Dhampir

I tried to make myself more appealing from my quick glance around the tavern, I could feel the hidden stares, suspicions, and unwelcome glances towards me as I listened to my client's story.

I took a look at my client when he was done, he was a middle aged man, he had his soul torn away from the way I saw no light in his pupils and despair that ran across his face as he stared at the wooden table where we both sat. 

“Please forgive me I don’t have any money at the moment so I-“, he said

“So your wife was kidnapped by an aristocratic looking vampire?”, I asked interrupting for clarification, I was purposely ignoring his bargain for payment.

“Yes but-“, 

“You told me there was a abandoned mansion near by, her and the vampire could possibly be there”, I suggested 

“Thats a possibility but I’m not sure”, he replied

“I’ll go there first, we won’t be discussing payment, my line of work is free”, I declared as I got up from the table.

“Thats rare for a vampire hunter”, he pointed out

“I’m not like the rest of them”

He looked at me with a mix of uncertainty as I left.

I could smell the scent of a vampire and a human as I approached further to the mansion. I began to feel more sure of myself that I was right.

I soon found myself at the mansion's broken bent gate. I looked up at its towering aura as the moonlight danced along the building. I could feel the smell of a human and a vampire growing stronger.

I slowly opened the rotted door to the front entrance of the mansion. It was dark and abandoned, this was all too familiar when dealing with a vampire.

I scratched my mutton chops as I looked around the front entrance. Two stairs on opposite sides of the entrance lead up to the second floor where both scent trails grew the strongest.

I followed both scent trails down the hallway of the second floor to a closed room, I could hear low breathing coming from inside. My muscles tightened as I found myself on guard as I stood by the doorway, I held my breath before turning the door knob, I slowly and quietly opened the door and found the man’s wife stunned on the floor.

Before I could react I felt a cold grip around my neck, I was thrown across the hallway, and smashed into a table, my head spun across the globe. I got up almost tripping as I tried to find my stance, I saw with my blurry vision a figure across the hallway where I once stood. 

“You're certainly an interesting gentleman, a throw like that would have killed a normal man”, said the figure with a husky voice.

“Well I’m not normal”, I replied as my blurry vision began to dissipate, I could make out that he had pale and husky skin, he was wearing once an expensive suit now ripped and covered in dirt.

“Well of course you’re not, you don’t even smell like a human”, he amused, licking his teeth purposely showing his sharp fangs.

Before I could do anything he had charged and threw me across the hallway again, I made impact with the wall as the shocks from the impact electrified my veins. 

“I forgot to add you don’t even smell like a vampire either so what are you?”, he questioned as he gripped my neck and held me in the air. 

“I think you know the answer to that”, I coughed as I struggled to speak as he gripped tightly across my airways, he amusingly tilted his head like a dog.

“Do I now?”, He chuckled 

In a split second he tightened his grip once again, threw me to the ground, everything went black.

I dreamt within a fuzzy haze, I came rushing into my mothers small cottage as fast as my little legs could carry me, I was bursting into tears, I ran to my mother when I saw her reading a book on her chair.

“Mama, is it true that I’m a monster?”, I cried

“Now who told you that?”, she asked calmly, sitting her book down and she got up from her chair kneeling before me.

“The kids at the school house”

“What rubbish those kids can be”, she said as she wiped my tears away

“Now repeat after me you’re not a monster I’m clever, I’m brave and I’m kindhearted”, she instructed 

“But the kids said-”

“Hey! Repeat what I’ve said and I don’t care what those kids have to say”, she insisted

“I’m clever, I’m brave, and I’m kindhearted”, I followed as I stopped crying as I tried to breath out of my clogged stuffy nose.

“Do you feel better now?”, she asked calmly taking my hand

“A little bit”

I woke up with adrenaline running through my veins, I quickly got up across the cold stone floor and crashed into a kitchen counter top and knocked over a bunch of rusted pots and pans. I realized where I was when I looked around the kitchen. My adrenaline left my body when I realized there was no threat but there was a giant hole in the ceiling. He had thrown me down from the second floor. 

I heard the distant echoing scream of the man’s wife, I quickly dug into my pocket and found my lighter that survived being thrown around with me. I couldn’t match his strength so I had to be clever like my mother said.

Through my use of my sense of smell I located them once again. When I found the room they were in I burst through the door, they were in a spacious den on the second floor. I found both of them in the middle of the room on the carpet with him clutching her tightly and ready to bite upon her neck.

He tore his eye away from her and looked up at me. I could sense there was fear in his eyes for a moment before he bursted out laughing. To be fair I did look like a maniac waving around two long candelabras both freshly lit.

“Looks like you have yourself in a little pickle”, he chuckled 

“How so?”

“You try anything at all and I can suck the blood from her clean dry within seconds”, he hissed

I looked at the man’s wife for a moment, upon her face she was horrified as she stared directly at me with fear. I gave her a nod to send a signal that everything was going to be all right. The vampire glared at me with a thin smile forming across his face, I assumed he was trying to hide his uneasiness as his smile started twitching.

