CHAPTER 19 - End Of All Hope
Mary's POV
I was sitting on the bench inside of my warehouse, alone, just thinking. Eve had been missing for about a week and a half now, and I was honestly starting to run out of options. I had tried everything I could think of to find her. And yet had come up empty-handed each and every time. Even the entire hunter community had been on the lookout, and not one of them had brought any word back about her.
Cam, Gabe and I had been searching incessantly for her since the day she disappeared, but to no avail. It was like she had just vanished from the face of the earth, leaving no traces behind.
I shook my head forcefully and bit my lip, trying not to cry. Not knowing what happened to her was torture.
I looked down at my hands, that were slightly shaking. I had come here to think, and coming here to clean always seemed to ease my mind. It was a mindless task that allowed me to think and evaluate my options more calmly.
I was currently cleaning my pride and honour, my very own P220 SIG Sauer Zeus. The one that dad gave me on my 18th birthday. It was rather amusing to think that all the girls my age would rather get a ring or a fancy dress, but I wasn't exactly like the other girls, was I?
No, I was a hunter. I grew up knowing that the monster under your bed is very much real. That the shadow inside your wardrobe is more than what it seems. That there were things that lived hidden in the dark, things that enjoyed nothing more than to kill. And they would take every chance to do so. It was hard growing up like that.
It was hard to grow up knowing that they existed, and even harder to end their pathetic lives. I grew up learning everything about them, from their customs to their physiology, but more importantly, how to kill them. Vampires, Werewolves, Shapeshifters, Demons... They all had their weaknesses, and I knew them all.
I looked down at my hands, realizing then that I had already finished cleaning my handgun. I put it aside, with a sigh, one single thought flowing through my mind. If I ever find the bastards who took my best friend, I will murder them. Even if that means killing humans.
I picked up the Mossberg JM Pro and began to dismount it, with the intention of cleaning it. My thoughts drifting back to last few days I had seen Eve, as they had so often. I tried so hard to find a pattern, but I couldn't. I tried to remember everything, but there was nothing out of place.
We went to the club, she ditched Gabe, made out with a woman and the next day she went to my house and we talked about... I stopped dead on my tracks, as ever so slowly realization hit me. But could it be?
Since that night on the club, that same woman kept appearing into Eve's life. I distinctively remembered Eve telling me about how she showed up at her work. I had brushed it off as an attempted flirt, but now I wasn't so sure. Maybe she did have something to do with her disappearance. It was a long shot but it wouldn't hurt to check it out.
I heard the door of the warehouse open, and I knew that Cam was about to walk in. We had this strange connection where one always knew when the other was near, but I liked it. I watched as he walked in, not saying a word as he walked towards me. He came closer and sat by my side. We stayed in silence for a couple of minutes until he finally spoke.
"Babe, you need to get out of here. It's been days since you've locked yourself in this place." He said worriedly. I sighed, knowing that he was right.
I just didn't know what to do, I felt helpless, and that was a basically unknown feeling when it came to me. I had always known how to take care of myself, and I never really had to worry about Cam or Gabe, because I knew fully well that they could handle themselves also, but Eve was different.
I didn't want to think about what she might be going through right now, with no one to protect her. I exhaled deeply, ready to tell Cam that I didn't feel like going out yet, but stopped dead on my tracks, as an idea started to form in my head. I turned towards him.
"Yeah, you're right. We should go out, unwind a bit. Are you still friends with the bartender of the Dark Masquerade? We could go there." I asked.
He looked taken aback by my sudden change of behaviour but brushed it off, hoping that that was just my way of coping with things. I knew he had been worried about me, and I could understand that. We were all going through shit right now. Eve was his friend too.
Of course, I wasn't about to tell him that I was going to investigate the owner. He would think I was crazy to think that she had something to do with Eve's disappearance. After all, he didn't know about their little bathroom incident or that she showed up at the restaurant she worked. And I wasn't about to tell him.
"Yeah, do you want to go there? I thought you didn't like it since you went home so early." He said while thinking. I quickly defended myself.
"No, I loved it. I was just feeling a little bit odd that night. I'd love to go again." I said faking a smile. He smiled slightly, probably thinking that that would distract me a little.
"Okay, I'll call my friend." He said while picking up his phone and walking outside.
I then put the Mossberg aside, realizing that I had cleaned it unconsciously while talking to Cam, and grabbed my Barnett Raptor FX Crossbow to change the string. It seemed like I was going through a lot of those lately, maybe I should change brands. Either that or my bolts needed replacement too.
While I worked I quickly took out my phone and dialled Snake's number, putting it on speaker. I needed some information, and Snake was definitely the go-to guy in situations like that. He was not a hunter, per se, he knew about the existence of immortal creatures, but choose to step back when it came to actually hunting them down. But he was an asset regardless, always happy to help when we needed. The phone rang twice before he answered.
