Chapter Four

Chapter Four: Hello Again.

The next few days were annoying.  More bodies popped up, meaning we had to stay longer.  For two days it rained none-stop, and we couldn’t track anything because any trails got washed away.  I swear someone had turned the weather against us, trying to make our jobs harder! I sighed as I came out of Booths, holding a carrier bag and a bottle of Coke in my hands.  It was dark, and I was starving.  I wasn’t walking round town tonight, it was Jackie’s turn.  I sighed and headed down the main road, towards the hotel.  I was going to get something to eat and then have an early night. 

I kept my hood up.  I’d ended up having to get my big waterproof jacket out. It was long, it reached my knees, and it had a hood.  It was raining....still.  I swear to god if this rain doesn’t let up soon I’m going back to America whether Jackie or anyone else likes it or not.  I’m sick of the rain, I wanted the sun.  Maybe I could get a god damn sun tan with some sun.  I sipped my Coke as I crossed the road and walked through the park.  It was short cut, it cut out most of the road, and part of the road didn’t even have a sidewalk. 

Half way through the park, I stopped, feeling a set of eyes on me.  I looked up and slid the bottle of Coke into one of the deep pockets of my coat and looked around.  I slid one hand into my coat and went to drag the handle of my blade, only to realise it wasn’t there. 

Oh f**k!

My blade was sat on my bed in the hotel.  I looked around again, pulling my hand back out of my coat.  I looked at the baby’s part of the park, which had a sand pit, a few baby swings and a little climbing frame.  Then I looked at the skate park.  It was empty, and the ramps were covered in graffiti.   I looked behind me at Booths just visible over the bushes.  It was all dark now.  They must have closed up straight after I left.  I looked back at the park again and sighed.  I walked on, scanning my surroundings for whatever was watching me. 

I’d made it to the iron gates when two pairs of cold hands yanked me back.  They spun me around and slammed my back up against the closed gate.  Ash looked at my face, grinning.  I scowled and lashed out, meaning to punch him in the face, put he grabbed my hand and pushed it up against the gate.  Damn vampires and their super speed.  I scowled still at Ash as he grinned back.  I looked over him.  He was wearing black jeans again, and a tight grey sweater that was defiantly good for showing off his muscle.  I looked at my face and saw him staring at my coat.  I took advantage of him not looking and lashed out again, this time heading for his balls with my knee.  He caught my leg at the last moment and I lashed out with my hand, sending it straight into his face.  It connected and he winced but didn’t move or loosen his grip on me.

I scowled at him again, only then noticing that my heart was going faster than usual.  Damn him for f*****g scaring me.  I was going to get him back.

“Didn’t I say we’d see each other again?” Ash asked, grinning still.

My punch to the face hadn’t even faulted him.  I growled a little and rolled my eyes.

“Yeah, but scaring me wasn’t on the agenda,” I said, pushing him away from me with my one free hand.

He stepped back, giving me space.  My back hurt from where he’d slammed me into the gate, and my wrist hurt from where he’d grabbed it and slammed it against the gate.

“You’re so annoying,” I told him, rubbing my wrist.

“All part of the service,” Ash said, grinning.

I felt like slapping him right now.  What a dick.

“I heard that,” he said.

I went to punch him again, but he grabbed my hand before I could make contact again.  I scowled at him and yanked my hand back.  He chuckled at me.  I turned my back on him and walked through the gates, he was besides me in a second, walking with me through the rain.  I noticed he wasn’t wearing a coat and rolled my eyes.  Damn vampires not being able to feel the cold.  Well, they could feel the cold, but it didn’t make them cold.

“It’s not our fault,” Ash chuckled.

“Oh, that’s it!”

I tackled him to the ground, throwing punches at his face, all of which he dodged or grabbed hold on my hands.  He eventually stopped be by rolled so he was on top and pinning my arms to the ground.  Okay, now my jeans were wet and we were lying in a puddle, so the water crept up my coat to the tops of my jeans and my top.  Ash grinned down at me and I scowled up at him.  If someone caught us now, we’d be in deep s**t.

“Are you going to get off me any time soon?” I asked him, still scowling.

“Maybe, if you ask nicely,” Ash said, the corner of his lips curling up.

God he looked.... sexy when he did that.

Oh god! He just heard that.

