Title: Hunted
Rating: M
Character/Pairings: Gohan/Videl.
Warning/Content:Violence, Sex (in later chapters), Swearing, Supernatural.
Summary: Videl Satan is the only daughter of the world's greatest vampire hunter, Hercule Satan, and next in line to take up the family's business. But with her father refusing to train her and attacks on the rise Videl may have to seek help from the mysterious Son family that just moved into town who seem to know a lot more than they're letting let on.
Notes: This is an AU! The setting of this story is a Victorian-esque era (though not the the Victorian period- think Steampunk!) but will use the names and locations of all the current DB locations like West City, South City, Satan City etc. Videl is 20 and Gohan 21 in this story.
WordCount:5,775
Hunted
I
My name is Videl Satan and I'm a vampire hunter.
The streets of Satan City were always empty at night. I relished in my solitariness as I walked down through the backstreets, letting my eyes scan each darkened alley as I passed. I knew that I had to stay alert as I checked; I was all too familiar with the danger that could be lurking around any corner at that time of night.
As the light rain gently hit my face I raised my arm in an attempt to keep my vision clear. The night was darker than usual, partly because of the winter rapidly approaching and another because of the street lamps slowly flitting out.
In the dim I could see wisps of smoke as I breathed in and out- a thin cloud lit by the light of the street lamps. The rain began to slow and I breathed a sigh of relief, I hated it when it rained when I was out on my rounds. I looked around me as a final check to make sure that the street was still empty before I moved on to another one and after seeing no sign of anything suspicious I moved on.
I shook my head to try to dry out my hair but it didn't do much good. On the next street I heard a noise, an intake of breath, quick and sharp but loud enough to catch my attention in the otherwise silent city. I pressed myself against the nearest wall and made sure my own breath was slow and even so as to not alert whoever it was to my presence.
My hands began to lift the front of my coat and reach for the weapon I kept hidden against my leg as I crept towards the nearest alley. My fingers flexed around the hilt, ready to bring it out if need be, I drew a final breath before I checked it out.
My heart pounded fast and hard- I could feel the blood rushing through my veins. Adrenaline rushed through my body, my legs crouched into position to pounce and I listened. I listened for another sound; for another breath, for a footstep, for anything but there was nothing.
The air was thick and heavy with my own anticipation, my excitement, my fear. I waited another moment before I made my move, quick as I could, darting out crouched to attack blocking the opening of the alleyway. There was nothing there. My eyes scanned the dark alley as best they could without a light source but there was nothing. I kept my guard and stepped forward, weapon in hand, prepared for an attack.
I walked through a puddle on the ground, soaking the backs of my legs and boots, and I could feel the water soaking through against my feet. Groaning, I moved to lean against the nearest wall to take my boot off to try to shake the water off.
"Shit!" I cursed out loud as I unlaced the shoe and balanced awkwardly on one leg as I attempted to shake what I could out before putting it back on. The alley was completely black so I couldn't see what I was doing well but I managed to lace my boot back up in the dark easily. Kneeling down I finished the last loop and pulled the strings tight before tucking the loose bow back inside the shoe. I was hiding behind a- I don't know what it was. The dark prevented me from being able to identify exactly what it was I was standing behind, maybe it was a bin of some sort, but I couldn't tell without light.
As I stood up I began to hear the sound of voices approaching. I held my breath and peered over the top to watch for passersby. As the voices got closer I identified another sound, something being dragged? I furrowed my brows in concentration and tried to keep my breathing steady as they quickly approached. Hurried footsteps joined the collection of sounds until they were right at the opening of the alley I had stopped in. I knew whoever it was couldn't see me in the darkness so I waited. My mind filled with theories and possibilities. I knew there were three men, at least, and something being dragged behind them.
What if they'd killed someone? What if they were dragging a body around the streets of my city looking for a place to hide it and try to cover their involvement? What if they were thieves who had just stolen a bunch of goods from an innocent shopkeeper and were looking for an unlikely place to hide their haul? What if they were… No. I shook my head before that thought could even fully form or so I thought, it still nagged the back of my head.
The rain began again. Hard and heavy it fell over me, drenching me to the bone, and I regretted taking the time to try to dry off my boots earlier- now it was just pointless to have bothered, they were soaked all over again.
