by Payne, Jenna
“Of course there was some loss, but it was foreseen. We know the full extent of the hunters’ capabilities now and it will be easier to dwindle their numbers from now on,” I said after explaining to him what I sent Alistair and the men in to the preserve to accomplish.
“Well you seem to have things under control, I believe in you son, make Rochester safe for our kind again,” he said, and I promised that I wouldn’t let him down. After that, I decided to create a plan for how exactly we would capture the hunter woman so that we could get all the information we could out of her.
**
Alina
I washed my face and forced myself not to cry. We had lost four men on a hunting ground patrol and it was by the same armed vampires who showed up in the nature preserve. Only they were more prepared and we killed not one of them. They caught us at dusk in a park we knew the vampires frequented. We of course knew they could show up. But we weren’t prepared for them to know exactly when and where we’d be hunting vampires.
I looked up into the mirror of my bathroom in our hideaway house, the next town over from Rochester. The town of Chester Minnesota was small, but indiscreet. As I looked in the mirror, I saw the disappointment and frustration I was trying to hide from the rest of the guys. It was in my green eyes which were easy to read. I tried to rub some vigor back into my face with a towel, but all it did was make my light brown skin just a bit warm. Maybe I just needed some sleep. I looked tired and worn from our last battle with the vampires, and I needed to show strength for the guys. We wouldn’t lose this fight. We weren’t sent to Minnesota to fail.
There was a knock at the door and I dried my hands before going to answer it. Brody stood there, tall and bulky with muscle, wearing a t-shirt and sweat pants. His shoulders were slumped and he looked just as bad as I did.
“I’ve gathered the guys in the living room, they’re all waiting for you,” Brody said, and I nodded. I took a deep breath and then followed him out to the living room, where only eleven men were gathered around when it should have been fifteen.
“Guys I’m not going to bullshit you; I think we all know that was bad what happened in that park last night. The vampires are smart and they know more than we think they do. We have to be extremely careful and go into our next patrol with our eyes wide open. We have to take more precaution with out movements, don’t have any sensitive conversations out loud, unless we’re here, and always assume something is watching. We underestimated them and paid the price for it. The ultimate price and I don’t want to have to have us all go through that again.” I took a deep breath and met the eyes of each man sitting or standing in the room, focused on me.
“They are using poisonous rounds just as we are, so all it takes is one shot. We need to wear our protective gear always, don’t get cocky, and play it safe. This clean up is going to go a lot slower now so just be patient. We’ll hunt every last vampire in Rochester, if it takes us a year to do it then so be it. What we need to do now is gain more intelligence on this counter-force the vampires let loose against us. We’re going to be cutting our man power in half for night shifts to start up day shifts. We have to get stealthy and kill those things in their sleep.” the guys all bristled with agreement and I took a deep breath to continue.
“Jack, you pick four guys and transition to working during the day. By tomorrow, I want you following every lead you can to learn where the vamps live, where they gather, and most importantly where those bastards fighting back, operate from. Kill any vamp you can and keep communication open.” Jackson nodded to me, and I looked to Brody.
“Brody we’ll need better sweeping systems and tracking. Work with Kevin, because he’ll be our eyes while the rest of us are patrolling hunting grounds,” I said, and both men nodded. “Good then, don’t let last night get to you. We’ll come out on top, we always do,” I said, and the guys gave one hoorah before the meeting was officially over. I needed some quiet time before we went out for another patrol in a few hours, so I went back to my room to lie in bed and relax a little.
Banging on my door forced me to bolt right out of bed. I ran to open the door and saw both Brody and Kevin standing on the other side with expressions of unease.
