The Walkers: The Return

by annamorphos

As Bella adjusts to her life as a Walker, an old enemy forces her to confront a past long forgotten. Sequel to The Walkers.

2. Chapter 1

Chapter One

I could hear them panting from almost a mile away, could hear the slopping, wet sounds as they gorged their bellies on a pair of innocent victims in a back alley. Vampires always feasted so loudly; I could still hunt them down if I were blind. Their breath is naturally heady and erratic when they feed, almost like the panting of a dog, and their odor is unmistakable. I could almost see it wafting through the air as I stalked them from above, my naval barely touching the flat surface of the rooftop. My approach was slow, calculated and careful. My breath was a steady pattern, rhythmic, and would not give away my position. The clothes on my back were damp and clung mercilessly to my body, evidence of the most recent downpour. It did not deter me. My concentration remained affixed to what I was after. My kill; my prey.

Ever so slowly, I pulled myself atop an overhang outcrop, which overlooked a tightly packed alleyway below, and I smiled wickedly as I discovered what I had been after for almost an hour. Both of their scents had appeared outside of a bar on the north side of town, and I had tracked them all the way to the docks. Each was bent over a limp human body, a tiny pool of blood collecting at the base of the collapsed forms, and both were growling softly. I shook my head in disapproval at their sloppy eating habits and choice of venue. So many leeches brought their kills here; it was almost a stereotype at this point.

As I continued to observe, one of the bloodsuckers pulled the corpse into his arms and I heard a harrowing crunch as the bones snapped under the pressure of his grip.

"Keep it down." The other leech stopped drinking long enough to scold his companion. Almost as though he had heard something, his neck snapped to the side, and he inhaled deeply. I had purposely placed myself downwind to prevent being detected. "We're not supposed to be doing this. D'you wanna burn?"

"Stop being so paranoid," the other responded with a biting hiss. He shoved the body away as it was now devoid of blood, and he pulled his sleeve across his mouth to clear away the excess. "No one's seen those hunters in months. They've probably moved on. I say good riddance."

Having grown bored, I rolled over the edge, twisting silently through the air, and I landed in between them. They each let loose their most terrifying snarl, but I was not afraid. As one took a step closer to me, my right foot came out and caught him in the cheek, sending him spiraling into a brick wall, which promptly caved under his weight. Shifting to the next, who was rushing toward me, I fell to my knees, allowing him to sail over my head. I took advantage of his weakness and clawed at his expose stomach, covering my hands in his venom.

I recovered and rose to my feet, finding the leech bent over at the waist as he cradled his wounds. While I could have drawn out the fight a bit more, I was starving and wanted it over quickly. The leech's head had just separated from his neck when I felt something hit me from behind, knocking me off balance. Almost instantly, the second vamp's hands found my throat, and I snarled when his nails dug into the flesh there, spilling my blood.

"All alone, are we?" He sneered, pulling me off the ground and bringing my face close to his. I could smell the venom beneath his skin and it made my mouth water. "No one to help you?"

I snarled and kicked his stomach with both my feet. He whirled backward and I was on his instantly. "What makes you think I need help?"

My teeth sank into his jugular, ripping his carotid artery wide open, and the icy liquid poured into my mouth. His appendages thrashed relentlessly as he pathetically tried to save himself, but I held on. I greedily gulped down the sustenance that flowed from his body, the satisfaction overwhelming me. After only a few moments, he stopped kicking and I was able to enjoy the rest of my meal in peace. After draining him and his companion, I rested against the alley wall, fully sated. My body felt electric with the venom flowing through my system. The feeling was intoxicating.

As I came back to my senses, I stood and tossed a match on the decimated remains of the humans and leeches. The residual venom ignited immediately, and the bright red flames rendered the bodies into a pile of ash. As soon as the embers had cooled and wisped off into the night air, I jumped up and found myself on the closest rooftop, the one that I had been hiding on prior to the hunt. I reclined against the rough surface and gazed up at the black sky above me, inhaling and exhaling the pollution-filled oxygen.

Jacksonville. Not just any Jacksonville, though. Jacksonville, Florida after a heavy rainstorm. An arid musk filled the world after it rained in this coastal city. Every ounce of depravity seemed to rise up after the sky had cleared. At least, that's how it was for me.

