Vampire Hunter D: Incubus

There's a naked girl in this story and I'll give you $10 if you actually read the whole thing through.

In the distant future, Vampires rule the night, but their numbers are dwindling. With huge bounties on their heads, a new class of hunters has emerged—Bounty Hunters. One of them is unlike the rest, he is a Dhampir, a half-vampire. At war with himself, tortured and alone, he is…







A red sun rose over the far horizon while night flowers shriveled up and died. Echoing wind cast billowing sands in angry currents unseen across the endless, barren trek that was the wild Frontier. Somewhere smack in the middle of this no-mans-land was a settler town, a one-road horseman’s last chance for water before braving the treacherous desert. Down the main street of the sprawling town, mounted on a black cyborg horse, rode a tall young man.

His raiment was like a shadow, a jet-black hole in time. He wore a wide-brimmed traveler’s hat, out of which flowed his long, dark hair. His black cape sought to shelter him in the harshest of weather, and his Longsword slung across his back served him well in many hard-fought battles, but his face was unscathed and beautiful, a renown face that struck cords in women and men alike. Youth embodied in the image of perfection that was his pale complexion and dark, illusive eyes. But yet his aura repelled, some unseen force surrounded him and drew those around him nearer, but at the same time made them wish they could run away. A Fallen Angel making its way downtown. Strange folk were sometimes seen in that wide-open country, where the consensus was that those who did not start trouble were not given any, but one could tell by this man’s demeanor and armament that he was no ordinary stranger. He was a Vampire Hunter.

The young man pulled his horse up to one of the town saloons, tethered it along side all the other’s which it dwarfed in comparison, and went in. Inside, loud voices merged together inaudibly, liquor was chugged, glasses were dropped, hands were banged on tables, and laughter ran rampant, but a deathly quiet swept over the room as the crowd spotted the shaded young man walking slowly across the threshold. All eyes became fixed on him, all movement froze in its tracks. The young man walked over to a table in the furthest corner of the room and sat down. After he didn’t move for several moments, the crowd began to lose interest, and the noise levels returned to normal. But suspicious eyes still remained trained on the visitor in the corner, now motionless as if he’d fallen asleep.

Suddenly, the doors of the saloon flew open and in burst a pack of lawmen, laser rifles in hand and exposed arm muscles rippling. They marched across the room and pointed their guns square at the dark figure in the corner.

“We saw you come in from the street,” the largest of the group shouted at the young man. “We don’t want you here. Clear out!” The man in the corner didn’t move a muscle. The townspeople in the saloon stood silent and confused. The big lawman, presumably the sheriff, saw that the figure wasn’t about to go quietly, and in his booming voice he addressed the whole room.

“Folks!” he bellowed, “y’all have probably figured out by now what this man is. By the looks of that there fancy weapon, he’s one of the baddest Vampire Hunter’s out on the Frontier, but that aint all he is.” The townspeople’s full attention was grabbed, and at the mention of the words Vampire Hunter, a young boy at the other end of the room pricked up his ears. “Everyone,” the sheriff continued, “what we got here’s a Dhampir!”

The townspeople all gasped in fear and horror, some grabbed their coats and ran clear out of the saloon. The shadow in the corner still didn’t stir. The sheriff carried on.

“I’ve heard of you, Dhampir. Might as well be the best damned hunter on the face of the earth. Well listen up, there aint been no vampires in this town for darn near 20 years and we intend to see that it stays that way.” The sheriff turned to address the bewildered townsfolk. “We don’t know what this half-breed is capable of, chances are he’s just as likely to go on a killing spree and turn half the town into Nobility as he is to hunt them. Damned Dhampir’s are hell of an unpredictable lot, and I’ll sooner kill you than wait around for you to kill me. Now get out! Did you hear me boy?”

No response. The sheriff shot a nod at one of the lawmen and the deputy edged forward with his bayoneted laser rifle readied. The young man in the corner finally stirred, lifting his eyes just a little under the brim of his traveler’s hat.

“Don’t try it,” came a calm, low voice from the ghastly young man, so soft and serene that it was almost as beautiful as he was himself. It echoed such a powerful lull that the police squad was thrown into a trance, trigger fingers relaxed. The advancing deputy cried out, and lunged for the young man. Suddenly, a flash of white slashed through the air. The deputy was sent careening backward into a barstool with a crash. The young man leapt out of his chair and landed crouched with his longsword gleaming to life, and the two halves of the deputy’s rifle at his feet. Yet no one could fire, no one could break the calm they’d been thrown into by his voice.

At that, the lone figure in black slowly rose from his stance, standing to his full imposing height, and sheathed his lightning blade. The whole room seemed to sink back from him, and the lawmen’s grip on their guns shook ever so slightly. He began to walk toward them as they backed away in fear. The sheriff didn’t move a muscle, and stood stark in his place as the young man walked past him toward the door. The sheriff noticed his incredibly fair face and was, for the slightest moment, enamored by the sheer beauty of the young man, but then as the figure continued past him, he felt as if the very warmth of his blood was stolen away with him.

And as quickly as the young man had entered, he left like a ghost from the saloon. He mounted his cyborg stallion and headed out of town, but as he was leaving, a young boy approached him from his left side—his weak sword hand. It was the boy from the saloon.

“Please sir!” he called out panicked. “Wait, I heard them say you were a Vampire Hunter.” The young man kept his gaze forward. “Please, I need your help!” the boy continued to no avail. Then in an instant he dashed in front of the horse and pulled his cap off his head, letting long black hair flow down around slender shoulders. The Hunter stopped his horse, if he was surprised he didn’t show it. The young boy was none other than a young girl.

