"Where's this library?" Rachel asked, scratching her itchy shoulder. A greenish band on the horizon indicated that dawn was almost upon them. She shuddered. She still associated it with Daniel's execution.
"Unfortunately, not too far away. We don't have as much time as I would have liked." Daniel stopped at a traffic light and took off his leather jacket. He winced and peeled the bloody sleeve of his t-shirt off his shoulder.
Rachel's eyes widened. "What happened to you?"
"Nothing serious. I'm just confused that this hasn't healed already. They did it hours ago."
Rachel rolled his sleeve back and gasped. Bloody gashes and a violent rash covered his entire shoulder. His wolf head tattoo was gone. "What did they do?"
He smiled bitterly. "They kicked me out of the order, didn't they? The tat had to go. I wish I knew what they had in those needles. It hurt like hell."
"Why didn't they let you keep the tattoo? They were gonna kill you anyway." Rachel sunk back in her seat and continued to scratch.
"Oh, boy." Daniel reached over and lifted her sleeve. "They branded you."
"What? What are you talking—" She yelped as her eyes fell on her shoulder. She had a sharp-sword-with-its-tip-down-in-a-circle tattoo, identical to Daniel's. When had they done this? And how come she hadn't bothered to check why she was itchy? "Branded me?"
"Yeah. That's the sign of the vampire Hunter." Daniel drove off as the light turned green. "You should have a necklace just like mine."
Rachel peered down inside her t-shirt and indeed found the small charm hanging around her neck. "That's what that sword thing means? I thought it was your personal thing."
"I thought it was Max's thing; that and the wolf. Until Gabriel told me that it's the sign of the Hunter. Another sign of recognition. As if sensing each other wasn't enough."
"You don't know much about Hunters, do you?" she whispered.
"Oh, I do know a lot about Hunters. I just didn't know the vital pieces." Daniel frowned and his hands tightened around the wheel. "I had no idea about the tattoos and necklace, I didn't know Max was an official renegade, and I honestly had no freaking idea we'd be hunted down and trialed. That seems to be pretty important information Max conveniently forgot to tell me."
"But you said you knew you had to report..."
"Yeah, but I thought it was like useless paperwork. Max told me everything except the crucial part about getting sentenced to death if I didn't report.. I just did what he did, never knowing there was another way, never questioning our lifestyle." He heaved a sigh.
"Why didn't you tell me anything about other Hunters?"
"Because I never used the information. So I forgot I ever had it." The shadow of a smile lit his features. "You know me. If it's not useful, it's not worth mentioning."
Rachel rubbed her new tattoo. Ignoring the way she'd gotten it, she kinda liked it. "Tell me about the Hunters. Everything you know."
Daniel slid her a sideways glance. "You feel like a history lesson now?"
She shrugged. "It's not like we have anything better to do until we get to the library."
"Alright, then. It all starts with the original Hunter. For some reason, this one man, though poisoned with vampire venom, didn't transform. Instead, he got the vampire's powers, except his human nature allowed him to develop some extra abilities. And from this one, lone Hunter, more spawned. I don't know if he turned others or what, but soon, the Hunter population grew. Until a fully fledged war broke out between them and the vampires."
"War?" Rachel straightened in her seat.
"Wars, actually. It happened around the time when Europe was devastated by plague, so the number of mortals killed in the conflict went unnoticed. Apparently, each Vampire-Hunter conflict was translated into a spread of bubonic plague. 1649 – Seville, 1665 – 1666 in London, 1679 in Vienna and the last Great War took place in 1720 in Marseille, France."
"That many humans died? Why didn't the Hunters do anything about it?"
"They did. After winning the first two wars, they made a capital sin out of turning any human into a supernatural being. Be it Hunter or vampire. But it didn't last long. The last two wars were a disaster. The Hunters were almost wiped out. That's when the High Council was created, and the rule that Hunters shouldn't wander alone was instated. They were trying to preserve their numbers."
"Didn't they lift that first rule?" Rachel asked in disbelief.
"No. Humans were still scarce. The only problem was that, in order to impose their wills, the High Council pushed these procedures through to give themselves more power, seem legit. That's how the protocol was born. It was probably not a bad thing, seeing how demoralized everyone must have been, but it turned into something else. You heard Angus in there. That's textbook mass manipulation.
"All that bullshit about not agreeing with them meaning we're against them. The humongous number of rules. That's just a way to keep Hunters busy so they wouldn't think and realize that the Council has long lost its purpose and right to rule." Daniel swerved down a cobbled street.
