A/N: Happy Easter!!! …If you celebrate it. Otherwise, Happy not-Easter!!

 

Chapter 8:

 

The sun had set, and night had fallen as I made my way through Central Park. There were still a few people wandering around, but the crowds were quickly disappearing. That was perfect for me. I made sure to stay on the path as I walked through the park. A few people gave me curious looks, but nobody stopped to talk to me. 

 

After about 15 minutes, the majority of normal people had completely vacated the area. The only people I could see remaining were the homeless, who were all starting to pitch their tents for the night and band together. There are groups of them sporadically strewn around the park. 

 

Nearby, between a pair of large trees, there was a small group of five men setting up their tents for the night. They looked like the cleanest and friendliest of the nearby groups, so I decided to approach them first. I walked over to potentially offer some healing to get some easy XP and to inquire about any gang activity nearby at this time of night.

 

As I walked over, I noticed one of the men was in a wheelchair. He was wearing a Vietnam vest, showing he was a veteran, and he was missing an entire leg. It was cut off right at the knee. He had a battery-powered lantern hanging off the side of his wheelchair. He was using the light to read a romance novel of all things. 

 

That drew a small chuckle out of me.

 

When I approached, he glanced up at me and frowned. "You shouldn't be out here at this time of night, girl. It's not safe for you." He warned me.

 

I stood in front of him and smiled at his concern. Here he was with some pretty shit circumstances in life, yet he was still worried about other people. “Thank you for your concern. You don't have to worry about me, though. I find that… I'm quite at home in the dark." I said while grinning. The night was my domain after all.

 

His eyes met my own, and I noticed that he quickly stiffened. He was no longer looking at me in concern, but wariness instead. He gulped nervously before he spoke again. "I'd heard rumors from other drifters over the years, but I never thought I'd meet one of your kind myself…"

 

"My kind?" I asked him. Did he somehow know what I was? That was surprising.

 

"I know what you are! Your kind prey on people like me and my friends all over the country! You stalk us in the night and pick us up when we least expect it! The government might not believe us, but we know what you are…Vampire!" He spat out. 

 

My eyes widened in surprise. Leave it to the homeless community to be the only ones who actually believe in the supernatural. 

 

Although, when his words truly sunk in, I grimaced. It sounded like other vampires specifically preyed on the homeless. It made sense in a way. They were easy targets that wouldn't be missed, but it was still wrong from my standpoint. I wanted to only go after evil people.

 

I raised my hands placatingly. "You have nothing to fear from me. I don't believe in going after innocent people. I actually approached you to ask if you knew about any particularly bad gangs nearby that I could target. Has anybody been causing trouble lately around here?" I asked him.

 

"Is everything all right over here, Tony?" Another homeless man walked over towards us. He had been busy setting up a tent this entire time. He noticed our raised voices.

 

The man in the wheelchair, called Tony, glanced at his friend quickly before his eyes returned to me. He was still looking at me warily when he let out a sigh. “Yes, Larry, everything's fine. Isn't that right?” He asked me.

 

“It sure is.” I replied.

 

"If your kind has to go after anybody, then I suppose it's not so bad that you target the worst kinds of people. Yes, there have been some people giving our community a lot of trouble. Some people I know in passing have been grabbed out of nowhere and thrown into the back of unmarked vans. We never see them again after they’re taken." Tony told me.

 

"How many people are we talking about?" I asked him.

 

The new guy, Larry, spoke up. "I'm not exactly sure what's going on over here, but if you're asking about the missing people, so far it's around 10–maybe 20 people in total have disappeared in the past month." He said before he pointed around the park. He pointed at all the other small encampments nearby. “As you can see, no one wants to sleep alone anymore. Everybody's banding together in groups of five or more so they can't pick us off."

 

{Quest Started: Investigate who is abducting the local homeless population and put a stop to them!} 

 

{Reward: +1000 XP}

 

{Failure: You’ll feel bad for not trying.}

 

“Is there any specific area where the most people have disappeared?” I asked. 

 

Tony lifted his arm and pointed off into the distance. “Over that way, there's a lot more trees. It's a lot darker. Mary and Jesse went over that way about three nights ago and never came back. Most of us avoid that area now but a couple of the crazier guys are too stubborn and still go over there at night. It's only a matter of time for them.” He lamented.

 

Even though he was afraid of me and very nervous, he was still very helpful. I kindly thanked him again. “Before I go, I can't help but notice that you're missing your—erm—leg.” I said while glancing down…

 

Me pointing out the obvious seemed to have broken the tension. He actually cracked a small smile. "I see you've noticed old Stumpy here!" He said boisterously while patting his missing left leg. "Me and him didn't get along very well at first, but we're all right now!"

