Legacy of Darkness

by Andersson, A C

  “Now” Summer said gravely “Let’s see how you like having your guts ripped out of your body”

  Instead of been afraid as Summer had hoped Steve burst out laughing.

  “What in the hell is so funny” demanded Summer who was Angry and somewhat confused by the Vampires reaction to her threat

  “You haven’t even noticed have you?” Steve chuckled

  “Noticed what?”

  “So consumed by vengeance and anger you forgot about your friend, where is Mr Price I wonder”

  Summer looked around the room quickly realising that Steve was right, Price was no where to be seen. Summer was struck with a terrible sinking feeling that the Vampires had him. But before Summer had time to think another thought Steve had leapt back up to his feet taking advantage of Summer’s distracted state. Unfortunately for Steve Summer reacted quickly and Swung her sword, the Katana cut through the air at high velocity before slicing through Steve’s neck. His severed head hitting the floor seconds before it and his body burst into dust.

  Without wasting a beat Summer turned on her heels and ran towards the exit of the Police station and outside where Price’s car was still parked against the pavement. As Summer reached the car and peered through the window in the slim hope Price may be in there her phone started to ring. Summer took the phone out of her pocket and checked the caller ID, it was Giles Price’s number. But as she answered the mobile the voice she heard on the other end wasn’t his.

  Chapter twenty

  Price woke up on a small wooden chair with a throbbing head and hazy vision he didn’t know where he was and he couldn’t remember what had happened. All he could recall was climbing out of his BMW as Summer raced towards the Police Station. His intentions were to follow his Demon Hunter inside but before he could everything had turned black. Price shook his head trying to clear the cobwebs but nothing would come to him. At least his eyesight was starting to return for what good it did. He was clearly in a very dark and small room and he couldn’t really see very much at all. As he continued to regain his bearings Price was amazed to find he hadn’t been bound to the chair. He tried to stand but was so unsteady on his legs that he fell right back into the chair. “Maybe I need a little more time to recuperate” Price thought to himself as he begun to hear what sounded like footsteps coming towards him from outside the room. If he wasn’t very much mistaken it sounded as if they were coming up the stairs. Price could also hear rotting floor boards creaking as who or whatever had kidnapped him came increasingly closer to his room.

  The door swung open and a hooded figure holding a flickering candle strolled into the room.

  “Lucius I presume” Price said doing his best to hide his fear

  “How very perceptive of you” Lucius replied as he placed his candle on a small table near were Price sat concussed on his chair. “I trust you are comfortable”

  “You didn’t even tie me up” Price commented

  “That’s because you can’t escape” Lucius explained as he pulled back his hood revealing his totally repulsive face. “You weren’t knocked out by a blow to the head you were injected by a serum that simulates concussion and give’s the recipient a mild form of paralysis, I have recruits in MI5, in fact I have Vampires everywhere, hidden in all walks of life. Even if you weren’t injected with the serum I would catch you before you even got to the stairs.”

  “Is this your plan, your going to talk me to death” Price said defiantly

  “Who said anything about killing you” Lucius laughed heartily

  “Then what do you want from me” asked a suddenly concerned Price, if they weren’t going to kill him surly they had something far worse in store.

  “Your big brain of course” Lucius said as she tapped Price’s forehead with a bony looking finger. “As the last surviving member of the Guardians of Knowledge you have so much information stored in that mind of your’s that you are far to valuable to kill”

  “What makes you think I will tell you anything” Price said in a determined voice

  “Oh you will tell us what we want to know, one way or another”

  Giles price was about to give a defiant retort when something seemed to catch Lucius’s attention.

  “You hear that” Lucius asked in a sinister tone “I think we have company, sounds like Demon Hunter si here”

  A cold shiver ran down Giles Price’s spine as Lucius gave him an evil grin. It was the one thing he had been fearing since his capture, Summer attempting to rescue him. She was walking right into a trap and almost certain death.

