In the woods outside a small village ,a figure creeped through the trees. They quietly slinked through the thick underbrush covered by the deep darkness; their path only illuminated by wisps of moonlight

illuminating pieces of their lithe body, dark skin, hood, and boots. The full moon shined greatly but the glow was devoured by the ravenous canopy above leaving only scraps behind. It didn’t matter to the figure though, they could’ve navigated as well with no moon at all for she spent most of her life climbing the trees and inspecting every branch. Now she couldn’t help but return with a renewed purpose…

To hunt

She paused and gazed ahead. She shut her eyes and focused, letting all the muted sounds of the forest brush past her as she analyzed it all with supernatural accuracy: The crisp autumn wind rustling leaves, a crow’s shriek, a single acorn falling onto the dirt, and the sounds of her target, a light rustling behind a bush. Her right hand quickly dashed to her satchel and fetched an iron bolt. She loaded into her wrist mounted crossbow without making a sound except for a satisfying click when it notched in place. With a steady hand she aimed it directly at the source of the sound…and fired.

whoosh

.

.

.

She waited for the sound of her prey falling over, crying out, even the sound of the bolt’s impact, but there was nothing. The bolt simply vanished in a second leaving her as still as a statue, watching the

bush with impossible focus. A still moment passed until something finally happened. Out of the bush a small creature, hardly 6 inches tall, slowly hobbled out on its two legs, one sadly limping against the dirt. As it stepped into a patch of moonlight it became clear what it was exactly. It was a tiny person. A lady with a slender face and shoulder length hair, both caked in dirt. She donned a ruined piece of white cloth that was as pale as her body, both covered in scratches and bruises, both shined in the moonlight. She looked up at the hunter with her large blue eyes and broke the silence

“...hi”

The hunter looked down at the meek creature before her, feeling a mix of confusion and compassion. She had only heard of shrunken people in fairy tales, never expecting to see one in real life, especially not on a hunt. She also couldn’t help but feel saddened looking at it limp across the forest floor.

“...Hello?”

The tiny looked up at the hunter, her form shrouded in darkness

“...is this yours?” She limped a bit to the side to show the hunter’s crossbow bolt that she had dragged out the bush.

“It is.” The hunter crouched down and picked up the bolt, returning it to her satchel. A simple action for her but for the tiny it was like seeing the landscape itself shift ever closer to her

“i-i’m sorry if I disturbed you”

“Do not worry. I was not after you. I am hunting something far greater. I must advise you, I do not think it is safe for you to be in these woods”

The tiny tilted her head curiously. “W-what are you hunting? What do you think is in the woods?” The hunter took a deep breath. “A truly horrible creature. A vampire”

The tiny took a step back and nervously chuckled “You think a vampire lives in these woods?”

“I do not think, I simply know” The hunter grunted. “Not one week ago half of the sheep in the village dropped dead overnight, but not from any sort of wolf. They had all of their blood drained with no claw marks or paw prints to speak of. Two days ago it happened again with a large herd of cattle. All gone in one night. No tracks left behind. That is why you must leave” The hunter spoke with an urgency underneath her stoic appearance and a growing sense of concern for the tiny in front of her.

“Oh wow” That was all the tiny said after listening to the hunter. “Madam, surely you aren't hunting for a vampire alone right? There sh-”

“No.” The hunter interrupted the tiny, losing her patience for a second. “There’s no one with me and that does not matter. You need to stay wherever you call-”

“Home?” The tiny looked up at The hunter. “I-I have no home miss…” Her face quivered with a deep sadness. “I’ve just stayed in the forest for so long, traveling to the village for supplies, but now they’re both too dangerous for me.” A single tear rolled down her cheek. She rushed to the hunter’s finger and hugged it for dear life. “Please let me come with you! You’re so skilled, I know you can keep me safe from that dreadful vampire!” She looked up with pure desperation and tears streaming down her face, her eyes glowing a deep blue

“O-Oh!” The hunter gasped at the sudden movement from the tiny, her begging chipping away at her hardened persona. She quickly cleared her throat “Very well. You may come with me…just. Just be as quiet as possible okay? Climb on” The hunter laid out her palm against the cold dirt and the tiny slowly stumbled onto her warm palm,trying not to put weight on her bad leg. “t-thank you” She laid back on her palm as the hunter slowly brought it up to her face, drinking up the warmth it constantly emanated. “M-My name is Catherine by the way. What’s yours?”

