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

by Justin A. Moore

  “We’ll find a way. I have a plan, remember?” I said, forcing a grin to replace my doleful frown.

  “John, I don’t think your plan—whatever it is—will give us an edge in this situation. Even if you drove a tank into those catacombs we wouldn’t stand much of a chance.”

  “Don’t rain on my parade, lady. Besides, we might have a witch and a werewolf with us. It’s almost the full moon, and Cassie is due to change tomorrow night. If Hazel can control her a bit, we’ll definitely have an edge.”

  Lily’s jaw dropped as she stared at me. The distant fear showing in her eyes conjured numerous nightmare memories of trauma and terror. “Are you insane?” She all but shrieked. “Bringing a transformed werewolf anywhere near that many vampires—even if you somehow could—would mean death to everyone in the area, except for maybe Thanatos himself. And that’s a big maybe. I love Cassie, but in the full swing of the change she’s the supernatural equivalent of a goddamned atomic bomb, John! You’re talking scorched and bloody earth here, not a trained dog that you can sic on someone! Was that really your plan?!” Lily was almost breathless as she finished speaking, her eyes darting back and forth between mine as she stared furiously at me.

  “I’m sorry, Lil… I didn’t know it was like that. My uncle told me they retain some of their mind when changed and I figured we could use the extra muscle. I didn’t know Cassie would be that dangerous to us.”

  “Oh, my poor, sweet boy. You couldn’t have known yet. I forget how inexperienced you are,” Lily said, sounding more mournful than consoling as she reached up and caressed the side of my face.

  “Ahem. Pardon us, dears,” Hazel’s voice drifted from the darkness of the hallway as both she and Cassie walked into the candlelight of the living room. She looked sullen if not a bit embarrassed, and Cassie’s lips were taught beneath her sparkling eyes as if she were suppressing a snarl or ferocious grin—it was impossible to tell exactly which.

  “What’s the word?” I asked.

  “Despite Cassandra’s protestations…” Hazel said, gesturing to her wife. “I’m afraid it’s absolutely out of the question to have her come with you in full werewolf form. Lily was right—I’m sorry for eavesdropping, my sweet, but you were rather loud—and Cassie would scarcely be able to maintain her composure in the presence of so many vampires. In such a circumstance, I wouldn’t be able to help her control herself.”

  “Sorry ‘bout that,” Cassie said. I noticed when she spoke she seemed to smile, and confusion, disappointment, and hopefulness fought dissonantly in my mind. “But we can help a little, much to Hazel’s protestations.” Cassie said with a grin and playful elbow to Hazel who smiled also—although grimly.

  “We can put a temporary enchantment on your jacket, John. It’s not something to be done lightly, but it’s the least I can offer,” Hazel said. Her voice still held the same solemn note that it did before, as if saying “I’m sorry that it won’t matter.”

  “It’ll make that greaser-era fashion abortion damn near impenetrable,” Cassie said with a haughty and satisfied look over her crossed arms. “And it won’t even take that long to work the magic, but it’ll knock baby-doll here out for a day or so.” She continued, pointing a thumb at Hazel.

  I grinned hopefully, noticing Lily’s conspicuous quiet, and tossed my jacket to Cassie. She snatched it out of the air and retreated through the kitchen and into the back yard, leaving Hazel looking at me and wearing the kind of smile you see most often in a hospital cancer ward.

  “John, Lily, I won’t get a chance to say this later. Good luck to both of you, and may the Goddess watch over you as well,” She said and walked to Lily, embracing her and whispering something in her ear. Lily looked at her with wide eyes for a moment and then nodded. Then Hazel turned to me and embraced me hard around my ribs and I squeezed her back. “John,” She whispered. “Please take care of Lily. I don’t know what will happen down there, but please keep her as safe as you can.”

  “That’s all part of my plan.” I whispered back. Hazel drew her face back and gave me a quizzical look as I gave her a secretive smile. Hazel seemed satisfied though, and released me.

  “I hope I see you again, loves. I want so much to get to know you better, John.”

