Yukiro’s castle was a haven. Nearly two hundred feet and ten stories of solid gray brick, it was a paradise to the ill and injured, thanks to Yukiro’s fiancé, Anoki.

A kind and caring young woman, Anoki had been gifted with magical healing powers since birth, and Yukiro’s castle was the perfect hospital for her ill charges to rest and recover after their long journeys and on receiving her care.

The people were treated from everything from fever to vampire bite, and that was interesting because Yukiro was a vampire hunter and Anoki could not have found all the possible cures for the bite without Yukiro’s help.

Bodies of people who Anoki was unable to save were kept in the basement, where she and Yukiro were now, studying the latest edition in solemn voices and grim faces.

“So many attacks lately, Yuki,” Anoki murmured. “Is it Seif?”

Yukiro nodded.

“He’s on the rise,” he told her, “gathering followers; this guy is his doing.”

“How do you know?”

“See the bite mark?” He gestured to two widespread dots on the dead man’s neck. “Those are Seif’s; no Vampire for a thousand miles has fangs so big. Painful death it was, I think.”

Anoki scowled.

“Don’t say that to his family; it’ll upset them.”

“I thought you believed in telling the truth,” Yukiro teased.

Anoki turned and examined another body, her soft curves, short brown hair and blue eyes catching Yukiro’s breath.

“I do,” she sighed, “but the way you tell it, Yukiro, it might as well have been a bloody battle between life and death.”

“Isn’t everything?”

“Yuki-“

Yukiro stopped listening. The dead man in front of him had begun to rise slowly and turn toward Anoki, whose back was turned to him.

Yukiro’s punishment came quickly. In a second, he had drawn a stake from his robes and plunged it into the unbeating heart of the body.

The gasp and gurgling sound that followed caught Anoki’s attention, and she turned, saw the stake protruding from the body and sighed, hands on her hips.

“Yukiro…”

He smiled as innocently as he could, which somehow made him look even guiltier, and then turned, examining a very dead old lady with exaggerated interest.

Later that night, Yukiro was in their room, pulling a cloak and cape over his vest, which concealed an arsenal of wooden stakes. A belt on his waist held the sheath of lengthy doubled edged blade that he almost always carried with him. He glanced at himself occasionally in a full length mirror.

The scar on his brow that he had received as a child from the first vampire he had ever met- his uncle- seemed to shine with a vengeance tonight.

Yukiro touched it in wonder, sighing.

Why didn’t he leave the vampires alone, let someone else do the hunting? No, there weren’t enough hunters in the world for one to quit, and they all felt the same dread before they went out at night.

“Tonight, love?” Anoki asked softly, entering.

Yukiro jumped in surprise, as though he was afraid she had read his thoughts.

“I’m going after Seif,” he told her.

“It must be done, I suppose,” Anoki sighed, going over and running a hand through Yukiro’s short black hair. “But really, Yuki, why you?” she sighed again bitterly.

Yukiro’s deep brown eyes stared into her pale blue ones briefly.

“Just lucky, I guess,” he joked then, gently engaging her in a long, hot kiss. Then he went to the windowsill and leapt out, and she rushed to it.

“Yukiro,” she called into the darkness, “please be careful!”

It was a blessing sometimes, being a hunter.

The fear that he had felt earlier was replaced by the ego-satisfying wariness of a predator cornering prey, and he felt his senses opening up, so that his eyes explored every shadow and dark corner, his ears picked up every hushed whisper around him.

He was as strong and ready to fight as the angry Friesian stallion beneath him, and they waited outside of a crumbling, forgotten ruin, where vampires were likely to roost.

The ruin was a recent discovery of his. Until now he had assumed that most of the vampires in the area had come from the caves in the hills on the other side of his home, but if his instincts spoke truth, it was suicide to enter this building for the number of vampires it contained.

It was here that Yukiro hoped to find Seif, an elusive adult male who had been roaming this area for the past century after his death, his name now familiar to vampires and mortals alike.

In the past, Yukiro had only caught glimpses of Seif, a tall, muscled man with brown hair and eyes as black as starless nights. Yukiro was sure that Seif knew him well though, following from a distance during Yukiro’s nighttime adventures, watching for some weakness of Yukiro’s, painfully aware that this hunter was his only rival.

Seif was always present, sometimes not even far behind, other times Yukiro had followed him, to no avail.

