Chapter 3
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Nissa was by the front door in an instant, looking out the nearby window. It wasn’t quite dark yet, but it was dusk, and her eyes could see far better than a human’s could in this light. One car approached, an SUV of sorts, with tinted windows. It was only big enough to hold maybe six men, and she laughed softly to herself. They clearly didn’t know who they were dealing with.
The men stepped out of the SUV, and her assumption was confirmed. There were six men, all armed with stakes and garlic. She chuckled once again at this. This must have been their first hunt. They couldn’t have been professionals, or they would have known that garlic was a mere myth. Stakes were relatively effective, but they were pretty much the only things that did, and served more to wound than to kill.
She waited in the shadows by the front door until they quietly pushed it open and stepped inside. Moving silently into the foyer, she pressed a button that was hidden underneath her writing desk. The great stone gate slid shut once again with a loud bang, and the mansion went into lockdown mode. Iron bars slid down in front of the windows and outer doors, and the men looked around in fear. They were trapped.
One man, seemingly the leader, tried to put on a brave face. “The vampire is ready for us. Be on the ready.”
The men moved into the foyer, their guns loaded with wooden bullets pointed in every direction. Nissa clung to the shadows and waited for them to pass. Once they did, she moved silently behind one of the men on the outside of the cluster and snapped his neck in one fluid motion. Two men broke from the group, running back to the front door. They pressed themselves against the bars, trying to force their way out. She smiled sadistically at them, barring her teeth. “It’s no use running. Can’t you tell?”
One of them turned and looked at her, his back pressed against the bars and his face the epitome of terror. His pupils shook, and he trembled. A liquid ran down his pants. “Aww, he wet himself. How cute. Do you want to die, little cutie?” He shook his head vigorously, and waved a piece of garlic at her as she stepped closer to him. She leaned forward to whisper rather loudly in his ear. “Then stay where you are. Don’t try anything, or I will drink your blood until you die.” He nodded vigorously again. She looked at his companion who was staring up at her through terrified eyes. “And you? Do you understand?” He too nodded, for he had heard her loud whisper, and sank to the floor.
The three remaining threats watched this scene unfold in front of them in silence, not willing to put their friends’ lives in danger by interfering. She turned to face them. “Do you want to take me up on my generous offer of surrender as well, or do you still wish to fight? I have lived for hundreds upon hundreds of years, and have faced far greater threats than you. It is pointless to resist.” In response, the man who seemed to be the leader fired a wooden bullet from his gun. It missed her by inches, and caused her to go blind with anger. “I see you do not wish to cooperate. This will end badly for you.”
Nissa bared her teeth, and her eyes shone red. One of the men swung at her with a stake, but she felt no pain. Grabbing ahold of the man’s wrist, she pulled him to her, knocking the stake out of his hand in the process. It was simple enough to run across the room, and she was there in less than a second, even with her struggling cargo. She turned, making sure all the men were watching. She made a show of dipping her inch long fangs into his rapidly beating pulse, and drank deeply. He trembled, petrified, and he let loose an ear-piercing scream, the force of which shook the roof and fed her animalistic urges.
She drank for a few seconds more, and his screams became more and more intense. But then the leader of the group, seeing his man’s pain and anguish, ran to her. “Stop this, please! He doesn’t deserve this. I’m the one you want. Take me instead. Feed off me. But don’t kill him. Just let him go. Please.”
She pulled away from the lowly hunter, whose screams were beginning to fade as the blood loss was starting to catch up with him. “I like it when you beg. Do you truly wish to take his place?”
His eyes shook with terror, but his voice was even when he spoke. “If it will spare his life, yes.”
She looked around at the hunters, all of whom were staring at her in horror. They had long since dropped their weapons in an attempt to appease her. They were frightened, and they knew what vampire law dictated their fate to be. “I will spare his life if you all surrender to me, here and now. As you know, there are only two fates for you at this time. Death, or surrender. You must now each chose for yourselves. What will it be?”
Their leader answered for them, keeping his eyes downcast. “We surrender to you, vampire.”
“Is this true for all of you?” They each nodded in turn. “Good. Then you will stay here as I remove the lockdown. If any of you move toward the door, or attempt to escape, I will kill you. I will not do it quickly as I did with your friend there either. Be certain of that.”
Dropping the man she had fed from, she moved toward the button underneath her writing desk, quickly pushing it before human eyes could register her actions. The iron bars blocking the outer doors and windows of the mansion were raised, and soon disappeared into the frame of the house as if they were never there. She was happy to see that none of the hunters had moved, even the ones now leaning against the closed front door.
One man still stood beside his leader, and it was this man whom she addressed. “You will carry the man I drank from. If you need any assistance, you will ask one of your companions to help you.” He nodded, and attempted to lift the man from the floor. The leader of the group rushed to help him, but Nissa held him back. “One of the others will help him. You will come with me. The others will follow.” He did as she requested, and the others fell into line behind him. “What are you called?”
He spoke clearly. “My name is Ayden.”
“Are others coming Ayden? Or did your group decide to face me alone?” She whispered into his ear, brushing her fangs against his earlobe and making sure he knew they were there.
Ayden shuddered slightly, but did not pull away for fear of igniting her temper. “We are alone, though others know where we are.”
She withdrew her teeth from his earlobe, facing him as she spoke. “I see. And you came because you followed the young man and his daughter, correct?”
He nodded, but kept his eyes averted from her face. “Yes. We saw the car turn down this road, and we followed it a ways before we knew you must be here.”
“And you thought you could take me down with your small number? Do you know who I am?”
He looked at her now, full in the face, and could swear he saw her eyes twinkle. “No. We thought you were a mere halfling squatting in an abandoned mansion. Who are you?”
Nissa chuckled, smiling slightly. “You’ll soon find out.” They continued in silence after that, and she didn’t stop until they were in standing outside Sebastian and Scarlett’s door. She thought about it for a second, before proceeding to the door just beyond it. She opened it to reveal a room around the same size as the one she gave to Scarlett and Sebastian, with the same iron bars splitting it in half. There were no huge beds in this one, however, only two sets of bunk beds and a twin. Like the other room, there was also a bathroom through a door to the right, and there was a kitchen to the left, though there were no knives in this one, and no gameroom either.
She looked at the hunters, whose faces had fallen. “We really are prisoners then, aren’t we.” It was more of a statement than a question, and it had arisen from the man just behind Ayden, the one who had wet his pants.
Nissa responded, “Yes, you are, though I think I’m correct in assuming that you would prefer this to the alternative.” The others quickly nodded their agreement, praying she wouldn’t change her mind. “Good. Then I will lock you in for now, and will open it up again a few hours from dusk tomorrow.”
She opened the cell door, and the hunters trudged inside. Once everyone was in, she went to lock the door, but Ayden met her gaze, a question in his eyes. “May I speak with you?”
She was a little surprised, but not unwilling to hear him out. “Yes, you may.” She allowed him back out through the door, locking it behind him.
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