Oh, Boring Day!

Alexei woke up like he always did. Still tired, hungry, and covered in sweat. It was amazing how someone who lived in a near freezing environment could sweat so often. He simply sighed and rolled out of bed.

The bathroom was the next stop. He stared into the mirror.

Not like he had a reflection anymore.

Alexei had spent his entire life learning to be a vampire hunter. Unfortunately he wasn't all that fantastic at the job, and had managed to fail. Normal protocol was to put yourself out of your own misery before you were turned.

He had tried on many occasions to do so, and somehow he always failed.

He put the toothpaste on his brush with a muted sigh.

There was a knock on the door. "If you're moping again, could you hurry it up. I have to take a shower!"

Alexei's best friend was a Res. It was a particular race of people that could transform into animals under certain conditions. Pictor was one of the stranger cases, and for some reason his hair was a horrible unnatural shade of blue which translated to his animal form.

"I just got in here. Give me some privacy and use your own bathroom."

"I can't..."

It was like having a girlfriend, but there were no benefits. Especially considering his friend was the one who had "mercy" and didn't have him killed. Alexei glared at the door for a few long moments before opening it. "What is it Pictor? What do you really want?"

Bright blue hair, dark skin, wearing bright green with a red and white cravat. He was dressed for work, so he had clearly gotten ready earlier in the morning.

They ran a library together. It was really the only thing that Alexei could have done anymore. It had originally just been a cover for his other job. What vampire would expect some innocent librarian to be a hunter? One too many... then again Alexei had the red cross of his family in the center of his forehead. It wasn't like he could hide it behind his white hair either.

"We might have a problem."

One of Alexei's almost invisible eyebrows quirked. Pictor didn't like the use the word "problem" unless he was starting to panic. "What?"

"I think... things may have finally caught up with you."

"Thank you for being so cryptic."

"Fine, let me rephrase it. We might have a few angry hunters on our doorstep."

"A few?"

"F-five."

"Okay. I don't see this being a very big problem considering I should be dead, but feel free to express your worry. I'm going to go brush my teeth now." Alexei shut the door despite his friend's protests and went back to his morning routine.

 "Oh! You must be a mind reader," she said cheerfully as she absently twirled her hair. "I've head that forest elves have quite amazing abilities."

"I'm not a forest elf."

"Oh? But you look a lot like one."

"I'm a Res. You know, those adorable people who can transform into animals." He shut the directory that he was writing in. "Unfortunately Alexei isn't available right now. You'll have to come back later."

"Later? It takes a day to come out here! And there's no way I'm staying in the crappy inn again." She stopped twirling. Her face was now far more serious as she slowly made her way onto the desk. "Look, I'll do you a big favor if you tell Alexei I'm around...."

"You can just go next door to the inn. They have a rather lovely hot springs. Or perhaps you can go and have a cup of coffee or two? I brewed it just a few hours ago."

"What are you?"

"I told you, I'm a Res. And I'm not fond of women who smell liked lies."

She looked offended.

***

Alexei found himself staring at a bowl of oatmeal. He was hungry, but since his nightmare had started, he hadn't been able to eat properly. It was because he needed something else to function properly. It was hard to stand, though. He  hated the taste. He hated the feeling of it sliding down his throat. It tasted badly.

He wanted to eat things that normal people ate. He wanted to be human again.

Even if it was impossible.

He stared at the glass filled with the red liquid. If he didn't drink it soon it was going to congeal. Blood really was disgusting, even if it was kept cold. Alexei paused for a moment before taking gulping down the substance.

Vampires were supposed to enjoy this sort of thing, but he didn't. He was broken. He wasn't a normal vampire by any standards. He was more human than anything else. Or so he supposed. Frankly if he was killed by a hunter, he would have taken it as a blessing.

There was a slight knock on the door that cause Alexei to jump. "Come in?"

Pictor popped his head in. "We might have a problem."

"Worse than the five hunters that you exaggerated?"

"I think so."

Alexei sighed. "What?"

"I think your ex-girlfriend is here."

It took a very long moment to process the information. He had only every described his girlfriend to his Res companion once or twice. She had been quite a character in his life, with her platinum blonde hair and not taking no for an answer attitude. She was from a hunting family similar to his own.

And she had been there when he had been captured.

"That's quite the problem," Alexei said with a slight whimper. How was he supposed to deal with this? "I'll be out in a minute."

***

"How did you find me?"

"Rumors," she said cheerfully. "Their haven't been that many pale white guys with crosses on their heads, you know. I heard there was a man who worked in the library in the frigid cold who looked like that... and I know how you hate the cold."

"Violet..."

"You should be dead. Any good hunter would be."

"I know. I tried.'

"You don't try, you do."

He should have expected what came next. It still surprised him when the knife came from seemingly nowhere. She slashed at him, he lifted his hand up to block the blade. A curse escaped him as he backed into a bookshelf. "Okay Violet, give it your best shot," he said after a moment. He put his hands to the side and waited.

She seemed distracted, and she was slowly backing away. "That's impossible."

The man felt a little stupid. He wanted to ask what was wrong, but considering she was trying to put him out of his misery it seemed like a bad thing to do. Instead he followed her gaze. It was a surprise, wasn't it?

He was bleeding.

And the most important rule of hunting was, vampires didn't bleed.