Chapter Text
Napoleon had already been moderately worried about news of vampires. Her feelings only worsened when the news spread to her that someone had actually been found drained of blood. Specifically, the beggar woman that hung around the street of businesses. A telegraph requesting help was sent to some officials, the Hunter Organization. Although they were approved by the government as official hunters for all supernatural creatures, their members were mostly specialized with vampire hunting. Vampires were the most accepted supernatural problem after all. A reply was sent back confirming that a nearby hunter was on their way.
Another body was found again, a local drunkard this time. A couple days passed before the town suddenly burst with news at the newly arrived vampire hunter. Unfortunately, Napoleon could never find information that agreed on this hunter.
They hadn’t been in town long enough for many people to see them. Nobody she talked with had confirmed getting a direct look at them, much less talking to them. Most of what she heard was just rumors. The most questionable information was regarding their gender. Some claimed they were a man, while the rest adamantly claimed female.
The only thing agreed upon was the hunter's attire, although some specifics varied. They wore a long dark coat that was tattered at the ends, a vest over their shirt, and men’s trousers which led down to their dusty boots. Those that claimed the hunter was male pointed at the wardrobe as proof for their point, but the rest claimed she was merely wearing the outfit such that she could run after monsters.
Napoleon wasn’t sure who to believe. Everyone she questioned had good points behind their reasoning. She wanted to talk to someone who had actually seen the hunter, or better yet see the hunter for herself. Her eyes always quickly fled to any passerby with a long coat. Although, when her gaze focused it would always be a well-kept coat worn by a familiar face. By the end of that day she had nearly driven herself mad consistently turning her head to try and catch the hunter. Of course, she never saw them. Once she closed down shop, she went about on a walk around town hoping to see them. Would they be exploring town? Were they even awake? She didn’t know.
Unfortunately, as she closed down shop many fellow business-owners did as well. Which meant less places that the hunter would have a reason to go to. Indeed, soon it was dark and there were less people walking around. Eventually, she was walking the streets of the business district alone. With all the shops closed for the night, and the recent deaths, few people stayed out so late. The only ones not at home were drinking at a pub.
She began to walk idly as she worried away. Even if she did meet the hunter now, would she be able to casually talk to them like this. She laughed lightly to herself, the huff of air fogging in the cold air. She spoke quietly in French, not bothering to translate, “How do you do, tonight? Did you just arrive in town?” It was simply too dark to be starting a conversation with a stranger in the middle of the street.
Regardless, she continued to walk around. Her shoes lightly clacking on the stone as she passed by closed shop windows. Her reflection was apparent in the dimmed glass, even the darker green of her dress was apparent. The slow and occasional puff of air came out as a light fog that quickly faded into invisibility each time.
She was tired from working then spending all her free time since walking. Although if there were a time for the hunter to be out it should be now. Or perhaps the hunter slept part of the night and only went out later on. Although they could also be circulating around the homes, that’s where most everyone was anyways.
As she was thinking, she turned a street corner and saw someone in the distance ahead of her. The coat was long enough to reach the back of their knees. At the bottom of the coat it darkened and upon closer observation the ends were indeed tattered. The coat covered most of her view, but she could tell they were also wearing pants. She followed after them, discreetly increasing her pace so that she could get closer.
It was impossible to see their form from the back like this, especially so with that coat. Even from back here she could tell it was ill-fitted, the sleeves rolled over once to allow the hands to properly come out all the way. Occasionally they would turn their head to look down an alley-way. Each time they did, Napoleon tried in vain to get a good look at their face, but she was too far away. The only thing it helped her realize was that they definitely had short brown hair.
After a few turns, they seemed to have a purposeful goal. They had stopped checking out alleyways and walked with more determination. Napoleon watched them turn a corner and after a few moments did so as well only to find that the road ahead of her was empty. Her steps stuttered to a stop and she searched the street more intently. They must have turned down the closest street, she had to have barely missed seeing them. However, when she got to the corner and looked down both sides, she still didn’t see them. She went left.
Coming across the next intersection, she ,yet again, looked down both of the roads to see them void of any signs of life. They must have gone down the other way, she reasoned to herself glancing backwards.
Even if she turned around that way now, she wouldn’t catch up to them without running. Napoleon began walking back, this time intended on going home. Only now that she had a specific path in mind did she take in her surroundings again. When she had been after the hunter, she’d been so focused trying to see their face that she hadn’t been paying any attention to where she’d been going. Not that she was lost. She could tell that she was near the edges of the business district. Recognizable enough, she’d have to cut back through the district to head home, however. The dark windows of the shops barely reflected her passing by at all now. If she stood still, she would have mistook it for a smudge on the window.
