Acherontia Atropos Part 2
The first thing that I did when I woke up was tried to open my
eyes, which was a mistake. It was way too bright, and I felt like
my head was going to explode. The second thing I did was mumble
out something incoherent.
"What?" Someone - I think it was Heero - said by my ear, very
loudly.
"I said," I stated much more clearly, "that I'm going to puke,"
then rolled out of the bed I had mysteriously found myself in and
did just that. Cool fingers helped hold my aching head up until I
was done. Tears were running down my face, which normally would
have pissed me off, but right then I hurt too much to care about
dignity. I figured I didn't have much left anyway at that point,
considering I'd just tossed my cookies in front of Heero.
"Done now?" Heero asked, his voice soft.
I tried to nod, which was a mistake. It set off another round of
heaving. More tears squeezed themselves from my eyes. After the
pounding in my head subsided enough for me to think coherently and
my stomach stayed in place, I managed a weak, "Yeah."
"I'm going to put you back in your bed now. Can you handle being
moved?"
I wanted to say no, I really did. I wanted to say 'Just kill me,
please' but knowing Heero, he probably would have taken me
literally. Though at the time, being put out of my misery would
have been something of a relief. So instead, I said, "Roger."
His only reply was, "Yes." For a moment, between head-splitting
waves of pain, I thought I could detect a hint of concern in his
voice. It was probably just the trauma of the situation.
Strong, warm arms lifted me up like I didn't weigh anything at all
and set me on softness that I was pretty sure was my bed. A thin
little moan of pain escaped my lips.
"Are you okay?"
That had to be one of the dumbest questions I'd ever heard in my
life. Even cutting Heero a little slack for not being used to
conversing, it was still a dumb question. I laughed, very
carefully so that my head wouldn't fall off. "Yeah, just peachy."
"I can see that." A hand brushed my forehead. "You can't be too
hurt if you're making jokes."
I whimpered despite my own best efforts, and the hand withdrew.
"Can you open your eyes?"
"I'd rather not," I said, my voice strange in my own ears.
"Open your eyes, Duo. We need to see if you have a concussion."
Heero was being eminently reasonable and logical. And almost, well,
nice. If I hadn't been in so much pain, I would have been
suspicious. As it was, I didn't argue. I opened my eyes, and found
myself peering right into Heero's from a very close ranger for the
second time in one night.
Heero looked really pissed, which was kind of funny considering
how nice he was being. I shut my eyes quickly again, because it
hurt too much to have them open. Silently, I prayed that whoever
Heero was mad at, it wasn't me. When he was finally upset enough
to show emotion, the pucky was deep indeed.
"Your eyes aren't focusing properly," Heero commented. "You do
have a concussion."
"Right now, I just think it's nice that I have a head left to have
a concussion with," I laughed weakly again. Yeah, that's me. Mr.
Comedian. "How bad is it, doc?"
"Concussion..." Heero's voice went all distant, like he was
reading off a grocery list, "severe lacerations on your face and
head. Contusions on your shoulders, back, chest, and arms. More
lacerations on your back, but minor ones."
"Funny," I said, "my head's the only thing that hurts." Of course,
when I mentioned that, I was asking for it. My body turned into
one massive ache, all of my injuries clamoring for attention.
There's a lot to be said for blissful ignorance. "Can I have a
pain killer, please?" I didn't even have to try to sound pathetic.
Normally, I really didn't need the extra chemicals messing with my
brain, but I was willing to make an exception.
"Yes, soon," Heero said, "Wufei's raiding the school clinic now."
"Oh...okay." It hadn't occurred to me until that point that anyone
other than Heero would know I was hurt. But wait, how had he even
known? "Uh, Heero?" I went over my last few memories carefully. No,
no Heero in them, or anyone else I knew. Just the woman, whoever
she was.
"Yes?"
"How did I get in here?" I cracked one eye open.
"I carried you." Heero looked rather surprised. "You don't
remember?"
"Should I?"
"You insisted that you were alright, and that I should put you
down and let you walk," Heero said. If I hadn't known him so well,
I would have thought he was trying not to laugh. But then again, I
was starting to realize that I didn't know everything about him,
so it was a real possibility.
"I did?"
"Yes."
It didn't add up, but Heero was being unhelpful as always, so I
tried a different question. Sometimes, he was just too freaking
literal for his own good. When in doubt, rephrase. "Why were you
outside to carry me, anyway?"
