Greater Vampires

by Trudie Collins

  Later that afternoon, Luke and Anna visited Sanctuary 14, where Doc took samples of blood and venom.

  JD had a training session with Scott and Jane and invited Luke to observe. While JD was keeping Luke occupied, Anna and Sarah talked about work. They had hit an unexpected problem and spent the next couple of hours discussing how to fix it.

  ————————————-∞————————————-

  As the weeks progressed, Luke started spending more and more time with JD. They got on well and shared information. Luke taught JD everything he could about being a vampire while JD began to give Luke some basic hunter training.

  Luke and Anna were at 14 one evening when the hunt alarm went off.

  “Want to join us?” JD asked.

  Luke hesitated before agreeing. Sarah volunteered to remain behind and keep Anna company. She would worry if she was left alone. Natalie and Silvia were out and Sarah couldn’t imagine Doc being good company.

  Luke was strangely nervous as JD drove to the address Sanctuary 7 had provided. They had picked up signs of a large number of vampires, so another Sanctuary was also being sent.

  “Observe only,” JD said. “Don’t get involved.”

  “What happens if one of your team is in trouble?”

  “Don’t interfere. We can look after ourselves.”

  Luke nodded his agreement. He had no intention of taking part in the fight; it wouldn’t be safe for the hunters.

  Two cars were parked in the carpark outside the entrance to the national park by the time JD pulled in. Scott was right behind him.

  “Looks like Sanctuary 5 are already here,” Jonathon said as he slipped his sword into its scabbard.

  “Then let’s see if they need a hand,” his wife said. She looked at JD, who nodded his approval, and she and Jonathon headed into the trees. Jane and Scott took a different direction.

  “We go that way,” JD said, pointing to a path that led straight ahead. Craig moved forward, checking all around him, including up in the trees, as he went.

  JD hung back a little with Luke. “Watch how careful he is. He’s taking no unnecessary chances. He knows that I’m here to watch his back, but he is not leaving his safety to me. The others will be doing exactly the same. We always work in groups, never alone. Other than me, of course. If we have uneven numbers, I usually float around between the groups.”

  JD continued to quietly explain things to Luke as they moved forward. Then the sound of fighting reached their ears and they increased their pace.

  They ran into a clearing, where hunters from 5 were engaged with a lot of vampires, far more than they could cope with. Without hesitation, Craig joined in, stabbing and cutting efficiently.

  Vampires went down, but were not permanently dead. The beheading could wait until later. Soon the other hunters from 14 arrived and it turned from a fight into a slaughter.

  JD stayed where he was, content to watch rather than take part. His help wasn’t needed and he wished to provide a running commentary to Luke to explain why the hunters were fighting the way they were.

  He turned to look at Luke and saw that he was breathing heavily. He was clenching and unclenching his fists as he stared ahead of him, unable to look away. He growled, revealing his fangs.

  “Are you alright?” JD asked, suddenly frightened for his team. If Luke lost control of himself, everyone would die.

  “No,” he said through clenched teeth. “I’m a killer. It takes a lot of self-control to keep that part of me hidden. Watching this is bringing it to the surface.”

  Luke was visibly shaking as he tried to stop himself from joining the fight. JD grabbed his arm, but Luke shook him off.

  “Stay away from me,” he snarled. “For your own safety.” Then he took off.

  There was nothing JD could do to stop him. Luke was too fast for him. A feeling of dread took hold of JD. He had been an idiot. He should never have invited Luke to join him. Now his fellow hunters were going to pay the price.

  Less than a minute later, all sounds of fighting stopped. Hunters were looking about them in confusion. They were surrounded by body parts. Something had ripped the vampires apart, pulling off limbs and shattering bones.

  All of the hunters were on their feet and none appeared to be injured.

  Craig spotted JD and called out to him. “What just happened?”

  JD walked over to him. “Luke,” he replied. “Finish this. Decapitate any vampire which still has its head. When Sanctuary 1 have been given the location of all of the dead, get our team back to 14. If anyone from 5 asks any questions, just tell them that I’ll provide a report. I’m going to look for Luke.”

  It took a while, but JD eventually found him sitting under a tree. He was covered in blood. JD cautiously approached.

  “Do I look as bad as I think I do?” Luke asked, without looking at him.

  “Probably worse,” JD said.

  Luke then looked up. “Now do you understand just how deadly we are?” He sounded distraught.

  JD sat down in front of a tree opposite him and leaned back. “Want to talk about it?”

  “I should never have come with you. I knew it would be dangerous. I lost control.”

  “Not completely,” JD said. “It looks like you didn’t hurt any hunters.”

  Luke looked at him in surprise. “Really? I tried to only attack the vampires, but everything happened so fast I couldn’t be sure I had not injured any humans.”

  “As far as I could tell, all of the hunters from both Sanctuaries were unharmed. Confused, but alright.”

  Luke let his head fall back against the tree and sighed in relief. “Thank God for that. Gavin would murder me if I had broken the truce.”

  “If you had, I would have taken responsibility. I should never had suggested you come on a hunt.”

  “You weren’t to know. Besides, I think it has taught us both something.”

