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pigeonwhumps · 11 months

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Hunting Night

Sam and Lucan masterlist

Whump Girl Summer day 5: hunted for sport | traditions

@whumpawoman

Taglist: @whump-for-all-and-all-for-whump @onlybadendings @whumpofdory @haro-whumps @flowersarefreetherapy @enigmawritesstuff @quietly-by-myself

Kara and Edith are hunted as part of a centuries-old tradition.

3.5k

CWs: non-human whumpee, use of silver on a vampire and werewolf, slavery, hunting for sport, bounty hunting, mentioned murder, hate crime, discrimination, dehumanisation, burning, taunting, bound, broken bones, painful transformation, whumpee thinks caretaker is new whumper, caretaker turned whumpee, whumpee turned caretaker, implied past rape, mentioned panic attack, branding, grief, vigil mention, scared whumpee, expectation/fear of punishment, sadistic whumpers, gore, drinking blood

She should've known better.

That's all Kara can think as the bus grinds to a halt yet again. She should've known better. Tonight's Hunting Night, and everyone knows you don't go out on Hunting Night. Even humans don't, if they can help it, because it's so easy to pretend that, well, you attacked them because you thought they were a glamoured faerie or an untransformed werewolf and it wasn't your fault, really, and although Hunting Night is illegal the police don't care enough to even give cautions. No non-human would ever report an attack anyway.

They should never have gone out. Certainly not in the late afternoon. But the fridge broke, and Edith's blood apparently tastes bad (she won't say so, but the look on her face was proof enough), and she went so long without anything at all that Kara never wants her to make do with sour blood. Kara's food is going off too, she won't be able to eat it all before it's rotten. And on top of all that, Edith seems to believe it's her fault, somehow.

So they had to go and buy UHT mini blood cartons, and ice, and something for Kara to make Edith feel better, and Edith panicked because they were selling blood cartons laced with silver for punishing your vampire (her reading skills are still very rusty, Kara's going to kill whoever fed her them in the past), and then some people's treatment of Edith had reminded Kara of her own slavery and she'd had a panic attack, and everyone was staring and they'd almost left half the shopping behind in their rush to leave before someone called the cops.

And now they're stuck in a traffic jam. They're unlikely to make it back before moonrise, which is when the hunt starts despite being well before sunset, and this year's Hunting Night falls on a full moon.

She checks her watch. 19:00. Definitely won't make it back.

She presses the button, waiting anxiously for the bus to stop.

"We gotta get off an' walk, baby," she mutters to Edith, standing in front of her – slaves aren't allowed to sit in seats on buses if even one passenger objects and she hates it. "Moonrise."

Edith's eyes widen and she follows Kara off the bus when it finally stops, full rucksack on her shoulders.

Kara takes her hand and hurries along the pavement, taking a quick turn into an alley she knows far too well.

"Okay. Right. It ain't far, that bus takes the long way round, but we might not make it 'ome in time. If anyone attacks, Edie, run like 'ell. Ya got it? I can defend meself, jus' get outta 'ere."

"Yes, Mistress Kara."

Kara... isn't sure Edith will leave, actually, but if she pushes she'll get cowering or begging or freezing that they don't have time for, so she just nods.

"Good."

They're close when Edith does actually freeze, glancing up at the sky. Kara feels the heart palpitations she always gets when her body's partway between one form and another, at the start of her transformation, body chemicals shifting. She drops Edith's hand and backs away slightly, gritting her teeth.

Her bones and muscles crack as they break and reform, and at first it's not too bad, it's a bit like stretching, but then it gets stronger and stronger until she can't do anything but let out an ear-splitting scream. Halfway through, the scream turns into a howl, as her snout lengthens, vision changing.

She pants as she feels the aftershocks of the change, slowing down but still there. Edith is frozen entirely, eyes wide.

Vampires really don't smell good.

Kara's instincts are more animalistic like this, but as she's got older, she can recognise people, control herself a bit. When she was fifteen she may well have attacked Edith. Or perhaps not – the vampire is definitely in her pack.

Someone laughs from the end of the alleyway, and she shrinks into the shadows, Edith following.

"You might be hiding but I know you're down there! We heard you change! Come out, come out, little werewolf."

Kara sees them. There's five, and they smell like sweat and cheap aftershave and silver. And there's bloodlust in there too, excitement, the thrill of the hunt.

In a fluid motion, she grabs Edith, swings the vampire onto her back, and bounds the other way down the alley. She just runs, with no regard to where she's going. She has to get away.

