Vampiric House Cleaning

Job Details:

Job Sign-Up: Page 22, Post Number 541

-Outside Haunted Castle, Midnight-

Wearing her navy blue outfit with Saint Sinner Valentine slung on her right shoulder and her dropleg holster on her right side, Diana stood outside Haunted Castle to take a break before going inside to proceed with her mission. The wind picked up and blew her hair about as she looked up to a window and saw the ghostly face of an older woman in formal attire staring back at her. Moments after she made eye contact with the apparition it vanished. Diana's eyes turned back to the double doors of the castle.

Diana was not afraid of ghosts. She had been imbued with the power of a Lunar Guardian and thus had the ability to send spirits back to the great beyond, but that was not the only class of supernatural being she could destroy. Zombies, werewolves, vampires, all of them could be harmed by the magic granted to her by Selene. If magic was not enough Saint Sinner Valentine had special anti-spirit and anti-werewolf Silver Bullets plus anti-vampire Ultraviolet Rounds available on demand. In between her magic and her weapon it was safe to say that the huntress was one of the deadliest things on two legs in the Haunted Castle area.

Diana felt the wind blow through her hair again as she recalled why she had been sent here.

Diana had been hired by a wealthy family in Hargeon Town to retrieve their wayward daughter, who had an insatiable need for adventure and a desire to prove that she was not just an extension of her parents but was her own person. Diana could understand the desire to be one's own person, but she found herself wishing that the young woman had picked a safer place to go to than Haunted Castle. She wondered if the wayward daughter was friends with Maria and Veronica, two other young women of Hargeon Town who tended to wander into dangerous places and situations.

Diana was far from the only mage on the market who took high-risk jobs, but for some reason people tended to pick her whenever the supernatural was involved... not that she was complaining. That allowed her to keep building her reputation as a problem-solver, line her pockets with money that she earned from legitimate work, and fulfilled Selene's mandate to go forth and destroy the minions of darkness. It was win-win-win for the huntress.

Diana took one last breath of night air because once she went into the castle it would be awhile before she emerged. Once she took that breath she walked towards the castle doors and opened the right one, then stepped inside and closed the door behind her. Diana was now inside the castle and was committed to finding the young woman and bringing her back to her family alive.

-Inside Haunted Castle-

Diana stood in a foyer that featured elaborate brass chandeliers with actual candles in them burning overhead. Beneath her feet was a red carpet with gold borders just like movie stars walked on at premieres. To her left and right were various oil paintings depicting scenes of farm life and of the hunt. Diana took just two steps forward when she heard a soft CRUNCH beneath her left boot.

The huntress stepped back and found a red hair bow lying on the floor. She stooped down, picked it up, and examined it. Chances were high that it belonged to the person she was looking for. Diana saw a shadow dart by the area in front of her and knew from experience that it was not "nothing." Something was waiting to ambush her.

She had likely attracted the attention of one of the mansion's numerous denizens but did not want to attract the attention of any more, so using Saint Sinner Valentine would be a last resort. Instead she would use one of her spells to deal with the unknown entity. She put the slightly crinkled hair bow in her left side pocket and looked forward to see a dark-haired young woman in black maid attire standing ten meters away from her.

Diana felt that something was off about her, so she switched to her new "Guardian's Sight" vision mode and looked directly at her. Diana clearly saw the gleaming of elongated canine teeth, indicating that she was dealing with a vampire. She was not dealing with the friendly vampire Cassandra: these vampires were presumed to be hostile and would be dealt with accordingly.

The vampire maid did not wait for Diana to make the first move but instead dashed to the attack. Diana raised her right hand and pointed the index and middle fingers at her target, then channeled pale blue magic into them and fired a Spirit Drain Beam that hit her squarely in the chest.

The vampire maid stopped sprinting and screamed, falling to the floor while engulfed in pale blue flames that she could not put out no matter how hard she tried. After a few more seconds of agonized screaming she lay motionless on her back with her facial skin shriveled and her mouth gaping open, exposing her gleaming fangs for the huntress to see. Diana was not sure how many more vampires would arrive on the scene, so she immediately walked away from the fallen maid and towards some tapestries featuring coats of arms, then took a right and began proceeding down the hallway. She would need to be alert as she pressed deeper into the Haunted Castle.

[Post Word Count: 916]
[Total Word Count: 916/11,000]

-Down the hallway-

After the brief skirmish with the vampire maid Diana walked down the hallway and saw numerous pictures of rustic life hanging on both sides of the hallway. They were masterfully painted oil paintings that were so vibrant and detailed that she could almost see the threads on the clothing of a shepherd boy watching over a flock of sheep and the individual stalks of wheat in another painting of a farmer with a scythe harvesting wheat. Diana looked away from the paintings and towards the hallway in front of her, which was currently empty but might not remain that way for too much longer. Something was bound to have heard the commotion in the foyer and would come running to investigate.

Diana cycled through her vision modes to find any invisible enemies but had not seen any yet, but she was not going to relax just because she did not see any at the moment. She was dealing with vampires and other denizens of a castle infamous for supernatural activity and they had abilities above and beyond the average human bandit. The huntress kept walking until she came across a stairwell guarded by a pair of men dressed in black butler attire. Feeling something off about them, Diana crouched down and used her Guardian's Sight vision mode to check them out and saw that they too were vampires; their jet-black pupils, elongated canines, and lack of a pulse marked them as such.

Diana remained silent as she formed a silver ball of magic in her right hand and watched it grow to the size of a hand grenade, then lobbed it at the two vampires. She held her breath as the Argent Hand Grenade went off and disoriented the vampires, giving her the chance to hurry in and finish them off before more of their kind arrived to reinforce them. Diana hurried up to them and dispatched them with the use of a Spirit Dome spell. They screamed as they caught fire and writhed in pain until they fell to their knees and rolled over onto their backs.

Diana had just recovered from casting the Spirit Dome when she heard howling sound from upstairs and concluded that her next opponents would be lycanthropes. Diana readied Saint Sinner Valentine and selected Silver Bullets, then waited five seconds for the ammunition to load. The weapon had just loaded itself when one of the lycanthropes came pounding down the stone stairs with its claws open, sniffing the air all the while. Diana sprinted off to the left side and stood twenty meters away from the stairwell, aiming Saint Sinner Valentine at the stairwell as the first werewolf made room for two more of its fellows to join it in the hunt for prey.

