Brad’s eyes popped. ‘How did you know? We didn’t say any—’
Davis slapped his arm. ‘Shut up! Can’t you see he’s baiting us?’
I couldn’t help smiling. Smart kid. ‘With a name like Nighthunter and a website dedicated to all things vampire, not to mention selling white-oak bullets, which, according to legend—again, on your website—are lethal to vampires...’ I spread out my arms then dropped them on the arms of my chair. ‘Need I say more?’
They exchanged glances before the older one—Davis—slid forward in his seat and rubbed his hands over his knees. ‘All right, we won’t deny it. Which is why we came to see you personally. We’d like to know why you purchased those white-oak bullets. We always do a background check on our clients, so, let’s just say, I was somewhat surprised to learn you’re a policeman.... Detective Inspector Sommers.’
Fuck! I’d been careless. ‘So?’
These kids have clients?
‘Not our usual clientele, if you know what I mean,’ the younger kid piped up. ‘Cops aren’t exactly believers. Kinda the opposite, you know.’
Fancy that. ‘Who is your usual “clientele”? Got a lot?’ More kids with zits?
Still, it got me thinking. How many others knew about the real vampire menace in the city, not just these kids, but the wannabe loonies in their weird Goth clubs. Couldn’t be too many. The Nighthunter website—from what I remembered—had only recently been registered. ‘You only created that website a few months ago. How long have you kids been around?’
‘I told you; we’re not kids.’
‘Yeah, yeah, I know. You’re twenty and studying law at Sydney University. Now answer the question before I boot you out of here.’
They exchanged glances again. ‘Okay, yeah, a few months.’ Brad shifted uncomfortably. ‘But we’re getting more joining us all the time. They’ve lost—’
The older kid slammed his hand on Brad’s shoulder. ‘There are vampires killing adolescents in this city, as I’m sure you know, since you’re a homicide detective. You can’t tell your superiors for fear of ridicule, so you’ve decided to go hunting on your own. No other reason for you to have bought white-oak bullets from us. Am I right?’
This kid was twenty going on sixty.
I released a curt breath. ‘Maybe.’
The younger kid hopped to his feet, a fever of energy burning in his eyes. ‘C’mon tell us, will ya? You guys have done nothing but cover it up! A vampire killed my sister. Sucked the blood right out of her. Two bite marks here,’ —he dug two fingers into the side of his neck— ‘and more over the rest of her body, and some weirdo didn’t suck it out of her with a syringe, as the cops told us. The doc doing the autopsy said they found saliva on her throat, and it wasn’t hers. She was’ —his eyes filled with tears— ‘fed on by more than one.’ He angrily swiped them away. ‘She was only thirteen. I wanna kill them!’
So that was it.
I thought back three months, to the dead kids we’d found. Munro had said it had been rogue elements among his miserable kind who’d committed those murders. I’d hated it, but at the time, I’d had no choice but to share information with him. True to his word, he caught and executed those responsible. He’d left me information where to find the bodies—in the burnt wreckage of an old, abandoned theatre in Rozelle.
The killings had stopped after that. But the damage had been done, and it was standing right in front of me.
These weren’t seasoned vampire hunters; they were barely adult vigilantes looking for revenge. The teen I could understand, but the twenty-year old would be lawyer? What was his excuse?
‘I’m sorry, son.’ I turned to Davis. ‘What’s your score in this?’
His eyes narrowed. ‘Seems I underestimated you, detective. I came to question you, yet we’re the ones giving the answers.’
I bit back a laugh. ‘Fancy that. Still waiting on yours.’
Davis pointed to his backpack. ‘Mind if I show you something? It’ll explain my position better than I can.’
I tensed. ‘Unzip it, then lift your hands and slide it over with your foot. I want to take a look first.’
He shrugged. ‘Sure.’
Inside was an old wooden box, a drink bottle and a notebook. Nothing suspicious. ‘What’s in the box?’
‘Stuff. It belonged to my great-grandfather before being passed down the line to me. It hasn’t been used in all that time.’
‘Open it—slowly.’
