He spat on the ground. "I doubt that. I've killed too many of them."
"How many humans have they killed?" I asked. "They understand it's part of doing business. If they really wanted you dead, Silas would've never let you walk away."
He sighed. "I wondered about that. If I was in his position, I would have killed me."
"They aren't all bad."
To the north I heard the sound of rustling leaves passing close by. With my flashlight still out, I pointed it in the direction of the noise. At first, my search came up empty until I noticed the light reflecting on the other side of a small pine tree.
"You see that?" I asked, walking closer.
As I approached I saw a pale skinned woman kneeling on the ground next to the bloody corpse of what looked like an opossum. They aren't exactly the best meal in the world, but seeing her feeding on it confirmed my suspicions.
"Judy?" Evan said, walking ahead. Her head darted around, eyes focusing on Evan who was moving closer. The opossum's blood dribbled down her chin, covering her otherwise pale neck with a thin layer of blood. Unlike the rest of her skin, her cheeks were a faded shade of brown, the color of dried blood. It was amazing to see a vampire in such bad shape. The ones I've met to this point have been very image conscious. I'd always wondered what one would act like if they were left on their own.
The sight wasn't pretty.
As even drew close, she let out a loud hiss, like a cat defending its evening meal. He kept moving forward, ignoring the woman's warning.
"Honey, it's me," he said, offering his hand. "Evan."
She stood upright, abandoning her meal to growl at him, obviously upset over having her dinner interrupted. Like a fool, he took another step. Once he was close, he reached his hand down attempting to grab hers.
Without warning, she leapt in the air and onto her husband, knocking the man to the ground. His bones popped from the impact and he let out a howl, but didn't try to strike his wife other than to push her off.
"Help!" he yelled, as his wife bent forward, trying to latch onto his neck. He finally put his hands up to stop her approach, but she was too strong to hold back for long.
Luckily for Evan, we were very deep in the woods. Far enough to allow me to use one of my favorite spells. I filled my essence reserves, drawing in the life force of the forest into my body. Once I felt it flowing through my veins, I converted some of it into a fine mix of earth and spirit and channeled it in the direction of the fighting couple, allowing the spell to do its thing.
The magic flowed into the nearby plant life, causing it to move and grow. While I'm more than capable of making a tree grow very quickly, it takes up too much essence to be worthwhile, or even useful, in combat. Instead I focused the spell onto the bushes, shrubs, and grasses that were much easier to manipulate.
All around the couple, the plants seemed to come to life. When the first of the vines crawled up Evan's leg, I was afraid he had been bitten, until he started trying to shake the vine free.
Normally the spell was meant to be used slowly, to create a layer of vegetation that works like a trap. The whole process to cover a ten by ten room would take about ten minutes as long as there were enough plants nearby to work the spell. Thankfully, there was a way to speed up the process by siphoning even more essence into the spell.
Judy ripped the first vine from her arm right as the spell went into overdrive. The next two she swatted away as they tried to wrap around her legs, but eventually the vines came closer than she could handle. With her attention on keeping her arms free, she didn't notice the nearby bush until it plucked her off of her husband. Her screams echoed through the canyon as the vines took control. She stopped trying to free herself shortly after.
"You good?" I asked Evan as I reversed the spell on the vines enveloping him.
He nodded. "That was easy enough."
"The hard part is going to be getting her back to my contact," I said. Once the spell is complete, it doesn't take much essence to maintain. Against beings with superhuman strength, the spell will even hold for a few hours after you leave. I've used this spell more than once to leave the bad guys for the cops to find.
"You can't leave her here?" he asked, watching his wife closely.
"I can, but she might not like the sun in a few hours."
He sighed. "You have a car nearby?" when I shook my head he told me his wasn't close either. "How long will it take your client to get out here?"
I shrugged. "I'll find out."
- 10 -
"I have your vampire," I said, walking away from Evan. I didn't really care for him to hear my conversation. Even if I was talking about his wife.
"Good," Silas said. "Now kill her."
"I have a bit of a problem," I said, looking over at Evan. "Ran into him too."
Silas laughed. "Quite the predicament. What is it you expect me to do?"
"Teach her to control her hunger. There isn't any reason for her to die."
"I'm sorry, Raymond," he said. "I can't do that."
"Why not? You never said I had to kill her." I looked over at Evan, glad he wasn't paying attention to my conversation. While it would serve him right, I didn't want to kill anymore than I had to.
"Vampires have a pecking order, Mr. Gilmore. If I turn someone, they are my responsibility. So if they end up going rogue, or doing something bad, the other clans and vampires know to come to me."
"That should be a good thing then," I said. "That means you don't have to answer for her."
"On the contrary. I would have to answer for how I managed to turn someone without a mark."
"But you can..."
"The other clans won't care that I didn't do it," he said. "Only that I'm harboring her. Wars between clans have been started over much smaller things."
I sighed. Of course Silas couldn't make this simple. We were talking about a life, all of it is precious, even if it's a vampire. If there was a chance to save the woman, that's the path I wanted to take.
"You have two options, Raymond. You can either kill the vampire and get your information, or you can walk away."