The hunter looked down at Catherine sprawled out on her palm. She was extremely cool to the touch, likely from her time surviving in these woods. Her fingers subconsciously started to close around Catherine until her entire body was surrounded by the thick pillars of flesh. She was eager to give Catherine all of her body heat, to keep her safe, to do anything to make her happy. Catherine reciprocated this by nuzzling against her thumb while looking at the hunter with wide eyes; she was so happy that they started to glow a bright yellow. The hunter suddenly felt a wave of relaxation wash over her for she knew that not only could she keep Catherine safe, but somehow Catherine could keep her safe too “I-I-I am Aria. Pleased to meet you”

Catherine smiled smugly “it’s been great meeting you too~” She chuckled “Also Aria, now that you mention it, just yesterday I heard a terrible fight over there” She pointed south, deeper into the woods. “I heard some gunshots and a lot of screaming over there, but I didn’t hear any sounds from an animal…d-do you think It could’ve been a vampire?” She said looking up to study Aria’s reaction

Aria nodded along, intrigued. “Unfortunately, it does seem likely. Can you guide me there?”

Catherine confidently nodded “I-I’ll try my best Aria. Just start walking that way” She pointed her dainty hand towards the deepest parts of the woods and like that, Aria started to hike deeper and deeper into the woods using her newfound companion as a makeshift compass

.

.

.

Aria shivered as she felt a presence wash over her as they crossed into the deep woods. She had not been here in many years, not since she was a child and that was for good reason. Then and now she couldn’t shake the feeling that she was being…watched. Her hunter’s instinct made her whip her head around at various trees, patches of dirt, anything to prove to herself that something really was there, but

“So…are you sure you’re alone? There’s no other hunters helping you with the vampire?” Catherine asked

“...” Aria sighed “no. The village is full of capable hunters but none wanted to come. It seemed I was the only one who believed the deaths were the result of a vampire. Everyone else blamed it on disease or even witchcraft”

Catherine looked at Aria curiously “Really? I mean, how did no one else think it was a vampire?”

“Because there were no visible bite marks. Every vampire story has the victim’s body marked by two holes in the neck, no farmer found one. They found hundreds of bug bites though, so now some believe it was an evil swarm of beetles.” She shook her head. “Only one other person believed in me and he was not a hunter. Merely a traveling merchant eager to sell ‘premium vampire hunting equipment’ for half of my gold” She rolled her eyes annoyed

Catherine perked up “W-what did he sell you?”

“Nothing of any use. He sold me garlic, a cure-all, and a box of silver bullets because ‘you never know what’s out there’. I don’t even own a gun.” She scoffed “He also gave me this-” Aria took her free hand and fished around in her satchel, she pulled her hand out to reveal an utterly bizarre object. It was a sealed clear tube of glass about the size of Aria’s arm. There was nothing inside or on it. There was no mechanism of any sort. “He claimed it could detect vampires. I only bought it because it was bundled with 3 days worth of rations.” She pouted “It was glowing in the store, a brilliant purple. I thought I could at least use it as a light.”

“Oh, it must be broken then” Catherine piped up “Sorry. I’m afraid he must have been a snake oil salesman. When you get back to town you should demand a refund!” She raised her voice with an adorable ferocity

Aria chuckled “Maybe I will, although there is a good chance he’s already off to the next town. At least he refilled my crossbow bolts, so that was worth something. His rations are also much better than I anticipated. Would you like some?”

Catherine instantly shook her head “N-no thank you. I’m really not hungry” She nodded “Very well, you can have some when we get back into town.”

Before either of them could say another word the air in the deep woods shifted as the trees that seemed to go on forever became more and more scarce. The gaps between them grew as they marched onward.

