“I think we’re going to be too late to save anyone,” Craig said to Sarah.
They headed off together into the nearby trees, scanning in all directions as they did so. The sound of fighting reached their ears to their left, but they ignored it. The others were more than capable of taking care of themselves and they needed to check that no other vampires were around.
Craig suddenly froze. He had heard something ahead. He signalled to Sarah that she should get behind him, but she shook her head. She was not going to let him protect her.
They cautiously moved forward, putting enough distance between them that they wouldn’t accidently cut each other when they swung their swords.
The sound of something landing on the ground behind them caused Sarah to spin around. Her sword was in her hand and she sliced the throat of the vampire who had just jumped from a tree to attack her.
It was a killing wound, but it would take a while for the vampire to die, so Sarah stuck her sword in his chest, piercing his heart. As the body slumped to the ground, she heard Craig engaging a second vampire. She turned around to see if he needed any help, but he had already made the strike that would temporarily kill his attacker.
Silence surrounded them, but Craig and Sarah waited for a while, listening carefully for any sign that they weren’t alone, before beheading the two ‘dead’ vampires.
Meanwhile, Jonathon and Jane were at the other side of the car park. JD was with them and they were fighting a larger number of vampires. Hunters from 3 arrived and joined in. Soon all of the vampires were dead. No hunters were injured.
Without waiting for instructions from JD, Jonathon and Jane went off to make sure no more vampires could be found. Hunters from 3 did the same.
One of them stayed behind to speak to JD. “Good job we arrived to help you out,” the man said. JD recognised him.
“We would have managed.” There was no hostility in JD’s voice, but no friendliness either.
“There’s no need for that attitude. None of us blame you for what your father has done.”
“Has been accused of doing you mean. Tell me Jake, how many of the hunters from 3 asked for his side of the story?”
Jake took a step back. JD still had his sword out and it made Jake more than a little nervous. “There’s a witness,” he said, as though that justified his lack of action in regard to speaking with Shawn.
“What difference does that make? I’m a lawyer. I know from experience that witnesses lie.”
“Why would Sandra make this up?” Jake asked. JD managed to stop himself smiling. He now knew the name of the woman who was setting his father up.
“If you had had the decency to speak to my father, you would know the answer to that.”
Before Jake could say more, JD ran off into the trees, far faster than any human could.
When all hunters were satisfied that no more vampires were in the area, they met back in the car park to await the arrival of Sanctuary 1. JD had already phoned them to let them know that there were a number of cars that would need to be disposed of. They were later arriving than usual as they had to bring their car transporter. JD had no idea how they planned to dispose of the cars and didn’t ask.
“Are you coming back to our place?” one of the hunters from 3 asked Jonathon.
“You must be joking,” he said. “There is no way I’m going to set foot in a Sanctuary where not only has one of you set my father up and unjustly accused him, but the rest of you were so eager to believe her that none of you complained when he was suspended.”
The vehemence in Jonathon’s voice made the man step back. “Your hunting team is a disgrace to the society. At 14 we believe in loyalty to our trainer. We will always stick by JD until it has been proven beyond reasonable doubt that he is guilty. That’s the way proper hunters are supposed to behave.”
The man opened his mouth to say something, but Katie interrupted him. “I wouldn’t bother if I was you. None of us are interested in anything you have to say.”
“There is one thing I want to know,” Sarah said. She had been standing close enough to hear the conversation. “How’s Sanctuary 3 coping without a trainer or a leader? I hear good ones are hard to come by and you have managed to lose both.”
She didn’t wait for an answer. She smiled and walked away. The look on the hunter’s face told her that her question had annoyed him, which is what she intended.
“Bitch,” he said, but not loud enough for her to hear. He knew her reputation and didn’t want to have to fight her. He felt a sword at his neck and froze.
“If I ever hear you call my sister-in-law that again,” Jonathon whispered, “I’ll tell my brother and I’m sure you don’t want that to happen.”
The man swallowed. “JD can’t hurt me,” he said.
“Just you remember that next time you go to Sanctuary 12 to train in the dark. JD plays the part of a vampire quite a lot and I’m told he does it well.”
JD would never hurt a hunter, but this hunter obviously didn’t know that. He began to shake and Jonathon had to quickly remove his sword.
“Come on Katie,” he said and took her hand. “I need to go home and shower. I need to wash the stink of Sanctuary 3 off me.”
“He can put in a complaint about you,” she said quietly as they walked away.
“Let him try,” Jonathon said. “Just let him try.”
When they got back to Sanctuary 14, Jonathon took JD aside and told him what had happened. JD rolled his eyes. “I should have known you couldn’t keep your mouth shut. Who was it?”
Jonathon provided the name. “I’ll give him a call,” JD said. “Nobody calls Sarah a bitch and gets away with it.”
Jonathon was about to leave when JD called him back. “I have some information you might be interested in. I know who dad’s accuser is. I’ve put in a formal request for all of the details, but as yet I have been told nothing. Start finding out what you can about her, but subtly. I don’t want dad finding out.”
“Will do,” Jonathon said.
