They tried to sneak into a single abandoned shed, but no matter how quiet they were, they were detected, by someone, something.

The two men, Eli and Roy, had heard rumors about this abandoned town, well, it was really a city, having a supposed treasure. Probably a rumor. But it was also said it held a great threat. It was no mistake that whenever people came to explore this place, they either never came back, or suffered great injury. Not a ton of people, but everyone who had, succumbed to such fate. It was haunted, which was also a rumor. The best way to explain things, without actually having to figure it out.

For instance, one man decided to go explore, and several days later, was picked up on a rural road, many miles away, by a passerby. The man's leg was broken, cuts and scratches all over him, and he was in a state of hysteria. Apparently he had dragged himself all the way there. He was fine now, but doesn't recall much from that experience except fear, and appreciation for the person who picked him up.

Eli and Roy had gone to see the man a little while after the incident. He was still bandaged up with his leg in a cast, but a great deal better than before. When they asked what happened, he got a far away look in his eyes, turned away, and muttered, "I don't really remember a lot. I fell, I know that."

Roy noticed something on his forearm, "what's that?" He had asked. The man lifted his arm, looking at it. It seemed to be two small holes, but scratched out from those points. "Thorns. Running through the forest had a lot of thorns."

They didn't get a lot of actual info from him besides that, and, don't go to that place.

But of course they were planning on going to that place. Roy was sure those weren't thorn scratches, rather, inflicted by something else. A vampire bite he theorized. They pondered this thought. It made sense. So they were going to eliminate it. See what it was hiding. Treasure perhaps? Again, another rumor, but a bonus if it so happened to be true.

Now that they were in the place, it seemed very foreboding. The entire place was dark, surrounded by forest, casting darkness on the whole city. It was also very quiet, except the occasional wind gust, causing the trees to rustle. A few birds, but they never stuck around.

Eli and Roy had walked most of the way here, hauling their weapons, supplies, and a few flashlights. They had dropped them just outside of the city, bringing only what they had on them. They only had gone in to find a place to stash extra things, and to go over a game plan together. A big empty shed proved to be just what they needed. It had doors on both sides, and a small window near the roof which let in sufficient light.

After a bit of hushed speaking, they agreed that one of them would go grab half the supplies, while the other one stayed in the shed, then vice versa.

Eli left out the back door, taking care he moved it slowly, avoiding any noises of protest from it. Roy was left alone. The silence was deafening, but he could also immediately hear any changes. The creak of the walls when the wind blew hard. The rustle of the wind in the trees. The sound of his own breathing. His own heartbeat, pounding louder and louder in his ears. He shook his head slightly, then went over to the back door, peering through the crack between the door and the frame, seeing back into the woods, watching for Eli to come back.

Roy was suddenly aware of more... clear sounds. The rush of wind was more pronounced. He turned slowly, just able to glimpse a figure, when abruptly both of his wrists were gripped and he was slammed against the wall, a knee pushing his one leg against the wall as well.

"What..." Roy breathed in shock, taking a second to realize it was a man, his body uncomfortable close to his own, his head positioned right next to his. Roy pulled, trying to free his arms, but the other man had iron strength, and he couldn't move his arms at all. He was stuck, pinned to the wall, at the mercy of this other man.

"Don't try and struggle, that only makes it worse." The voice was deep and smooth, and sounded extremely serious. Roy started to tremble slightly in fear because, the voice just sounded... scary. But he stopped himself, ready to say something, but couldn't.

"I know what you two are planning."

The mention of 'you two' made Roy's stomach drop. He knew. This man knew. He must be...

"You will not succeed. But I will humor you. Do have fun." The last part of this, his voice sounded almost playful, teasing. He leaned back for one moment, Roy could see his face, his intense black eyes, a thin smirk, then he was gone, in an instant, through the open back door.

Roy collapsed to his knees on the floor, taking huge gulps of air, unaware that he had been breathing so little before. Shakily he lifted his hands, seeing red marks on his wrists from where the man had tightly gripped him, and the back of his head ached slightly from being bashed into the wall.

A moment later, Eli entered the room, very noticeably, unlike the other man, who did it so quietly. Roy suddenly felt intense fear at the realization of what happened.

"Roy, why are you on the floor?" Eli hissed, cautiously closing the door, propping up two guns against the wall, and set a bag on the floor.

"He knows." Roy said standing up slowly. "He was here."

"Who was here?!" Eli demanded, a little louder than he would have liked.

"The vampire Eli! He snuck up on me. He told us he knew we were both here. He knew about us coming."

Eli shook with fury, growling. "But he didn't hurt you?"

"No. He said he would let us humor him, but we would not succeed." Roy spat the sentence out, feeling anger rise in him.

"He was just trying to scare us. There's two of us. One of him. And we have very powerful weapons. " Eli insisted. "We'll take him down."

Roy nodded with sudden confidence. "My turn to go get my stuff. Wait here." He went out the back door, leaving Eli alone.

Eli felt uncomfortable suddenly, after hearing what Roy had told him. They were trained... it was unusual for any of them to just be snuck up on. He went over to the wall, and grabbed a rifle he had brought there, putting it up to his shoulder, ready. He glanced down, making sure he still had his pistol and his knife. The pistol was still on his belt and the handle of the blade stuck slightly out of his boot. Good. He also had bear spray on his belt but... that was more for if they had encountered any animals while coming here. More tools and items were in the bag he brought, but he was not going to move to get them until Roy came back.

A loud thump came from the wall behind Eli, and he swung around, staring at the wall. Silence. A scratching noise then broke the silence behind him. He swung around again. Nothing. Then it started again. It was outside. The scraping noise moved along the wall, getting closer to the door... down the wall, around the corner. The door handle groaned slowly, being twisted... the door flung open and Eli shouted, firing a shot.

Nothing was there.

Eli clenched his teeth, breathing heavy, silently scolding himself for being so hasty.

He saw movement in the distance and quickly aimed his rifle again. Roy popped put from the woods, but when he spotted Eli aiming his rifle, he stifled a shout. "Eli what the-" he hissed, stumbling back.

Eli shook his head, lowering his rifle allowing Roy to come in.

"What are you doing?" Roy scolded him, closing the door. "I heard a shot."

"It's taunting us." Eli said, clenching his first at his side.

"I know." Roy said angrily, holding up one of the guns he had went to retrieve. I was bent in half.

"How the heck..." breathed Eli, taking it, his mouth slowly setting into a grim line as he inspected it.

"This isn't looking good.." Roy started to say, but Eli cut him off.

"Stop it. We've dealt with so much worse, this is just another obstacle."

"You haven't seen him." Roy hissed. "His voice, his demeanor, his eyes," he stopped to take a breath, "he made me feel fear like nothing else, it was like.... feeling death." He dropped his gaze to the ground.

"Are you hearing yourself?" Eli said after contemplation, "everyone feels that way when they're unsure. Now stop being unsure, and be sure of yourself, and of me, that we can, kill this vile bastard."

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