Note: This is a passage taken from a much longer story.

The drumming of water against the windows and rooftop was always a comforting sound. Being indoors during a rainstorm had always been relaxing to her. Elizabeth sighed as she watched the storm continue, content as she was sitting in silence by the glass windows in her cosy home. Eventually that silence was broken and Elizabeth turned her head to see a gentleman enter the doorway on the other side of the room. Upon seeing him, she perked up, rising fluidly to stride over to the man, clasping his outstretched arm in greeting; she glanced up at him before giving a small smile and moving to embrace him in a warm hug.

‘Oh Derek, it is good to see you. Have you been well?’ Elizabeth spoke as she pulled back from the hug, ‘I came straight from Budapest when I heard the news.’

‘So far?’ Derek chuckled, flashing Elizabeth a charming smile, ‘Should I feel honoured that my darling sister traveled all this way to sit by my bedside?’

Elizabeth slapped her brother’s arm playfully before linking her arm with his and leading him over to the table, where she had been earlier listening to the rain. They took their time talking of nonsensical things- their times spent apart, what they saw. Which brought them to the reason why Elizabeth dropped everything in Budapest to travel back to their London home, and where Derek had been kept whilst he had been recovering.

‘They came out of nowhere,’ Derek was saying, his clasped hands resting on the table in front of him turned white as he gripped them tighter. The memory of his ordeal obviously still causing him pain, ‘They had been unlike any we had ever seen before. The hunt obviously fell apart as soon as the beasts ambushed us.’

‘I don’t understand,’ Elizabeth frowned leaning forward, “the lead should have taken you straight to the coven’s den. There shouldn’t have been any vampires there Derek!”

‘They weren’t vampires Liza!’ She jerked back slightly at the unnerved tone, brow still furrowed. She stared intently at her brother as he ran a hand over his tired face, he let it drop, ‘these creatures were more besital than that. It- it was like the sense part of them had been removed completely, I could barely get away. There was nothing human about these creatures.’

The siblings fell into an unsettling silence, both thinking deeply on the severity that statement could mean. While they had been speaking, the storm outside raged, the gale wind strong enough to make the windows rattle, the rain pelting the glass panes.

‘Listen Derek,’ Elizabeth spoke after a moment, glancing at her brother in concern, his face was pale and his breathing more laborious, ‘you need to rest. It’s clear that you haven’t fully recovered yet.’ She lifted a hand to cut Derek off as he tried to protest,

‘Don’t argue with me, you know I’m right brother. Besides, you won’t be of any help until you’re better.’

Derek shot her a glare at that, but relented, sighing and leaning gingerly back in his chair, ‘Very well, what will you be doing in the meantime dear sister?’

Ignoring her brother’s mocking tone, Elizabeth rose from her chair, shouldering the leather travel bag she’d had with her. Moving to her brother’s side, she bent down to kiss the top of his head, smoothing down his hair when he allowed it. Elizabeth straightened up, striding towards the door that would lead her to the main hall of their estate.

‘I’m going to do what I do best,’ she paused in the doorway, glancing back at Derek, flashing him her own charming smile, ‘research.’

***

‘Research is not what I do best,’ Elizabeth grumbled to herself and she ran a hand through her hair for what must have been the millionth time. She had been gradually getting more and more dishevelled the longer she was spending pouring over page after page in her family’s library. To no end. Her clothes had become restrictive, so she had removed her jacket, which hadn’t really helped. Massaging her forehead in an attempt to alleviate the growing headache, Elizabeth reached out and dragged another dusty book towards her, hunching over it and scanning its pages.

‘…There is another, a vampyre of ultimate power and strength that seeks to subjugate all other blood drinking beasts to its rule. There is no one creature of this kind, it is merely the strongest that manages to overcome the previous ruler…damn what’s left of their souls, I have seen nothing like it. 

The group of hunters I have accompanied on this adventurous journey of discovery call these lesser beings the “Mindless’. It is these creatures that have a title for their oppressor…one they call Dracula. I have found that only the vampyre worthy of it, is granted this title. It seems my father was incorrect in his assumptions that there was only one. Jonathan Harker thought there was only one Dracula.

The beast he fought may be dead, but the title lives on.’

Elizabeth leant back in her chair, letting out a slow breath, staring blankly ahead. After a few moments, she shook her head before reaching for the rotary telephone on the far corner of her table. Rapidly dialing a number, she waited, frozen for a moment with the phone pressed to her ear, for the call to patch through. Someone picked up.

‘Hey Jules, I’ve found something- I think this could be the final key to getting into that coven we uncovered in Budapest.’ Elizabeth stood, phone cradled between her ear and shoulder, haphazardly shoving the selected loose pages into her bag.  Now ready to leave, she waited, listening intently to the voice on the other end on the call.

‘No, I don’t want Derek hearing about this just yet,’ she spoke quietly, shooting a quick glance around the library. She was alone. ‘He’s still recovering from his last hunt. No, pack your bags and meet me back at the safehouse in the northern district. If what I just discovered is true, it’s highly likely the vampire we’ve been looking for is at the coven’s nest. Get your big boots on Jules, we’re going on a hunting trip.’ Hanging up, Elizabeth grabbed her jacket from the back of the chair, shrugging it on, before shouldering her bag and striding from the room.  