"I think I have to walk," I said. "If you aren't willing to settle this without bloodshed, then I'll find the information I need myself."
"Very well," he said. "Perhaps I should tell the other clans you were unwilling to help. They will be particularly interested in how you are working with a dhampyr." He let me brood for a moment before speaking again. "If you change your mind, you have my number."
I hung up the phone before I said something I would regret. Out of all the lessons I've learned in my life, I should have remembered to never trust a vampire. To them, humans were nothing more than cogs in their wheel. If you are useful, they keep you around to do their dirty work, much like a familiar. The 'lucky' ones get to be turned so they can treat the rest of their old species the same way. I didn't care for either of those options, only that they are forcing me to kill a woman, and probably her husband, when there was an option available to save them both.
Unfortunately, if Silas wasn't willing to help the girl, he didn't leave me much of a choice. If I left her alive, every person she killed would be on my conscious since I was the one that let her go. Screw him and his threats, but I don't think I could live with myself if I let something like her run around unchecked.
"What did he say?" Evan asked as I walked over.
I shook my head. "She is not marked, so he won't take the risk on saving her."
His shoulders and head slumped forward, he reached up to wipe a tear from the corner of his eye before it was able to make the trip down his face. "What are we going to do now?"
I sighed. There wasn't much of a choice.
Well, there was. The only question is who was going to be the one who did it. Considering it was his wife, it was only fair he got the chance to turn it down.
"We have to put her down."
Evan gripped the blue handle of his machete and balled his other fist before squaring
up to fight me. "I told you! You are not going to lay a hand on her!"
I raised my hands and backed away. "That's why you should do it."
He doubled over like he just got punched in the gut. I could tell he was choking back the tears by the way his chest was rapidly contracting, but he was hiding it like a pro. "I can't do that. I love her."
"Then let me do it," I said, taking a step forward. "I'll make it fast."
He shook his head before taking a swing at me with the knife I dodged in time to keep my nose in one piece. "No!"
Judy roared as she ripped her hands free. Evan, now facing his wife, took a few steps back to put some distance between them. For a guy who bragged about taking down vampires, he seems very afraid of this one. I know there was a personal connection with this one, but he was letting it cloud his judgment. Not only was he going to get himself killed, he was going to make sure I went down with him.
She struggles against the vines, ripping an arm free with some effort. Once one limb was free, the others followed suit in rapid succession, with her legs being the last to be freed. After getting to her feet, she stands completely upright and roars in defiance, the sound echoing through the area.
From here I had to act. Waiting for her to make a move could cost Evan his life, or me mine. I drew upon the power of fire, creating a ball of flame in my hand and throw it at the woman as she makes a move towards him. She dodged the fireball without much effort thanks to her supernatural speed and rushes off into the darkness.
"You could've killed her!" he shouted, moving in with his weapon at the ready.
I called up a gust of wind to disarm the man before he cuts me. After being a paranormal investigator for a few years, you learned to take a tongue lashing from time to time, but the last thing I was about to deal with is having a madman threaten me with a knife.
"I gave you the chance to do it yourself," I said, putting my body between him and the machete. "It's your fault she is like this. Now I'm going to fix it."
He punched a nearby tree, his knuckles popping upon the impact. He waved his hand in the air and uttered a curse under his breath before walking into the darkness after the woman. "If you so much as..."
"Yeah, I know. You'll kill me." I said, picking up the knife. "Then you better find her and do it before I do."
Before following the trail of broken branches, I took a moment to conjure up a cloud of water to douse the fire created by my fireball. The flames hissed as the water doused them, sending a cloud of white steam into the otherwise chilly air.
Once the fire was out, I followed the trail of broken branches and track marks in the wet ground as well as I could. If Evan was close, he wasn't making it obvious as there wasn't a sound, except for the chirping of crickets now that the fire was out. I couldn't care if he was though. I understood that he cared for his wife, but I wasn't about to let his feelings jeopardize the lives of countless others. If that meant I had to kill him too, then so be it.
- 11 -
My heart jumped out of my chest when my phone vibrated in my pants pocket. It took a few minutes to calm down before remembering I set my phone that way on purpose to tell me when it was four AM. I needed to be able to track time out here without pulling out my phone every few minutes. Now, as long as I remembered I had another one set at five, I may keep myself from having a heart attack.
Following what I believed to be the trail, I came across the carcass of a yearling deer, its face, neck, and front torso coated in a thick layer of blood. The body was still in one piece and relatively warm, telling me I was on the right trail. If another animal had hunted the thing, there is no way it would leave it here to rot. No way it would've let me get this close to it even. As it stood, I didn't want to be here when another animal noticed the corpse. The last thing I needed was to have to fight off another animal looking for a meal.
I took a moment to move its head. The body was limp and still able to move, telling me it hadn't been dead long. On it's neck there were two circular puncture marks, a surefire sign that a vampire had fed on it.
