by Jade Farhill
When the last hunter was out of the van, Abby stood and the hunters reached for their blades, putting themselves between her and Jen.
Abby sighed—probably, Jen was happy to have a pack of hunters protect her from a vampire.
Clearly, Abby didn’t know Jen. “How am I supposed to mediate between you if you don’t let me see what’s happening to her?” barked Jen as she pushed her way through the deadly pack of humans. “You heard her story. She’s not a vampire through any fault of her own.”
“That’s debatable,” muttered Trudy.
Jen glared at her and Abby was happy that she had someone on her side.
Outside the van, the hunters surrounded Abby and Jen. They walked as a group to an elevator and Abby tried not to freak out at the huge number of steady and slow heartbeats she could hear around her. How many hunters were there? And if there were this many, why weren’t any of them in the park the night Sharon was Turned?
She decided to ask that question later.
The lift took them below ground. When they stepped out of the elevator, Abby took in her surroundings. The walls had floor-to-ceiling mirrors. Well, it made sense to invest in mirrors if you spent your life hunting what couldn’t be seen in them. The floors and ceilings were concrete and white.
Unlike the hunters around her, who were wearing plain clothes, the people inside were dressed in militaristic, monochrome uniforms. Displayed on their epaulettes were black insignias with varying numbers of grey stripes. The hunters darted along the hall, moving with purpose.
The whole environment was so sterile, so clinical, that Abby honestly couldn’t believe humans existed here.
Ahead of them, was a group of hunters. Among the group was a young teen with a heartbeat that was clearly untrained, as it hammered fast and hard.
Abby felt uneasy. “Should there be a kid here?” she asked.
Kenny put his hand on his blade and Abby heard him grinding his teeth. “You’ll not touch anyone in here, Vampire.”
Abby widened her eyes—what happened to him addressing her by her name? “Do you think I would have announced there was a child here if I intended to attack him? I’m not suicidal or a monster.”
“I trust you around me, but not around kids,” Kenny muttered.
“Why are kids here anyway?”
“This is a hunter facility—the safest place for us. Of course they’re here.”
“And now you see why we wanted you locked up and chained,” said Annette.
Outside, these hunters had been semi-okay with Abby. But in here, probably because they were in their element, surrounded by their peers and reminded of who they fought on a daily basis, they were hostile again.
“She came here to help you, remember?” Jen snapped. “Or have you already forgotten that?”
The hunters fell into grim silence.
Those in the hallway ahead were all enthusiastically discussing their latest vampiric kills.
Then they looked at Abby’s group, their eyes moving reflexively to the wall-length mirrors.
In a flash, they all unsheathed their blades, hard eyes on Abby.
Jen noticed this and stood in front of Abby, arms folded. “Your organisation has just hired her to find a cure and vaccine for vampirism. I don’t think your president would appreciate it if she died before she even started work!”
A tense moment passed.
“Don’t we have a meeting to get to?” Jen asked Annette sternly.
Annette rolled her eyes and gestured for them to follow her.
The crowd of hunters reluctantly sheathed their weapons, but kept their hands on the hilts, ready to strike. They moved to the side, allowing Abby’s group to pass by.
One of the hunters who stood aside pushed the kid behind them as Abby approached. She glimpsed a gangly youth, probably fourteen or so, with black hair and strangely familiar blue eyes, peering between the adults. He looked uncomfortable with his height, as if he’d had a massive growth spurt and wasn’t yet used to his body.
But the boy wriggled free and ran towards the group. Abby heard his excited heartbeat. She stiffened—she could handle this. She’d been able to resist human scents since she’d Turned. This wouldn’t be an issue. She’d be fine.
Then the excited, fast boy stumbled and fell, scraping his knee against the concrete floor.
The smell of his fresh blood wafted towards Abby.
He jumped back up and continued running straight for them.
Abby couldn’t believe it. She was practically drooling as she held herself rigid and shut her eyes.