 

“...”

 

[Hehe! I like this guy, he's funny.]

 

Meh, I give that joke a solid B at best. “I was wondering if you want your leg back?” I asked the veteran. He had been helpful so far, and I did feel bad that he had lost some of his friends recently. The less altruistic part of me also couldn't help but want to experiment with my Mutant Gear as well. Would it be able to regrow entire missing limbs? I wanted to know.

 

"What!?" Larry exclaimed.

 

“Are you trying to mess with me, girly?” Tony said. His scowl was back.

 

"I'm not messing with you. Truth be told, I'm only half vampire. I'm also half mutant. My mutant power is healing. I've never healed a missing limb before and wanted to see if I could do it. What have you got to lose?" I asked him with a grin. 

 

I didn't care about giving any of this information away either, at the end of the day he was still a homeless man. He could run right up to CNN's headquarters and start shouting to the heavens that a Mutant Dhampir had healed his missing limb, and absolutely nobody would pay attention to him at all… 

 

[That's sad, but absolutely true.]

 

…

 

I walked away from their small group a couple minutes later with a little bit extra XP. 

 

{+10 XP}

 

Obviously, the guy didn’t have anything to lose. He was already down a leg and homeless, it couldn’t get much worse from there.

 

He humored me and let me experiment on him a bit. I summoned my Grail of the Night Queen and told him to drink from it. 

 

After he downed the entire cup, he started to grit his teeth in pain while his body started to shake. I feared he'd start convulsing or frothing at the mouth, but it thankfully didn't come to that. Instead, there was a squelching noise as the skin around his knee tore open. A brand new lower leg shot out and started to rapidly take form. To everyone's shock, including my own, it only took a few seconds for his entire limb to completely reform!

 

[A few VERY gross seconds.]

 

That was true… But, I now knew for sure that my Mutant Gear was OP as hell! The Grail of the Night Queen was absolutely amazing! 

 

[Of course, ALL the rewards that I bestow upon you will be absolutely amazing! Only my awesomeness could combine a Sacred Gear with a Mutant Bloodline and actually get it to work. If anyone else had attempted such a feat, you would have exploded into a bloody pile of goo!]

 

‘Thanks for putting that lovely thought in my mind!’ I thought sarcastically as I made my way through the trees. I didn’t see or hear anyone nearby yet. Tony had mentioned that most people tended to stay away from this area at night, but there should still be a few of the more stubborn ones around here somewhere.

 

[You're welcome!]

 

I crouched under a few low-hanging branches to avoid getting smacked in the face. ‘I have a question for you, System.’ 

 

[And I might have an answer.]

 

I rolled my eyes at the System’s sitting reply. ‘What do my Stats mean exactly? Like, how do the numbers match up to other people?’

 

Valerie Tepes (Mutant-Dhampir Princess)

Class: Gunslinger (8/100)

Sacred Gear: Grail of the Night Queen

Lv = 2 (170/400 XP)

Health = 2750/2750 (Constitution x 100 + Lv x 10)

Health Regeneration = (Constitution Per Minute x 10) 

Mana = 450 (Intelligence x 10 + Lv x 10)

Mana Regeneration = (Wisdom x 10 Per Minute)

 

Stats:

 

Constitution = 25

Strength = 20

Dexterity = 20

Intelligence = 25

Wisdom = 20

Charisma = 41

 

Perks: 

Gamer’s Mind 

Gamer’s body 

Observe 

Commanding Voice

 

Skills: Blades 1, Guns 1

 

[You're just asking this now!? This is usually one of the first things Gamers ask…]

 

I puffed my cheeks in annoyance. ‘Yeah, well… I had more important things to think about.’ 

 

[Like getting laid by a hot milf?]

 

‘Exactly! Now can you just tell me, please? Actually, I understand pretty much every stat besides Strength and Dexterity. How are those two quantified?’ I asked.

 

[Both of them represent how much weight you can lift and how fast you are respectively. Strength is measured in kilograms and dexterity in kilometers per hour.]

 

Wait… I did some quick mental math in my head since I was more used to the English system. Doesn't that mean I'm incredibly weak and slow!? I can only lift 44 pounds and run at 12 MPH!? 

 

It must have been a miracle that I took down those gang members when I was so physically weak…

 

[You're about average at this point for a girl your age in Dexterity. And your strength is only slightly below average. You can increase those two stats by doing physical training, or every time you level up all stats increase by 5 respectively. You're also in the Marvel Universe, and there are plenty of ways here to make yourself stronger and faster.]

