The Jaded Hunter

by The Jaded Hunter(Lit)

  "Go to Mack," Tom urged. "He will help you. He has a plan."

  "He will kill me," Jaden growled. "I am not like you, not anymore. I won’t be a part of it anymore."

  "No, Jade," Tom eased, growing empowered. "You don’t understand. It will be fine. Mack will understand. He will take care of you."

  "Like he took care of the others?" she said, her fury growing by bounds to think of it.

  "Go to him," Tom insisted. "Please, Jade."

  Jaden snorted and ignored the advice. Feeling a strange pull, her eyes darted to Tyr. She could detect something was wrong. A net was cast over his back. Ten men held him down. She saw Rick wielding a stake. It was aimed at Tyr’s turned back. Tyr flung an attacker off and then another.

  Jaden let Tom go. Tom waved frantically over his head at Mack. Mack’s arms fell to his sides at the signal. His smile faded. Jaden left the man on the beach and dashed with all her speed to rescue Tyr.

  Mack lifted his phone and pushed a button. The call was immediately answered.

  "What is happening? Can you see her?" Mack rushed.

  "She is helping him," the gunman whispered. "The creature is almost free. What do you want me to do?"

  There was silence as Mack watched his niece’s figure dart over the sand to help Tyr. His gut tightened and his heart sank. Matter-of-factly, he whispered, "Take your shot."

  Tom began crawling along the beach towards Mack, his face hanging low to the ground. All of a sudden he stopped, a heavy boot appearing before his nose. The silver buckles gleamed in the moonlight. Tom shivered. Looking up, he stared into the motionless gaze of the undead. The creature shot forward, his pale hands grabbing the mortal man’s throat. The vampire hauled Tom up to his awaiting mouth.

  A shot rang out, whizzing past Jaden’s shoulder. It burned into her, causing her to pause in her progress across the beach. In the distance, she heard a man scream as he was tossed down from a tree. She knew instinctively that the gunman was dead.

  As Tom died, he watched a small horde of dark beings come out from the shadows. They passed by, going to the other soldiers around Tyr, grabbing their victims to drink. The vampire at his neck tore, sucking before tossing him to the ground like garbage. Tom wheezed in dying horror, his eyes focusing forward to the back taillights of Mack’s car as the man abandoned them.

  "No!" Jaden yelled, throwing herself at Rick. Rick swung down, his stake hitting her in the shoulder above her heart. Jaden gasped with the pain of it. Rick’s eyes cleared from the battle haze. He paled, pulling his mask from his features. Reaching out, he caught her to his chest.

  "Jade," he began confused. Rick eased her tenderly to the ground. Desperately, he tried to stem the flow of her blood. "What have you done?"

  Tyr felt the stake inside of her as if it had been his own body. The hands of the ambush weighed in on him only to be suddenly lifted by an unseen force. Tyr tore the net from his back. He scanned the distance. Before him was Shiva, leading Ares, Osiris, and Aleksander into battle. They fought the mortals, killing them easily, littering the beach with the dead. The battle was won before it really started.

  The echoing pain in his shoulder drew his eyes down to Jaden. Rick was next to her, cradling her head in his lap. Tyr growled, sensing the blood that was coming from the wound.

  Rick glanced around in horror. He’d seen Mack abandon his niece, abandon them all. He’d heard the shot and saw the bloody streak of it across Jaden’s arm. Leaning protectively over Jaden, he silently swore not to let her get taken again by the undead monsters that surrounded them.

  "Pull it out," Jaden demanded, her voice hoarse with pain.

  "No," Rick whispered, glancing down at her in surprise. "You might bleed to death."

  Jaden chuckled bitterly. The sound caught his attention and he looked fully at her. Her eyes glowed up at him. Rick froze, seeing the truth of what she had become. He pushed her from his lap and scrambled away.

  "Oh, no," he murmured, desperate, pleading at the injustice of what she had become. "No, Jade."

  "Pull it out," she demanded again. When he didn’t move, she grabbed the stake herself, trying to weakly paw at it. A hand reached from above, lifting it from her skin. The wound began to close. She saw Tyr throw the bloody stake aside. His eyes bore angrily into her.

  Hiding his torment at seeing her hurt and knowing she had taken the stake meant for him, he said bitterly, "Damn it, you fool! Do you think to get out of your judgment so easily?"

