Dawn of the Hunter - part 1
Read More
I can’t believe I am back here. My stomach fell at the familiarness of my hometown as I pulled off the highway. It’s been four years. I mean, I came back for holidays and the occasional weekend but I really never thought that I would be living back here again. Nothing had changed but at the same time everything had changed. I don’t belong here. Then again, I don’t belong anywhere. Not after what I have become.
I drove past the old grocery store that was owned by Mr. Garret. It’s closed now and has been for a few years. He couldn’t keep up with the Meijer’s down the road. Blackstone, like most of the small towns in the area was slowing being sucked into the larger cities that dominated the area.
I pulled onto the main road and headed past my old high school and towards the family home I had grown up in. I was only going to be staying there temporarily till the end of the week when I could move into my apartment in the city.
No one was home when I pulled in the driveway. Shocker. No one is ever around. My father was most likely at work and lost track of time or what day it was. My mother was in Africa or Mexico or somewhere. The only way I can keep track of where she was off saving starving children was from her twitter.
The house key was still hidden inside my mother’s favorite gnome that was part of the small gnome army guarding her rose bushes. Not going to lie, they frighten me a little bit. What frightens me even more is that my mom has named them all.
It was cold and lonely inside my house as I walked in. It was the same as always. A cave of rabid bears would have given me a warmer homecoming. The house was ridiculously clean. For some reason we have a house keeper even though no one really lives here. It was just for show.
I set my pink Juicy Couture purse on the table as I heard my ringtone going off. It was the theme song for Psycho indicating that it was my best home town friend, Serena. I gave up searching through my purse and just dumped its contents on the table. I have way too much crap in my purse. Half of it I don’t even know why it is in there. I rummaged around and moved aside a handgun and brass knuckles. I found my phone towards the end of the ringtone.
“Hello?” I questioned as I picked up my pink rhinestone covered phone.
“Hey, girl! You back in Blackstone?!” She wanted to know.
“Yup.” I replied with less optimism.
“Thank god, you have no idea how much I’ve missed your crazy shenanigans. We’re going out tonight. My boyfriend’s friend’s roommate is having a party.” She informed me.
I sighed I didn’t particularly want to go but I did want to hang with Serena a little bit and I haven’t met her new boyfriend yet. They’ve been dating a couple of months so if they’re getting serious I guess I should meet him.
“Alright.” I reluctantly agreed.
“Prefect.” She purred. “I’ll pick you up at nine. Peace out, Homeslice.”
Ugh, why did I agree to this again?
Several hours later I was dressed in skinny jeans and a black sparkly tank top. I let my shoulder length dark brown hair just hang at my shoulders. To top my outfit off I was wearing my heeled black ankle boots.
“I am so excited for you to meet Devon. You’ll love him. You guys are going to be the best of friends.” Serena rambled as she flipped through her radio stations. I cringed as she ran through a red light.
“Will you watch the road?!” I complained.
“Relax, spazz. I know how to drive. ” She rolled her dark green eyes at me.
“I seem to recalling you failing your driver’s test four times.” I muttered.
We were downtown in the area around the state campus where she attends school. I just graduated but she still has a year left. She needs to get her GPA up before she can get into a grad school. She spent her first year partying and as a result her grade point suffered.
She pulled her pink Mercades up next to a really nice looking apartment complex that I doubted most of the college kids around here could afford to live in.
“What are you doing?!” When I turned back towards Serena she was drinking vodka straight from a bottle she had just pulled out of her purse.
“Pregaming.” She replied. “Want some?”
“I’m good.” I replied as I got out of the car.
Serena put her bottle away and did the same. She almost tripped over the curb as she joined me on the sidewalk. She wears heels all the time but can barely walk in them. The ones she was wearing tonight were higher than usual. She has wearing bright yellow stripper heels with fishnet tights. She was also wearing a short layered black skirt and a yellow tube top with a black leather jacket. Her hair was different every time I saw her. It was currently a strawberry blonde color and pulled back into a long French braid. I followed her as she walked into the building.
“Okay. So we’re going to Star’s party. She’s Devon’s friend, Allison’s roommate.” She informed me as we got into the elevator.
“Wait, your boyfriend’s friend is a girl?” I questioned.
“Yeah. God, she is gorgeous. She’s gay though, so I’m not like worried at all.” She told me.
“Ah.” I replied. Serena is the jealous type. I was a little surprised it didn’t bother her, even if the other girl isn’t into guys. She slapped up some girl in high school just because she was her boyfriend’s lab partner. Have you figured out why her ringtone on my phone is Psycho, yet?
The elevator opened up to a large penthouse apartment. There were quite a few people hanging out and drinking. There was a beer pong game going on in the center of the living room where the floor was covered in a plastic tarp to protect the carpet. It seemed like a fairly tame party. There weren’t any fist fights or half naked people making out… yet. Still my spider senses were tingling as I walked into the room.
“I am going to go find Devon. Why don’t you go in the kitchen and find something to drink?” Serena suggested as she disappeared in the crowd. Bitch. She always leaves me when we go to parties. I don’t know anybody there. What the hell was I supposed to do? With a tired sigh I went into the kitchen.
The kitchen was less crowded then the living room. There was only a few people hanging out in there and they were hovering around the keg. I grabbed a red cup and poured myself some of the box wine that was on the island counter in the center of the kitchen. I sipped at the wine as I watched everyone else have fun.
“Hey, I don’t think we’ve met.” A guy that looked about my age approached me but I knew he was much older than he looked. He had shaggy dark brown hair and golden brown eyes. I noticed he had a dimple on his left check when he smiled at me. He was pretty cute. He was also pretty well dressed. He was wearing designer jeans and a tight black Von Dutch shirt. I could tell by the way he was glancing at my neck, he was seeing if I was marked. I fought the urge to roll my eyes or acknowledge his behavior. He obviously had no idea who he was messing with. It might entertain me to screw with his head a little.
I just shrugged. “Probably not.” I replied. “I just got into town. I’m friends with Serena.”
“Oh, right. Devon’s girlfriend.” He didn’t sound thrilled about their relationship. “I’m Eddy.” He introduced himself.
“Dawn.” I replied.
“Nice to meet you.” He smiled and his golden eyes buried themselves into mine. I realized he was trying to get inside my mind. Boys are so stupid. Alright, I’ll play along.
I let a girly laugh and moved closer to him. “Nice to meet you too.” I giggled.
“You have such beautiful hair, Dawn.” He told him as he reached out and ran his fingers through my hair.
I felt a strong urge to punch him in the jaw but instead I giggled. “Thank you, I use Herbal Essence.”
He wrapped his arm around me and pulled me close. Damn, the boy moves fast. “Let’s go for a walk.” He strongly suggested and I could feel the pressure in my mind from his mental push. It wasn’t enough to affect me, of course, but a normal girl would be putty in his hands.
“I’m here with Serena…” I replied with my best impression of being confused by psychic haze.
“We won’t be long. I’ll bring you back.” He promised.
“I-I can’t leave my friend. It’s the best friend code.” I responded. Not like Serena ever follows that rule.
“Come on.” He said smoothly as one of his hands slid down to my ass and squeezed.
I had enough of this game. I lashed out and punched him in the jaw. He let of me and took a few steps back. He stared at me with a surprised expression.
“Do not touch me.” I hissed at him.
“Wha..what the fuck?!” He was obviously confused about how I had broken out of his mind control. He obviously wasn’t very good at it to begin with if he didn’t notice that I was never under his control at all.
I just rolled my eyes and drank more of my cheap wine.
“How did you do that?” He demanded as he roughly grabbed a hold of my arm.
I gave him my death stare. “Let go of my arm.”
He roughly pulled me towards him as his eyes met mine. He was trying to get into my mind again.
I just rolled my eyes. “I am getting bored of this.” I informed him as I yanked my arm out of his grip. He blocked my path as I tried to get around him.
“Move.” I snapped.
He roughly pushed me up against the counter. “I’m not playing games, girl.” He growled at me.
“Good. Me either.” I replied as I hit him in the face with the palm of my hand. There was a crunch as his nose broke and blood flooded out of his nose.
He backed off from me as he clutched at his face. He let out a long string of curses that sounded to be in French or something similar. I am not a language expert. The only foreign language I know was learned from Dora the Explorer. There was complete silence as the other party guests just stared at us.
