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Chapter 11:

Julian ran. He ran far. So far he was starting to run into unfamiliar territory. The trees and forest still looked the same, but he could still tell he was far from home. Plus, he had been running for so long that it was starting to get light out.

He slowed his pace. The sun was coming up and he needed to find shelter. He could go on through the day but it would be too exhausting. Besides, he was already tired. Even his new vampire body lost stamina after a while. He had been stabbed, hadn't fed much, hadn't slept much and had been running for hours. He needed to find a place to rest, but he needed to feed first

Only because he was so far away already, he allowed himself to continue to walk. It didn't take him long to find a suitable animal to feed from.

The human blood made him feel full, but its effects quickly disappeared. That's probably why so many vampires fed so often. It felt like the human blood increased the time it took Julian to be hungry again. Human blood was like a dangerous drug.

There was a young buck grazing not to far from him. It barely took the effort of lifting a finger to take it down. The blood soothed all of his hunger, but every part of his body told him that this wasn't what he really wanted. This was just a weak substitute for the real thing he needed. It was harder to drink the animal blood knowing what fresh, human blood tasted like.

Julian pushed those thoughts away and continued drinking from the deer. His shirt still was bloody from last night's ordeal so he wasn't worried about getting messy again.

After he finished feeding, it didn't take long to find an abandoned cabin in the woods. It was made of wood and was tilted to one side with age.

Inside, the place was covered with dust. There was a window above a table, which Julian walked over to and closed the curtains, blanketing the room in darkness. There was one small cot and a fireplace in this one bedroom cabin. It was quaint, but it would work for the day.

The sheets smelled musty and were also covered in a layer of dust, but Julian was already covered in blood and didn't mind a little dust.

Julian laid down on the cot, facing the empty, unlit fireplace and let his eyes heavily droop closed.

. . .

By the time Julian awoke, the sunshine no longer crept from behind the curtains. Julian had slept through the day and he already felt refreshed. He opened his eyes slowly, not wanting to come back to reality.

"Beautiful eyes to match that beautiful face." A female voice spoke—an unfamiliar voice.

Julian sat up and traced the voice to its speaker in the corner of the room, all of his senses suddenly heightened. She was tall and slender, beautiful in every aspect, really. Her dark hair was curling and fell just at her shoulders. She was sitting cross-legged next to the empty fireplace with her back against the wall, gazing lazily at him. She looked like the type of girl who would normally be dressed to the nines and wear heels, but she wore black leggings and a loose shirt that hung off of one shoulder instead. The boots she wore were covered in a layer of mud like she had been trekking through the woods. Other than her boots, she was perfectly clean. Julian suddenly felt self conscious of the fact the he was muddy, bloody, and dusty. Slightly embarrassed, he ran his fingers through his bed-head hair. There was something about the girl that peaked Julian's instincts, but he couldn't say what.

"Who the hell are you?" Julian shifted on the cot. How did this girl get in without waking him up?

"What color green is that?" She ignored his question and crawled closer to him. In any other circumstance her movements would have been seductive. She moved fluidly, like a cat. "Sort of like the color of moss in the heart of spring. Gorgeous." Her voice was deep and sultry. "What's a boy like you doing all the way out here?" She smiled, showing off fangs. She was a vampire, that's what Julian was sensing.

"Who the hell are you?" Julian asked the girl again, growling slightly.

"Now," the girl tisked, "is that anyway to talk to a lady?" Now that she had reached him, her slender fingers worked their way down his bare forearm and down to his hand, pausing on his hunter family ring. Julian curled his fingers so they hid his ring. "Too late for that Jules, I know all about you and who you are." The girl stood up now.

"Who else knows?" Has the word already spread that Julian was a vampire? He wondered what vamps would come after him and laugh in his face at the irony, the great vampire hunter Julian McCaffrey—a vampire.

"Just me. I hear everything. I see everything. I know everything. People talk to me. Not many vampires, especially in this area, know. Only Silas's inner circle knew his true intentions. Most think you died. But I'm not so easily fooled." A playful grin crawled on her face.

