Encounter Her hand was red with blood dripping down from the lifted sword. A shallow cut above her left eye, bleeding abundantly, kept her from seeing well. She felt her strength dropping and fatigue setting in, from the blood lost, not because she was tired. Normally she would resist more. All the training years made her quite strong and many creatures would fear her. "Not this one", she thought bitterly. The vampire was strong, and had the eyes of a rabid animal. If she would not insisted in sneaking out alone, she wouldn't be in this mess. Thinking of it she started laughing uncontrollably. "What's so funny?" He hissed through his teeth. His fangs had pierced through his lower lip, but it had begun to heal fast. The only cut that didn't seem to heal was the one on the long site of his right hand, which she had made with her silver sword. His eyes were mad with rage, growing with her laughter. "Aidan will kill me!" She said, more to herself, laughing harder. "I will kill you first." "Not a chance, idiot." She said calming her outburst and launched herself at the vampire. He moved in the last moment, catching the back of her jacket and slashed it with his sharp fingernails. He miscalculated her speed and her sword was dripping fresh blood when she landed. She felt the scratches in her back stinging, but ignored them and, in the blink of eye, she turned and sent her other dagger flying towards the surprised vampire. It was the first time he would fight a battle where the opponent was so skilled and shock froze him, as he felt the short blade digging into his neck. Then everything went dark. He thought of hell and purgatory while his consciousness faded in the darkness surrounding him. She fell to her knees, gasping for air. The stinging became almost unbearable, but she had to gather her remaining strength to reach home. After a few moments she lifted and recovered her dagger from the pile of flesh that was a vampire and walked slowly towards home. *part of a character background from the novel I'm working on now.