Diana took a quiet breath, then aimed at the first werewolf's head and squeezed the trigger. The assault rifle fired five rounds that hit its left shoulder and grazed the left side of its neck, causing pain and harming it but not scoring lethal hits. Diana took aim at the alerted beast and fired at its chest, firing another five rounds that hit it in the chest and caused it to fall backwards onto the carpeted floor and thrash about before expiring. While she had killed one of the lycanthropes, its fellows had now been alerted to the huntress' presence by the report of the rifle and the pained yelps of the first werewolf. Their bright red eyes focused on her and they immediately bounded down the hallway on all fours, heading towards the blonde mage.

Diana stood her ground and fired another five rounds at the werewolf on the left, hitting it in the shoulder and causing it to tumble onto its shoulder as the second werewolf continued its charge. It had just reached the halfway point when she adjusted her aim onto its head and held down the trigger, firing seven rounds into its shoulders and head. The dying werewolf lurched forward and fell onto the floor, skidding for two meters before coming to a stop and reaching for the huntress with its clawed left hand. It softly panted one last time and expired, leaving just one more to deal with.

The wounded beast lumbered forward and Diana aimed for its chest, eschewing precision in favor of emptying the current magazine into its chest and killing it where it stood. Diana fired round after round into it until the weapon was empty, bringing it down just a meter away from her. It was dead before it hit the ground.

Saint Sinner Valentine began automatically reloading another magazine of Silver Bullets as Diana backed away three meters and switched to infrared vision mode to check for heat signatures before approaching the downed wolves. A quick sweep showed that they did not have a heat signature; they were well and truly dead.

During the sweep the assault rifle had reloaded itself and was ready for action. Diana walked by the dead werewolves with Saint Sinner Valentine at the ready and reached the staircase. She stood just off to the right and peered up, quickly pulling her head back in case something was waiting to grab it and rip it off. No grasping hand appeared and no further enemies bounded down the stairs, so Diana began to climb the stairs herself to continue her quest to find the missing young woman.

-On the second floor-

Diana reached the top of the stairs, then stopped, looked, and listened for trouble. None was approaching, so she began to look for clues concerning the missing person. Diana first examined the walls, but when nothing was forthcoming she looked towards the wooden floor and spotted strands of long, golden hair lying on the floor and leading to the right. The huntress spotted a trail of flaxen hair leading further down a hall flanked by still more oil paintings, so she slowly and carefully followed the trail that had been unwittingly left for her.

Diana moved carefully and tried to make as little noise as possible, but that was easier said than done when one was wearing boots and walking on a wooden floor. Perhaps the flooring was deliberately picked for the noise it made when trod upon. Perhaps aesthetics came first and the security function was merely coincidental.

[Post Word Count: 1,056]
[Total Word Count: 1,972/11,000]

-On the second floor-

Having found a trail of loose blonde hair to follow, Diana carefully followed the trail down a hall lined with oil paintings. She wondered if the trail had accidentally been left by the missing person or if it had been pulled from their head and left by the castle's denizens as a means to lure would-be rescuers into a trap. It was probably the latter, but even if it was a trap Diana had no choice but to follow it. The missing person had to be rescued before they were turned into a vampire.

Diana slung Saint Sinner Valentine on her shoulder and carefully walked down the hall while continuing to follow the trail of loose hair until it came to a stop in front of a stairwell. Diana found this to be all the makings of a trap. But where were the werewolves or vampires waiting to attack? The huntress cycled through her vision modes to find any hidden enemies and even checked the ceiling for vampires trying to literally get the drop on her, but there were no vampires on the ceiling or hidden enemies lurking in the hall. It was time to go up to the third floor and continue the search there.

Diana put her right foot on the first step and proceeded to carefully go up the staircase.

-On the third floor-

Diana emerged from the stairwell to find herself standing in a large banquet hall decorated with upscaled versions of the tapestries from the castle foyer plus brass chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. There was also a single long rectangular table set with an immaculate white tablecloth and dishes that looked to be made of actual silver sitting in all the places. Behind the table was a set of wooden double doors that presumably led to the kitchen.

Diana took her attention off the table to look at the floor for the trail of hair to continue and continue it did. On the floor in front of her feet was the trail of blonde hair which she duly followed past the table and to the right corner of the room, where another set of stairs waited. The huntress paused in front of them because there was something unusual about them.

Diana noticed that in comparison to the rest of the castle these stairs looked new. Had there been some recent construction work on the castle? There might have been... it was easy to make new additions in a short time when the labor force remained forever youthful, seldom got tired, and did not demand much in the way of wages.

Or maybe it had been there for some time and had just gone unnoticed.

It might have been a hidden passage used by the castle's owner to get to and from the third floor without being noticed. While it was not as practical as a normal set of stairs, being able to get in and out of places without being noticed had its advantages. Diana knew that from experience in her other "trade" as an assassin. At any rate, it was time to go up the stairs and see what waited for her there.

Diana took a breath and brought Saint Sinner Valentine into her hands, then loaded it with Ultraviolet rounds because she expected a lot of opposition from vampiric household staff. Once it was loaded the huntress climbed the stairs and prepared herself for a big fight.

-On the fourth floor-

Diana emerged from the staircase to find herself standing in an area with two choices. She could go straight towards a window at the end of the hall lined with doors to what she presumed were rooms for the servants or she could go right down a hall lined with suits of armor on display stands with a set of wooden double doors waiting at the end. Diana looked to the floor for guidance and noticed that the trail that had guided her to this point had vanished, meaning that she would have to rely on luck to find the missing person. Or would she?

Opting to try and see if the missing person was a mage, Diana reached out with her ability to sense magic and found a magic signature about 300 meters away down the hall to her right. Since she really had nothing else to go on, the huntress decided to go down the hall that was lined with suits of armor. She was wary of vampires hiding inside of them to ambush her, but as she passed by the inanimate armors without any issue and was approaching the end of the hall when the doors opened and she was met by a bespectacled butler in a white long-sleeved shirt with black vest and black pants with black dress shoes. Around his neck was a silver medallion of a black shield with red swords crossed diagonally downward.

"Welcome to Haunted Castle." The butler greeted her with surprising courtesy. Diana was not liking this.

"I am Reginald, the head butler for Mr. Capella." He introduced himself to Diana. Diana was not liking this at all. If the head butler for "Mr. Capella" was being so civil, that meant that there was an unpleasant surprise waiting for the huntress. Diana looked at him with Guardian's Sight and saw that Reginald was a vampire himself.

"Mr. Capella is away on business, but I am duly empowered to act in his stead. Should you doubt this claim, I will be happy to verify it." Reginald claimed.

"Prove it." Diana skeptically requested. Reginald produced an old scroll made out of actual parchment paper out of thin air and slowly approached Diana. When he reached half a meter away from her he handed her the scroll to read. Diana read through the beautiful handwriting and saw that Reginald was indeed empowered to act on Mr. Capella's behalf.

