DISCLAIMER! I did not create the Vampire Hunter D universe, nor had any part in its creation. This story is just my way of showing my interest in the material. Hope you all enjoy.

CHAPTER 1: The Evil Vampire Toran Osirus

Why do they hate me? D thought to himself, as he often did after accepting a bounty. They hire me, yet they fear me so. He was of course referring to the people who inhabit this world. It was rare he would receive any praise for his work; slaying the undead. But what else was there for a Dunpeal to do? It does seem ironic though. D was himself, half-vampire, killing the creatures of the dark for the humans. But he did enjoy his work. Having vampire blood in him, who else could know how evil vampires and other monsters could be? But he often did wonder… Why help them?

"Hey D, your mind is wondering again." The demon that possessed D's left hand spoke at last, as much as D would get annoyed by the creature it truly was the only friend he had. D looked down at his hand and smirked.

"Don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about. I know I don't need to remind you that I am a part of you. We have a new job now, your eye should remain on the prize, or have you forgotten that we have to slay Toran Osirus for this job? Why you would accept such a crazy bounty is beyond me."

"I thought you could read my thoughts." D replied in kind.

"Humph! I still say this job is too risky, you know Osirus is famous for killing hunters. He always feeds them to that bitch of his Zaura." The demon thought a moment. "You know there are rumors that vampires are assembling in packs, seems to be a last ditch effort to increase their dwindling numbers. Osirus is never alone, he is a cold calculating monster who isn't gonna go down without a fight. You know D I've heard other rumors too, ones about a group of vampire's searching the land killing off Dunpeal's one by one. You, you're a hunter and a Dunpeal, oh man you're really fucked."

"I had to accept this job; we will need the money for the winter. Besides if this is the group of vampire's you've heard of then it would be best to take them out now, rather then wait for their numbers to grow."

"But there-"

"That's enough talk for now." D told the demon. "Just let me ride in peace." His hand respected his wish and was silent. The horse D rode on was as black as the night and looked to be as frightening as it was beautiful. It moved at a slow pace, not by D's choice however; the terrain was as hilly as it was rocky, but it was the fastest route to Toran Osirus' castle. It was still only morning, the sun would still be up by the time he would arrive at the castle. To attack a vampire like Osirus at night would be dangerous even for a hunter like D. Attacking Osirus during the day was going to be hard enough; odds are that his lover Zuara would also be at the castle. Perhaps this was fortunate though, if D could kill Zaura in combat, Toran would be crushed, his focus would be lost. Slaying him would take little effort then.

One month earlier…

Toran Osirus was a notorious vampire known for showing no mercy when it came to feasting on humans. Men, women, children, it did not matter to Toran, he saw humans for what they were to vampires; food. There has been a bounty on Toran's head for decades now; no hunter has ever come close to killing him though many have tried. He particularly liked killing hunters, he would never feed on them, instead he would torture them usually for days on end. Sometimes though, he did let his lover Zaura Lee drain them of their blood. For some reason feeding on a hunter always made her want to be with her lover. It was strange how even a creature as evil as Toran Osirus could still fall in love.

His hunger was strong this particular night. Toran loved to stalk his prey, he especially loved to watch them suffer and die as he sucked the blood out of their arteries, especially with women. Their blood always seemed to be more exhilarating as well as better tasting then a man's blood. It was usually easy for Toran to kill women; he was a very handsome looking man standing about 6'-2". His hair was black with a silver streak running along both sides, and it was long, but fell no shorter then his shoulders. Wearing a green cloak made of fine silks Toran always wore expensive clothing. He was of vampiric nobility and very much so looked the part.

He stood in the shadows of an alley, invisible except for his silver eyes, which shined like exotic gems. If it wasn't for Toran's ability to control the weak minds of the town's people he would've been easily identifiable. It took several minutes of observing the crowd of people who were walking by before he finally found a suitable prey; a mother and her child. His fangs in his mouth had begun to grow slightly; this was his target this night. The streets weren't that crowded this late at night, it was a surprise indeed that a mother would be out here with her child. She wasn't a bad looking woman either, young, late 20's shimmering red hair with blonde highlights and a figure that would leave most men looking. Her son looked to be no older then 10, he shared the same red hair as her mother, as well as a handsome face. He was obviously tired, holding his mothers hand and leaning his head against her side, she wrapped her free hand around his shoulders holding him close, protecting him like a mother would a child.

