Pale Skin Red Blood

First Stake

Chapter One

First Stake

            Reddrey Silver counted the thin vials, they clinked at her touch. She peered in the delicate glass at the grey dusty ash cooped inside, it seemed to swirl or bubble in a world of its own. As her fingers brushed a vial, it dropped from its shelf. Reddrey’s hand snapped down and grabbed it. She was still on edge from her last kill and recent training had sharpened her reflexes.

            “Calm it.” She hissed to herself. She put back the vial and pushed the cork in; making sure none of the ash could escape. She turned at the sound of the door swishing open. It was her older brother, Antony. His muddy brown eyes looked at Reddrey,

            “Meeting at midnight, you have to be there.” He said darkly, she was the youngest of seven in the Silver family, and Antony was two years older than her at sixteen.

            Reddrey fiddled with the black lace on the lip of a vial, this was the ash of her first stake. She remembered the night clearly, and she could play it back in her head like a video. It had been foggy and dark. The Blue Moon Hunt was out in the fog somewhere. Reddrey had been next to her father, as it was traditional to do your first stake with a prime witness. Her father’s dark eyes grazed the clearing. The Silver family all stood in a well-practiced row. They knew how the Blue Moon Hunt worked. The villagers would be scared into the deep forest, and then the members of the Hunt would attack from the trees and from behind. It was the Silver’s job to protect the villagers, they had done for centuries.

            Reddrey recalled the exact noise of a footstep and the frightened face of a young woman. She had a baby crying close to her chest. She was screaming a name over and over and Reddrey remembered the screaming, distraught and scared. She shivered at the thought. Then they came

            The Blue Moon Hunt had leaped out and surrounded the victims; they had taken no notice of the Silvers. At my fathers command, Reddrey remembered rushing to meet the Hunt. It was a blur around Reddrey and she could barely remember what had been going on. Her father had pushed to the heart of the battle, and thrust his stake into a Hunt member’s chest. They had fallen to the ground in a pile of ashes; one of my brothers rushed in and scooped the ash into a vial. Reddrey thought of how she couldn’t believe the small amount of ash had once been full sized. She grimaced at remembering how she had watched a young man bitten in the neck, he fell to the ground and the young woman’s screams began again, louder. She had rushed to the man’s side and held her baby close.

            Reddrey had seen a large Hunt member close in on the crying, screaming woman. She had run forward, and held her stake up, looking at the man. Reddrey could picture his long, black hair and dark beard. He had a black and red trimmed cloak and a gold staff. He had laughed at Reddrey, seeming to know it was her first time. His fangs had been a brilliant white, and sharp as a carving knife.

            Reddrey closed her eyes as she remembered how time had seemed to slow down as she threw her stake, it was one of her father’s old ones. Really simple and made of Elm, not the strongest of stake wood, but it worked.

            She had watched the vampire’s face arch into a smirk and the stake spun towards his chest. As if batting away a fly, his hand circled out and the stake thudded to the floor. Reddrey remembered his grin, razor fangs glinting in the dim light of our torches. Time had swung back to normal and Reddrey had stared in shock at the stake. The vampire had circled forward to issue the killing bite. Reddrey had smelt the blood on him as he reached for her neck. She had swung out with one leg and knocked his staff down. He laughed, because he wasn’t relying on it. Reddrey had picked it up in a flash and threw it at him. Time slowed again and the staff’s pointed end tore through his clothing and into his flesh. Reddrey had watched as the man looked up at her with cold eyes, and then he exploded into ash. As the first fleck of ash touched the ground, time swerved to its normal speed.

            “Reddrey!” One of her older brothers caused her to snap out of the past, it was Marshal, the second-oldest. He had wondered into the chamber and was going to check his vials. He must have noticed Reddrey holding the laced vial. She hurriedly put it back.

            “Have you heard about the prophecy?” Marshal’s question surprised her. She gave him a quizzical look. “Since you made your first stake? I thought father would’ve said something” It was like he thought she knew what he was talking about. She blinked and rolled her eyes, turning back to her vials.         

            “Reddrey, are you even listening to me?” He repeated, she shrugged which was followed by a sigh, “I’m sure Dad will mention it.” And he continued to finger his vials. He picked up his first, with a black ribbon tied to it. “This is from my first stake. It’s been years since I’ve looked at it.” He had a large collection, but their oldest brother had more, and their father had the most. Reddrey had five from the two Blue Moon Hunts she had been to, and six more from other hunts. Marshal was eight years older than Reddrey, and he had been to six Blue Moon Hunts.

            “Father was so happy his second son had staked a vampire.” He smiled, “See you at the meeting.” Marshal’s eyes darkened for a second and walked towards the door, it shut behind him with a little clunk. Reddrey looked at her laced vial,

            What’s so dark about the midnight meeting?