“The reason that I will be removed as a trainer, and probably expelled from the hunter society, has nothing to do with what has happened, but is about what I plan on doing next. The inquiry will find that Christina is responsible for the ambush and those higher up the chain of command will decide how she should be dealt with. I don’t plan on giving them that opportunity. I will deal with her myself.”
He could feel the tension filling the room. It was Natalie who spoke first. “You plan on killing her.” It was a statement, not a question.
He forced himself to look at her, expecting to see hate and anger on her face, but instead all he could see was sad acceptance. “Yes, I do.”
“No,” Jonathon said and all eyes turned to him. “You are not going to kill her. We are.” The tone of his voice told everyone present that there was no room for argument. He had made his decision and nobody could stop him. JD had other ideas.
“I will be doing this on my own,” he said, “and as your trainer I am ordering you not to get involved. I told her once that I would drain every drop of blood from her body and I intend to do just that.” He and Jonathon stared at each other and eventually Jonathon dropped his gaze.
JD softened his tone. “However, this Sanctuary does not run under a dictatorship, so we’re going to put this to the vote. The options are that we leave this to others to deal with and do not become involved, or I take care of things by myself. There is no third option.”
He looked around him, reading the uncertainty in everyone’s eyes. The only person he refused to turn toward was Sarah. He hadn’t discussed this with her and couldn’t face seeing her reaction. “Jane has already cast her vote.”
“This is madness,” Doc said. “Do you know what you’re risking? Forget losing your position as our trainer. Forget being expelled from our society. You’re talking about killing a human. They could have you executed.”
“I know,” JD said. “But I very much doubt they’ll go that far.”
“I can’t let you do this,” Doc continued. “I’m not saying Christina does not deserve to die. She does. But I won’t agree to letting you risk your life to do it.”
“We risk our lives every day dad,” Scott said.
“That’s different.”
JD held up his hand, silencing Scott’s retort. “We have one vote for, one against,” he said. He then turned his attention to Silvia, who shook her head.
“This is not something I should be having a say in. I abstain.” Nobody tried to change her mind.
“Scott?”
“Do it.”
“Jonathon?”
“It has to be done and I trust you to get the job done quickly. You have my vote. And Katie’s.”
“Craig?”
Craig squeezed Natalie’s hand tight and was looking at her when he replied. “I’m sorry, but I have to agree with JD. This is something that we need to take care of ourselves. Christina knows too much about us. We have no idea what other dangers we will face while she is still alive.”
“I know,” she said. She then turned to look at JD. “I will track her down for you.”
“You don’t have to do this,” he said.
“Yes, I do.” There was steel in her voice and her face held a grim determination. “I love my sister, but she tried to take everything away from me for her own petty vengeance. She has to be stopped and her death is the only way.”
There was only one person left to ask and JD dreaded doing so. He could feel Sarah’s eyes on him and was shaking slightly as he turned his head toward her.
“If you get expelled, I will have to break off all contact with Craig and everyone else here. You’re asking me to turn my back on this life I have chosen to become part of.”
“Yes, I am.” There was no doubt in anyone’s minds that whatever happened to JD, Sarah would stay by his side. Neither of them saw the look that passed between Jonathon, Craig and Scott.
“My only concern,” she continued, “is the affect it will have on you.” Her attention was fixed solely on JD. “You have never killed a human before. Will you be able to live with yourself afterward?”
“Yes.” They stared at each other, both forgetting that there was anyone else in the room. JD had put his plan to the vote, but in reality all he cared about was what Sarah would say.
“Do it,” she eventually said.
“You are all insane,” Doc said and left the room, slamming the door behind him. Silvia ran after him.
“So when do you want to do this?” Jonathon asked.
“The sooner the better,” JD replied.
Natalie took her phone out of her pocket, but Craig took it away from her before she could dial. “Don’t let her know any of us are alive,” he said. “Just try to find out where she is.” Natalie nodded. “Are you really sure you want to do this?” Again she nodded, then took her phone back.
She looked up Christina’s number, switched on the loudspeaker and hit dial. Silence filled the room as they heard the phone on the other end ring. “Hi Natalie,” a cheerful voice sounded and Scott wasn’t the only one to feel a shiver run down his back.
“Christina, where are you? I need you. They’re dead. They are all dead.” Natalie was a good actress. She sounded really scared.
She wasn’t the only one who knew how to act. “What are you talking about? Who’s dead?” Christina’s voice rang out.
“All of the hunters from 14. They never came back from their hunt last night. After you left, we waited and waited. Eventually Doc called Sanctuary 7 and they went looking for them. All they found were dead bodies.”
There was silence on the other end of the phone and everyone could picture Christina grinning.
“Craig’s dead Christina,” Natalie continued, managing to make her voice break as she spoke. “I need you. Please come home.”
“I am so so sorry.” Christina actually sounded sincere. “But I can’t face going back there. You’ll have to come to me. I’m where we used to live. When I knew I was going to be kicked out, I hunted down Parker. He wasn’t in the house when we were rescued so I knew he was still alive. I know he treated us badly, but going back to him is better than being alone.”
