Background:
So school’s back now and I’ve been focusing on it a bit, making
keeping with my challenge difficult but not impossible. One of my
teachers wants me to reconsider changing my English choice from
standard to advanced but I’m not exactly sure. Oh, and if anyone
would like to talk to me about my challenge, if they’d like to do
it or just a little comment on how to improve my own, please follow
me on my twitter at www.twitter.com/missabooks. So in the meanwhile
here is another short story named Huntress.
Short
Story #12 - Huntress
Her
breath was jagged; coming in and out as though someone was physically
tearing it and sewing it back in. The exit was ahead, a bright sign
above the stone arch but she never made it. She whipped aside,
tearing out her swords and her delicate fangs in the same moment as
the hellhound advanced on her. It sent her tumbling but she got a
booted foot under its belly and shoved upward, its throat letting out
a whimper between snarls.
The
glassy cries of the other vampires were following close behind,
piercing her ears and scraping against her skull. She would surely
die if they caught hold of her.
The
swords glinted silver in her hands as she reached up and severed the
hellhounds head, the heavy thing landing with a thud beside her. Dark
blood poured from the stump of its neck and onto her leather bodysuit
as she scrambled to her feet and took off toward the exit again. From
the corridor she saw the vampires pouring out behind her but then she
was through the exit and into the park, moonlight dancing on the dark
lake beside the path.
Wind
picked up, howling like the dead hellhound and whipping her blonde
hair into her eyes; she picked up speed until she was merely a white
blur against the night. Her boots thudded against the ground, heavy
weights on the ends of her legs that threatened to slow her. Still
she managed to outrun the other vampires, her fangs leaving fine
trails of blood down her chin. Ahead a slow human jogger enjoyed the
cooling summer night and she hurried to him, snapping his neck clean
before the vampires could kill him.
“Night
bringer!”
“Princess!”
“Vampiress!”
The
vampires behind her screamed the names, each time causing the ancient
runes around her wrists to glow brightly. She couldn’t deny what
she was but as the only vampire to be able to walk during the day
they wanted to kill her. Some wanted her death out of jealousy,
others out of fear. The river rushed beside her and suddenly she
veered left, sliding the swords back in their hilts and her fangs
into her jaw.
She
jumped, narrowly clearing the wide river and stumbling on the stones;
the vampires across the river screamed, their vulnerability of water
forcing them to remain on the other side. As a half-human huntress
she didn’t feel the overwhelming fear that moving water gave
full-blooded vampires, merely a queasy feeling that faded fast once
she’d gained her footing.
There
were approximately twenty vampires across the river, each staring at
her with hate-filled eyes and screaming loud. The huntress stood her
ground, hands gripping the hilts of her swords as they glinted, free
from their sheaths. The vampires weren’t all together, some pacing
the river looking for ways across whilst others continued their
screaming, however, there was one that didn’t do anything.
Delos
stood silently amongst the vampires, dark brown eyes black in shadow;
a crooked smile pulled his lips as she watched. She knew that he
loved her but wanted to kill her as much as the other vampires. She
remembered the times he’d hugged her, whispered in her ear that she
would always be safe as long as he drew breath. He no longer did.
With
a sigh, the huntress turned on her heel, disappearing into the
darkness cast by the forest as she heard his deep voice whisper three
small but meaningful words.
“I
love you.” But she was already gone.
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