There was a space for the names of witnesses, a space for the name of the lawyer who drew up the document, and a space for the name of the notary. There was even a red wax seal with the same emblem as Reginald's necklace. Diana wondered why Mr. Capella had gone to so much trouble to have the document created when he could have just written something on a napkin and called it a day. Maybe he wanted it to be legally binding in case a mage who was also a lawyer came by to raid his castle and found Reginald waiting instead.

"Very well then. I am satisfied." Diana calmly replied. Reginald took away the scroll and backed away from Diana, who in turn put Saint Sinner Valentine back on her right shoulder as a sign of good faith. This was weird. Vampires who did not attack her on sight and produced legal documentation to back up their claims were very odd and way beyond anything she had ever experienced before. Maybe it was all part of the trap that was being crafted to ensnare and destroy the huntress.

"Now, what brings you to Haunted Castle?" Reginald asked Diana.

[Post Word Count: 1,188]
[Total Word Count: 3,160/11,000]

"I am looking for a missing person who had come here roughly a week ago." Diana answered truthfully. There was no point in lying to Reginald about why she was here. If she was honest with him, perhaps bloodshed could be avoided. Reginald thought about what had been told to him for a moment, then seemed to understand what she was inquiring about. Recalling how he had presented her with an official document that authorized him to act on Mr. Capella's behalf, Diana decided to present the job notice that declared her reason for being here.

Perhaps if she convinced the vampiric butler that she was here to retrieve a missing person and not to pillage the place, she could avoid unnecessary violence.

"I have the job notice with me. It will prove that my mission has legal sanction." Diana said, fishing it out of her right side pocket and presenting it to him. Reginald took it with both hands and brought it up to his face, then began to read it. About a minute later he handed it back to Diana.

"I see that you speak truth. You are a welcome break from the vampire hunters, holy knights, and thieves who come here seeking to steal Mr. Capella's treasures." Reginald said to her with a sight smile.

"I know who you speak of. Roughly a week ago we caught a young woman with long blonde hair somewhat similar to your own trying to steal one of Mr. Capella's paintings. We could not tolerate that, so she was sent to the dungeon to pay for her attempted theft." Reginald explained to Diana how the missing person had ended up missing to begin with.

"I feel that a week in the dungeon is punishment enough. Since you have been so honest with me concerning your reason for being here, I would be glad to release her into your custody. However, there is a problem." Reginald said to her. Diana frowned.

"We are in the middle of a... a... a labor dispute." He sheepishly explained why the missing person could not be released to Diana right away.

"Why is that?" Diana ventured to ask.

"You see, the younger vampire servants feel like they are not getting fair payment for their work. They feel like us older servants have privileges out of proportion to the amount of work we do. As a result, they have decided to express their grievances by taking over the lower portion of the castle and refusing to work until Mr. Capella personally speaks to them and addresses their grievances." Reginald answered. Diana could not believe that her rescue mission had coincided with a labor strike. She should be used to unforeseen complications by now, but life had a way of coming up with new surprises that managed to throw the huntress for a loop. Perhaps the strangest thing about the situation was how mundane it was.

Diana had expected something more exciting like preparations for a raid by an order of vampire hunters or holy knights looking to cleanse Haunted Castle of its denizens to be the reason for why the missing young woman could not be freed right away. Instead she was caught in a labor dispute started by younger vampire servants who felt like they had to bear the brunt of the workload while the older servants coasted by doing less work thanks to their longer service and stronger connections to Mr. Capella. The huntress was surprised by how mundane it was, but she was glad that Reginald had been so reasonable about this matter.

"What can I do to help?" Diana asked Reginald.

"If you wish to free the young woman, I suggest going down to the lower levels and freeing her yourself. However, it will be quite dangerous. The younger servants fear reprisals from me, so reasoning with them will be difficult." Reginald told her. It seemed that Diana was going to be used as an arbiter in the labor dispute that had rocked Haunted Castle.

"Are there any loyalists trapped in the lower levels?" Diana asked so that she did not kill vampires loyal to Reginald and Mr. Capella by accident. Reginald nodded.

"Yes, several of the master's faithful have been trapped in the lower levels by the dissidents. They wear a necklace like my own, so if you see them, do not harm them." Reginald answered. That in turn led to another question.

"And what about the... dissidents?" Diana inquired.

"You may deal with them as you see fit. Talk them down or kill them. I do not care either way just so long as order is restored." Reginald answered.

"What if I encounter younger vampires who do not attack right away and ask for an offer?" Diana asked the butler. He smiled a little as he produced another document similar to the one that established his right to act on Mr. Capella's behalf. He then handed her a wooden tube to place it in.

"Should you encounter any willing to listen to reason, present them this document. If they are willing to return to the fold, they are to remain unharmed. If they refuse the offer or attack you, you are free to kill them." He answered. Diana took the document from Reginald and placed it in the tube, then placed the tube in her left side pocket after putting the red hair bow in her left pocket to avoid crushing it any further.

"What about the werewolves?" Diana asked. Reginald's face curled into a contemptuous sneer.

"Kill those simpleminded beasts on sight. They are just mindless guard dogs that are easily replaced. They will not be missed." Reginald answered coldly. Diana was satisfied with that answer, so she moved onto another question, namely whether the head butler had the keys to the dungeon.

"One last thing. Do you happen to have a key for the dungeon doors?" Diana asked him.

"I am afraid not. They were stolen from me at the start of this labor dispute by one of the young upstarts." He answered with a bit of disdain for the dissidents. Diana saw that he was telling the truth. She also did not ask how they were stolen, opting to let the matter drop so that she and the captive stood a better chance of getting out of here alive.

"I will go and see what I can do to resolve this situation." Diana replied before turning around to go back downstairs. She took four steps forward when she came to a stop. In front of her loomed about three dozen older vampires who looked to be in their middle age when they were turned into vampires. They all wore necklaces like Reginald's marking them as loyal servants. They looked at Diana as a potential meal, but Reginald came to the rescue.

"She is acting on my behalf. Do not harm her in any way." Reginald commanded. The vampires wordlessly parted to let Diana pass without incident.

"Good luck on your mission!" Reginald cheerfully wished her. Diana ignored the abrupt shift in mood and continued for the stairwell that would take her back to the dining room. She had a long walk ahead of her before she reached the first floor, but now she had a better idea of the situation that she had gotten into. This would be the first time she had ever gotten involved in a labor dispute.

