Vampires

"You shall be one of a kind... Or perhaps the first of a new kind. A new race to rule the world, more superior than any before."

Pinned beneath the larger man, the young hunter was glad that he could not see his attacker's face. Then he felt the man's face move to the side of his, the cold breath against his ear, and shuddered involuntarily. A slightly longer than average tongue licked the side of his face gently and made him whimper. The calm, soft voice murmured to him, "and you shall be mine. You shall be the first."

A whimper that wasn't his own made the hunter look up slowly, fighting against the pressure of the hand on the back of his neck, to see the girl that had led him here. Huddled against the side of the white-sheeted bed, dressed in the appropriate long white clothing of a girl destined to be rescued from a vampire kidnapper, she watched the scene with both hands over her mouth.

The heavy vampire was evidently following his gaze. "You're no doubt wondering if the beautiful maiden was truly in danger. Maybe she was simply a way to lure you here. Of course, maybe she was on my side all along." A pause, as the long-haired creature surveyed his prey. "And maybe she was in danger, once, but no more. How would it feel for your entire effort to be in vain..."

At those words the hunter started to struggle again, thrashing around in some hopeless effort to dislodge the weight on his back, crying out as the vampire simply adjusted the distribution of his weight and placed an unbearable about of pressure on the small of the panicking man's back. Exhausted again, he slumps against the soft carpet, gasping for breath.

The vampire rearranged his weight again, until he was laying full-length down the hunter's back, and whispered softly to him, "and you thought you could beat me? A creature as old and powerful as I, and you thought you could simply run in and act so heroically: slay the evil vampire and rescue the frail princess and live happily ever after?" He laughed, a cold and grating sound that made the hunter cringe back. "Such a naïve creature!"

The hunter was unable to do anything as the vampire trailed a slim and white finger down his pale cheek, then suddenly caught hold of his chin, pulling his head round so the young man could just see the creature's composed face out of the corner of his eye. The angle his head was at also made it very difficult for him to breathe, much to his attacker's amusement. Stroking the hunter's cheek gently with his thumb, the vampire smiled almost beautifully: the look containing none of the anger, malice or pure cruel intention of previous humourless attempts. "Yes... You shall be the new one. It would, after all, be so poetic, although not entirely unexpected. In your 'line of work'," the phrase was spat out with sudden disgust, "such ... mishaps ... are not entirely unforseen, are they?" The smile turned to something sour. "And no doubt you will simply roll over and die nicely for your previous associates, wasting all my hard work and setting it back decades. That would just be your style." He moved his hand from the hunter's face to his hair, giving it a sharp tug that pulled his head up and back. By now, the young man was looking terrified.

The vampire surveyed his face, his expression now calm again. "Unusual that one so young and attractive should become a hunter.