Author's Note – Hey there! I wanted to re-upload this chapter due to a few spelling and wording errors I later found and just couldn't ignore. Sorry for any confusion. And thanks for reading. You guys are awesome!
Chapter Two
"He's not going to make it," Benny murmured, watching in horror as the guard raced towards the city, the two hunters hot on his trail.
Sam hoisted his rifle and aimed is at the nearest assailant but quickly lowered it with a growl. "They're still too far away. I can't get them from here."
"We have to help him," Benny said, turning sharply on his heel and running down the spiral staircase, barking orders into the radio and requesting backup. Sam followed hastily, jumping three steps at a time in order to catch up with his friend.
"There's only two of them," he assured Benny. "We can take them."
"There will be more of them out there, brother. Hunters don't venture this close to the city by themselves. They ain't that stupid."
When they reached the gate, there were five other soldiers already making their way out, guns and swords at the ready. Sure, vampires were physically stronger than their human counterparts but they preferred to fight with weapons when they could. Sam and Benny joined the group and the gate shut slowly behind them.
They couldn't help but gasp at the sight that awaited. Benny had been right. Four more hunters had left the shadows of the forest and joined the chase, making six in total. They were closer now and Sam could see the two in the lead were both female; one young and pretty and the other in her older years. The four in the back were all male.
He could also see the pursued guard a whole lot clearer.
"It's Luther," he whispered to no one in particular as they all sprinted forward to help their comrade. Luther was one of the newest recruits. He and Sam were around the same age and had even gone to school together but they had never been able to get on that well. Luther had a fiery temper and the bad habit of getting his humans drunk before bleeding them dry, stating that they tasted better that way.
The women were almost upon him now but so were the Dayguard. Just as the young female pounced, striking forward with her knife, Benny made his move, dropping down to one knee and firing his gun. A loud shot rang out and the girl was flung back with the force of the bullet that tore through her stomach.
"Jo!" The other woman cried out, flinging herself next to the fallen female as the men behind them and the vampires in front converged upon each other.
Luther stumbled past, pulling free from the fray. He was paler than usual and his eyes had a glazed expression to them. Sam pulled him behind the others quickly to keep him out of harm's way whilst he gave him a quick once over. His neck was bruised and Sam took hold of his chin to turn his face for a better look. As well as the bruising, there were track marks. Several of them all clustered closely together.
"Dead man's blood," Luther gasped in explanation.
Sam swore softy. Dead man's blood was practically poison to them.
"They killed Lenore," Luther carried on breathlessly. "And…and Kate."
Sam winced but forced himself not to think about it yet. There would be time to grieve their deaths later.
"They tied us down. Injected us. Kept asking us about someone called…Ash. Didn't believe we didn't know. I…got away but…" Luther looked close to collapsing.
Sam interrupted him, taking him by the shoulders and giving him a quick shake.
"Can you make it back to the gate?"
Luther nodded shakily.
"Then go," Sam pushed him gently towards the direction of the city. "We'll take care of this." And with that he launched himself towards the ongoing fight, determined to avenge his friends.
He threw himself at a hunter that had Benny pinned to the ground. The impact sent them both tumbling through the long grass as they grappled with each other, trying to get the upper hand. Sam cursed himself for not having drawn his weapon out beforehand. He had seen Benny in trouble and just reacted on instinct but he regretted his haste. He managed to slam the hunter onto his back and straddle his legs to partially incapacitate him but before he could pin the man's arms as well, the hunter slashed upwards with the knife. Sam flinched away but it still caught the side of his face, leaving a long gash from his jaw to just below his eye. He hissed and fell back a little and the hunter managed to wiggle out from under him.
Before Sam had a chance to retaliate the hunter was on top of him, pushing the blade up against his neck. Sam caught the man's wrists and tried to push back but he could feel the blade sinking slowly deeper. He found himself wishing, not for the first time, that he could have been born a full vampire with the strength that his kind were supposed to have.
The man above him smiled wildly and for a moment Sam was sure he was a goner but then the smile turned into an expression of shock and blood dribbled out of his hanging mouth before he collapsed on top the stunned boy.