"Quatre hauled me out of bed, along with Trowa and Wufei," Heero
shrugged. "He was babbling something about you. Then I heard a
shotgun fire, twice, and went to investigate. I thought you might
be in trouble; you normally are."
"Gee, thanks. It's not like I try, you know." I didn't. Really.
"I know."
"Who was shooting if it wasn't you?"
"I was," someone said.
That voice did not belong to Heero or anyone else I knew. Men
don't spontaneously change into altos. I turned my head as quickly
as I dared.
There was a woman sitting on the edge of Heero's bed. She was my
size - little. I could admit to myself that I was a peanut,
because I knew some wonderful day I'd have a growth spurt if I
didn't get killed first. This woman was definitely not going to be
getting any taller. I would guess she was in her late twenties.
She had white blonde hair that was in a braid longer than mine,
and her skin was fairer than Quatre's. Put that all together, and
she looked like an ice princess or a little girl's porcelain doll.
Dolls didn't have eyes like that, though. There was nothing vapid
or sweet about her. The only other people that have looked at me
like that were Pilots. It's the kind of look that people have when
they're trying to decide whether or not they'll have to shoot you,
and if so, exactly how many bullets to use. There was also the
sawed-off shotgun across her lap. Yeah, that was significant.
I remembered her. She was the last thing I'd seen before I passed
out.
There was something else, though. I had no idea what it was, but
that woman was making the hair on the back of my neck stand on end.
I couldn't describe it any other way except to say that it felt
like she was giving off static electricity. On top of everything
else, it was making me pretty damn uncomfortable.
So I was rude. I freely admit that. "Who the hell are you?" I
demanded. It would have sounded more intimidating, though, if I my
voice hadn't come out so totally pathetic.
She smiled. It was the kind you'd give to a little kid when you're
humoring them.
I didn't like being humored. So I tried to glare at her. It didn't
work. I gave up and looked at the ceiling, deciding to leave any
further efforts at intimidation to Heero. He was better at the
death glares than me anyway.
"My name's Tamlin," she said, "I already know your name is Duo
Maxwell. Your friend Heero and I have been having a nice talk."
She smiled again, this one friendly, open, and fake.
Heero just shrugged. Wasn't he Mr. Eloquence. "You still didn't
answer my question. I asked you who the hell you are. Just a name
doesn't tell me a whole lot," I said. It's hard to be tough when
you're flat on your back and feeling like ten kilos of shit in a
five kilo bag, but I did my best.
She shrugged. "I'm a...bounty hunter."
"Of course, a bounty hunter." Right. I believed that. Somehow,
though, I just couldn't make myself care. I hurt too much. So
instead, I just closed my eyes and did my best to ignore Tamlin
and Heero. The image of that thing on my back with its bright blue
eyes burning at me seemed to be etched into the backs of my
eyelids. The enormity of what had happened suddenly struck me - if
Tamlin hadn't done her mysterious showing up thing, I would have
died. It's one thing to come close to being blown up. I'm used to
that. But I'd never gotten my ass kicked that hard before. The
room got very cold all of a sudden, and I started shivering.
Heero didn't say anything, which was probably the smartest thing
he'd done all day. Tamlin didn't say anything either, which made
me dislike her a bit less. We all just sat in silence until I got
done shaking. It didn't take very long.
"God, I feel like shit." Understatement of the century on my part,
but I really didn't know what else to say, and it was getting way
too quiet. For one crazy moment, I wondered if Heero and Tamlin
had gotten up and left me alone in the room.
No, they hadn't. I could hear Heero shift in his seat. The little
noise was kind of disturbing; it wasn't like him to fidget.
What Tamlin said next was even more disturbing, though. "You might
feel like shit, but you're still lucky. Most people don't survive
their first encounter with a vampire."
For a long moment, I just lay in the bed and stared, waiting for
her to get to the punch line. She just sat and started back at me,
and I started to get the dark, sinking suspicion that it might not
be a joke after all. Finally, I had to say something or go insane
from the silence. Good ol' mouth to the rescue. "You're kidding,
right?"
All the emotion suddenly drained from her face, like someone had
just flipped a switch. On, happy. Off, cold and dead. You will
find, Duo, " she said, her voice devoid of inflection, "that I
never joke about certain things. Vampires are one of them."
"Oh, come on, stop it. Vampires aren't real. They don't exist.