————————————-∞————————————-
A few days later, Luke and Anna were enjoying some quiet time together in their lounge. They were interrupted by Luke’s phone ringing.
He looked at the name that appeared on his screen and frowned. Gabriel was in the house so he couldn’t understand why he would be calling him.
“Come down to the basement bedroom,” he said as soon as Luke answered.
Luke didn’t ask why. He kissed Anna on the cheek then said he would be back in a few minutes.
When he arrived at the bedroom door he saw Gabriel sitting on the bed. He looked tense.
“What’s wrong?”
“I can feel ‘the craving’ coming on,” he said. “I need you to lock me in here then get Anna out of the house for a few days.”
“Why does Anna need to leave? I’ll explain to her what is going on.”
“I can smell her, even from down here.” Gabriel was gripping the bed frame tightly as he tried to keep control of himself. He wanted to attack Luke and it was taking everything he had to stop himself from doing so.
“So? I’ll get a girl in here. Soon you won’t even know that Anna....” The look on Gabriel’s face made him stop half way through the sentence. It made him go cold inside. “No. Please tell me you don’t.” Luke couldn’t believe that what he was thinking was true.
Gabriel said nothing. Luke had worked out what the problem was and Gabriel was not going to lie to him. It was better to say nothing than speak the words Luke desperately didn’t want to hear.
Luke ran his fingers through his hair in frustration, then punched the wall, not caring that he cut his knuckles, making them bleed. He was happy with Anna, happier than he thought he could ever be. How could this happen now? He turned his attention back to Gabriel. “How could you?”
“How could I not? Seeing how you are together, the way she treats you. Of course it had an effect on me. And
you know me; I only want what I can’t have.”
“How long?”
“A while. Since before you went away.”
“You must have loved claiming her then.” Anger was building up and Luke did his best to suppress it. If he made any aggressive move now, Gabriel would be unable to stop himself killing him.
“Actually it tore me apart, hearing her call out your name.”
“God damn it Gabriel,” Luke said. “What do we do now? Why can you never make things easy?”
“It is easy. You leave this room, lock the door and take Anna away.”
“It’s not that simple.”
“Yes it is. Now go while I can still stop myself attacking you.” Gabriel was speaking slowly. He was having to breathe deeply to stop himself losing control. If Luke didn’t leave soon, Gabriel couldn’t guarantee his safety.
Luke left the room and slammed the door shut. From inside, Gabriel heard the bolts being slid into position. He wouldn’t be able to leave the room until someone freed him.
Luke walked up the stairs, went to the gong and rang it. The entire household needed to know what was happening.
Gavin was the first to arrive. One look at Luke told him there was something seriously wrong. “What’s going on?”
“We have a problem,” Luke said. “I’ll explain when everyone arrives.”
Anna came down the stairs, but Luke told her to go back up. She would need to be told, but not yet. He asked her to take Paul with her. This was something the vampires needed to discuss in private.
As soon as everyone was seated in the dining room, Luke began. “Sorry to disturb you all but we have a situation we need to deal with.” He was standing up, leaning on the back of a chair.
“Shouldn’t we wait for Gabriel?” Helen asked.
“I’ve had to lock him downstairs.” That got everyone’s attention. “He’s going through ‘the craving’”
“Is that all?” Cassy said. “I was hoping it would be something important. Just find him a girl. Hell, I’ll even volunteer. I’ve always wanted to know if he is as good as he thinks he is.”
“Go into that room and you won’t come out alive,” Luke said. “If I had stayed any longer I would not be here talking to you now.” One look at his face told Cassy he wasn’t joking.
“You have got to me kidding me,” Brian said. “Gabriel is in love?”
Luke nodded his head. “Human or vampire?” Juliette asked.
“Human.”
“Do you know who it is?” Again Luke nodded.
“Well that’s easy then,” Martin said. “One of us bites her, puts enough venom in her to control her, but not claim her, and then we put her in the room with Gabriel.”
Luke did not want to say the next words, but he had to. “She can’t be controlled.” Gavin looked at him sharply. If Luke was saying what he thought he was saying, this was a situation he had no idea how to deal with.
“All humans can be controlled,” Helen said. Then she realised that there was one who couldn’t. A claimed human could only be controlled by the vampire who claimed them and Luke had already demonstrated that he could not control Anna.
Helen went pale. “Please tell me this is a joke.”
“I wish I could.”
“What are you going to do?”
“I don’t know. I either have to let my cousin go through agony or I have to ask my girlfriend to sleep with him.”
There is always a choice
“There has to be an alternative,” Juliette said.
“There isn’t. Those are the only two options and we all know it. If we put anyone else in that room with Gabriel he won’t be able to stop himself killing them.”
“If you put Anna in there, you can’t guarantee he won’t kill her,” Brian said. “It has been known to happen.”
“Thanks Brian,” Luke said sarcastically. “I really needed reminding of that.”
“You have to take Anna away,” Gavin said. “I don’t see that you have a choice. Gabriel will understand.”
“How can I justify doing that to him? I can still remember the agony I went through the first time I was affected by ‘the craving’. I can’t make him suffer like that.”
