by Martha Woods
“This town...” Vincent said slowly, dots starting to connect in his mind, “Was it up north?”
Damon nodded wordlessly, ready at any moment for Vincent to snarl at him once he realized. When no snarl came, he bowed his head and continued. “For a week I walked north, scouring every bit of land I came across for any sign that they could be out there, but I didn’t find anything, not a footprint, not a trampled branch, not a single sign that anyone had actually been out there at all. When I went to sleep one night I felt foggier than usual, like my head was filled with bricks and I was walking on glass, I didn’t know if I’d eaten anything bad from nearby or what. When I woke up tied to the base of a tree and with a beady set of eyes staring into my soul… it was pretty clear that I’d found what I was looking for.”
“The hunter…” Vincent understood, and what I already knew had been confirmed. This was definitely something that we needed to talk about. “You made contact with the hunter. The one that we are trying to kill now.”
“Yes,” He answered, “And he was damn close to killing me too that night. The look in his eyes… I’m certain that he’s insane, you can’t do the kinds of things that he has and not be but… when I was looking into them, when I was trying to see if he was going to kill me or if he was going to let me go, I couldn’t see a single thing in them. It’s like he was just empty, and there is nothing that I’ve come across since that’s scared me more than that.”
Damon paused, giving us a moment to process exactly what he’d just told us and to rest himself, his mind obviously fatigued from having to retell this to us. “When I finally stopped struggling and could listen to someone for more than three words, he leaned in and got a good look at me, looking for any bites or… arcane tattoos or something like that. I think he wanted to make sure that I wasn’t one of them, that I was still a proper human being once it was all said and done. I don’t think that would have saved me if he wanted to kill me, but it would give me a minute or two to make peace with it. Turns out I wouldn’t need to.”
“He wanted to talk?”
“He wanted to do more than talk, he wanted to make a deal. He knew what I was there for, he knew what I’d lost and what I was willing to do to make it right, but he wasn’t going to help me unless I could do something in return.”
“What was the deal Damon?” Vincent had gotten quieter, a telltale sign that he was rapidly approaching furious. With Damon or with the hunter I had no idea.
“He would bring me the werewolf that killed my sister, delivered, personally, to my feet, no questions asked. But if I wanted that I would have to prove that I was a killer, that I would be able to do exactly what I said I wanted to do without flinching, without remorse, without mercy. He told me that I would have to kill before he would gift me what I was so desperate for.”
He stopped talking, eyes going distant and focusing in memory, only snapping back to attention once I shook him. “Damon? Are you alright?”
“Yes,” He replied, “Yeah I’m alright just… just thinking about all of this… I haven’t done it in years. I haven’t really wanted to if I’m being honest.”
Staring down at his hand and clenching into a fist, it took him a moment to resume speaking, but when he did it wasn’t what I had expected. “He took me to the other side of his camp, shifters everywhere but none of them being attacked by him. I suppose that at the time I wasn’t thinking about it, and until recently I hadn’t even thought of him at all, it just looked like a bunch of people standing around looking at nothing. He led me to this tent, and inside there were these two people tied up, shifters or werewolves or something like that. Then he handed me a knife and… he told me to get to work.”
“And did you?”
“When I stepped out of that tent… he said that he would get the werewolf for me. Then he slapped me on the back and said that he was proud of me, that I’d made the right decision. It didn’t feel like that at the time, it sure as shit doesn’t now.”
“And the werewolf?” Vincent asked, “What did you do once he’d been brought to you?”
“Him?” Damon sighed, lifting his shoulders in a lazy shrug, “He killed my sister Vincent. Those other two I wanted to get over with as much as possible, they didn’t suffer much. But him? I took my time with him, he made it about two days before they dumped him out in the woods for the other animals to eat. Good riddance.”
“Is this why you’ve been so cagey lately?” I asked, “You were remembering this hunter?”
“The last few days? Yeah, it’s partly been that but… there’s a lot of other things going on in this head of mine, I don’t think I can even properly put it into words. I’m still trying to work out how the three of us are going to work now that I’m… like this.”
“Well why wouldn’t this work just the same as it always has been?” I have to admit that I’m not sure what he meant, he was still the same Damon as he’d always been, Vincent and myself hadn’t changed, all that had changed was that now Damon had a taste for blood and was functionally immortal. I can’t really see a downside to the relationship there.
“I’m still trying to get it right with myself before I bother you with it. It’s not that I don’t think that you two can understand it’s… some things you just have to go through on your own.” He looked past me at a silent Vincent, his fist still clenched tight around the arm of the couch. “Vincent? Are you alright?”
“I’m fine,” He answered, “I was just wondering how long this hunter has been doing what he’s doing. I’m sympathetic to what you’re going through right now, and believe me when I say that I’m just as serious as Amy when she says she wants to help you, but I think that our relationship issues can wait until this man is dead.”
“Wow,” Damon said, smirking to himself, “We actually agree fully with something, I can’t believe this, the universe must be exploding.”