“What is it?” Kevin handed me one of the larger scanners we had and I saw a cluster of white dots nearby in Chester Woods Park. “They’re here?” I asked, and Brody nodded. “Tell the guys to suit up, we’re going to clean up the park.” both Brody and Kevin hurried into action and I stepped back into my room to get ready. The vampires tended to stay where there was more of a concentration of humans. So it had to be that the vampires fighting against us were in those woods sniffing around, and so early before sundown too. Something was definitely up with this, but we couldn’t just ignore a threat like that. In under ten minutes, we were out of the hideaway and headed toward the park. Kevin stayed behind with the trucks, to help us track down the vamps. We all moved forward cautiously. It was a big park and the vampires had spread out a bit so things were slow going.
A couple of our guys reported two good kills and I felt our team’s confidence growing as we continued to sweep through the park. I hadn’t come across any vampire yet, but I was eager to take some payback on the first one I saw.
“Lina hold up, you have a vamp coming in behind you seven o’clock,” Kevin’s voice warned me from my ear piece, and I turned around to back up against a tree. “Shit Lina, there are two coming at you from both sides. You gotta get some cover quick,” Kevin said, and my heart started to race as I scanned the area for something to hide in. There was nothing but thin spindly trees as I entered a sort of clearing in the park. I was out of options. I decided to gun for the tree line, but I was stiff-armed on the collar. The impact came out of nowhere and I flew back and landed hard on the ground.
In my ear I could hear Kevin calling backup for me, but it was already too late. I was staring up at two pale-faced vampires and they were leveling their guns at me. “Don’t move,” one ordered, while the other tucked away his gun and pulled out some rope. Like I hell I wasn’t going to move. I quickly pulled my sleeve back to shoot the one with his gun pointed at me and he went down much to the shock of the other. He acted quickly though and before I could fully swing my arm around to face him, he kicked me in the temple and I was out like a light.
**
Jeremih
“We managed to get the woman Jeremih, but we took some loss.” Alistair returned just after I did, with the other half of our men. Alistair and his six had taken the north part of the park while I had taken the rest of the men to sweep from the south and travel north. We hadn’t been able to trap all the hunters as we had intended, but at least we got the woman.
“Well it wasn’t a loss by far then, we most likely have their leader,” I said, and Alistair gestured for the men to bring her forth, she was unconscious and she had a black cloth bag over her head. She wore an unzipped black windbreaker that revealed a bulletproof vest, she had unassuming black pants on and black running shoes to match. “Take her into the basement then,” I said, and the men easily carried her out of the front room and directly into the basement. “I’ll question her when she wakes. In the meantime, inform me who we lost.” I asked for the report from Alistair and he filled me in while the men dispersed to rest a bit.
“We lost Paxton, Klaus, and Jeffrey,” Alistair said, and I walked with him into the common room.
“They are disadvantaged by two people yes, but I’m sure they can still function without their leader. We mustn’t return to Chester or they will know that we have learned entirely too much about them and their whereabouts. I want to draw them out. Keep them coming to Rochester and we’ll soon eliminate them all,” I said, and Alistair nodded.
“You’re right. So what will you do with the woman? Take her to your father?” Alistair asked and I shook my head.
“No. I will keep her here to question her. I can’t risk taking her to the coven. Her men could possibly have some tracking device on her th
at we don’t know of yet.” Alistair continued to nod and one of the men came up from the basement.
“Jeremih, she is waking now,” I quickly followed him back to the basement and saw that she was seated in a metal chair with cuffs on her wrists and ankles. She lifted up her head slowly and inhaled deeply. I walked over to her and pulled the black bag from her head. A soft whimper fell from her lips and I felt a strange sensation in my chest as I stared at her.
She was beautiful; her light brown skin was perfectly smooth and her polished features made her as beautiful as any vampire female. She opened her striking green eyes and wet her full lips as her throat worked. Her mouth was no doubt dry from being unconscious for so long.
“Get her some water,” were the first words out of my mouth and she looked at me in surprise. I felt the same gaze from each of my men and I turned to look at Jonathan who hurried to do what I asked. “What is your name?” I asked, and she glanced around at Alistair, Safir, and myself.