You've been watching too many horror movies." I sounded a little
desperate even to my own ears. To be truthful, I was a lot more
willing to believe in the possibility that vampires really existed
than I wanted to admit. Really, I was a lot more willing to
believe pretty much anything than I would have been last year. Hey,
a lot of weird shit can get crammed into one little year.
"I will say this once more, and you can choose to believe me or
not. Vampires exist. They're real, just like you are." Just as it
had disappeared, the life returned to her face. "You should be a
lot more willing to believe, considering that when I found you,
one was sitting on your back."
Goose pimples mysteriously sprang into being all up and down my
arms. Still, I had to play it tough and attempt to salvage what
little machismo I had left. That's me, heap big Gundam Pilot.
Right. "Yeah, I was there, remember? I know there was something
trying to make cracks in the asphalt with my head. I just don't
know if I believe that it was a vampire."
"But."
"But it sure as hell wasn't human," I finished, my words grudging.
"Then why is it so hard to believe that it could be what I say?"
"Come on, man. Vampires are stuff out of old, corny B movies. You
know, plastic fangs and black capes and black hairdos slicked back
with Crisco. That shit ain't real."
"No," she agreed, "it isn't."
That gave me pause. "What?"
"Movies aren't real. They got a few details right, like the fact
that they drink blood and are afraid of holy items, but the
reality is very different." Her eyes held a burning intensity just
like the one I saw every morning when I looked into the mirror.
This woman had a Purpose. "The only reason that you're still alive,
Duo, is because the vampire didn't want to kill you just yet."
"It was sure as hell doing a good impression of it."
"It wanted you to be unconscious but still alive. Dead blood
poisons them. You must have looked like easy prey, walking by
yourself. You're lucky I was in the area." Her fingers caressed
the barrel of the shotgun. "The only thing I don't understand is
why it attacked you at all. It should have been able to take over
your mind."
"What?"
"If a vampire catches you with its eyes, it can roll your mind
under its will. I should have been able to put you so far down
that it could have peeled your skin off by inches and made you
like it." She shook her head. "But it didn't, and it was being
careful about how it hit. I would guess it was either very young
or very stupid."
Well, wasn't that just fucking peachy-keen. I'd been lucky enough
to be attacked by the world's only moron vampire. "Maybe it just
underestimated the thickness of my skull." I grinned disarmingly.
She seemed to be immune to my winsome charm, though Heero snorted.
"Don't fool yourself. If it had wanted you dead, it could have
ripped your throat out with no effort. They can bench press cars
one-handed. They are not human."
God help me, but I didn't know why I said what I did next,
"Neither are you."
Tamlin stopped mid-tirade, her face going dead again. I was
genuinely scared that she would shoot me. Instead, she started
laughing.
"What? What's so funny?"
She stopped as quick as she'd started. "I think I've been
underestimating you. It all begins to make sense now."
And damnit, no matter how much I whined, she wouldn't say any more.
Finally, she said, "Let's cut to the chase, then."
"Ah, my favorite part."
"There is a kiss of vampires in this area." She held up a hand
before I could interrupt. "A kiss is what we call a group of
vampires. They've been hunting at this school."
That actually explained a lot, like where Ayako had gone. I had to
suppress a major twinge at that thought. She was probably dead,
then. Something was striking me as odd about the whole situation,
though, even more off kilter than being told that vampires were
real. It took me a moment to realize what it was. Heero had been
sitting through the conversation, dead silent. He hadn't snorted,
or made a sarcastic comment even when the woman asserted that
vampires were real. And there was also the fact that he'd let her
into our room with a loaded weapon. Something was not adding up.
"Heero?"
"Yes?"
"Do you know this woman or something?"
"Really. From where?"
The look he gave me as his answer held the chill of absolute zero
in its remoteness. "It's not something I'm willing or able to
speak of."
Well shit. Dive! Dive! Blow ballast! And change the subject while
you're at it! "Fine, then," I said, mentally promising him that we
would be talking about this later. Secrets are dangerous shit.
"What do you think we should do?"
"I think we should listen to her."
Gee thanks, big help there.
Tamlin smiled, "Thank-you, Heero."
Heero shot her another look, and it wasn't the usual glare. It
was...fear? From Heero? Naw, couldn't be. But shit, I was getting
a bit freaked out myself.