Deep down, Yukiro knew Seif would come to him when he felt he had the upper hand, and there was nothing Yukiro could do about it. That time was now.

“Looking for me?” someone asked lazily only meters from Yukiro’s side. “I’m flattered.”

Yukiro stared at the ruins a moment longer, then studied Seif warily before getting down from his horse. The stallion wisely trotted away.

There, beneath a glum- looking willow, was Seif, looking amused.

“I think that, had I not already been here when you arrived, you would have sensed me when I approached. Am I correct?” Seif asked.

Yukiro sighed, knowing Seif was testing him, and mentally cursed himself for not having sensed the vampire sooner.

“You are,” Yukiro replied to Seif’s question. “Now answer me this: how many nights have spent at my tail, watching me from a distance? How long has it been?”

“Some few months, perhaps,” Seif admitted. “I’m sorry, but I really have lost track of time.” He smiled coolly.

“It is typical among vampires to forget the passing of time,” Yukiro told him. “In case you’ve forgotten, you’ve been dead for a hundred years now.”

“A hundred years…” Seif repeated, looking thoughtful for a long moment. “Do you think I could make it a hundred more, hunter?” The pair began to circle each other warily, like wolves ready to fight for a kill.

“Don’t get your hopes up,” Yukiro spat. “A stake with your name on it says you won’t survive the night. Now speak: you owe me an answer; for what reason have you been following me?”

The vampire stopped circling and stood, his hand on the hilt of his sword. His pearl white fangs gleamed maliciously.

“If I should die by your hand tonight, I swear, hunter, that before I have taken my last breath I will have made you one of my own. As for my… obsession with you, you have an aura about you that conflicts with that of my own; destiny tells me that I have some part to play in your existence… or non-existence.” Seif smirked widely.

“Enough talk!” Yukiro snapped. “We fight!”

“Indeed!”

Simultaneously, the pair drew their swords, the steel singing as it was torn from their sheaths.

Rushing forward to meet each other, the two exchanged blows and backed away, unhurt.

They were silent and still a moment, reviewing the first strikes in their minds, evaluating each other’s strengths and weaknesses.

Seif was the first to recover, having already witnessed Yukiro’s abilities before. He dashed, ducking beneath Yukiro’s attempt at defense and retaliating with a viscous upper slash.

“Taste steel, you fool!” he demanded.

Yukiro yelled as a long, thin line of blood slithered out of his mouth in an arc, separating into separate beads as it clung to Seif’s blade.

Seif had sliced the lower lip open, about a centimeter deep.

He choked on the warm liquid and glared furiously at his nemesis, the taste of iron strongest in the back of his mouth.

“You learn to love it,” Seif crooned, eagerly licking the red fluid from his tainted blade. “Looks like I’ve drawn first blood.”

“It’ll be your last,” Yukiro promised.

“Humans,” Seif scoffed. “Your word is about as trustworthy as a pack of wild dogs.”

“We’ll see,” Yukiro snapped, charging. Seif leapt to the side, but Yukiro had been expecting it and gave a wide sweep with his sword. It sank through the sleeve and the skin and bit into about a quarter inch of muscle.

“Damn you!” Seif spat, switching his sword to the other arm, the first one now useless.

“There’s more where that came from,” Yukiro offered coolly.

Seif hissed softly and stalked away.

Yukiro followed, not wanting to lose sight of the vampire. Too late.

Seif had vanished, leading Yukiro into the trees.

Yukiro became frighteningly aware of exactly how many vampires were actually surrounding the castles. Hissing breath came from all directions. They were in the trees. Movement stirred all around him as they stretched their fanged jaws and peered at him sleepily, curious, and becoming aroused.

He was quick to cover his mouth with a gloved palm. If they smelled the blood on his mouth, it was all over for him.

One vampire struck at him with a dagger, testing the resilience of the human that had made it into their wood, and, in a gruesome upward slash, he sent the head flying.

The others hung back uncertainly, allowing Yukiro to back out of the woods, fighting the urge to yell in disgust and horror, his stomach queasy.

“I suppose you don’t find that sort of thing as amusing as I do,” Seif said darkly, back in the clearing. “I have precious little to laugh about these days.”

“Why not give up and end this battle?” Yukiro offered. “You wouldn’t have to live this long afterlife.”

“That’s impossible,” Seif sneered. “No vampire has the power to commit suicide or even to accept death, though it’s not like we haven’t tried.”

