May 23, 1884

Sitting, listening to the rain on the windows worked on my nerves. I knew that I had to wait for David. He said he had the only weapon which could pierce that woman’s heart and for some reason, I needed to watch her die.

The mere thought of her living another night aggravated me, but what could I do, nothing because I was useless against the woman. Looking out the window, I saw a man hurrying through the street toward the alley where I ran into the woman. Before he ducked into the alley, I saw his face. It was David and I saw something glittering in his hand. He was going to do this alone.

Not thinking, but reacting to the anger which clouded my judgment, I opened the window and leapt from the third story balcony. Landing against the cobblestone, I felt my ankle bend to an odd angle. The fait pop of a joint as I stood up and shook the pain out, I jogged toward the alley.

Almost immediately at the entrance to the alley, I felt the energy from the woman. I stepped into the alley and thought I heard a scream. It didn’t sound human, but the sound echoed throughout the alley. I looked up, but the lights of the nearby buildings remained dark. I wasn’t sure if I was the only one who could hear it or what, but my thoughts were interrupted by the sight of David again.

He stood at the entrance of a hut. Ducking into the shadows, I watched him as he held up the dagger he held. The silver blade flickered in the firelight, giving it a red hue. I blinked and then David had vanished. The cloth covering the hut opening wasn’t moving, so I looked down the alley and saw only darkness.

Curious, I approached the hut, the woman’s power thrummed against my very bones, but I continued to walk. I remember not being sure of what I was doing, but the lure of the hut overcame any fears that I felt.

Stopping in front of the cloth, I saw inside. The woman sat on a simple wooden chair, her blue eyes watching me. A sly smile on her lips as she stared at me. “Come in.”

Not wanting to, I looked down either side of the alley and didn’t see anyone.

“I know you want to come in. Make yourself comfortable.” The woman said.

Fighting the urge, I forced my step back and saw her eyes flicker. Her smile faltered a bit and I saw the veins in her hand bulge as she clutched the arms of the chair. The small step backwards took a ton of energy, but I did it again, and watched as the woman’s mouth opened, a pair of fangs slipping over her bottom lip.

“Don’t make me mad again. You were lucky the first time, you won’t be again.” She hissed as she threw the chair behind her. It crashed into the wall, shattering into bits.

“Don’t do it!” David yelled.

I turned my eyes to David, he was behind the woman, his hands bound to his side. He would have looked at me if he still had eyes. In their place was bloody holes. Not a single drop of blood fell down his face, but had pooled around his eye socket like it was singed in place.

“Come in and help your blind friend.” The woman mocked. One pointy finger beckoning to me.

My anger raged inside, and for the first time, fear coated my skin. I couldn’t believe that a woman like this would scare me, but she did.

Looking down the length of David’s arm, I saw his arms were crisscrossed with blood. The dagger nowhere to be seen.

“If you don’t do it, I will have to torture this poor man. His screams will haunt this town forever.” The woman said and I noticed she had moved closer to me.

Tired of her games, I stepped into the hut and felt the cold night air vanish. Replaced by a heat which quickly coated my body in sweat. I looked at the woman as she smiled, revealing her fangs.

As she danced around me, her eyes never left mine. I heard her whisper, “I will have your soul to dine on tonight.”

I ran to David, and pried at his hands. He mumbled to himself and lowered his head. “What are you saying?”

“Take it.” He screamed and bent his wrist back. I saw a fine glint of steel imbedded into his wrist. Blood dripped to the floor and I reached into his flesh.

Feeling the metal against my fingers, I squeezed and felt the blade cut into my skin. No pain so I gripped tighter.

Looking over David’s shoulder, I saw the woman watching me with fascination. After a moment of silence, she said, “Remove the blade will kill him. Is my death worth more than your friends?”

I nodded and felt the knife come loose into my hand. A warm sticky substance followed with the blade and a quick glance down saw a fountain of blood running over my fingers. David didn’t say a word as his body went pale. The blood soon died down into a dribble and his head slumped forward.

I couldn’t worry about him as this was his fault for not returning to me like planned. I shoved his body forward and stood brandishing the blade. The woman grinned, but her eyes gave away her fear.
“That’s not a problem.” I said and started toward her.

“I expected a little compassion for your kind. Maybe you are truly more demented than I expected.” The woman said, her face already changing.

Not wanting to waste time with words, I lunged at her. Hoping to get to her before she changed worked as I plunged the knife into her chest. A loud hissing sound erupted from the wound and fire came from beneath the blade.

The room shook and the woman tumbled to the side. Flames overtook her flesh and I watched as the blade let out a white light. It vanished with a lone crack and the woman fell to the ground dead.

Noticing that the hut had vanished, I now stood in morning light with two dead bodies before me. Blood covering my hands and clothes. I saw the first officer making his way down the alley and before I had a chance to say anything, he saw the gruesome scene before me.

“Stop right there.” He raised his club toward me.

Not wanting to wait around, I darted through the growing crowd and heard the officer follow.

A woman’s scream from behind me, resonated against my ears as I hurried through the city streets. The officer’s whistle behind me was joined by two more and I continued to lead them on a chase. Their mere mortal bodies will eventually tire, so I kept running at a full sprint until they couldn’t keep up anymore. After another two blocks, I stopped, wiped my brow and decided it was best to leave New York.
Knowing that going back to Europe would be dangerous, I decided to head out West before things got anymore complicated. The first thing the police would do next was spread my face throughout the city with the hopes of a large reward.

Making my way through the streets, I left the city which I called home for a couple years. Not sure where I would end up next, anything was better than to locked up in their prison’s and discovered for who I truly was.