Meeting: Vampire Hunter Saga Book 1

by Sands, Charlene

  "Alex." He caught my hand in his, stopping in his tracks to pull me towards him. "It's no big deal. I overreacted. After all, I've been your best friend since we were kids. It's common for guys to get jealous when it seems like their female best friend is flirting with someone. Natural."

  By all means, I should have been relieved. Should have. Instead, my stomach seemed to drop a little, and I felt more embarrassed than ever. And also a little... disappointed? No, just embarrassed. That was it. Right.

  "Yeah, I thought so," I lied, hoping that I could convince him to forget about all this. "But honestly, Ty, do you think I'm stupid enough to flirt with a vampire? I don't know him well, but I think that Zane was just being Zane."

  "Zane Cliffe." Ty's words came through gritted teeth. "A dangerous vampire. He shouldn't be himself. There is only one word I can use to describe that guy, Alex, and it's volatile."

  Flinching, I looked down at the ground. "Come on, Ty. You don't know him personally any more than I do."

  "So?" Ty locked his fingers in my hair. I expected that to hurt, but it didn't—he was being very gentle. "Alex, I've been in a fight with vampires. Recently. Sure, I wasn't in on too much of the action, but I was right there. And I'd do anything to keep you out of that kind of situation. Anything."

  Though I opened my mouth to reply, I couldn't find the right phrase. The passion in Ty's normally calm eyes... It frightened me. At the same time, though, I liked it.

  Suddenly, Natalie was standing just a few feet away from us, expectant. "Time's wasting," she informed us in a mild tone. "We can't spend all night just talking—there's someone out there who needs help."

  Ty's skin seemed to heat up under my hand, and he dropped it, nodding. "She's right. Come on, Alex."

  Nodding, I tried to act like nothing had happened. But when we caught up with the vampires-who were waiting for us-I could feel Zane's eyes on me. Why did he seem to be so obsessed with trying to interpret my emotions? Maybe it was because of my "strange scent".

  Before long, we reached a small house. It was one of those middle-of-nowhere residences, without even a driveway or garage. Nothing seemed out of place.

  Of course, that's the brilliance of a real criminal, right? They can make it look like their victim is happy. Hunky-dory. Meanwhile, however, that victim could be in the bowels of Hell. Nobody would know.

  "Your heart's speeding up." Zane came to move in front of me, eyes critical. He seemed to analyzing me, his gaze sweeping over my body until they'd reached my own eyes. He really shouldn't be this curious, considering that we barely know each other. I shouldn't be that curious.

  "I'm fine," I assured him, darting a glance at Ty as well. His expression was actually similar to Zane's—he just wore his emotions on his sleeve more. It was clear that he was trying to fix that.

  "You sure?" Zane certainly didn't seem convinced.

  "Positive."

  "Well, kiddies," Madison said, walking towards the house. "Shall we?" She was holding a window open, smiling at my expression. "What, Alex? It's just a window."

  "What the Hell is it with vampires and windows?" I muttered under my breath, stomping towards it. "Don't you guys have to get asked to enter a house?"

  "Myth," Natalie said dismissively. "You see, when we wanted a bite to drink way back when, it was best to charm our little donors. And it isn't really charming to enter someone's house without being asked in, isn't it?"

  "However, we don't need to have someone ask us in," Zane continued for her, right on cue. "And when it comes to matters that don't need a charming me vampire... Well, screw manners. You just have to get in."

  "Just like you had to get in earlier today?" Ty snapped, rolling his eyes.

  "Oh, yeah," I agreed. "That was quite charming, what you did."

  "Apparently, you didn't notice me knocking on your door," Zane retorted dryly, then sidled up next to me. "Besides, I don't think I need to have manners to be charming. Right, Alex?"

  "And you're extremely modest, too," Natalie teased, a smile lighting up her face. "Don't forget that quality."

  "What can I say? I'm a catch."

  Rolling my eyes, I couldn't help but laugh a little bit. However, my laughter stopped when I noticed Madison opening the window. It may have been locked; you wouldn't have known by the way she lifted it with ease. Like a shadow, she slipped through the small opening, Natalie following quickly behind.

