The Chronicles of a Vampire Hunter (Book 1): Red Ashes

by Justin A. Moore

  “Alright, alright,” I said. “Careful, that’s how you get ants.” I chuckled and closed my eyes and relaxed. I imagined that I was floating in an endless dark void where no light shone, and I held that image in my mind for what felt like at least ten minutes. Complete silence slowly engulfed me and for a moment I felt like I was falling, but I remembered my purpose and focused. I pictured a white radiance slowly building around my toes, like a halo of light at first and then as a bright beam of light like the sun shining down through the clouds, stabbing and shining desperately at the darkness around me, trying to piece the veil of black silence.

  “Whoa now, easy. I said a glow, not a damned spotlight.”

  I lost concentration and sat up, a bit dizzy. “How did you know I was imagining it like that?”

  “You weren't just imagining it, that's not what this training is. It's visualization training, taking an aspect within you and bringing it out. It's easier than you're making it, and once you get it down you'll be able to see it in others too.”

  “You can see light on my toes?” I asked, confused.

  “No, I can see your power and the way you're channeling it. You keep trying to unleash power that bright and you'll blow your damned feet off. Think of yourself as a balloon and your power is air—too little and you’re a limp noodle, too much and you pop, but just right and you become hard and full of potential energy. Now lie back down and try again, and let out just a glow. A radiant energy inside of your body escaping as light just a little at a time.”

  I sighed and lay back down, closing my eyes. It took me a minute but eventually I relaxed and visualized the radiant white glow around my feet again. Smooth and sparkling light danced around my feet, reaching out a few feet into the void. I held the light there, and noticed my feet felt warm and completely relaxed. Every muscle was warm and relaxed like I had them dangling in a hot tub.

  “Alright.” A voice echoed in the darkness, and I recognized it as my uncle's voice. “Don't lose focus. I want you to bring the light up to your knees now. Let that light slowly crawl up to your knees, then your waist, and so on till your whole body glows. Be careful not to shine too bright, kiddo.”

  My focus wavered at the sound of his voice and the void lurched sickeningly, but I focused on my breathing and the void slowly stopped spinning. It was weird thinking about the void as moving, but it moved around me, and not I within it. I realized I was the constant, and the void was fluid around me. As I realized this, the glow around my feet slowly started diminishing.

  “Concentrate, boy. Don't get distracted by other thoughts. Concentrate.”

  I focused on my feet and the light sprang up again easily this time. The light pulsated steadily and I made it glow evenly and clean without throbbing with my heart beat. I slowly brought the light up my calves and over my shins to my knees, and the light warmed and my body as it went. I brought the light slowly and gradually up to my waist, and then my stomach, up my chest and across my arms. As the light infused my chest, I felt my heart slow to a crawl, and all the tension flowed out of my body. The light began to circulate through my body, moving on its own.

  “That's it, bring it all the way up and let it do its thing.” My uncle’s voice whispered in the darkness. I let the light course through and over my body, and brought it up my neck and over my face. The light filled my eyes, but didn't obstruct my vision. I saw in an instant every pore and hair on my body. Every scar, every old hurt—every slight imperfection and weakness that I had accrued over the years. I saw into and through myself, my pumping blood and organs churning to keep the vital processes of my body going. I noticed in an instant how to shut each and every one of them down individually, and how to make them work harder. The light shone on everything, bringing my own flesh into crystal clarity.

  “Think you can handle more?” My uncle’s voice asked. I smiled and nodded. I revved my spiritual engine, and the light lanced out from my body, stabbing into the dark. I focused and, instinctually, brought the light down while pouring in more power and forcing it into my body. The void pressed in, but did nothing to obscure the golden light that flowed through my veins and over my skin. I’m not sure if I laughed only in my mind or consciously, but the feeling was incredible. All of my pains and aches simply vanished, and confidence washed through my mind as I prepared to pump more power through me. Something familiar stirred in my mind, from the fight in the desert. Satisfaction? I wasn’t sure...