 

That makes sense. At least I knew where I stood physically. The other Stats were all pretty straightforward, except maybe Intelligence. ‘Does Intelligence make me smarter?’ I asked.

 

[Intelligence affects your total Mana Pool and VERY slightly affects your actual intelligence as the Stat increases.]

 

‘Why only slightly?’

 

[A rapid increase in intelligence can completely erase a person's personality. You wouldn't even be ‘you’ anymore if your IQ jumped dozens of points in an instant!]

 

That made sense. I would like to be a bit smarter, but not so smart I basically become a new person. I like myself the way I am right now and I wouldn’t want to become some shut-in egghead, stuck in a lab all day long, wasting my undead life away.

 

I thanked the System as I made my way through the darkest section of the park. I almost thought tonight was going to be a bust when I heard muffled voices up ahead.

 

“Let me go you bastard! I'm a sovereign citizen and you can't do this to me!” I heard a man's muffled cries followed by a short scuffle and other men letting out plenty of expletives.

 

I peaked my way around a tree and saw a homeless man had been bound and ganged by a group of three other men. All of them dressed like typical gangbanger thugs. 

 

The homeless man was thrashing around wildly and giving it his all to get away from them. Even with his limbs tied up he was putting up a good struggle. One of the thugs got too close and ended up getting a headbutt in the face. There was loud crunching noise.

 

“Gah! My fucking nose! Fuck you, you homelass trash!” He said while clutching his broken nose.

 

I gulped at the sight of blood pouring down his face. I had to hold myself back from immediately charging forwards.

 

“Dammit! His yelling might attract the whole park over here! We gotta go!” Another of the thugs spat angrily. He kicked the homeless man in the stomach to get him to stop struggling. 

 

“What!? We're only grabbing one tonight?” The third guy asked. “ These wastes of space are worth 1000 bucks a head and we were told to come back with at least 3!” 

 

“That's too damn bad, they'll have to settle for one!  Besides, we won't be able to spend the extra cash if we get swarmed by a mob of pissed off hobos and beaten to death ourselves! Throw this piece of shit in the back of the van and let's go!” The first one said as he grabbed their prisoner by his feet and started dragging him to an unmarked blue van. The other two thugs quickly helped.

 

I considered drawing my gun and shooting these three, but I decided against it. I would probably end up failing the quest. Judging by their words, somebody was paying cash for all these people getting abducted. If I followed the van now, I might be able to find out who. 

 

My leathery batwings sprang out from behind me. I slowly levitated off the ground until I was directly above the treetops. The three men hopped in the van and it started driving out of the park. They had to drive slowly to avoid all the trees in the dark. In case it wasn't obvious, people weren't supposed to be driving cars through the middle of the park. It was easy enough to follow after them from above. 

 

These guys were incredibly paranoid. Once they cleared the park, instead of driving on the main roads, they went out of their way to take every single back alley possible to get to their destination. On the upside, it made it a lot easier to follow them. They couldn't drive much faster than I could fly.

 

I had noticed, as I was following them, that in the air I could fly about twice as fast as I moved on the ground. With my wings out, my Dexterity was basically doubled. Also, I discovered that I was able to push mana into my wings and make myself fly even faster. For only a couple hundred mana, I was able to fly as fast as the average car could drive on the highway. This would make getting back to Frost Manor later a lot easier at least.

 

After following the van for around 10 minutes, it finally pulled out of its last back alley and drove forward towards a large warehouse. This warehouse had five other blue unmarked vans currently parked outside of it along with at least a dozen men currently unloading all of their ‘cargo.’ 

 

There were another couple men watching them, and they belonged to a completely different group. They didn't look like thugs at all, they looked like professional soldiers. They were all wearing dark tactical gear, along with bulletproof vests and carrying assault rifles. These were professional soldiers or mercenaries of some kind.

 

Just what kind of operation did I stumble onto here?

 

I quietly landed on a rooftop across from the warehouse and peaked over the ledge to spy on them. With my enhanced eyes and ears, I was able to make out what was going on.

 

The armed mercenaries were happy with the other four groups, but upset with the group I had followed here. The three men were getting scolded for only being able to abduct a single person when the other groups all brought back two or three people each.

 

“We promised a thousand dollars a head, but that was only contingent on you guys bringing us multiple people! You only brought one man, so you don't get any pay!” One of the mercenaries said as he grabbed hold of the bound homeless man and started dragging him into the creepy warehouse.

 

“What!? That's bullshit! We did our fucking job!” One of the thugs complained. “That's our money, we deserve it! My nose got broken for this shit!”

