Vampire and Witch (GL) - Chapter 3

Grey threw a towel at Sif, who was standing at the door. Both of them were soaked to the bone from being in the rain for so long.

Sif, as if she were the owner of the house, casually hung her wet, dripping coat and hat on the coat rack by the door. She gently dabbed the water droplets from her face and neck with the towel as she walked into the living room.

Grey remained on guard. Bringing her home was unsafe, but this house was also her most advantageous position. If the other person had malicious intentions, she was confident she could take her down, and it would be easier to clean up the mess afterward.

Sif sat down on the sofa, leaning back as if she had no bones, and called out lazily, “Grey, where’s my coffee?”

A vein throbbed in Grey’s forehead. “…”

With her arms crossed over her chest, she stood by the sofa, looking down at Sif. She said calmly, “You haven’t answered my questions.”

Sif looked up, her amber eyes clear and calm. The eerie crimson was completely gone. She smiled gently, “There were so many questions. Which one do you want me to answer?”

Grey pursed her lips and said flatly, “Who are you?”

“Silvertica.”

“I want your real name.”

“My name is Silvertica.”

Grey rubbed her forehead, suppressing her anger. “Fine… Why were you following me?”

“I wasn’t following you.”

Grey let out a cold laugh. “So you’re saying it was a coincidence?”

Sif blinked. “No. It’s because you were in danger.”

Grey was taken aback, not expecting that answer, but she quickly regained her serious composure. She stared at Sif’s eyes, trying to observe any emotional shifts.

“How did you know I was in danger? What was that thing you killed?”

She clearly remembered the corpse on the ground. It was a person. The head, severed by the scythe and lying on the ground, had a painful, distorted face.

The blonde woman sitting in front of her had killed a person with her own hands. But the foul, nauseating smell told her that the corpse had been dead for a long time.

The dead can be revived, can walk, and can attack humans…

“Vampire,” Sif said calmly, meeting Grey’s gaze. “Because you had their scent on you.”

Grey was stunned. She asked in confusion, “I had their scent on me? What scent?”

Sif pointed to the bag on the floor. It was the one Grey had brought back from her shop. “Something in there was tainted with their scent. They follow the scent to track their prey.”

Grey immediately opened the bag, spilling the herbs, bottles, and clothes onto the floor, along with a pink scarf.

Grey suddenly understood. It was Sophia’s scarf that had the vampire’s scent on it, and she had been carrying it with her. That’s why she became the vampire’s prey.

“The little girl who was in your shop today, she was being hunted,” Sif’s low voice came from behind her. “I didn’t expect that the scarf, which had the scent on it, would end up in your hands.”

Grey stood frozen, taking a moment to process all the information. She composed herself and turned to face Sif.

“So… how did they turn into that?”

“They had their blood drained by a vampire.”

“So, they were actually human?” Grey’s voice trembled noticeably as she gripped her sleeves tightly.

Sif answered calmly, “Yes.”

“You killed a person.”

Sif said nonchalantly, “They were already dead. I killed a vampire.”

“But they were human to begin with!” Grey’s voice suddenly rose in a mix of emotions.

Sif stood up from the sofa and approached Grey step by step. “What else was I supposed to do? Was I supposed to watch as they killed you, drained your blood, and turned you into a monster like them? Even if it wasn’t you, they would go on to attack other humans!”

Grey was stunned by her outburst. She answered weakly, “But… but they were human. Maybe there was a way to cure them…”

“That’s not a sickness! They are vampires! They’re already dead. They can’t think. They only have an endless hunger. They are monsters who only know how to drink blood! As long as there are humans and animals, they can survive forever.”

“Grey, you know that, don’t you?”

Sif backed Grey into a corner. She watched as her clear, amber eyes turned crimson. Her cold fingers tightly gripped Grey’s chin, making her gasp in pain. She struggled to speak, “Wha… what do you… mean?”

“A vampire marks its prey. They drain the prey’s blood and then have the prey drink their own blood. This is called the ‘Embrace.’ It declares ownership, and other vampires cannot touch the marked prey. The person who was bitten is then reborn and becomes the vampire’s companion.”