Another fiery blush made its way up my face again as Ash chuckled.  God, this guy was annoying.  I tried to push him off but he kept my arms to pinned to the ground.  I scowled up at him, my cheeks burning.  For god’s sake.

“Get off me!” I said.

“Ask me nicely,” Ash said again, still grinning.

“No, get off me!”

“Only if you ask nicely.”

I glowed up at him, giving him the most evil look I could.  He grinned back down to me.  Our eyes locked.  I couldn’t look away, and by the looks of it, neither could he.  I jumped when I felt something vibrate in my pocket and suddenly we were on our feet.  I shivered from the cold as I dug my phone out of my pocket.  Ash picked up my bag that I’d dropped as I pulled out my phone and pressed the green button.  I held it to my ear.

“Yes?” I said.

“Ayre! Get your a*s down here now!” Jackie’s voice whispered to me.  “There’s five vampires under Devil’s Bridge, I need help taking them on.”

“Where’s Mike and Adam?” I asked, now practically running towards the hotel.  I needed weapons.  I could hear Ash running after me.

“They’re is in Windermere, remember?” Jackie asked me as I ran. 

“Oh yeah,” I said, completely ignoring the rain now.  I ran straight through reception and up to my room, not even bothering with the lift.  I raced up the stairs, hearing Ash behind me.

“Okay,” I said to Jackie as I got my room key out.  “Let me get my weapons and we’ll go in.  Any vampires that get away might come back because they know we’re here.”

“Okay,” Jackie said.  “Where are you?”

“In my room.”

I ran inside my room and dived under my bag, yanking my bag of weapons out from underneath it and searching through it one handed.

“Okay, see you in about ten minutes,” Jackie said.

“See you,” I said, putting the phone down and chucking it on the bed.  Ash looked at me from the door whilst I rummaged through my bag.  I pulled out my gun, another dagger and my lucky charm, a silver cross with the words family on the back.  It was my mother’s.  I always wore it when I fought in big battles like this, it always gave me good luck.  Well, I thought it did, it might just be coincidence.  Ash watched me as I slipped it around my neck and looked in the bag.

“Crosses don’t work on vampires,” Ash said, frowning.

“It’s not for the vampires,” I told him, pulling another gun out. “It’s a good luck charm.”

Ash nodded at me as I stood up and strapped one holster to my left thigh and a belt that had a holster around my hips.  I stuck a gun in each out and wrapped a sheath around my left forearm.  I slipped the second dagger into it and pulled my jacket down over it.  Perfectly concealed, another thing I’d focused on in my training, concealing weapons so I could carry them around with me all the time.  As for the guns, no-one would notice them either, the coat covered both of them.  I looked up at Ash as I sorted myself out and slipped a few clips for my guns into my pockets.  Normal bullets could kill a vampire, you have to just get it through the heart.  Hit a vampire anywhere else then you’ve got a pissed off vampire attacking you.  Getting shot still hurts them, but they’ve got accelerated healing, meaning their body heals faster than a normal humans, much faster. 

I pushed past Ash but he grabbed my hold in an unbreakable hold, I turned to him, scowling.

“I’m going with you,” Ash said, frowning.

“No,” I said, shaking my head.  “Jackie will know about you, and she can’t keep secrets.  I’ll get told on, I’ll lose my title.”

“Over not killing me?!”

“No, because if people looked at this right now they might think we’re friends, and we’re not allowed to be friends.  Demon Hunters and Demon’s can’t be friends.”

Ash didn’t let go of my arm, he had a stony look on his face.

“You and Jackie won’t be able to take on five vampires alone, you’ll die,” he said.

“And? What do you care?” I asked, starting to get angry now.  I tried to yank my arm out of his grip but he held on strong.  “That means one less Demon Hunter for your kind to get killed by.”

Ash scowled at this comment.

“I don’t care,” he said.  “Like you said, we’re practically friends now, and friends don’t let other friend’s die.”

I yanked my arm out of his grip this time and pulled him out my room.  I slammed the door shut and locked it before storming off down the corridor, towards the stairs.

“You know it’s true!” Ash yelled after me.

I ignored him and ran down the stairs and straight through reception and out into the rain.  It wasn’t far to Devil’s Bridge, but if you ran the whole way, it made you breathless.  When I reached the Bridge, Jackie was waiting for me.  She was dressed in dark colours to blend into the darkness of the night.  It was nearing ten o’clock, and because it was winter the nights were dark early. 