“Dad!” shouted the boy, and all the hunters turned to look at him.
“Son, stay back,” said Kenny, panic in his voice.
Abby opened her eyes as the teen’s steps faltered. “Why?” asked the boy, his voice shaky. “You said I could always be with you in the complex. Especially after Mum …”
Abby’s chest tightened—of course. If Kenny was this kid’s dad, Louise was his mum.
Abby continued staring ahead as the boy’s heart rate slowed. She wouldn’t let herself look at him, lest the hunters decide she was a threat.
“I’m sorry. I’ll explain afterwards. Just—stay there.”
The youth dropped his shoulders, and someone breathed a sigh of relief.
Abby’s group moved on. As they walked away, Abby said, “You might want to get a Band-Aid on his knee when you see him next.”
Kenny sent her a hard and fierce glare. “If you so much as touch—”
“Did I move? Did I even turn around? No. That boy tripped and bled all over the floor and still came running towards us. Think what you like, Kenny, but I’m above scaring children and drinking their blood. Especially the latter.”
They kept walking in silence.
The hunter complex was like a maze. A dull and boring maze filled with humans who regularly and efficiently killed vampires.
Surely there had to be some colour here. Or even a map. Or street—er … hallway signs?
Anything?
How did the hunters even know where to go?
“This place is confusing,” Jen said.
Abby smiled. “Exactly what I was thinking.”
“It’s so that if ever there’s an in infiltration, we’ll have the advantage of knowing where everything is,” Annette told them.
Abby tested the air. “But the scents in the air would give vampires the advantage—they’d just follow the nearest human.”
“That’s what we want,” said Annette. “For vampires to feel like they have the upper hand. It means that they won’t think twice when chasing after a group of hunters, only to find themselves as the mouse in a cattery.”
Jen looked impressed. “Wow.”
“They’re hunters,” Abby said, looking in the mirrors and seeing that her clothes seemed to be moving through the air by themselves. She quickly looked away, reminded of the night the crazy lady Turned Sharon. “Traps are what they’re best at.”
“Sounds like you have experience with our traps,” muttered Trudy.
“I do. The first time was when I was human and you threatened to harm my sister if I didn’t make the vaccine first. The second was when some guys were about to abuse a drunk girl, who wasn’t as drunk—or as helpless—as everyone thought. The third time—”
“We get it,” snapped Kenny. “You’ve had a few brushes with us.”
“Good to know we were so close to catching you,” said Annette. “If we’d just held on a little longer, we’d be doing this a very different way.”
Cold sweat trickled down Abby’s back.
Jen stepped closer to Abby.
Noticing Jen’s movement, Annette frowned at her. “We’d be doing it a safer way—for all.”
“I don’t think torture is all that safe,” Jen replied.
Abby nodded.
Annette scoffed. “Your naivety will get you killed or Turned, Jen.”
Abby clenched her fist. “I’m never going to harm her
or anyone in this complex, you understand?”
“We’ll see,” Annette said darkly.
Kenny might have once agreed with Abby, but he was avoiding her eye. Perhaps he really was regretting bringing her here.
It was difficult to breathe for a moment. At least Jen is on my side. She believes me.
Finally, they reached a room with double doors and hard-eyed and heavily armed hunters on either side. They drew their blades the moment Abby appeared.
“Let us in,” Annette ordered. “We’ve got business with him.”
The door guards sheathed their silver weapons and allowed them entrance.
The room inside was opulent compared to the starkness of the hallway. Firstly, there was carpet—and it was green.
Colour, at last! Abby thought.
The desk was made of polished, golden silky oak. The walls were covered in paintings of open fields and Australian landscapes. The wall on the left-hand side of the office looked like a giant computer screen, that was currently switched off.
Abby’s eyes feasted on the beauty around her.
Jen sighed beside her. “At least now I know hunters are human and not robots.”
Abby nodded, her eyes falling on the stern man sitting behind the desk.
