Book Two Chapter Two: The Hunt

After Anara leaves the basement, Nick is captivated by the scent of her blood. He begins hunting her, stalking her through the night. Will he kill her, just like he killed Fenton?

Chapter Two The Hunt: Her order of not hunting made me think of Anara's scent. It was so sweet, I wanted her blood. Once it was clear that Kaleen was gone, ran up the basement stairs, I ran through my house, went out the front door and followed Anara's scent, regretfully losing all self-control.

I was out in my front yard, sniffing the air so I could track Anara’s scent. A fire of burning thirst erupted in my throat. I wanted her blood. I had her scent once again and I followed it. It was leading me down the street towards town. I looked to the sky. The moon was past its apex in the starry sky, but I still had a few hours to hunt. I continued following the scent of blood and I could see that I was almost in the downtown area. I continued walking, desperate to use vampire speed to get to Anara faster, but I did not dare do that in a populated area. I was now walking on the sidewalk of the main street that led into the downtown area. The scent of Anara’s blood swerved to my right, into an alley. I followed it and entered the alley. The scent of blood trailed up a wall. I looked around for a possible way that Anara could have climbed the wall, and I found a fire escape ladder. I climbed up the ladder and followed the scent of blood once more. I pulled myself up onto the metal fire escape balcony. In front of me was a sliding glass door that led into a small apartment. Inside, I saw Anara laying in a bed, peacefully asleep. I took a second to inhale her scent, to enjoy it. The smell was addicting, like the smell of gasoline every once in a while. I reached out to the sliding glass door and tried to open it, but it was locked.

“Figures.” I said to myself in a disappointed tone.

I pulled on the handle and tried to open the door, but it still did not budge. I would need to use vampire strength to open it. I gathered up my supernatural strength and I pulled on the door. The door came open with a sharp click! That I assumed was the sound of the lock breaking. I stepped inside the apartment and left the door open behind me, just in case Anara woke up and saw me and I had to get out of there quickly. I bent down low to Anara’s neck, silently inhaling the sweet scent of her blood. The fire of burning thirst in my throat quickly became a firestorm. It was driving me insane. I had to have Anara’s blood. I had to quench the thirst.

I could feel the heat emanating from Anara’s blood. I noticed a faint breeze by the window, but the burn in my throat was so intense, I was so thirsty that I didn't pay any mind to it. I bent down lower, preparing to sink my fangs into Anara’s soft neck…

"What do you think you are doing!?" I heard Kaleen half yell, half whisper.

I jumped back with a gasp of surprise. Kaleen’s voice snapped me out of my blood lust induced trance. I realized what I was about to do and a pang of guilt struck me. How could I have been so easy to control by thirst? How did that thirst control me? Was I really going to kill Anara? Was I a monster? Would I ever learn self-control? All of these questions flew through my mind in a second or two.

"How did you find me here?" I asked, avoiding her question.

I still felt dazed and surprised that I was actually going to kill Anara. I did not know what to say.

Kaleen flailed her arms in the air.

"How do you think I found you? I'm a vampire! I followed your scent!" Kaleen said in a loud whisper.

I was so in capitated by the scent of Anara's blood that I forgot about the possibility of Kaleen finding me. The thirst was impossible to control, and impossible to resist. Was this what my eternal life as a vampire had in store for me? An eternity of blood lust? An eternity of murder? An eternity of thirst?

Kaleen came so close to me, and so fast that I was actually scared. She stared me right in the eyes. The moonlight glinted off of her crimson eyes and made them sparkle, like a pair of rubies in her eye sockets.

"If killing other vampires wasn't illegal, I'd kill you, but since I can't, I’ll just tell you this: Anara is my only living relative, Saja killed off my family while you were gone, she was going to use that as a trap for you, but you infiltrated her quarters on Hemlon. If I ever catch you trying to hunt her again, I won't hesitate to make you suffer." Kaleen seethed in anger.

I was gaping at her. She was angry. I decided it was best to back off, before she put me through a window. Or a brick wall. I raised my hands in surrender.

"I understand, and I'm sorry." I told her.

This brought her anger down a little.

"Good." She said.

A thought then hit me.

"By the way, if Anara is your only living relative, how did she end up on Artemis?" I asked Kaleen.

Kaleen shook her head.

"That's another story for another time." She said.

I was curious to hear that story. I thought back to when Anara told me how she ended up on this ‘strange new world’ when she came through the spiral vortex that was the portal between worlds. If she was related to Kaleen, was it possible that Anara was born here on Earth? I made a note to ask Kaleen about it later.

I stepped through the sliding glass door that I had left open and went to the fire escape balcony. The sun wasn't due up for another few hours. I decided not to hunt, like Kaleen said. I went for a walk.

Author's Note

The second chapter is here! Please tell me what you think!

Reviews

[John Mcnab]

This piece was very entertaining, to say the least, lots of detail, and I LOVE the whole 'ghosts of the past' concept, where you brought back the characters from book one! Especially Serena, she's my favourite...

[Coyote Poetry]

I liked this chapter. You gave enough to keep the story alive and interesting. I like the conversation and the ending. You create place, situation and strong ending. Thank you for sharing the excellent chapter.
Coyote

[Ryan Henderson]

Thank you for telling me what you think! Like I said before, if you like this, wait until book three, I can give you a sneak peak at the first chapter if you want..... ;)