Vampire for Hire: The Nephalem Files (Book 2)

by Douglas Wayne

"Interesting. But tell me. Why should I help one of your kind?"

  "If you are innocent, I may be the only salvation you have. I was sent by the International Council of Wizards to investigate one of the deaths in particular. The longer I'm here, the more anxious they get. Unless you want this place to be swarming with wizards, you may want to give me a hand."

  He laughed. "You have no proof I did anything. If your kind insists of coming here to start a war, I assure you, we will fight back."

  "Whoa!" I said, putting my hands in front of me. "I don't want it to come to that, but I bet someone does. Your number was in the stall for a reason. I'm going to assume you are telling the truth."

  "Wise choice," he frowned.

  "I need your help. Anything to figure out who is behind all of this."

  Silas stood there for a minute, rubbing his chin. My stomach churned as he made his decision, knowing I may have pushed things a bit too far. Too many lives were lost in the last war between our kind, if the treaty were to be broken now, there would be no end to the bloodshed until one side was obliterated.

  "I'll make you a deal, Raymond. It seems I have a problem of my own I could use some help with. If you are willing to scratch my back, I'll be willing to scratch yours."

  "Depends on the job." The council wouldn't be happy if I took on a personal task while I was here. They already had me on watch. As far as I knew, they had someone in town watching my every move.

  "I assure you, it is a simple task." He smiled, licking his dry lips. He pulled a smart phone out of his lower right pocket and started working on something. Within a minute he stopped and placed the phone on the hood of my car standing upright, using the kickstand he pulled out of the case. He looked at me waiting for my approval, pressing play on the video when he saw my nod.

  The video was a Youtube clip featuring a man wearing a light gray zip-up hoodie over a pair of light gray sweat pants.

  "What am I looking at?" I asked.

  "The man you see is named Evan Cook. He has gained a reputation of being a rather astute vampire hunter over the last few months. He has been moving across the city hunting my kind."

  I laughed. "So its OK when you hunt them, but not when they hunt you?"

  "Do you want your information or not?"

  Silas had me where he wanted me and knew it. I didn't want that information as much as I needed it. "Can you at least turn it up?"

  "It's maxed," he said, proving it.

  During our discussion the man turned to the camera and started saying something I couldn't quite make out. If the quality was better I might have been able to read his lips, but the cameraman had a definite problem holding the lens still. After a minute or two of the silent monologuing his head juts to the right, the camera followed shortly behind centering on a door in the middle of an alleyway.

  "That was Niles, a close associate of mine."

  Was.

  Without saying as much, he was implying that the person on film was dead. The kind of thing you learn to pick up on after your first few cases.

  Niles took a few steps out of the building before a small explosion went off further down the alley, drawing his attention. The camera zoomed back in on Evan as he darted down the street shortly after holding a long wooden tomato stake. From the angle of the video you couldn't see the stake go into his heart, but you knew it was there when Niles started convulsing before his muscles failed, sending him crashing to the ground. The camera panned back to Evan who did more of his silent monologuing before returning to Niles for the killing blow, which happened to be a nice clean decapitation using a blue-handled machete. If there was one thing positive to say about the video it's that the kill was quick, but I doubt that's any consolation to Silas or the rest of the vampires here in Cinci.

  Silas turned off the phone the moment the video ended, visually disturbed at what he saw. I leaned back against the hood for a moment to think about the video while giving him a few moments to compose himself.

  "Did he kill the others like that too?"

  "He posted that video not long after he did it, followed by another the next night. There were no less than seven up before we caught on to it. The first few were just like this, using a distraction to get the job done, but the victims started to get smart."

  "It was only a matter of time before someone caught on. The distractions weren't going to work forever."

  "And they didn't. The forth video would have been his last, but we learned he had an edge. Something we weren't prepared for." He opened up his duster and pulled a small black metal box out of one of the inside pockets. After placing it on the hood of the car, he pulled back the latch to open it up.

  Inside there were two vials full of what looked to be blood and a small plastic syringe with a rubber cap over the needle in between. "He gathered what blood he could from Niles into vials similar to these. We don't know for sure, but he probably did the same to the others."

  "Why would he want to save the blood?" I asked, holding it up to the moonlight to get a better look.

  "He's been injecting it into his body."

  I looked over at Silas, not bothering to hide my surprise. Drinking the blood I could see someone actually trying, considering you need to feed off of a vampire to turn into one. Of course, the few that know about that, don't realize the vampire has to be living.

  I'm not sure living is the proper term, but it's the only one I have. In short, I mean the vampire has to still be his new version of alive for it to work. Injecting it was new to me. It had to take a new level of crazy for someone to want to do that.

  He shook his head when he saw I was confused. "Injecting vampire blood into the bloodstream of a normal person turns them into a dhampyr, a sick half-vampire creature that ends up with most of our strengths, yet none of our weaknesses."

  "So you want me to take him down for you since you can't seem to take him down under even footing?"

  Silas laughed boldly at my claim. "I welcomed his challenge," he said with a smile. "I bested him nearly a week ago in an alley just for blocks from here. He tried to ambush me the same way he did Niles."

