Thud. Thud. Thud. The soft footfalls of Jessica’s feet weren’t heard very far off. Running, as usual. She was a vampire, and that could never be helped. Although she was never proud of her heritage, and the last of the Rose clan, people still persisted to hunt her. An animal, that’s what she was to these awful hunters that kept her running day after day. It had been four years since the end of life, the way she’d known it since she was a young vampire. Her mother and father were always there, and her older brother, Frost, never left her side. To this very day, four years ago, her family was slaughtered by hunters, like the animal game some hunted. Having been the only survivor, the raven haired girl ran, vowing to seek vengeance she knew she would never accomplish. To this day, she still runs. A young, teenaged vampire lost in the world of modern society, and misunderstanding humans.

Bang! Another bullet sailed right by her head, she winced in fright. She couldn’t keep this up much longer. It had been a month since her last meal of blood. She’d wanted to slowly whither away to nothing. She didn’t deserve to walk the earth. She’d let her family die at the hands of merciless and cruel men, and she sought no form of revenge. The great veins that kept her body going were drying up, she could feel it. She had no intention of dying at the hands of this hunter, who’d perused her for months. Something was aloof, and she wasn’t able to kill him, and so now, she was weak, and she could tell he was tiring. He would recover, she wouldn’t. With the shadows of the beautiful, lush green canopy of the woods to shield her, she leaned up against a larger tree and slid behind it, so that she would be opposite the frequently walked path.

She wrinkled her nose, she could smell the man approaching her. The one that intended to kill her, to end the rein of the Rose coven. Click. Click. Click. Those horrid nails on the ground of the stone path made Jess shudder, they were awful. His hunting dog, which he’d named Wolf, was now wandering around, doing the hunter’s dirty work for him. The dog was massive, part German Shepherd, part Red Wolf. The held her breath, and prayed to whatever god or angel or whatever above, that this dog wouldn’t notice her scent, or the small noises of breathing, that she had been unable to contain. The wolf-dog’s ears pricked up, and it was then that she knew he’d scented her and took off in a rush of black and red clothing, towards the river, and a small save which she called her “safe house” when she was running from something.

The wolf was hot on her trail, and her eyes widened with worry as she circled about. With swiftness only a vampire could have, Jessica bit open her wrist and began spreading her blood in various places. Yes, this was a stupid idea, as she had little to no blood to waste, but it may save her from a bloody death, and not the peaceful one she had planned upon. With a mad dash towards the small brook, that marked the miraculously close hideout, she washed herself quickly, as though to get rid of the scent of blood. With the spreading of her rustic tasting blood, the hunters adversary would be very confused, and would convince itself that she had headed in the opposite direction.

As she washed herself, a sudden realization over came her. Why hadn’t the hunter continued to pursue her? Where had he gone? And, Would be appear again, and if so, when? With a sudden teeth chattering shudder, she turned and looked around the beautifully wooded area and tried to detect the man, and the beast, who now pursued her, and lusted for her blood to be spilled upon the innocent, and pure woods. With a nod of confirmation, she slipped off into the all too inviting shadows of the high above cliffs, and squeezed herself into an entrance, one big enough to fit a child, and yet, she managed to make it. Once within the small opening, she checked, as she did every time, that there were no excess entrances/exits. Who really knows how the earth could react to something, and leave a gaping hole in her fortress, or, maybe someone else could have been here? She smirked and looked up to view the magnificent sight before her. The cavern was one to admire. It was large, with a small spring towards the back. The water from her landmark, the brook, supplied it. The floor was smooth and even, and there was a small cot, and necessities, just in case she’d need to be here for some reason. This just happened to be one of those times, and for some weird reason, she was completely prepared for once.

With animal-like quickness, she pulled the small rock over the entrance and walked inside. She yawned, tired, and weak beyond measure. Jess wandered over to the cot and sat down on it, yawning. Normally, the young, raven haired vampire would never sleep at a time like this, but the cot, blanket, and pillow seemed all to tantalizing to her. Sighing softly, she fixed the pillow, and pulled the warm, and earthy smelling blanket over her tired and worn body. With a yawn and a small dose of  submission, she soon drifted off into a coma like sleep.

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Just across the brook, the blonde-haired hunter was searching for his prey. He smirked evilly and looked around. He would find her, if it was the last thing he did. She was the last of the coven, that was soon to be nonexistent, and he loved it. Just the thought of the praise he would receive, excited Aiden greatly. He looked down to his hunting dog, who had just returned.