“You little bitch.” Eddy growled as he looked at me with bright glowing red eyes. His face was stained with blood. I heard a soft crunching noise as the cartilage in his nose was already starting to heal.
“You started it.” I pointed out.
With a snarl he lashed out at me with his fists. I blocked his blows with my forearms and pushed him back. I lashed out with viper speed and side kicked him in the chest. He stumbled back against the refrigerator. He glared darkly at me as he went to charge me again.
“Enough!” A voice rang out with authority.
Eddy slunk back as a man with dark black hair and hazel eyes walked into the kitchen. There was a scar on his bottom lip and I noticed a few more on his arms. He was wearing khakis and a navy blue polo. Serena followed close behind him. I’m guessing he must be Devon.
He glanced over me with amusement and then shot Eddy a dark glare.
“Dawn! What happened?” Serena exclaimed.
“We’re leaving.” I informed her. “Your boyfriend isn’t who you think he is.”
“What?” She questioned with confusion. Devon looked very amused and Eddy just continued to look pissed off.
“They are all-“ I stopped as I realized Serena was no longer wearing her jacket. I noticed several scars on her neck. There was a fresh one by her shoulder. “I guess you already know.” I responded briskly.
“What are you-“ Her eyes suddenly widened. “You know about vampires!” She exclaimed.
My response was a kind and courteous, “No shit, Sherlock.”
Vampires. About 90% of the people here are fucking vampires. Obviously Serena didn’t think I was aware of their existence, so why would she bring me to a vampire party? Was she trying to feed me to them? I could tell by the marks on her neck that she was Devon’s shadow. Shadows are humans that let vampires feed from them and often follow them around like servants or slaves. The question is, how much under his control is she?
“We need to go.” I told her with a dark glance at Devon.
“Dawn, I’m sorry I should have explained before but I didn’t want to freak you out.” She pleaded.
“And you think leaving me alone in a room full of vampires wouldn’t freak me out?” I demanded.
“That was my fault.” Devon spoke up. “Serena didn’t want to keep secrets from you. She talked me into revealing what I am to you tonight. So I had her bring you here. No one was supposed to touch you.” He shot Eddy a dark look.
Devon was in charge here. I wasn’t completely sure what he was yet. He might be a clan leader or a lieutenant to one. I sensed him to be vaguely powerful but nothing special. He was only a couple hundred years old.
“I wasn’t going to hurt her.” Eddy muttered but the dark look in his eyes said otherwise.
“It appears Serena wasn’t the only one keeping secrets. “ Devon observed. “You must be the new Hunter.”
Eddy suddenly looked a lot more frightened of me. A few of the vampires hanging about had the same expression while others glared at me with straight out hatred.
“What’s a Hunter?” Serena questioned.
I gave a tired sigh. “Is there somewhere private we can talk?” I didn’t particularly want a bunch of random vampires listening in.
Devon nodded. “Of course, come with me.” I followed him as he took Serena’s hand and went to the elevator. The crowd of vampires that had gathered around the kitchen parted to let us through.
“Edmund.” Devon growled at Eddy, who was following close behind me. “Stay here. I’ll have a few words with you later.” He hissed and gestured me into the elevator. He took out a key once I was inside and stuck it in a keyhole under the floor buttons. Eddy stopped in his tracks and glared at us as the elevator shut. I gave him slight wave as the doors closed.
“Don’t instigate him.” Devon grumbled at me as the doors closed. I rolled my eyes with annoyance. Clearly no one here knows who they are messing with. I’ve killed vampires and demons far more powerful than anyone here.
I rode the elevator up a couple of floors in silence with Serena and her master. I can’t believe she is involved with a vampire. I wonder how hard it would be to get a warrant to stake him.
“Are you mad at me?” Serena finally broke the silence.
“What do you think?” I snapped as the elevator reached a large penthouse that took up the entire top floor. There was a black theme in place and everything looked expensive. I’m going to guess we’re in Devon’s pent house. Everything just screamed rich vampire chic. How very original.
“Would you like something to drink? I have some wine chilling if you would like a glass.” Devon offered as he led us into his living room.
“How far is Serena under your power?” I demanded of him. My hands were itching to summon my sword.
“I will take that as a ‘no’.” He said in response as he sat down in a leather arm chair.
“I’m not one of those mindless zombies.” Serena assured me. “I’m with him because I want to with him.”
“When the fuck did you become a fang banger?” I demanded.
“When the fuck did you become a Hunter?” She countered.
I sighed and sat down on the couch. “A year ago.” I said quietly.
“What is a Hunter?” She asked me gently as she sat down beside me on the couch.
“Umm….” I tried to think of how to explain it. “Sometimes in a moment of peril certain humans become more then human.”
“It has to be supernatural peril.” Devon spoke up as he reached over to the glass coffee table in front of us and poured himself a glass of wine.
“Right, supernatural peril.” I agreed.
“What do you mean that you become more then human?” Serena wanted to know.
“Potential humans become faster and stronger so they can stand up to demons and vampires. Its how the human race was able to survive in the dark ages. People today can become Hunters but it’s less common.” I recited the textbook definition that had been told to me by my superiors.
“So, you were in peril…?” Serena questioned slowly as she tried to absorb what I had told her.
“Yes.” I answered. “The metamorphosis from human to Hunter occurs on the brink of death.”
“What?!” Serena exclaimed. “What happened?!”
I bit my lip as I tried to think of where to begin. It wasn’t a story I enjoyed telling.
“Would you like me to leave?” Devon offered politely.
“No.” I sighed. “It’s fine.” Gossip travels fast through the supernatural community. He would find out anyway, if he didn’t already know. There was a good chance he did already know if he knew that a new Hunter was being transferred to the city.
“There was a friend of mine that invited me and a few other girls we hung around with to a party. I didn’t think anything of it. I went out with her quite a few times before and always had a good time. This time was different though. We were going to a “frat” party but when we got there it wasn’t much of a party. There was only a handful of people there. I didn’t understand at first what was happening…” My thoughts went to the dark event of that night. Before then I had been human and my only worries had been graduating college. Now I live in constant fear that each night will be my last.
“Have you seen Alice?” I asked Rachael. She just shrugged. She seemed to be really into the guy she was talking to. It was like she couldn’t take her eyes off from him.
I sighed and moved on. Something was wrong. I didn’t know what but I couldn’t get over the cold feeling in the pit of my stomach. It felt like I had swallowed a bowl full of eels. I just really wanted to get out of there. I wanted to go home but I couldn’t leave without telling Alice. She had invited me and we had each other’s backs while drinking. I had to make sure she would be able to get home before I left.
“Hey.” A guy gently grabbed my wrist. I had seen him watching me earlier. He had shaggy dark brown hair and piercing grey eyes. His eyes intimidated me a little bit as he looked down on me. They were cold like gravestones on an icy winter night. “Are you okay?” He asked me. “You look a little frazzled.”
His hand was freezing. Everything about him was wrong. The way his eyes bore into me and the way he moved reminded me of a predator. Our campus shows a skit every year called No More Zebras. It’s about sexual predators. For the first time I felt like a zebra encountering a lion. Sure, I’ve had guys like undress me with their eyes but the way his eyes looked me over struck me to the core. He looked like he literally wanted to eat me alive.
“I just - I am looking for Alice.” I tried to act cool like he didn’t intimidate me at all.
He smiled softly at me and I felt myself melt. I don’t know why I thought he was so scary. He had soft, gentle eyes like a wool blanket. I wanted to wrap myself up into his eyes. The more I looked in to his eyes the more at ease I felt.
He seemed to sense this and wrapped his arm around my waist. “She went down into the basement. Let me walk you there, Dawn.”
“You know my name?” I asked him as he turned me around and walked me into the kitchen.
“Hmm?” He raised an eyebrow at me. “Oh, yeah. Alice introduced us earlier. I’m Isaac, remember?”
She did not. I knew he was lying to me. Normally I would call him out but I didn’t care. It didn’t seem very important at the moment. Nothing did.
“Come on.” He ushered me over to the stairs leading down into the basement. I felt warning bells going off in the back of my head. I knew something bad was going to be down there. I hesitated at the top of the stair steps. You just don’t go into random basements with guys you’ve just met.
“It’s okay.” He whispered soothingly into my ear. I could feel his cold hand on the small of his back. “Alice is down there.” He assured me.
