He pulled his phone out, ignoring a ring from Erza, instead, dialing a number under “Hugo”. Ilyas huffed into the speaker. “Hey.” 

A muffled voice responded. ‘What is it? You know ghouls don’t-” 

“Nah, nah I’m not calling about that,” he snickered. “I got something real interesting for you. And it's fresh.”

“I’m still around.” 

“Perfect.”

Ilyas took a breather, waiting for all the damage to be mitigated. As much as the healing was a blessing, the pain it brought was terrible. With it, came another facet. Hunger. His eyes glowed brighter and his fangs produced more. He grit his teeth, struggling to breathe as a thirst he never quenched began to grip him. It felt as if barbed wire was encapsulating his throat, scraping and clawing as he denied his body the one thing it continually craved. Blood. As his neighbours began to step out the door, he could feel a sweat building up as he fought the urges. He bit down on his own hand, gnawing at it in an attempt to stall the cravings. I need to get to the guild. 

Ilyas had travelled from rooftop to rooftop, the vampire's corpse over his shoulder, he felt much more at ease away from humans. He found himself in an area that looked dingy. Graffiti covered the walls and houses had missing windows, or were boarded up completely. Even during this late time, their residents hung outside in groups, with hoods masking their appearances. Ilyas finally came down, arriving at what looked like a water tower. Underneath it stood a small hut with a door guarded by a large man. He opened up as he saw Ilyas, who waved at him in return. A steep staircase was ahead of him. At the bottom, an array of lights. He traversed them, one by one. Each step he took clicking and echoing off the narrow, empty space. As he got to a flat floor, a corridor stretched to the point of bending in his vision. Each door had a small light above them, a different color from the next. He continued to walk, past a bright yellow one, and then a red one, and then a blue one, finally stopping under a purple one. He pressed a few keys on the padlock. The metal gate released steam as it unlocked. He pushed the door open. Inside it was a simple room. If anything it was a cell, one that held a table and two chairs. Occupying one of those seats sat an old man with a stern expression. His eyes widened as he saw the body on Ilyas’s shoulders. 

‘Well, that looks heavy,” he chimed, leaning against the table. 

Ilyas placed him down, his fangs showing. 

The mans eyes widened. “Is it my lucky day or what?” 

“That's for you to decide Hugo,” Ilyas crossed his arms. “Pristine conditioned vampire. He has a little hole in his chest, but that was necessary. Better than the headless ones.” 

Hugo stroked his white beard. “Impressive. I never knew a vampire could make it past the borders. I had thought you were the only one around.” 

“Oh whatever,” he denied. “But I’m also curious. How did he get so deep in the city?” 

He stood up, placing his hand on the wall behind him. “Come, we must talk.” The wall began to spread open, revealing a hidden office. Ilyas followed. “This is strange.” He sat behind a polished desk. The entire office looked like a secret library. Rows of shelves lined with books stretched across the room. And his desk area had floating and moving trinkets. An eye, a globe, a mini plane even. To the side of his desk stood a woman in a black suit. Her glasses were oval shaped, and her face was like a robot, emotionless. “Natalie, please clean him up. He looks…more disheveled than usual.” 

Ilyas stared down at his ripped up and bloodied clothes. “Hey I’m not so bad.” As he finished his sentence the woman flicked her wrist, sending a white orb swirling around him, erasing the blood and mending the fabric in seconds. Ilyas gave a wink. “See.” 

Hugo shook his head. “Look Ilyas. This will fetch a high price.” 

“Just what I was hoping to hear,” 

“But it's not good news.” 

Ilyas frowned, wondering how a rare creature could be anything but good news. “How so?’ 

“You think it got here through the border?” 

“No shot. Those Ashen Sancti knights would have incinerated him” 

Hugo sat up straight. “So what do you propose?”

“He either has some really good illusion magic, and snuck in, or he teleported.” 

“Precisely.” Hugo stroked his beard again. He looked back to the cell, staring at the body with intrigue. “Your kind aren’t capable of wielding magic like that. Your abilities extend towards Illusion, that is it. And in rare cases, elemental. But teleportation is out of the scope.” 

Ilyas narrowed his eyes. “So you’re suggesting there is a coalition out there?” 

“The Ardonian continent is full of all sorts of beings. Vampires, Werewolves, Ghouls, and even elf and human witches and wizards. There is no way it teleported here without a magician. I also highlight doubt that it had the illusive capabilities of a master, did it use any on you?” 

“Uhh…no, I don’t think so,” 

“Then it had help from a magician.” Hugo sighed. “This could be signs of a war boy.” 

Ilyas shook his head. “I doubt it. They’ve been there for centuries, they can’t change that now.” 

“Maybe that's why they can change it…” He sighed, looking once more at the body. “Anyway. I will transfer you a bounty. I think fifty thousand Keridium should cover it?” 

Ilyas’s eyes lit up. The past few weeks had been minor Darkdwellers here and there, without much pay of course. A goblin tuesday. A giant rat thursday. “Really? Sounds good to me.” 

“I’ll send it over immediately.” 

“Thanks old man,” He looked between him and Natalie. “I appreciate you patching me up too, Erza will kill me if I come home like this.” He smiled. 

“Wait,” Ilyas turned to Hugo’s voice. “Be careful. I don’t think it's a coincidence he ran into you and only you.”

He smiled. “Don’t worry, I’ll be safe.” He took off with a wave. As he re entered the cold embrace of the night, he looked at his phone as a notification went off. He looked down at his phone. His heart sank as he saw it. Under the money transfer there was Erza, her messages in all Caps. “WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU? WHAT IS THAT MESS OUTSIDE? WHY IS THERE BLOOD? WHY AREN'T YOU PICKING UP MY CALLS!” A pang of guilt choked his heart. He took in a deep breath as he realised it wasn’t the vampire who was his real threat, but his pseudo mother at home that was probably waiting to scold him. He double paced it, hitting a sprint to get home. When he eventually got to the house, he noticed the stake was gone from the door. He swallowed hard as he opened it, wondering what horrors awaited him. The door creaked open, to his surprise, he saw no one. Suddenly it shut behind him and a pan was brought over his head with so much force it bent. His eyes shut and his teeth gritted as he jumped, rubbing the top of his head. 

“You idiot!” Erza barked. “What was happening out there? All I heard was crashes and then you were gone.” She pulled out the stake. “And what is this? A stake? Were vampire hunters after you?”

He scratched the back of his head, looking to the side of the wall. “Actually, another vampire.” 

“Seriously?” Her arms dropped. “I need to tell Karim, what the hell are the Watchers doing if other vampires are making it this far. You idiot, you don't just leave after all of that.” 

“I know, I’m sorry-” 

She wrapped him in a tight hug. “I was worried.” her voice went away. 

His hands shot up in surprise, confused how to comfort her. “I’m sorry, it won't happen again.” His gaze softened as he realised he should have told her first, not the guild. A sense of guilt washed over him. 

She let go, smacking him again with the pan. “Better not be lying.” 

He rubbed the side of his head. He could feel it already swelling. “Ok, ok.” 

She held her hands on her hips before turning. “I’ll message Karim, we can talk about this more in the morning. Goodnight.” 

“Goodnight.” As she walked off to her room he sat down against the wall, still holding the hits. “What a day.”