Blood Will Fall: Tales of a Vampire Hunter

Chapter 7

It was around eleven in the morning. It was a safe day to go outside. Ciara didn't have to worry about bloodsuckers at this time. The sun was out and the branches of the pine trees sway in the light breeze. The ducks swimming in the large man-made lake and one could hear the murmurs of children playing on the swings and monkey bars. She walked to the natural trail. Watching the squirrels chase each other and listening to birds sing in the distance. The honking of the Canadian geese, which was loud, but not annoying. What was annoying was trying to avoid the steaming piles of dung that they left behind. Ciara saw a young lady sitting on one of the benches on the trail. She walked up closer.

"Thank you for coming?" Her face was hidden by her long dye black hair and glasses. She was drawing in a small leather covered sketchbook. She didn't make eye contact. She focused on her drawing.

"Gemma?" Ciara questioned. She wasn't sure if it was her. She looked closer trying to find any signs of the person she once knew.

"It's me." She finally made eye contact with the slayer as she closed her sketch book. Even though she was wearing thick black frame glasses, her bright blue eyes was still noticeable. Her hair used to be blonde, before it was dyed. She wore black lipstick and eyeliner. She had a blank stare on her face, but one could tell there was fear in her eyes. She was wearing a black long sleeves shirt, black jean and boots. She looked the part of a misunderstood goth, which wasn't the role she normally played.

"You changed your look." Ciara stated the obvious

"Is he back?" Gemma asked. Her eyes stared at Ciara as her hands gripped tightly around her leather bound sketchbook.

Ciara sat next to Gemma. "He is dead," she assured. "He is not coming back."

"Liar!" Gemma snapped. "What about that shit on the news? The bodies. The slaughters. It looks like his work." Gemma was one the three survivors from the Luvart clan that was wiped out three years ago. "You didn't know all the horrors the Master inflicted on me." Her hands still gripping the sketchbook as tears rolling down her cheeks. "When he kidnaped me, he didn't embrace me. He locked me up in a dark room with only a bed and pitcher of warm water." Tears ran faster down her cheeks and her lips quivered as she continued to tell her tale. "He..." She paused as she closed her eyes. "H-He raped me for days using my blood to sustain him. When I say days, I don't mean he took breaks, it was nonstop. I passed out several times only to wake up to see hideous face and feeling him inside of me. It was a nightmare that only ended with the Embrace." She rested the book on her lap and took off her glasses to wipe the tears and smeared mascara off her cheeks. "He could have embrace me anytime, but he wanted to break me. Crushed my soul, before he killed it." She put her glasses back on. "I can't get those memories out of my head. " Her legs shook rapidly to the point that Ciara felt the vibrations. "The people I killed. I can't imagine the pain their family felt." She looked at Ciara. "So, don't tell me he isn't back."

Ciara took hold of Gemma's hand. "I'm sorry for what that asshole put you through. But Halpas is dead!" She explained. "Sambuca staked him and I cut off his head myself."

"Then you burned his body and head and buried the ashes separately," Gemma added.

"You know the drill," Ciara said. "But I'm not going to lie to you. There is a new clan in town."

"Dear God!" The words found its way out a Gemma's mouth. "Not again."

"The Mistress is not coming for you," Ciara assured. "They are coming for Sambuca and me."

"So was Halpas," Gemma said. "Emily, Rachel, Vanessa, Melissa, myself and the dozens of innocent victims were collateral damage in your war with Luvart clan."