Chapter Two: How to kill vampires and lose friends

Archer picked himself up and felt the small barbed wire from the fence escape from his hip which made him groan in pain. The Deltas stormed into the docks with their night vision scopes- the dark didn't bother them. Archer watched as the shadowy figures zoomed past him and then began the fighting. The silent night air began to echo with heavy gunfire and yelling. Matthias came in from behind and helped him stand up.

"Bro! You hurt?" asked Matt.

"Let's get out of here Matt, I can't see anything, ugh!" Archer groaned and began walking towards the grasslands.

Behind him echoed a cacophony of noises and he was now beginning to doubt whether he made the right choice. The single barb wire from the rusty old fence pierced so deep into his waist that he thought it might have hit an internal organ. But this pain was nothing compared to the humiliation he was going to receive from Johann and Delta One for disobeying a direct order. Delta one was the leader of the army- Archer never knew his real name but he was a strong and brutal man who believed that violence was the answer to all problems. Nevertheless, the duo stumbled through the dark and onto the grasslands- he really needed to check his wound- their van was 200 meters away…

The gunfire subdued as they walked away and Archer was beginning to think that the fight was over- Matt felt the same.

"Ah! It looks like they've got those bastards," Matt remarked.

Archer didn't respond but moved on silently, with his right hand on his back. He always felt that the Deltas were using unnecessary and excessive force while taking down these Hybrids. Whenever there was a raid, the Deltas made sure that they wiped out each one of them barely taking anyone captive. But Archer felt differently- he was naïve enough to believe that not all Vampires were evil and violence was not always the answer.

"Eagle One- this is Delta one-come in," Matt's walkie buzzed.

"Delta One- this is Eagle one- we are headed for the van-" Matt responded.

"Get your asses out of here before I knock you over- you guys just compromised the mission," Delta One replied and turned off his walkie.

"Hmh- that was rude!" Matt remarked while Archer nodded in disapproval- this was how they were treated every day.

The mission was over and Archer was sure that the Deltas killed everyone on the docks- even the man he was trying to save. He sighed and walked on. Suddenly he heard rustling in the distance- somebody was out there- trying to escape! Matt and Archer looked at each other and then stared at the treeline to the east. One of the vampires escaped? Matt thought it best to call it in but Delta One had turned off his comms. Both of them paused a while and then decided to make a run for it. The Deltas were out of reach and both of them were sitting ducks- none of them knew how to fight. If it was an escaped Vampire then it was surely looking for revenge. The two of them ran as fast as they could- the van was now only a 100 meters away. But the rustling noise appeared to get closer by the second- this was surely a vampire approaching- these things are fast!

Archer ran ahead with all his strength, while Matt struggled behind him. Before he could turn around and look for him, he heard a swooping noise and Matt's voice fading away in the distance. Archer turned around and saw that Matt had disappeared- Oh God! It took him- it took Matt! He paused and looked around and called out his name- there was nothing but the empty darkness and the silent trees around him. He thought it best to reach for the van- there was an emergency comm centre in the van- he could call it in. As he turned his back, Archer felt like someone was standing right behind him, he turned around to look but there was no one. And again he felt that there was someone in the dark- whatever it was, he was not waiting to find out. He ran like crazy towards the van and jumped in. He turned on the engine and as the lights came on, he saw a dark figure standing right in front of his van. He froze in nervous anticipation but the figure jumped on top of the hood and punched and broke the windshield. Archer let out a terrible cry and jumped out of the van and rolled on the ground. He turned around to find that the figure was slowly crawling down from the hood and approaching him.

"No- no- please- I didn't kill your friends- please let me go," Archer begged.

But the figure bent forwards and grabbed his collar, picked him up and threw him right in front of the van. He groaned in pain and the bright lights of the van was blinding his sight. As he lay on the ground trying to make sense of what was happening, the figure jumped right on top of him. Archer could see the slim and tall figure dressed from head to toe in leather black with a hood on its face. As the figure bend down on top of him, it removed the hood. Archer saw the beautiful face of a young lady with black hair and gorgeous eyes. Her perfect face glowed under the light of the van and she seemed to be leaning towards him. He saw her shapely lips part and her mouth opened wide- what on earth is she doing? Archer wanted to scream but he couldn't. Her lips parted and out came two long fangs from either side of her mouth. Oh Crap! She's a Pureblood, she's trying to turn me!

Archer felt both enchanted and terrified but he was helpless. She looked straight into his eyes and he could feel her gaze peering deep into his soul- somehow, he couldn't move a muscle as if he was hypnotized by her beauty. The young woman moved closer and closer to his neck and Archer could feel her warm and slim body pressing against his chest- death was knocking on the door! But for a moment, she hesitated and he saw her fangs pull back in. He noticed the white of her eyes turn grey, like that of a predator. Both of them looked into each other's eyes for a few seconds- what the hell? Is she going to turn me or not?

A loud bang broke the awkward moment and the woman immediately jumped off of him. Archer slowly came back to reality. Apparently Delta One had fired a shot at the woman and missed- the bullet hit the bonnet of the van. Some soldier pulled him helped him stand and checked for marks.

"Did it bite you? Archer- Hey!" Delta one yelled at him.

"What- no- no man, I'm fine, where's Matt!" Archer replied.

"Good, cause if you're bitten then I'd have put you down like a dog!" Delta One replied and ordered his men to pack up.

Matt came out of the woods, groaning- he had hit his head.

"Matt! You okay?" Archer asked.

"No- man, get away from me- you totally abandoned me," replied Matt pushing him away.

"Dude, I did not-"Archer replied but Matt was pissed at him.

"That thing- flung me like a sack and I was knocked out for a minute," Matt replied.

"Hey, at least you're not bitten, huh?" Archer joked but apparently Matt was not in the mood.

He stood there, hopelessly, thinking about the series of events that just happened. Somehow, he couldn't take his mind off of that woman- who was she? Where did she come from?