  Summer answered her ringing mobile phone and was greeted by the cold emotionless tone’s of a Vampire, a Vampire that quickly introduced himself as Lucius.

  “Judging by the fact you have answered this call I can assume Steven is dead” Lucius said coldly. He obviously didn’t care about the welfare of his recruits.

  “Yeah he’s dust” Summer confirmed unable to hide the anger in her voice

  “Unfortunate but not totally unexpected, I’m sure you have already figured out that I have your Mentor. Don’t worry he is still alive…..for now”

  “Is this the part where I ask what do you want me to do” Summer said bitterly

  “indeed it is” Lucius responded the tone of his voice never changing. “I want you to meet me at the following address and I don’t have to warn you that if you don’t come alone I will kill him instantly. His only chance of survival is if you do exactly as I say.”

  “Don’t worry I will” Summer responded reluctantly

  “I hope you do” Lucius threatened “For his sake if not yours” The Vampire proceeded to tell Summer his address before hanging up the phone. Even though Summer was aware she was been lured into a trap she knew she had to go. Though she imagined if he could Price would have told her to leave him to die. But there was no way she was going to lose anyone else, all the senseless killing would stop tonight. As Summer climbed into Price’s car she promised herself that she would rescue him no matter what. No one else was going to die on her watch.

  Summer pulled up outside the address that Lucius had given her and wasn’t surprised to find it to be a run down old house with boarded up windows and decaying brickwork. Summer guessed that from the looks of the place that no human’s had occupied the building for a very long time. It was the prefect hideout for a Vampire. Summer opened the glove box inside Price’s white BMW and found exactly what she was looking for, a small torch.

  Torch and Katana in hand Summer climbed out of the car and closed the door. Securing the sword in belt behind her back Summer cautiously approach the front of the house. Tentatively she pushed her right hand against the old wooden door and as she expected is swung open, creaking like something from a horror movie as it did so. Keeping her senses alert and taking slow careful steps Summer Richards walked into the decaying house. Thanks to the boarded up windows it was practically pitch black inside, making Summer thankful for the torch. But her heart soon sank when she switched it on to find a dim and very weak beam of light. Still it was better then nothing, she shook the flashlight a couple of times to try and get more power out of it with little success. Resigned to the fact that it was the best she was going to get from the torch Summer walked into what would have been the front room. Almost instantly she was hit by the foul stench of death and she wondered how many innocent victims had been butchered in this very house. Summer found nothing as she scoured the rooms on the ground floor if anyone was in the house they were obviously upstairs. Summer was concerned about the lack of life and the harrowing silence that filled the rotting building. She was being led into a trap of that she had no doubt and if push came to shove she wasn’t sure if she would be able to fight her way out.

  Walking back into the hallway Summer began to ascend the stairs. Like the rest of the house the wooden stairs were on their last legs and every step Summer took seemed to send creeks and groans reverberating through the entire house. “So much for the element of surprise.” If some o
ne was waiting for her Summer knew that they had heard her coming now. With little choice Summer pressed on climbing up to the top of the stair case.

  At the top of the stair case across the landing was a door that Summer assumed led into the master bedroom. On her right were three more doors, at a guess two bedrooms and one bathroom. Summer paused for a second as she decided her best course of action, but all her thoughts became irrelevant as the door in front of her suddenly burst open. Summer instantly recognised Lucius from her dreams as he walked out of the room. There was no way she could forget his inhuman face that through age was permanently fixed in its demonic visage.

  Straight away Summer could feel a different aura from Lucius than the other Vampire’s, he had an air of authority about him and a confidence that suggested he felt Summer was no more than a pebble on his path. A pebble he would just kick aside with distain.

  A thin smile full of malice spread across the ancient Vampire’s face as he took a step towards her.

  “Lucius” Summer said bitterly

  “Summer” Lucius replied, there wasn’t a shred of humanity in his cold and empty tones.

