CHAPTER THREE
Bethany and Mori rode into a small town on the outskirts of Budapest. The two girls dressed in black caught a lot of odd stares from the people watching them enter the town.
"Don't send the welcome wagon." Beth mumbled sarcastically to herself.
"Do they ever?" Mori asked turning to her companion. Beth shook her head 'no'.
"Are you hunters?" came a voice from the crowd. It was from a girl with long, mud brown, ringlets of hair and large hazel eyes. She looked to be about thirteen.
"Yes." Mori replied. "We heard you have a demon problem."
"You look awfully young." The girl replied. The people behind her nodded. She seemed to be some sort of ringleader. Not bad for being around thirteen.
"So do you." Mori replied. "Do you want our help or not?"
"Who are you?" the girl asked.
"Bethany Monroe."
"Mori Trice."
"I am Jen Valerious." She said. Mori nodded.
"So you are the youngest one." Mori said.
"What?" Jen asked.
"I know all about the Valerious family…and their curse." Mori told the young girl. "Why aren't you in Vaseria?"
"I live here with my mother. My father and the rest of my family is dead. Now, what about our demon problem?" Jen demanded.
"Is he tall with dark hair, yellow eyes and horns that look like they're corkscrews?" Beth asked.
"Yes." Jen replied.
"Then you best move." Mori told the girl. Jen whirled around and ducked instantly. Fire then engulfed the place where she had just been. Beth and Mori jumped off their horses and quickly took cover. That just happened to be behind a stone fence that surrounded a home. Bethany pulled out her silver revolver.
"You think those will work?" Mori asked her.
"Do you have any other ideas?" Beth asked as she cocked the gun.
"No."
"Then why the heck not?"
The two girls peeked over the top of their cover to see that the fireball had vanished. Jen was lying on the ground still in one piece. This slightly surprised both of them. They then saw Victor Ridad clearly. He was strong and shirtless at the moment. His body was covered in red tattoos. His hands looked more like claws as did his feet with long, sharp, black talons. He was smiling slightly, allowing his yellow pointed teeth to be seen.
"Evil never looked so ugly." Beth told Mori, who ignored the comment by remaining silent.
"Did you really think that you and your little uprising could stop me, little girl?" he demanded as he advanced on Jen. She quickly jumped up and looked at him. She couldn't face him without getting burnt to a crisp. She had to escape. Her eyes started darting from side to side, trying to find a way out.
"Go on, I dare you." Victor told her as one of his hands was engulfed in flame.
Bethany brought up her pistol and aimed at the slim profile of the demon.
"It's too risky." Mori told Beth. "You may hit the girl."
"I won't miss." Beth replied.
"How do you know that?" Mori demanded. "You can't be that accurate from here."
"Watch me."
Thunder then sounded around them milliseconds after Beth had pulled the trigger. The bullet landed right where she was aiming, his shoulder. Victor roared in pain as Jen dashed away. The roar was unlike anything Beth had ever heard before. It sounded truly inhuman…there were no other words to describe it.
"Or maybe you can be." Mori said as seeing this.
The two girls watched as Victor dug the bullet out of his arm with his claws and the wound healed in seconds.
"Mori, how do we do this?" Beth asked quickly after seeing this.
"Cut off his head and smother his ashes in holy water." Mori said.
"Easier said than done." Beth mumbled.
"Not really. All we need is a distraction." Mori thought to aloud. Beth then noticed at Victor had spotted the two. Mori followed her gaze and then noticed his hand.
"Down!" Mori said as she pulled Bethany down beside her behind their fortitude. Beth looked up to see fire flying over her head.
"I'll distract him." Beth said. "You figure out a way to get his head off."
"What?" Mori asked, not believing her ears. Was she giving her an order?
"You have the most experience with these things." Beth began explaining herself. "I can shoot him from a distance. That way, we each get to do what we do best. I've figured that out about you at least."
"I'm sorry, figured what out?" Mori asked irately.
"You kill things. It's what you do. It's what you're good at. Listen Mori, can we discuss this later? We are in the middle of fighting a demon." Beth answered her.
"When you put it that way…" Mori said and pulled a sword out from under her cloak.
"Don't get killed." Beth told her.