  “Yes,” JD said. “I’m never allowing you to hunt with me again. You scared the shit out of me.”

  “I scared the shit out of myself.” Luke then looked down at himself. “How am I going to explain this to Anna?”

  “Want me to take you home first so you can get changed?”

  Luke shook his head. “She’ll worry if the others arrive back at your Sanctuary without me.”

  “In that case, we should get going. Do you feel in control enough to face humans?”

  Luke nodded and stood up. “What are you going to tell everyone?”

  “The truth, if you give your permission.”

  “Go ahead. Let everyone in your society know what happened. It will stop anyone acting rashly if ever they see one of my family.”

  “I wouldn’t go that far,” JD said, thinking back on all of the stupid things he had done when he was younger, before he became a trainer. “But it will make it less likely.”

  The two men talked the entire way home. As soon as JD opened the front door, Anna ran to Luke, who had to step aside as she tried to throw her arms around him. He grabbed hold of them.

  “You really don’t want to be getting that close to me right now.”

  She looked down at him and backed away. “What happened? Nobody will talk about it. All I know is that the others came back without you.”

  “I lost control. I killed the vampires. Tore them apart to be precise. But I’m alright. None of this blood is mine and I don’t think I hurt any of the humans.”

  Tears of relief formed in Anna’s eyes and suddenly Luke didn’t care how much blood was down him.

  “Come here,” he said and she ran into his arms, burying her head in his neck. He gently stoked her hair.

  “I’ll go and find you both some clean clothes,” JD said and left them alone.

  A short while later, JD sent them to one of the spare rooms where clothes donated by Silvia and Scott lay on the bed. The dress looked a little short for Anna, but Luke didn’t complain.

  “Towels are in the bathroom,” JD said. “
We’ll be in the lounge when you’re done.”

  He then headed down the stairs and found the rest of his team discussing the hunt.

  “Did Luke really do all of that?” Katie asked.

  “Yes, he did.”

  Jonathon whistled. “Remind me never to get on the wrong side of him.”

  “I owe you guys an apology,” JD said. “I should never have risked your lives by taking Luke along with us.”

  “You didn’t,” Craig said. “He was never a danger to any of us, only to the vampires. Besides, we all like him. If you hadn’t suggested it, one of us would have.”

  They were still discussing the hunt when Luke and Anna joined them. None of the victims could have been saved. The vampires had already taken too much of their blood before the hunters arrived.

  “That’s the second time you have borrowed my clothes,” Scott said as Luke walked in, holding Anna’s hand. “You should consider leaving spare clothes here if you’re going to get blood all over yours every time you visit.”

  “Very funny,” Luke said. “It’s only been twice and I’m not planning on making it a habit.”

  JD then realised that someone was missing. “Where’s Jane?”

  “She went back with Sanctuary 5,” Craig said. “Apparently she has been dating one of their hunters for the last few weeks.”

  “Maybe she will move back there,” Jonathon said.

  “Over my dead body,” JD said. “It took a lot of work to get her as good as the rest of you. There’s no way I’ll let her join another team. If she gets serious about a hunter, he will have to move in here.”

  “Possessive, isn’t he,” Anna said to Sarah, making her laugh.

  When Luke and Anna got back to their place, Luke went to find Gavin and told him what had happened. To his surprise, Gavin apologised.

  “I’m sorry. I should have realised what seeing that amount of violence would do to you. I should never have said you should take JD up on his offer. Are you alright?”

  “I’m a little shaken to be honest. I haven’t lost control like that in a long time. I’ve no idea how I managed to not kill any of the humans.”

  Gavin smiled. “You were more in control than you realise.”

  Luke then told him everything he remembered about the hunters fighting techniques. It might be valuable information, should the truce ever break down.

  Later that night, when they were in bed, Luke told Anna the details of the hunt. She had only heard the summary. He also told her everything he was feeling while it was happening, and afterward.

  “Why are you telling me all this?” she asked. She didn’t like what she was hearing.

  “Because I need you to know everything about me, the bad as well as the good.”

  Anna kissed him. “I already know all I need to. You are a good man and I love you. Now close your eyes and get to sleep.”

  Luke had other ideas.

  We may have a problem

  “Why are you making us do this?” Craig asked when the training session had finished. He, Jonathon and Katie had been having one of their extra sessions that JD had never explained.

  JD looked at them thoughtfully, wondering whether to tell them the truth. He avoided lying to his students whenever possible, but sometimes there were things he couldn’t tell them and he was not sure if this was one of those things.

  Eventually he decided to be honest. These were not just his students, they were his brother, sister-in-law and his wife’s best friend.

  “Craig has been asked to become a trainer,” he said. He waited until Jonathon and Katie had finished congratulating him. It was a great honour.

  “However,” he continued, “he has said not yet and I agree with him. Now is not the time for him to be leaving. I’ve also been asked about my opinion on you two.”

  This comment surprised Jonathon and Katie, as their reactions showed. “I think you both have the ability to become trainers and, though it pains me to say it, you will also be good at it. But again, not yet. You need some more life experience behind you.”

  “So why the extra lessons?” Jonathon asked.