She didn’t look so childlike up close, 17 years old at the most and possibly at the least. A keen eye would have noticed her rosy cheeks and pink lips and would not have been fooled, but her working coat and trousers hid any anatomical distinctions quite nicely, which she looked like she didn’t have much of anyway. But her youthful face was quite lovely and her eyes were bright and clear brown. Smart move, disguising herself as a boy. Traveling alone on the Frontier was dangerous enough for anyone, but for a pretty girl like her, young and unscathed, inconspicuousness meant survival.

“My name is Nadine,” she introduced herself hurriedly to the Hunter, perhaps afraid the lawmen would come out of the saloon and kill her since they couldn’t have him. She pleaded with the dark angel above her, “A vampire has been chasing me. He killed my family in Caliban, but I escaped and he’s been trailing me from town to town ever since. My brother lives in Setebos, it’s a week away on foot but on horseback it’s only a few days journey, if you help me get away from the vampire and take me to my brother’s house, he’ll pay you whatever you want!”

The Hunter pulled his horse around to get a better look at her, perhaps she thought he was leaving and threw herself at the feet of the stallion.

“Please sir!” she sobbed. “Please take me to my brother’s house...” tears began to fall off her rosy cheeks, “I…I want to go home!” The Vampire Hunter pulled his horse along side her.

“How long has the vampire been hunting you?” His voice came out surprisingly deep and calm.

“8 weeks,” she answered as obediently as she could sound.

“Why can’t you send for your brother to get you himself?”

“Are you crazy! The Vampire will kill him if he finds him! He’s hell-bent on destroying everyone in my family.”

“Why your family though?”

“Does this mean you’ll help me?” She looked up at him with her wide, innocent eyes. Innocence lost 8 weeks ago apparently, yet somehow they still managed to keep their pristine gem-like qualities. Without the slightest hint of expression, the Hunter extended his hand to the girl Nadine, and lifted her up onto his saddle in front of him. Nadine kept as quiet as she could, sensing that a thank you of any kind would only be an annoyance. When they got to the outskirts of the community, Nadine gathered the courage to ask a question.

“Hey, what’s your name?”

Eyes forward, the Hunter replied, “D.”

. . .

Together they rode out of town and into the wild. The desert stretched endless in all directions, but to the north could be seen the caps of mountains, that’s where they were headed. Setebos was a village at the base of the northern mountain range that mined for industrial ore. It turned out that Nadine’s brother owned stock in the ore mined there, and made himself somewhat of a wealthy man. D didn’t ask why he wasn’t there when the rest of his family was killed. D didn’t care.

“So do you have any family?” Nadine asked. D remained silent. Nadine soon realized that she’d have more luck cracking an iceberg than breaking the ice with D. “Hey, back at the saloon,” she continued, “like 10 guys had their guns pointed at you and you weren’t afraid at all. I’ll bet you could have taken them all on then, couldn’t you have?” Nadine was genuinely interested.

“Perhaps,” answered the Hunter surprisingly.

“That sheriff, he called you something didn’t he?”

“He called me a Dhampir.”

“Oh, a dhampir! I know what that is, it means your father was a Vampire. That would mean you’re half-blooded right? Is it true?”

D was a little unnerved at Nadine’s response to his blood lineage. Grown men had hi-tailed it out of town in some of the places that D had visited, and everyone else had wanted him lynched. Even though dhampir’s were only part vampire and possessed high constitutions that made them able to resist the lure of human blood, they may as well have been full blooded nobility to the people who feared and despised them, which was most people. Yet Nadine chatted it up as if it were nothing too exciting or new, this schoolgirl paid the least bit of attention to the fact that she was riding with a creature whose sheer instinct was to maim her, kill her, and drain all her blood. What the hell was wrong with this girl?

“Don’t worry,” she said cheerily, “I know that you’re not an evil person.”

“How can you know?” asked D.

“Because I can feel you, you feel like a good person who’s just been in too many bad situations. That doesn’t make you evil, just unlucky I guess.”

This time D had no reply. He was still trying to wrap his mind around the fact that she wasn’t prejudice against him when now she confessed that she didn’t blame him, and that no one should blame him on top of that. D relaxed the grip on his reins a little and continued gazing at the mountains in the distance.

“So how long have you been hunting Vampires?” asked Nadine. D was silent for a long time.

“This is my life, it’s what I do, it’s what I’ve always done.” They continued on in silence.

Over the western horizon, the sun was beginning to set, turning the clouds to liquid gold. A desert sunset is said to be the most beautiful, and between the striking horizon and the dashing figure she was riding with, Nadine felt simply engulfed in beauty, like anything ugly could not possibly exist in this lush landscape. But then the last tip of the sun sank below the horizon, and Nadine realized what lurked in the darkness to come, what hunted them. She shuddered and leaned back into D, only slightly. If she doubted the Hunter’s ability to protect her, she didn’t show it.

Eventually the sand dunes and cracked floor of the desert became covered with yellow grass and small shrubs. A small creek trickled through the plane, D and Nadine finally stopped to rest at it. Nadine jumped down from the saddle and walked around to stretch her legs, while D dismounted and led the horse to the creek. He removed the saddle and set in on the ground near the creek, and spread out the bedroll for Nadine a few feet away. He lied back against his saddle and chewed on piece of beef jerky, unsalted. Salt was the main ingredient in holy water, most people didn’t realize that it wasn’t the hokey religious blessing that stung vampires, it was all the bloody salt. Would they like some water with all the salt they put in Holy Water, D would sometimes wonder. It only really stung if it got in a vampire’s eyes anyway, salt in anyone’s eyes would sting. D wondered when some genius was going to figure out that pepper worked better. Same with garlic, vampires used garlic to repel humans. It repels everything, the stuff just plain stinks. Then again, against a vampire whose mind was set on hunting, the most that humans could hope to repel with garlic was mosquitoes…the male ones.

