Start falling asleep.

Sleep at last. The world starts fading away. Soon you'll escape the stress of the world, at least temporarily.

The noise of your window rattling jostles you awake. You open your eyes and peek up from the covers, but there's nothing there. You can hear the wind blowing, so you assume it to be the storm passing by. Not to mention that you've been on-edge lately. After a period of nothing, you bring the blanket back up and gentle shut your eyes once again.

It happens again. This time, however, you're awakened by a violent shattering of glass.

You look up to see a figure standing silhouetted in the middle of your room. Before you can get up and grab your sword, the creature lunges forward. You can't spot detail in the heat of the moment, though it seems to be humanoid, though with pale skin and bright red eyes. It lashes out with clawed nails, but you roll off the bed. It tears easily through the fabric of your blanket as you stumble to your feet, and it hisses.

Immediately it attacks again. You try for your sword, but the creature throws you to the ground. You take the moment to activate your room's magic light, and a terrifying figure becomes illuminated over you. It's a man with sharp fang teeth and short, stringy black hair. A vampire!

"Shit!" you yell. Before it can pounce and pin you to the ground, you roll to the side and stand back to your feet.

You finally grab your sword. The reflective metal shines off the light in the corner of your room. It attacks again, but you're quick on your feet and skilful with a weapon. Before it lands, you move to the side and slice open its shirt, though no blood is spilled. It makes sense, since it is a vampire after all. Though as you look closely, the wound is already starting to close. You leap back to figure out a plan of action.

Vampires can regenerate. Damn it.

"You work for Catherine, don't you?"

It hisses again. "How dare you say her name so casually!" You duck under a swipe of its claw, and with a thrust forward, your chest is nearly skewered.

Fire has to be the trick.

As you ready your spell, the door behind the creature flies open at the impact of a shoe. A streak of black and silver dashes into the room, and you hardly even notice what's going on at first. Something splashes over the back of the vampire's head, and in response, it groans out in discomfort. That's not all. Quickly after, that's followed by a sound of pain as a throwing blade sticks into its back, and then another. You peer around to see Snow standing with a sharp gaze focused entirely on her foe.

You're not one to leave everything to her. You leap forward, and it's almost too easy. Your weapon lands perfectly with the vampire's neck, and you lop its head clean off. It rolls to the ground, followed by the thud of its body, and there is no sign of regeneration to follow.

After a pause, you call out. "Snow! What happened?"

"Holy water," she responds. "When a vampire is exposed to sunlight or comes into contact with holy water, their powers are drained, and that includes the ability to heal from injury. And you know they're finally dead when..."

The entire body starts dissolving into a pile of black ash.

You take a deep breath. "I see. On Earth, vampires are just in books, and they usually burst into flames or disintegrate or something in sunlight instead."

"I wish it was that easy. But at least it makes them weak. If it's nighttime and you have no holy water, the best you can do is use holy magic. It doesn't weaken them so much as it makes an injury they can't regenerate from for a long time."

"What about fire?"

"Better than mundane weapons and a lot of other elements but I wouldn't say it's a weakness.

"Garlic?"

"I don't get it. That would be really stupid. Is this a joke I'm not getting?"

"It's... nevermind. Thanks, Snow. You just saved my life." You step around the pile of ash and shake her head. "I appreciate it."

She rubs her arm awkwardly. "Thanks," she replies. Her voice is quiet.

You look at her for a moment, but finally you raise your hand up and pat her on the head. Pink appears in her face as she looks incredibly relaxed, and her tail starts shifting left and right. "You did good."

She takes a step back afterwards. "I-I know! It's fine. No worries."

"I guess we have **** but to pursue her now, or this could happen every night. Damn."

You look around the room. It's a mess. There's broken glass on the floor, bringing in a chilling breeze from outdoors. You shudder at the thought of another creature crawling through and assaulting you again. Hopefully though, she was cocky enough to only send one. You take a step towards the bed, but Snow puts her hand on your shoulder to stop you.

"Kyle, no. You can't," she says. "You'll get sick with the window open, or worse, another vampire will get inside. You can use my bed for now. I did swear to protect you after all, so I should be nearby until we know it's safe."

"I guess you're right. Lead the way then, Snow."

"Of course." She bows formally and proceeds through the door.