Vampire drabble
Yeah, so I know I said the story was finished, and it is. This is just an extra scene with no bearing on the plot, but it's been floating around in my head for months. So I wrote it down. Maybe now it'll leave me alone. :P
Veronica
The elderly woman moved with surprising ease for her age as she made her way to the front of the warehouse and looked coolly over the handful of would-be trainees. They were young, confident, fearless. Youth and confidence were almost vital in their line of work, one moreso than the other, but a little fear would do them good. Keep them alive.
"There are three kinds of vampires that every hunter should know, and be able to assess," she stated calmly, leaning back against an empty weapons rack, "as your strategy will differ depending on what type of vampire you're up against."
Days like this she could feel all the old injuries, and remembered exactly how she'd acquired each and every one of them. None of these children showed so much as a single scratch, though that wouldn't last very long. Sooner or later something didn't go as planned and the hunter either adapted and came out of it with a few scars as a reminder to be more careful, or ended up dead. Dead tending to be the more common result.
"A young vampire hasn't had a chance to build up much power yet, although it's still faster and stronger than you are. To kill a young one, you need to out-think it. Young vampires are unpredictable and more missions go wrong because of that than with elder vampires." She absently ran her fingers along the set of parallel scars that marred her face. That had been a young vampire's doing.
"An elder vampire is more dangerous physically, as each passing year gives it more strength, speed, and power. Elder vampires have been known to tear doors off their hinges and break through containment cages. I saw one pick up and throw an SUV once. But the older vampires are less human, more feral. They think and behave like animals and their behavior can be predicted with relative ease. That's not to say that they aren't dangerous, because they are," The deep scar on her leg was proof of that, "but on the whole they're simpler to destroy."
Simpler, but not easy. Never easy.
"The age at which a vampire can be considered an elder varies, with some being as young as sixty and the oldest, that we know of, being almost three hundred. How old they are, exactly, doesn't really matter except for in helping us to gauge what kind of power we're going to be facing."
She fell silent for a long moment, lost in memories of her days on the streets, until one of the trainees, a cocky young man, stepped forward.
"You said three types. What's the third?"
She regarded him for a long moment, long enough for the rest of them to start fidgeting, before replying quietly, "Ancients."
They waited, and when nothing further seemed forthcoming the same young man pressed further. "So, how do you kill an ancient vamp?"
Her icy cold eyes pinned him. "You don't."
The shocked protests were cut off with a sharp gesture. "An ancient vampire has all the power of an elder, but retains the ability to think like a man. They heal incredibly fast and have powers far beyond anything you know. If you ever come across an ancient vampire, I suggest you apologize for disturbing him, run like hell, and hope to god he's in the mood to let you live."
The cocksure young man snorted. "Yeah, right. Just a bunch of horror stories to scare the newbies. I bet you've never even seen an ancient vamp."
She raised one brow. "Two."
The murmuring silenced, all eyes on her. Even the cocky young man looked somewhat unsure. "Two?"
"I met two of them. My partner at the time and I were hunting what we thought was an elder vampire. We were young, stupid. At the time it didn't occur to us to wonder why the vampire was just running and not trying to fight back. Foolish us, caught up in the chase."
If she closed her eyes, she could still see it, exactly as it had played out. Abraham had shot it, she'd managed to stab it with an engraved knife. They'd had it blinded with massive daylight-emulating floodlights. It was fast, fast enough to avoid the killing strikes even though it couldn't see them, and then...
"We had it cornered, supposedly at our mercy. And then the other one showed up."
The lights had blown to pieces, plunging them into darkness. By the faint light of the moon and distant streetlights she'd been able to see the slender vampire holding Abraham up by his throat. The look on that vampire's face still haunted her dreams to this day.
"He could have killed us both. He didn't. The other vampire asked him not to. He let us off with a warning... that the next hunter to cross his path would die. And then they left."
Utter silence met her words. She wasn't surprised. After a moment a young woman, quiet until now, cleared her throat. "And... did anyone ever see them again?"
She shook her head. "Not that we know of. But then, hunters die all the time. We have no way of knowing if that ancient ever made good on his threat."
There were no more questions, and she spent the rest of the lesson discussing various strategies and setups. When it was finally over and they all dispersed, she leaned back against the gun rack again and closed her eyes.
"Cute kids."
Her eyes flew open.
"Not very bright, but then, kids usually aren't."
