Vampire Hunters

The year is 2763. Vampires have taken over our world.

Far away, somewhere in Europe, a young girl stands on a platform with a high, curved, important-looking chair behind her. The girl is unusually pale and much too beautiful for her age.

She stared hard at the large doors that lead to the courtyard, as if knowing something is about to come through it. The doors burst open.

Two guards - also unusually pale and much too beautiful - come in, holding a young man dressed in rags and looking insane. I take a sharp breath from my position on the high window of the wall. It was Seth - the one I had come to rescue.

"You won't kill me!" He cries desperately to the girl. "You can't!"

The girl smiles as she glides down the steep staircase leading from the throne to the hallway quite gracefully. "Oh, I do believe that I can." she waves a hand. "Guards, let him go," - at this the man's face lights up - "But leave him in this room. I will eat quickly."

The guards bow low, toss the man out onto the ground, and disappear within a heartbeat. The man squeezes his eyes shut - probably thinking that the end would come sooner if he did - while he kneads the thick wool carpet and the girl circles him, inspecting.

I raise my bow, ready to shoot whenever she struck, hoping Hayden's poison formula works - vampires had become almost invincible these years, with the other vampires refusing to kill some of their race. But she surprises me.

"You know, I won't kill you, after all. I'll leave one speck of blood in your pitiful body so you can become a vampire." She whispers into the dead silence.

My heart is beating loudly, and I hope to God she mistakes it for Seth's heartbeat.

"I'd rather die a painful death than become a bloodsucker like you," Seth snarls. The girl sighs.

"Shame," she said in sincerity. "You have a determined and aggressive mind. It would have made you a great vampire. I'll try to enjoy you while I can." Then she bends low, ready to strike - and Seth squeezes his eyes tighter.

I let my arrow whiz through the air. It hits the dead center of the vampire's forehead. Her blood red eyes roll back into her skull after some seconds has passed. Seth shouts once when he sees the arrow - to signify the guards that the girl had killed him or in suprise, I couldn't read minds, then fell silent. I jumped down from the high window, landing hard on my ankles.

My aim had not failed me yet, I was proud to say - I had once hit the dead center of a target when I was four. Seth smiles gratefully when he sees me. "Thanks, Katie. That would've been the last of me if you hadn't shot that leech when you did."

I simply nod, then go over to the vampire I had killed. After doing a full examination of her face, I gasp. "It's . . . it's . . ." I couldn't say her name. "Seth, look."

Seth runs over and looks at the vampire. He curses. "Hell, Katie, it is Melanie." he says in wonder. I try to smile, but can't.

"Ha!" I say weakly. "Your girlfriend tried to kill you." A tear runs down my cheek.
Melanie had been my best friend since sixth grade. And after the vampires' invasion, she had gone missing. We both had suspected as much, but didn't know it had been true. And now, I had killed her because she was about to turn Seth into . . . a vampire. Suddenly the doors burst open with a loud bang, and Seth and I both spin away from Melanie's lifeless, pale body.

There are around ten vampires, all armed. Thinking quickly, I pulled out Seth's weapon, dabbed with Hayden's formula - it had been strapped to my back in case something like this happened. Seth preferred a two-handed sword.

"Thanks," Seth grunts as he grabs it in midair. I load my quiver up without answering - all arrows dipped in Hayden's green goo. We had tested it on Melanie - it had worked. We were about to use it to (hopefully) save our lives.

"Let's do this," I murmur to Seth. And then we began to fight for our lives to try to execute the leeches that had taken over our planet: Earth.