"Yeah?" He said with not much interest. He was never in a good mood, probably because he spent too much time cooped up in his room.
"How's my favourite hacker doing?" I asked trying to cheer him up a bit. He chuckled a little and said.
"If it isn't the little Venator. Long-time no talk. I'm good, you?" He answered, I heard shuffling on the other side, and imagined that he probably was playing in his computer again. As he did 99% of the time.
"Not really, my friend is missing." I said sighing.
"And let me guess, you want my help." He said, already guessing it. After all, why else would a hunter be calling him if not to ask for help? He was not exactly the social type, so I couldn't just call and ask him for drinks.
"Yes, you're the best and you know it. I can't think of anyone who would be able to help me besides you." I said, knowing that if a fed his ego enough, he'd help me.
"Um... Okay. What do you want me to do? Hack the cameras of the place she was taken from?" He asked, and I could almost see him puffing his chest. I rolled my eyes with a smile.
"Been there, done that. No cameras in the cemetery, we only found her car." I said. He thought about it for a few seconds.
"So what can I do for you then?" He asked. I sighed.
"I need you to get information on someone for me. Her name is Elizabeth Veri. She owns a club downtown called Dark Masquerade." I said quickly. He stood quiet for a few seconds. I could hear him typing away.
"So you think this Veri chick has something to do with your friend's disappearance?" He asked.
"Yes, I'm pretty sure." I said without hesitating.
"And do you think she's one of them?" He asked, I visibly flinched at the thought. I really hoped not, creatures were not known to be merciless when they took humans.
"I sure as hell hope not." I said, still trembling slightly at the thought.
"And what do you want to know about her?" He asked, his voice now more serious as he started to work.
"Everything." I said quickly, I heard him type some more before he answered.
"Okay, give me a few hours and I'll send you the information you need." He finished, I quickly thanked him and hanged up, hoping to God that this would lead somewhere.
I looked down once again, the crossbow already clean and with the string replaced. Now all I had to do was wait. No... I wasn't good at that, I have never been the just 'sit and wait' type.
I then looked up at the box sitting on the table in front of me. I stood up and went to the fridge, on the other side of the bench I was sitting on.
I grabbed a big jar filled with blood and brought it to the table, setting it besides the small box on the table. I opened it hastily and saw what I needed, half-empty bullets, a small welding machine and a syringe. Time to make some Vamp bullets. I thought with a smirk.
I took some of the blood with the syringe and carefully injected it in a small orifice on top of the bullet, filling it until it started to overflow. I then covered it with a small steel cover and welded it shut. It was an old technique passed down from hunter to hunter.
Many years ago an elder hunter found out something very interesting about Vampires. Everyone knew that they needed blood to survive, that was a dead-on fact, but what actually blew our minds was that they could not drink 'dead' human blood, it was like poison to them.
No one knew why that happened, although our scientist believed in the theory that it was due to the process of post mortem hemolysis, that happened in the decomposition process.
Unlike in-vivo hemolysis, which is a physiological process caused by the body's own enzymes, the process of post mortem hemolysis was due to bacterial enzyme during the process of heterolysis, which rendered the blood toxic, rotten.
The human would need to have died at least 8 hours prior to the collection for the blood to be considered 'dead.' Any sooner than that and it was perfectly safe for Vampires to drink it. Funny thing though, was that it only worked with human blood. On animal blood, it didn't seem to make a difference. Not that those monsters bothered themselves with animal blood anyway, they thought it tasted bad.
No one knew why 'dead' human blood didn't kill them, only made them weaker and in the right amount could knock a bloodsucker out. It would also cause extreme pain to the Vampire, much like silver on Werewolves or Shapeshifters.
The way it worked was that once inside the bloodstream the 'dead' blood would quickly make its way through their system, starting from the limbs, causing incredible pain. In higher doses, it could even paralyze them and hinder them unconscious.
We started to make especial bullets fillet with it just for the Vamps. It took some trial and error, as it was hard to fill a bullet with liquid and still have the gun powder work. But we were able to counter that effect by putting a small metal plate in between the two. Those bullets were definitely a God sent. They had even saved my life once or twice.
I repeated the procedure several times until I had about 150 bullets. I was exhausted by then. But I knew it was a necessity because Vampires were one of the most dangerous immortals that existed. They were certainly not as strong as some others and still had the sun as a weakness. But they made up for it in numbers and organization.
Vampires rarely lived alone, choosing instead on forming clans, and even though that was usual when it came to Werewolves and Shapeshifters, the Vampires had the advantage of being more organized, and tactical. While the mutts were more driven by instinct and didn't think too much about their actions. Making them easier targets when compared to Vampires.
I sighed as I put the bullets away and returned the blood jar to the fridge. I then slowly walked to my room, where I intended on taking a long and relaxing shower. I just wanted to fall on my bed and finally get some well-deserved sleep. Maybe Snake would wake me up with some good news.