He was in the same monochrome outfit as everyone else. The only difference was that his insignia bore one thick grey stripe and three small grey stripes. He had a brown moustache and regarded Abby coolly as he removed his reading glasses.
“Abigail Rormton, meet President of the Vampire Hunters Organisation, Don Cooper.”
But before Abby could even say ‘hello’, Don spoke. “So,” he said in a deep voice. “The vampire with the cure and vaccine is finally here. I don’t agree to your terms—you’re hereby our prisoner. You’ll work on what we tell you to, and nothing else.”
“You’re bound by law to abide by her terms.” Jen pulled a contract out of her briefcase and waved it in the air. “See here, your signature, guaranteeing that the Vampire Hunter Organisation will respect and abide by my client’s terms.”
The man scowled at Jen. “I believe you’re on the wrong side here.”
“I’m on the side that benefits humanity. And her being able to leave here as a vampire with two doses of the cure will benefit it most. She’ll work harder and be more passionate about finding it.”
Perhaps Abby wouldn’t need that body guard after all.
Don’s moustache twitched. “Fine. We will abide by the vampire’s—”
“Miss Rormton’s,” Jen corrected.
“—terms,” Don finished. He looked hard at Abby. “You know the rules, but I’ll repeat the most important ones. Don’t hurt anyone. Don’t attack anyone. Don’t drink anyone’s blood. You will have a unit of hunters watching your every move, protecting the humans from you. Only when you are alone—in a room with one entry and with no humans nearby—will your guards leave you be.” As he spoke, his heart beat steadily and slowly.
Abby nodded and Jen went over the rules that the hunters had to follow. Finally, Annette and her team escorted Abby to her room, and Jen to hers.
Abby’s room was small, but she didn’t mind—she just needed a private space.
The carpet was a blue-grey. A single bed with faded green bedding stood in the middle of the room, and the walls were cream. “Well, at least they’re not white,” Abby muttered.
A bookshelf stood beside the bed. In the right-hand corner of the room was a desk with a computer. The hunters probably had bugged it.
Or am I just paranoid? At least she had her own laptop and a Virtual Private Network. But she’d be using the hunters’ internet and computer for work-related research, so …
The far left of the room had an en suite, just as she’d asked. Abby didn’t technically need a bathroom, but having one was comforting—it reminded her of being human.
Eventually, a knock came at the door while Abby unpacked. It was Jen, Annette, Kenny and the other hunters who’d come with her in the van. Jen’s eyes were encouraging, but the hunters looked even more grim than before.
The longer they stay here, the more they forget who I am and how I only want to help them.
But at least Abby had her lawyer—the only ray of light in this sterile place.
Annette gave Abby a basic tour. They went through the winding corridors and ended up at the refectory. “We’re well aware that you drink animal blood,” Annette informed Abby. “And this is where you’ll get access to it.”
In the refectory. Surrounded by suspicious hunters. All of them flicking their eyes between Abby and the mirrors. And probably thinking that she was comparing her animal blood to their scents. “Great, thanks,” Abby replied.
Annette huffed and turned to a shy girl with an untrained heartbeat who stood awkwardly behind the counter. “Get some blood for the vampire.”
The girl nodded and rushed away. A minute later, she returned and handed Abby a metal milkshake container with a metal straw and lid.
So, Abby would need to prove that she drank animal blood. She took the cup and sipped. The blood was cold—the liquid equivalent of cold pizza. It wasn’t great, but it satisfied her.
She met Annette’s challenging stare with raised eyebrows. “Were you just going to show me the refectory?”
Annette nodded grimly. “Follow me.”
The staff in the kitchen, all their heartbeats untrained, watched Abby go with curiosity rather than hostility—a welcome change.
The hunters escorted Abby to the lab on the other side of the complex. It was big, with space for around twenty scientists. Abby inspected the instruments and made a mental catalogue of them. Finally, she stood back, smiling. They had everything she needed.
