Finding Grace: The Guardian Chronicles Book One

Chapter 4. Run*

Chapter 4. Run by Snow Patrol

I had driven to my home in the woods north of St. Louis, exceeding the speed limit by at least double. Remembering the dismembered body in my trunk, I decided I needed to permanently dispose of it before the creature could reassemble and give me more problems. I pulled up in front of the garage which sat far behind the old farmhouse.  I assembled everything I needed to light a fire in the pit I reserved for just an occasion such as this. I took a moment to grieve for the soul I was preparing to dispatch tonight, for I still held to the hope and belief even we Vampires still held on to a shred of our souls. Once the fire was burning hotly, I went to my car and popped the trunk lid open. The monster was still in pieces, but its eyes were open, and its foul mouth hissed at me. I threw the head into the flames first. The rest of the body went in shortly after, causing thick purple smoke to billow into the air. The flames lapped lower over the next two hours until they glowed just around the creature's remains. The only sound was a high keening that was slowly replaced by the crackling of the fire.

I found little satisfaction in my task. As I thought about the being I had just destroyed, I concluded it must have been recently created. One with any experience would not have put so much effort into protecting a kill. No, this creature acted more like a Newborn, only interested in its blood lust. It didn't even realize I was his kindred. I shook my head. Who would do such a thing? Didn't anyone teach the neophytes anything anymore? Or worse yet, was there a vampire out there creating monsters just to wreak havoc in the region? I would regret all the destruction that would mean, if there were a legion of new vampires being loosed. Ordinarily, there was only a small chance of crossing paths with another vampire. We each respected each other's territory, since there were so few of us left. We did not want to draw attention to ourselves. Fortunately, those who were the greediest for human blood were also most likely to be caught. There had actually been a government agency created to seek us out, but it was now defunct since the majority of the demons had been hunted down and destroyed before the 1960s. I had worked with the agency while it was open, which was part of the reason I had become a Guardian. The agency's purpose was to kill off all vampires, but the chairman had recognized the need to have some of us on their side. There were still many rogue vampires around the world, and  it was still my task to help to keep the United States safe. As a Guardian, I continued searching for those who would have us known to the human world, but this time on the side of vampires, some so ancient they had seen the turn of the millennia.

Turmoil churned in my gut. I kept thinking of the doctor's words, inviting me to return to speak with her if I needed to. There was nothing she could do to help me, I was far past any help except that of the Almighty, and so far, that was going nowhere. I got back into my car and drove, trying to talk myself out of taking the lovely doctor up on her invitation. My dark farmhouse was too lonely, and I had not spent much time there recently anyway. I did not have an excuse to go to the office that I kept to house my current business endeavor. It was Saturday. Besides, work at the office building I used to do the things required of keeping up appearances did not appeal to me today. Dr. Evan Whitman had shown me more kindness than any human I had met in the last 90 years, and I was determined to see why there was such an intense electric charge between us.

Curiosity—no, need—won out. I found myself pulling up to the corner of the parking lot at the hospital where I had met this angel. Yes, that was how I was thinking of her already. I saw her opalescent light before she even came out the doors. Her light was the greatest I had ever seen. I pulled away from where I was parked and drove to intercept her.

She jumped back, and I realized my haste too late, as eager as I was to speak with the kind doctor. I opened the window, reflexively staying out of the sun so she could not see how different I was.