A Hunter Within

by Anna Applegate

  Marissa watched me with a strange expression on her face, as if she were Frankenstein and I was her own little monster.

  A battle waged a war within me that I wasn’t familiar with. It was as if I was losing control but fighting to maintain it all at the same time. The fury would subside momentarily and I’d feel okay, but it was fleeting.

  “Astonishing,” Marissa whispered as she watched me.

  I tried to distract myself from the battle happening inside of me. “How much longer do you think you can keep this up?” I spat at her.

  “Oh, until you’re dead at least. That is if any of it kills you. It may drive you mad first.”

  A knock at the door to our room echoed and rang through my head, amplified in some way. I growled toward the noise and the door.

  “What?” Marissa barked in response.

  “I… I’m sorry Ms. Malcovey. I think…well….”

  “Spit. It. Out. Can’t you see I’m busy?” she said furiously at the bumbling technician who had dared to interrupt her session.

  The technician simply nodded his head toward the door, and I heard a visceral growl, one I recognized immediately.

  It was Seeley. I’d bet my life on it.

  I had no idea how he was back in here, but I worried that everything we’d done would be for nothing if he was acting irrationally again on emotions.

  I wasn’t sure whether to stay quiet or yell, but Marissa’s response decided for me.

  “Capture them if you can, but dispose of them if you must,” she growled.

  Someone let out a monstrous roar. It was a noise born of pain, of suffering.

  It was a noise that had come from me. I had let it build from within. I let go of the fight inside me for only a minute, and now, I was consumed with hate and rage. It was obvious I had suppressed all of it, and now it wanted escape. Marissa stared back at me but was pulled from the room immediately, and I couldn’t see her any longer.

  I expected to see Seeley, coming to stand beside me, but instead of Seeley’s face, it was Gabriel.

  His eyes searched mine, and he looked frightened. The thought made me laugh, and the sound was disturbing. It was like Marissa’s laugh, cold and cruel. Why would the brother of a vampire king look frightened by me?

  “Jules, what did she do?” he asked.

  “The serum that’s making vampires crazy. I guess it works on hunters, too.” A twisted smile took over my face. “How did you survive?” I questioned harshly, fully having expected Gabe to be locked up for a while until the others could have found some sort of antidote.

  I let a hateful thought build inside me toward Gabriel. He had known who I was and hadn’t said anything. When the roles were reversed, and I stood in this very room with him, he had known I was a Van Helsing and didn’t warn me about who I was. He was at fault just like all of us were for my aunt’s death. Yes, we were all to blame. I hated all of us in that moment.

  “You were too weak to warn me. You could have prevented all of this,” I spat at him.

  He looked surprised at first but then regained his composure more quickly than I would have liked, which irked me.

  “You have no training, so this is going to be damn near impossible, but you are strong. Your abilities should give you the strength to get this poison out of your system. We don’t recover, at least not most of us. But you and I are different. Seeley is different. We’re special. I need you to concentrate on something good, Jules.”

  I shook my head, turning away from Gabriel. “I don’t need you. I’m stronger now,” I quipped back.

  “No, this isn’t you,” he said forcefully.

  “What’s happening out there?” I asked. “Did you all do something stupid again?”

  “You’re not concentrating,” he said, maintaining his calm voice.

  “How did you know who I was?” I yelled at him.

  This was hardly the time, and I knew he realized it too, but I saw the worry in his eyes as he kept looking toward the door. Whatever this was inside me, it wasn’t going away and having Gabriel here wasn’t doing anything to calm me. All I felt was rage. All I saw was red. I’d never experienced anything this strongly before, this negatively. My body was feeding off the anger. The more I let it grow inside me, the stronger I became.

  He paused, but only for a moment, and relented to my questioning. “Your parents trusted me to protect you. I staged everything. I made it look like Lizzy adopted you, and I made it look like you died with your parents. They trusted me with the one thing they valued more than life itself. You. Do not let them have died in vain, Jules Van Helsing.”