Speaking of me, it had been almost four months to the day since I had charged across the shipyards and sacrificed my life for Shiloh's. Four months since she had pulled me back from the brink and turned me into a Walker—a vampire hunter. Since then, life as I knew it had changed drastically. Instead of waking up early to lose myself in my educational pursuits or any other human achievement, I spent my days and evenings combing through the city streets for errant vampires. I had feared that I would lament the loss of my human ties, or regret the loss of my life as a student, but nothing could have been farther from the truth.

I loved my life as a Walker. While the majority of my time was spent learning what was expected of me, I was given leave to do as I pleased. After returning from the Swedish Colony, I had been put through some of the hardest trials and tests I had ever experienced. Shiloh had changed from a sympathetic friend to a hard-edged commander. She accepted nothing less than perfection, and although the first few days had me second guessing my decision, I found myself growing stronger, my senses becoming even more enhanced that they already were. She transformed me from a weakling into something unstoppable—a force of nature.

As a line of clouds rolled in and a few errant drops of water fell on me, I closed my eyes and smiled. It was moments like this, when the clouds were too thick to see the sky and the air was filled with the scent of the coming rain, that I could almost remember my human life. The memories were sparse, patchy, and I wasn't entirely sure they were real—but it didn't matter. They were something. Some connection to a world—a life—I couldn't always remember.

It hadn't always been like that. When I had first opened my eyes and taken my first breath as a Walker, my mind had been an open book, with memories ripe for the picking. However as time slipped by, and I had begun focusing more on developing my skills than recalling the names of family, friends, and other trivial things, I slowly began to lose them. After a few weeks of this, I was shocked to discover many of my memories from my human life were all but extinguished.

There were certain things I retained with slight clarity—my parents, the way each of them had made me feel, and a few hints at conversations that we may have had at some point—but everything else was a jigsaw puzzle whose pieces had been scattered in a hurricane of epic proportions. Shiloh had assured me that I would be able to focus more on my mental recall after I had grown accustomed to my heightened senses, and I believed her—but that didn't mean I wasn't frustrated. I felt inept standing next to the others, still viewed myself as inferior. I had come so far, and yet, I was still a long way from those around me.

Through the cloud of self-depreciation and surreal memories of places I may have once called home, there came a wave of anxiety paired with a strange feeling that I had forgotten something… something important. It wasn't anything new. Each time I attempted to reconnect the dots between my past and present, I had felt it. It was always there, waiting for me—except I had no idea what "it" was. What was I forgetting that was so important? What was my subconscious demanding that I remember?

I raked my hands through my hair and looked up at the sky. It was still dark out, but there were hints of color on the Eastern horizon, teasing the city with the hope of daylight. A thick line of clouds were hovering there, threatening the chance of yet another gloomy day. There were moments, much like the current one, where I would stare up at the sky and feel something. Was it a longing? An emptiness? Or was it completion? Wholeness? A sense of belonging? I had no way of knowing. Even now, as I took a deep breath and tasted the moisture in the air, I felt sad. Why? I had no clue.

All at once, my concentration was broken by a soft, familiar chuckle coming from the South. My eyes swept across the immediate vicinity in pursuit of its source, and that was when I saw him. He was leaning against a water tower three blocks down, the light reflecting off of his eyes in a hauntingly beautiful manner. Even though Tobin was supposed to be keeping a watchful eyes on me, this was the first time I had seen him in almost four hours. That was his way, though, and to be honest, I had no complaint. Unlike the others, he allowed me the freedom to breathe and hunt on my own.

Before I could comment on his sudden appearance, he bounded through the air, sailing through the open space between the buildings and coming to rest ten feet from me. His boots hit the cement roof with a soft plop, but it was enough to send a sharp crack jutting out from the impact point. He wasn't paying attention; his eyes were focused on me.

"What's wrong?" He asked, striding forward and taking a seat in front of me. When I offered a noncommittal answer, he shook his head. "You're not an angst-ridden human any more. Honesty is a requirement in our life. Tell me what's wrong."

I sighed and gazed up at the stars. "I don't remember anything before I became a Walker. It's frustrating."

"It's also irrelevant," he interjected firmly, his steely gaze becoming too sharp for me. "Look at me, Bella. I care a great deal about you and it pains me, as well as the others, to see you torturing yourself over memories that hold no importance."

"How do I know they weren't important, though?" I inquired, my voice treading dangerously close to the whining spectrum. Taking a deep breath, I tried again. "Isn't there anything I can do to get them back?"

