I took the journal hesitantly and glanced through the entries. At first, they were long and detailed. I only read a few paragraphs, but I from what I read I saw Lysander filled the pages with adjectives and beautiful imagery. I glanced at my father.
“Please, Catalina,” papá begged. “I want you to read what my brother wrote. I cannot convince you any other way.”
I nodded and started from where my father marked. Lysander was obviously a teenage boy and had never been out Hunting on his own before. In the first entry on August 2, he had just graduated from what he called Hunting School on some island and was was on his first Hunting expedition with Heike and another person called Tafari. Lysander seemed thrilled to finally be working on the field. I could tell he was very close to Heike, but he was also very naive.
After all these years of following my father, I am finally Tracking on my own with Heike by my side. Tafari is turning into an assured companion, as well. My youth is my benefit, though, as I have not the pleasure of being inured to the anger of the Hunters. There is talk of an uprising, there is always talk, but I want to change it all. I believe I can turn into the leader these men need! May my bright light be a beacon to those around me. May we find the vibrant killers and throttle the vampyres’s blood lust. We shall overpower them with our mighty strength and suppress their evil deeds. We shall stomp upon their smouldering ashes and be named victorious.
Lysander’s optimism was a little sickening. I had to stop reading for a moment. I looked at my father to sigh and roll my eyes. My father laughed.
“Don’t worry,” my papá said. “Heike teaches him pretty quickly. Go ahead, read on. Leo sees some action pretty soon.”
I rolled my eyes again, but continued reading.
Vampyres are still in upheaval. They are gathering far into the belly of this continent. Heike says the Queen has made more new vampyres in the last 10 years than she has in the last 100, even more now than during the Great War! They thrive on the evil and if there was evil in anything it was the war crimes perpetrated during this last decade ... Enough of that, my heart still grieves. We’re walking through the USSR now – not sure exactly where, though Tafari thinks Poland. It is strange, but I can still feel the oppressive weight of sadness and anger and wickedness in the air. Heike says we Trackers are made to tune into nefariousness. I understand I am supposed to be following my Tracking sense, but the odious air is suffocating. Tafari is struggling with the smells. He’s having a hard time retaining his skin.
“Who is Tafari?” I asked my father. I got confused, since sometimes it seemed like that Tafari person was a man and sometimes I wasn’t so sure.
My papá hushed me. “Just read on.” I read on. Lysander’s journal entries were becoming shorter and messier.
Tafari received a message from the leaders. He is not pleased. He and Heike spoke a long time together. Tafari is upset. I can understand. I told him he had a choice in the matter, but this angered him and I believe he would have attacked me if Heike had not intervened. I would not win against Tafari, I fear, and was grateful to Heike. I apologised, though I still believe he has a choice. We all have choices.
Wow, that was heavy stuff from a kid about my age. What was he really responsible for the preservation of the human race or was he just very romantic? I partially felt he was dramatic about the whole thing but the other part of me ... well, I had never thought that vampyres could be the downfall of man.
There were lots of stuff in the journal I didn’t understand - my papá refused to answer any questions when I looked up at him. He urged me to read on, although the journal was pretty boring. Lysander was really into capturing the mundanities of life – cooking, walking, traveling through the forests, walking, finding food, walking some more. It went on for pages and pages and I couldn’t help but wonder when he had time to write it all down. It was a like reading a slightly shorter version of Lord of the Rings, so it took awhile to read through the journal to get to the date papá wanted me to read to, but finally I got to October. There were about ten entries for October 1947 and, unlike the previous months, they lacked in-depth details and exact dates.
I don’t know for certain, but I believe Tafari and the others will break away from The Hunters and we’ll lose them. Tafari is a good warrior and I do not look forward to his loss. I do not blame them for breaking away from a group of men who are regressing into archaic,19th century thought. We Hunters are becoming a backwards group who care more for tradition than bettering ourselves at our life’s work: the slaying of vampyres and the preservation of the Human Race.
The next entry was even terser. I could almost see young Lysander scribbling anxiously as him and his hunting companions rested. I could sense his urgency, as if he didn’t know what was happening or what was going to happen. At first he was pretty cocky, but after awhile he seemed to rely completely on his hunting companions for guidance and support. His transformation was sad, in a way.
The wolves are going mad. I hear them bellowing in the night. It is a sickening sound and I cannot sleep. I am ill from the Tracking. Mile by mile we get closer to the scent, the colors brighten.
For nine of the ten entries, Lysander said almost the same things. His writing became almost unreadable, just short little lines of prayer and smudges. There were water drips on the pages, blending some of the lines together. His English became so poor that he finally began writing only in Spanish and, even then, it was mostly just the Ava Maria and Mi Dios! written over and over again. I could almost see the sweat dripping down his face and onto the pages of the journal as the terror grew with each entry. I could almost feel the near-paralyzing fear that took hold of him.
