Eclipse: CH 3

Chapter 3

Sun sets for the day marking the start of their nightly shift and duties. There are more active Hunters tonight compared to usual. The air inside the church is heavy with tension lining each space and corners of the place. It's like they're preparing for a war.

In a way, it's true.

No one's crazy enough to be a sitting duck in this situation. They started a fight, it's natural that we fight back.

The only way to end this problem is by cutting down the source, one which they still haven't identified. But from what Haruto had said, they at least got a gist of the kind of enemy they may be facing against.

Possibly a cannibalistic vampire. Whoever that may be can't be anything other than bad news.

Looking at the rate of feeding, and making a rough estimate - he doesn't how much does a single vampire amounts to in terms of power, but he's guessing it'll be quite a lot. Though most likely, the amount differs by classes.

But there's no way the vampires are volunteering themselves to be eaten. They have to be controlled in some way, whether direct or indirectly. And to be able to directly affect and control vampires - the only ones capable of such feat would be a high level one, or maybe even a pureblood.

Those two are beyond bad news. They're basically catastrophes. It'll be terrible if they come into contact with one. Higher level vampires are considered rare species, even the veterans hardly ever counter one in their life. Those who do can only attest to their dangerousness, 'Even a group of well-trained hunters can barely take one down'.

More so with the kind that they came to call as the 'purebloods'. So they are named out of convenience, but no one actually knows what they really are. They're simply referred as that on the basis that they were not turned, rather they had existed possibly long before the other vampires happen. Some even speculates that they aren't even vampires, but something else. Something worse. Couldn't begin to imagine the level of power and damage one could bring.

Altogether, the lack of data available on them makes it hard to anticipate their movements, what they're actually capable of. The fight against them would be difficult and the casualties would be high.

Earlier they had a strategy meeting regarding current matters, and there they made their postulations known. They were quite worried it won't be taken seriously on the basis of the assumption being too outrageous. Thankfully they considered it, and it was a stroke of luck for them that among the senior priests there are those who know about that matter too.

Thanks to that they have begun to make careful adjustments to the overall plans.

Right now, it is just a possibility, but even so they have to be prepared for the worst possible outcome.

For tonight, they have agreed to set out on a survey first, and only engage any common vampires they come across. If any of them were to find anything suspected to be either of the aforementioned two - observe if possible, or retreat and regroup. As they are now, it is better to avoid direct confrontation. They can't afford losing manpower in current situations.

This is difficult, fighting against an unknown. Unfortunately, that is the truth of what they've been going against. All current available data were collected and compiled by various laboratories scattered throughout the country. While this church has an extensive medical facility, it lacked one for research. So, they are unable to collect new data on their own.

Looking up towards the crescent moon hanging in the night sky, he lets out a long sigh. To think of it he never liked feeling helpless. He used to run around alone, never getting in too close to anyone out of fear of getting attached (and later betrayed). Thankfully he got better. Thanks to his friends.

Tonight, once in a very long while, he sets out in a team. A three-man-cell along with Haruto and Gai. Until now he doesn't have much idea over how or why they end up together. Haruto was previously paired up with someone else, and Gai was transferred in from elsewhere. The three of them all have the tendency to run off on their own. Quite a few times they all end up in the same ward room together at the same time. By now the doctor wouldn't even need to look to know it's them. And Head Priest always have that tired kind of smile whenever it's anything related to the three of them. 'Birds of a feather flocks together,' he said.

 

"Are you ready?" Gai turned towards the two of them, having finished his own preparations.

"Yeah, let's go."

 

*

 

It's cold tonight. It's already nearing autumn so it's not that strange, but tonight is noticeably colder than usual. Even with his customary coat on the chill still gets to him. Breath coming out in a cloud of vapor before floating away in the soft night breeze.

The three of them came out to a village quite a distance away from the main church. Here, the damage is a lot more visible compared to the ones nearer to the town center. Typical of a vampire attack; they don't just feed, they also wreck the place down, making it harder for the people to recover afterwards. Looking around the place, they found several wounded people in need of urgent treatment. The most they can do out here is first aid, and these people obviously need more than that. With the help of some other unwounded villagers, they prepared the patients for transfer.

The process didn't take that long, but within that short period they found out something from the villagers. According to them, they've been seeing some suspicious movement around the abandoned church at the outskirts of the village. They didn't dare to investigate further out of fear which was understandable since they do not possess the means to fight back against the monsters. However, some of them mentioned that they saw the attacks coming from that direction.

Haruto looks towards his two companions, "How? That definitely sounds fishy."

"Yeah, but these people need to be looked at as soon as possible." Gai wore a deep frown on his face, trying to sort out the dilemma. True, the wounded need medical attention, but they also cannot simply ignore what the villagers just told them.

"How about this-" Both of them shift their attention to him, "-You two escort them to the church while I go investigate the place."

"Alone? It's dangerous! We don't even know what's in there."