"The best thing you can do is to be patient. If they're meant to return, they will. What's that old human adage? Something about letting something go, and if it comes back, it is yours?" I stared at him blankly. "Either way. You get my point. The sooner you stop listening to the panicky remnants of your humanity, the better off you will be."

Despite the wounds his brutal honesty had given me, I knew he was right. I had to stop dwelling on my past. What had it gotten me thus far? Nothing but frustration and anger. So if that was the case, why did I continue? Why was I so obsessed with unlocking my past? Moreover, why did my subconscious seem so driven for me to remember? Sensing my growing tension, Tobin stretched out his arm and hooked it around my shoulder, pulling me close to him and kissing my forehead. I smiled and allowed my head to rest on his shoulder. Underneath his rough exterior and angry façade, Tobin was my brother, my friend.

We stayed like that for a while, watching as the sun emerged from the ocean and cast its golden glow over the city. This was no ordinary day, though. Tobin and I both growled as a series of shrieks and snarls echoed through the city. The vampires' cries of rejoice were nothing short of a Herald of Death. Today was day one of Fuil Aimsir, which meant for the next seven days, the vampires could feed freely and we were forbidden from interceding. My hands went to my ears, one of the last remnants of my humanity, but despite my best efforts, their jubilation was as crisp and clear as though I were standing among them.

It was one of the necessary evils of our existence, and although the very thought of the bloodshed that would occur in the coming week filled my heart with sorrow and my mind with thoughts of death, I had to abide by the agreement. Still, the fact that they were celebrating, the fact that they would enjoy it, the fact that they would ruin someone's life—it filled me with an undeniable rage.

So, without hesitation, I rushed to the side of the building, leaving Tobin where he was sitting, and I screamed. No. That's the wrong word. I roared. A deep, bellowing sound cut through my lungs, mixing my rage and grief together with a series of emotions I couldn't identify or explain. The sound reverberated through the alleys, against buildings, and was soon carried back to my own lungs. By that time, I realized that the howls of the vampires had ceased completely.

The city had fallen silent.

"Well, you certainly shut them up," Tobin commented after several minutes of uninterrupted silence.

I turned to find him beside me, grinning wickedly down at the street below. Before I could ask him what he meant, a long, single-note howl captured both our attentions. When it ended, Tobin and I leapt off the roof and started to run at top speed.

As we made our way through the backstreets of Jacksonville, I tried to ignore the shrieks I heard coming from the shadows. The vampires were wasting no time in gorging their bellies with the blood of the innocent. I was forced to turn my head when we passed a dark alley and saw a girl, no older than fifteen, clawing at the concrete for dear life as she was torn to bits by what looked like a newborn vampire. What else could I do? That was life in the big city.

It didn't take us long to reach the Eastern border of Jacksonville, and when we finally arrived, we were greeted by the sight of Una, Rix, and Collin. With a jovial whoop, Tobin bounded toward them, colliding with Rix and wrestling the blond pure-blood to the ground. I, on the other hand, approached slowly and somewhat skittishly. There had been a tension between Collin and me since our very first meeting, and post-Change, it had only intensified. It got so bad that Shiloh had forbidden us from patrolling the city together, which both of us had decided was for the best.

It wasn't that I despised him; quite the opposite actually. The truth was that I wasn't sure what I felt for him. I knew I cared for him a great deal, but in what way? Was he a friend? A brother? A… lover? There was no way I could tell, so until I had a chance to iron out just what was going on in my brain, distance was my only option.

Tobin and Rix were still rolling around in the muck, dirtying themselves up, but neither one of them cared. I learned quickly that the notions of cleanliness didn't apply in the world of the Walkers. Sitting in clothes that were drenched in any manner of fluids was not uncommon. On one occasion, a leech and I had fought inside a night club, and unfortunately, one of the bouncers had gotten too close to us. There hadn't been enough time to warn him before—SQUISH!—he had been sandwiched in between us. I had sat in blood-drenched clothes for hours. The only reason I had changed was due to the smell.

My thoughts of blood and gore were redirected as the winds changed and two familiar scents blew in our direction. Tobin and Rix rose immediately, forgetting their play, and the five of us silently observed the approach of our leaders. It was always a surreal experience to be in Shiloh's and Dex's presence. They had a remarkable way of moving that made them absolutely silent. Rix insisted that it was a talent they had mastered throughout the years, but I was sure it was something ingrained into their DNA. They were one hundred percent predators, while the rest of us—with the exception of Rix—were just deviants.

