Chapter 1 - The Hunter and the Hunted

Rushing through the streets of Havenfell, Elsa Nordhom remained focused on the pursuit of her target. It was too dark to see in the blackened, stone-paved streets of the small city, but Elsa knew she didn't need her eyes to see where the person was.

She'd played this particular game for far too long, chasing her opponent night after night. But tonight, she would finally bring it all to an end. The scent of blood was still in her nostrils, and she could still see the spattered blood on the cobblestones in her mind's eye. It kept her adrenaline up, sustained her while she ran.

Why did Elsa do this every night?

Well, partly for personal reasons. Partly because it was her duty. Being a vampire hunter was by no means an easy job, but Elsa would work tirelessly for the Hunter's Guild until her very last breath - or until the world was finally free of those horrific monsters. One of those things seeming much more likely than the other, especially given the current circumstances.

Elsa's breath came out in controlled pants as she pursued the foe, the small silver cross on her necklace swinging back and forth in time with the sound of her feet on the ground. This vampire, in particular, sent icy chills in her blood. She had lost so much because of this monster, but tonight she would finally have her revenge. She had to. Not only for the good of her guild, but for her own sake.

A noise came from around the corner, causing Elsa to come to a stop beside the entrance to a small alleyway. It was the sound of chewing, slicing, slurping: all the familiar noises that an inhuman monster made while feeding on its prey. The corner of Elsa's lip pulled up in disgust, but at least this time, she had the element of surprise on her side.

Reaching under her blue cloak, Elsa grabbed the handle of her crossbow. If she was lucky, she could leap out and catch the monster off guard, and hopefully kill it once and for all. Closing her eyes, Elsa silently counted the seconds.

When the time was right, she leapt into the alleyway, pulling out her crossbow. She tried her hardest to pull the trigger, but her stomach lurched and her fingers froze; part of her just… couldn't. As much as she hated it, she couldn't do it.

Dammit, dammit, DAMMIT! she thought, mentally kicking herself.

At the end of the alley, rising up from the remains of a fresh corpse, was a young woman. She looked about a year younger than Elsa, but several inches taller. She was slender and tough-looking, with short strawberry blonde hair scattered across her forehead. Her eyes were a mixture of turquoise blue and a murky dark grey, and her skin was a sickly chalk white spattered with greyish-brown freckles.

The woman's eyes locked onto Elsa, her blood-stained lips parting in a predatory grin and revealing a set of long, thin fangs. "Well, well, well," she chuckled, wiping the blood from her mouth with the cuff of her sleeve "I had a feeling I'd run into you tonight. You know how much I love playing this little game of ours."

Elsa scowled, trying to fight back the urge to overthink before it came. There was no room for that here. If she let the vampire get to her, allowed any memory to surface at the wrong time, it would all be over. She would lose.

"You can't escape this time, Anna. I won't let you take any more innocent lives." Elsa looked her dead in the eyes. "It ends tonight."

Anna giggled, causing Elsa to grit her teeth. "Oh, puh-lease, Elsa. If you really wanted to kill me, you would've done it years ago. I, on the other hand, don't have that problem. I've been letting you live because I love seeing that look in your eyes when you realize you can't win."

You would, Elsa wanted to say. That's what vampires did: they thrived on misery. Hunting and killing humans not out of necessity, but simply for sport. She clutched the handle of her crossbow and glared at the monster in front of her.

"It's my fault you're in this world, Anna. But tonight, I make up for my mistakes." Elsa snapped a silver-tipped bolt into place, lifting up the crossbow to aim at Anna's chest. "Tonight, you die!"

No thinking. She pulled the trigger.

Yet Anna's body was water and fire all at once. She feinted to the side at inhuman speed, dodging the arrow with ease. Elsa had a split second to recognize the counterattack before Anna leapt forward, claws aiming straight for Elsa's own heart.

Damn.

