“I love Tythian with all my heart,” she said with a small smile, red blushing over her cheeks. Her pale-brown eyes reflected a sadness of sorts as she watched the water trail down the statue.
“Vampires do not know love. He doesn’t love you back. They are savage beasts. They have killed most of your kind, torturing and eating humans.”
“I do not fear death,” she stated abruptly. They had clearly brainwashed this girl. “I am already dying and I am at peace with that. I do not fear death, in fact, I welcome it.”
I pondered on this for a moment, looking at the fragile girl. Very brave words. When I first met her, she did not fear us in the slightest. “If Tythian loved you, and you are dying, would he have not turned you into a vampire?” I said this recalling the displeasure it brought Tythian when Fier brought it up in their argument. This could be the breakthrough for her, to question his obvious manipulation of her. But she only smiled in response.
“Tythian has wanted to change me for many years; after all, I am his familiar. But I don’t want that. Death is a part of life; it should not so often be challenged. My body has been made fragile and I can feel myself slowly deteriorating. But Tythian by my side makes it all okay. To know I was gifted ten beautiful years with him is more than I could ask for in a lifetime with anyone else. He has respected my wishes and I look forward to when I pass on. I have accepted it and will not cheat death.”
She was at peace with death? All because Tythian had made her life worthwhile? I questioned if there was anyone I could feel so happy with. When I thought of James, such sentimentalism did not come to mind. I was repulsed. But when my body touched Chase’s, feelings triggered. I felt odd and challenged. I flushed in rage, annoyed that my thoughts had trailed off yet again onto Chase, whom I had to hate.
Whitney began giggling at my expression. “You are a very hard woman to read, but I can see that already you are questioning everything you’ve been taught to believe in as a hunter.”
It wasn’t entirely true, but it was close. I had to keep my mind clear and take advantage of being within the Council’s walls.
“Vampires are not as evil as us humans once believed. The Council is a civilized structure. They capture humans, but only to ensure their own survival. Hunting for deer would not do. They do not kill the humans unkindly in here, it is the sabers that do that. Yes, some humans are killed, but that is usually by the younger ones who lack control. There is a penalty within the walls if a vampire drains a human completely. And usually, if it is a vampire with no political power, they too are killed. The humans live freely within the walls. Like a trade-off, their blood is in return for the Council’s protection from the sabers, which live outside.”
“And that is why you are alive, because you are Tythian’s meal?” I asked. I was surprised by how much she told me, she seemed fragile, but not silly. She knew what information she was giving me and how it could jeopardize the Vampire council. So far she was the only one here who knew what I truly was.
There was a noise and I sensed a vampire was coming. Before I could speed away to a secure hiding place, she grabbed my leather jacket. “You are safe with me, just keep your hood low so they cannot see how pretty you are,” she smiled.
I needed to gain her trust if I were to continue the conversation and learn more from her. I stood still, my hand close to the opening of my jacket where my weapon was. Two vampires walked past. I only looked at their feet. After they were long gone, I took my hand away from my weapon.
“There are other humans here. Some are kept longer than others. If some humans put the structure into jeopardy, such as trying to convince a vampire to turn them, or trying to injure a vampire or another human, then they are discarded. Some vampires grow attachments to them and claim them as their own so other vampires don’t drink from them. A few have fled with their human lovers if they cannot claim that specific human as only theirs. It is Fier who gives the okay for certain vampires to have their own human. If it isn’t approved the human’s blood gets shared equally.”
My eyes narrowed on her as she said ‘human lovers.’
“I have heard at times that the hunters can be more merciless, shipping humans off to the camps. Although a few hunters still protect them, I have heard of other humans feeling like sitting ducks. Most don’t understand the Council ways and believe they will be dragged off and torn from limb to limb. It is not the Council vampires who do that but the sabers, who have no control over their vampirism. Or the covens, which are small groups of vampires who choose to torture and terrorize humans. The sabers are vampires who have lost their humanity, but the covens are worst in my opinion. They choose to devour humans. In this world we live in, humans are going extinct, and when that happens everything will die off. The vampires will only be able to live off the animals for so many years, same as the hunters. We have created this world of extinction. So to love a vampire who can feel compassion and care for another is not a bad concept. We will all die eventually, it’s just a matter of when,” she said, deep in thought.
