“You met a vitan?” Claire asked, seeming concerned.
“Yeah, his name was Shad, and he was a complete chauvinist pig. He actually began to lecture me about how I should not be out fighting—that he and his vitans were here now, so I didn’t need to fight anymore, blah, blah, blah.” I mocked what Shad had told me last week.
“Hm.” She let out a sigh.
“Well…do you know about them or what? And what is his deal?” I asked. She obviously knew something about them.
“You didn’t tell him your name, did you?” Claire asked.
“No. We started arguing before I even considered doing that.” I laughed.
“Well, that’s good. And you haven’t seen him since?” she asked.
“No, I haven’t.” I wondered where the conversation would go.
“Okay, well, let me give you a short version or you’re going to miss your assignment.” She took a deep breath. “They are basically a society of people who dedicate their lives to fighting the undead. They’ve been around since, basically, the undeads have been, and they are in a constant battle with them. The men train, from birth, to become these vitan soldiers. They, like the undeads, have their own secret society and council that they keep from the human population, even though they are human. They are said to be the only real threat to the undead population. They are exceptionally skilled, but any of them I’ve met have been extremely stubborn and old-fashioned.
“You really shouldn’t worry about them; they pose no threat to you. I can see how they would have a problem with a female fighter, but you’re not a part of their society, so it shouldn’t be their concern. And since you didn’t give them your name, and considering how busy they are, I’m sure they won’t try to convert you.
“They’re probably coming to this area because of the same reason that I’m sending you out on this particular assignment tonight. You see, there has been some talk around our undead world.” She grimaced. “It seems that someone is trying to gain more territory and is starting to scout this area. This is extremely strange, considering our location, but myself and the city would benefit if this area remained unclaimed. The only way, I believe, to do this, would be to basically kill off the scouters. You see, it’s probably just someone new to power, or someone wanting to gain power, so if we—well, you—kill them, it will make whoever sent them think the area is already claimed and they’ll move on. As you may or may not be aware of, vampires and werewolves like to claim territories as their own—the same way that human gangs claim areas as theirs—so that they will know everything that goes on in that area, run the trades, and so forth. Most major areas are already claimed, but there are small pockets of areas that aren’t claimed, because they’re not big enough. I think that’s why it’s been pretty quiet this week, because no one wants to be around when they’re tracking.
“Most undeads, like me, would rather not be forced to join, or pick sides of, whoever wants to claim an area. Usually, when one, say a vampire, wants an area, a werewolf, of course, will want it too, and that’s when sides have to be picked. It’s really messy business, not to mention annoying, because then they try and make you follow their rules. And I barely follow my own rules, so I’m sure as hell not going to follow someone else’s. I’ve got an inside source that they’re starting the scouting tonight, so you must really be on your game,” she said, giving me a look-over. “These will not be amateurs, but there shouldn’t be too many, because it’s only the first night.” Her eyes lit up. “I wish so much that I could go with you, but seeing as the undead can sense one another, I would only hinder your abilities.” She sighed. “Do you have all your gear?”
“Yes,” I said as I double-checked my belt. My stake, check; healing vile, check; and a small Swiss army knife, check. I had everything, so she could send me on my way now. I’d honestly barely listened to what she said, but I got the main points. Vitans suck, and kill the trackers, or we’ll have a ton of undeads here all the time, because they want to claim the territory.
“So where are the trackers supposed to be?” I asked Claire.
“I know they’re meeting with Lyal at his place, because he is my source on this one, but there is a catch.” She paused. “You see, his cousin is part of the group that is coming to track the area. She doesn’t want to move from her current area, and she’s actually trying to get out of the gang, so when they come, let the shape shifter get away,” Claire ordered.
“Wait a sec…back up,” I said, confused. “Who is Lyal?” I asked.
“No one of concern. I promise.” She smiled. “He’s a shape shifter, and they’ll be leaving his house on Third in about twenty minutes.” She looked down at her watch. “He told his cousin that she is to run off because she ‘hears something.’ So when you see her do this, you can go in to kill the rest.”
“You’re sure of this?” I questioned her. “You know what they’ll do if they find out about a hunter being in this area? They’ll send hundreds, Claire, and I’m not comfortable with another undead knowing who I am, even a shape shifter.”
“I know this!” She raised her voice. “I am not a fool. Lyal does not know of you; he only knows that I can help him with his cousin’s problem. I have not told anyone of you, Caylee. Stop questioning me. Do you want the mission or not?” she said, agitated.
“Well of course I do. I’m just making sure that there’ll be no loose ends,” I said to her.
“I never leave lose ends. Now go! Lyal lives on Third. His cousin is a panther. You’ll be able to tell by your bracelet, which you probably won’t even need, since it’ll be quite obvious when you see her.”
*****
I’d made it onto Third. It was five to one, and any minute they would be walking out of Lyal’s. I had propped myself onto a second story balcony. I planned on sliding down, once they walked by, and following them, until we were clear of most human activity.
