Blood Rite Saga, Season One Box Set

by Dylan Keefer

Prue yawned, so Clayton decided to get up. “Tired?” He stretched.

  “You’re awake.” Prue smiled. “You must have been tired you just knocked out.”

  "I drove my bike here from New York, I have only slept for a bit at the hotel before meeting you in the woods." Clayton got up. "But now I'm great, and we can switch if you want."

  “It’s only been four hours, don’t you need more?”

  “Not really. And you need four too I bet.”

  “Okay.” Prue agreed. She must’ve really been tired since Clayton didn’t think she’d agree that fast otherwise.

  Clayton got up from his spot and Prue laid down in his place. She flipped over the pillow his head was on and leaned on it. Clayton sat near her, and then after a second of thought took off his jacket and covered her. Prue murmured something, curled up in the fetal position and her breathing leveled off.

  Clayton picked up the cards Prue held and sat down. “Want to keep playing?”

  “Sure, if ya can stand me grilling ya.” Charlotte picked up her own cards.

  “You don't trust me?” Clayton feigned surprise.

  “If I trusted every person that hit me with a stun gun I’d have a very short life.” Charlotte drew a card.

  “Instead now you get to have a very long one," Clayton said.

  “See? I’m smart.” Charlotte smirked.

  Clayton smiled. “Ask what you want. And I’ll ask you what I want.” Clayton settled.

  “Will ya answer if I ask ya?” Charlotte had a blank expression on her face while she sorted through her cards.

  “Depends on what you ask," Clayton told the truth.

  “Fair enough. Prue told me ya were raised by a vampire hunter.” Charlotte cut to the chase. “Did ya take over the family business?”

  “No. He didn’t want me to either. I do know all of his tricks though. He trained me.” Clayton paused to pick a card. “My turn. What’s with the ‘ya’? Milo doesn’t speak like that.”

  “It’s a thing I picked up when I was in college. I’m too lazy to change my vocabulary now.” Charlotte tossed a card. “What do ya do now?”

  “Well private detective, officially. Unofficially, I cover up supernatural events. I clean up evidence, make sure cases are closed, that sort of thing.” Clayton didn’t know how exactly he got into this line of work. It happened a long time ago. He was just about to ask his own question when Charlotte cut his off.

  “Why?” Charlotte asked.

  “It’s my turn," Clayton said.

  “We never agreed to go in order.” Charlotte smiled.

  Clayton chuckled. “Okay, I give in. I don’t know why. I kind of fell into the role. I don’t make much, but it is easy to find the money I need. And I’d like this supernatural thing to be a secret anyway. Now my question. How did you wind up with a half-vampire?”

  “She was in my crypt for a long time. Some of my ancestors made a deal with another vampire, whoever he was. I am honoring that.” Charlotte explained. “I thought ya knew about that.”

  “No, I didn’t. I knew that she was half a vampire because she could stay in the sunlight. And because my idiot of a student decided to try to kill her. The one you bludgeoned with a fire extinguisher.” Clayton enjoyed the shocked expression on Charlotte’s face.

  “That was your student? He wasn’t that good.” Charlotte laughed.

  “I tried to train him, or better said, I tried to fix the damage another hunter did to him, but he was too far gone. Believed everyone supernatural was evil and killed a lot of innocent people. I was on my way to stop him, and then you did it for me. That’s why when I realized the vampire had broken into your house, I knew I needed to help. As a sort of a thank you.” Clayton placed a card down. “Hell, I wanted to train you when I came back, but this happened. And hunter tricks would hurt you as they would any vampire.”

  “So, you are a person that settles debts?” Charlotte asks.

  “Depends on the type of debt," Clayton said. “What about you and Milo? He’s your brother, and Prue’s boyfriend, right?”

  “Wow, you work fast.” Charlotte looked up from her cards.

  “I don’t work anything.” Clayton defended himself. “I was told this by John. And I can’t stand the tense situation I see.” Clayton spoke slowly. “I just want to know what is going on.”