The figure that stepped out of the shadows had touseled auburn hair and impossibly blue eyes above one of the most cheerful grins she'd ever seen. His hair was a little shorter, messier, but that was the only change. He hadn't aged a day since she'd first seen him, almost fifty years ago.
"You..." Her voice didn't seem to want to work.
The vampire grinned, showing the points of his teeth. "Hi. Took me forever to track you down. Guess that's a good thing in your line of work. Finally had to ask Julian to do it. He wasn't very amused." The vampire's grin turned sheepish.
Although her mouth worked, nothing came out. Then the vampire ran a hand through his hair, mussing it further, and the gesture was just so unconsciously boyish that she couldn't help but snort.
The vampire just grinned again. "Yeah, well. I don't want to get you in trouble or anything if someone finds me here, but I wanted to say thank you, y'know?"
Her brow arched. "Thank you?"
"Yeah." There was that sheepish look again. "If you and your partner guy hadn't shot me, Julian wouldn't have had to rescue me and we'd still be..." he waved a hand absently, "dancing around things."
"Julian?" she asked, knowing as soon as the name left her lips who the vampire meant. The other one. The pale, terrifying ancient. The hairs on her arms stood on end.
"Don't worry, he's not here now," the vampire assured her. "Well, not too close anyway. He doesn't like to let me get too far away in case I get myself into trouble. I kinda wish he'd be a little less paranoid. It only happened once!"
Before she could quite manage to wrap her mind around that enough to ask, the vampire cocked his head to one side and looked up toward the darkened rafters. "Oh, I think he's getting impatient. I'd better go." A brilliant smile was flashed her way, then he was suddenly far too close for the comfort of an unarmed hunter. Cool lips brushed her cheek and something was pressed into her hand, a soft voice whispering the words, "I owe you," then in the next moment he was gone.
She looked around cautiously, willing her heartbeat to return to normal, and when nothing seemed ready to jump out at her she slowly looked down to find a small cream business card in the palm of her hand.
Sebastian VanHelsing it read, along with a cell phone number. In the corner was a ridiculously cheerful-looking cartoon bat.
She snorted. Van Helsing. Apparently vampires had a sense of humor. That one, at any rate.
After looking at the card for a few more moments, she slipped it into her pocket and went to go meet up with the others as though nothing had happened. After all, it wasn't like they'd believe her even if she told them.
Veronica
The elderly woman moved with surprising ease for her age as she made her way to the front of the warehouse and looked coolly over the handful of would-be trainees. They were young, confident, fearless. Youth and confidence were almost vital in their line of work, one moreso than the other, but a little fear would do them good. Keep them alive.
"There are three kinds of vampires that every hunter should know, and be able to assess," she stated calmly, leaning back against an empty weapons rack, "as your strategy will differ depending on what type of vampire you're up against."
Days like this she could feel all the old injuries, and remembered exactly how she'd acquired each and every one of them. None of these children showed so much as a single scratch, though that wouldn't last very long. Sooner or later something didn't go as planned and the hunter either adapted and came out of it with a few scars as a reminder to be more careful, or ended up dead. Dead tending to be the more common result.
"A young vampire hasn't had a chance to build up much power yet, although it's still faster and stronger than you are. To kill a young one, you need to out-think it. Young vampires are unpredictable and more missions go wrong because of that than with elder vampires." She absently ran her fingers along the set of parallel scars that marred her face. That had been a young vampire's doing.
"An elder vampire is more dangerous physically, as each passing year gives it more strength, speed, and power. Elder vampires have been known to tear doors off their hinges and break through containment cages. I saw one pick up and throw an SUV once. But the older vampires are less human, more feral. They think and behave like animals and their behavior can be predicted with relative ease. That's not to say that they aren't dangerous, because they are," The deep scar on her leg was proof of that, "but on the whole they're simpler to destroy."
Simpler, but not easy. Never easy.
"The age at which a vampire can be considered an elder varies, with some being as young as sixty and the oldest, that we know of, being almost three hundred. How old they are, exactly, doesn't really matter except for in helping us to gauge what kind of power we're going to be facing."
She fell silent for a long moment, lost in memories of her days on the streets, until one of the trainees, a cocky young man, stepped forward.
"You said three types. What's the third?"
She regarded him for a long moment, long enough for the rest of them to start fidgeting, before replying quietly, "Ancients."
They waited, and when nothing further seemed forthcoming the same young man pressed further. "So, how do you kill an ancient vamp?"