I breathed in and out slowly, evenly, to try not to attract attention. I knew that in the dark the other senses were heightened and they may pick up on my breathing. I knew that the people had stopped but they weren't talking any more weren't even moving.
I lifted myself up to try to see what was happening. I couldn't make it out well but it was as I'd thought, three men and whatever it was they'd been dragging was on the floor and shrouded in darkness so that I couldn't make it out. I ducked back into my hiding place before one of the group could feel that I was watching them.
I don't know how much time had passed before I heard a thud, a groan, and then rushed footsteps. They'd left in silent agreement and I knew now without a doubt that whatever it was they'd been dragging was a person. In the silence I could make out their strained breathing.
When I was sure that the men were long gone I left my hidden position and carefully stepped over to where they had abandoned whoever it was they'd abandoned. I could make out a figured in the last reaches of the streetlamp's light. A dark cloak had been wrapped around them with the hood pulled up to try to keep them hidden. I approached slowly and carefully so as to not shock them, though if the sound of their breathing was anything to go by they didn't have long left in this world.
"Hello? Can you speak?" I whispered, crouching down before where I thought their face was. Their breathing was getting heavier and more ragged with every second. They wheezed heavily and tried to make a sound but it just came out as a low, painful groan.
I frowned and pulled down their hood to try to see their face. It was a young man, around thirty years in age and of skinny build. His face was bloody and beaten, blood still spilled from his broken nose and around his mouth the blood had dried and caked from the beating he'd obviously received. I shook my head, monsters.
"Can you tell me who did this?" I asked but they didn't reply. Their eyes stared blankly at my own, fear evident in his quickly dulling blue. "I won't hurt you," I tried to assure him and gave him a smile, "I'm sorry."
I knew I couldn't do anything for him but the least I could do was make his passing gentler. He coughed violently, a river of blood leaving his mouth as he did, and he groaned loudly again. His chest heaved in pain with every breath as he got closer and closer to death.
"B-Baba-" the man groaned quietly.
"Baba?" I repeated, "Is that who did this to you, sir?" I hoped for an answer but got none. His breathing slowed and became rapidly more ragged. I reached for where his hand was and grasped it, hoping to give him some comfort and companionship in his last moments. My hands felt sticky and wet and something cold and metallic pressed against my palm. I knew that the sticky substance was more blood on the man's hands- probably from trying to fight off his attackers.
In the moments that passed I thought about 'Baba'. Were they the ramblings of a dying man? Was he crying for his children? His family? Or was he trying to give me a clue as to the identity of his assailants. I watched his face twist in pain and wondered why he'd been targeted so violently.
He groaned and convulsed, coughing violently again, before his breathing slowed a final time. He took great, deep, raspy breaths in his last moments until finally his breathing stopped altogether and what was left of his life slipped away.
I pulled my hand away from his, taking the item wrapped around his wrist with me, and held it up to the light to look. Dark red covered my hand where the blood had remained damp due to the rain that beat down around us but what I paid most attention to was the item of jewellery he had been clasping in his palms.
I dangled small, broken necklace before my eyes. It was nothing remarkable and the thin chain that the pendant rested on had been snapped in some sort of confrontation. I guessed that he had ripped it from one of his attacker's necks while he tried to protect himself. I could tell that the material was cheap silver and the pendant was a strange symbol that I'd never seen before. A stylised letter 'M' dangled at the centre coated in the red of the victim's blood.
I furrowed my brow again in thought. This had to be a symbol of significance, I decided. Perhaps it was a clue to whoever had done this? I looked at the dead body and frowned, nobody deserved a death like this. A thought suddenly flicked through my mind... it was unusual, out of character but… there was a possibility I couldn't ignore.
I pulled the sides of his collar away and checked his neck for the tell-tale puncture holes but I found no marks. I sighed in relief and lay his body gently down against the floor to be found in the morning and stood up.
I dusted my knees off, pulled my own hood up, stuffed the broken necklace into my trouser pocket and stepped back out onto the street. My hands shook from the cold but I ignored them and began to head home. It had to be past two in the morning and I knew that the attackers were long gone with no hope of finding them again, not tonight at least.
