Blood Hunter (The Grandor Descendant Series)

by Stoires, Bell

  After her warning, Lea returned her attention to Malleus Maleficarum, while Chris made faces behind her back, causing Ari to laugh.

  “Oh,” said Lea, trying to keep her voice casual, “I almost forgot to ask; did you tell Ragon… I mean did you tell him about the Grandor descendant?”

  Ari faltered next to Lea. No, she hadn’t told Ragon yet and to be honest, she didn’t know how to. How could she explain to him that the reason she could stop time, see into the future and burst into sunshine was because it was her destiny to destroy vampires? She knew the truth would kill him and couldn’t bear the look on his face when he found out. Ari’s destiny would bring to light all of the initial concerns he’d had about their relationship. He had never understood why Ari could love him… how she could be in love with him. Ari knew that Ragon still thought of himself as a monster, despite everything she had done to try to make him think otherwise.

  No, thought Ari; now as not the time to worry him with this. After their battle with the blood hunter she would tell him.

  “I didn’t see Ragon,” said Ari, “he and the rest of the coven are trying to find out who the blood hunter is.”

  For the next hour, Lea sat with the book in her lap and turned from page to page, reading the Latin text and mumbling to herself. Ari, who had become increasingly worried about Chris, finally turned to her, desperate for a progress report.

  “What are you looking for?” she asked.

  “There should be a sign in here, one that I will recognise so that I know which page the curse was written on,” Lea explained, not looking up.

  “But how will it be on this copy?” asked Ari, thinking that there must have been many editions of this book.

  “As long as this is an original it won’t matter,” Lea explained. “There must be an Effingo spell on the book, so that all original copies also have the details of the curse.”

  “So what is this mark supposed to look like?” Ari asked, looking more closely at the book. “Maybe I could help?”

  “It’s our family sign.”

  “The one on your book of light?” asked Ari, recalling the image of a circle, crescent moon and bird.

  Lea nodded, holding the book out so that Ari could also assist with scanning the pages. The book was very old and weathered, and though it had clearly been printed on heavy parchment, there were many stains on the copy they had stolen from the library. The further they got through the book, the more Ari worried that Lea’s family symbol might have faded, or been torn out and was no longer there.

  “There!” Ari shouted, and both Chris and Lea jumped, startling at Ari’s sudden scream, “at the corner of the page.”

  Lea held the book up so that it was an inch from her face, and stared at the partly torn page. In the corner, barely visible, was half of what was unmistakeably Lea’s family crest.

  “Nice work eagle eye,” said Lea, smiling up at Ari before placing the book on the ground, open to the page of her family crest. “Effingo,” she whispered, pressing her index finger against the mark.

  When Lea pulled her finger away, Ari was surprised to see that the mark was no longer on the page, but had transferred to Lea’s finger instead. Then something strange caught Ari’s eye and she glanced back down at the book. The tiny typed black letters of the print were glowing and re-arranging themselves, sliding across the page or else disappearing entirely.

  “Wow, when you witches do something, you really go all out,” said Chris.

  Chris had sat up in bed and was straining to see. His hair was messy and though his eyes shone with excitement, there was weariness behind them, as if he hadn’t slept for days. When he moved to sit on the floor next to Ari, it was not with the youthful spring of a boy in his mid-twenties, but more akin to that of an old man, well past his prime, when the joints were no longer smooth but degenerated from arthritis. Ari’s concerned eyes met his and he quickly smiled at her. The smile that Ari returned was not a happy one, rather it was worried and guilty, and Chris’s eyes became confused but he did not ask what was wrong; Ari thought that he must already know that his doing magic for her had cost him dearly.

  Looking back down at the book, Ari saw that the new words which had formed on the page were in English and read them out.

  “The Blood Hunter Curse,” she whispered, her heart hammering excitedly in her chest.

  All three heads leaned closer as they began to read the glowing text. No one spoke, but scanned the lines in their heads, contemplating its meaning.

  The Blood Hunter Curse-

  Behold the power that doth sleep,

  And twist and turn and slowly creep

  Never ending, the powerful vine

  Naught destroys this blood line,

  Blood for blood from vessel to vessel,

  Then blood to page to form a trestle

  Smeared in circle from start to end

  Thus the blood power shall be lend

  “But what the hell does that mean?” Chris said dramatically. “We can’t undo it? You witches and your damn riddles.”

  “Oh, we can undo it alright,” said Lea, pointing to an image, “but we need to find a sink for the power; someone will have to take it in. This means that the power of the blood hunter’s line can’t be destroyed; it can only be transferred.”

  A sink; what did that mean? Ari looked down at the picture that Lea had indicated. There was a young woman holding two jugs. Her long hair cascaded down her face, past her shoulders and came to rest near her hips. She appeared to be pouring a liquid of some sort; there was a red jug held up high and its contents were tipping into the empty white jug below. And suddenly Ari understood; you couldn’t destroy the power, you had to find a new home for it.

