When Selena came to, she found herself in a bed in a small room with a young woman standing over her and tending to the wounds on her neck. “Ugh. Where am I?” She groaned as she tried to get up, only barely managing to sit up in bed. She got no answer as she heard a door open and turned to see Drake walk in.

“Oh. You’re up much sooner than I expected, though I guess I shouldn’t be too surprised since you are your father’s daughter.” He chuckled as he walked over to her. “I see you’ve met Minna.”

“Minna. That’s her name?”

Drake nodded. “She’s one of my nieces and among the best nurses in the region.”

“She isn’t very talkative.” Selena remarked, though she did have strong respect for the amount of attention Minna was pouring into her task.

“Minna’s mute. Has been since she was very young.”

“Oh.” Selena replied.

“It really isn’t that big of a deal. She communicates through writing and is quite skilled at it.” Drake said.

“I see.” Selena replied. “Anyway, how did I get here? Come to think of it, where is here?”

“To answer your second question, you are in one of the back rooms of the inn I usually reserve for friends and special guests. As for how you got here, I found you passed out in front of the inn after seeing a raven fly into the shopping district. By the way, good landing for a girl who was just attacked by an vampire.”

“Thanks, I guess.” Selena replied as she looked up. “So you knew it was me?”

“Of course. Your family has certain…identifying marks when transformed, which one can spot when they’ve been around them long enough.” Drake began. “Though you are the first raven I’ve ever met.”

“What about the women the vampire took?” Selena asked, wanting to get off of that subject. “Did anyone find them yet?”

“I sure did. I had Minna take you here while I followed your flight path. It didn’t take long to find and return them to their families safe and sound.” Drake explained. “Though the vampire was nowhere in sight.”

“There wouldn’t be. I suspect that he ran off as soon as the sun came up. Anyway, what time is it?” Selena asked.

“It’s about an hour before noon.” He replied.

“So you did all of this in barely six hours?”

Drake smiled. “You’d be amazed by how fast I am at certain things. There’s a reason I was your father’s main hunting partner for years.”

“His hunting partner?”

“Good lord. Has he told you nothing about his early life?!”

Selena shook her head. “All I know is that he had a sister who was spirited away on a vampire hunt, but even then I never knew what her name was.”

Drake stared in disbelief before muttering, “Note to self: Take a day or two from the inn and pay Gabriel a long overdue visit in the near future!” under his breath, along with a bunch of other things that are hardly worth repeating here for a multitude of reasons, before looking at Selena. “There is way too much to explain now, but I can tell you what your aunt’s name was. Erika.” He was surprised to see Selena gasp at that. “What the matter, Selena?”

“The vampire called me by that name and went on about turning her into what I assume is a traveling vampire.” She replied.

“WHAT?!! While it’s true that you could easily be confused with her at first glance, the only vampire who saw her was the one who abducted her, but I saw him die!” Drake shouted in anger. “Though Erika becoming a vampire, specifically a traveling one, isn’t surprising. She loved visiting distant lands which could lead to trouble at times, but that is quite another matter. Out of curiosity, what did the vampire look like? I didn’t get a chance to see him and his other captives were in no condition to give a good description.” Selena described him as well as she could and his face fell with each passing word. “That is an extraordinarily accurate description of the vampire from years ago, even down to the locket. But how? I saw your father stake that monster with my own eyes!”

“Someone must’ve pulled the stake out.” Selena responded.

Drake paused for a moment to think about what he had just heard. “Pulling the stake out. Is that seriously all it takes to revive one of those creatures?!”

“It is if the last book my aunt touched in her collection is anything to go by.”

“T…this changes things.” Drake gulped. “She had a thing for what she claimed was accuracy in the books she got on the supernatural since it was a subject that interested her, but who would do this after all this time?”

Selena shrugged. “I have no idea. Maybe that strange visitor reported before the attacks was one of his followers or something? We could look into that later, but my more immediate concern is the vampire himself and where his lair is.”

“If he’s the one I’m thinking of, and providing he didn’t change his lair at all, then it’s a short ride from the village if you leave through the northeast. Not far from where I found those young ladies now that I think about it.”

