---

“Bloodstained Angel” Chapter 2

by Greta

---

A quiet rustling of leaves and the sudden snapping of a branch made her turn her head to the side quickly. Narrowing her eyes, she moved her upper body slowly away from the city she had been staring at for many minutes now, getting down into a crouching position slowly and deliberately, concentrating on keeping as quiet as possible.

“Come out, come out, wherever you are,” she whispered in a sing-song voice, before adding “and whatever you are.” But the only thing that answered her was the wind blowing around her body, toying with her silver hair.

Waiting, she kept perfectly still, not another sound leaving her body as she wasn’t about to take any risk in turning her back to the trees that could be hiding anything in this darkness too soon.

Her eyes scanned the darkness, her senses heightened from her years of fighting in the night against an enemy that was fast and unpredictable.

Waiting she breathed in deeply, her shoulders tense from concentration, as her mind raced. She had been stupid, very stupid. She should know by now that she wasn’t safe anywhere in Tokyo, her light, even though blackened by the sins she had sought after in her years of solitude, still attracting the creatures of the night who were after the blood of her soul.

Allowing her eyes to clamp shut for a mere moment, she scolded herself silently. Her senses sensed nothing out of the ordinary anymore, but her mind wouldn’t leave her any peace. How could she have come here almost unprepared? But maybe destiny was making her the small gift of a quiet night at last. How ironic, she thought.

A rattled sigh left her body, her shoulders sagging slightly, as she sat down back on the wall swiftly, nothing having happened many minutes later. Rubbing her temples, she reached inside a pocket of her black leather pants, drawing out a tattered package of cigarettes. Slowly she brought one to her lips, lighting it, breathing in with pleasure.

So destiny did have a heart after all, did she? But no, that was going too far. The cruel creature named destiny had brought her nothing but misery, her life never allowing her a moment of peace anymore. Her shoulders were always tense, and her body always ready to protect itself. So she was immortal? She was indeed. But that didn’t keep her flesh from experiencing pain.

Flicking off the ashes from her cigarette, her eyes fixated on the glowing tip, she tried to think of her last fight. Her enemy had been young and inexperienced, and so she had ended it swiftly. But that fight lay back days already. Maybe even a week.

“Too long,” she muttered.

As if being able to read her thoughts, a voice suddenly called out to her, raspy and coy. “Hey, Silver, won’t you bum me a cig?”

Her eyes snapped up to face the person the voice had come from. It was a young man with short and messy hair, smirking at her, his black coat billowing around him dramatically.

She snorted slightly, before taking one last drag of her cigarette, the cold smoke going down deep into her lungs. Bloody diva, she thought. Why did they always have to make such stupid entrances? Flicking the cigarette at him, she reached down to her black leather boot, her hands closing around the silver dagger she always had with her.

Seeing three more men appear behind the first, stepping out of the darkness no less mysteriously than he had, she cursed them under her breath, before swiftly moving to the old tree she had been leaning against earlier, breaking two branches off it hurriedly.

“Silver, you’re just too cute. Do you think those flimsy wooden sticks will get you anywhere?” the man said laughingly, taking a few steps closer to her. His eyes sparkled maliciously, fixed on her lithe body. How he loved fighting this silver angel.

“Oh, stop the cheap talk and get it on,” she replied angrily, her right eyebrow raised expectantly, her stance showing she was ready to fight. The words had barely left her crimson mouth before three men stormed at her, their eyes inhuman, fangs showing.

Cries of rage left their mouths as they started punching and kicking simultaneously, ready to break arms and ribs, bruise and beat. Her eyes narrowed, she noted that this would be their first and their very last fight against her. Only few managed to survive her fights, and almost no one to beat her. In fact, only two people had ever sent her running, and sadly, one of them was smirking at her from the distance.

Blocking their attacks effortlessly, she kicked the one in front of her in the chest, pushing him away far enough to drive the dagger grasped in her right hand through his heart, ending his sad existence right then and there, before swinging around to face the other two. They were eyeing her worriedly, their companion having become a small heap of dusts in a matter of seconds.

“Don’t just stand there,” she said, twirling the wooden stake in her left and the silver one in her right hand, beckoning them to come closer with her head. She noted with delight that her leisurely stance aggravated the two unearthly creatures in front of her.

Yes, they were not from this earth, and had never meant to be here. Vampires, the greedy, bloodsucking creatures of the night had infiltrated the planet she walked upon many years ago now.

And yet, even though she hated their sight, she felt that she had grown closer to them in all her lonely years than to the human beings she was protecting. While the fanged predators feared her just as the humans did, they feared her respectfully. People on the other hand, only turned up their nose at her dark appearance, banning her from all normal life. But, she thought, she wasn’t made for any normal life anyway. Not anymore.

An angry yell left her body before she stormed towards the two vampires, wanting to end this as soon as possible. While the first one was turned into dust in a mere moment, the other one kept blocking her attacks, his fists finding her ribcage, taking all breath from her. Gasping, she felt herself being thrown to the ground, noticing from the corner of her eye that a heavy boot was making its way towards her. Smirking she rolled away, getting up on one knee before bringing the silver dagger down into the vampire’s foot, making a blood-curdling scream escape his mouth.