“Hey, Jackie,” I muttered as I got to her side.

She smiled at me.

“Hey,” she said, turning back to the Bridge. 

I could see the vampires sat underneath the Bridge, standing on the rocks that overhung the River Lune.  They were sitting down, one of them dangling their legs in the river.  To a normal human, they might look like eighteen year olds just hanging out.  But we knew what they were, the pale skin and cold look about them told us that they were vampires.  I looked closer and saw three males and two females. 

I looked at Jackie.

“Okay, anything I need to know?” I asked her.

“I think this is it for the vampires,” Jackie said, her sword in hand.  She always used a sword, it was her favourite weapon.  Her personal sword was beautiful.  It was long and made out of silver.  The hilt was decorated with patterns and jewels.  She loved it. 

“What? No more vampires?” I asked.

“Well, no more in this town,” Jackie corrected me.  “Then we can go back.”

I nodded, thinking of warm, sunny America.  I come from New York, and I loved it.  My favourite place out of the whole of New York was the Statue of Liberty.  I loved to go up there and look out at the view, which was amazing.  I missed it and sighed when I thought about it.

“Okay, we’ll go in from the left side,” I told Jackie, looking at the vampires.  “They won’t see us that way until we’re right on them.”

Jackie nodded and looked at the vampires.

“Do you want the males?” she asked.  “I know how much you like to kill male vampires.”

“Nah, tonight we’ll just take whoever tries to kill us,” I told Jackie. 

I wasn’t in the mood for choices tonight.  Ash had really gotten on my case.  I sighed a little, causing Jackie to look at me weird. I pulled out my dagger.

“So, you wanna go first, or me?” I asked her.

“You,” Jackie said, weighing her sword in her hand. 

I nodded and started to walk.  There were several paths around the Bridge, one going along the top of the bank that sat next to the river.  There was a big field on the other side of the path, containing loads of cows.  Part of it was cut off for a football pitch.  One path led down the bank to the shingle shore, and there was another path that led to the rocks.  As long as we managed to get to the rocks without making a noise, we’d be out of side as we climbed over the rock.  The Bridge itself blocked us from site from there on.  Thank you, Bridge.

The rain seamed to pick up as we reached the shingle shore.  The vampires were dry where they were, that was good for us.  That meant we wouldn’t slip when this turned into a fight.  Also, the rain would help disguise our scent.  The fresh water itself would smell, and it would cause more smells to come from the trees and bushes on each side of the river.  Also, humans came up and down these paths every day, and across the Bridge.  The smell of humans would be all over the place, and it would mask our smell better.  I smiled as I crept up on them.  They were sitting ducks.  One of the male vampires " the only dark haired vampire there " was hugging a female, and either whispering something in her ear or bite or kissing her neck. I had no idea.  The other vampires were sat with their backs to use, and I think they were watching the river, or just sat there for the sake of it.  I really didn’t care, and I never would, I was only here to kill them, and then I would be on my way back to America, back to New York, back to my apartment which was five minutes away from the Centre. 

I pulled out my sword and smiled.  It was a simple sword.  My only weapon that really had any detail was my dagger.  It wasn’t what the weapon look like, it’s how it is handled and used, is what I thought.  I reached the rocks and slowly climbed up onto them.  I hauled Jackie up and then froze.  Footsteps, I could hear footsteps!  I looked at the vampires and they were all watching the opposite entrance to what we were coming through, thank god.  It was Ash! He was walking towards them, hands by his side, a stern look on his face.  The vampires stood up and got into a line, all of them facing Ash as he stopped in front of them.  They all bowed to him and kept their head down.  Okay, now I knew how old Ash was.  Ever since I’d met him, I’d been thinking of questions for him, but had never gotten chance to ask them.  Like, how old was he? Where did he come from? Why - when he had an American accent - was he in England?

I knew the age question now.  For the other vampires to bow to him like that, he had to be over three hundred years old, making him an elder of the Vampire Council.  D****t! Me and Jackie bent down, trying to blend into the rocks, which wasn’t hard, it was too dark to see us in our dark clothing anyway.  I watched as Ash put his hands on his hips, looking incredibly sexy if I may say.

“I want you to leave here,” Ash told the vampires.

“Why?” asked the dark haired male, who had his arm wrapped around his mate’s waist, pulling her against him. 

