Chapter 1: Creatures of the Night
Talha Hashmi
Jek stood before the mouth of an imposing cave, checking and double-checking the map his employer, Cyrus, had given him to make sure he was at the right place. Of course the scent of fresh blood from within should’ve been a dead giveaway. But Cyrus had told him he’d be providing back-up to a group of Hunters that had already been dispatched and should have been waiting for him here; they were to investigate this cave which was supposedly of interest to the Vampires given the recent sightings. Regardless, he’d taken on the job, and he intended to see it through. He gave himself a last minute check, taking stock of his equipment for what must’ve been the third time in the past hour to make sure he was prepared for what was likely to be a harsh venture.
Sword, knife, bow, arrows, potions… he mentally ran down the list, checking things off as he patted them down. Once he felt satisfied with the once-over, he glanced up at the sun high up in the sky, brows furrowing as he studied its position.
“…Six hours to sundown,” Jek estimated. “Should still be light by the time I’m out.”
He finally entered the cave, creeping cautiously through the uneven corridors until he spotted the light of a torch up ahead, and the scent of blood got all the more potent; he lowered himself into a crouch as he slowly approached to assess the situation. Taking cover behind an outcropping of rock, he peered over to see three figures: the first was lying still on the floor surrounded by a pool of blood, the second was hunched over on the ground, snarling as it tore ravenously into the remains of the first. Standing behind them both with a composed demeanor was the third, clad in dark robes and holding a torch as he looked on at the scene, his dark, glowing red eyes glinting with morbid amusement.
Jek clenched his teeth as he pieced it together, one Vampire, one Feral… and one that can’t be helped. By his guess, the poor soul on the ground was likely a member of the group he was supposed to meet up with— and odds are that was the case with the Feral as well. Jek quietly slipped the bow from his back and nocked an arrow, taking aim at the dark robed figure; while the Feral could be vicious, it was still distracted by its current meal, and a Vampire would be far more dangerous if it got the chance to fight back. No, it would need to be taken out first.
The bowstring let out a soft ‘thwack’ as Jek loosed the arrow, and he watched with grim satisfaction as it found its mark in the back of the Vampire’s neck, making it drop the torch and crumple with a faint gurgling sound. Leaving his cover behind the rock, Jek stalked forward past the crumbling Vampire and towards the preoccupied Feral, unsheathing his knife as he got closer. As he got within range, he lunged forward to bury the knife into the base of its skull, giving it a swift end as it crumbled to dark gray ash. Wrenching the knife free, he cleaned it off before returning it to its sheath. He bent down to examine the corpse the Feral was devouring, and though the damage made its features near unrecognizable, he could tell by the tattered uniform that it was one of Cyrus’ men. He shook his head with a regretful sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose.
“…Damn, should’ve gotten here sooner. Hopefully I can find at least one of you still alive,” he muttered to himself. And if there weren’t any survivors, Cyrus would be even shorter on manpower than he already was— there was a reason he started approaching independent mercenaries like Jek for assistance.
He stood up and turned to the remains of the Vampire, now also reduced to a pile of dimly glowing ashes amidst dark cloth. He retrieved his arrow from the pile, inspecting it for any damage before sliding it back into his quiver. He took a last look at the scene before moving on, picking up the fallen torch as he started heading deeper into the cave.
After walking for a while he began to notice the walls around him start to get more… deliberate, man-made. This only got more apparent as he saw a carved archway ahead of him, housing an ornate stone door. As he approached the door, he pressed his ear to its surface but couldn’t hear anything coming from within. He discarded the torch and slowly pushed the door open, noting with some frustration that it was nigh impossible to open quickly. Upon opening it, he walked through onto a balcony, looking out over a large circular room with a high, domed ceiling and torches lining the walls. Encircling the center was an array of dark, ornate columns, and in the middle was a large monolith of cracked black stone engraved with a glowing white rune, its light seeming to bleed into the cracks surrounding it.
Surrounding the monolith were four more figures, with one seeming to be the leader among them as he examined, poked, and prodded the black stone, while the rest stood around him as if waiting for something to happen— or simply waiting for orders. One Vampire, three thralls. That monolith must contain whatever artifact they’re here for.
Surrounding the group were about half a dozen bodies, all wearing a similar uniform to the one he saw earlier, lying still as their blood seeped into the crevices of the ground.
Jek scowled, So much for survivors. I should deal with this quickly. Taking out the Vampire should get rid of the thralls… but that’ll be hard to do when they’re all surrounding him. Damn, no easy way out of this.
He drew his sword and took cautious steps down the stairs beside the balcony, keeping his eyes focused for any movements from the group. As he reached the bottom, he had only taken a few steps before the Vampire spotted him, a predatory grin now showing on his face as he watched Jek with glowing red eyes.