“Then let’s go before nightfall!” Selena shouted as she jumped out of bed only to immediately fall flat on her face.

“Easy there, Selena.” Drake cautioned as he helped her back up. “We still have a bit of time left, not to mention we should focus our attention on the wound on your neck before doing anything else.”

“What? It’s still there?” Selena asked as she placed a hand on her neck and felt two holes toward the base of it right where she was bitten. “Oh no. How long do vampire bites take to heal?”

“They usually don’t, at least if it persists more than a few hours. If the bite lasts beyond that and the victim doesn’t die, providing the vampire doesn’t die first, then he or she starts what is said to be a slow process toward becoming like him.” Drake explained. “Or at the very least incapacitate the monster as we just learned.”

Selena snarled as she slammed her fist into a nearby table. “No. I absolutely refuse to become on of those things!! You said that the transformation stops if the vampire dies, right?”

“Exactly.”

“Then let’s go and kill him right now while there’s still daylight! We Know where he is!” Selena shouted.

“Calm down, Selena. There may be a chance to kill him before the transformation gets too far, not to mention preventing more victims.” Drake replied. “Since there is still a bit of time left, let’s have something to eat before heading out. That at least should help you out.”

“Fine by me.” Selena said, calming down a bit.

After a decent lunch, Selena and Drake headed out with a small bag of stakes and Selena’s hidden dagger. She left all of her holy relics at the inn, which caught Drake’s attention as they headed out.

“Holy weapons are the best defense against the undead. Why leave them behind?” He asked.

“They didn’t do me any good last night. He snatched the one I tried to use up and broke it in two with the greatest of ease. Said something about never being a part of our kingdom’s religion.” Selena explained.

“So he’s basically saying that only holy objects from his religion can affect him, providing he has one at all?” Drake asked.

“That’s the gist I got from it.”

Drake sighed. “I suppose there’s some logic there, but it astounds me that Gabriel and I hunted vampires for so long and yet this issue never came up, or that removing the stake can revive them. Though then again, I guess we just never checked.”

“The impression I got is that vampires made up only a small percentage of what father hunted.” Selena remarked.

“That is true. For every one vampire there were probably about ten demonic beasts, werewolves, and witches, and that only scratches the surface.” Drake replied as he turned to Selena. “Is there a way to slay these monsters for good?”

“I believe so.” Selena began. “The book I found says that in the absence of silver weapons or a willingness to use fire, the best option is to pierce their heart and then decapitate them.”

Drake glared at her with a look of surprise. “That’s it?”

“Apparently, though we’ll find the answer soon enough.” Selena said as they approached the spot where she encountered the vampire during the previous night. “How close are we?” She asked as they walked past the remnants of the holy relic that the creature destroyed.

“Very close if he’s using the same lair as before. We just need to keep going in this direction and we’ll know it when we see it.”

They soon made their way out of the mess of trees and Selena took note of the remnants of an old watchtower that was likely set up and subsequently abandoned during one or more of the series of wars that had plagued the area more than a hundred years ago. Only the base remained somewhat intact, which impressed Selena given how such towers were usually constructed haphazardly. Drake and Selena drew closer and saw that one of the doors leading inside was open and there were fresh marks on the grass leading away from it, signifying to them that someone had just left, though this was irrelevant to them.

“Is this the place?” Selena inquired.

Drake gave a nod more sincere than any she had seen from him so far. “Oh yes. I can never forget this place.”

“Then let’s put an end to this!” Selena shouted as they headed on in and saw three hallways that branched out without an end in sight for any of them. “Which way do we go from here?”

“Let’s see if I can remember.” Drake replied, pausing for well over a minute as he studied all three paths as carefully as he could. “Left.” He answered. “The other two halls caved in long ago.”

“Then left it is.” Selena said as they went through the left hallway and traversed through it for a while before coming across a small room once used as an armory with a table to one side and an ornate coffin on the other that had the name Earl Alastair Krovaloc engraved on the side. Selena first examined the table where she saw a piece of parchment on it and picked it up.

“What did you find there?” Drake asked.