I found myself taking one step, then another, and then another down into the basement. Alice was lying in a puddle of blood in the center of the basement. Her blonde hair was matted and soaked in blood. She had what looked to be bite marks all over her body. For some reason she was wearing a short white dress. Earlier she had been wearing a lacy red dress.
Before I could scream Isaac put his hand over my mouth. “Quiet.” He commanded of me. I felt the urge to scream die in my throat. “That’s a good girl.” He purred in my ear as he took me by the hand and pulled me further into the basement.
He glanced down at Alice. “She still hasn’t awakened?”
“No, Master.” A blonde woman replied. There were three other people hanging around the basement.
“Should be any minute.” Isaac replied. “I brought her first meal. When she is finished we can have the others she brought to us as tributes.”
I didn’t completely understand what he was talking about. I think Alice betrayed us in some way. That was all I caught onto. Why would she betray us? Who were these people and why did they kill Alice?
Alice moaned as she sat up. She looked disoriented and confused. She looked up at me and her eyes were glowing yellow like a hyena in darkness. I saw that her canine teeth were long and sharp like fangs. She had fucking fangs!
I tried to back away from her but Isaac had a solid grip on my hand. “There’s nothing to be afraid of.” He snared me in with his silky voice as he pushed me forward towards Alice.
Alice was looking me over like a hungry beast. “God, I am so hungry!” She growled out like an animal. She looked me over and shook her head as she turned to Isaac. “It can’t be Dawn. I need someone else as my first.”
“Your alliance is to us.” Isaac answered coolly. “Not to her or any of your former human friends. The old Alice is dead. Prove it to us!” He snarled sharply as he pushed me at her.
Alice caught me and pulled me into her arms like a rag doll. She stroked my hair away from neck as I just looked back at her. I wanted to run. I wanted to scream. I wanted to do anything other than just sit there and watch her but I couldn’t move. I was paralyzed; trapped within my own body. I was cursed to just watch.
“I am sorry.” Alice whispered into my ear and then next thing I knew I could feel her teeth tearing into my throat. It was the most excruciating pain I had ever felt. I wanted to scream out in pain. I wanted to beg and plead for my life. Instead, I was forced to suffer the pain in silence. Alice growled as she bit into me harder and tore deeper into my throat. I could feel the blood dripping down from the wound. I only had to endure several minutes of this torture before everything faded into darkness.
I don’t know how much time had passed when I woke up. I could hear screaming coming from somewhere above me. The floor was damp and cold. I realized I was lying face down on the basement floor. I moaned softly as I tried to lift my head up. My neck was sore and raw. I reached up to touch it with my fingers and felt two large holes that went into the meat of my neck.
I gave out a large groan as I forced myself up with my arms into a sitting position. I almost blacked out just from that movement. I had lost a lot of blood and was feeling the side effects. Another scream from above brought me back into consciousness. I had to do something. I couldn’t just hide down here. I knew they must be doing to the others what they did to me. I still wasn’t sure what had happened. Isaac had some sort of mind control over me and then Alice had come back from the dead. Then she had drunk my blood. I knew what all the evidence added up to but I didn’t want to believe it. There was no such thing as monsters, especially vampires. I’ve seen Twilight and no one here was sparkling.
A high pitched scream ripped through the air as I wobbled to my feet. I stumbled till I got to the stairs and then used the railing for support. I had to take a break to catch my breath before heading up the stairs. I was far from prepared to the horror that greeted me in the kitchen
There was blood everywhere. The floors were slick with it and blood dripped from the walls. There were two bodies on the floor. One was a female with her throat torn open. The other was a male that had been decapitated. His head was over on the table, positioned like a center piece.
I took a deep breath. I needed to be strong. If I fell apart now, I wouldn’t be able to recover from it. I had to be strong for the others. I stepped into the room looking for a phone. I needed to find a way to get a hold of the cops. It was the only real plan I could come up with. I didn’t see any landline phone in the kitchen. I looked at the bodies with dread. I knew I was going to have to search them.
I went to the female first. She hadn’t been mutilated for the most part so I was hoping it wouldn’t be as bad. “Oh, God.” I moaned as I caught a glimpse of her face. “Rachael.” I said softly. I ate lunch in the cafeteria everything Tuesday and Thursday with her. She had wanted to be a veterinarian and spent most of her free time volunteering at the Humane Society.
“How are you still alive?” A voice sneered behind me.
I looked up to see Isaac leaning against the doorway to the kitchen. His shirt was soaked with blood. His stone cold eyes looked me over with a combination of amusement and annoyance.
My first instinct was to run. I didn’t get too far before slipping in a pool of blood. Isaac roughly caught me and slammed me up against the fridge. He pinned my arms above my head with one hand and roughly held my chin with the other as he studied the holes in my neck with a puzzled expression. “You shouldn’t be that far along in the healing process.” He muttered.
I yelped as he roughly turned my head so he was staring into my eyes. His grey eyes seemed to swirl into mine like clouds before a storm but nothing happened like before. I struggled against his grip just to see if I could move with my own free will.
Rage flashed in his eyes but was quickly replaced by a smirk. “Well, this is interesting.” He said with a grin as he looked me over with interest. I have no idea what his sudden change in attitude was about. I probably didn’t want to know.
I trembled as he brought his face to my throat but he didn’t bite me. I could feel him smell the wound on my neck. “Got to love that new hunter smell.” He snickered into my ear.
“What?” I couldn’t help but blurt out.
He licked at my neck. “Don’t worry about it.” He growled at me. He roughly grabbed onto my forearm and dragged me into the living room. The carnage was even worse in the living room where most of the party was. Blood squished through the carpet as I was roughly pulled into the room. There were several bodies lying around the room. The chandelier had been decorated with some one’s intestines. A few of the partygoers were still alive and were being tortured by the half a dozen monsters that were in the room.
“Dawn!” Alice pulled herself away from the heart that she was eating. She seemed genuinely happy to see that I was still alive.
“She is mine.” Isaac responded gruffly. “Congratulations, Alice, you just metamorphosed a hunter.”
All of the monsters in the room froze. “She is a hunter?” One of them asked. He sounded almost afraid.
“Yes.” He responded gruffly. “Get on your knees.” He commanded roughly as he pushed me to the ground. “Hands behind your back.” I did what he told me. He got a pair of handcuffs from one of his fellow monsters and cuffed my arms behind my back.
“What is a hunter?” Alice asked cautiously.
Isaac sat on the couch beside me and stroked my hair. “A pain in the ass of vampires. Sometimes when you don’t kill a human properly they became a hunter; a being as strong as a vampire whose purpose is to protect other humans.” He snickered. “I don’t hold you accountable, they are very rare. Besides, you got me a valuable new pet.” He roughly squeezed the back of my neck.
“Are you going to turn her?” Alice asked hopeful. I couldn’t help but give her a disgusted look. She was holding half a heart in her hand. Why would I want to be like her? I think I would rather be dead on the basement floor.
Isaac gave a dark laugh. “No. Getting a hold of a hunter’s blood isn’t an easy task. I now have my own private stockpile.” The vampire smirked down at me and possessively ran his fingers through my hair. I knew I would probably be begging for death by time he was done with me.
There was a sharp cry as one of the vampire’s heads blew off. I didn’t understand the cause till I heard gunfire. The door was burst open as a large buff man and several other people with shotguns and machines guns came in the room firing at the vampires.
Isaac grabbed me before I could really even react and threw me over his shoulder. Alice was near him and he roughly grabbed her hand. “Hunters. Stay by me.” He commanded. We were suddenly in the kitchen and running at a speed I never knew was possible. He went out the back door and was out in the backyard.
The vampire cried out and dropped me as a bullet pierced his side. I yelped out as I fell flat onto my back. He tried to reach out for me but a spray of bullets kept him back away from me. He growled out in frustration. “Go.” He commanded Alice as he disappeared into the shadows. She shot me one last look before following her master into her new life.
“I remember Alice!” Serna exclaimed. “She was at your birthday party. I think I made out with her.” Devon didn’t look too pleased to hear that.
“Yeah, that was her.” I sighed. “I didn’t really understand what was going on at the time but I pieced it together later. Alice had been working for Isaac for years as his shadow. He agreed to turn her but she had to prove her loyalty. She had to bring offerings for the other vampires of the clan. She had been trying to get me not to go. She was trying to protect me and I didn’t realize it. The hunters only ended up crashing the party because they sensed my metamorphosis.”
