Vampire Hunters: Chapter 1- Abominations

Author's notes: Will probably be full of typos. I will edit it in time. But do critique the plot and put it in the comments below! Thanks a lot beforehand! :D enjoy!

Chapter 1: Abominations

Katrina.

“I hate you enough to shred you to pieces. And there is nothing new about this fact. But there is something that I’d like to set right about this accord before it ends.” She straightened her pistol which was heavily loaded with silver bullets. She aimed at the abominations smirking brainlessly at them. Just like ghouls. Their faces were smeared with huge amounts of blood and their eyes were lit up with their supposedly insatiable bloodlust. She had nothing more than disgust and contempt for their kind.

She heard a blood-curdling laughter in response from the shadows beside her. “I’ve no lesser expectations from you.” He said in his husky-sonorous and yet bone-chilling voice. Her partner in this escapade was no less than those vile creatures. On the contrary, he was the overlord of them all.

She despised him with all her heart. There were a number of occasions when she had tried to kill him in the past. Of course she had had the favour returned in equally merciless ways. Nothing else save their enmity was known to the society. And definitely not this newly found partnership or rather a temporary truce-as she would like to maintain-which was formed under circumstances out of their control. It was regrettable but unavoidable. And it was not in her hands. She would still leave him to his death if she could help it in this situation, if it didn’t cause her much trouble with the panel later on. But for now, she was bound by the partnership and hence she would have to protect him as well. The same applied to him, although that didn’t make her feel any better.

“Tch”, she said as she shot the first one. Even though they looked pretty much out of their senses, maddened with their bloodlusts, they were as agile as a panther. Both the abominations dodged the bullet with ease and disappeared into the darkness.

“You will never learn the art of subtlety eh, unappealing virgin?” her partner cackled. This was one of the first things that Katrina found disagreeable about this whole arrangement. Perhaps one of the least important things and yet easily the most infuriating one.

“If you had meant fair maiden, you could have saved yourself a hard time working with me foul vampire.” She retorted acidly. The only thing she found great about this accord was that she at least didn’t have to pretend to like him in the least. They were two dangerous and indestructible creatures packed in pandora’s box, each vying for the other’s blood and worthy of the arch enemies that they were. Although caged together, they still had their go at each other almost constantly. Of course this partnership would end up destroying them eventually, she was sure of that, but she would at least

have some peace of mind.

But she didn't have any time to ponder. The show was already starting. The abominations came at them from nowhere. More at her than him as she was the human with blood. And especially a female at that. The abominations always preferred the opposite sex. And both of them were males of around her age. Her partner from the shadows jumped out of nowhere and tackled the one on the right, his claws and teeth sinking deeply into the monster’s flesh. Blood sprayed like holy water. Katrina barely cringed. Despite her piety, blood was something that she had seen almost constantly since the age of five. She didn’t waste her time nor bullet this time and dodged the second one that was about to place his claws on her. The plan was to pull them away from each other and tackle them solo. Without any second thoughts Katrina started dashing towards the other end of the cathedral. She stepped over the bodies that sprawled all over the floor with ease. It was unavoidable. The carnage was heavy this time. But the expression on Katrina’s face gave away her intention to deliver the most appropriate punishment to the perpetrators. To have defiled a holy place like that with the blood of innocents . . . to think that these filthy ones were almost sure that they would get away with it?

Hah!

Katrina had brought him a considerable distance away from his partner. They were weaker when isolated. She turned around to face the incoming. She murmured a few words and took her aim. And without a warning, as soon as the brute came within her range to receive the most brutal shots, she showered him with bullets. All of them were silver and shone with a mystic blue light, and as soon as they grazed the brute’s skin, they started bursting into flames. The abomination fell on the floor writhing with pain. It was paralyzed with the blue flames and the essence of silver dug into its flesh. Silver was another weakness, something that she had been taught since she could remember. And the blue flames-was her speciality as a top-ranked huntress. Katrina knew that he could still have dodged at least some of the bullets, but being faced with a young human woman in her early twenties must have taken him off his guards and hence rendered him careless.

“Fucking abomination.” She spat at its flailing carcass, “And now, embrace your death by the very messenger of the god whose holy place you have defiled,” And with no mercy, her eyes ablaze with the same blue fire, she showered him with ten more bullets. She never seemed to run out of them. The brute screamed terribly each time they hit. The fire burnt his very essence. And soon enough, his body was charred to its very bones.

Katrina looked at her handiwork with vengeful satisfaction.

“You have come a long way youngling.” Said the vile voice. Katrina looked up to find the other abomination shredded beyond recognition-pieces of his body scattered over the already demolished holy altar. Yet it angered her, the very sight. The very audacity of this monster to have spilt the remains of his own kind in god’s house and over god’s holy altar purposely! But she kept it in. Her partner seemed to have finished way before she had and was leaning casually against one of the pillars and observing her leisurely. He was taller than any average human and was donned in everything black-a black overcoat along with black gloves and a hat underneath which flowed a mane of raven-black waist-length hair-even longer than hers-and tied up in a loose knot. His eyes glowed red on his thin-pale face. His high cheekbones were arched up as she found the iconic sarcastic smirk in its place. His lips were dripping blood.

“We’d better get back. Our job here is done.” She said icily as she kept her pistol back inside her own coat.

