After walking about for a few minutes, Cate finally saw her first target. In a dark alley, there was a tall, slender figure who was sucking the blood out of a young human woman. The woman struggled as best she could, but her defiance was no different from striking a boulder with an egg. She was on the verge of death when Cate suddenly appeared in the alley.
The vampire stopped for a second and turned to look at the newcomer. "Find your own," the vampire said. He thought that Cate was nothing like a vampire. He was led to believe this when he sensed Cate's speed and the vibrant life force that she exuded. Cate's eyes also glowed red in the dark. All this misled the vampire into thinking that he had run into another of his kind. This would not be the first time something like this had happened to him. In this city that never slept, vampires were very common.
The vampire went back to his feeding, but before his teeth could properly sink into the woman's tender neck, he felt a powerful grip on his left shoulder, and before he could react, he was pulled backwards and smashed into the wall. The brick wall trembled, and an indent matching the vampire was formed. The young woman collapsed to the ground, and the vampire found himself losing consciousness.
Vampires were immortal and had powerful life forces, but his head had been caved in by the collision with the wall. His brains stained the wall, and in that one collision, all his internal organs had been turned to soup. He would heal after a few minutes, but for now, he was about to lose consciousness. "I cannot," the vampire thought to himself. He understood that the moment he lost consciousness in this place at this moment, he would never wake up. "After three hundred years, I cannot possibly die like this."
The vampire could not believe this ridiculous situation. He was supposed to be the apex predator with no equal in the world, and yet he was about to die without putting up even a shred of struggle. He was indignant about this death. The vampire felt that all this was unfair, and he forgot that he had killed many more people in the exact same manner. What he was getting was the karma he sowed, but he did not want it.
Cate had interrupted the vampire, but not because she felt bad for the human or anything like that. Cate had been on the hunt for worthy prey, and a vampire was one of the best choices she could make. With the powerful life force of a vampire, Cate understood that he would get more from eating a vampire rather than a plain human. Since this was the case, Cate knelt down next to the vampire and bit into the man's neck.
Cate savored the vampire blood. It tasted like well-aged wine. The scent alone drove Cate crazy. As the blood flooded her stomach, Cate felt her cells vibrate with excitement and her flesh gain new life. In this moment, Cate believed that there was nothing better than this blood. Cate drained the vampire until he was nothing but flesh and bone. After that, Cate sat on the ground and began eating the vampire one limb at a time.
Cate did not put up any barriers to hide herself. If a human were to pass through this alley, they would see Cate eating the vampire with gusto. After about ten minutes, there was nothing left of the vampire. Not even his bones and intestines were spared from Cate's ravenous hunger. "I am finally full," Cate said. Ever since she became whatever she now was, this was the first time Cate was feeling as though hunger was merely a word.
"Thanks for the meal." She bowed to the deceased vampire. The young woman she had saved was still unconscious. This was not a surprise since the vampire had drained her of most of her blood. "Since I am in a good mood, I will save you to the very end." Cate carried the young woman in her hands and began moving through the streets. Cate moved so fast that human eyes could never track her.
After about a minute, Cate found a hospital and rushed the young woman inside. The nurses were very active when they saw Cate enter with a pale young woman who appeared to be on the verge of death. Cate handed over the young woman, whose treatment began immediately. When Cate heard the young woman's heartbeat resume as normal, she quietly left the hospital.
Cate could have used magic to heal the young woman, but interfering in the life of a mortal was not something that supernaturals were allowed to do so casually. The gods had long ago decreed that the fates of mortals were theirs to bear. If Cate had used her magic, she would have ensured that the young woman lived, even if it had been the young woman's fate to die this day. Cate would not have even known that she had interfered with the fate of a mortal until the time came to face the consequences. Cate was not willing to take on these consequences for just anyone.
After leaving the hospital, Cate looked up at her Wandering Palace for a few minutes before she continued with her hunt. Cate had already sated her hunger and even believed that it would be a few years before she fell into a mad hunger like that one that had forced her to eat one of her people. Still, Cate wanted to remove all possibility of ever becoming that hungry again. She had decided on getting something she could eat on a daily basis, allowing her to maintain a steady balance in her life.
Now that she was no longer hungry, Cate began hunting not for immediate food but for food that would sustain her for years to come. She was hunting vampires all over the city.