Chapter 36

We arrived at our little village plagued with vampires, although, by the sounds of the newspaper articles, you wouldn't know it. It made me wonder: how did Brennan know? It was probably through the good old hunter's grapevine.

My mother and I got a motel room and some food and once we were ready, we left and began searching for the vampire's nest. In order to do that, we needed to find the crime scene and try to follow the trail of bread crumbs. Or in this case, blood droplets.

"Believe me: it's harder than it sounds." I said to my mother and, judging by her expression, I didn't have to convince her.

"If they've done this their whole vampire life, than they'd be experts in covering their tracks." She replied and I nodded.

We went to all the locations where bodies were found, which took most of our morning. We couldn't really find anything useful. We walked around the village and listened to what people had to say and, unfortunately, didn't hear anything useful.

"Why not ask?" My mother asked and I grinned at her.

"Ah, little grasshopper." I said and she shot me a glare. "Be unseen, not in scene." I added and she slowly withdrew her glare and looked at the people that were passing us by. Once no one was in earshot, she glanced at me and arched her eyebrow.

"Did you come up with that?" she asked me and it was my turn to shoot a glare.

"Hey, makes sense to me." I said and when she looked away, I grinned. "I get the hunt, get my information, do my job and leave. I like going in and coming out like a ghost." I added and watched as my mother just nodded her head.

"I guess that's the only way to evade the law." She said and I nodded my head.

"That, and I don't draw attention to myself." I said and my mother sort of glanced at me with a grin. Aw, my mother was proud of me.

I brought my mother to a little diner and we sat there, looking at the menu and listening to the people. I figured, I got a lucky break that last time, maybe I'd get it again. Only, I was quickly proven wrong: the people were silent. I was about to admit defeat and plan something else, but I soon realized why the people had gone quiet.

Slowly going down the main street, an Oldsmobile filled with people about my age was passing the diner and everyone was watching. Once the car was out of sight, the people began murmuring.

I looked up at my mother and held back a grin. I didn't have to strain my ears to hear what the people were saying; I knew that they didn't like those youngsters and, I was willing to bet they suspected them. Still, I paid attention because I wanted to hear if the people blamed them for the many strange deaths.

So far, I was out of luck. No one had a bright idea of who to suspect. They just didn't trust their own rebellious youths.

When my mother and I left to go back to the motel, it was awkward in my car because I could sense that she had something to say, but was hesitating. I expected her to just blurt it out, but I just waited and the suspense was killing me.

"What?" I asked and she sighed, like she was waiting for that.

"Why not do a spell to find whoever it is responsible for all this?" she asked and now it was my turn to sigh, but not out of relief. Where do I begin to explain?

"Because I don't know what or who it is I'm trying to find." I replied and I caught her raising her eyebrow in confusion. Clearly, I had to specify. "It's more difficult when it's a living and moving organism, especially if I've never met them. I need something that belongs to that person." I added and watched as she lowered her eyebrow as she nodded. "I'm a Wiccan Mom, not Harry Potter." I concluded with a bit more frustration than I had intended.

"Okay, geez. No need to get bitchy." My mother said and I glanced at her, not being able to fight against a grin forming on my lips.

Then, I had an idea.

"How far apart were the killings?" I asked her. My mother tried to think, but ended up pulling out my laptop and we researched it. "And I mean time, not distance." I specified and my mother typed again, not saying a word.

"Seems they were two nights apart." She said and we looked at the last one.

"Then, if things continue undisturbed, tonight blood shall flow." I said and caught my mother staring at me as if disgusted. "What?" I asked and she just shook her head. She didn't answer and I just grinned. "Too morbid?" I asked.

"You think?" she replied sarcastically.

Once we got to the motel, I began packing and planning for tonight and my mother just watched me, as if she still couldn't quite believe I was her daughter. I know that wasn't true; she knew it was me, but I guess she wasn't used to seeing me as a hunter.

Wait until she sees me in action!

"What are you doing?" she asked me and watched everything that I was taking out and placing in my bags. She noticed that it was all weapons and dark clothing. "Are you planning a stake out?" she asked me and I grinned when I looked at her.

"Not a stake out; a prowl." I corrected and she returned to looking disgusted.

"You're not waiting until these vampires actually kill someone, right?" she asked me and I just shrugged my shoulders and returned to packing everything. "Anne!" My mother shouted as if shocked. When I met her eyes, she didn't seem shocked, but she was expecting me to say no.

"If they do kill someone, there's not much I can do." I said and she maintained that expression. Apparently, my answer wasn't good enough. On the other hand, it was in the hunter world. You do what you can without getting yourself killed. That's about it.

When my mother seemed to expect me to reassure her, I just zipped up my bag and swung it over my shoulder.

"We need to get some blood from a corpse." I said and then my mother looked disgusted. Although it seemed like she brushed off the whole watching someone die, I knew she wouldn't ever. "I can try to protect a potential victim, but I can't jeopardize the hunt. I don't want to spook the nest and end up chasing it and losing it." I added and my mother's facial expression was a little hard to read at that point.

However, I knew she was coming to a sort of understanding. She would eventually tell herself that I had done this so many times that I must know what I'm doing. At least, that's what I hoped. I was probably right, but assuming doesn't make me so. For now, I was just going to do what I do best and let my mother help me. If it came between letting someone die and watching her daughter throw herself into danger, I knew she would go with door number one.

She'll soon see that sometimes, a hunter has to make a tough call.