2006, 14th January

Paris, France

“Try again. Exhale when you pull the trigger.”

Lucia gnawed at her lower lip, then let the bullet fly.

This time, it veered too far left.

Ignoring James droning on in the back, she pulled the trigger once more.

Dead centre.

“I’m done.”

She began to turn away, but James held her shoulder firm.

“You got one shot in. We’re not leaving till you’re perfect at this.”

“And I told you, I’m done.”

“God damnit, girl,” James grabbed both her shoulders now.

“This is literally a matter of life and death. I need you to take this seriously.”

Lucia shrugged herself free, then turned to the target once more.

Lining the weapon along her arm, she let the rest of the clip fly till it was empty.

Every single target dead centre.

“How…” James breathed.

“I just repeated the exact position and motions of when I hit the target at the centre. The bullet had nowhere else to go.”

Then she pulled her earplugs out with an irritated grunt.

“Fucking hell…”

“Yes, these guns are always louder than you think, even with silencers on. It’s even worse with our augmented hearing. The only thing to do is get used to it.”

“You’re not thinking of the real problem here.”

“Oh?”

“How are we supposed to survive in below zero temperatures like these Draugr do? Last time I checked, we don’t exactly… thermoregulate.”

Lucia had already guessed they must have some way to emulate life, given how her father had managed to conceive-

She didn't want to go further down this train of thought.

“Ah. That.”

James sat back in his own corner.

“We can… mimic, er, life. With the blood. It all comes down to blood in the end.”

He paused before continuing.

“I’m not sure if the Draugr do that exactly, or have some other method I’m not familiar with, but since they’re unlikely to give up their secrets, this is the best we’ve got. But that does mean keeping ourselves… full, so to speak.”

“Hmm.”

“Speaking of which, when was the last time you fed?”

Lucia shrugged.

“You’re still going to be a liability if you’re running hungry. No matter your ability, we cannot properly function without the blood.”

“I’m not all that hungry.”

“You haven’t used it all that much either.”

James paused, then pulled back his sleeve.

“If hunting humans isn’t to your taste, perhaps my blood will do?”

“No.”

“But-”

“No.”

“Suit yourself. Your father was never so squeamish. One might even think he kept me around for this purpose, with how often he indulged himself.”

Lucia wasn’t sure what the effects of drinking the blood of another of her kind could even be.

It was all very well for her father, if she could trust James to not lie about that part, which she didn’t, but she herself wasn’t keen on jumping off many cliffs with her eyes closed.

“I don’t need your blood. I’ll do something about it my own way.”

“Oh? And what is ‘your own way’?”

Lucia pulled back the fringe of her hair.

“None of your concern James. I’ll be back before dawn.”

“Or you won’t and you’ll make my life a bit easier.” James muttered under his breath.

Lucia ignored him and walked upstairs to her room.

The simple T shirt and Jeans she was wearing were completely sufficient for her purposes tonight, but she pulled a leather jacket on regardless, then, pocketing the keys to the sedan, she left.

She drove with the windows rolled down, feeling the night air against her skin.

She was vaguely aware of when she passed by the Arche, and kept driving till she crossed over to the other side of the Seine.

Her mother hadn’t even called to know where she was, or how she was doing.

She supposed her father had already spoken to her, but she herself had made her feelings on her father clear enough; yet her mother did not seem to care.

She hadn’t spent enough time at class to really get to know any of the other students there beyond a passing acquaintance, so noone would really think to ask after her.

But a large, cynical side of her wondered if they would care even if she had known them for longer.

She drove distractedly, arriving in front of her campus.

She didn’t really expect to be recognized; the campus was far too large and populated for that.

Right now, she had other concerns.

Students milled about in the well lit streets as traffic passed them by.

Her senses honed to a point, she pinpointed her prey.

There; a man in a sports jersey, slick with sweat, walking in a direction opposite from his peers, tired.

Suitable.

She felt the blood pulsing within her.

The fuel to her powers that would aid her hunt.

Drawn from the throat of-

Lucia throttled that thought as it was conceived.

It would only throw her off for what was needed next.

The vampire commanded power over their physicality, as well as the ability to influence the minds of their prey.

Lucia had barely even scratched the surface of her abilities, but it would suffice for this.

She followed him into the dark.

Her prey spotted her behind him, slight frown creasing his sweat soaked brow.

“Are you alright? Ma’am?”

Lucia said nothing, shaking her head, trying to shake off the predatory haze that had overcome her, making the beating of his heart louder, more prominent, than his words.

Something clawed at her gut from within, and she nearly doubled over.

“Shit! What happened-”

The man’s arms shot out, wrapping around her shoulders.

He touched the back of his palm to Lucia’s forehead.

“You’re freezing! We need to get you help.”

And Lucia sank her fangs into his throat, killing his next words before they came.

It was as exquisite as it had been the first time, as unique.

She had tasted blood before, mostly from tears on her lips and accidental bites on the insides of her cheeks.

A metallic tang, tasting like nothing in particular.

This did not taste like those memories at all.

This tasted like something that would drown every other memory in its wake if she was not careful.

With a hiss she regained her reason and pulled back.

Her victim’s eyes had rolled back in his head, and his face was flush, sweating even more profusely.

Rivulets of blood streamed down the puncture wounds on his throat.

He would bleed out if she left it unattended.

She ran her tongue over his throat to catch the blood, feeling his pulse flutter beneath the skin.

She ignored the terrible impulse to sink her fangs in once more and reap the rest.

As she applied her saliva to the punctures, they sealed with unnatural speed.

She left him kneeling by the way, watching from the shadows till someone happened across him, and lent him the aid he needed.

It had been dopamine; there was no other explanation.

Her body rewarded her for gathering sustenance to maintain herself, and the dopamine rush was her incentive.

She scratched that thought from her head; knowing the truth of it wouldn’t make any difference.

Retreating to her car, she pulled a pen and a diary from the glove compartment, and moved on to her second objective of the night.

From memory, she penned down an image of the mysterious sphere she had seen last night, accurate down to every last groove on its surface.

“Now… what are you?”