making scenarios in her head; she was bored. But one consequence was clear: now that the thought became reality, she had no tears left.

  Jane reached out to his eyes. The faint brush of his lashes against her palm sent a shiver down her spine. She gently glided her hand, closing his eyelids.

  How could she explain this to anyone? One night, two people were gone. What would she tell her mom? Would she just end up in prison?

  A strange funeral took place that night, deep in the woods, with one mourner, one cold body, and no speech.

  When Jane was small, she had a bird. Mom and Dad were too busy, so she wrapped its body in a handkerchief and buried it herself. That was how she learned what death felt like, stiff and cold.

  That feeling didn’t appear when she touched his body. It was still soft, slightly warm. He looked almost as if he were sleeping, though even in sleep his face held a frown.

  Jane broke down, sobbing as she clawed at the dirt with her bare hands. Sweat and tears ran down her face, smearing a trace of dirt and dried blood across her skin.

  She was tired, and the soil kept getting underneath her nails.

  It hurt.