The Hunter's Den: Dead of Midnight Book 1

by Byron Thorne

  “This is ridiculous,” Daniel shouted, “why are we even discussing this? It won't work. Even if it could work, who's going to pass in that place? You old timers? Me? The vamps would smell us out from a mile away.”

  “I'll go,” Jules slammed her hand down on the table.

  Levi smiled. “That's the idea. Think about it, Daniel. She poses as new blood. She gets in close to the head vamp, pulls the trigger. If she lands the shot, Los Angeles is liberated from the undead plague.”

  It sounded so simple, but there had to be more to it than that. This was the first time that Jules had heard all vampires were linked to the leader. She wondered if Morgan knew him. If she was able to kill the head vampire, would Morgan turn into a human again? Oddly, that course of actions might actually make things less confusing.

  “Oh, it's just as simple as that, huh? She just waltzes in there with a crossbow and no one asks any questions? Then how does she even find the head vamp, let alone manage to single him out without getting killed in the process.” Daniel was getting more and more agitated.

  “I never said it wasn't dangerous. But she's got an edge,” Levi started, and Jules interrupted him. “Uh.” She had a pretty good idea of what the old man was about to say, and she didn't know if she was ready for it. This whole conversation was definitely not what she had in mind when she strolled in the Den. Now that she was caught up in it, she realized that Daniel was about to discover what she'd really been up to. The environment was anything but her first choice. She couldn't stop it now.

  “An edge? What are you talking about old man?” Daniel asked.

  “She's tasted vamp blood before,” Levi smirked under his beard.

  “What.” Daniel said.

  Jules just stared at Daniel. He wasn't even asking a question so much as he was just voicing his own displeasure. His face lacked any kind of discernible emotion, which made it all the more worrying to her. It was the classic combination of disappointment competing with an underlying side of anger. She felt more like she had to explain herself to her dad than anything else. Maybe she should have looked at that a sign. Well, at least it couldn't get much worse.

  “Probably been tasted by a vamp, too,” Levi said. Looked like it got a lot worse. On top of that, the way the mostly quiet strangers looked at her made Jules feel like she needed a shower.

  “Alright, you just crossed the line,” Daniel yelled. He was all riled up now. “I'm not gonna sit here and listen to this anymore. I don’t know how much you’ve had to drink, old man, but clearly, it was too much. You’re disrespecting me, and you’re disrespecting my girl. Jules would never drink vamp blood. Even if she wanted to, which she doesn’t, she wouldn’t have any way of getting it anyways. Come on, Jules, let's go.”

  My girl, Jules thought. That was a strange way to put it. Other than that, Daniel was reacting about how Jules had anticipated. However, she didn’t get up. She didn’t have a reason to. The old man was telling the truth. Maybe she could backtrack on the biting part; she didn’t need to break all the bad news to Daniel at the same time.

  “So you didn’t tell the lad, eh?” Levi said.

  Daniel looked back down at her. “Tell me what, Jules?”

  Jules knew it was now or never. Besides, she wanted to hear the rest of the plan more than anything else. “He’s right, Daniel. I mean, not about all of it, but I did drink some vamp blood.”

  “Jules, what are you talking about? Are you crazy? You should have just gone back to drinking boxed wine,” he yelled.

  Jules got on the defensive. “First of all, whoa. Boxed wine? Really? Maybe step down off your high horse there, Danny. We don’t need to have this conversation here, but I guess you need me to remind you. You’re not the boss of me, alright? You wouldn’t take me out hunting with you. What was I supposed to do, stand around waiting for you in my apartment? Maybe bake you a pie while you go out and do all the hard work? You know that’s not how I’m gonna fly. So if you don’t want to go with me, I’m going to do it myself. And the blood? It came from Sam. I drank it to find the vampire in Hollywood. By the way, I did. Also, by the way, I shot him.”

  Daniel’s face went white. Jules couldn’t tell if he was taking it worse than she thought, or better. He slowly sat back down.