  Rick backed away. The undead victors gathered silently around Tyr and the fallen young one. One by one their eyes turned to the mortal man.

  "What of him?" Aleksander asked with a sneer. His straight, black hair blended perfectly with the night. His teeth parted, ready to bite on command.

  "Take him," Tyr ordered. "He is one of MacNaughton’s leaders. The council might want to question him."

  Rick tried to protest, but his lips never opened. Aleksander swiftly moved forward, knocking the mortal over the head with his fist. Rick’s world went black. Aleksander tossed the man over his strong shoulder as if he weighed no more than a child’s rag doll.

  "The boatman," Shiva said, his chin jutting down the coast. "His throat is slit."

  "There is another," Ares said, coming forward. His dark blue eyes glittered with the light of battle. "Come. We will reach the council tonight."

  "And what of this one?" Aleksander whispered, motioning down to Jaden. Her eyes were closed, but she was still awake. Hearing the words, she blinked, looking up at them.

  Tyr lifted his hand over Jaden’s face. Her eyes rounded in horror as the others did the same. They leaned over her, blocking out the stars with their unsympathetic expressions.

  "She will sleep," Tyr stated, "so that she may never find her way back here."

  * * * *

  Mack frantically paced the length of his immense hotel suite, marching to the dresser and then back to his suitcase with an armload of clothing. Feeling Pietro on the balcony, he stiffened and turned his stricken face to the thin glass door. He saw movement through the white gauze of the curtains. The lock unlatched in the breeze, the door coming slowly open with a measured creak.

  Pietro glided forward, his eyes taking in the suitcase and Mack’s agitated frown. Lifting his hand, the door shut behind him without touching it, leaving them alone in the room.

  "All my men are dead," Mack whispered. He went to the dresser for another load of clothing. "I am getting off this island."

  "What of your niece?" Pietro questioned.

  A wave of guilt racked Mack’s body, forcing him to close his eyes. Sniffing, he wiped his nose. "She’s dead. I kno--"

  "She lives," Pietro broke in.

  Mack gulped in surprise. Shaking his head, he said, "There is nothing I can do for her. She is within that fortress. She is as good as dead."

  Pietro didn’t argue. Lightly, he admitted, "It is likely she will be tortured and killed."

  Mack stiffened. Turning his hateful gaze on the old vampire, he scowled, "How did this happen? I did everything you told me!"

  "The Dark Knights interference was an unfortunate--"

  "Unfortunate?" Mack yelped in ire. "It was more than unfortunate! Why didn’t you warn me? I could’ve been killed and then our plans ruined. Why did you betray me?"

  "I had no time to warn," Pietro said, his lifeless eyes stating that if Mack died, his plans would go on without him.

  "Then you did know," the man accused

  "I was told, yes," Pietro said. He watched Mack slam his suitcase shut and begin to latch it. His dark eyes narrowed, as he said, "You are not leaving. Jaden might be lost, but our plan continues."

  "What about Tyr?" Mack cried. "What about the others? You never warned me of them! They slaughtered my men within seconds."

  "Yes," Pietro said calmly. "I imagine they would have."

  Mack fumed. Falling wearily, he sank onto the bed and abandoned his packing. He realized he had no choice. If he defied Pietro he wouldn’t last
the night. It was only with the vampire’s warnings that he lasted so many years.

  "What will they do to her?" he asked, thinking of Jaden.

  "They will judge her," Pietro answered. "And they will more than likely kill her."

  "Will you help her?" Mack asked in dejection. "Can you bring her back to me?"

  "I’ll try," Pietro promised coolly. "When it becomes time to decide, I’ll vote for life. Now, prepare yourself. I’ll come back for you, but for now I must join the council. They will be expecting me."

  * * * *

  The boat rocked on the choppy sea as the knights made the passage to Delos. The bound boatman stood at the helm, used to the vampiric passengers. He ignored them, though they were an imposing sight--standing stock still on the uneven water. Their vampiric eyes glittered in the silver of the moonlight, their hair lifted gently in unison on the breeze, and their black clothing clung to their bodies like second skins to hide the tell-tale paleness beneath.

