The Skinwalker

A new nightfall comes alongside unthinkable boredom.

A creak follows as the door of my coffin opens, soon after, I emerge to be welcomed by Revgnir, who sits at the table enjoying a plate of soup. I sit at his side after savoring Revgnir's blood to sate my thirst.

Should I ask Revgnir? I intended to pass the blessing to him but if he is against it, I can not do anything. My head rests on the table as I turn to face Revgnir with a curious expression.

"Revgnir, the day we met, thou said something about dying in battle before age takes thou, correct?"

Revgnir furrows his eyebrows in confusion at my sudden question. The warrior thinks for a moment before answering.

"Indeed, has been 46 years of life, more than 27 years spent on the battlefield, the peaceful life these walls provide serves only to make me uneasy" Revgnir says with a hint of melancholy with a bitter smile

27 years fighting wars, wow... It is somewhat... sad. In all his 46 years of life, he never accomplished a family or cared about wealth, he has nothing more than his title and his sword. How many friends has he lost on the battlefield to this day? Probably more than he can recall.

Curiosity guides me to ask.

"Thou regrets it, choosing this path?"

Revgnir let out a bitter giggle before answering.

"Who knows? As with every other person, I have my regrets, yet, my path has been carved a long time ago, what good would do to regret my choices at this point?"

Indeed, the past should stay in the past otherwise it would render us unable to go forward. Easier said than done, when im alone with my thoughts, my imagination plays with how my life would be if Lucifer's blessing came a day early, saving my sister using it, living with her for all eternity.

"Do thou wish to turn into what im now? If my assumptions are correct, age shall not be thy end"

Revgnir put on a thoughtful expression and proceeded to think for a moment before answering. 

"Turning into a God?" Revgnir says curiously but with a hint of playfulness

My eyes roll in annoyance. He is certainly playing with this Salûne thing just to annoy me at this point!

Revgnir giggles a little.

"I sow to serve, yet here im making thou help in my crusade to save this town, the least I can do is live long enough to serve appropriately, and not dying as a feeble old man sounds good enough for me"

Easier than I thought, in my mind he would refuse because of his honor or humanity something along this way. Still, I sincerely have no idea of how passing the blessing works, my only clue is my blood.

"For safety purposes, we should wait until there is no distraction, the blessing comes with quite a few weaknesses, some of which I might not be aware of. With all this thing going on in Toulouse, might be dangerous for thou to not be able to walk in the daylight" I say matter of factly

Revgnir agrees. It is better this way, he might have time to reconsider, who knows. For me, who never had anything, this blessing meant freedom but I can not say the same for him.

After that, Revgnir asked me to talk with that man from before, Jules, the one who came to check on us at the cells. He is on our side and asked to see Revgnir this very night so they can discuss the details of the revolt. The problem is, Revgnir is in quite a rush to his duties as a Commander and needs to make a few visits to other noblemen so im fetching for him today.

Been quite a few days since my last walk outside, ever since this beast took control over Toulouse it has been pretty busy for Revgnir, my deep slumber in the daytime makes me unable to help him, even if I was awake it would be impossible anyway. It is definitely good to take a walk from time to time.

The cold night breeze sends light blows into my dark blue cloak as I enter an alley. The streets are empty, at this hour there are only some poor souls who drink themselves to death roaming around the street. A pity, I wish my palate would allow me to drink mead, it makes me quite curious. 

Hopefully, im going in the right direction, I have quite the bad habit of getting lost in my own thoughts and forgetting my way.

As I get to the middle of the alley, another person comes into it. Walking in my direction a man, wearing a red cloak covering his body, a sword attached to his waist, and a lamp in his hand. Strangely, as we pass by each he stops me in my tracks with a curious and suspicious stare.

"My god... what is it with thy skin?" The man says with a shocked tone of voice while putting his lamp close to illuminate me

Rude, at least take the lamp out of my face to talk.

"Thy lamp offends my eyes, pull it back" I say with a hint of annoyance

The man perceiving his rudeness takes his lamp and I proceed.

