Twilight Of The Echo Bearer

The room stank of sweat and lust. The faint light from flickering candles barely enough to cast the twisted shadows of a man and a woman on the walls.

A man with his shoulder-length hair tangled and damp moved up and down over the woman beneath him. His body was marred with scratches and wounds. Some of it were fresh, others old scars. The marks all over his body was like a map of violence from all the years of his life etched into his skin. Each movement made him wince but he never slowed. His eyes was still opened and sharp, looking at the beautiful pale woman under him.

She arched her body beneath him. Her voluptous body curving in the candlelight. Her skin was soft skin, contrast from the man. She let out sharp breaths and moan every second.

Her hands gripped his shoulders and her fingers tracing the rough ridges of old battles as if savoring the brokenness of him. The small bed creaked under their weight almost too fragile for what they were doing.

In the dimness, it was hard to tell if they were making love or something darker.

"Mhh..."

Suddenly, the woman beneath him let out a deep sultry moan. Her mouth opening wider than before but her eyes were still closed. A pair of sharp canines slid from her gums, glinting in the dim candlelight. Her eyes fluttered open into barely slits but it filled with hunger as she leaned toward his neck, ready to bite him.

However, the man had been waiting for this. His eyes hadn't closed for a second.

With a quick movement he punched her hard in the face. Her head snapped back, bouncing off the bedframe with a dull thud. A sharp scream tore from her throat, but the man didn't flinch.

No need to worry about that, everyone nearby probably thought they were just having a very rough sex, which is common in this particular area of the city. He'd made sure of it and he already dropping enough hints to the inn's workers earlier so no one would suspect a thing.

He landed another punch but this time she fought back. Her hand shooting out with unnatural strength and shoving him off. The force sent him flying across the room, tumbling over the floor in a blur of tangled limbs. The man gritted his teeth.

He sprang to his feet, his body aching a little bit from the throw but his mind focused because he already used to pain. His eyes darted to the revolver on the table.

However, before he could move, the woman was already in the air, moving with an unnatural speed. Her figure blurring through the dark. She pounced from above like some kind of predator animal and slamming hands into his chest and pinning him to the cold hard floor, her teeth gleaming dangerously close to his neck right now.

The woman hissed, baring her fangs.

"How dare you punch me like that," she said with a snarl. Her strength that fueled by her Vampire blood, easily overpowered his efforts to break free.

He didn't respond. He didn't need to. Instead, he braced himself, trying to retaliate, but her grip was so strong because her unnatural strength far superior to his, as expected.

She grinned and a malicious laugh bubbling up from her throat.

"You've made a big mistake. I'm going to turn you into a Ghoul and you will be my mindless slave, begging at my feet and forever be my little pet," she whispered, her words dripping with sadistic glee. "And I won't let you die easily. You'll wish you had!"

For most, her words would've sent chills down their spine. Even seasoned Supernatural Hunters would've felt fear, knowing they were up against one of the strongest Supernatural Creatures in the dark world. A Vampire's strength was nothing to scoff at, especially when pinned down, alone, and defenseless, at their mercy.

However, the man wasn't most people or even most of the Supernatural Hunter. Fear had been burned out of him a long time ago, replaced with something far darker.

Hatred.

A hatred so deep it consumed him and driving him past the point of fear. And no single Vampire, no matter how powerful, would ever be enough to scare him now.

The man focused inward, drawing on the power he kept buried deep. He could feel it, the familiar burn searing through his veins and lighting his insides like wildfire. His eyes began to glow a deep unnatural red, just like hers.

The shift was instant. The woman froze, her smirk fading into wide-eyed shock.

"You... you're a—" she stammered, disbelief twisting her face. She hadn't sensed it. She didn't know that there is a predator lurking beneath his human skin.

He smirked savagely. "Surprise, bitch!"

With a surge of raw, brutal strength that suddenly lit up inside of him, he flipped her in a single motion and slamming her back into the floor. His body pressing down on hers.

Before she could react, his fists came down hard, over and over again, each blow harder than the last. Blood splattered across the room as her face cracked and shattered under the punches. Her once-beautiful face turning to pulp. Her eyes bulged then popping out of their sockets under the sheer violence of the attack, but the man didn't stop yet.

Few seconds later, after dozens of punches landed, the man stopped and breathing heavily then wiped the blood from his knuckles. His eyes that still glowing red focused on the broken form of the Vampire beneath him.

She twitched, trying to move, but he was faster. With swift, ruthless precision, he severed her arms and legs in quick slashes of his clawed hands and Vampire power inside him that he still have.

Her flesh tearing like paper under his hands. Blood splattered across the floor, but he didn't blink.

The woman let out a weak cry, struggling to move with the stumps where her limbs used to be. Her once confident grin replaced with terror now.

He ignored her and moving with quickly toward his black leather coat slung over the chair. From a hidden pocket he pulled out a small vial with shimmering silver liquid swirled inside.

He walked back over, towering above her, and without hesitation uncorked the vial and poured its contents onto her mutilated body. The silver spread quickly, sizzling as it met her open wounds.

She tried to scream, her face contorting in agony, but he was quicker. A hard kick to her face snapped her jaw shut, and he clamped his hand over her mouth, muffling the sound.

"Not so fierce now, are we?" he muttered darkly, watching as her body convulsed under the silver's burn. The regeneration, normally quick for a Vampire, was now halted, her body helpless against the poison seeping into her veins.

He crouched down, his face inches from hers, eyes cold, devoid of pity.

"Here's the deal," he whispered with voice in a low growl. "I'm going to ask you some questions, and you're going to answer them. Do that, and maybe, just maybe, I'll give you a quick death."

Her eyes now wide with fear while looking at him. She knew he wasn't bluffing.

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