The sky looked at if it were about to burst into flames. Pink and orange battled the light blue for dominance over the horizon.
"A lot of Hunters didn't see eye to eye with the restrictions on hunting and all this propaganda. Max was one of them. He was kicked out of his order and banned from ever hunting again after he dared say that following the Council's rules didn't make Hunters better and stronger. The Council claims that Hunters are the bringers of divine retribution against vampires and that the only way for us to fulfill our higher purpose is to follow all the rules. Max didn't buy that."
"So he broke both rules." Rachel squinted at him. "He turned you and continued hunting. Alone, unsupervised, and didn't report."
Daniel pursed his lips. "Yeah. And I went along with it. Because I thought he was right. I still think he's right. I broke the rules, too. Turned you, kept hunting..." He sighed. "I just didn't know exactly how illegal that was. But now you know. So, if you want to take a different path, I'll understand."
"Are you nuts?" She punched his arm in jest. "I'm with you. Whatever happens. Forever against the tyrannical establishment."
He slowed down and stopped the car in front of what looked like a white, stone chapel. "I hoped you'd say that. I wouldn't let you go even if you wanted." He winked and hopped out of the car.
As she unlatched her seatbelt, he opened the door for her and helped her down.
"I'm not crippled, you know," she said with a smile.
"I'm merely being a gentleman." He squeezed her hand and led her toward the building.
Heat rose to her cheeks. Why was she blushing? The current running through her made her shudder. She instinctively pulled closer to him and he wrapped his arm around her shoulder. His scent filled the air, intoxicating her. He always reminded her of a forest after a refreshing rain.
The white building disappeared from view. They were in the forest. Sunlight came down in greenish rays, making a fresh flowing river twinkle as if made of diamonds. Birds sang and leaves rustled, forming a familiar, calming melody.
Rach, what happened? Where are we? Daniel's voice sounded amazed rather than confused.
She had no idea, but it didn't matter. She'd never felt more at peace, happier. Where we're supposed to be. She tilted her head up to feel the sunshine on her skin.
It's amazing. Daniel tightened his grip on her.
It was. The most wonder—
"Ouch!"
It felt as if a giant fly swatter slammed her entire body. Rachel fell backwards, rubbing her nose viciously.
Daniel cursed, but stayed on his feet. "Damn, that hurt!"
Rachel stared from him to the wall and couldn't help bursting out into hysterical laughter. They had both walked straight into a building. Daniel joined in and helped her back to her feet.
"I can't believe we bumped full-force into a wall." She still had the giggles. It was strange. She didn't think they were still moving in real life while in her imaginary forest. What was that all about, anyway? Did the Hunters give her crazy juice or were her feelings coming to life? And how had she managed to suck Daniel inside her hallucinations and make him walk head-first into a solid wall?
"I don't mind. It was really nifty." Daniel wiped a tear off her face. His thumb froze halfway across her cheek and he scowled. He pulled his hand back as if she'd tried to bite.
"What's up?" she asked, reaching her hand out to him, but he pulled out of her reach.
"Nothing. I'm just being an idiot." He turned his back on her and stalked around the building.
Rachel tilted her head. What? She trotted around the corner. He stood glancing upward, toward a high, circular window.
"Daniel, are you alright?"
"No, I'm not," he snarled. He took in a deep breath. "I'm sorry. It's just that I can't... You and... it wouldn't be fair. And Cheryl—"
"I get it." She raised her hand. "You haven't gotten over her." She walked to him and looked up, too.
The window could provide an entrance. Damnit! Why couldn't she stop thinking about what he'd said? And why did it bother her that he mentioned Cheryl? She tried to convince herself it was because she didn't want him to fall back into the deep blue funk, but she knew that wasn't it. What she felt was not blue but green – jealousy. Why? Cheryl had been the love of Daniel's life. He'd probably never get over her. She knew that, but it still made her blood boil.
"That's not what I meant," Daniel muttered. "I was thinking of going in through there." His voice was back to normal volume, crisp and business-like. "I need to get some books. You don't have to come along."
"You're not keeping me out."
"Fine, then." He jumped high and caught the narrow ledge of the spherical cut in the wall. With a well-placed punch, he shattered the glass. He cleared it up, throwing the resulting pieces out.