[Post Word Count: 1,242]
[Total Word Count: 4,402/11,000]

-On the first floor, the foyer, fifteen minutes later-

After a fifteen-minute walk from the fourth floor back to the first, Diana had returned to the foyer from which she had started this job and took the path on the left. Overhead chandeliers lit the way as she walked down the hall lined with oil paintings that depicted scenes from the hunt such as hounds chasing a fox through a field while red-coated riders on horseback galloped behind the hounds and men on foot hunting a stag in a forest. Halfway down the hall Diana felt the hair on the back of her neck stand up as she spotted a flitting shadow and she drew Saint Sinner Valentine, which was still loaded with Ultraviolet Rounds. She was not sure if she was facing a vampire or a werewolf, but she had a weapon ready so that she could defend herself if attacked.

Diana switched to night vision to cut through the gloom and saw a human shape standing about ten meters away. She paused in place and raised Saint Sinner Valentine, aiming towards the target. It noticed her and emitted a low hiss. On cue four more humanoid shapes emerged from further down the hall and ran at Diana.

Diana ignored the stationary target and aimed at one of the oncoming targets, focusing on center mass. She squeezed the trigger and fired a single Ultraviolet Round, hitting it in the stomach and causing a male voice to scream in agony as he fell to his knees clutching his stomach. Diana then focused on the other four, managing to bring down just two before the other two closed in for hand-to-hand combat while the third stayed away from the fray.

At close range the huntress was at something of a disadvantage, but she was not vampire food just yet. She dropped Saint Sinner Valentine and the vampires moved to place her in between them. Fortunately Diana had just the spell to counter that attempt to box her in. With her hands pale blue, Diana dropped to her knees and slammed both palms down onto the ground, creating a Spirit Dome that caught the two vampires in an expanding dome of pale blue energy. They screamed in pain and fell to the ground to try and put themselves out while Diana spotted in the distances the fifth vampire who had lingered just a bit too long instead of joining the fight or trying to escape and warn the dissidents.

Diana scooped up Saint Sinner Valentine, aimed for the creature's chest, and fired off five shots that hit it in the chest and abdomen, dropping it to the carpet. The huntress stood up just as the wounded vampires got to their feet and prepared to attack again. Before the trio could make a move Diana shot them all once in the chest and watched them fall to the ground and writhe in agony as the Ultraviolet Rounds cooked them from the inside out. The huntress approached them and winced at the smell as she toed over the bodies to make sure she had not killed any loyalists by mistake.

None of the bodies had necklaces on them, indicating that the five vampires who had attacked her were part of the dissidents who had holed up in the castle's lower levels. Now that she was sure that none of the servants loyal to Reginald and Mr. Capella had not been killed, she walked away from the bodies and soon spotted a single wooden door at the end of the hallway that had been left open. Diana tapped the reload button and slowly moved down the hall while her weapon reloaded with another magazine of Ultraviolet Rounds. The denizens of the lower level might have heard the fracas upstairs and were coming to investigate, so it was prudent to be ready for action.

Diana approached the open door and aimed her assault rifle down the stairwell. Nothing had approached, so she figured that she was in the clear and carefully proceeded down the stairs while keeping Saint Sinner Valentine aimed. Anything that approached her was going to get a face full of Ultraviolet Rounds. Even if the target was not a vampire, catching bullets in the face would certainly hurt.

-Downstairs, first sublevel-

Diana stepped off the staircase and felt a chill in the air. She faced a long and wide corridor lit by glass lanterns that had casks of wine lining the sides, giving her a modicum of cover should she need it. Diana was not sure if she found the wine cellar, but she had found a large supply of wine, possibly an  inexpensive vintage served to guests of low status and the household staff.

She cycled through her vision modes to look for invisible enemies and had not found any, so she switched back to normal vision and proceeded down the hall while watching for any enemies who were hiding behind the barrels waiting to ambush her. Diana had barely reached the halfway point of the hallway when a door on the opposite end of the hall opened up and out rushed four humans in maid and butler attire who were looking back as if being chased by something. The huntress stopped where she was and raised Saint Sinner Valentine. The vampires noticed the gun-wielding mage and stopped in their tracks.

"DON'T SHOOT!" A young female servant cried out. Diana hesitated for a moment. She used her left hand to reach for the document in the protective tube sticking out of her left side pocket. The vampires walked closer until they stopped three meters in front of her and kept their distance.

"Are you willing to negotiate?" Diana asked them.

"Did Reginald send you?" A young male asked.

"Yes." Diana replied truthfully. The quartet panicked. They clearly thought that "negotiate" meant "kill them all."

"Take this document and read it. It is an offer from Reginald, an offer of a peaceful chance to rejoin Mr. Capella's household staff without punishment." Diana told them, setting the tube on the floor and gently rolling it towards them with a nudge from her foot. One of them picked it up and began to read it while the others watched Diana nervously. The reader then turned to his fellows and recited the terms.

Any who accepted the offer were to immediately report to Reginald and renew their oath of allegiance to Mr. Capella. The offer would only be made one time. Any who refused the offer or attacked the messenger acting on Reginald's behalf were to be killed immediately. The young vampires did not take long to think over the terms. The leader put the scroll back in the tube and kicked it back to Diana.

"We accept the terms! Let us through and we'll get out of your way!" The young man who was their leader pleaded. Diana was a contract killer and a huntress of those who had trafficked with dark powers, but she could not bring herself to shoot the young adult vampires in cold blood. Diana glanced at them all and discerned from their body language that they were telling the truth.

Diana quickly picked up the scroll, then wordlessly stepped aside and lowered her weapon. The quarter started to run and three of them fled up the stairs, but one of the young women stopped, turned back, and looked like she had something to say to the huntress. She approached the huntress and continued walking until she stopped three meters from the mage.

"Be careful on the second sublevel." The young vampire warned Diana. Diana was curious. What did the young vampire mean by that warning and why was she warning Diana?

[Post Word Count: 1,292]
[Total Word Count: 5,694/11,000]

"Many of the werewolves who went over to the dissidents lurk on the second sublevel." The vampire maid warned Diana of the danger that awaited. Diana was curious as to why she was being warned, but the maid soon explained why she had spoken up instead of letting the huntress walk right into a danger zone.

"The dissidents know that to rebel against Mr. Capella and his chosen representative Reginald is to invite retribution. They are afraid of reprisals and see enemies everywhere. They have sent most of the werewolves to guard the second floor and hopefully delay the inevitable just long enough to find a way out of their situation." The young vampire explained.

"What about the offer I extended to you? Would there be others willing to accept it?" Diana asked. The maid shrugged her shoulders.