  “It’s nice to finally meet you” he told her insincerely as he stared deep into her eyes doing his best to intimate the Demon Hunter

  “Thanks!” replied sarcastically to Lucius’s annoyance

  “Your humourless quips and wit wont help you now” Lucius retorted “You should know your place and fear me. I am hunger and the world is my banquette, when I feast thou shalt not stand in my way, thou shalt not stop me!.”

  “Then I will die trying” Summer shot back defiantly as she took a step towards the ancient Vampire. Lucius reacted in kind taking a methodical step towards the Demon Hunter who surely knew she was out matched. With no room on the narrow landing to wield her sword Summer threw the first punch. It was easily blocked by Lucius who threw a punch of his own with his free hand. This time however it was Summer who blocked as she brought up her left forearm. The Vampire was quickest to react smashing his opponent with a crushing head butt across her nose. The Hunters nose broke in an explosion of blood and cartilage and she staggered back precariously close to the stairs. Seeing his positional advantage Lucius hit Summer with a strong round house kick that connected with her Sternum. The force of the blow sent summer flying backwards down the stairs. Summer fell backwards rolling down the stairs and landing in a crumpled heap at the bottom.

  A battered and bruised Summer felt immense pain In every part of her body and couldn’t be sure if she hadn’t broken any bones. If it wasn’t for her Demon Hunter super powers the fall would of almost certainly killed her. As it was she was still alive though she was still bleeding heavily from her broken nose. As she looked up she saw death stalking her in the form of Lucius, who was slowly walking down the stairs towards her as if he had all the time in the world. In the Vampires mind the fight was already over and a big part of Summer knew it as well.

  “You were a fool to come here” Lucius taunted in his cold and emotionless voice. “you must have known you couldn’t defeat me so what did you hope to achieve.”

  Summer didn’t respond instead she staggered to her feet and then fell back to her knees. Seeing the hilt of the sword that Summer had tried to conceal behind her back Lucius grabbed it and placed the blade against her neck. But instead of decapitating the fallen Demon Hunter the Vampire laughed and tossed the weapon away. Summer looked at the Vampire in confusion as she heard the clatter of steel hitting the wooden floor.

  “That would have been too easy” Lucius laughed “I don’t need a weapon to defeat you. Back in the day I was told that the Hunter’s were powerful and dangerous enemies yet all the ones I have faced have been weak, pathetic creatures without an ounce of fight in them. You do not deserve an honourable death instead I shall kill you with my bare hands”

  The gloating Vampire was suddenly stunned into silence as the seemingly beaten Hunter rose to her feet and wiped the blood from her face with the back of her hand. She started the into the cold red eyes of the hideous demon that stood before her. If this was to be her final stand then she refused to go down with a whimper.

  But the fall had taken it’s toll and as Summer and wasn’t long before Lucius gained the advantage as the two adversaries traded blows. The Vampire King hammered Summer with blow after blow until she dropped back down to her knees beaten and exhausted.

  “Before I kill you” Lucius mocked “Tell me what is it that you fight for. Surely not your fellow humans. Do you not watch or read the news, do you not see what is right in front of you? Human’s are the true monsters in this world, you kill one another with a depraved aplomb. In fact humans kill more humans than any Vampire ever could. You live in a cesspool of greed and intolerance and this is what you defend with your life? I am here to cleanse the earth, to rid this planet of the cancer that is humanity”

  “I fight because it’s the right thing to do” Summer said defiantly “I fight because I choose to”

  “Then you choose death” Lucius laughed “Look at you there is nothing left for you to fight for no Mother, no Lover and very soon no Mentor, you have lost everything. As the Vampire finished his sentence he aimed a fierce kick towards Summers bloodied and bruised face. But to his utter astonishment the Hunter caught his foot in mid air.

