Daydreams And Nightshade (DaN #1)

Chapter 8: Tiresome tribulations

None of the options were optimal. Backing away from the new window in the room meant getting closer to the barricaded door, and Luna had no idea how many creatures were in the house. She had still heard the voice behind the door while someone was out in the dining room after all.

Vincent stepped forward however, readying his aim towards the creature in the room behind the window.

"Any distinguishable traits?" Lucius whispered from behind him.

Vincent squinted.

"Dark eyes. They could be red but it's hard to see from here. If we make it talk I can check for fangs."

Cold sweat prickled Luna's skin. Of course it wasn't human. It wouldn't have reacted to the scent of her blood if it had been human.

"Well we'd better hurry 'cause it's getting closer," Lucius said and raised his voice, addressing the creature. "What do you want?"

Vincent moved closer to keep it from opening the window, but with a quick hand movement from the creature the glass shattered instantly.

"What—" Vincent started but didn't continue and instead backed away to get a better aim.

"I'm certain you all have a reason to—" the creature began, but Vincent interrupted it before it could finish its sentence.

"Fangs!"

Luna quickly grabbed hold of her necklace with an almost offended inhalation. She just wanted something in her life to be of the non-supernatural kind. Was it too much to ask?

Vincent didn't waste more time on alerting them and fired his gun soon afterwards. It would've been a hit. They were all certain of it. Nothing was wrong with Vincent's aim and the vampire didn't move, but as the sound of the bullet hit the wall behind the vampire Luna had to doubt her senses.

She blinked.

Vincent did as well.

Perhaps it was something else after all. Luna knew one type of vampires could learn supernatural abilities over time, like how her uncle Ethan could disappear and reappear somewhere else, but this one was just standing there. He hadn't dodged the bullet in any way.

"Luna, your necklace," Lucius whispered to her as the vampire smiled, clearly unscathed from the bullet which may or may not have hit it. Luna slowly removed it from her neck and handed it over to her father.

"Done with your resistance?" the vampire asked and took a step forward to effortlessly climb up on the windowsill.

"What do we do?" a frustrated Vincent asked Lucius, who glanced down at the harmonia in his hand.

"We stake it. That's... All we can try. Immobilizing it with this and run a stake through its heart."

"Alright," Vincent said, swiftly grabbing a stake from his belt. "You first then."

"Naturally," Lucius replied and moved forward, but just as he did the vampire disappeared.

All of them looked around. The woman had curled up in a corner by now, covering her face with her hands.

"It's like—" Luna began, recognizing the ability her aforementioned uncle possessed, but didn't finish her sentence as she suddenly felt a hand on her already bloodied wrist.

A short moment passed while she tried to figure out what a supernatural being's hand was doing on a harmonia-clad wrist, and before she had the chance to turn around, the vampire had already brought it to its mouth.

A chill went through the room as the fangs pierced through her skin. She'd opened her mouth to call out for help, but her words were twisted into a scream instead. Her mind couldn't keep up with what was happening. Blurry figments of her father and Vincent rushing in to shove the vampire off of her flashed through her mind, but something was still wrong. The harmonias weren't working, and neither was the stake.