November 2nd, 2019
Shit. Need to get this down before I forget something crucial. I’ve just been attacked. Got a nice gash in my left arm which is stitch worthy, but can be dealt with later. It’s not life threatening.
I was out keeping myself fighting fit with some light jogging during a touch of downtime. Hunting is a demanding job and maintaining a good cardio regimen is what allows those of us who get our hands dirty to keep going toe-to-toe with monsters and not be winded in 5 seconds flat.
Anyways, as loathe as I am to say it, the blood on this page is evidence enough, I got jumped. I didn’t get a good look at whatever it was, but I’m pretty sure it isn’t something mundane like a rabid coyote or feral mountain lion. I might not be here if it were. Or it definitely wouldn’t be here.
Even when going out for something recreational, I never go without a weapon. Tonight it was my pig-sticker iron, 6 inches of sharpened metal and the dark ichor (which smells exceptionally rank) is evidence that I gave as good as I got. And if it was something perfectly mundane, that means there’s definitely something wrong with it.
Shit. If it is mundane, that means I need to get into the hospital to make sure whatever it might be suffering from wasn’t passed to me. It isn’t often that a hunt drops into a hunter’s lap and even less frequent that I hope for the mundane.
That being said, I’m still taking a sample of whatever’s on my knife and washing it off (after thoroughly cleaning my arm and assessing for stitch requirement). It smells bad, like something rotting.
November 3rd, 2019
First the good news: the wound wasn’t as bad as I initially thought it might be. What I thought was a gash was closer to a cluster of punctures. Nasty, for sure, especially since I still don’t know what injured me (leaning toward bit, but it happened rather quick and I’m not sure if it was teeth or claws that got me). I cleaned it thoroughly, applied Neosporin and bandaged it up nicely.
Threw on latex gloves and collected a sample of the green-blue-black ichor on my knife. Stank to all heaven and back and I was glad to wash the rest down the sink. Thankfully the offensive material isn’t eating through the bag I put my sample in or drifting back up the pipes.
Even a few months later, and I’m pretty sure the motel where I was staying when I tackled a zombie still stinks.
The stench of this thing is similar, but not quite. Both have an air of wrongness about them, so might be a similar creature. Hell, might be another zombie. I’m kind of doubting it, but it won’t hurt to be prepared for one when I go out after it.
The reason I’m doubtful boils down to research. While the hunt found me this time, the town’s been plagued by weird deaths for a few years now. Not often enough to draw attention, but definitely there if you know where to look.
Most places don’t have a body count close to double digits with exsanguinated victims.
If this were back in ancient times, when bloodletting was common, this might make sense. But nowadays? Nah.
November 4th, 2019
Okay. I’m willing to admit when I’m wrong and Colby’s mentor does fall into the category of “gruff, but fair” category of people. I don’t really understand the interaction I witnessed between him and Colby directly, might need to ask Colby about it directly, but maybe there was some sort of falling out between the two that left both sides frayed and broken. Maybe it was something to do with Kelsie’s passing.
If so, probably would make it kind of a fresh wound to pick at for Colby and not the best thing to ask about.
Tony was definitely helpful. Just from what I described he provided a thorough bit of insight into what it might be: an upyr.
See, everyone’s heard of a vampire or vampyr, but few people know of the proto-vampire that is the upyr.
This is some creature of unknown origin (lore says it was someone who died suddenly, or was cursed by a witch, or killed by another upyr, though I doubt the last one since the attacks around here don’t line up with a whole next of them existing). They mirror a lot of a vampire’s tendencies: they’re fast and tough, drink blood, but are far more feral than vampires. Apparently you can potentially reason with a vampire, but not so much an upyr. Another difference: where vampires can get some resistance to the sun as they grow older, a upyr loses its resistance to that big, firey ball in the sky. UV radiation doesn’t bother one fresh risen from the grave, but if you come across one that’s a couple centuries old, it’ll get a nasty burn from a handheld UV flashlight and get very, very crispy in the open sun.
They also tend to be ambush predators rather than stalkers and tend to use their superior strength and speed to quickly overcome victims instead of some venom. This is good news to me, though I need to keep an eye on the wound as mouths still carry plenty of perfectly mundane bacteria and I’m far from immune to common day things.
So: how do you fight and kill something that’s already dead?
In this particular case: carefully. A stake through the heart will put one down, but not just any stake, it needs to be made of silver. Then just a little dismemberment and separate burial plots will seal the deal.
No biggie.
Knew there was a reason I kept hold of my entrenchment tool after the service.
November 7th, 2019
I know, if you’re not me, you noticed the skip in days and that’s because I didn’t have a silver spike to stab the thing with. Fortunately, unlike a vampire, I get to keep the tool for future hunts.
Knowing the attack pattern of this thing was key to hunting it. I went out to its hunting ground, wandered for a bit, and when it attacked, I clipped it with my trench tool and staked it. Several hours of digging, a little hacking (bring a saw next time), and I put the thing to rest permanently. Thing bled an awful lot and it stank worse the closer to being done with it I got. And a fair amount got on me. Came off in the tub though.
Just not sure housekeeping will ever get that stink out of the bathtub though…
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