The ruins of the castle stood eerily against the grey skies. At the bottom of the structure stood a figure dressed in a black leather trench coat that rides all the way to the ankles. The way the fabric hugged the figure’s body implies a woman, a tall slender woman to be exact, her dark auburn hair stopping just above her shoulders, exposing a bit of her slightly tanned skin. She touched something on her ear, a sort of communication device.
 
“Red, I’m at the target’s location,” said the tall woman.
 
“Copy that Selene, await further commands,” another woman answered.
 
“Really Red? You have to go make some stupid pun about my heritage?”
 
“What do you mean?”
 
“Selene. My codename.”
 
“What’s wrong with that? And I wasn’t the one who chose that, Dancer did.”
 
“Never mind. Why I am here anyways? I believe I was given today as a rest day?”
 
“The target this time is a Priority One. The higher-ups wanted the best for this job.”
 
“What a pain, you owe me big time Red.”
 
“Why me? I’m just part of the intelligence division.”
 
“I know that, but you’re the one I’m talking to right now, so you’re the one I’m pinning the blame on. Plus, you're my best friend.”
 
“Hey! That’s unfair!”
 
“Haha. For me it isn’t.”
 
“…fine, what do you want?”
 
“Food. Lots of it.”
 
“Ugh, I knew it. Is there ever a time you’re not hungry?”
 
“You know I have to eat a lot, else I crave for something else.”
 
“I get it. Oh, and also your codename. I see what you mean.”
 
“And however did you figure that out?”
 
“…Google. Anyway, don’t get so worked up about it, at least yours sounds cool, mine is just because of my hair.”
 
“I like your hair color. Though I admit it makes me kind of thirsty,” the woman imagined Red, flowing crimson locks and eyes that turn to little crescent moons whenever she smiled.
 
“Don’t even joke about that or else I won’t treat you later.”
 
“Alright, you win. Sheesh.”
 
“Enough of this chitchat, here are your orders.”
 
“I’m listening.”
 
“Huh? This is weird.”
 
“Why?”
 
“It just says, ‘Have fun.’”
 
The tall woman smiled grimly, showing her uncharacteristically long canines.

†

 
The inside of the castle was dark and damp. Typical, these Priority Ones are always so old-fashioned. They couldn’t have picked a nice cozy bed and breakfast for a lair. It had to be the old deserted castles. Still, you have to give them credit, they know how to keep an army of newborns under control.
 
Footsteps and voices interrupted the woman’s train of thought.
 
“Did you catch the game last night?”
 
The woman spotted two men armed with suppressed L85 assault rifles. Guards. These guys are not for show.
 
“No, I was keeping the newborns quiet in their cages. Those monsters can be pretty rowdy. The boss doesn’t like noise that much.”
 
“Too bad, Liverpool destroyed Chelsea.”
 
“Really? What’s the final score?”
 
The man never knew the score of his favorite football team, a blade was too busy making its way across his friend’s neck. Before he could react, a pair of fangs sank onto his own neck while a hand muffled his pained screams. A few moments later, the woman dropped her drained victim onto the ground.
 
“Amateurs. By the way, it was 2-0.”
 
The woman slowly made her way to her target, she didn’t need a map for her heightened senses guided her perfectly. She encountered a few more guards but like the first two, they all fell to her like lambs to the slaughter. It wasn’t long before she was facing a grand set of double doors. Throwing away thoughts of subtlety, she pushed the doors open.
 
What graced her sight was a beautiful grand hall. Two rows of intricately carved wooden benches stood in front of her, the aisle lined with golden candleholders blazing with orange fire. On the ceiling a crystal chandelier reflected the lights like a kaleidoscope and at the end of the hall a coffin encrusted with rubies and amethysts. A man inside the coffin slowly sat up and looked at his uninvited guest.
 
“I was wondering why it was too quiet,” he had an Eastern European accent. Not another one of these Dracula types.
 
“Game’s over Count. You know the drill, you mock my weakness, I laugh, you laugh, I decapitate you or stab your heart, you die, the newborns die. Everybody’s happy, well, I’m happy.”
 
“You are a cheeky one dhampyr. But I can see why. You’re different from an ordinary half-blood. You smell like a dog.”
 
“Yeah, I get that a lot. But I don’t mind, if it makes killing you parasites all the more easier, I’d gladly accept the wolf.”
 
“Enough talking, time for me to take your pretty little head!”
 
The vampire suddenly lunged at the woman with inhuman speed but unfortunately for him, she was quicker. A blade inlaid with runes slid out her right sleeve and she managed to stab the back of her attacker.
 
“Argh! What have you done?!”
 
“Blessed titanium, silver is so overrated.”
 
“You will pay for this, half-blood!”
 
The woman once again evaded the attacks of the vampire. Not wanting to make the fight last any longer she held the vampire by the shoulders and vaulted over him. After landing behind her enemy a second blade came out of her left sleeve and she stabbed directly at the vampire’s heart.
 
“This isn’t over dhampyr. You shall face the Master’s wrath, and when you do, you will rue the day you interfered with Sangria’s plans.”
 
The vampire ignited into flames and quickly burned its body into ash. With her mission completed, the woman once again pressed her communicator.
 
“Red, target successfully neutralized.”
 
“Copy that Selene, extraction is on its way. By the way, I don’t like what that vamp said.”
 
“Me too, but the higher-ups will have to worry about that themselves. Meet you back in London?”
 
“Yeah, sure, Red out.”
 

†

 
Within the deepest recesses of the Underworld a force as dark as a moonless night is slowly stirring, the dust flowing in its dry veins searching for the crimson lifeforce it needs to sustain its unending hunger.