The door opened below me and five undeads walked out. The first one that caught my eye had to be Lyal’s cousin. She had pitch-black hair and jungle-green eyes. This was definitely the panther. I looked down at my bracelet and an evergreen color appeared, so I was right on this one. The next undead, behind her, was huge and had long, brown, scruffy hair. Maybe a bear, I thought. As I looked down at my bracelet, it was an ugly, mud-brown color. A werewolf? Shit, I hadn’t seen a were since I had hunted in the Dukes. It took all six of us just to injure the thing enough so Kevin could cut off its head. This definitely was going to be a challenge, like Claire had said.
The next two were vampires, each showing a strawberry-red color on my bracelet. The last one waved at the others, and stepped back inside before I got a clear look at him. Must have been Lyal, I assumed, then waited until they were around the corner before I came down.
For the next ten minutes, it was the typical ‘run and duck’ cover operation. I waited until they were finally in ‘the dead city.’ It was the place, whenever I had a choice, where I liked to fight the undead. There were abandoned buildings everywhere, which meant lots of leverage and hiding places—if I needed them. Also, in this part of town, no humans would get involved. I still was unsure of why Lyal’s cousin was still with them. She should have run off long ago. Her running off was my key to attack. I picked up a rock and threw it as far to the right of me as possible, hoping she would take the opportunity.
“I think I heard something,” she said finally, and I sighed. “I’m going to go check it out,” she told the rest of her gang.
I watched as she took off, and after a few moments, I figured she had to be far enough away. I waited, trying to think of the best way to approach this, when her gang started talking.
“You know, she’s been acting funny all night,” one of the vampires said.
“I thought the same thing but didn’t want to say anything. And I didn’t hear anything, besides maybe a stupid stone fall, and since we are surrounded by old buildings, I’ve been hearing that all night,” the other vampire said.
“Maybe one of us should follow her then,” the werewolf spoke up.
“Definitely,” the two vampires said together.
“I’ll go then. My wolf can catch up to her panther any day,” the werewolf said confidently with a smile.
“I don’t think that’ll be necessary,” I said, finally stepping out and revealing myself. I couldn’t let one of them leave and come back with Lyal’s cousin. Knowing she would then be forced to fight as well, four versus one didn’t sound as good as three versus one.
“Is this a joke?” asked the amused werewolf.
“I’m not laughing,” I said boldly, trying to hide the fear in my voice.
“So, Lyal lied then. There are vitans here. But I’ve never seen a female one before. I wonder if they taste better,” the werewolf said with a laugh.
“No, vitans are too proud to allow females to fight. She must be a rogue hunger,” one of the vampires said, and they all laughed.
“Alone, are we?” the werewolf asked me. Why did they always harp on the fact of me being alone? It was becoming annoying.
“Well, I call shotgun!” the werewolf shouted to the rest of them. “I haven’t fed in a week.” He flashed his sharp canines at me.
“Fine,” the vampires hissed. “At least leave us a scrap. We’ve never tried a female hunter before.”
I then watched as the werewolf started to transform. My body stood dumbfounded for a minute, because it really was fascinating to watch the man turn into a beast, but I knew I needed to strike him before he fully transformed. I waited until the vampires stepped back, not wanting to be thrashed by it when I attacked the werewolf. He was almost full were and had just dropped to all fours as I ran up to him in a full sprint, and drop-kicked him in the head with my steel-toe boots. I watched as he collapsed to the ground, with a wounded dog squeal. He hadn’t expected me to strike before he was transitioned. His fault.
One down. I pulled out my trusted baby from my belt, holding it, waiting for the moment to let it out in full-force.
“Surround her!” The vampire on the left said.
“You’re dead now,” they said as they separated and walked towards me. One coming in from the right, and the other from the left. I waited until I could feel them trying to push into my mind. Tricky how vampires could do that, but if you knew it was coming, you could guard yourself against it. I could pretend to act according to them though. I slowly began to drop my stake, like they were pursuing me to do. When they were each about a foot away, on my left and my right, I stepped back. Then I held out my stake horizontally, so when I pushed the magic button, it entered into both of their hearts perfectly.
Good thing they were around the same height. They fell to the ground, still connected by my stake. They were now paralyzed and their eyes widened as they realized death was coming to them. A death I was happy to deliver.
“Fuck!” I screamed as I felt knives run down my back as my body fell forward and crashed to the ground. I’d forgotten about the werewolf. Those were actually claws, not knives. How had I forgotten about him? I turned my body and kicked up my feet, barely impacting the werewolf at all, but enough for me to get away from his grasp for a second. I got up to face the creature that was currently circling me and readying his second attack. I reached for the only thing I had left on my belt, which was a small Swiss army knife. “Well, Caylee, it was a good run,” I said out loud to myself, knowing my fate.
My eyes looked to where my stake was still inserted in the two vampires. They were beginning to blacken. I needed to get back to that stake if I had a chance. Unlucky for me, it was behind the werewolf. I could feel my body weaken as the blood flowed from my back from the werewolf’s first strike. I had to get to that stake, so I decided to charge the werewolf, with my Swiss army knife.
My charge seemed to startle him, but he began running at me as well. I waited until he was inches away, then made my body dive to the right of him, which was inches from where my stake was—now finally sitting in a pile of ashes. I missed it though and flipped over, just in time to see the werewolf jump on top of me. His claws tore at my stomach as his mouth reached for my throat. I could feel the muscles of my abdomen tear as I screamed out in pain.
