Into the Darkness (Prequel to The Hunters Saga)

Chapter 20: Us & Them

   Interesting.

   The hunters would be there soon, and Henri knew he had to distance himself. Looking at Dusk to Dawn, the vampire knew that this night would be its last.

   "How tragic," he muttered through his fangs. It was for the better. One look at the young hunter, and Henri knew what she'd done. Charlotte was gone – not dead, but gone – and her husband would've been nothing but ash right now.

   It was all over.

   Of course, the girl had risked her own life, and Henri had to honor that. Still...

   "You're an idiot just like your Mother," Henri muttered in disdain as he watched the flames continue on. Henri remembered more than his dark past; he thought of Toni's Mother and her chronic – and obviously hereditary – recklessness. The vampire just hoped that history wouldn't repeat itself.

   It was something Henri, of all people, couldn't afford.

***

   Warm... So warm... Whatever had pressed against my face had been comforting, warm... Familiar...

   My eyes opened slowly, soon to be blinded by the overhead lights. Damn it, I was in the hospital!

   Again...

   I had no visitors; not until the doctor and head nurse came in to check on my status. They'd found the considerable amounts of smoke in my lungs, but they couldn't find anything wrong with me overall. Nothing was damaged; not even my throat.

   Rubbing my eyes to get accustomed to the environment, I remembered more about the night before.

   The night before...

   I took a deep breath. Was I going to be interrogated for killing the oldest vampire in existence?

   God, I hoped not.

   The truth of it all hit me all too hard. Oliver Blackwell was... gone. Forever. He couldn't torture me or my loved ones any longer. I should've been relieved, but there was still another matter: His wife, Charlotte.

   The door to my room opened suddenly, and it startled me a bit. Who was behind the door...

   Ryan Church.

   What...

   He was here?

   The Order member looked me in the eye as he shut the door quietly behind him. "How do you feel, Ms. Drake?"

   My throat tightened a bit. "I'm fine." Great, actually. It was strange; it was almost as if...

   I'd had vampire blood...

   Mr. Church nodded at me. "That's good to hear." His gaze hardened. "Have any of your fellow trainees visited you yet?" When I shook my head, he sighed. "That's for the best. It might be right if we keep the killer of Oliver Blackwell a secret."

   "B-but-"

   "Let me finish, Ms. Drake," Ryan bit out. "It was inevitable; his death. Just after the intervention concluded, Sibyl Graves showed me the vampire's future." He paused. "It was what made me move the test to an earlier date."

   I swallowed. "Who knows about what happened to Oliver? Does the clan-"

   "Luckily, a few vampire were at the scene when our elite stormed Dusk to Dawn and found you in the process. And as for the hunters present..." He stared me down. "If you must tell your friends, be careful. You can make more enemies than friends after accomplishing what you did." His tone grew gentle as I sat up straight. "Now that you're an official hunter of the Manhattan Agency, I was forced to make a report." Before I could react, he continued. "I never used your name once. The council won't set their eyes on you now because of it."