Episode 404: Four Thousand Signatures

I slouch on the back of the limousine, with Nan and Philippe, her Canadian counterpart. With a yawn and a frustrated grunt, I sulk in a corner. The covey I managed to meet in Toronto was particularly unresponsive. After a month of this, I don't know what to think anymore.

I thought the younger generation would welcome change and be the easiest to convince. I thought I could show them that they have a choice. But, if I managed to get through to some – to those who have been secretly hoping to take control of their fates –, I found that most are just bloodthirsty little sons of bitches.

Well, I'm being bitter now. The truth is, when vampires came out of the coffin, it has been an earthquake for the clan. The truth is, most are completely lost. For the youngest, it feels like, at the moment when they were finally ready to fulfill their destiny, it has been robbed from under them. And, since they've been born and raised for one thing, and one thing only, what are they supposed to do? So, those are the most eager to kill, and to kill blindly, in order to, maybe, make some sense of their lives.

Where I have been, sometimes, pleasantly surprised is with the oldest among us. I thought they would be the hardest to convince. They have been doing it for so long; this life is the only one they know. Plus, they're the ones that have seen the most of their comrades die at the fangs of vampires. I thought they would be spiteful, and to be honest, a lot of them are. But I've often been met with a dreamy smile: "Perhaps, it could be nice to retire…" Those who have survived our trade the longest now crave a little rest. And in order to live peacefully, they need a truce.

So, I'm more convinced than ever that I'm not doing this for nothing. Nan, on the other end, is more than fed up with it. She dreams of a huge convention, where every hunter would gather, where we could make inspiring speeches and be done. I had to tell her, times and times again, that this isn't going to happen. The most hunters we will ever be able to gather at the same location will probably never be over fifty. And that's a number I haven't been able to reach yet.

"- It'd be a lot easier if you told me how you people find each other. We could send human scouts, reach them on a bigger scale…

- You know I can't tell you that, Nan. Even if I did trust you, I know so many vampires would use that information to wipe us out."

I don't even take my eyes away from the window as I answer. We've had that same discussion so many times already.

Hunters move constantly. And even if some like to hunt together for a while, we usually move by ourselves and find a new covey in each town. So, of course, before cell phones were invented, we needed signs and secret codes to find each other, so that we could form a covey large enough to take on the biggest targets.

Even when I used to walk around in Shreveport, I would unconsciously register them in my mind, the little marks on the walls, the coded graffiti, that indicated the new hangout. Of course, they change them regularly, so, since I've been inactive for so long, I probably miss a lot of them; there's also the ones I notice but can't decipher. The most important to me is discretion. Vampires, as much as humans, have to remain completely in the dark. Otherwise the words 'traitor to my own kind', already circulating around, would take a new and truer meaning.

"- It's 'us' now, isn't it? I remember it used to be 'them' not so long ago. You're not switching sides on me, are you? – She notes with a mean smile.

- I'm just trying to get in the right set of mind. I tried to let them be 'them'; but you're the one that won't let me be 'me', remember?"

Nan mutters she'll report to Roman that I'm not cooperating, but I know those threats are empty. Even though she snaps at me and still have very little patience, I know I'm growing on her. I see her little smiles and hear the small encouragements hidden behind her cold demeanor. She knows I'm doing my best. And that I'm just as frustrated as she is, maybe even more. We're so far from the four thousand I apparently promised…

"At least they had agreed to meet with you. Even if the TL wasn't cooperative, he's just a temporary representative. That doesn't mean we didn't go through to some of the others. Signatures are not everything – I argue, – some just need to realize they have a choice. Maybe they'll change their way of life anyway, if you guys stopped killing them on sight."

They leave me at the hotel reception, as they have to attend other meetings. I don't check into vampires' hotels anyway; they still give me the creeps. Although, most vampires leave me alone, now. They recognize me from TV, and even if I don't get a lot of love from it, I'm now less at risk with them than among my own.

I even get propositioned, more than ever, by curious vamps that have 'never done it with a hunter before'. Well too bad for you pal; as handsome as you may be, you don't hold a candle to the one still in my mind. I'm having less and less dreams; I guess time and distance have thinned our bond. So, now I even miss his imaginary presence. I'm pathetic.

His texts are laconic and probably self-censored; he knows my phone is being monitored. He says he's having fun terrorizing misbehaving vampires all around the country. That's probably true, even though he probably misses being free of his movements. But, he also took advantage of his trips and new influence to franchise Fangtasia. Pam is the one running the whole thing, but he must like that too, spending his free time sitting on a throne in bigger cities, with bigger crowds drooling over him. I'm not jealous! Just pissed off and frustrated. I hadn't spent a month without seeing him, ever since we met. Although, we haven't met so long ago, even if it feels like lifetimes away.

