Slayer, Keeper, and Persister Part 1

The fever essentially put me out of commission for the last three days. The sound of Betsy’s grunting neigh right outside the shack woke me up.

I found myself alone. Lily is not here, knowing her, she’s probably wandering again since it’s in the middle of the night now. Beatrice’s belongings are still here, so she’s probably around still.

Head’s a bit dizzy still, but I forced myself to get up. Putting on the gun belt, I realised that both revolvers are out of ammo.

As I went to reload, I found that only five bullets are left. Thus, I decided to bring only one of the revolvers.

Walking outside, I loaded all five into the chambers. Welp, it’s just in case we encounter a grizzly bear again. I don’t know where they went, so I decided to walk and went down the mountain to take a look-see.

Searching into the forest depth for quite a bit, I still didn’t fine any of them. Giving up, I decided to go back but taking a slight detour.

I glad I did that, as I saw a familiar figure in the distance. That unkempt hair gave it away.

But, as I got closer, I noticed that she’s talking to someone. That someone is a blonde burly man that’s wearing a rather outrageous outfit.

I recalled Lily described them as ‘silly uniform’. I then hid myself and tried to eavesdrop.

“Like I said, I’m just someone that sells medicine!”

“All the more reasons for me to do so,” he said calmly as he walked towards her.

I then came out of cover and shot the ground in front of him.

“Sorry to interrupt you there fella, but she’s an acquaintance of mine.”

“Marsh!” She shouted as she sprinted towards me.

“So you’re the gunslinger that’s with the vampire?”

“Correct, you got a business with me too, Mr. Vanquisher?”

“I’m not too fond of violence you see.”

“So do I.”

“Great, can you please put your gun down then?”

Despite his appearance, his demeanor is rather calm. So I lowered my gun and tuck it back in.

“My name’s Brock Marble.”

“Marshall Mallow.”

The wind then blew, sending the cold wind air, causing the branches and leaves to move about.

“Let’s cut to the chase. I don’t have a business with you. But both my captain and I have one with your acquaintances. She wanted to put an end to that vampire friend of yours.

“While I wanted to take that so called medicine seller for questioning.”

“I see. Putting an end and questioning huh?”

“Yes.”

I drew my gun again as I clicked my tongue.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you Mallow. I dislike violence, but I’m not afraid to use it if I have to.”

“Marsh wait up, calm down,” she said as she grabbed my gun. “You heard him right? You have nothing to do with this, let me try to handle it myself.”

“She’s right, if I were you, I’d ran after the vampire. They’re probably to the north from here, maybe you can get there in time before she killed that monster.”

His face remained calm throughout all of that. But he suddenly became intimidating as he said that.

On the other side of the forest, two individuals are conversing on the riverbank. The pine trees that surrounds them shrieks as the wind blew.

“How are you Lily? Seems like you got taller a bit.”

“Do I? I didn’t even notice. More importantly, why I are you alive still? How you haven’t age since then?” I asked.

“I think you should know the answer to that,” she said grinning.

My senses told me that her aura is different, yet familiar. I know I met her once before, but I didn’t sense it back when we first clashed. Is it possible that I simply didn’t notice back then?

All I know for now is that I’m currently speaking to someone that’s not human.

“Did you made a deal with a devil? Or did you use a witch’s black magic to remain young?”

“Both of them are wrong. We already took care almost every single witch. I said we, but I did most of it. And also, no one should be dumb enough to make a pact with a devil. The answer is the same way how you remained living despite almost two centuries!”

My heart then sank.

“Don’t tell me… that you…”

She discarded her cloak, threw it aside, and put on a wide smile. The moonlight lit up her reddish hair and made it clear that she also bore a set of fangs.

“That’s right Lily, I’m a vampire just like you!”

To think that she went around killing her own kind, made anger and disgust surged from my heart.

“Why are you doing all of this, Ekaterina‽”

“I’ve lived far longer than you Lily, I had my own reason. You want to hear my story then?” She asked while putting her right hand on her hip.

“I’m not interested to hear a grandma telling her youth story.”

She then chuckled as she grinned.

“Gosh Lily, did Johannes taught you to speak like that?”

Hearing her say that name, made me replied in anger.

“Get my father’s name out of your dirty mouth.”

The grin then left her face.

“Your father and I go way back, I can talk about him in any way that I want. You want to know why I’m doing all this right? Let me tell you then.”

“Like I said, I’m not interested to hear about your past granny.”

She then clicked her tongue and frowned. She proceeded to speak in a condescending manner while crossing her arms.

“Just shut up and be a good girl for once. There’s no need to rush, little Lily. Beside, for a pure bred vampire like me, taking care of a disgusting half-breed like you will take less than a minute!”

“You don’t have the right to boast about the blood that flowed in your veins, when you go around hunting your own kind!”

“I didn’t have a choice Lily. Someone needs to get their hands dirty to keep the world clean. Unfortunately that job was granted to me.”

I then showed my fangs, grew my nails, and let my vampiric senses and ability to let loose.

“I see. Well, I myself still wanted to walk this earth. So pardon me as I want to give it my all to keep living.”

“Is that so? Well suit yourself then. Throw whatever you got at me, I won’t break easily!”