“If you play unfair, I will as well,” she whispered evilly, her eyes agleam as she released him from his pain, her wooden stake piercing his body before it crumbled to dust.

Picking up her dagger, she wiped the blood that clung to it on her trousers, before turning slowly to the man which had first appeared out of the shadows of the night.

“What do you want tonight, Zachariah?” she asked, sighing at his sight. She had known this vampire for a very long time now, longer than any other enemy she had come across in her long life. She had had her chances to kill him, she knew that, but strangely, there was something that stopped her from doing so every time.

“Just what I always want, Silver. You, lovely Silver, just you. You should really know that by now.”

Her eyebrows raised, she stared at him. Strange how he never changed.

It was not very smart of her to be thinking like this about a vampire. She knew that what she was doing was very dangerous. But this man – no, this vampire –

She couldn’t even bear to think of it. Raising her light-blue eyes to look at him, she sighed heavily. Fuck that stupid man – no, creature! Damn him to the deepest of all hells Earth had to offer! How dare he look so much like the man she had loved over a century ago? How dare he?

Her eyes narrowed angrily, she twirled the dagger in her hand, her stance tense. “Cut the crap out, alright?” she almost screamed at him, her voice higher than usual. “I don’t need it! I can’t stand it!”

“Silver,” he grinned at her. “What a delightful temper. I admire you more every time we meet.” Moving closer to her, he reached behind his back, drawing a sword from a sheath strung to his back suddenly.

Her eyes narrowed, she studied the glinting blade for a moment. “Since when do you bastards sword-fight?” she asked in surprise.

“Well, drastic measures seem to be the only way of getting anywhere with you.”

Her eyes wide, she saw him storm at her, swinging the sword gracefully and with ease. Bitch! Destiny was nothing but a bitch. He knew that she was an excellent sword-fighter. But how on earth he had guessed that she wouldn’t have her sword with her that very night was beyond her.

Ducking his vicious blows, she tried to land a kick on his lower body, failing miserably as she had to drop to the ground and roll out of danger’s way. Using his advantage to his best, it took the vampire mere moments to pin her to the ground forcefully, his eyes smirking at her.

“Silver, I’m disappointed. That has been the shortest fight I have ever had to lead against you. That’s no fun.” Pinning her two arms to the ground painfully with one large hand, his face moved closer to hers.

He was right, and she felt the disappointment and anger in herself rise inside her body. What was wrong with her today? If this were any other day, she would be grinding his dust under her feet at that very moment.

But this very day was doing something to her mind she couldn’t stand at all. It was making old memories resurface; it was making her weak and stupid.

It had been one hundred years. One hundred years to the day, since her life had turned into this hell on earth.

Spitting into his face, she forced her legs up to her body with strength rivalling the vampire’s easily, kicking him squarely in the chest, away from her body. Getting up from the ground with ease, she punched him in the face, making his lip bleed.

“Don’t become happy too soon. Tonight you die,” she whispered, her eyes narrowed.

Raising his eyebrows at her, his eyes turned inhuman suddenly as he licked his lips. “So, you want to bring it to an end?”

“I’ve spared your life for much too long now, Zachariah. Your face haunts me,” she answered truthfully, but for what reasons she would not tell him. She would not tell him, that his face mirrored the one of her destined lover. The one she had seen bleed to death one hundred years ago. She would not tell him that, the day she had met him over sixty years ago, she had hoped - knowing it was stupid - that he might have been reborn. She couldn’t tell him, that that was the reason that had sent her running from him.

But she knew that that wasn’t the case. And deep down in her soul she had known this since she had first laid her eyes on him. She would end it today. One hundred years were enough to weep after something she couldn’t reverse.

Storming at him she punched and kicked, dived and stabbed with her silver dagger, satisfied at seeing the blood seep through his black coat. His yellow eyes traced the slash she had caused on his arm intently. So she was serious. He had assumed that this would a fight like their many others. They had been fighting for decades now, both strong, both unpredictable. But their fights had never gone further than bruises and scratches.

Her eyes glinting dangerously, she kicked him once more in the chest, her fist hitting his chin at the same time, making him stumble backwards. Moving to the side quickly, she grabbed the sword from his loosened grip. Bellowing angrily, he punched her, before hurriedly grabbing a dagger from inside his coat. It took him only seconds to bring it down on her smooth cheek.

Watching the blood seep from the wound, he followed the thick liquid run down her cheek with his eyes, the red trail glinting eerily in the moonlight. They stood there for minutes, silently staring at each other, their eyes fixed on each other.

Raising the sword she had taken from him high in the air, she swung it forcefully at him, the blade slicing through his neck. Closing her eyes at the ugly sight, she waited for the heavy thud of his body as it fell to the ground. Her eyes still closed, she slowly turned from him, her lips tight. So it was over. It was better that way, she knew it.

But life just wouldn’t leave it at that. Shattering the silence that surrounded her once more, a voice she hadn’t heard for so long she could barely recall it, suddenly spoke.

“… Odango ….?”

---

Lol, sorry to stop right there. Love y’all!

Greta