She skids to a halt as the smell of silver hits her nose, so much of it, and more humans too. She hears a *thud* and hopes that Edith's okay. She emits a low growl and backs away, keeping an eye on the three heavily-beweaponed humans, low to the ground with ears pinned flat to her head.

Then there's laughter behind her, humans she somehow missed, and she yelps as her tail is pulled, spinning to see the five humans from the other alley.

"You were right about blockading these alleys. Two already. Tonight's gonna be a good night, I can feel it in my bones."

Kara snarls, lip curling so they can see her teeth. An instinctive movement that shows one of her greatest weaknesses to the hunters. What seems to be their ringleader guffaws.

"Oh, this is gonna be easy. It's no fun, it can't even fight back."

"Still adding it to the tally though. We've got ourselves a stray werewolf. How many points is that again?"

Edith steps between her and the humans with a growl. "Stay away from her."

Two humans grab Edith as she swings a punch, pulling her off to the side and throwing her rucksack and ear defenders into a skip. She struggles desperately, more than Kara's ever seen. More than she thought possible from Edith. But despite the vampire's strength, she doesn't manage to get away before silver ropes are wound around her arms, binding them together. Then four of the humans can hold her still.

"Guard-class vampire," reports one, looking at her bracelet. "Dunno whose it is though. Kara... Evans."

"Who cares? Must be a runaway. We need to mark these two for proof it was us."

"Might be safer to just mark the bodies."

"Now, where's the fun in that?"

Kara tries to rise slightly, in preparation for another escape attempt, but before she can even process it her skin's burning. Her snout's first, and then her body and she tried to shake it off, scratch it but that just burns her pads, it doesn't come off and she howls in agony. She can't hear or feel anything else beyond the burning that's everywhere, all-encompassing, completely overwhelming. It's so much and she can't stop it.

Edith watches, horrified, as the diluted silver hits Mistress Kara. She howls and immediately tries to get it off, scratching at her fur and turning endlessly.

She won't manage it. It'll burn and burn and eventually burn through skin and flesh and bone if it's left on long enough, that liquid sticks, and then her arms and legs will dissolve, and they'll taunt her, place blood where she could reach it if she had arms, if she could stand. And, well, if she only managed to control herself better, this wouldn't be happening. She might even be allowed some of that blood. A few licks off the basement floor would be enough, please, she's not sure she can keep going.

She hears an animalistic whine and jolts. She's not there, she's in the present, with the hunters, and that's just as dangerous.

Her arms are burning from the rope but it's not about her. Mistress Kara is being hurt and the hunters are going to kill them both and there's nothing she can do about it.

The hunters' laughter is raucous without any ear protection, but she can't do anything to help and she isn't about to show them that it hurts. She knows what humans do when she shows weakness.

"It's not going anywhere now. Time for the marking. Hold the vampire's face."

Edith's head is grabbed by multiple hands, all over, suffocating, sweaty hands and too much contact as a circular silver thing that looks like a branding iron is positioned above her cheek. She's been branded before, but she can't get away as the silver stamp comes down on her cheek.

The pain takes her breath away, she can't even scream as the silver's pressed in and held until it's nearly burned through her cheek.

"Stinks."

"Yeah, well, get used to it or go home, there's gonna be a lot tonight. Now for the werewolf. Paint it. It is an animal, after all."

A can's chucked across and some of the humans guffaw as one of them starts to spray.

"Should tag their ears as well. We're slaughtering them like livestock apparently, after all. Isn't that what those activists say?"

"Those idiots should be hunted too. Their views are too backward to let them live."

Amanda. They're talking about Amanda and others like her. That's the final straw for Edith. The hunters have slackened their grip and she focuses, ripping her arms free. She grabs the nearest hunter and sinks her fangs into his neck.

Oh, she hasn't had blood directly from a human in so long. Shame it's tainted by bitter alcohol but it's so warm, warm and pumping. She doesn't have time to drink the full hunter, instead turning to the next.

She's quick enough that they don't start screaming and fighting until she's on her third hunter.

It all becomes a bit of a blur after that. She comes out of a daze, stomach full of warm human blood, injured a little possibly, when the remaining hunters are all dead on the ground.

Good.

She's surprised she managed it actually, she thought she was trained better. But Mistress Kara was in danger.

Edith approaches Mistress Kara, careful not to touch any silver on the way. She's still pawing at the diluted silver, and Edith touches her snout cautiously. She shouldn't touch her owner in this way but she has to. The silver burns as she attempts to brush some off.