Damn, I want a drink, and maybe a nice guy to take my mind off him. I've been working hard, I deserve to let off some steam, don't I? What I'd truly need is a friendly hug from Sam, but meaningless sex could be the next best thing. Alcide doesn't even answer my texts anymore. He's definitely fed up with me. I don't blame him; where he's concerned, I don't know what I want. I miss him too though. His presence was so comforting.

Well, aren't I nostalgic tonight! I get out to enjoy the bar's terrace. It's barely midnight, and the nights are getting warmer as spring has settled nicely. I can sense the three vampires responsible for my protection around me; two are patrolling the street, one – James, I believe – sat a few tables away from me. I raise my beer to him before taking a sip; he's nice looking enough, although I suspect he doesn't like me very much, or maybe I'm just not his type. I should try to find myself a human for once. I can see a few, sitting around, even though it's Monday night and the place is far from packed.

As I take a look around, the wind turns, and the smell of ashes suddenly reaches my nose.

I slide beneath the table at once, to use it as a shield. A sniper could have remained under the wind until now. I sense James' muscles tense, as he readies himself for the fight, and then I can't feel him anymore. As I turn around to check, I can see the splash of bloody slime smearing four entirely grey figures. James was four hundred years old; they came prepared.

Another one comes behind me and I throw the table at him, using the circular momentum to try and get some distance between me and them. A bullet scratches my arm. I wince in pain, but it'll take more to stop me. They're not here to exchange pleasantries, even if I distinctly hear a 'fangbanger slut' muttered under a breath, by the one lunging toward me.

My weapons are out and ready, but it's a well-placed bullet that reap him mid-air. I easily dodge his already dead body. The five human guys, I had noticed, are standing with guns in their hands. I had no idea they were guards dressed up as civilians. I'm now caught in the crossfire, curled up behind an overturned, and thankfully sturdy, table.

I can feel the two vampires, arriving at their greatest speed. The firing subsides, as I hear cries of pain, and the distinctive, but unsettling, sound of bodies being ripped apart. I stand at once.

"Stop!" But it's too late. The corpses of hunters are spread on the ground. One of them, not too far from me, is still alive, but he misses both his legs, and a nasty gash on his back is soaking his grey vest with red. As he raises his head towards me, I gasp in horror. I recognize him. He was part of the covey from one of my first hunt as a tracker, when I was still a child.

"How could you betray your mother like this?" are his last words before one of the vampires rips his throat.

Staggering back to my room, I'm overtaken by nausea.

Nora knocked on her door before the end of the night. The Chancellor officially came to make sure the attempted murder wouldn't become public, seeing as seven hunters had died in a gruesome manner. On their part, only one vampire had met the true death – even if it was a great loss – and two human guards had been injured, but would be alright. They had been taken care of by their own medical team, since bullet wounds would have been reported by a hospital. The hotel clerks, and few awaken patrons, had been glamoured, and the premises cleaned up. The story was: some kids had been playing with fireworks.

She found Jill huddled up on the ground of her bathroom.

"- Hey sweetheart, you're okay?

- I'm fine Nora, no need to baby me…

- You need to get that wound checked, – she pointed at her bleeding arm.

- I'll bandage it, it's fine.

- I'm sorry, I was supposed to keep you safe, I thought-

- You did, I'm safe."

Nora sat by the distraught girl's side. She decided to remain quiet until Jill was ready to talk. She did not expect the next words out of her mouth, though:

"- I don't want any more vampires in my security detail.

- Jill-

- No. It sends the wrong message. I'm not supposed to be biased, remember?

- You need them to be saf-

- Even if they're discreet, hunters can sense them. They came with the exact number they needed to kill them. If there hadn't been humans there, I'll be dead. So, they actually make me less safe.

- Hunters are much stronger than humans.

- But humans are more unpredictable to us. I saw it first-hand tonight."

Nora pondered this for a moment.

"- What about other kinds of sup's? – she asked.

- What are you thinking about?

- Wolves?

- There's no way I'll be followed around by a pack.

- Alright. I'll see what I can do."

Satisfied, Jill let her head fall on her friend's shoulder. Nora wrapped her arm around the smaller girl and hugged her tight, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

"- Come on, the sun's coming up soon, and I can't sleep here, – the vampire stated.

- No.

- You can't stay in that hotel.

- I'm sorry, I'm not checking in a vampire hotel. – Jill was adamant.