Rachel hopped out of the way to avoid the falling shards. What was he doing? Aiming for her head? She'd never seen him this pissed at her.
"What are you waiting for, slow poke? Come on!" He wriggled through the window and disappeared from view.
Rachel jumped to the window and slid gracefully through the hole. Daniel was already down, staring at the massive wooden bookcases. The marble floor had a huge star in its center, but was otherwise uninteresting. As were the bare white walls. She joined him, fighting the impulse to touch him and see what was going on inside his head.
"What are we looking for?"
"We should be searching in the vampire section," Daniel said under his breath. "I don't know. Check the English and Spanish sections for anything on vampires. I'll go search the rest of the library."
"The rest of the library?" Rachel raised her eyebrows. "How many foreign languages do you know?"
"Let me see..." He looked upward, rubbing his chin. "Spanish, Italian, French, German, Hungarian, Russian, Romanian, Latin, Greek and Ancient Greek. I think that about covers all."
Rachel did a double take. "You're serious? But that's like half of the European languages!"
He smirked. "Not even close."
"How come you know so many?"
"Max taught me. It's quite easy. I'll show you once we get out of here. But now, we're a little pressed for time." He returned to studying the endless rows of books.
Rachel tried to concentrate too, but she kept wondering why Max would teach him such a strange assortment of languages. Who spoke Latin and Ancient Greek anymore? And Hungarian and Romanian? The only countries where those languages could be useful were Hungary and Romania— Rachel's jaw fell open.
"Dracula!" She said, turning to Daniel.
He shook his head. "No, my name is Daniel."
She hit his shoulder. "You know what I mean, you doofus! Don't you think Vlad might be Dracula? Why else would Max teach you Romanian and Hungarian?"
Daniel squinted at her. "You know, you might've just saved us a whole lot of time. Don't go anywhere." He rushed away and disappeared between two bookcases.
Rachel wondered why he seemed perfectly fine now. Had he turned bipolar?
He returned before she had the time to explore that theory. One lone book sat snuggly under his arm. He grabbed her hand and pulled her toward the window.
"Perfect timing, too," he said. "Let's go, before the sun really rises."
Rachel went out first. It was already light outside, but the sun wasn't yet visible above the buildings. It promised to be a warm, sunny day. Exactly what they didn't need. She shielded her eyes against the light and hopped down. Daniel followed her.
"Here." He handed her the book and rushed to a nearby car. He didn't even glance around before elbowing the driver's window. Shards rained inside the car.
"What are you doing?"
"At what point in the story did you decide that using a car we stole from the Hunters would be a good idea?" Daniel yanked the door open. "I thought you were smart."
Rachel punched his shoulder. He grabbed her wrists and twisted her, pressing her back against his chest. She tried to elbow him in the stomach, but his grip was too tight.
"Say 'uncle'," he whispered in her ear.
His warm breath caused an eruption of goosebumps all over her skin. This felt way too good. She was never saying 'uncle'. Daniel's arms tightened around her, but not enough to be unpleasant. His face moved closer to hers and she turned her head to meet him.
Before she knew what was happening, he had let her go and was behind the wheel. Rachel stood stunned in the middle of the sidewalk, staring blankly. What—?
"Come on, we don't have all day." He sounded angry again.
She rushed to the car and climbed in. Daniel reached under the steering wheel and pulled out a handful of wires. It took him about thirty seconds to hotwire the car.
"Did you know this before you became a Hunter, or did Max teach you how to steal cars, too?" She'd actually wanted to ask what crawled up his ass, but was grateful this came out instead.
"I've always known how to do this stuff. Just like picking locks." He drove off in his usual screechy manner. The tires squealed against the asphalt again as he shifted into second gear.
"Don't you know how to do it?"
Rachel shrugged. "I never needed to. I was a goody-goody med student before turning into a Hunter. And why would I need to lock pick if I can break through doors and walls?"
Daniel burst into laughter. "You're hilarious. That's why I love— your sense of humor." He leaned over the wheel, resting his forehead against it.
Rachel stared at him, her breath hitching. Don't read into this. He'd just said it funny because he was laughing. And he was probably amused, not frustrated like it first seemed. Frustration had nothing to do with love anyway. Shit! Why was her heart racing like that?
"Where are we going?" At least her voice was still steady.
"Open the book to the folded page," he answered, keeping his eyes on the road.