Her icy cold eyes pinned him. "You don't."
The shocked protests were cut off with a sharp gesture. "An ancient vampire has all the power of an elder, but retains the ability to think like a man. They heal incredibly fast and have powers far beyond anything you know. If you ever come across an ancient vampire, I suggest you apologize for disturbing him, run like hell, and hope to god he's in the mood to let you live."
The cocksure young man snorted. "Yeah, right. Just a bunch of horror stories to scare the newbies. I bet you've never even seen an ancient vamp."
She raised one brow. "Two."
The murmuring silenced, all eyes on her. Even the cocky young man looked somewhat unsure. "Two?"
"I met two of them. My partner at the time and I were hunting what we thought was an elder vampire. We were young, stupid. At the time it didn't occur to us to wonder why the vampire was just running and not trying to fight back. Foolish us, caught up in the chase."
If she closed her eyes, she could still see it, exactly as it had played out. Abraham had shot it, she'd managed to stab it with an engraved knife. They'd had it blinded with massive daylight-emulating floodlights. It was fast, fast enough to avoid the killing strikes even though it couldn't see them, and then...
"We had it cornered, supposedly at our mercy. And then the other one showed up."
The lights had blown to pieces, plunging them into darkness. By the faint light of the moon and distant streetlights she'd been able to see the slender vampire holding Abraham up by his throat. The look on that vampire's face still haunted her dreams to this day.
"He could have killed us both. He didn't. The other vampire asked him not to. He let us off with a warning... that the next hunter to cross his path would die. And then they left."
Utter silence met her words. She wasn't surprised. After a moment a young woman, quiet until now, cleared her throat. "And... did anyone ever see them again?"
She shook her head. "Not that we know of. But then, hunters die all the time. We have no way of knowing if that ancient ever made good on his threat."
There were no more questions, and she spent the rest of the lesson discussing various strategies and setups. When it was finally over and they all dispersed, she leaned back against the gun rack again and closed her eyes.
"Cute kids."
Her eyes flew open.
"Not very bright, but then, kids usually aren't."
The figure that stepped out of the shadows had touseled auburn hair and impossibly blue eyes above one of the most cheerful grins she'd ever seen. His hair was a little shorter, messier, but that was the only change. He hadn't aged a day since she'd first seen him, almost fifty years ago.
"You..." Her voice didn't seem to want to work.
The vampire grinned, showing the points of his teeth. "Hi. Took me forever to track you down. Guess that's a good thing in your line of work. Finally had to ask Julian to do it. He wasn't very amused." The vampire's grin turned sheepish.
Although her mouth worked, nothing came out. Then the vampire ran a hand through his hair, mussing it further, and the gesture was just so unconsciously boyish that she couldn't help but snort.
The vampire just grinned again. "Yeah, well. I don't want to get you in trouble or anything if someone finds me here, but I wanted to say thank you, y'know?"
Her brow arched. "Thank you?"
"Yeah." There was that sheepish look again. "If you and your partner guy hadn't shot me, Julian wouldn't have had to rescue me and we'd still be..." he waved a hand absently, "dancing around things."
"Julian?" she asked, knowing as soon as the name left her lips who the vampire meant. The other one. The pale, terrifying ancient. The hairs on her arms stood on end.
"Don't worry, he's not here now," the vampire assured her. "Well, not too close anyway. He doesn't like to let me get too far away in case I get myself into trouble. I kinda wish he'd be a little less paranoid. It only happened once!"
Before she could quite manage to wrap her mind around that enough to ask, the vampire cocked his head to one side and looked up toward the darkened rafters. "Oh, I think he's getting impatient. I'd better go." A brilliant smile was flashed her way, then he was suddenly far too close for the comfort of an unarmed hunter. Cool lips brushed her cheek and something was pressed into her hand, a soft voice whispering the words, "I owe you," then in the next moment he was gone.
She looked around cautiously, willing her heartbeat to return to normal, and when nothing seemed ready to jump out at her she slowly looked down to find a small cream business card in the palm of her hand.
Sebastian VanHelsing it read, along with a cell phone number. In the corner was a ridiculously cheerful-looking cartoon bat.
She snorted. Van Helsing. Apparently vampires had a sense of humor. That one, at any rate.
After looking at the card for a few more moments, she slipped it into her pocket and went to go meet up with the others as though nothing had happened. After all, it wasn't like they'd believe her even if she told them.