“Ah, were you with the rest of these humans? Apologies, but I’m afraid you’re a bit late. Don’t feel too bad, I’ll send you to them quickly.” He glanced at his thralls and gestured dismissively at Jek, “Kill the dog,” he said before turning his attention back to the monolith.
Jek inwardly smirked as he readied his sword to face the oncoming thralls. While they were armed and had strength in numbers, thralls were still simply shells in the end— single-minded and relatively predictable. If this Vampire was arrogant enough to think the thralls would be able to handle him, then this may be easier than Jek thought.
The first thrall swung its axe sideways with far too much force at Jek’s head, an overcommitted blow leaving it wide open and with too much momentum, which he capitalized on by thrusting his blade into its abdomen. As he removed the blade making the thrall crumble like a sack of rocks, the second thrall held a large greatsword aloft, attempting a powerful overhead strike; Jek managed to deflect the blow before quickly bringing out his knife to embed it into the side of the thrall’s skull. Finally, he turned his attention to the last one as it started charging at him like a bull, holding its spear out in front of it. He let it come forward before side-stepping and grabbing the shaft by the front, swinging his sword down the middle to break the spear in half. Taking the broken spear in hand, he thrust it point-first into the thrall’s neck to finish it off.
He then focused on the Vampire, who seemingly hadn’t noticed his thralls were already gone as he kept looking around the monolith, his expression starting to show annoyance as he tried to figure it out. Jek’s eyes twitched with irritation at being ignored, but he wouldn’t complain about the chance to take a free shot. Picking up the broken spear, he hurled it at the Vampire’s back… only for it to embed itself in the monolith beside his head.
Jek cursed as the Vampire turned to him with fury in his eyes, conjuring a viscous red energy in his hand before thrusting it forward like a tendril. Jek just managed to avoid getting skewered and broke into a forward sprint with tight focus in his icy blue eyes. This seemed to surprise the Vampire for a moment, but it didn’t last as he thrust his other hand forward to send out another tendril that found its mark in Jek’s side. He gritted his teeth through the pain and sliced through the tendril before pushing forward, growling with near-primal anger as he got within range, aiming a slash at his enemy’s throat only for the Vampire to grab the blade before it could find its mark, hissing in pain as it dug into his skin. He opened his jaws wide, revealing his fangs as he tried to lunge forward at Jek’s neck… only to be met with a smaller blade embedding itself in his mouth.
Jek was breathing heavily as he jerked the knife free from the Vampire’s mouth, watching as it crumbled to ash in front of him. As the adrenaline wore off, he winced at the pain in his side, his hand coming away slicked with blood. He reached into a pouch and pulled out a small flask. He undid one of the leather wrappings on his arm with practiced ease, biting down on one end of it as he uncorked the flask before raising it over his wound and dripping the contents down onto it. He stifled his groans as he felt the pain start to dull. He hoped the potion was enough; he wasn’t sure he could handle another fight otherwise. Turning his attention to the monolith, his brows furrowed as he examined the glowing white rune. He began tracing it with a finger and noticed the white light had turned red where he had touched it. He blinked, glancing at his hand covered in blood as an idea came to him; he placed his palm to cover the rune and it shifted entirely to red as the monolith started to shake.
“…So the Vampire didn’t think to try using blood,” he snorted with amusement as he glanced at its ashes. “Idiot.”
The cracks on the monolith started to expand until eventually it crumbled entirely, revealing it to be hollow on the inside, housing a now dissipating magic barrier and… a woman? As the barrier disappeared, the woman fell forward with a groan and Jek instinctively moved in, catching her by the shoulders to keep her upright. Dark hair fell around her pale face as her eyes slowly fluttered open, showing crimson sclera and glowing yellow irises. Jek released her and stepped back in shock, hand now ready to draw his sword as the woman stumbled again with an alarmed yelp.
She raised her head to look at him with confusion, “What was that for?”
He just stared at her, equally confused by her demeanor. “…You’re a Vampire.”
“…Yes? I still would’ve appreciated the help. You didn’t have to just drop me.”
Jek blinked, seeming outright bewildered now, “You’re… not gonna attack me?”
The woman tilted her head as she stood up, “Why would I? You’re the one that got me out, right? And from the looks of things…” she glanced at the bodies around them and the red stain seeping through his tan tunic, “…it definitely wasn’t easy for you. Who are you, anyway?”
“I’m… a mercenary. I was hired to investigate this cave after some Vampires were seen poking around. I thought they were looking for an artifact… but it’s you they’re after, isn’t it?”
She nodded, “That’s a safe guess. And before you ask, it’s a bit of a long story, and I think we’ll want to get out of this place before we start getting into that. I’m Reina, by the way.”
“Wait— we?” Jek said, still caught off guard by how… amicable the woman seemed.