With one more step they had entered a clearing and at the center of it was a log cabin. Somehow the emptiness made it more unnerving to Aria, the foliage at least gave her cover to hide. Here there was only her and the cabin…and that feeling of being watched. Only much more intense as she felt a thousand invisible eyes cut through her like a swarm of daggers but when she tried to look for anyone, anything, there was nothing. There was only Catherine and the cabin. “Are you certain this is it?”

“Positive” With that they slinked towards the front door, Aria armed her crossbow and placed Catherine safely within her satchel. With that she opened the door…

 and was instantly hit with the smell of death. In the middle of the floor was the body of an older gentleman, fully drained of blood. The rest of the cabin remained untouched: The man’s bed, work desk, and fireplace were spotless. Besides that there was nothing to be found. As Aria gazed into the small cabin she felt two small bites at the back of her knees. She pivoted her entire body around, ready to fight but there was nothing there. Suddenly she leaned against the wall for balance. In an instant her world had shifted around and she had lost all sense of balance. She stumbled inside and slunk onto the floor to catch her bearings. Catherine quickly popped out of the bag. “Oh no! Are you feeling okay Aria? Don’t worry, just stay here and I’ll find you something to make you feel better!”

“N-no don-n’t I- I have…” Aria tried to slur out a response, but before she could Catherine was already out the door. Aria managed to take out a small glass bottle from her satchel with quivering hands and brought some of the liquid to her mouth. This was the cure-all she briefly told Catherine about, it helped against most poisons. She sat still for a moment waiting for her strength to fully return when she noticed something. That tube of glass the merchant sold her, it started to glow again, the brilliant purple flooded the house. Aria stared at it in wonder for a few moments until

“I’m back!” Catherine walked in through the door holding 6 small berries in her arms and started to limp towards her. With every step she took the light got dimmer and dimmer until it was empty once more as she looked on in disbelief “Everything okay Aria?”

 “...yes” She chuckled. “Everything is fine. It’s starting to make sense” Aria gazed at her with a tense expression. “Hey Catherine… Where’s the gun?”

She stopped and stared at Aria for a moment, genuinely caught off guard “...what gun?”

“You told me you heard gun shots here” Aria pointed her wrist mounted crossbow at Catherine as she got up on her feet “Where’s the gun?” she demanded an answer even though she knew the truth deep down. She still looked at Catherine dead-on trying to maintain her composure

“W-what?” Catherine dropped to the floor and began to whimper “I-I don’t know anything about a gun Aria! P-please don’t point that at me! I-It’s so scary…” She pathetically spat out as she began to cry, her eyes glowing a heartbreaking blue that could light up the night. For a moment Aria hesitated, regret washing over her. She brought down her crossbow “Look I’m sorry, I-”

WHAM

Aria suddenly drops to the floor banging her head against the hardwood. She frantically looked around for her attacker but there was nothing, except for Catherine’s after image blazing across the floor faster than any animal could. Aria scrambled onto her feet and readied her crossbow waiting for another attack. She spots a brief flash of Catherine against the floor and she fires at it.

whoosh

As the bolt flew in the air Catherine stopped the moment it touched her undead skin. She froze in place… holding the crossbow bolt in one of her tiny hands. “Wow, you really are a great shot Aria!. My turn!” She laughed as she threw the bolt directly at Aria. She tried to dodge with her full body but she was just too slow. The bolt hit directly in her calf, piercing through her flesh and bone like a bullet, shooting out of the cabin wall with a sonic boom. Aria was brought to her knees trying to catch her breath as the unbearable pain rocketed through her whole body, leaving her defenseless as Catherine slowly approached

“I’m honestly surprised you figured it out. I didn’t give you enough credit” She chuckled “It’s so sad you got distracted at the end though. Wonder what could have caused that?” Her eyes started to glow again, this time an oppressive blue, painting Aria’s body like spotlights making pure uncontrollable sadness wash over her as she began to sob. That’s how she figured it out, that Catherine was controlling her emotions.