I flexed my fingers against the cold and hurried my pace in the hopes of reaching home sooner. I knew that it was at least another quarter of an hour away at least using the quickest route.
As I walked through the streets his final word repeated in my head. Baba? What could Baba even mean? I groaned in frustration and kicked a small pebble that happened to be in my way down the street ahead of me and watched it bounce along the cobbles until it came to rest beneath another lamp. I could myself becoming more and more annoyed and frustrated at my own inability to come to a conclusion of the problem presented to me.
I wondered about the mysterious symbol on the pendant he was clutching. Was it the symbol of their organisation? Were they even an organisation? Was Baba their leader? Too many questions swam through my head. For every one I came up with another bunch would branch off from there and frustrate me even more.
My feet were aching but I ignored them, I tried to stay focused on getting home and crawling into my warm bed as soon as I could. I may be a fighter but I am not too proud to admit that I love my bed. My big, warm, soft bed with the warm sheets and comfy pills sounded amazing at that moment but I knew that I wouldn't be reaching it for a while.
I decided to walk through the city park to cut time off of my journey and turned to walk through the large iron gates of its entrance. I pulled the collar of my coat up around my face to try to block out the wind. The rain wasn't bothering me any more but combined with the wind it made me feel like I was walking through shards of razor sharp ice. I hated nights like this, if I'd known that the weather would have taken a turn for this I would have stayed at home tonight.
Thinking of home I began to think about my father. Hercule Satan, the great saviour of the world, the world's premiere supernatural hunter, the great slayer, my father. We had always been a famous family- generations and generations of talented hunters made my family tree but with the defeat of Cell seven years ago my father had become a worldwide celebrity.
Every day we have a stream of people hammering at our front door; begging him to exorcise their ghosts, hunt their demons, kill their vampire infestation, but he never did. Since Cell he had all but retired. Despite all the interviews and publicity he gives himself and our family's business he doesn't do anything himself anymore- not that I know of at least.
My father has an almost endless number of apprentices willing to go out and fight in his name, to represent him or to try to impress him. All for a shot at the fame and riches he's achieved. I know they'll never get close to him though, he just sees them as a marketing plot. He knows that they're advertising him for free and he's the one that will reap the benefits of what they do and they'll work for a pathetic cut of their profits just in the hopes he'll take a personal liking to them.
I feel bad for them. The poor kids who don't know that it's all a lie- not the vampires, they're real. But everything else, everything else is just people convincing themselves that something is wrong and blaming it on the supernatural. I sighed and kicked the ground in frustration, I felt so bad for them but I knew there's nothing that I could do to stop them. People will believe whatever they want.
There were hardly any vampires around now anyway, not since Cell. Not since they'd seen Cell, the most powerful and terrifying of all of them, being destroyed before their eyes. I didn't know where they'd gone but they were hiding that was for sure.
At first it seemed like they'd all retreated for good or they'd all been hunted down and killed in the aftermath of Cell's rampages across the world. But in the last few years attacks had been happening again, the times of peace were ending and I knew that soon we would have to go out and fight again.
I fought my first vamp when I was seventeen. For a year I had done my night patrols, trying to keep the community safe while my father stayed at home and drank himself to sleep every night, when I came across them. I still remembered their face.
It was a young woman, about my age. She had pretended she was injured in the road. Her dress was in tatters and she was crying for help so I'd naturally ran to try to assist her but as I'd clasped her hand to drag her to her feet she'd leapt up with lightning speed and grabbed me by the throat from behind.
I don't remember how I killed her very well, it had all happened so fast, but what I did remember was driving the knife in my pocket straight through her dead heart. I also remember the week I spent after trying to wash dead vampire out of my hair. That stuff's disgustingly stubborn, let me tell you that.
After that night, though, I'd become stronger. I'd been shocked and scared by what had happened and I don't think I left the house at night for two months after but eventually I'd gathered up the courage to get back out there. If my father, the world's hero, wasn't willing to protect people then who would?
He didn't know what I did at night though. I know that he still thinks I'm just his little 'sweet pea' who's all sweetness and innocence. My father has been teaching me to fight my whole life in my own self defence but he'd never allowed me to learn about our family's history or train as a hunter with him.