He was right, it really was uncommon. Not that they were constantly disagreeing on every aspect of every little thing that we did, there’s no way that this would have lasted more than a few weeks with all that going on. Their disagreements were more a matter of need and playful vitriol, they still had to hold up that illusion that they absolutely hated each other, it was comforting to the two of them. And honestly? It was kind of comforting to me in the strangest of ways, it felt like everything was still fresh, and I’ll be the first to admit that the two of them fighting over a bottle of soda when neither of them even like soda all that much, or at least not to the point where they would seriously come to blows over it, was hilarious every time it happened.
But right now Vincent didn’t look to be enjoying any of this, he looked to be in that same deathly calm mood he always got when he was thinking of dismantling someone on every single level. If all it took to drive him to this was one confirmed story of the kind of brutality that this hunter could be capable of then they must be very bad indeed. I’m not sure if he’ll give Tristian a run for his money, but for the sake of my sanity I’m genuinely hoping that’s not the case. I’ve had it up to here with fanatics, I’m so sick of them.
“If his way of testing you was to have you kill two completely innocent people, people who you’d never met before in your life and who had done nothing to you, then it’s safe to say that it’s how he gets the loyalty of all of his people. That’s probably a best-case scenario actually, the things that he makes those that are loyal do probably pales in comparison to that.” Vincent cracked his neck, muscles around his shoulders tense with anger. “It’s strange, I’ve been alive for a very long time, I’ve gone through my share of enemies, some of whom were truly horrific people, and I’ve outlived all of them. But him… it’s been a very, very long time since I’ve hated anyone this much. I wonder why that is?”
We didn’t say anything in reply, he was saying all that needed to be said on the matter. I don’t know if I hate him, I know that I definitely don’t like him, but I’ve never met the man in my life. I need to do at least that much bef
ore I can decide that hating them is the best feeling I can have, but I’ve got to admit that every story I hear about his exploits is pushing me in that direction, this last one was actually putting me right on the edge. I don’t know if we’re going to kill him, I don’t know if I personally would be capable of ordering that, but if it came down to it… I don’t think that I would have a very hard time mourning his loss, not when there’s so many people that have lost their lives to his madness over the years. He lost his right to that a long time ago.
“God,” I said, feeling my eyelids starting to get heavy, “I’m so tired now, is anyone else tired?”
“Funny you should say that,” Damon replied, “I’ve been having a hard time keeping my eyes open for the last twenty minutes. How about you Vincent?”
“No, I’m well rested.” He smiled crookedly, “But I’ll never turn down a chance to lay down on the bed, it’s been one of my favorite pass times lately in fact.”
Taking their hands and pulling them to their feet, it didn’t take much tugging to get them to follow me to the bedroom. We weren’t going to do anything other than sleeping, I had wants but I wasn’t invincible by any means, I was susceptible to exhaustion just as much as the next person. I don’t know if both of them are going to be there when I wake up next, but for now… for now I can just enjoy the closeness while I have it.
“AMY…” Something shoved at my shoulder, stirring me from the very nice dreams I’d been having about my two boyfriends. Hey, I said that I was exhausted, I never said that I couldn’t enjoy something without having to put any work in. Or at least I could, before something so rudely awakened me.
“Amy!” My eyes shot open, a shout in my throat and threatening to bubble to the surface, before I saw that familiar set of eyes glowing down at me in the dark. “Sorry for waking you, but your phone keeps going off.”
“Really?” I asked, pushing Damon back gently and taking a moment to gather myself. Almost as though answering him my phone vibrated on the table next to me, five missed calls telling me just how deeply I’d been sleeping if I’d managed to sleep through all of that. Recently I’d been hardwired to pick up whenever it had rung, no matter the time, so this was… definitely strange. But whoever was calling wasn’t going to care about that, and if they were intent on calling this much then whatever it is must be very important indeed.
Fumbling the first few times, I eventually managed to pick the phone up and place it to my ear, answering in the groggiest voice imaginable, “Hello?”
“Amy,” Cara said, her tone hurried and her fingers no doubt curling through her hair, “I just got a call from Anthony, that man that you mentioned before? I don’t know how he got my number, but he said that the shifters are going to try to move their people into the city as fast as they can, and they think that there’s going to be a few unwelcome guests along the way.”
“Unwelcome guests?” I asked, sitting straight up in bed, “They’re going to attack already?”
“It doesn’t sound like the entire group is going to come in ready to kill, he said that there’s probably only going to be a few dozen who will try and pick off the important people, maybe grab some of the children to demoralize everyone. Would someone really do that? I don’t know anything about this sort of thing but it all sounds so… barbaric!”
“You’re not wrong,” I said, already swinging my legs down and searching for my pants in the darkness, “Alright tell him to sit tight, I’ll do my best to get everyone together to help. It’s short notice so I don’t know how many we’ll be able to get, but I’ll be there.”
“He sounded really worried,” She said, “Be as quick as you can, I don’t know how much longer they’re going to have to hold off on it.”
“Will do Cara, don’t worry. Thank you for calling me.”
“Anytime, that’s what I do right? Just don’t get yourself hurt, I need this job.” Blowing a kiss into the phone, she disconnected the call and left me briefly with the silence. It was too silent actually, which told me immediately that Vincent and Damon had been listening in.
