So sorry for the delay… I have AP bio work that's been keeping me busy over the summer…ick. Here's the next chapter and thanks to Warlordomega, Deshwitat's Lover, iconofcoolness, Lunatic Pandora1, Queen of the Red Skittle, StormRaven333, resinence cascade (Sorry, no lycans in this story... maybe in another one), and Chrosis for the reviews!
Chapter 14: Pasts and Futures
Ravyn moved through the guild house, depressed and brooding. A group was going on another hunt and she had eagerly accepted the invitation to join them; anything to distract her from the impeding sense of doom that washed over her every time she relaxed.
The fact her cure was known, but impossible to create came as a stronger blow than when she had first found out she had the vampire virus.
Shuddering, Ravyn remembered the night she was afflicted…
It was raining; and cold… God she hated the cold. Her breath whispered in and out of her mouth in smoky gasps.
Glancing at her watch, Ravyn sighed when she realized the others were late. Dammit. That was the third time this month. The quarry would be approaching any moment…
At the moment she was perched on top of a roof of a decrepit, abandoned building, as usual. "No one ever looks up." The saying was so true. Not only did the roof provide a prime view of the entire area but was useful if things didn't go as planned. Then again, if the other hunters were late in getting into position then things would never go as planned.
The vamps they were planning on executing tonight was a new, rather infamous group that called themselves "The Wolves", mainly because they hunted in a group, unlike most vampires that were solitary hunters, and they held no mercy for their chosen prey. They had killed a total of eight people, two hunters included, before the Ash Guild was able to get a lock on them and their movements.
"Shit…" Ravyn cursed quietly when she saw the group round the corner. They all wore hooded cloaks and, with the addition of a few sickles, would look like a group of Grim Reapers marching down the street. Their headquarters was located only a block away and they always took this particular street that led to the more populated areas of the city where they would, in turn, hunt and feed. Making a quick head count, Ravyn was surprised to see there was another vampire amidst the group. There were six now, not the usual five.
"I guess they're recruiting," she thought. That vampire had picked an incredibly bad time to join the club. Ravyn saw a flash of white across the street that indicated the others were ready; just in time.
Ravyn watched the group as they walked past her perch, her gaze flickering across the street for a faint green flash of light that signaled that she was to move in. The plan was to lure the vampires into a dead-end alley and ambush them. In and out, an easy hit. That is, if the others would give her the go ahead.
Ravyn bit her lip to hold back a shouted curse when a dim crimson light flashed. That meant to back off.
She knew why the others weren't letting her go in: the extra vamp was surprised them and they didn't like surprises. There were ten hunters in place; two for each vamp in case one got wounded. Ravyn sighed, knowing that most likely the vamps would get away this night.
There was a pause, and then a yellow light flashed. It meant that she was to go ahead with the plan, but to proceed with caution. Ravyn smiled; most likely Ivy, who had asked to join in this hunt, told the others that an extra vamp wasn't that much of a threat and had convinced them to go along with the attack.
"Go Ivy," Ravyn thought. Ivy seemed to have a personal vendetta against this group, probably because they mutilated and tortured their prey before feeding. Ivy disliked vamps overall, but abhorred those that tortured humans. She was the one that managed to find this group so fast and pinpoint the best place for an ambush; pity the source of her motivation had to stem from something so grotesque.
Ravyn climbed down from her perch carefully and took a deep breath; she was basically going to be bait, leading the vampires across the street into the alley where the other vampires were waiting. It was a risky job, but the thought of getting these bloodsuckers off the streets overrode the fear.
Clearing her mind, Ravyn called out the group, moving out into plain view in the middle of the street, holding a crudely carved wooden stake and a flashlight. The vampires all turned simultaneously, staring at her. Ravyn knew how she appeared: a stupid human who watched way too many vampire movies and had somehow found them out; an incredibly easy target and an excellent chance for some sadistic fun.
The group teleported and reappeared about six feet in front of her. Ravyn faked a yelp of surprise and jumped backwards, receiving cruel laughs from the vampires.