The blonde fired a rapid swarm of bolts from her weapon, determined to break through the vampire's defences, but Anna, as usual, was too quick. She shoved the crossbow out of the way, pointing it towards the sky before ripping it out of Elsa's hands. Elsa barely had time to gasp before Anna's hands sank into her abdomen, slashing the skin open like it was made of paper.

Elsa could hardly yelp in pain; the attack took all the air from her lungs. She had enough instinct left to draw out her sword and wildly swing at Anna, hoping - praying one of her slashes would give her enough time to put some space between them.

Anna had anticipated this. She pulled out a sword of her own, blocking Elsa's weapon with a dull clang after each swing. An infuriating smirk was on her face the entire time. But it was working, Elsa noted. Anna was playing along, and Elsa now had a little bit of breathing room.

Don't think.

Drawing the last of her strength, Elsa slashed her weapon forward once more with an especially hard swing. Much to her surprise, Anna actually faltered back to get out of its range. Elsa bit the inside of her cheek before squeezing her eyes shut and changing the angle of her grip. Instead of swinging at Anna, she pulled the weapon back and aimed the tip directly at the monster. No way for Anna to block it with that stance. She shoved it forward, hoping it would land in the vampire's chest, stomach, something to incapacitate her.

Shunk. The silver blade hit home, going almost all the way through Anna's belly. Blood oozed from the wound, dripping from the edge of the sword and onto the pavement. And yet… Anna didn't seem fazed. In fact, it seemed like the blade in her gut didn't even hurt at all.

"W-what?" Elsa gasped.

Anna's eyes narrowed. "You really thought that was going to slow me down?" she growled, ripping the sword out of her stomach and tossing it to the side. "You're getting slow in your later years."

Before Elsa could react, Anna ripped off part of the sleeve on her white tunic, swooping down and biting into her arm.

"No-!"

Elsa cut herself off, screaming in pain. She felt Anna's fangs pierce her flesh, her blood trickling into the vampire's mouth. She tried to struggle, but her body was growing weaker. Her blood was rushing in her ears, her breath coming in ragged pants.

One thought was clear in her foggy mind: Anna didn't bite her neck. She didn't plan on transforming Elsa; she planned to kill her.

But death never came. Instead, Anna pushed herself up and grabbed Elsa by the throat, pinning her against a nearby wall.

As Elsa looked into Anna's eyes, a chill ran down her spine. Her eyes were practically shimmering with malevolent glee, and a desire to inflict pain. Whatever was living behind those eyes, it was purely and simply… evil.

A smirk spread across the vampire's pale face. "You don't know how long I've waited for this," she sneered in a raspy voice. "Say goodnight, big sister."

Straining in Anna's grip, Elsa saw her former sister raise a clawed hand into the air. She expected some sort of epiphany, some great clarity that would hit her in her final moments. But all that she felt was an immense, unbearable sadness. She had failed her sister… she had failed her only family.

Her only hope was that her friends would find her, but that seemed almost impossible now. All she could do was close her eyes, clinging to that one tiny glimmer of hope like a baby clinging to its mother. Kristoff… Lena… where are you?

Just then, Elsa's ears picked up a sound: footsteps, coming steadily closer. Anna heard them too, looking away from Elsa in confusion.

"Cheers, love! The cavalry's here!" a Cockney-accented voice cheered. A young woman with short brown hair and orange-tinted glasses leapt through the air, kicking Anna squarely in the jaw. Landing on her feet, the young woman was soon joined by a burly man with shaggy blonde hair. Both of them were armed: the woman had a sword, and the man had a long-barrelled rifle.

The man moved over to where Elsa lay against the alley wall, barely conscious. He knelt down beside her, patting her cheek. "Elsa, can you hear me?"

She coughed weakly. "Kristoff…?"

He smiled at her. "Yeah. I'm here, and so is Lena."

Groaning, Elsa looked up at Kristoff, smiling softly. Already some of her strength was returning; Anna hadn't taken as much of her blood as she'd initially thought. "What… what took you so long?"