  The boatman’s old knobby fingers ran over the smoothed wood of his boat, his thin legs planted unfalteringly on the deck. He knew better than to ask questions of the strangers at his back, having ridden them on the water most of his life. During the day, he was allowed to ferry humans to the sacred island and at night he was roused from bed to do the same for his vampiric masters. It was the lot of his family line to serve the dark ones, and they did so without complaint for they had been well rewarded and taken care of in return.

  The Dark Knights in turn ignored the loyal servant. They rode noiselessly over the short distance, each keeping their thoughts in their own heads. The dhampir and mortal captives laid quietly by their feet. Their bodies were for the most part motionless, though they rolled and swayed quietly on the deck with the waves.

  Tyr let his eyes drift downward. Jaden’s face was turned away from him, pressing close to Rick’s side. The man’s arm arched over her head. The waves scooted them intimately together until they looked to be lying peacefully. Tyr didn’t need to see her features to recall every detail of her fine appearance or the legendary jade of her gaze--a gaze made all the more potent by the accursed gift he had given her.

  The wound on her shoulder was healing, the worst of it over. Tyr stared at it and felt his stomach tighten. Instantly, his companion’s heads turned to him, sensing his torment in a brief anguished moment he forgot to hide. Tyr forced all feeling out of his chest, leaving in it a cold numbness. He lifted his passionless eyes to the approaching dock emerging out of the night, refusing to answer their unspoken inquiry. He didn’t deem to look at her again and his quiet companions turned their curiosity away.

  * * * *

  Jaden awoke with a start from the strange sleep induced by the power of the knights. She was surrounded by stone walls. Her lungs softly panted with breath out of human habit until she realized they didn’t need the air. She stopped breathing, sitting in the surreal shadow casting of light coming dimly from a narrow slit at the bottom of the door. The tiny edge allowed a thin beam to illuminate within. She was again in a prison cell, a dark dungeon in the vampire council hall.

  Her vampiric eyes cut through the darkness with ease. She still hadn’t grown used to trusting them. Her vision focused too quickly and she shut her eyes to stop them from wavering. Her other enhanced senses had been easier to handle, since being a dhampir had given Jaden a lesser degree of them her whole life.

  Peering into the door, she knew the tribal council was close. She could feel the concentrated energy of the tribes thumping all around her, pumping in her veins, flowing like electricity from the old stones. It made her shiver with the coldness of it and she was very afraid.

  Tyr was gone. She couldn’t detect him beyond the thick metal. Her body contracted with a sob that found no release. Her limbs quivered violently. Death was all around her, had become part of her. All she wanted was one last smile from Tyr, one last gentle touch of his hand, the press of his body.

  Hearing someone else’s breath in the darkness, Jaden paused. Her eyes closed in languid pleasure. She realized a mortal shared her cell. The smell of blood curled in her nose with a predator’s accuracy. A faint heartbeat unfurled in her head. Her lips parted with new-found instinct, begging her to eat, to bite, to drink. The meals of rats and fish swam inside of her. The borrowed life in her blood was painfully inadequate.

  Jaden cracked open her eyes. She wondered if a meal was left for her. Turning her attention to the ground, she saw Rick. His body was still, his chest falling in even sleep. She forced the bloodlust to subside and her fangs back behind her lips.

  Going to the immobile man, she touched his cheek lightly. Rick jolted awake as if burnt. His eyes darted open. Seeing her, he weakly scrambled away.

  "Rick," she began softly, unaware of how her eyes glowed with an eerie green light.

  He shook his head, squinting into the dimmed light. "Stay back, Jaden."

  "Rick," she continued with a soft plea. She moved to reach out to him, but pulled back when he flinched. "Don’t be scared of me."

  "You’re one of them," he defended wearily. Proudly lifting his chin, he knew he could never fight her. He saw her eyes and knew he could never hurt her, not even now. "You’re dead."

  "Yes." Her gaze fell mournfully to the ground.

  "How could you do it, Jade?" he hissed in aggravation. "How could you have allowed it to happen?"

  "I--I didn’t allow it to happen," she defended halfheartedly, thinking of how she trapped Tyr in the cave and forced him to bite her. Looking back, what exactly had she expected him to do? Let her die? She should have known better.

  "You could’ve resisted," Rick spat. "You could’ve refused to drink his blood."