  “Because I’ve been given permission to start training you to be trainers. When you decide you are ready, you’ll have to go away for proper training, like I did, but by then you’ll have a good foundation so it will not take as long.”

  Craig and Katie didn’t know what to say. Jonathon did. “Thank you.” No more words were needed. JD was giving up his own time to help them advance and all three appreciated it.

  “This information cannot leave this room though. Nobody else can know. Doc does, and Sarah, obviously, but nobody else.”

  The three students nodded their understanding. Then JD grinned at them. None of them liked that grin.

  “Now that you know what’s going on we can start the proper training. Trust me, you are not going to enjoy this.”

  ————————————-∞————————————-

  A few weeks later, JD got a call from Patrick.

  “We may have a problem,” the head scientist from Sanctuary 7 said. “Two hunters from Sanctuary 2 have just returned from a hunt with no memory of finding any vampires, yet they clearly have bites on their necks.”

  “Leave it with me,” JD said. “I’ll sort this out.”

  “You said they promised to leave us alone.”

  “Don’t jump to conclusions. Let me make a call, then I’ll call you back.”

  “What’s wrong?” Sarah asked as soon as JD hung up.

  “Hunters have been attacked by greater vampires,” JD said.

  “Luke wouldn’t lie to us.”

  “I know. Let me find out what’s going on.” JD started to dial, but Sarah stopped him.

  “We should go there and speak to him in person.”

  JD agreed and went to find Scott to let him know his one-on-one training session was cancelled. Scott tried to look disappointed, but failed. JD worked all of his students hard so they were happy when they got an unexpected hour or two off.

  JD didn’t tell anyone where he and Sarah were going, or why. When he arrived at the gate at the top of Luke’s driveway, he rang the buzzer, told whoever answered who he was and was allowed to enter.

  “To what do we owe this honour?” Luke asked as he walked up to JD as soon as he got out of the car. It was the first time he had visited Luke since the evening all of his team went there and learned about greater vampires.

  “We need to talk.”

  Luke picked up the undertone that told him JD wasn’t happy about something. “Sure. Come inside. We can use Anna’s office.”

  Luke led them to the empty room and closed the door behind him. Not that it would make much difference. Anything that was said could be heard by most of the house’s residents if they passed by, with or without a door blocking the sound. However, JD and Sarah obviously wanted to talk to him alone so Luke gave them the illusion of privacy.

  “Hunters have been attacked by a greater vampire,” JD said as soon as Luke took the seat behind the desk. “I’m not accusing anyone of anything, but I need to know it wasn’t anyone from here.”

  “It wasn’t,” Luke said. Nobody he lived with would violate the truce. “But I understand why you are here and that you can’t just take my word for it. Let’s go see Gavin.”

  Gavin was in his office, where he always seemed to be, and listened carefully to what JD had to say without interrupting with questions.

  “Nobody here has been out this evening, other than Helen and Paul,” Gavin said. “You can ask them all if you like.” He then looked at Luke, silently asking a question he didn’t need to voice.

  Luke took out his phone and dialled a number. “Paul, where are you?” he asked as soon as his call was answered.

  He asked a number of questions, then hung up. “He has been with Helen all day. She never left his sight. She fed off him tonight. She couldn’t have attacked any hunters.”

  A look of concer
n crossed Gavin’s face. “Then this means there is another greater vampire in the area. It’s strange that we haven’t picked up any signs. Usually we do.”

  He turned his attention to JD and Sarah. “We’ll investigate. Let me know if you need any proof that it wasn’t a member of the family that attacked your people. I can show you the recordings from the security cameras that will clearly show that nobody has left the house all evening.”

  “That won’t be necessary,” JD said. “I am happy to take your word. And Luke’s. I can’t see why you would lie to me.”

  “Thank you. I’ll keep you informed as to the outcome of our investigations. If we find anything, you will be the first to know.”

  “Want me to send in Cassy and Brian?” Luke asked. They had experience tracking greater vampires so Gavin would want to send those two out to investigate.

  “Yes please. Where did the attack happen?”

  JD provided location details.

  “Keep in touch with us,” Gavin said. “If this happens again, let me know immediately so we can send someone to take a look. If there is another greater vampire out there, I want to know who it is and where they are living.”

  JD promised he would, then left the office.

  Luke sent Cassy and Brian to Gavin then offered to give JD and Sarah a tour of the house and grounds. The circumstance of their last visit hadn’t allowed for that.

  Both were intrigued by the basement bedroom. “Have you ever been locked in here?” Sarah asked when Luke told them what it was for.

  “Only once, so far.” Luke explained about his bad experience after drinking from a man who was high on drugs and how Anna had risked her life to give him fresh blood. He neglected to mention the rough sex they had had; it was nobody else’s business.

  “I wish we had one of these,” JD said. “It could come in handy next time one of my team does something to piss me off.”

  “Somehow I don’t think any of them would see being locked in a bedroom as punishment,” Sarah said. “Especially if they were not alone.”

  Once they had seen the whole house, Luke took them into the grounds and showed them the empty swimming pool that Anna had mentioned.