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Author’s note: Sorry if there are more errors and clunkiness than usual but my beta still hasn’t had chance to edit chapter 6 so these are still going up raw. Sorry folks.

Haventon Born

Chapter Six Part Two

David had decided that he badly needed to recover his shattered confidence after the events of the last couple of days. He was fairly sure that it was the strength of an elder vampire that had allowed the vampire to trap him two days ago, but all the same he was still badly shaken. So he’d taken out his notebooks and found a target who was obviously only a few years old. He knew that he could destroy the young ones, after all he’d done it before. Once he’d restored his confidence he could begin to think about coming up with a coherent plan to destroy the blonde vampire.

All the same he found himself sweating as he made his way to the area where the young vampire lived. What if she’d implanted a suggestion that would stop him killing not only her but also any vampire? What would he do then? He tried to banish such negativity but it and the doubts he was trying to suppress were tearing him apart. He had to believe that vampires were evil, because if they weren’t what did that make him?

He felt tears in his eyes and was glad that no one was around to see them. Doubts about his mission made him think about Emma and that made things hurt more, because even now he didn’t want to believe she was evil. He dreaded the day he and Tanya finally found her again.

It took an effort of will but he finally managed to push the pain and the doubt aside. He was right and he had to do what he’d come here to do. With that he quietly picked the lock on the door and made his way into the old house his target used as a lair.

After being trapped before he decided to take no chances and searched the whole house thoroughly before heading down into the cellar. As he’d suspected the vampire was there, though it appeared that this one didn’t use a coffin. Not all of them did, of course, and for an elder like the blonde the coffin was unusual. But in a young one it was interesting and unexpected. Extreme caution was called for.

The cellar was decked out like a bedroom and his target lay in the bed, apparently asleep. David walked over quietly and retrieved a stake and his mallet from the bag. As he knelt down and placed the sharpened point over his heart he was surprised to realise that he’d been wrong. The vampire was awake and his eyes were open watching him – yet he made no move to defend himself. It seemed as if he could not move, but there was no sunlight leaking into the room to inhibit him, and that would make him sleep as well.

If you are going to kill me, please get on with it. The vampire’s voice sounded his mind. It’s not as if I can stop you. I can’t speak, let alone move.

Why can’t you move? The question was in David’s mind before he could stop it. It was against all the rules to reply but he had to know. Something deep inside him was screaming that it was crucially important.

I don’t know. There was pain in the vampire’s mental tone. I don’t know how she did it. All I know is I feel like I am weighed down and I can’t transform to my mist form.

She? David asked.

It was two night’s ago… I saw a dark haired vampire while I was out hunting… He trailed off as if he’d been about to add something and thought better of it. I’d never seen her before, but I know that she’s behind this. Why would you care anyway little vampire hunter. I am sure your branch of the Order has rules against talking to your quarry as well. At least your stake and knife will save me from starving.

Can you starve to death? David was startled.

I have no idea if we can die from it but we can certainly starve into a coma, and I am sure that wouldn’t be pleasant. Will you get on with it. The death link is my best chance of contacting my blood master. Whoever did this to me is stopping me contacting him – I can barely reach you.

Death link? David straightened the stake and lifted the mallet.

At death we mind link with the one who turned us. Now hurry I have to warn him and apologise for being wrong headed all this time.

David nodded once and then hammered the stake in and tried to dodge the blood that sprayed everywhere. He could not of course and his shirt got completely soaked. Fortunately there wasn’t enough blood to cover him completely. He whispered a prayer for the dead, lifted his knife and finished the vampire.

As the corpse disintegrated David stood there with his head bowed, for some reason he felt grief stricken and went through the rest of the ritual on auto-pilot. He found that he was inexplicably determined to find the dark haired vampire who had been mentioned. He need have no doubts about a creature who who betray their own kind that way.

He was still clinging to his belief that all vampires were evil and this one’s self-sacrifice to warn his maker had disturbed him further. Though perhaps self sacrifice was the wrong term since the young one had had little choice in the matter since he was unable to escape.

But a creature that betrayed its own kind? That shocked David to the core. Even the Order admitted that vampires had some sort of social structure and honour between them though no hunter had ever quite figured it out. What this vampire represented was the worst kind of evil.

David rose to his feet and headed up the stairs. The house was furnished so the water was probably on. Which meant he could clean up before he left, which was always good if he wanted to avoid suspicion.

He went to the bathroom and turned on the shower and scrubbed the vampire’s blood from his skin and hair, and then changed into the spare clothing in his bag. He was heading towards the gate when realisation made him freeze.

“What did he mean my branch of the Order?” His stomach clenched up and he turned and rushed back into the house and began a search. He wasn’t quite sure what he was looking for but a nameless dread had overcome him.

In the cupboard under the stairs he found it, a small shoulder bag containing a familiar style of leather bound journal and cloth wrap which proved to hold several dozen needles when he opened. They looked like sewing needles but David was fairly certain that they were made of solid silver. Especially when he found the dried aconite at the bottom of the bag. The training given to vampire hunters only touched on werewolves briefly, but that was enough for him to know what he was looking at – a werewolf hunter’s kit.

Damn it! This vampire had been a werewolf hunter? And one who was a member of the Order at that? How the hell had that been allowed to happen? And if there was one there could be more…

He grabbed his phone and speed dialled Tanya’s number. “Tan, are you at home?” he asked as he pushed the bag into his larger bag and headed for the door.

“Yes,” she said. “Are you okay? You sound stressed.”

“I-I’m coming over. I need to talk to you. I’ve uncovered something very disturbing.”

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