“A terrible fate,” Yukiro breathed, experiencing one of his rare pangs of pity for the creatures. They were victims, in their own way, after all.

“A hunter with the ability to sympathize with his prey,” Seif mused. “Are you a soft-hearted man, Yukiro, or a merciful killer? Come to me. I will put your integrity to the test.”

Seif charged at him, his sword raised in one hand to strike, to kill.

Adrenaline feeding his body, Yukiro leaned back and put the weight of his body into the swing of his sword, knocking Seif’s weapon from his hand.

Yukiro took the opportunity to plunge his gleaming blade into the Vampire’s chest, splitting brittle bone and severing the still muscle within.

Seif yelled and stepped back, the weapon struck through him like an arrow. He gripped the handle with both hands, but with only one good arm, he couldn’t pull it out. Cursing under his breath, the vampire stumbled, sinking to his knees.

“Your aim is true, slayer,” Seif gasped. “As is your heart. Now will you finish the job?”

Yukiro watched numbly, then he slipped a hand inside his cloak and took out a wooden stake. He approached the vampire weakly, his body weary from the fight. He knelt by the vampire and held the stake in the air, ready to strike.

“Bloody fool,” Seif hissed suddenly, having remained quiet until then. “I told you we can’t accept death.”

He fell up against Yukiro, pinning the hunter to the ground.

Yukiro gasped and tried to push him away, but a strong arm gripped his throat and made him grab at the hand on his neck instead. Yukiro felt the hilt of his own sword push at his stomach, and the vampire’s bad arm jerked his head to the side. The high collar was pulled back, and the sharp fangs borrowed into Yukiro’s neck, piercing him like needles with a hot, burning sensation, paralyzing him.

Still, Yukiro struggled, thinking only of his fiancé waiting for him at home, until a kind of sleep took him and he was still, dazed as Seif, dead but dying, greedily drank at his throat. Long moments passed. The wound in Seif’s arm slowly closed.

Then the Vampire reached for his own throat with fading strength and cut a gash there with a sharp nail. He lurched forward and matched the gash to Yukiro’s mouth. Blood slipped between Yukiro’s lips, a mixture of Seif’s and his own. With the last of his strength, Seif was getting his revenge. Yukiro drank, almost without realizing it. After a few moments the vampire was still, unmoving.

“Anoki,” Yukiro choked, the last of the blood in his body slowly pooling back to his limbs. It dawned on the hunter that Seif was dead, the steel having done the job of the wooden stake. It wasn’t a proper death for a vampire, but it might do.

It didn’t matter. It would only take a few minutes at most for some other vampire to venture out of the woods and finish him off, or if not, then he would die slowly, here, beneath the vampire, Seif’s fangs digging into his neck, his vision blurred and dimming. His body might never be found. He didn’t want to die like this.

Something dark and shiny hit the dirt in front of his face with a thick thud. It was a hoof.

As Yukiro watched, his steed lay in front of him, offering his broad back to the hunter one last time.

Yukiro doubted he would survive the trip home, but it was better than dying here, leaving sweet Anoki to worry and wonder.

Summoning the last of his strength, Yukiro pushed Seif to the side, relieved somewhat by the loss of his sword’s push on his belly. Gritting his teeth Yukiro rolled over and dragged himself onto his horse’s back.

Nickering gently, the stallion got to his feet and walked away, Yukiro’s body collapsed over his own, his master’s breath growing fainter and fainter to the horse’s ears.

“Anoki sealed her love away in the castle, and captured his spirit in the amulet, the one you’re wearing right now, little Yaro.

“She meant to return to him when she found a way to cure him, but she never did return. No one knows why.”

“Is he still there, godfather?” Yaro asked earnestly.

“Oh yes,” her godfather breathed. “The castle’s been searched, of course, but no one can find him. Anoki protected him well.”

“What if he’s dead?” Yaro gasped.

“Yaro, he’s immortal,” she was reminded. “He’s still there somewhere, waiting for Anoki to come back and free him. But I’ll tell you this, Yaro: wherever he is in the castle, he’s deliriously thirsty by now. Why, if you came to my castle, he might find you and…” Her godfather gagged dramatically. Yaro’s eyes widened and she hugged him fearfully.

“Amadis, you’re scaring her,” Yaro’s mother scolded.

“She has to know,” Amadis boasted. “It’s the truth. This legend and amulet have been passed down among Anoki’s ancestors, namely us, and as long as the old tale remains, Yukiro exists as an immortal, and he’ll live on until Anoki returns to him.

