by Flame » 10/14/2016 3:55 PM
Lilith’s hands were deft as she tended to her patient, the ease of her motions derived from countless years of experience. Even before she had been turned, she had been a doctor, and as such, it was in her very nature to care for those who needed her expertise. Needless to say, being forced against her own will to have to feed on the life force of others had been a jarring and almost catastrophic change for her – more than once she had considered terminating her own life over the course of the long years, not being able to stand the idea of being one of the very monsters that put people like this woman in hospitals like this.
However, she had learned via a long and painful process that killing and maiming wasn’t all there was to life, even for a vampire. The first discovery on this new journey she’d embarked upon was the turning point in her new life – the moment when she learned that she could sustain herself on blood without having to harm anyone for it. Once she’d discovered that, everything else had slowly begun to fall into place as well, and it wasn’t long before she was practicing medicine again, and not only sparing lives, but saving them.
It was also during this time that she learned that there were others out there like herself – those labeled ‘monsters’ by the world around them, but in truth, they were good people trying to make their way in their own lives. Many of them were more celibate even than her, at least when it came to harming other life – one vampire she’d met had refused all sustenance, and she’d watched him starve, lucid, even to his very final hunger-ridden moments. Others learned to live off of animals, plants, and even emotions and energy alone; unfortunately for her though, her affliction followed a very classic form, but she’d found her own way to deal with her unique needs without harming people in the process.
However, she’d soon come to find that hunters were almost entirely indiscriminate when it came to their quarry; to them, a monster was a monster, regardless of who it was that lived inside their head. That was the reason why she was here – Lilith had seen far too many innocent supernaturals injured or killed at the hands of bloodthirsty killers, and as she’d treated more and more unrightfully harmed individuals over the years, she’d slowly garnered a smoldering hatred for those who hunted her kind. She’d never once met a hunter who asked questions before they killed, and it was purely coincidence alone which had led to her first hunter kill. As a result though, she’d saved the life of two young lycan children, and since that moment, she’d found her new calling as a hunter in her own right. And thus, the hunters became the hunted.
The injured woman’s body suddenly jerked into motion in response to the renewed pain, but Lilith’s only reaction was to force her back down again, if only to keep her from tearing her wounds afresh. Luckily, she slumped unconscious soon after, but not before Lilith could all but feel the rage emanating from the man standing behind her, his gaze burning a hole into the back of her neck. He knew better than to act on his emotions though – she counted on that much. After all, if she waited long enough to administer a painkiller and let it work its way into her system, she would have lost more precious blood.
It wasn’t the ominous looming of the protective man which caught Lilith’s attention in the end; it was the mention of one word which caused her to tense, the hairs on the back of her neck standing up. This woman was…a hunter? A flicked crossed the doctor’s dark red eyes, invisible to the watching man seeing as her gaze was still downturned upon her patient. This woman, and no doubt her hulking companion, were the reason why hospitals like these existed – the source of all of the unnecessary graves in family backyards. For a brief moment, Lilith’s fingers itched for the scalpel right next to her hand. She could end this here and now, while this woman was weak and on the verge of death. Hell, it might even have been a mercy to put her out of her misery, considering the state she was currently in. Cold anger trickled through her veins as she quickly considered her options – killing the injured hunter would be child’s play, but she still had the very angry, much more intimidating man to consider. Could she move fast enough to take them both out before he caught on? It would be so simple – just one tiny cut into one artery, or the smallest air bubble inserted into a vein…
It was the sound of an unexpectedly gentle plea that shook Lilith out of her blood-soaked reverie. “Just…help her.” For the first time since she’d first laid eyes on the man when he’d walked in with his injured companion in his arms, she let her gaze lock onto his as he backed away from the operating table. In spite of her warring instincts, there was sympathy and almost an odd gentleness in her gaze. This wasn’t the first time she’d seen someone in his position, desperate, helpless, and wishing they could do anything to be in the place of the person they cared for. Lilith wasn’t making any promises about the future – in fact, she still fully intended to end both this man and his injured companion…but not like this. Even monsters like them deserved some humanity.
“I will do everything within my physical means to save her life, you have my word.” Lilith’s eyes spoke the same truth as her words as she held the hunter’s gaze, crimson on crimson. She would keep her oath until the hunter was nursed back to health, that was her duty as a doctor, but after that, they could both consider themselves fair game.