"Some of the dissidents are convinced that any offers of leniency are just a trick to get them to leave their shelter so that they can be slaughtered. They will refuse it, but others among them might accept it. I cannot say for certain who will accept because everyone in the dungeon is afraid of the master's wrath." She explained.

"Is that why you four decided to return to the service of Mr. Capella?" Diana inquired. The maid nodded.

"That and the others are paranoid beyond reason. They jump at every shadow and attack anyone they think may be willing to return to Mr. Capella's service. We decided to get out of there while we could. There were twenty of us when we left the third sublevel." She added further. Diana had a feeling that the werewolves on the second sublevel were responsible for the number of defectors being reduced from twenty to four.

"Do you think any of the older staff are still alive?" Diana asked the maid. She shrugged her shoulders.

"I wish I could tell you, but I do not know for certain. Perhaps they have already been killed by the dissidents. Perhaps they are simply imprisoned in the dungeon along with that young woman who tried to steal one of the master's paintings a week ago." She answered. Diana looked her over and saw that she was being completely honest. With no further questions to

"Thank you." Diana thanked the maid for her help. The maid nodded and hurried to join the others who had already fled to the first floor and the huntress turned back to get ready for the grueling task of fighting through a floor full of werewolves and possibly vampires. She tapped the button on the side of Saint Sinner Valentine and switched the Ultraviolet Rounds for Silver Bullets. She then walked through the remainder of the first sublevel looking for loyalists in hiding or dissidents waiting to spring an ambush but found neither.

Once she reached the stairwell Diana took a deep breath and prepared for a fight. She then began to descend the spiral staircase with Saint Sinner Valentine ready to give anyone climbing the stairs a faceful of Silver Bullets.

-On the second sublevel-

Diana descended the staircase without incident and found that the layout of the sublevel was mostly the same as the first with the exception of a few side doors... and some dead bodies lying on the floor. Diana edged closer to one of the bodies and saw that it was a young man in butler attire who had lost half of his face to a vicious bite. About a meter behind him was the body of a young woman who was missing her head and one of her arms. Three meters behind them was another young man lying on his back whose throat had been torn out and the right side of his face clawed beyond recognition.

Diana looked down the hall and saw a quartet of werewolves spread out and feasting on individual victims they had brought down. One of them looked up from his meal of old maid and growled, then howled and signaled for the pack to descend on their new meal. The pack did not take long to get to the scene... the side doors burst open and out came werewolves with bloody muzzles and blood-matted fur to join their packmates for a new feast. When all of them had arrived she counted a sizable force of about twenty or so werewolves.

Diana backed up and raised Saint Sinner Valentine to the ready position as the bolder werewolves began to walk towards her. She singled out one and aimed for its head, firing five shots that hit it and brought it down. The others were incensed by what Diana had done and howled, then charged her as a single pack. Diana dropped back another five meters before aiming and firing at the head of another werewolf and bringing it down. She immediately turned and ran for the staircase because new powers or not she was not going to be able to defeat eighteen werewolves by herself, especially not in hand-to-hand combat.

Diana kept running for the stairwell and barely reached safety before feeling claws brush her hair and rake the back of her shirt. She ignored the tear in her clothing and kept going because to stop now would mean a painful death. The huntress kept going up the stairs and heard huffing and growling behind her, which meant that the lycanthropes were in hot pursuit.

-On the first sublevel-

Diana hurried out of the stairwell and ran for ten meters, then turned around and aimed at the stairwell. She saw one werewolf lumbering towards her and dropped to one knee. She then carefully aimed for its head and fired, bringing the beast down in five bullets. As soon as that one was down she aimed for another werewolf lumbering up the stairs and aimed for its head. Another five bullets soon took care of it, causing it to fall just short of the stairwell exit and blocking it. The lycanthrope behind it was struggling to climb over the body of its fallen friend and snarled at Diana all the while.

Diana took the opportunity to reload her weapon and mentally counted down the seconds until the weapon was ready to fire again. Once five seconds were up Diana raised the reloaded assault rifle and aimed for its head, firing five rounds and taking it down just as it had stepped over the body of its fallen friend. The newly deceased werewolf had slumped over the body of the first one and was now blocking more of the stairwell, causing a bottleneck that the huntress was preparing to take advantage of.

Diana hit upon the idea of hurling grenade-type spells into the stairwell to take advantage of the tight spaces and the questionable intelligence of the werewolves to further whittle down her opposition. She wondered just how many of them she could kill before they would realize what was happening and fall back to avoid the trap they had blundered into. She was about to find out.

Shifting Saint Sinner Valentine to her left hand and forming an Argent Hand Grenade in her right hand, Diana prepared to hurl the baseball-sized magic grenade into the stairwell.

[Post Word Count: 1,203]
[Total Word Count: 6,897/11,000]

Diana took a few moments to steady her right hand before lobbing the Argent Hand Grenade into the stairwell filled with werewolves who were trying to push the bodies of their fallen friends out of the way. She turned away from the flash of the projectile and heard a blast followed by ear-splitting howls of pain and the sounds of labored breathing. She then heard the sound of footsteps going back down the stairwell... they were retreating. Diana had bought herself a little breathing room and had thinned out their numbers a little, but there were still plenty of lycanthropes to deal with. There was also the possibility that vampire reinforcements might be joining the werewolves soon.

Diana decided to get a bit closer to the stairwell and lob another projectile down onto the second sublevel to hurt any werewolves that had clustered down there expecting her to blindly chase after them. She stood next to the bodies of the dead werewolves, then formed another Argent Hand Grenade and lobbed it down the stairwell, bouncing it off of the wall. She heard it clink down the stairs before landing and detonating, filling their air with more pained howls. Her Argent Hand Grenade had found its targets.

Deciding to press her advantage, Diana carefully stepped over the two dead werewolves and slowly made her way down the stairs while forming a Silver Strobe in her right hand. There was no need to go charging in just yet. She would throw the Silver Strobe and let it blind some of the opposition, then go in with Saint Sinner Valentine blazing. Diana paused halfway down the stairs and tossed the Silver Strobe in an underhand throw, then waited and listened for more pained howls. A few seconds later she got them... now was the time to make her move.

-Back on the second sublevel-

Diana hurried down the stairs and found five dead werewolves and five live ones plus a few stragglers who were smart enough to have gotten away from the foot of the stairs before the Silver Strobe landed. Diana did not think that she had enough time to kill all of the blinded enemies with her assault rifle, so she settled for using a Spirit Dome to take them out. She channeled pale blue magic into her hands and slammed them palms-down onto the stone floor, sending out a dome of death magic that hit the five blinded werewolves plus one who had avoided the Silver Strobe but had been a little too eager to enter the fray. The six werewolves howled in unison and fell to the stone floor, where they writhed in agony before finally passing on.

