Karma's Vengeance (Vampire Huntress Saga Book 1)

by Christina Escue

  Karma nodded and slowly crawled back to Brandt. When he stood, he scooped her into his arms and swung her around like he had always done. Hearing her peel of laughter made him remember she was just a little girl and it would be up to him and Barbara to keep her safe. And keep her safe he would.

  He carried her inside and sat her at the table. Barbara sat beside her and pulled her into her lap. As she stroked Karma’s straight, black hair she told her daughter about Vincent and about what they all believed she was. Karma cried, and Barbara held her tighter.

  “No one will ever hurt you, my precious girl. Not while I’m alive to protect you,” Barbara promised her.

  “I love you, Mommy and Daddy.” Karma said and snuggled further into Barbara’s arms.

  “We love you too, Karma.” Brandt said and locked eyes with Barbara over Karma’s head. In that moment they silently agreed they would do anything, including sacrifice their own lives, to keep Karma away from her father and the vampire life.

  Chapter Three

  Ten years later

  “Mom, Kerri and Matt will be here any minute now. Can you please help me get this stupid dress zipped?” Karma called from her bedroom. She was getting ready to go out with her friends for her birthday and was running late.

  “Oh, Karma, you look beautiful,” Barbara said as she walked up behind her and zipped her hunter green dress. “Where are Matt and Kerri taking you tonight?”

  “Armando’s. They have the best chicken parmesan I have ever eaten,” Karma cocked a half grin and Barbara was instantly reminded of the night she was conceived. She reminded her so much of Vincent sometimes.

  “Their lasagna is awesome too,” Barbara told her and ran a hand down her long, straight hair.

  Karma was tall, like Vincent, and rail thin. She excelled in martial arts and was starting to train with weapons. She took her training very seriously because she wanted to be able to protect herself, and her family, from her vampire father and any of his kind who came around. She was faster than humans, and could see and hear better, but she wasn’t as fast or strong as a full blood vampire, according to her research anyway.

  She was just about to ask Barbara more about Vincent when the doorbell rang. Her face lit up at the thought of a night out with her two best friends. “They’re here.”

  “You go and have fun, sweetheart. Your Dad, brothers, and I have a special dinner planned for tomorrow night, but tonight you go enjoy your time with your friends.”

  “Thank you, Mom.” Karma said and hugged her mother tightly. “I love you.”

  “I love you too, sweetheart.”

  “Karma, honey, there’s someone here to see you,” Brandt told her as soon as she opened her bedroom door and walked out.

  “Who is it? Kerri and Matt are supposed to be here any second now,” Karma said and followed her dad down the stairs.

  “They’re here too, but I had them wait in the kitchen. Your visitor is in my office. You aren’t going to be happy to see him either,” Brandt said, and Karma instantly knew who was here.

  “I have absolutely nothing to say to him,” Karma said and started into the living room.

  “Maybe not, but I have something to say to you.” Vincent said from the office door. “I only want a few minutes of your time. Then, if you don’t want anything else to do with me, I will leave you alone.”

  “Okay, fine, whatever,” Karma held her head high as she walked past him and into her dad’s office. Vincent may have ejaculated the sperm that fertilized the egg, but Brandt was her Dad, and she would sure as hell let Vincent know that.

  “May I talk to her alone, please?” Vincent asked Barbara and Brandt when they tried to follow him into the office.

  “That’s up to her, not us,” Brandt answered, and looked at his little girl.

  “I’ll talk to him alone. Nothing he says is going to change my opinion of him anyway,” Karma told them all. When Vincent looked at her, she shrugged and gave him her best teenage look of disinterest.

  “We will be in the kitchen if you need us,” Brandt told Karma and she smiled at him, love for the man who had always been there for her radiated out of her eyes.

  Once the door was shut Vincent turned to Karma and smiled, “Wow, you are just as cocky as I am.”

  “I am nothing like you,” she shot back at him.

  “You look, and act, just like me,” Vincent pointed out and Karma just shrugged her shoulders.

  “Looks are nothing but genetics. My personality is mine, though. I am my own person.” She told him, emphasizing the word person.

  “But you aren’t a person, not completely anyway. You are a halfling, the only one alive, from what I have learned. For the last ten years I have been watching you grow and develop into a strong girl, and an even stronger vampire. You will do well in my world, our world, and I think it is time you join me, so I can teach you the ways of the vampire. Once you hit maturity you and I will be unstoppable.”

  “What you don’t realize, Vincent, is that what you want and what you feel doesn’t matter to me. I don’t care what you say I am, I know I am human and as such I belong right here with my human family.”

  “You’re making a mistake, Karma. You belong with me, in our world. The human world will eventually get too small for you and, from what I’ve been able to find, you will stop aging once you reach maturity. What are you going to do in your precious human world then?”

  “I have no idea, but I do know I will never, as long as I live, join you in the vampire world.”

  “Karma, put aside your stubbornness for a moment and try to see reason. What is going to happen to you when you stop aging? What of your friends, of your family?”