This part of the forest was oddly quiet, the only noise coming from the branches thanks to the cool breeze blowing through the trees. I followed a rough set of footprints as they followed the game trail to the east. Thankfully she hadn't learned to control her speed, making her easy to track. If a vampire doesn't want to be followed, they can run at a speed few other creatures can match. They also walk with enough grace to not disturb the soil or other objects on the ground unless they wanted to. So when I heard a branch snap nearby, I knew she was close.
I rushed to the noise, flashlight in my hand. More for a weapon at this point than a light as I had it off so my eyes could adjust to the darkness. I figured the light would have been a giveaway to her and Evan, making me easy to avoid. Even at such an early stage in her new life, she may be able to see the light from miles away. The last thing I wanted is for her to be able to ambush me. It was also nice, if not unsettling at times, to see the glowing eyes of the nocturnal forest life.
I came upon a clearing in the woods and noticed a shattered branch a few yards from the nearest tree. Up above, the electrical lines buzzed loudly, killing any chance I had of hearing anything else. There were a set of footprints leading to the shattered branch. As I got closer I noticed the trail continued ahead, to the shore of a nearby lake. Both ends of the shattered branch were embedded into the muddy soil, telling me this had happened recently. I couldn't be sure how long ago they had passed, but it was enough for me to know I was on the right trail.
As I neared the lake, I noticed another set of footprints off to the right of the ones I was following. I'd put half the money I'm going to get from Silas that the other trail was Evan's, hot on Judy's trail. The other trail was sloppy as some of the footprints were obvious skids. It surprised me he was so clumsy as he was very slick in all his videos. I knew love could make you do stupid things, but at some point your sense of self-preservation had to kick in.
As the tracks approached the bank, they veered off to the right, staying a few feet away from the shoreline. Up ahead, on a large boulder overlooking the lake I noticed Judy standing upright, looking up at the moon. I couldn't tell you why she was there, but I was glad to have the chance to take her down without a fight.
I took off at a jog, hoping to reach her first, but my hopes were quickly dashed as Evan walked out from behind a tree to confront the woman on the rock. Even with the nearby electrical wire buzzing, I could her her shout a challenge as he walked close. He held his arms up in the air, I'd guess to keep her calm. For a man who claimed to be a professional vampire hunter, he was breaking the first rule. Keep your weapons close at hand. They can be hard enough to kill when you are ready for them. If they catch you off guard, you didn't stand a chance.
She jumped off the rock as he closed in, landing on the soft mud of the shoreline. He stopped in his tracks, allowing her to make a wide pass around him.
"Judy, please," he begged as I got close. "I love you."
Her shoulders slumped as she looked at him sideways. "Love?" she asked in a high pitched voice. "Love can't cure my hunger!" she walked close to Evan while his arms were still up in the air. "But you can!"
She leapt in the air, tackling the man before he had a chance to move. I pushed forward with everything I had, hoping to get to him before it was too late, only to end up tripping over a tree root that nearly sends me tumbling into the lake. By the time I got back to my feet, it was too late. Evan screamed in horror as his wife's jaw latched onto his neck. He put his hands up, in a feeble attempt to push her off his body. Not phased by his attempt, she kept feeding until his arms fell lifeless to his side.
She dropped to her knees when she realized what she had done. Looking into the sky, she let out a howl that echoed nearly a dozen times in the open air.
I continued my approach, silently now that Evan was gone. My plan involved him staying alive a while longer so I could kill her while she was distracted. L
uckily, the plan seemed to be working better now that he was dead. I just wished it hadn't come down to that.
She sobbed uncontrollably as I near, holding her husband's lifeless body in her arms.
Not far from the couple, I noticed another machete lying on the ground next to a hollowed out stump. I had my staff, and his other machete already, but I didn't want to risk her getting a weapon. I knew how deadly they could be using only their teeth and claws, the last thing I wanted was for her to have a weapon.
I reached over to pick up the knife, nearly jumping out of my skin when a snake slithered over the blade. Knowing my luck, it was probably just a simple garter snake tracking down a mouse further down the pass. I don't have a fear of snakes, per se, but I happen to dislike them a lot. Especially the ones that crawl out of the woodwork like this one did.
I guess it could've been worse. It could've been a rattle snake jumping out to bite my arm. That would've compounded my problems by ten fold at the least. As it sat, Judy's red eyes were on me, thanks to my panicked jump.
"Get away!" she yelled, her anger quickly turned into sobs as she held her husband in her lap. Almost like I wasn't there, she returned to running her fingers through his long brown hair.
"He came out here to protect you," I said, abandoning the other machete and inching closer.
"He wanted to kill me," she screamed. "I was only protecting myself!"
I took a few more steps away from the machete, not wanting to tick her off any more. "How many people have you killed that were just protecting themselves?"
She dropped Evan's body to the ground to hold her hands over her bloodied face. "You don't know how this feels. To have a thirst that never ends."
She had me there because I wasn't stupid enough to drink vampire blood, or to inject the blood of a dead vampire into my veins. "You killed the only person trying to help," I said.
She lowered her hands and circled me. "And why are you here?"
"To keep you from harming anyone else."
Vampire for Hire: The Nephalem Files (Book 2) Page 6