  “Ditto,” I said, trying not to seem too emotional. I felt shitty as all hell having come to her house in the dead of night to ask her to help me on a reckless suicide mission, and her compassion in the face of potential vampiric blowback resulting in death or worse didn’t make me feel any better about it.

  Hazel nodded and left the living room without another word and Lily and I were left alone in the flickering glow of the candles.

  “So, what did she tell you?” I asked.

  “Don’t worry about it,” Lily said with zero subtlety. I wasn’t about to push her on it either—it was easy enough to irritate her without giving her further cause for aggravation. I simply nodded at her and sat back on the couch beside her and looked at the ceiling. We didn’t have a ton of time to wait around, and I still had to make two more stops before the night was over—the pawn shop and then the storage unit. Seconds dragged on to minutes as I worked out various scenarios for how I might be able to drag my uncle out of the cold hell he was in. Each scenario was a twisted nightmare of claws and fangs and blood—mine and my uncle’s—on the cold sewer stone and concrete.

  *****

  I’m not sure when I fell asleep, or for how long, but it was three-thirty a.m. when I woke to Cassie shaking me gently, her face a few inches from my own.

  “Wake up, man. We’re finished.” I yawned and blinked my eyes a few times until my vision sharpened and my senses came back to me. She stood back, a look of proud contentment in her eyes as she picked up my jacket from the table. It didn’t look any different, and it didn’t feel any different either as I put it on. I plucked at the leather for a moment wondering how exactly it would protect me from the claws of the monsters I was so close to battling. As if reading my mind, Cassie darted at my chest in a flash with a dagger. The impact drove me back down into the couch, but the sharp pressure of the dagger itself spread completely through the jacket as it sapped the kinetic energy from the blow and passed it over my body.

  “Whoa! Shit,” I exclaimed, brushing at the spot where the blade had barely pressed into the leather before letting out a burst of giddy laughter. “Screw Kevlar, that was awesome. It didn’t even a little bit.”

  “Good, that’s the point.” Cassie said, setting the dagger on the table and walked over to Hazel who sat limp and unconscious in a chair on the other side of the room. Lily was already sitting next to her with concern etched into her face.

  “How is she?” I asked.

  “Oh she’s alright. She’ll be out for a day or so. The ritual uses up all her magic to charge up the item in question—your jacket—and then when she wakes up all that power comes flooding back to her. Of course, that’s why the whole deal is temporary. Lots of witches have died by permanently imbuing their essence into stupid-ass shit.”

  “Well… uh…” I stammered, not quite knowing what to say. I walked over to Hazel and knelt in front of her, taking her hand from her lap and pressing it to my lips. “Thanks, Hazel. I owe you one.”

  “Ain’t that cute?” Cassie laughed and gave Lily a look. She wore a smile of equal cheerfulness.

  “Sure is. What’s next, oh captain my captain?” Lily asked.

  “We’re heading out to the shop quick-like, and then we’re gonna grab some stuff from the storage unit.”

  “Nice Whitman reference.” Cassie said and raised a hand which Lily quickly high-fived.

  “Who?” I asked as I stood and stretched. Short naps tended to leave me feeling more tired than I was before I took them.

  “Philistine.” Lily said in a mockingly reproachful tone.

  “Am not. I’m just not super old.” I said with a devilish grin, earning myself a look of pure. calculated evil from both women.

  “Alright then, since
you’re heading out, I’ll see you guys later.” Cassie said as she rose from Hazel’s side.

  Lily grabbed Cassie’s hands and gave her a peck on both cheeks before making for the door. Cassie took a stride towards me and lifted me off the ground in a bear hug that I was sure would have been uncomfortable at best without my freshly augmented jacket on. She set me down a few moments later but didn’t release me—instead burying her face next to my neck and inhaling deeply over and over. I went from sharing the hug with her to awkwardly patting her on the back in an uncomfortable split-second as her own earthy not-unpleasant fragrance filled my own nostrils.

  “Is this a werewolf thing, Cassie? Or do I just smell really good from expensive hotel soap?”

  “A bit of both, stud.” She said and I felt her grin with her left cheek pressed against mine. “I’m just trying to memorize the way you smell.”