Diana faced the remaining lycanthropes and aimed at one of them, who charged at her with murderous intent. She aimed for its head and brought it down with five bullets. The rest of them growled at Diana, then hurried towards the stairwell that led to the third sublevel and retreated. Diana brought down another with ten bullets to the back to encourage the rest to keep going. The rest took the hint and fled to warn the dissidents that the huntress was coming. Before she hustled off to deal with them and the vampires she decided to check the side rooms to see if any loyalists or defectors were still alive and in hiding.

Diana hurried to the first side door about 40 meters to the left down the hall and opened it. Inside a food storage room was the mangled corpse of an older man whose head and legs were missing. Next to his chest lay a silver necklace that identified him as one of Mr. Capella's loyalists. He was beyond help, so she shut the room door and hurried to a door opposite that one.

Diana opened the door and inside a room with empty wine racks found two young female vampires... or what was left of them. Their faces had been chewed beyond recognition, their throats had been torn out, and one of them was missing both legs. Diana closed the room door and hurried to another one twenty meters away from the stairwell that led down to the dungeon.

She opened it and found two young vampires huddled in the corner facing away from the corpse of an older vampire whose face had been clawed by a werewolf. Around his neck was the silver necklace marking him as one of Mr. Capella's faithful servants. The man had not gone down without a fight because sitting against the wall opposite the fallen vampire was a dead werewolf with multiple lacerations to the face and head plus signs of blunt force trauma. The wine rack to the right of the dead vampire was missing almost a dozen bottles.

Diana saw broken wine bottles lying on the ground in front of the werewolf and deduced that the older vampire had protected the younger ones at the cost of his own life.

"They've found us! We're gonna die!" The male of the pair exclaimed without turning to face Diana. Diana pulled the protective tube containing Reginald's offer out and kicked it over to the young woman, who saw it skitter beside her and picked it up. She stood up, turned towards the source of the scroll, and found Diana standing in the doorway.

"That's not a werewolf. She's a human who's come here with a scroll." The young maid said before opening the tube and unfurling the scroll.

"It says here that if we return to Reginald and pledge allegiance to him and Mr. Capella we'll be spared and allowed to return to work without punishment." The maid read aloud to her companion, who was clearly scared out of his mind by what he had gone through. He mustered just enough courage to stand up, turn, and face the huntress.

"She... she's not here to kill us for taking part in the strike?" The youth asked the maid.

"Not unless you attack me first. If you accept the offer proposed by Reginald, I will not harm you." Diana answered calmly and truthfully. The youth turned back to his friend, who had finished reading the scroll and had put it back in its tube, then kicked it over to Diana, who then pocketed it. The maid turned to her friend.

"I'm willing to take the chance to work for Mr. Capella again. How about you?" She asked her friend. He nodded.

"I am too. Anything's better than being chased by those werewolves!" He agreed. The pair turned to exit the room but then faced the dead older vampire who had saved their lives at the the expense of his own. They said words of thanks to Mr. Bernard, the butler who had ensured their survival. Diana felt a twinge of emotion at the brief but poignant scene, then followed the vampires out of the room to watch their backs while they fled to safety.

Diana stood watch as the two gingerly stepped around the bodies of the dead and eventually reached safety in the stairwell to the first floor. Once they were safe Diana pressed the button to load Ultraviolet Rounds into Saint Sinner Valentine and moved towards the stairwell that led to the dungeon. She would be in for a fight because the dissidents had likely been warned that she was coming for them.

[Post Word Count: 1,233]
[Total Word Count: 8,130/11,000]

-On the third sublevel, outside the dungeon-

Diana stepped down the stairs to find herself staring down a long hallway devoid of anything but torches in wall sconces, metal doors on both sides of the hallway, some bodies of vampires lying in various states of disassembly, and a quartet of werewolves who had been waiting on the huntress to arrive. They snarled and growled at her before charging at great speed. Diana had just loaded Ultraviolet Rounds in Saint Sinner Valentine and did not have enough time to switch to Silver Bullets before they would be upon her, so instead she channeled pale blue energy into her hands and slammed them palms-first onto the stone floor, sending out an expanding dome of death energy that caught the charging werewolves and sent them sprawling to the floor, where they writhed in pain for several seconds before expiring.

Now that they had been dealt with Diana moved forward towards the end of the hall and saw a small group of humanoid shapes five strong emerge from the large metal door at the end of the hall. Diana deduced that they were vampires who had been sent to stop her. She scanned them with Guardian's Sight and confirmed that the humanoid shapes were vampires. They approached her as a group and paused about ten meters away. Diana addressed them in a calm voice.

"I am here with an offer from Reginal-" Diana started before she was cut off by a strong male voice that came from an older male vampire who was missing his necklace. The huntress was momentarily thrown off by that. Reginald had not mentioned any older vampires joining the dissidents. Either he did not know that they had or he did not mention them because they were dead to him.

"Save it, stranger. We're not interested in any offer Reginald has for us. The time for negotiating has passed!" The voice stated in no uncertain terms. Diana recalled the instructions given to her by the head butler. She was to make the offer once and if it was rejected she had authorization to kill any who refused on the spot. Since they had refused to hear the offer, the huntress prepared to follow her instructions.

"Very well then. Know that refusal means that I am obligated to kill you." Diana warned the quintet, offering one last chance for them to stand down and hear the offer. She was met with derisive laughter for her trouble. There would be no bargaining, only fighting.

"Don't be so presumptuous just because you killed some of those werewolf mongrels, stranger! You can't win against us!" The leader admonished her before all five vampires rushed at her in unison. Diana raised her assault rifle and aimed at the first one she saw, firing five shots at him and hitting him in the torso with each one. He pitched to the floor, screamed, and clutched his chest as the smell of burning flesh reached Diana's nose, but she did not have time to watch his demise because the other four vampires were still active.

Diana turned to a second vampire who was only two meters away from her and fired at his head, missing with the first four rounds but scoring a lucky headshot between the eyes that killed him instantly and caused him to crumple to the floor. The remaining three were too fast to shoot and closed with the huntress before she could even aim at them. One of them seized Saint Sinner Valentine by the barrel and wrenched the weapon out of her hands.

