13 Chapter 13: A Few Hours Before

A couple hours earlier~

Dr. Doyle had his back against the wall as the vampire known as Livac approached him.

"Have you finished making peace with yourself old man?" Livac said with contempt. His demeanor was akin to that of a predator who had cornered its prey.

With his years of research Dr. Doyle knew that in the face of a genuine vampire, death was a near certainty. Forgetting the fact that he was an old man in his sixties, even an athlete in their prime would only be able to fight on par with such a creature. He gulped down a ball of saliva as a drop of sweat creeped out of his forehead.

"Why are you doing this?"

Dr. Doyle knew that the vampire before him was not the type to be interested in a spirited discussion of philosophy over a cup of tea. This one was a killer. A hunter of the night as the legends would say. Looking into the demon's blood red eyes, Dr. Doyle felt a thick aura of murderous intent. It wasn't the same bloodlust as one might have had for a bitterly hated enemy. Rather, it was a desire to shed blood simply for the sake of it, as if it were as natural as eating and sleeping.

Livac chuckled.

"Do humans explain themselves before they are about to crush an insect? This is the same. You really think we vampires are the gentle and kind creatures you can just sit down and have a conversation with? Don't kid yourself. You humans are just livestock to us."

Dr. Doyle narrowed his eyes.

"I think I understand what this is about now..." The teacher said while reaching into the inside pocket of his suit.

"What do you mean?"

"The one you are after is my student, Rel. Isn't that right?"

Livac's eyebrows lifted slightly from the comment. Did he make a mistake? How did this old man figure out his intentions? After all, they had just met.

"Your awareness of my studies in vampire lore could've easily been obtained with minimal effort. However, my desire to communicate with vampires and my feelings towards them were never openly said until recently. I have taught in this school for many years and have never seen your face until now. Therefore, it is a very likely possibility that you are after the student I was talking to when I stated those things!"

Clenching his fists, Livac dug his nails into his hands so hard that his palms began to bleed. He felt shame, humiliation that he had been seen through by what he regarded as an inferior being.

"To think... that a lowly human would be able to see through me like that... Well congratulations. You can take that achievement straight to hell with pride!"

The blood dripping from Livac's palms began to move as if it had a mind of its own. Restructuring and condensing into tiny red nails, he extended his hand forward and the nails were released like a flurry of arrows towards the old professor.

Dr. Doyle's eyes widened with astonishment as the nails of blood soared towards him. However, he didn't have time to admire the unexplainable phenomena that had just occurred. Pulling his hand out of the inside pocket of his jacket, he extended his arm forward to reveal a small pendant the size of a thumb.

Connected to a worn down rope was a tiny phoenix that seemed to be carved from white stone. Despite looking ancient, one could tell upon first glance that the craftsmanship was extraordinary. The detail given to the feathers and head were astounding, almost appearing life-like.

Clash~

As Livac's attack came in, a translucent barrier suddenly projected from the pendant in front of Dr. Doyle. When the nails hit the barely visible shield, they returned back to normal drops of blood,. Splattering harmlessly beneath the old professors feet, Dr. Doyle let out a deep breath.

"Phew... To think I thought he was joking when he said that this pendant was imbued with protective properties. But since I've now discovered that vampires exist, something as small as this must follow suit. Old friend, we have alot to talk about the next time we meet."

Livac's pupils shrunk when he saw the tiny pendant. This was completely unexpected. From what he gathered, Dr. Doyle was only slightly more aware of the supernatural than most other humans. Therefore, how was it possible that he had such a powerful protective treasure on him?

Hoping to test the extent of the barrier's defenses, Livac took out a large dagger from the folds of his cloak. Throwing it with controlled force, the weapon passed through the barrier effortlessly as if nothing was there. Even though he held back on the throw, the speed of the dagger was still faster than Dr. Doyle aged body could react, grazing him on the cheek.

