The room goes silent for a moment. Just the two of us, staring at each other in shock. The CEO Troy rarely had anything to do with the hunting of monsters since he got the highest position in DMHS. He was the best monster hunter known, killing the most werewolves single handedly ever in recent history, possibly ever in existence.
"Why would he have taken down the post? I thought since he took the position of CEO, he had stopped hunting and focused on taking down The Ten or the Vampire Council." I stumble over my last words, If Fletcher was a Royal, a strong one, that would give him reason to go after Fletcher if he found out. How much did DMHS know about The Ten or the Vampire Council? I barely knew it existed until that kid had brought it up.
"I gotta go." I say, turning from her, "Contact me if you hear anything."
"Will do, but Quinn," I turn to look at her, "Stay safe." She says with a kind smile.
I smile at her, it was too easy to lie to that girl. "I'll try."
The sun was at its highest peak, a blazing warm day. I stop at my apartment next, taking a quick shower and a much needed change of clothes and grab another cellphone and a couple of larger knives, strapped to my leg. Just as I leave the house, my new phone rings, I pause when I read the screen. It was my mother. With a groan I answer, starting my truck. "What's up, Mum?"
"You did not just break out of the hospital again! Your father is pissed. He was heading back to talk to you."
"I'm pissed!" I snap back, "He told them to keep me under sedation until he got back. Who says that?"
"He's really worried about you, he panics every time you end up in a hospital. You know how protective he gets. He never wanted me to get a Gold License, said it was too dangerous. Just humor him and call."
"Alright, alright. I'll call him." I say back, watching the road.
The line goes quiet, after a moment she says, "You're not going to call him are you?"
"Of course not. The only reason I strive to get a Golden License is to surpass him, and show him I'm not the weak little girl he used to train in the backyard. I've grown since then. He hasn't even seen me in years."
"I know you have, Quinn. But to us, you will always be our little girl. Please be careful." My mother says, sounding like the overprotective mother she started to be after my first real mission when I ended up in the hospital for the first time. It was then that she realized the training they had put me through also put me on a very dangerous path.
"Always am." I reply with.
I hear her scoff on the other side of the phone, obviously not believing me. "Someone who is careful shouldn't end up in the hospital nearly as much as you. Do not let me get a phone call worse than you in a hospital. Please."
"You won't. I'm taking it easy right now, my arm is still broken, not much slaying I can do like this."
"That's true. Love you, Quinn. Be careful. Call your father."
"Love you too. I will be safe and no, I don't want to call dad." I hang up the phone. I was almost to the burned down house. I needed answers. I needed to know what that kid was talking about. I needed to know more about this broken vail. What to expect, how to close it. Can it be closed now?
After a couple minutes, I reach the house and park up the street. I walk down to it, and stop just outside the door. I clear my throat, "I'm back, and I have some questions." I shout. It can't leave the house without getting burnt, so I stand in direct sunlight, waiting.
For a moment nothing happens, than I hear, "Where the fuck is he?" From behind me.
I turn just as he jumps for me, slamming me to the ground withFletcher on top. A scream escapes my lips in horror. His skin was burning as if it was being touched by open flames, steam rising from the burning flesh. Pain glazed over good silver eyes, pain and worry.
"What did you do to him?" He hisses angrily, spittle raining down on my face. It looked much more like the monsters I fought this time around. The bulging veins, the long K9 teeth, the feral look on its face. "I swear if you hurt him, I will rip your limbs from your body!" He growls, grabbing my broken arm.
I try to move my arms to get my knife from my leg, but I am completely pinned down by him, like fighting against an immovable mountain. I couldn't move an inch.
"Who? That kid? The one who took me to the hospital that night?" I ask.
"Noah!" He snaps, "Where is he?" Small flickers of fire appear on his skin as his flesh literally starts to flicker with small flames.
"I don't know! I came here looking for him." I yell as fear rushes through my body. But, he can't stay in the sun for much longer, he'll catch on fire soon. He can die if he stays in the light long enough.
Fletcher hisses with pain, the sun burning his skin. He ducks off me and sprints into the house. Just inside the door, he stops, "You really don't know?" He asks, staring at the dead grass that used to be a lawn.
I slowly stand up, rubbing my shoulders. "I don't."
"Who took him?" He asks, his face frozen with what looked like panic.