“Oh look!” she exclaimed softly, “Chase gave you his necklace.” She pulled out her red one from underneath her scarf. “Tythian gave me mine when we first met as well. It means I am his and it keeps me protected from the other vampires.” Her eyebrows furrowed for a moment. “Chase has never given his necklace to anyone or kept a human for himself. Does that mean you are Chase’s familiar?”
I felt an eerie presence. Someone was watching. Suddenly Whitney perked up. “I can sense Tythian is close, that must mean their raid ended sooner than they thought. After a few days of being here, everyone will know you and you will be able to walk through the halls freely to the human sections. If you would like I can show you around? I will be here tomorrow. Most of the vampire raid teams go out during the day to find humans, the others usually rest. The humans mostly come out of hiding during the day, so it is the most practical time to look. I could keep you company if you would like?” She began adjusting her wheels and pulling away from me. Her little arms seemed to struggle with the motion. I nodded my head in acceptance. I could learn much from this girl.
I was disturbed to have the feeling that I too could sense Chase was close by, presumably with Tythian. Looking at Whitney once more, I wanted to soon ask her what this talk of ‘familiars’ was about. For now I would leave her and return to the room. It was best to stay inconspicuous to others for now. Especially the vampire Tythian, who had once tried to kill me.
Whitney and I parted ways and I walked to Chase’s room. The lingering presence became stronger. Before walking into the room, I searched down both sides of the hallway in anticipation of something creeping up on me. At lightning speed, not giving me the time to grab my wooden leg, a male grabbed me and dragged me into a room a few doors down. He threw me against a wooden dressing table. The back of my head smacked hard against the wood. Here I was very much out of my league. He was a larger vampire, with very lustful eyes. His fangs dripped with saliva; the size of his fangs proved that he was very old.
“I do like fresh meat, and my, how pretty you are. Perhaps we can have a little fun before I drain you completely.” His voice had a very heavy accent to it.
I was a proud hunter and I would not become the meal of some disgusting vampire. I pulled my wooden leg out of my jacket, prepared to pierce his heart.
The vampire smiled wickedly. “I do like foreplay, dear,” he said, raising an eyebrow.
I inhaled deeply, focusing on his movement, so that if he raced at me so quickly again, I would be able to defend myself. He ran for me and I pushed myself against the mirror beside the dressing table. I smacked him over the head with the wooden leg, smashing him into the wardrobe. He looked back at me in surprise, now realizing that my speed and strength was not that of a human. He had underestimated me.
“Filthy hunter!” he spat sharply, now coming for me. In one swift movement I moved behind the mirror and slammed it onto him. It shattered into many pieces over him. He
scratched at his eyes, trying to take the glass out. I clutched for my hand-crafted daggers, slamming one into the side of his neck. Before I could plunge another dagger into his chest, he grabbed me around the throat, lifting me against the wall. My feet no longer touched the ground and I could not breathe. I hit him in the face twice with the wooden leg and broke his nose. In one swift movement he knocked it out of my hand, holding me harder against the wall. His face began to heal and the bleeding wounds of his eyes disappeared.
His green eyes looked at me hungrily. “What a treat for me,” he said, arching his neck to plough into my neck.
He was suddenly thrown off me, his grip so tight that I was flung across as well. Before I slammed into the wall on the other side of the room, I was caught in the air. My hands wrapped around Chase’s neck as he angrily looked at his fellow vampire. The vampire snarled at him grotesquely. But Chase only stood tall, with me still in his arms. I was mesmerized by the powerful energy that radiated from him.
“You saw nothing in here,” Chase commanded. “You will never touch her again. You are lucky I didn’t kill you. Are we very clear, Gardar?”