“What happened to Isaac and Alice?” She asked.
“They left town.” I replied. “They have warrants out for their deaths.”
“Isaac and his clan are not welcome in this city. They are nothing but trouble. The city master banned them years ago.” Devon told me. He seemed to be trying to reassure me. Does he think I am afraid of Isaac? I am afraid of no one. Actually that statement isn’t entirely accurate. I still have nightmares about Isaac’s cold grey eyes looking at me. Ashley is the one that actually killed me but she rarely appears in my dreams as a monster. If she is in my dreams it’s usually her body lying dead and bloody on the floor. I haven’t slept through a solid night since I became a Hunter.
“So what exactly is your role in this city?” I asked Devon. I just told him my life story. The least he can do is give me a brief summery on how this city is run.
“I am a lieutenant for Wesley Ravencrest.” He replied. He looked at my face for recognition and saw none. “You have no ideas who that is, do you?” He sighed when I shook my head. “What do you know about this city?” He questioned me.
“Most of your Hunters are dead.” I replied. “I am supposed to meet with the other Hunters tomorrow to get the lowdown.”
“There are two other Hunters besides you.” He responded.
“WHAT?!” I exclaimed. That was news to me. I guess I never asked but I kind of assumed in a city of this size there would be quite a few hunters. I was formerly stationed in a small college farm town that only contained one vampire clan and two wolf packs. The wolf packs managed themselves. We just had to make sure the vampires weren’t preying on the college students. We had four hunters and most of the time we just hung out at the vampire owned bar. I had a feeling that this job wouldn’t be as easy.
“Wesley just became our clan master. Our last leader was cruel and power hungry. He attempted to take over the city by killing off the hunters and several other clans. Wesley, some of the hunters, and I fought back against him. That is what happened to most of the Hunters. The power in the city is still unstable, you’re going to have your hands full.” He said with sympathy.
“Great…” I grumbled. I hated getting involved in vampire politics. Slaying vampires was easy. Playing their political game was not.
Devon was suddenly alert as he looked up at the elevator. He had heard the elevator approaching before I did. “That will be Wesley, I am sure someone told him the new Hunter is here. Watch your mouth and let me do the talking.” He commanded.
I rolled my eyes. “I’ve been around vampire masters before.” I informed him. They tend to think they’re hot shit and don’t put up with being openly mocked. Being polite and respectful is the best way to deal with them. Unfortunately that isn’t how I roll.
“Don’t roll your eyes.” Devon muttered as the elevator dinged on his floor. The door opened and a man emerged. He had shaggy blonde hair and golden brown eyes. He was wearing a pinstripe dress shirt and black dress pants. He sleeves were rolled up revealing a tattoo of a black bird on his arm. I think it was a raven.
Devon got up to greet him. “Hello, Wesley. I didn’t realize you would be coming out tonight.”
“I heard there was new hunter in town and that she put Edmund in his place.” Wesley replied. “I wanted to meet her for myself.” His golden eyes looked me over. “Surely, you’re not the Hunter? You’re such a beautiful and dainty little flower. Your beautiful hands shouldn’t be used in the art of killing.”
I shrugged and held up my hand, examining it. I did have fairly small hands. My nails were painted purple with zebra stripes “They are just the right size for fitting into ribcages.” I replied sweetly.
He grabbed my hand before I could pull it back and grazed his lips against my knuckles. “I bet you have crushed many hearts. Do you have a name, Little Huntress?”
Oh God, he was flirting with me. I just smiled back sweetly. “Just a couple of times when I couldn’t find my sword. I don’t like having blood under my nails so it’s not my favorite method. You can call me, Dawn.”
His lips twitched with amusement. “Such a beautiful and suiting name. I am Wesley Ravencrest.” He kissed my knuckles once more before releasing my hand.
He went over to Serena and kissed the back of her hand as well. “Serena, it is always a pleasure to bask in your beauty.” He greeted smoothly.
“Thank you. It’s nice to see you too, Wesley.” Serena giggled. Devon looked a bit annoyed but he wouldn’t challenge his master for just flirting. Besides Wesley seemed to have his sights set on me as he sat close to me on the couch and wrapped his arm around the back of the couch close to my shoulder. I grit my teeth as I tried not to let my annoyance show.
“I have heard quite a bit about you.” He told me.
“Only good things, I hope.” I replied. Probably not. It depends on who he has been talking to.
“A fairly good mixture of positive and negative.” He replied. I could tell that he was just trying to be polite. He had mostly heard negative.
“So I take it you talked to my former hunting buddies?” I questioned.
He shrugged. “I like to know who is in my city. I don’t particularly like surprises. So I asked around about you a little bit, I hope you don’t mind.”
“Nah, of course not.” I replied even though I was incredibly irritated. “What did they have to say?”
“That you’re resourceful and stubborn. It was also mentioned that you were almost fired.” He replied.
I rolled my eyes. You can’t be fired from being a Hunter. It’s just a threat they were using to try and keep me under control. Being a Hunter is a calling not a job. Once you become a Hunter other creatures such as vampires and demons can sense what you’ve become. That is why Hunters have banded together. It’s for protection and to bring order. Our cover is that we’re a department of the state police that deals with extreme cases. We work with them but we don’t really answer to them. To fire a Hunter would be a death sentence. Demons would be all over them like sharks on a bleeding baby seal.
“That was just an empty threat.” I replied.
“That’s not what I heard.” Wesley smirked at me.
I bit my tongue as I did my best to hold in my temper. I wanted nothing more than to forcibly wipe that smirk from his face. I needed to get out of there before I did or said something stupid in my first twelve hours of being a Hunter for the city.
I dug my phone out of my purse as it started ringing. I didn’t recognize the number but answered it anyway. “Hello?”
“Dawn?” A rough women’s voice questioned.
“Yeah?” I replied.
“This is Crystal Blake. Are you in town?” Her tone was professional yet brisk. I had a feeling she was in her a hurry. Crystal Blake? Who the hell-? Oh, right. Crystal was the leader of the Hunters in the city. She is the one I am supposed to meet with tomorrow. Wesley had stiffened a little and I could tell he was listening to the conversation.
“Yeah. What’s up?” I replied.
“I am in need of assistance. Can you meet me at Applewood Park?” It was more of a command then a request.
“Well, I am kind of at a party… is it possible for you to pick me up?” I asked.
“A party?” I could hear the disapproval in her voice. She sighed tiredly. “I can have Jack pick you up on his way here. Where are you?”
“Where am I?” I covered the mouth piece and asked Serena.
“Summerset Apartments.” Devon answered.
“Summerset Apartments.” I responded.
There was a pause on the other side of the phone and I thought my stupid phone had dropped the call. “Hell-?”
“Summerset!” Crystal snarled at me. “What the hell are you doing in Summerset? That is a vampire owned complex.”
“Yeah, I know-“ I started to say.
“You know?! Do you have some kind of death wish?!” She demanded.
“I didn’t know until I got here! I went to a party with a friend!” I said defensively.
“We will talk about this later. Jack will be there in fifteen minutes. Be in front of the building.” She commanded as she hung up the phone.
“Bitch.” I said into my phone after she hung up.
“I see you’ve had the pleasure of meeting the charming, Crystal Blake.” Wesley chuckled.
“What’s going on?” Serena questioned.
“I have to go meet up with the other hunters.” I sighed as I grabbed my purse and stood up. “Want to grab lunch tomorrow?”
“Yeah, sounds good. I will talk with you then.” Serena responded.
“I should take my leave as well. I have some things to take care of before sunrise.” Wesley announced as he walked with me to the elevator. He pushed the ground floor button once we were both in the elevator.
“Serena is safe with Devon.” Wesley informed me once the doors were closed. “It is clear he adores her and would never do anything to harm her.”
“I didn’t say he would.” I replied.
He smirked as he watched me carefully. “I could tell you were concerned for your friend.”
“Serena’s a big girl. She can make her own decisions.” I replied as I leaned against the back wall of the elevator.
“I have heard things about you, Dawn.” Welsey’s expression grew grim as he watched me. “I have heard that you are a trouble maker and that you don’t like to follow the rules.”
“Do you have a point?” I questioned.
He narrowed his eyes at me as the elevator hit the ground floor and opened. He cut me off as I walked towards the door. “You better watch yourself, little huntress. I run this city, not you.”
