Scene 2

He was the same as ever.

Tall. Dark. Handsome. The traditional way of describing the beautiful stranger hardly scratched the surface of this man, as starlight barely touches on the radiance of a sun. Or the moon. Moon being a more appropriate metaphor for him. Otherworldly. Elegant. Surrounded by darkness and yet somehow standing apart.

And like the moon, she was drawn to him, gazing at D agape as she had when the dhampire first hauled down his scarf and lifted his hat to reveal his face.

Now he sat on a couch in the lavish room of the hotel that had been arranged for the vampire hunter. After her timely (and planned) appearance at the school, the dhampire asked for the mayor to proceed with the accomodations and asked (well, ordered) the young woman to accompany him.

A glass of some murky liquid lay on a glass table between them, untouched. Her own drink barely felt her lips as she swirled the wine with a finger, the young huntress's mind very much elsewhere. When she and her brother came to pick up supplies in this town they'd seperated to get the job done faster. She'd only noticed Dan's disapperance after the sun had gone down-and feared the worst. And the worst was realized.

"When was he taken?" It was the first time the dhampire had spoken since they'd sat down.

"A few weeks ago. I searched for him day in, day out." Doris chewed her lip, then forced herself to be still. "He was the first taken. No one helped me until more kids went missing."

"Why ten?"

Doris shook her head. "We don't know. But we do know it was vampires that took the kids."

"How do you know that?"

"One of the parents saw her daughter taken away and she said there was no mistake about it-she saw red eyes, fangs, white skin..." Her voice faded away, staring at the vampire hunter. Perhaps he didn't exhibit those traits now, but the huntress knew they existed within him. She knew it because she'd seen it.

There was so many questions she longed to ask the dhampire. Like why didn't he write back to Dan? Where did he travel to? Did he find someone else...but how likely was that? Here he was, stoic as ever, cold as winter winds. She knew those winds, felt those, been repelled by them. And she also knew that dhampire was like winter in another way: you're attracted to the sight but chilled by the feeling. And if you stayed too long in its presence you might end up dead.

Instead of asking the questions in her heart she asked the question in her head. "Will you take this misson on? We will pay..." Doris flushed thinking about the payment she'd offered for D should he save her from Count Magnus Lee. He never did get a chance to collect on that payment...

More's the pity, as far as she was concerned.

D's head inclined so very slightly, but the huntress knew that meant an affirmative. She longed to throw her arms around him, sob in relief in his embrace, beg him to stay with them when this was all over. It had been two years since the vampire hunter came into her life...how did he manage to ensare her so easily again? But again she resisted her natural urges. D wouldn't likely respond well to that and there was Dan to consider; she couldn't risk alienating the only vampire hunter likely strong enough to bring him back.

"Where were they taken?" D again, deadpanned.

"The Capitol. I will take you to the city."

"I go alone." Was that a hint of tension in his immaculate voice?

Doris bristled. "No. He's my brother. Besides you'll need all the help you can get."

"You'll just be in the way." There wasn't annoyance in his voice, just cold, hard fact.

"He's my brother. I have to protect him. I failed to before." Her head bowed, long dark tresses falling over her face.

D stood before her. She only knew this because the huntress saw his tall black boots; he'd risen so quietly it almost appeared that the vampire hunter was on the couch one moment and his feet the next. It would take some time for her to get familarized with his strange power again. And to the mysterious hold his penetrating eyes had on her heart.

"Where are you staying in the city?" he asked.

Doris started, then shook her head. She'd already nearly exhausted her reserve of dalas-anymore and she's cut into the money she'd set aside to pay D. Of course, she could always pay him that other way...

With an almost inperceptible tilt of his head and the dhampire gestured to the attached bedroom to the suite. "Take the bed. I'll rest here."

For a moment, the young woman thought to protest but gazing into his dark eyes she felt all the fight vaporize from her. He had that way of getting his way with a slight bash of his eyelashes, or just in the manner the dhampire peered at a person. As if by a spell, Doris rose and found her feet carried her to the room.

She never saw the twitch of emotion on D's face as she closed the door.