"So what's with the early morning wake-up call?" Collin asked, rubbing his eyes and stifling a yawn. It had been nearly a month since he had last rested and it was starting to wear him down. While our kind could go without sleep for up to a month, the longer we waited, the more it affected us. The sight of him looking so exhausted bothered me more than I cared to admit. "You have news, I take it."

"We've just come from a meeting with the lords." There was a slight edge to Dex's voice, one that suggested something unexpected had occurred. Then again, a conference with the leech lord wasn't exactly something that happened regularly. This was especially true after the past winter, when they had lost several of their brothers in the battle that had almost killed me. "They have a proposition for us."

"What kind of proposition?" Rix implored as the rest of us moved in closer, anxious to know what the leeches wanted from us.

Dex glanced back at Shiloh and she nodded, silently giving him permission to share what he knew. "I'm sure all of you have noticed the recent influx in newborns, yeah?"

Of course we had noticed. In the last week, we had taken down almost three dozen newborn vampires, all under a day or two old. While we tried to stay out of the lords' business, the mass creation of newborns was a firm line that Shiloh and Dex had drawn when they had initially sought a truce with them. According to the pact, if it was discovered that the lords were creating newborn armies, the Walkers would cleanse the city. Translation: we would kill every single vampire in the city and surrounding areas.

"It's been brought to our attention that an outsider has been attempting a land-grab. They're the source of all the fresh leeches running around. The lords are relatively sure that they are creating an army, and they've requested that we take care of the issue." Dex paused momentarily, the tiniest hint of a smile appearing. "The responsible party is to be kept alive. The lords want to make an example out of them."

"I'm always up for killing leeches," Collin interjected smarmily, the left side of his mouth curving upward in his typical sideways smirk, "but given the time of month, they have us at a disadvantage."

"A point which we brought to their attention," Dex answered, crossing his arms and starting to pace. "The lords are willing to be… ah, accommodating in that respect."

"Meaning?" Una implored.

Dex stopped pacing and regarded all of us. "They are willing to suspend Fuil Aimisir this month as compensation for our intervention in this matter."

A tremor passed through me as Dex spoke, and I recalled earlier in the city when the vampires had started celebrating the arrival of their feeding time. The notion of a month without Fuil Aimisir made me ravenous, but something else seemed to sweeten the idea.

"Do the leeches know?" I asked, my voice coming out as more of hiss than actual words. The others looked at me, and I noted the wariness in their eyes. I couldn't blame them, however. I had been nothing short of volatile since my change. After taking a moment to compose myself, I continued. "Does anyone other than the lords know about this deal?"

Dex shook his head, and with the exception of he and Shiloh, the rest of us laughed simultaneously.

"You're joking," Tobin insisted, running his hands through his hair, trying and failing to contain the excited growl rumbling from his chest. There was nothing he liked more than hunting vampires for sport, and the fact that they were unaware thrilled him. "They're really going to let us do this?"

"They must be really desperate," Rix commented, his brow creased as he continued to think. "Still, they have many seasoned leeches at their disposal. Why do they need us?"

"Because they want it done today. In the daylight," Dex said, explaining that the lords wanted all the newborns to be wiped out in one strike, and the best time to do that was during the day. It was also the only time that would guarantee that their maker was among them. "They could not stress enough how important it is that we not kill the creator. That's the only way we get a month without Fuil Aimisir."

We spent a good ten minutes discussing when and where the attack would occur, deciding that around noon would be best. According to the local weather report, the city would have about two hours of sunshine which was more than enough for us. After laying out the attack strategy, our conversation easily transferred to how many leeches we were going to take down that night. Tobin had just shared a particularly graphic takedown when Shiloh interrupted.

"Still your lust for violence," she said, her voice carrying its usual soft quiet while still commanding authority. We stood in obedient stillness as she addressed us. "The temptation to devour every vampire in the city is strong now that an allowance has been made, but this small bit of luxury is no excuse to abandon reason."

Rix stepped forward, inclining his head forward and asking, "What is your command, Shiloh?"

She was thoughtful for only a few moments. "This Fuil Aimisir will pass as it has before—with one exception. Collin. I am informed that you have located the vampire's iniquity den, is that correct?"

Collin nodded. "The nightclub? Yeah. It's reopened on the west side. They call is Sanguis."

Snickering, Tobin shook his head. "How many synonyms of blood are there?"