  “Now then, release it and wake up.” My uncle’s voice echoed around me, but I was engrossed in the voyeuristic fascination with my own body. Every muscle, thousands upon thousands of interconnecting strands. Nerves pumping chemical and electrical signals at a pace that seemed slow to my perception.

  “Wake up, John.” My uncle’s voice insisted. “Relax, focus, and let the light fade away. Wake up.”

  I saw a pepperoni digest in my small intestine, pieces of beef and pork slowly dissolving in a soup of chemicals and enzymes that was no less alive than any other part of my body. I could swear if I looked close enough I could have seen how the cow and the pig grew up, and trace their past back to the very beginning of life on the planet...

  Something brushed against me, like sandpaper on my skin. The light coursing through my body reacted and flared; lances of radiance shocked out into the void. My back arched involuntarily as the harsh touch moved over my body and the light tried to burn at it. The void moved with the touch, faster and faster until I felt like I was in a sandstorm.

  And suddenly the movement stopped. The light in my body quivered and spiked in erratic currents as my heart raced. I felt a cold wind blow over me, and my light shrank and quivered away from it. Two dreadful, giant, green eyes opened slowly above me, with lines of red spiking into the iris from around the pupil. Their gaze pierced into me like a dagger, and I screamed in my mind as one thought blew away all others and left me stranded and at the mercy of those glorious and terrible eyes. The thought was two words in a gentle, feminine voice.

  “Hello, John.”

  “WAKE. UP. JOHN.”

  I screamed and sat up, my eyes locked shut. I felt the couch under me and sweat crawled down from my forehead into my mouth. Tears had slid down my cheeks into my ears as I lay down, and sound was muted. I struggled to catch my breath, and slowly I opened my eyes, and immediately regretted it.

  My uncle shown with red light so cruel and brilliant that the mere glimpse that I got of him felt like it scorched the very flesh of my eyes. It was like looking into the sun, if the sun was five feet away from you. The shock of it literally knocked the breath out of me.

  “Jesus kiddo, you alright?”

  “Shut it off,” I said, my voice shaking, “That light, that red light, shut it off. Please.”

  “Holy shit, you can see that?” My uncle said, and came over and sat next to me. “Alright, take it easy, you can look now. Calm down and open your eyes real slow.” He said. I opened my eyes and to my shock nothing was blurry or distorted, and I could see fine. I looked at my uncle next to me and had to squint. A throbbing developed in my temples as I observed the complex course of light flowing through him, just like my light had flowed through me in the void.

  “What the hell is that?” I asked.

  “I wasn't expecting it to hit you like this, but you're seeing my aura. I haven't had to suppress it in a long time. I wasn't expecting you to see it so well at this point. What else do you see?”

  I looked down at myself, and my entire body glowed dimly, with small sparks of white light forming here and there for a moment and then fading away.

  “I see my own uh, aura, I guess,” I said, “It's nothing like yours.”

  “I reckon not, I've got a good four hundred years of training and experience on you. Don't worry, soon you're gonna be pissed that you can't see them as well. Think of it like seeing for the first time, everything is gonna hurt. Give it a day or so and you probably won't be able to see my aura without concentrating on it.” He said, giving me a
rough pat on the shoulder. “Pretty cool though, huh?”

  “I saw something.” I said, “I saw these big eyes, and I heard a woman say my name.”

  “Not surprising, the way you were flaring out. What's really surprising is that you aren't a crispy critter right now, consumed by your own power. Yeah, someone probably tried to see what was going on, the way you were arcing and sparking. You say she said your name?” He acted nonchalant about it, but I could see in his eyes the sort of deep concern brought on by something truly troubling.

  “Yeah,” I replied, “It was weird. I felt cold, and it felt like something was scratching at me.”

  “Well, there are a lot of amateur witches and wizards out there. Maybe one tied into your energy and followed it back to you. Maybe it's someone you know, or maybe it's someone who knows us.”

  “Think it was a vampire?” I asked, rubbing my arms and trying to ward off the phantom chills that had followed the meditation ritual.

