The Sapphire Man

My relationships were strained. Miriam and Kevin didn't enjoy the effect that the other had on me. Miriam wanted me to stay home more and Tommy felt that life in civilisation with 'pleasures of the flesh' made me too soft. I owed Tommy my life and I couldn't simply abandon him for a woman that I met in a cave.
 
The tension rose. Neither would dare see each other in the same room. Tommy would scowl every time that I mentioned her name. Miriam enjoyed the money I was able to bring home after a month of hunting. I discovered that higher-paying jobs required more than simply bounty hunting. I went beyond notice boards and to the heads of villages, asking if any creature was causing strife. I assembled a kit that would be able to assist my hunt:
 
A chest - To carry all the heavy equipment.
A crowbar - To pry past barriers.
A hammer - To aid in staking.
Three stakes - To pierce the hearts of vampires.
A holy symbol - Faith is strong against the unholy.
A flask of holy water - Blessed by priests in order to purify.
Manacles - to restrain those who are magically compelled to act against me.
A steel mirror - To verify my beliefs.
A flask of oil and a tinderbox - Fire is the last resort. It could help me purge them.
 
This kit saved my hide more than I am ever willing to admit.
 
Hunting specific creatures was very lucrative for me. I spent multiple months away from both Tommy and Miriam in the wilderness, hunting a specific man. This man was responsible for the deaths of a village. He entered and brought with him a sickness. The clerics and the herbalists were found killed in their homes and the townsfolk were too sick to travel for aid. This man offered them a cure, he would give them a remedy that would give them back their lives again. All they needed to do was disavow their gods and pray to him.
 
The man demanded tribute in blood. They would all sacrifice a pint to him a day if they wished to survive. Any less and the plague would rampage through their household, killing not just them but their families. Families turned on each other, fathers killed their sons for the chance that they would all survive. On the first day, blood ran through the streets. The villagers that paid the toll survived the plague. The man demanded those loyal to him to attack the non-believers, that they could still catch the sickness from them, the only way their families would survive would be the destruction or exile of those who aren't willing to sacrifice for the greater good. On the second day, the non-believers were either killed or exiled. They left and wandered over to the next town, where the elder heard their pleas. The only detail they gave was the man had eyes like pure sapphires.
 
When investigated, the village was destroyed, no townspeople survived. All their people died by ritual sacrifice. The valuables were all stolen, perhaps by this Sapphire Man, or looters. It's clear to me that this man was an unholy beast, one that feasted on the blood and desperation of these victims. He was a vampire, one that still roams.
 
I followed his tracks into the woods. After weeks of searching, I found a hut hidden in an abandoned mine. I snuck inside and confronted him. He refused to take responsibility for the deaths of the people. He claimed that the only way they could survive the infection was to pay the toll. My bounty was for his head, not his words. We duelled. He threw potions and used magic against me. I shot him in the knee and staked him while he recoiled in pain. Taking the body would be a difficult endeavour, so I removed his fangs and kept a note of the location of the hut.