  “Well there goes that great plan,” said Chris, standing up and staggering back over to his bed.

  “I think you need to rest,” said Ari, turning to look at Chris.

  “I think I just took us on a round trip for nothing,” Chris replied gruffly, bashing his pillow as he tried to get comfortable.

  “Can’t we find something to put it in, rather than someone?” asked Ari, picturing a volcano or lightning bolt.

  “No,” said Lea, looking back down at the book, “it can only go from one soul to another.”

  “So what?” said Ari loudly, “that’s it; we just give up?”

  “No,” said Lea, also standing, “we fight. You’re the Grandor descendant; it’s your destiny to kill vampires and I am with you one hundred percent.”

  As soon as Lea spoke, Ari felt Chris behind her. It seemed Lea’s words had empowered him. He was suddenly looking taller and revived, and somehow confident.

  “That blood hunter doesn’t stand a chance; we have a witch, wraith and the Grandor descendant!” he said.

  “And a heap of vampires,” Ari added.

  “Yea, I am sure they will help too,” Chris replied, smirking.

  Lea let a small giggle fill the room and Ari smiled too. Who knew a witch and a wraith would bond over vampire puns? With the number of tasteless vampire jokes Chris had, Lea and Chris could be lifelong friends.

  Chapter 27 – Some Things Worth Dying For

  The hours leading up until Thomas’s meeting with the blood hunter seemed to slip through the covens fingers, like sand falling through an hour glass. Before they knew it, the filtered sunlight of the day was fading, signalling that it was early afternoon. The group agreed that the best place to wait for instructions from the blood hunter would be in the forest near Delta house, that way they wouldn’t be overheard as they planned their attack. There were nine of them all told; Ari, Ragon, Lea, Chris, Ryder, Patrick, Clyde, Riley and Thomas, and a stranger group you couldn’t imagine. Each was dressed in their own version of loose combat attire. Ryder and Patrick wore matching full length green cargo pants with olive button up shirts and open vests. To top it all off, they had also painted two small black lines across their cheeks, giving them the appearance of particularly well dressed football players.r />
  “See, we blend in perfectly,” said Patrick, laughing.

  On the other hand, Thomas, Ragon and Clyde all wore jeans with long sleeved t-shirts, while Chris wore shorts and a jumper. Ari stared at the holes in Chris’s clothes and wondered for a moment why he had chosen such an obviously worn and beaten outfit, until she recalled his ability to transform into a husky, destroying anything he was wearing at the same time. Wearing second hand clothes was probably a necessity for him, and tonight there might be no warning before he had to shift from man into dog.

  Finally Ari glanced at Lea and then Riley, before looking down at herself. All three wore similar skinny legged jeans with sneakers and casual shirts. It felt oddly comforting to have Riley and Lea there. All three girls weren’t normal and Ari relished in that fact.

  “I err… wanted to thank you for the other night,” said Riley, moving over to Ari as she bit at her lower lip nervously.

  “It was nothing,” Ari replied. “So I take it that the rest of the waeres didn’t want to join in on the fun?”

  Riley looked from Clyde and then back at Ari, shaking her head.

  “Paul and the rest of the pack have left the Isle,” she said, and Ari thought that there was sadness behind her words. “They won’t be back.”

  Ari wanted to ask why Riley had stayed, but she thought she already knew the answer; she was staying for Clyde. For a moment Ari thought it odd that the girl had formed such a strong attachment to Clyde, after only having met him recently, but then she remembered the way the pair had been locked together the other night. Ari knew all too well about Clyde’s charms; he was charismatic, daring, sarcastic and above all, gorgeous. Still, Riley had given up a lot to remain with coven and fight this battle; a battle which she could have just as easily avoided. Ari thought that there must be something more than simply Clyde’s charm which kept Riley there.

  It was easy for Ari to see why Clyde liked Riley so much; there was a kindness to Riley, though it was hidden beneath a tough outer shell. From the way she dressed with her torn jeans and two sizes too big jumper, it was obvious that she didn’t give a damn what others thought about her, and Ari liked that. For a moment she wondered what it might have been like for Riley growing up; living in a world where waeres weren’t supposed to exist, always on the run.

  Unable to stop herself from drawing an obvious parallel, Ari pondered, not for the first time, on what it would have been like if she had of grown up having parents. Would they have known about the Grandor legend; would they have been able to keep her safe? Having the powers that she did, meant that she was always going to be a target, and with this thought, a horrible truth came crashing down on her; if it weren’t for Ari being the Grandor descendant, then her parents would probably still be alive.

  How could she not have realised this before now? She felt sick to her stomach. Kiara had only killed her parents because the Ancients had ordered the attack, and they had only done that because they were afraid of the Grandor descendant. Chill after chill assaulted Ari, creeping up her extremities and settling in her heart, until she felt entirely hollow inside.

  “Are you ok?” asked Riley, just as Chris and Ragon turned to stare at her.