I can’t believe I am back here. My stomach fell at the familiarness of my hometown as I pulled off the highway. It’s been four years. I mean, I came back for holidays and the occasional weekend but I really never thought that I would be living back here again. Nothing had changed but at the same time everything had changed. I don’t belong here. Then again, I don’t belong anywhere. Not after what I have become.
I drove past the old grocery store that was owned by Mr. Garret. It’s closed now and has been for a few years. He couldn’t keep up with the Meijer’s down the road. Blackstone, like most of the small towns in the area was slowing being sucked into the larger cities that dominated the area.
I pulled onto the main road and headed past my old high school and towards the family home I had grown up in. I was only going to be staying there temporarily till the end of the week when I could move into my apartment in the city.
No one was home when I pulled in the driveway. Shocker. No one is ever around. My father was most likely at work and lost track of time or what day it was. My mother was in Africa or Mexico or somewhere. The only way I can keep track of where she was off saving starving children was from her twitter.
The house key was still hidden inside my mother’s favorite gnome that was part of the small gnome army guarding her rose bushes. Not going to lie, they frighten me a little bit. What frightens me even more is that my mom has named them all.
It was cold and lonely inside my house as I walked in. It was the same as always. A cave of rabid bears would have given me a warmer homecoming. The house was ridiculously clean. For some reason we have a house keeper even though no one really lives here. It was just for show.
I set my pink Juicy Couture purse on the table as I heard my ringtone going off. It was the theme song for Psycho indicating that it was my best home town friend, Serena. I gave up searching through my purse and just dumped its contents on the table. I have way too much crap in my purse. Half of it I don’t even know why it is in there. I rummaged around and moved aside a handgun and brass knuckles. I found my phone towards the end of the ringtone.
“Hello?” I questioned as I picked up my pink rhinestone covered phone.
“Hey, girl! You back in Blackstone?!” She wanted to know.
“Yup.” I replied with less optimism.
“Thank god, you have no idea how much I’ve missed your crazy shenanigans. We’re going out tonight. My boyfriend’s friend’s roommate is having a party.” She informed me.
I sighed I didn’t particularly want to go but I did want to hang with Serena a little bit and I haven’t met her new boyfriend yet. They’ve been dating a couple of months so if they’re getting serious I guess I should meet him.
“Alright.” I reluctantly agreed.
“Prefect.” She purred. “I’ll pick you up at nine. Peace out, Homeslice.”
Ugh, why did I agree to this again?
Several hours later I was dressed in skinny jeans and a black sparkly tank top. I let my shoulder length dark brown hair just hang at my shoulders. To top my outfit off I was wearing my heeled black ankle boots.
“I am so excited for you to meet Devon. You’ll love him. You guys are going to be the best of friends.” Serena rambled as she flipped through her radio stations. I cringed as she ran through a red light.
“Will you watch the road?!” I complained.
“Relax, spazz. I know how to drive. ” She rolled her dark green eyes at me.
“I seem to recalling you failing your driver’s test four times.” I muttered.
We were downtown in the area around the state campus where she attends school. I just graduated but she still has a year left. She needs to get her GPA up before she can get into a grad school. She spent her first year partying and as a result her grade point suffered.
She pulled her pink Mercades up next to a really nice looking apartment complex that I doubted most of the college kids around here could afford to live in.
“What are you doing?!” When I turned back towards Serena she was drinking vodka straight from a bottle she had just pulled out of her purse.
“Pregaming.” She replied. “Want some?”
“I’m good.” I replied as I got out of the car.
Serena put her bottle away and did the same. She almost tripped over the curb as she joined me on the sidewalk. She wears heels all the time but can barely walk in them. The ones she was wearing tonight were higher than usual. She has wearing bright yellow stripper heels with fishnet tights. She was also wearing a short layered black skirt and a yellow tube top with a black leather jacket. Her hair was different every time I saw her. It was currently a strawberry blonde color and pulled back into a long French braid. I followed her as she walked into the building.
“Okay. So we’re going to Star’s party. She’s Devon’s friend, Allison’s roommate.” She informed me as we got into the elevator.
“Wait, your boyfriend’s friend is a girl?” I questioned.
“Yeah. God, she is gorgeous. She’s gay though, so I’m not like worried at all.” She told me.
“Ah.” I replied. Serena is the jealous type. I was a little surprised it didn’t bother her, even if the other girl isn’t into guys. She slapped up some girl in high school just because she was her boyfriend’s lab partner. Have you figured out why her ringtone on my phone is Psycho, yet?
The elevator opened up to a large penthouse apartment. There were quite a few people hanging out and drinking. There was a beer pong game going on in the center of the living room where the floor was covered in a plastic tarp to protect the carpet. It seemed like a fairly tame party. There weren’t any fist fights or half naked people making out… yet. Still my spider senses were tingling as I walked into the room.
“I am going to go find Devon. Why don’t you go in the kitchen and find something to drink?” Serena suggested as she disappeared in the crowd. Bitch. She always leaves me when we go to parties. I don’t know anybody there. What the hell was I supposed to do? With a tired sigh I went into the kitchen.
The kitchen was less crowded then the living room. There was only a few people hanging out in there and they were hovering around the keg. I grabbed a red cup and poured myself some of the box wine that was on the island counter in the center of the kitchen. I sipped at the wine as I watched everyone else have fun.
“Hey, I don’t think we’ve met.” A guy that looked about my age approached me but I knew he was much older than he looked. He had shaggy dark brown hair and golden brown eyes. I noticed he had a dimple on his left check when he smiled at me. He was pretty cute. He was also pretty well dressed. He was wearing designer jeans and a tight black Von Dutch shirt. I could tell by the way he was glancing at my neck, he was seeing if I was marked. I fought the urge to roll my eyes or acknowledge his behavior. He obviously had no idea who he was messing with. It might entertain me to screw with his head a little.
I just shrugged. “Probably not.” I replied. “I just got into town. I’m friends with Serena.”
“Oh, right. Devon’s girlfriend.” He didn’t sound thrilled about their relationship. “I’m Eddy.” He introduced himself.
“Dawn.” I replied.
“Nice to meet you.” He smiled and his golden eyes buried themselves into mine. I realized he was trying to get inside my mind. Boys are so stupid. Alright, I’ll play along.
I let a girly laugh and moved closer to him. “Nice to meet you too.” I giggled.
“You have such beautiful hair, Dawn.” He told him as he reached out and ran his fingers through my hair.
I felt a strong urge to punch him in the jaw but instead I giggled. “Thank you, I use Herbal Essence.”
He wrapped his arm around me and pulled me close. Damn, the boy moves fast. “Let’s go for a walk.” He strongly suggested and I could feel the pressure in my mind from his mental push. It wasn’t enough to affect me, of course, but a normal girl would be putty in his hands.
“I’m here with Serena…” I replied with my best impression of being confused by psychic haze.
“We won’t be long. I’ll bring you back.” He promised.
“I-I can’t leave my friend. It’s the best friend code.” I responded. Not like Serena ever follows that rule.
“Come on.” He said smoothly as one of his hands slid down to my ass and squeezed.
I had enough of this game. I lashed out and punched him in the jaw. He let of me and took a few steps back. He stared at me with a surprised expression.
“Do not touch me.” I hissed at him.
“Wha..what the fuck?!” He was obviously confused about how I had broken out of his mind control. He obviously wasn’t very good at it to begin with if he didn’t notice that I was never under his control at all.
I just rolled my eyes and drank more of my cheap wine.
“How did you do that?” He demanded as he roughly grabbed a hold of my arm.
I gave him my death stare. “Let go of my arm.”
He roughly pulled me towards him as his eyes met mine. He was trying to get into my mind again.
I just rolled my eyes. “I am getting bored of this.” I informed him as I yanked my arm out of his grip. He blocked my path as I tried to get around him.
“Move.” I snapped.
He roughly pushed me up against the counter. “I’m not playing games, girl.” He growled at me.
“Good. Me either.” I replied as I hit him in the face with the palm of my hand. There was a crunch as his nose broke and blood flooded out of his nose.
He backed off from me as he clutched at his face. He let out a long string of curses that sounded to be in French or something similar. I am not a language expert. The only foreign language I know was learned from Dora the Explorer. There was complete silence as the other party guests just stared at us.