I leaned forward to get a closer look. What’s in fuck’s sake was all that? Inside a red-velvet-lined box was the most outlandish collection I’d ever seen: a small, weird male figurine with lion’s head and a set of extended double wings, a small box with half-a-dozen thumb length darts (white oak?), a long, narrow wooden cylinder that looked suspiciously like a blow gun, and an old-fashioned pistol with white-oak bullets. Yep, I know those. There was also a large sharpened stake and hammer.
‘What the hell is this?’
He looked me dead in the eyes. ‘A vampire-hunter’s kit. I ... ah, need to add a bulb of garlic. You have any in the kitchen?’
Now I’ve seen everything. Heaven give me patience! These kids had no idea what they were dealing with or that most of the stuff in that kit was useless, especially that grotesque figurine. What the hell was that? Now, the white-bullets on the other hand ...
‘The boxes of bullets you sent me. They’re from this kit?’ I pointed to the box.
‘Only one of them,’ Davis replied. ‘There’s not enough here, so we got the other one from elsewhere.’
My radar went up. ‘Where from?’
‘Avi—uh—place in France.’
Now that was interesting. It explained the delay between deliveries of the same order: they’d been waiting for the second box to arrive from overseas.
Ha! I couldn’t believe my luck. I hadn’t had time to organise the special permit to take my gun overseas. Probably wouldn’t have gotten it anyway. I was hoping to get hold of some white-oak bullets while over there. Yet these kids knew exactly where to get some. And the gun that fired them too, I’d bet. Perhaps a more experienced group of vampire hunters, too.
They could come in handy.
Just maybe ... ‘You have a contact there? How did you find out about them?’
Again they exchanged a glance, and Brad gave the older kid a nod. ‘Might as well. It’s not like he’s gonna go over there tomorrow and suss ‘em out; is he?’
I nearly barked out a laugh. Kid, if you only knew!
Davis reached into his vampire kit. From a hidden compartment, he pulled out a worn-looking, faded red-leather-bound book stuck together with tape. He held it just out of my reach. ‘Found this when checking through the box. It looked ready to fall apart, so I taped up the worst bits. No one but vampire hunters know about this secret book. Do I have your promise not to reveal this information to anyone?’
‘Like who’s going to believe me?’ And that was a fact.
There were handwritten notes on the appearance and characteristics of vampires. Even pencil colour sketches of their lavender-hued eyes. Laura’s face shot into my mind. I shook my head to clear it. One sheet of paper showed graphic descriptions on how to kill them. I memorized it, as I doubted they’d let me photocopy it.
What these kids had was a vampire-hunter’s manual.
So that’s where they got the info for their website.
Further in were lists of names and addresses scrawled in different hands. Couldn’t read a lot of them. On some, the ink had faded. From the ones I could make out, the initials PZ stood out.
‘What’s the PZ stand for?’
‘Um ....’ He dropped his gaze. Definitely hiding something. ‘It’s my grandfather’s kit. He’s in a nursing home, recently diagnosed with dementia. He told me our family history; stuff my dad never mentioned. Gramps said he wanted me to know everything before he lost it all, including where to find the kit.’ He tapped the box. ‘He said that it now belonged to me and
... that if needed, I should carry on the family tradition. I tried to remember everything he said as he’s regressing more and more each day.’ Davis blinked a few times and ran his sleeve across his eyes. ‘Frickin’ unfair! He’s only sixty-four.’
‘I’m sorry, kid.’ I meant it.
‘Life’s really crap sometimes, especially to those who don’t deserve it. He’s a top bloke, really. Looked after me and mum after dad ran off to Bali when I was nine, the loser.’
What else was there to say? Some men should never be fathers.
A second later, he perked up and gave me an embarrassed smile. ‘Argh, I didn’t come here to blub.’
‘It’s okay. You’re allowed to be human.’ Unlike other things out there.
He nodded and a grin split his face. ‘And that’s why we’ve formed Nighthunter, in honour of Gramps.’ Davis turned to his younger mate, and they bumped fists.
Heaven help me!