"Okay," I said, "I'll bite. So there are bounty hunters that run
around killing vampires."
"Depending upon the Hunter, yes. Sometimes we'll kill other things,
like shape shifters, or rogue witches."
That was starting to get too weird. "Fine, fine. So what does that
have to do with us?"
"All of you have a gift for killing," she said. "I'm just going to
warn you that you might want to broaden your horizons a bit.
Monsters are everywhere, and they aren't necessarily human. I
can't pick your targets for you, but I can give you the knowledge
you'll need to stay alive."
"What do you want in return?" I normally liked it when people
offered to teach me new things, but I also remembered from my
times on the street that nothing is without a price tag.
"Nothing. I'm doing this as a favor for a friend." For some reason,
I didn't find that reassuring. "And I'm also doing this because I
wouldn't want to send anyone out to face the monsters unprepared.
I'm not in the business of getting kids killed."
About that time, Wufei showed up with five million rolls of gauze
and some wonderful, happy orange pill bottles. I'd never been so
glad to see another human being as long as I'd been alive. While
he and Heero cocooned me with kerlix, Tamlin talked about vampires.
It was a nice distraction from the pain. She told me all; about
old ones and young ones, about them being nocturnal, blood, garlic
not working, their abilities, and their habits. That crosses
worked against them, like the movies said, but only when they were
backed by belief.
Huh. Go figure. I believed in God after all, deep down inside.
"Normal bullets won't injure them, and neither will normal knives.
You either have to use straight silver or an alloy with the
highest possible silver content," she said, pausing for effect,
"the best way to kill one is putting a stake through its heart and
cutting off its head. The most foolproof, however, is cremation."
The general principle was sound, but the thought made me a little
queasy. Shooting, people, I could handle. Cutting mobile suits in
half with a thermal scythe, I could handle. Hell, watching Heero
set his own broken leg again, I could handle, a s long as I got
warned ahead of time and was allowed to go sit in a corner and
have the heebie-jeebies for a while. But when it came to chopping
off actual heads, I had a feeling that it was a little grosser
than I was used to. "Didn't you shoot that one, though?"
"I blew off its head and took out the chest with high dispersal
round," she said, grinning, "That works pretty well, too."
"I can imagine." A thought suddenly popped up in my mind. "What
did you do with the body?"
Wufei was the one that answered me. He'd been quiet up to now -
apparently, all had already been explained to him and he was
dealing. "Trowa and Quatre are taking care of it."
One less thing for me to worry about. I felt a twinge of guilt
that they were the ones have to clean up after a mess that was
kind of sort of maybe partially my fault. But then again,
considering that I was still wearing part of said mess splattered
all over me, it was only a very small twinge. I sighed, suddenly
feeling about a thousand years old. "Is that everything?"
"All of the important information that I have. Unfortunately,
there is no operating manual on how to be a hunter. Trust your
instincts. Remember that they are stronger, faster, and much older
than you. With caution, you might live to see another fight." She
stood. "I don't have much time left here. If there are other
Hunters in the area, they will most likely find you. We weren't a
well organized group when I was active, but we still helped each
other out."
"Tamlin?"
"Yes?"
"Is there any GOOD news?"
She laughed. The sound reminded me of some of Heero's more
psychotic moments. "You're still alive, aren't you?"
Heero jarred my arm, and my shoulder let out a loud, nerve-
tingling screech of protest. "Unfortunately, yes."
"There you are, then."
I couldn't let it go. "Tamlin?"
"Yes?" She gave me a curious look, as if no one had ever dared ask
her two questions in a row before.
"I need to know. Why couldn't the vampire catch me with its eyes?"
The question had grown to terrible importance in my mind.
She smiled at me. "If you want my personal theory, I would guess
you have an affinity for the dead. It shields you from their
tricks."
"What makes you say that?"
"You knew there was something wrong with me, didn't you?" Tamlin
winked at me, and then disappeared. She turned into mist that
unbraided itself into wiggly snakes of frost and dissolved away
into nothing.
For a long, long time, I sat there. The end of the bandage that
Wufei had been wrapping around my head slipped from his suddenly
still fingers and hung annoyingly over my right eye. We stared at
each other, then, as Heero kept wrapping another bandage around my
arm, not bothered in the slightest.
"Wufei?" My voice sounded lost, like a little kid that just found
out that Santa Claus wanted to drink his blood. "Please tell me I
didn't just see that."
