This was real pain. Pain that I hadn’t felt in a lifetime. This was the kind of power I had been searching for in the early years of this life. This was what I needed to kill me in those dark days when I wandered aimlessly for a way to end my suffering.

  I hit the ground so hard that my head twisted around sharply, cracking bones within my neck. I breathed rapidly through the pain as my body continued to ragdoll out of the plummeting momentum. I tried to keep my head and joints locked into position as I bounced through the open expanse of farmland where I had come crashing down out of the sky. I must have been released from that strange power at an angle, because I moved away from the city in a falling rush. I met the earth again in a more rural area, east of the Mississippi River. Every smash and tumble that I took snapped bones and ripped flesh from my body. By the time I finally stopped moving… I wanted to die. So much of me was missing.

  As the motion ended, and the cratered earth finally stopped my body, I tried to sit up a little from my corpse-like position. Once I lifted my head out of the dirt, I took a deep breath through wavering lungs. I tried to push myself off the ground.

  “Shit,” my bones felt like they were made of glass. Everything hurt.

  I could already feel the monster within healing and repairing my damaged body as I lay in agony, but even that was painful. My eyes blackened fully, and my teeth extended to longer proportions. It was taking over to mend the damage that had been done.

  Then, off in the distance, I could see the city. St. Louis was barely a blip on the edge of the horizon. I had been standing within the city limits, and now I was so far from the place I called home that all I could make out were the tallest buildings.

  “You asshole!” I spat towards the distant city. “What the hell was that?” I wondered aloud through my pain, stumbling around as I continued to heal.

  The remnants of my clothes were not only shredded from my tumble but also charred from the blast. The lightning had scorched almost every inch of my clothing. Even my poor little phone was destroyed by the plummeting drop from the sky. I only found half of it lying with my torn clothing. It was the biggest inconvenience, seeing as how I had no way to contact the Chasses. I couldn’t remember their numbers that I had saved.

  I started limply bounding through the unfamiliar area in the direction I knew I needed to go. A little wobbly at first, but I was on the move. It would take me a while longer, but I was still heading straight home, and nowhere else. I kept a lookout over my shoulder the whole way back. What if that person, or people, came back to fight me again? What if they showed up with that same unshakable power?

  I started to wish they would. I wanted to go back and beat them to death, but I had no way to track them. My senses were wiped clean from the sheer power applied to me, plus I didn’t even know if I could find the place I was before they sent me on the little trip I took.

  After a few dark hours, I sat back in the comfort and seclusion of the safehouse. When I was alone, I let the knots and stress fall out of my shoulders. I felt like I had just been hit by a Mack truck. Finally, I could relax again. That strange encounter really took a lot out of me.

  Then, a knock vibrated the door rapidly, almost as soon as I had sat down. It annoyed me. Then I wondered if it was them. Maybe the silhouettes that attacked me had followed me home…

  When I opened the door, I had my hand clenched and ready to pull them inside to a grizzly end. Yet, I was met by a familiar dark-skinned vampire.

  “Sam?” Martin spoke as he saw my face through the darkness.

  “Martin,” I was surprised. I unclenched my fist and waved him in, “Sorry, I thought you were someone else.”

  “Who’s that?” Alex asked as she appeared out of thin air behind the elder vampire.

  She actually had on normal people's clothes. Her jeans and t-shirt were a change of pace from her usual attire. Her blood red hair was tied back into a single ponytail. She didn’t look like she was trying to lure anyone into her for sustenance.

  “What are you doing here?” I asked, almost annoyed that she was standing at my door, asking questions of me.

  Martin smirked, “You forget, Sam, this is still my house. I’m merely lending it to you.” He could barely contain the smile. “We came to talk.”

  “Okay,” I said. “What do you want?”

  “Who were you expecting?” Martin asked. “I know the Chasses are out of town... Who would be coming to visit you?”

  I shook my head at the thought, “It’s confusing… hard to explain. I just had a run-in with someone… something, earlier.”

  “Was it Peter?” Martin asked hurriedly.

  “I honestly don’t know. I didn’t get a chance to ask,” I said sarcastically.