"Maybe no one. Maybe he took my advice and left you." I say harshly.
His face snaps up as he glares at me, "I think of Noah as my son, I gave him everything I possibly could."
"Yet he was still your dinner, wasn't he?" I say, pulling out two knives. My arm may still be healing, but it was stable enough for me.
He sighs, rubbing his back where it was burned, but was already healing. "Yeah, I guess from your point of view that would be true enough."
He wasn't nearly as mad as I expected him to be, "From my point of view?" I ask, "What other point of view is there?"
"Mine. His." He groans, looking at the burned damage on his shoulders and arms, "I know you will never believe me, but he's not just some blood bag to me. When I first bought him," he spits out the words like they were poison, "he was too young to feed from. I waited until he was much older, I never pressured him into doing it. Not once."
Actually the kid had said something similar before. I lay back into the dying grass, "Do you know a man named Troy?"
"Troy?" I hear him say. I didn't realize that when I laid down I couldn't see him until he spoke. I suppose guarding myself wouldn't help much if he were to attack me anyway. He had proven that he was much stronger than me twice now. Plus, by the look of it, he was mostly healed from the injuries I had given him before. My broken arm gave me an obvious disadvantage. He had also been bold enough to come at me with the sun still up. "The name sounds familiar, but I can't place where I heard it."
"It's the name of DMHS's CEO. He seems to have taken an interest in hunting you down." I say, rolling onto my side, carefully around my broken arm and look at him.
He was listening intently from the doorway. "Do you think this Troy guy has Noah?"
I shug, "No idea. I actually don't know a whole lot about the guy myself. But, something does seem fishy. Since he got the spot as CEO, he hasn't done much hunting. Like at all. He's mainly been fixated on tracking down The Vampire Council and The Ten. I would imagine that if he knew you were here he would do anything to get you." I turn to look at him, "Noah told me about the vail. How bad are we talking?"
His gaze turns toward the sky, the sun just beginning to touch the horizon. "The more things that come through, the wider the tear will become. Things life has not seen in decades will begin to pour into this world. Things like vampires, werewolves and witches stayed on this side because they weren't a threat to peaceful society. The things that I have already seen," he shakes his head, "Before I came up here to warn your people, I fought a minotaur. It took two regular vampires and myself to tear it apart. Although slow, it was tough. It was the third one to come out of the tear. Last I knew we had people stationed there. During a meeting with The Ten I was sadly out voted. Many of them wanted your people to be punished for killing the witches during the ceremony and to direct whatever comes out up north and let you deal with your mistakes."
"Why though?" I ask, "Why do you give a shit if some monster tears us apart? Isn't it what your kind do? Kill? Murder people for the fun of it?" My words sounded harsher than I intended, but I felt no regrets.
"So, all humans are kind?" He asks.
"What? Of course not. We have people who rob and kill, we have laws for that, punishments."
"As do we." His burns were mostly healed and he was peeling off the dead skin. "Unfortunately, not a whole lot of laws protect the people this far north. I have managed to pass quite a few in the last couple years protecting blood slaves, using the excuse that we need them in good health. There are some that agree with me, but there are also some that say your kind get what they deserve after all the years we had to hide. After so many of us were killed during the witch hunts hundreds of years ago, there wasn't too many of us left."
I sit up in the dead grass, crossing my legs, "You still didn't answer my question. Why do you specifically care so much about humans?"
His eyes narrow, "That is not your concern. It's not a story I feel like telling a stranger."
We stared at each other for a moment almost angrily, yet there was no real tension in the air. Somehow, I couldn't find the hate I had for him before in me. I didn't like him, I sure as hell didn't trust him, but that seething hate that I used to slay his kind wasn't there. "Damn it." I swear under my breath, sighing. "How long has Noah been missing?"
"I sent him out shopping yesterday morning. He has never been so late before. He always calls if he thinks he's going to be late." He pauses, then after a moment snaps, "Damn that kid, making me worry!"
"Don't worry, I'm sure he'll come back." I say, then bite my tongue, why would I console a monster?
Peeking at me from the side of his vision he says, "If not to gloat you have him, why did you come?"
I flinch, "I left my sword. I was going to ask Noah for it back."
"You think he would return your sword without coming to me first?" he laughs, "He would never give it back to you if he thought you were going to use it to hurt me."