She had a lot to prepare with little time to do it. 

***

‘God dammit!’ Elizabeth grunted as she was thrown through yet another wall. Never had she been so glad the coven chose a warehouse made mostly out of wood. She had lost Jules almost as soon as they entered the damn place, set upon as they were by creatures that moved too rapidly to get a proper shot at. If Elizabeth had to guess, she would say the man was already dead. She grit her teeth as she shoved bits of broken debris off her body. She hoped he went quickly.

Getting to her feet, Elizabeth whipped out the bayonet dagger that she saved for special moments like this, from the holster on her arm, before getting into a defensive stance. As if on cue, a black shape darted through the hole after her, careening into her and sending them both flying back once more. Baring her teeth, Elizabeth plunged her dagger forwards, only managing to rip through cloth as the vampire danced back; she continued her attacks, sharp eyes watching for a misstep from her opponent. The vampire was tall, and male from the broad shoulders, though his hood covered his face, so she had no way to predict its thoughts. She eyed the creature carefully, wary for any sudden moves, while the vampire only watched her right back. 

Narrowing her eyes, Elizabeth made to strike at the creature again. He dodged. Her frustration grew as her attempts to land a hit missed each time, so she quickly dropped her knife, crouching to put all her weight on her hands, and swung her legs aiming a roundhouse kick at the figure, she gave a sharp grin when she felt it connect.

Before the vampire could recover, Elizabeth flipped back into her crouch, grabbed her dagger from the dirt covered floor and darted forwards, blade glinting. Breathing heavily, she grinned viciously down at the vampire she had pinned, only to find that he was smirking back up at her, his hood having been dislodged. Brows furrowing, Elizabeth opened her mouth to speak when she froze suddenly. Tips of very sharp claws were pressed into the soft leather on her side, and she became very aware of the vulnerable position she was in.

‘It seems,’ The vampire finally spoke, low voice rasping from her dagger at its neck, ‘that we are at an impasse, hunter.’ 

Elizabeth narrowed her eyes at his victorious smirk, ‘How so vampire? Because it looks like I’m the one holding a dagger at your throat.’ Pressing the blade more firmly against the creature, she smirked at the nervous glance he gave her hand, ‘I could slit your throat before you take another breath.’

‘Ah, but you won’t be quick enough to prevent me from gutting you.’ The vampire shot back, his amber eyes shining with small triumph. Elizabeth grit her teeth. They were at a stalemate- both of them frozen, as they stared each other down trying to find an opening. She needed to think of something fast, she was alone in this nest of vampires and she could feel the beginnings of what felt like panic, bubbling up in her chest. 

Her decision was made for her. Screeching sounded from the broken wall that she’d come through and she whipped her head up to see three more vampires frantically trying to charge through the small opening towards her. They were grotesque. Pale, distorted faces that made them appear more reptilian, their once human teeth had extended into a repulsive overbite, bloody saliva dripping from their gaping mouths. Mindless vampires! The young hunter quickly scrambled backwards out of their reach, until her back hit the back wall. 

Taking a hurried glance behind her, Elizabeth let out a curse when she saw there were no windows or other doors to the room. She was trapped in a building with feral vampires and their leader, and she was alone and outnumbered. Elizabeth could feel the cold feeling of her panic spread through her limbs, up her chest towards her head. A tiny part of her wished she’d been just a little more selfish and brought Derek with her. She’d made a mistake and now either the coldness or the feral vampires were about the consume her. Whichever reached her first.

Cold hands grasped her face, and she flinched. Opening her eyes- when had she closed them?- she saw that it was the amber eyed vampire that had touched her and was now staring at her with growing realization and shock. She clenched her fists, about to swipe at him, before the coldness finally reached her face, causing her eyes to burn, a blinding pain overwhelming her vision. Elizabeth struck out at the vampire in a blind attempt to push him back, wrenching her head away to shield her face. The creature nimbly stepped back, but by the look he was giving her, she hadn’t been fast enough. He had seen her eyes. 

‘Well, well, this is something I would never have expected,’ She could hear the amusement in the creature’s voice, and hot anger replaced the cold inside her. She needed to find her knife again, and quickly, ‘Oh this is rich. A black sheep hiding among the flock. Trying to be like every other member of your little hunting group.’ A cold hand once again grasped her chin, forcing her to to lift her face, her eyes still cast down, ‘tell me…hunter…how long have you been hiding the fact you’re a vampire from them?’

Gold eyes blazed as Elizabeth glared up at the creature that was enjoying tormenting her, the colour having replaced her usual dark eyes. The numb cold had been replaced by a burning heat in her throat, and her gums itched. 

‘Hmm, this is fascinating,’ the vampire was still too close to her, seemingly talking to himself now, reaching out a hand to fiddle with the strands of her now pale hair, ‘but why silver? Maybe the genes of the vampire are mixing oddly with her own. So beautiful.’ Here, he focused back on her, ‘so tell me, little sheep, how did you come to be a half vampire?’

Elizabeth merely glared stonily back. With a wall at her back and being faced with the new Dracula and his mindless followers, her choices were limited. While she had been debating on what to do, she finally caught sight of her dagger discarded just to the far left of her. If she was quick, she could dive for it before the vampire could react and kill her. Would she make it? There was only one way to find out.

She took a deep breath, and dove.