  Ari wanted desperately to tell Ragon everything that she had discovered about her destiny. But now was not the time; she needed to be focused for Sandra. That could be tomorrow’s problem.

  Faking indifference, Ari looked up and shook her head, pretending to have been caught in a day dream as she said, “What? Oh, yea fine.”

  Both Chris and Ragon seemed satisfied and turned away, but Riley continued to stare at her, unconvinced.

  “Have you heard anything yet?” said Ragon, looking over at Thomas expectantly.

  Ever since they had met in the forest, Thomas had been gripping his phone as if his life depended on it. At Ragon’s question he shook his head in an agitated manner, and began pacing around the group.

  The sound of twigs snapping underfoot caught Ari’s attention and she glanced around wildly, trying to find the cause of the disturbance. Before she could make mention of this however, a ringing noise distracted her. Everyone looked at Thomas, who reached for his phone and then answered it, putting it on speaker phone.

  “Where are you?” said Thomas, growling as he spoke through clenched teeth.

  “Meet me in the vampire library and come alone,” a harsh voice replied, echoing oddly around the still forest.

  “How do I even know she is still alive?” Thomas yelled back, the colour draining from his face.

  This question was followed by a long pause; everyone stared at the phone in horror and then a high pitched southern accent rang out from the phone’s speakers.

  “…Thomas is that you? Don’t come, it’s a tra-” Sandra’s scarred voice said, and then the line went dead.

  The group was silent, all staring transfixed at the phone which continued to beep.

  “Isn’t it a bit risky going to the vampire library; there could be other vamps using it?” said Ryder, looking first at Patrick and then over to Thomas.

  Thomas shrugged but Ari thought that Ryder had a point.

  “So what’s the plan?” asked Riley, and all eyes fell on her.

  She was now sitting on the forest floor cross legged, while Clyde stood behind her. It was strange seeing the pair together; could there be an odder match than a vampire and a waere? Ari smiled as she thought about this, recalling her own situation- a vampire and the Grandor descendant. So maybe you can’t choose who you love.

  “Thomas you should go into the library first and we will come in after you. It’s got twenty-four hour access so we shouldn’t have any trouble getting in after you, that way we can catch the blood hunter by surprise. We need to wait until we can see Sandra, then attack,” said Ragon, as the group made their way back along the Three Prong Trek and towards the vampire library.

  “That all sounds great,” said Patrick, “but how exactly are we going to do the attack part?”

  At this both Thomas and Ragon looked hopefully at Ari, who in turn stared guiltily from Lea and Chris.

  “We tried to find a way to break…” said Ari, about to explain about the curse until she felt her throat begin to burn. “We couldn’t find anything to help,” she said finally, covering her mouth as she coughed up white smoke.

  Only Lea and Chris seemed to notice the effects of the binding spell. Ragon had looked momentarily disappointed, before glancing at Thomas’s, whose face had hardened.

  “Well, I thought that Ari could wait until we are all in there and freeze everything; then stab the blood hunter with this,” said Thomas, holding up a small silver blade that was covered in a greyish powder.

  “Do we know for certain that EDTA works on blood hunters the same way that it does on regular vampires?” asked Clyde, looking sceptically at the blade.

  Thomas looked down and shook his head.

  “I’m not thrilled about letting Ari take the blood hunter on by herself while we’re all frozen,” Ragon said.

  “My freeze doesn’t work on Riley,” Ari said quickly.

  “And I could hold the knife and keep away from Ari, so that her freeze can’t work on me wither,” suggested Lea. “I might be able to use a protection spell on myself to-”

  “-hang on a minute, surely the 9 of us will be able to take out one blood hunter,” Chris said quickly.

  “This blood hunter is more powerful than anything you could possibly imagine,” said Thomas, moving over to Lea and handing her the blade.

  But before Lea could take the blade from Thomas, Chris had moved over to him and said, “What’s with you getting all the girls to do your dirty work?”

  Thomas froze then took in a long breath, as if desperate to calm himself.

  “The blood hunter will be able to hear Lea’s heartbeat; he will think that she is mortal and won’t be expecting her to be able to do anything,” Thomas said, taking his time to explain his thoughts.

  “He’s right,” said
Lea, taking the knife.

  It was 6.55 in the evening when the coven, Riley, Ari, Chris and Lea, approached the vampire library. The first thing that Ari saw was a small sign pinned to the front door: ‘Library closed for maintenance. Reopen at 8am.’

  “That’s odd,” said Clyde, looking at the sign, perturbed.

  He moved over to the large doors and grabbing his student ID card from his pocket, swiped it, and waited. The doors did not open. He tried again, quickly wiping the black strip at the back of the card against his jeans, but still there was no movement from the solid glass doors. A grim expression spread across Thomas’s face and he moved over to where Clyde stood and copied his movements, using his own ID card instead. Instantly the glass doors scrambled to open, just a soft hiss spread across the group. What did this mean? Before anyone could react the automatic doors slammed shut and Thomas made to swipe his card again, until Ragon grabbed him by the arm.