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Unphased it stood as the debri settled, eyes trained the stump that spouted its impure blood. I clutched my own which had been cauterized. Unlike the devil before me, I would not bleed out. If it truly did not remember itself, then this would have proven a golden opportunity to end our troubles once and for all. If only ...

I watched the wretched take a step backwards. It disgusted me it seemed to not comprehend that it's life was ending. We'd taken too long to find it once more and given it enough time to live in such peace among our kind that it had forgotten how to fear death.

Behind me were the bodies of my cousin and my great uncle. The beast had merely slain them with its bare hands, out of character of how grandfather had described it's method. I made no sudden movement as to not trigger any instinct of it. If I lived, that would be fortunate though I understood that if it did not die from this then I would not be the one to kill it, it'd already proven too formidable for even I.

And it seemed so that fate did not shine upon me. The predatory crimson red eyes that illuminated through the smoke and locked onto me seemed to be look directly through me. It's reactions had made be begin to doubt myself. That maybe, just maybe, we'd been attacking the wrong individual, but the eyes that stalked me now left no room for doubt.

This was most definitely the one. This creature that stood before me, wearing human flesh, that creature was undoubtedly our long eternal enemy. This was the living vampire, the first vampire, the one with a beating heart unlike the rest of its unholy kin and an enemy to humanity as a whole. The first demon to roam earth.

The only one to have gained life ages ago, overcoming its natural deathly state and circumventing its decay by feeding directly off of human life span. My family will forever seek to destroy it for we know its history.

Our family would instill into the young why we must not let it go unchallenged. Why we must eradicate its existence:

> If not for it, humanity would have 1000 year life spans, however it was the one who snuck the serpent into the garden. Upon the ejection of Adam and Eve from the protection of the garden, it was bold and had taken 70 years, causing them to die at 930 years of age. It grew stronger and more efficient as it siphoned their life and as more humans ... more food for it appeared. It was the one who convinced Cain to kill Abel. Being less capable of defending against the vampire without his brother, it managed to increase its strength and steal another 200 years from humanity, Cain died at 730. By the time of Abraham it had reduced us to 175 year and by Moses, 120. It was at it's peak strength during the middle ages, it's strength manifesting in physical nature, the plague, until my ancestors fought it to within an inch of its life and forced it into hiding. It was weakened to the point that it hand to relinquish 70 years of its efficiency to remain alive and heal its wounds without alerting my family to its whereabouts. While we're once again able to live past 100, we shan't allow it to continue to feed of of us.

I could feel my life fading as it began to walk towards me and focus its siphoning on me. A strand of my hair began to turn gray and in turn its bleeding stopped and its arm began to pulsate. I used my fading strength to leap towards the corpse of my uncle where my amulet had fallen during our fight prior. The beast had unintentionally ripped it from my neck in reaction to it burning its skin. It was the only thing that could stop what it was trying to do. It of course would recognize this to move in a blur to smack my body away before I'd even landed on the ground.

My sight blurred due to developing cataracts and my body grew frail. My thin arm slowly moved reach into my pouch but the abomination would crouch before me and gently overpower my strength, gripping my forearm before snapping it. I was too weak to release any sound of pain. It would stop taking my life for but a moment to meet my eyes that were now level with its own.

I would see such hate and abhorrence in its pupils. Hate that I'd shattered is brief era of joy, that we'd found it, that it knew exactly what my motive was. Despite my attempts to preserve my life, I did not fear death. My death would only serve to reignite my family's flame. My death would mean we'd gone too soft. They would train my young kin to be better warriors than I, those of equal caliber to the ones that had driven the creature into hiding many centuries ago. Warriors that would now have the technology easily cause mortal harm to it such as I did.

It now understood that its stolen time is running out. It is not us who must seek it, now it is it who must seek us. It would have to eliminate my family before we could breed its demise.

Kill or be killed.

My body would slump as it took its final breath. The last thing I would see is a dark mass spreading its large wings to take flight. Even if we failed, even if it took all our lives, it would not be able to cover up the deaths of a family as prominent as ours. There were many contingencies .... and many .... failsafes ... we had set in this new era. We are ... no one's ... prey.