The Vampire Hunter Chronicles

Chapter 1 - The Huntress

I peered out over the edge of the rooftop. My target was in the alley below. Had he been alert he would have sensed my presence some time ago, but he was too engrossed in his own hunt. I looked ahead of him down the alley, his prey was as oblivious as he was.

I jumped off of the roof. The drop was just over seven stories, but I wasn’t concerned. There was more noise generated by the leaves rustling by the wind of my cloak than there was by my feet touching the ground. Still, I quickly ducked into the shadows in case my target heard anything. When I was sure that I hadn’t been spotted I quickly moved to catch up to him.

I was enjoying the hunt. It had been significantly more challenging than several of my previous assignments, and was a welcome break to the monotony. I wanted to draw it out as long as I could. Once my target was dispatched I would have to return to the normal pursuits of wanted criminals, boring in comparison.

A scream from ahead brought me back to the task at hand. My target had made his move, which meant that I had to make mine. Silent as a cat, I ran deep into the alley.

I found him down an even smaller side alley. His prey had her back up against a wall. Somehow her shirt had been torn off during his initial struggle to corner her. I cursed as I saw that her modesty had somehow overcome her survival instinct. She seemed more concerned with trying to cover herself than escape. She was so distracted that she didn’t even seem to notice that he was moving in for the kill.

I had to act fast. That girl would be dead before she even knew what was happening if I didn’t.

The girl finally realized the peril that she was in as my target put his hands to either side of her head. She made a move as if to scream again, and then was caught by his gaze. Transfixed, she had no choice but to bend to his will.

I stopped. There was no greater danger of being found out than at that very moment. A vampire was at the height of their senses in the brief seconds between subduing their prey and moving in for the bite. I had to wait until the last possible second at that point.

I held my breath as I watched. Depending on his intentions, the slightest nick on her throat could leave her forever wandering the night. I had to act in the brief second between his awareness dropping as he moved in, and his teeth actually piercing her throat.

I spotted my chance. His head bobbed ever so slightly as he prepared to bite. He had dropped his senses and was at his most vulnerable. Moving with the speed of my kind I pulled my curved blades and made my way up behind him.

The girl saw me just as I came up behind him. I implored her with my eyes to stay silent. Whether she understood me or not I don’t know, but she didn’t let on to my presence.

I could feel his power as I got close enough to strike. He hadn’t pierced her skin yet, but I had no time to contemplate what needed to be done. She could get injured, but at least she wouldn’t be dead once I was through.

Reaching out I grabbed the tail that he had tied his hair back in. Yanking his head back I had his throat slit before he was even fully aware of my presence. Dropping my hold on his hair, I spun around and dropped the blade of my second knife into his chest. He was dust before he even had the chance to hit the ground.

I raised the first blade to eye level, and then licked the blood from the edge. I could taste the souls of the thousands that he had killed.

What a waste, I muttered as I thought of the lives that he had taken to fulfill a hunger that would have been satiated with a fraction of the death.

I was prepared to head back the way I had come when I noticed the screaming. Turning back, I saw the girl. She had been uninjured, but was screaming as if death itself had come for her. I guess in a manner it had.

I walked back over to where the girl was huddled on the ground. She just tried to force her way through the brick wall at her back. She wasn’t succeeding very well. She was also still trying to cover herself up, which she was also failing at.

I noticed something on the ground. It was the overcoat of the vampire that I had just killed. Somehow it had survived his death even though the rest of his clothes had not. I picked it up and shook the remainder of his dust from it.

Learn to watch your back, I said to the girl as I threw the coat at her. Then I turned and walked away.

What a waste, I muttered again as I left the alleyway.

Chapter 2 - Almost Dead

Life, or un-life in my case, as a vampire hunter had not been what I had imagined my future would be as a child.

My childhood had been fairly normal. I wasn’t an outstanding student, but neither was I a poor one. I was easily able to hold my own in subjects that I was interested in. I went on to study history in college.

It wasn’t long after I graduated college that my life collapsed around me.

I was working as a waitress after college, waiting for news on several of my job applications. It was there that I found out that my long time boyfriend had decided to start seeing other people. She dragged him in, despite his protests. When I went over to say hi and ask who his friend was she got protective. When I mentioned that I had been dating him for several years she attacked me.