"Don't worry Lawrence we're almost home." The mother told her son, he just looked up at her and smiled slightly.

"Katherine…" The woman stopped, and looked around; no one seemed to pay her any notice. Someone had called her name didn't they? She must be hearing things she convinced herself.

"Katherine, over here…" She looked towards an alley across the street and saw her husband standing there in the dark.

"Gene?" Katherine was surprised to see her husband there.

"Daddy!" Lawrence exclaimed.

"Come here Katherine, come here son. I have something I want to show you." It's too easy. Toran thought too himself. "Come, it's at the end of the alley."

Katherine and Lawrence had already crossed the street and entered into the alley. "Come, just a little more my family." Toran lured them deeper into the dark alley, until they had reached a brick wall which prevented them from going any further. Then with a snap of his hand the spell Toran had over Katherine and Lawrence was broken.

"How did we-" Katherine began but was cut short when Toran grabbed her and Lawrence by the throat and slammed them both into the nearby wall. He grasped their throats so tight they could not let out a cry for help. Wrapped around Toran's neck was a two-headed snake with no tail, for its heads were at both ends of its body. Toran always kept this monster close by, its lethal poison paralyzed it's victims often times sending them into seizures so severe that it would break nearly every bone in its prey's body. Toran used this beast often too paralyze his victims; since the monster was one of Toran's Familiars its poison was not lethal to him.

The monster slowly exposed its heads out of Toran's cloak; each head was staring Lawrence and Katherine in the eye. "You can have the child my pet." Toran said. "He is too small for my hunger." With a slow methodical speed the deadly snake slithered its way around Toran's arm until finally stopping in front of Lawrence's face; already purple from the lack of oxygen. The snake's dual heads hovered in front of Lawrence waiting for Toran to release his death grip so they could strike at the neck.

"Say good bye to your child Katherine." Loosening his grip around Katherine's neck slightly, Toran turned her head so that she would be forced to see the two headed beast literally destroy her son. Tears streamed down Katherine's face. Toran let go of Lawrence, the monster struck with a hungry fury, each head sinking its venomous fangs into the boy's neck. He dropped instantly convulsing from the lethal injection only a second later. Katherine tried to look away, but Toran forced her to watch as he slowly licked the tears off of her cheek.

"Don't worry." Toran whispered into her ear. "I assure you his death was very painful, but don't worry you'll experience that pain as well." He exposed his fangs they grew slowly, as he looked her in the eyes, looking at her fear, at her desperation. Then he released Katherine from his grip, but quickly dug his fangs deep into her throat, penetrating her flesh, blood flowed out of her neck like water crashing through a dam. Toran drained her until she died. He then tilted his head back and let the feeling of fresh blood rejuvenate his body, it was an unbelievable high. His pet finished with the boy, and made its way back into Toran's cloak.

"I think this will bring the dunpeal for sure master." Toran said to the figure that now appeared out of the darkness. He was a tall man covered in black armor with a black cloak covering his features; he stepped forward and observed Toran's prey.

"I hope you're the one I've been looking for D." The shadowy figure said to himself. "Very good Toran, when they find these bodies they will surely hire the dunpeal to find you. Let's go Toran, we've laid our bait, now let's wait and reel this fish in." His voice was cold and dark; it even made Toran cower a bit, but like an obedient dog Toran obeyed and the two jumped up to the rooftops and made their way back to Toran's castle.

Present time…

"There it is D." D's hand said. As they both stared down the entrance to Toran Osirus' castle. "Can you feel the evil aura emanating from it, definitely more then one vampire in there. Are you ready for this D? I have a bad feeling about this one, even with the sun still up." D just sat on his horse in silence, staring down his bounty's lair. The castle really wasn't that big, at least compared to a lot of the castle's D had seen, it was very fortified however; but there were no monsters guarding the area The demon was right, D shared his bad feeling about this place. He was ready though, he was always ready to fight, always ready to survive. He had no one else to depend on except for himself.

D took a deep breath, and motioned his horse forward. "Let's do this." He said finally.

Chapter 2: Inside These Castle Walls

With a quick slash of his long and elegant sword, D took the head of the first of the werewolves in the pack. The castle was indeed guarded by vampiric minions as D had suspected, but they must have been expecting him, they had laid hidden until he was right on top of them. If it wasn't for his demonic hand, they might have caught him by surprise. Eight werewolves was still a hard fought battle though, and they had a small element of surprise.