“Yes,” he said, sounding brainwashed. Suddenly it seemed that this vampire had amnesia. He looked around at his room, surprised at the mess it was in.
Just like that we were gone, as if the scene had never happened. He lowered me on his bed, my hands still lingering on his bare chest underneath his leather jacket. “I told you to stay in here.”
I pushed him away. “What was that back there?” I demanded from him. Was Chase the one who could manipulate minds? It was after I had made contact with him that Campture couldn’t read my mind. And my attraction for him was very likely the same kind of trickery. “You brainwash people.”
His serious demeanor vanished as he looked at me sceptically. “Brainwashed? I didn’t even think that was a word a hunter would know. Please, I don’t employ such cheap tricks. I manipulate, imply, slip into people’s unconscious states and interject,” he said, it as if it were two different things entirely.
“You have brainwashed me! That dream I had! You have never even spoken your name to me, yet I know it,” I said, now taking steps back from him. My mind told me to run, but my body wanted to grab the edge of his jacket and pull him into me.
“You… I didn’t. I only interfered with the outer laye of your mind so the Guild mistress could not see our meeting or gather any thoughts you had of me. She needn’t know I was so close. And the hunter who had the gift to see long distance…”
“What did you do to Dillian?” I demanded, pulling out one of my daggers and preparing to pounce on him.
He only raised an eyebrow. “I sent him those visions he thought he was having. It is how my gift works. I can manipulate anyone I desire. I needed to lure you to the city. You were not safe there. And, well, because our meeting was so uninspiring, I came to you when you were dreaming. In that dream you had full control as well. It was you who tried to kiss me,” he said with a suave smile.
I threw the dagger at his chest, enraged by his trickery. He caught it between two of his fingers, tisking at my actions. Again I could feel something rising within me. I went to pull out another one of my daggers but my fingers began to shake.
I tried to push this new creature down, but I was struggling. The entrapment only heightened my senses. Like vomit trying to creep up my throat, burning me, every inch of my darkness rose. I could not let this darkness consume me, not now. Much like Campture did when this first happened to me, Chase looked at me, surprised. What had happened to my face for him to react in such a way?
“Esmore, you need to calm,” he said, holding his hands out to me. “Why have your eyes flashed purple?” Purple, that was the color of my hunter eyes that vanished on my eighteenth birthday. “Esmore, I can sense whatever that is that is rising within you. You need to calm.”
I felt like a wild animal. I wanted to rip his throat out, yet there was a gentleness to his words that restrained the beast within me slightly. He took a step forward and I stepped back from him. My throat began to feel dry and my gums hurt as if something was about to pierce through them. I tried breathing deeply, but I had let the intensity sweep over me for too long.
“It’s okay, Esmore,” Chase said, holding his hand out to me. I was stuck under his words. Whatever was creeping forward rattled me into a state of fear. This creature fed off that. “Esmore.” His soft words repeated. I felt the light touch of his hand against mine, feeling like a serum was spreading through my whole body. I could feel Chase with me, as if touching my mind. If he could manipulate people’s thoughts, then perhaps he was helping me, caging this beast once again. He held tightly to one of my hands. I could feel the creature completely fold within my stomach. Again he cupped my face.
At first he stared into my eyes, but when I refused to look at him, he stared at my lips instead. Longingly, I inhaled deeply, knowing what it was he was about to do. My body longed for his touch. He slowly leant in, his other hand trailing up my forearm and holding my waist beneath my leather jacket. Before our lips touched, I pulled away.
Sadness was now in his eyes from the rejection. The beast was now gone and I had full control. “I have a boyfriend,” I exhaled deeply.
“I know,” he said, stroking my jawline. “But you were never meant to be his. I’ve seen how he treats you, like you are a mere object. I would never treat you so unequally,” he said, gritting his teeth.
“You’re a vampire,” my breath came out staggered. When Chase touched me, when his hands lingered over my hips, I actually felt emotion, powerful and enticing.
