Chapter Nine

Natalie couldn't believe that they were heading to New Orleans. As much as she was excited to go on a hunt, to be out of her comfort zone so to speak was unnerving. John had barely said two words to her over the last hour as they drove and as much as she wanted more details, well she was still letting all of this sink in. The last 24 hours had been exhausting and she found herself just staring out the window as he continued to drive.

John had his own thoughts running around in his head as he drove in silence. He wasn't use to having any one with him when he headed out unless it was Steele. He didn't know how to act with anyone else, especially with Natalie who rattled up weird emotions in him like jealousy. He kept telling himself that she was just a human, nothing to get worked up over and yet here he was feeling like an insecure hormonal teen.

"so is there something in particular that we are looking for in New Orleans" Natalie finally asked after an hour of silence..

"well trying not to get killed will be high on the list" he said dryly as she looked at him and rolled her eyes...

"You know what I mean" she sighed..

He ignored her question as he spoke.."we will stop for a few hours so you can eat and get some sleep"

"Oh so now im allowed to sleep" she said sarcastically as he looked at her now.."fine, what about you" she finally added. Her history of vampires was slim to say the least, she had only ever seen one in the past and that was when she was younger, it was the thing that killed her mother. It still shocked her that she was sitting in the truck with one right at this moment..

"what about me?" he asked as he kept driving..

Natalie rolled her eyes once more.."are you always so difficult to talk to" she huffed.."do you sleep, do you eat?"

"You really know very little of my kind, and you say you have been out on the streets for years" he said a bit sarcastically and she just stayed quiet.."I'm starting to think that maybe you don't know anything at all" he said with cockiness..

"what? Just because im not fluent in vamp talk" she said quickly as she looked at him..

"i mean for a hunter you don't really seem to know your stuff" he began..

"excuse me? And you guessed this because I don't know if you sleep or not" she was getting angry now. She could see this being a very long car drive if he was going to act like this the entire time.

"well if you got all of your knowledge from the television then you have another thing coming" he said with a slight laugh..

"Ive seen what your kind can do alright!" she snapped angrily.."Your heartless blood thirsty animals" the words slipped out of her mouth before she could stop herself as he looked at her. He immediately saw he hit a cord and he couldn't help himself as he pried some more..

"wow now tell me how you really think" he said with a roll of his eyes..

"do you find joy in this, in...in trying to piss me off" she snapped at him once more..

"well then that makes the two of us" he said dryly.."I think I liked it better when you were quiet"

"You know what im thinking the same thing" she huffed as she turned herself so she could look out the window..

"You know if you think that all vampires are" he continued..

Natalie looked at him now quick, she had just had about enough.."I know exactly what you are ok, your the same kind of son of a bitch that killed my mother!" she yelled now and he blinked a bit in shock.."so don't tell me that I don't know what I saw, cause I see it every day when im awake and when im asleep" she said through gritted teeth.."can you just find a place to pull the hell over already, I need some air"..

John didn't know what to say and now he was feeling another emotion he wasn't use to, was it regret? He pulled up to the nearest motel he could find and she immediately got out of the car, right now she wanted nothing more than to be far far away from him.

She walked the length of the motel and once she rounded the small building she inhaled deep. She wasn't going to let him get the best of her, she wasn't going to let him see her cry. No one ever saw her cry.

John made his way into the motel with her words heavy on his mind. Why the hell would Bo matched them up together knowing that a vamp killed her mother. Bo had to of known, he knew everything about everyone. It irked John and he was half tempted to call the man and let him have a piece of his mind.

Natalie leaned against the building and tried to calm herself, she wasn't going to let John get the best of her. She wouldn't. It almost felt like a cruel joke right about now. A lone tear threatened to fall as she stood there breathing heavy..

"the room is ready" his voice made her jump as she quickly wiped the tear away and refused to face him.."Listen Natalie" he began but she ignored him as she stormed past him, grabbing the motel room key from his hand and she walked around the building.

Natalie made her way to room 102 and immediately entered, it brought back memories of when her and Rex would frequent spots like this. She missed him right now, she missed his quirky behavior and how he could make her laugh at the most inopportune times. She wondered if he even realized she was gone or was he pissed that she had taken off and nearly gotten Ariana killed? Rex truly looked happy with Gigi, more happy then she had ever remembered seeing him before.

She glanced at herself in the mirror and cringed at the sight that looked back at her. God she did look like hell and with that she quickly headed into the bathroom where she would lose herself for even just a little while.

John grabbed a few snacks from the vending machine and also a few sodas. He felt uncomfortable now as though he had crossed a line that he shouldn't of. He genuinely felt bad and he really didn't know how to fix it. Her mother had been killed by one of his kind, maybe even someone he had known over the years and that didn't sit right with him and he did the only thing he could think of, he made a phone call. Maybe there was one way to right this wrong.

The shower had felt wonderful as Natalie got out, she was half expecting to see John in the room but he wasn't there. Part of her wanted to yell at him some more, the other part could care less. Granted she knew that he wasn't like the vamp that killed her mom, he was fighting on the side of good but still, didn't it mean that he had tendencies for evil? She walked to the bed and sat on it, flipping on the TV as she let the sound of the news drown out her thoughts.

