Hunter of his Own - Chapter 1
A/N: This is REALLY old but I’m an idiot and didn’t realize I only posted it on AO3. So here it is on Tumblr since I’m thinking of writing holy shit actually writing since college what is this a second part while not dying because finals week. May god have mercy on my soul. I’ll add the read more line later cause FUCKING MOBILE!!
Chapter 1 - Blurred Lines
Toby forgot how it felt to run. About how the breath fell out of her lungs just as quickly as it came in. Falling into longer strides and quick turnover as her feet pounded into the ground, not caring about the sounds she made. They could probably smell the blood and sweat that drizzled down her skin as she exerted every ounce of energy she had to gain distance between her and it.
She knows it’s a losing battle.
She knows she’s gonna die here.
Toby figures it’s better that whatever they would do to her in there.
She doesn’t know what caused it. Probably a tree root if she had to guess. All she knew was that she was on the ground, the cold dirt slowly burying itself into the crevices of her face. It felt nice, the cold, compared to the sweat and heat her body naturally generated from the running. She could stay like this for a while.
No. She couldn’t. She had to keep moving.
Toby was just getting off her knees when it finally caught up to her. She felt it’s lifeless hand snag her wrist and twist her to the ground to face it. It didn’t feel like the chill of the earth; it felt like the monster’s touch siphoned heat out of her with every second of contact. It bared it’s fangs as it held down Toby’s other hand, affectively pinning her down. Not that it mattered. The strength from the first hand and fear pumping through every inch of her body was enough to make sure she wasn’t going anywhere.
“Any last words, human?” It growled, it’s large red eyes glowing from the blood lust.
“If I’m being honest, I’m used to being a top. But I can kinda get used to this.” It took a moment for Toby’s words to register to the monster. But when there meaning sunk in, it growled. A low, deep, feral growl. Toby had to admit she’d be turned on if she wasn’t about to die. She closed her eyes, not wanting to watch her own ending.
Something whizzed by their heads and buried itself into the ground inches from their hands. Toby’s head turned to see a skinny wooden steak halfway into the ground. The surface was rugged and uneven, almost as if just looking at it would give Toby a splinter. She heard another one sail through the air, but didn’t need to look where it had landed. She could feel it in the loosened grip on her wrists and hear in the staggered breaths as the realization slowly sunk in. After a moment, when she finally had the courage to, she pushed the creature off of her. It remained stunned on its back, hands reaching to the stake, yet never touching it.
A third person joins. He jumps down from a tree somewhere, at least six feet towering over Toby on the ground. It was hard to see his features shrouded in the secrecy of the night. But his eyes glowed a cascade of pinks, blues, and yellows. Changing so quickly to the next like it melted into each other. He raised a sword, shining briefly in the moonlight, before swinging it down and decapitating the vampire. It came off in a clean swipe and rolled back, almost as if it was looking at something behind it. At first glance, you could hardly tell it was dead.
“Got a light?” His voice was smooth but had almost playful edge to it. A voice of someone he could trust. Toby nodded: when most of his friends smoked weed, he almost always made sure he had one on him. She stood up, her back muscles relieving the tension caused by laying on the uneven ground, and tossed the stranger the lighter on her person. It took a few tries, but a flame quickly began to burn. He knelt down and placed it against the skin of the dead monster’s body. It wasn’t long before the whole creature was engulfed in fire.
“Thank you.” Toby whispered, watching the orange flames lick the sky as they danced. “You … saved my life.”
“I wouldn’t say that just yet. Mind if I check to see if I did.” The stranger held out his hand to Toby.
She could say her life changed when she entered the house. Or when it was when they were captured. She could say it was when she escaped or chased down or nearly died. No, that’s not what she testifies. Toby will say it was this moment, the moment she took his hand, that changed her life to the point of no return.
Because that’s the point that she knew what she was getting into. And decided not to look back.
Ice once more began to sink it’s way into her veins, the same that chilled her when she was attacked. Her breath hitched as the stranger touched her cheek, moving it as he tried to view all sides of her neck. Toby wasn’t sure why, but this same draining cold felt … more calming. Like it was the cold of Mother Earth; a cold she could trust.
“Are you …?” She asked as the stranger moved his hands away, satisfied that she was human. She wanted to say the words but they remained, choked in her throat. Some part of her still refused to believe that the man that saved her was exactly like the one that attacked her.
“Yes.” He nodded grimly. “But I’m not like them. I promise.”
How can I be sure? The thought lingered in her mind. But one look at the body burning behind her and she knew it. She knew he was different somehow; just how exactly had yet to be determined. There was still an uneasiness that she refused to voice. Instead, she simply said, “I … believe you.”
“Good.” He walked over to the body, and pulled the stake from the monster’s ashes and the dying flames that surrounded it. Toby could see the heat that surrounded the wood being to leave its mark against its skin, but the man didn’t seem to care. “Cause I’m gonna need your help.”
“Who are you?” Toby asked, the shock of the entire thing finally beginning to wear off. “And why do you need MY help? You seemed to handle it perfectly fine on your own. I’d like to think that I would end up being more of a hinderance.”
“I need someone who’s been inside there.” He pointed to the old manor up on the hill, the one Toby had just escaped from. “I’ve tried to end that … feeding trap like three times. Every time it’s come back somehow. There’s something I’m missing.”
The man’s words seemed to linger in Toby’s mind as she stared up at the manor. Or rather, she relived the manor: events coming into detail so clearly it’s as if they were happening for a second time. Her feet now stood under the creaking floor, her hand now slid through a dusty banister, and her hair stood on edge as if “We’re being watched.”
“I think you’re just fucking paranoid, cunt.” Mason quipped back, but Toby could see how tight his grip was on his flashlight though the whiteness of his knuckles. “Usually Jay is more scared then you.”
“Oh no I’m on the verge of shitting myself.” Jay admitted, causing the three of them to release some laughs. But the tension was still there, laced in every action. “This is some next level creepiness. I think we should go.”
“For once, I agree with Jay.” Toby admitted, reaching for Mason. “We need to go. This place feels … wrong.”
“C’moooooooooooon!” Mason whined. “We just got here!”
“Yeah, why don’t you stay awhile?”
“Hey, you okay?” The stranger asked, bringing her back to reality by putting a hand on Toby’s shoulder. “I understand if you don’t want to do somethi…”
“I’ll help you.” Toby cut him off, turning to face the man. “I’ll get my friends out; you kill every vampire in that place.”
“Glad … you’re on board. Honestly took a lot less convincing then I thought.” The stranger admitted. “But were gonna need more than just the two of us to tackle this thing. Mind following me back to my place? I’ve got someone else who can help and maybe there we can come up with a plan of action.”
“Okay.” Toby nodded. “But only if you tell me who you are. I don’t think I even introduced who I am yet. I’m Toby.”