"Mistress Kara? Are you here?"

Mistress Kara yips at her, still pawing at her snout. The hunters didn't manage to get much spray paint on her before Edith killed her, that's good. About the only good thing, aside from them not being dead.

"We need to go home. Can you lead the way? This vampire does not know it."

Mistress Kara stops pawing herself and stares at Edith, and Edith repeats herself calmly. After a few minutes she seems to understand.

Well, almost.

She sniffs the air, and limps her way over to a large skip. Edith follows.

Oh. She didn't realise where Mistress Kara's belongings had gone. She thought the hunters had taken them or maybe she just hadn't thought at all. She pulls them out, swinging the backpack over her shoulders, holding her ear defenders in one hand.

They're not too bad. A bit smelly, and damp, but they'll be okay.

"Thank you, Mistress Kara."

Mistress Kara yips again, pressing her snout up against Edith's palm, and starts limping down the road.

Mistress Kara was right earlier, it isn't far, and Molly comes bounding up when Edith unlocks the door. She strokes the dog's head and drops the backpack in the hallway, grateful at least that they didn't bring Molly. Molly isn't hurt.

"Hello Molly. Mistress Kara, Edith is going to wash your fur, if that is acceptable, and then comb it out. It should get the silver out. Edith has done it on hair before, but not fur." Edith pauses momentarily. "Edith does not know how much you understand in this form, but please be lenient on this vampire. Edith understands this vampire needs to be punished for pretending she has agency but it is an emergency."

Mistress Kara whines, and Edith leads the way to the bathroom, Mistress Kara's snout pressed into her cupped hand. She wonders whether it's something to do with the familiar smell, if it's somehow distracting or grounding.

"Edith will make the shower warm but you do not have to wait, Mistress Kara." She strips down to her underwear and picks up the grooming brush, stepping into the shower. The water is freezing when she turns it on, but she stands under it anyway, washing off the silver that's made its way onto her. Slaves shouldn't waste warm water on themselves. But she has to wash herself, because it's more effective to help Mistress Kara if she is not also burning.

That's what she tells herself anyway. She shouldn't be cleaning herself without Mistress Kara's permission, if Mistress Kara wants her to stay with silver on her for any reason that's her prerogative. Mistress Kara will punish her later for her audacity, she's sure. She has to.

Mistress Kara bounds into the shower before it's warm and stands under the shower, turning round and round in circles. She lets out a happy yip.

"Edith will brush your silver out, Mistress Kara," says Edith, "will you stay still so this vampire can?"

Mistress Kara stills, vibrating in place and sticking her snout out. Edith takes the hint and carefully rubs it with a cloth, taking care to reach everywhere and get out every fleck and drip of silver.

The bright red burns stay. They'll be there when she transforms back to human form, Edith knows, and she only hopes they don't scar.

Then she cleans Mistress Kara's ears, careful of the burns that make her owner let out quiet, pained whines. It's not fair, she's so nice, far nicer than she should be to a vampire like Edith, but she keeps being hurt.

"Edith is going to brush your fur now if that is acceptable."

Mistress Kara tilts her head up into the stream of water, washing her eyes out. Edith crouches down and brushes her methodically. She uses Mistress Kara's nice shampoo and conditioner, careful to catch all the snags in her fur and all the silver, liquid and solid and scraps. So many strands are coated and Edith has to scrape them out by hand. It hurts but she doesn't mind, it's what she's for. The pain's nowhere near as bad as the burning brand on her cheek anyway. The transferred silver flecks are washed off now, but it still burns.

She's trying not to think about the brand. If the silver had been pressed there much longer she'd have a hole in her cheek, and she could start to heal but she can't drink without Mistress Kara's permission. Her healing will be slower, then.

She gently holds the werewolf's paws up as she cleans them one by one, gentle with the toes that have been cut, scrubbing the edges of her pads thoroughly. There's not so much silver on them, only the bits she transferred herself, but anything on the ground could've been covered in silver, Edith doesn't know. So she cleans everything carefully.

"Is there anything else this vampire needs to clean?" Edith asks uncertainly. In answer, Mistress Kara jumps out of the shower and shakes herself off. Edith rubs her with a towel, and then quickly towels herself off and dresses. Mistress Kara won't want to see her naked if she doesn't have to. Right? Right.

She is not sure where the burn cream is kept, unfortunately. She hopes Mistress Kara can forgive her.