  Gabriel turned my face toward his and gripped my chin strongly in his hands. “You are a Van Helsing. Born of not one, but two hunters. Whatever Marissa has put into you is nothing compared to what’s already inside of you. We need you to help us and finish this. Push it out and come back.”

  His words shocked me. Born of two hunters? What he said didn’t make sense, but thinking of my parents and my aunt burned a hole in my chest. It was that cooling sensation, though, rather than a burn. My body was already on fire and it sure didn’t need anything to stoke it further. If I could find a way to hold onto that icy cool, he might be right, and I could snap out of this. But as I tried to focus on it, the anger bit back, coming on stronger.

  “You could have told me when I was here. Maybe things would have turned out differently,” I snapped.

  “Maybe. Or maybe Marissa would have caught you then, and we’d really be in trouble. Now enough.” He got close to my face. “This is not who you are. Fight this. Do not let Marissa have this victory.”

  His words snapped something in me that allowed me to latch back onto the coolness I needed to force through my body to calm the fire within me. I closed my eyes and let out a surprising groan as I tried to push away the anger.

  Guilt overcame me, and while I didn’t think I’d done anything bad, the idea of being so hateful was horrifying.

  I cried out again as I tried to push the last bit away. I could almost picture my body in reds and blues. The red was the poison Marissa had injected into me, and the blue was my own inner strength, fighting back and trying to win. The red seemed to be relentless, and I had to think of something that would remind me the last bit of why I needed to snap out of it.

  “Is everyone okay out there?” I asked Gabriel, hoping he’d see this would help me.

  He nodded. “They will be. There aren’t many people here, and the hunters had mostly been gathered before we entered this room. There’s a lot to explain.”

  I closed my eyes, and Gabriel started tearing at the bindings that held me strapped to the table. By the time he undid everything, I was myself again.

  The serum Marissa had created for vampires was something extraordinary. The mastery behind it was something I couldn’t have ever thought up myself. The ability for a serum to enhance anger and negativity was debilitating. I’d rarely experienced those particular emotions in the first place, minus lately after finding out about Marissa’s betrayal of my parents and some of the truth to my life. To experience things in this magnitude, and being human, at least mostly human I think, I couldn’t imagine what it did to a vampire.

  I’d certainly seen the monster it created, but I shuddered to think of what those terrible thoughts must be like to experience first-hand if this is what I had gone through.

  I breathed a side of relief and hugged him, before I knew what came over me.

  “I’m sure there will be time, but thank you. For right now and for what you did back then.”

  I ran out of the room to see what was going on.

  Gabriel had either underestimated the number of hunters, or we’d taken too long, because it wasn’t an easy skirmish taking place. Seeley was engaging three men who must have been hunters on Marissa’s side, and Rebecca was pinned with two. I noticed Henry and Kellan fighting among three men as well, and my heart started racing. Gabriel went to his brother’s side, and I searched the room
frantically for Marissa.

  She was the key, and I couldn’t let her get away. This was going to end once and for all.

  “Looking for me?” I heard a voice say right before a hard metal plate slam into my chest.

  Marissa stood holding a tray in her hand and dropped it to the ground as I staggered back and clutched at my chest. I winced, but she had done it to scare me, not harm me enough that I couldn’t continue our fight.

  “You forget that I’m a trained hunter. I had to be in order to take over the organization. And I obviously must be good at what I do, for I was able to dispose of your parents who had the undue reputation of being the best of your kind,” she spat, tauntingly at me.

  “You don’t deserve to speak of them,” I snapped back, holding my hands up and realizing again I had no idea how to fight. I prayed there was some innate ability that would come through for me, because right then, I was relying on nothing. No training, no experience, just a few action movies I’d seen, and that wouldn’t be enough if she fought like her minions.

  She laughed at my stance. “You have no chance, child.”

  The room had grown quiet, and I saw Marissa flinch backward. Behind her, Gabriel and Rebecca appeared, and I didn’t need to look over my own shoulder to know that Seeley was near. Kellan and Henry must be close, too. I glanced out of the corner of my eye and realized in the few seconds it had taken Marissa and I to do a little back and forth, the vampires and Henry had disposed of the remaining enemies in our path.

