Wysteria, battered and bruised, had her near-naked back pressed against the roughened bark of a large tree deep in a forest she was beyond lost in. 
This was as close to death as she’d come since she’d, well, died. 
She couldn’t even remember how long she’d been running for. Her vampiric speed had dwindled to dangerously low levels thanks to how much energy she’d expended getting lost in this fucking forest.
The fledgling, now an adolescent vampire (technically), had taken to the undead life better than she’d imagined. Was the newborn stage absolute agony? Relentless? Torture? Fuck, yeah. Did she resent her sire with every bone, every breath? Definitely. 

But Wysteria had passed that stage now. She’d pushed through the muddied, bloodied young fledgling stage and in recent years had been feeling more and more in control. She even passed as human in daylight! But it was tonight, at nightfall, that these 2 mutts had sniffed her out post feed. It was a messy meal, alright? But she’d taken precautions! They’d been drunk, stumbling home all sleazy and leery. If they hadn’t catcalled her she’d have probably let them pass, humans tasted gross when they were intoxicated. But blood was blood. 

Anyway! She’d dragged the humans into the forest, covertly, and had them both pinned down for a little feast. She kinda loved how they squeaked and begged but Wyssy, in hindsight, reckoned that was the dead giveaway to the dogs.
Wysteria thought she’d gone unnoticed, in her defence. But turns out these werewolves had heightened senses too… Go figure!

The young vampire was halfway through draining them both, bearing the taste of whiskey in their bloodstream, when she’d been accosted by not one but TWO beastly werewolves. Wysteria had never clapped eyes on a werewolf before, and she was glad for it. They smelt of wet dog. Their fur was thick, wiry, so jet black it was almost blue. Their ears all pointed and hypersensitive. Muzzles dripping with thick, slimy drool. EEW.
They’d snarled at her at first, probably trying to scare her. She was so shocked at their sudden approach that she didn’t get a chance to run before they’d thrown themselves upon her. 

They clawed at first. Dragging their pawed talons down her porcelain skin, shredding it open. Wysteria was in agony, okay? So she screamed a bit. (By a bit, Wysteria screamed the most blood curdling shriek she could muster) The volume of that scream, the frequency, was what startled the werewolves long enough so she could break free.

It took her half a second to take off in a super-speed sprint deep into the thicket of the woods. Ignoring the blood seeping down her back, her arms, her t-shirt hanging off her in tatters. Still, her legs pumped rapidly, feet barely touching the ground before they pushed her on and on, deeper into the trees. There was no plan, no nothing. Just fleeing. Run and run and run until the faces of those beastly dogs were far far away. Abandoning her meal made Wysteria grit her fangs in frustration, letting out a little “FUCK!” into the air. 

Young vampire energy drains quickly, by the way. If you’re running at, like 40 MPH, it gets tiring. And soon enough Wysteria had to stop. She paused behind the tree, back against the bark, breathing in ragged, broken breaths. Her lungs were white-hot, burning with the effort of her escape. Then, she assessed her wounds. 

“Shit!” Wysteria hissed. Then, she remembered. Her sire. That cold bitch. She was old. Ancient. Powerful. She’d know what to do. She’d know how to kill a couple werewolves, right? So Wysteria, on a whim, sent a mental plea to her maker.

“You owe me, bitch. Come and save me.”


____________________________


[b]“I'm coming with you.”[/b]

Renaissance Le Sang’s somewhat panicked but mostly determined face relaxed for a flicker. Lyselle’s determined loyalty thawed her icy heart and she gave her a quick, tight hug.

The Ancient Vampire took a look around the Loft, realising she was having to leave, once again. Fortunately she’d just fed, so Ren was arguably at her most powerful. 

[i]“We’ll need weapons,”[/i] Ren smirked, her eyes lighting with an urgent excitement. [i]“I don’t know exactly what we’ll be facing, but I’m certain our wits and magic won’t suffice.”[/i]
The ancient vampire snatched her cloak from the coat rack and threw it around her slender, elegant shoulders. Pinning it closed in the centre of her clavicles, she then swiftly crossed the Loft to open her large display cabinet. Behind the wooden cupboard doors was her weaponry. Miscellaneous weapons Ren had collected, like talismans, were mounted neatly on bespoke hooks fastened in 6 rows one above the other. Some of her collection had been made for her especially, either under duress or out of love (or both), and some was stolen from fallen foes. Either way, there was something for everyone in this cabinet. Other than guns. She didn’t appreciate them. Too messy, too impersonal.

[i]”Take what you can or what you want,”[/i] Renaissance said to Lyselle over her shoulder, gesturing to the weaponry. Distracted and feeling the pressure of saving the fledgling before anything more terrible happened, Ren knew they had precious seconds before they had to leave. There was a trail to follow and they needed to move quickly.
She was busy sizing up each weapon option, debating which she’d prefer to bring. The sense of urgency pushing her into a decision, Ren settled on her silver, ruby-encrusted dagger. Lifting her layered black skirt, the ancient vampire fastened her leather garter-scabbard around her upper thigh. Letting out a [i]“humph”[/i] of satisfaction, Ren sheathed the dagger in the scabbard and dropped the skirt so it remained disguised. 

[i]“It’s a 20 minute flight away - roughly”[/i] Renaissance said, pacing the Loft whilst she waited for her gorgeous Huntress to make her selection. [i]“We’ve got to fly, okay? You’ll have to either mount my back or let me carry you. Is that going to bother you? Now would be a fine time to grow a pair of wings from that human back of yours…”[/i] Renaissance bent down to fiddle with the adjustment of the scabbard around her thigh and tossed Lyselle a wink. They had to get moving, soon.