"You know how much of a pain it is to find you when you go off alone," Lena remarked as she and Kristoff helped Elsa to her feet.

As Elsa stood up, holding her arms over her wounds, she scowled at Anna. "Give it up, Anna. You're outnumbered."

Anna chuckled, amused by Elsa's threat. She glanced at the two new threats with a raised brow. "Oh, my dear sister, you are so naive. You and your little friends have no idea how powerful I really am." She smiled. "But I suppose I should be off; I've done enough harm to you for one night. Until next time, Elsa."

There was a sudden burst of smoke, making Elsa and her friends cough and splutter. When it cleared, Anna had vanished. Elsa looked around in surprise and confusion. She's… leaving me alive? But why?

The young brunette growled, holding her weapon tightly. "You come back here, you bloody monster! I won't let you hurt Elsa again!"

"Never mind, Lena," Elsa told her friend, clutching her wounds. "Anna's gone. She's probably miles away from here by now." She let out a grunt of pain.

Kristoff sighed, pulling Elsa's arm over his shoulder. "Come on, Elsa. Let's get you back to the barracks. Ariel can fix you up."

"No," Elsa refused. "I can handle it. It's just a flesh wound."

"No offense, love, but Kristoff's right," Lena put in. "You're bleeding out all over the pavement here. You need a doctor."

Seeing the blood drip from her wounds, Elsa sighed, realising that her friends were indeed right. She had been gravely injured confronting Anna, and she probably wouldn't survive the night without medical attention.

"Fine," Elsa said with a reluctant sigh. "But as soon as I'm patched up, I'm going after Anna again. If she hurts anyone else, it will be on me."

Kristoff smiled, hobbling Elsa towards their home. "And this time, you're waiting for backup and not throwing yourself into a fight."

"Yeah, yeah," Elsa replied in a bored tone, her mind going on autopilot as Kristoff and Lena led her away.

Unbeknownst to them, a shadowy figure in a dark hooded cloak was standing on a rooftop up above, looking down at the scene. He had witnessed the entire fight between Elsa and Anna.

He smiled. After countless years of searching, he had finally found the one who would be his heir.

He disappeared in a puff of smoke like Anna had done, leaving only the light of the moon in his place.

xXx

Elsa sighed as her wounds were stitched up by one of the guild's doctors, regretting not being able to hold her ground against her monstrous sister. She knew Anna had probably retreated to her hiding place, resting for the remainder of this night so that she could feast again the next.

Her body was broken, and she felt exhausted. Thankfully, her injuries were no longer life-threatening, as the treatment had stabilized her condition. Still, having the stitches put into her skin wasn't exactly comfortable.

She was lying in the infirmary of the Hunter's Guild barracks, a rather basic-looking room where monster hunters like herself could receive treatment for their injuries. The barracks themselves were based in an old fort in the centre of the city, from the age when knights and other such heroes protected the land, rather than the police and guards that did in the current age.

As the doctor, a red-haired young woman named Ariel, continued bandaging up her wounds, Elsa sighed. "Ari, can you hurry it up? I'd rather not be here all night."

"Not unless you want to be dripping blood everywhere you go," Ariel replied. "Hold still, will you? It's bad enough you let yourself get into this state."

"My friend is right, Elsa," chimed in another doctor, a blonde-haired Swiss woman named Angela. "You really should take better care of yourself."

"I know, I know," Elsa sighed. "You two give me this lecture every single time I'm here."

"That's because you never listen," chided Ariel. "Just once, I'd like to have you come back in one piece."

"Ha ha, very funny," Elsa sarcastically retorted.

Just as Ariel was bandaging up Elsa's arm, the redhead noticed something in the wound. "That's odd," she commented. "There's some irritation around the bite marks. I wonder what caused it?"

Looking down, Elsa saw there were some strange brown marks in the blood-red of her exposed wound. It looked rather sickly in appearance, like something had been smeared in her wound. She didn't feel anything from it, but it was enough to make her eyes widen.