 

“Yeah! We couldn't help it, man! This fucker here started yelling loudly and he was going to bring everyone nearby down on us!” Another one added.

 

“Give us our fucking grand or we’re going to cap your ass!” The last one pulled a pistol from his waistband and started brandishing it around. Every single mercenary raised their assault rifles and pointed them right at him. He gulped and glanced around nervously. “I–I’m just playing... We’ll get more people for you…We promise.” He said as he shakily put his gun back in his pants and backed away slowly.

 

It looks like the mercenaries were taking a second to decide whether or not they should shoot the idiot. I guess they decided not to when they lowered all of their weapons. The lead one spoke up. “Don't try that shit again or we’ll fill you with lead and drop your corpse down the sewer with the crocs! Now get in your fucking van and bring us more people! Our employers wanted 15 people tonight and we only have 13. Do the fucking math and bring us more!” He commanded threateningly. 

 

“Ok ok, we’re going!” The group I followed here all got back into the van. They drove off hastily while the other four groups of thugs laughed at them. 

 

“What a bunch of pansies…”

 

“This is one of the easiest jobs ever, how could they fuck it up?”

 

The lead mercenary addressed them all next. “You all did good work tonight. Come inside and collect your money.” He then spoke to a couple other mercenaries. “You three patrol around the warehouse, we don't want any uninvited guests like last time. That damn vigilante almost exposed our entire operation already!” 

 

All of the thugs followed the lead mercenary inside the warehouse. They sealed the door shut behind them. Only three people were left outside with four empty vans.

 

“All right, let's hope the boss can finish up quickly inside. Spread out and keep your fucking eyes open. We don't want that ski mask wearing mother-fucker sneaking up on us again!” The three mercenaries outside split up and started patrolling different sections of the warehouse exterior. 

 

I knew that I wasn't going to get a better opportunity to pick them off than right now. 

 

One of the mercenaries started patrolling around the darkest side of the building where the street lights didn't reach. I could see that he was gripping his weapon tightly, and his head was rapidly shifting left and right as he walked forward. One place he wasn't looking, though, was above him.

 

I took a step off the rooftop and silently hovered in the sky. I started flying quietly towards the mercenary. I lowered myself towards the ground as quietly as possible. 

 

When my feet touched the ground directly behind him, I reached into my inventory and grabbed hold of my Black Revolver. I hesitated before shaking my head and putting it back inside. A gunshot would be way too loud and would end up alerting all the other mercenaries outside. 

 

Instead, I grabbed hold of the iron knife and gripped it tightly.

 

"Man, I hate patrolling this creepy fucking warehouse..." The man in front of me whispered to himself. “It's so dark, and it feels like something's going to jump out at me any second…” 

 

A cruel grin spread over my face before I whispered behind him. "I don't need to jump out at you… I'm already here." I said with a creepy sounding giggle. 

 

“Wah!” He was startled and jumped a few inches in the air. I didn't want to make any more noise. 

 

My left hand quickly snaked around his head and covered his mouth! My right arm lifted the dagger, in my hand, and slammed it directly into the side of his neck! 

 

A quiet muffled scream left his mouth. His body immediately started spasming in my hold. He was quickly going into shock. The rifle he was holding fell from his hand onto the ground where it clattered harmlessly. He desperately tried to reach for it but quickly lost all his strength. 

 

When I knew he wouldn't even be able to scream anymore, I pulled my left hand away from his mouth. I held on to the other side of his neck, and with my right hand, I yanked the knife back out. A small fountain of blood started spurting out and landed all over me! It completely covered my upper torso and my hands. 

 

Thankfully, I had changed outfits back into the crappy clothes the system had acquired for me. I knew I would probably end up covered in blood tonight. I didn't want to ruin one of my multi-thousand dollar designer outfits.

 

His body started to go limp. I wasn't strong enough to hold him up, especially with all the extra equipment he was carrying that made him even heavier. I let him fall to the ground as I examined the bloody knife in my right hand. My breathing picked up and my eyes were honed and on the red liquid coating the metal. I tentatively brought the knife up to my face. I stuck my tongue out and carefully licked it.

 

My senses exploded in delight! It was amazing! It tasted absolutely divine! The only word I could use to describe it was ambrosia itself! The nectar of the Gods!

 

I quickly started licking the knife all over to make sure I didn't miss a drop of the delicious blood! When it was completely clean I started licking my hands and fingers next. It wasn't enough. I needed more!

 

I glanced down at the body at my feet. I actually felt regret when I noticed blood was pouring out of the man's neck and onto the dirty ground below. 