On the other side of the lab was a door that said Incinerator. She poked her head in and smelled that it hadn’t been used in a long while. Then she saw that a body could fit inside.
Hmm … better not come in here with a hunter, Abby thought.
She closed the door and turned around. Trudy was standing directly in front of her, and her expression wasn’t friendly.
“I’d like to keep exploring my lab, please,” Abby said coldly.
Trudy’s lips pulled into a sneer, and she stepped aside.
“You won’t be able to stand over my shoulder when I’m working,” she reminded the hunter.
“You’re not working now.”
The unit of hunters followed her all over the lab, but only Trudy invaded her space so thoroughly. When she was done exploring, she turned to Annette. “When do I meet my team?”
“Tomorrow morning at nine.”
“How many will I have?” That was obviously the wrong thing to say: all the hunters moved their hands to their daggers.
Abby made an exasperated noise. “I meant how many will be working with me? Jeez, I really didn’t mean it that way. Ask Kenny—he should know I’m not interested in attacking humans.”
Kenny nodded. “She did save my life—but I still don’t trust her so close to our families.”
“I didn’t—” Abby tried to defend herself.
But he cut her off with a glare.
A glare that froze her insides.
Then he sighed heavily, shaking his head. “You know what? I can’t work with her. I was blinded until just now but …given my history with her, I see too much of her human side.”
“Isn’t that a good thing?” Abby asked.
He turned his back on her. “No, it’s not. Annette, we’ve done our job. We brought her in. Now it’s time to use her information and track down the vampire who killed Louise.”
Annette scrutinised him for a moment, then nodded. “You’re right. At the end of our shift, I’ll organise a replacement unit to guard her.”
“Good.” Kenny kept his back to Abby. “May I … take some leave?”
“Go for it. Send Ellie to replace you.”
He left without another word.
So … perhaps not everyone here saw her as only a v
ampire?
Annette focused back on Abby. “You’ll have five scientists to help you. Another virologist, two cryptozoologists and two geneticists.”
“An interesting team,” Abby said thoughtfully. How best could she use their talents? “Can I look at their resumes? It would be helpful to know what they’ve studied.”
Annette nodded.
But first of all, she needed to calibrate these machines. As soon as she began, Trudy loomed over her.
“Excuse me—I’m working, and I need space. Could you step back?”
Trudy crossed her arms over her chest. “We’re short a hunter, so you’ll have to put up with this.”
Time to get her lawyer on the case. “Jen, I’d like to get to work,” Abby called out, making a frustrated gesture towards Trudy.
“You heard her—she’s probably safer when she’s working than at any other time. Get back.”
Abby widened her eyes. Did Jen really think Abby was a danger to humans? Wasn’t she on Abby’s side?
Trudy curled her lip and gave Abby a few metres of space.
Better; but with all the heartbeats in the room, Abby couldn’t really concentrate. She wondered how she would cope with five extra heartbeats and smells tomorrow.
Well, she didn’t have a choice. Abby focused intently as she calibrated all the equipment, trying not to get distracted.
At five o’clock, Jen knocked off. With no other humans in the lab—and therefore no risk of Abby harming someone—this meant that all the hunters had to leave too. They didn’t go far, but positioned themselves strategically outside the door, in the hallway.
But this was much better. Abby smiled to herself—peace at last. It was amazing how much the noise of all those steady heartbeats affected Abby’s concentration.
She had a feeling she’d be at her most productive in the evenings.
CHAPTER 16
When morning came, the hunters returned to the lab followed by Jen and five people in lab coats.
“I’m Squadron Captain Nina Moreton,” said a stern woman in her mid-forties, hair pulled back into a severe bun, a grim look in her grey eyes. The insignia on her epaulette featured four thin grey stripes. She gestured to the hunters around her. “My unit and I will guard the scientists against you during the day. Squadron Captain Mae Gooding will watch you on the night shift.”