Riddle of Revenge

My eyes fluttered open only to see a blinding white light shining in my eyes. I tried to flinch away and cover my eyes, but something was stopping my arms from moving. I tried to look down to see what it was but my head was trapped too! A small ball of panic erupted in my stomach and it quickly spread through my veins in an almost animalistic way. I struggled against the restraints, feeling cold steel bars holding me in place.
“Sir! She’s waking up!”
“You said the anaesthetic would keep her under for another hour!”
“Sir, this is an operation that has never been performed before, and on a remarkable person. No one has ever survived the tests, she is the only one. I had no idea how much anaesthetic to give her. I said this would only be estimation.”
“Well give her more!”
“But sir, the dose I gave her before would have made an average human being comatose for several weeks! The human body is not designed to take so much morphine! The next dose could kill her, or worse it could send her into a hyper rage!”
“Doctor, if you do not administer it, I will.”


I woke up with a gasp and frantically patted myself down, assuring myself that I was okay. I sat up and looked at the clock to see it was about time to get ready to prowl the streets. I stood up and walked over to my closet, pulling it open to reveal several identical sets of clothes. I grabbed one and pulled it on. It was simply a pair of black tights, a black skin tight singlet and a black fur jacket. I walked over to my nightstand and quickly looped my guardian angel choker around my neck before running a brush through my short, black, pixie cut hair. I used to have long black hair but it got in the way so I cut it.

I moved down to my kitchen and I threw some leftover pasta into the microwave and reheated it. While I was waiting for it to heat up I made myself a cup of chamomile tea and drank it. I hated the taste of chamomile tea, but it relaxed me and helped me focus more so I drank it before I went out at night. The microwave pinged obnoxiously loud and I quickly opened it, before it could ping again. The pasta was scorching hot but I ignored it in my haste to get moving.

Once I was done with my pasta I quickly brushed my teeth and looked at my reflection. I hadn’t bothered to turn on a light because I could see just as well without it. I had porcelain coloured skin; that my jet black hair contrasted darkly against. My eyes; however were an icy blue that reflected silver and my lips were a pale rose colour. As selfish as it may sound, I took pride in my appearance; I knew I was beautiful. The only thing I didn’t like was that I looked like the creatures I hunted.

With that thought I turned away and stalked out to the door. I attached a silver belt to my hips that I probably wouldn’t need. From it hung two silver daggers named Kali and Kêr, two thin silver chains and a silver cross. I was a damned soul, I knew that, but somewhere deep inside I hoped that there was a special spot for me that I’d reach if I purged enough demons. I then pulled on my custom-made fur boots and stormed out.

My hypersensitive eyes picked up every speck of light in the area, making it rather easy to pick out my prey at ten pm.
He was in an alleyway three blocks away from where I currently was. On pure instinct I dropped my head and shoulders a bit and moulded my body to sink into the shadows. All my focus was on him, but my senses sharpened. I stretched my ears to pick up every bit of sound I could, to prevent alerting him to my presence. My eyes took in every inch of the alleyway and imprinted it to memory. I became aware of every air molecule pressing against my body as I silently crossed the street, bringing myself closer to my prey.

His hair hung low over his face; obscuring it from view, but I could still see the lip ring glinting slightly against the girls’ throat. His Adam’s apple bobbed slowly as the girls’ blood washed down his throat. I could smell it from here and in some animal part of my brain it made me excited. I ignored that as I pressed my body against the wall, careful not to make a sound. The wind brushed his scent back to me and I grinned, revealing teeth that were thickening and sharpening. This was what I was built for; a silent, swift hunt. My body rippled in excitement and I adjusted my position as I came up to the alleyway entrance. All of my muscles in my legs coiled up and I lowered my centre of gravity, while putting one hand on the wall. I was collecting all my energy for one spring. One spring and I would end him.
My eyes met the girl’s. She was pretty; dark hair and dark eyes on cream coloured skin.