A clatter behind her quickly caught her attention. She spun around and froze, waiting. After a moment, she began to hesitantly move forward again, painfully aware of every sound she was making. The heels of her shoe thudded against the stone with every step, and her dress rustled as the separate materials continually brushed against each other when she moved. Even her breathing seemed too loud to her in the quiet street.
As she walked, she continually checked over her shoulder whilst trying to quiet all the noises she was making. On one of her looks back, her steps stumbled and she froze. There was a figure leaning out of an alleyway farther back along the street. Their clothes were inconspicuous enough, trousers and a shirt. They could have been easily dismissed as a drunkard if she had not been paying attention. There was something different about how they moved. Their movements were too coordinated, but more than that they were just off. Napoleon wasn’t sure how to describe it. They were moving naturally, it seemed, but on a person it was weird to see. They looked prepared.
Napoleon started when she realized that she’d just been watching them move, coming in her direction. She slowly continued walking, still looking back at them. They sped up a little, and she did as well. The quicker her walking became, the more their pace increased as well. Eventually, she tripped on an uneven stone as she didn’t look at where she was going. The sudden movement incited the supposed person to charge at her.
She quickly regained her balance and picked up her dress to run forward. Her focus stayed on the street ahead of her as she yelled out in a panic, “Help!” She passed by streets, not even bothering to look down them. All that mattered was getting distance between her and this thing. “Somebody help, please!” She yelled out again. Cold air whipped at her face, and her vision was starting to blur from tears springing to her face. She chanced a glance over shoulder.
The monster was only meters away from her. It was moving fast, practically flying. Its face was laser focused on her, features contorted by the expression on its face. It was absolutely feral, mouth in a snarl to reveal two sharp teeth. It may have looked human from afar, but when it was this close it was far more animal than human.
Napoleon managed to run for a moment more when she heard something different from behind her and began to turn her head to glance behind her. Before she could actually look back at the monster though, she felt it slam into her at full force. She fell down, legs giving out beneath her and hitting the ground quickly followed by her upper body. However, it was her head that came last, skull bouncing against the stone. Her vision blurred and the ground beneath her tilted around dangerously. She tried to quickly get back up, but with her dizziness she hadn’t even managed to stand back up before she fell back to the ground again. It was hard to hear, everything had been so clear before, but now everything was so much quieter.
A moment too late, she realized that something jerked her up by her arm. She got a glimpse at the monster, and saw it bolt out of her view, then felt herself fall back to the ground again. She started to be able to make out sounds; hissing, wood clattering against stone, and someone yelling.
Napoleon looked up again, and saw the vampire. It was actually on all fours now, and a bolt flew at it quickly burying into its shoulder. She tried to get up again, focusing on keeping the ground beneath her still this time. All the noises blended together into one sound, but she could identify some of the words, here and there.
Finally, She was standing now, but the world still tilted back and forth. She had to focus to stay upright and conscious. The vampire flitted away and into an alleyway, with a bolt after it and a curse spat after it. With the vampire gone she looked back and saw the hunter. Finally, she had a direct line of sight on them, but she couldn’t take in the whole picture in focus. She settled for looking at their face. They had just lowered the crossbow to their side and switched their green gaze to her.
“The monster,” she mumbled, the words felt so faded that she could barely hear them herself. Everything was getting faded, it was hard to focus on anything.
“It’s okay; you’re safe,” they assured her, reaching out and grabbing her arm as she kept swaying.
Napoleon’s panic dropped at that. The immediate danger was gone, and she didn’t have to worry about it for a moment.
They let go of her arm for a moment, but not even a second later they grabbed her arm again, pulling her back. Napoleon hadn’t even realized she had been slowly leaning backwards.
“Oi!” They raised their voice to gain her attention, “I said, are you alright?”
Napoleon blearily tried to process the question, having to translate it first. She didn’t want to think; she was tired. Her head hurt, her feet hurt, and it was confusing to figure out where up was. Her vision was getting dark at the edges and black spots starting popping up. She struggled to think of the right words and speak as well, “I think.” By the time she had gotten the words out, she forgot what she had been going to say and was fuzzy on the question itself. Idly, she noticed an arm going under her before her eyes closed and she passed out.