So I did it alone.
When I was younger I would wait for him to go to bed before sneaking into his private library and reading about our family's history. All our books, tips, tricks and information- I read it all. I filled my head with techniques to fight and to slay. I taught myself how to track, how to tell a vamp's rank, I taught myself my limits- who I could fight on my nightly rounds and who would grant me a one way ticket to wherever we go after death.
I know there's still a lot I don't know though. Books can only teach you so much and with my father unwilling and no other family members alive I had no way to practice some of the more practical skills alone.
I know why my father doesn't allow me to hunt though. I know that he still thinks I'm too young (despite the average age we start training being fourteen) and I'm too precious to be out fighting the things that go bump in the night. I also know that since mother passed away he doesn't want to lose the only other family member he has left.
But I have to fight. I have to protect the city; I have to protect all the innocent people that cannot protect themselves against these monsters! If I don't protect them then who will? I cannot stand idly by while people I may know are being attacked and killed, some even turned and doomed to walk the Earth with this curse for all eternity until they're made to die all over again. I can't let that happen. I refuse to let that happen.
My father won't even let me be courted, for goodness sake. I am a woman of twenty yet he refuses to allow me to try to find a husband. Not that I'm actually particularly interested in settling down right now so I don't mind, but he really is far too protective of me. He thinks that the only person I need in my life is him and that anyone who dares to ask for my hand needs to go through him first. Literally. He has this rule that anyone who desires to court me must first prove their worthiness to him before being allowed to see me themselves. It's all ridiculous.
I am glad though. The choices of partners in Satan City are… substandard to say the least. I have yet to meet a man that stimulates me even mentally let alone physically. If I'm supposed to be spending the rest of my life with somebody I at least would like to be attracted to them in one way or the other.
I stopped for a moment and sighed into the darkness, I just wanted to be home already, but as I started to walk again I heard a noise behind me. It was faint and quiet but a noise all the same- a twig snapping on the ground. I knew that I was not alone in the park but where the other person was, I didn't know.
I picked up my pace a little, if they wanted me they would have to grab me, it was harder to get a moving target after all. Another branch snapped and I realised that whatever was making the noise was both getting closer and it coming from above. Whatever it was it was in the trees. Vampires.
I began to run as fast as I could and I cursed that I was so short. I may have been fast but small legs only got me so far and not as fast as I would have liked. I could see the streetlamps ahead that would bring me into the centre of town and almost to home but as I passed a row of benches I lifted off my feet and flung to the grass floor aside the path.
My heart began to pound furiously and adrenaline filled my veins once again. I reached into my coat pocket, pulled out a long wooden stake and jumped to my feet, sliding into a defensive stance ready to fight whoever knocked me aside.
I heard a growl from behind me and spun to attack but before I could even move I felt something slam into my stomach. I cough and groaned as the wind was knocked out of me but before I could get back to normal something crashed down on my back forcing me to the ground. I flipped myself round onto my back and tried to get up but they got on top of me, completely covering my body with their own. They wrapped a hand around my throat and I swung my hand out to slam into their jaw, stunning them for a moment. In that instance I gripped my stake as tight as I could and jabbed it up directly into my attacker's abdomen.
"Bitch!" He yelled, and tightened his grip on my neck. I coughed and kicked at their legs, crotch and whatever else I could get to try to get free of their grip. My hands grabbed at the ground beside me until I felt a rock. It wasn't big but it was big enough, I lifted my arm and with what strength I had left I bashed it against their skull.
They growled and rolled off grabbing where I'd hit them. I could see the shape of them holding a hand to their head as they staggered and I took the chance to grab my stake off of the floor and launch myself at them again.
I kicked them in the side, winding them, before dropping to the ground and sweeping their legs out from under them and while they were on the ground lifted the stake in my right arm and drove it through where I guessed their chest was but they managed to roll away and flip me beneath them again.
This time they grabbed both of my hands and held them above my head before I could defend myself. I screamed, trying to attract the attention of anyone who may be around though I knew that nobody was out at this hour. I kicked my legs kicked at them from below, trying desperately to get them off of me with my hands disabled.