“You little bitch.” Eddy growled as he looked at me with bright glowing red eyes. His face was stained with blood. I heard a soft crunching noise as the cartilage in his nose was already starting to heal.
“You started it.” I pointed out.
With a snarl he lashed out at me with his fists. I blocked his blows with my forearms and pushed him back. I lashed out with viper speed and side kicked him in the chest. He stumbled back against the refrigerator. He glared darkly at me as he went to charge me again.
“Enough!” A voice rang out with authority.
Eddy slunk back as a man with dark black hair and hazel eyes walked into the kitchen. There was a scar on his bottom lip and I noticed a few more on his arms. He was wearing khakis and a navy blue polo. Serena followed close behind him. I’m guessing he must be Devon.
He glanced over me with amusement and then shot Eddy a dark glare.
“Dawn! What happened?” Serena exclaimed.
“We’re leaving.” I informed her. “Your boyfriend isn’t who you think he is.”
“What?” She questioned with confusion. Devon looked very amused and Eddy just continued to look pissed off.
“They are all-“ I stopped as I realized Serena was no longer wearing her jacket. I noticed several scars on her neck. There was a fresh one by her shoulder. “I guess you already know.” I responded briskly.
“What are you-“ Her eyes suddenly widened. “You know about vampires!” She exclaimed.
My response was a kind and courteous, “No shit, Sherlock.”
Vampires. About 90% of the people here are fucking vampires. Obviously Serena didn’t think I was aware of their existence, so why would she bring me to a vampire party? Was she trying to feed me to them? I could tell by the marks on her neck that she was Devon’s shadow. Shadows are humans that let vampires feed from them and often follow them around like servants or slaves. The question is, how much under his control is she?
“We need to go.” I told her with a dark glance at Devon.
“Dawn, I’m sorry I should have explained before but I didn’t want to freak you out.” She pleaded.
“And you think leaving me alone in a room full of vampires wouldn’t freak me out?” I demanded.
“That was my fault.” Devon spoke up. “Serena didn’t want to keep secrets from you. She talked me into revealing what I am to you tonight. So I had her bring you here. No one was supposed to touch you.” He shot Eddy a dark look.
Devon was in charge here. I wasn’t completely sure what he was yet. He might be a clan leader or a lieutenant to one. I sensed him to be vaguely powerful but nothing special. He was only a couple hundred years old.
“I wasn’t going to hurt her.” Eddy muttered but the dark look in his eyes said otherwise.
“It appears Serena wasn’t the only one keeping secrets. “ Devon observed. “You must be the new Hunter.”
Eddy suddenly looked a lot more frightened of me. A few of the vampires hanging about had the same expression while others glared at me with straight out hatred.
“What’s a Hunter?” Serena questioned.
I gave a tired sigh. “Is there somewhere private we can talk?” I didn’t particularly want a bunch of random vampires listening in.
Devon nodded. “Of course, come with me.” I followed him as he took Serena’s hand and went to the elevator. The crowd of vampires that had gathered around the kitchen parted to let us through.
“Edmund.” Devon growled at Eddy, who was following close behind me. “Stay here. I’ll have a few words with you later.” He hissed and gestured me into the elevator. He took out a key once I was inside and stuck it in a keyhole under the floor buttons. Eddy stopped in his tracks and glared at us as the elevator shut. I gave him slight wave as the doors closed.
“Don’t instigate him.” Devon grumbled at me as the doors closed. I rolled my eyes with annoyance. Clearly no one here knows who they are messing with. I’ve killed vampires and demons far more powerful than anyone here.
I rode the elevator up a couple of floors in silence with Serena and her master. I can’t believe she is involved with a vampire. I wonder how hard it would be to get a warrant to stake him.
“Are you mad at me?” Serena finally broke the silence.
“What do you think?” I snapped as the elevator reached a large penthouse that took up the entire top floor. There was a black theme in place and everything looked expensive. I’m going to guess we’re in Devon’s pent house. Everything just screamed rich vampire chic. How very original.
“Would you like something to drink? I have some wine chilling if you would like a glass.” Devon offered as he led us into his living room.
“How far is Serena under your power?” I demanded of him. My hands were itching to summon my sword.
“I will take that as a ‘no’.” He said in response as he sat down in a leather arm chair.
“I’m not one of those mindless zombies.” Serena assured me. “I’m with him because I want to with him.”
“When the fuck did you become a fang banger?” I demanded.
“When the fuck did you become a Hunter?” She countered.
I sighed and sat down on the couch. “A year ago.” I said quietly.
“What is a Hunter?” She asked me gently as she sat down beside me on the couch.
“Umm….” I tried to think of how to explain it. “Sometimes in a moment of peril certain humans become more then human.”
“It has to be supernatural peril.” Devon spoke up as he reached over to the glass coffee table in front of us and poured himself a glass of wine.
“Right, supernatural peril.” I agreed.
“What do you mean that you become more then human?” Serena wanted to know.
“Potential humans become faster and stronger so they can stand up to demons and vampires. Its how the human race was able to survive in the dark ages. People today can become Hunters but it’s less common.” I recited the textbook definition that had been told to me by my superiors.
“So, you were in peril…?” Serena questioned slowly as she tried to absorb what I had told her.
“Yes.” I answered. “The metamorphosis from human to Hunter occurs on the brink of death.”
“What?!” Serena exclaimed. “What happened?!”
I bit my lip as I tried to think of where to begin. It wasn’t a story I enjoyed telling.
“Would you like me to leave?” Devon offered politely.
“No.” I sighed. “It’s fine.” Gossip travels fast through the supernatural community. He would find out anyway, if he didn’t already know. There was a good chance he did already know if he knew that a new Hunter was being transferred to the city.
“There was a friend of mine that invited me and a few other girls we hung around with to a party. I didn’t think anything of it. I went out with her quite a few times before and always had a good time. This time was different though. We were going to a “frat” party but when we got there it wasn’t much of a party. There was only a handful of people there. I didn’t understand at first what was happening…” My thoughts went to the dark event of that night. Before then I had been human and my only worries had been graduating college. Now I live in constant fear that each night will be my last.
“Have you seen Alice?” I asked Rachael. She just shrugged. She seemed to be really into the guy she was talking to. It was like she couldn’t take her eyes off from him.
I sighed and moved on. Something was wrong. I didn’t know what but I couldn’t get over the cold feeling in the pit of my stomach. It felt like I had swallowed a bowl full of eels. I just really wanted to get out of there. I wanted to go home but I couldn’t leave without telling Alice. She had invited me and we had each other’s backs while drinking. I had to make sure she would be able to get home before I left.
“Hey.” A guy gently grabbed my wrist. I had seen him watching me earlier. He had shaggy dark brown hair and piercing grey eyes. His eyes intimidated me a little bit as he looked down on me. They were cold like gravestones on an icy winter night. “Are you okay?” He asked me. “You look a little frazzled.”
His hand was freezing. Everything about him was wrong. The way his eyes bore into me and the way he moved reminded me of a predator. Our campus shows a skit every year called No More Zebras. It’s about sexual predators. For the first time I felt like a zebra encountering a lion. Sure, I’ve had guys like undress me with their eyes but the way his eyes looked me over struck me to the core. He looked like he literally wanted to eat me alive.
“I just - I am looking for Alice.” I tried to act cool like he didn’t intimidate me at all.
He smiled softly at me and I felt myself melt. I don’t know why I thought he was so scary. He had soft, gentle eyes like a wool blanket. I wanted to wrap myself up into his eyes. The more I looked in to his eyes the more at ease I felt.
He seemed to sense this and wrapped his arm around my waist. “She went down into the basement. Let me walk you there, Dawn.”
“You know my name?” I asked him as he turned me around and walked me into the kitchen.
“Hmm?” He raised an eyebrow at me. “Oh, yeah. Alice introduced us earlier. I’m Isaac, remember?”
She did not. I knew he was lying to me. Normally I would call him out but I didn’t care. It didn’t seem very important at the moment. Nothing did.
“Come on.” He ushered me over to the stairs leading down into the basement. I felt warning bells going off in the back of my head. I knew something bad was going to be down there. I hesitated at the top of the stair steps. You just don’t go into random basements with guys you’ve just met.
“It’s okay.” He whispered soothingly into my ear. I could feel his cold hand on the small of his back. “Alice is down there.” He assured me.
