Chapter 3. The Hunt's Initial Mistake

Selene

I didn't go back to my quarters, I had nothing that I needed, because when the orders came in I moved straightway. By the time the noise at the safehouse died down I was already getting ready, strapping on my weapons and planning my route, the file was burning a hole in my mind not with questions but with coordinates.

Order From: Sector Twelve. 

Event Location: Abandoned townhouse. 

Comment: No confirmed kill. 

That last part didn't sit well with me. It didn't belong in a report like this, it didn't belong in my world.

I rode through the city fast keeping my engine low and my headlights off when I didn't need them. The night was thick and watchful, the kind of quiet that usually meant something bad was about to happen and I liked it that way.

When I got to the location the street was empty. There's no people, no dogs. Even the stray dogs that usually hung out in alleys like this were gone, I kicked the engine, I got off my bike in one smooth motion already scanning the area.

The townhouse was wedged between two crumbling buildings, its windows were dark, it looked untouched by the chaos around it, too intact, too still, and I approached it without rushing.

The first thing I trusted was my sense of smell. Death has a smell. Rot, iron and a sour note of panic that clings to walls long after bodies are gone, but there was none of that here.

 I walked into the house, it was really quiet. The air was still yetI felt like something was off.

I stopped at the door, my hand was hovering over the handle, I did not see any signs of a break in, no scratches on the door, no marks on the wall. I squeezed the handle a little tighter. Then I pushed the door open.

The door opened easily so I did not go in right away. I stood there and listened. The house was silent, nothing was moving, nobody was breathing there was no heartbeat that was not supposed to be

I went inside anyway. The house felt weird like it was paused, the furniture was all in the places but it looked like people had just gotten up and left. A chair was turned sideways and a glass was on the table with dust on it. The house did not look abandoned; it looked like something had just stopped it.

I walked further into the house being careful where I stepped, I was breathing slowly, my hand was near the knife at my side. The living room was right in front of me, I looked straight, that is when I saw it. Blood.

I bent down to look at the blood without thinking, my fingers touched the edge of it feeling how dry it was. This blood was not what I was expecting. It was smeared across the floor in a curve, no splatters on the wall, no signs of a fight.

I stood up slowly. I looked at the blood again, to me this was not from an attack. Vampires do not stop once they start, they just keep going. Unless something stopped them.

No, I told myself. There has to be another reason. There is always another reason.

Then I heard a noise upstairs. Somebody was breathing. I froze. The report said nobody was killed and those reports are usually right. I tilted my head to listen. The breathing was faint and uneven; it sounded human.

I moved upstairs without waiting, my feet were quiet on the stairs. I was going slow so I would not make any noise yet fast enough to get to the person before they could react.

The hallway was dark with shadows in the corners. The breathing was coming from the room on the left, so I walked up to the door. Stopped, listened and looked. There was nobody in the room, just the person on the floor.

I went inside and saw him sitting on the floor, his back against the wall. His skin was really pale to see through. His eyes looked at me when I came in and I could see that he recognized me.

That was a surprise. I did not let my guard down. "What happened?" I asked him. My voice was flat like I always use when I talk to people who have seen something.

He didn't answer immediately. His gaze dragged over me taking in the weapons, the stance, the absence of hesitation. "You're one of them, " he said hoarsely.

"Yes." A beat. Then before I could ask again he whispered, "He didn't want to kill me."

The words slid under my skin like a blade. I stepped closer. "Start from the beginning."

He swallowed, throat working. "I heard something downstairs. Thought someone broke in. When I came down..." His hands shook slightly. "He was already there."

Of course he was. "They're always there before you see them, " I said.

He shook his head weakly. "No. This was different."

" How?" I asked.

"He wasn't... Frantic. He wasn't looking at me like I was food." His voice dropped. "He was looking at me like I was a problem."

My jaw tightened. "He grabbed me and held me against the wall, so that I couldn't move, couldn't fight." His eyes flicked to the floor. "Then he bit me."

I waited. "He stopped."

The word echoed in the room loud for something so quiet. "Why?" I pressed.

"I don't know, " he said. "He just... Pulled back like something changed, then he let me go."

My fingers curled slightly at my sides. Vampires don't stop. Don't reconsider. Don't walk away. "You expect me to believe that " I said, voice sharpening, "a vampire fed on you and chose to leave you alive?"

"I'm still here " he shot back a glint of something in his eyes. "Does that look like a lie to you?"

I didn't answer. Because it didn't.. That was the problem.

He is the second witness

Why???

I stepped back with my gaze sweeping the room and forcing my mind into patterns,into logic. There had to be a reason. Constraints. Exploitation. Some form of long-game strategy I hadn't seen yet. There was always a reason.

My eyes caught on something near the wall. Not blood, not damage. Something... Deliberate. I moved closer to it, it was carved into the surface shallow but precise. Not decorative, not random. It is a symbol.

Clean lines, intentional angles, it seems too controlled to be the result of a struggle. I squatted, tracing the edge of it without touching. This wasn't chaos, This was a message.

My pulse didn't quicken, It consolidated, because suddenly the room didn't feel like a crime scene, It felt like a setup. I straightened slowly scanning again not for threats this time.... For intention.

Whoever did this knew what they were doing, knew how we investigated. What we looked for, what we dismissed and they left this anyway. Why?

The answer came quietly. Because it was meant to be found, by me.

The thought settled in, heavy and unwelcomed. I didn't like it. I didn't like anything about this.

I turned back to the man. "Stay here. Someone will come for you."

"You're leaving?" he asked, panic filling his voice. "I'm hunting."

The difference was important, I walked out of the room without waiting for him to say anything, back to the stairs through the quiet that now felt empty and more like someone was watching.

The door opened easily when I left. The night air felt cooler on my face than it did before, or maybe it was my imagination.

I stepped out onto the street. I waited a bit and listened, still there was nothing but I still felt like something was there quietly and steadily like a weight on my back.

I did not turn around, I did not look up at the roofs or into the shadows like a beginner trying to find something that's not there. If something was really there it would show itself and if not, I would not find it by looking.

I walked to my bike being very careful and aware of everything around me. This was not a situation and was not random.

As I got on my bike one thought became clear: this was not a chase. It was a conversation and I had already responded, I just did not know it.

Something moved above me too high to see or hear. I felt it though but it was not fear, it was something. I was aware of it.

I started the engine, the sound broke the silence. As I pulled away from the curb I knew for sure: I was not just looking for a v

ampire, something was already looking for me. 

It was learning how I moved, or how the vampire moved.