theinkling

There was a war going on.

It started the way these things always start, over territory. The gangs were always battling over feeding grounds, and tonight was no different. Only tonight things got worse.

First, it was only between the vampires of the ghetto, who held that ground first, and the ‘punks’, who were slowly taking over. If it had only been them, it wouldn’t have been anything worth taking notice of. But then, the Elitests arrived. They were the oldest, most organized, and the deadliest. They were efficient, cool, collected and also, so dignified and graceful you almost didn’t mind the bite. They were there that night because they felt it was time to eradicate those they felt were inferior.

I watched from a rooftop. For the most part, my interest was only in population control. There were too many to stop the killing of humans, not that there were many there, and who was I to interfere anyhow? But under no circumstances was I to allow a new vampire to be born. All was going fine for me until the Hunters arrived.

I will admit, a part of me was pleased to see them; the more vampires destroyed the better. However, I also knew they were in over their heads. As able as they were, they were still novices. The only one who possibly stood a chance was Anthony, and even that was somewhat far-fetched. I knew exactly why they were here.

Romulus.

He was the one that turned Anthony. He was the one who caused Anthony’s torment. It was in pursuit of Romulus that they captured him. And once Anthony was taken, the others were easily overcome.

Despite my lack of enthusiasm for rescuing them, despite my personal reasons for wanting to follow the dandies, despite my position of neutrality, and despite my better judgment, I went after them. To my total lack of surprise, they were taken to The Cave. Each was being held in separate confinement.

Naturally, I went for Anthony first. I found him in the deepest part of the lair, where there was only one way in and out. Lucky for me, I could easily move undetected. His hands and feet were cuffed, and bound with a chain to a thick column. Two guards stood sentinel, and I almost laughed at how simple it was. I walked straight up to them. “How do you do boys?”

They were quite shocked and rather caught off guard. The first one came after me in a lunge, but I sprayed him with a strategically filled water pistol I carried. “Here kitty.”

He howled in sheer agony, falling the floor, crying out “Oh god, it burns and freezes. Make it stop!”

I pointed the water pistol at the other one and waited. Clearly being the wiser of the two, he fled.

“Take him with thee!” I commanded. Without thinking, he turned around, came back for his companion, and they left together.“I never could stand the way they cry when I do that.”

Anthony looked at me, but did not move, or show emotion. He simply said, “Hello Elanor.”

I smiled at him, crossing my arms and leaning against the wall. “Happy to see me?”

“I’d be happier if you put that away.” I obliged and placed the pistol back into my coat pocket. “What’s in that thing anyhow? Holy Water? I thought that was a myth.”

“Of a sort.” I answered curtly. “Only worse. Think of it like ‘concentrated holy water.’” I walked over to him with the intention of setting him free, but stopped once I was directly in front of him. “Actually... I rather like thee like this.”

“Cut the crap and set me free. The others are still in danger.”

I laughed, and I saw that he smiled as well, something he seldom did.

Once the bonds were broken, we both set off for the others. It was mostly an uneventful endeavor, and we were quickly out of there, once again, finding ourselves on that fateful street.

It was clear by now. All that was left were corpses and rats. One of the Hunters, Patrick ran over to one of the bodies. His informant, lay flat on his back, pale and cold. He had put his life on the line for them, and he had lost it tonight.

“He knew the risk.” Sam, the youngest of them, said.

“It is important we clear the bodies quickly.” A voice said behind me. The others of my kind were arriving, led by Ross, who had been the one to speak.

I nodded and joined them, “Go, take your friend if you wish. Your car is over there, I doubt it’s been damaged.”

“Our weapons...” began Patrick, but before he was finished, Celeb, Anna and Faun, the ones who had come with Ross, stepped forward with their guns.

“She’s right, let’s get back.” Patrick said softly. Anthony lingered for a moment, his eyes locked in a stare with mine, then turned, and left with the others.

I was left with my own, and we promptly made good work of disposing the bodies of the victims. Usually they leave their victims to rot and be discovered in the street. The police, many of whom are the ones I chased after into The Cave, report the dead as victims of muggings, rapes, gang cross-fires, and other random acts of violence. People don’t question, they just avoid the streets at night, maybe vote for someone who says they can stop it, throw more money at the police department. Why should people question? Humans do enough to themselves as it is.

So it’s up to the Hunters, silly humans who think they can outmatch immortals, the few rogue vampires, usually ones turned against their will, the few werewolves that care enough to fight ... and us.

We are the First Born. Created before men, before vampires, before werewolves, before anything but birds and beasts long since evolved and extinct. We are strong, agile, swift, tall, lovely, and most importantly immortal. We are impervious to disease, discomfort, pain, aging and even forgetting. We can be killed, but not easily, we can die, but only when we desire no longer to live. We have been called many names: fairies, nymphs, sidhe, gods and goddesses, sorcerers and sorceresses, wizards, witches, angels, even devils. But my personal favorite word to use in English is elf.

(Read the whole thing here)