The first thing that I did when I woke up was tried to open my
eyes, which was a mistake. It was way too bright, and I felt like
my head was going to explode. The second thing I did was mumble
out something incoherent.
"What?" Someone - I think it was Heero - said by my ear, very
loudly.
"I said," I stated much more clearly, "that I'm going to puke,"
then rolled out of the bed I had mysteriously found myself in and
did just that. Cool fingers helped hold my aching head up until I
was done. Tears were running down my face, which normally would
have pissed me off, but right then I hurt too much to care about
dignity. I figured I didn't have much left anyway at that point,
considering I'd just tossed my cookies in front of Heero.
"Done now?" Heero asked, his voice soft.
I tried to nod, which was a mistake. It set off another round of
heaving. More tears squeezed themselves from my eyes. After the
pounding in my head subsided enough for me to think coherently and
my stomach stayed in place, I managed a weak, "Yeah."
"I'm going to put you back in your bed now. Can you handle being
moved?"
I wanted to say no, I really did. I wanted to say 'Just kill me,
please' but knowing Heero, he probably would have taken me
literally. Though at the time, being put out of my misery would
have been something of a relief. So instead, I said, "Roger."
His only reply was, "Yes." For a moment, between head-splitting
waves of pain, I thought I could detect a hint of concern in his
voice. It was probably just the trauma of the situation.
Strong, warm arms lifted me up like I didn't weigh anything at all
and set me on softness that I was pretty sure was my bed. A thin
little moan of pain escaped my lips.
"Are you okay?"
That had to be one of the dumbest questions I'd ever heard in my
life. Even cutting Heero a little slack for not being used to
conversing, it was still a dumb question. I laughed, very
carefully so that my head wouldn't fall off. "Yeah, just peachy."
"I can see that." A hand brushed my forehead. "You can't be too
hurt if you're making jokes."
I whimpered despite my own best efforts, and the hand withdrew.
"Can you open your eyes?"
"I'd rather not," I said, my voice strange in my own ears.
"Open your eyes, Duo. We need to see if you have a concussion."
Heero was being eminently reasonable and logical. And almost, well,
nice. If I hadn't been in so much pain, I would have been
suspicious. As it was, I didn't argue. I opened my eyes, and found
myself peering right into Heero's from a very close ranger for the
second time in one night.
Heero looked really pissed, which was kind of funny considering
how nice he was being. I shut my eyes quickly again, because it
hurt too much to have them open. Silently, I prayed that whoever
Heero was mad at, it wasn't me. When he was finally upset enough
to show emotion, the pucky was deep indeed.
"Your eyes aren't focusing properly," Heero commented. "You do
have a concussion."
"Right now, I just think it's nice that I have a head left to have
a concussion with," I laughed weakly again. Yeah, that's me. Mr.
Comedian. "How bad is it, doc?"
"Concussion..." Heero's voice went all distant, like he was
reading off a grocery list, "severe lacerations on your face and
head. Contusions on your shoulders, back, chest, and arms. More
lacerations on your back, but minor ones."
"Funny," I said, "my head's the only thing that hurts." Of course,
when I mentioned that, I was asking for it. My body turned into
one massive ache, all of my injuries clamoring for attention.
There's a lot to be said for blissful ignorance. "Can I have a
pain killer, please?" I didn't even have to try to sound pathetic.
Normally, I really didn't need the extra chemicals messing with my
brain, but I was willing to make an exception.
"Yes, soon," Heero said, "Wufei's raiding the school clinic now."
"Oh...okay." It hadn't occurred to me until that point that anyone
other than Heero would know I was hurt. But wait, how had he even
known? "Uh, Heero?" I went over my last few memories carefully. No,
no Heero in them, or anyone else I knew. Just the woman, whoever
she was.
"Yes?"
"How did I get in here?" I cracked one eye open.
"I carried you." Heero looked rather surprised. "You don't
remember?"
"Should I?"
"You insisted that you were alright, and that I should put you
down and let you walk," Heero said. If I hadn't known him so well,
I would have thought he was trying not to laugh. But then again, I
was starting to realize that I didn't know everything about him,
so it was a real possibility.
"I did?"
"Yes."
It didn't add up, but Heero was being unhelpful as always, so I
tried a different question. Sometimes, he was just too freaking
literal for his own good. When in doubt, rephrase. "Why were you
outside to carry me, anyway?"