  “What for?” I asked.

  “So I can track you down if I need to. Don’t worry hot stuff; I’m absolutely sure you’ll be fine.”

  “You seem oddly confident.”

  Cassie snorted. “I wouldn’t have gone to all this trouble with the jacket if I thought you wouldn’t stand a chance. Hazel means well, but she’s not a real fighter like you—like me.”

  “Well… I think I’ll be alright too,” I lied. The vivid scenarios that ran through my mind for the upcoming encounter had very few desirable endings.

  “That’s the spirit,” Cassie said with a final squeeze and sniff, and then knelt back down next to Hazel and lifted her with deceptively strong arms, the cords of muscle snaking under her biceps and forearms. “I’ll see you guys later.”

  I nodded to Cassie—not wanting to say goodbye—and followed Lily outside where a strong breeze caught my hair and reminded me that I needed a damned haircut. The night air itself was unusually chilly and humid.

  “Hey Lily, look up the weather tomorrow on your phone please?” She pulled out her smartphone as we walked to the car and her fingers danced over the touchscreen.

  “Storming all day tomorrow, clearing up in the evening.”

  “Think that’ll cause us any problems?”

  “Shouldn’t, we’re staying out of the storm drainage system—strictly sewers.”

  “Fantastic.” I said bitterly, imagining that I could already taste the stench on my tongue as Lily and I got in the Charger and roared along the road towards the pawn shop.

  *****

  I lifted the rusted and creaking grating in front of the shop and slid the key into the lock of the shattered door, heaving it open as the twisted frame scraped along the floor tiles. The shop looked no worse for the wear than when we left it. I spotted a few smears of pink on the floor—memories of the two gruesomely slain young men shot through my mind.

  “Hey Lily, do me a favor? Tape some cardboard to that door, please?” She gave me a playfully indignant look but then nodded and grabbed a few flattened cardboard boxes from behind the main counter. I walked through the shop quickly and made my way into the back living area and through the driftwood door there into the kitchen. I flicked the light switch and the fluorescent bars above me lazily flickered to life one by one. My hand reflexively went to my handgun as I made my way through the kitchen, searching carefully for any signs of intrusion. Finding none, I let out a long breath and relaxed my shoulders. If I was going to plan an ambush, I’d have planned it here—and in greater numbers than the last one.

  I dug hurriedly through cabinets, knocking over bags of cereal, pop tarts and other high calorie garbage food that now was essential to my new bachelor-esque life. I stopped at the pop tarts and opened one of the shiny foil packages, popping half of a crumbling strawberry tart into my mouth and chewing mechanically as I continued my search. I went from cabinet to cabinet, digging through them until in the fourth cabinet I found what I was looking for—a tall tin container with the original label long since faded away.

  I popped open the top and the spicy-sweet odor of herbs hit me in a rush, making my eyes water. The herbs were the ones my uncle used in the tea that restored so much of my strength. I pulled a coffee filter from the same cabinet and dumped the herbs onto it, making a disappointingly small pile on the thin paper. I gave the tin a few perfunctory taps on the back to make sure I got all of the contents and then sighed. It probably wasn’t enough for what I had planned. Two doses at most. I took a couple bottles of water out of the big steel refrigerator and poured one out into the sink and one into the coffee maker, and then placed the herbal blend in the filter into the coffee machine also, hitting the button to start the water brewing through it.

  Lily walked in a minute later as I stared eagerly at the pot, watching the thin golden tea drip steadily into the coffee pot.

  “Isn’t this a bit of a long drive for coffee?” Lily asked curiously, coming to stand beside me.

  “How many days would you say my uncle has left in him?” I asked.

  “Two at the least, why?”

  “How much strength do you think he’s got left in him?”

  “Well, he was still putting up a bit of a fight by this time a few centuries ago.” She gave me a guilty shrug before continuing. “But he’s much stronger now. I’d say he could probably equal your strength when you first consciously drew on your power, but not for long. You’ve got to realize, John; he’s been fed on constantly every day for the last several days. If not for his great strength, he likely would have expired already. Also, he is the prisoner of Thanatos himself, and likely to be in much worse shape now than we hope. I’m glad we’re finally going after him, rather than waiting until the last second, but even now we can’t be sure.”