“Good job, Wolf.” He smiled some and the dog yipped. Despite the fact that the dog came back dazed and confused, at least he’d managed to chase the vampire, Jessica, out of her hiding spot. With a nod of sheer determination, the man went running off, at full speed towards the small brook, where the dog had lost her. Icy, blue eyes searched the only treeless area for miles and miles. A small growled emitted from his bright red lips, as he was unable to locate the girl. Surely, she couldn’t have made it so far. He knew she was deathly weak, and probably wouldn’t last long without a fix of blood. He laughed , and with one swift jump, crossed the river and started again, to look for the girl he sought to kill. As he walked, he glanced around, his eyes and ears peeled for the first sign of abnormality. With his eyes, obviously not watching in front of him, he ended up walking into a large rock wall. He looked confused, to see something like this, and so large in the middle of the woods.

“Hm. This is very odd.” He mumbled, and leaned up against a rock that looked out of  place, he felt it shift and his eyes lit up. “She must be in here!” He said under his breath and started pushing up against the rock repeatedly, but to no avail. Glowering at the rock, he decided it was only a loose rock, and that there was no way such a large rock formation could ever be hallow. Aiden cursed his tracking skills and turned on his heels, the large black and brown dog following him now. Aiden refrained from walking quietly, as he was convinced he’d lost her yet again. “Time to set up camp, I guess.” He mumbled, and pat the dog on the head.

Within the time span of about a half hour, the hunter had finally selected a spot, plenty of feet away from the brook, and not too close to the city, which the woods bordered. Aiden dropped his pack and stared at it for a second, before the wolf-dog whimpered, as though to announce its hunger. Aiden couldn’t subside the chuckle that erupted from his chest at his dog’s “talking”. Painstakingly slow, in the dogs eyes, the blonde hunter began to unpack his backpack and set up his relatively larger, green camping tent. Even after setting this tent up nearly everyday for the last month, he still managed to get himself tangled up in it, and soon was immobilized by the material. Of course, the dog pulled him loose, and soon, the blue eyed man had it set up. With a small, triumphant glare at the tent, Aiden turned around, pulling a silver pistol out of his pocket, and started  looking for food for the both of them. He was more than used to hunting for his own food now, it made no difference.

He found a herd of deer and smiled at the easy kill it was going to be. Bang! There goes one deer. Another gun shot was heard and the second deer fell. With a nod of permission from his master, Wolf went off, running at full speed towards the two deer that would be there meals for a few days to come, if they rationed out their food properly, so starvation wouldn’t occur. The rather large animal carried back the two bucks with little problem, and soon placed them at Aiden’s feet, so they could be prepared properly. To his right, was a large pile of sticks, and some wood that Aiden had managed to pull together from wandering around whilst Wolf brought back their supper. On his hands and knees now, Aiden attempted to start a fire, with only one match and some firewood. As always, he succeeded with little issues, and soon an ample fire was set up, and Aiden had already begun putting spices in the meat he’d cut up moments before, as a pan waited patiently to do its job.

After putting all the spices on the meat, he soon dropped them into the pot, creating a soothing sizzling noise. The sun had set hours ago, and soon, the duo would need to catch some sleep, because as soon as they awoke tomorrow, camp would be packed up, and they would return to their search for the barbaric blood sucking leech. Soon, the two were able to eat a nice meal, the first in nearly three weeks, they had bother been very hungry, and it showing in the quantity that they ate. Despite Aiden’s attempt to conserve some good, they managed to rid themselves of a deer, in only an hour. Soon, however, the two boys were tired and needed to sleep. It had been a long day, and running often wore the two out quickly.

Aiden stood up and stretched, yawning at the same time. He smiled down at the content looking dog and motioned for him to follow. Looking directly at the tent, it wasn’t hard to tell that he knew it was bedtime. The dog yipped, licking its master’s hand and let itself into the tent, settling himself on his own pillow, and giving a small, happy little sigh. Although he knew he needed sleep, something told him the vampire was so close, that he could probably see her from where he laid. He shook off the feeling and made himself a make shift bed of blankets and sheets, and was soon falling into a much needed sleep. Once the dog knew his human was sleeping, he too, drifted off into a dream that he enjoyed thoroughly.