“It’s… I’m—my name is Alina,” she stammered, and I crossed my arms over my chest.
“My name is Jeremih. Can you tell me if you have any tracking devices on your person at the moment?” I asked, and Alina swallowed before she opened her mouth to answer, but I cut her off. “See I already know you are going to lie; so can we open up a channel of trust between us? I won’t hurt you if you cooperate. All I asked was if you have a tracking device on you,” I said, and she simply nodded.
“Where is it?” Alistair asked, and Alina glanced between him and me. I nodded and looked at her expectantly, and she pulled her plump lip in between her teeth. Unexpectedly, my cock hardened and I grit my teeth to try and control my ludicrous reaction to the woman.
“It’s in my boot,” she said finally, and Safir walked over to take her boots off.
“Burn them,” I said, and Safir left just as Jonathan came back with the water. I took the glass from him and he handed me a straw. I unwrapped it and put it in the glass and held the glass to her mouth. She looked up at me as if she was baffled by my actions, but slowly leaned forward to sip from the straw. She drank half of the glass before she had her fill and then I set the glass down and watched her a little longer than necessary as she licked her lips.
“How likely is it that they already have this location locked in?” I asked, and she shrugged. Alistair stepped toward her threateningly and my first instinct was to protect her from him. But I forced myself to stay put, and not give away the strange feelings she was causing in me.
“I don’t know. They could have lost the signal depending if you have scramblers or not,” she said, and I had to use quite a bit of energy to ignore the sultry sound of her voice.
“We have scramblers in the trucks and here, but they could have gotten an idea still. We should move her,” Alistair said, and I nodded.
“We must continue to hunt the rest of them down, but you’re right, we need take her to the cabin,” I said, and Alistair nodded.
“We will handle things here then,” Safir said, and I glanced down at Alina as she watched us all carefully.
“Fine. Jonathan, Alistair and I will go. We shouldn’t be gone longer than a few hours. The rest of you should make yourselves scarce from the area just in case,” I said, and then walked over to the set of cabinets along the far wall of the open space. I grabbed a set of restraints for ankles and wrists, and Jonathan secured them on Alina before taking her out of the chair. I held her arm as Alistair covered her head once more and then she walked willingly with us out to my truck. I loaded her into the passenger seat and got in to drive to the cabin we had near Simpson, while Alistair and Jonathan trailed behind.
**
Alina
The ride was long and uncomfortable as my hands were locked behind my back and my ankles were shackled together. Not to mention the stupid black bag they had over my head was itchy and it was hard to breathe in.
“We’ve arrived.” His deep voice was almost soothing as the truck came to a smooth stop. I heard my door being opened and then I was carried out of the truck. He was carrying me? His chest smelled like soap and pine trees. I felt the curiously absent sense of warmth from his body and his heart beat slower than any normal person’s heart should be beating. I wondered if he even needed to breathe.
The next thing I knew I was being set down on something soft and the bag was gently removed from my head. Jeremih studied me for a moment before he stepped back. I glanced around. We were in a cozy cabin. It was nicely decorated and reminded me of something you’d see on the cover of a Christmas card. Jeremih had sat me down on a sofa chair and he stood in front of me like a statue. I couldn’t help but notice how gorgeous he was. He had perfectly angular features and the square jaw, high cheekbones, full lips, and intense brow any male model would kill for. His white skin was exactly that, pale of any warmth or life underneath and I had to remind myself that he was a vampire. He ran his hands through his medium-length blond hair and tucked it behind his ears. He had striking golden eyes that seemed to stare through me. I forced myself to look away from him.
“I won’t hurt you or kill you as long as you cooperate,” he finally said, and I chuckled.
“Yeah but once I give you everything you need, you’re going to kill me, right?” I asked, and Jeremih pressed his lips together, though his expression was completely smooth.
“I’ll keep my word if you answer my questions,” he said, and I snorted.
