I stopped slicing the peppers and realized what I had failed to before: This place was going to be my home. My mother was gone forever. Her family I had never known were vampire hunters. My father was a vampire.
Life as I had known it would never be the same.
“I’m sure whatever they bring will do,” I told him blandly.
I gripped the knife even tighter. Far off in the distance, I could still hear them speaking, but only one thing was clear in my mind: Trevor, my father, was going to die.
From that moment on, I was Chloe Kallistrate, a vampire hunter.
THE VAMPIRE HUNTER'S DAUGHTER
PART II
POWERFUL BLOOD
“Ouch, damn it!”
I hit the floor on my side, my hip and elbow making the most contact with the hard floor of the gym. I rolled onto my back and rubbed my elbow but stayed on the ground.
I was tired.
Drew stood aside and watched me struggle to get up, without offering to help. I should have been irritated, but I’d become accustomed to his refusal to help me with anything during training. He insisted helping me would not help me in the long run.
I had been training with the vampire hunters for two months, and I still fell on my butt about thirty times per day. I had sworn to myself I was going to be the best, like my mother was, but that didn’t seem to be happening.
Seriously, I woke up at oh dark thirty and ran the trails in the woods for an hour. I ate breakfast and showered. I went to school, and after school, I worked out in the gym with the machines. Finally, I got my butt kicked by Drew or someone else for two hours. Yeah, it was pure hell. I knew I was getting in better shape, but I really sucked at fighting.
One thing I was good at was shooting. With both guns and archery, I had a knack for marksmanship. Twice a week, I went to the ranges and practiced shooting. Turned out I was a natural, and I enjoyed it, which was a plus.
“I’m done,” I told Drew while I got to my feet and grabbed my water bottle. “I’m so tired I can’t even stay on my feet. I need a break.”
Drew shook his head. “Chloe, you can’t quit just because you’re tired. You have to build your endurance.”
“I have been working my ass off every day since I got here. I need a break!” I blew several strands of dark brown hair out of my eyes. My hair never stayed in its ponytail.
“I thought you wanted to be like your mother.”
“Don’t you pull that crap on me!” I knew what he was trying to do. It had worked on me before, and he assumed it was going to work again. He was using my mother to get a charge out of me. The last time he had done it, I showed more fight than I ever had before. My mother had been one of the best vampire hunters there was, until she fell under the spell of my evil vampire father. She had hidden me from him all my life, but he found us, somehow, and had his minions break into our house and murder her.
Drew shrugged. “Fine, I can’t make you train. Take today off, but do not try and back out tomorrow because I’ll just keep thumping on you even when you want to quit.”
“Fine.” I grabbed my water bottle and towel and escaped the place I had begun to think of as a torture chamber. All I did was sweat and get beat up in there.
“See you at home,” Drew called after me.
I threw a hand up in a pathetic wave without turning around.
Home. When I had first arrived, I'd met my grandfather and was surprised to learn Drew lived in the house with him. I had thought maybe Drew and I were related somehow, but I had learned he only lived with my grandfather, Luke, to help him out, because Luke was getting up there in years.
Luke didn't fight anymore, but he still sat on the board with the hunters. He still made important decisions for the community. Turns out our family, the Kallistrates, were one of the most renowned bloodlines in the history of vampire hunters.
I never knew there was a history of vampire hunters.
Crazy.
Drew was eighteen. He was in his prime for vampire hunting and was constantly out on missions. I thought it might be uncomfortable staying in the same house as Drew because we weren’t related—and he was super cute—but it seemed to be going okay. Mostly, I think he treated me like a little sister. I wasn’t really sure just how I felt about that either.
I slammed into my room and fell face first onto my bed. The dark purple comforter puffed up around my face, and for one brief moment, I wished it would suffocate me. I didn’t hate this place, but I had no choice other than to be here.
I wanted my mother back.
For some reason, I thought becoming a vampire hunter would be easier. Heck, it was in my blood, so wasn’t it supposed to just like… come to me or something?
I rolled over on the bed and stared at the ceiling of the room that used to be my mother’s and had become mine. Funny how things like that worked: My mother had to die for me to know my family and heritage. I never would have met my grandfather—or any of these people here—if she hadn’t died. I never would have known who my father was either, not that I really wanted to know.
I decided I wanted to go to the library and look for books on vampires and vampire hunters… or anything that applied to my new life. I figured that being knowledgeable could be just as powerful as being strong.
But first, I needed a shower.
I took the trails to the library. It was quicker than the roads and more scenic. Fall had hit hard, so the air was cold and tons of leaves had fallen off the trees. They crunched loudly beneath my shoes while I hurried along the trails into town.
When I emerged from the forest, I could see the little town bustling with activity. Sometimes it was hard to believe the entire community of people who lived there were all vampire hunters. I saw an older woman struggling to open her car door and balance a gigantic turkey in her other arm. It dawned on me why the town was so busy. It was almost Thanksgiving. Everyone was out picking up stuff for their holiday gatherings.