I felt a pain in my leg, a sudden burning and realised that he'd paralysed my leg. Pain spread through my body like a fire and I screamed loud, still hoping for a chance of rescue or aid, but nobody came.
"Get off!" I screamed, still kicking with the leg that wasn't stunned, hoping upon hope that somehow I would make it out of this alive. I felt wetness at the corners of my eyes and realised that I had begun to cry, I blinked my eyes and shook my head to try to get rid of the tears but it was useless.
I knew that I had lost but I kept fighting, I squirmed, thrashed, and kicked despite the pain burning through my body desperately hoping that I could somehow get them off me. They pressed against my back, leaning over my body, and I felt their breath over my neck. I stiffened, shut my eyes and waited to feel the sting of his fangs sinking into my neck.
Then all of a sudden there was nothing. The weight from my back was gone, the breath on my neck disappeared, all I was left with was the pain in my leg. I flipped myself onto my back again and managed to drag myself back up onto my feet, holding my numb leg off the ground. A flash of yellow ran past me and I heard a choking sound, the sound of a body hitting the floor and then silence followed.
I hopped away to lean against a tree and catch my breath.
"Are you safe?" a voice asked from behind me. I turned my head, breathing heavily, to the source and nodded.
"Yes. My leg hurts but I'll walk it off," I replied. I wasn't sure if my leg would get better, I didn't know if he'd jut meant to temporarily paralyse it until he was finished or if it would be finished for good.
"Miss, do you live far from here?" they asked and I shook my head. I didn't trust this stranger even if they had just saved my life.
"I'm fine," I lied "and I'm a man, by the way," I suddenly remembered to add. I began to walk away, limping with my right leg the way it was, but I stumbled trying to get back onto the path and in an instant they had caught me.
"You don't feel like a man," he laughed, tightening his grip around my waist, "and you don't sound one either. You're not very convincing, Sir,"
I glared at him for that and for the first time decided to take a good look at my rescuer's face. He was a tall man, from the looks of how low he was bent over to catch me, of about my age- maybe a few years older. He had a handsome, young face with smooth light skin and deep blue eyes and bright blonde hair that stood up straight in spikes. He was smiling from the joke he' tried to make about my gender but I could see that concern was written all over his face beneath the smile about my current condition.
"Who are you?" I asked. I knew most of the people in Satan City and this person I had never seen before in my entire life. I was so confused, a mysterious man appears out of nowhere in the middle of night to save you that you've never met before? I think I have the right to be confused out of my mind.
"A friend!" he smiled again, not letting go of my waist still. I raised an eyebrow at him and looked down between our bodies hoping that he'd get the message and let me go but he didn't seem to get my message.
"Well you're no friend of mine. I've never met you before… and do you always make it a habit of yours to hold onto wo- men's waists?" I caught myself before I could give myself away to Blondie even further.
"You're sticking to that story? Men aren't this curvy," Blondie laughed, "or this pretty!" he added as an afterthought.
I blushed and was thankful that he couldn't see the way my face had turned red in the darkness. I could feel my cheeks burning- nobody ever called me pretty other than my father and the occasional suitor trying to get onto my father's good side.
"Well… Thank you for saving me but I can make my own way home from here," I grumbled, trying to get out of his grip. He furrowed his brow and lifted me up into both of his arms. I hissed in pain as he touched my injured leg.
"Not with a leg like that you won't," he smiled and laughed, "I'll carry you home. It's the most I can do," I frowned and glared at him but I knew he was right, there was no way I'd be able to hop the whole way home alone.
"Do you have any idea how long it will be like this?" I asked, looking down at where my legs dangled over his arms, "my leg, I mean, not you carrying me,"
"Hmm.." he seemed to pause in thought for a moment before lightly lifting my leg with his hand, before looking back at me seriously "about a day, he wasn't trying to permanently disable you. He seemed to want to turn you into one of them though, if he was giving it chance to heal. If he had had intended to kill you he would have probably ripped it from your body,"
I winced at the thought of having my leg ripped from my body while I was still alive, which he must have caught up on because he suddenly tried to change the subject.
"So do you have a name, Miss?"
I ignored his question. I knew that there was no fooling him into thinking I was a man anymore, he was too familiar with my body after carrying me.