Shocked and confused, I didn't know how to react. I used a beverage tray as a shield against her fists, and somehow managed to keep my footing, despite dripping from the drink that she had thrown on me. While in reality it must have only been seconds before several customers and a few coworkers subdued her, it felt like much longer.

I realized what had happened, and that my relationship was over when the person whom I thought was my boyfriend went to the aid of my attacker instead of me. She glared at me, and he wouldn't even match my gaze as he led her out. The entire time she screamed obscenities and threats. I just stood there, dripping soda and not wanting to believe the incident that had just occurred.

Even though I didn’t return a single blow, and the other customers nearby attested that nothing had seemed out of the ordinary until the attack, I was fired that same evening.

My then ex–boyfriend didn’t even have the guts to call me again, his silence only cementing the truth of his betrayal. He even sent a mutual friend to collect the few possessions that he had kept in my apartment. The friend seemed embarrassed, and when he was unable to meet my gaze as I handed over the box I realized that not only had the man I loved betrayed me, but several friends as well whom had known about the other relationship.

They say that bad things happen in three’s. I thought that my luck had sunk as far as it could after the betrayal, however I was mistaken. My third blow came several days after the breakup and firing. I was browsing the want ads when the call came.

My parents, who had been traveling to visit me after the recent events, had been killed by a drunk driver in another state. They had actually been killed the night before, but it had taken the investigators in the case that long to track me down. I snapped at that point. Jobless, loveless, and now even parentless I walked outside, numb to the world.

A good vampire will hunt their prey for days, waiting for the perfect time to strike. I have no idea how long I had been a target, but it was on that night of all nights that he decided to move. Maybe fate had decided to smile on me after all.

My hometown is crisscrossed with small streams and rivers. Wanting to find comfort, I headed to one of the few rivers that ran through the town I had moved to. It was several hours past dark already, and I knew that there would be more calls coming, but I couldn’t stand to be in my apartment any longer.

I don’t know how long I stood on the bridge overlooking the river. It was several hours at least, I could tell by the height of the moon. It was as I started the lonely walk back top my apartment that he struck.

It all happened so fast that I was shocked by it. One moment I was walking along the bridge, the next I was held fast against the wall that lined the underside of the bridge.

I was scared, until I saw his teeth. Then I was resigned to my fate. I figured death would be better than the pain that I was in at that moment.

He must have sensed my mood. The advance stopped. Instead of taking my life, he took my chin in his hand and forced me to look into his eyes.

Please, I whispered, trying to turn my head away. Just get it over with.

He released his hold on my chin, and was gone.

Chapter 3 - A Dark Confession

I think I had been looking for death that evening. Maybe I had sensed the vampire hunting me all along and not realized what it was.

I was found the next morning, huddled under the same bridge. I was delirious with grief and self torment. They finally had to call an ambulance to administer a sedative to get me out of there.

I spent a week in the hospital. While I was there I tried to convince myself that the vampire had been a symptom of the delirium. I had been wishing for death, and my mind conjured a creature that could satisfy that desire.

I kept telling myself that, even days after the funerals. I knew that vampires were creatures of myth, and horror writers. How could I have really encountered one?

Finally, trying to rid my mind of the ghosts of my delirium, I went back to the bridge. As I stood there, overlooking the water, I felt like I was finally able to release the ghosts of that horrible day.

I knew that you would come back, a voice said behind me.

I had hoped that you were a creation of an insane mind, I replied, not wanting to face what I now knew to be real.

We exist in the myths and nightmares of men, because we exist.

Why didn’t you kill me?

Silence fell across the bridge.

I spun around, wanting to face him, wanting to confront him with my question. But he was gone.

I looked down both directions of the bridge. It was fairly long, and the buildings weren’t up to the shore, so a good section of road was visible on either side. I couldn’t see even a single figure in the darkness.

I ran to the end of the bridge that he had taken me to and jumped the railing. Fumbling in the dark I made my way to the location that he had left me that night. I knew that he was there, even though I couldn’t see him. Somehow I had become attuned to his presence. I stood silent in the dark, waiting for his answer.

I almost felt that my instincts were wrong, and that he wasn’t there, when he finally spoke.