Getting close. Tofari smells them. Lost his skin for good, Heike says. Tofari disappears for hours. He bellows for us to follow. I am terrified. Cannot eat or sleep. Will I ever consider this natural? I see the colors so vividly. A bright, yellow orb draws me in. We are pulled together. I feel their lust for blood deep inside my fibres. Heike says it will get easier. Mi Dios! I mumble prayers constantly. Padre Nuestro, líbranos del mal. And to Madre Maria, I pray ruega por nosotros pecadores, ahora y en la hora de nuestra muerte. Over and over I say my prayer until Heike wakes me from my stupor to move on.
With the tenth entry, though, everything changed. Lysander went back to his old self. He seemed excited, so excited that most of the margins were covered in finger smudges and the print was difficult to read. Either out of excitement or to make the words more legible, Lysander had traced over and over the letters, making them a deep, black color and nearly impossible to decipher at first glance. It took me awhile to fully read the page.
It’s taken me a week to write this down – I don’t even know the date! Note to self: Remind Heike to get calendar in next town. It was an exciting few days, for certain! We had sat down to supper last week when Tofari returned from one of his long expeditions. Heike could sense something, almost as if Tofari had spoken. I knew the vampyres were close, but I was so ill and the anxiety had so overtaken me I could not judge how close they were. Heike stood and told me “Get ready.” I will never forget those two words, but that was Heike in high anxiety times, curt and composed. He is most admirable. I laugh, now, but then I became ill with fear. I admitted to him my trepidation and he patted my shoulder. It was unspoken: he would take care of me if needed, if I could not perform my duties as a Tracker. He was the Hunter, after all, and he was more prepared to kill than I was! I was sure I would need all the help offered as I was frozen with dread! The colors became intense and Tofari bolted, startling me. The screams began from deep in the forest and grew louder as they neared. I held on to my rosary so tight one of the glass beads burst – *note: send word to Mercutio for another set* – and then they appeared, five in total. Their colors almost blinded me. I sunk to my knees but Heike pulled me up and shoved a spear in my hand. He yelled “stop” and they stopped. I had never heard his voice like that and I cannot explain how it gained so much power. He is a true Hunter. I
wonder if father would have been that commanding in his prime. The vampyres stood before him, along the edge of the clearing, and immediately knew who he was. They barred their teeth and stretched their bony fingers.
I thought they would be more animalistic. I was surprised that they weren’t. The ones I had met during my training barely retained any humanity at all, but these vampyres were very human except for their coloring and two had milky, charcoal eyes. Their color was a deep gold, nearly an orangey red, so I knew they had killed more times than I could imagine. Even so, it was difficult to see them as inhuman when they were so human-like, but I knew they were monsters, intent on blood and the enslavement of man. If you would see them you would not know they were malevolent beasts from the underworld until they were sucking your soul from your body! I had to remind myself of this and I knew they could not control themselves for long around two, fresh-smelling men – I’m sure our odours were intense, as we had left the river nearly two weeks beforehand!
Heike explained their sins and told them to ask God for mercy. He asked if they understood and the dullest of the group nodded. He must have retained some humanity within him. He was a younger fellow and his color was less intense than the others, but still a bright yellow. He wore a Nazi jacket and I wondered if he had fought in the war.
Heike nodded back and, without words, the fight began. Their speed was incredible, almost beautiful if I hadn’t known they were out to destroy the very fabric of my humanity. Tafari appeared once again and lunged at one of them. He ripped the beast apart in just a matter of seconds and took down another immediately after. They had no chance against Tafari’s jaws and teeth like daggers. I am ashamed to say I became quite ill again, but regained my composure immediately. Heike felled two before I had even engaged with the Nazi, who I presume saw me as an easy target. I fought well, although I was a little sloppy from nerves. He came close to biting me at one point, but I struggled and soon was able to plunge my spear deep into his chest. Tofari came and ripped the heart out, a fine reward for him. Once their hearts were gone, their bodies aged and dried and the dust from their corpses began to blow away in the wind. It was truly incredible!
I feel much stronger today, after returning to the river and bathing we then found a small town with an inn. We had our first, real meal in a very long time and even drank some ale. The women here are beautiful and buxom, but Heike will not let me go to the girls that wave their handkerchiefs at me and call to me “Mein Kapitän.” Tonight we will sleep – alone, to my dismay – in feather beds and tomorrow we will begin the long journey to The Coven for our next assignments.
I closed the book and stared at it for a long time. It seemed like I there were only two choices there. Lysander – my uncle – was ... a vampyre hunter? It seemed I either had to accept that he was a lunatic and fooled everyone around him and my parents whole-heartedly believed him and that entire, fictitious world or I had to accept that he was a vampyre Hunter. Those were the only two options that could fit with what I was reading in his journal. If I believed that he was a madman, I also had to believe that my parents, grandparents, and two strange men had worked together to cover up Lysander’s madness and created this elaborate hoax to make me believe in vampyres and vampyre hunting for some unknown reason or ... I could accept that vampyres existed and that there were people in the world called Hunters who were born to kill vampyres.