Rachel wondered if he was deliberately avoiding her gaze, but shrugged and opened the tome. A picture of what looked very much like Vlad leaped at her. She almost shut the book back in shock. "Wha—?" She read the caption. Vlad Ţepeş.
"Vlad Ţepeş was the ruler of a country known as Wallachia. Or, more properly, Ţara Românească. Modern day southern Romania." Daniel drove out of town and onto the freeway. "Notice his resemblance to Vlad?"
"Resemblance is an understatement." Rachel traced her finger over the picture. Except for the eyes that were brown instead of crimson, this ruler was almost the spitting image of the Vlad she knew and wanted dead. Bold numbers caught her attention. "It says here he died in 1476."
"Of course it says he died. History can hardly admit someone is immortal." Daniel dodged cars left and right. "He's your Dracula. And we're going to find him."
"Do you think he's still in Romania?" Rachel threw the picture one final glance and shut the book.
"It fits with Max teaching me Romanian. He must've supposed this was Vlad, too."
"Do you have any idea what the book says?"
"Yeah. I skimmed through it to see if it holds anything valuable."
Rachel brought her knees to her chest and hugged them. "So? Spit it out."
Daniel threw her a fleeting look before returning his attention to the sea of cars he was navigating through. "You should sleep."
"Don't patronize me, Daniel Paxton. Information is power and I need my fill." She'd wanted to say it jokingly, but it came out rather harsh. He was right, she was sleepy. But if med-school taught her anything, it was how to go without sleep for days.
"Fine. Bossy woman. Vlad was ruler of Romania - well, that part of Romania – three times, and supposedly died in battle. He dedicated his whole life to fighting the Ottoman Empire. Probably because he was raised at the Sultan's court – placed there by his father as a no-war guarantee. Made him hate his family as much as the Turks. His childhood was rather miserable. So, the first thing he did after seizing the throne was to stop paying tribute and start the fight."
Rachel stared at the book as though it were Vlad. She wasn't great with history, but did remember the Ottoman Turks had been a problem for Christian Europe for almost half a millennium. And if Vlad did his best to keep them out of his country, she couldn't blame him. "He sounds like a hero."
"He is one of Romania's greatest rulers."
"Then why do humans believe he was a vampire?"
"A pretty lame reason." Daniel rolled his eyes. "His father's last name was Dracul, which easily lead to Dracula. The last name actually came form the symbol of the order of the dragon which his father was part of. Only that Draco translated into Dracul which in Romanian means Devil."
Rachel studied Daniel's serious face. He passed so naturally from English to Romanian pronunciation, it was scary. "That's it? Just because of a name, everyone thought he was a vampire?"
"Well, that and his vicious punishing methods. He used to impale people who broke the law. And most of his boyar opponents."
"What are boyars?" It sounded like an old steam boat to her.
"Local noblemen. Kinda like English Lords. They had land, a handful of peasants who worked it, and their own armies. They usually had rulers assassinated or locked up if they no longer agreed with their policy. That implied striking deals with the Turks or the Hungarians. Anyway, they're the reason Vlad was dethroned and imprisoned in Hungary for ten years."
"Then I can't blame him for impaling them."
Daniel snorted with laughter, but didn't take his eyes off the road. Even if his tone was light and normal, it still felt as if he didn't want to look at her.
"That still doesn't explain the vampire rumors."
"How about that fact that he supposedly fed off rat blood while imprisoned?"
Rachel flinched. "Eww!"
"We'll find out more in Romania."
Rachel watched the shrubbery zoom past her window. Vlad had been a hero while alive, a hero with an unorthodox punishing method. How had he become a vampire and what had really happened while he'd been imprisoned? Half of her – the one that didn't want Vlad dead really bad – was curious to find out. And Romania sounded like an exotic destination. "Will you teach me how to speak Romanian?"
Daniel flinched, as though awakened from a daydream. "Sure. As soon as we get there."
"Are you okay?" She narrowed her eyes. "You're not usually this moody."
"Yeah, I know. Sorry about that." He smiled weakly. "Just know it's not your fault. It's me."
"What about you?" When Daniel shrugged, her mind started doing the math. "Are you still trying to protect me from you?"
He gawked at her. "Wow, you have a good memory. Pretty much, yeah. But forget about it. Everything will be fine."
Rachel threw him one last look before shifting in her seat. She trusted him, but wished she knew what was up.
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Thanks for reading another chapter of Hunters. Hope you had fun! Leave a comment or vote in case you enjoyed it. And thank you for your support!