"Now, im a foreigner who came from a land where everyone possesses similar skin, good night" I say in a rush slightly annoyed

I pass by the man without caring if he has something more to say. Now I remember why I do not walk at night, is bound to have some people to anger me. Fire is quite hurtful to my eyes when looking closely.

*Vush*

The sound of a sword cutting the wind could be heard in the alley. So predictable... the human heartbeat has a way of betraying its bearer, marvelous. With a mere step to the left, I evade the man's deadly vertical swipe.

I stare at him with a side eye full of annoyance and disappointment as his uncontrollable sword hits the ground resulting in sparks illuminating the alley for an instant. Ah, yes, the other reason for me to not go out often. This bunch of lunatics who walk around at night trying to identify me.

"Do thou take me for a fool? This poor excuse might work with the artless, pale beast" The man says with a rageful low tone

By Lucifer. He is only doing this because of my skin, how can someone try to kill another person because of appearance, what a lunatic. I met another hunter before but he was nowhere near the level of madness this man is.

"Hmph! Pale beast? I shall have thou know that my acquaintance is the commander of the troops here in Toulouse, back off or else I shall gladly report thou actions to the authorities" I say annoyed 

Let me see how he reacts to this. The mad hunter puts a smug on his mouth arrogantly staring at me, his sword raised on guard, and the lamp that he attached to his waist poorly illuminates the alley.

The hunter giggles arrogantly and proceeds

"Becoming unable to enter a town or two because of beasts like thou is normal. Now, for a skinwalker, thou sure missed the tone in thy skin there" The hunter says playfully and arrogantly

Skinwalker? No idea of what it is, certainly not what im. Quite curious about this 'artless' too. I do not sense anyone around, how should I proceed? As much as my nonhuman side screams to kill this man, I would have to take care of him afterward resulting in my late arrival to my appointment.

A light sigh escapes my mouth as the hunter rushes at me. Unfortunately, he leaves me no choice. His sword tries to reach me in a horizontal swing.

The claws of my right hand easily stop his iron sword in the middle of his swing and he looks at me terrorized. Did not take long to lose the arrogant facade, for some reason, SMASH THIS IMBECILE HOPES brings me an unknown great pleasure. Oh no, my nonhuman side is leaking, might be the boredom of these days.

He desperately uses all his strength to try and pull out his sword from my finger grasp to no veil, he abandons his sword in my fingers and tries to retreat but my left hand reaches for his neck, he squirms and tries to pull my hand out in a meaningless effort to free himself. Suffocating in my grasp he continues to kick and punch me but nothing hurts, actually I barely feel anything, is like an ant walking in my leg when he kicks it.

Huh! What is this, my body is moving on its own urgh! I pin the almost unconscious hunter into the wall of the alley. As I hear his slow heartbeat, my eyes drift to his neck and my mouth opens in a fanged smile. What is this? Im not thirsty so why?

My hand moving on its own tilts the hunter's head slightly to the side showcasing his defenseless neck and I attack, my fangs penetrate his neck but. Why... im not draining anything... actually, im adding something! My confusion shows as my eyes grow wide yet my head does not move out from his neck.

When I finally could remove my fangs from his neck, scared I took out my hand from the hunter's neck and he fell into the alley with a distant stare. What just happened here? By Lucifer. Recomposing myself, I try to move my body a little to make sure everything is okay but something makes my eyes wide in surprise.

"Mas...ter uhhhhgggh"

The hunter who fell in the ground grabs my feet and proceeds to lick it like a madman. Bloody hell! Startled, I pull my feet away and back off from the crazy bastard. The man rises like he is having difficulties moving his own body and his gaze is distant.

"Uhhhggh ma...ster"

By Lucifer! What is this thing, disgusting! It licked my feet! My confusion only grows and as the damn thing comes in my direction walking slowly, I speak anxiously.