  He nodded and looked thoughtfully at the nub of one of his cigars. “It's not impossible. Probably not a Thanatic though, they tend to pick up on auras by smell.” He said, touching the bridge of his nose. “That's what that one meant when he said he could smell you, and it's why this training is important. I need to teach you to subdue your aura. How do you feel right now? Tired at all?”

  “Nah, just a little cold. I'll be alright.”

  My uncle got up and strode across the room to dig in a cabinet in the far corner. “We still got some time then. Here.” He tossed something at me and I caught it. It was one of those hand spring grippers that people use to strengthen their grip, and it was curiously heavy.

  I tested it and the spring didn't budge a hair. I raised an eyebrow at my uncle as he came back across the room and sat in his leather chair. “What's this for?”

  “Strength training,” He replied, “That monstrosity right there won't close unless you can grip with about three-hundred or so pounds of gripping force.”

  I laughed and tossed it back. “You show me first.” I said. He caught it easily and I had to wince as the aura around his right arm flared with each pump of the gripper. He tossed it back to me and pulled a box of matches from his pants pocket.

  “Your turn, I just showed you exactly how it's done. Channel that power.”

  I looked at the gripper, and it fairly mocked me with its smug weight and stubborn openness. I tried to squeeze it and it didn't budge a single hair. It was like squeezing a chunk of metal, which in all fairness was exactly what it was. I sighed and looked at my arm, and saw the faint white glow on my skin. I felt a little jealous of my uncle, with his brilliantly glowing red aura, and I furrowed my brow in concentration.

  “Don't close your eyes.” My uncle said, striking the match and bringing it up to the nub of his cigar. “It's different from the meditation; you've felt that power and now it’s already coursing through you and subject to your will—which I didn’t plan for, but once you’re tired it’ll be easier to let go anyway—try to control it without having to visualize it.”

  I nodded, not taking my eyes off of my arm. I searched for the warm and relaxing sensation that I had so effortlessly controlled minutes before. I waited, looking at my arm and groping for the feeling of power. A bead of sweat formed on my forehead and fell into my eye. I blinked as the salt stung my eyes. “Shit...”

  My uncle laughed. “C'mon kiddo, relax, you're not trying to work a muscle here. Buff as I am, you think I could close that thing with muscle alone? Well, maybe, I am pretty buff.” He said, flexing one arm up and looking at his bicep. I laughed despite myself, and instantly I felt the warm sensation flooding my body. My eyes crept closed as the feeling threatened to overwhelm me.

  “Hey!” My uncle reached over and slapped his hand against my lap, and the shock broke my attention. “Keep those eyes open.”

  I nodded again, and looked at my arm. I searched for the feeling again and took a deep breath, and slowly the warm feeling of power and might came over me. I squeezed the gripper, and it closed about a quarter of the way before my hand started shaking. I relaxed and tried again—no difference.

  “Focus that power, bud. All that power in your body, and right now you only need it in one hand.” My uncle said, leaning forward, eyes wide with interest.

  I grinned at him and looked back at my arm, and tried to push the feeling from my body into my forearm. My arm burned with calm, new strength, and the light sprung up around it with the intensity I remembered from the meditation. I closed the gripper on accident, not even meaning to. I laughed and pumped it rapidly, ten, twenty, thirty times.

  “Alright kiddo, go ahead and put it down.” My uncle said, and I noticed his cigar was cold on the table. I did as he asked and let the light out of my arm, and instantly felt cold again. A haze filled the corners of my vision and my chest burned.

  “What's happening to me...?” I asked as my teeth began to chatter together, I felt like I'd just sprinted a marathon. I couldn't catch my breath no matter how much I worked my lungs. My uncle was ready.

  “I figured this would happen, god damn but I've never seen anything like this.” He said as he grabbed a heavy blanket and threw it on me. I fell back under it and tucked my legs up as close to my chest I could. I tasted acid in the back of my throat as I tried to catch my breath, and my uncle left the room. I started to panic at that moment as the static crawled further into my vision and closed my eyes, whimpering between ragged breaths.

  A half minute later my uncle came out of the kitchen, the driftwood door smacking against the brick wall as he strode out. He was carrying a gigantic steaming mug and half a bucket of cold fried chicken.

