I must have fallen asleep, though I didn't remember lying down. The moon was high in the sky when I woke up. I shivered in the cold and decided to look for another blanket when I heard a man's voice, weak and trembling, "You can't ... Not even you...".

A snort came from my savior, like a short laugh.

"Perhaps we can negotiate terms for your survival."

I flinched at the coldness and cruelty ringing in her words.

Careful not to make a sound, I stowed the blanket away and crept toward the source of the voices.

Ashen and in torn clothing, a man stood with raised hands, his face and arms marred by blood and bruises. A faint puff of steam from his lips was the only indication he wasn't an undead. His eyes were wide with fear.

The bald woman was sheathing a knife. Had she inflicted his wounds? A rifle was lying on the platform near me. I held my breath.

The man's eyes kept darting to the side, and I followed his gaze. Among the branches, not far away from the edge of the platform, hovered a young woman. She was deathly pale, except for dark circles under her red, glowing eyes. Long, fiery hair flowed down freely onto her simple, summer dress with a faded floral pattern. Oh, fleck. For the first time, I saw a vampire from this close.

The leech kept silent, her stare following my rescuer with a mix of hunger and admiration. She ignored the man, despite his bloody wounds, and I watched her as if hypnotized. From a pouch strapped to her hip, my nameless savior produced a white collar with a small, blue flickering light. The man backed off with a blend of surprise, disgust, and fear.

"Where the raze did you get a slave collar?" he rasped.

"You know what that is. Good," she said, her cold voice sending shivers down my spine. "Put it on and you can spend the night here," she added, handing him the collar.

He shrank back further, his back pressing against the platform's railing. The vamp noticed him and silently hovered closer.

"I won't be your toy, mutant!" he snapped, his gaze frantically searching for an escape route. "But you already have a toy, I see," he smirked when he spotted me.

My face heated up. The woman cast me a glance and swore under her breath.

"Go back to sleep. I'll deal with it," she barked at me. I tried to speak, but nothing came out.

"Put this on, Francesco, or you'll be Lily's snack," she said, turning away from me and throwing the collar to the helpless man.

He snatched the device from the air, and his face contorted in disgust that morphed into despair as he inspected it with trembling hands. He glanced one more time at the floating bloodsucker and again at his oppressor. Clenching his teeth, he put on the collar. The metal snapped as it locked on his neck, the light turning green.

"Good boy," my strange savior said with a contented and a bit cruel smile. Lily hovered away, visibly disappointed.

"Raze you," the man grunted, trying to keep his distance from both women.

"Stay," she ordered, and he froze.

He flinched and tried to oppose when she caressed his cheek, but she silenced him with a short "Don't speak".

She brushed his long hair away from his face. He shivered as she traced his lower lip with her thumb. His breathing went short, his dark eyes flickering with helpless anger. She licked her lips. Lily moved closer again, watching the scene with keen interest.

"What's going on?" I blurted.

The woman spun to me as if she remembered me just now, and the man sighed with relief.

"Just chatting with an old acquaintance of mine," she laughed half-heartedly.

He shot her a look full of hate.

"Didn't look like a friendly chat," I ventured.

She shrugged.

"Go to sleep, both of you. There are still a couple of hours till dawn," she commanded.

I couldn't say no to her. Francesco had no choice but to obey. To be fair, she offered him a sleeping bag and a blanket, which he placed as far away from her as he could. He wrapped himself tightly and closed his eyes, though his uneven breath told me he wasn't falling asleep.

She paced the platform, watching the sky. I tried to follow her with my eyes, but I was too exhausted and they just shut out of their own accord.

I saw her curvy body. Swaying her round hips, she approached me and touched my face. Her hand was cool and silky, seductively caressing my cheek, tickling my lower lip. I gasped.

She was all covered in gore, her eyes shining red. I recoiled, but I slipped and fell hard on my butt, just to find myself sitting in a puddle of blood. She bent over me and touched my arm. I jumped.

"Wake up," she said, her face close to mine as she gently shook my arm. "It's time to get ready. We shouldn't be wasting daylight."

I blinked to clear my vision and wiped the sweat from my forehead with my sleeve. Fleck, that was some dream.

Francesco was already sitting by the burner, making us tea. Beside him, on a white, plastic tray, lay a couple of homemade flatbreads filled with luncheon meat. The day was breaking, the red sun peeking its first rays on the horizon.

"Where are we going?" I asked as I shed the rest of the dream fog from my head.