Thanksgiving… without my mom.
I wasn’t sure that was something I could deal with. I had been so busy with training and school, I hadn’t had time to think about the holidays coming up. Halloween had come and gone, along with my birthday, which had been on the first of November. Yup, I had turned fifteen and had my first birthday without my mother.
I hadn’t told anyone it was my birthday, but they had known anyway. It had been celebrated quietly with a cake and a couple presents. Luke had given me a new iPod because mine had been left in my old room in the house where my mother had been murdered. Drew had given me a gun. Yeah, a gun. It was a nice little light-weight forty-five that I could easily handle. Along with my pretty gun, I also got a gun cleaning kit and a lesson in cleaning my weapon.
In any case, it was going to be hard going through the holidays without my mom around. All the emotions only made me more adamant in my desire to seek revenge against my father.
The bastard.
When I approached the steps to the library, I shook my head to clear the thoughts so I could focus on the task ahead: researching about vampires and vampire hunters. I entered the library and realized I really had no idea what I was looking for.
The librarian sat behind a long counter covered with neatly stacked papers and little piles of books. She turned away from the computer she was pecking at and smiled at me. “Can I help you find anything?”
I shuffled a bit and moved closer. “I don’t know, I’m… uh, looking for stuff about vampire hunters or vampires.”
“Oh, you came to the right place then.”
She took off her glasses and set them on the counter. She wasn’t an old woman, but she wasn’t really young either. I would have placed her at a good-looking fifty or so. Her hair was a light brown with a few grey strands scattered through it.
“Come with me.”
She led me down a maze of books that rose far above our heads. She stopped when we made it to a section where the books were huge, leather-bound monsters of books.
“Because of where you are, this library has a special section on the subjects you are interested in. You should be able to find anything you’re looking for right here.” She gestured at all the books around us.
“Thank you,” I told her, gazing in awe at all the books. I turned to her and held out my hand. “By the way, I’m Chloe.”
Her lips turned up in a smile once again. “Oh, I know who you are, honey. Everyone does. In any case, my name is Linda.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Linda.”
“Same goes for me.” She took back her hand. “I’ll leave you to your studying now.”
I watched her walk away and decided I liked her.
Letting out a really big sigh, I scanned some of the titles on the spines of the books. After about five minutes of looking at the titles, I found one that read History and Legends of Vampire Slayers. That one looked like it would have some interesting material. I lifted the gigantic book off the shelf, and then I made my way to one of the tables and began to read. On the very first page was a description:
The spread of vampirism was a relentless disease, so a warrior angel was created and sent to battle the vampires. This warrior angel, Andronikos, found love with a warrior woman, Sostrate. She was uniquely gifted: a demi-god, born of a human and a god.
The union of the angel and the woman produced four children: two boys, Alkaios and Alexio, and two girls, Thekla, Lysistrata. These offspring became a new kind of warrior, gifted with both the blood of an angel and a god. Out of this unique mix, the vampire slayer was born.
I looked up from the text. I came from the blood of angels, gods and in my own special case, a vampire.
Now that's deep.
But… it was hardly believable considering how clumsy and without talent I was.
The book continued on with how the children of the warrior angel and the demi-god woman mated with other people of power or commoners and their children had children and so on.
“Good book, huh?”
Startled, I jerked backward in my chair and almost toppled over. Drew caught the back of my chair and steadied it. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.”
Annoyed at being disturbed, I shut the book and glanced up at him. “Drew, we live in the same house. Is it really necessary to follow me around all the time?”
Drew ignored me and pulled out the chair next to mine so he could sit. Giving in to the fact that he wasn’t going to leave me alone, I opened the book to the pages I had been reading. “How come you never told me any of this stuff?”
“You never asked.” He shrugged.
I sighed. He could be so aggravating. “And it never occurred to you that I might want to know my ancestors were angels and demi-gods?”
“Nah, it never occurred to me. But if you wanted to know it, you should have asked Luke. He has a whole family tree drawn out that dates all the way back to the very beginning. It’s taken several generations to finish it.”
“He does? Why didn’t you tell me?”
This time it was Drew who sighed loudly.
“Because you didn’t ask,” he repeated. “Chloe, you aren’t just descended from angels and demi-gods. You are in the direct line of the original hunters. You could possibly be a very powerful woman.”
I didn’t say anything because I didn’t know what to say. I was a direct descendent from these powerful and good creatures, but yet my blood was tainted with the evil of my vampire father.
Yay.
Breathe in, exhale, hold and ease back the trigger.
I hit the red dot every time. I felt like I could hit it even with my eyes closed. Shooting was calming for me, something that eased pain yet allowed a release of my anger at the same time.
The big earphone things muffled the shots while I fired clip after clip into the targets. When I finally felt I’d had enough, I cleaned up and put my gun back in its case. I was going to have to remember to give Drew a really awesome present for Christmas, since I didn’t know when his birthday was, because I really loved my gun. That also reminded me that I basically had no money and should probably look for a job, but I didn’t have time for a job.