  “Sounds like she might know what she’s doing, Daniel,” one of the creepy strangers added.

  “Thank you,” Jules said.

  19

  Girl’s Night Out

  “So, assuming I infiltrate the vampire compound and make contact with the target,” Jules said, her confidence rising within her after every word. “All the other vamps are really connected to the head one?”

  Daniel was silent now, and he just stared at the wood grain of the table. Jules felt bad that she might have broken him, but there was too much else going on for her to really worry about it at the moment. Besides, Daniel might have crossed a line as well. Levi fielded the question.

  “All of our intelligence points to that theory, yes,” he said.

  “It’s not just a theory, it’s a fact. My brother died so we could get that information,” one of the strangers said.

  “Yep, well, like Marcus says. Hunters have been able to kill the younger vamps that stalk the streets of Los Angeles. And we always have. However, it’s the older ones that really count. Every vamp in this city should have a lineage that directly connects them to the head vampire. Cut off the head-“

  “And you kill the snake?” Jules jumped in.

  “Yep, that’s the idea,” Levi said.

  “What happens to the other vampires, though?” she asked.

  “We presume that they will return to their human form.”

  “OK, this all sounds straightforward enough,” Jules smiled. “So who’s the head vampire?”

  Daniel finally chimed back in, despite the blood never having returned to his face. “His name is Morgan,” he said coldly. “I found out last night.”

  Jules’ heart climbed from her chest and into her throat. Other than the internal reaction, she was pretty sure she didn’t show any signs of emotion to anyone else at the table. No emotion on the outside meant no signs of weakness. At the same time, her mind raced. Was Morgan really the head vampire? She didn’t have what it took to kill him before- something inside of her wouldn’t allow it. Could she do it now?

  Maybe they weren’t even right- after all, she had met Morgan, and he seemed to be the opposite of a sinister mastermind. She could ask him in person.

  “Is that your boy?” Levi asked.

  “We're not exactly on a first name basis. So probably not,” Jules said. “What's he look like?”

  “You'll know him when you see him. He'll practically have a harem around him, guards, that type of thing,” Levi said. “Everyone will be afraid of him, and you'll have to make yourself as desirable to him as possible.”

  “That won't be difficult,” she bragged. Daniel's mouth dropped open. “What? I'm just saying. I can dress goth.”

  “You really want to do this, don't you?” Daniel asked her.

  “For the last time, Daniel, yes, I'm going to do it. And no, it's not because I have a death wish. It's because I'm the only one who even has a shot at pulling this off. I know it, these guys know it, and deep down you know it too.”

  “I'm never going to forgive myself if this doesn't work.”

  “Yeah, well, I'll never forgive you if we don't even try. So get on board and tell me everything I need to know.”

  “Fine.”

  “That's it? Fine?”

  “Fine. You're right, Jules. There's no way I'm going to talk you out of this.”

  “Alright, so tell me everything else I need to know.”

  “What, like 'aim for the heart'? You already know everything you need to,” Daniel smiled and shook his head like he couldn't believe what he was agreeing to.

  Levi chimed back in. “Alright, Jules. The plan is simple. Dress like one of them. Pretend like you've been there before- or if t
hat doesn't work, at least act like you know what you're doing. Locate this Morgan character. Get him alone, if you can. Even if you can't, you'll need to find a way to shoot him. As long as you land the shot, you'll make it out alive. And you might as well be raising the sun on all the vampires in LA.”

  “You really think changing my outfit is all it's gonna take?” Jules asked. The plan sounded a little too easy. She figured there had to be a catch somewhere in there. Although, maybe the threat of a painful and blood-soaked death was all the catch that was needed.

  “That and maybe some more vamp blood,” Levi said. “If you got anymore, that is.”

  “I don't, actually. Anybody else here holding?” Jules asked.

  “Vamp blood isn't exactly easy to come by. It has to be taken out of a live one. They turn to dust the moment they get destroyed.”

  “Alright, guess I'm going to have to get by on nothing but my charm.”