  “Not everything” Summer declared as she stood up twisting Lucius ankle in the process sending the Vampire hurtling towards the floor. “I’ve still go me” Summer finished as the demon hit the deck landing hard on his back. The Vampire sprung back to his feet clearly annoyed that the Demon Hunter had out manoeuvred him.

  “Bring it!” Summer said as she motioned her hand similar to how she had seen Bruce Lee in his famous kung fu films.

  He came at her with anger burning in her eyes and launched into a fury filled attack. It was if he felt embarrassed by Summers’s refusal to give in and he began throwing wild punches that Summer dodged and avoided with ease. The Hunter’s new plan of attack was baffling the Vampire. She wasn’t even trying to fight him anymore, instead concentrating her energies on avoiding his blows. It wasn’t long before Summer’s strategy started to pay off as Lucius became visibly frustrated at his inability to connect with any of his blows.

  Growing increasingly agitated Lucius threw another wild punch that failed to connected with its intended target, only this time Summer grabbed hold of his wrist. With the Vampire caught off guard Summer connected with a hard palm heel strike. The blow struck Lucius on the chin, snapping his head back in a whiplash like effect. The Vampire was stunned and Summer was quick to take advantage, going to town on the ancient demon with a series of hard blows. Several quick fire punches to Lucius’s mid-section and a sharp kick to the knee cap forced the Vampire to fall to his knees. The Demon Hunter finished her attack with a stiff round house kick to the back of the Vampires head.

  The sheer force of the blow to the back of the skull saw Lucius collapse in a heap on the floor. For a few moments at least he was knocked out cold. Pulling her wooden stake from her jacket pocket Summer straddled the unconscious Vampire and raised her hands up high poised to stake Lucius through his un-dead heart. But before she could bring the stake down the Vampires eyes snapped open and a sinister smile spread across his face.

  “You think you have won” Lucius told her dryly “But there’s a storm coming and it will destroy everything in its path. We are the ever expanding darkness and we shall extinguish all light even that which flickers most brightly.”

  “Whatever” Summer said “either way your still dust” and with those defiant words Summer plunged her stake deep into Lucius’s black heart, the Vampire exploded into a cloud of ash and dust.

  Brushing the Vampire dust off her clothes Summer picked her self up and walked up the stairs in search of Price, finding her guardian alive and well in the room Lucius had come out of.

  “Your alive” said a stunned Price as Summer walked through the door

  “Don’t sound too surprised
” She replied sarcastically as she smiled happy to see her new friend was un harmed.

  “Your going to have to help me down the stairs I’m afraid” Price told her “I seem to have lost most of the feeling in my legs”

  Summer gave Price an alarmed look before he assured her the feeling would return soon enough. The Hunter explained the fight with Lucius as she picked up Price and carried him down the stairs and to his car. She helped her Mentor into the passenger seat before climbing into the drivers side. As Summer sat in the BMW’s leather seats many thoughts rushed through her mind. It had been a gruelling and horrible few weeks and at times Summer hadn’t been sure if she could make it through. Even though she had and against all the odds Summer knew it was just the beginning. There was a storm coming and its rage would know no bounds.

  Epilogue

  Harry Worthington sat behind his antique oak desk impatiently awaiting his Home Secretary Alison Jane Holiday. She was a gifted young politician who often looked at things from different angles to your standard MP which allowed her to come up with some very different yet enterprising ideas. She was first enlisted as an adviser but she swiftly moved up the ranks to win a seat in the cabinet, a much sought after seat at that. The Home Secretary was often seen as the third most important seat after Prime Minister and Chancellor. Of course because of her youth and beauty it was often cited that those were they only reason she got her position. Some tabloids even suggested that Harry was having an affair with Alice, utter nonsense and without a shred of evidence to back up their claims they were forced to apologise and pay Harry a large sum of money. Which he then gave to charity on Alice

  ’s advice “It was good PR” she had explained and she had been right, for a few weeks Harry had a ten percent lead in the poles. Harry was snapped out of his thoughts by the sound of knocking at his office door.