Not again.

Not another filthy, dark, and damp room. Not another thick gag stuffed in her mouth. Not another thick rope tying her arms to a chair.

Erin sighed. Not the first time, and most certainly — and very unfortunately — not the last. These incidents taught her a lot: don’t be too still, don’t be too antsy. Always observe — and that was her first goal. Except, unlike most times, she was blindfolded; so, she had to use only her ears.

There was a faint dripping of water nearby. A constant buzz like a machine was runnning. Footsteps. Starting from a while away, but sounding louder with each step.

The footsteps stopped. Right in front of her, she could practically feel the person, whom she could only guess was her kidnapper, breathing on her. She sat still, as if still in a deep slumber.

Everything seemed to stop.

For an eternity, Erin could only focus on the dripping of the water.

_Drip_.

_Drip_.

_Drip_.

“Tsk.” And the footsteps sounded again, this time, slowly getting quieter. The person walked away.

But Erin wasn’t sure if they’d left the room. Or if there were other people around. They weren’t talking, most likely waiting for her to wake up. She could only hope this wouldn’t become an issue.

She used one of her hands, still tied behind the chair, to reach into the sleeve of her other hand. Slowly, gently.

Nobody seemed to notice, and she successfully retrieved her pocket knife.

This was going to be difficult, but not something she couldn’t manage. First, she would cut the ties around her arms. Then, she’d rip off her blindfold. Scan for danger was next, and eliminate the threats. The gag could come off somewhere in between; it wasn’t a pressing matter to take it off.

Erin Yvette never gave her prey much word of advice before she killed them, anyway.

Everything was done with elegance and precision. She would not accidentally slice her own arm with the knife— she’d done that before, but she’d learned how to avoid such occurrences from happening again. She wouldn’t make too much noise, lest anyone else in the room would hear.

And most importantly, had to be fast.

Within seconds the rope was frayed away and Erin could stand up. She tore off her blindfold with anticipation.

The room was strange, but she didn’t take too much note of it. Rather she scanned for people.

There were three. One stocky man with a scarred face holding a gun, one short and _way_ too skinny to be healthy woman, and a lean man wearing a suit. That man wearing the suit was oddly out of place.

No matter.

She pulled out her next, and much better weapon. Whipping out the pocket knife like an asp, her blood red scythe flew out. It reeked of death. It was stained with blood. It’s kill count was immeasurable. And soon, it would be immeasurable plus three.

She went for the stocky man first. He shot his gun, but missed by only an inch from her shoulder. Slashing the scythe across his torso, his insides became outsides.

Erin looked away. Found her next target: the woman. She started after her, but the woman put up more of a fight. She pulled out her sword and blocked the scythe. Took a swing of her own, and Erin slid to the side, all while stabbing her scythe into the woman’s chest. The woman was down.

Now there was only the man in the suit left. He had been silently observing her fight the whole time, yet took no action. Strange.

Erin took the liberty of taking off her gag, now that the main threats were dead. Maybe she could salvage information out of this puny man.

He took a step forward, and threw her to the wall with a hard _slam_. But he did it from such a distance, that it couldn’t have been physical. Some sort of magic. Shit.

He advanced forward, still holding Erin against the wall with whatever ability he held. Only a foot away, he finally spoke: “‘Angel of Death’. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you.” His smooth, silky voice filled the room.

Angel of Death, huh. Hardly anyone called her by that alias anymore.

He smiled and showed his teeth. But they weren’t normal teeth — they had two sharp fangs. He was a vampire. “I want to make a deal with you.”

Erin took a sharp inhale. “What.”

“I have a man that I want dead. He wanders the forests surrounding the capital in the early mornings. Kill him for me, and I’ll reward you greatly.”

“Oh, how intriguing. And what’s the reward?”

His deep red eyes glow. “You’ll find out later.”

“And what if I leave this _glorious_ deal to another?”

“Don’t test me. I can kill you easily.”

Erin grinned. “Try.” She swiftly kicked him in the groin and he went down. “I’m not meant to die yet,” and she walked away, slowly. Out the strange room, which she now noticed was filled with labeled boxes of minerals and salts. A trading room, perhaps. Located deep in the dark markets. Good thing she knew those areas like the back of her hand.

Maybe she’d seek out the man the vampire wanted killed. Maybe she’d wouldn’t. It didn’t matter to her.

Stupid, stupid vampire. Erin had tried dying before. She thought her time was done.

The heavens said otherwise.