Chapter 7
"Rina?!" D repeats with both confusion and shock.
"But I thought...I killed you?!"
Rina smiles, staggers and leans on the servant for support.
"You almost did!" She muses weakly.
" This mess wasn't supposed to happen..." The Mistress's servant begins.
"When I heard that Ven, Flen and Ren had run off to attack D, I knew that this wasn't according to our original plan...and so I followed."
Original plan? This magnifies D's confusion but he lets the man carry on.
" And by the time I had reached where you were...I found Rina unconscious and very, very weak with loss of blood..." the man looks up at the woman he had helped. " She nearly died there and then!"
So...D wasn't a murderer after all...but he could have easily have been. The Dhampir's confusion then turns into heated anger...what was this plan? Was he just a pawn in a greater scheme? D wanted to know the Truth, and NOW!
"What is going on here? I was told that This Vampire Mistress was a murderer. I was PAYED to slay her..." He turns sharply to fully face Rina, who now seemed to be in on this as well.
"I'm sorry D..." Rina sighs, shakily standing up straight.
"The truth was, Dakye wasn't supposed to hire anyone but me...Hiring you was a mistake..." She looks sheepishly at the Vampire Hunter and explains further.
""You see... Dakye was driven mad with fever as a child, he is as much related to the Mistress as all the people of her village. Do you actually think we would let an outsider live in our village? Do you think we would risk our Mistress like that?"
"So what are you saying?" D says, his eyes narrowing.
"I am saying, I simply keep Dakye happy by playing out his madness, to stop him actually hiring REAL hunters. I pick off the odd vampire or monster outside the village to keep the loon satisfied...Heck, I don't even spend his money that much, just simply put it back in his safe when he is asleep!"
Suddenly the shaky voice of the Mistress speaks behind him, still clutching her dead child in her arms.
"Do not worry, we will pay you for your troubles if it that is what you now desire..."
D stops them in their tracks. He was made a fool of, he was lied too...and why? They could have told him everything at the start couldn't they...? No... no that was wrong. He knew he wouldn't have listened... D, the great Vampire hunter would only think they were lying to trick him out of his bounty...
"We knew that you would have thought we were trying to trick you..." Rina whispers to D as if reading his mind.
"So we had to get The Mistress out of the village...away from you."
"And you would lead me astray." D says finishing the sentence for her.
"I'm sorry D... The attack however, the attack wasn't planned. I knew nothing about that."
D nods slowly however there was just one thing left to clear up.
"Why did you safe me Rina? Wouldn't leaving me to die have made everything else easier?"
With shaky legs Rina walks away from the Servant, passed D and to the Mistress.
"Everyone in our village is related somehow to our Mistress...But no one as much as I. I am her direct descendent." Her eyes rise to meet D's.
"So you now must understand that I cannot discriminate against Vampires, mortals or Dhampirs...That's why I couldn't leave you to die D, that would go against my nature."
She rubs her raw and bandaged neck and smirks lightly.
"Although, you do have quiet a bite, Vampire Hunter!"
"Hired by a loon, led astray by a woman, assumed a murderer and told everything was a mistake. YEP!" D's left hand says with a slight hint of hysteria.
"THIS was a productive week!"
D clenches his left hand and in silence, he turns to leave, sheathing his blade.
"Wait! Don't you want you pay?" Rina calls after him.
"I'd rather just forget about it all..."
As he reaches the door, the servant stops him.
"Forget? How could you forget all this? You will never forget D, you will remember and learn from this! REMEMBER!"
D frowns and pushes past the little man and walks with a quick step towards the cavern corridors.
"Should I go after him, grandmother?" Rina whispers to the Mistress on the floor.
"No... too much hate flows in him...would he listen if you tried?"
"But...after all this, don't we owe it too him?"
Without saying a word, the mistress picks up Ven's body and begins to walk into the other room.
"He has caused me much pain...this mistake as ruined me. Do what you want." And with that the Mistress, clutching her dead child in her arms closes the door behind her.