Seeing the results of his attack, Livac let out a smile.

"Well, that's a relief. I guess I'll just have to kill you the old fashioned way then." He said as he drew two more daggers.

Dr. Doyle's face dropped. His advantage was lost. He had hoped that the seemingly invincible barrier that the pendant provided would have detered the vampire enough that he would give up and leave. However, it appeared that he was too naive.

As Livac came in with his daggers drawn he closed his eyes. The door was locked by some invisible force and his last line of defense was now useless. Holding the pendant out in front of him, he prayed for a quick death, hoping to die with as little pain as possible.

Bzzt~

When Livac got within two feet of the old professor, a bright yellow glow began to emanate from the phoenix pendant. The glow was weak at first, but rapidly began to intensify into a blinding light that filled the room.

"Wha--? What is this thing?!" Livac gasped in shock. Squinting his eyes, his entire field of vision was filled with yellow as a sudden repulsive force sent him spiraling into the back of the room. Even after he fell to the ground, the golden light was still suppressing him, keeping him pinned to the ground.

Dr. Doyle opened his eyes in astonishment. The light that was currently subduing Livac had no affect on him whatsoever. Despite the light being so bright that it was comparable to staring at the sun, his eyes felt no strain at all. Staring in awe at the tiny glowing relic, Dr. Doyle suddenly felt a strange urge to test the door once more. It was an unusual feeling, as if another person had just entered his head and planted the thought into his mind. Walking towards the door, he twisted the doorknob, which accompanied with a tiny push, caused the door to open like it normally did.

Seeing the door open, Dr. Doyle let out a faint smile. Escape was within sight, but there was still one important choice he had to make. He had no idea how long the pendant would continue holding Livac at bay. Nor did he know exactly how it worked. If he were to leave right now with the pendant in hand, would the vampire immediately be able to move again? What if he just left the pendant in the classroom? If he did, he would definitely be sure that the vampire would be unable to move. However, if its powers needed time to reset and Livac picked it up afterwards, wouldn't he be leaving a very powerful item into the hands of a very sinister individual?

While the old professor pondered over the dilemna, Livac slowly reached out with his right hand.

"You're not going anywhere..." The strained vampire called out. He felt like he was carrying the weight of a mountain. Just reaching his hand out required so much effort that it caused him to sweat to the point a small puddle formed on the hardwood floors of the classroom.

Pointing his dagger towards Dr. Doyle, Livac let out an agonizing scream. As he did, blood began to leak from his wrist. His arm was like a active hose with holes in it as more and more blood squeezed out of his wrist at increasing pressures.

"I refuse to be humiliated like this... If I can't even take the life of elderly human trash like you, I don't deserve to hunt my true target!"

Letting out one last painful shout, Livac's hand detached from his arm. The hand soared towards Dr. Doyle like an arrow and pierced through his midsection with the dagger still in its grip. The elderly professor let out a surprised expression as he coughed out blood and clutched the bloody hole in his body.

"Gak..." Dr. Doyle stumbled, but did not fall. He did not think that Livac would be willing to use his own arm like as ammunition and sacrifice it for a chance at killing him. Neither did he know it was even possible for him to use it in such a manner.

Using the adrenline manifested from just being stabbed, he immediately left the room with the greatest speed he could muster. Making it two floors down, his pace began to slow as his vision started to blur from blood loss.

"Sigh... At least I'll get to die peacefully by slowly drifting into unconsciousness. Still a better end then what would have happened to me in that room..."

Just as Dr. Doyle was about to give in to his drowsiness, he heard a frantic voice call out to him from a distance away.

"Dr. Doyle?! Is that you? What happened?! Why are you covered in blood?"

The voice was high-pitched and filled with concern. His eyes narrowed into tiny slits, Dr. Doyle saw a female figure coming closer and closer towards him.

"Ah... how lucky can I be... It looks like a beautiful angel has come to take me." He said deliriously before passing out.