- Did those bastards say anything to you? What happened?

- If we want this whole farce to work, I need to be one of them, not one of you."

Nora gazed at her for a while before slowly nodding.

"- Any news from Eric? – she asked the little hunter.

- I threw my phone against the wall. I'm going to need a new one, by the way."

They both laughed quietly. Nora then kissed her head warmly before having to leave. Jill went to prepare her answers, for her TV appearance of the next night. She wasn't going to sleep anyway.

He shows up at my window the next night.

I'm now staying at the last level of a huge building, in Montreal. Just coming back from the studio, where I've presented my organization, 'End the Hunt', to the people of Quebec, I'm ready to call it a night.

I always have to walk a fine line, in order to reach hunters, without outing them. I use key words, subtle allusions, and obvious hints only to those who would know how to listen. The organization is a front, supposed to reach out to vampire haters, and I introduce myself as a reformed member of an anti-vampire group. However, only humans are fooled. My whole demeanor and vocabulary speak clearly to both vampires and hunters.

The interview went well, even if my French felt a little rusty at first. But being a hunter in North America means being fluent in at least French and Spanish at an early age. I've been concise, confident, seductive, and I don't think I've done too bad, considering the circumstances.

The bullet wound from the night before is killing me. I'm not sure why I hid it, as if I was ashamed or something. I should have taken a sip from James' spill, or at least shown the wound to Nora and her medical team, but I couldn't. At the time, I felt undeserving of care. Like I deserved to suffer instead.

I still can't shake that thought, and, even alone now in my hotel room, I'm still as tensed as I was in front of the cameras. I want to hop in the shower and forget about everything, though I can't seem to be able to unzip that goddamned dress. I'm considering ripping it off, when I raise my head to meet his eyes.

"Allow me."

He is hovering behind the flowing curtain of the patio door, in the warm night. I swallow a sob at the pure joy of his presence.

"Tell me this is not a dream."

He laughed – and he had meant it as a mockery, but it came out as a relief to have found her safe.

"- I felt your fear and anger yesterday. But I was too far away.

- Don't stay outside! What if someone saw you?

- Yeah, I'm going to chastise Nora for that poor security, – he said without joking, noticing she had promptly changed the subject.

- Well, hunters don't fly.

- What if a vampire wanted to come after you? We don't need an invitation to get into a hotel room.

- Then why are you still on the balcony?

- Can't I be a gentleman?

- That would be a first…"

They both laughed then, somehow mirthful to be in each other's presence after so long. He walked in leisurely, his hands tucked in his pockets, staring intensely at her fitted wisteria cocktail dress – still with puffed sleeves.

"Allow me," he repeated gesturing to her defiant zipper.

Steadying her shaky legs, with a hand on the dresser, she turned around with a shiver and a blush.

His delightfully cool hands grazed against the warming skin of her nape. It sufficed to quicken her breathing. She closed her eyes to relish in the feeling of his presence. Her emotions were sending sparks into his body, vibrating through their bond. Unbearably slowly, letting his knuckles brush the whole of her spine, he lowered the zipper, until the very small of her back where it ended. She gasped for air. Softly, and careful not to touch her silver neckless, he pushed the straps off her shoulders, letting his nose buried in her hair. The unfastened dress slid to the floor.

"- What is that? – he whispered.

- Nothing, it's fine.

- It smells infected.

- It's not."

He cautiously removed the gauze around her arm, despite her unconvinced protests. Blood started gushing out again from the deep wound, and she cringed. His fangs appeared, as he lowered himself to lick the wound clean. Her hand flew to his nape, scraping the base of his hair, letting out a deliciously high-pitched noise. He bit his own tongue, drawing blood, so his ministration would close the gash for good. Only when it was nice and healed did he straightened back up, stored his fangs away, and pulled her back against himself.

Unlocking her bra, he took the time to tenderly caress her sides, her hips, kissing her shoulder. She tried to turn around to face him, but he kept her with her back to him, with a firm hand. First gently biting her shoulder without his fangs, he then roughly tore away her panties. She turned her head and grabbed his hair to force him to kiss her. As his lips assaulted hers, his hands found her breasts, claiming them possessively, before one descended to her throbbing bud.

Her ass arched to find the front of his pants and he groaned. She was already moaning in his ear, and he had planned to make her come first, but suddenly, he couldn't wait a second longer. He quickly unbuttoned his pants and let his painful erection out, while still massaging her core, his fingers finding her heated entrance with an involuntary quiver.

