August 10, 2024, 9:45pm. Day 254 of the apocalypse.

I really thought the pandemic was going to doom us all. I did not expect it to be monsters, even the gods and goddesses, went out of hiding. The tier in human class has been destroyed, a new one was made. No one is rich or poor, it’s now hunt or be hunted. Some built their own small town to keep everyone safe. Some of them adopted some witches to enchant the small town and keep it hidden from monsters, but some of them were destroyed because, let’s face it, there are “monsters” who are stronger than witches. Those people accepted everyone, well, almost. I’m a hunter and as far as those people thought, we’re the black sheep, the vagabonds, the rebels. Little do they know, we’re the reason they’re alive. The reason why most of the monsters haven’t eaten them. At least not yet.

Sitting in my old black Toyota Tacoma, eating some convenience store ham and cheese sandwich and drinking iced tea, staring blankly into space when suddenly, my walkie talkie starts getting static. A man on the other end, sounding distressed, trying to get in touch.

“Anybody out there?”

Kzzzz…

“Anyone? Please...shit. I need help!”

Kzzzz…

I almost threw my sandwich on the dashboard in surprise, then I frantically looked for my walkie talkie at the backseat, “shit!” I yelped after hitting my head on the roof of my car. Finally! I found my walkie talkie!

Kzzzz…

“Hello?! Anybody?! Please! Damn it!”

“Hello? This is Mia. Hello? Is there--”

“Oh, thank God! I’m, uhh, I’m at this warehouse near King. I’m badly injured and --”

“Can you please slow down? I can’t understand. You say you were in King? A warehouse there?”

“Hello? Yes. I’m there...warehouse near King...just find…orange van.” Kzzzz...

“Hello? Sir? He--damn it!”

I placed the walkie talkie on the passenger seat and started the car. The nearest warehouse is the one across the abandoned McDonald’s just about 15 minutes away from me, 10 if I drive past the limit. This should’ve been my break – my vacation – but duty calls...again, I thought. In my line of work, we really have no breaks, no vacations – only the lucky ones get to have that and live an apple pie life, we barely get paid, and all we get are ungrateful brats our asses have saved. My dad has been doing this ever since I was little, even before my mom died from a car accident. According to him, that accident wasn’t really an accident. Someone was out there waiting. Waiting for their chance to move, to kill, to get back at my dad no matter what.

Months after her accident, my dad and I planned on staying at my grandparents’ house – which never happened. We got to their house only to find the door smashed open and my grandparents, well, you don’t wanna know. Dad called everyone he knew to help him hunt the thing, or things, that killed his parents.

He never came home.

3 years later, I’m still looking for my dad. He’s out there somewhere. Planning and organizing – like he always does – getting ready to avenge not only my mom but also my grandparents. I know he’s not just going to give up. He won’t. He can’t. He just can’t.

When I arrived at the warehouse, it was quiet and still. I heard a rustling sound and I quickly turned around, pointing my flashlight on the direction of the noise. Nothing. I turned to the back of my truck, grabbed my machete, and placed my gun behind me. I quietly scoured the place, looks empty, I thought, wondering where the orange van was, hoping that the man who called is still alive. I continued to walk around when suddenly a man, probably bigger than my dad, stood about 20 feet away from me. I stared at him, slowly walking backwards, then he opened his mouth - they were full of fangs. Vampire. He rushed towards me, tackling me, with all the strength I have, I fought back. He pushed me and I landed on my back, he lunged at me; with the machete on my hand, I raised it to his neck, as hard as I could, I let the blade pass through. Blood spilled all over me, panting, I pushed the vampire corpse on the side and let myself lie down for a second.

I rolled on my side before standing up and started picking up my machete. “Ugh! I hate vamps,” I said as I flicked blood off my hands. I walked inside the warehouse, then – CLANG! – I swiftly turned around, raising my machete again. “I’m ready for you, suckers, I’m not afraid of you,” I said panting a little bit. I walked and turned to every side as if at any moment, someone or something will jump at me.

“Help…” a raspy voice said. “Heeeeeelp!” the voice said louder. I ran to the voice and saw a man laying on the ground. “Oh God! Are you okay? What happened?” I asked while helping him remove some debris on top of him. “You came,” he said, “I was the one talking on the walkie. I recognized your voice from earlier.” I smiled at him and helped him up. He looked beaten up but no bite marks, just a few scratches. “So, this is –“ I started.