Nadine came and sat down on the bedroll and began to remove her shoes and socks. Then she began to remove the rest of her traveling clothes, she’d sleep in her underwear since she didn’t have any night clothes. Nadine pulled off her blouse revealing a white lace bra, supporting her palm-sized breasts. She stole a quick glance at D who was still lying with his head against his saddle and his hat pulled down over his eyes.

“You can look if you’d like,” said Nadine to D, he didn’t stir, “…or not.” She continued undressing. Stars were beginning to flicker in the twilight. No fire tonight.

D’s eyes were closed under his hat, perhaps he was already asleep. The night was coming on strong and blackness began to blanket the world around them. Soon Nadine couldn’t see anything, and the paranoia set in. Every sound was something coming nearer, every rustle of brush had occurred because someone had brushed it, Nadine’s breathing slowed and quieted to the point of almost shutting off, her senses sharpened out of fear, and she became absolutely motionless. Then suddenly, a loud stick cracking made her jump, and she jerked her head around in the direction it had come from. Paralyzed by fear a few moments ago, she snapped the spell like the stick, and instinctively moved the only way she felt safe.

She moved nearer to D.

“Don’t come any closer,” he ordered in a commanding yet soft voice. She shivered, confused and unsure what to do.

“But I’m afraid,” she pleaded. The Vampire Hunter gave no reply. Nadine looked around, pale and stiff, gooseflesh already plaguing her skin and her senses letting her down. Who knew what hunted them in the black darkness. One thing for sure was that something was waiting for them, waiting for her to let her guard down for a second. And then it would all be over.

“He’s not here,” D said in the same low voice. “Don’t worry. When he comes, I will kill him.”

Nadine relaxed slightly, and forced herself to lye down in her bedroll. Like a little child, she pulled the cover flap over her head, and somehow drifted off to sleep. Night sounds faded as dream overtook her.

She was startled awake by the rustling of the brush behind her. Nadine’s eyes opened adjusted to the dark, and D wasn’t lying against his saddle. He wasn’t there.

“D?” whispered Nadine. Another rustle from the branches chilled her to the bone, louder this time, and the hairs on the back of her neck instantly pricked up and stood on end. Maddening fear crept over her now, terror gripped her with icy fingers clutched around her throat, she couldn’t swallow. For the life of her she couldn’t turn her head to look at the brush. Her whole body was utterly paralyzed. Panic-stricken with silent terror and an immediate sense of impending doom, her subconscious clawed inside her head, willing with all it’s might for her body to move. It didn’t. Oh god, she thought, it didn’t move. More rustling came from the brush, closer this time, Nadine fought for her head to turn, but instead her squeaky voice came out.

“D!” she whimpered.

Then out of the bushes it leapt like a hell-fire and jumped on top of Nadine. She sprung to her feet before she knew it and dashed away into the darkness. Speeding like a rabbit she ran and ran, pumping her arms and legs like a gyro, flying over dirt mounds and dodging jagged rocks. Her feet barely touched the ground, the burning fire in her lungs didn’t slow her perilous pace, she ran for her life. She felt her pursuer though, a demonic presence closed in on her from the sky. She looked over her shoulder quickly and saw the empty black shape descending. Her foot hit a rock and she fell forward hard onto the ground. The demon swooped down from the sky and Nadine couldn’t even scream.

Just then, a second blackness leapt into the air and sailed toward the demon. It was blacker than the darkness, an emptiness like a hole in the world, it was D. A gleaming white blade sprang out of the darkness and slashed at the demon’s torso, drawing first blood. The demon flailed and pulled up from its flight, losing control and toppling to the ground. D landed in front of Nadine, who was naked save her bra and panties. The demon clawed the ground, and stood up slowly, its bright red eyes glowing gory in the night.

D stood upright and commanding to the demon, unafraid and undeterred. The demon spread its wings and sped toward D. D vaulted away as the demon surged toward him with violent speed ripping through the air with each thrash of its gargantuan, tattered wings. His hand instinctively flew to the hilt of his longsword and drew it with an arc of light, splitting the demon’s course hide and showering blood on the ground where he landed. In a flash, D’s sword slashed again, deep into the demons trajectory. The creature stalled mid-flight, whipping it’s claws at D’s longsword. The steel clanked against the demons titanium claws and D sprang up, cutting low to its legs and gnashing a gaping wound in its thigh. The demon flew back in agonizing pain. D hit the ground crouched low with his left hand stooped on the ground for support, his longsword outstretched behind him to the full moon, ready to strike again. The enraged demon charged once more for the black equilibrium that was D, and D’s longsword sailed through the air singing death, one slash left, another right, and it was all over. The creature lay de-winged on the dirt, convulsing in deathly screams.

Nadine got up and hid herself behind D, who stood staring at the dying creature in front of them. Up close, they could see it clearly now. It cringed and sputtered blood from its wrinkled and scarred face, a face of an animal like a bat, pointed ears and burnt brown skin. Its beast-like form was like a tiger’s, lithe legs and rippling muscles, but where there once were fleshy wings on its back, now there were stubs of shattered bone sticking out from its shoulder blades. The creature turned its head to look at D, and saw the young girl standing behind him, glowing in the moonlight. He smiled his ferocious smile, baring his sharp canines. Vampire, without a doubt. D addressed the demon in a low, commanding voice.

“I am D, a Hunter, and I command you to leave this place.” In the event that a Dhampir couldn’t kill a vampire, he could always command it to leave. The creature looked at Nadine and laughed.

“Hehe, you have something that doesn’t belong to you. The girl’s life belongs to me. Ehehe.”

“Why have you been following her? Her life is her own.”

