Blood and Bone

I decide to confront them in the alley because there are cameras on the street that Frank also used to find out their location.

And I don't want to be known as the guy who runs around and beheads people...

"There he is! Now you'll know what it's like to kiss the floor," says the long-haired guy, while I can only see his and the blonde woman's eyes shining in the darkness as they walk towards me.

"If you say so, I mean you have plenty of experience with it, so it's understandable that you want to share it with others," I say with a shrug.

They both come out of the darkness and the long-haired guy is literally foaming out of anger.

It's a given that he will lose his head because he is annoying… while I'll spare the blonde woman because I have a lot of questions for her.

For example, about the guy named Bill, who seems to be their leader...

"Did I miss something?" asks Cthylla as she arrives next to me with the machetes and gives me one.

"Nope, we just wanted to start," I say with a smile and practice some swings with the machete.

The two look at each other, then back at us, and the blonde woman takes a few steps back.

"James, these two are hunters! We should retreat or at least call the others."

"Don't be afraid of them, we are stronger and faster than them. He only got lucky at the bar because I couldn't use my powers to the full extent there," says James to the woman and makes himself ready to dash forward.

Lucky for us, it would be a pain to run after them.

The woman sighs loudly and makes her fingernails extend again.

Afterwards, both open their mouths, and a second pair of teeth like those of sharks appear in them.

Well, now I'm sure that they are vampires, even though they are more beastly than I thought…

James dashes towards us, while the woman jumps in the air to reach us and they move at such immense speed that their silhouettes seem to blur.

I step in front of Cthylla, and the first thing I do is something that a true swordsman should never do.

And this is throwing your sword at your enemy.

"Agh!" screams the blonde vampire out of pain.

Because she is so fast and in the air, she can't evade it. So the machete hits her in the chest, and she crashes down.

The next moment, James appears in front of me and tries to ram his fist into my chest.

But I grab it and use his momentum to swing him around and smash him into the outside wall of the bar.

"Ugh!!!"

He crashes with his back into the wall and slides down onto the ground and seems to be paralyzed for the moment.

I walk towards him, grab his head, and lift him to his feet.

Then let go of him and strike him with my left fist in the face, causing some of his vampire teeth to fall out in the process.

Before grabbing his head again and smashing it a second time against the wall, leaving his head and face as a bloody mess behind.

It is always good to let out steam, and beating him up a second time is perfect for that.

Afterwards, I drag him back to Cthylla and make him kneel in front of her.

She nods only impressively before placing her machete on the guy's neck.

The bloody beaten vamp looks up at me and says while spitting blood and more of his teeth out, "You… you… bastard… Bill will… kill yo—"

But before he can finish his sentence, my girlfriend swings the machete to stop his loose mouth forever.

—

I place my hand on his head and read his soul name to gain a weapon against them without needing to behead them.

"Welcome to the team, Enzir," I say and look towards the other vampire who is attempting to remove my machete from her chest.

But before I can walk towards her, Cthylla moves forward and says, "Let me deal with her; you've had your fun."

"Sure, you can have her, but don't kill her. We need to ask her some questions, or we'll have to drag the other vampires out," I say and lean against the wall to inspect this guy's teeth, which I'll probably keep as a trophy.

"I will try to leave her head intact," she says with a wave, arriving in front of the blonde vampire who is trying to slowly pull out the machete.

But before she finishes, Cthylla grabs the handle while kicking the other woman away and removing the machete that way.

"Flumen aquae tempero et corpus tuum est ludibrium meum." (I control the flow of water, and your body is my toy), says Cthylla while pointing her machete at the woman and walking towards her.

The woman stands up and tries to run away but suddenly stops in her tracks.

This makes me smile. As I said, Cthylla is good at channeling external sources; in this case, the blood in the body of the vampire…

"We only just began. Where do you want to go?" asks Cthylla and stops behind the vampire.

The woman tries to move, and her whole body shakes as she attempts to do so.