  “What do you mean?” I asked, taking my eyes off of the pot to look her in the face.

  “No hunter I know of has ever encountered an antediluvian like Thanatos and survived, much less be held for turning. We may still be too late.” I thought about this for a few seconds, my mind flicking to a nightmarish scene where I arrive just in time to see my uncle sprout fangs.

  “No, we have time,” I said. “If he’d have turned, he’d have come for us—for one reason or another. We have time.”

  “I hope so.” Lily said with the weight of finality. The coffee pot gurgled noisily as it ran out of water and I took the pot out of the holder and held it aloft. It was barely enough for what I had in mind, but still enough. I took the two squirt-top water bottles I had emptied and filled each one nearly half way with the brew, the steam fogging the plastic, and then twisted the caps back on.

  “What is that stuff? Is that what we stopped for?” Lily asked after I pocketed both bottles and bit into the second pop tart. What? I was hungry.

  “Bit of an herbal tea just for us hunters. It helps out a lot when we’ve maxed out our power.”

  “Oh,” Lily said as I walked out of the kitchen and through the front door. We didn’t have long left until sunrise, and I desperately needed to get to the storage unit. If I was going to be charging into the lion’s den then nothing but the biggest and best artillery would do, and I really needed to stock up. I saw the patch job she put on the door and grinned—it was actually pretty good for duct tape and cardboard. If I came back from this insane mission the last thing I would want to do is mop up rainwater.

  Lily hopped into the driver’s seat again and I followed shortly after, feeling the Charger shudder under me as she started it. I rolled down the window slightly and asked Lily to pull over at the next gas station we passed. I walked in and bought a bunch of junk food, a pack of cigarettes—ridiculously expensive compared to a few years ago—and a lighter. I walked back to the car and hopped in. Lily tore out of the lot immediately, almost begging for a cop to take notice. I suddenly realized she was hungry—or thirsty, whatever—and I felt struck and even a little nervous by the presence of the feral appetite in her eyes. She wasn’t looking at cars or obstacles, or even stoplights. All of those things were peripheral to her; she was looking at people.

  “Can you hold off unt
il tomorrow night?” I asked around the filter of a cigarette as I lit it. She glanced at me and wrinkled her nose briefly.

  “I’ll be fine,” She said, and gestured to the back seat. I saw a few blood bags sitting in the back, undoubtedly snatched while we were at the shop.

  “How many of those does he keep down there?”

  “Only enough for my visit, these are the last.”

  “Well, uh, good.” I stammered. I didn’t like to think too deeply about why my uncle might be storing blood bags, or where he got them. My tension headache started to remount its assault and I had to pinch the bridge of my nose for a second until my vision cleared. As the headache began to wane, I was granted a moment of clarity.

  My uncle. My uncle, whom I’d never previously known, was in trouble. Vampires held his life in escrow against me. I know they expected me to show up, and I had no other choice, but I was not going after them because of some personal disgust or anger with them. I’d had my bloody revenge on those who’d killed my friends and squadmates in Afghanistan. If my uncle hadn’t been captured while making my escape possible, I might not be in this situation. If we’d been successful in the skirmish we thought we were going into, I might have decided that the life of a vampire hunter wasn’t for me.

  A few minutes of driving later, and we were at the storage unit.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  “What in here is going to help us?” Lily asked as I worked the key in the padlock and it released with a clatter.

  “I saw a few things in here earlier that I may really need.” I let my voice wax dramatic to add to the mystery. Lily seemed both slightly drunk, but also intensely animated—as if the blood she had sucked down in the parking lot had intoxicated her in the same way as a stimulant drug that both kept her awake, but dulled her mind. Even in her current mental state, though, I was sure the manufactured mystery wasn’t lost on her. She crossed her arms and licked one sharp canine tooth while raising an eyebrow at me, and I grinned back and hefted the door out of the way.