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“In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, may you be successful my child,” said Father Venton as he blessed her. His hand was slow and shaky as he did it.
“Thank you, father.”
“Be careful,” he said handing her a bottle of holy water. For once, she knew she didn’t have to check if it had vodka or not. She never seen the man this sober nor this intense.
“I will be.”
“Jan Visser is not to be messed with.” The light caught reflected on the scar on his left cheek and Alice couldn’t help but stare. She and her squad didn’t know much about Father Venton. The first day he was assigned to them they learned that he was an alcoholic, he been a priest for two decades, and he had some kind of encounter with vampires. Beyond that they didn’t know much else.
“I know, if it makes you feel better it’s a spy mission.”
Venton shook his head, “You should have backup.”
“You know protocol,” spy missions were almost always solos, it was a risk to have too many people running around vampires.
“I know,” he pulled out a battle standard crucifix, “I blessed this with holy water today.”
Crucifixes were already blessed, so she supposed this was just an extra blessed one. Still, she put it on.
“Wish me luck.”
“I’ll pray for you.”
***
Alice hopped onto her motorcycle and drove north. Her mission was south, but she had someone special she wanted to see. Besides, an hour and a half wasn’t too bad. At least that’s what she told herself till she was in front of an orange house with a brown door.
The hunter took a deep breath before knocking.
“Hey! Long time no see, how are you?” said a lady in blue jeans overalls. Her wavey black locks were tied in a loose bun. And her golden-brown skin seemed to shine in the sunlight and for a moment Alice was memorized.
“Good.”
“Mission?”
“You know it.”
“You came at just the right time.”
“Did I?” Alice asked, leaning against the doorframe.
“Yes,” Estrella grabbed her hand pulling her in. They quickly walked to the basement that was functionally her lab.
Alice glanced around seeing new band posters on the wall. As always, the table was an organized mess. Toolboxes were all around and opened. A few weapons were on the wall, but what got Alice’s attention was the heavy smell of garlic in the room.
“Yeah, the smell isn’t great,” said Estrella at Alice’s look.
“I don’t mind it.”
“I been working on a new invention,” Estrella grabbed a plastic capsule and tossed it towards Alice.
Inside the capsule was chopped up garlic bits. “Garlic bullets?”
“Bingo, I been working on getting the right capsule all year, if they’re too thick, they wouldn’t hit the target but if they’re too thin it breaks in the gun.”
“How many guns did you go through?”
“Seventeen.”
“Anyway, in theory they should break once they’re inside the target.”
“Impressive.”
“So, what’s your mission?” asked Estrella.
“Just a gather intel mission.”
The scientist let out a sigh, “Well, good luck.”
“Did you want me to be a on a life-threating mission?”
“A little bit.”
Alice rolled her eyes. They met two years ago at a weapons convention; there they agreed that Alice would get free weapons as long as she was Estrella’s guinea pig.
“Who knows maybe I’ll get into a fight.”
“Just let me know if they work or not,” said the inventor handing her a gun.
“Will do.”
Estrella gave her a soft smile, “Promise me you’ll stay safe.”
“I will.”
***
Alice stood against a tree looking at a mansion, it looked like it was built in the eighteen hundreds. It was old, and a decent distance from any town. She glanced at the side of the house; Alice was positive she could climb up to the second floor. And if she did that, she would bypass any traps they might have set up.
The hunter mentally ran through all her weapons before running up to the mansion. It was a sunny day, but all the trees provided a decent amount of shade. She supposed it didn’t matter too much given that vampire tended to sleep in the day.
Taking a deep breath, she climbed the wall, like a monkey in a tree she got to the second floor. Opening the window was a bit harder but fortunately older buildings didn’t have the best locks. She slipped into what appeared to be an office.
There were bookshelves full of dust, a round wooden desk with an expertly carved chair. The chair was too fancy in Alice’s opinion. It had a red velvet cushion with a stitched golden duck on it. The legs of the chair were carved with duck feet and the hunter questioned everything she knew about vampires.
The desk was well organized with letters on the right side and paper on the left. There was a quill and ink on the table. Alice sat down, picking up the first letter. With her nail she carefully opened it up.
Master,
I have fulfilled your latest request. Plans H, J, and K have been completed. However, we lost Alexander, and two of my Covent mates. I know this will displease you, but you must hear it, I don’t believe any vampire under my rule is competent enough to do the task you require. It should go to me, I’m the only one who can succeed in it.
- J
Alice glanced at the date; the letter was to be delivered in a week. Even more concerning was the implication that Jan Visser had a master. She carefully slipped the letter back into the envelope. The hunter made a mental note to remember where it was going to be delivered.
She picked up the second letter; this one was a series of orders being given to one of his followers. The vampire’s name was Irena, the place was Jameson, and the mission was to infiltrate another convent.