My hand took the small, one-inch Swiss army blade and tried to stab the werewolf, but he wasn’t budging. I finally hit my target, which was his eye. He squealed and grabbed his eye, giving me the second I needed to reach up, grab my stake, and push it into its second gear. It elongated into a sliver blade, and as the werewolf was still clutching his eye, I stood before him and sliced off his head.
One glance at my stomach and all I could see was red everywhere. My body began shaking and my ears were hollowing out as my vision became blurry, and a rustic, bitter taste tainted my tongue. I needed to get my potion or I was going to pass out and die. I felt at my belt but nothing was there. It must have been torn off. My eyes frantically searched the ground, but all that was there was more blood—my blood, everywhere. I only had seconds left, when my eyes finally caught the vile, reflecting from the moon’s light. Thank god, I thought as I walked over to it, threw off the cap and dumped it all into my mouth. There was no way I would make it home, even if the potion was successful in saving my life. Luckily, my phone was near the vile, and I picked it up and pushed the number ‘2’ on my speed dial.
“Hello, Caylee. Caylee?” Claire shouted as I tried to catch my breath to speak. “Where are you?” she shouted frantically.
“Claire, I think I’m going to die. You should probably come and get me,” I said as I dropped the phone and felt my body begin to fall. Everything was in slow motion as I waited for the impact of my body on the cement. The impact never came. I cracked open my eyes to see two ruby—almost black—colored eyes staring at me as it held me in its arms. My vision and my mind finally went black.
***
I awoke, from what Claire told me, a week later in her apartment above her head shop.
“You’re awake,” she said, probably sensing it. “Now, tell me what the fuck happened,” she scolded, like my grandmother used to when I was in trouble.
“I…well…fuck—give me a second. How am I alive?” I asked her, trying to wrap my head around the situation.
“You called me, I gps-ed your phone, and Lyal and I found you. Thank the gods you took the whole potion, or you would have been dead for sure. I’m still surprised it saved you, to be honest. That werewolf tore you to shreds—your blood painted the cement,” Claire said as her eyes dropped, probably remembering the scene. “We didn’t even know if you were going to make it, until yesterday. I’ve done nothing but make potions, create spells, and—shit—pray, which is something I haven’t done in a while.”
“Witches pray?” I asked, hoping to make the topic lighter.
“Shut up, smartass. Just tell me what happened, please.” She laughed, finally calming down.
“Well, I followed them from Lyal’s, just like I was supposed to do, and his damn cousin was taking forever to leave the group, so when we got to the dead zone—” I said as Claire interrupted.
“The dead zone?” she asked.
“Yeah.” I then went on to tell her everything that had happened in the fight with the vampires and werewolf. She laughed when I told her about the double staking, said she was going to put it in her record books.
“So, wait though—from everything you’ve told me about your injuries, you should be dead. Guess that was the best potion I’ve made to date!” she said.
“Well, there was one more odd thing though,” I said as I recalled those deep, ruby eyes. “Right after I dropped my phone, I remembered my body starting to collapse. I waited to feel the impact of the ground, but it never came. So I forced my eyes open one last time, to see two ruby-black eyes staring at me…and now I’m on your couch.”
“But I thought you said there were only three of them?” Claire asked as I was thinking the same thing.
“There was, but right after I called you and felt like I was
going to pass out, I don’t know, I just remember these eyes. I probably just hit my head really hard when I fell to the cement. My head was fighting off the urge to pass out long before I called you, and I know I got all the undeads that were there.” I shivered, thinking about the eerie beauty of the eyes that wouldn’t leave my head, even as I tried to logically tell myself they hadn’t existed.
“Yeah, you were probably just dreaming because you hit your head so hard. If there was anything else there, it would have killed you instantly. You were barely breathing when I got there. You were mumbling a bit just now when I tried to wake you,” Claire said.
“Wonderful. Well, I’m going to go back to sleep now,” I said, closing my eyes, not wanting to think any more about how close I had been to death. No matter what I tried to think of though, I couldn’t stop thinking about those eyes that were in my dream. They were beautiful, but dangerous. A color I had not seen before on any undead, so that has to prove that I’d imagined it. If they were real, the thing would have definitely killed me. Or so I thought.
Chapter 9
Caloman
As I drove to work the morning after I awoke from the werewolf incident, I remember feeling slightly nervous. I mean, the job really only meant a paycheck to me, but I’d missed a pretty crucial week. When I left there last Friday, we were just about to finish up the final ideas and present a proposal to the large client we were trying to sign. It was basically done when I’d left, but I was supposed to be the one who presented the proposal to the company, because I had come up with it. Claire, thankfully, had called in for me, claiming to be my aunt, and told them I had the swine flu, which was a health scare at the time. I had my forged doctor’s note with me, to give to my boss to reassure the excuse, but I still felt guilty. However, if they knew the real reason I was out, they wouldn’t believe it anyway.
Caylee's Confessions (Caylee's Confessions Series) Page 5