Chapter 1

LISA POV

"Run without looking back!" Sophia whispered to me through the hedge in the fence as she pushed me towards the forest outside the border.

I hesitated to go alone and tried to drag her to come along with me.

"Come with me, we can escape together. You don't like it here any more than I do," I said, pleading with her for the umpteenth time.

"No, it's fine," She said, shaking her head adamantly. "I need to cover up your tracks for some time so they won't find out you're gone quickly and come after you. Just don't forget me out there, Lisa. I'll miss you while you're gone," She said as she embraced me tightly.

"I won't, I'll miss you too," I said, basking in the familiar warmth of her hug as I fought to hold back my tears. I knew it was futile trying to get her to change her mind. Sophia could be stubborn like that.

I took a step back and studied her trying to imprint the features of my best friend in my mind one last time. Her auburn hair, piercing green eyes, porcelain skin and all.

"Now go," She said in a hurried tone, closing the patch in the fence expertly behind her.

Suddenly the security lights all came on, illuminating where I stood clearly, leaving me with scattered wits. I came to my senses as I heard the sound of running footsteps and realized what was happening.

"Oh no, I hope Sophia doesn't get caught sneaking back in," I said softly wishing against logic that that wasn't the case.

"What are you doing outside past the curfew time? Where is the prisoner?" I heard guards question her.

"Whoever it is would have been long gone by now," She said a bit loudly and I knew that she was saying it for my benefit. She somehow knew that I was still in earshot and she was warning me.

I ran through the dense forest, my heart pounding in my chest as I did so. I could hear the footsteps of my pursuers behind me, getting closer and closer. I knew I had to keep moving if I wanted to survive.

My heels dug into the dense earth, and with every contact I made with the floor, I gained more momentum. Behind me were elite guards, not giving it my all from the start would only lead to my capture. Success seemed bleak, but I was determined to survive.

Having spent most of my time locked up and under torture, the concept of pain have essentially become null to me. It didn't matter how many branches dug into the sole of my feet, I continued streaming further into the thickness of the forest. If I could beat them to the border, I'd become free.

A quick dive to the side saved me from being impaled by a spear. The dangerous weapon found its way into the trunk of a tree, and completely decimated it. One mistake and I would have ended up like that trunk. I thought that these men wanted me alive, but it was clear that they didn't care what condition I was in. As long as I was breathing, they were ready to tear away my limbs just to capture me.

More projectiles came soaring towards me, and I immediately realized that continuing this run on the floor was probably a bad idea. Not only was I wasting energy on healing my wounded legs, trying to evade these projectiles and focusing on the run was almost impossible.

Concluding that an aerial run would probably benefit me the most, I sunk my feet into earth. Straining my muscles, I took off the ground with enough force to leave a small crater behind. It was just as I'd expected, running atop the trees might be a little more difficult than running on the forest floor, but it had its own advantages.

I could see the entire topography of the area from up here, choosing an escape route and a short cut to the borders would be relatively easier than running on the floor where my vision was being hindered by trees and animals.

Although finding my way had become easier, the same could be said for my pursuers too, however launching spears at me had become nearly impossible. Getting a good throwing stance on the tree branches was a lot harder than on stable ground. And since there was no predicting what tree I'd hop onto next, getting a steady target had become arduous too.

I managed to solve a major problem, but at the same time had created another. Some of the pursuing vampires continued their chase on the forest floor where movement was a lot easier. At the rate they were moving, they'd probably catch up to me and get to the border before I do. I wanted to preserve energy as much as I could, but I couldn't risk them getting to the border before me.

With my claw, I tore up my wrist and allowed my blood to drop down on the leaves of every tree I landed on. This was a technique that was known only to elite guards, but I'd managed to learn it thanks to my intellectual capability.

"Blood technique..." I chanted, and the nearer soldiers heard me. It was my intention to speak to their hearing, that way their sudden reaction would throw those behind into confusion, thus breeding chaos amongst the group.

In one swift movement, the closer soldiers all leapt away in fear. They'd been following me tree to tree, the soles of their feet were already stained with my blood.