“As you say virgin. Oh but-“And suddenly she felt his presence closer than she would have liked. She never understood the mechanism behind their fast movements. Very agile and fast, almost like a blur. One could have thought that he had teleported by her side just now. She cringed at the closure. His face cracked like a demon’s as he chuckled at her. She tried to get her pistol out but he had already grasped her hands and she was incapable of moving her entire body in an instant, almost paralyzed. Vampiric-powers.

“No you don’t,” he said in a sickly sweet voice which felt morbid to her. His breath stank of blood and death.

“Don’t you dare Vampire-!” she warned but paused abruptly as she felt a cold touch on her wrist. A wet and slimy touch. She felt shock and disgust coursing through her as she realised that the vampire was licking blood off her. Her blood.

“No wonder the other one was caught off guard. You scratched yourself while putting up your little gun-fire show.” He said. “Such sweet virgin blood. Waste not.”

She swiftly jumped back from him as soon as he let go and immediately went for her gun, Holy Rose. She pointed it at his face, meeting his eyes with murderous intent. The evil smirk from his face didn’t go away. “If you do something like that again, I won't hesitate to shoot. Consider this my final warning." she said menacingly.

“Throw warnings like that and I'll feel threatened." the vampire said sarcastically.

Katrina made to pull the trigger but she waited. "Oh trust me," the monster shrugged, "The piety of your blood didn’t make it any better, You can put that away now. It is not like you can beat me with your toy.”he said casually, almost indifferently as he leaned back on the pillar looking even more relaxed, almost amused. He was right. Perhaps she couldn't. But she won't stand being insulted by the kind that she loathed so much.

"You want to have a go?"

"It'd be a pleasure. But given the reckless youngun' that you are, it won't be wise on my part. Plus, you are a handy partner in these little missions! I'd hate to lose such a partner." He made an irritable show of regret, "Now put that away before you get yourself in trouble with the dear panel. Or else, how will you be in a position to get your revenge?"

A moment passed. A shock went across Katrina's face but it was suspended immediately. She slowly lowered her gun, almost reluctantly. But she didn't have any choice. He was right.

"H-How do you know?" She asked in a hoarse voice, not to her liking, and inflicted with rage. She could barely control the anger that raged through her veins and boiled her very blood.

The vampire chuckled. "It is not that difficult to guess. If one could only piece together the clues . . . and given your special reserve of emotions when it came to one of our kind, as you put it. Trust me, it is not the first time I'm dealing with a case like this."

"Right. Of course, how could I forget? You are the worst of your whole lot. You'd know all about the loses that you have caused to the innocents. You deserve nothing more than to rot in hell. An abomination, a devil that you are." Katrina said, her eyes blazing with the hint of the fire from before, when she had burnt the abomination. She hurled every word with such venom that she hoped would burn the monster, Kill it. And how dare he speak of losses with such amusement? He would never understand the pain of losing someone important . . . the pain of being left alone . . .

"Aye . . ." he said in a cold voice, "I read the same in your eyes. Of having faced losses that no one could undo, being misunderstood . . . and of course that hatred. The best of them all. You are no different. Blinded, this hatred drives you to insanity. And behind this hatred, you hide your vulnerable self. You are the kind that anyone could manipulate. And the Hunters' Association is doing a good job of it, won't you agree?"

"Manipulation? Don't just go throwing your assumptions about things you don't underst-"

“But you are still too young," the vampire cut her with a relish. His eyes danced wildly, "The faith that you follow, the people whose orders you blindly obey . . . And you still don’t believe everything that they say. For all purpose, I’d say the piety content of your blood felt almost doubtful. But otherwise the virgin part remains pure.”

“Who are you to judge my faith?” Katrina retorted in rage, “I'm warning you again vampire. You cross your limits in the future, and I will cut you clean-piece by piece. This I swear by the gods and my faith.”

The vampire laughed. He laughed loudly, sonorously. The ring of his laughter echoed through the cathedral.

"Oh I've never heard a better joke! Such irony! But you amaze me virgin. Doesn’t eternal youth and beauty have any allure for you?”

Katrina thought that he looked vain and despicable with just a little hint of curiosity in his blood-red eyes.

“No, they don't. They are the same as riches and pleasure and they only blind humans and turn them into monsters such as yourself." Katrina retorted coldly, "And who could even consider you beautiful?”

The vampire looked thoughtful. “Well, almost everyone including a priestess or two every once in a while from your said church.”

"The depraved ones have nothing to do with the true followers.”

“You humans are queer. You would twist your words to any extent to ignore the obvious truth. Well whatever, your fakeness sickens me as it is so mind if we don’t talk anymore?” the vampire asked in a voice full of nonchalance.

"I'd, with pleasure. But you make me curious still. And if it sickens you, then all the very good for me isn't it? So what is this obvious truth, eh Count?” she asked with heavy sarcasm. The vampire only chuckled and turned his back to her.

“Oh you already have an awareness of it. I’ll let you figure it out on your own. In the meanwhile, we’d better get going. It is late and I’m thirsty. And a fake-patriot like you won’t do.”

“Well said for a true devil.” She retorted sarcastically yet again. The vampire was already stepping over the threshold of the entrance and Katrina followed. They were behind schedule like he said, even though she won’t agree to it in his face.

And without any further exchange, they left the premises of the once holy place now stinking of blood and murder and crimes indescribable. Not ten steps had they taken when the whole building was automatically ablaze with fire, burning away all signs of the bloody carnage. None of them looked back. Only the woman closed her eyes momentarily and whispered things as if in fervent prayer. The devil by her side sighed in exasperation but the woman ignored. And within the very next moment they were both gone in the blink of an eye.