 

What an absolute waste! 

 

I quickly crouched down and put my face right up against his wound. With zero hesitation I opened my mouth wide and bit down. I began to drink more of that delicious nectar from his neck until there was none left.

 

When he was drained dry, I stood back up and wiped my lips. 

 

{+10 XP}

 

“Thank you for the meal.” I grinned at the unmoving body on the ground. The body was a lot more pale now. I also had a feeling that I might be a bit of a glutton. The burning thirst in my throat had receded, but it wasn’t completely gone yet. I think I could use one or two more people…

 

[Don’t go drinking so much that you puke.]

 

I spread my wings and flew back upwards into the air. I was trying to spot the other two mercenaries. ‘Is that even possible?’ I asked the System.

 

[Maybe? I’ve never had a vampire as my Host before, so I wouldn’t know.]

 

I spotted another one of the mercenaries behind the warehouse. He looked like he might have heard my scuffle with his buddy. He was slowly making his way around the side. His gun was aimed out in front of him as he warily pointed it everywhere he looked. His finger was on the trigger as he looked around nervously. 

 

I might have been a bit blood drunk at this point. I was a lot less hesitant at how I chose to go after this second mercenary. Instead of sneaking up quietly, I flipped myself around and dive bombed him! I pumped 200 Mana into my wings and rocketed downwards like a falling star!

 

He must have heard my body cutting through the air, because he looked up at the last second. His eyes widened in shock when he saw me hurling towards him. He brought up his rifle and tried to shoot me down. His aim was off as a few bullets whizzed through the air past me. Our two bodies collided at high speed as I tackled him!

 

{-500HP}

 

There was a sickening crack as I smashed directly into his torso. I wasn’t sure whether he had broken some bones from the impact, or I had. Maybe both of us did as the momentum carried us downwards. We both hit the ground hard.

 

The man let out a cry of agony. “Oh God! *cough* What the fuck!?” He groaned loudly in pain. He was on his back facing the sky, but wasn’t moving.

 

My HP was already starting to quickly refill as I achingly stood up. That would have been a really dumb move if I couldn't heal quickly. 

 

I crouched down over the seriously injured mercenary and looked him in the eyes. He was absolutely terrified as he looked back up at me. He was pretty messed up. I’m pretty sure that the sickening crack I heard was his collarbone getting broken. Maybe some of his other important bones as well. 

 

“Please…help me… I don’t want to die. It was just a job.” He begged me between strangled coughs.

 

“I don't really know what’s going on here, but what I do know is that you shouldn't have worked for slavers.” With that said, I didn’t hesitate anymore and plunged my fangs directly into his neck.

 

The blood hit my tongue and I might have even started moaning as I began to drink my fill! I would have loved to savor it, but I knew I couldn't. I started taking big gulps and tried to drain him as fast as possible. I knew that the third mercenary had probably heard the gunshots and was most likely rushing over. The mercenary I was feeding on started shaking and gasping for mercy, but I ignored him and just kept drinking delicious gulp after gulp.

 

After a full minute, I finally reached the point where I felt truly sated and full. It was a very nice feeling. Valerie’s memories from England never had her feeling like this. Her ‘mother’ only ever fed her enough blood to sustain Valerie. Never enough to let Valerie feel like I did right now. 

 

“What the fuck!” Someone had snuck up on me while I was feeding. I unlatched my fangs from the corpse's throat and stood up. I turned around to see the third mercenary shakily pointing his rifle at me. 

 

“Y–your eyes…They're glowing red! And James–Did you fucking drink his blood!? Jesus Christ! Are you a vampire!? I knew we were working with aliens, but vampires are a thing now too!?” He asked in fright. “Fuck! I knew we shouldn’t have taken this job!”

 

“Aliens? Interesting…” I said while smiling at him. Of course, my face was covered in his buddy's blood, so my smile must have come off as terrifying to behold. “Why don't you tell me more about that?”

 

The mercenary shakily took a few steps backwards. “Stay the fuck away from me! I’m not telling you anything!” 

 

CRACK!

 

{-200 HP}

 

There was a muzzle flash and my leg exploded in pain! I grit my teeth but did my best not to show any pain on my face. Why was I always getting shot in the leg!? My beautiful legs were one of my best features!

 

He noticed the first shot got no reaction out of me. “Fuck!” He fired his gun a second time. 

 

This time a bullet impacted my shoulder. It hurt even more!