“Ehehe, Nadine, come home sweeeety.”

At the mention of her name, Nadine shrunk back behind D and cowered behind him, while he reached his arm back to secure her. D flicked his wrist and pointed his longsword at the demon, who was now beginning to get to its feet. The stubby bones on its back were beginning to regenerate, and grow. Its flesh began to redistribute into wings. D was about to have problems.

The night flowers began to shrivel up in the dawn and yucca birds started to sing. Over the eastern horizon began to flow a light like a wave, and it shimmered across the plain sweeping toward the Hunter and the Vampire. The morning had come. The vampire covered itself with its wings and as the light swept over the group, it disappeared.

D turned to check on Nadine, who threw herself at him and began to sob uncontrollably.

“You left me alone! How could you leave me alone? I hate you! I hate you!” She pounded her fists on his chest and cried. D stood there for a moment and let her bawl her eyes out, let her hit him, let her be angry at him for saving her life. Then without giving another thought to the girl, he turned and walked back toward the camp. Nadine followed in her underwear, holding herself still afraid. The morning chill left a mist in the air that licked her already sweaty brow. She followed close behind him, and reached out for his left hand. As she touched it, a voice too coarse and cruel to be D’s barked,

“Hey!” Nadine jerked her hand back. The voiced seemed as if it came from D’s left hand. They continued back to the camp in silence.

Once there, D noticed the blood streaming down Nadine’s knee from when she had fallen. He made her sit by his saddle and whipped out some bandages from his pack. Securing her knee with his hands, he began to clean and wrap her scraped knee. D dressed the wound, while meanwhile his left hand wouldn’t shut up.

“Type O negative, the tastiest type, c’mon I know you want it, don’t try to deny it.” D slammed his hand down hard on a buzzing mosquito. “Ow hey!” cried the voice, “how hard you gotta swat to kill a bug?” D ignored the voice and continued working, the hand got in one more cheap shot. “At least mosquitoes can feed.”

Once finished treating Nadine, D rolled up the bedroll, put it on his saddle, and stuck it on his horse. Nadine quickly got dressed and tied her hair back with a lace tie, D went over to the creek and pulled out his longsword. The blade was still streaked with the vampire’s black blood. D ran the fingers of his left hand over the brackish liquid and smeared it in his palm.

“This is too strange,” grunted the voice in his hand, “the DNA is similar to the girl’s, almost as if they were…” the voice paused and D’s attention was grabbed, “related.” D swished his blade in the creek to wash it and then returned it to its sheath. He mounted up and rode over to Nadine. No hand was offered to her this time, she grabbed the horn of his saddle, jumped and struggled up to his lap, nearly falling off the other side. Once secure, D clicked his heels against the stallion’s side and they rode off into the sunrise.

. . .

The mountains in the north grew larger and larger, a sign that they were nearing their destination. Out of the desert, the land became lush and hilly. Tall leaf trees began to dot the plain, and shallow rivers flowed through the green valleys. The girl and the Vampire Hunter rode on into the wilderness.

“I’m sorry about what happened back there,” said Nadine. D, like usual, said nothing. “I was just so afraid. I didn’t see you anywhere and that thing was chasing me, I thought I was going to die.”

“Why did you want to die?” said D. Nadine was confused, D continued. “Fear is like a vampire, it sucks strength from your body. If you let it consume you, you will surely die. So why did you let it consume you?”

“I couldn’t help it. I just wasn’t thinking, and when it attacked me I just…”

“You just ran. Is that what you do whenever someone challenges you? Run? As long as you’re running, something is chasing you. You’ve been running from this vampire for 8 weeks, how long are you going to keep going Nadine? What would you have done last night if I wasn’t there?”

Nadine shuddered at the flashback of her fall and the demon closing in on her.

“If I would have fought, I would have died.”

“No you wouldn’t have. You’re stronger than it. A girl who survived across the wild frontier alone and incognito, all while evading a bloodthirsty vampire for 8 weeks is the definition of strong, at least in my book. The next time you doubt yourself, you walk to Setebos.”

Nadine smiled, she knew D wouldn’t make her walk to Setebos, although she wasn’t about to try him. But the fact that he would threaten her into being more self-confident, that he cared about how she saw herself, could that mean he cared about her…possibly?

Dusk began to settle as they rode through everglades of trees. Nadine cringed as they passed by a skeleton against a trunk with a spear driven through its chest. Suddenly, D shot his gaze to the left, something was coming. A long, ghostly howl echoed through the forest.

“Werewolf!” barked the voice in D’s left hand, and D jammed his heels to the horse’s side and galloped away at full flight. They shot through the trees like a whirlwind, dodging trunks and jumping logs, but downwind Nadine could see the outline of the vicious monster whose territory they had invaded. Eyes like bloodmoons red with hellfire. Fur like razor needles, matted by saliva and sweat, and teeth like hunting knives, gnashing in pursuit of its prey. It ran on all-fours like a dog at first, but then stood up and sprinted like a man toward the cyborg horse. D shoved the reins into Nadine hands.

“Fly. Toward the mountains. Don’t stop until the horse stops.”

“I thought you said never to run away!”

D drew his longsword and leapt off the back of the stallion. Nadine saw the hellhound lurch for D, and D lurch out of the way as he swung at its slashing claws. Nadine’s brow furrowed in anger, she pulled the reins hard to the right, and doubled back around. She galloped back to the skeleton, grabbed the spear in its chest, then turned back around and barreled toward D and the Werewolf.