"Quatre hauled me out of bed, along with Trowa and Wufei," Heero
shrugged. "He was babbling something about you. Then I heard a
shotgun fire, twice, and went to investigate. I thought you might
be in trouble; you normally are."
"Gee, thanks. It's not like I try, you know." I didn't. Really.
"I know."
"Who was shooting if it wasn't you?"
"I was," someone said.
That voice did not belong to Heero or anyone else I knew. Men
don't spontaneously change into altos. I turned my head as quickly
as I dared.
There was a woman sitting on the edge of Heero's bed. She was my
size - little. I could admit to myself that I was a peanut,
because I knew some wonderful day I'd have a growth spurt if I
didn't get killed first. This woman was definitely not going to be
getting any taller. I would guess she was in her late twenties.
She had white blonde hair that was in a braid longer than mine,
and her skin was fairer than Quatre's. Put that all together, and
she looked like an ice princess or a little girl's porcelain doll.
Dolls didn't have eyes like that, though. There was nothing vapid
or sweet about her. The only other people that have looked at me
like that were Pilots. It's the kind of look that people have when
they're trying to decide whether or not they'll have to shoot you,
and if so, exactly how many bullets to use. There was also the
sawed-off shotgun across her lap. Yeah, that was significant.
I remembered her. She was the last thing I'd seen before I passed
out.
There was something else, though. I had no idea what it was, but
that woman was making the hair on the back of my neck stand on end.
I couldn't describe it any other way except to say that it felt
like she was giving off static electricity. On top of everything
else, it was making me pretty damn uncomfortable.
So I was rude. I freely admit that. "Who the hell are you?" I
demanded. It would have sounded more intimidating, though, if I my
voice hadn't come out so totally pathetic.
She smiled. It was the kind you'd give to a little kid when you're
humoring them.
I didn't like being humored. So I tried to glare at her. It didn't
work. I gave up and looked at the ceiling, deciding to leave any
further efforts at intimidation to Heero. He was better at the
death glares than me anyway.
"My name's Tamlin," she said, "I already know your name is Duo
Maxwell. Your friend Heero and I have been having a nice talk."
She smiled again, this one friendly, open, and fake.
Heero just shrugged. Wasn't he Mr. Eloquence. "You still didn't
answer my question. I asked you who the hell you are. Just a name
doesn't tell me a whole lot," I said. It's hard to be tough when
you're flat on your back and feeling like ten kilos of shit in a
five kilo bag, but I did my best.
She shrugged. "I'm a...bounty hunter."
"Of course, a bounty hunter." Right. I believed that. Somehow,
though, I just couldn't make myself care. I hurt too much. So
instead, I just closed my eyes and did my best to ignore Tamlin
and Heero. The image of that thing on my back with its bright blue
eyes burning at me seemed to be etched into the backs of my
eyelids. The enormity of what had happened suddenly struck me - if
Tamlin hadn't done her mysterious showing up thing, I would have
died. It's one thing to come close to being blown up. I'm used to
that. But I'd never gotten my ass kicked that hard before. The
room got very cold all of a sudden, and I started shivering.
Heero didn't say anything, which was probably the smartest thing
he'd done all day. Tamlin didn't say anything either, which made
me dislike her a bit less. We all just sat in silence until I got
done shaking. It didn't take very long.
"God, I feel like shit." Understatement of the century on my part,
but I really didn't know what else to say, and it was getting way
too quiet. For one crazy moment, I wondered if Heero and Tamlin
had gotten up and left me alone in the room.
No, they hadn't. I could hear Heero shift in his seat. The little
noise was kind of disturbing; it wasn't like him to fidget.
What Tamlin said next was even more disturbing, though. "You might
feel like shit, but you're still lucky. Most people don't survive
their first encounter with a vampire."
For a long moment, I just lay in the bed and stared, waiting for
her to get to the punch line. She just sat and started back at me,
and I started to get the dark, sinking suspicion that it might not
be a joke after all. Finally, I had to say something or go insane
from the silence. Good ol' mouth to the rescue. "You're kidding,
right?"
All the emotion suddenly drained from her face, like someone had
just flipped a switch. On, happy. Off, cold and dead. You will
find, Duo, " she said, her voice devoid of inflection, "that I
never joke about certain things. Vampires are one of them."
"Oh, come on, stop it. Vampires aren't real. They don't exist.