I found myself taking one step, then another, and then another down into the basement. Alice was lying in a puddle of blood in the center of the basement. Her blonde hair was matted and soaked in blood. She had what looked to be bite marks all over her body. For some reason she was wearing a short white dress. Earlier she had been wearing a lacy red dress.
Before I could scream Isaac put his hand over my mouth. “Quiet.” He commanded of me. I felt the urge to scream die in my throat. “That’s a good girl.” He purred in my ear as he took me by the hand and pulled me further into the basement.
He glanced down at Alice. “She still hasn’t awakened?”
“No, Master.” A blonde woman replied. There were three other people hanging around the basement.
“Should be any minute.” Isaac replied. “I brought her first meal. When she is finished we can have the others she brought to us as tributes.”
I didn’t completely understand what he was talking about. I think Alice betrayed us in some way. That was all I caught onto. Why would she betray us? Who were these people and why did they kill Alice?
Alice moaned as she sat up. She looked disoriented and confused. She looked up at me and her eyes were glowing yellow like a hyena in darkness. I saw that her canine teeth were long and sharp like fangs. She had fucking fangs!
I tried to back away from her but Isaac had a solid grip on my hand. “There’s nothing to be afraid of.” He snared me in with his silky voice as he pushed me forward towards Alice.
Alice was looking me over like a hungry beast. “God, I am so hungry!” She growled out like an animal. She looked me over and shook her head as she turned to Isaac. “It can’t be Dawn. I need someone else as my first.”
“Your alliance is to us.” Isaac answered coolly. “Not to her or any of your former human friends. The old Alice is dead. Prove it to us!” He snarled sharply as he pushed me at her.
Alice caught me and pulled me into her arms like a rag doll. She stroked my hair away from neck as I just looked back at her. I wanted to run. I wanted to scream. I wanted to do anything other than just sit there and watch her but I couldn’t move. I was paralyzed; trapped within my own body. I was cursed to just watch.
“I am sorry.” Alice whispered into my ear and then next thing I knew I could feel her teeth tearing into my throat. It was the most excruciating pain I had ever felt. I wanted to scream out in pain. I wanted to beg and plead for my life. Instead, I was forced to suffer the pain in silence. Alice growled as she bit into me harder and tore deeper into my throat. I could feel the blood dripping down from the wound. I only had to endure several minutes of this torture before everything faded into darkness.
I don’t know how much time had passed when I woke up. I could hear screaming coming from somewhere above me. The floor was damp and cold. I realized I was lying face down on the basement floor. I moaned softly as I tried to lift my head up. My neck was sore and raw. I reached up to touch it with my fingers and felt two large holes that went into the meat of my neck.
I gave out a large groan as I forced myself up with my arms into a sitting position. I almost blacked out just from that movement. I had lost a lot of blood and was feeling the side effects. Another scream from above brought me back into consciousness. I had to do something. I couldn’t just hide down here. I knew they must be doing to the others what they did to me. I still wasn’t sure what had happened. Isaac had some sort of mind control over me and then Alice had come back from the dead. Then she had drunk my blood. I knew what all the evidence added up to but I didn’t want to believe it. There was no such thing as monsters, especially vampires. I’ve seen Twilight and no one here was sparkling.
A high pitched scream ripped through the air as I wobbled to my feet. I stumbled till I got to the stairs and then used the railing for support. I had to take a break to catch my breath before heading up the stairs. I was far from prepared to the horror that greeted me in the kitchen
There was blood everywhere. The floors were slick with it and blood dripped from the walls. There were two bodies on the floor. One was a female with her throat torn open. The other was a male that had been decapitated. His head was over on the table, positioned like a center piece.
I took a deep breath. I needed to be strong. If I fell apart now, I wouldn’t be able to recover from it. I had to be strong for the others. I stepped into the room looking for a phone. I needed to find a way to get a hold of the cops. It was the only real plan I could come up with. I didn’t see any landline phone in the kitchen. I looked at the bodies with dread. I knew I was going to have to search them.
I went to the female first. She hadn’t been mutilated for the most part so I was hoping it wouldn’t be as bad. “Oh, God.” I moaned as I caught a glimpse of her face. “Rachael.” I said softly. I ate lunch in the cafeteria everything Tuesday and Thursday with her. She had wanted to be a veterinarian and spent most of her free time volunteering at the Humane Society.
“How are you still alive?” A voice sneered behind me.
I looked up to see Isaac leaning against the doorway to the kitchen. His shirt was soaked with blood. His stone cold eyes looked me over with a combination of amusement and annoyance.
My first instinct was to run. I didn’t get too far before slipping in a pool of blood. Isaac roughly caught me and slammed me up against the fridge. He pinned my arms above my head with one hand and roughly held my chin with the other as he studied the holes in my neck with a puzzled expression. “You shouldn’t be that far along in the healing process.” He muttered.
I yelped as he roughly turned my head so he was staring into my eyes. His grey eyes seemed to swirl into mine like clouds before a storm but nothing happened like before. I struggled against his grip just to see if I could move with my own free will.
Rage flashed in his eyes but was quickly replaced by a smirk. “Well, this is interesting.” He said with a grin as he looked me over with interest. I have no idea what his sudden change in attitude was about. I probably didn’t want to know.
I trembled as he brought his face to my throat but he didn’t bite me. I could feel him smell the wound on my neck. “Got to love that new hunter smell.” He snickered into my ear.
“What?” I couldn’t help but blurt out.
He licked at my neck. “Don’t worry about it.” He growled at me. He roughly grabbed onto my forearm and dragged me into the living room. The carnage was even worse in the living room where most of the party was. Blood squished through the carpet as I was roughly pulled into the room. There were several bodies lying around the room. The chandelier had been decorated with some one’s intestines. A few of the partygoers were still alive and were being tortured by the half a dozen monsters that were in the room.
“Dawn!” Alice pulled herself away from the heart that she was eating. She seemed genuinely happy to see that I was still alive.
“She is mine.” Isaac responded gruffly. “Congratulations, Alice, you just metamorphosed a hunter.”
All of the monsters in the room froze. “She is a hunter?” One of them asked. He sounded almost afraid.
“Yes.” He responded gruffly. “Get on your knees.” He commanded roughly as he pushed me to the ground. “Hands behind your back.” I did what he told me. He got a pair of handcuffs from one of his fellow monsters and cuffed my arms behind my back.
“What is a hunter?” Alice asked cautiously.
Isaac sat on the couch beside me and stroked my hair. “A pain in the ass of vampires. Sometimes when you don’t kill a human properly they became a hunter; a being as strong as a vampire whose purpose is to protect other humans.” He snickered. “I don’t hold you accountable, they are very rare. Besides, you got me a valuable new pet.” He roughly squeezed the back of my neck.
“Are you going to turn her?” Alice asked hopeful. I couldn’t help but give her a disgusted look. She was holding half a heart in her hand. Why would I want to be like her? I think I would rather be dead on the basement floor.
Isaac gave a dark laugh. “No. Getting a hold of a hunter’s blood isn’t an easy task. I now have my own private stockpile.” The vampire smirked down at me and possessively ran his fingers through my hair. I knew I would probably be begging for death by time he was done with me.
There was a sharp cry as one of the vampire’s heads blew off. I didn’t understand the cause till I heard gunfire. The door was burst open as a large buff man and several other people with shotguns and machines guns came in the room firing at the vampires.
Isaac grabbed me before I could really even react and threw me over his shoulder. Alice was near him and he roughly grabbed her hand. “Hunters. Stay by me.” He commanded. We were suddenly in the kitchen and running at a speed I never knew was possible. He went out the back door and was out in the backyard.
The vampire cried out and dropped me as a bullet pierced his side. I yelped out as I fell flat onto my back. He tried to reach out for me but a spray of bullets kept him back away from me. He growled out in frustration. “Go.” He commanded Alice as he disappeared into the shadows. She shot me one last look before following her master into her new life.
“I remember Alice!” Serna exclaimed. “She was at your birthday party. I think I made out with her.” Devon didn’t look too pleased to hear that.
“Yeah, that was her.” I sighed. “I didn’t really understand what was going on at the time but I pieced it together later. Alice had been working for Isaac for years as his shadow. He agreed to turn her but she had to prove her loyalty. She had to bring offerings for the other vampires of the clan. She had been trying to get me not to go. She was trying to protect me and I didn’t realize it. The hunters only ended up crashing the party because they sensed my metamorphosis.”