John stood out in the parking lot of the motel as he waited for Edwin to answer. He had kept in touch with the man over the last hundred years even when Johns own father had disowned him for supposedly turning his back on their kind. He knew that if anyone could find out information regarding the murder of Natalie's mother then it would be Edwin but he failed to answer the phone as John left a quick voice message for him. He glanced at the motel room door and quickly walked over with snacks in hand.

By the time he reached the door it was apparent that she was sleeping because of her breathing. Somethings definitely came in handy by being a vampire, especially knowing when those around you are sleeping or awake. He opened the door and saw her sprawled out on the bed, her hair still wet from the shower. He felt kind of bad for rushing her out the way he did, he could of waited till she had had proper sleep but he was so consumed with teaching her a lesson that he had rushed off and now looking at her exhausted body he began to feel bad, yet another human attribute he would rather live without.

Natalie awoke with a jump, the sunlight hitting her eyes as she sat up and quickly looked around the room..There were snacks on the end table as well as drinks but John wasn't there. She took the opportunity to grab a bag of chips and a soda as she wolfed them down like there was no tomorrow. After she finished the small bag of snacks she stood up and walked to the window looking out. The sun was shining bright and if only for a second it would seem like an ordinary day but the world was a much darker place then that. The sound of the door knob being turned instantly put her on guard as she grabbed for her knife with a steady hand.

"House keeping" a female voice was heard as Natalie relaxed some..

"just come back later" she called out and thats when she noticed the bathroom door was closed and steam was escaping from under it. Was John in the shower? Did vampires even shower? The sound of the water turning off made her quickly put her knife back into her boot as she sat on the bed..When the door opened, steam billowed out as the silhouette of his body filled her eye sight. For a moment she was sudden speechless, even with the steam of the bathroom she could outline defined abs, broad shoulders, a double wide chest and a muscled waist that had a towel wrapped around it.

"who was that" he asked, snapping her from her thoughts as the steam began to lift..

"Just house keeping" she quickly looked away from him as her heart began to race..

"well were getting on the road in a few" he finished as the door closed and she let out the breath she had been holding in. Seriously she needed to get a grip, so what if he was the embodiment of beautiful, wasn't that what the whole allure of vampires was about? It was the perfect weapon to use against humans.

Natalie was already out by the car by the time John had gotten out of the shower. He had finally got to talk to Edwin just hours prior and he was already looking into the murder for John. He hoped that in just a few short hours they would have their answer. Its not like vampires kept tabs on their victims but a vampire never did forget who he killed. It was something about draining that last bit of blood that seem to stick with them, the memories of the one they just killed. It had been one of the things that John had never truly gotten over which is why it was easy for him to change his life. No more drinking from the humans, not really anyway. Just animals or the good Ole red cross is what helped him out these day but a vampire never truly forgets what the rush is like to have the fresh stuff, it stayed with you every day.

The car ride was a quiet one as they made their way through the small town until Natalie finally spoke.."what made you change" she asked..

He didn't answer for a few moments as he drove and she expected that he wouldn't but surprisingly he finally did.."you just get tired of playing the same old game, sometimes you just need to change and Bo helped me do that".

"but he's different too" she said as he looked at her now..

"yeah well apparently he got tired too" he said with a nod of his head.."im sorry if I came off as an asshole earlier, im not really good with socializing" he said as he looked back at the road. She was a bit surprised that he was apologizing, she hadn't been expecting that.. She didn't know how to answer him.."but as of right now were in this together and I need to know that you wont go off half cocked, I need to know that you will do as I say"

"You know im pretty good at taking care of myself" she began as he looked at her.."im not good with orders" she said honestly..

"yeah well orders could be the difference of being alive or dead" he added..

"OK" she sighed heavily.."under one condition" she said as he sighed now and looked at her.."you cant leave me in the dark, if were going to do this like you said well then I need to know what were going up against because something tells me this isn't just your everyday hunt".

She waited for an answer and half expected once more not to get one and when she went to speak again, well he did first.."there's been a lot more going on then what you know, think of it as an otherworldly issue" he began as he kept his eyes on the road and she swallowed hard, whatever was going on in New Orleans was big, real big. She could see it in his face.."a few months back there was talk about my kind going missing, at first we just played it off as if it was random hunters or maybe even fighting within groups" he said as he glanced at her now.."but its something more, something none of us expected." he took a deep breath.."it went from a hand full of us being gone to hundreds, enough to get your attention"

"when you say your kind, you mean vampires or every species?" she asked as her mind began to race. It didn't make since for people like John to just up and be gone. It was common knowledge among hunters that the 'others' outnumbered the human race and it was quickly escalating.

"mine and everything in between" he said as he glanced at her.."Natalie this isn't some random hunt against the uncooperative, were talking huge numbers just going off the grid and someone is behind it"

"and that someone is in New Orleans?" she asked with confusion and a bit of shock at what she was hearing..He didn't answer her but he looked at her in such a way that she had her answer.."Holy shit, but why, how?"