  “Well, this is a turn of events.” I heard Seeley’s voice for the first time and almost let out a sharp exhale in relief. “Kell, Rebecca, gather as much evidence as you can from the offices. We need to build a case for the councils.”

  I watched Rebecca peel off from beside Gabriel and assumed Kellan followed.

  Marissa smiled, and I wasn’t sure why. The thought was unnerving, and something tugged at my mind from our conversation that I couldn’t put my fingers on.

  “Surrender to us, Marissa. Your fate is in our hands,” Seeley commanded.

  “You know nothing if that’s what you believe,” she smiled. “Henry, dear, where is your father?” she asked.

  I turned to look at Henry who stared back at Marissa. “I don’t think you want to see him right now.” He smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes.

  Marissa looked surprised. It was an expression I hadn’t ever seen on her face in the time I’d been here, but she recovered from it almost as suddenly as it appeared.

  “No matter. I’ll have enough of what I need to continue.”

  The vampires shifted, looking uneasy, and Marissa lunged at them attacking. She drew a gun from her waist, but before she could fire it, Seeley and Gabriel had her knocked against the far wall from where we stood. The gun was jostled and landed at my feet.

  She let out a psychotic laugh, one I’d heard during our time together, as she turned herself around. Her face was red and swelling fast, and her nose was bleeding. She tried to stand but couldn’t.

  I moved in what felt like slow motion. I picked up the gun and walked over to stand in front of Marissa. I cocked the trigger back, noticing the safety was already off. Marissa had intended to shoot to kill earlier.

  “Put that down. You and I both know you won’t be able to use it,” she scoffed at me, unyielding even as I branded the weapon and approached her. I saw Henry walk up beside me, watching me and giving me a look that he was there for me no matter what.

  “Jules.” Seeley’s hand came to my shoulder, and his presence was overpowering as he stood next to me. “You are not a killer. Taking a life will weigh on you more than you know.”

  I wasn’t faltering. There was nothing he could say. “She doesn’t deserve to live.” My finger trembled over the trigger as I gripped the gun, never letting it falter in my aim at Marissa.

  Tears formed in my eyes as I thought about all the horrible things the woman standing in front of me had done. And all the pain she had inflicted.

  Seeley’s voice sounded in my ear. “I’ll do it. I know the cost.” He knew my pain and wouldn’t let her live, but this was my revenge. I wasn’t sure I cared what that would make me.

  Marissa made a movement, and my senses realized when she went flying there must have been another weapon near her.

  I heard a shot, and my eyes went wide.

  I panicked, not knowing where her shot was aimed, and that she would hurt someone else, unless we destroyed her immediately. I pulled the trigger in response.

  I looked down at myself and saw nothing but watched from the corner of my eye as Henry’s body collapsed next to me. I screamed, watching blood pour from his gut.

  “Henry!” I cried out and dropped to the floor beside him.

  I put my hands on his wound and applied pressure. “Henry, oh please. No, Henry.”

  His hand shook, but he sputtered and tried to talk. “Jules, it’s okay.” He started coughing.

  “No.” I bent my head as the tears fell down my face. “Henry, look at me,” I demanded.

  Henry’s eyes closed. I shook, but not from fear and not from a return of the poison.

  I didn’t need a venom or drug to feel this fire coursing through me. Henry really was the last piece of my past I had. The last person who loved me and knew who I was, what I was. And Marissa took him from me, too. I turned and saw Gabriel on her, and he shook his head. Good riddance, the monster was dead, but Henry was dying too.

  “Seeley!” I yelled, but hadn’t needed to. He was already beside me.

  Seeley’s hand went to Henry’s neck. “His pulse is faint. I don’t think…” He just looked at me with a sadness in his eyes.

  “Do something!” I demanded.

  “What would you have me do, Jules?”

