Black Blood

I stared at Claude's extended hand for a good, long minute. The flesh was pale, where there wasn't blood smeared over it. My gaze traveled back up to his face. His expression was sincere; confusing, but sincere.

"Looking... for me? What for? I'm just a human," I said. I furrowed my eyebrows at him. He sighed and gently grasped my arms, helping me off the bed.

"A human, yes," he said. Though it was less intense, the smile was still there. He guided me to the door. "But a very important human being. Very special."

"Is it the red hair?" I asked, rolling my eyes. I was getting tired of creepy vampires obsessing over the colour.

I saw the bodies of the vampires at either side of the doorway, once we had left the room. Each man had a gaping, bloody hole in their chests where their hearts used to be. Said hearts laid next to them on the ground. A blank, chilling stare was left on their faces. My eyes widened and I looked to Claude as he continued to guide me along the hall.

"Not quite," he said. He kept one arm around me, and wagged the finger of his free hand. "You see, I was sent here simply to eliminate these law-breaking, sad excuses for vampires. And then I smelled you!" He gently tapped my nose with the tip of his finger when he said the word 'you.' "The council will be so pleased with this find."

"You've got to be kidding me," I groaned. So I was going to be passed from one vampire to the next? "Forgive me, but I'm just- so sick of this whole vampire thing."

"No need," he said. "Just come with me. You'll see just how special you actually are. And then maybe once we're done, you can... be done with this 'whole vampire thing'."

I groaned again. I was liking vampires less and less. Was this guy a vampire though? I looked at him again. It had definitely been him that had torn out those vampires' hearts.

"You're a vampire, too?" I asked.

Claude opened his mouth to answer, but as we turned the corner Ethan was there waiting for us. His jaw was clenched tight, and his eyes were wide and burning red with rage. I shrank back and Claude dropped his arm, allowing me to move and hide behind him. I watched Ethan over Claude's shoulder.

"Boy," Ethan growled. He took a step forward. "That human is mine. Release her, go back to your little council, make nice with the humans. Leave us to do as we please, or die."

Claude clucked his tongue and took a step forward as well. He snapped his fingers and a small, blue flame appeared at their tips. I took a step back, my mouth falling open.

"Old man," Claude said. His voice was a lot smoother, a heavier melody to it compared to Ethan's. "What a surprise to see you here, at the head of this operation. Ethan Blackblood."

Ethan's posture straightened out considerably. His fangs slid past his lips, and his fingernails extended into blackened claws.

"What a neat trick you've learned there," Ethan said. It might have been my imagination, but I could have sworn there was a bit of fear rolling off of Ethan in faint yellow waves.

"Like it?" Claude asked. He took another step toward Ethan, raising his hand as the flame grew. "See, I may be about two hundred years younger than you, but I've got better breeding." Ethan snarled at him.

"And what makes your breeding so special, little boy?" he spat the words at Claude.

"I've been specially bred to hunt and kill rogue vampires like you," Claude said. I could hear the grin in his voice. His entire being seemed to glow blue as the flame grew around his hand. "Just didn't expect a vampire of the clan Blackblood to go rogue."

With that Claude launched himself at Ethan; and Ethan threw his arms up in defense, leaning back. A dark cloud rose up over him, deflecting the blow, sending Claude flying back and blue flames off in random directions. I jumped to avoid one of the flames as Claude steadied himself.

"Hey, human over here," I waved to Claude who shifted into a defensive stance. "Try not to kill me, please?" I ducked behind a crate as a ball of darkness was hurled toward us.

"Well, you seem to be handling yourself well," Claude offered, also avoiding the attack. He lunged at Ethan again.

This time Claude did not go flying backward as Ethan brought the dark shield back up. I leaned out over the crate more to watch as Ethan strained to push Claude back, the veins along his jaw and neck turning black.

Claude continued to push forward, blue flames steadily glowing brighter and starting to engulf the shield Ethan held up.

"Shit," Ethan ground out through clenched teeth. His eyes started to turn black, and the black veins crept up over his cheeks to his eyes.

"You're weak compared to me, old man. Even if you are a Blackblood," Claude laughed.

He thrust back the arm that wasn't pushing on Ethan with blue flames, fingers spread. Flames burst from his hand and he thrust it back into Ethan, completely shattering the dark shield, and forcing Ethan down onto his rear with a loud 'oof'. The black faded from Ethan's eyes, from his veins. He blinked hard and shook his head.

Claude raised his arm and in one swift motion the flames took off Ethan's head. At the same time Claude thrust his other hand through Ethan's chest. He wrenched out the heart, dropping it on the ground beside him as blood splattered everywhere.

I wondered if blood was Claude's favourite thing to wear. I sank to my knees and watched Claude approach with wide eyes.

"So... that happened," I said weakly. Claude looked me over. I looked up at his face.

His eyes were glowing an icy blue, instead of that deep red I was starting to become accustomed to. He still had the fangs of a vampire. His skin was almost white though, it was so pale. A little bit of pink came back to the flesh as the blue flames and glow dissipated, his breathing heavy.

The serious expression was then replaced with the kind, playful one from earlier. Once again he extended his blood-covered hand to me.

"So, are you ready to come with me now?" he asked, grinning widely and flashing his fangs.