“Vampires?” Yaro’s father laughed. “You never told me the story behind that old amulet, love.”

“It’s embarrassing,” Yaro’s mother sighed. “My whole family believes in vampires because of that old legend, and I was laughed at in school and…” She sighed unhappily.

“Yaro likes the story,” Amadis pointed out. “Right, Yaro?”

“Yeah!” Yaro said enthusiastically. “I want to know what happened to Seif!”

“Well,” Amadis said. “That’s an interesting question. No one could find the body, so it is unclear whether other vampires buried Seif, or whether the blade instead of a stake was enough to ensure he remained dead. What if another vampire removed the sword? Would Yukiro’s blood have been enough to heal the dead vampire? No one knows.”

“I want to look for Yukiro!” Yaro said.

“It’s bedtime,” Yaro’s mother sighed.

“Aw, mommy!” Yaro yawned, hugging her knees, “I’m not tired!”

Her father carried her to bed.

“Amadis,” Yaro’s mother scowled.

Amadis whistled innocently, but then the woman smiled.

“Did you know? She looks forward to your visits more than holidays. Visiting your castle someday would be her dream come true. She’ll be so disappointed.

“Not until she’s older then,” Amadis agreed, and the woman sighed gratefully.

The tinted glass window between the front and back seats was a blessing; Yaro didn’t want the taxi driver see the tears rolling down her face like the rain that raced down the window.

She was tired of people asking her if she was okay.

It was all too much; now seventeen, Yaro had been an orphan for a month, her parents having died in a car accident. She had stayed with a friend of hers for a few weeks until she was strong enough to move to England with her godfather Amadis, and was now on the way ‘home’ from the airport to see the castle she had dreamed about for so long.

Her black cat Jack- short for Jack the Ripper- yowled in his carrier. He hated traveling.

“It’s okay, jack,” she assured him. “We’re almost there.”

She had seen pictures of the castle, an ancient but well-kept building that had been in the family for centuries.

Her mother had grown up in that castle, and her mother’s mother and so on. Amadis was her mother’s stepfather, and Yaro wasn’t sure whether to call him godfather or Amadis like her mother had.

She was the last living blood relative of Anoki Raichang; she came from a once rich family and had proud bloodlines. She sighed.

Descendants had to go to school.

She could always tell Amadis that she didn’t feel up to it, but she wanted to get the first day over with, and tomorrow was Friday. It was the perfect day for her to go to school and then have the whole weekend to recover from anything embarrassing that might happen.

She fingered the amulet around her neck. Amadis would be glad to see she still had it. Then she frowned.

Godfather Amadis had become somewhat weird. He read tarot cards and horoscopes, and Yaro had heard that he practiced yoga and tai chi.

Was that normal old people behavior?

Yaro wasn’t sure, but she supposed she would find out.

She stared out the dark window.

England’s rolling hills were outlined occasionally by a jagged streak of lightning. Rain slammed into the roof of the taxi with enough force to make it seem as though the vehicle were shaking. Inside, the vehicle was warm and dry, but outside all that existed were dark skies, and torrents of rain like the tears Yaro wiped from her eyes.

They drove beneath a large stone arc and into a driveway that was at one time a small courtyard. The entire thing was guarded by a high stone fence.

The taxi slowed suddenly and rolled to a stop. Yaro got out, pulling her cat out after her.

The taxi driver whistled admiringly as he grabbed her luggage.

The castle towered over them, outlined by bright white bolts of electricity. Thunder and rain seemed to suit it just fine. Some of the lights in the windows were on, a mixture of electricity and decorative torches.

The large front door opened, and Amadis stood there, his hair gray and his face wrinkled like disturbed water, but his eyes were alight with a kind, twinkling glow.

“Come in, come in, my dear,” he said sweetly, tipping the taxi driver generously. “You could die of cold in this weather!”

Yaro gave him a quick hug, realized that she was soaking wet and drew back apologetically.

“Don’t worry about it,” he laughed, returning the embrace warmly. “There are twenty-five bathrooms in this house for you to shower in whenever you like.”

He smiled as he shut the door behind them.

“So, you’re finally here, eh?”

“Yeah…”

For the first time in weeks, Yaro felt herself really smiling.

Excited about her first night in a real castle, Yaro took to exploring everything. Jack the cat stayed close at her heels, afraid to be left behind.