"thats what were going to find out" he said quickly as he drove..

This information was being a bit much to swallow as Natalie tried to digest it all. Why would someone go after that many supernaturals. If it wasn't hunters then what could it be and what would the motivation behind it be?

"all you need to know is that were going to get to the bottom of it and all I need to know is that I can trust you not to do something stupid. Can I trust you Natalie?" he asked as he looked at her now..

"i wont do anything stupid" she finally answered him as she sighed..

"good" he looked back at the road.."You should try and get more rest, we'll be there in a few hours and I need you to be on point"

Natalie didn't speak for a moment and then she finally did.."You know im gonna need something a bit bigger then just my knife"

"thats why you got me" he slightly smiled and then looked back at the road..

"thank you for giving me my knife back by the way" she finally added as he glanced at her and then nodded his head..

"Like I said, get some rest. It's almost show time"he finished as he continued to drive.

Natalie hadn't felt this nervous in god knows how long. She was actually worried and it was a feeling she hadn't had in forever. In the past it was just her and Rex trying to survive. Sure they had killed things along the way but they had also stayed away from danger. They could see the signs and they avoided them like the plague but now they were marching right into it, it was unnerving and frightening to say the least..

"Your worried" he finally said as she looked at him a bit in shock.."vampire senses remember" he shrugged his shoulders..

"Yeah I keep forgetting about that" she said honestly.."so do you constantly sense things?" she began with a bit more then nervousness. Suddenly she began to think of him in the bathroom and the way she had looked at him, had he noticed? She felt like a huge spot light was on her as her face began to flush and she looked out the window..

"If I want to yes, and sometimes it just happens like now, your scared its amplifying off of you" he glanced at her and she swallowed hard..

"im concerned, thats all" she lied as she kept looking out the window..."I'm not really in a dying kind of mood today" she said dryly.

"well good that makes two of us" he smirked some as she looked at him now and smiled nervously.."its gonna be fine, just getting some info and then going from there"

"so were not actually gonna be going in with guns a blazing?" she said with relief in her voice.

"No, I find that talking can be just as helpful plus we wouldn't have the man power to do anything anyway" he said honestly.."trust me I don't have a death wish and New Orleans is home to all sorts of things"

"so Ive heard" Natalie shook her head. It was common knowledge that New Orleans was full of just about every supernatural being out there, even witches but up until today it was all just hearsay to her. It was a completely different thing to just walk up on it. The thought that maybe they wouldn't so welcomed there weighed heavy on her..

"Listen ive dealt with them before, I probably know a lot of them, not everyone you come across is out for blood. Most of us are just looking to live normal productive lives" he said seriously.

"well lets hope that it is still that way" she said nervously..

"confidence is the key and no one will mess with you, if anything they will just think that I brought my food source with me" he continued to drive..

"food source, not comforting at all" she said sarcastically..

"its not unheard of, the majority of humans that become donors are completely willing" he said honestly..

"Oh great, so these donors just come along for the ride and let you just drink when needed" she said with a shake of her head..

"Basically" he said nonchalantly..

"But you don't drink" her voice trailed as anxiety filled her..

"Humans? no.. im more of a vegan now" he couldn't help but laugh some. To even hear himself say that out loud was a bit funny..

"but when were back at Bo's, I saw you drink beer, I saw you eat food" she said quickly as confusion filled her..

"its an acquired taste, not many can stomach it but its good for appearance sake" he said honestly.

"why don't you just come out and let everyone know, I mean its just odd that you would hide it from everyone" she asked with curiosity

"its a little more complicated then that, I tell who I feel I can trust" he said seriously..

"so does that woman know" she blurted out the words before she could think about what she was saying.

"woman? What woman?" he asked with confusion now..

"I saw you talking to that woman Vange" she tried to be nonchalant but fell short. She seriously wanted to shut up right about now..

"she knows" he said as he looked back at the road..

"Oh" was all she could say, she was at a loss of words..

"I like to keep my private life, well private" he added..

Natalie wanted to quickly change the subject off of Vange, especially since she knew that John would be able to sense her emotions. "is your brother?" she began..

"Michael? Yes, he is like me" he said quickly..

"and yet he is a doctor" she said somewhat in shock.

"Michael was always helping people even before" his words trailed now..

Natalie's eyes opened wide now as she looked at him.." you remember before?"

"Bits and pieces, the important stuff" he said a bit uncomfortably..

"How old are you?" she couldn't help but ask as she looked at him..

"You kind of lose track over time but I would say two hundred give or take a few years" he said as he looked back at the road..

"wow, two hundred years old thats gotta be amazing, to see the world change over time" she began as he looked at her now..

"to watch people die that you care about, to witness wars erupting over politics and religion, I wouldn't quite call it amazing" he sighed..The atmosphere got uncomfortably quiet as Natalie let his words soak in. She hadn't thought about the downside of being immortal.."trust me, being immortal isn't always what its cracked up to be" he added..

Natalie honestly didn't know what to say. This was all very very new to her and even though she had a million more questions for him, well she let it end there for now. The tension was building quickly and she could only imagine what he had been through..Maybe they weren't so different after all.