Want to see more? An Evening Pinch will be available soon on Amazon!

The night sky appeared as a thick blanket over Venice, its membrane punctured by a myriad of stars, allowing heavenly light to shine through in miniscule specks. The moon, similarly, cast its own face over us, illuminating the Grand Canal as we rowed across the water. I looked up from the gentle liquid surface to see the flickering cosmos reflected in the eyes of my forever partner, Sy. They returned my stare, cracking a smile with lips I’d love pressed against my own. 

“It’s very clever,” Sy admitted, tapping the side of the gondola. “You always know how to think outside the box, Art.” 

I shrugged, my vampiric body incapable of betraying my sheepishness with a red-faced blush. As the parasitic undead, we’d found crossing running water a physiological challenge for millennia. For our anniversary, however, I’d consulted with some fellow vampires to open a loophole: If we moved at the speed of the water, it would no longer be running, respective to us. After a few tests to confirm the theory, I’d found a way for Sy and myself to enjoy an experience we hadn’t been able to since before the Common Era. 

Sy leaned down, flipping open the lid of the picnic basket. “Strawberries! My favorite.”  

“Only the best for you, my love.” I smiled at them, offering a cheeky wink. “There’s also blood to drink. Human blood.” 

They raised a concerned eyebrow, and I chuckled, shaking my head. “No, I haven’t broken our pact. This is ethically sourced. A cultist on death row, willing to give up a part of himself to feed the ‘darkness.’” 

I raised my fingers to air-quote, and Sy giggled. “Do you think he’d have a problem, knowing that his blood was used for something much more mundane?” 

Reaching out, I wrapped my hand around theirs. “I’ve never had a mundane moment with you in my life, darling.” 

Placing the gondola’s oars in the floor of the boat, I allowed the canal’s current to carry us aimlessly, sliding closer to mitigate the gap between us. Sy locked eyes with mine, and I felt my heart flutter, despite being inanimate for thousands of years. As we kissed in the moonlight, I reached into the basket, retrieving a strawberry.  

“At this point in our lives, the years pass by like seconds,” I began, offering the berry to Sy. They took a sultry bite, maintaining eye contact with me. “But when I look at you, time stands still, as if I’m admiring a beautiful painting. And I’d have it no other way.” 

The gondola drifted against a nearby dock, halting our movement, and I leaned in to kiss Sy again. My enhanced senses suddenly flared to attention, however, and I heard something rocketing toward us. I leaned forward, shoving Sy into the floor of the gondola, and something long and sharp pierced my lower back, emerging from my stomach and nailing me to the dock. Acrid smoke rose from the wound, and I looked down to see a silver harpoon burning against my undead flesh. 

A Hunter, I thought. Why now, of all times? 

I growled, pulling myself backwards to remove the harpoon from my body. As the hole in my abdomen cleared, it began to rapidly heal, the process slowed a little by the silver poisoning. I focused on the sights and sounds around me, the combination of night vision and echolocation quickly honing in on a figure hidden in the tower of a nearby basilica. The Hunter took aim once more, but I was prepared this time; as the harpoon flew through the air, I gracefully side-stepped it, leaping onto the dock.  

“Art, wait!” Sy insisted, sitting up. “Don’t hurt them. They don’t understand.” 

“Trust me, my love,” I replied. “I just want to talk.” 

A third harpoon approached, and I ducked, allowing it to splash into the canal. Darting forward, I quickly closed the gap between the dock and the basilica, the wind resistance devastating my carefully styled hair. Above, I sensed the Hunter backing away from the window, reloading some kind of large rifle. Rather than enter the basilica at ground level, I rapidly scaled the exterior wall, securing myself against invisible footholds like a mountain goat. A few meters from the basilica tower, I paused, calling out calmly. 

“Look, I need you to lower your weapon. We aren’t here to hurt you, or anyone else.” 

I sensed the Hunter chambering a shotgun round, and slid to the side just in time to avoid the roaring wave of flame from a Dragon’s Breath round. Sighing in exasperation, I jumped, landing on the edge of the basilica tower as the Hunter pumped their shotgun, ejecting the spent shell and loading a new one. My eyes pierced the darkness, and I examined the figure in front of me. 

