The thought seemed alien to me. A vampire considering a human boy to be a vulnerability because he cared for him. Looking into his eyes, I could tell he was telling the truth. He cared deeply for Noah, like a son. But, he still fed off the boy. He was still a monster.
The ride home was completely quiet. I had turned off my radio and my phone. I was completely consumed with thoughts. I probably wouldn't have noticed if my jeep had flipped over. How is it, even if just a little bit, I found myself caring about Fletcher? Theres no way I could keep hunting him, that's for damn sure. I could almost see him as human. Almost.
I nearly drive off the road when another thought occurs to me, what if other vampires I'd killed had feelings, and were not just monsters? When I get home, I curl up into myself. All of the monsters I'd fought and killed flashing through my mind. A couple stuck out more than others. A pale haired vampire that didn't fight back, but rather tried running. Thinking back, it might have been fear is his eyes rather than hate. Or how about the vampire with long brown hair, who cried over her victim? The hardest one to come to terms with was the werewolf I had killed. He hadn't attacked any humans on record, but had killed quite a few sheep and cows. He also tried running and only fought back once he realised I was going to kill him if he kept trying to slip through my fingers. He had fought desperately, trying to survive, but I had killed him anyway. He was a monster. They all were.
Fletcher's smile flashes through my mind. The kind, honest one. I curl up into my bed as his words ring in my ears. What did I do to deserve this? I think of Noah as my son! Yeah, he's probably my biggest vulnerability. I keep going over everything in the last couple days. Him. me. Isaiah. Michelle. Noah. Everything. Over and over.
Soon, sleep pulls me under a dark vale. Still, I'm not safe. The faces of the vampires I'd killed haunt my dreams. Asking me why. Why had I killed them? The werewolf asking If I'd seen his little girl. I had almost forgotten the rumor that he had been traveling with a little girl. I had no idea if she was werewolf, vampire or even human. No one ever found her though.
I woke up multiple times that night. But, each time sleep would pull me under again. As if the universe wanted to torture me. Wanted me to relive killing them. The monsters. The vampires. The people.
When I finally wake up for good, Michelle is calling me. I pick up right before it goes to voicemail. "Whats up, Michelle?" I ask grogily, rubbing my eyes.
"Quinn, you are not going to like this. Troy has been trying to keep a rumor from spreading the internet. Last night it seems a high ranking vampire broke into HQ. I can't find any claim on the money, so he must still be alive. By the sounds of it, Fletcher was the one who broke into HQ. I almost couldn't find any information. I had to dig deep for this information. I broke so many rules, Quinn." she seemed on the edge of tears.
"Slow down, Michelle." I say, hushing the girl as I sit up, rubbing the grogginess from my eyes, "What did you find that makes you so scarred. You've hacked into classified shit before. Calm down."
I hear her take in a deep breath, "They're doing human experimentation!" She whispers urgently, "Ohmygod, Quinn! I found bits and pieces of information on human experimentation!" She begins sobbing.
I'm silent on my end for a moment as her words sink in. "Michelle!" I gasp, "Is this line secure?"
"Yeah. Yeah, it is." She sniffles, "What have I done, Quinn? If they find out it was me who hacked into their stuff… They can track it back. I did my best destroying anything that leads back to me, but…"
"How well do you know the layout of HQ?" I ask carefully, forming a plan in my head.
"Uhm, I've found bits and pieces of schematics. But I have yet to find full blueprints." She says, sniffling.
"Is there any place you can think of where they would keep their prisoners?" I ask, grabbing my wallet, keys and strapping as many knives as I could to myself.
She takes in a deep breath and I hear her keys clacking away. It felt like an eternity before she says, "There's a large blank area in the basement, near the back. It looks like an elevator leads down. It's protected by a keycard. You'll need one to get there."
I swear under my breath, this was getting more and more complicated. I hated it. I just wanted to spend my life killing vampires and living life in riches with a golden license. Was that too much to ask for?
"Remember where we first met?" I ask, remembering the tree near campus. The day before real classes began, I had found her by a large oak tree in the middle of a nearby forest. It was quiet and most people didn't go into the forest there. Rumors were that it was haunted. "Meet me there in forty eight hours. Get anything you may need for the next couple weeks. Wait for me there."
"Oh god, Quinn!" she gasps, sobbing, "What have we gotten ourselves into?"
I shake my head, already changing into some fresh clothes. The phone tucked between my cheek and my shoulder. "Nothing good. Be careful. I have someone I gotta go get."
"Make sure you use the elevator to get to the bottom floor, there should be a secret hallway just to the right. I was looking at the blueprints earlier, and there was a large blank spot there. That's the only possible place I can think of where they might be! I really cant think of anywhere else they could hide experiments."
"Get to that place we met, Michelle." I say as I finish strapping all my weapons on. My arm was strong enough not to need a sling, but it would break again under pressure. "I'll be there in a while. If I'm not there In the next forty eight or so hours, leave me. Change your name, go north. Keep going north until there's nothing but snow, then keep going."
She was crying again, "You better be there, Quinn. Do not disappoint me!" I hang up on her. I was no good with goodbyes and she may be right. It might be the last time I hear her voice. I put up my hair, hiding a few pins. Never know when those are going to come in handy during a break in. Or out.