Vampire Hunters, #1

by Trudie Collins

  “So do you know what exactly is going to be done to you?” Katie asked.

  “Not exactly, no. But I have to agree to everything before they do it and they’ve assured me they’ll do nothing dangerous. They want to monitor me while I feed, test how it enhances me, that sort of thing.”

  Sarah did not like the sly smile that crept across Jonathon’s face. “Speaking of feeding. Tell me sis, does my brother ever feed on you during sex?”

  JD couldn’t believe his ears. That question was definitely crossing a line, but before he could react, Sarah replied.

  “Yes, I find it intensifies the orgasm.”

  “Sarah,” JD said in a shocked voice while Craig choked on his coffee. Everyone else looked at her with dropped jaws. Even Jonathon. He hadn’t expected her to answer at all, let alone so graphically.

  “Are you serious?” Katie eventually asked.

  “No, of course I’m not. What sort of sick person would even think of doing such a thing?”

  All eyes went to Jonathon and he hastily left the room.

  “You’ve learnt how to deal with him I see,” JD said. “But please don’t say anything like that again.”

  Sarah smiled at him sweetly. “I’m not going to make any promises.”

  “I’m going to regret taking you to 7 with me, aren’t I?”

  “No. I’ll be on my best behaviour. I promise.”

  “You had better be.”

  JD then stood up, kissed Sarah goodbye and left for work.

  Can vampires father children

  Sarah was nervous as JD drove to Sanctuary 7. She had met many other hunters while on hunts, but never anyone from 7. JD smiled across at her.

  “Don’t worry,” he said and gently squeezed her hand. “They will love you.”

  “Don’t take this the wrong way, but your opinion is not exactly subjective.”

  “You could be right.” He pulled up outside the gate and pressed the buzzer. “It’s JD,” he said as soon as it was answered and the gate swung open.

  A middle aged man with grey-streaked brown hair and thick-rimmed glasses was waiting for them as they pulled up outside the house. “Patrick, head of the scientists,” JD said to Sarah before they got out of the car.

  They collected their bags and swords from the boot and walked up to him. Sarah had also brought her Korean sword. She had another grading in a few weeks and hoped to be able to borrow the arena for a while at some point during the weekend so she could practice.

  “Thanks for coming,” Patrick said to JD as he shook his hand. “And you must be the much talked about Sarah.” Instead of shaking her outstretched hand, he took it in his, raised it to his lips and kissed the back of it.

  Sarah raised a questioning eyebrow at JD. “They don’t let the scientists out very often,” he said.

  “Yes, I’m Sarah,” she told Patrick. “Jason brought me along in case he wants a snack.”

  “Sarah, behave,” JD said.

  “Why? You’re here as a vampire not as a trainer.”

  JD shook his head. “Why do I put up with you?”

  “Do you want me to remind you now or wait till we’re alone?”

  JD turned to Patrick. “Any chance I can leave her here for a few days?”

  Patrick laughed. “You don’t mean that.”

  “I don’t know. There are times...”

  “She’s really changed you.”

  “I know, but I sometimes wonder if that is a good or a bad thing.”

  “Trust me. It’s good. Come on in and I will show you to your room.”

  “Is Oscar here?” JD asked as they crossed the threshold. The layout of Sanctuary 7 was almost identical to 14, except for a number of science labs built onto the back.

  “He’s about somewhere. Why?”

  “I was hoping he would put Sarah through her paces tonight while we work.”

  Sarah started to protest. “I thought I was supposed to keep an eye on you to make sure they don’t do anything dangerous.”

  “Sweetheart. We are here so they can experiment on me. I really don’t think you want to watch that.” Reluctantly, Sarah agreed.

  They were in the process of unpacking when there was a knock at the door. JD called out, “Come in,” and a fit and muscular man in his mid-fifties entered the room.

  “I hear you want me to take your girlfriend off your hands for a while,” he said, smiling.

