Sam jumped over one of the pallets to get some cover from the monster for her and Tara. “’Just a quick kill before dinner’ she says. ‘We’ll be back before it even gets cold,” Sam said, rolling her eyes at Tara. “Okay so I may have underestimated how strong this monster was going to be, but we’ve still faced worse than this,” Tara said, glancing over the pallets to see if the monster was coming their way. Thankfully, it looked like they had lost it for a few seconds. “You think?! It has fucking tentacles!!! What kind of vampire also has TENTACLES?!” “One that was probably praying to the Eldest. I mean he did seem insane.” “Tara!” “Fine, next time I’ll promise to do research better.” “If we even survive this time,” Sam said, inching along the pallet, trying to figure out their next move. Some days she really questioned doing this line of work. Sam had gotten into monster hunting with her girlfriend for the past few years. Besides the thrill of the adventure, it also was pretty lucrative. She couldn’t believe how much people were willing to pay for sand from a tomb or fur from a werewolf. Most of the time, it was just a quick in and out, with just stealing whatever they needed. Sometimes the monster was so bad that they needed to put them down though. Like the vampire that was currently trying to make them it’s next meal. “MOVE,” Sam yelled pushing Tara ahead of her, as one of the tentacles came down on the pallet in front of them. Looks like the game of hide and seek was over. Tara threw some lightning from her fingers behind her as she ran to buy Sam time to catch up with her. Under normal circumstances, that would usually be enough to take a vampire down with that hate for anything bright but all it seemed to do was piss it off more. “There is nowhere for you to run, fleshlings. Let me drain the blood from your bodies so that you may have the hope of seeing the actual gods in your death. They will rip this world apart at the seams and bring about a new beginning from your blood,” the vampire called, stalking toward them. “Really wish he would shut up about the Eldest gods,” Sam panted, taking a turn down a hallway and pulling Tara into a room. “Why did he choose to make a home here of all places?” They had stalked the vampire to an abandoned factory that used to be used for making spray cans of cheese. Tara just shrugged and kicked one of the cans away before giving her a pointed look. Sam stared back for a second before realizing what she was trying to get at. “No.” “Yes.” “Hell no. The situation is already precarious enough as it is.” “And it could be just what we need to get out of this mess.” “A mess you put us in,” Sam sulked. “God, I’m not gonna hear the end of this for the next couple weeks, am I?” “Try two months, at least!” Tara looked around the room and picked up a piece of the broken box. She turned to Sam with a grin. “Ready to play bait again?” “God, I hate you,” Sam groaned, snatching a couple cans off the floor. “You love me,” Tara said, giving her a quick kiss before pushing her towards the door. Sam poked her head out of the door and looked around. With the coast clear, she ran back to the production area where boxes of canned cheese had been left all over the place next to dead conveyor belts. “Hey, you know that werewolves are smarter than vampires by miles,” Sam called out. “Like a fucking human knows anything at all,” the vampire snarled, grabbing her from behind. “And yet we were smart enough to lay a trap,” Tara said, sending the stake of wood hurtling for the vampire’s chest with her magic. The vampire snarled, whipping out one of its tentacles to snap the wood before it could do its job. Sam wiggled and drove her elbow into its chest, pushing herself away and running back towards Tara. “So that didn’t work.” Tara concentrated and pushed her hand towards the vampire. A glass dome formed around the vampire to keep him from moving towards them. “We have to do it.” “But Tara—,” “The Eldest gods will raze this Earth and destroy you along with it. Pray to them now and maybe you’ll be spared,” the vampire called from in the dome, which Sam and Tara ignored. “No. I don’t have the energy to keep this up forever and we’re running out of options,” Tara said, her arm already beginning to shake a little. Tara was the witch, the one able to cast spells and play with elements. Sam had grown up with a different gift instead. She could absorb some of other people’s power and amplify them to make something more. She considered herself more like a