"I know, but if the vampires attack them during the transfer, it'll be hard for just one person to both protect and fight back." That didn't manage to convince Haruto, though it was quite expected. Before he could say anything further, Gai interjected.

"Okay, so, we'll escort them back to the base first. Then I'll immediately come back here for you. Is that fine?"

"It's-.., fine. Still, I'm having a bad feeling here so whatever you do, be careful out there."

He really worries a lot about him, about them. It's nothing foreign to Ryuga, in fact that what makes Haruto feel all the more familiar to him. On the contrary, Gai is more cool-headed at time like this. Maybe it's because he's the oldest out of the three of them.

"I got that. Both of you be careful too."

 

They went off their separate way for now at that. He understands their reluctance - he's been feeling the same thing too ever since they got to the village. The sense of foreboding becomes stronger the closer he gets to the aforementioned place.

Today is a bit cloudy, thick cloud covers the moon up ahead. With the moonlight dimmed down, it's harder to see things clearly. Even so, they didn't carry a torch simply because it would alert the vampires and makes hunting them more difficult. Most of them have become accustomed to seeing in the dark that it removes the need for a proper light source.

The place wasn't that far away from the village; no wonder the damage is so extensive there. Might as well relocate them to the central town area for the time being. The village is in no way livable in its current condition.

Cautiously he looks around for signs of enemy, but so far there is none to be found. Still he can't let his guard down. Regardless of how trained or how used he is to this, darkness is their element. He is still trudging on foreign lands.

This is strange. It's too quiet. Not even the insects are crying.

He's standing right outside the building - old, dilapidated, likely have been abandoned more than a decade ago. Moss and ivy are covering the outer wall in a green drape. Otherwise nothing seems out of place. Yet.

Ducking under the fallen beam he made his way into the building. The irregularly placed structures block the light, drowning the place in shadows.

"What is this?"

Hidden between the shadows and the broken architecture, numerous bodies are littering the floor in various degree of damage. What happened here? It didn't take long for him to identify them.

They're vampire remains.

A sudden choking sound snaps his attention to the side. A part of the roof structure had fallen there, forming a makeshift wall. The sound came from somewhere beyond that. Drawing his blade, he slowly stalks around the large piece.

A..man? Dressed in white and red, slightly hunching over someone.

No, a vampire. It's not uncommon to catch one red-handed, however unfortunate that is. Silently he closes in. He pulls his blade back, preparing to strike.

 

"Are you trying to sneak up on me?"

 

Ryuga immediately stops at that, alarmed. He noticed!

On cue, the man drops the person he was holding, only for said person to crumble away to dust upon touching the ground.

What the- "Did you feed on vampires?"

"Yeah. Why? Any problem with that?"

Damn it. This is the worst possible outcome. But it's already too late to retreat; it's impossible to outrun a vampire. The best he can do is to hold out until support arrives.

The man turns around to face him. "Oh, a priest? Felt like I haven't seen one in a long time.." He's awfully calm.

Uncanny pale-yellow eyes stare towards him in the way that makes his hair stands. Suddenly the man's face alights in mild confusion, head tilting sideways. "Hm? Are you a human?"

The question caught him off guard. "What else would I be." He's not getting where this is going. His entire body is tight with tension, knuckles white from gripping his blade too tightly.

The man simply hums in return before vanishing in the blink of an eye.

-!!

It's useless to rely on sight at this point. Purely on instinct, he turns to his left, raising his blade just in time to intercept the attack.

"-Kh!" The impact is heavy. It took his entire weight to keep himself from being pushed back.

The man's eyes widened slightly over the split-second reaction. Clearly, he did not expect that, though he recovered just as fast. Grabbing the blade, he yanked it towards himself before landing a kick square on Ryuga's abdomen. The blow sent him staggering backwards.

That knocked the wind out of him; back hunching slightly in pain. Looking back ahead, he sees the other man flicking the blood off his hand.

A blink and he's gone again.

He couldn't react fast enough when suddenly hands came around from behind him. One caught his right wrist in a vice grip, the other one goes over his mouth' silencing him. His back is pulled flush against the other man's body.

Shit.

"You seem to be doing much better than the common ones, human. I wonder for how long you can keep me entertained?"

Within the close proximity, the predatorial edge to that voice hits a lot harder. The whisper sent chills down his spine. I need to get out of this somehow.

"Still struggling? This close and you're not yet that affected.." What is he implying?

The grip over his jaw shifted slightly, pulling his head to the side, exposing his neck. The man ducks into the curve of his neck to brush his lips against the fluttering pulse.

-This is..not good-

"..You smell good, human." There's a strange feeling creeping in from the edge of his consciousness, like a slowly growing ember. He can feel he's gradually losing grip over himself. What..is this?-

"You won't mind if I bite, won't you?" Faintly, he can feel the smile against his heated skin.

 

And then everything turns black.