“What happened to Isaac and Alice?” She asked.
“They left town.” I replied. “They have warrants out for their deaths.”
“Isaac and his clan are not welcome in this city. They are nothing but trouble. The city master banned them years ago.” Devon told me. He seemed to be trying to reassure me. Does he think I am afraid of Isaac? I am afraid of no one. Actually that statement isn’t entirely accurate. I still have nightmares about Isaac’s cold grey eyes looking at me. Ashley is the one that actually killed me but she rarely appears in my dreams as a monster. If she is in my dreams it’s usually her body lying dead and bloody on the floor. I haven’t slept through a solid night since I became a Hunter.
“So what exactly is your role in this city?” I asked Devon. I just told him my life story. The least he can do is give me a brief summery on how this city is run.
“I am a lieutenant for Wesley Ravencrest.” He replied. He looked at my face for recognition and saw none. “You have no ideas who that is, do you?” He sighed when I shook my head. “What do you know about this city?” He questioned me.
“Most of your Hunters are dead.” I replied. “I am supposed to meet with the other Hunters tomorrow to get the lowdown.”
“There are two other Hunters besides you.” He responded.
“WHAT?!” I exclaimed. That was news to me. I guess I never asked but I kind of assumed in a city of this size there would be quite a few hunters. I was formerly stationed in a small college farm town that only contained one vampire clan and two wolf packs. The wolf packs managed themselves. We just had to make sure the vampires weren’t preying on the college students. We had four hunters and most of the time we just hung out at the vampire owned bar. I had a feeling that this job wouldn’t be as easy.
“Wesley just became our clan master. Our last leader was cruel and power hungry. He attempted to take over the city by killing off the hunters and several other clans. Wesley, some of the hunters, and I fought back against him. That is what happened to most of the Hunters. The power in the city is still unstable, you’re going to have your hands full.” He said with sympathy.
“Great…” I grumbled. I hated getting involved in vampire politics. Slaying vampires was easy. Playing their political game was not.
Devon was suddenly alert as he looked up at the elevator. He had heard the elevator approaching before I did. “That will be Wesley, I am sure someone told him the new Hunter is here. Watch your mouth and let me do the talking.” He commanded.
I rolled my eyes. “I’ve been around vampire masters before.” I informed him. They tend to think they’re hot shit and don’t put up with being openly mocked. Being polite and respectful is the best way to deal with them. Unfortunately that isn’t how I roll.
“Don’t roll your eyes.” Devon muttered as the elevator dinged on his floor. The door opened and a man emerged. He had shaggy blonde hair and golden brown eyes. He was wearing a pinstripe dress shirt and black dress pants. He sleeves were rolled up revealing a tattoo of a black bird on his arm. I think it was a raven.
Devon got up to greet him. “Hello, Wesley. I didn’t realize you would be coming out tonight.”
“I heard there was new hunter in town and that she put Edmund in his place.” Wesley replied. “I wanted to meet her for myself.” His golden eyes looked me over. “Surely, you’re not the Hunter? You’re such a beautiful and dainty little flower. Your beautiful hands shouldn’t be used in the art of killing.”
I shrugged and held up my hand, examining it. I did have fairly small hands. My nails were painted purple with zebra stripes “They are just the right size for fitting into ribcages.” I replied sweetly.
He grabbed my hand before I could pull it back and grazed his lips against my knuckles. “I bet you have crushed many hearts. Do you have a name, Little Huntress?”
Oh God, he was flirting with me. I just smiled back sweetly. “Just a couple of times when I couldn’t find my sword. I don’t like having blood under my nails so it’s not my favorite method. You can call me, Dawn.”
His lips twitched with amusement. “Such a beautiful and suiting name. I am Wesley Ravencrest.” He kissed my knuckles once more before releasing my hand.
He went over to Serena and kissed the back of her hand as well. “Serena, it is always a pleasure to bask in your beauty.” He greeted smoothly.
“Thank you. It’s nice to see you too, Wesley.” Serena giggled. Devon looked a bit annoyed but he wouldn’t challenge his master for just flirting. Besides Wesley seemed to have his sights set on me as he sat close to me on the couch and wrapped his arm around the back of the couch close to my shoulder. I grit my teeth as I tried not to let my annoyance show.
“I have heard quite a bit about you.” He told me.
“Only good things, I hope.” I replied. Probably not. It depends on who he has been talking to.
“A fairly good mixture of positive and negative.” He replied. I could tell that he was just trying to be polite. He had mostly heard negative.
“So I take it you talked to my former hunting buddies?” I questioned.
He shrugged. “I like to know who is in my city. I don’t particularly like surprises. So I asked around about you a little bit, I hope you don’t mind.”
“Nah, of course not.” I replied even though I was incredibly irritated. “What did they have to say?”
“That you’re resourceful and stubborn. It was also mentioned that you were almost fired.” He replied.
I rolled my eyes. You can’t be fired from being a Hunter. It’s just a threat they were using to try and keep me under control. Being a Hunter is a calling not a job. Once you become a Hunter other creatures such as vampires and demons can sense what you’ve become. That is why Hunters have banded together. It’s for protection and to bring order. Our cover is that we’re a department of the state police that deals with extreme cases. We work with them but we don’t really answer to them. To fire a Hunter would be a death sentence. Demons would be all over them like sharks on a bleeding baby seal.
“That was just an empty threat.” I replied.
“That’s not what I heard.” Wesley smirked at me.
I bit my tongue as I did my best to hold in my temper. I wanted nothing more than to forcibly wipe that smirk from his face. I needed to get out of there before I did or said something stupid in my first twelve hours of being a Hunter for the city.
I dug my phone out of my purse as it started ringing. I didn’t recognize the number but answered it anyway. “Hello?”
“Dawn?” A rough women’s voice questioned.
“Yeah?” I replied.
“This is Crystal Blake. Are you in town?” Her tone was professional yet brisk. I had a feeling she was in her a hurry. Crystal Blake? Who the hell-? Oh, right. Crystal was the leader of the Hunters in the city. She is the one I am supposed to meet with tomorrow. Wesley had stiffened a little and I could tell he was listening to the conversation.
“Yeah. What’s up?” I replied.
“I am in need of assistance. Can you meet me at Applewood Park?” It was more of a command then a request.
“Well, I am kind of at a party… is it possible for you to pick me up?” I asked.
“A party?” I could hear the disapproval in her voice. She sighed tiredly. “I can have Jack pick you up on his way here. Where are you?”
“Where am I?” I covered the mouth piece and asked Serena.
“Summerset Apartments.” Devon answered.
“Summerset Apartments.” I responded.
There was a pause on the other side of the phone and I thought my stupid phone had dropped the call. “Hell-?”
“Summerset!” Crystal snarled at me. “What the hell are you doing in Summerset? That is a vampire owned complex.”
“Yeah, I know-“ I started to say.
“You know?! Do you have some kind of death wish?!” She demanded.
“I didn’t know until I got here! I went to a party with a friend!” I said defensively.
“We will talk about this later. Jack will be there in fifteen minutes. Be in front of the building.” She commanded as she hung up the phone.
“Bitch.” I said into my phone after she hung up.
“I see you’ve had the pleasure of meeting the charming, Crystal Blake.” Wesley chuckled.
“What’s going on?” Serena questioned.
“I have to go meet up with the other hunters.” I sighed as I grabbed my purse and stood up. “Want to grab lunch tomorrow?”
“Yeah, sounds good. I will talk with you then.” Serena responded.
“I should take my leave as well. I have some things to take care of before sunrise.” Wesley announced as he walked with me to the elevator. He pushed the ground floor button once we were both in the elevator.
“Serena is safe with Devon.” Wesley informed me once the doors were closed. “It is clear he adores her and would never do anything to harm her.”
“I didn’t say he would.” I replied.
He smirked as he watched me carefully. “I could tell you were concerned for your friend.”
“Serena’s a big girl. She can make her own decisions.” I replied as I leaned against the back wall of the elevator.
“I have heard things about you, Dawn.” Welsey’s expression grew grim as he watched me. “I have heard that you are a trouble maker and that you don’t like to follow the rules.”
“Do you have a point?” I questioned.
He narrowed his eyes at me as the elevator hit the ground floor and opened. He cut me off as I walked towards the door. “You better watch yourself, little huntress. I run this city, not you.”