 

{-300 HP}

 

I jerked backwards a few steps, but I kept the same insane smile on my face. Getting shot still really hurts though! Holy shit, I didn't think my acting was this good. I managed to keep a straight face as I casually pretended to dust myself off. 

 

“Come now, unless those are wooden bullets, you’re just wasting both of our time.” I lied to him. “Let's make a deal. You tell me what you know and I’ll let you live. Sound fair? Now, what’s this about aliens?”

 

He was still trembling but he lowered his gun and nodded at me. He actually believed me and thought his gun wasn’t hurting me! 

 

“I–I don't know much. All I know is that the Life Foundation hired my mercenary squad to bring them bodies to experiment on. One of the boys in our unit sneaked a peak and told us all that the Foundation has some kind of alien parasite or virus that they are testing on people. None of the people we’ve given them have survived it yet. We're also in charge of disposing of all the bodies…” He explained. He didn’t seem remorseful at all as he spoke about casually sending people to their deaths.

 

Alien parasite? Was he talking about Venom? Or maybe something else? Either way, this was big! Way bigger than I want to deal with right now. I wasn't ready to take on a situation like this right now. 

 

I decided that I was going to stop the rest of these mercenaries, finish my quest, and then get the hell out of here. Someone else can fight Venom for all I care!

 

I nodded at him and smiled again. “Thank you. You can leave now.” I told the mercenary. 

 

A sigh of relief escaped him. “Thank you so much! I swear I won't tell anyone what I saw here. You have my word.” He turned around and started to run away as fast as he could. 

 

“I know you won't tell anyone what you saw here…” I whispered to myself. I reached into my inventory and grabbed hold of my Black Revolver. I pointed it at his retreating back and fired. The magic bullet struck true and hit him right in the back of the head. There was a spray of blood and brain matter. He collapsed lifelessly to the ground. 

 

{+ 10 XP}

 

[For a second there, I actually thought you were going to let him go.]

 

I scoffed. “Of course not.” That guy was a slaving asshole who shot me twice! There was no way I was letting him get away alive. Especially since he'd seen my face too. 

 

I took a moment to regroup and calm down. I was sure that I currently looked like quite the sight. I was covered in even more blood than I was this morning. 

 

With my bloodlust sated and everyone outside taken care of, I decided to head into the warehouse. I don't know if the people inside had heard the gunshots, but I was expecting a fight anyways. By my account there were four mercenaries left, and about 12 thugs. I don't know how many of those thugs were armed, but I was just going to assume all of them were.

 

I casually walked around the building to the front of the warehouse. It gave my HP time to refill itself to full. 

 

I reached the warehouse's main door and slowly pulled it open. I was ready to slam it closed in case the bullets started flying at me from inside. Thankfully, no shots came. Maybe the warehouse was soundproofed and no one inside heard the gunshots outside?

 

I quietly creeped my way inside with my revolver at the ready. I wasn’t hearing any noise inside the warehouse for some reason. That was strange considering there were over a dozen people in here, without including all the kidnapped people they also brought in.

 

There was a stack of crates directly inside that I crept up to. I climbed on top of them and peeked over to get a better view. 

 

What I saw, I was not expecting.

 

[Huh? That’s weird… Why are they all sleeping?]

 

In the middle of the warehouse, I could see a pile of unconscious bodies. Every single mercenary and thug were lying in the pile unconscious, bruised, and bloody. 

 

Someone had gotten in here when I was outside and dealt with all these people already! My senses went on alert immediately! 

 

‘Shit!’ I hoped it wasn’t Spiderman! If it was, then he wouldn't hesitate to kill me right now! 

 

I felt like someone was watching me, but I couldn’t tell from where. I started backing my way slowly towards the door while keeping my gun ready for anything. It wasn’t ready enough.

 

WOOSH!

 

I heard the sound of something zipping through the air. I grunted in pain when whatever it was smacked into my hand. My gun flew out of my grip and went clattering to the floor! I cursed loudly in my head. I was defenseless! I started sprinting towards my gun to try and pick it back up.

 

[Look out!]

 

The System’s warning saved me. I ducked my head in time to avoid someone kicking me directly in the face. I dove backwards as they followed that up with a low punch aimed at my torso. 

 

“Who the hell are you supposed to be!?” I exclaimed as I took a few more steps back. My attacker was wearing black sweatpants, a black hoodie, and even had a black cloth visor over the top of his head.

 

[I’m noticing a theme here…]

 

The interesting thing was that his mask didn't have any eye holes. It was completely covering the upper half of his face as if he was–blind!?

 

Fuck… 

 

Was this Daredevil? I used Observe on him.

 

{Matt Murdock - Level ???

