With its back to Matthew, it missed the vampire catching himself and coming back for another round. Holly’s struggling slowly started to cease as she lost more blood. The sense of her weakness drove its instincts into ripping the flesh and devouring it, further distracting it. Its jaws tightened, then began to pull away. Before it could tear her throat out, its mind caught the vampire’s approach. Its torso jerked to the side to avoid the first blade. A single arm snapped out to catch the silver blade’s hand, its momentum brought to a stop just centimeters from slicing into its flesh. 

However, Contempt had found its mark. 

A new, indescribable pain rippled across the area just below its shoulder blade. Its jaws released Holly, allowing her to step back and crumple to the floor. Its eyes turned to face Matthew as it gave a shriek in protest. The other arm whipped out to claw at Matthew’s face, hoping to force the vampire back.         

But Matthew was already turning with it, trying to stay behind it. He tore his right hand free of the monster’s grasp, and made to drive the silver blade into it again, aiming just under its armpit.

As for Contempt, buried to the hilt in its back - the black blade did not glow, nor pulse with a tangible sense of power, nothing so crude; its owner knew if its greatest gift was ineffective, or when it had worked.

It didn’t take long to notice its movements had slowed to disturbingly close to human levels. It took, in fact, a mere second, as it tried to twist away from its assailant -  and what should have been a shadowy blur of movement became ineffective thrashing. The silver knife glanced off, and then Matthew threw his arm around the being, stabbing it in the chest. The monster shrieked, an inhuman, sibilant sound that nonetheless conveyed agony.

They stumbled backwards together, its claws scoring bloody scratches on the vampire’s cheek as it tried to strike at him; he awkwardly managed to pin its left arm with his own as he reached around and drove Contempt into its guts. 

Matthew bared a set of sharp white teeth - [i]finally, finally[/i] - tore into its neck, and drank.