The Hunter was a young, olive-skinned girl with a buzzed haircut, certainly no older than her early twenties. She wore a brown trench coat, and a hiking pack strapped to her back seemed filled to the brim with tools and weapons designed to hunt the supernatural. Her brown eyes, so dark that they almost seemed black, glistened at me with hatred, and as I opened my mouth to speak again, she raised her shotgun in my direction. 

“Hey!” I cried as she pulled the trigger, sending another stream of fire my way. I managed to avoid being singed, but my shirt wasn’t so lucky; the left sleeve caught fire, and I quickly removed the garment. “Seriously, calm down. Let’s just t–” 

She pumped her shotgun again, and this time I rushed at her, batting the weapon from her hands. Sliding backwards, the Hunter produced a crucifix, using it to shield herself from me. I chuckled, leaning forward. 

“Sorry, dear, but I’m agnostic.” 

The Hunter scowled, hurling the crucifix at me, but I plucked it from the air with ease. As my hand made contact with the device, a thick mist emerged from a series of vents along its body. My hand and forearm blackened, and I felt my flesh burn once more. Hissing, I dropped the crucifix, stepping away from the cloud as my arm repaired itself. 

“Holy water humidifier. Clever.” 

I felt a stiff breeze blow past me, pushing the mist out of the tower, and turned to see Sy standing nearby.  

“How’s it going?” they asked, turning to observe the Hunter.  

“Sy, go back to the gondola,” I pleaded. “I can handle this.” 

As we spoke, I saw the Hunter reach for her back, unsheathing a silver broadsword. She circled us, blade bared defensively.  

“Listen, ma’am, or however you identify,” Sy said. “You’re making a mistake. There are cruel and destructive vampires, yes, but Art and I don’t victimize humans. We drink animal blood, or accept human donations. There’s no reason to harm us.” 

“I do not believe you,” growled the Hunter, her accent vaguely Central European. “You monsters are all the same.” 

I traded glances with Sy before speaking. “Now, that’s just hurtful. I understand we’re not going to be good friends any time soon, but your energy is best spent elsewhere. You have no reason to kill us, and we have no intent to die.” 

“We’ll see about that,” the Hunter replied, opening her right hand. A glassy orb the size of a baseball clattered to the tower floor, and I cocked my head. 

Suddenly, the orb flared to life, emitting intense ultraviolet rays that surrounded us in an instant. I hissed, covering my face, and Sy did the same. Despite the myths, we vampires were capable of surviving sunlight, but our nocturnal bodies were quite sensitive to it, and I found myself both physically uncomfortable and very blind.  

“Sy, get out of here!” I yelled into the light, trying to echolocate my partner.  

Fortunately, whatever powered the ultraviolet orb seemed to be short-lived, and the rays flickered out in seconds, bringing the darkness of night crashing back around us. As my vision cleared, I turned to Sy, and my jaw dropped in horror.  

Sy lay on the ground, body twisted at an unnatural angle, their neck leaking a black, viscous fluid. My eyes traveled to the Hunter, who smugly held my partner’s decapitated head by the hair, Sy’s face frozen in an expression of surprise. Fear and pain and disbelief filled my body, and I felt my knees grow weak. Trembling, I met eyes with the Hunter as she unceremoniously dropped Sy’s head to the ground.  

“Where is your cocky attitude now?” she taunted, raising the broadsword. 

My vision went red, and grief became rage. 

The Hunter lunged at me, swinging the sword, but I dove below the blade, grabbing her by the wrists. I pulled her arms apart, forcing the weapon from her hands, and kicked her in the chest. The force of my blow, coupled with my tight grip on her wrists, ripped her arms from her body, sending the rest of her flying out of the tower. I tossed the appendages aside, glancing beyond the basilica. In the street lay the Hunter, unmoving, blood pouring from her arm stumps and a cracked skull.  

Slowly turning to Sy’s remains, I stumbled to my knees, scooping their body up and cradling it. I sobbed, kissing their neck and shoulders, but I knew neither my love nor the supernatural force that drove us for thousands of years would bring them back. A moan escaped my throat, morphing into a scream, and I cursed at the sky so loud that the city began to wake up around me. As I held Sy in my arms, darkness overcame me, and I envied their death. 

Now that I was without them, I’d achieved a fate far, far worse. 

Want to see more? An Evening Pinch will be available soon on Amazon!