She read through more letters scanning for all the important information. With each letter she felt more comfortable in the office, it helped that she knew Jan was at least two thousand miles from the house. It was the reason the organization assigned her what was a last-minute assignment. Really last minute.
Still, she couldn’t blame them, any information on Jan was necessary, the vampire was a danger, and no hunter was ever close to defeating him. Alice was in her last letter when she heard the door creak.
Jumping out of her seat Alice grabbed her stake. The office door swung open, revealing a vampire bathing in the darkness. In a split second she threw her stake, hitting her target in the chest. She closed her eyes when the creature let out a painful hiss.
The officially dead corpse lay still on the floor. Alice waited a minute before retrieving her stake. The hallway barely had any light to it. Each way she looked there was a void of darkness and she couldn’t see a thing. Which wasn’t surprising but was still unnerving.
She quickly grabbed her weapon but before she could return to the office-
Shatter
***
The hunter woke up to a pounding headache and the smell of rotten flesh. She jumped up and looked at the vampire corpse that she slept on. The fact that this wasn’t the most disturbing thing to happen to her said something.
Alice felt lighter and in an instant, she knew her weapons were stolen. She noticed the shattered porcelain on the floor. Did someone hit her with a vase?
Alice glanced around, why they took her weapons but left her alive was beyond her. Unless, her hand went to her crucifix. It was still there. A theory started to form in her mind, the crucifix most likely acted as a shield. Usually, they just burn vampires but maybe the holy water gave it a boost. The blond made a mental note to tell Estella about this. If that was true it explained why they didn’t attack, her. However, that meant the crucifix was okay with her being stripped of her weapons.
Alice glanced down at her chest, “You little shit.”
Thankfully they left her gun alone. The sun was starting to set, and her mission was compromised. The hunter let out a frustrated groan as she shoved the letters into her jacket pocket. There was at least one alive vampire left, most likely a few more than that. With the sundown Alice seriously doubted that they would let her leave without hunting her down.
Hunters before her did crazier things then explore a house with a weapon that might not work. With that daring thought she took out the lighter in her jacket, stepping out into the hallways.
She could only see as far as her small flame allowed her. The hallways were night without the stars. Slowly she stepped through the hallway, opening any door she passed. She found an empty bathroom, empty bedroom, and empty…well she wasn’t sure what to call it but there was a room with a dead deer.
The hunter continued on feeling a growing pressure. With each step her back tense. Then she paused counting for three seconds. Her hand slowly trailed to the holster on her thigh. There was complete silence followed by a creaking sound.
In a flash Alice turned around and fired.
Bang
She watched the vampire hit the ground. The creature laid there twitching as he slowly died. Alice muttered a ‘I love you,’ to her gun before carrying on.
For the most part the second floor was empty, the first floor was a different story.
“Fuck!”
“I’m going to kill you!” shouted the vampire she was currently fighting. The kitchen was currently a mess and Alice was dodging knives. It was so rare for her to fight an opponent who actually had weapons, so she was rusty.
Which wasn’t great when someone is trying to stab you.
Alice grabbed a pan off the stove and swung it, hitting the vampire. She let out a hiss before leaping into the air. Alice had to slide out of the way to avoid getting stab. They were currently engaging in the world’s weirdest chase.
Given that Alice didn’t want to waste bullets and the fact that the vampire refused to stay still, she was stuck. For a moment, her eye caught the bottle of olive oil. It was basically a right of passage to do something insane. And for Alice it was lighting the kitchen floor on fire.
The creature paused almost stepping into fire. It wasn’t like the flames would kill her but they were by no means pleasurable.
“Are you insane?”
Bang
“Apparently,” muttered Alice grabbing a bag of flour on the counter. She watched the fire go out easily under the flour. It wasn’t a big fire to begin with, but it worked well enough. Truth be told the goal was to actually set the vampire on fire.
It took three more bullets before making it to the basement. It was a large inviting space that barely had anything in it. It was lit by the fireplace at the back. She saw a vampire sitting by the fireplace with their back facing her. More importantly she spotted her weapons.
Alice let out a sigh of relief, her stakes were fine. The garlic was gone; the bottle of holy water was gone but at least she had her stakes. Granted it was right next to the fireplace, and it didn’t take a genius to understand what was going to happen to them.
Bang
And that was her last bullet. She grabbed her stakes, already feeling better just having them on her. There was something comforting about their weight alone. Not to mention she basically cleared the house. At least that was what she thought before she turned around.
There were five vampires standing in a row all ready to kill her.
“Fuck me.”
***
Estrella was making her fifth cup of coffee when she heard a knock on the door. She saw Alice covered in bruises, with a wild smile.
“Did it work?”
“I owe you dinner.”
“So, it worked.”
“Yes.”