She blindly clasped his length, sliding between her butt cheeks, and guided it urgently below his own hand. She wanted him now, all of him, and he bit her shoulder harder while he entered, closing his own eyes, to feel exclusively the touch of her skin and her warmth. Her walls tightened around him. She cried out in pure ecstasy and he growled irrepressibly. Why the fuck nothing compared to this?

He reached under her knee to bring it up and part open her legs, so he could bury himself whole inside of her. She moaned again, shuddering from her first climax, and he began thrusting. Deeply, longingly, reveling in every inch of their rubbing parts. And she moved together with him. His fingers were still stroking her core, and she was so close again, her body started trembling uncontrollably. But before she reached her highest peak, she suggestively removed her hair from the shoulder where he had already left a bite mark, pulling away her neckless, offering her fast-beating pulse.

His fangs sprung out at once. But he stopped all his movements, eliciting a frustrated whimper from her. Withdrawing delicately, he turned her around so she would face him, and lifted her to sit on the dresser, at his height. Her dark eyes were misted and her lids heavy, her cheeks flushed and her swollen lips parted. She had never been so beautiful.

She raised her hand to his fangs and slowly traced their length. He kissed the tip of her fingers, then tugged on his own shirt, before removing his pants completely, not letting her out of his sight. Only then did she also removed the mechanism of her weapons, strapped to her forearms, and the silver neckless she still bore. She bit her own lip, watching his naked body come back to her. Claiming her mouth, brushing a nipple with his thumb, he entered her again.

When their bare chests pressed against each other, he reached around with his arms to hug her closer. One hand between her shoulder blades, one to her lower back, he brisked up his pace, feeling her thrusting body eagerly slamming against his. His tongue explored her mouth, caressing and tasting, mimicking the motions he'd grant her bud, if he could right now. He swallowed her building moans, feeling the vibration in his mouth conveying into the whole of him.

When he knew she was close again, he finally allowed himself to bite her neck. Her loud screams erupted in pleasure, not pain. Images came to his mind, but their pace were so fast none of them could decipher anything. Only red flames and blue skies behind moving forms. And, following their lead, he quickened his rhythm to an inhuman speed, careful not to hurt her, but building her culmination even higher. Losing all self-control, she violently bit his shoulder too. And he came with a roar.

"Fuck!"

She burst out laughing at his exclamation, still high and shivering and clutching him close. He smiled, relieved to hear a genuine laugh, without any trace of the deep sadness he had felt in her after last night. He could pat himself on the back for a job well done, and that made him chuckle too.

When she sighed lengthily on his shoulder, he lifted her in his arms, and she moaned when he slid out of her. Her weary frame felt so small in his arms; he was overtaken with an urge to protect her from any harm, ever again. The thought made him tense and she felt it immediately.

"What's wrong?"

Her sleepy voice calmed him instantly, as he didn't want her to worry right now. He shushed her, while lowering her to her bed, and he tucked the both of them under the covers. However, even though he abhorred the thought, he would have to leave soon, so he could go back to his current job in Atlanta. He had a frightened young vampire covering for his absence, but that wouldn't be effective for too long.

Feeling she was still on the brink of sinking into a slumber, he whispered in her ear.

"Don't forget that you're mine. And I'll be back."

He just didn't know when.

I wake up cold and alone, but light-minded too. My whole body sore and feeling relaxed at the same time. I smile stupidly at the still flowing curtains, letting in rays of sunshine. My cleared mind is already thinking up strategies to obtain those four thousand signatures as soon as possible. Only then, will I regain my freedom of movements. I need to step up my game. I need to show those hunters that I'm the one who's right. I know that I'm right. I just need to convince them. And this morning, I feel up to it.

When I get out of the shower, I hear a knock on my door. Checking the peephole, I see only the man guarding my room, accompanied by someone too big to fit in the small lens.

"One minute!"

I skip back to the bed, to strap on my weapons and throw an ample top over my head, before opening the door.

"Alcide?"

He stands in front of me with a scowl and hands in the pockets of his jeans.

"Eric said he'd clear the rest of my debt, and that it's a high paying job, so…"

He shrugs, avoiding my eyes.

"It's been cleared with Miss Gainsborough." The guard clarifies.

I try and fail to repress a beaming smile. I know he hates me right now, because I left him to worry sick, while doing the one thing he asked me not to do. But I don't care. I'm just so glad to know I'll get to travel with a familiar face. Someone that'll truly have my back, and not just perform a job – despite what he's saying. Plus, I know I'll win him over, with time. No one can resist me for too long. And that's why I'll get those signatures.

This morning, I'm finally ready to start making the world a better place.