"Oh. Is… is that bad?" Elsa inquired uncertainly, hoping Ariel would say no.

"I'm not sure," Ariel said, frowning. That was never a good sign, but the fact that Elsa wasn't feeling any kind of effects was. Hopefully, nothing would come of it. "But it's probably better if you cover up that arm for at least a few days while you let the rest of your wounds to heal."

"No way. As soon as I've gotten a good night's sleep, I'm going to track down Anna again," Elsa grumbled, sitting up from her bed. But as soon as she did, she was stopped by Angela. The blonde doctor shook her head and sent Elsa a pointed look.

"No. You're going to stay in bed and rest," Angela insisted. "You need to heal. Doctor's orders."

Elsa sighed. "You two love making my life a living hell, don't you?" Despite it all, she felt a smirk spread across her face. It was nice knowing people cared. Especially after all… that today. "Fine. I'll take a few days rest, then. Goodnight, ladies." And with that, she bid both women farewell, walking out of the infirmary.

As Elsa left, Ariel rolled her eyes. "I don't know who's worse to deal with: Eric, or Elsa. Neither one of them wants to get their bed rest."

"Trust me," Angela replied, "Fareeha and Korra are worse."

Returning to her quarters on the other side of the guild base, Elsa shut the door behind her and flopped onto her own bed, sighing softly. She was still confused. Why hadn't Anna killed her? She hadn't bitten her neck, so there was no intention of turning her. So why not finish the job?

Looking at her wound, bandaged up and bloodied, Elsa knew she wouldn't be able to hold her gun again for at least a few days. A few days… while Anna and her clan could be rampaging across the city at night, terrorising the innocent as they pleased. The thought made her feel sick.

Just then, there came a polite knock on her door. "Elsa?" Lena's voice echoed from behind it. She cracked the door open. "You in there?"

"Yeah, I'm here. Just suffering in agony," Elsa jested, trying to sprinkle some humour into her situation. It made her feel a little better. "Is that you, Lena?"

"Yeah, it's me," Elsa's friend replied. "Mind if I come in? I mean, if you need time alone…."

"No, it's fine," Elsa told her. "I could use the company anyway."

The door to Elsa's room opened and Lena walked inside, quietly adjusting her glasses before moving to Elsa's bed and sitting on a chair opposite her. She gave Elsa a small smile, nudging her elbow and smirking kindly. "You feeling alright?"

"Been better, all things considered," Elsa admitted. "Have there been any more reports tonight?"

"Nah, it's been pretty quiet, love," Lena stated. "Seems like your crazy sister called it a night after she attacked you." Her eyes immediately went wide as she realized what she'd said. "I'm sorry. I know that-"

"It's okay," Elsa assured her friend. "I stopped calling Anna my sister a long time ago."

The brunette moved to sit on the bed, looking at Elsa with concern. "I wish we could figure out some way to change her back. You must really miss her."

"I miss the woman she once was," Elsa said. "That… monster is not my sister. The Anna I knew died years ago, and that thing is just all that's left of her. The only way to save her is to kill her and let her soul pass on peacefully." Elsa looked away. Despite how true it was, it didn't make it any easier to say.

"I'm sorry," Lena expressed, reaching over to squeeze her hand. "You know… Korra and I were thinking of having a little sparring session in the morning. You wanna join us? I mean, if you'll be up to it."

"I might, but don't expect me to be doing any fancy footwork," Elsa remarked. "My bones still need to heal."

"I know exactly what you mean," Lena said, the corner of her mouth pulling into a smile. "I broke my arm when I was a girl; I was stuck in bed for a month and a half!"

Elsa laughed, feeling the space in her chest lighten a little. Sometimes, she forgot how much she needed little chats like this. It reminded her that there was more to her world than just hunting supernatural beasts. "I think I've got a bit worse than a little broken arm, Lena."

"Made you smile, though," Lena chirped, kissing Elsa on the cheek. "You get some sleep, love. You've earned it. I'll see you in the morning, yeah?"

