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"Who is it?" a soft voice came from the other side of the door. The voice was gentle and melodic with the hint of an accent that Lily did not recognise.

"Good day sir. My name is Lily, and I am with the Hunters Association. May I speak to you for a moment regarding the recent vampire attacks?" Lily politely asked.

There was a brief moment of silence and then the red door slowly opened.

An elderly man came into view, and he was dressed much differently than the other residents of the village.

He wore a sharp black tuxedo and a plain blue tie that complemented his doe-shaped eyes.

There was a well trimmed beard covering the bottom half of his chin and the wrinkles on his forehead only added to his charm.

He had the appearance of an elderly gentleman and there was an aura of kindness wrapped around his body.

"Please come inside… you can call me Joseph," the elderly man softly whispered as he gestured for Lily to enter his home.

Lily nodded and plastered a friendly smile on her face as she walked inside the house.

Despite its less than stellar exterior… the inside of the house was relatively clean and well maintained.

There was not a speck of dust on the furniture and the living room that she entered would not look out of place in a rich person\'s home.

There was a blazing fireplace in the corner of the room, several large bookshelves filled with books and a single couch in the center.

In front of the couch was a wooden table where several opened books lay quietly as if waiting for their master to return.

Actually, if there was one aspect of the house that Lily did not understand it was the fact that there were no windows.

When the door closed the only sources of the light came from the fireplace and an old lightbulb that hung from the ceiling in the middle of the room.

Maybe it was a unique architectural choice?

Joseph walked over to the couch with slow, halting steps. Lily didn\'t notice it at first, but he walked with a slight limp in his left leg.

Despite this disability, she observed that he did not need to use a cane as if he was used to walking like this without one.

He sat down on the couch and then shuffled slightly to the right to make some room for her to sit down as well.

Lily sat down next to the elderly man while secretly observing her immediate surroundings for any hidden threats.

She could not sense anything out of place or dangerous but still… something about this situation just wasn\'t quite right.

​ She just couldn\'t put her finger on what exactly the problem was.

"What do you want to know?" Joseph finally broke the awkward silence with a question.

Lily took a moment to compose herself and then opened her mouth to ask a series of questions that were on her mind,

"Anything that will be useful to my investigation. Such as the location of the attacks, what was the interval between them and are there any connections between the victims?"

"Have there been any rumors and have any strangers entered the village in the last few months?"

The elderly man hummed softly when Lily finished speaking and then without saying a word he got up and shuffled over to the kitchen.

Lily wasn\'t sure what was going on but since this old man was her only lead, she could not do anything but patiently wait for him to finish whatever he was doing.

Joseph entered the kitchen and Lily could hear the sound of running water coming from the sink.

It took two minutes for the old gentleman to return and when he did, he was holding two small cups of tea.

He handed one of the cups to Lily and with a grandfatherly smile on his face, he urged the young woman to drink.

"Thank you," Lily politely spoke as she raised up the cup to her lips and pretended to take a sip from its contents.

The smile on the old man\'s face widened as he sat back down on the couch with a cup in his left hand.

"I envy the vampires," Joseph casually spoke as he stared off into the distance with an unknown emotion surfacing in his eyes.

"You are young, so you don\'t know yet but… aging is a curse. Every day my body grows weaker and weaker… my muscles wither and my memories start to fade."

"Look at me now… I used to be such a handsome man in my youth and yet… when I look in the mirror all I see is a man long past his prime."

There was a bitter emotion in Joseph\'s voice as his eyes gazed at his palms that were covered in wrinkles.

"You don\'t have to say anything," Joseph raised up his hand and silenced Lily who was about to speak.

"Just take my words as the ramblings of an old man who longs for his youth. Who knows that he does not have much time left in this world."

The elderly man sighed heavily, and a dark shadow crossed his face.

Lily did not know how to react to the sudden shift in the mood, so she tried to get the conversation back on track.

"I\'m sorry but… vampires are bloodthirsty monsters. Immortality is not worth the price that one has to pay," Lily spoke with a serious expression on her face.

"You say that now," Joseph smiled bitterly as he took a sip from his cup.

"Trust me… everyone eventually thinks just like me when you reach my age."

He tapped the side of his cup three times, and a cold chill blew through the room. Lily frowned since she could not see any air conditioners or fans.

"I\'m sorry," Joseph whispered as he suddenly flung his cup against the wall and the liquid splashed on the ground.

Lily felt a tingle run down her spine and her body moved automatically. She jumped off the couch just as a palm erupted from the wooden floor beneath her feet.

The hand was ethereally pale with thick wriggling green veins that pulsated unnaturally. Lily watched in horror as a creature pulled itself up from beneath the floorboards.

The humanoid figure was completely naked. He had a skinny body with ribs that could clearly be seen protruding against the sides of his chest.

The crimson eyes and the sharp fangs clearly visible inside the monster\'s mouth made it quite clear what the fiend was.

A vampire.

Lily tried to reach for her bow, but the vampire\'s figure blurred and then vanished from the spot.

He reached her side in a heartbeat and punched forward.

Crack!

Lily flew backwards and crashed against a wall with a sickening thud. She gasped for breath and spat out a mouthful of blood.

Joseph had retreated to the corner of the room and was watching what was happening with emotionless eyes.

The vampire made a hissing noise that almost sounded like laughter. He slowly approached Lily who could feel the shadow of death hovering over her body.

Was this how her life was going to end?

She wanted to kill all the vampires and yet… she was about to die at the hands of a lesser one.

Lily struggled to her feet and spat out yet another mouthful of blood. This time there was a tooth inside the crimson puddle.

"Silly little hunter… you think that… what?" the vampire\'s voice trailed off in shock as he saw something that didn\'t make sense.

The aura surrounding the human woman barely standing before him suddenly changed as if someone had flipped a switch.

Her piercing green eyes shifted to a golden hue and strange markings appeared on her skin.

The injuries that he had just inflicted began to heal at a rate that was comparable to a high-class vampire.

Lily stared at the vampire and all the fear in her heart slowly drained away. She did not know what was happening but…

She felt good.

As if all the power in the world was at her fingertips.