“I’ll come tonight. I’ll have to sneak out and steal one of the cars,” Natalie said and ended the call. She looked around and saw that everyone was looking at her. “You all heard where she is. Parker is the vampire that used to own us. I can’t understand how she could go back to him.”
“Well that explains a few things,” Sarah said.
“Like why vampires have been behaving so oddly recently,” Jonathon said. “Christina must have told this Parker everything she knew and he has been working with others to put plans in place to dispose of us.”
The conversation was interrupted by Doc returning. “I’ve just spoken with 7,” he said. “I told them of JD’s plan and unfortunately they won’t interfere. They just want to know when you plan on doing this and where you will be going.” He did not sound pleased.
“Tonight,” JD said. “I will give you the address.”
When he left to go to his office, he took Sarah with him. He needed to find his report on the hunt that they found Christina and Natalie on as it would contain the address of the building they had been sent to. Once he found it, he put it aside and took out a blank sheet of paper.
Sarah watched as he carefully wrote his resignation letter. It was a lot harder to do than he had been expecting. Though he couldn’t explain why, it was something he felt he had to do by hand rather than on the computer. When he had finished, Sarah took his pen from him and wrote her own. “In case some idiot actually accepts yours,” she said.
They then went to see Doc, first to give him the address, secondly to hand over their letters. He looked completely worn out. “I’ll put them with the rest,” he said.
“What rest?” Sarah asked.
Doc looked at them both in surprise. “You mean you don’t know?”
He took a small pile of
papers out of a drawer. “The others have also handed me their resignations.” He let them fall onto the desk, one at a time. “Craig. Jonathon. Scott. Even Katie. I’ve been asked to keep hold of these until we know what will happen to you two. I’m to submit them only if I need to.”
Sarah raised her eyebrows at JD. “Well you can’t complain about their loyalty to you.”
“I’ll do a damn sight more than complain about it. I’m going to kill the little idiots.” JD looked at Doc. “Tear them up.”
Doc shook his head. “Sorry, I can’t do that. And there is nothing you can do either. Technically they’re no longer your students so they don’t have to obey you anymore.”
JD looked utterly perplexed. Sarah couldn’t help herself and burst out laughing. “They’ve managed to outmanoeuvre you this time.”
“If this wasn’t so serious,” Doc said, “I would be proud of them. As it is, I’m with JD. Murdering them sounds very good right now.”
————————————-∞————————————-
Darkness fell and JD changed into his hunting suit. He had no idea if Christina would be alone, so he was going prepared for a fight.
“Are you really sure you want to do this?” Sarah asked as she did up his jacket for him.
“I have to.” He did not sound enthusiastic.
She placed his sword in the scabbard on his back then took his face in her hands. “Don’t get killed,” she said then kissed him.
He took her hand and they left their room. They walked down the staircase and were half way down the corridor before they noticed that Scott, Craig and Jonathon were waiting for them at the front door. All three were dressed ready for a hunt.
“What’s going on?” JD asked, though there could only be one possible explanation.
“We’re coming with you,” Craig said.
“And,” Jonathon added, “as we’re no longer hunters, brother dearest, there’s nothing you can do to stop us.”
JD didn’t even try to argue. Instead, he turned to look at Sarah and said in the voice of someone who has accepted the inevitable, “Go and get changed.”
He watched her race up the stairs then went to the arena and collected her sword.
“You do realise that they may let me keep my position as your trainer, don’t you,” he said to the three young men when he returned. They nodded. “And if they do, you are all in a hell of a lot of trouble.”
If JD was intending to scare them, he failed. Scott grinned at him. “We’re going to be over the moon if we’re all still in a position where you can punish us so we’re prepared to accept whatever torture you decide to subject us to.”
JD shook his head. Nothing he could say would get through to them so he gave up trying.
Doc arrived before Sarah did and he did not look happy. “I’m beginning to think I’m the only sane person left in the hunter society,” he said as he approached.
“What’s up dad?” Scott asked.
“I phoned 7 to let them know where you’re going tonight and I was hoping that they would find a way of stopping you. Instead they have noted down in their logs that they’re sending you on a hunt to the address I just gave them. They’re even sending Sanctuary 1 to collect the bodies. They are expecting at least one human casualty, killed by the vampires inside.”
Sarah approached as Doc was talking and got the gist of the conversation. “Looks like you’ll be destroying a few letters.”
“Except mine,” JD said. “That has to be submitted.”
“It won’t be accepted though,” Jonathon said.
“You had better start praying that it is,” JD said. “I’m pretty pissed that you three have disobeyed me. Punishing you is going to be fun. For me.”
“Get going,” Doc said. “I’m not happy about this; it’s going to be an execution rather than a hunt, but I have done all I can to try and stop you. Don’t get injured out there.”
Before anyone replied, he turned and walked away.