  “Vincent, what I do or don’t do is none of your business, so you can go back under the rock you crawled out from under and leave me and my family the hell alone. I never want to see you again,” Karma told him and walked out of the office and straight into the living room where her friends were waiting.

  “You okay, Karma?” Matt asked when she stopped in front of them.

  “Yep. I’m cool. You ready to go?”

  “Yep,” Matt answered, as he and Kerri followed Karma out of the house.

  ****

  “Vincent, you heard what she said. She wants nothing to do with you or your kind. Please leave us alone now,” Barbara told Vincent two hours later. He was still sitting in Brandt’s office, refusing to leave until he could talk to Karma again.

  “You told her you would leave her alone if she heard you out, but I guess promises mean nothing to you,” Brandt said as he stood beside his wife. “Our sons will be home any minute now and we would like for you to be gone before they get home.”

  “Fine. I will leave, but this is not the end of it. She will come around and she will join me in the vampire world. It’s where she belongs, and you two would do well to remember that. Karma isn’t human, and someday someone is going to realize that. When that day comes you will all be in danger and nothing will be able to protect you.”

  “Get out of my house, now. You are no longer welcome here,” Barbara told Vincent.

  Vincent stood and walked to the living room before he turned and faced Barbra and Brandt again. “I can promise you this isn’t the last you will hear from me. I will be back, and Karma will join me. You can count on it.”

  “Vincent, if I ever see you again, I will drive a stake through your heart,” Karma said from the front door. None of them had heard her enter the house, but they all knew she was there now. “My parents asked you to leave, and I swear on my life if you do not honor their wishes it will be your biggest mistake.”

  “Karma, those are strong words from one so young and weak. I hope you are stronger when we meet again, or I will not be the one with a stake through their heart,” With that, Vincent turned and left.

  “He’ll be back, and I will be ready for him,” Karma said as she turned to her parents. “Right now, though, I am going to bed. It’s been a long day and tomorrow
I start my next stage of training. Goodnight. I love you both.”

  After Karma went upstairs, Brandt and Barbara walked into the kitchen. “Brandt, I think things are going to get worse before they get better. Do you still have that number you found years ago? The number for the Vampire Huntresses?”

  “I do. I have it in my office and I think I’m going to call them first thing in the morning. I think Karma needs to start training with them because she just waged war on a centuries old vampire.”

  “A centuries old vampire who just happens to be her Father.” Barbara said softly.

  Chapter Four

  Almost three years later

  “I can’t believe my baby is all grown up,” Barbara said as she straightened Karma’s graduation cap.

  “Mom, I’m not all grown up. I still need my Mom to make sure my clothes are straight,” Karma told her with a small chuckle.

  “Oh hush. You know you don’t need me to do that for you. You just indulge your old mama, so she doesn’t feel like she isn’t needed.”

  “Mom, you are not old. You just turned forty-six, and that isn’t old. Plus, I’ll always need you and Dad. You two have always supported me, and I will forever be grateful for that. Now that I’m almost eighteen I will need you more than ever, especially if what I have read is true and I will hit maturity soon.”

  “Let’s not think about that today, honey. Let’s focus on getting you graduated and then we can worry about that.”

  “You’re right, Mom. Today isn’t the day to think about vampire and Vincent. Today is about this chapter in my life closing. I will leave soon enough to train with the Huntresses full time, so today I am going to focus on being a teenager. Don’t forget I have that party tonight. It starts right after the ceremony, but I will be home by midnight at the latest.”

  “Stay out and have fun with your friends. Since you turned fifteen most of your time has been devoted to training, so you deserve to let your hair down and just let it all go for one night.”

  “Mom, I wouldn’t know how to let it all go even if I tried. I’ll be home by midnight,” Karma leaned down and kissed Barbara on the cheek before she opened her bedroom door and they walked out together. “Now, I have to get to the school. I’ll see you, Dad, Colton, Chandler and Chase after the ceremony for a few minutes before I head to the party. I love you, Mom.”

  “I love you too, baby girl. Congratulations on making it through high school.”

  “I owe it all to you and Dad,” Karma told her just before she walked out the door.

  Two hours later Karma was crossing the stage in the gym of the small high school she attended. There were less than a hundred people in her graduating class, and she’d known them all since elementary school. She looked around and saw her mom, dad, and brothers cheering from the stands and she smiled. Those five people were her whole world. They had always been there to support her, no matter what, and they were here now. Even knowing she was leaving to become a Vampire Huntress, their support never faltered.

  As she walked back to her seat, she felt another set of eyes on her. A set of eyes she hadn’t seen for nearly three years. She looked in the direction she felt the stare coming from, and her eyes locked onto the eyes of the man she hated most in this world. The man she vowed to kill if she ever saw him again. Her vampire father, Vincent.

  Karma broke eye contact with him and took her seat. If he was still here when the ceremony was over, she’d deal with him. She pulled her phone from her pocket and sent a quick text to Nevaeh, the leader of the Huntress society, to let her know Vincent was in the area.

  Once the ceremony was over, Karma met up with her family and quickly told her mom and dad about Vincent being there.

  “Honey, we aren’t scared of Vincent,” Brandt said softly, trying to calm his daughter.