"Last I heard your bounty had doubled. But, the post was taken down, I have no desire to go after a contract with no money on it's head." I inform him.
He laughs slightly, "So, if I came after you right now, you wouldn't kill me?" his voice darkens toward the end. I quickly stand, the hair on the back of my neck standing. His eyes weren't serious, but his voice sent shivers down my spine. "I'm joking, of course." He says lightly, the darkness in his voice gone.
I stand there, stiff as I watch his movements carefully. But, he just continues to pick the last bits of dead skin from his arms and shoulders. After a moment, I sink back down, sitting on the grass. The sky was just turning pink with smears of purple. The clouds, a deep red. The sun was setting. My eyes widen as I jump to my feet again, grabbing my knife. I had sat there so long chatting that I lost track of time. Any moment he could jump from that house and tear out my neck.
He stands as well, reacting to my own realisation. As he realises why, he snickers, "Don't worry, I have no intention of attacking you." his silver eyes turn red as they reflect the colors of the sky. I hate how beautiful I thought they were. "I will return your sword though. If I'm right, you're going to be needing it. You're going to be needing it a lot."
I pause in shock, "You will?"
He nods, "I will. On one condition."
My eyes narrow, "What?"
He laughs lightly again, "Don't worry, it's not anything bad. Just dont use it to kill me."
I nearly choke on my own laughter, "How do you know I wont use it to kill you anyway?"
"I am almost completely healed, you still have a broken arm and a wound in your shoulder, which I almost feel bad about by the way. I have the advantage at the moment. Also, I would believe that you have enough honor not to break a promise, am I right?"
I nod, "Alright." He moves out of the doorway, "Come on in."
He was partly right anyway. "As long as you don't threaten my own life, I'll even agree to that. And If I hear you've attacked any more people, I'll be back." I say.
He laughs lightly, "I have to feed at some point. I only take from Noah every other week or so. I don't want him getting sick. But he's been missing since last night, when I sent him out shopping."
"What time was he expected to be out?" I ask.
He shrugs, "An hour, maybe a little bit longer. I tell him not to stay out past the sun going down. Beyond that as long as he calls to let me know he'll be late, he has all the freedom he wants."
I pass by him, into the house, every hair sticking up on the back of my neck. Every trained part of my body was stiff and yelling at me not to go by him so casually. But, he doesn't touch me and even leaves the door open. Probaby to give me some peace of mind.
I follow him to where we had fought days before, my sword and knives left right where I left them. He backs away as I begin picking them all up. I wasn't sure if it was because he was scared I might attack him or because while I bent down to get them I was left vulnerable.
I turn to look at him, his body tense, waiting for me to attack him. I slip the last knife onto my hip, where it belonged, right under my sword. I felt so much better with my sword strapped to my side. I felt not so naked when I knew it was there.
"Better?" He asks, seeing me relax, even if it was a little bit.
I nod, "It was my mother's sword."
His lips purse, "What happened?" He asks gently.
I laugh, "She's not dead. I just bought it from her."
He sighs, relaxing himself, "Thank god. I thought I had just fallen into a terribly awkward conversation. But, I'm glad she's okay." I flinch back, he honestly looked glad she hadn't passed away. Another hunter. One that would most definitely kill him if she had the chance. It was my first time seeing a vampire fully smile while still mostly human. His K9 teeth were still elongated, just not as long as they were while fighting, when they had adrenaline coursing through their veins.
I nod, "My father has a gold licence." I state. I wasn't sure why I felt the need to say it, but it came through my lips before I could help it.
His eyes widen slightly, "That explains a lot about you."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
He chuckles at how defensive I got, "It explains how you're so strong. You know, since I moved here, eight other hunters had come for me. You were the second one to get me to bleed. The other one was a little less then month or so ago, but he barely managed to scratch me."
"All I did was use my surroundings." I say, shrugging. "It was you who wasn't paying attention."
He groans, "Noah pretty much said the same thing."
"He congratulated me that night. Thought it was funny."
He flinches, going silent for a moment before saying, "Yeah, he's always told me to watch where I was going. I'm so powerful I often forget that I have vulnerabilities."
"Is he one?" I ask carefully.
His silver eyes close in on me, working out if I would use Noah to get back at him. After a moment, he leans back, "Yeah. Yeah, he's probably my biggest vulnerability."