Unwilling to risk her wrists being broken in the struggle, Diana released her assault rifle and watched it be flung to the far left and clatter against the wall, leaving Diana unarmed against a trio of vampires who saw an easy meal standing in front of them... or so they thought. Diana wordlessly channeled pale blue magic into her hands, dropped to her knees, and slammed her hands palms-down onto the floor. The pale blue dome caught two of the vampires by surprise and they screamed in agony, but the leader of the quintet had fled the expanding Spirit Dome in time and escaped unharmed.

Diana clenched her teeth as the lead vampire turned back and faced her. He had a look of shock on his face like he had never expected a human to have any prayer of killing a vampire, let alone four of them. He then clenched his teeth.

"I don't believe this! Four of my friends who I've known for centuries killed by a single woman! I don't know how you did it, but I'll make you pay!" He exclaimed. He turned to her and then towards the door that led to the dungeon proper. Diana could not risk him escaping and executing any captives, so she wordlessly raised the index and middle fingers of her right hand, turned them sideways, and channeled pale blue magic into them before firing a Spirit Drain Beam that hit him in the chest as he turned back towards her, causing him to fall to the floor as he quickly began to wither and die from the death-dealing power of the beam.

The lead vampire fell onto the floor with an expression of shock on his face and Diana retrieved Saint Sinner Valentine from its place near the far left wall. The weapon had been snatched from her hands with such force that she was surprised that the rifle's barrel had not been bent, but Saint Sinner Valentine was none the worse for wear and the barrel was still perfectly straight. She tapped the reload button and waited for more enemies to arrive but did not see any, so she began to walk towards the far door and prepare herself for whatever lay on the other side.

Diana's left hand touched the metal ring and she pulled the door open, then hurried through and closed it behind her.

-In the next corridor-

Diana was somewhat surprised to find that she had not reached the dungeon just yet. She was staring down another long hallway that was exactly the same as the one she had just left behind. In front of her loomed more torches in wall sconces, still more bodies in various states of disassembly, and another group of humanoid shapes. This one was ten strong. Diana scanned them with Guardian's Sight and confirmed that they were vampires.

The leader of the group, a young male vampire with red hair and red eyes, strode forward while the rest of his group stayed behind. He came to a stop about five meters from Diana and crossed his arms. Diana lowered Saint Sinner Valentine and slung it onto her right shoulder.

"I am here with an offer from Reginald." Diana stated in a calm voice. The leader of this group seemed inclined to hear her out because neither he nor his group made any aggressive moves.

"What is it? What is this offer?" He asked warily, suspecting a ruse by the huntress to take him by surprise and kill him. Diana slowly took the tube out of her left side pocket, set it on the floor, and kicked it to him. He saw it coming and stopped it with his left foot, then picked the tube up and opened it. He unfurled the scroll and began to read it while his group waited behind him.

[Post Word Count: 1,244]
[Total Word Count: 9,374/11,000]

While the red-headed vampire read the offer Diana peeked behind him and saw a mix of younger vampires and older vampires without necklaces waiting to hear what Reginald's offer was. Diana looked away from them and towards their leader, who had finished reading the scroll and put it back in the tube, then kicked it towards Diana. She bent down and picked it up, then shoved it in her left side pocket.

"If we go upstairs and pledge allegiance to Mr. Capella, we won't be harmed?" The redhead asked Diana. Diana nodded.

"If you accept the offer, I will not harm you." Diana vowed. She waited for the response from the vampires; there was no verbal commitment just yet, but the offer had found a receptive audience because most of them murmured positive responses. Diana waited to hear from the leader before she did anything, but since they were not aggressive towards her she would not be aggressive towards them.

The redhead turned back towards his cohorts, who all nodded approval. The redhead turned back to Diana and nodded his approval. There would be no fight with this group.

"We accept the offer, all of us." The redhead answered. Diana stepped aside to let the vampires pass by without incident and nine of them passed by with expressions of relief and gratitude on their faces. All of them had passed by except for one, the redhead himself. He looked towards her with red eyes.

"The dungeon itself is just on the other side of the door. You won't find anyone else willing to take the offer because there's only hardcore rebels inside. They made sure of it." He warned Diana. The huntress noticed that the last sentence sounded sad and bitter. She was trying to decide whether or not to ask him what he meant by that last sentence when he spoke up.

"The rebels killed most of the loyalists who were trapped down here when the strike happened. They killed all of them, including my uncle. They forced the rest of the loyalists out and then sent the werewolves after them. That's why you've seen so many dead vampires on the way here." He answered, clenching his teeth. The young vampire clearly wanted revenge for his uncle's murder. However, he knew that he was not strong enough to claim it with his own hands.

"I was scared, so I went along with the rebels. When they heard that a stranger with a rifle and magic was coming they sent out the best fighters they had, but it wasn't enough. I volunteered to lead another group to go out and fight, but they were made out of vampires who were on the fence. The rebels didn't want to risk what few vampires loyal to them they had left." He explained how things had gotten to this point. Diana was interested to hear that the rebels were low on manpower. She was under the impression that the strike was led by the young, but it seemed that there were a few older vampires who had joined for their own reasons. She continued to listen to the redhead speak.

"Be careful, stranger. They have a lot of werewolf muscle, but the vampires themselves aren't all that strong since they're older vampires who are much better at intrigue than combat. They may try to buy you off with promises of power or wealth, but don't listen to them! They're a bunch of old schemers who'll stab you in the back at the first chance they get!" He warned Diana. That warning prompted her to ask a question.

"Do you know whether a thief who tried to steal one of Mr. Capella's paintings is still alive or not?" Diana asked him. He nodded.

"That blonde girl's still alive. The vampires don't pay her any attention. She can stay in her cell and rot for all they care." He answered. Diana's special ability told her that he was telling the truth.

"Thank you." Diana thanked the vampire for his help. He nodded.

"Good luck, stranger. And thanks for not attacking right away." He said before sprinting for the stairs and to freedom. Armed with the knowledge that she would have to fight through the remaining werewolf muscle before contending with the rebel ringleaders, Diana loaded Silver Bullets into her weapon and strode towards the door to the dungeon. It was time for the main event.

-Inside the dungeon-

Diana opened the door and stepped through it, then closed it behind her. In front of her was a large square room full of torture devices, dead vampires, and werewolves. Diana counted twelve werewolves and an equal number of living vampires who were not going to listen to reason standing thirty meters away and preparing to fight. In the far right corner of the room stood three older vampires who were observing the action that was to take place. Diana took a breath and the werewolves were upon her.

She had little room to maneuver, so she would just have to power her way through. She dropped Saint Sinner Valentine and raised both hands in front of her, putting them together and channeling silver magic into them. The vampires and werewolves realized what was about to happen and began to try and close the distance, but it was too late. Diana's entire body glowed silver and she fired a wide beam of silver light that hit all of the werewolves, who had bunched up in an effort to make sure that at least one of them survived to close with Diana.