"Oh, I see. Lady of mystery, or are you trying to keep your identity secret?" he kept smiling.
"Both," I said, trying to sound like I was disinterested. I just wanted to get home as soon as possible.
"So, are you going to explain to me why you were out in the middle of the night in a park all alone trying to fight off a vampire like that?" he sounded serious again and I flinched. He had saved me; the least I could do was answer his questions. I knew from experience the one thing I hated more than anything was being lied to or ignored.
"I'm a hunter, it's a family business," I answered sharply, hoping that would end the topic once and for all. I felt his arms tense at my answer.
"You are… Mr. Satan's daughter?" he asked, but from the inflection in his voice I knew that he already knew the answer to that question and wanted confirmation.
"Yes. I am," I answered him sharply again. He sighed but smiled at me and said,
"He hasn't trained you himself though has he? You were really sloppy back there,"
I felt my blood boiling. How dare he insult me- I was a perfectly good hunter for someone self trained! I turned my face away from him in annoyance at that moment. We walked in silence for a while until we got to my house. I wasn't surprised that he knew where I lived before I told him, ours was the largest house in the city and my father made sure that everyone knew who lived there.
"Miss, this is your house, correct?" Blondie questioned outside of the large gates with 'SATAN' written across them. I nodded and waited for him to leave me there but instead he walked me up to the front door and placed me gently on the floor so as to not hurt my leg.
"Please don't go out hunting vampires alone like that again; it's too dangerous for you. At least not until your father has taught you personally how to fight," Blondie urged.
I ignored his request and dug the keys to the door out of my pocket and unlocked the door but before I went in I turned to thank him.
"Thank you," I whispered, not looking at his face.
"Please," he pleaded. He placed a hand over my head and leaned in towards me over the doorstep, "I'd hate to see someone as beautiful as you killed by one of those monsters,"
"Now you wait a sec-" I began to protest but was cut off by the feeling of his hand tilting my chin up followed by a pair of lips pressing gently against my own. My face flushed red but I didn't push him away. I knew I should have but... but something about him was sweet. He'd saved me, he'd told me I was beautiful, he'd carried me the whole way home. I closed my eyes and tried to lift myself up to meet his kiss.
Blondie pulled away at that and chuckled gently to himself,
"I'm sorry. That was inappropriate of me," he apologised before taking my hand, "Please be careful, Miss. I won't be there to save you next time," I looked at him sceptically,
"Why won't you?" I asked. Maybe if I could find out why he wouldn't be there I could find out who he was! All I had to do was look at the records of families moving out of the town or people that had disappeared.
"I just won't. Nobody can know that I've been in this city, it's too dangerous," he replied. His face looked serious. I turned my back to him and opened the door,
"Miss," I heard his voice calling so I turned around, his eyes looked almost sad but he was smiling, "Can I get a name to put to such a pretty face?"
I blushed again at the man who had taken my first real kiss. I had a feeling that I would never get used to being complimented by someone who wasn't simply after my father's wealth, but I smiled at him all the same.
"Videl. My name is Videl," I smiled as I told him my name and he smiled back,
"It's a beautiful name," he whispered, "but not as beautiful as the one who holds it," and kissed my lips again. He lingered for a moment, pulling my body closer against his, and I made sure that I kissed him back this time. When we broke apart he smiled and turned to leave, "Goodnight, Miss Videl."
"Goodnight …"Suddenly I remembered that I still didn't know his name, "Hey, wait!" I called into the dark, but he was already gone.
Just as quickly as he'd entered my life he left. I brought my hand up to feel my tingling lips where he'd kissed me a second time for confirmation that he had actually existed. I looked down at my feet, blushing the whole time, before turning around to enter my house.
And for the first time I felt my heart fluttering with an unfamiliar feeling.
Hello!
I really hope you enjoyed the first chapter in this new story.
I've had the idea for this bouncing around in my head for about a month or so but never got around to writing it. I'm kind of stuffed up in bed right now with flu so I finally had the time to do so, haha!
I want to continue with this story for sure! I always really suck at opening chapters though, so sorry this seems a bit bleugh, beginnings are my real weakness when it comes to writing.
Reviews are loved, of course! So please leave one if you want to, I'd really appreciate it!
Bye for now! :)