The werewolf he struck clawed at the space where its head once occupied, blood gashed out of the gaping wound covering the dead beast as if fell limp and finally died. D jumped off of his horse and sent it galloping back the way it came. He stood there for a moment, his sword gripped firmly in both hands, held at his side with the blade pointing outward; he was ready to deliver a death strike to the next creature that jumped him. The beasts moved into a flanking position around D. They surrounded him on three sides now, two on his left and right, with three meeting him head on. These were strong werewolves, each standing taller then two meters in height. They all shared the same dark gray and silver fur from head to toe, their eyes were as red as blood. Each time they snarled rows of razor sharp teeth could be seen in their snouts. Drool gushed out of their mouths as they growled in anticipation.

"Out of my way!" D screamed as he lunged forward. The werewolves in front of him dropped to all fours and sprinted forward as well, the other beasts in the pack moved to D's rear.

"Are you crazy!" His hand managed to scream despite its mouth being covered by D's sword handle.

"I know what I'm doing." D said in response to his hand's outcry. The distance between the leading pack of werewolves and himself diminished. The wolves in front of him jumped at the same time, their claws exposed and ready to tear into D's flesh, but they wouldn't have their chance. While they were in mid air, D swung his sword hard with a horizontal strike. Hitting his mark, all three werewolves split in two at the waist. They were dead before they even hit the ground.

The four remaining monsters didn't flinch at the death of their companions, they had D's scent and they won't stop until D is dead. Knowing his hunter's are close behind him, D ran along the wall of the castle, their were still four werewolves to contend with, having the wall on his left did give him some reassurance that his one side was safe. This time however; the werewolves didn't foolishly rush at D. With his back against the castle wall, the werewolves surrounded him. Not only were these werewolves strong, they were smart, they learned to adapt to their stronger and more skilled opponent.

Inside the castle walls Toran's master stood motionless. He looked dreadfully dark in his cloak. He was watching the activity with his guards outside the walls. He couldn't see through the walls; no, but he was seeing it through one of the werewolves point of view. Each of them was his familiar he could form a psychic link with any of them at any time. It was a risky thing to do while they were fighting though if he were attached to one of the monsters when it was slain he would feel their pain as they fall dead. It normally did not kill the familiar's master, but it was very painful. It was like receiving a concussion inducing blow to the head while having a migraine.

A smile ran across his face as he saw D cut the head off of the first werewolf to attack him. His blade was very fast, very swift; his reputation seemed to live up to the hype. After killing three more of his familiars D led the remaining four to the castle wall. It was at this moment the master ordered them to hold their advance.

D waited for one of the werewolves to make the first move. He was in a fighting stance knees slightly bent, sword pointed up in the air directly in front of him. The werewolves held their ground though they stood there staring D down, as if they were compelled not too attack.

Then suddenly, they started to leave one at a time until only one was left. D raised his brow, curious this was very strange behavior for werewolves. The creature that remained sat down and then started twisting its head, as if something were in its ears. It sat there a moment and blinked its eyes.

"D" The werewolf spoke in a deep raspy voice. "We must speak with you D."

"Who are you?" D asked.

"We are all here D, we just want to talk. Dispose of this familiar and meet us inside the castle." The werewolf shook its head again. When it was set free of its master's spell the monster growled loudly and jumped at D. But with a quick downward strike to the monsters left shoulder blade the monster fell dead, nearly sliced in half.

"What did he mean by 'we'?" D asked himself as he cleaned off his sword with the leaf of a nearby plant. Satisfied he sheathed it.

"I told yah Toran wasn't alone." His hand replied. "What are yah gonna do? Are you going to just walk in there like he wanted?"

"I suppose I don't have a choice, perhaps we can bargain for Osirus' life, or rather our own. Those werewolves were meant only to get our attention; I have a feeling if they really wanted me dead I would be by now." D looked into the thicket of trees that surrounded the castle and found pairs of red eyes watching him. The werewolves were still watching him. "Let's go."

When D had found his way to the front of the castle the doors were open for him. There was no courtyard, the castle was more or less a giant house built for the sole purpose of keeping sunlight out. The interior wasn't as dark and bleak as one would expect though. Typical of most vampire nobles, the walls were decorated with life sized portraits of vampire patriarchs; D even recognized one or two as bounties he had collected upon. The ceiling which seemed to be as high up as the sky was decorated with a giant mural of Toran's lover Zaura. Also scattered along the ceilings were gigantic chandeliers which glowed a bright white light which illuminated the mural. An enormous fireplace stood in the wall directly across from him, the flame inside was full of life, each crackle of the wood seemed to make the fire grow. To the left and right of the fireplace were stairs that led to a second floor and to the adjacent sides of both stairs was another set of stairs going in the opposite direction towards the dungeon areas.