"Rina?!" D repeats with both confusion and shock.
"But I thought...I killed you?!"
Rina smiles, staggers and leans on the servant for support.
"You almost did!" She muses weakly.
" This mess wasn't supposed to happen..." The Mistress's servant begins.
"When I heard that Ven, Flen and Ren had run off to attack D, I knew that this wasn't according to our original plan...and so I followed."
Original plan? This magnifies D's confusion but he lets the man carry on.
" And by the time I had reached where you were...I found Rina unconscious and very, very weak with loss of blood..." the man looks up at the woman he had helped. " She nearly died there and then!"
So...D wasn't a murderer after all...but he could have easily have been. The Dhampir's confusion then turns into heated anger...what was this plan? Was he just a pawn in a greater scheme? D wanted to know the Truth, and NOW!
"What is going on here? I was told that This Vampire Mistress was a murderer. I was PAYED to slay her..." He turns sharply to fully face Rina, who now seemed to be in on this as well.
"I'm sorry D..." Rina sighs, shakily standing up straight.
"The truth was, Dakye wasn't supposed to hire anyone but me...Hiring you was a mistake..." She looks sheepishly at the Vampire Hunter and explains further.
""You see... Dakye was driven mad with fever as a child, he is as much related to the Mistress as all the people of her village. Do you actually think we would let an outsider live in our village? Do you think we would risk our Mistress like that?"
"So what are you saying?" D says, his eyes narrowing.
"I am saying, I simply keep Dakye happy by playing out his madness, to stop him actually hiring REAL hunters. I pick off the odd vampire or monster outside the village to keep the loon satisfied...Heck, I don't even spend his money that much, just simply put it back in his safe when he is asleep!"
Suddenly the shaky voice of the Mistress speaks behind him, still clutching her dead child in her arms.
"Do not worry, we will pay you for your troubles if it that is what you now desire..."
D stops them in their tracks. He was made a fool of, he was lied too...and why? They could have told him everything at the start couldn't they...? No... no that was wrong. He knew he wouldn't have listened... D, the great Vampire hunter would only think they were lying to trick him out of his bounty...
"We knew that you would have thought we were trying to trick you..." Rina whispers to D as if reading his mind.
"So we had to get The Mistress out of the village...away from you."
"And you would lead me astray." D says finishing the sentence for her.
"I'm sorry D... The attack however, the attack wasn't planned. I knew nothing about that."
D nods slowly however there was just one thing left to clear up.
"Why did you safe me Rina? Wouldn't leaving me to die have made everything else easier?"
With shaky legs Rina walks away from the Servant, passed D and to the Mistress.
"Everyone in our village is related somehow to our Mistress...But no one as much as I. I am her direct descendent." Her eyes rise to meet D's.
"So you now must understand that I cannot discriminate against Vampires, mortals or Dhampirs...That's why I couldn't leave you to die D, that would go against my nature."
She rubs her raw and bandaged neck and smirks lightly.
"Although, you do have quiet a bite, Vampire Hunter!"
"Hired by a loon, led astray by a woman, assumed a murderer and told everything was a mistake. YEP!" D's left hand says with a slight hint of hysteria.
"THIS was a productive week!"
D clenches his left hand and in silence, he turns to leave, sheathing his blade.
"Wait! Don't you want you pay?" Rina calls after him.
"I'd rather just forget about it all..."
As he reaches the door, the servant stops him.
"Forget? How could you forget all this? You will never forget D, you will remember and learn from this! REMEMBER!"
D frowns and pushes past the little man and walks with a quick step towards the cavern corridors.
"Should I go after him, grandmother?" Rina whispers to the Mistress on the floor.
"No... too much hate flows in him...would he listen if you tried?"
"But...after all this, don't we owe it too him?"
Without saying a word, the mistress picks up Ven's body and begins to walk into the other room.
"He has caused me much pain...this mistake as ruined me. Do what you want." And with that the Mistress, clutching her dead child in her arms closes the door behind her.