  "Explosion and all?"

  He nodded. "It was a small bomb wired into a two-way radio." He handed me the radio after pulling it out of another one of his pockets. "I pulled this one off his belt."

  "So if you can handle him, why would you need me?"

  "After my fight, I took everything he had on him. Weapons. Money. The vials of blood." He hesitated for a moment before he continued. "I had one of my familiars follow him home that evening to make sure he wouldn't cause us any more trouble."

  "A vampire with a heart. I'm touched. But there's more to your story. I guess that means he isn't leaving you alone."

  "He spent that night in his den drinking a few dozen beers before passing out in a drunken stupor on his living room couch."

  "You lost me," I said, scratching my head. "Sounds like he's going to leave you alone."

  "He would've until his wife got involved." He pulled up a few pictures on his phone. Much like the videos, they are out of focus and hardly a help. I could tell most of them were taken in the city, but the locations were a mystery.

  "What is this?" I asked, pointing to a white blur in the middle of one of the pictures.

  "That's his wife," he said.

  "I'm waiting for the punch line," I said, referencing an ugly joke.

  "She knew all about her husband's endeavors and how he was able to pull them off. One week ago, one of my associates ran into a new vampire." He upper lip curled. "Unmarked."

  "One of the originals come to town?" To my knowledge there was only one set of vampires that walked through the world without a mark, and those were the first vampires. How they were created is still unknown and not really important. I understood why Max was so concerned if one of those was wandering around here.

  "No. This one is far too young to be one of the elders."

  "How do you know that for sure?" I asked the obvious
questions. There was a good chance he hadn't ever seen one of the elders, let alone all of them. How could you tell the difference between an elder and an unmarked vampire?

  "When you are first turned, you feel a hunger that's impossible to satiate. This is why our patrons keep us in isolation for the first few nights, feeding us on blood collected from our familiars. Otherwise there's a risk we could kill enough civilians for the authorities to take notice."

  "I see where that might be a problem."

  He nodded. "The true problem is the increased risk on them turning another. The last thing we need is a city full of rogue vampires. It would give us a bad name."

  I stifled a laugh. Unless you are a teenage girl who reads too many Stephanie Meyer books, vampires already had a bad name in most circles. Some people find it hard to respect a species that treats society like a bunch of cattle, just here to feed them. I couldn't say that I personally liked them though I had respect for what they could do.

  "Sounds like a fun time," I said. "The only thing I need to know from you is where to find her."

  - 9 -

  "Just call if you get into any trouble," Silas said, shutting the door behind me. We drove for nearly an hour to get to the spot, a state park just outside the city. If she was here, it meant she knew she had a problem and was trying to find a way to escape it, or at least eliminate the chance of killing someone she loved. It isn't odd to see young vampires doing something similar in their first few months of renewed life. Many of the human thoughts and emotions are still not severed enough to allow their minds to understand their new primal desires. Some will run off into the wilderness to feed on the wildlife for a time until they learn their hunger can't be tamed as easily by using animal blood.

  Before Silas left, I pulled out my phone to make sure it had a signal out here. The last thing I wanted was to be stuck out here in the middle of nowhere without knowing where to go.

  "Not going to help?" I asked, noticing I still had three bars.

  He shook his head. "If you want my information, you do this on your own. Let me warn you, however. Freshly turned vampires tend to be... dangerous."

  My eyes widened at the word. "Your kind is already dangerous. How can a new one be any worse?"

  "Imagine fighting ten of us at one time," he said. "Only imagine that I'm fighting with the ferocity of a raccoon backed into a corner while protecting her young. They are very vicious. Willing to do anything to stay alive."

  "That would've been good information to have before you brought me all the way out here."

  "You never asked," he said, smiling.

  "Where is here, anyways?"

  "East Fork State Park."

  "So you are telling me to be on the lookout for dead campers."

  He nodded and rolled up the window, stopping when it was two inches from closed. "I should warn you. Evan is also hunting her now. So you should be prepared to deal with him too."

  I shook my head in disgust. "Your information better be good."

  "Don't worry, Mr. Gilmore. It will be what you are looking for. There may even be some financial compensation involved for your troubles." Silas didn't stick around for my reaction, instead his car sped off down the gravel road, throwing a cloud of dust into the air.

  Him offering payment other than the information told me how dangerous this task would be. That being said, it also made it easier for me to swallow, especially knowing the council wants me to make good on the car payment as well.

  I pulled out my Maglite once the car was gone and flicked it on. Thanks to its long metal stock, it was one of my favorites when out looking for trouble since it could easily double as a blunt weapon. That's probably the same reason the police had a habit of confiscating them whenever the pulled me over. After a while I learned to keep them locked in the trunk, but it didn't slow down the searches. Once you gain the reputation of carrying weapons, it's difficult to break.

  The challenges of hunting a vampire differ based on where you decide to hunt. In the confines of a city, you can get some help on the vision front thanks to street lights and passing cars. Neither will do any serious damage to a vampire, but it will give you a chance to see them. Of course, it wouldn't do you any good if you couldn't tell them apart from the drug using community that also happens to come out in higher numbers at night.