Thoughts about you: He is disgusted that you killed the men outside! He believes that killing is never the answer! He wants to capture you and bring you to justice. He doesn't want you to escape because he’s having trouble nailing down your distinct features. His enhanced senses aren’t working correctly with you for some reason...}

 

That last part was good for me at least. Daredevil is blind. So long as I escape from here, he’d never be able to come after me. 

 

I glanced over at my revolver on the ground. It was about 15 feet away and I don’t know if I could get to it before he got to me. If I tried fighting him hand to hand, he would tear me apart. 

 

“I have nothing to say to a murderous monster like you. I heard you snuff out the lives of those three men outside. Are you proud of yourself? Are you proud of those lives you ended? Those were human beings that probably had families.” Daredevil said as he took a step towards me. I instinctively took another step backwards. 

 

[For someone with nothing to say, he sure does like asking questions.]

 

“Did you not hear that last guy say they were literally abducting people and sending them to be killed in experiments?” I asked the vigilante. I took a few more subtle steps towards my gun. He probably knew where I was going, but I didn't care.

 

“As if you care about those people, you monster! My master, Stick, told me vampires were real. I never believed him till now. Hearing those men's heartbeats slowly fade away as you slurped their blood…that was a horrifying experience that I will never forget as long as I live!” Daredevil said as he clenched his fists and grit his teeth. “I’m going to capture you and expose your kind to the world!” He kicked off the floor and started sprinting towards me!

 

My eyes widened in panic! Holy shit, he was fast! He was superhuman fast! He was on me in seconds. I put my hands up to try and fight him off! I couldn't do a thing though. He instantly got through my feeble guard and started wailing on me!

 

{- 20 HP}

{- 20 HP}

{- 30 HP}

{- 20 HP}

{- 40 HP}

{- 50 HP}

 

His vicious punches were landing everywhere on me, and his hits had me crying out in pain when they landed. Every time I tried to hit back, he easily dodged and hit me even harder with the next couple of blows!

 

{- 20 HP}

{- 25 HP}

{- 20 HP}

{- 25 HP}

{- 55 HP}

{-100HP}

 

“Fuck!” I cried out. I hated this self righteous asshole so much right now! I really wish I knew some magic or something to fight back. I couldn’t even reach into my inventory to pull out another weapon, because he was hitting me so fast!

 

Daredevil finally hit me with a devastating stomach punch that drove the air out of my lungs. I stumbled backwards and couldn't dodge his next hit. He spun around rapidly, his combat boot upwards and connected with the side of my head! I saw stars as I spun around and fell to the floor.

 

{- 200 HP}

 

Once I was on the ground, he paused his assault on me. Maybe he thought I had been beaten? I didn’t try to move, and pretended like he had. He had only done around 800 damage to my Health and I was already starting to recover. 

 

Daredevil scoffed haughtily. “I honestly expected better from a Vampire. I guess Stick was wrong when he said your kind are incredibly dangerous.” Daredevil said condescendingly as he started walking away from me. 

 

I grit my teeth when I noticed him crouch down and pick up my Black Revolver. “Cute toy. Maybe I’ll keep it as a souvenir from my first time taking down a supernatural monster.” He said out loud tauntingly. He tucked it on his belt.

 

He dared to take MY gun from me! Now I was really pissed off!

 

I reached into my inventory and grabbed hold of one of the spare pistols I had kept from the gang members in case of an emergency. I quickly drew it out and pointed it at him. “Fuck you!” I exclaimed and started pulling the trigger as fast as I could!

 

“Dammit!” He yelled in shock and started rapidly dodging in every direction. “You didn’t have another gun on you! I checked–AAaargh!” One of my shots nailed him directly in the arm! He screamed and clutched it in pain.

 

I grinned vindictively as I stood up. The bruises all over my body were already starting to fade away. “Give me back my goddamn magic gun!” I demanded while pointing my pistol at him.

 

“I don’t think so!” Daredevil quickly reached into his pocket and pulled out a black pellet with his good arm. He threw it down on the floor and it exploded into a cloud of smoke. The smoke rapidly started to come towards me and my eyes widened. I would be helpless against him again if I couldn’t see! 

 

My wings sprang out of my back. I rapidly flew up towards the warehouse ceiling. It was about 30 feet off the ground and I was sure he wouldn't be able to reach me all the way up here. I pointed my handgun in the smoke as I waited for it to clear.