“I’m not answering anything.” After my statement, the two other vampires showed up and stomped into the cabin with their heavy boots. Glancing at their oddly perfected features, I reminded myself that all the vampires were beautiful, but they were evil and also undead which was why we hunted them. They fed off the blood of innocent living people.
“Alina, this will go a lot smoother if you accept Jeremih’s offer. He is a man of his word.” The one with dark hair and blue eyes spoke either Jonathan or Alistair, as they walked over to the couch. I rolled my eyes.
“He’s not a man, he’s a creature. You all are,” I said simply, and the vampire’s fist moved faster than I could track. I felt hot pain on my jaw and my head snapped to the right. I did catch Jeremih flinch slightly and the other vampire put his hand on the blue eyed one’s shoulder.
“We’re people, just like you are. Our hearts beat. We age. And we die. As of yet, we are deciding to spare your life so don’t ruin that with disrespect,” he said. I simply kept quiet and looked down at my knee.
“Calm down Jonathan, she’ll tell us what we want to know.” That cleared up who was who for me as Alistair spoke to Jonathan. I tasted blood in my mouth from my tooth cutting into my lip, and I decided I was better off keeping my mouth shut before I became someone’s meal.
“We aren’t spending all day in this cabin Alina. What do your men know about us?” Jeremih asked calmly, and I simply kept staring at my knee.
“Maybe you didn’t hear him woman. What do you know about us?” Jonathan grabbed my face in his hand and forced me to look up at him. I spit the blood in my mouth at his face and he slapped me across the face. My vision blurred for a moment and then returned into focus as the left side of my face stung and burned even more.
Jonathan chuckled as he licked some of the blood from around his mouth, and he used the black bag to wipe the rest of it from his face. “You actually taste quite delicious. There is something sweeter and richer about the blood from people with the color of your skin,” he said, before he threw the bag at my chest. Alistair gave him a warning look and Jonathan rolled his eyes.
“Okay, forget about what you know about us. How about you tell us how many hunting teams are in Rochester?” Alistair asked, and I simply stared at him blankly. “Which hunting grounds will your team hit next then?” Alistair gave me another question and I sighed.
Alistair was completely calm and went from standing casually with his hands behind his back to grabbing me from the couch and throwing me to the ground in less than a second. There was a swif
t kick to my side and I heard and felt my rib crack. I stared at three pairs of shoes and then Alistair was in my face with a knife pressed to my jugular.
“Are you really the hunter’s leader?” Alistair asked, with a chillingly calm voice. I squeezed my eyes shut tight as pain lanced and curled through my chest with every breath I tried to take. I could only take in shallow pants, and still, the movement sent shockwaves of pain through my body, curling my toes and fingers even.
I wouldn’t give in though, I wouldn’t tell them anything.
**
Jeremih
I simply watched as Alistair and Jonathan roughed Alina up to try and get her to talk. Though I knew she was less likely to respond to violence than she was to cajoling. We’d have to either starve her to the point where we could use our limited telepathic abilities to try and make out the answers to our questions, beat her within an inch of her life to get her weak enough, or simply wait until she became exhausted enough from lack of sleep. I couldn’t stomach the former options, so someone would have to wait out here with her until she could scarcely fight off fatigue anymore. I knew that if I left her with either Alistair or Jonathan, they’d kill her out of frustration.
“Stop,” I said. Jonathan and Alistair looked up at me from crouching over Alina on the floor. “Come I need a word with you both,” I said, and they followed me outside. “This is pointless and both of you know it!” Alistair cursed, while Jonathan glared at the cabin door.
“Let’s just kill her then. Her team will be at enough of a disadvantage without their leader,” he said, and I shook my head.
“There is still a way to get what we need. Though it will take time. I will probe her mind when she is on the brink of unconsciousness due to fatigue and find all the answers to our questions,” I said. Alistair and Jonathan glanced at each other.
“So you would stay out here with her for three days, at the least, to try and probe her mind?” Alistair asked incredulously.