“Are you two ready to go?” I asked, turning and looking at them staring at me in the dark, “Or are you staying here?”
“What kind of question is that?” Damon asked, already pulling his shirt on, “Whatever you need, and whatever they need. I figure it’s the least that I can do after everything, right?’
“It’s a start,” Vincent said, “Just be sure not to get yourself killed doing it. I’d hate to have to find someone else that I’m compatible with after all of this.”
I shook my head, hopping up and down in place to settle myself into my pants before reaching for my keys. We’d already lost an important amount of time to sleep, we couldn’t leave the shifters waiting any longer. Because of what we’d already known, and especially because of what Damon had told us just before, I wasn’t keen on the idea of leaving to the mercy of someone capable of such brutality.
We stepped out of the building, heading towards the car with a purpose and a drive to do our best to help, my hand already around my phone and dialing the first number that I could think of.
“Christine?” I said, settling into the driver’s seat and turning the key in the ignition, “It’s Amy. Can you get anyone to the outskirts of town? The shifters need to move now and we can’t risk them getting ambushed.”
“Of course,” She said, the crack of her knuckles echoing through the line, “I’ll bring as many as I can, we have our own score to settle with the hunter after all, I wouldn’t miss this for the world.”
“Good…” I nodded. “That’s good. We’ll be there as soon as we can, if we’re not… then don’t do anything ok? Don’t put yourself in danger unless we’re going to be there to do so as well.”
“I can’t promise anything, but I’ll try and hold everyone back. But if he comes into view… well, I’m sorry in advance.”
“I understand, we’ll see you soon.” Disconnecting the call and tossing the phone into the passenger seat, I pulled us out of the parking lot and out onto the street, checking briefly around us to make sure that we weren’t going to get t-boned before slamming the pedal into the floor, tires squealing against the asphalt and peeling us down the road. Cara wouldn’t have called six times if they were hours away from getting themselves moving, they were moving fast and they were moving under danger, every second was precious in cases like this. Did you know that if someone goes missing that if you don’t find them within forty-eight hours then your chances of finding them alive decrease to almost zero? That’s what I mean when I say time is of the essence, it’s a matter of life and death.
“Do you think you’ll tell the others about your history?” Vincent asked Damon, the two of them holding onto their seats to stop from being thrown around in the back of the car, “If any of them find out on their own… that could be very bad for us.”
“I’m not in a rush to do it anytime soon but… yeah, I think I should probably let them know right? It’s not like I’m the only person that’s ever done something shitty, and it could help all of us out in the fight.” He shrugged. “I’ve got some time I suppose, none of them know about it just yet.”
“Actually…” I said, biting my tongue just a second too late. I know it’s not very good to reveal your sources but… I’d already screwed everything up anyway, and this was definitely something that could change how Damon approached all of this. “You remember Anthony? The one we talked to?”
“The drunk who hangs out in bars all night?” He nodded. “Yeah, I remember him, why’s that?”
“Well, he wasn’t just spying on us to get a lay of the land, he was spying on us to find out more about us as people. You don’t want to risk your people’s safety on a bunch of assholes that you don’t even know right?” I tapped my fingers along the steering wheel, not quite sure of how he would take this next bit. “I went to meet with him last night, I thought that he might have answers to some of my questions and I didn’t want to
bother either of you, you both needed your sleep. Turns out that… he knew that you’d met with the hunter a long time ago.”
“What?” He yelled, and for someone who had just found out that their greatest secret was apparently a known one it was a pretty subdued reaction, “What do you mean that he knew about it?”
“He just knew about it! He didn’t know what you’d done specifically, or why, but he knew that at some point the two of you had met and it had been a pretty friendly meeting all things considered.” I glanced up at the rear-view mirror, almost laughing at the utter confusion that was written on his face. “He’s a good spy Damon, that whole drunk idiot act was just that, an act. The things that he must know about everyone… having someone like him on our side could be a complete game changer, we need to make sure that he comes out of this alive.”
“I mean… I’m kind of tempted to just get rid of him for talking about me behind my back,” He huffed, falling back into the seat with his arms crossed, “Spies freak me out, how can you just… play another human being like that? How much of it is you and how much of it is the act? I don’t think I’ll ever be able to wrap my head around it.”
“Haven’t you acted before?”
“Yeah, but that’s for like, cons and stuff like that, real small time, low timeline stuff. I’m pretending for maybe an hour to get into a crime scene or away from somewhere I’m not supposed to be, I’m not pretending to be someone else for months on end and inventing this whole new persona that people connect to. That’s just… it’s unnerving.”
“At least they’re quite a bit less aggressive than the spies that I knew in my youth,” Vincent said, looking over at Damon, “You’ve never seen an entire city fall because of two people flicking the dominoes over, it’s quite a thing. Never underestimate what a spy is capable of, they’ll often surprise even themselves with the lengths that they are willing to go.”
“So long as those lengths are aimed at the enemy and not at us, I’m not too worried about that,” I said, “As long as we can protect those innocents and build something further from this, that’s all that matters. That’s what we’ve got to think of.”