"Which leads me to my question again—who are you?" Julian stood up now.

"Kiara." She walked over to the window, which was broken, and looked out.

"And why are you here, watching me sleep?" It seemed that Julian would have to prod for answers.

"Maybe I think you're cute." She smiled again.

Julian had had enough. He moved so quickly that even Kiara was shocked. He clasped his hand around her neck and pushed her against the wall. "Enough with the bullshit." Julian could feel his fangs were out; however, he couldn't recall the exact time they had come out.

Just as fast, if not faster, Kiara spun them around and pinned Julian on the ground. Her legs were straddling Julian and she used her forearm to hold his neck, choking him slightly. He squirmed but she was too strong. She laughed in her throat. "You think you can scare me hunter boy? You're just a baby." As if to prove her point, Kiara pushed her arm harder on his neck. "You're in my territory and I want you out. I don't know if you noticed, but your hunter friends are tracking you as we speak and hunters and us don't really get along in this part of town. I want them out."

"Did it ever cross your mind as to why they are tracking me?" Julian said, finally pushing her arm off of his neck so he could talk. She still straddled him though. "Did it ever occur to why I was hiding away in this dirty, old cabin?"

Kiara did not look amused. Her face was pinched. "I don't care if they like you or not, the point is they are looking for you and if you surrender yourself they will stop searching and killing every vampire that gets in their way. That way they can get what they want and my clan will stay safe. It's a win-win." Kiara smiled as if it were that simple.

"But they want me dead." Julian's voice was soft, like he hadn't actually meant to say the words out loud.

Hank Astaire was the one who really wanted him dead, not Lexi or John or Cody, but Hank knew enough hunters that would side with him and would rally them up and produce a search team. If Julian went out to try and talk, there would be no talking just silver and stakes and blood.

Kiara finally crawled off of Julian, but Julian still lay on the floor. She inspected her nails. "Not my problem, kid."

"So you want me sacrifice myself? Is that why you came here?" Julian stood up now to be on her level.

"You want my advice?" Kiara put a hand on her hip. "Run away, preferably in the other direction so the hunters follow you. You might as well get used to life without them because that's what is going to happen. In seventy, eighty years all of them will be dead, and then what?"

"What about enjoying the time I have with them? Shouldn't I make the most out of that?"

"It's like a Band-Aid, kid. It's better to get it over with and not linger. Vamps don't belong with humans anyway. We belong with our own kind, you'll see." She had an expression that made Julian think there was more to the story.

With one more pointed look, Kiara added. "Get them out of here, or I'll send my men to do it." Kiara walked next to Julian and whispered in his ear. "They like to play with their food."

Before Julian could respond, she vanished. He heard nothing but the wind rustling through the dry leaves on the trees.

For a while he stood there. What was he supposed to do? Where does he go? Does he try and make peace? No, they already tried that. Hank and his hunters already made their opinions about Julian. A hunter was a hard person to persuade once they made up their mind.

He heard a dog barking and the slight hum of motor vehicles, probably four wheelers.

Julian walked to the window as soundlessly as he could, and peered out into the darkness.

Sometimes hunters used dogs to track a vampire's scent. Humans couldn't keep up with a vampire on foot, but a dog could follow the scent for miles no matter how far behind they were. They must have followed Julian all the way here. That's why Kiara was so angry.

Maybe Julian could distract the hunters and get them to go in circles. He had to be crafty though.

He exited the cabin, rubbing leaves on him before he ran. This would do two things: one, it would mask his scent slightly and he would blend into the forest better and two, his scent would be easily picked up here.. Combining these two together maybe the dog would lose the trail. Hopefully they would stay at the cabin for a while since his scent would be so strong here. The dogs could get confused. Maybe the hunters would hit a dead end.

He could only hope.

Using his own sense of smell, Julian became conscious of the path he took to get to the cabin and deliberately took a separate one back the way he came. The motors of the ATV's grew louder. If he had taken the same path he came he would have collided with them.

Julian paused and crouched in a bush to watch the action. He was right. Hank was leading an army of hunters on four wheelers to keep up with the running dogs. Julian silently wondered where his father was. Lexi was missing too.