“Because you’re causing too much trouble,” Ash told them, scowling now.  “The humans are starting to notice, Jack was killed the other night by a Demon Hunter.  Do you want to be next?”

The vampires shook their head.  Hang on, Ash was ruining our fight! God d****t! Why couldn’t he have left his nose out? Why did he have to ruin my fight?! I was looking forwards to that as well! If he comes through my window tonight, I’m so killing him.  I thought I saw the corner of his lips twitch when I thought this.  Oh s**t! He could read my mind, and so could the other vampires! Why hadn’t I thought about that before?!  But, the vampires hadn’t attacked us when we were sneaking up on them, and it’s impossible for us not to think.  I scowled at him as Jackie scowled next to me.  It was clear we were both pissed off at him, even if she didn’t know who he was. 

“We don’t want to die,” piped up the little vampire attached to the males’ hip.  Her voice rang out like bells and made me shudder, and she was English by the sounds of it.

“Then get out of here,” Ash told them.  “Or you will get killed.  Just run, and don’t come back.”

The vampires nodded and picked up the few belongings they had with them.  Okay, now I was really pissed with Ash, he was denying me my kills!  I scowled more and watched as the vampires hauled bags onto their shoulders or put stuff in their pockets. And then they were gone.  Ash glanced in our direction once, smirking now, and disappeared.  Damn him!  Jackie made a revolting sound in the back of her throat.

“Damn vampire!” she exploded.  “Why did he ruin our fun?”

“I don’t know,” I told Jackie.  “Come on, we better get back.  We can get some sleep and then call up the boss tomorrow to say the situation is sorted.  Mike and Adam came back earlier whilst you were out.  And Adam is dying to see you!”

I grinned at her then, and she grinned back.  Only I knew that her and Adam had been dating for a while now, only just managing to keep it from the other Demon Hunter’s minds.  They were pretty serious, and sometimes I envied them.  Sure, I’d had boyfriends, but nothing serious, like I hadn’t even gotten to the "I love you " stage with anyone yet.  But I’d certainly gotten to the sex part. 

The ground under our feet crunched with each step we took.  I loved the country side sometimes, with its clean smell, its quiet atmosphere and its wide open spaces; it was the perfect place to get away from it all.  I could think here!  I might not like England, but wherever I went, I could think clearly, and just forget that I had troubles in my life, forget that I killed on a daily basis, forget that my family were dead.  I could imagine clearly that my life was the opposite of what it was now. 

Sure, I loved to fight, and take down evil, but I never had time for a social life.  The only friends I had were the ones that I worked with, and even then I hardly see them.  Whenever other Demon Hunters were chilling out or having a drink in a pub somewhere, I was training, constantly training.  I liked to train, to make myself ready for what was out there, but sometimes I wondered why I did it.  For the thrill?  For the excitement? For what?!  Other times I focused on what I was doing so I couldn’t think like that.  Most of the time, I distracted myself with my thoughts, no-one else could distract me when I was training, not even my boss. 

As we walked, I thought about my life.  What had it become? A mission? A mission to find my families killers? Yep, that was it.  I’d based my life on finding my parents and brother’s killers, making sure that the day I finally came face to face with them, I’d be able to kill them without a second’s notice.  When I fought Demon’s, I felt a sense of pride within me, telling me I was doing a good job, but also I felt guilty.  Sure, the Demon’s were evil, but who said they needed killing?  Why couldn’t humans and Demon Hunters get along and share the planet? It was a massive planet after all.  Instead of wars and fights, why couldn’t we just talk about things? But when I thought this, I’d tell myself to shut up and get on with the killing.  Over the years I’d learnt to love killing Demon’s, and if I ever did try to stop " which I wouldn’t " I’d find it hard.  Killing is something I grew up with; killing is what I was born to do.  And I wasn’t about to turn my back on my destiny.

Oh, how wrong I was.

Author's Note

Don't judge me! XD

Reviews

[Jason Galliger]

"Well, they could feel the cold, but it didn’t make them cold." This is an awkward sentence. You should try something like "They could feel the cold like one feels a insect fly by, but they could never understand its sting" or something like that.

[Coyote Poetry]

A very powerful chapter. When you deal with evil. Easy to fall to the desire. I like this chapter. The opening conversation and some details of the main character. I like the meeting wit her partner and the five vampires. You are every good writer. The flow of the story is very good. Kept the reader interested.
Coyote