A Stranger Among Us

Raindrops fell from the sky in great numbers as I carefully scouted the rooftops from my position on top of the great building of the Lutheran church at the Unioninkatu. Everything seemed calm tonight, but looks can be deceiving. I felt the rain stream from my dark hair down my face and the wind tearing at my long leather coat. It didn’t bother me much, I was far too concentrated on my task, making sure that whatever would go bump in the night didn’t get out to the public. In the past centuries death dealers from all over the continent had become more and more obsolete since the Great War that raged the underworld about 150 years ago. We hunted the Lycans down near the brink of extinction, at least so it seemed. As Lycan sightings and attacks got more rare, the cases that did come to our attention were more aggressive and brutal than ever. A dying species desperately trying to maintain their right to exist in our world.

As most of the beasts fled from the eastern European countries, across the Baltic Sea into Fennoskandia, I followed. While the rest of the European covens were celebrating the victories over the Lycan clans, I did not stop hunting these animals. We were close, so close to the total extinction of our arch enemies, I would not stop now. Not while there were still Lycans to hunt.

My duties brought me north, across the Gulf of Finland into a land which at that time was unknown to me. More of my clan decided to follow and our new headquarters were founded within the ancient fortress of Olavinlinna. Inside Olavinlinna we waited, we waited for the Lycans to show their monstrous forms again so we could hunt them down and get rid of them once and for all. It didn’t take long before we got the first reports of mortals who were brutally killed in their homes at night. The media showed eyewitness reports of strange wolf attacks. Wolves were known for their aversion towards humans so we knew better; the Lycans were back, and this time they had preyed on the innocent souls of the Norse countries. So far our hunt had been successful, mainly because we had the element of surprise. Where they went we would follow and I would not give up until I had killed every last one of these filthy beasts.

About two days ago our attention was caught by rumors of violent animal attacks within the city of Helsingfors. A team of death dealers was brought together to scout the city for any strange activities.

I scouted the square on Unioninkatu centimeter by centimeter, to see if there was anything out of the usual. So far it had been a calm night. Until my attention was drawn to a dark figure among the many drunken teens who were trying to find their way home in this horrible weather. It seemed like a young tall human, definitely not someone from here. There seemed some sort of energy radiating from him. Something that drew my attention to him.

I readjusted my position on top of the tuomiokirkko to get a closer look, my muscles felt a breath of relief as my cold blood returned into my limbs This guy definitely didn’t belong here but he also didn’t have the stench of Lycan written over him. I decided to stalk him for a few blocks to see what he was up to. He followed the Unioninkatu until he turned right near the University building into the Rauhankatu where he took another turn into an alley.

He started to slow his pace, I continued following him but with more caution. It seemed like he started to have the feeling he was being followed this could mean danger. I did not want to have to kill him. I kept trying to make out his scent, definitely not Lycan but also not mere mortal, it wasn’t anything I had experienced before. He walked further into the alley until he abruptly stopped walking. I stopped as well my finger tingling ready to raise a weapon when needed.

Then, almost faster than my immortal senses could register, he turned around and threw some kind of weapon at me. Lucky for me my reaction speed was still inhuman as always and he missed. I didn’t wait for him to take another shot at me and charge forth to meet him for a good old wrestling game. As a wild cat defending its territory I released my fury upon him. But unlike anything I anticipated he pushed back with equal force. He smacked me hard across the face, causing me to lose my balance for a second, and feeling my lip tear. The copper taste of blood filled my mouth.

“That’s no way to treat a lady” I said and smirked a girlish grin. This guy was putting up a fight, and I am liking it. The fact that neither of us had reached for our guns yet suggested this was a ‘fair fight’. I was too intrigued with this guy to spoil a good fight by blowing his brains out, so we continued our fight the good old fashioned way. I rushed forward punching him in the stomach and kicking him into a wall. The debris from the wall falling at his feet. By the looks on his face he was not immune to pain, neither was I. He got up even after I stroke him down the third time. Who was this guy? And why is he in such a hurry to die? We were both panting and bleeding, but still neither of us was ready to call it even. A final punch of immense power finally drove us apart. The force landed him about 5 meters away from me.

Breathless I pushed myself up against the wall, desperately trying to catch my breath again.

“Who are you?” I finally managed to ask.