"Hold," Hank yelled over the commotion. Everyone slowed to a halt. The hound dogs had their snouts glued to the ground. One of them veered from the path it was previously on and started tracking a new scent. The dog walked closer to Julian's hiding place. Oh no. The dog howled and the engines growled to life in response. Dammit. The hunters had found him. So much for blending in.

Julian took off running. He tried to take as many detours as he could to try and make it harder for the ATV's to trek through the forest. He crossed rivers, fallen trees, and mazes of branches. Hopefully it slowed the hunters and their machines down more than it slowed Julian down.

Julian could still hear the motors, but he could not see them anymore. He was making progress.

Too caught up in looking behind him for danger, Julian tripped. No, he didn't just trip; it felt like something bit him. He yelped out in pain before he realized that it was a detrimental mistake, giving the hunters his location, but the pain was overbearing. Julian looked down at his leg.

A silver bear trap had its jaws clenched around Julian's calf. He bit his lip to prevent from screaming anymore. He tried to reach down and release its grip, but the silver quickly burned him. It was no use. He wasn't getting out of this one.

Julian tugged his leg. White-hot pain shot through him, stealing his breath as he pulled. He could feel the teeth of the contraption only rip his skin further. He couldn't help but let a groan of agony escape.

Through the blur of pain he heard a voice. "Hush." It was Dmitri. "They'll hear you."

Dmitri tried his best to free Julian from the trap's deadly jaws, but it was no use. The silver was burning Dmitri's hands just as much as it burned Julian's. "A little help would be appreciated," Dmitri semi whispered over his shoulder.

Julian's father and Lexi emerged from the woods. Both of them had the same expression of relief and concern.

John, who had a pack on his back, quickly went to his son's side and pulled out a tool that would pry the jaws of the bear trap open. "Try not to make any noise. Just," he glanced at the awful, blood, hamburger-like leg, "hold on." Julian's father said.

John used the bar and started working on the trap. Lexi had knelt down and held Julian's head in her lap. She swept the hair out of his face as she mumbled soothing words. "Shh. Just don't think about it. Focus on me."

Dmitri's hand was in Julian's and Julian was squeezing Dmitri to ease the pain. Thankfully Dmitri had this job otherwise he would break a human hand.

"Almost there," John said. He shifted the angle at which he attacked the trap and then they all heard a click as the trap released Julian's leg.

A dog howled in the distance. The hunters were still far enough away for Julian and everyone to get away, but it would be close.

Dmitri and John each took an arm and helped Julian walk until he healed.

"How did you guys find me?" Jules asked quietly. Lexi was ahead of them, leading the way back to the car.

"Dmitri helped." John grunted under Julian's weight. Dmitri smiled, seeming to be struggling a lot less than Julian's father.

"You guys came at just the right time." Julian huffed. It was still hard to breath. Words could describe how relieved he was that they had found him. Dmitri must have been able to track his scent and then heard him yell when he got caught in the trap.

"There it is!" Lexi called. The car was parked on the side of a dirt road that led into the forest.

By now, Julian's leg felt like it only had a bad sprang and so he hobbled himself up into the car. Cody was waiting inside. As soon as Jules saw his brother a huge grin appeared on his face. "Do you look for ways to get yourself hurt?" Cody joked.

"The dogs should lose your scent soon, plus it is going to rain later." Dmitri said as he buckled himself in the passenger seat.

Lexi was sitting next to Julian, who was in the middle, and placed a hand over his, slowly closing hers around his. When he looked at her she smiled. The awkwardness that had existed among them before was gone. It was like nothing had changed between them. He wanted to kiss her. He wanted to tell her that he was sorry for everything. He wanted to say how terrible he felt about being this creature and she helped keep him going. But now was not the time.

"What now?" asked Jules. He finally felt like he could breath, surrounded by people he loved. Even Dmitri was a friend now. Without him, Julian wouldn't have survived the transition; he would have gone crazy.

"We think of a Plan B." John said as he turned the engine over and drove away. Small droplets of rain just began to fall as they drove.

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