battery, waiting to be charged by other’s but useless on her own. It irritated her sometimes,. She hadn’t used it that much though since she wasn’t sure what the power exactly was, a new form of magic that Sam and Tara were still learning about. “Do it. I’m going to need more than usual to take down this fanghead though,” Sam warned, while the vampire hissed in the background at that remark. Tara placed her other hand on Sam’s chest and let Sam pull from her. The magic flowed from her into Sam. This was more than Sam would normally take, usually only taking a tiny bit whenever she needed magic to heal herself, barely even a trickle of magic. This was like a river though, wanting enough to put down the fucker in front of them. The feeling washed over Sam, feeling the power she would get when doing this. It was like she could feel an electric current running through her veins, filling her with so much energy. It was delicious and she wanted more. Magic poured from her fingertips. “Sam, that’s enough.” She knew the power would be intense, but she didn’t expect it to manifest like this. It was just raw energy ready for whatever she wanted. But it wasn’t enough. “Sam, stop it.” Something had woken inside her, and Sam wasn’t sure if she liked it. This power was more than she had ever had before. “Don’t you like this feeling,” the power whispered to her. The power felt so good, holding her in a warm embrace. She finally felt powerful. Except it wasn't enough. There was this deep unsatiable hunger inside her “We want more,” the power cried inside of her. “Sam, STOP!” Tara yanked her hand back, pushing some magic against it to get it to release. Tara screamed out, as she felt some of the skin rip off her palm and heard a pop come from her wrist. But that was nothing compared to the fear she felt looking at Sam. There was a light glow coming from around her. Instead of her usual warm brown eyes, there was this sparkling pale blue energy inside of them, holding no care or love in them. Even the vampire had gone quiet in his cage. “Sam, c’mon. Just use the power to kill the vampire and let it go.” Sam tilted her head at her before opening her mouth wider than usual. Sam’s teeth sharpened to something more vicious than the vampire’s fangs even. “We are so hungry. Feed us more,” Sam said, her voice coming out sharper and raspier than before. “Sam, please,” Tara whispered, holding her one hand against her chest. She winced as her magic wore out, releasing the dome. The vampire hesitated for a second before its hunger got the best of it and decided to go for Tara anyways. It took two steps before Sam’s head snapped around to face it. “Back off,” Sam snarled, turning her palm towards the vampire, bathing it in raw light power. Tara blinked the spots out of her eyes, turning to see the ash and ooze that was left of the vampire. Relieved that she used the power, she turned back to Sam and fought back a scream. Sam’s eyes were still glowing with the look of hunger still there. “Why,” Tara cried, backing away from her. “Why are you still like this?” “We like this power. But we need more. Feed us more,” Sam said, walking towards her. Tara turned and ran. If she could make her way back out of the factory, she might be able to get some help from her friends and return Sam to normal. She screamed as she felt something slice down the back of her shoulder blade. “Why do you run? We thought you loved us. Why won’t you feed us more?” She saw the doors a hundred feet in front of her. She could ignore the pain and make it. If she could just make it out of here, there could still be hope. This was not how things were supposed to go for her and Sam. Do a couple more jobs, buy a decent house, adopt some stray dogs and build their happily ever after together. Gritting her teeth, she pushed herself to keep moving. She felt something slice through her ankle, bringing her down to one knee. Sobbing, she looked down to see her ankle cut deep enough to see the bone. There was a flash and then Sam appeared kneeling in front of her. “Sam, please,” Tara begged. “Come back to me, Sam.” “Shhhhhh,” Sam said, placing a finger over her lips. “We are right here, love. Everything will be okay.” Sam nuzzled against her neck, before biting into her neck and chewing through her throat. Tara’s mouth opened on a wordless scream, as she felt Sam feeding on her, eating her body, magic, and soul. Her body shuddered, whether from the pain or the last words she heard as she welcomed the darkness coming to take her. “Who’s next?”