  "Don't worry," Ty said quietly, touching my shoulder. "We'll keep you safe. Nothing's going to hurt you."

  "I know!" I snapped, embarrassed by how transparent my fears were. He shook his head, half-annoyed, half-amused.

  "Look, if it makes you feel better, I promise to behead anyone who takes three steps toward you," Zane offered sarcastically.

  "Oh, you've made your beheading skills very clear," I assured him. Shrugging, he slipped through the window.

  Admittedly, I was worried as Ty went after him. Half of me expected it to play out as a bad horror movie. A scream in the night, a scantily clad girl, and blood, blood, blood everywhere!

  Luckily, I was wearing quite modest clothes, in my opinion. And if I screamed, then trust me, it wouldn't sound like one of those dainty-yet-earsplitting ones you hear on B-movies. I don't scream much, but whenever I do, I tend to sound like I'm being strangled. How appropriate. Finally, if there was blood everywhere, the vampires would probably get all spastic and have a feeding frenzy. So, no, this didn't have actual bad horror movie potential, but it was pretty close.

  Cautiously, I made my way through the window, finding myself in a laundry room. "Well. That was anticlimactic."

  "Hey," Madison said, looking up. Her voice was soft—nearly inaudible. "You've got three vampires and a guy who enforces Supernatural law. I'd say that's pretty climactic. But that's just me."

  "Just you," I said skeptically.

  "Will you please shut up?" Zane snapped suddenly. "Both of you?"

  Madison pursed her lips, but shot him an annoyed glance. I got the sense, however, that he had the whole Sire-pull on her. Me? Well, I shut up because I was too worried to do otherwise.

  Natalie at his side, Zane stepped out of the tiny room. Both vampires easily dropped out of side, blending in with the shadows. No lights were on, and that just made things worse. I got the distinct sense that Zane and Natalie were scouting, making sure that the coast was clear. Ty and Madison, on the other hand, were staying to protect me.

  Critically, I compared the two of them. Ty reminded me strangely of a soldier, standing perfectly straight and prepared. Madison, on the other hand, was crouched like an animal—like a tiger, almost.

  After a moment, Natalie suddenly darted back to us. Her face showed worry and apprehension, but she covered most of it well. "Everything's safe—it was a good thing we brought you, Alex."

  "What?" Here I was, thinking that I wouldn't have to actually do anything, and Zane had just been exaggerating. Great. Just great.

  "He won't let us touch him," Natalie told us—though she was mostly speaking to Madison. It was easy to see what "us" meant. Vampires. "I don't know how he'll react to you, Sanders, but I doubt it will be that much different from his reaction to Zane and I."

  "Why would you say that?" Ty asked, walking up to her.

  "He knows what Hunters are," she replied calmly. "It was one of the things he was talking about."

  "He's talking about Supernatural stuff?" I echoed, startled.

  "Over and over." To my surprise, Natalie the vampire gave a little shudder. "It's like something from one of those psycho killer movies."

  "How appropriate," Ty said dryly. Natalie punched him in the arm, but he didn't seem phased. Still—um, ouch.

  With that final conversation, we headed out of the room, Natalie leading us. I noticed that Madison stiffened at a point, her nostrils flaring. Natalie's own green eyes darkened, but she seemed to have a better handle than Madison.

  For a while, everything was pretty normal. We walked into a normal living room
, went down a normal hallway. Then Natalie opened the door to the bedroom. Immediately, I realized why she and Madison had reacted.

  Black blood splattered the walls, and a pile of ash was in the middle of the room. A discarded stake had been thrown carelessly to the side. On the bed was a huge red bloodstain. I don't get scared of blood myself, but this much made me want to gag.

  "Is he dead?" I choked out, even though I knew he wasn't. "He has to be dead, with this much blood!"

  "Flora's an excellent healer," Madison assured me quietly. "But he will die if he doesn't calm down enough to let her get to him."

  As we walked into the room, I saw Zane. He was standing, his eyes oddly understanding. Still, he wasn't speaking.

  Upon getting closer to him, I noticed Flora crouched on the floor, a tote bag at her side. She was frowning, talking in a crooning voice. "Come on... I'm not one of them... I won't hurt you..." Glancing up at Zane, she said, "Maybe you should go."