“I am your familiar,” he said, his grip tightening on my waist as his thumb trailed over a part of my bare skin through the shredded leather shirt. “And what you are, Esmore, is something you must tell me.”
I thought about the beast that had almost crept out from my darkness. I was a hunter, yet the creature within felt dark and impure. What was inside of me?
“I don’t know,” I said honestly. Suddenly aware I was revealing myself to be vulnerable, I pushed Chase away, holding the leather jacket tightly around me. He looked down at the hand crafted dagger I had made.
“Did you use one of my bobble-heads for this?” he asked suddenly, his demeanor now immature. He raced toward his shelves. “No, not batman,” he whined. “If you feel like you need weapons just ask me, but please don’t attack my collection again.”
I rolled my eyes.
“It took me forever to find that one,” he mumbled as he walked toward the shower. He took his leather jacket off, revealing the tension of the muscles beneath his skin. He began to undo the belt on his dark leather jeans. He stopped for a moment, his hand still on his belt. Slowly he slid it off, arching a suggestive eyebrow at me. It was like someone had clapped in front of my face as I realized I was staring at him the whole time. I looked away from him, walking toward the hammock.
He is vampire, and I am hunter. We were naturally enemies.
S waying in a hammock felt odd. Yet it gave me the time to completely wrap myself within my own mind and thoughts. I wasn’t yet sure why Chase insisted that I stayed, or even why he had brought me here. He was under the impression I was not safe at the Hunters’ Guild, but he had brought me into the enemy’s nest. No one could protect me better than I could myself, and that was my full belief. But when Chase said it, there was an seriousness to his tone that I did not yet want to push. I would only stay for another few days until I found my own way of escape. Chase stupidly thought I would stay by his side and endure his company, but I would sneak out during his work hours and study the Council more. This was the perfect opportunity to find out everything I could before escaping back to the Guild. We would prepare during the night to speedily march out and claim all the lives of these vampires within the Council. Then we would most likely travel to a new area and find traces of another Council to eradicate. This was the job of the hunter.
That night Chase insisted I slept
in his bed while he took the hammock. Even though we slept a part, I couldn’t sleep with his presence so close and it ruined my concentration on my escape tactics. Often I found myself lifting my head to look at him, but then he would do the same and I would roll over. This happened a few times. It wasn’t out of curiosity, it couldn’t have been. It was because I was very aware that I was in the same room as a vampire. That was the only reason I could fathom. I didn’t get any sleep that night. I idly stared out the window, where I could see a small mist of fog. It was odd that even though I could see the outside world, I could not touch it.
Chase informed me that they followed a few leads as to where my team may have gone, but had not yet found where they were situated. He said that they had ventured further into the south- east, which meant that they had not yet returned to the Guild. In this I did not find any comfort. It meant that my team was still out there without me as I lay here on a king-sized bed. I didn’t understand why he would inform me of this so openly, as if to comfort me. Apparently more raids would continue in search of them. When I asked why they wanted them so desperately, he could not answer. He said he was uncertain of Fier’s intent but that when they ambushed my team, we were all supposed to be detained and kept. He did as his leader said and conveniently, it was where Chase already wanted me —within the city, where he could bring me back to the Council. I felt foolish to have once thought his reappearance was mysterious. He traced me to find where the Guild was so he could manipulate someone into assembling a team, my team, to approach the city. It was planned all along, and we fell for their trap.
When I now thought about it, it made sense that Dillian hadn’t suddenly acquired a new extension of his gift. Chase manipulated him in such a way that he thought his long sight had also turned into foresight. Chase knew that Campture would read Dillian’s mind. It was Campture they had tricked as she was the one who made the call to dispatch the teams. Which meant the Council already knew of our Head Huntress’ gift and abused that so we fell into their trap. We were wide-open and exposed at the Guild. So why hadn’t they yet attacked? What were they waiting for? What information were they hoping to extract from my teammates? I couldn’t understand Fier’s idea to focus on a certain few hunters, as opposed to the entire Guild.
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