Shiloh spoke again, her voice ringing out clear and commanding. "Listen well, my faithful warriors. We will honor the request of the lords. We will bring this outsider to face judgment for their actions. In return, I will give you one night in their nest of debauchery. You may quench your thirst for violence in any manner you see fit. Will you accept my terms?"

We all offered out assent without hesitation, excited by what Shiloh was offering us. We weren't merely going to Sanguis to feed or hunt; we were going to raze it to the ground. Every vampire within those walls would be killed. In short, it was going to be a massacre—a beautiful, glorious extermination. In the months prior, whenever we had found one of those awful night clubs, we would merely set it on fire and kill a few leeches. On one occasion, we staked a vampire's head outside of the building as a warning—but it was hardly a deterrent. Another would pop up a few weeks later in a different location, and the cycle would begin again. This was different, though.

There was something about the way Shiloh spoke about this place that made me realize she meant to shut them down permanently. It was a little strange considering her apathy toward humans but not quite unexpected. I had noticed several changes in Shiloh the past few months. They were small, fleeting moments where her usual stoic demeanor cracked and I was able to see something beyond what I had come to know. She smiled more, tried to converse with us like a friend rather than a leader, and there were a few instances where I could have sworn I had heard her laugh.

To be honest, I was comfortable assuming that she was doing it for Dex's benefit.

Nora's death had destroyed Dex in a way I had never witnessed. Having been to funerals before and seen humans grieving, I was unprepared for the depth of his sorrow. What was worse was that we all felt it. Vampires were selfish beings, only looking out for themselves. The Walkers were such a close unit and so loyal that they mourned every injury, physical, mental or emotional, that each of them received.

A few weeks after he had been given Nora's journal, Dex had laid down on one of the couches in the under dwelling and had refused to get up. One by one, all of us had bedded down around him. Tobin, Rix, and Collin stretched out on the floor beside him, while Una and I curled up beside him. Even Shiloh, with all her lack of emotion, sat perched atop the back of the couch for forty-eight hours straight. We mourned together. That's just how we were.

Then, one morning, after she had lit a fire in the makeshift fire pit on the opposite side of the room, Dex had raised his head and called out to her. They thought the rest of us were asleep, so exhausted by the weight of our grief, but I was awake. The two of them had spoken very softly in the ancient language, and since I was in the middle of learning it, I couldn't tell what was being said. Out of nowhere, though, Shiloh smiled. It was a wide, warm, friendly smile, so reminiscent of the Shiloh in the picture Nora had drawn, before she had been mutilated and shattered by Constantine. I laid there in a moment of awe, watching this rare sight before me. Since that moment, she had made more attempts to show more emotion when she wasn't required to be a serious leader.

By the time we returned to our under dwelling, the sun was climbing steadily higher in the sky, casting a warm glow over the trees surrounding the decrepit, run down gas station out front. I paused for a moment and stared at the horizon, feeling the warmth of the daylight shine on me. As I inhaled deeply and tasted the rich soil, the dew still clinging to the plants, and the subtle exhaust emanating from the direction of the city, I smiled contently.

It didn't take long for the seven of us to shed our regular clothes and slip into our hunting gear. When the smooth leather spread across my skin, I couldn't fight the wave of nostalgia that accompanied it. The last time I had worn the garment had been when I had been officially inducted. I fondly remembered standing in front of Oren, the leader of the entire society of Walkers. It had been such a surreal moment. I finished tying the sides and re-laced my boots, which had loosened after my most recent feeding.

"What are you smiling about?" Una asked from where she stood, lacing up the torso portion of her ensemble. When I shrugged and remained silent, she narrowed her eyes. "Fine. Keep your secrets. Let me know how that works out for you in the end."

I laughed at her irritation. "The last time I wore this was in Sweden. I was just remembering what it was like."

She hummed an acknowledgement before returning to her prior task. I had come to rely on her greatly over the past few months. Our relationship had improved from what it had been, but we weren't what I would call best friends. Still, I trusted her to have my back, and she trusted me to, well, not maul her when I grew angry.

"It's strange, isn't it?" Una said, cutting off my internal dialogue. I offered her a puzzled look, and she added, "The lords giving us a free pass on Fuil Aimisir. They have always hated and regretted the pact they made with us. I do not trust them."

I nodded as I finished lacing my boots, and I stood up. "Neither do I, but if Shiloh and Dex agreed to follow through with their request, what choice do we have?"

She shook her head. "There's something about this that does not add up. I cannot put my finger on it, though."

"We're all a little on edge," I responded, crossing to her and shrugging. "This city was a mess when we came back."