  “You might leave the attitude at the door. Be the sheep. It's what the vamp wants. Now get moving.”

  Daniel grabbed Jules on the way out of the Den and pulled her aside. He put both of his hands on her arms and looked deep into her eyes. Jules had already shifted out of her deep, emotional conversation mode- she needed to get ready to go into the lion's den, now. At the same time, she'd never see this side of Daniel before. He had the absolute worst timing.

  “I'll be honest with you Jules. There's no reason for me to hide anything from you anymore,” Daniel said, his voice solemn.

  “Thanks for the honesty, but don't act like you're never going to see me again,” Jules said.

  “This is serious, Jules. I know if anyone can make it out alive, it's you. But...I just need you to know. I never meant for you to get mixed up in all of this, alright? Even all of the training. I just wanted to help you. This is the last thing I wanted.”

  “Daniel, don't be ridiculous, it's what I asked for from the beginning.”

  “I know. I get that now. But there's something else I have to tell you. These last few months that we've been getting closer?”

  Levi decided he'd heard enough and butted in. “Look, I hate to interrupt your little chat. But the sun went down almost two hours ago. We can't let this night get away from us.”

  “There's no 'we' here, old man, this is Jules' life and her life only we're talking about here,” Daniel said.

  “He's right, Daniel, let me get on with it. You can tell me later, alright? Don't worry. I'll be fine. Come on, I have to get ready.”

  Daniel sighed, and then nodded his head. “Alright, let's go,” he said.

  The car ride to Jules' place was completely silent. Her mind was only on the night ahead of her, and she was thankful that Daniel had cut his conversation short. She’d gone from an overlooked would-be hunter to the potential savior of the city in one afternoon, and it was a lot to take in. Although her priorities had shifted, the biggest question was still the same. What was she going to do about Morgan? If nothing else, maybe he could help her find who the head vampire really was.

  “You can wait in the car, I’ll only be a few minutes,” she said as the car rolled to a stop. Daniel just made a noise in his throat. Obviously, he was still trying to make peace with the plan, but at least he was going along with it.

  She threw open her dresser drawers and started looking. Black bra and black underwear were the foundations, but that was the easy part. She would have to dig deep to find the right kind of outfit. There was that black dress she wore for Halloween that one year, but it was way too tight to smuggle any kind of weapon inside. What else was she supposed to do, though? Wear jeans? Forget it. She could just jam something in her purse. The dress would have to do. At least it still fit, so all that working out was good for something.

  Jules looked in the mirror. Her hair was dark enough. But she needed accessories, a little more flare. She wasn’t afraid of getting heavy-handed with the eyeliner and the eye shadow. It made her skin look even paler than she already was. She found a lipstick that was practically the same shade as the vamp blood she drank the other day. It was as close as she was going to get to black.

  She dug through her closet for anything else she had that might look the part. Fishnets? When did she even buy those? And was she sober? It didn’t matter because she was going to wear them now. She checked herself out. Maybe she was a little over the top. Or maybe the outfit was just right. After all, she had to impress vampires, here. If they were all as gorgeous as Morgan she figured she needed to go all out.

  Daniel’s reaction upon seeing her was about what she expected. “Jules…you look…” he couldn’t even finish his sense.

  “Told you I could look the part,” she smiled.

  “I mean, I can barely even recognize you. I have to be perfectly honest with you, if you came up to me at a bar, I might run away,” he said as he stared at her.

  “Way to boost my self-confidence before strolling into the nest of vipers. Thanks so much.”

  “No, I meant it as a compliment. I think.”

  “Alright, well it’s now or never, right?” she asked.

  “You’re right. This is your last chance, Jules. I’m not going to tell you what to do, so don’t worry about that. I just want you to know that you don’t have to do this. You don’t owe anyone anything- not me, not those other hunters, not anyone. We could just leave the city, right now, and never come back.

  Jules thought to herself, yeah, I could do that. Except I want to find out what’s behind door number two instead.