“FRANKIE!” she squealed, her voice high pitched.
The vampire whipped around and upon seeing me pushed the girl behind him protectively. Part of me was completely bewildered by his behaviour as this was not normal vampire behaviour. A larger part was extremely pissed my hunt was ruined. I glared at the girl and a low growl rumbled in my belly and the vampire snarled at me in return. His green-hazel eyes were dark with fury and he bared his fangs at me which were tinted red from his recent feed.
“Leave the girl alone, Vampire,” I growled.
I was still in my coiled position and I figured I could still use that pose even if he knew I was here.
“Frankie…” the girl murmured, holding on tightly to him.
I saw a flicker of something in his eyes but he made no action towards her.
“Jamia, when I move, you run. You run straight to Gerard. Tell him I’m caught up and I’ll be back in just a few minutes once I’ve disposed of her,” he hissed the last part to me.
I smirked at him. He thought I was something ordinary. An ordinary, weak, pathetic excuse of a slayer. But I was something he’d never encountered.
“Will you be okay?” she whispered, her brown eyes were wide with fear for him.
It was completely bewildering, and if I’m honest, a little bit sickening. The vampire turned his head slightly to her and I saw the emotion again. My eyebrow raised as I realised what it was. It was love.
I burst out in laughter at the thought and the vampire’s attention snapped back to me suspiciously.
“You soft, weak bastard!” I laughed.
His face scrunched up in a snarl and he leapt at me.

The girl sprinted off like he’d told her and I just watched in slow motion as he came closer. When he got closer I simply swiped my hand at him and threw him deeper into the alleyway. He collapsed to the ground with a look of barely disguised shock in his eyes.
“I’m not what you think I am,” I said to him.
“Then what the hell are you?! You can’t be human, or a vampire!” he growled, jumping up onto his feet.
“Some have called me an angel—” he snorted at that and I glared at him.
“But you would probably know me as Nightmare,” I finished.
I saw the recognition on his face and I knew he knew he was fucked.
“I thought you were a myth!” he spluttered.
“All myths revolve around a gem of truth,” I shrugged.
I stepped forwards, hoping to corner him in the back of the alley, and he skittered back.
“Wings?” he asked.
“Sometimes,” I conceded.
“Tail?”
“More often than not.”
I saw his eyes glance a fraction of an inch past my head and I switched my hearing back to hear someone entering the alleyway. Most likely this ‘Gerard’ person.
“Fucked?” he asked.
I heard the person behind me leap and I waited until I felt the air pressure push against my body to whip around, grab the flying person and throw them into the vampire.
“Not often,” I snarled.
The shock on both of their faces was priceless. The second vampire was really skinny. He had brown-blonde hair and brown eyes. He also had… dare I say it? Glasses? This was an incredibly unusual coven.
“So, Frank, who have you pissed off now?” the second vampire asked nervously.
“Hi, I’m Nightmare,” I said, grinning and holding out a hand.
His face went even whiter than I thought was possible. I was pleased by my reputation, when suddenly a body collided into mine.

An involuntary snarl raised from my lips and claws shot from my hand as I swiped viciously at whoever knocked me down. Black hair obscured my vision and invaded my mouth as a cold mouth bent down to my neck.
Oh, hell no! No fucking vampire was going to bite me!
I let instinct drive me into the change.
Short, velvet-y black fur pushed out through all of my pores and my shoulders collapsed in on themselves. A huge pop sounded as my hips reversed and my leg joints reversed. My nose and mouth joined and stretched out as my ears triangulated and slid to the top of my head. My eyes widened and rotated slightly as my night vision improved. My hands, feet and nails compacted and pads grew while claws shot out. There was a scwhoosh sound as my spine realigned and a tail shot out. The last part of my change were the whiskers shooting out of my muzzle and my teeth rearranging and sharpening to killing spikes.
“What. The. Fuck…”
I snapped my neck back and my teeth sank into an arm. I felt the scrape of bone on the tips of my canines and I felt satisfied that my panther form was complete. The arms that previously contained me let go and I ripped at the body with my claws as I ripped my teeth out of their arm. Cold blood was swishing through my mouth and my panther instincts rejected it. I spat it onto the ground and growled. There were now four vampires in front of me. The first two had been joined by a black haired, hazel eyed vampire and a blonde haired, blue eyed vampire.
The most I’d ever fought off at one time had been three, but this was only one more. I could do it.
“What is it?” the first vampire asked.
I snarled low in my throat.
“Dude, she’s a panther. Kinda obvious!” Glasses said, hitting him.
My tail whipped around my back feet and I paused, waiting for one of them to make the first move.
“’She’? IT is just a fucking animal!” the black haired one spat.
My head whipped to him and my eyes narrowed. Just an animal am I?
/You’re first, mother fucker/ I spat at him.
His eyes widened as I sprang at him.
“The fuck?! She’s telepathic too?!”