"I won't. Don't do anything stupid." Mori answered. Mori then vanished to another hiding place. Beth saw the fire subside, but she stayed behind her cover.
"Come out, little one. I won't fry you…yet." Victor cooed. Beth steadied herself on her toes so she was in a crouching position. Her pistol was still in her hand. Five shots was all she had left. If only she could see without endangering herself, this would make things a lot easier. Unfortunately, life was never easy.
Beth quickly poked her head to where she could see, fired her gun and ducked back down before Victor could react. She heard him scream in pain again. She had hit him, but where? She didn't know that she had hit him in the leg. Fire then appeared over her head again as she slid down closer to the ground.
The thirteen year old then heard him moving. He was getting closer. Still she didn't even dare move a muscle. Her heart was pounding so much that it threatened to jump out of her chest. She then began controlling her breathing to ease her pounding heart. Suddenly, Beth was pulled up by the front of her coat and was less than a foot away from Victor's face.
Her eyes widened for a second as he opened his great jaw to roar. Beth noted that his breath stunk. In a flash, she had raised her pistol and fired her last four shots into his mouth, the bullets flying out of the back of his skull. He let go of the girl and stumbled for a moment. Beth dropped her gun and pulled her dagger from her boot. She had to move fast. The girl flicked it open and jammed the blade in his heart. The demon roared in pain, but the roar was cut short by Mori coming up from behind and slicing his head off with her sword.
His body fell to a heap on the ground and then turned to ash. Beth watched in amazement as it did so. She had survived. She had taken on a demon and survived! Her chest was heaving and it hurt where he had grabbed her, but she was alive and he wasn't. Still, they weren't done.
"Do you have the holy water?" Beth asked as she picked her dagger up off the ground, closed it and returned it to her boot. A bottle appeared from the folds of Mori's cloak. She pulled the cork out with her teeth and poured the contents over the ashes, causing them to hiss and then disappear entirely.
"Not bad, Bethany. Not bad at all." Mori told her. "You aren't dead. You're bleeding, but not dead."
Beth looked at the place where Victor had grabbed her. Her shirt was torn and she could see the blood oozing down her front. His nails must have dug into her skin.
"It's just a scratch." Beth said shrugging. She then noticed that Jen had come up behind Mori.
"That was amazing." Jen told them.
"Thanks, I guess." Beth replied.
"Do you two need a place to stay for the night?" Jen asked. "You could stay with my mom and I."
Mori nodded. Frankly, she really didn't feel like sleeping on the ground again tonight. "Bethany needs to be bandaged up anyway."
"Wonderful!" Jen exclaimed. "If you'll follow me then, please."
Jen lead Beth and Mori to a small house on the outskirts of the village. It looked a little rickety, but still, it was better than being outside. A woman rushed out to meet them. She had long, straight brown hair with large, grey eyes. She looked to be around thirty or so, but her resemblance to Jen was striking. She was without a doubt the girl's mother.
"Jen! You're safe!" The woman exclaimed and hugged the girl. "Who are your friends?"
"Mom," Jen began. "This is Bethany Monroe and Mori Trice. They killed Victor for us and will be staying with us for a few days."
"Nice to meet you both." Jen's mother said shaking both of their hands. "I am Emily Tonks. I'm afraid we only have one extra room. I hope you don't mind sharing it."
Mori said what the two of them were already thinking.
"I'm fine as long as there are two beds."
- - - - -
Beth sat at the edge of her bed. She had bandaged her chest and had already had a bath. It felt wonderful to be clean after everything she had gone through today. She was in her usual black pants, shirt and boots. She looked up when she heard the door open. Mori had entered the room. She had her wet hair pulled back into a ponytail and had on black pants, boots and a button up shirt with her cloak over her arm. The button up shirt was opened a little low to reveal a silver ring on a silver rope chain that was around her neck.
"You never stuck me as a jewelry person." Beth said.
Mori looked up at her and then touched her ring. It was in the shape of a cross with a name engraved on it.
"May I see it?" Beth asked. Wordlessly, Mori slipped the necklace off and tossed it to Beth, who caught it. The ring was fairly plain, but the name etched on it caught her attention.
"T. Trice?"
"It stands for Trissa Trice." Mori replied as Bethany handed the necklace back to her. Mori slipped it around her neck again. "She was my mother."