Sam shakily pushed him off with one hand, clutching at his neck with the other and saw Benny stood above him, bloody sword in his grasp.
"You alright there, Sam?"
"Yeah. Thanks, man." Sam breathed and allowed his friend to haul him to his feet.
They glanced back at the other hunters and guards and knew the fight was almost won. The hunters were tiring fast and the vampires outnumbered them five to two. It wouldn't be long now until it was over.
A thought suddenly struck Sam. The women! The older one and the one called Jo. They weren't in the fight, nor were they lying among the dead.
Sam whipped his head around, trying to catch sight of them.
Benny noticed. "What are you looking…aww, crap."
They both spotted the women at the same time, just as they disappeared into the woodlands. The older woman had her arms hooked under Jo's arms and was dragging her backwards through the dense brush.
Sam and Benny took off after them. It didn't take them long to catch up. The female hunters had barely made it thirty feet through the trees when the vampires drew near.
The older one visibly sagged when she caught sight of them. Then she gently lowered Jo to the ground and planted herself firmly in front of her, drawing her knife and glaring at Sam.
"Come and get it, fang," she growled.
Sam went to move forward but was stopped by a hand on his shoulder.
"Leave this one to me, eh, brother?" Benny said softly. Sam sent him a sideways glance and noticed the look in his eyes. He was hungry.
Sam sighed, nodded and backed away to let his friend take care of the women but as Benny crept forward, Sam heard something, a faint whirring sound that had no place in the forest.
"Benny, look out!" He cried, suddenly realising what it was. But it was too late. Benny snapped his head up to look for the source of the sound and at that moment a bladed boomerang flew out from In between the trees and sliced straight through his neck before imbedding itself in a nearby tree trunk. Benny's body instantly crumpled and his head rolled a few times, coming to a stop at Sam's feet, dead eyes staring up accusingly at him.
A cold wave of shock washed through Sam and he felt bile rise in his throat.
"That was too easy," a voice called from somewhere behind the women. A new figure came into sight, another man around the same age as the older woman.
"I almost feel sorry for him," the man said flatly, his gaze never leaving Sam's. "Almost."
Something inside Sam snapped and with an inhuman yell, he hurdled forward, sword drawn and at the ready. He swung at the man and the man parried the blow with his blade before launching his own attack.
Back and forth they exchanged blows until finally the man lunged too far forward, leaving himself wide open. Without a moment's hesitation Sam plunged his sword into the hunter's side. Screaming, the man fell to the floor, clutching at the gaping wound. Sam didn't stop. Again and again he stabbed, hacked and sliced at the man and continued to do so long after the hunter had stopped moving.
A small gasp awoke him from his bloodlust and he spun around to face the older woman. Her face had lost all colour and she quivered where she stood. Knife held tightly in her hands as her eyes flicked from Sam to the dead hunter and back to Sam again.
Sam snarled at her, baring fangs that had descended without him even realising and swung his sword at her knife. She lost grip of the blade instantly and fell back, falling over Jo's body.
Jo groaned softly, startling Sam. She was still alive.
He stepped towards her, sword raised but before he could finish off the job Benny had started, the older hunter flung herself over the young woman's body.
"Please," she cried. "Please don't hurt my daughter."
Sam faltered, staring down at the woman as she sobbed, holding her daughter tightly to her chest and the dark rage that had filled him only moments ago began to ebb away. Suddenly, he found he wasn't looking at a pair of hunters anymore. He was looking at a parent trying desperately to protect her child. Just like how his mother always tried desperately to protect him. He dropped his sword, no longer able to do this.
"Go," he said.
The mother looked up at him, a confused frown creasing her brow.
"Get out of here!" He yelled.
The woman gasped and scrambled to her feet, quickly wrapping her arms around Jo's middle and dragging her back through the woods again.
Sam watched them until they were out of sight and then looked back at Benny's body, sadness clutching at his heart so hard, it hurt to breathe. He took a couple of steps forward before collapsing to the dirt floor. He lay his head on his fallen friend's chest and wept.