Black Hair didn’t have time to respond as he leapt at me. We crashed into each other mid air and his cold blood spattered onto my luxurious coat. I paid no heed to that though as we fell to the ground. I stuck my back paws into his thighs and dragged them down, tearing his skin open. He hissed in pain at me and threw me off. I crashed into the wall opposite but leapt up immediately onto the fire escape. I watched them watch me and I lay across the top, trying to look hurt and out of commission while scanning for my next target. Black Hair had fallen back due to his injuries. He looked up at me and I saw pure hatred in his glare. I flicked my tail at him in response. Blondie would be next. He was a big guy and it’s always best to put those ones out of commission first.

I didn’t shift a muscle before I leapt down at Blondie. He hissed and his first move was a good one. He slammed my jaws shut and threw me into the wall next to him. That hurt. I yowled as a paw got caught the wrong way and snapped. I looked at him with a hatred more intense than Black Hair’s. From my collapsed position I took a wild spring at Blondie and swiped my working paw at his face while I sank my teeth into his shoulder. I pressed my body to his, and stuck my back paws into his stomach. I couldn’t do anything with my injured paw so settled for resting the leg on his shoulder, next to my mouth. I felt hands pull at me, but I didn’t let go. I could feel the bone starting to crunch in my jaws and Blondie was letting out yells of agony. The thrill of the kill was starting to course through my veins and adrenaline caused the pain in my paw to go away. I stuck my claws into his back and growled low. Cold blood was gushing into my mouth and my tongue eagerly lapped it up despite the sick feeling it was giving me.
“BOB! DUCK!”

I ignored it but then white hot pain scorched my shoulder as something was plunged into it. I roared as I let go of Blondie and I looked back to see my dagger, Kali. I noticed the hand holding it was Black Hair’s. I snarled at him but then he twisted it in my shoulder and I made an inhuman noise of pain as I felt tendons sever and muscles split. I felt it scrape against bone and I basically fell off Blondie. The adrenaline drained away and my whole body became almost useless. I yowled pathetically and he yanked the dagger out. I snarled softly and ignoring the pain it caused me, I tried to lick my wound.
“Goddamn, Gerard! You’ve almost killed her!” Glasses exclaimed, running to me.
I snarled at him and snapped my teeth at him. If he so much as touched a hair on my body I would slaughter him.
“It was going to kill Bob!” Black Hair snapped defensively.
I looked at him at glowered at him.
/I will slaughter and butcher you, even if it’s the last thing I do/ I promised him.
His glare intensified and he plunged my dagger back into my shoulder, but this time dangerously close to my heart. I felt my body reverting back to my human form and my panther yowls transformed into human screams of pain.
“You asshole! That’s my fucking heart!” I screamed, scrabbling at the dagger.
Pathetic tears were dribbling down my cheeks and I still couldn’t pull the dagger out of my back.
“Gerard! You are way out of line!” Glasses snapped, reaching for me.
“Touch me and I’ll rip your balls off and feed them to you!” I spat.
Glasses stopped immediately, shocked. I then swung my hand back around and with a scream I yanked it out of my back. I felt blood spurt down my back but I ignored it. The worse part of this was not the injuries, it was that I lost. I lost my fight. That never happens.
“Now, if you freaks are fucking happy with tearing my back to pieces, I’m going to leave you alone for the night. And I hope you know that I will hunt down and kill every single one of you before I die. You’re at the top of my extermination list. Congratulations. You’re the second to have ever made it,” I spat.
I stood up, leaning heavily against the wall and resisted the urge to wince. I clutched at my shoulder and staggered off. I only made it about two metres before I succumbed to my injuries and passed out, collapsing to the floor.