“You heard the man,” JD said. “Let’s go. But remember, Christina is mine.”
It was a clear night with very few cars on the road. They arrived at their destination and parked by the kerb. Nobody spoke as they made their way to the back of the building. The door was locked and Craig had to suppress a shiver as he picked the lock; it was usually Simon who took on that task.
“We don’t know if there are any vampires inside,” JD whispered to them before he opened the door, “so assume that there are and treat this the same as any other hunt. Watch each others’ backs.”
It was dark inside, but the moonlight shining through the windows was sufficient for everyone to see him signalling for one group to head up the stairs and another to search the ground floor. JD headed to the basement alone.
The door to the room Christina and Natalie had been held prisoner in was ajar and light was flowing through the gap. Voices were coming from inside and JD paused to listen.
“You’re sure that your plan worked and that everyone is dead?” an unknown male baritone rang out.
“Of course,” he heard Christina reply. “Natalie wouldn’t lie to me. Your fellow vampires did their job well.”
“Then where are they? Why did none of them return?”
“Do you really care? The hunters from 14 are very good. Maybe they managed to kill all of their attackers before succumbing to their wounds. Maybe other hunters turned up after JD and his friends were all dead. Who knows? Who cares? JD is dead. Nothing else matters.”
“I still don’t understand why you came to me with all of the information you knew and why you set them all up to die.”
“It’s simple. I wanted JD but that bitch Sarah was in the way. I told you where the Sanctuary was in the hope that one of your vampire friends would kill her. When that failed, I realised that if I couldn’t have JD, I didn’t want anyone to have him. I had you organise the ambush in order to kill him. The others were just collateral damage.”
JD had heard enough. He slowly pushed open the door and was pleased when it gave a protesting creak. Two pairs of eyes were on him when he stepped into the room.
“N...n...n...no,” Christina stammered. “You’re supposed to be dead.”
“Sorry to disappoint you. But I once made you a promise and I’m here to make good on it.”
The vampire was a tall, lean man with a scraggy black beard. JD paid him no attention as he fixed his eyes on Christina. He drew his sword and moved toward her, holding it out in front of him so it was pointing toward her throat as he advanced.
Almost carelessly he swung it around as he passed the vampire, neatly slicing his head from his shoulders. Christina screamed.
JD stopped before he reached her. “I didn’t want to come here,” he said, “but you gave me no choice.”
“I’m human,” she said. “Not a vampire.” She had moved as far away from him as she could, pushing back against the wall as if she was hoping it would open up and provide her with an escape route.
“Human? That’s debatable. After what you have done, many would disagree with you.”
“You can’t kill me,” she said, her eyes wide with terror. “It’s against your rules.”
He smiled. “All rules went out of the window when you set up your little ambush.” He took a step closer and she began to whimper. “If you had just come after me, I would let you live, but you went after the people I love. For that you must pay.”
“What are you going to do?” she asked, her voice breaking as she reached the end of the sentence.
“I told you once that I would drain all of your blood and I’m here to collect.” He dropped his sword onto the bed and took the remaining two steps needed to close the gap between them. He was so close to her he could feel her breath on his face as she began to hyperventilate.
He placed one hand against the wall, preventing her from escaping, and leaned in close enough to softly touch her neck with his fangs.
Then he suddenly
drew away. “I can’t do it,” he said. His surprise at his own inability to make the kill was evident in his voice. A glimmer of hope began to fill her eyes. “The thought of having any of your blood inside me makes me feel physically sick.”
He stepped back and looked her up and down, like a predator assessing his prey. Then he stepped forward once more and gently placed his hands against her cheeks, ignoring the dampness caused by her tears. “But what you have done is unforgivable and for that you must die.”
In one fluid movement, he twisted her head around, snapping her neck. He released his hold on her and her body slumped to the ground. He looked at her crumpled corpse and, without turning around, said, “I know you’re there Sarah.”
Sarah walked up to him and slipped her hand in his. “Are you alright?”
“It had to be done,” was all he said.
We have some vampires to kill
The day was bright and sunny, but nobody in Sanctuary 14 was cheerful. All of the hunters were dressed in their hunting gear, except for Jonathon and Katie. Doc had not given his permission for her to leave the house and Jonathon elected to stay with her, rather than leave her on her own.
“Are you sure I’m permitted to attend?” Natalie asked Craig as they walked down the stairs. “I thought only members of the hunter society were allowed to go to a hunter’s funeral.”
He squeezed her hand tightly. “You are a member of the hunter society. You’ve lived here long enough.”
“So it has nothing to do with her sharing your bed then,” Scott’s voice sounded behind them.
“Scott,” Silvia reprimanded. “That comment was not needed.”
JD, Sarah and Jane were waiting by the front door. Without a word, JD picked up his keys and led them to his car. The journey to the church was made in silence. Nobody had anything to say. It was the first hunter funeral that Sarah had attended and she hoped that it would be an experience that she would never have to repeat, though she knew that would not be the case.
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