".... exploding blood!"

All it took was one explosion to trigger a chain reaction on the soldiers' bodies. One by one all the droplets of my blood that managed to make it to their body exploded with force strong enough to level a mansion. Without any intention of letting them escape so easily, I immediately prepared my next attack.

"Piercing blood!" I yelled out before releasing two arrows of blood at the disoriented soldiers.

Upon impact, the arrows detonated causing an even bigger explosion that sent shockwaves throughout the entire forest. Even as vampires, there was absolutely no way they wouldn't suffer severe casualties from those attacks.

Although the attack was aimed at debilitating my pursuers, that was not its only purpose. The explosion had caused a mass destruction of trees which had fallen to become hurdles for those pursuing me from below. It wouldn't do much, but it would definitely slow them down long enough for me to reach the borders before them, and that was exactly what happened.

Upon crossing the borders, I knew that vampires were no longer my problem, but an even greater foe, Werewolves. It didn't take long for them to sniff me out, and in less than ten minutes I was already being hunted down.

At least a dozen of them were after me, but out of the twelve, only one had taken me seriously enough to transform.

Like a tornado, it howled and screamed as it converged to form a massive forty meter tall wolf-like creature that bellowed into the heavens.

I wasn't armed, and that was a serious disadvantage when going up against Werewolves. Not only was I heavily fatigued, but I was vastly outnumbered and outclassed by my opponents.

"Capture the intruder!" One of the soldiers cried out, and I was immediately attacked by the closest wolf.

I leapt backwards in the same instant, successfully dodging a swipe that was meant to decapitate me. I'd almost forgotten just how potent werewolf venom was to vampires. One graze from its outrageously large claws, and I'd be dosed with enough venom to knock me out. Under normal circumstances, I might be able to decompose the toxin. But in my current condition, pulling that feat was nearly impossible. To survive, I would have to make sure I do not concede any blow.

We both glared at ourselves, sizing each other up and analyzing our strengths and weaknesses. I was faster, but aside from that, I had nothing against these monsters.

In a flash, it struck again, every attack aimed to kill or debilitate me in the worst manner possible.

Acting swiftly, I deflected the outstretched claw upwards and aimed a strike towards the wolf's unprotected side. The beast didn't attempt to dodge, instead it brought its second arm down at my neck, before sending me flying with a kick to the face.

I recovered from my flight fast enough to parry a blow that would've probably killed me. Steadying myself on the floor, I employed the use of my legs to send my oppressor a few meters away.

Annoyed that it had conceded a blow from a lowly vampire, the beast let out a reverberating growl before lifting its large paws above its head. It was a weird stance for a wolf, but I readied myself for the worst.

It slashed forward to release powerful blades of air capable of splitting the earth in two. The attack was unexpected, and its speed was beyond my expectation. At the last moment, I made a quick dive to evade the torrents of attack that came my way, however I was not fast enough. The hit connected and proceeded to claim my left limbs. It was hard to admit, but a part of me had wished I hadn't escaped. What was the use of escaping if I would die minutes later?

"Capture her now!" The voice from earlier announced, and the untransformed adversaries poured forward to carry out the order.

I didn't move, nor did I panic. I merely concentrated all my energy towards my injuries, and in the next second I managed to regrow his lost limbs. My intention had been to conserve enough energy in order to escape, but against monsters like these, trying to hold back was effectively a death sentence.

Against this many adversaries, winning was impossible, and escape seemed impossible as well. However, I wasn't prepared to just give up because my chances were low. If there's a one in a million chance that I might escape from these wolves, I'd try my luck on that one chance.

I made a quick dash for the space in-between the approaching crowd, but was quickly intercepted by a faster wolf. The momentum behind my speed had been too strong for me to make a quick retreat, and had caused me to fall into the hands of the enemy.

"Shit!" I exclaimed just before I felt a blow to the back of the neck. The illumination of the moonlight immediately became blurry, but I somehow managed to regain my composure. I tried making another attempt at escape, but a second blow had me on my knees, and a third blow knocked me unconscious.