Nodding, Elsa smiled back at her friend. "Yeah. Thanks, Lena." She rested her head back onto her bed, closing her eyes. "Goodnight, then."

"Nighty night!" Lena chirped, leaving Elsa just a little bit better than she was before.

Sighing softly, Elsa closed her eyes and tried her best to fall asleep. Even though thoughts of Anna seemed to be dominating her mind, she knew she would one day save her sister's soul from the monster that she had become. That was the one shred of peace Elsa clung onto in this merciless world.

xXx

Anna sat in the study of her manor house, her hideaway when she needed to rest and regain her strength. As the glow of the moonlight sifted through the nearby window, she smiled wickedly. The latest game against her sister Elsa went just as planned.

Being a vampire was one of the greatest experiences of Anna's life. Having such power. She knew the humans feared her, would want nothing more than to have her head on a pike, but Anna didn't care. There were only a few ways to kill a vampire, and she knew that poor little Elsa didn't have the stomach to employ any of them.

In a way, Anna enjoyed this game of cat and mouse that they played. Hunting humans and quenching her bloodthirst was more than satisfying enough on its own, but the chance to see Elsa again always elated her more than anything else. It was because of Elsa she was a vampire in the first place, after all.

One thing many humans didn't understand was that vampires didn't require blood to survive. They needed to drain the life force of others every once in a while in order to live. Blood was like a drug, a substance whose taste was practically addictive. Unfortunately for Elsa, her blood was stronger and more delicious than any blood Anna had ever consumed. Perhaps it was their past connection, coincidence, or for no reason at all. But Anna needed it.

Pouring herself a glass of bloodwine, Anna looked up, seeing her loyal servant Gabriel come to attend to her. Gabriel was a taller man, with tan skin and dark hair. He had served her well for a few years, but prior to that, he had been her mentor, having found her after she was turned and training her in the dark arts.

Sipping her wine, Anna sighed contentedly. "Ah, tonight has been a good one, Gabriel. My latest game against my sister went better than I expected."

"Indeed, my lady," Gabriel agreed. "Although I often wonder why you focus so much of your attention on that sister of yours. You're an immortal creature of immense power. Why must you be so… involved with her?"

The vampire chuckled. "It's really quite simple, Gabriel. She won't kill me out of some foolish hope that she can save me, that she can put things back to how they once were. And I won't kill her because watching her suffer is just too much fun." She smirked and walked to the window. "By now, Elsa's wounds will be taken care of, but what she won't realise is that there's a little surprise waiting for her soon."

"What little surprise might that be?" Gabriel asked.

"Oh, just something I laced my fangs with earlier," Anna said. "It's going to be quite a shock to her system." She began to laugh, imagining the scenario in her head already. "But that won't be for a while yet. Pour me some more bloodwine, won't you, Gabriel? I'm very thirsty after my adventures tonight."

"Of course, mistress." Gabriel grabbed the glass and poured Anna another round of the red beverage. The woman sat, gulping it down.

After Anna had drunk her wine, Gabriel smiled at his pupil. "Will that be all you require, mistress?"

"Yes, that will be all," Anna replied, as her servant then left her. Staring out of the window in her study, Anna smiled. It would take time for the poison in Elsa's veins to affect her, but Anna was more than willing to wait. Soon enough, her self-righteous sister would become the very thing that she hunted.

xXx

Author's note: And here's a spooky, gothic vampire story! Just in time for Halloween. It might be a long time before this one is fully finished, but I'll definitely be putting out what I've written so far before the month is out. This entire story was based on a comic Matty made ages ago that I'm only adapting now. He and Halladelle helped a lot with this first chapter so lots of credit to them.

And yes, this is a full crossover Elsanna fic, meaning characters from other franchises are in this. It's not just Overwatch and Korra though. If you want a guess at the other thing I've put in this story (or plan to) take a look at the cover that's currently on this fic.

See you next time and happy Halloween.