She dropped the flashlight, pulled out a cross and held it before her, stammering, "Get back!" In reality crosses had no affect on vampires at all, unless you sharpened one end and stabbed a vampire through the chest with it. The same went the holy water and all other religious articles. Most myths about vampires were untrue, which lead to the inexperienced person's attempt to try hunting and killing vampire and instead becoming their "prey's" dinner.
The vampires moved forward, but one vampire in the middle of the group held up a hand and they all froze. The one stepped forward, a cloak hiding its' face. Its silver eyes seemed to glow from under the hood as two dots of cold light.
"Hello Ravyn," a familiar voice greeted.
Ravyn paled, threw the stake and cross at Nacht, and called out to the other hunters, "To me! Ambush!" She unsheathed her sword as Nacht moved forward with inhuman speed. Swinging wildly, Ravyn's only concern at the moment was a speedy escape. She had met Nacht once before and had been knocked unconscious after stabbing the Master vampire in the leg with her dagger while aiding another hunter. No matter how experienced she was, there was no way she could hold her own against a Master vampire of Nacht's magnitude and five others.
Nacht caught the blade easily and twisted, wrenching the sword out of Ravyn's hand. Ravyn moved to grab her dagger, but was struck across the face with a powerful backhand. She hit the ground and quickly began to push herself to her feet. A kick hit her in the ribs and launched her farther away to land in an undignified heap. Ravyn gasped for breath, winded, the smelled of asphalt assaulting her senses. She heard the collective screams of the Wolves as the other hunters arrived. A spark of hope lit in her, knowing that her guild members were there.
Suddenly, a cold hand wrapped around her neck and she was hoisted into the air. Her fingers scrabbled at the hand that was wrapped around her neck, but it felt like she was clawing at marble. She felt her body be tugged forward and the piercing sensation as Nacht bit into her neck. Peace washed over her, but Ravyn knew all about it. This wasn't the first time she had been bitten by a vampire, and she had been trained ever since to resist the feelings it brought. As she began to struggle, she immediately became aware of the pain, as Nacht grew annoyed with her struggles and dropped the peaceful veil. At Nacht's mental command, the pain of the bite grew to feel like liquid fire running through her veins. The older hunters were right; getting bit by an angry vampire was the epitome of pure agony.
Ravyn open her clenched eyes to see that three of the wolves had been dispatched and the other two were quickly being overwhelmed by the hunters. Three hunters were racing towards her already, calling her name, though their voices seemed hollow and far away
As the loss of blood took its' toll, along with the waves of pain assaulting her mind, Ravyn's consciousness faded and the world went black…
Ravyn awoke dazed and in pain. Her eyes were shut tightly, in pain, but she could feel the aches in her body beginning to fade. Soon, she became aware of other sensations: the cold ground under her, the arm holding her in a slumped sitting position, the warm, thick liquid running down her throat…
Her body and mind reeled and her eyes shot open. With a cry of horror, Ravyn shoved Nacht's wrist away from her mouth and flailed wildly to get away from the vampire. Surprisingly, Nacht let her go. Ravyn stumbled and crawled away frantically, somehow managing to regain her feet and run.
She glanced at her surroundings, trying to register where she was. Nacht must have teleported away from the battle. She was relieved to find that she was only a block or two away from where the other hunters were.
Ravyn wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and gasped when she saw the blood on it. Deep in her head, she heard a cruel keening laugh…
Ravyn shook the memory away. She had raced back to the hunters, babbling like a madman. They had taken her back to the Guild and preformed the tests to see if she had drank enough of Nacht's blood to infect her with the virus. But even before the tests had come back, Ravyn knew she was infected; the wicked laugh she had heard was confirmation enough. Nacht would not have let her go if the vampire was not sure she would turn.
Now the vampire was dead… along with Ravyn's only cure. That was also the reason that Ivy gave her guilty looks; she felt that her urging to continue that hunt had led to Ravyn's infection.
Ravyn joined the group as the milled around, waiting for the last of the stragglers to show up. A hunt would at least take her mind off of the virus growing within her.