  “Sarah, meet Oscar. He’s been the trainer here for as long as I can remember.”

  “And I’m well overdue for retirement,” Oscar said.

  “Don’t let him fool you,” JD said. “He’s still one of the best trainers we have.”

  “I’m delighted to meet you,” Oscar said as he shook Sarah’s hand. “And honoured to be training with you. Do you mind if some of my team join in? It’s not often they volunteer for extra training so I would like not to have to say no.”

  “Sure,” Sarah said as she grabbed her sword. She kissed JD goodbye then reminded him not to allow the scientists to do anything dangerous.

  “Behave,” he said as she was leaving the room. She froze, then spun around.

  “So that’s why you want me to train. I’m now here as your student as well as your girlfriend so I have to obey you. That’s a very sneaky way to get me to ‘behave’, as you put it.”

  “Clever, not sneaky,” he said and winked. “Now go have fun.”

  She stuck her tongue out at him then left.

  JD made his way down to the labs, where some of the scientists were waiting for him. He hadn’t met many of them before, so Patrick made introductions. They were a variety of ages and all seemed a little nervous of him.

  “They all know your reputation before you turned,” Patrick explained. “Now I hear you are even more deadly. They’re worried you’ll react badly as soon as the experiments start.”

  “They should be glad Sarah isn’t with me then.”

  Patrick told JD to take off his shirt, then led him to a chair and asked him to take a seat. JD noticed the straps and raised a questioning eyebrow.

  “Just a precaution.”

  “You’d better not let Sarah see this. She’s worried that you’re going to do something dangerous to me. If she sees that I’m strapped down so I can’t stop you if you decide to do something I’m not happy with, I wouldn’t want to be in your shoes.”

  Patrick laughed. “Something tells me those straps won’t hold you if you don’t want them to.”

  He did up the straps at JD’s wrists and ankles, making sure he was securely in place. “We will be attaching various instruments to you so we can monitor your vital signs, brain activity, that sort of thing. It won’t hurt.”

  Electrodes were placed in various positions across his chest, along his forehead and down his arms. “Heartbeat and brain activity appear normal,” a voice came through the loudspeaker. “You may begin whenever you’re ready.”

  Patrick nodded. “I will be monitoring from the lab,” he said. “If you want to stop at any time, just let us know.” He then left him in the hands of his scientists.

  First they took blood, saliva and skin cell samples. Then they wanted some venom. Having never produced any before, JD wasn’t sure he would be able to comply with that request. He closed his eyes and thought about blood.

  “What are you thinking about JD?” Patrick’s voice rang out mechanically.

  “Blood, why?”

  “Your brain activity just spiked in some interesting areas. Carry on.”

  JD opened his mouth and his fangs began to elongate, making the young lady standing closest to him jump back in fright.

  She quickly recovered and placed a test tube under each fang, though her hands were visibly shaking. JD concentrated hard and eventually venom began to drip into the containers.

  Then he was bombarded with questions. They wanted to know everything from what he could now do with his enhanced abilities to how different he felt about things.

  “So what eff
ect has being a vampire had on your sex life?” one of the younger men, who had been introduced as Rob, asked. JD looked at him. He appeared to be no more than sixteen, but he knew he must be older than that.

  “I’m not going to answer that.” Then he smiled. “But I dare you to ask Sarah.” The teenager had yet to meet Sarah so he didn’t realise he was being set up. Inside the control lab, Patrick was laughing.

  “Do you need blood?” he asked through the speaker when he had himself under control.

  “Need?” JD replied. “No, but a vampire can consume blood at any time. It’s actually rather enjoyable.”

  “Like drinking a nice glass of wine you mean?”

  “Oh no. It’s so much more than that. It gives me a rush every time. Mix cocaine in with the wine and you might be nearer the mark. Not that I have ever tried cocaine,” he hastened to add.

  “That explains why they feed so often. Speaking of which, why do you usually feed at night?”