The creature swatted at D with its massive paws, and D threw his weight behind his sword thrusts, parrying a swipe and slashing at the hound’s tough hide. He jumped back as the werewolf lunged again, and swung his sword down hard [overhead] on the creature’s neck. The werewolf yelped in pain, and jumped away blind, bashing head-first into a tree. D jumped back. The werewolf shook its head and whirled around, preparing to strike again, D put up his guard. But just then, the werewolf caught sight of something interesting. A girl on a cyborg horse, practically running into his awaiting claws. The werewolf forgot about the Hunter and took off careening toward the girl.

Stupid Human, thought D as he raced after the wolf. Nadine kicked the horse again and again, taking the reins in one hand and the spear in another. She let go of the reins then and grabbed the saddle horn, taking her near foot out of its stirrup. The werewolf bounded toward her and leapt off its hindquarters, surging toward Nadine. At the last minute, Nadine held tight to the saddle horn, let herself slip off the side of the horse, and thrust the spear deep into the wolf’s throat as it sailed over her and the horse. It flew through the air and landed on the ground with a crash, while Nadine pulled herself back up onto her horse and trotted over to the corpse of the thing that now lay sprawled on the ground with a spear in its gullet.

She dismounted and kicked the dead animal once to make sure it was dead as a doorknob, and yanked her rotten sharp stick out of its hide. D stopped in front of his cyborg horse as Nadine stuck out her hip, swung the spear over her shoulder, and cocked her head sideways with a snide, confident, smile.

“How’s that for doubting myself?” she asked the Hunter.

“Nice move,” said D. She beamed at the compliment. Nadine, with her seemingly newfound confidence, kicked up the stirrup and onto the cyborg horse in a jump, D grabbed the saddle horn and pulled himself up behind Nadine, attempting to take the reins in her hands.

“Uh-uh Mr. D. You told me not to stop until this pony drops.” Nadine clucked to the pony, “Git’up!” And once again, they were off into the wild blue-yonder.

“I could be a Hunter like you too you know. ‘Nadine Saberslayer,’ has a nice ring to it, don’t you think?” And for the first time on their perilous journey from danger to danger, D smiled.

. . .

They eventually escaped the forest and came to a glade of small leaf trees by a river. They both knew that they were in a hallowed place, something about the river and the trees made the everglade sparkle, shine. D knew they would be safe there, it was a resting place for fleeing travelers like them. Nadine saw the ornaments hanging off the branches of one of the trees, small twigs bent into circles and secured by twine in intricate patterns.

“Dreamcatchers,” she thought out loud.

They both dismounted and set up their camp by the gurgling river, a canopy of branches overhead. D splashed some water from the river on his face, while Nadine undressed for bed, slowly. D knew what she was doing, he wasn’t going to acknowledge her. He walked past her without stealing so much as a glance at her thin figure, and lied down against his saddle, attempting to get some sleep in the hours he was most accustomed to being awake in.

Just then, something soft crawled on top of him. Without having to open his eyes, he knew it was Nadine. The tips of her silky hair tickled his face, and the smell of her sweet breath made him quiver inside. Perhaps it was her pheromones that caused the quivering not to stop, but suddenly D grabbed her by her shoulders and rolled her over. Nadine gasped in anticipation. He knew he could have her if he wanted her, but it wasn’t her body he wanted. Something came over him, a terrible lust that incited feelings of rage and hunger within him. He held her down, almost as if making sure she couldn’t run. Nadine felt this and was afraid, why was he holding her down?

Suddenly she felt as if the demon had captured her, she no longer felt like it was a person on top of her, then she realized what was happening, D was changing. His breaths came out sharp, and his teeth began to bare, and grow. His canines turned to razor sharp fangs as he pushed his lips into her shoulder. Nadine whimpered, terrified at what was happening. She felt like she wanted to call on D to save her from this monster attacking her, but it was D on top of her, there was nothing left to do. Then the voice came again, the voice in D’s left hand.

“D, wake up!” it shouted. “Snap out of it D, don’t do it! D you bloody idiot! Hey! Maybe you’re okay with throwing away everything you’ve worked for your entire life and becoming one of those you hunt, but I’m not, let me off this ride!” And just like that, D lifted himself off Nadine, and walked over to his horse. He could leave her here, no creature of the night would enter this hallowed ground. She had water and berry bushes that would sustain her until some other travelers passed by who would take her to her brother’s house. Then the frail voice of Nadine reached his ears, and his fangs receded, the Noble became the Dhampir once more.

“Please,” she cried to him, standing up slowly and half-naked. “Please don’t leave me alone again. I’m all alone. I don’t have anyone left. You know what that feels like don’t you.” D stopped at his horse as the tears streamed down the young girl’s face.

“You would have let me too, wouldn’t you have?” D asked her. Her eyes fell to the ground as she nodded slowly in shame. D spoke to her once more in his deep, lulling voice that would calm the angriest fire in the angriest of men.

“Why?”

Nadine swallowed, standing there in her underwear, naked and afraid, blanketed in shame with every part of her vulnerable to the hardened Vampire Hunter, she lifted her eyes to his.

“I love you.”

D was silent for a long time. The whistling wind in the stand of trees fluttered the feathers on the dreamcatchers, and the windchimes clanked ever so slightly. The gurgling river made its way across the valley and out to the sea, a traveler on a never-ending journey. D gazed at Nadine, this soft, fragile little girl who’d slain a werewolf and survived the Frontier alone, and now she wanted him.

“You don’t know me.”

Nadine organized her words without taking her eyes from D. “I know why you can’t love me though. The same reason you can’t love anyone. You can’t get close to them or you’ll kill them. You can’t help it, so you have to keep wandering, you have to keep going and never stop, or else everything you fight for will die.”

“You don’t understand, I’ll become like them. I’ll hunt humans instead of nobility, I’ll slaughter them like livestock and feed on them for all eternity. Your face would have meant nothing to me, your smile and touch would have only driven me mad.”

“But I want you!”