  “I know, but I also know he can enter the house any time he wants. Granted, he can’t bring others in, but he can freely walk into our home.”

  “I know, sweetheart. He’s been able to do that all along, but he never has,” Barbara told her.

  “That we know of,” Karma said softly. “I sent Nevaeh a text and let her know he’s here. She said she’d send a couple Huntresses over to keep an eye on the house just in case.”

  “If you’ll feel better with them there, then they are welcome,” Brandt told her, and she smiled at him.

  “I will feel better with them there, Dad. I’m not going to the party if they aren’t there. You five are my number one priority.”

  “Then they are welcome to stand guard,” Barbara smiled at her daughter.

  “Thank you. Now, I will be home by midnight. Call me if anything happens, please.”

  “We will, sweetheart. You just go and have fun,” Brandt told her then kissed her forehead. “We are so proud of you, Karma.”

  Karma hugged them all and walked over to join her friends as they loaded into cars and headed for The Pit, a local hangout for high school students. The owners closed it down tonight for the senior class to use for their party. They were chaperones and had their staff there to make sure everything stayed under control.

  ****

  “Karma, are you okay?” Kerri asked as she slid into the booth across from Karma.

  “I don’t know. I’ve felt like something is just off for the past half an hour or so. I’m going to step outside and call my Mom. Make sure everything is alright at home.”

  Kerri never questioned Karma’s feelings, she’d been witness to them being spot on too many times.

  Karma stepped outside and dialed her mom’s cell phone. It was just past nine and she knew her mom would still be awake. When it rang six times and went to voice mail she hung up and tried her dad’s. His went to voice mail also and she knew something was wrong. She dialed Nevaeh.

  “Karma, what’s wrong?” Nevaeh asked when she answered the phone.

  “I don’t know, but neither of my parents are answering their phones. Can you get in touch with whomever you sent to watch them please?”

  “Sure. I’ll text you after I call them. Hang tight. I’m sure they’re fine.”

  Karma ended the call and started walking toward home. It was only two miles and she could get there faster on foot than by car if there was a problem anyway. All she had to do was push her vampire speed, and she’d be there in minutes.

  When her phone chimed, she looked at it and saw a text from Nevaeh. No answer. Headed over now.

  Karma didn’t take time to answer, she just started running. She was at her front door in under two minutes and instantly knew there was a problem.

  The front door of her beautiful Victorian home was ripped off its hinges and lay broken on the porch. The glass in the front picture window was shattered and the wicker swing had been violently ripped from the roof of the porch.

  The smell of blood and death hit her nose as soon as she walked into the house and she knew, even before she saw them, her family was dead. When she saw her mom’s broken body on the stairs a shot of white-hot anger flashed through her. She collapsed beside her and reached down to check for a pulse. That’s when she saw the bite marks.

  “Vincent,” she said angrily as she wiped the tears from her face and continued up the stairs. She found her brothers in the hall, their lifeless bodies stacked on top of each other, and she knew her parents never had a chance to even try to save them. She walked over to them and laid her hand briefly on Chandler’s head as tears clogged her throat.

  She walked back down the stairs and into her dad’s office. He was slumped over his desk, a trickle of blood had dried on his lip. He was the only one not drained. When she heard a rustling from the kitchen, she grabbed the wooden stake her Dad kept in his office drawer and silently moved to the door.

  She saw a flash of long, crimson hair and knew it was Nevaeh.

  “Where are your guards?” She asked as she stepped into the room.

  “Dead,” Nevaeh said softly and nodded toward the back yard. “There were at least thirty newly
created vampire surrounding the house and it looks like they over powered my girls. None of them except Vincent was able to come inside. He left you a note.”

  Nevaeh handed Karma the small piece of paper and Karma’s blood boiled as she read the one-line note.

  Karma,

  Now you have no choice but to join me.

  Vincent

  “Like hell. There is no way I’ll be doing anything except driving a stake through his heart.”

  “Karma,” Nevaeh said quietly. “We have to burn the house down with their bodies in it. We can’t let the cops find them drained like this.”

  Karma nodded and walked out of the kitchen. She walked straight up the stairs and into her room, not looking at the bodies of her murdered family again. She grabbed her weapons kit, looked at the room she’d had since birth one last time and walked back out the door. She paused for a second beside her brothers and thought about how full of life they had been just that morning. At twelve, ten and eight, they always kept her on her toes.

  “I promise you three, he will not get away with this. I promise on your souls I will avenge you.”

  Karma swiped the tears, now falling in anger, from her face and walked back down to where Nevaeh waited in the kitchen. “Let’s get this done. I am ready to start hunting that son of a bitch.”

  They worked in silence as they set everything in motion for the house, and everything inside of it, to be fully engulfed in flames in a matter of minutes. There would be no bodies left to bury, no physical things to hold. Only Karma’s memories would remain, and she would hold onto those for the rest of her immortal existence.

  Chapter Five

  “Karma, we have to go. We can’t be here with the cops show up,” Nevaeh said.

  “I have to be here. I left the party, and my friends know I left. They think I’m walking, so the time lapse can be explained, but me not being here, can’t.”