“You have no choice.”
“There is always a choice.”
“Luke, please sit down,” Juliette said. “Let’s discuss this rationally.”
Luke did as requested, but couldn’t keep still. He drummed his fingers on the table and kept kicking the table leg. He wanted to take his frustration out on someone, but nobody present deserved it and if he went to Gabriel he would be killed.
“Are you sure Gabriel is in love with Anna?” Gavin asked.
“He’s sure and that’s all that matters. He’s managed to hide it well. I didn’t have a clue.”
“How’s she going to react when she finds out?” Martin asked.
“If she finds out,” Helen said.
“There must be something we can do,” Martin continued, ignoring his sister’s comment. “Didn’t you say Sanctuary 14 has a resident doctor? You’re spending a lot of time there. Won’t he help by giving Gabriel pain killers or something?”
“It won’t work,” Gavin said. “While he’s going through ‘the craving’ he will feel nothing other than how much his body hurts. The only thing that will take that pain away is having sex. Lots of sex. I should know. I’ve tried other things and nothing helped. I once drank hemlock in the hope that I would be through the worst of it when I came back to life, but the poison had no effect on me. I might as well have been drinking water.”
Luke didn’t want to hear any more. “Where are you going?” Juliette asked when he stood up and moved toward the door.
“To talk to Anna. She needs to know the situation.”
“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Helen asked.
“No. Right now I’m not sure of anything.”
Nobody tried to stop him as he left the room. There was nothing they could do or say that would help him.
He found Anna in their lounge, watching TV with Paul. “Can you leave us for a while please Paul,” Luke said.
“Are you alright?” Paul asked. “You look ill.”
“No. I am far from alright. There’s something I need to talk to Anna about. Go downstairs and Helen will tell you everything. Tell her she has my permission.”
“This sounds serious,” Anna said. She switched the TV off and gave Luke her full attention. She was concerned that he opted to pace the room instead of joining her on the sofa.
He couldn’t bear to be near her as he told her what she needed to know. He explained that every thirty years or so, greater vampires, both male and female, went through something that was referred to as ‘the craving’. Nobody knew what caused it or how to stop it.
“The pain is indescribable,” he said, “and it goes on for a couple of days. It’s called ‘the craving’ because it feels like your body is craving for something, but you don’t know what. Your muscles twitch uncontrollably and you feel like your skin is burning. At times you can’t stop yourself screaming. Bolts of agony keep shooting through you and you would beg someone to kill you, if killing you was possible.”
“Why are you telling me this? Can you feel it coming on?”
Luke almost wished he could say yes. “Not me. Gabriel. He’s currently locked up downstairs. ‘The craving’ makes us so violent we will kill anyone we see. With one exception.”
“And that is?”
“The only thing that will stop the pain is sex. I haven’t found anyone who can explain why, but having sex makes the pain recede. It doesn’t go away, but it does make it bearable. Usually, the vampire’s sexual partner is safe and they won’t be harmed. Usually, but not always. Sometimes the vampire loses control and hurts or even kills the person they are with.”
“Are you trying to tell me that we’re going to have to put up with the sound of Gabriel having lots and lots of hot sex?”
Anna didn’t li
ke the look Luke gave her. He tried to speak, but no words came out. He tried again. “If the vampire is in love, that is the only person who will be able to go near him.”
“Gabriel is in love?” Anna sounded as surprised as Brian had been. “Who with?”
“You.”
Anna thought she had misheard. She had to have done. There was no way Gabriel could be in love with her. That would mean......Her mind refused to finish the thought.
“No,” she said, shaking her head violently. “No no no. He can’t be.”
Luke moved over to the sofa, sat down next to her and took her in his arms. She was still shaking her head. This could not be happening. But no matter how much she denied it, it didn’t stop it being true.
“I don’t know what to do Anna,” Luke whispered in her ear. “I love you too much to risk letting you near him, but I love him too much to let him go through agony.”
“Isn’t there anything we can do?”
“No. Gabriel either has almost constant sex for the next few days or he suffers more than you can possibly imagine.”
“What does he want to do?” Anna wasn’t sure she really wanted to know the answer.
“He has asked, no he has demanded that I take you away and leave him alone. That alone tells me that he really does love you. He would rather go through physical torture than risk hurting you.”
“Surely he won’t be able to touch me. Your claim on me will prevent that.”
“My claim will have no effect on him while he goes through this. Any pain he would normally feel when touching you will be absorbed by his body. He won’t feel it.”
Anna could see how much Luke was hurting emotionally, but that was nothing compared to what he was going to go through, whatever decision he made. Then Anna realised this wasn’t Luke’s decision; it was hers. Knowing that Gabriel was suffering and that there was something that could be done to help him would tear Luke apart, but so would knowing what Gabriel was doing to her if she was with him. She had to decide which would be easier for him to cope with.
She pulled out of his arms. “Leave me alone for a while. I need to think about this.” This wasn’t a choice she could make with Luke near her. It also wasn’t something that she could discuss with him.
Greater Vampires Page 21