  I didn’t say anything right away, because I didn’t know. “Can’t you heal him?”

  Seeley shook his head. “I can’t heal this. It’s too bad.” He paused. “I can turn him, if that’s what you want.”

  “Seeley.” Gabriel drew in a sharp breath.

  “What? Can’t you see what this will do to her?” Seeley shot back toward his brother.

  “It’s not our decision to make. We can’t take that lightly,” Gabriel said.

  I looked frantically between Henry and the two brothers besides me. “Will turning him be a guarantee? Will it save his life?” I asked.

  I knew Gabe was right. We couldn’t make this decision. But at the moment, the thought of losing Henry was too much to bear.

  We all heard the doors open to the lab, but I didn’t bother leaving Henry’s side. I didn’t care who was coming.

  “That won’t be necessary.”

  I turned, surprised at the voice I heard coming from the doors.

  “Mr. Thornton.” My voice quivered, and I ached for this man who had to see his son like this. “I’m so sorry, we couldn’t stop her…”

  “Shhh,” he said warmly. “It’s all right.” I felt his hands wrap around my shoulders as he tried to pull me away from his son’s body.

  “No,” I said, surprised. “No, I’m staying with him” I flung myself back on the ground, putting my bloodied hands over Henry’s wound again. There was no point, but I had to give everything I had left to trying.

  “Jules, please,” Mr. Thornton’s voice came stronger.

  I looked up into his eyes, through my own blurred vision, but was surprised at what I saw. Henry’s father didn’t look upset or grief stricken at all.

  I backed away reluctantly from Henry’s body. “You were working with her?” I said, breathlessly, trying to understand his calm demeanor.

  “Of course not. The thought is despicable. There is much to discuss, but Henry needs space.”

  I looked back at Henry’s body and then back to Mr. Thornton. “Sir, he’s—he’s de—” I started to say.

  Mr. Thornton’s warm eyes stopped me. “He’ll live.”

  “What?” I said, not understanding. Perhaps Mr. Thornton was in denial.

>   “Come with me.” He held out his hand.

  I took it, leaving Henry against my better judgement and will. He looked so peaceful except for the blood, and I brought the back of my hand to my mouth to cover my sob again.

  Mr. Thornton stopped walking. We were far enough away where we weren’t crowding Henry’s body but positioned so Henry’s father could still see him.

  I looked at the vampires, and Seeley and Gabriel stood with me, looking just as confused and shocked as I was.

  Henry’s father looked to the vampires, seeing they had followed me and stared at them warily.

  “Whatever you have to say to me, you can say to them,” I said.

  “I’m afraid not,” Mr. Thornton replied.

  Seeley didn’t bother trying to hide his disdain. “And why not? Henry has been working with us just fine.”

  “My son’s reasons are his own as he believes he has found friendship in you all. But I am looking at the bigger picture. Someone was working with Marissa,” Mr. Thornton said, watching for a reaction.

  He certainly got one. Seeley and Gabriel gave him a look that would have rendered me immobile if it had been directed at me.

  “How dare you,” Seeley growled. “I am meticulous with who I trust and for you to insinuate that you know those I surround myself with better than I—”

  Gabriel placed a hand on Seeley’s shoulder, pulling him away from Henry’s father.

  “Regardless of your emotional attachment, I speak the truth. Marissa has been working with someone bigger than all of us. She was supposed to come up with a serum to allow vampires to walk in the sun. She had me working on it, but of course I would never dream of creating that, no offense.” Henry’s father nodded toward the vampires, who both took what he said and nodded to themselves. I knew Seeley agreed that wouldn’t be good. He had said as much when he found out Marissa had taken Gabriel.

  “We figured as much. She created the serum to make vampires erratic and more dangerous to increase the need for hunters. Increasing her power,” Seeley said, trying to show he wasn’t behind.

  I frowned, remembering our original theory as if it had been ages since we had discussed it. And truly, it had. So much of what I’d learned I’d kept to myself and hadn’t had time to even talk to Seeley about it.