Something else caught my eye—some of the names in the book had either the initial “V” or “VN” after them. No date anywhere. These papers could be a century old, maybe older. Definitely before the age of typewriters. ‘I’m assuming the V stands for vampire?’ The kids nodded. ‘So what’s the VN?’
‘Vampire nest.’
Ah huh! Made sense. The addresses with those initials next to them had been crossed out. Presumably wiped out by the vampire hunters? Most of those were from overseas. I didn’t recognise any Australian locations. Laura—hell, I wished my damn stomach wouldn’t roll like that every time I thought of her—had mentioned that her father’s side of the family had arrived here from France over a hundred-and-fifty years ago: the human and the bloodsucking sides.
Had the vampire hunters followed them here? If they had, why was there no mention of the Lebrettan house in Vaucluse? Or any other vampire nests if there were over a hundred bloodsuckers in this city alone? Or had Lebrettan and Munro kept such a tight rein on their bloodsucking lot that vampire hunters had been unnecessary before now?
I needed answers.
‘Davis, how long has your family been in Australia?’
Davis’s head flinched back slightly, brows creased. ‘What’s that got to do with anything?’
‘Just humour me, okay?’
He shrugged. ‘1890s.’
‘From the UK?’
‘Yeah.’
‘Same.’ And that’s all they needed to know. Perhaps finding some common ground would get these kids to open up more.
‘We tried to contact the names from the ones we could make out,’ the younger kid said. ‘See how many were still around. Only one answered us, the French dude. We got the white-oak bullets from him.’
Things were slipping into place.
So Davis’s family brought the case over from the UK when they emigrated. Before that, it hadn’t been used for ages. It certainly hadn’t been used since ... or had it?
‘You inherited that, right?’ I indicated the box.
‘Well, yeah. I told you: I’m from a long line of vampire hunters—’
‘Who hadn’t been doing much hunting in a long time. What happened?’
Davis locked his hands behind his head and gazed up at the ceiling before panning back to me.
Take your time, kid! I resisted the urge to roll my eyes and looked at my watch instead. Shit! I didn’t have much time left.
‘Like I said, the box belonged to my gramps. His pa had been a vampire hunter but they’d used a different name. He didn’t say what it was. Said his pa forbade him to mention it. Only said they’d come here to keep up the fight, like they’d given it up back in the old country or something. But soon after arriving here, they’d given it up too. That’s all he’d said, and all I know.’ He shrugged.
Although I would’ve preferred to swallow acid, I had to hand it Lebrettan and Munro. They’d kept a tight rein on their bloodsuckers in all that time if Davis’s family had stopped hunting—until the murders during Laura’s ritual induction into the “family.”
If it happened once, it could happen again.
I had no time to waste. But there was one more thing.
I leafed through the book. Had to be an address somewhere in here I could use. There! Two French ones: one in Paris and the other ...
‘Can you read that?’ I turned the book to Davis.
‘Avi—’ He glanced at me, sighed, and then read the rest. ‘Avignon. He’s the one who wrote back.’
My luck was definitely holding out. I’d booked a flight direct to Avignon, plus car hire. According to the newspaper article, the Lebrettan estate was located neat there. As far as I could tell, it was only a short drive to D’Antonville.
It couldn’t be any better. ‘He the one who sent the bullets?’
‘Ahhh ... no. That came from a guy in Paris.’
Other side of the country. Not ideal. Perhaps the guy in Avignon could help out there. I took a photo of the page—and the notebook—then stood and did the same with Davis’s box before closing the lid. ‘Thanks. Now it’s time for you go.’
Brad stood, fists clenched. ‘What! That’s it? No! We came here hoping you’d join us.’
‘Not tonight, fellas.’
‘But you believe us, right? Otherwise you would’ve chucked us out sooner.’ Davis tucked the box into his backpack.
‘Not denying it.’ I strode to the door and opened it.
Brad gawked at me, open-mouthed. ‘Then ... then ... I don’t get you, man. You could help us.’
‘There’s no “us.” Believe me when I tell you; you’re way out of your league.’