  Jaden looked at him. A dark, bitter chuckle escaped her tired throat. She wouldn’t defend herself to him. He would never be able to understand the body’s forceful cling to life in that last instant of death.

  Bitterly, she countered, "You drugged me, left me helpless. If not for you, I wouldn’t have been in the position I was in."

  Rick choked with guilt. "Then it is true? Oh, God, Jaden! I am so sorry. Mack said that he ill-used you and--"

  Jaden softened. She shook her head. "No, I was treated better than could be expected."

  He shot her a look of utter disbelief.

  "It’s not your fault, Rick," she amended, sorry that she had lashed her anger out at him. She could never hate Rick, could never blame him. "He was coming for me that night. I wouldn’t have been able to fight him off. You saved me the humiliation of trying. I should thank you."

  "But, both of us--together," he offered.

  "No," she said firmly. Rick couldn’t see her sad smile in the darkness. "Not a whole army of us. Whatever has happened, will happen, you must promise me not to blame yourself. My fate was sealed long before we met."

  "What happened to you, Jade? What changed between us?" Rick bemoaned the loss of his love. "I could’ve made you happy."

  "I can’t make myself happy," Jaden said under her breath. "What makes you think you could’ve done so?"

  "I--"

  "No," she broke in. "My whole life has been a mistake. Mack tricked my mother into becoming pregnant with me and then he killed her when she turned into a vampire to be with my father. My uncle has manipulated my entire life. He hasn’t allowed happiness in it. He took my family from me. You couldn’t have changed all of that, Rick."

  "We should have never trusted Mack," Rick stated in dejection. Seeing that she didn’t move to bite him, he relaxed. Rubbing his head, he drew up to sit against the hard, damp wall.

  "I know," she said sadly. "I, too, foolishly trusted him. He is the reason I am. He is the reason I was born. He worked a spell over my parents and he has molded and raised me to do his bidding. Out of all of us, I am his most favorite puppet. And like a puppet, I was led like a child by my strings."

  "When did you start to suspect?" Rick grunted, pressing his fingers into his temple. When he drew them back, he saw drying blood.
>
  "New Orleans," she whispered, crawling close to him. Rick eyed her cautiously, but allowed her to sit next to him. There was no warmth in her, just the coolness of the stone reflected from her skin. "I knew I couldn’t trust him in New Orleans."

  "What did happen that night?" Rick asked. He watched her suspiciously, flinching when she lifted her fingers to touch his wound. Gingerly, she probed it. "You changed so much after that. Were you truly so mad at me for stomping on your turf? I’ve racked my brain a thousand times and so help me I can’t figure it out. Duncan was a loser. He deserved to die."

  "Yes," she agreed. "Duncan was a loser and did deserve to die. But he didn’t die in New Orleans. He died later in New York."

  "Then--"

  "My father," she whispered with a mournful pant. "I killed my father in New Orleans."

  "Oh," Rick blew softly in surprise. He let the news sink in. It made sense. Mack had been so insistent that they go and help her. Giving them a load of crap about her getting emotionally involved. "Jade, I’m so sorry. But you didn’t kill him. Mack did. I did. I am the one who didn’t listen. I’m the one who called for the sunlight."

  Jaden swallowed. Wearily, she laughed through her unending pain. Rick narrowed his eyes, trying to see her clearly in the darkness. His reward was the sinister toss of her tongue, as she queried, "Trying to comfort the vampire, Rick? That isn’t like you."

  Rick reached for her, pulling her to his chest against his better judgment. Jaden drank in his comfort, feeling nothing beyond friendship in his hold. Rick squashed his feelings, finally realizing that what he wanted could never be. Jaden was lost to him. Lightly stroking her hair, he said, "We’ve been in many scrapes, you and I. So how are we going to get out of this one?"

  "I don’t think we are," Jaden whispered. "It’s already too late for me."

  Rick nodded in understanding. He knew there was no escape from this hell. They weren’t fit to fight the council and Mack wouldn’t be coming for them. Easily, the vampires had overtaken the best of Mack’s mortal army. They had been foolish to think they could make a difference under such unfair odds. Until now, they had been fighting vampire babies--weak newborns without the eternity of skill the older ones possessed. Only horrors awaited them outside their prison walls--torment and pain. Death was preferable to both.