You've been watching too many horror movies." I sounded a little
desperate even to my own ears. To be truthful, I was a lot more
willing to believe in the possibility that vampires really existed
than I wanted to admit. Really, I was a lot more willing to
believe pretty much anything than I would have been last year. Hey,
a lot of weird shit can get crammed into one little year.
"I will say this once more, and you can choose to believe me or
not. Vampires exist. They're real, just like you are." Just as it
had disappeared, the life returned to her face. "You should be a
lot more willing to believe, considering that when I found you,
one was sitting on your back."
Goose pimples mysteriously sprang into being all up and down my
arms. Still, I had to play it tough and attempt to salvage what
little machismo I had left. That's me, heap big Gundam Pilot.
Right. "Yeah, I was there, remember? I know there was something
trying to make cracks in the asphalt with my head. I just don't
know if I believe that it was a vampire."
"But."
"But it sure as hell wasn't human," I finished, my words grudging.
"Then why is it so hard to believe that it could be what I say?"
"Come on, man. Vampires are stuff out of old, corny B movies. You
know, plastic fangs and black capes and black hairdos slicked back
with Crisco. That shit ain't real."
"No," she agreed, "it isn't."
That gave me pause. "What?"
"Movies aren't real. They got a few details right, like the fact
that they drink blood and are afraid of holy items, but the
reality is very different." Her eyes held a burning intensity just
like the one I saw every morning when I looked into the mirror.
This woman had a Purpose. "The only reason that you're still alive,
Duo, is because the vampire didn't want to kill you just yet."
"It was sure as hell doing a good impression of it."
"It wanted you to be unconscious but still alive. Dead blood
poisons them. You must have looked like easy prey, walking by
yourself. You're lucky I was in the area." Her fingers caressed
the barrel of the shotgun. "The only thing I don't understand is
why it attacked you at all. It should have been able to take over
your mind."
"What?"
"If a vampire catches you with its eyes, it can roll your mind
under its will. I should have been able to put you so far down
that it could have peeled your skin off by inches and made you
like it." She shook her head. "But it didn't, and it was being
careful about how it hit. I would guess it was either very young
or very stupid."
Well, wasn't that just fucking peachy-keen. I'd been lucky enough
to be attacked by the world's only moron vampire. "Maybe it just
underestimated the thickness of my skull." I grinned disarmingly.
She seemed to be immune to my winsome charm, though Heero snorted.
"Don't fool yourself. If it had wanted you dead, it could have
ripped your throat out with no effort. They can bench press cars
one-handed. They are not human."
God help me, but I didn't know why I said what I did next,
"Neither are you."
Tamlin stopped mid-tirade, her face going dead again. I was
genuinely scared that she would shoot me. Instead, she started
laughing.
"What? What's so funny?"
She stopped as quick as she'd started. "I think I've been
underestimating you. It all begins to make sense now."
And damnit, no matter how much I whined, she wouldn't say any more.
Finally, she said, "Let's cut to the chase, then."
"Ah, my favorite part."
"There is a kiss of vampires in this area." She held up a hand
before I could interrupt. "A kiss is what we call a group of
vampires. They've been hunting at this school."
That actually explained a lot, like where Ayako had gone. I had to
suppress a major twinge at that thought. She was probably dead,
then. Something was striking me as odd about the whole situation,
though, even more off kilter than being told that vampires were
real. It took me a moment to realize what it was. Heero had been
sitting through the conversation, dead silent. He hadn't snorted,
or made a sarcastic comment even when the woman asserted that
vampires were real. And there was also the fact that he'd let her
into our room with a loaded weapon. Something was not adding up.
"Heero?"
"Yes?"
"Do you know this woman or something?"
"Really. From where?"
The look he gave me as his answer held the chill of absolute zero
in its remoteness. "It's not something I'm willing or able to
speak of."
Well shit. Dive! Dive! Blow ballast! And change the subject while
you're at it! "Fine, then," I said, mentally promising him that we
would be talking about this later. Secrets are dangerous shit.
"What do you think we should do?"
"I think we should listen to her."
Gee thanks, big help there.
Tamlin smiled, "Thank-you, Heero."
Heero shot her another look, and it wasn't the usual glare. It
was...fear? From Heero? Naw, couldn't be. But shit, I was getting
a bit freaked out myself.
"Okay," I said, "I'll bite. So there are bounty hunters that run
around killing vampires."
