Chapter 1: Long Way

It was a long way down. Glancing past the sheer drop off, she saw the rippling tide smashing against the sharp rocks at least forty feet beneath where she stood. She peered through the darkness using night vision to calculate exactly where she needed to land in order to clear as many of the jagged shards sticking out of the frothy sea where it crested against the shoreline. Noises behind her alerted her that her time was up. Without another thought, she hurled herself out into the darkness, praying that her calculations were correct. In an instant, the frigid water cut through her, but not as deeply as the sharp rock she’d caught with her shin just before the water engulfed her. It took her only a moment to push the pain out of her mind and return her focus on the task at hand, and less than a second later, she heard the splash she had been anticipating.

Immediately, Cadence emerged from the water, forcing herself up and over to the location where the second ripple of waves still undulated out from the point of impact. She had never attempted to decapitate a Vampire in the water before; this would be a first. But she was confident in her ability to do so.

The creature in question was not about to make it easy on the Hunter either. Cadence was extremely quick, and she reached her target in a matter of seconds, before the Vampire could even come up for air. She immediately grabbed ahold of the eloquent neck of the ancient Russian Vampire queen. Unlike many of the beasts her team pursued, this one was not the ghastly sort at all. In fact, she was nothing if not resplendent. When Cadence and her teammates, Aurora and Meagan, had initially spotted Sobieski in her mansion atop the cliff, all of them had gasped, taking in her beauty. Alabaster skin gleamed in the dim light, long black hair pulled straight back into a bun, a flowing white dress, with only the crimson flow from her lips and her pitch black eyes alerting them to her true identity.

They had been called to Boothsbay, Maine, by a local team that had idly stood by as Sobi tormented the locals for hundreds of years. Though other members of the LIGHTS team, the allegiance of Vampire Hunters and Guardians, had attempted to take Sobi out from time to time, no one had ever been remotely successful. However, when word of Cadence’s domination against similar beings reached the area, they requested her services. And she had gladly accepted the challenge.

Upon entering the three-story mansion, the girls had immediately been engaged in combat with Sobi’s henchmen, and it had taken quite some time for them to fight their way to the ancient Russian queen. Once they had done so, it became quite evident that there was only one way they were going to be able to take her out once and for all—trap her against the precipice, force her to jump, and anticipate her decision almost instantaneously, so that when she realized she would not be alone in the water, it would be too late.

Cadence’s plan was working so far—until she reached Sobi in the churning waves, and her razor-sharp claws made contact with Cadence’s face. She shoved the monster back under the water, feeling the blood pouring from her cheeks. Sobi was in a rage now, attempting to get away. She couldn’t drown—only a silver bullet to the heart or a beheading could end her—but she was not pleased at being cornered, and Cadence wasn’t sure how much longer she could contain her.

Cadence was attempting to drag Sobi back toward the shore so that she could find some sort of sure footing to get the leverage she needed in order to wrench her head from her neck, but each time she pulled her into the shore, using the crashing waves to her benefit, Sobi would find a way to rip her back out to the sea. Eventually, Cadence heard her teammates behind her. Aurora and Meagan were in the water expeditiously, and it only took a few minutes for them to reach Cadence’s location. “Aurora, grab her left arm,” Cadence commanded.

The tall red-head did as she was told, and Cadence continued. “I’ve got her right arm, Meagan. You’re going to have to take her head off,” she instructed.

Sobi was screaming now, attempting to use her fangs to injure the Hunters. She was flailing, and Cadence threw her own legs around the bottom half of the Vampire in an attempt to hold her still.

Meagan hesitated but only for a moment. She had never beheaded a Vampire before. With a deep breath, she reached forward, took hold of the sides of Sobi’s face, careful to avoid her teeth, and twisted. Cadence cranked her trunk around in the opposite direction at the same time, and a few seconds later, there was a sickening cracking sound as Meagan pulled the ligaments free, snapping Sobi’s head from her body.

Even in the pale moonlight, they could see a small stream of blood start to trickle from the veins in Sobi’s neck. It wasn’t her own blood, however, as Vampires didn’t have any; it was the blood of her most recent victim, the small child she had been feasting on when the team had burst through her door. Also, unlike other Vampires, Sobi did not let out a horrific scream. Instead, she was completely silent, her black eyes shut tight, her red lips pursed. Even the tight black bun on the back of her head was still in pristine condition as her body slowly began to turn to ash, followed shortly by that exquisite face.

Exiting the ocean without injury from the rocks was not as easy as they had hoped, and by the time they extracted themselves from the furious tide, they had plenty of cuts and gashes to count as battle scars. Unlike their nemeses, Vampire Hunters did bleed, and surveying each other, it was evident they had fully earned the kill that night.

“Way to go, Meagy,” Cadence said, grasping her friend’s hand in a congratulatory shake. “You were awesome.”

“Thank you,” Meagan replied, beaming despite the pain as she dropped down in the small patch of sand between the rocks and the side of the cliff. “Thanks for letting me take the kill.”

“Sure thing,” Cadence replied, finding a rock to perch on that wasn’t quite as sharp as the others. “You were awesome, too, Aurora,” she added patting her other friend on the arm.

“Thanks. Awesome team effort,” she replied, still not fully able to breathe.

“If only Jamie were here to heal us,” Cadence murmured.

“No Guardians this time, no Healers. We operate alone,” Meagan reminded her.

“Yep, alone,” Cadence agreed. “Just how I like it.”

Aurora laughed. “Come on. Who knows. Maybe the next team who needs our services won’t be a bunch of chicken shits and they’ll want to work with us.”

“Maybe,” Cadence considered. “But I think the three of us make a pretty good team without anyone else.”

“Agreed,” Meagan said. “Let’s get out of here before we’re swept out to sea”

“All right,” Cadence replied, pulling herself to her feet, ignoring the sting from the cuts on her leg. “On to the next, ladies. On to the next.”