“Vampire’s nest, yeah,” he replied, cutting me off. I stared at him, and he seemed to notice, “don’t worry kid, they didn’t turn me. I was able to kill a few of them, the rest ran away. To hide, maybe,” he explained. I nodded, and we continued to walk slowly. After finding the orange van Maud – I found out that’s his name – mentioned, I called a few hunters in the nearby area to help me with this case I happened to stumble on. “Nice machete,” he said, disturbing my thoughts. “Oh, uhm, yeah thanks. It was my dad’s,” I replied, and he nodded. After taking the last call, I looked back at the warehouse, there may be a few in there right now, but the rest, they might be out on a hunt or in hiding. I told Maud that he should leave and get some rest, but he said he’ll help, turns out someone told him about this place. It’s kind of sketchy to get a tip from someone somewhere and not know what you’re actually up against. I say that was a dumb idea.

One of the hunters I called is Eric, my dad’s best friend and the one who took me in when my dad started to go missing, came as soon as I called. The rest of the hunters arrived, and we did a sweep around the area, then we heard a heart-wrenching scream. “Were you with anyone?” confused, I turned to Maud, he shook his head. We ran as fast as we could to the direction of the scream only to find out we’ve been tricked, the vamps lured us back in. “Hunters,” one of them said. “No shit, Sherlock,” I replied while pointing my machete at him. He snarled at me and started to attack, the rest of them followed. We may be outnumbered, but we were faster. We trained for this. We don’t call ‘em battle scars for nothing.

After the last vamp was beheaded, we decided to separate to cover more grounds. I watched them walk away before I turned around and saw a shaking thing in the shadows, like an animal shaking with fear. I walked slowly to it and it stood up. I jumped from surprise and pointed my machete at it. The shadow turned around and it was a guy, “sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you,” he said. I just looked at him and tried to figure out if he was an actual human or a vamp pretending to be one. “Please, put the machete down. I mean no harm,” he pleaded. “Oh yeah? How can I be so sure that you’re not going to kill me?” I asked. A bold question to ask someone who may or may not be a cold-blooded killer. “You don’t and I can’t promise I won’t but you gotta trust me,” he said.

“Sorry to break it to you but I have trust issues, so,” I said and clicked my tongue. He then opened his mouth and revealed his fangs, I held on to my machete tighter and when I was about to swing, he leaped onto the vampire that was behind me. He saved my life.

I watched him as he killed the monster, he stood up and faced me. All bloody and everything. “We should go,” he suggested. I stared at him long enough to be able to say, “a-a-are you sure you want to go out? Looking like…” I motioned to my mouth and chest letting him realize that he has blood all over him. He slowly nodded and he looked for something that could wipe the blood off his face. When he was finished, we walked outside and saw that the other hunters were already there. “We checked everywhere, I think they’re gone,” Eric said. He’s been hunting with my dad for as long as I could remember. He’s been there for us all my life and has become a father figure to me. “Who’s he?” he asked.

I turned to Vamp Boy then back to Eric, “oh, uhh, he’s someone I saved inside. He was probably like their personal blood bank,” I replied, and he seemed to believe me, but his look towards him was suspicious. “Well, that explains why he’s a tad pale. So, uhh, we’ll take care of everything from here. You take him home and get some rest, alright?” he said, being all fatherly again.

“Are you sure I can’t help?” I asked, hoping he’d say yes.

“I’m sure. Oh, and sweetie, we still have nothing. I, uhm, I will let you know as soon as I can if we have any lead but right now, there’s nothing,” he said, and I just nodded. He gave me a hug and patted my back, “he’ll be so proud of you,” he whispered, “now get going. Scram!”

I looked at Vamp Boy, “come on, Twilight,” I said then we walked towards my truck. I entered on the driver’s side and sat, I looked up and he was standing in front of the truck, his forehead scrunched then he looked at me like he wants to kill me, “what?” I asked.

He walked towards the passenger’s side and opened the door, “Twilight?! Really?! Of all things to compare me with?”

I laughed and started the engine. He smirked while shaking his and sat on the passenger seat.