"You should rest, Mistress Kara. You will be all right now." Mistress Kara nudges her hand, and she's taken aback, despite all the past kindness she's received from her. "You would like this vampire to come with you?" The werewolf yips. "This vampire will come then."

Mistress Kara bounds ahead and jumps onto her bed. Edith tries to lie on the floor or at least at the foot of Mistress Kara's bed, but Mistress Kara tugs at her until she's in the middle, the werewolf curled around her.

It's very warm and comfortable, and Mistress Kara falls asleep quickly. Edith has to resist the urge to join her – although she has finished most of her job, she cannot leave anything incomplete. It doesn't matter how little she's slept recently, or how comfortable she is here, she is a slave and needs to finish working before she's allowed to rest. Besides, Mistress Kara didn't say she was allowed to sleep.

There's sunlight filtering through the curtains when Kara wakes.

Her memories of the night before are vague at first, although she remembers the terror and pain. The longer she's awake in her human form though, the clearer the memories become. The hunters. Edith defending her and being hurt for it. The silver. The smell of Edith helping her back to herself. Edith tending to her.

Kara's face and hands still sting, despite Edith's best efforts. The injuries will heal with time, but they might scar. She'll have to check them over.

She's so much less stiff than usual after a transformation, though. Edith didn't just remove the silver, she did it so thoroughly, so carefully. Even her tailbone isn't aching as much as it should after her tail was yanked like that, and her hair is shiny and so soft. It gives Kara hope that the vampire's not just scared of her, she might actually care too.

God, Kara hopes so. She doesn't want to force Edith to stay with someone she's scared of. She'd never want that. She is not like her owner was.

A thought strikes her suddenly. Oh. Oh, god. She's curled up, in her human form, naked around Edith. She scrambles to her feet, face heating, remembering her insistence that Edith sleep with her. Okay. Okay. Edith won't think anything of it, right?

She hopes fervently that she doesn't. The first (and last) time Kara accidentally made an innuendo about having sex with Edie, she'd panicked and hidden for a week.

Time to look at her injuries, she supposes. The vampire's still asleep, and she heads to the bathroom, fully expecting to need to clean it. There was a lot of mess. But it's sparkling.

Oh, Edie. Of course. Kara feels a pang of gratefulness mixed with sorrow. She's not sure she could deal with cleaning it today but at the same time, she knows why Edie did it. Why she would've thought it was her job. She would've cleaned instead of sleeping.

Kara tilts her head to either side as she looks in the mirror. Her injuries don't look too bad. Edith must've gotten most of the silver off before it had a chance to burn her too much. It takes longer to burn her than Edith, after all.

She pads groggily into the kitchen and picks up a couple of blood cartons for Edith. She won't have eaten without express permission either.

When she gets back to her room, Kara tucks her weighted blanket around the small vampire, smiling helplessly as she pulls it tighter around herself, nuzzling into it. She's so sweet, Kara doesn't understand how anyone could want to harm her.

She needs to contact Amanda, tell her they're safe. Her phone was in her rucksack, and Edith unpacked that. Where would she have put it?

On the bedside table, apparently. Kara slides it onto her hand, muttering into it until she has a coherent message for Amanda. She's just sent it when she notices the breaking news alert.

Oh, god, why does she leave those on? Actually she knows why, but last night was not the night for them.

Vampire nest destroyed in Hunting Night raid

She sinks down on the floor under the window, hugging her knees to her chest and watching Edith. She doesn't even bother to open the article, slamming her phone into the carpet with a soft thump. She knows what it'll say.

She's exhausted. All the hate... it's too much. How can humans hate so many species so viciously, so thoughtlessly? How do they have the capacity for it? To kill and maim so many, and barely mention it, barely care. They don't even bother to try and get the terms right.

Not all humans, she reminds herself forcefully. Not all. People like Amanda... they care. But they don't always make it out alive.

She pulls herself up small, blinking back tears. Today they rest. Today the volunteers recover the bodies and count the missing and mark the dead. Kara and Edith will both start to heal, some scars fading faster than others. They're luckier than some. At least they're both still here.

Tomorrow the community remembers. The names go on the wall, in a vigil broadcast live from the Isle of Man, and they remember, and they grieve. Those they knew, those they didn't. Humans, non-humans. The vampire den on the news will only be the start of last night's casualties.

And then they'll try their best to survive another year.

Kara looks down at Edith, snuffling in her sleep, and amends that sentence.

She will keep Edith safe for another year.

And another, and another. And hopefully they can both stay safe for the rest of their lives.