Tarn'se bolted away from the sparring room, quickly finding his way to his quarters, where he gathered the bare minimum of his weapons: his wrist gauntlets, heating mesh bodysuit, spear, leg and arm armor, plasma caster, and mask. Quickly throwing on the armor and wrist gauntlets, Tarn'se threw the rest into a large trophy bag and raced back out of his room towards the docking bay.
Meanwhile, his mind raced with denial and horror. There was no way he could be turning in a vampire! Humans turned into vampires, not Yautja. He didn't understand how he could have contracted it. He vaguely remembered biting the vampire Nacht, but he had only swallowed a mouthful of her blood; was that enough to inflict him with the virus? Or worse, could he possibly be allergic to it?
Thousands of terrible situations and possible results flew through his mind. At one point, the warrior in his mind screamed at him for running. Killing Ner'ma wasn't necessarily a crime. Warriors died all the time in challenges.
"Yet no one has ever been beheaded in hand-to-hand combat," part of his mind responded. This would be investigated thoroughly and if he was changing into a vampire, he would be killed to avoid any others being afflicted.
But what if he escaped and was consumed by the disease? What if he preyed upon the defenseless? He imagined him self draining the blood of a Yautja child and felt the sudden urge to vomit.
Tarn'se knew the others wouldn't understand his need to gain the humans' assistance. Hell, he would have had a hard enough time trying to convince them of the existence of vampires, let alone that he was turning into one! They would think he was delusional and lock him away until they arrived at their home world. Tarn'se had no idea how long it took to change into a vampire. It may be too late by then.
He entered the hangar and began activating his pod, recalling its' last landing site and punching the information into the navigator.
As he threw his things in the pod, he heard his name being shouted and turned to find Jaelre running into the hanger, "Tarn'se! What are you doing!"
"I'm going back to Earth. I need to," Tarn'se answered sharply, turning from his friend.
"Why? What does going back to Earth have anything to do with killing Ner'ma?"
"There's no time to explain. I must go before I am discovered."
"Tarn'se, you aren't making sense!" Jaelre paused, thinking, "This has something to do with that strange human skull, doesn't it."
Tarn'se jerked in surprise; Jaelre had put that together pretty quickly.
At Tarn'se's silence Jaelre grabbed him and turned him around to face him, "Tarn'se, I'm not letting you leave here without knowing why. You sacrifice your honor by running away from consequences. What could be possibly worth losing your honor?"
Tarn'se sighed and spoke quickly, "On Earth I discovered a new race of humans, mutated by a virus and made to be incredibly powerful. They are called, by the humans, vampires. They heal instantly, have ten times the strength of a normal human, and have other… abilities that very few beings we've ever encountered have. I… I'm infected with whatever virus is in those humans. And while I was there I met human hunters of these vampires. It is possible they may have a cure for the virus… that's why I'm leaving; to get that cure."
Tarn'se moved to leave when Jaelre's grip on his arm tightened. However, the look on Jaelre's face was not one of fear or disgust, but excitement and even a little envy "Why do you want to be cured? Any hunter would kill thousands for such abilities!"
"Yes, but would you drain your fellows of their lifeblood by sucking it out of their bodies with your mouth to sustain those abilities! Would you hide from the touch of sunlight, which chars you skin and prevents you from moving about except at night? Would you lose your sense of honor and kill innocents to simply sate your own bloodlust?"
Tarn'se watched Jaelre's heat signature lower, which was their version of paling. Tarn'se lowered his head, "I would not become a greater warrior, but a parasite and bad blood. It may be dishonorable and cowardly to run from this fate, but staying could be so much worse. I do not fear death. I fear that I may to lose myself and prey off of the innocent and weak. Then, I would not only lose my honor in life, but my honor in death."
Jaelre nodded, and let go of Tarn'se, "I'll keep them busy to give you more time." Tarn'se gave a grateful nod and rested his hand on Jaelre's shoulder, rattling a goodbye. Jaelre returned the gesture and said he would open the hangar door. Tarn'se nodded and stepped into his pod shutting the door and activating the engines. The hanger door opened and the pod shot out from the main ship, heading back towards Earth.
He could only pray that there was a cure.
I hope you all liked it! Please review! The next chapter will be here soon!