 

[I don't think fighting you was his plan…]

 

The System’s words had me looking towards the warehouse entrance. I saw Daredevil leaping over obstacles with superhuman agility. I aimed my pistol at him and fired more shots until the magazine was empty. Unfortunately, I didn’t land a single shot before he got to the door. He wrenched it open and made his escape–along with my Black Revolver…

 

“Fuck!” I cursed again in annoyance. I tossed away the useless empty gun to the floor below! “That asshole beat me up and robbed me! Some hero he is!”

 

[Yeah, he got you good. Sorry you lost your gun. At least he won’t be able to use it since it’s bound to you. It sucks, but you’ll get better weapons in the future...]

 

I huffed out a sigh and did my best to calm down. The System was right. It was a cool weapon, but it was only a starter magic weapon. I knew I would get better rewards in the future. 

 

“That gun was really cool looking though…” I whined as I started making my way towards the warehouse floor. That feeling that someone was watching me was now gone. I figured Daredevil had left the area. He was going to need to get that arm of his checked out asap. 

 

I just wanted to complete this quest and go back to Frost Manor and get some sleep. I saw the piles of thugs and mercenaries on the floor, but wondered where all the homeless prisoners were being kept? I started searching around the warehouse for them. As I did so, I made sure to pick up all the weapons scattered nearby. I lost my magic gun, but I had gained 4 assault rifles and 22 handguns–along with a bunch of spare ammunition and even a couple hand grenades. 

 

After a few minutes of searching, I found a latch hidden in the ground towards the back. I grabbed hold of it and lifted it up with my meager strength. Underneath was a ladder that led to a dark hidden room about 10 feet under the warehouse. 

 

I climbed down and saw all the homeless people still tied up and cluttered together. It was pitch black down here, but I could still see thanks to my night vision. That worked to my benefit.

 

I carefully walked up to the nearest woman and removed the gag from her mouth.

 

She spat at me as soon as I did. Thankfully she missed because she couldn't see. “Fuck you, you piece of shit! I ain’t going nowhere with you!” She yelled loudly. Her voice echoed around the small room and hurt my ears a bit.

 

“It’s okay,” I told her softly. “All the thugs and mercenaries are taken care of. They're all knocked out upstairs. I'm here to rescue you.” 

 

“Oh…sorry. I thought you were one of them. We heard the scuffle upstairs. What happened?” She asked me as I started to untie her hands and feet.

 

A thought crossed my mind. A vindictive grin formed on my face. “Ah, that? Another person attacked me as I was trying to save you all. He called himself the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen.” I said. “He didn't want me to save any of you for some reason…” I lied.

 

Her eyes widened in surprise. “I’ve heard of that guy! They say he’s the boogie man! Anyone he comes after ends up seriously messed up! He’s even scarier than the Spider-Guy!” 

 

I finished untying her and we both started untying the others who were all listening to us. She was doing a good job, even though she was fumbling in the dark. 

 

I continued. “Yes, it was him. He killed some guys outside before he tried to kill me too. I don't know what he was after, but I thankfully managed to scare him off.” I told them. “Otherwise, none of us would be here.” 

 

[Oh, you are devious! Blaming those three deaths on Daredevil!? That’s brilliant!]

 

I smirked. He’s not here to defend himself and I have 13 ‘witnesses.’ Obviously, they didn’t see anything, but the police won't care. I’m the hero who saved all these people after all. Also, it’s so dark in this hole that none of them can see that I'm covered head to toe in blood!

 

“Thank you so much for saving us! Who are you?” She asked me.

 

“Are you some kind of hero?”

 

“Thank you! Thank you!” 

 

All of them started thanking me as I made my way back towards the ladder. I wanted to get away from here before they could get a good look at me. “It was no problem. I was happy to help. As for my name–you can all call me The Night Queen.”

 

[Cool moniker!]

 

“...I’m technically a vigilante and would like to avoid the police for now. So, I'm afraid I have to go before they show up. Can you all tell them what happened here?” I asked them all sweetly. 

 

“Of course we will!”

 

“We’ll tell them all about these assholes who kidnapped us and our friends!”

 

“We’ll tell them the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen is a murderer and he tried to hurt us too! Thank you for saving us, Night Queen!”

 

“No, thank you all for being so understanding and brave!” I told them as I climbed up the ladder quickly. I hurried over to the warehouse door and threw it open. I spread my wings and flew into the night sky, heading back home for now. I could hear police sirens approaching the warehouse rapidly. All those gunshots had drawn some attention.

 

I was tired and felt gross. I wanted to get back and take a long hot shower before getting some sleep. I still had school in the morning after all. 

 

{Quest Complete! +1000 XP! You have received a bonus reward! You have received a one-time use Dungeon Key!}

 

XXX

 

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