“Why did you want me to help you get to your brother’s house?”

Nadine stopped, “because you’re a vampire hunter and a vampire is chasing me.”

“It knew your name.” Nadine felt where this was going and took a step back. “When you hired me, you asked me to help you get away from the vampire, why didn’t you ask me to kill it?” D continued, lowering his voice even more.

“That vampire who killed your family. It was your father wasn’t it?”

D stood there tall and commanding facing the quivering girl Nadine. She might as well have been completely naked now, she had no more front to put up, no veil of security to fall back on. Now it was just her, and the beautiful dark hunter in the enchanted everglade.

“Last harvest, my father was attacked by a strange creature. We assumed it was a vampire because of the bite marks on his neck. We hired a Hunter to kill the vampire that attacked him, and he did, which should have cured my father. But he didn’t get better, he just got worse. Then, 8 weeks ago he finally changed into one of them, killed my mother and my sisters, I escaped and he’s been chasing me from town to town ever since. I don’t understand, the hunter we hired was one of the best, he brought the vampire’s own head back as proof, but my father wasn’t cured.”

D nodded, “that’s because the creature that attacked your father was no ordinary vampire. It was an Incubus.” Nadine looked at him, a mixture of shock and confusion in her eyes. “Incubi are the most powerful of vampire demons. They turn their victims into more incubi who don’t change back to human even after the one’s who attacked them are slain.”

Nadine sighed. “Is there anyway to save my father?”

“No, but you can put him at peace. When he is slain, he will revert back to his human form momentarily, but he will also die.” Just then a gust of wind swept over them, hard and angry.

“He is here,” said D. Nadine turned around very slowly to see across the valley. There it was, the Incubus, standing fully erect with its gargantuan devil-wings spread. It glowed with an evil aura that called to her from the depths of her heart, she could feel the agony and the anger of the terrible monster, driving it insane. It wouldn’t dare enter the circle, the everglade was a hallowed place that evil things could not enter, but it waited for them at the edge of the valley, waiting for them to step out of the circle, to face their fears.

“Command it to leave,” D told Nadine. She looked at him shocked and afraid. “You wanted to be a hunter, step out of the circle, face him and command him to leave. But you can’t be afraid. As long as you are afraid of him, he owns you, he will own you even after I’ve slain him. He’ll haunt you in your nightmares and be waiting for you around every dark corner and every shadow will be his shadow. Rid yourself of him Nadine. Deal with him now or deal with him for the rest of your life.”

Nadine trembled like a panic-stricken puppy. “D I-I…I can’t I just can’t please oh please don’t make me do this, please.” D walked over and grasped her by her shoulders, looking deep into her eyes.

“Nadine. You can.” That ended it. It was no spell that he put over her, no lulling hypnotics that persuaded her to turn and face the demon. She turned of her own free will, and in her white lace bra and panties, stepped outside of the everglade.

She faced the demon head on, her determined brow furrowed ever so slightly, and in a meek tone, addressed the Incubus.

“I…I command you to leave.” The creature laughed and began to walk toward her. She started to step back but then remembered what D had said, and held her ground.

“I don’t want you here. This place isn’t for you, I command you to leave us alone.” She spoke louder, the creature barred its fangs.

“My name is Nadine! You don’t know that name anymore! You’re not wanted here! GO AWAY!”

The creature roared enraged and with one flap of its gargantuan wings, leapt toward the young girl. It sliced through the air like a scimitar aimed at the girl who didn’t move and hardly flinched. Inside, Nadine was too terrified to move, but outside she stood confident and strong as the hellish Incubus barreled toward her. Then suddenly from behind her sang the wisp of a sword being thrown. D’s longsword sailed through the air and pierced the vampire straight through the heart, driving through its chest and out its back. The demon dropped to its knees before Nadine, and for a moment, she saw in its face that of someone she once knew, someone human and whom she’d once loved. It looked down at the sword in its chest and then back up at her with pleading eyes.

“Eh…Nadine?” and then it fell over onto the misty grass, and crumbled to ash and disappeared. In the valley, nothing stirred for a moment. The crickets stopped their chirping and the water stopped its gurgling, the silence was growing and growing until it was broken by the rustle of D’s boots leaving the circle. He walked over to the pile of ash and retrieved his longsword, returning it to its sheath.

“You stood your ground,” said D to Nadine. “Next time you’ll have a weapon. Next time you’ll be able to kill it, if there ever is a next time for Nadine the Hunter.”

Nadine just stood there, staring at the pile of ashes that were now being blown away by the breeze. D took her by the hand gently, and led her away. He made her get dressed rather quickly, the town of Setebos was just over the rest of the foothills, they would be there in less than a day. D helped the still slightly catatonic Nadine up onto the saddle first, made sure she was secure, and then mounted up himself. She would sleep in the saddle while he rode. With a kick to his stallion, they galloped away from the everglade and the sacred resting place of the Incubus.

. . .

High noon saw them in sight of civilization. Cultivated fields were on either side of the dirt road they now traveled on, and electric fence encircled livestock fields. Crosses on posts popped up here and there, a sign that the main town had had run-ins with vampires before. They weren’t likely to be friendly to a Dhampir. A farmer happened to see the two riding and by some chance recognized the famous Vampire Hunter D. Before nightfall, the whole town would know of their arrival.

And sure enough, by the time they arrived at the town gate, an armed mob was awaiting them with pitchforks, hunting machetes, and laser rifles. They chanted for the Dhampir to get out of their town, that they didn’t want nobility there, that they would surely kill him before he killed them. D stood his cyborg horse in its place, waiting for the mob to disperse, but it didn’t. Then a man called out for the crowd to wait. The man stepped forward from the crowd, unarmed.

“Nadine?” called the young man.