"Stay right there disgusting fool"

To my surprise, the man simply stops, without moving a muscle he stays perfectly in place. My! Wait let me run a few tests before comproving.

"Look to the left"

The madman moves his head to the left at my command. Ouah! Incroyable! He is not like me definitely not, he is alive even though his heartbeats are slow. By Lucifer! I just turned a man into a mindless hmm... whatever this is.

"Grab the sword and kill yourself" 

Let me see if it works. The man reaches for the sword in the ground but fails to equilibrate his body, falling into the ground in a very funny way. Not bad haha, might as well take him with me, funny thing. He can barely hold a sword but at least it is an ambulant blood bag that entertains me, another useful blessing, thanks great Lucifer.

"Get up and follow me" 

...

Soon, im walking the empty night streets again with my new 'thing'. My Lucifer, im in dire need of naming things. Anyway, seems like the man who im supposed to meet awaits me in the back alley around the corner, his smell is familiar.

Before reaching the alley, I command my thing to stay leaning against the wall. It might startle Revgnir's friend if two people appear, one of them being a man who carries a sword on his waist, which might cause the wrong impression.

Have to watch my tongue here, Jules knows nothing about the beast taking the duke's place and is preferably that stays this way. Turning into the alley, a man is awaiting, with dark hair and a black cloak covering his body, holding a lamp to illuminate his surroundings.

Jules, as he looks at me I get a glimpse of disappointment in his stare but pay no mind. Stopping closely we proceed to talk.

"Sir Jules, we have met before but I failed to introduce myself at the time, forgive me, im Carmilla" I say formally

Jules sighs and proceeds to speak.

"What is Revgnir thinking? Sending a woman to discuss a revolt, by the gods" Says Jules with a tone of disappointment

Truly, if I was a normal human woman this would be quite irresponsible of him. Yet, what a rude thing to say, I can pass a simple message too Sir im not mindless. Hopefully, my annoyance does not show in my face.

"Anyway, what I need to tell is this..." Jules proceeds to explain some details about one of his new discovering

The duke is mysteriously doing some nightly walks from time to time. On one of these nights, Jules follows him curiously, he finds that the duke visits this store which is seemingly abandoned. Probably one of its hide corpse places like that house from a few days ago, im having a bad feeling, why does this thing do this? Makes no sense.

I should come back to Revgnir's house and pass the message, all this walking is giving me quite a thirst too. Fortunately my new pet? No sounds strange, hmm... slave? No sounds horrible. Sigh... whatever.

After arriving at Revgnir's residence, my new thing surprises him a little and I pass the message. Revgnir is going to check on it himself tomorrow morning, as for the rest of my night well, it was quite lively today.

"Hahahaha, do it again" I say trying not to laugh loudly

The thing starts to walk and trips on its own foot. 

"Bahahaha"

...

*Boom*...

I wake up with the sound of someone beating the wooden door of my coffin. By Lucifer! Who is the imbecile?!

"Okay Okay! Im awake stop this bloody beating" I say annoyed while opening the coffin

As I rise, im welcomed by the sight of Sophia with a fearful and anxious expression. Naked too... what is happening? Confusion takes over my mind alongside some fear. Her seemingly anxiety makes me uneasy too.

"What is it, woman? What happened?" I ask anxiously

"Revgnir!" Yells Sophia with a desperate tone

I frown my eyes in confusion as I get up from my coffin which lies on the floor.

"Revgnir what? Speak Sophia! Thou are making me uneasy"

Sophia takes a deep breath to calm herself and speaks.

"Revgnir was arrested for murder! Guards arrested him today at the abandoned shop" Says Sophia with an anxious tone

!?

My shock appears on my face. Why? Wait... Son of! Now it makes sense, in the first place, the duke would never enter an abandoned house in the middle of the night, not without someone or something, attracting him there, someone he trusts, someone like Jules, his secretary. And, why the beast would be walking around in the middle of the night with the duke's appearance entering abandoned shops? The bloody beast is Jules!

