Huntress

"Are you ready?" I toss the question over my shoulder to Falon.

She nods with steely determination written across her face. She reaches up to touch the necklace hanging around her neck. Her thumb smoothes across the back of it where I know both our initials were engraved. The letters have since faded from everything but our memory. Jealousy ignites a fire that I quickly quench. Now is not the time or the place to pick at old wounds.

Falon tightens her grip on her stake as a cold wind whips though the desolate area. I bounce my leg as I pull an arrow from my quiver and knock it into my bow. I bite my bottom lip. Even though I know this is a routine hunt, something doesn't sit right with me about this situation. Everything is too quiet. If we don't do this now, we're never going to complete our hunt.

Focus. Deep breath in. Deep breath out.

My skin feels stretched taut over my bones as I reach out and push the warehouse door open. The hinges creak and the sound echoes through the building. I swear underneath my breath. Falon is frozen in place and all color has drained from her face. My grip tightens on my bow. I silently count out the seconds, each one tuning my nerves tighter. Once I reach ten, I let out a shaky breath. I'm not sure if we're in the clear but I'm hopeful they think the building was settling into its foundation.

"Be on your guard," I mouth to Falon. She nods again. I take a tentative step inside, making sure to stick to the shadows. I'm immediately assaulted by particles of recently disturbed dust. Falon enters behind me while I search for footprints. I don't find any but it's not surprising; the immortal undead are exceedingly cautious. It's how they've remained undetected by humans for centuries. I know that none of our ordinary methods will work. I press the button on my bow to compact it and crouch to place my palms onto the floor.

I close my eyes as I visualize the floorboards beneath me. My fingers seep through the cracks and into the foundation below. It takes a moment before I start to feel the warmth of its past in my fingers. I focus on that warmth and reach out with my mind to coax it out of its slumber. It grumbles its dissatisfaction at being woken and begins to fold back on itself. I wait a moment before I urge it back towards me. It's groggy but I finally have its attention. I can feel its hesitation in trusting me. I open my mind to its questions, waiting with bated breath. After a period of deliberation, it withdraws from its prodding and sluggishly trickles up through my arms and into my mind.

There's a lag before a stream of images flashes before my eyes. My body tenses as different voices blend together into a kaleidoscope of sound. No matter how many times I've done this, I'm always overwhelmed from the initial onslaught. A muscle ticks in my jaw. Finally, the images begin to slow. I'm able to sort through the confusion to settle on the setting Falon and I are in now. The past lights up the heat signatures from its intruders. They seemed to have been concentrated in the middle of the room before something caused several people to scurry away.

They heard us enter after all. But why not attack us?

My head starts to throb as I follow the heat signatures around the building. We've been surrounded and our exit points have been cut off. I can sense Falon hovering just behind me but she has enough sense to not interfere with what I'm doing. Unconcerned with her for the moment, I slowly turn and count how many vampires we're going to be up against. My heart drops into my stomach as the number increases into double digits.

They're better prepared for this than I thought they would be.

The weight of their curiosity keeps me pinned to the spot as I take note of where they're all positioned. While Falon and I are not new to vampire hunting, we've never been outnumbered by them. I'm about to lay the past to rest when one of the vampires speaks.