  Out in the woods the only hope you have a chance of spotting one without light is on a clear night. Ideally one with a full moon to illuminate the sky. Of course, those nights tend to be fraught with other challenges, namely werewolves looking for another meal Tonight, thanks to the light drizzle and the full canopy of the woods, I'll need the light.

  With the car long gone, the nocturnal wildlife springs to life. Crickets chirp as I walk through the thick vegetation of the forest floor, stopping only long enough for me to pass. I swung my flashlight back and forth, nearly jumping out of my skin when it stopped on the beady glowing eyes of an owl. After the scare, I decide it would be a good idea to pull back the flap of my jacket to allow me to have quick access to my staff and sword, currently strapped to a holster on my belt. If a vampire, or other creature like a bobcat or wolf, were to attack, I wanted to be able to pull the blade out with minimal fuss. I couldn't pull it out early, however. If I were to come across something more dangerous, having my hands full could be fatal as many spells require at least one of them to be open.

  After walking a few minutes I eventually found a game trail and started following it to the north. While I couldn't speak for newborn vampires, I knew werewolves were more than willing to feed on the wildlife that inhabits the forests. If Evan's wife came here to get away from the city, there was a good chance she was following a trail like this.

  The game tail opened up the longer I followed it, eventually leading me to water. Moonlight reflected on the surface of the lake, peeking through the shadowy tendrils of the passing clouds as the rain moved out. I took a seat on a large boulder resting near the lake, giving my legs a rest. I'm not sure how large the park is, but if the size of the lake was any indication, I would be in for a very long night. Or maybe even weeks.

  And that's saying I'm able to find her.

  City-bound vampires tend to create a resting place deep in a basement or cellar of a building. The lucky ones will have their lairs guarded by well-armed familiars or with a wizard's wards. I've never been able to find one willing to pay my price though. I knew one or two regular clients would be all it took to change my fortunes forever.

  In the wild, however, a vampire could be anywhere. Obvious places are caves and old bomb shelters though any alcove that provided shelter from the sun all day would suffice in a pinch. Out here in the state park, it wouldn't surprise me if she broke into one of the campers and killed the residents, just to have a safe spot to stay during the day.

  I pulled off my shoe to remove a rock when I heard the sound of crumpling leaves off in the tree line. Rushing to get my shoe back on, I dropped the flashlight into the lake, the bright light illuminated a school of bluegill as they darted off to safety. Once I had my shoe back on and tied, I reached into the water to retrieve the light, nearly jumping when one of the fish that was hidden closer to the bank brushed my hand in its escape. I shook the flashlight to remove any excess water when I felt cold steel against the side of my bare neck.

  "What are you doing out here?" a man's voice said, moving the blade with my body when I attempted to move.

  "I'm out on a hike," I said, trying to stay still. "Come out here all the time."

  "Who is foolish enough to come into a place like this late at night. Alone nonetheless."

  "Me, for one."

  He relaxed his grip on the blade enough for me turn around though he kept the machete close to my throat.

  "You must be Evan," I said, noticing the camouflage outfit he wore in the last two videos. "I'm a subscriber on Youtube."

  He looked at me with his head turned sideways. "How would you know about those?"

  I pulled ou
t my phone and tried to pull one up, but came up empty on my search. "I know I found it on here earlier today."

  "If you saw the video, it means you are one of them." He balled his fist and pulled the blade back, baring his teeth for his strike.

  "Hardly." I opened my mouth wide to show him my teeth. Every last one accounted for, with none of them extra pointy. Once his grip relaxed on his sword, I pulled out one of my business cards. "The name's Raymond."

  "What the hell is a paranormal investigator?" he asked.

  Trying to explain what I do to a layman can be as pleasant as stepping on a thumbtack while barefoot, but I tried anyways. "People hire me to look into anything paranormal," I said. "Vampires. Werewolves. Faeries. Spirits. You name it, I do it."

  He laughed. "That stuff isn't real."

  "Says the guy posting videos of himself killing vampires."

  The moment I said that, the expression wiped clean off his face. He backed a few steps away and started pacing back and forth between two fallen trees about ten feet away.

  "I'm here looking for a particularly nasty vampire tonight," I said, preparing for his strike. "A young woman."

  His head darts my way the moment I said it. "You so much as lay a hand on her and I'll kill you."

  I raised my hands and backed away. "She is dangerous," I said. "If she doesn't learn to control her hunger, it will consume her." I didn't mention that the other vampires would probably hunt her as well once her newfound powers stabilized.

  "So you aren't here to kill her?" he asked, lowering his blade.

  I shook my head. "Not if I can help it. I know a few people who may help her learn control."

  "Let me guess. Vampires."

  I nodded. I knew he wasn't happy to hear it coming out of my mouth, but I thought it might calm him down enough to let me work. "They aren't happy about what you've done, but if you promise to stop hunting them, they may be willing to help her." It was a stretch, I know, but I needed to get him calmed down more than anything. To be fair, Silas never told me I had to kill her, only take care of her. He may be just as happy if I capture her.