  He shook his head. "No."

  That's when I saw him.

  He was sitting in a corner, trying to be a small as possible. His clothes were ripped, and his hair seemed soaked with his own blood. Worse than that was his left arm—it was twisted at a grotesque angle, like someone had purposefully taken it and bent it that way. The worst thing was, despite his bruises and wounds, the guy didn't seem to notice any pain. He was just terrified.

  "Get away from me!" he yelled as his eyes alighted on Madison and Natalie. Frantically, he tried to get even closer to the wall—something clearly impossible. "Get away!"

  "Peter." Natalie's voice was soothing and hypnotic, almost a female version of the tone Zane used for entrancing. "Peter, you need to calm down." She reached over and took my wrist, leading me forward. "This is Alex. She's a human, just like you."

  Peter stopped screaming and looked at me for a moment, his body still trembling. I could just tell that he knew the difference between a Hunter, a vampire, and a normal human, as subtle as the differences were.

  "They haven't hurt me," I assured him quietly. "These are the good guys. I swear, we're only here to help you and make sure this doesn't happen to other people. Will you let us help you?"

  Instantly, his face crumpled, and he looked down. "Please... please come here..."

  Slowly, I walked up to him, finding myself crouching down next to him. His bloody hand-the good one-reached towards me and touched my hair. "She had red hair... Not like yours... But she had it..."

  "Who?" I asked softly.

  Peter didn't answer, opting to just lay his head down on his knees. Numbly, I watched as he wept, as Flora came and began to treat his wounds. All I could think about was the "she" he'd mentioned. My mind went to the pile of ash... a vampire, for sure...

  Gently, I put my arms around Peter. Yeah, he was a total stranger, but if I was in his position, that's what I would want. I could faintly hear Zane, Ty, Natalie, and Madison talking in low voices, but didn't really distinguish what they were saying. Then again, I didn't really care. Who had done this to him? The vampire who had become ash? What?

  After a moment, Zane and Ty walked up to us. Ty looked regretful as he said, "We need Peter to answer some questions."

  "He can't," I said. "Seriously."

  "Actually, he can," Flora murmured. "He's healed enough to speak, and to be honest, it's now or never. We'll probably have to have someone do some complicated Memoria soon. If, of course, it's possible to wipe out something so traumatic..."

  "Nat." Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Zane give her a careful glance, and she nodded, frowning a little bit. What was that about?

  "All right." Madison walked up to us, crouching down, Natalie at her side. She gazed deep into Peter's eyes, and he flinched away, turning to me—a total stranger, but the only normal human in the room.

  "No," he whispered, his body wracked with shudders.

  "Yes." Madison was using that classic vampire tone as well. "Please, you must tell us... Who did this to you?"

  Chapter 9

  Furiously, Peter shook his head. His eyes moved to me again. "I can't... She's gone..."

  "What does he mean by 'she'?" I asked sharply. "Do any of you know? You look like you have an idea... Zane."

  "Somehow, I always seem to end up being the bad one," he muttered under his breath. Only he could roll his eyes under these circumstances.

  "We have an idea," Natalie murmured in admittance. She had straightened up and seemed to be investigating the scene, Ty at her side. Ha, ha. A vampire and a Hunter collaborating. Actually, it really wasn't funny, but look at what was going on: I was a seventeen-year-old girl who had a beat-up stranger holding on to her for dear life, trying to figure out whether there had been a murder or not. I was desperate for laughs.

  "Peter, we really, really need your help," Madison whispered, her voice pleading. "You know she would have wanted it. She would have wanted to have her death avenged." Ty seemed to tense at the word 'death'. "Most of all, she wouldn't want to see you traumatized by this so much... So much that you couldn't be the man she knew you were."

  For a moment, Peter looked down. Then his eyes darted around. To Madison, focused intently on him. To Flora, trying to seem casual as she wiped blood from his face. To Ty and Natalie, collecting samples and sniffing the air. To Zane, who was, for some reason, looking at me. And finally, to me in person. "Help me."

  There is only one description I had for his tone: broken. That was it. Whatever Peter had just endured broke him to a point of no return. But he wanted to help us out.