  “Stop breathing so damn hard kiddo, you're gonna hyperventilate.”

  “I can't,” I managed to choke out, “Catch... my breath...”

  “Yes you can, just relax. You feel tired, but trying to wear yourself out like this isn't how to get your strength back. Control your breathing and drink this.” He said, handing me the mug. I took it in my shaking hands and splashed some into my mouth. The drink was hot and spicy, smelling strongly of mint. I coughed half of it up, but the half that went down warmed my stomach, and suddenly my chest didn't burn quite so badly. I took another swallow and the ragged exhaustion was replaced with cool weariness.

  “Don't drink it too fast. Drink half, then eat this chicken, then drink the rest.” My uncle said, lighting a new cigar.

  “What is this?” I asked, taking another swallow.

  “It’s a very rare and enormously expensive herbal remedy. I bought it just for your training.”

  “Is this going to happen every time?” I asked, grabbing a piece of the cold chicken from the bucket as my hands began to steady. Every finger on my hand felt like it was filled with lead, but my mind was alive with questions.

  “Mostly, yes, but the first time is always the worst. Just like with the eyes, how are they now?”

  I realized I couldn't see his aura at all, like it was just never there. “I can't see your aura.”

  “How 'bout now?” He said. I saw no difference at all.

  “No, nothing.”

  “Yeah, you're worn out. Don't worry, tomorrow you'll be on your feet and pissed off about how bright everything is in no time.” He grinned at me, picked up his cigar and burned into it, blowing a smoke ring towards the ceiling. I bit into the chicken breast I had plucked from the bucket and it tasted like nothing I'd ever tasted before. I felt like the man in the desert who just got handed a couple dozen jugs of water. I tore chunks of meat from the breast, swallowing them without chewing.

  “Slow down bud, you'll choke.” My uncle said, chuckling. I finished the breast and devoured another piece with equal speed. In minutes I'd emptied the bucket, leaving only a pile of stripped chicken bones.

  “All right, drink the rest of that down.” He said, and I obliged. I handed him the cup and wondered if that “herbal remedy” was more likely an intense sedative, since my legs refused to move even thoug
h I tried to stretch them out. My uncle came over and grabbed them, pulling them down to the end of the couch and covering them in the blanket. The smell of tobacco smoke and mild sweat was strangely comforting as he knelt over me, straightening my arms and fluffing a pillow under my head.

  “I'll see you in the morning hoss, get some rest.” He said, and left the room heading out into the shop.

  I felt my eyes slide shut, and I drifted off to sleep.

  *****

  My lungs burned. I struggled for breath, but I had to keep running. Roots reached up like crooked fingers, snagging at my boots and pants. Mud soaked my pants and chilled my legs to the bone. I was running from something, or towards something. It's hard to remember. Shapes flew by at incredible speed. I had to go faster, so I did. Gunshots suddenly rang out around me. Muzzle flashes illuminated twisted trees that reached at me with their desperate branches, tearing at my clothes. I ignored the pain and poured on the speed.

  I heard her scream.

  An arm took me across the chest, and I felt the force of the impact press the air from my lungs. I landed hard on my back, and the shapes that were moving so quickly before now crowded around me. Kelly was on his knees with a gaping hole in his chest, looking at me and moving his mouth as if trying to speak. Morris standing next to him with a hole chewed in her neck, her head twisted at an unnatural angle. She winked and pursed her lips at me. The gunner whose name I never knew looked at me from behind a tree, his face drained of color. He blinked and returned my gaze with yellow-on-black eyes, and his skin began to tighten over his face as he smiled, revealing razor sharp fangs.

  “Wait, please!”

  Eurus pinned me to the ground and breathed cold smoke into my face. The smoke stung my eyes. He closed one hand around my throat and I couldn't breathe. He raised the other hand and curled his fingers into a fist. The mud around me surged up to swallow me from the pressure forcing me deeper into it. The vampire's cruel grin widened further and further until small tears opened along his lips and leaked black blood that splattered onto my face and burned like acid. And then he spoke.