“Aaron?” called Nadine. When the man smiled from ear to ear, Nadine jumped down off the saddle and ran into her brother’s awaiting arms. D dismounted as well, but he was preparing to mount up again. She could leave him here, she had an angry mob on her side now that could drive him out of town and a brother who held influence in its people. But instead, Nadine ran over to D, took him by the hand, and led him through the angry crowd, following her brother. The mob parted for the travelers, and with the influence of Nadine’s brother Aaron, eventually dispersed. Nadine didn’t let go of D’s hand.

The town looked like it was in the middle of a festival of some sort, which had apparently stopped with the news that a Dhampir was headed through town. A summer festival of sorts, and eventually the music started playing again and the people continued dancing and buying and drinking and making merry. The fireworks began for the night.

Aaron took D and Nadine to his house in the hills below the foot of the mountain, a scenic view of the town below. Bidding his sister to go upstairs and freshen up while him and D talked business, Aaron welcomed D inside his home. Nadine shot a glance at D that said “don’t leave.” He silently reassured her that he wouldn’t. Aaron led him into the main office, which had a fireplace and hunting trophies hanging on the walls, along with various pictures of what must have been the family. Aaron spoke to D cheerfully with a smile of great gratitude.

“I don’t know how to thank you for bringing my little sister home safely.” He looked over at a family portrait on the piano that looked like it had been taken ages ago. “We’re all that’s left of our family now, I guess we’ve got to stick together. Name your price! Anything you ask I will grant. If it is my entire estate that you name then it will be done, and we will even leave if you would ask us to, although I would hope you would be kind enough to allow us a place to stay.” Aaron went to his desk and grabbed his checkbook and pen, “come now, no sum is too great, how many zeros should I tack on to this number?”

Without saying a word, D turned and began to walk away. Aaron’s eye’s followed the beautiful dark figure out of the room.

“If nothing else,” he said to the Hunter, “you will always have a place to come home to, my friend.”

D stopped for a moment. “I’d like that,” he said in a rare tone of appreciation, and then walked out of the house.

Nadine was waiting for him on the open porch, the moonlight shone off her fine black hair and sparkling eyes. She wore a long white lace skirt and black wool-knit sweater left unbuttoned, a small gold chain hung around her neck along with tiny studs in her ears. For a girl accustomed to hiking boots and working clothes, jewelry was a big change. No lace tie in her hair this time, it hung down around her shoulders fluttering in the cool, night air. Nadine looked like a woman, and D gazed at her approvingly.

The summer festives were still going on in the town below, and the music came up into the hills. A band was playing a waltz in the village square that could be heard clear as if they had been right next door. Nadine got a glimmer of a mischievous idea in her eyes, and smiled at D with a grin that lit up her face.

“Wanna dance?” she asked him coyly. The flicker of something across D’s face caught Nadine’s eye. A smile! He smiled, if not ever so slightly. She took that as a yes and extended her hands out to him. He took them with the grace and elegance of a fine young gentleman, placing one hand on her hip, and led her in a waltz around the patio.

At first they danced slowly, but as Nadine surrendered herself to the dashing rogue leading her, they began to move like one entity, circling and flowing gracefully first, then energetically, intensifying with the rhythm, driving through the tunes like lovers running away together. The world around them spun as they flew from end to end of the patio, in step with the music and each other. D’s powerful gaze invaded her, hypnotizing her with his stare. Where D had learned to dance so well, she would never know, it was as if it came natural to him, like he’d invented the waltz. She felt like a princess in some grand royal ball, and her brother’s water-stained wooden patio was her palace courtyard…and D was her noble prince.

The music finally began to slow, a sign that it would be stopping soon, and in one last courtly show, D slowly dipped her back with ease, and she was taken somewhere else far away. When he brought her back up to him, the music had stopped, and the whistling wind gave them an encore. She was face to face with him now, gazing up at his beautiful features, his sharp eyes softened, his smooth skin, elegance unrivaled, the image of untainted serenity staring back at her. It was an awkward moment for Nadine, who was too short to reach up and kiss D. He was way ahead of her though.

In a flash, he swooped down and picked her up, taking her into his arms and holding her above him. His eyes, which were usually cold and emotionless, now held a whole other world in them, one of aimless wandering, endless suffering and cursed loneliness. She gazed into his deep eyes with sadness and longing, longing for him and all that he was. Vampire, Human, Dhampir…D. It didn’t matter, she wanted him, she loved him, and she knew that past the Hunter’s Longsword and the black cape and traveler’s hat, he loved her too. The soft breeze blew her flowing hair into him, brushing it against his pale skin, entwining it with his own waving black locks, and still he held her gaze. The Hunter who never smiled and never allowed his armor to be penetrated was now letting her in, in the rarest of his behavior, and she felt honored. She wrapped her arms around his neck and held him close and tight, never wanting to let him go.

Just then though, D began to tremble, slightly at first and then violently. His body tensed up and shook as if he were fighting some inner demon, his breaths became short and deliberate, beads of sweat formed on his brow, and a groan of seeming pain escaped him. He bit down hard on his lip, suppressing whatever sudden urge came over him. It was starting, D was changing. The human in him craved companionship and love, but the vampire in him craved blood and always would. Nadine’s beautiful neck was against his lips, the scent of her life energy pulsing through her invaded D’s every being. His mouth trembled violently as his teeth grew in size and shape, true fangs protruded from his canines. Nadine still clung to him.

“Fight it D. You can do it. I believe in you.”

Nadine’s words were like antidote to snake venom. The demon inside D subsided. He relaxed and let go of his struggle, his breaths slowed and his fangs diminished, leaving only his lips against her neck. Nadine sighed and buried her face deeper into D’s silky hair. The light of the full moon danced against their figures held close to one another, silhouettes against a diamond sky.