  “Been keeping that close an eye on me have you?”

  “No,” one of the older scientists quickly said. “We just pick up everything and we know, by the location, when it’s you.”

  “Relax,” JD said. “I don’t mind. But to answer your question, I feed off Sarah more often than anyone else and I prefer to do it in the privacy of our bedroom. I tend to drink blood from the others at 14 in the evenings due to convenience more than anything else. If you are asking if the cravings are worse at certain times of day, then no.”

  “So would you mind feeding off us while we monitor you?” Patrick asked. “We have a few volunteers.”

  JD knew they would request this, but it still made him feel a little uncomfortable. “I’ve never actually done it in public before.”

  Patrick had no sympathy. “Tough. You should have expected this and, don’t take this personally, but there’s no way I am going to leave one of my team alone with you.”

  “How can I not take that personally?” he asked, but he was smiling as he said it. “Okay. Let’s get on with this. I’ll need my hands releasing.”

  Rob undid the straps on his arms then moved his head to one side, exposing his neck. JD shook his head. “Wrist please.”

  “Why?” Patrick asked.

  “I only drink from Sarah’s neck. Nothing personal,” he added.

  “What if we said we needed you to drink from someone else’s neck?” Patrick’s voice reverberated around the room once more.

  “What was the word you used? Oh yes. Tough.” Patrick was still pressing the speaker button when he laughed.

  “When did you develop a sense of humour?”

  “Sarah’s been teaching me. Now do you want me to do this or not?”

  Rob held out his wrist, closed his eyes then braced himself. JD rolled his eyes. Nobody from 14 had been this tense. Then again, they knew him better.

  He took hold of the young man’s hand, positioned it where he needed to, then sank his fangs into the vein. The usual feeling of euphoria flowed through him as the blood surged into his mouth.

  ————————————-∞————————————-

  “How are the experiments going?” Sarah asked when they met up in their room just before dinner.

  “Good,” JD said. “They got really excited with my brain activity when I fed.”

  “They need to get out more.”

  “How was training?”

  “Slow. Then again, training with anyone other than you always is.”

  “That’s because I spoil you,” he said, then kissed her. “Come on. We’re late.”

  He took her to the dining room and introduced her to those who had not yet met her.

  “So you’re the one who tamed JD,” one of the older hunters said.

  Sarah burst out laughing. “You think he’s been tamed? Boy are you in for a surprise.”

  The conversation during the meal was mainly about the experiments that were going on. Those who had been bitten by JD seemed quite proud of the fact that they had been brave enough to let a vampire take their blood.

  “Don’t you have something to ask Sarah?” JD prompted Rob. “This might be interesting,” he whispered to Patrick.

  “So Sarah, is sex better now JD is a vampire?” Sarah looked across at JD. She knew full well he was waiting to see what she would say.

  “That,” she said, “is none of your business.”

  “Well that was disappointing,” JD said quietly, making Patrick chuckle.

  A short while later, the scientists got onto the subject of further tests they wanted to conduct. “We would like to kill you in various ways to see how long it takes for you to come back to life,” one of them said.

  Sarah’s voice was filled with ice when she responded. “No.”

  “Sorry Sarah, but that’s not your decision to make,” Rob told her.

  “He’s going to regret saying that,” JD whispered to Patrick.

  “Really?” Sarah said to Rob. “Never had a girlfriend have you?” Everyone around the table smiled as the young man spluttered an answer. Sarah continued. She wanted to make sure everyone knew how serious her ‘no’ had been. “Let me put it this way. You kill him and whatever you do to him, I will do to you.” She was smiling sweetly as she spoke.

  “But he will come back to life,” Rob protested.

  “That makes no difference.”

  One of the hunters turned his attention to JD. “Is she capable?”

  He didn’t need to consider the question. “Yes. After all, she did beat me in her assessment.”

  “That’s only because I cheated,” Sarah said.