I knew there was nothing I could do without causing the outcome the vampire laid out, my only card I could play was a risk.

I put myself in a guard stance like a boxer, nailing my feet to the ground ready to attack.

“FINE! Have it your way”, he barked with his smile shattering like glass to reveal a predator glare of anger. He bit down on her neck as I bolted towards them. 

I stabbed him with both candelabra in his gut as I took hold of her and gained my footing as the vampire fell to the floor, he hissed violently as fire erupted on his body.

I could smell that the vampire's venom had gotten into her blood stream, I had little time to act before she became a vampire herself. Due to the venom's effects she had become unable to properly move and was violently shaking. I could tell she wanted to speak but couldn’t as I put her on my back and prepared myself to run down the hallway. Before I ran I looked back towards the vampire, I realized the fire wouldn’t completely stop him as he scratched his fingers across the floorboards which tore apart the wood with his predator anger like face now ten times worse now looking at me with full force and ready to tear me apart into pieces.  

I bolted down the hallway as fast as I could, I heard his predator-like screeching coming from him as he tore through the hallway after me. I realized I severely underestimated how much fire would do to him, I only had seconds to act. I was gambling with the universe too much but I saw no other way out.

I once again threw her across the hallway, I faced the vampire as he crawled along the hallway like a spider with fire blazing all over him, He was a true spawn from hell.

I ran towards him, he hammered me down to the ground hard, I fell through once again and found myself crashing into the first floor before crashing down to the basement. 

My head banged across the cold stone as the impact ran through my body, I felt like I was going to explode. 

The spawn of hell that was the vampire jumped down from the hole he had created. I managed to get my bearings together and get out of the way when he made an impact. The fire had engulfed his whole body and was actively trying to roast him but he was trying to fight back against it.

“Tell me how it feels to try to gain the approval of humanity when they’ll only see you like us no matter how many times you try to kill us?”, He asked

“And who said I was like the rest of you?”, I challenged 

I managed to dodge his punch as he missed me and he hit the basement wall instead. I could tell the fire was getting to him and he was becoming slower.

“Everyone of us knows you’re not a true vampire, all the humans are stupid enough to see you as one of us”, he spat

I managed to distance myself from him, he decided to speak again trying to balance himself from falling.

“What a pity life you live you’ll always be seen a monster to humans and a human to monsters”

After he spoke he collapsed to the ground into whaling screams and spasming across the floor as the fire dissipated and he had become ash. 

I stared at the ash for a moment before realizing I needed to go back and stop the venom. I ran as fast as I could across the basement and up the stairs to the second floor. As I made my final steps, my chest sank and my blood grew cold, I was too late. The universe didn’t like my gambling.

She stood there motionless and all vibrant color drained from her. She had no light in her eyes like her husband back at the tavern, she looked up at me when I finished climbing the stairs.

“Are you okay?”, I asked I didn’t know what else to say

She didn’t say anything.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t able to stop the venom in time”, I muttered trying to compose myself from the painful mistake I had just made.

She walked over to me and dug something out of her white gown and handed it to me, it was a silver locket.

“Give this to my husband”, she said

I was confused as I felt the cold touch of the silver within the palm of my hand.

“Thank you for doing your best”, she said sincerely

“I’m sorry”

She turned her head away from me to face the entrance to the mansion before she spoke again.

“I can’t live like a monster like you please forgive me”

She bolted across the hallway and I went chasing after her. She threw open the two glass doors towards the balcony and leapt upon its edge, the sun was about to rise.

“WAIT STOP!!”, I cried

She jumped high as soon as the sun rays started walking across the landscape, her dress sung against the air as she faded into light of ash that was carried away by the wind. The dress was all that remained like a falling feather, I watched it dance slowly to the ground.

I stood there frozen for a long while trying to process everything. I sunk myself into nothingness for who knows how long. I didn’t snap out of it until I saw the man again show up by horse to the mansions gate.

I gained my compulsion and left the mansion to meet the man. The man was more despaired as he stared at his wife’s gown on the ground. I went up to him and handed him his wife’s locket.

“I’m sorry she said she couldn’t live like a monster”, I said bluntly as I started to trail off

“I knew you did your best, now tell me, are you a vampire yourself?”, he asked looking at the locket.

“No”

“A dhampir?”

“Yes”

“I assumed”

“Then why did you ask?”, I questioned

“Becuase I wanted to know for sure”, he replied looping his finger around the edges of the locket

“Please take care and thank you for everything", he said again, noticing I was fully trailing off.

I didn’t feel like replying to him so I said nothing. I walked along the grassy meadows with the sun irritating my skin. The vampire’s words echoed in my mind and I found myself that I couldn’t get them out.

“how it feels to try to gain the approval of humanity when they’ll only see you like us no matter how many times you try to kill us?”

I didn’t like that he was telling the truth.