  “Thanks for the offer, but I’m not backing down now. Let’s do this.”

  “OK, Jules. I’m gonna be waiting in the Nova for you when you get out of there. If I can tell something’s wrong, I’m coming in, and we’ll get out together.”

  “Don’t worry, Daniel, I’m going to be fine. I’ll see you in a little while, alright?”

  Jules got out of the car and closed the door, cutting off Daniel before he could try and talk her out of it anymore. As soon as that door shut, a strange sensation came over her. She was confident, poised, and ready, leaving another piece of herself behind, and ready to step into something new. She’d dressed for it, anyways.

  The two bouncers looked at Jules and then each other. “Can I help you?” one of them asked. Jules couldn’t be certain, but she thought they were both vampires. They weren’t as stunningly beautiful as Morgan, but even in the dark of the alley, they shared his ghostly pallor. Their faces were almost too thin: as if all of the fat had been sucked out around the bone.

  “Wine of wine, blood of the world,” Jules said, avoiding eye contact. She didn’t want any mishaps like the last time.

  “Come inside,” the doorman said coldly as he opened a steel door that she knew must have been there all along, even if she didn’t see it. She was hit by a blast of violent, aggressive sound that she soon identified as music as soon as her ears adjusted. Apparently, she was the only one unfamiliar with it. The first thing she saw was a mob of people dressed in black, dancing on and around each other, beneath great wax-covered chandeliers. There were more shadows in the place than actual lights. The only time her eyes were afforded the luxury of light was when they flashed briefly across the dance floor, then up to girls gyrating in cages that were wearing so little that Jules felt like she had overdressed.

  “Fresh blood,” Jules heard the doorman say to his cohort a moment before he shut the heavy steel door.

  20

  Lion’s Den

  In the darkness of the club, Jules couldn’t even tell who was vamp and who was human. For all she knew she was the only human in the whole place. The thought filled her with dread, and she didn’t want to be a sitting duck. So she did what she always did in awkward social situations. Head to the bar and act like you’re looking for someone. At least she actually was looking for someone this time.

  When Jules walked up to the bar, she didn’t know if they served alcohol or blood. Evidently, the bartender knew she was human. Maybe it was both. />
  “Drink?” she asked.

  “Sure, red wine,” Jules responded. She didn’t care what it was. She just wanted something dark and red and in a goblet-shaped glass to do her best to fit in with the rest of the crowd. OK, so she’d infiltrated the club. That was the hardest part of the plan, right? She knew it wasn’t, but all she could do now was to try and talk herself into a positive outcome. There was no point in losing it now.

  As her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she could see pockets of the club full of people sitting and watching. There was another floor above her, too. She cut a line through the dance floor in order to a get a closer look at everyone’s faces. There was no sign of Morgan, but then, he didn’t strike her as much of a dancer when they met. At least she was able to determine that a majority of the dancers were human, if not all of them.

  Jules tried to keep her distance from the booths that lined the wall as she checked each one out of the corner of her eye. It must not have worked because she could feel intense stares on her with each table that she passed. She kept moving, afraid that if she stopped she would be swept into one of the many dark pockets that lay hidden in plain sight of the room. Morgan seemed to like being in the middle of the action. On the other hand, when that was the case, the two of them were in a normal, human establishment. If he really was a more powerful vampire, or even the head vamp- he would be upstairs, overlooking his subjects.

  Even as Jules headed to the spiral staircase that led upstairs, she could feel the weight of the vamp gazes on her. All she could do was ignore them. Morgan had some kind of power in his eyes, and there was no reason for her to test out the strength of every other vamp in the place. Unfortunately, simply staring wasn’t enough for the vampires. As she rounded the stairs towards the top, she could see a few getting up from their seats. There was a chance it was nothing but a coincidence. Maybe just a few other patrons of the club deciding to go upstairs at the same time. It seemed reasonable, but she knew deep down that wasn’t the case. They were going to follow her, but she needed to play it cool, keep moving slowly like they were.