Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

For centuries, vampires roamed all around Goiky. At first, signs of them were obvious, but for the vast majority of them, their threat level was minimal, so nobody took action. They would ultimately pay the price, for as the generations continued, the vampires became more and more capable of blending in with the general populace, as well as more powerful. It reached the point where normal civilians got too scared to go out alone or, if they really had to, prepared themselves with the basic anti-vampire necessities. Radio broadcasts and TV commercials frequently reminded Goikians to never go outside at night, especially not alone, without sufficient preparations. Unfortunately, these reminders didn’t fully prevent the spread, and now there was an outbreak of vampires, some of whom being crazy enough to attack people during the day.

That was where Liy came in. Renowned as one of the top vampire hunters in Goiky, she’d put an end to many a vampire for the past fifteen years or so. But, admittedly, she was bored of slaying ordinary vampires, who were deemed weak to her. A certain one had been on her mind for months.

La Reine du Sang.

Said to be the most powerful vampire to exist, La Reine du Sang—or simply La Reine for short—was incredibly dangerous. Lately, most conversions occurred thanks to her personal army (most vampires acted on their own, but would still obey any orders she gave in fear of her), and the number rivaled the hunters’ collective kill count, practically putting the two sides at a stalemate. However, Liy and La Reine never met each other personally. Liy didn’t even know what La Reine looked like.

That would soon change, thanks to a girl who claimed to have connections with her.

The buzzing of the digital alarm clock pierced the once-silent atmosphere of Liy’s bedroom. Letting out a low groan, the light switch reached for her nightstand and slapped her hand on the clock beside her, putting it on snooze. Her hand limply slid off the clock, almost knocking over her phone and dangling over the side of the bed.

Just as she was about to grumble that she needed five more minutes, she was startled awake by loud knocking. She groggily sat up and saw her roommate, a reddish-pink stapler, at her door, which was now wide open.

“Liy, wake up. We’ve got bad news,” the stapler said, urgency in his tone.

“Again? Can’t it wait, Stapy?” Liy rubbed her eyes. Her roommate shook his head in response. With another groan, she peeled the covers off her, and she slowly got out of bed. She took a moment to lazily remake her bed, shut off her alarm before it could go off again, then left her room, Stapy following close behind.

The two went downstairs (each step was long, so Stapy couldn’t slide and fall) and into the living room. Stapy handed Liy the morning newspaper that was on the couch, and immediately the front headline caught her attention.

VAMPIRE OUTBREAK CONTINUES AT AN ALL-TIME HIGH: LA REINE CAN’T BE STOPPED

She skimmed through the article and found some familiar names, names of those who had fallen victim to La Reine or her henchmen over the past seven days. Stapy reread them himself.

Balloony. Coiny. Fries. Gelatin. Pen. Ruby. Taco.

A few other names were listed, but none were familiar to Liy. Still, it was an extensive list. It meant more vampires to deal with, but also, she’d have to kill her own friends and acquaintances. Sure, she’d done it before, but it didn’t make it any better for her.

“Hey, wasn’t Coiny a vampire hunter?” Stapy asked, as if he just remembered.

“Yeah. He’s not the first vampire hunter to get converted.”

“Yeah, I know,” he sighed. “Foldy met the same fate.”

“Pencil and Bracelety, too,” Liy added, with a sad tone. Along with Stapy, who she didn’t meet until later, those two were her closest friends, both of whom she’d known since she’d started her training as a preteen. She was able to kill Bracelety before she could do any damage, but Pencil was another story, having a skill level far greater than her own. Despite that, she was supposedly not alive anymore, reported to have been killed by someone or something else. As her disappearance had happened so suddenly, sources hadn’t been able to figure out the cause of her alleged death, so rumour had spread that it could have been a suicide. No vampire or vampire hunter had ever taken their own life, though, according to history, so it was hard to say.

Stapy noticed the frown on his friend’s face and placed a hand on her shoulder. “Hey, it’s okay. They’re still with us in spirit.”

“I guess.” Liy looked down at her right arm, which was decorated with a braided accessory that wrapped around her wrist up to her forearm, tri-coloured in cyan, orange, and periwinkle—proof of an unbreakable bond. Similarly, Stapy wore a string bracelet with a pattern of pink, teal, and purple beads, resembling himself and his late best friends, Foldy and Marker. “I just miss them a lot,” she continued. “The three of us trained together, so I’ve been close with them both for a long time. It sucks that it had to be them—why not me, too? What’s so special about me? I’m not saying I want to be corrupted, but it still sucks that we didn’t all go down together, you know?”

Saying nothing, Stapy entered the kitchen. He hopped over to the coffee maker and poured himself a cup. He filled another mug and handed it to Liy, who took it graciously.

“Thank you,” she said.

After they put creamers into their coffee, the two went to the dining room and sat at the round table.

“Anything new on La Reine?”

“Hm?”

Stapy wasn’t a vampire hunter like Liy, so he wasn’t fully up to date on vampire-related news. So, he often asked her for updates, especially on La Reine du Sang.