  “You let them live this time?” Alex asked in surprise, as she knew my usual interactions led to death.

  “I didn’t let them do anything,” I said. I didn’t want them to think I was handing out get-out-of-jail-free cards to everyone, now that I was back with the Chasses.

  “What are those markings on you?” Martin asked as he reached out to my neck.

  I pulled away from his grasp, slightly readjusting my collar to cover the markings. Light traces of electrical arcing within my skin remained, although slowly fading away.

  “Just one of the places I got hit.”

  “What leaves a mark like that?” Alex asked, as she too investigated the branching electrical burn that was slowly fading as my flesh renewed itself.

  “Lightning,” Martin said.

  “The storm earlier… There were these two people. I couldn’t see them, sense them, nothing. They attacked me somehow, used the storm…” It sounded crazier the more I tried to explain it. “They moved me somehow, too. Dropped me from the sky outside the city. I landed in some field far out of town,” I said. “They were trying to kill me,” I laughed to myself at the memory of finally being treated like my victims. This was what it felt like to get manhandled. But I knew I’d get the last laugh when we met again.

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  They both looked like they had questions, and honestly, so did I. I wondered if maybe now that I wasn't hiding my secret from the whole world, perhaps I could use my two new friends for answers.

  “How about you both have a seat, and I’ll tell you all about it,” I offered to the two blood drinkers.

  Alex and Martin entered deeper into my… Martin’s house, and sat down to hear a tall tale they probably wouldn’t believe.

  The sun was rising as our conversation came to a close. I had told them about everything I experienced in those fast and brutal moments against the silhouettes. We also spoke about the brewery, and my time with the Wicklow family, as well as the elusive Peter Grimwood.

  “I really don’t think he could have survived what you did to him, Sam,” Alex spoke openly, and with slight abrasiveness. “I’ve seen vampires die from way less damage… but nothing could survive what happened to him. His body would have needed too much repair. If he were alive, he’d be in too much pain and agony to be a threat to us,” she thought out loud. Her voice held a tone that almost sounded like an adult talking to a kid, like she thought I needed to be spoon-fed.

  “I hope,” I agreed, trying to ignore her attitude.

  “Yes, usually,” Martin debated. “However, just look at Sam here. We don’t know what Peter might be able to do. Sam breaks all kinds of rules that apply to virtually any other type of monster. If Peter survived, then I fear we haven’t even scratched the surface of what that could mean, or what he is capable of…” Martin stayed open-minded and aware of any possibility. “He very well could be one of the two that attacked you with the storm tonight.”

  “So you believe me?” I asked. “How could he do that?”

  “It is very rare for someone to be able to do what you are describing. However, that being said, it is not impossible. If Peter can come back from the dead, as the Wicklows suspect, then he could do all manner of things we are not yet privy to.”

  “Let’s just hope he’s dead,” I said to them both. “Maybe whoever gave me this is someone else.” I reached up to the strange markings still left on my body.

  Alex’s eyes focused on my neck, stepping over to me in a blur. Her eyes were held in a questioning manner. “It’s gone.” She quickly realized her closeness and backed away.

  She was right. My monster had healed the damage done by the mystery duo. It had fully restored me to a completely uninjured creature. It was basically like it had never happened.

  “Look, Sam, I don’t know how to explain what happened, but whatever it was is over. I think that whoever it was hasn’t been spotted before, so they cannot be as big of a threat as you’re thinking, at least to the family. If someone truly has that much power, they would be able to do anything they wanted, yet they haven’t. They haven’t shown themselves to anyone but you. That has to mean that they came specifically for you. If they think you’re dead, then they might go back wherever they came from.”

  “And since you can’t be killed,” Alex added, “it doesn’t seem like much of a problem to anyone else.”

  “Yet,” Martin added. He recognized the problems that I saw, “If it was Peter… who was the other you saw there with him?”

  I shook my head. “I don’t know. Maybe more from the pits.”