"We meet at last D." A hooded figure walked down the stairs from the second floor. "I am impressed by your skill with the sword. My familiars are very dangerous beasts." Once the man reached the bottom of the stairs he walked to the front of the fireplace and stared into the flame. "I am Nosferatu, a dunpeal just like you D." Nosferatu smirked. "Perhaps more like you then you could imagine."

"What the hell do you want?" D replied, his hand firmly grasping his sword handle.

"We know what life for you is like D. Toran, Zuara, and I have no family, no friends, no one to rely on except for ourselves. I used to be a hunter too D. I grew sick of helping humans they'd just as soon kill me then thank me for my service. So I let go of my inhibitions, I didn't deny who I was anymore, but I was still alone. Too human for the liking of vampires; too monstrous to be accepted by humans, I was all alone. So I started a quest to find my brethren and retrace my lineage to find my family."

"You're starting to bore me." D said impatiently.

Nosferatu removed his hood; long brown hair fell from the back of his head and stopped at the middle of his back. He turned around slowly. "I've been looking for you…brother." The fire in the fireplace ignited. Nosferatu's features became clear as day, and to D's surprise it was like looking at a mirror image of himself. Nosferatu looked exactly like D.

"What!" D said in shock. His hand fell from his sword.

"Perhaps you need more proof, D." Nosferatu raised his right hand and removed the glove that was covering it. When he revealed his palm to D, a demon just like the one on D's hand appeared. "Look at the curse I bear D. You know our lineage to be true." The face on his hand looked at D, squinted and blinked its eye's a few times.

"He's just as ugly as you are." Nosferatu's hand said.

"Silence!" Nosferatu retorted, putting his glove back on his hand. "I assume yours is as much of a smart ass as mine. If it wasn't for his powers I would've lopped him off a long time ago.

"I'm touched by the family reunion." D said sarcastically. "But I have business to take care of, where is Toran Osirus?"

:"Please, don't fight us D. I told Toran to kill those people. I knew they would then hire you to find him, and in doing so I have brought you to me. We are brothers D! Please, we have many memories to share, perhaps you can help me retrace my own past, as I can yours. Please D! Our numbers are dwindling at a rapid rate, we will be extinct within the next 200 years unless we unite."

"Your talk is boring me." D said as he drew his sword. "Let me handle Osirus and I'll hear what you have to say." D began walking to the stairs that led upstairs.

"I'm afraid I can't let you have him." Nosferatu replied.

Bang!

The sound a gunshot echoed through the castle hall. The bullet struck D in his right shoulder blade. Impossible, D should have been able to dodge the bullet before it even left the barrel, how could he have been taken by surprise like this? He looked down at his wound which spewed black a vile black fluid. Is that my blood? D thought to himself. He looked up and saw a beautiful woman approach Nosferatu.

Her skin was as white as snow, but her features glowed like the sun, she had long flowing black hair which stopped just shy of her of lower back. She wore light leather armor that fit her like a glove, it was black, and she looked very sexy in it. On her hips were gun holsters for what appeared to be customized hand guns which she held in both hands.

Toran's lover. Zaura Lee.

"How does it feel D?" Zaura asked. Her voice was very sensual, she obviously used her sex appeal to her advantage. "You are the first vampire to ever be struck by one of my shadow bullets." She twirled her handguns several times before landing them gracefully into their holsters. She then pulled Nosferatu close and kissed him passionately.

D lowered to one knee and spit up the same black fluid that poured out of his shoulder. He clawed at the wound, fighting away the pain, until at last he was able to dig out the shadow bullet. It pulsated an eerie black glow, it was like holding a black hole in the palm of your hands.

"Come Nosferatu." Zaura said. "Toran is waiting for us in bed." She gave him another kiss, this time pressing her body hard against his. "Don't worry D. You won't die, but you just need to rest for a little bit. She walked over and kissed D on the forehead. "Sleep now, D." she said softly. No matter how hard D tired, he couldn't break her spell. His vision slowly blurred until finally…Darkness.