Archive of Our Own ^beta

It had been a long and tiring, but successful day. It was nearly sunset though, so there wasn’t enough daylight to make it back to the village. That meant another night sleeping in the woods. Another night not with Jimmy.

“Scott, gather some wood for the fire,” the patrol leader instructed him.

“Yessir,” Scott replied.

He started gathering wood from around the small clearing the hunting patrol was camping in, then went further into the woods to get enough to keep the fire going all night. By the time he got back, a couple of men had started the fire and started cooking the meat for their meal and to keep it for the village. Scott dropped more wood onto the pile then went back out for more because he hadn’t been able to carry quite enough. He wasn’t big, like most of the hunters, but he was light on his feet and skilled.

When Scott got back to camp with his second load, everything was set up and the men were gathering around the fire for dinner.

“Who’s up for the story tonight ?” one man asked eagerly. Stories kept the men from missing home too much and lightened the mood after long days out in the forest.

“I think it’s Adam’s turn,” Another man responded, bumping the person beside him.

“Fine, fine,” he said, “as long as you stop trying to jostle my brain out’ta my head.”

The men passed around bowls of beef stew as Adam started talking.

“Long ago, there was a small nameless village nestled in a forest always filled with thick fog. The people of this village rarely left it, and on the few occasions they did, rumors spread of people to beautiful to be human. The villagers also never spent much time in other settlements. They would go to one place for a few years then, you would never see them again, but they would appear in different settlements.

They never seemed to age. If an elder lived long enough, they could tell you stories of seeing one of these strangers as a young boy, then the same one, unaged, when they are old. Not many believed the elders because they were often considered mad at their age, but those who did noticed other differences between themselves and the strangers. The mysterious villagers had sharp teeth and red eye and could disappear in the blink of an eye.

People began to fear the strange people and, as so often comes with fear, persecute them. That’s when they finally decided to reveal themselves for who they truly were. Creatures of the Night. They killed many humans, but eventually they were wiped out of the land and the forest burnt down. No one has seen hide nor hair of the creatures since. And feel grateful for it.”

As Adam finished his story, the hunters burst into raucous applause. Adam stood and bowed dramatically before sitting back down to eat. The men started talking again in their own little groups. Scott got pulled into a debate over the best way to deter wolves from flocks or herds and the story was all but forgotten.

-----

Scott shot up to a sitting position, his mind and body already wide awake. Being a hunter meant he was a light sleeper, especially when on a patrol. Most of the men were already awake and quietly moving around camp waking others and gathering the supplies. The fire was doused which meant there was something dangerous out in the woods.

“Are we running or fighting?” Scott murmured to the captain.

“Holding our position until we have a better idea of the threat. Be ready for anything. Spread the word,” he whispered back.

Scott gave a single nod then flitted silently around the camp to tell the others. Occasionally, Scott could see flashes of white among the trees, probably large wolves, but they never crossed into the clearing.

Once everything was packed, the hunting patrol converted into a wedge formation to make them a harder target. The leader gave a silent command to move forward out of the clearing. The patrol was quiet, but that many men couldn’t be silent so they just had to hope they didn’t draw attention.

They had barely made it five feet when one of the men at the back screamed. Everyone turned that direction ready to fight, but there was nothing there. The man was on the ground gasping for air with long slashes across his chest.

Then another man screamed. The man standing next to Scott. He was dead before he hit the floor, his throat sliced to ribbons.

All around men kept screaming and falling to the ground. Until finally, the predators showed themselves, after almost have the patrol was dead or on their knees.

It was three people with eyes like blood, and skin like paper.

“You’ve been hunting in our land,” the man in the middle hissed.

“If you take our animals, then what are we going to eat?” the women on the left continued.

“Humans taste better anyways,” the man on the right sneered.

The three of them pounced on the men still standing. They tried to fight back, but every time someone got a hit on one of the strangers, their skin closed before any blood could seep out of the wounds. More men were falling every second.

Scott ran for his life.

He wasn’t proud of leaving his patrol, but he needed to survive. He’d promised Jimmy he would stay safe. He needed to get home.

A pale figure stepped smoothly into his path. Scott skidded to a stop, panting heavily.

“Well, well, well. We’ve got a deserter,” the woman purred.

Scot raised his bow and nocked an arrow. A shot this close would hit her point blank and kill anyone else instantly. Scott wasn’t naïve enough to think it would kill her though, with her ability to heal. He just hoped the shot could buy him some time.

Scott never got the chance to try it. The woman blurred into a pale streak and before he knew what was happening, his bow was far out of reach.

She tutted softly. “You don’t want to do that.”