  “You didn’t cheat. You just used methods that were a little, shall we say unorthodox. You wouldn’t have passed if you had cheated. Now, as I was saying. Can she? Yes. Will she? Probably. Personally I wouldn’t be taking the risk. The only reason I’m alive is because my brother took her threat to kill him seriously.”

  Silence followed. It was Patrick who broke it. “Can’t you talk her round?”

  “Oh no. I’m staying out of it. If you want to do something Sarah isn’t happy about, you have to convince her.”

  “Has anyone ever told you you are a bastard?” Patrick asked him.

  JD smiled. “Frequently.”

  One of the hunters was looking at Sarah inquisitively. “Are you really that good?” he asked her.

  “Not as good as Jason makes out, no,” she said honestly. It wasn’t modesty. She genuinely believed JD praised her abilities too much.

  “Think you can beat me?”

  “I don’t know. How good are you?”

  “He’s the best hunter we have here,” Oscar said.

  “There’s only one way to find out.” She turned her attention to JD. “Can I fight him?”

  “You have to ask your boyfriend’s permission to fight?” someone asked.

  “No, I have to ask my trainer.”

  “But he’s the same person.”

  “That’s irrelevant.”

  “Go ahead,” JD said. “Try not to cause too many injuries.”

  “I won’t,” the hunter from 7 assured him.

  “I was talking to Sarah.”

  Oscar looked at his watch. “Be in the arena in one hour.” He then glanced around the table at his team. “I suggest you all turn up to watch this. I think it will be an education.”

  ————————————-∞————————————-

  JD and Sarah retired to their room so she could get changed ready for the fight. “I’m serious about not hurting him,” JD told her. “They may get called out tonight so he needs to be able to hunt after you have beaten him.”

  “What makes you so sure I’m going to win?”

  “I’ve seen you fight.”

  She kissed him then tied her Korean sword belt around her waist and slipped her scabbard through it.

  “May I ask what that is for?”

  “No, you may not.”

  She would tell hi
m if he insisted, but he chose to let her play things her way.

  They were the first ones to arrive in the arena. JD had his sword with him. “May I ask why you have your sword?”

  “No, you may not.” He kissed her and climbed up the steps to the balcony. While waiting for everyone else to arrive, she practiced her Korean sword routine a few times. This did not, however, convince JD that that was the reason she had her belt and scabbard.

  Soon the balcony was filled with hunters. Sarah’s opponent entered the arena and held his hand out to her. “We have never been formally introduced,” he said. “My name is Lucas.”

  “I look forward to fighting you Lucas.” She purposely said ‘fighting’ instead of ‘beating’, though she was in no doubt as to how the fight was going to end.

  “Are you both ready?” Oscar called out. “Although there are no rules, please can we have a nice clean fight. You’re using blunt swords, so the winner is whoever would have made a kill had the swords been live.”

  Both contestants nodded their understanding and Lucas drew his sword. Sarah did not. She called up to JD. “Time me.”

  He put his watch in the correct mode and placed his finger over the start button, ready to press it as soon as the fight began.

  “Aren’t you going to draw your sword?” Lucas asked her.

  “Not yet.”

  Oscar moved over to stand next to JD. “What’s she up to?”

  “I’m not sure, but it’s going to be interesting.”

  Lucas wasn’t sure what to do. He had never faced an opponent before who had not had their sword drawn at the start of a fight. Sarah had one hand on the hilt of her sword and the other on her scabbard. She was a sitting duck. He looked up at Oscar, who glanced at JD. JD nodded his head, so Oscar called out, “Begin.”

  Lucas sprang forward, slicing his sword down toward Sarah’s neck. He purposely kept some of his power out of the stroke so that he could stop before hitting her, should she not be able to block.

  In one swift movement, Sarah pulled her scabbard from her belt and unsheathed her sword. Using her left arm, she blocked the incoming sword with her scabbard while her right arm swung her sword around. She stopped it just before it connected with Lucas’s neck.