Thursday, December 24th. The city streets were swarming with smiles and drunks. They were out having the time of their lives. A true jolly good time, even under the light dusting of snow.

Amongst the crowd, I am there, passing by, hidden from all the joy they were having. My pain, my suffering—it has all come to this. I have nearly forgotten how long it has been. The monsters lurking in the shadows have turned me into one of them. They don’t greet me like some curious neighbor. No, they shun me away with disdain.

It’s not that they fear me or see me as a threat. But they should. 

With a city this big, there is no chance of running into me, who is so small in comparison to the bowels of its darkness that linger about. However, should they cross my path, step into my shadow, and burn what I care for, then I will exactthe same price on them. 

Death is not the only answer. 

Pain. 

Fear.

Maybe there was a different path, but it is too late to find out now.

With anger is my tool, as revenge is the only thought that lingered in my mind. And I shall wield it as a blade to carve every last one that stands in my way. 

The evening was growing long, and some employees took a leisurely smoke break. Despite the weather, they stayed warm from the drinks in hand, each other’s company, and a bit of respite from the busy shifts inside.

One man, ditching a smoke and preparing mentally to head back, noticed down the alley one of his colleagues stumbling from the shadows. He was shaking from the heavy downpour that drenched them from head to toe. 

“Are you alright, mate?” one asked. Another quickly went inside to find something warm to dry off their friend.

“What kind of walk did you go on?”

“How are you soaked?”

None of them received an answer from their disheveled friend as he stumbled into the light. With the light from the exit sign over his head glowing, they could see the individual’s face was swamped in an overbearing crimson hue.

“What the?”

Blood poured from their lips as their mouth opened to reveal an absence of a tongue and rows of teeth. Their eyes were vacant as well as they listlessly navigated forward only to stumble and trip over themselves.

One raced over to help, only to sniff the air.

“Rwalllghlwwhw…” the individual blurted. The damage to their mouth begun to heal enough for coherent letters to begin to form. “RUGGGGHHHHNNNN!”

Then, a small glow from the darkness flickered—a light that seemed to hover there to defy gravity. 

Squinting hard to see, it was small flame from a lightly tossed lighter. It dropped upon the soft crystal snow, only to catch quickly and light up the trail left by one who was now halfway inside.

The front door of the main lobby was wide open, and many rushed to the side entrance. The doormen were completely speechless when they noticed a woman with short raven-dark hair and crimson eyes strolling past the scarlet red carpet to the front desk.

Ping went the bell that sat on the front desk, calling for the receptionist. Their jaws dropped to utter disbelief as they stood petrified in fear of what stood there. 

“Call him downstairs,” the young woman asked. Her brow furrowed, her gaze sharp. “Call him, or I burn the whole bloody place down.”

The individuals behind the desk timidly reached for the phone, only for another to halt their hand. 

“You shouldn’t be here. You shouldn’t even be alive.”

“Call him,” The young woman parroted. Her tone was incisive as it shot to the one who dared to give her lip.

“Do you know where you are?” The receptionist scoffed. “This is the Velvet Royal Heights. You dare walk in here like this?”

Taking the bell, the individual gently dinged it. The sound radiated further to all corners of the lobby, reaching even the ears of those who were not currently present. 

Slowly, employees of all shapes and sizes stepped forth, ceasing their shifts and the responsibilities that came with them to stare at the one before the front desk.

No matter how they all looked, where they came from, they all worked under the same roof for the same creature. Their crimson eyes heavy casting a red wave to swallow the one who stood against them.

Completely unfazed, the young lady reached down to retrieve a soaking brown bag for all to see. 

“Call him downstairs,” she said. Her words were no longer a warning but a command. 

None moved an inch as silence filled the Velvet Height’s lobby. 

Checking her clock, Sirius noted the time. A heavy sigh escaped her lips as the building rattled and shook. The lights fluttered before the fire alarm went off and the sprinklers turned on. Old and new guests started to flood from the elevators and stairs as quickly as possible to every conceivable exit. They scurried like rats in the sewer.