After a while, she stops, realizing that her attempts were futile, and asks, "A hunter… and a witch? Why are you… after us?"

"Hmm, we weren't initially targeting you, but since we came across you, why not contribute to making the world a better place by getting rid of you?"

"Get rid of us… you don't know with whom you're... messing with here."

Cthylla shrugs and loosens the spell on the woman.

She falls to the ground, and my girlfriend says, "No, we don't, but we will soon find out. Now stand up and fight. I need to show my boyfriend that I can kick some vampire asses too."

The vampire woman jumps up and strikes with her fingernails at Cthylla, who smiles and ducks down before slashing the stomach of the vampire in a swift motion.

Afterwards, she spins around and slashes the back of the vampire, causing the woman to fall to the ground, screaming in pain.

"Agh! What did you do to me? Why am I so slow?!" screams the woman while looking frightened at Cthylla.

But my eldritch girlfriend says nonchalantly, "Not everyone can move like a blur or has super perception to counter this, so I controlled your blood to make you a bit slower. Isn't that fair?"

This leaves the vampire devastated, and she starts to cry.

Cthylla sighs, turns towards me, and says, "I think I broke her. This is no fun."

Then turns back and stabs the vampire in the chest.

—

"Agh! St… stop!" pleads the vampire, but Cthylla is ready to finish it and slashes down with her other machete at her neck.

But before she can, I use my telekinesis spell to stop the machete a few inches from the vampire's neck and walk toward them.

Cthylla is first confused but then remembers that I wanted to interrogate the woman and backs away while also removing the machete from the vampire's body.

I arrive at them, then grab the blonde woman's head and snap her neck. Which makes her fall to the ground motionless.

"Too bad, I wished she would be more of a challenge," says Cthylla while sulking a bit.

But I kiss her and say, "Combining witchcraft and swordplay is pretty badass, so don't worry about it."

This makes her smile, and she kisses me back, but before things get too intense, I gently let go of her and say,

"Let's continue this later. Can you park the car near the alley? I'll throw her inside, and we can interrogate her elsewhere."

"Sure, but don't forget about it," says my naughty girlfriend and walks to the car while swaying her hips.

After enjoying the show, I place a coin inside the pocket of the woman, then pick her up and carry her towards the entrance of the alley, leaving the headless vampire for his friends.

But when I arrive there…

"Hands in the air!"

Suddenly, three police cars arrive in front of me, and six policemen storm out, pointing their weapons at me.

Well, this is not good. My clothes are kind of full of blood after carrying the woman around...

I drop the vampire woman and raise my hands.

"Step away from the woman slowly, and don't make quick movements, or we shoot!"

While stepping back, I notice that Cthylla is behind the police car and doesn't know what to do.

To calm her down, I use our connection and send her my thoughts that we'll meet at the hotel. So she nods and walks back to our car.

"Dispatch, requesting backup at 805 Diers Avenue. The situation is under control. We found the Jeep and a suspect while he was trying to commit a crime," I hear a police officer say on his radio.

So they tracked the car too… and again, I'm the suspect.

But since I have no intention of spending time with the police, I suddenly move my hands down while invoking the telekinesis spell, causing their pistols to be ripped from their hands.

Then, I take out my pistol and fire some shots into the air, just to scare them. They immediately duck down, and I use the opportunity to run back into the alley and out of their sight.

*Ring, Ring*

After I'm far away enough, I take out my phone and answer it, "Hey, are you alright? Should I pick you up?" says Cthylla immediately on the other side.

"Hi, yes, I'm fine. No, just drive straight to the hotel. The police are everywhere, and they'll probably close the roads. So It will be easier for you to drive without me."

"If you say so… and what will we do now with the vampires?"

"Don't worry, I placed a tracker coin on her. We will find them."

"Alright, don't get captured, and don't let me wait too long," says Cthylla with a giggle and I respond, "Sure, I will be there soon." and hang up.

First, I'll return to my girlfriend, and then I'll simply wait until the coin moves and follow it.