"You were beautiful the first time I saw you. The moonlight glinting off of your hair, and the way it fell on your face. You didn’t notice me, hiding in the shadows half a block away, but I could smell the sweetness in your blood. Yours was blood that was uncorrupted by the pollution of the city. I knew then that I wanted you.

Yet, despite my longing, I did not hunt you. It seemed wrong somehow, so I gazed from afar, constantly battling my desire to take you.

I started hunting you when my desire to taste your blood finally won over my desire to see you live. At the time, I would have said that I had no choice, that my instincts had taken over. I now know that I did have a choice in my decision to hunt you, and that it was the wrong one."

I stood, waiting for the next part of his story. It was only after the silence lasted for more than a few seconds that I realized that he was no longer there.

I ran to the other side of the bridge. Looking up into the night sky I could just make out his silhouette standing on the edge above.

You didn’t answer my question, I begged. Why didn’t you kill me?

He stopped in his retreat from me, and slumped his shoulders. I could tell by the trembling that he was having a hard time facing an inner truth.

I would not have heard it, except for a chance breeze that brought his whispered reply.

Because I love you.

Chapter 4 - A Forbidden Romance

I returned to the bridge every night for the next three weeks. Every night I left, disappointed.

I wanted to know that what I heard carried on the wind was true. Was it really possible, a hunter of the night, falling in love with a dreamer of the day? Even if it was true, what torment was he inflicting upon himself, an immortal creature who would only have to eventually watch his love die?

I had to know. So I returned to the bridge night after night, seeking answers. And night after night he did not appear. I was starting to wonder if he would ever appear to me again.

The answers started on my twenty-first night on the bridge. I had already been there for several hours, and was quickly tiring. I knew that I would soon have to return to my apartment to sleep. The hours at my new job had me waking early, and coupled with the late nights on the bridge it was starting to take its toll.

I turned to take one last look over the water before departing, and released a sigh of sadness.

Why do you keep coming here? a voice asked from the dark, his voice.

For answers, I replied, turning slowly. I need to know… I need to know if confessions whispered to the wind are true or not.

He paled visibly. You were not meant to hear those words.

He started backing away, as if to leave. I still don’t know what came over me; anybody else I would have just let go, but I reached out and grabbed the fabric of his sleeve.

I didn’t have that great a hold on the fabric, he could still have simply walked out of my grasp, but he stopped. With a sigh he turned to face me again. There was sadness beyond words in his eyes.

The sadness was so deep that I could feel his pain. I took a step nearer. He diverted his eyes from my gaze. Taking another step, I stood on the tips of my toes and kissed the side of his mouth.

I can’t, he whispered. It’s forbidden, and he was gone before I could even regain my balance.

I stood on the bridge, wondering what had come over me. A cool breeze was blowing from behind, bringing a chill with it.

I wanted to look for him.

Slowly, I started walking back toward my apartment. By the time my key slid into the lock the tears were already flowing freely. If it was not meant to be, then why did it feel so right? Despite all the trials of the previous months, for the first time in many years I cried myself to sleep.

I barely made it through work the next day. The combination of exhaustion and depression trying to make a return had taken its toll. When I got home that evening the first thing I wanted to do was sleep.

It was approaching midnight when I woke up. The darkness in my apartment was impenetrable.

It dawned on me, what time it was. The bridge! I said with a start. Another glance at the clock told me that it was far too late to head out.

I pulled my knees up to my chest. I’m sorry, I said. I meant to be there, I really did.

A sigh in the dark. I suddenly realized that I wasn’t alone.

Is that you? I whispered.

Silence, then, Yes.

I climbed out of bed, arms outstretched to keep from bumping into things. I wanted to find him.

I walked slowly across the room, yet my feet still found something to tangle themselves in. With a squeak, my balance forfeited the battle and I was tumbling.

Strong arms caught me before I could hit the ground. My fingers dug into his skin as I tried to regain my balance.

He held me even after I was steady on my feet again. I knew that he didn’t want to let go, nor did I want him to. Slowly my hands traced up his arms and to his face.

His skin was cool to the touch. Though I could not see them, my fingers could feel the long years that he had spent walking the night. My fingers traced across his features, finally brushing his lips.

He brought his hands up, and gently took mine, preventing my fingers from further exploration of his features. I looked up where his face was, hoping that he