Scott felt frozen in fear. He debated going for his knife strapped to his leg, but the woman was much faster than him and would likely knock it from his hands just as easily as his bow.

“You’re such a pretty specimen,” she murmured, stalking towards him with a cat-like grin.

Scott stumbled backwards and his foot caught on a root. He tilted back and would’ve fallen if not for a cold, steel grip on the front of his shirt. The woman pulled him back up and towards herself. Standing this close, Scott could tell she was almost the same height as him. Her hair was light brown and fell in waves down her back.

She used the hand not holding his shirt to stroke his arm softly. Scott shivered at the icy touch.

“Now, what to do with you? Hmm?” She whispered, her mouth too close to his ear. He tried to flinch back, but her grip was tight.

Lightning fast, her grip changed from Scott ‘s shirt to the back of his head.

“Don’t try to run now. I would hate to cut up such a pretty face.”

Revulsion twisted in Scott’s stomach. She delicately brought her face towards his, and pressed her lips against his. Scott tried to writhe and push her away, but her grip was harder than iron.

“Aww, don’t do that. You’re going to rip put your own hair. And that would be such a shame.” She twisted one of his curls around her finger, sending a shudder down his spine.

Scott tried even more desperately to pull free.

The woman didn’t even seem to notice his efforts. She trailed kisses down his throat until she stopped near the base of his neck.

“You'd look absolutely stunning with red eyes and fangs,” she purred.

Before Scott could react, he felt a throbbed sensation in his neck. Her fangs punctured deep into the side of his neck and she started sucking his blood. That’s when everything finally clicked together. She was a vampire.

He renewed his efforts to get free, but he couldn’t get out of her grip. She chuckled as she pulled back, her eyes flashing an even deeper red and blood dripping from her mouth. His blood.

“If you wanted to get free so bad, you should’ve just said so.” She threw him to the ground and disappeared in a blur.

Exhaustion started to sweep over Scott, but he forced himself to his feet. Pain washed over him like crashing waves, making him sway on his feet. Fire burned through his bones, followed by acid coursing through his veins. Scott forced himself to run, even as tears left tracks down his face.

He didn’t know how long he was running for, but eventually he made it back to the hunting patrol. The pain hadn’t lessened at all and he collapsed against a tree. He vaguely heard someone say his name, but he couldn’t focus on it.

After what felt like hours, the pain started to dull. The bite wound closed up and Scott felt strength settle into his muscles. His vision sharpened when he wiped away the tear that had clouded it. He also felt hunger pangs rage through his stomach.

“Scott, are you okay?” Someone asked, “you were completely nonresponsive there.”

“Y-yeah,” Scott stuttered, “just really freaked out.”

He nodded because there was no time to press the issue. A quick sweep of the group revealed five men that were no longer breathing and anyone that wasn’t critically injured were helping bind wounds. Only two people looked un injured.

Scott and a young man ripping cloth into stripes for bandages.

Their eyes locked and they instinctively knew the other had been turned as well.

“We need to get word to the village. We don’t have enough men well enough to walk, much less carry others.”

“I’ll go,” Scott said, eager to get away from the tantalizing smell of blood in the clearing.

He spun on his heel and began jogging towards the village. If his internal compass was still correct, he should be able to get there by mid-day at a normal human pace.

The thought hit him like a brick. He wasn’t human anymore. That woman had turned him. The thought made him want to collapse crying again, but the other men needed him. He kept going.

After a while of running, a cow shambled into Scott’s path. He hesitated for a moment. He was quite hungry, and the speed he was going was bound to make people suspicious. He crept towards the cow on silent feet. Then he pounced.

The cow let out a startled sound that was quickly cut off as Scott sank his teeth into its flesh. The metallic taste filled his mouth and sent him into a frenzy of hunger. When Scott came to, he was covered in blood and the cow was nothing but bones. He’d drained all the blood and eaten all the raw meat.

Scott stumbled away from the mess, horrified with himself. He spun around threw up the meal he'd just eaten. That only made Scott feel even more sick. Scott ran, leaving the horrifying scene behind him.

When the village healers saw him, they freaked out, thinking the blood was his. He reassured them by saying it was one of his comrades' blood from when he'd help carry him. They gave Scott some new clothes to put on before he dragged himself home.

He was just walking up the creaking stairs when Jimmy threw open the door and let out a relieved shout of, “SCOTT!”

Scotthad told himself that he wouldn’t cry, he didn't deserve to. But the day had been too long and Jimmy had always been able to see right through Scott.

This scared him even more than the attack had.

Scott could only hope Jimmy would be accepting.