‘I’m the great, great-grandson of a vampire hunter. My family’s been killing them for centuries. It’s in my blood, so don’t tell me I’m out of my league.’ Davis’s chin could not have stuck out any further.
I sighed. ‘Listen son, you’re the only so-called vampire hunter around, yet there’s more than a hundred vampires. Doesn’t that tell you something?’
‘You mean there’s more than one?’
‘A hundred and twenty to be precise.’
They paled and exchanged a glance. Obviously they couldn’t make a decision without checking with each other.
‘Shit! We need more white-oak bullets—’
Oh, for fuck’s sake!
‘And more guns—’
‘That’ll shoot more than one bullet.’
‘Yeah! Think the priest can give us some more holy water?’
‘And garlic. Mum’s got stacks—’
I slammed the door shut. They jumped. ‘All right, let me put this another way. If you kids attempt to stake anyone you suspect of being a vampire, I’ll have you arrested. Understand?’
‘You’re kidding!’ Davis gawked at me.
No, I wasn’t. I crossed my arms over my chest and gave them my stoniest expression. ‘You think? Try me.’
Brad’s nostrils flared, his eyes turning cold, hard and flinty. ‘They killed my sister! Now I’m going to get them. Besides, they’re not human, so it doesn’t count.’
‘Let me make a few things clear. One,’ I held up a finger. ‘You’re both too young and inexperienced to go up against vampires. You’d be dead before you opened your box. Two...’ I held up another finger. ‘Apart from white oak, there’s nothing in there that will kill them. Three, they’re powerful, lightening fast and can hypnotise your puny brains into doing exactly as they want. And fourthly, antique or not, you need a license for that pistol.’
For a moment, they just stared at me open-mouthed.
‘We need a license for an old gun?’ Brad finally asked.
Bloody hell! ‘Didn’t you hear any of those first points I made?’
‘Course, we did. So, you going to help us?’
Heaven help me. I resisted the urge to throttle them and throw them out of my apartment. Didn’t matter which order.
Hell! Eighteen and twenty. They were just kids, yet so determined to kill some vampires. And in Brad’s case, avenge his murdered sister. I had a sink
ing feeling nothing would deter them: not threats of arrest, nor the terrible danger they’d be exposing themselves to.
I rubbed my face. Tiredness and frustration sparked an idea—a lesser crazy alternative but still risky nonetheless.
“After all, they’re not human,” the kid had said.
Did I have the balls to suggest it?
After all, they’re not human, played over and over in my mind. What if they were caught, or worse, got hurt in the process?
Could I risk their lives?
I went to the glass cabinet, pulled out a bottle of whisky and took a swig. What kind of arsehole asks a couple of idiot kids to do that?
‘With or without your help, we’re going to find them and kill them,’ Davis said, and the younger kid nodded.
Decision made.
I took another swig of the bottle, stuck it back in the cabinet and turned to face them. ‘There’s a way you can destroy a whole bunch of them in one go without having to go anywhere near one.’ They stared at me like two eager puppies. I felt like shit, but if these kids were determined... ‘How good are you at arson?’
‘Um ... never really—’
Brad elbowed Davis. ‘I knew you’d know where to find them! Where they hide out during the day. Want us to burn it down?’
‘It’ll probably be guarded. It’s risky, and you might get caught, or worse, get hurt. Still want to do it?’
My palms began to sweat. I had no right asking them to do this.
Too late to back out now.
No, it isn’t! my conscience screamed at me. But they’re not human, I mentally yelled back.
‘There’s a bunch of us. We can suss the place out, get around the guards.’ Brad looked to Davis for confirmation.
The twenty-year-old nodded. ‘Where is this house? Are the vamps inside?’
I gave a slow nod. ‘Many. The place you want is in ... Vaucluse.’
Chapter 20 - Kari’s Run
KARI
C’mon, hurry up, daylight! Never thought I’d ever say that, but I needed the sun to rise, now! I wove from tree to tree. Branches here were thick and some were covered in blossoms. Even Old Stinky’s talons would have trouble getting through them.
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