“But there’s another kind of behavior: the vampire drains the prey’s blood but doesn’t have them drink their own blood. The prey becomes a vampire and is then left to roam, attacking humans and other creatures. That’s what I killed tonight.”

Sif’s eyes narrowed, her blood-red gaze fixed on the woman in front of her. “So, which one are you?”

Grey groaned in pain, her eyes filling with tears. She felt as if her jawbone was about to be crushed. She grabbed the woman’s pale, slender wrist, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t break free.

“I… I don’t know… what you’re talking about… I’m not… not a vampire…”

Sif let out a cold laugh. “I saw you in Scotland twenty years ago. You looked exactly the same then as you do now. You haven’t aged at all. Are you a pureblood? A human hybrid? Or a companion after the Embrace?”

“I… I’m really not a vampire… I just… I just know how to use herbs to keep my body healthy and how to take care of my skin…”

Suddenly, Grey felt a cold, sharp object against her neck, and panic spread through her. The scythe was at her throat.

“You saw it with your own eyes tonight. Even if vampires are immortal in some way, they can still be killed, right?”

Grey held her breath. She heard everything very clearly. With one stroke, she would die. She would be free…

Grey didn’t speak. She slowly closed her eyes, submissively accepting everything.

A line of scarlet blood oozed out. All the pain in her body instantly centered on her neck, but Grey’s heart was eerily calm, as if this were a normal thing.

Almost immediately, the pain in her neck disappeared. The woman’s cold voice suddenly rang out, “I know.”

The fingers on her chin slightly tightened, forcing Grey to lift her head. A warm sensation, accompanied by a burning breath, landed on her neck, teasing her skin.

Grey’s breathing immediately became ragged. Her body went stiff, as if thousands of ants were crawling on her neck. It was a strange feeling—tingly, soft, and even a little pleasant. Her breathing became more rapid, her heartbeat quickened, and her body temperature rose sharply.

The sensation was like experiencing a climax after a long period of thirst, causing her to let out a small moan. “Ah…”

Dazed, she faintly heard a laugh in her ear. “Does that feel good?”

Grey’s consciousness snapped back. She used all her strength to break free from the woman’s grip and raised her hand to slap her.

Sif instantly caught her wrist, and licked the blood from her lips, her eyes full of satisfaction. “This is the third time you’ve tried to slap me. You really are…”

Before she could finish, a ball of fire erupted in Grey’s palm. The flames spread along her wrist, scorching the hand that was touching her.

Sif instantly took a few steps back. The two stood in silent opposition for a few seconds, then she suddenly laughed.

“Oh… so you’re a witch.”

Grey glared at her, her face still flushed. Her soaked shirt revealed her pale chest heaving rapidly, making her look like she had just experienced a passionate moment and was still in a daze. She looked sexy and delicious, someone you’d want to taste from head to toe.

“You’re a vampire,” Grey said, touching the wound on her neck, trying to erase the sensation of being licked.

The lazy smile on Sif’s face gradually faded. She corrected Grey, “I prefer to be called a vampire hunter.”

She was silent for a moment, then pointed to the flames in Grey’s hand and said slowly, “Could you put that fire out? Doesn’t it hurt to burn your hand like that?”

Grey laughed coldly. “Are you afraid of fire? I want to see what it feels like to burn a vampire.”

“Vampire hunter!” Sif corrected her again, muttering to herself, “I heard that witches are kind, pure, and helpful. Why are you so violent?”

“A witch… The word I hear more often is malefica.”

Grey gave a self-deprecating laugh as memories flooded back like a tide. Endless insults, cold, disgusted stares, and a life like a rat on the street… They all played over and over in her mind.

“That’s right. I’m a malefica.”

“It’s not just vampires who are immortal in this world. Witches can be immortal too.”

Small, seemingly useless facts:

Malefica is Latin for a woman who uses evil magic. This word appears in some older English translations of witch novels and is a bit stronger than “witch.”

Vampire is the English word for a vampire. The word vanpir, which appeared in the second chapter, was a term used in some parts of Europe. A book published in the early 20th century about Jack the Ripper in the British Library mentions the word vanpir. However, some games use this word nowadays.