IT TRICKED ME, ME! THIS THING IS DEAD!

My expression twists in rage.

"Do thou know where the duke's secretary is at this night? He is the beast!" I say with a rageful low voice

Sophia anxiously shakes his head in agreement.

"He must be at his office in the duke's manor on the east side of town, but be aware, it is filled with guards"

...

Soon im walking the night in a hooded dark blue cloak that blows in the night breeze as I walk. Fortunately, I spared a few minutes to calm myself and feed properly before leaving Revgnir's house, otherwise, I fear that my visit to this manor would turn into a complete massacre of dozens of innocent guards.

The first time I walk Toulouse earlier in the night, quite a few people are walking the night. Everyone holds lamps in their hands to illuminate their way, quite hurtful to my eyes but nothing serious.

In a few minutes, I arrive successfully at the duke's manor. A huge house with a beautiful grass field, various windows, and soldiers doing rounds both around the house and inside. Hmm... entering unnoticed would be quite hard indeed.

After double-checking if there is no one walking the street, I walk inside the manor crouching, using the shadows as an ally while making my way toward a tree to take cover.

Hmm... there are guards on all doors, so doors are out of the question. As I hide behind a lonely tree, my eyes examinate the manor watchfully. Then, a glimpse of hope appeared in my eyesight. 

An open window! On the second floor, if im able to reach the house wall unnoticed, would be easy to jump and get inside. I need to get the right timing here.

The pair of guards appear at that corner, and then another pair appears at the other corner. At the right moment, when both pairs turn around... Now!

Running at an inhuman speed, I quickly reach the house wall and jump reaching the second-floor window easily. After swiftly entering this room, which is filled with crates, wood barrels, spider webs, and dust, I take cover in a barrel as a noise enters my ears. Footsteps, going up the stairs to this room.

Hiding in a few barrels and crates in the dark room, two people enter the place, a guard and a housemaid.

"Here no one is going to find out, hihi" The housemaid says lustfully in a low voice but my ears pick up

By Lucifer... disgraceful! Oh my! What a lewd housemaid, opening her legs Oh my! What am I watching?! The guard is going to put it in!? My!

Lewd noises fill the room as the guard piston the housemaid who sits in a wooden barrel. With my face redder than a fresh apple, I crouch toward the staircase to the true second floor as this seems like a type of attic room.

This never happened, yes. Shaking my mind away from the thoughts of the disgraceful scene I was obligated to watch, my feet reach for the second floor.

*Sniff*

His scent, the beast is close. I walk slowly to a corner of the hallway, leaning against the corner, my senses pick up a lonely guard making rounds in the hallway holding a lamp. This is the only way, nothing can be done, my plan was not to kill but well, one casualty is better than dozens.

I wait like a predator leaning against the wall, my claws slowly getting out as the guard's footsteps approach. Step, step, and the next sound heard was the grotesque and low noise of four claws entering the guard's neck.

The guard chokes on his own blood unable to scream as I carefully hold his body so he does not make any noise falling. I open a door to an empty room in the hallway and carefully throw the dead guard there. Hopefully, no other guard passes in this hallway, there is some blood on the ground and a missing guard, it would be quite obvious.

Proceed on my way while avoiding the watchful eyes of guards, my destiny is finally here. Reaching for the door handle, I quickly step inside.

Jules sits at a desk looking at some papers with an apathetic expression, without bathing an eye on me he says.

"I recall ordering to not dist... huh? Who are you?" Jules says with a hint of confusion

Pulling my hood down revealing my face he smiles arrogantly. Quickly understanding who im and why im here.

"Quite skillful of thou to get here, but playtime is over, Revgnir already lost there is nothing thou can do" Jules says arrogantly

What a fool. A giggle escapes my mouth as I walk toward his desk. The action seems to have confused Jules who frowns his eyebrow at my approach.

"Hmph, woman do thou really is planning to throw arms with me? Even if thou did win there would be nothing to gain, my victory is already assured"

A smile full of fangs appears on my face and I start to applaud softly and slowly. Staring at my smile Jules's arrogant smile vanishes and his eyes wide.