"IN NOMINE LUNA!" Diana called out. All of the werewolves were reduced to ash and so were eight vampires who had been too eager to attack the huntress. She had vaporized twelve werewolves and eight vampires in one powerful blast of lunar magic. She was amazed at what In Nomine Luna could do, but now was not the time to rejoice. She still had four rebel vampires and the three schemers behind the strike to deal with before this job was over.

The four rebel vampires who had avoided being turned to ash hissed at Diana and leapt to the attack. Their masters watched the action from afar. Diana hoped that she was putting on a good enough show for their liking because soon they would be closer to the action than they would have liked to be.

[Post Word Count: 1,072]
[Total Word Count: 10,446/11,000]

Diana eyed the four vampires warily as they closed in. While she had seized an advantage by wiping out most of the remaining rebels, they still had seven members left and outnumbered Diana. She waited to see what they would do before slinging a spell at them. All four vampires closed to within ten meters of her and Diana aimed at one of them with a Spirit Drain Beam. He was aware that he was being targeted and dodged to the left, but Diana had predicted that move and adjusted her aim at roughly the same time, firing and hitting him in the head right as he straightened up to continue running. He fell to the ground and the other three closed to within five meters.

Diana had to think fast. She could try for a Spirit Dome, but that might be too slow to cast. Instead she tried something new. She channeled silver magic into her right arm, then waited until the vampires had closed with her before thrusting it skyward and catching them in a flash of silver fire that emanated from her position. All three vampires had been caught in the attack.

They screamed in agony and fell to the ground, then began rolling as they vainly attempted to extinguish the argent flames engulfing their bodies. After nearly a minute of trying they finally died, leaving the three schemers defenseless... or so Diana thought. One of them stepped out of the corner and walked towards Diana with glowing red eyes, then stepped forward and disappeared. Moments later he reappeared in front of her and grabbed for her shoulders while opening his mouth to expose flashing canine teeth. He was going to try and turn her into a vampire!

Diana ducked under the grapple and popped up, hitting him in the forehead with a Silver Palm spell to avoid cutting her hand on his teeth and becoming a vampire anyway. While he recovered from the palm to the head Diana followed up with a Knee Strike to his midsection that made him double over. Diana took a step back and launched into a Crescent Phase kick that hit him in the side of the head just as he straightened up and began to hiss at her. Not wanting to waste any more magic power on him, Diana aimed and fired a Spirit Drain Beam that ended his life by reducing him to a burnt skeleton on the floor.

Diana retrieved Saint Sinner Valentine and loaded it with Ultraviolet Rounds, then approached the remaining two schemers who stood in the corner. They began to loudly bicker among themselves over what to do. Should they attack and try to turn the huntress into one of them or should they just buy her off and send her after Reginald? After five seconds the assault rifle was loaded with anti-vampire rounds, so they had better make up their minds.

Diana leveled the assault rifle at them and waited for them to act. After a few tense seconds one of them approached Diana and began to speak.

"I see you're here to negotiate on behalf of Reginald. While we're not interested in what that old sycophant has to offer us, perhaps you'd be interested in what we have to offer you." He started out in a clearly rehearsed sales pitch. Diana had been warned that these guys were better schemers than fighters and she could tell. Every word was spoken in a patronizing tone as if they were doing her a favor by making their "offer." Diana could tell that they were liars... her ability to detect truth based on body language told her so.

Diana let him speak but kept an eye on him as he continued to approach her instead of stopping.

"In exchange for you eliminating that old sycophant who thinks that he is master of this castle based on some scribbles jotted on parchment, we can gift you with long life and enough money to fill this castle." The vampire promised Diana. All she had to do to get the rewards was to eliminate Reginald and the loyalists. That was not a good deal. Diana did not want long life and she already had a lot of money saved from years of work.

"No thank you." Diana firmly refused the "offer." The vampire paused in place and offered a weak smile and a look of false sorrow.

"I am afraid that that was a one-time offer. Your refusal was unwise. You should have taken-" He started to warn her before Diana riddled him with fifteen Ultraviolet Rounds to the chest. The vampire fell to the floor and burned from the inside out. Diana faced the remaining ringleader, who crossed his arms and sternly glared at her. She saw that resting on his left hip was a ring of keys.

"Don't waste your breath, stranger! I won't accept the offer, not at all! I won't go crawling back to Reginald just because he sends a hired gun after us!" He vowed. Diana saw that he was telling the truth. The vampire stretched his fingers out and sprouted claws, then extended his canines. He knew that the strike had failed and was going to go down fighting instead of going to beg for mercy at Reginald's feet.

Diana wordlessly aimed at him and emptied the magazine into his chest before he could get moving. The old vampire feel to the ground and cooked from the inside out. Now that the strike had been broken in decisive fashion, Diana walked over to him and took the keys from his hip, then began to search for the cell that housed the would-be art thief. Diana did not have to search far because she heard pounding and screaming from the other side of a metal door on the left side of the dungeon.

The huntress tapped the reload on Saint Sinner Valentine in case she was walking towards a trap set for her by the three schemers. She approached the door that was being pounded so hard that it looked like it would come off the hinges at any moment. She placed a key into it and turned it left. To her surprise the first key worked and unlocked the cell.

Diana opened the door to find a blonde with waist-length hair and blue eyes standing in the cell. The young woman smiled and approached Diana. The huntress quickly used Guardian's Sight to check if she was a vampire and to her relief she was not.

"Thanks for the rescue, Sweetie. I've been in there for a week now." The young woman said to Diana and hugged her. Diana blinked while her skin crawled after being touched. It seemed like the girl was interested in her rescuer in more ways than one.

"Let us go see Reginald. He will be pleased to know that the strike has been broken." Diana told the young woman. She recoiled when she heard that.

"I'm not going near those vampires! I'm going back to Hargeon Town and I'm not coming back here ever again!" The young woman exclaimed. Diana looked at her.

"I was told that you tried to steal a piece of art from the castle's owner. Reginald said that being locked in the cell was punishment enough... this time. If you come back here and try to steal another piece of artwork they will not be so lenient next time." Diana relayed Reginald's warning to the young woman. She nodded.

"I won't return here. You can tell Reginald that. I'll even go and tell him myself!" The other blonde pledged. Together the pair left the dungeon behind to go tell Reginald of the strike being broken and all the rebels being killed. Diana could not wait to get out of this place and get paid by the young woman's family.

[Post Word Count: 1,314]
[Total Word Count: 11,760/11,000]