“Some sort of message dated this morning from the look of it.”

“What does it say?”

“Come over here and take a look.” Selena said as she laid it out on the table so they could both read the message.

Hello, Alistair.

Back from the dead after all this time, I see? Here I am, back in my hometown for the first time in decades, all set for a few relaxing nights, and what do I find? You back stirring up trouble practically on my brother’s doorstep. Are you trying to fight him again? And don’t think I appreciate your offerings to me in a vain attempt to keep your pathetic head. You know I can’t stand killing more than I need to survive, and I’m reluctant to even do that!

I’m going out for the day and if you haven’t deserted this place and left my homeland forever when I get back, then your head is coming right off! After all, why would I want Gabriel wasting his time dealing with you when he has bigger things to worry about these days, serving the king and all? See you (hopefully) never. Seriously. Two people a day, you greedy swine?! That’s more than enough blood for a month, a month and a half if you stretch the hell out of it. Not one night! And no, I’ll never thank you for turning me into one of your kind.

Yours never,

Erika Ravenson

Selena just stood there for a moment, staring at the letter in disbelief. “Wow. I’ve never felt so much hatred in a single letter, and I’ve seen some of the nonsense my father has received from former knights along with the families of squires he had to kick out.”

Drake laughed. “That’s Erika for you. Even as a vampire she’s never lost her edge after all these years.”

“I take it this is normal for her?”

“Oh yes. If I made a list of people I’d never want to cross, she’d be near the top.” Drake said, continuing to chuckle while heading to the coffin and placing the bag with the stakes on the floor beside him.

“Who would be at the top of that list?” Selena asked.

“That’s a tie between the king and your father. Anyway, Let’s fulfill Erika's request, shall we? Can you help me with this thing?” Drake asked as he tried to slide the lid off.

“Sure thing.” Selena answered.

It did not take long between the combined strength of Drake and Selena to slide the lid off which then proceeded to land on the floor with a crash, giving them a chance to look at the vampire within. He looked the same as he had the night before when he had attacked Selena.

“Is this the vampire you were thinking of?” Selena asked as she looked at Drake.

Drake nodded, a grim look on his face. “Oh yes. It’s him, all right.”

“That will make this slaying even more satisfying. Speaking of which, who should do the honor?” Selena asked.

“Why don’t I stake him and you cut off his head? You do have a blade, right?”

“I sure so.” Selena smiled as she pointed to her boot. “Ready whenever you are.”

Without even a moment’s hesitation Drake drew a small stake from the bag and positioned it above the man’s heart, preparing to drive it in when a hand suddenly reached out and snatched the stake away from him.

Alastair’s eyes then flung open and looked directly at Selena with a look that made her feel like he was looking directly into her soul. “I figured you would come here by the end of the day if you survived my attack earlier. That was some trick you used to get away, but I guess I should’ve expected nothing less from a Ravenson.” The vampire sneered as he rose and stepped out of the coffin. “The taste of your blood and your appearance were a dead giveaway along with your desire to kill me. You will be next after I deal with him!” He then turned to Drake before grabbing him tightly around the neck with one hand and slamming him into a wall on the other side of the room. “If it isn’t Gabriel’s accomplice from my last fight. My my. It truly is amazing to see how the time goes by when dealing with mortals, though you seemed a bit stronger in your youth, and even then you were hardly a match for me. Not that it matters since you’re about to die.” He said in a rather casual and bored tone.

Selena watched as she pulled a stake out of the bag and approached Alastair, hoping to drive the it through while Drake still had some breath in him, though the vampire grabbed onto it with his spare hand and turned around, dropping Drake on the ground in the process while both Selena and Alastair wrestled over the stake.

“You made quite a mistake in going after a vampire of my caliber, child. You may have thought you could get the drop on me by approaching my lair in the daylight, but you’ll find there is a fine line between being vulnerable and being completely helpless once you become a child of the night. And also, trying to stab me in the back? That’s low even by my standards.”

“I’m full of surprises, vampire!” Selena shouted, trying to run her opponent through while he tried to push her weapon away and toward her.