A smirk crossed Rip van Winkle's lips as she entered the lab and took in the sight before her. Where did they get this one?
The man was seated atop a cold steel table with his back to her, hand rubbing at his wrist. No doubt he had been held down by those tight restraints for at least the past few hours. Doc had told Rip nothing about him except for his name, Luke Valentine, and that he was brought into Millennium recently along with his younger brother. Poor fool, she mused. You had no idea what you were getting yourself into, did you?
The vampire proceeded to approach him slowly. "Good evening Mr. Valentine," she greeted Luke in her usual chipper tone. Startled, he swiftly turned his head to face her. It occurred to Rip that this new recruit actually had quite an attractive appearance, with his dark eyes and defined, pallid features.
"What do you want?" Luke snapped defensively. His provoked attitude was not completely unwarranted. He had learned by now that when in the laboratory, all you could expect was to be further subjected to torture, usually by some sort of chemical injection or painful examination. As a result he trusted no one other than his brother Jan, and this strange ebony haired vampire would be no exception.
Rip simply flashed an amused grin at Luke, as though oblivious to his current demeanor. "I am First Lieutenant Rip van Winkle," she said. "There is no need to fear me, I have come here for another purpose."
Once he heard this, Luke relaxed somewhat. But he still did not want to let his guard down. She probably has something worse planned for me, he thought. Though it was hard to imagine that anything could possibly be more unpleasant than what he had been experiencing.
Rip drew closer to Luke, her eyes glinting with some odd emotion that he could not seem to place. "Tell me, Luke Valentine," her cheerful voice suddenly became menacing as it slithered into Luke's ears. "You and your brother came here for eternal life and for ultimate power, did you not?"
Growing more nervous and confused by the second, Luke could only manage a feeble nod.
The dark haired vampire's freckled face was taking on a decidedly wicked expression. "I trust that Herr Doktor's experiments have left you with more strength than you had ever thought possible,"she continued. "But-you will never achieve immortality without feeding on that which sustains life itself!"
With that, Rip produced a small knife from her pocket and, in one quick movement, sliced it into her wrist. She showed no sign of pain as she brought the knife up to her mouth, licking off of it any trace of blood. By now Luke was trembling. Rip presented her profusely bleeding wrist to him and ordered, "Now, you must drink it!"
Luke obeyed almost instantly, nursing at her wrist greedily as though he were a newborn child. He did not know what had come over him. It was as if a hunger that had been deep inside of him all along had now revealed itself. The sweet plasma flowed freely down his throat. Nothing in Luke's human life had ever made him feel as fulfilled as this. Oh how he wanted more, how he wanted to drain her blood until there was nothing left.
It ended all too soon. "That is enough for now," Rip murmured softly as she lifted Luke's head and gazed at him through her glasses. "But we shall meet again, Luke Valentine." She left then, almost certain that she heard him thank her before the iron door slammed shut.
The Hunter wandered back to her room, a triumphant smile on her face. Her job was finished, and tomorrow would bring another recruit by the name of Valentine.