"Very fun, yet, thou forgot to account for something in thy plans" I say with a hint of arrogance and playfulness

Jules was about to scream for guards when my body turned into a swan of bats dashing toward him, my right hand grabbed his head by the mouth rendering him unable to scream. Slowly raising him into the air by his head, my face twists into rage and he squirms fearfully trying to get out of my grasp to no veil.

"Another beast" I say ragefully in a low voice

His eyes widened in surprise, apparently, he thought I was ignorant about him being a beast. Disgusting thing... other than transforming into other people it appears to be harmless just like a normal human being.

Putting my left hand in front of him as he squirms in pain, I raise my fingers and slowly, my menacing claws appear one by one.

"Scream and it shall be my pleasure to, pull, out, thy, heart"

Taking the furious shake of his head as a yes, I let go of his head and he fell in his chair breathing heavily and coughing.

"Wh- Cough Why do thou help humans?" Jules asks confused and scared

My eyebrow frowns in confusion and I tilt my head to the side. What a dumb question.

"I could ask the same, why do you kill them without meaning or purpose?" I say with a curious tone

Truth be told, playing with them amuses me more than the act of killing itself.

Jules without hesitation proceeds with a giggle.

"Why does rain fall? Why does the moon rise in the sky every night? Why does the breeze blow the grassy field? Nature" Jules says with a playful but matter-of-factly tone

Makes sense, I do have difficulty keeping in touch with my human side.

Jules proceeds with a sinister smile on his face.

"When I look at the fading lights in the eyes of a human about to die by my sole hands mmm! Nothing can bring me greater ecstasy than that" Jules says with a sinister and playful tone

Animal, this is my fate if I surrender myself to my nonhuman side. A good reminder for me to stay far away from it.

"Take away the chargers against Revgnir and leave this town, if not well, my offer to pull out thy heart stays open" I say with a serious tone

Jules sighs in melancholy.

"Was good while it lasted. But there is a small problem, I need to have someone to blame in Revgnir's place would be suspicious otherwise, and im sure thou do not wish for him to face the wrath of our good citizens of Toulouse. And, I need thy word as whatever thou are that thou do not intend to kill me"

"Hmph, very well, thou have my word as Carmilla, I shall not lay my fingers on thou" I say with a hint of annoyance

"And, I happen to have just the right 'thing' to put in Revgnir's place" I say with a playful smile

Jules looks at me puzzled but soon he shall understand. A pity, I had quite a good time yesterday with that little hmm... thrall, yes, yes! thats it, suits it perfectly. I leave the manor without problems this time with Jules's help.

The next day, Revgnir is already free, and my poor thrall shall rot in prison for quite some time, poor thing, maybe the ability has a time limit or so, would be pretty fun to see the man's reaction to waking up in a cell like magic. 

As the thought crosses my mind a giggle escapes my mouth. After a few bureaucratic things to pass the dukedom of Toulouse to Revgnir. Im seeing 'Jules' off the town to of course make sure he really goes.

After walking a few meters arriving at the border of the forest, he looked at me with a little smile and extended his hand signaling for me to shake it.

"From beast to beast" He says with a warm smile

I extend my hand with a smile but...

*Boom*

A grotesque sound could be heard as my right hand enters his chest and pulls out his heart. My face twists in rage and I speak.

"From beast to beast" I say ragefully

Putting his heart in front of his face, I smash it resulting in his heart exploding, blood gets everywhere and the beast falls to the ground lifeless with a fearful expression.

TRICK ME AGAIN, I DARE.

Foolish creature, what exactly did thou expect? By Lucifer thankfully it was dumb enough to believe this 'word' thing. Did he mistake me for an honorable and righteous person? It would be a great danger if he did not accept my proposal to remove the chargers against Revgnir, thank Lucifer for this good outcome.

Now, for the less enjoyable part, hiding the body, sigh...