  "Well, John and Rick are out of their element, they didn't know vampires existed until yesterday. So they are just trying to figure it out, step by step. And they've only known about Prue for a little while. Philip was suspicious of her from the beginning, and he has this annoying habit of protecting me even when I don't want him to. And he has a temper, which is a thing I like. Milo, well, he is my family, and I love him, but he is short sighted. He got involved and thought that he could just ignore a part of Prue. He does that a lot. So now he is uncomfortable because he saw her all fang-y and realized she doesn't look like a superhero during it. They will probably be friends again, but not lovers." Charlotte seemed to have a lot on her mind. The more she talked, the more passionate she got.

  “And you?” Now it was Clayton’s turn to ask two questions in a row.

  “Me? I’m grateful, and scared, and excited at the same time. On one side, I am something new now, and this can help me do my job better, and have adventures on the side. On the other side, that can only happen if we can keep me from killing things and keep things from trying to kill us. Till then I am a liability.” Charlotte said. “Do you like Prue?”

  Clayton was happy he didn’t have anything to choke on right now. “She is likable.”

  Charlotte rolled her eyes. “Don't avoid the answer.”

  “And why do you want to know? I know I said I once had a debt to you, but that doesn’t mean I’ll let you meddle in my personal life.” Clayton put the cards down.

  “I’m not meddling in your personal life. I’m meddling in Prue’s. Now if those happen to overlap not my fault.”

  “If anything is supposed to happen, I’d like for it to happen organically, and not just because someone pushed it.”

  Charlotte narrowed her eyes. Clayton put his cards down. “I win.”

  “Yes, ya do. And I’ll stop questioning you now. I think I want to sleep.” Charlotte said. “I always go to bed around this time.”

  Clayton got off the bed as Charlotte cleared the cards away. He sat down next to Prue’s sleeping form and watched as Charlotte turned her back away, trying to figure out how best to lie down while having chains on her wrists and ankles.

  Clayton looked at Prue. There was a strand of hair out of place, and he thought about moving it, but then figured he better not. He didn't want to wake her.

  He wouldn’t mind if she wanted to have something with him. But he would prefer the air to be clear, and for her friend to be okay first. He wanted to be a choice, and more than a comfort.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  The night was uneventful. Charlotte slept soundly. Maybe the human was her doing, and it fixed her, Prue thought. She couldn't exactly feel bad about Charlotte killing that man. If John had grabbed a different bottle, if Prue knew Charlotte needed human blood, if Clayton found them earlier, that man might have been alive. Prue felt a bit guilty for thinking that way. She felt like she should blame herself for the death. She checked the newspaper in the morning. A missing person case, but there was no body found. She breathed a sigh of relief.

  Clayton unlocked Charlotte’s chains in the morning and John blocked the sun while she exited the room. Clayton said that they shouldn’t take any chances and leave Charlotte all day in one place, especially since Charlotte admitted she wasn’t a patient person.

  Philip acted like Charlotte was sick. He fussed over her and acted like she was going to break. Prue wanted to roll her eyes at him. Not even Milo was like this with her. And she could tell Charlotte hated it. But at the very least Philip didn’t make her eat human food or glared at Prue anymore. He left a cup of human blood in front of Charlotte before he left for his job at
the hospital.

  “What is that smell?” Charlotte scrunched up her face in disgust.

  “The blood?” Prue was confused. She was under the impression vampires didn’t need to get used to the smell. She sat there practically salivating over the cup and tried her best to hide it.

  “Why does it smell like that?” Charlotte asked.

  “Like what?” Prue asked, curious.

  “Like its wrong somehow. I mean I feel like I’m staring at a dish that is cooked wrong.” Charlotte said.

  “I did exactly what Prue told me to do.” Rick put his hands on the counter.

  “Try it," Prue said and waved Clayton over. As soon as Clayton came, Prue noticed Milo had straightened up suddenly. She decided to ignore it. If he had a problem, he could speak up. The words Charlotte spoke the night before were still in Prue’s head.

  Charlotte picked up the cup and drank the blood. She chocked and struggled not to do a spit-take. She gulped it down and made a disgusted face. “It’s like eating undercooked rice. It’s just wrong. Why?” She turned to Clayton.