Liy shook her head. “No,” she replied. “Just what that article gave us. She’s as relentless as ever.”

“Unfortunate.” He took a sip and set his mug down. “I’m surprised you’re still interested in her. Nobody knows what she even looks like.”

“And that’s just it, Stapy! A new adventure, you know? Plus, I’d like to face off against someone who’s in my league. Let the weaker hunters deal with the weaker vampires.”

“Didn’t Pencil say the exact same thing? You know, one of two people whose leagues surpass your own? She tried to find La Reine, and look what happened to her. She’s missing.”

“Dead,” Liy corrected him, deadpan.

The stapler rolled his eyes. “Point still stands. I wouldn’t waste my time looking for an enemy who I don’t even know is my enemy… if that makes sense. Like, you’re hunting for someone with no knowledge of who they are. La Reine could be anyone, and nobody has an idea. I’d say wait until there are clues before searching for her.”

Liy sighed, sipping her coffee. Stapy was right—she was just wasting her own time. But, but, the adventurous side of her was telling her to keep looking anyway! She’d find La Reine du Sang eventually! She’d been searching for months—she would not make it all for nothing!

After breakfast, Liy grabbed her bag and weapons and equipped her “armour”—which consisted of just a vest with neck protection and fingerless gloves with grips. When she decided she had everything she needed, she bade Stapy goodbye and left the apartment.

As she stepped down the staircase from the front door, she took glances around the street. It was bustling on a Saturday. She held up her wrist to look at her watch—seven forty-two. Still pretty early, so why was it so busy? The crowd made it easier for vampires to blend in, and harder for hunters to target them.

Liy took the sidewalk with no set destination. She didn’t drive, and she was uncomfortable taking public transportation outside of emergencies, so walking was her only option. It wasn’t so bad, though. After all, the regular exercise over the years made her legs pretty strong, enabling her to run fast for long periods without tiring. Obviously, she wasn’t as fast as Needle, a fellow hunter, but she was close.

As her mind wandered, she accidentally bumped into someone, and both stumbled back and fell. The other person panicked, swiftly getting up and offering a hand to Liy, who was still rather dazed.

“OMW, I am, like, so sorry!” the stranger said, a feminine voice coming out.

“It’s fine, it’s…” The light switch trailed off when she came back to her senses. She looked up at the stranger, a tall matchstick who was shielded from the sunlight thanks to a white parasol. Red splotches and streaks that resembled blood stains decorated the parasol—was it real blood, or the original design?

“Are you sure?” The matchstick sounded concerned.

“Yeah.” Liy finally took her hand and was helped up on her feet. Not letting go, she stared at the parasol, then at the girl holding it. She got lost in the taller object’s eyes for a while. A minute, in fact. Her eyes were so beautiful, it was hard for Liy to put into words. The stranger didn’t look away, but was still rather confused, blushing ever so slightly.

“You’re… staring at me. And still holding my hand.”

“Wuh—” The hunter snapped out of it and quickly backed away, releasing her soft grip. “S-Sorry about that! I just—”

“No, it’s okay! It’s just, like, I haven’t had proper social interaction in so long, and, well…” The matchstick trailed off, rubbing her neck sheepishly. “Anyway, um, so, like…” She looked down at Liy, a soft smile on her face. The light switch could feel herself warming up in the literal sense, just from that smile alone. “Sorry, I’m, like, a little awkward socially… My name’s Match.”

A little? Liy thought, chuckling a bit. She smiled back. “It’s nice to meet you. I’m Liy.”

“I’ll be sure to remember that.” Match nodded. There was a brief pause, then something came to her mind. “So, anyway, like, what’s with the getup? Are you a vampire hunter?” she asked rather casually.

“Yeah.”

She looked on with intrigue. “Slain any lately?”

Liy shook her head. “Not really. There’s a certain one I’m focusing on right now.”

“Let me, like, guess—La Reine du Sang?”

The shorter object appeared shocked for a second, but quickly regained her composure. “Yes. Do you know where I can possibly find her?”

Smile not faltering, Match hummed a bit, lightly tapping the handle of her parasol. “I may know something, yes. I have… connections, let’s say.”

“You do?!” She took the taller object’s free hand in both of hers, prompting the parasol-carrier to blush again. “Please tell me! I’ve been looking for her for so long!”

“Hm.” The other girl hummed in contemplation again. “Okay, then… I’ll let you in on a little secret.”

“What’s th—”

Liy was cut off when Match backed her up against a wall. Match lifted her leg, placing her foot next to Liy on the wall, while she angled her parasol on the other side, preventing Liy from leaving. All while she did that, she stared down at the light switch with a casual smile on her face, her parasol casting a shadow over them both. She leaned in, chuckling, and whispered, while her free hand held up a pink sticky note with a series of numbers on it;

“La Reine is in this very city—and she’s totally, like, had her eyes on you for quite some time now…”