It came again though, stronger now. This time D knew it would be impulsive, and if he waited much longer there would be nothing he could do to stop it. He quickly set Nadine down and turned to walk away. She grabbed him by the hand as he went.

“D!” she called with tears in her eyes.

He looked back at her, the emotion gone from his eyes, the world she’d seen now destroyed, stoic.

“Forgive me,” he said calmly, and pulled his hand away, continuing down the porch steps.

She watched as he mounted his black cyborg horse, his cape billowing in the wind like black Angel’s wings, and sped off into the night, chasing the sanguine moon.

Reviews

[joanofbooke]

i love this book its incredible please let me know when you write more

[No one]

His raiment was like a shadow, a jet-black hole in time. He wore a wide-brimmed traveler's hat, out of which flowed his long, dark hair. His black cape sought to shelter him in the harshest of weather, and his Longsword slung across his back served him well in many hard-fought battles, but his face was unscathed and beautiful, a renown face that struck cords in women and men alike. Youth embodied in the image of perfection that was his pale complexion and dark, illusive eyes. But yet his aura repelled, some unseen force surrounded him and drew those around him nearer, but at the same time made them wish they could run away. A Fallen Angel making its way downtown. Strange folk were sometimes seen in that wide-open country, where the consensus was that those who did not start trouble were not given any, but one could tell by this man's demeanor and armament that he was no ordinary stranger. He was a Vampire Hunter.

[The Bard's Apprentice]

Hooray for Fanfics!!!!! ^___^

good work

[~D.A. Phoenix~]

Hey! I like westerns! who knew? This was really great. There were a few fragments here and there but that was my only qualm about it. The end was beautifully sad. I'm glad he found some type of love(weird? maybe). I would really like to hear his backstory. To know more about him. I understand he's rogue and everything but he's an intriuging character. Good Job!!! *insert silly grin here* lol

[Jacob Ives]

Hey! This is fantastic. I've never seen/read Vampire Hunter D, but I totally got the dark, futuristic western feel from this. And honestly, a few times I wondered whether you were just transcribing an episode into a short story- I was surprised when I found at the bottom you' invented Nadine- this seems like the perfect little "halt the main plotline and do some character development" episode. You show so muc about D through the way he interacts with Nadine- they compliment each other perfectly.

I was a bit surprised when she was all up and "I love you," but love seems a perfectly valid response (does that sound heartless?) and it does seem to fit the sort of blunt, childish honesty she has. There also seems to be more to each of these characters than could be explained in such a short story... well, not really very short, but this sort of thing could go on forever.

There's a few little things here and there, (like passive voice, punctuation, pacing) but all easy enough to figure out, because I know what you mean... and I can't really explain that. It's more than just the trappings of the genre, it's the way you set everything up. A half-decent editor could put a nice shiny polish on this and market it in a second...

Like I said at the beginning, this is fantastic, and a great escape.

Nice fanservice, by the way.

[Jaclyn]

I know nothing about Vampire D, although I am familiar with the title and the picture. This is not really my genre, oddly enough because I love watching vampire movies and stuff that's animated...I just can't get into it in book/story form though. However, you promised 10 dollars if we finished it, so I got to reading. Just teasing...I DID have trouble getting into this at the beginning, but I made it through, which is more than I can say for most sci-fi/cybervampire/western/fantasy fiction.

But, as I try to always review on the WRITING and not the GENRE, I'm gonna get right to it:

Your description is phenomenal. I'm always parroting the same lines, "Show, don't tell. Show, don't tell". I don't need to do this here at all. Your imagination is rich, and I believe that even if I didn't already know what D looked like, I would be able to see the exact picture in my head that you described, and it would match what I know to BE him. Did that make sense? I found it hard to stay interested in the story, but that again is not the fault of the writer...I just have no interest in the genre. Although I am seriously considering picking up Neuromancer. You have inspired me to expand my reading IQ.

There were a few problems with sentence structure, especially in the beginning, but nothing horrendous...the first few paragraphs had a run-on sentence or two, and more than one of the sentences were awkward, causing that disconnect that I so infamously rant about. I would read these beginning paragraphs out loud and see if they cause you to stumble over yourself. If they do, I'd change them around so that they flow smooth. I have no suggestions on how to do this because I hesitate to suggest changes in something so excellent (that would be tremendously arrogant on my part, I think), but I'm sure you're picking up what I'm putting down here.

God, I wish I could write fiction. I used to write all these little short stories, and I even tried to write a novel, but I've lost the ability somewhere along the way. You will not run into this problem, I am sure.

Effing unreal! :)

[[Starshine] Faerie]

I thought it was very interesting, and it held me captivated from beginning to end.

[Writer6886]

It was great. It held my Attention from beginning to end. The description was well done and the emotion between the characters were portrayed perfectly. Alas it was short but still very enjoyabe. I loved every minute of it.

[Nicola]

This is really good. It was hard to get into at the start but then it just kept going.
The opening isn't that great. I would maybe start with D, riding into the town and noticing the landscape rather than describing the landscape and then saying somewhere in the middle of this no-man's land was a little town. There is i feel too much description on the town. Although, if you started with D you could tell us this through D's thoughts. If you didn't want to start with D, you could start with Nadine riding into the town and having her know a little about the town she was about to hide in while her Vampire Dad chased her.
There was just two other things towards the beginning, in the bar when the sheriff is questioning/shouting at D, i would just say he was the sheriff instead of saying he could be the sheriff and later calling him sheriff. Also when "The advancing deputy jerked, cried out, and lunged for the young man." i as the reader would assume that when he cried out that he did not stay stock still so i feel that the 'jerked' is unnecessary.
Other than that i think this story is excellent.