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Dhampir Hunter - Chapter Twelve
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The day was gray and overcast, clouds hanging low and swollen over the land. The soft rumble of thunder was the only sound rolling across the vast expanse above the forested area, a harbinger of the storm soon to come. The sound was soon drowned out by the loud gunning of an engine. The two people on the four-wheeled vehicle sped by in a blur of motion, the woman in front opening the throttle as much as it would.
“So how did she escape?”
They’d been riding for most of the day, sharing the four-wheeled vehicle that had belonged to Shifter before he’d been taken. Arcane had been the one to make that decision. She didn’t think Cirrus was up to driving his own vehicle, the effects of the drink from the night before still clinging to him. He’d been silent for most of the trip as had Arcane. She’d spend the time thinking. “What?” she called back, distracted by Cirrus’ question.
“Your mother. How did she escape?”
Arcane shrugged, blinking as one of the first drops of rain fell into her eye. Wiping it away, she considered his question for a moment and tried to work her mind backward to when her mother first told her the story. Twenty-four years before, when she’d been sixteen. “I don’t quite remember. All I know is that she escaped.”
The rain was falling faster now, the drops thickening with every passing minute. Arcane glanced up at the sky and sighed. “We have to set up camp somewhere and make a shelter. Progress would be almost nonexistent in heavy rain.”
“Not that we know where we’re going in the first place,” responded Cirrus.
Decelerating, Arcane nodded. “Can’t argue with that.”
Fifteen minutes later they’d found a clearing and Arcane had set up a temporary shelter using four conveniently placed trees, some rope, and a tarp. It wasn’t much, but it kept them dry and with enough space between them that Cirrus didn’t get jumpy. Arcane could tell that it still burned him that he needed help from a dhampir.
She opened the pack she’d been carrying and tossed him a bunch of blankets. “Might as well rest up. The more you rest, the faster you heal.”
He was still suspicious. He kept his gaze on Arcane, watching her carefully while he made up his bed. He made himself comfortable and continued to watch her until he finally fell asleep, almost an hour later. The sound of the rain was far too soothing for suspicion to keep him awake.
Arcane shook her head as she sat down and leaned back against one of the trees, resting her head against the cool bark. She closed her eyes and exhaled deeply, finally realizing that she hadn’t slept in days. Granted, dhampir didn’t need quite as much sleep as humans, but everyone needs to sleep at some point, be they human or non-Human. Before she realized what was happening, the gentle sound of the rain lulled her to sleep as well.
“Serenity? Time to come in.”
I glance up from my dolls, my twelve-year-old eyes finding my mother’s silhouette in the doorway’s light figure in the darkness. “But I don’t wanna, Ma! I’m having fun.” I honestly think my mother calls me in earlier and earlier every day. “Just a little longer?”
“Not tonight. We need to talk,” calls William, my mother’s husband. “We have some news for you.”
I wonder if it’s a surprise. I like surprises. I like William as well. I sigh heavily and collect the dolls I am playing with before running to the house. I laugh as William takes my hand and swings me in through the door before closing it. I’m twelve and should be too old to enjoy such things, but secretly I like it. It’s fun.
We all sit down for dinner. “Serenity, your mother and I have something to tell you,” starts William, taking hold of my mother’s hand.
As I eat the lima beans on my plate I stare at my mother expectantly. “Well? What is it?”
“I’m pregnant. You’re going to have a new little brother or sister,” announces her mother, excitement in her warm voice.
I beam. I’ve always wanted to be an older sister. “Really?”
“Mm-hmm.”
Suddenly the lights in the house went out. I drop my fork. I don’t like this. Something is wrong, I can feel it. “Mommy? William?” There is no response. I walk to the cabinet, my eyesight better in the darkness than most. I find the matches and light one, effectively illuminating enough of the room to see. William was dead. Blood splashed across the wall and his head separated from his body. I hold in a scream, immediately looking for my mother.
Her mother was across the room, being held up above the floor by the throat. The man…no, vampire, holding her up looks vicious. He has silver hair and bright red eyes and his snarl revealed long fangs. “You won’t get away this time, human whore. D isn’t here to save you this time.”
I do the first thing I can think of and grab two carving knives. I have to save my mother and my unborn sibling. No one else can. I jump on the vampire and drive one of the long knives into the flesh of his back The match falls from my hand and everything goes dark. I can't help but think that I am going to die.
Arcane snapped awake, her crimson eyes immediately wide and alert. She discovered that, sometime during her troubled sleep, she’d drawn her blades. After a breath or two, the static sound of the rain once again filtered into her hearing and she comprehended the fact that she was no longer dreaming. She was no longer that girl of twenty-eight years ago. “Thank God.”
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