"Depending upon the Hunter, yes. Sometimes we'll kill other things,
like shape shifters, or rogue witches."
That was starting to get too weird. "Fine, fine. So what does that
have to do with us?"
"All of you have a gift for killing," she said. "I'm just going to
warn you that you might want to broaden your horizons a bit.
Monsters are everywhere, and they aren't necessarily human. I
can't pick your targets for you, but I can give you the knowledge
you'll need to stay alive."
"What do you want in return?" I normally liked it when people
offered to teach me new things, but I also remembered from my
times on the street that nothing is without a price tag.
"Nothing. I'm doing this as a favor for a friend." For some reason,
I didn't find that reassuring. "And I'm also doing this because I
wouldn't want to send anyone out to face the monsters unprepared.
I'm not in the business of getting kids killed."
About that time, Wufei showed up with five million rolls of gauze
and some wonderful, happy orange pill bottles. I'd never been so
glad to see another human being as long as I'd been alive. While
he and Heero cocooned me with kerlix, Tamlin talked about vampires.
It was a nice distraction from the pain. She told me all; about
old ones and young ones, about them being nocturnal, blood, garlic
not working, their abilities, and their habits. That crosses
worked against them, like the movies said, but only when they were
backed by belief.
Huh. Go figure. I believed in God after all, deep down inside.
"Normal bullets won't injure them, and neither will normal knives.
You either have to use straight silver or an alloy with the
highest possible silver content," she said, pausing for effect,
"the best way to kill one is putting a stake through its heart and
cutting off its head. The most foolproof, however, is cremation."
The general principle was sound, but the thought made me a little
queasy. Shooting, people, I could handle. Cutting mobile suits in
half with a thermal scythe, I could handle. Hell, watching Heero
set his own broken leg again, I could handle, a s long as I got
warned ahead of time and was allowed to go sit in a corner and
have the heebie-jeebies for a while. But when it came to chopping
off actual heads, I had a feeling that it was a little grosser
than I was used to. "Didn't you shoot that one, though?"
"I blew off its head and took out the chest with high dispersal
round," she said, grinning, "That works pretty well, too."
"I can imagine." A thought suddenly popped up in my mind. "What
did you do with the body?"
Wufei was the one that answered me. He'd been quiet up to now -
apparently, all had already been explained to him and he was
dealing. "Trowa and Quatre are taking care of it."
One less thing for me to worry about. I felt a twinge of guilt
that they were the ones have to clean up after a mess that was
kind of sort of maybe partially my fault. But then again,
considering that I was still wearing part of said mess splattered
all over me, it was only a very small twinge. I sighed, suddenly
feeling about a thousand years old. "Is that everything?"
"All of the important information that I have. Unfortunately,
there is no operating manual on how to be a hunter. Trust your
instincts. Remember that they are stronger, faster, and much older
than you. With caution, you might live to see another fight." She
stood. "I don't have much time left here. If there are other
Hunters in the area, they will most likely find you. We weren't a
well organized group when I was active, but we still helped each
other out."
"Tamlin?"
"Yes?"
"Is there any GOOD news?"
She laughed. The sound reminded me of some of Heero's more
psychotic moments. "You're still alive, aren't you?"
Heero jarred my arm, and my shoulder let out a loud, nerve-
tingling screech of protest. "Unfortunately, yes."
"There you are, then."
I couldn't let it go. "Tamlin?"
"Yes?" She gave me a curious look, as if no one had ever dared ask
her two questions in a row before.
"I need to know. Why couldn't the vampire catch me with its eyes?"
The question had grown to terrible importance in my mind.
She smiled at me. "If you want my personal theory, I would guess
you have an affinity for the dead. It shields you from their
tricks."
"What makes you say that?"
"You knew there was something wrong with me, didn't you?" Tamlin
winked at me, and then disappeared. She turned into mist that
unbraided itself into wiggly snakes of frost and dissolved away
into nothing.
For a long, long time, I sat there. The end of the bandage that
Wufei had been wrapping around my head slipped from his suddenly
still fingers and hung annoyingly over my right eye. We stared at
each other, then, as Heero kept wrapping another bandage around my
arm, not bothered in the slightest.
"Wufei?" My voice sounded lost, like a little kid that just found
out that Santa Claus wanted to drink his blood. "Please tell me I
didn't just see that."