"To Three Oaks. It's the nearest settlement. You'll be safe there," she responded softly as if soothing a frightened child.

I sighed. "Will they accept me? I don't have many useful skills. I was just foraging with my friends, but they..."

I couldn't finish the sentence. I remembered Hubert's broken body and Roman and Iza's angry snouts.

"It'll be all right. The village always needs foragers," she tried to cheer me up, a rasp in her voice making it sound tired.

"What about him?" I asked, gesturing to Francesco.

The bald woman gazed at her prisoner and licked her lips. "I'll find a use for him." He tightened his grip on the mug handle.

My savior had finished her meal before us. "Eat your sandwich, drink the tea, and let's get going," she commanded as she stood behind Francesco. He flinched and spilled a few drops of hot tea onto his lap.

The surface of the dark beverage rippled as he handed me the cup. He was still forbidden to speak. In the daylight, I could see his face with a square jaw and high cheekbones. His long, dark hair was now bound in a neat ponytail. He'd cleaned himself too, all traces of blood gone. With a leather jacket over his torn clothes, he reminded me of the hero of Cursed Moon. I used to play the survival game, wishing I could be like the main character. You should be careful what you wish for.

We set out when the sun was fully visible over the horizon. We were going in a line, with her marching at the front and Francesco trailing after me.

"How far is the Three Oaks?" I asked.

"We should be there before sundown," she retorted, making it obvious she wasn't in the mood to chat.

We walked in silence, which was becoming more oppressive with each step we took. Our guide was taking unexpected detours through the overgrown fields and deserted villages as if she knew where the emojis were. We met no monsters on our way, though this area should be crawling with hungry beasts.

By the time we stopped for a short break around noon, my feet hurt like hell. The pace was too much for me, especially with the backpack the woman had made me carry, but I couldn't muster the courage to complain.

The heavy look on my savior's face told me to keep my mouth shut. I longed for the company of my friends. We'd always had something to laugh about. I sighed, remembering Roman teasing Hubert about his red hair, just to hear how he was a bad wolf.

Soon we moved on, eager to reach our destination while the sun was still up. The sky was painted red when we saw smoke snaking up from a cluster of large trees. My benefactor cursed quietly and quickened her pace. I strained to follow her and stumbled every few steps. Even from a distance, we could smell burning wood and plastic. Fleck.

We arrived at a scene of destruction. Acrid smell lifted from the scorched houses, and I covered my face with my palm as I veered around charred remains littering the makeshift streets of the small settlement. Francesco caught me and saved me from crashing to the ash-covered ground when I stumbled on a trashed stool. His face went darker as he inspected the site.

If I were to guess, the emojis had broken the perimeter, and people tried to fight them with fire, but failed to control the raging element. The wooden huts had burned as the monsters feasted, devouring every scared human trying to escape the massacre. Poor people.

And poor us. With all the houses destroyed, we'd be easy prey for the bloodsuckers. I really hoped the boasts of my savior about being able to fend off the creatures of the night were more than just idle talk.

At least she didn't lose her wits. She ordered us to set up a fire while she took out salt and garlic from her backpack and started to form a protective circle around our meager camp. The night was coming fast. We were as ready as we could be when the last rays of the sun disappeared, opening the way for the vamps to come from the dead.

I'd always found it strange that the vampires hadn't wiped out the parasite. But then again, for as long as the sun was up, they were literally dead and defenseless in their nests. Infected werewolves were great at sniffing them out and eating everything that stood in their way. The bloodsuckers' guards were enough to protect them from the regular emojis, but the furry monsters were pretty much unstoppable.

I chewed on the dried meat, wondering what animal it used to be. The tough morcel was salty and tasted of smoke. Tightening the blanket around myself, I moved closer to the fire when I caught a flicker in my peripheral vision. The small hairs on my neck prickled with unease, but when I turned around, the only movement came from the dancing shadows cast by our campfire. My mind was playing tricks on me.

Francesco was fidgeting with a small pocket knife, his eyes darting once in a while to the bald woman, with a mixture of fear and hatred. Ignoring the evening cold, she sat far from the fire, motionless, eyes closed, breathing a slow, even rhythm. I was drifting off to sleep when she stood up and approached the magical border she'd created.

"What do you want?" she asked into the darkness.

I shivered when the familiar figure materialized right in front of her, right outside the line of salt.

The vampire whispered, but the wind brought her words to me.

"We need to talk, huntress."