  Finally, I spoke. "Right now, the only way of helping yourself if by helping us, Peter. Just trust me. If you aren't going to trust them, trust me."

  Taking in a deep breath, Peter nodded and wrenched his face away from mine to look at Madison and Zane. His eyes kept flickering from the two of them, wary. "I... I don't remember much. Most of the actual... attack... it's been wiped out of my mind, somehow. I don't know if it's n-natural or not. All I remember is the pain. It hurt so much... And her screams—she wouldn't stop screaming! All the blood... Not my blood. That I could handle. Her blood." He gripped the side of his head with his good hand, slightly untangling himself from me, and squeezed his eyes shut. "I can't remember anything else, I promise. I'm sorry I couldn't do more."

  "That's all right." Madison reached out to touch him in gratitude, but he flinched away and she drew her hand back. "You did good."

  Suddenly, Zane spoke, his voice urgent, but quiet at the same time. "Alex. Get up and come over here. Right now."

  Ty froze and whipped his head around, Natalie doing the same a nanosecond later. Flora glanced up at Zane, then to me, confused. Madison seemed startled. Peter, meanwhile, clutched me a bit closer, as if I was some lifeline.

  "What are you saying?" I asked, worried for the poor guy. "He needs someone, and that someone happens to be me right now. I can't just-"

  But it looked like I didn't have a choice in the matter. With a groan of frustration, Zane leaned down and grabbed my hand, pulling me to my feet. Peter yelped with mingled pain and fear I was suddenly ripped away from him, and Flora half stood, for once angry.

  "Why'd you do that, you moron?" she yelled, her hands curled into fists at her sides. "You could have damaged his arm even more?"

  "Well, then fix it," Zane snapped. He still wasn't letting me go, dangit!

  "Look, jerk!" I began, raising my voice. "I have let you boss me around for way too long. Matters were already bad enough in some of those situations, but now, when an innocent guy needs help, you want to inflate your own ego some more and-"

  Once again, I was cut off. Zane wrapped his arm around my waist, lifted me off the ground, and began carrying me, bridal style, right out the room. Thanks, Zane. Thanks a lot.

  "Whoa." Ty was now in front of us. (And moving amazingly fast, I might add. Thank-you, Ty. And I mean it this time.) "Look, vamp, you are crossing lines-"

  "I see that you don't want me touching her," Zane interrupted again. What is his
problem? "But if I had the kind of intentions you think I have, trust me, those lines would have been crossed a long time ago. I get what I want."

  The protesting teenager part of me wanted to scream at him. How arrogant could you get? Then there was The Voice.

  You remember it, don't you? The Voice that was trying to convince me that I was attracted to Ty? Well, now The Voice was telling me that it sure would be fun to see if Zane's abs were as washboard as they seemed. Which, duh, they were. He was a vampire. The essence of physical perfection.

  Not that I like that, or anything. Much. That I'll admit.

  "Sorry, Hunter," Zane continued casually. "We're out of here."

  He then proceeded to dodge around Ty and race out the room. Oh, goody. Look, if you think that it's utterly romantic of Zane to carry me around like his brand new bride... well, think again. It wasn't.

  First of all, don't you think of the bride of Dracula, or something, when the word "vampire" is included with "bridal style"? Second—he wasn't being very careful about my fragile teenage body.

  "Ow! Bruising, ow!" (Me.)

  "And I died—we all go through a bit of pain through our lifetimes." (Zane.)

  Yeah... How does he get all those girls? Wait—forget I thought that. That was kind of stupid, now that I think about it...

  Anyway, back to the story. I could hear Ty being held back by Natalie and Madison. He was calling Zane a number of very unkind words—not that I was against cussing at the moment. I was just too stunned to say anything. That happens when you're in the arms of a vampire who seems to be running at, say, a gazillion miles an hour.

  In a blur, we were outside, Zane setting me on the ground. "I don't why, but you'll thank me for this later."

  Opening my mouth, I thought of many, many colorful phrases to say to him. However, they were all stopped when I noticed something completely un-Zane-like in Zane's voice.

  "Hold on—are you uncertain?" I didn't even try to keep the relish out of my voice. "Are you confused?"