The air around me was heavy with smoke and iron, the blaze surrounding me curling around my breath, the burns and slashes from a jagged, makeshift blade that had been carved into my body, made me yearn for the death I knew was soon to follow.

The desperate screams of my village had quieted not long ago.

The only noise was the loud popping of the fire as it consumed everything the town had loved.

Now that the vampire hunters had killed everyone it loved.

Was anyone still alive?

Or were they all like me?

Quietly awaiting death to take them from the hell that surrounded them.

It hurt to breathe. I wanted to stop.

But I also wanted to use every last breath to curse out the Society.

So much for protecting us. So much for making us sign over our freedom in exchange for protection from the vampire hunters, claiming that we were such a threat that they also had to protect humans from us. 

Maybe the Society had given up. Saw it as a better situation just to kill all of us vampires and be done with us.

The Reaper, our town's current Vampire Guard, had returned to the Society to give his yearly report. Something the town had been fearful of, as a vampire hunter had shown itself not long before his departure.

But the Society didn't care. They had called them anyway.

The Reaper had saved me before, I remember it like it was yesterday. The way he held me in his arms afterwards, his concentrated dark eyes searching mine as I sobbed in fear and pain.

He had left for the Society as I was being bandaged and sewn up.

I regretted not being able to wish him a safe trip.

Now I realize he didn't need it, as I  suppose he is the safest of all of us.

My injuries from that vampire attack had barely healed before this attack ravaged our small mountain town.

Those old wounds would never heal now.

There had been too many of the Vampire Hunters, and the town was not prepared. The monsters killed without hesitation, and they burned what wasn't alive.

Leaving the town ablaze and its inhabitants unmoving in the streets.

I doubted a hunter would let any vampire get away, not after taking out so many of us.

They were likely chasing those who escaped through the woods, hunting down my loved ones as I lay numb on the dirty brick road behind my burning house, my blood and tears mixing with the ash on the ground.

My eyes closed, the smoke made them feel like they were burning, and my vision was already dimming from loss of blood.

The pain that consumed my whole body felt unbearable.

Why couldn't I die just a bit faster?

Suddenly, two large hands were pulling me from the ground, and I felt myself quickly wrapped in two muscular arms, pressed against a man's heaving chest.

"Daisy..."  I heard a low murmur, their tone desperate and pained. The voice's thumb trembled against my cheek.

"Please, open your eyes."

The deep voice cracked at his plea, and I felt myself shift in this man's arms.

"Don't tell me I was too late this time."

Despite the pain, I opened my eyes slowly, finding the worried dark gaze of the man I had just been thinking of.

The Reaper crouched as he held me, unmasked, save for the bottom sliver half that ran along his chin shaped like the jaw of a beast, his dark shirt half-unbuttoned and torn, as if he had merely tossed on his clothes and half his mask before he ran into a fight.

Ash clung to his dark shin and gently settled into his tightly curled hair. His dark brows raised in relief as he saw my eyelids lift painfully, a hicc-uped breath fluttering within the broad chest I found myself pressed against, his bare skin cool against my burnt arms.

"Daisy."

His deep voice was filled with relief, as I felt his thumb move in a trembling stroke across my cheek, his sad eyes searching my ash-covered face.

What a lovely final moment, I thought, as I slowly closed my eyes once more. Preparing myself to die in this handsome man's arms.

The thumb stroking my cheek fluttered over to my bottom lip, his touch light as he pressed against it, gently forcing his thumb between my lips, and pressing it against my teeth to open my mouth.

I relaxed my jaw, allowing his fingers to pull down my chin and run his thumb across my lower teeth, his once light touch forceful as he pressed his thumb against my fangs.

Drops of his blood began to fall, landing on my tongue.

The taste made me give a shuddering breath. I let out a small gasp as the taste clouded my senses. I swallowed blood that pooled from his thumb into my mouth, strangely feeling a new wave of strength as his blood filled my mouth and ran down my throat.

I closed my lips around his thumb, a primal instinct to suck every last drop of this man's blood taking over my system as the pain slowly faded to the back of my mind.

Yet the pain from my injuries still screamed in protest from this distraction, making me bite down on his thumb for more blood. He let out a sharp breath, but didn't object; instead, I felt one of his large hands running through my hair, tucking it behind my ear, and slowly tracing the line of my jaw.

"That's a good girl."

I felt new life surge through my body, a soft sound of pleasure sounding in the back of my throat as my back arched with newfound strength. The Reaper continued to murmur encouragement and stroke my jaw as my tongue circled the puncture wound from my fangs; his blood tasted better than anything I had ever tasted before, and my head swam with the satisfaction from the taste of his blood.

I soon began to grow more desperate as the pain in my body didn't disappear; instead, it grew more unbearable as my senses began to sharpen once more.

My tongue pressed against the heartbeat of his thumb, my jaw tightening around it as I tried to draw more blood, desperately trying to lure out every last drop from him as he pushed it further into my mouth.

The Reaper let out a relieved chuckle at my lively desperation, carefully removing his thumb from my mouth, rubbing his bloody thumb against my bottom lip.

I moaned in protest as I ran my tongue against the last remaining life-giving blood.

"Slow down now, Daisy." He murmured, leaning closer to me, his breath sending shivers down my back despite the fire's heat as it tickled against the skin of my ear. "There's much more where that came from."

Using his bloody thumb, he snuck it once more to my lips, and I opened my mouth in eagerness for his blood, but he redirected my jaw, pressing my open mouth against the skin of his neck.

With one strong hand tangled in my hair, he used his grip on the back of my head to force my dulled fangs into the soft flesh.

He let out a small groan as my sharp canines sank deeply into his neck.

As soon as his blood began dripping into my mouth, I lost control again; the blood of his neck was much stronger than that of his thumb.

I lifted my arms to wrap around him as I weaved my fingers through his short hair, lightly pulling on it in my desperation as my other hand snaked up and wrapped around the other side of his neck.

I began slowly rocking his neck against my teeth in ecstasy of his addictive taste. My body rolled against him, as if I might be able to consume more blood the harder I pressed my body to his.

A moan escaped the Reaper as my teeth dove deeper into his flesh, his arms beginning to tremble as more of his blood pooled into my mouth.

I had lost all reason. The pain of my injuries became nothing more than a distraction from what I needed.

Him.

More of him.

I gasped, suddenly lightheaded, and my chest heaved against his as I tried to catch my breath with my teeth still sunk into his neck.

Maybe I had overdone it. Perhaps I should have slowed down.

My grip on him loosened as I pulled my fangs from his neck. Gasping for breath as my vision swam, and the pain filled my body once more.

Just as my arms began to loosen around him, his began to tighten once more around me as I trembled against his chest.

"Daisy?" He mumbled once more, worry dancing in his tone as he looked down at me with those intoxicating, concerned brown eyes.

His neck was covered in blood, with a deep bite mark brimming with red now that I was no longer there to savor it, the crimson liquid trailing down his neck and running over the exposed skin of his chest.

I tried to use what little strength I had to pull myself up and lick it off. My tongue trailed across his cool skin, his frantic pulse vibrating against my lips.

But the haze in my mind only intensified, and suddenly my vision swam once more; the pops of the flames became a dull ringing in my ears.

I collapsed back into his arms, left with no hunger for anything besides the dark peace that finally consumed me.

My last sensations were the sound of the Reaper's pained voice as it desperately called my name, his strong arms cradling me closer to his chest.