“Yeah. You’re quite literally the only person I know right now, so I’ll be sticking with you if you’re alright with helping me out, at least until I get my bearings. What’s your name?”
He considered for a moment before eventually responding, “…Jek.”
Reina blinked, now wearing a quizzical expression, “That’s… an unusual name.”
“Yeah,” he didn’t elaborate. “And I have to say I’ve never met a Vampire that didn’t want to kill me on sight.”
“I’m not interested in making enemies, I just want to get home and figure out what’s going on,” Reina said, “…Think you can at least help me with that?”
Jek considered for a moment; she seemed… oddly friendly, so he couldn’t in good conscience turn her over to Cyrus, who would likely just kill her on the spot. Eventually he nodded, “Fine, so long as you explain why those other Vampires were after you.” If nothing else, he could return to Cyrus with some information to fulfill the contract.
“It’s a deal. Now let’s get out of here, I’ve had more than enough of this place.”
Jek guided Reina back through the cave until they came out through the entrance, the sun starting to set above them. Reina had made sure to grab a cloak off of a fallen Vampire and slipped the hood over her head as she stepped outside, not wanting to take any chances with the sunlight. Meanwhile, Jek was examining his map for the location Reina had told him, tracing a path from their current position to one on the coast, where her home was.
About a six day trip if we’re on foot… he glanced up at the sky as it gradually darkened, seemingly trying to gauge something. It’s a gamble, but hopefully there won’t be any complications.
He turned to Reina, and felt some amusement as he saw her looking at their surroundings with wonder; he didn’t know how long she was in there, but he felt it safe to say things probably looked a lot different than what she remembered. He cleared his throat to get her attention, gesturing towards the direction they were supposed to go.
“It’ll take us about a week. Are you alright going on foot?” he asked.
She smirked a bit as she nodded, “There are some advantages to being a Vampire, you know. Like good stamina, for one.”
The two began their trek in a strangely companionable silence, with Reina occasionally asking the odd question about what had changed while she was asleep. Jek had realized she must’ve been sealed away about 1800 years ago, if her recollection of history at the time was anything to go by. Soon enough the sun finally set for night to take its place , and Jek was scanning for a good spot to set up camp until he felt a resounding, painful thumping in his chest.
BA-BUMP
…Shit.
Reina wasn’t sure what to make of Jek when she first saw him; he certainly didn’t look very impressive at first glance, aside from being well-armed. With unkempt black hair reaching the base of his neck, a face marred by scars that looked like they came from some sort of beast, crude clothes that looked as though they’d been torn up and sewn back together at least a dozen times over, and heavy bags under his eyes that belied their steely focus, she was tempted to write him off as a simple drifter– though it didn’t take long to figure out that he was much more capable than he first appeared. So imagine her surprise when Jek suddenly turned to her while they were out in the woods, a frantic look in his eyes as his words came out in a rush.
“There’s a town about an hour’s trip over that way. I’ll meet you there in the morning, keep an eye on these in the meantime.”
He hastily offloaded all his weapons into her arms and abruptly took off in the opposite direction of town, already undoing the leather wrappings on his arms.
Reina stood still for a moment, confused at the complete shift in demeanor before she called out, already moving to follow him. “Wait a second, where do you think you’re going?”
Jek began to move faster, not even sparing a glance back as his voice came out in a much harsher tone: “Run to town. Now. I’ll explain later.”
Reina’s brows furrowed as he broke into a sprint, and she quickly moved to pursue, though a nagging feeling in her head told her to keep a safe distance. She kept following until she saw him practically collapse in a small clearing, hastily tossing aside his tunic just as a low, shuddering growl escaped his throat.
“…Jek?” she said tentatively.
He turned his head to face her, and Reina was alarmed to see the sheer panic in his eyes— and it only compounded as she saw his sclera darken to an inky black, irises shifting from icy blue to a glowing, sickly yellow. When he spoke again, it sounded as though he was straining to keep his voice under control.
“I said… run—” he managed to say just as his voice turned to a pained snarl.
Reina could only watch as Jek’s body started to contort, his limbs and torso elongating unnaturally as his skin darkened to an ashen gray. Black, matted fur grew all around his body while his face stretched out painfully to resemble a wolf’s muzzle, teeth sharpening into large fangs as his ears grew long and pointed. Finally, with its transformation complete, the creature stood up fully to turn its gaze to the waning moon, fixing it with a look resembling betrayal as it let out a noise that could only be described as something between a primal roar and an anguished scream.
Talha Hashmi is an undeclared major, and expects to graduated within the School of Arts and Sciences at Rutgers in the fall of 2026. He is interested in graphic design, animation, and game design.
Talha wrote this piece in a course taught by Richard Murray, who selected the piece for inclusion in WHR.