The information I had found at the library was definitely interesting. One of the first things I wanted to do when I got home was to ask Luke about that family tree thing.
While I was leaving the range, I stepped out onto the sidewalk and looked up at the gray clouds that covered the sky. There had been no sunshine for several days, and it was beginning to wear on me. I needed sunshine! Dang, how could I ever be related to a vampire? They died in the sun, and I could bask in it.
Just when I veered into the woods, the first snowflakes of the year floated down and rested on the bare tree branches.
“Oh, just great.” Instead of enjoying the beauty of falling snow, I was concerned about the fact I was going to have to run in that crap every morning. I picked up my pace and jogged the rest of the way home.
When I burst through the door, I found Luke sitting at the kitchen table reading a newspaper.
“Hey, Luke,” I greeted him.
His wrinkled cheeks lifted when he smiled. “When are you going to start calling me grandpa?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know. It seems weird because I just met you.”
I opened the fridge and grabbed an apple out of the fruit bin. Man, I missed junk food. Every person in the community was a health food fanatic, so I had to be, too. They didn’t even have regular potato chips in their stores. It was sad.
“Luke, I was wondering if there was some way I could… possibly… uhm, earn some money.”
I took a giant bite of my apple.
Luke looked a bit surprised. “Well, I guess I don’t think of everything. I’m so sorry. Do you need money right now?”
With my mouth full of apple, I shook my head. After I swallowed, I said, “I just figure, with Christmas coming up, I’m going to need some cash to buy presents for you guys. Also, it would be nice to be able to get some of the things I need instead of asking you.”
“Chloe, you have money.”
“What do you mean?”
“Your mother left everything to you. There was a life insurance policy worth more than enough to see you through most of your life, as long as you don’t waste it. Of course, it’s in a trust. It’s in your name, and I’m the trustee, but there’s a board made up of community leaders. They approve all transactions and watch out for your best interests. We can submit a request to the board to withdraw a small portion into a checking account and get you a debit card.”
He folded his paper. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t even think about you needing money of your own. I did not intend to isolate you after everything you’ve been through.”
I shrugged again, pretending that using my mother’s death money to buy Christmas gifts didn’t bother me. Talk about crappy. “It’s okay. I’m just glad I won’t have to ask you for money for personal items and such.”
He gave a mock shudder and then cracked a grin. “Yes, that’s probably for the best.”
I decided to just come right out and ask him about the family tree. So, I sat down in the chair opposite of him and fiddled with my apple.
"Luke… Drew said something to me today about a family tree.” Luke’s eyebrows rose in curiosity, but I kept talking before he could say anything. “He said it took generations to finish it, but that you have it and it shows my family back to the beginning."
He folded his paper and set it on the table. “Of course, I have it. Would you like to see it?” He pushed his chair back and stood. “It will certainly help you understand where you come from, Chloe."
I nodded my head slowly, not certain I wanted to know everything but at the same time, curious.
"I’ll go get it,” he told me, and I watched him leave the room.
When he returned, he cleared off the table and unrolled a gigantic piece of super-thick paper. We both bent over the paper to examine the names. The family tree wasn’t an actual picture o
f a tree, as I had sort of expected it to be. It was really just lines connecting with each other with spaces for names. Toward the bottom was my mom and beside her was Trevor’s name, and then stemming from their names was my name. At the top of the tree it said: Andronikos and Sostrate.
“Do we know who the warrior woman descended from?” I looked up and caught Luke’s eye. “I mean…the god that was her parent?”
Luke looked thoughtful, like maybe he shouldn’t say anything. “No one can be certain, but it is said that Artemis was her mother.”
“Artemis, goddess of the hunt. That makes sense.”
He nodded. “It does.”
“Except she was supposed to be a virgin goddess,” I pointed out.
“Not all tales are actually the way it happened, Chloe.” He pointed at the names of the warriors children. “Do you see here where the children of the warriors have paired with many people, conceiving children.”
I nodded and he trailed his finger down the tree a bit farther.
“Well, look here.” He pointed to two names who had conceived a child together.
I couldn’t believe it.
“Brother and sister?” It came out like a question, but it was more like a surprised statement.
“Yes. It wasn’t uncommon in ancient times for brothers and sisters to be together. Most royal lines have done this to keep their blood pure. I’m assuming that's what happened here, with cousins.” He paused to assess my reaction, then pointed to another set of names down the line, “And here.”
“Eeeewwww! Our family is incestuous. Gross!”
“Indeed, it is gross, but the result is the same. It kept the blood of vampire hunters powerful.”
Confused, I shook my head. “Drew said something about that earlier, about power and me possibly being a powerful woman. Now you’re talking about power. What are you guys talking about?”
Luke rolled up the large family tree. “Chloe, think about it. Angels, demi-gods and for you, the power of vampire blood: How could you not be a powerful woman?”
The Vampire Hunter's Daughter The Complete Collection Page 3