Chapter 3: A Bloody Harvest

                                    

                                          
In nearby Cluj-Napoca, which was a city in Romania as well as the unofficial capital of Transylvania, a woman was attempting to walk back to her house after being forced by her manager to work an extra three hours for no additional pay, much to her chagrin. The walk through the streets---which were effectively deserted at this hour---was rather unsettling, and the headphones she wore, which were playing episodes of a popular podcast, Hero Theory, into her ears, served to ease her senses.....however slightly. Its host, Carla Rosenblood, talked at length about the superheroes that had recently risen up across the globe, and definitely seemed to know her stuff. 
Unfortunately, the headphones that lulled the unassuming woman into a sense of security would end up becoming the same headphones that would render her completely vulnerable. Because she was listening so intently to Carla's spiels, she was unable to hear the rapidly approaching footsteps of an attacker coming up behind her, and she was caught completely off-guard when a dark-clad figure sped by on her left.....swiping her purse clear off her shoulder and her headphones clean off her head on his way forward. 
"Hey! What are you doing?! Someone help me!" she wailed as she attempted to give chase. But of the few people that were still out, none of them bothered to spring into action. 
The unknown thief darted around the corner with his victim hot on his tail. For a moment, his heart beat quicker and his breathing became more rapid; it seemed as though the woman actually stood a chance at catching up to him. At that moment, though, she lost her footing and took a nasty tumble to the cement sidewalk which scraped her knee, badly injured her, and took her out of the chase for good. 
It was at that point that the bystanders were finally willing to help her, though it was basically too late by then. This rather lucky turn of events enabled the thief to escape, rushing off into the distance before ducking into a dark alley to conceal himself from everyone on the outside. 
Or at least.....it was supposed to be lucky. Little did he know that he had just jumped out of the frying pan and into the fire. 
Within the darkness of the side passage, he could barely make out the faint figure of a second person leaning against the wall, waiting for him. 
"Pssst! Hey! It's me!" the robber said in a hushed tone. "Look! I scored another one! You know.....this game of yours was rather fun. We both steal something from these losers, then we meet up again and see who got the more valuable stash! It's priceless!" 
"Oh.....do you fail to understand still? You're such a naïve child....." the figure berated, much to the thief's confusion. 
".....Huh? What.....what are you talking about?" he asked. Then, he came to a realization and gulped. "Wait.....you're not my partner, are you?" 
The mysterious entity slowly---but surely---advanced closer and closer towards the thief, forcing him to back away at an equal speed. Soon, they both exited the shadows, and the attacker found himself face to face with a black-clad female vampire who had dark stringy hair, a fitted, black, midsection-exposing, short-sleeve top, dark leggings, boots, and a flowing black cape. Her deathly-pale skin and twin fangs---one of which was red instead of white---gave away her species almost immediately, and in one of her hands, she dragged the fully-drained corpse of the thief's intended accomplice; all of the color had been completely drained from his skin, his eyes had glazed over and now had black patches underneath them, and there were two round holes next to each other on his neck. 
"I'm Mavis Ladair," she introduced. "And you have made a grave mistake, choosing to stand in opposition to me this day." 
Not wanting to meet the same fate as his partner, the robber initially tried to make a break for it; perhaps turn himself in to the authorities and evade whatever fate this vampire had in store for him. But she was too quick, and she seized him by the throat with her other hand and pulled him off the ground before he could even make a full step to the side.