Amid the swarm, a pair of eyes seemed to glow. An anger that could not be extinguished had reached its boiling point.

“Move!”

“What’s going on!”

“Out of my way, do you know who I am!”

Various words were shouted as the orderly quickly became chaos. It didn’t matter what family you came from, your name, how much money you had, or whether you were well-spoken or well-dressed. The moment danger becomes evident in the eyes of those who see and experience it, their true colors are shown.

Slipping and falling. Many tumbled as the smooth, tiled floors became a puddle. 

Moving against the crowd, Sirius kept her axe by her side. She slowly used the people escaping as a buffer to make her way to the main elevator, as it had been called. 

As she halted the doors to step inside, she found herself with company joining her. With the doors closing, the elevator rose to the 24th floor—the floor containing the illustrative restaurant that many believed was to die for. Seven individuals had walked in and only one came out.

Witnesses standing in the hall screamed in horror at what they saw. A woman caked in drenched in red from head to toe. Suddenly, the building rocked again, darkness enveloping everything in sight.

Snarling and hissing could be heard as screams soon became whispers. With no power and a hall filled with half-satisfied, hungry vampires, Sirius had but only one choice.

Sparks erupted as the axe scratched against the walls, briefly lighting up the hall in the midst of the slaughterhouse chaos that ensued. Everything that got in her way was beaten, broken, cut down, and hacked away. The more troublesome prey left her fighting dirty, biting, and drinking their blood in order to stay at the top of her game. 

Various champagne bottles were broken, and the glass was used as a weapon. Stabbing, more slashing, as some were not fortunate for such pleasures. Others found their mouths filled with glass, chewing not of choice as the bar was nowclosed until further notice. 

Sirius did not stop at just butchering; she ensured that nothing was left as she made her way to the back of the five-star restaurant.

One fortunate soul was spared briefly before giving up the passcode that bypassed the rest of the levels, with a freight elevator rising to the sweet penthouse. 

She rolled her head and took to the ding with an elated sigh. 

But once at the top, the doors opened, and standing there was an individual. A woman who looked straight out of a glamour magazine. Frozen in time like some black and white movie star. She eyed Sirius up and down before stepping to the side. The doors to the three-floor prime suite at the top were already open. Many of the important members of the hotel staff had already fled because of the alarms, but one remained. The one who would always remain stood in the darkness at the far end. A tall figure cloaked in black, its gaze ever transfixed on the beauty of the cityscape.

“Look at you. Still alive.”

“Vlad…” Sirius’s tone was harsh and cold as the words of his name scraped out and off her lips.

“Oh, what’s this? You know my name? And to say it with such impudence. Truly a lost child.”

“…I ain’t your kid to be worried about.”

“Hmm… but you are. You see, every vampire in this city comes from me. Whether that be directly or not. My blood runs deep through this very city’s veins. It is I who they fear.”

“Tough luck for you then.”

“Hold your tongue, fledgling. Yes, it may have been some time since I have last tasted the blood of battle, but I do not fear it. I was once hailed as the Impaler. Ohh, how the rivers once ran red at my heels.”

Raising his hand upward, Vladimir flicked the air. A hole was carved out through Sirius’s side in an impossible read. 

“I wished to not make a mess, but you must be taught a lesson for being so bold.”

Humoring himself, he carried out a similar attack again and again, leaving an unrecognizable heap lying there. However, just as the quick holes were made, they were filled. Sirius’s wounds healed as she pried herself back up.

“To heal that quickly, hmm, someone’s been eating.”

Cracking her neck, Sirius took to throwing her axe, severing the connection tubes that transferred new blood to Vladimir’s body. A humorous gaze grew cold. It was then that the hotel rocked. An explosion bellowed from its bowels. 

“Are you insane, child?”

The smell of something quickly came before smoke funneled in.

“Yeah,” Sirius smiled. “Pretty sure I am.”