Right then, I could have believed either scenario. It was just too crazy for me. “If this is real, papá ...” I couldn’t think of what I wanted to say. I was overwhelmed by a mixture of disbelief and shock. “You just never told me,” I said. “If this is real why didn’t you tell me?”
He thought for a moment, his forehead creased with deep, latitudinal grooves. “It was so hard not to tell you. We changed everything so we wouldn’t have to tell you. If you had not been born a Hunter, Heike would have given it up for you. But, when he found out you had the gift, everything changed. He has been working tirelessly to make The Coven ...” he paused, trying to find the right words. “More accepting, for you. They are stubborn, old men and they will not like a female in their midsts, especially a Kindler. Heike knew that and knew you could not grow up with them in your life. You don’t understand, but being a child of a hunter is ... It’s not a life, mi cielo. It is better now, but there used to be only two options for families of hunters. Go from place to place, never settling, always looking for a place to hide for protection, or live with the coven.” He snarled a little at that last part and swallowed. “The Coven was not an option for many families. Moving around with my papá, it was the best decision of two bad decisions. So, we followed him across the globe, every night waiting to find out if he would come back to us, all the time preparing for an attack. We could never trust anyone but ourselves. We were terrified, always running and hiding and waiting. It was no life.”
I felt bad for my papá. I had no idea his childhood was so tumultuous. “Why couldn’t you live in The Coven?”
“Back then, only boys with The Gift could live in The Coven and, since we didn’t know which one of us had The Gift at the time, Leo and I would have been run through difficult tests, pitted against each other and other boys. Women were not allowed in the coven. Our mother would have been set up in a safe house on the mainland, which was basically just the slums. And then, when it became clear that I was not a Tracker, I would have been thrown with my mother into the ghetto with little protection. Leo would have been separated from his mother and from me. Most parents found it more difficult on the sons to live in The Coven than outside of it.” Papá paused and looked thoughtful. He seemed like his mind was in a different place. Suddenly, he cleared his throat. “It’s different now, though. They’ve built family houses, a little town and everything. It’s very safe for families. It works out much better, now. Everyone is much happier.”
I thought about this for a moment. “Why the change? Why now?”
Papá smiled. “New leadership,” he said. “And people were giving up being Hunters because they couldn’t take care of their families properly. They were protecting the world but not their own wives and children. It’s much better, now.”
“Oh,” I said. We were quiet for a long time. “So, what now? I’m not sure what to do now.”
Papá nodded. “I’ve been preparing you for this for your entire life. Heike and I wanted you ready for this. I don’t want to force you, but it’s something you should consider. You’ve got an especially rare gift, mi cielo, and you have to learn to use it. Your color will get brighter and they will come after you because of it. You have to learn to control your powers. To fight them off.”
I wrinkled my eyebrows. “I don’t understand. How... just, how, I guess?”
“I know you don’t feel like you have powers, not yet anyway. But you are already stronger than expected. When you get around the other hunters you’ll start feeling more powers,” he said, then paused. “There’s a school, a training school at The Coven. It’s for young hunters. It’ll help you defend yourself against the vampyres. You’ll be with a class of other trainees, all boys. It’s in Portugal,” he added, as if that somehow made this whole thing better.
Oh, I’m a vampyre killing machine AND I get a free trip to Portugal?! Super!
“Portugal?” I asked. “Why Portugal? Are you telling me I have to leave? You want to me to leave?”
“No, that’s not what I’m saying. I’m saying you need to learn how to defend yourself. The attack today was them showing us that they know about you. Next time, you might not be so lucky. What if they come after you when you’re watching the twins? What if they come near the children, Catalina? You can’t fight them properly. I’ve done everything I can to train you in defensive arts, but it’s not enough, Catalina. You are surpassing my abilities and there is so much more to learn.” He paused. “And now that I know you’re a Kindler, I think you’ve got to go, mi cielo. I’m sorry, but you need to know how to control the fire when it starts to appear.
” He squinted and wiped his eyes. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.” He grabbed me and hugged me.
I began to cry into his shirt, long and quiet sobs. I was shocked. He was sending me away to learn how to fight ... vampyres? I couldn’t believe that was happening. Yesterday my biggest worry was getting over a cheating boyfriend and suddenly I was thrusted into a world where I had to accept the reality of mythical beasts. And, on top of that, I was supposed to believe that I was a Vampyre Hunter? Yeah, my head was dizzy with the very idea that I was actually being convinced to accept something I had thought for so long to be unreal. It’s not something that I ever in a bajillian years would even think could or would happen. It’s fiction, just a story to tell kids.
But, there I was. Sitting on my back porch, crying into my father’s shirt because he was sending me to a school to learn how to fight vampyres - it felt ridiculous to even think about vampyres and a Hunter Training school like they actually existed. I was so confused and uncertain, but my parents seemed so sure. My papá seemed to need me to believe.
Kindling (The Hunter Trilogy Book One) Page 8