  “Is it human blood?” Clayton asked.

  “Yeah," Prue said.

  “Huh, well then you either are less picky while you’re hunting, or you didn’t kill that man," Clayton said.

  Prue exhaled deeply, and loudly. Clayton picked up her cup of blood.

  “Animal?” he asked.

  “Yes.” She said.

  “Good.” Clayton switched the cups. Charlotte downed the animal blood cup. “Okay, this tastes good.” Charlotte’s fangs appeared.

  Prue stared at the human blood cup. Clayton seemed to notice.

  “No one got hurt for that cup. And you can’t help being who you are.” Clayton stared at her with his big eyes and the next thing Prue knew she drank the blood and smiled.

  “So, you think this is because I got fed animal blood first? Negative side, I black out and kill a whole cow, the positive side I find human blood gross?” Charlotte started laughing, so hard that her fangs smacked her jaw. “Ow.” She frowned, putting her hand upon her jaw. “Really need to get used to these, they are like walrus teeth.”

  “Can you share what you know about vampires Clayton? I am tired of getting information from people that want to kill me, and from books that I don’t know are true.” Prue said.

  “Alright. Well, the basics. Wood stakes kill you. Silver in large amounts yes. That is why really old mirrors and old film reacts badly to you. Sunlight fries you. If you don’t get blood regularly you go insane. It heals you and speeds up your heartbeat. All vampires breathe and have heartbeats. You, however, seem to have a diluted vampire side, so I feel like silver would be harmless to you. A stake could kill you, but a stake could also kill a human, so we have no idea if it would be because your heart is dead or because you are a vampire. Beheading can kill you, so does setting a vampire on fire. Less foolproof, but enough if you hit them well.” Clayton said.

  “Okay so pretty much how the myths go. We know that.” Charlotte said.

  "Some vampires have magic, but so do some humans. All supernatural creatures that live a long time have a sort of caste system that runs on bloodlines. They control a lot of the world's money, and they can keep their existence a secret that way. Ironically, they run the churches." Clayton said.

  “You mean there are vampires that are good?” Prue asked.

  "Oh, they're not good. They are only looking out for themselves. That gang you destroyed in New York? They are the lowest level of a vampire in the castes." Clayton drew a type of tree on a piece of paper, and he circled the top-most branches. "This is them. Then as it goes lower and lower, we get to the oldest vampires and their children. The ones that have been in charge have been there for thousands of years. Since the fall of Rome, I think."

  "That is old," Prue remembered her speech to Tiffany, and she blushed. She thought four hundred was old then. If she ever went up against these, they would tear her apart.

  "The older a vampire is, the stronger the blood. They are very select with the people they turn. And their children get privilege over people that were turned. So, if a thousand-year-old vampire had a full vampire child, that child would be more powerful than the person they turned hundreds of years before. And if someone was turned by a thousand-year-old vampire and that vampire never had kids, they can take the mantle by force because they will be more powerful. Though most vampires don't have kids, since it doesn't happen often, and it's just a hassle. I don't know anything about half-vampires in the hierarchy though; I don't think they have rules for them." Clayton finished.

  “So, I was turned by at least a four-hundred-year-old vampire. But she is only a half vampire, so where does that leave me?” Charlotte asked. “I want to know if I should run or fight next time.”

  “You should always run until you learn how to fight. But I don’t think Prue is only four hundred. You seem much older than that.” Clayton frowned.

  “I don’t know my age," Prue admitted. “But I remember the 1600s, so I assumed I was born in that century because I was smaller then.”

  “Well, doesn’t have to be the case. I have no idea how a half vampire would age. Maybe you age really slowly, and if someone used a spell to hide you…“ Clayton must have noticed Prudence’s face because he stopped talking. “What?”

  "I need to show you something." Prue got up and went toward the room where she unpacked. Clayton followed, and she was glad. Otherwise, she would have to go back to the kitchen.

  She found the necklace in her things and showed it to him. Clayton stared at it as if he was seeing the Holy Grail.

  “This is incredibly old magic. Where did you get this?” He was almost scared to touch it.