"Oh." Bethany answered. "It's very pretty."
"Thanks."
Beth could tell that this was a touchy subject, so she decided to end it there. She had no idea how touchy.
- - - - -
The next day, Bethany and Mori were getting ready to leave. Jen was upset that they couldn't stay any longer. Beth apologized and said that they really had to be getting back. Mori could've cared less.
"Where are you going?" Jen asked them.
"Vatican City." Beth replied.
"Really?"
"Yes." Mori told her sternly.
The two young huntresses had packed rather quickly and were gone by mid-afternoon. They rode side by side in the forest, listening to the crunching of the leaves under their horse's hooves.
"Well, how do you think it went?" Beth asked Mori.
"Honestly, not that bad. Then again, Victor made it easy for us, didn't he?" Mori replied.
Beth smiled and nodded. "He did. How many pockets do you have on you anyway? You seem to pull stuff out of thin air."
"That, my dear Bethany, is my own little secret." Mori replied, a smile dancing around in her icy eyes. Beth smiled a little wider at this. So Mori had humor in her. This was good to know.
Suddenly, the wind picked up around the girls. The horses whined in fright and rose up on the hind legs. Beth and Mori were sent to the ground, hitting the leaf covered ground with a painful thud. Mori was standing immediately, but it took Bethany a little longer since she had landed on the side closest to her injury. Her landing had sent waves of fresh pain across her chest, causing her to moan in pain. The horses whined again and galloped away in fear. Beth didn't see what they were afraid of till she stood and the wind died down. Standing in the path before them was a man who looked to be in his early thirties. He had pale blond hair slicked back with blue eyes. He was pale and lavishly dressed.
"Harker." Mori almost hissed at the man. "I thought I killed you."
"Did you honestly think that a burning building would kill me, Morianalynn?" the man asked, his eyes locked on the dark girl.
"One could only hope." Mori replied, extreme hatred in her voice. She matched his gaze, her own eyes hard and frozen.
"You see I have survived, but I am scared from our little rendezvous together." He said and turned his face to the side. Against his pale skin was a curved scare that traveled along his cheek bone to his temple. "However, it will heal."
"Good." Mori replied. "I'd hate for you to be in poor health when I kill you."
"Are you always this blunt?" Harker asked the girl.
"Yes."
"Well…" Harker then let his gaze travel around Mori till his blue eyes landed on Bethany. Beth then reached for her fully loaded revolver that rested in her coat. She had a grip on the handle, but didn't draw it quite yet.
"Who is your friend?"
"No one of consequence." Mori replied quickly, her eyes still locked on the man before her.
"I wouldn't say that." Harker said as he and Bethany locked eyes. The teen felt something pulling inside her for her to move closer to him. No, she wouldn't do it. The young huntress was far too stubborn to fall for that.
"Come here." Harker ordered. Mori then noticed that their eyes were locked. This was not good. There was no way Bethany could resist his control over her mind. She had never even gone up against a vampire before. There was just no way…unless she was as stubborn as heck.
"Come here." Harker ordered again, only this time with more force.
"Why should I? I'm smarter than that." Bethany replied. Mori cocked an eyebrow. Leave it to Cardinal Jinette to make her partners with the most stubborn teenage girl there was. However, that had it's advantages.
Harker then pulled back his lips to reveal two large, white fangs. He then let out a hiss. Beth fought not to gasp. He was a vampire! But then how come she was able to resist him? Harker moved a step toward Beth. Without thinking, Beth pulled out her revolver and cocked it at the same time Mori pulled hers out as well. Harker paused a moment and evaluated his situation. He had two pistols pointing at him, both aimed for his heart.
"Until we meet again, Morianalynn." Harker said quietly before the wind picked up again, and he vanished. After a moment of absolute silence and stillness, Bethany spoke.
"Morianalynn?"
"It's my full name and if you ever repeat it or tell anyone I will not hesitate in murdering you in your sleep, do you understand me?" Mori said glaring at her partner. Beth backed up a step at sensing that Mori was angry. She knew you didn't make Mori angry and live very long.
"Mori it is then."
"Good." Mori said and then sighed heavily.
"C'mon, we better get the horses."