  “I am unsure,” Martin said. “Maybe I can reach out to Charles. See if he’s heard anything. If he had heard of another hunting party coming back here for you, he would already be here to warn us. He risked quite a bit by lying to the Elders down in the pits for us. If they suspect you are still alive… I fear what that could mean for Charles.”

  I had a lot of questions, but no way to get answers. At least, not right now. I couldn’t have chased them down. I didn’t sense them before I was struck down… twice. Even if I did, I think the lightning singed my senses so badly that I wouldn’t have been able to recall them. It was a full reset.

  “Whoever they were, if they realized that all that power wasn’t enough to kill you… I think they won't be coming back,” Martin thought aloud. “Not until they formulate a new strategy.”

  “We can keep a lookout for Peter, just in case. But I still think he’s dead,” Alex said.

  “Why are you helping me?” I asked, curious about her changed attitude.

  “I’m starting to agree with Martin,” Alex informed. “I think you’re not as much a threat to us as an ally, even if you’re getting too close to these humans. If you’re helping keep them safe, then it is much easier for Martin to have a life as well. He thinks about them just as much as you. At least that’s how it seems for now.” She smirked at the last amendment to her words. “Plus, we’ve got to keep you around. Once we find out what you are, I might need to be the one to take you out,” Alex said jokingly, but a secret truth hid in her words. I could see it in her eyes.

  We mulled over possibilities about the two shadows that came for me. As we three spoke, I had an idea.

  “Between the three of us, we are pretty heavily equipped to form our own hunting party. Just like the one that came for me,” I said as I was still bringing the whole idea together.

  “What is it you have in mind?” Martin looked interested.

  “We’re currently on the hunt for Peter. We also know that two others, who are extremely powerful, are out there. What if we went on the hunt? Who could stop us if we came looking?”

  Alex shook her head confidently, “No one.”

  Martin seemed a little apprehensive at first. “I don’t know. A lot could happen. We could gain too much attention from the Elders below, just as you did before, Sam.” Martin thought hard between words. “If we did go out, we would have to be very discreet.”

  “I can be discreet,” Alex assured.

  “Sam? Can you control that thing now?” Martin asked, remembering the internal struggle he witnessed on the roof of the Lemp Brewery.

  “Don’t worry, I’ve got things under control now. Plus, if we even find anyone with information, I’ll let you do the talking. You two know things I don’t, you have your own ways of tracking people, and I have mine. If we worked together, we could probably do a lot more than I can on my own.”

  Alex and Martin were both nodding their heads as they continued to plan things out in their minds.

  “I know of a few vampire dens that I’ve been stalking for a while now. They’re pretty spread out around the city, so they could be knowledgeable about Peter since he had vampires with him at the brewery.” Alex had good ideas and seemed to be on board with the plan.

  “Yes, that could be beneficial. Dens are a virtual cornucopia of information. The more vampires, the more information. I know of someone we can visit as well, once the sun goes down,” Martin said as he glanced over to the light creeping through the curtains.

  “Damn,” I said, not even realizing their daytime constraints. I didn’t have to obey such rules as they did.

  “Yeah, we’re stuck here with you for the day,” Alex mocked me. She knew I liked to be by myself just from watching me inside Martin’s bar all those months.

  “Yes, but if we are planning on heading out at sunset, we’ll need a few things. So that means we’ll need you to run a few errands for us,” Martin said.

  “What do you need?” I asked.

  “Clothes,” Alex replied. “If we’re looking for information, then I’ll need something that will help loosen lips. Plus, if we end up in a fight, I want to have something less constricting.” She looked down at her jeans as she spoke. “You’ll have to go to my place and get me something to wear.” She smirked as she put me in her labor.

  “Weapons too,” Martin added. “I have a few at the bar we can use for tonight.”

  “You want to bring weapons?” I asked, perplexed.

  “Yes. We, too, will need advantages if we end up overwhelmed. Alex and I are stronger than most things we’ll run into, but we can get overwhelmed if we are too outnumbered. Weapons will help reduce that risk.”

  “Okay,” I responded. I guess I never really had to think about those things. The silver blade I carried at my waist was not a necessity, although I carried it most of the time. “So where am I going?”