  “Well, after I woke up, this is what brought me back after I smelled blood in an ambulance and tore apart two EMT’s," Prue said it as bluntly as possible to see how Clayton would react. He noticed her watching him.

  “You were asleep with no food for at least a hundred years; I’m shocked it was just two people.” Clayton now picked it up. “This must be the name of the person that made it.”

  “It used to be around my neck, that much I know, I fiddle with it in a lot of my visions. I had it in Salem when I was watching the small boy Serg turned get burned at the stake. Then I am running away from a mob trying to hang me, with the man that brought me here. The very next thing I know a man that noticed me in the crowd finds me and tries to kill me.” Prue struggled to connect these visions in chronological order. It’s not like they appeared that way.

  “He was a vampire? Or a hunter?” Clayton asked.

  “He looked normal, no tattoos, and he didn't burn. He almost kills me, I see blood on the floorboards, and the necklace on it, and the next thing I know it’s the ambulance again and I am tearing him apart. Then Serg — the man that I spoke of earlier, I found out his name yesterday, helps me.” Prue ended her speech. She looked at Clayton. He was amazed.

  “It was a cloaking spell.” Clayton looked at her like she just said she could bring back the dead. “It hid your vampire self from even you. That is incredible magic. Your vampire parent, whoever they are, must have either been a very high-ranking member, or they stole and murdered their way so you could be safe. Which, considering what other people, some even human, will kill for, is not that bad.” Clayton ran his fingers over the necklace. “If you want to come with me after this, I may have a way to locate the maker of this, or as close as we can get to them anyway, they might be dead.” Clayton might have wanted to say something else, but Prue hugged him.

  When she let him go they both stood there for a second, looking into each other’s eyes, until Clayton cleared his throat and Prue looked down, smiling.

  “Do you know a vampire named Serg?” Prue asked.

  "No, but that sounds like a nickname, but it's probably a name older than Sergio," Clayton said. "The man you described is Serg?"

  “Yeah. So, he is old?” Prue asked.

  “Well, he might not be. Wa
s he on the run from the castes with you right? So he probably changed it, and sounding older than what you are can have benefits. I know a few of them. How old did he look like?” Clayton asked, and Prue motioned for him to sit down. She brought the sketch she worked on, and the phone photo.

  “You draw beautifully.” Clayton caressed the drawing, and Prue’s thoughts went into the one place she didn’t want them to go right now. So, she shook her head. “Thank you.”

  “Who’s this boy?” Clayton had turned the page and found the boy’s drawings. Plural.

  “I think I asked Serg to turn him, and that he was an abomination as well. He is the boy that burned.” Prue felt her voice tighten.

  Clayton wrapped an arm around her and smiled. “You wanted to help. That’s great. And nothing I wouldn’t expect from a woman like you.”

  “A woman like me?” Prue asked.

  "Wise yet doubtful, strong and soft, caring with the best parts of age mixed in." Clayton smiled and the next thing she knew, Prue was kissing him, and the notebook was on the floor, and she could feel his hands at the sides of her head as the necklace pressed on her temple and Clayton struggled not to fall on his back.

  She would have wanted this to last forever, but then the needles returned, and she swore under her breath as she curled up. The last thing she felt was Clayton holding her. She tried to hang onto that as her vision swallowed her.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  Prue was face to face with a boy. And that boy was getting closer. He could feel her heart in her throat, and she just wanted time to speed up already, so he could kiss her. And then someone slapped the back of the boy's head, at the same time grabbing his forehead so that he wouldn't bump it against Prue.

  “Ow!” the boy said.

  "Ow indeed. Get out of here. The nerve sullying my daughter!" Sergius loomed over the boy. Prue had never seen him so dangerous-looking without fangs.

  “Y-yes sir.” The boy bolted.

  “Why did you do that?” Prue asked.

  "Because you can't go around doing things like that here." Serg picked Prue up by the elbow. He wasn't really pushing her, but it sure made it seem that way. Prue realized someone was probably watching. "You think that boy is worth you being eternally damned? Get in the house, you silly girl!" He gently pushed her in, and Prue flailed as if he had shoved her.