We had spent more time in the colony than we had originally intended, and when we had returned to Jacksonville, the number of leeches had tripled. That was when we had first discovered the night clubs, the dens of depravity and disgusting acts. It had been a rough couple of weeks spent cleaning up and intimidating the lords into submission. Just thinking of that time made me feel a bit sick.

"Are you suggesting I'm being paranoid?" Una quipped, raising her eye in her typical manner.

I smirked. "Maybe just a bit."

We idled there for an hour or so, waiting for Shiloh and Dex to return. They had left as soon as they had changed, heading out to our target's bunker to get an idea of what was waiting for us. In the meantime, the five of us sat in a semicircle outside, reveling in the sport to come.

"If I had known we were going to feast," Tobin commented, jumping to his feet and crossing to a large tree on the edge of the tree line. "I would have skipped the hunt last week. I play on gorging my belly tonight."

"That is if you do not lose your footing," Rix retorted, referencing a recent incident in a decrepit, run-down building. The floor had given way, and Tobin had fallen six stories. He growled in response to Rix's playful ribbing and fell silent. "Am I alone in my speculations that this is a trap of some sort?"

I frowned. "Why would they do something like that?"

"Coercion," he responded, leaning back against Una, who was propped up behind him, resting her head on his shoulder. "They have been relatively passive aggressive since our return. Is it unthinkable that they could be devising a plan to rid themselves of us completely?"

My eyes widened slightly as I wondered if he was right. Could this entire agreement—the outsider, the newborns, the free pass on Fuil Aimisir—be a ruse to kill us? I felt a tremor travel up my spine and my senses were suddenly heightened. The paranoia was affecting me.

"Knock it off, Rix," Collin called out with an exasperated sight. He inclined his head in my direction. "You're freaking Bella out."

A part of me knew that what Collin was saying was accurate. Rix's words were having a profound impact on my mood. However, the fact that I was still young made me hear criticism. With that in mind, a low growl came from me as I turned and glared at him.

"I'm fine," I seethed.

He shook his head, laughing. "Keep telling yourself that."

Sitting across from him, observing my rapidly changing demeanor and expression, Una shook her head. "Collin. Don't antagonize her."

He fell silent after that, however, I could feel the lingering tension that had always existed between us for as long as I could remember. In fact, as I chanced a glimpse at him over my right shoulder, I was shocked to find him staring at me with an unimaginable intensity. I was forced to look away. It had been like this ever since we had returned from The Colony, and frankly, I wasn't sure how much more I could take. Fortunately, with the return of Shiloh and Dex, the animosity between us evaporated, but I knew it was only temporary.

We were perched two miles away from the two story house. The windows were boarded up and there was an odor of stagnation that told me this place had been devoid of human habitants for quite some time. Regardless, the area reeked of the telltale odor of vampires. In fact, I could hear the erratic breathing, subtle hissing and skittering, and the mixed odors of old blood and venom. Turning my nose to the air, I inhaled deeply and tasted the scent of venom that permeated the air. It wasn't just any venom, though. Newborn venom was somehow more potent than that of a seasoned leech. It was sweeter, tangier, more succulent, and it was intoxicating—enough to drive me insane.

My heart started to beat a bit faster when Shiloh whistled, her way of telling us to fall in line. I took my place next to Una and waited impatiently, my whole body vibrating with anticipation of what was coming. Would we rush the house? Jump onto the roof? Set it on fire and wait for the leeches to pour out of the windows like rats? Each possibility excited me more than the last, and pretty soon, I was on the edge of my figurative seat, waiting for Shiloh's command. Seconds felt like hours as I waited in limbo, my eyes locked on my ceannaire, longing for the battle to ensue. Finally, when it felt as though I would break under the tension coursing through my veins, collapse under the weight of anticipation, Shiloh nodded slowly and took a step forward.

It was an aggravatingly slow pace, a bit faster than a human's brisk power walk, but it was necessary. Moving too quickly could alert the newborns and send them in a blind panic, which could result in them fleeing in all directions. I had been through a situation like that before. It was messy. Our steps were slow enough to be casual, but quick enough so as not to attract attention—if that made sense.

The noise from within the house grew louder with every step I took, and above the growling and scratching, I discerned one noise. Their heartbeats. The average human heart is around sixty to one hundred beats per minute; a vampire's heart is a steady five hundred. Due to its speed, it's not audible to human ears. To a Walker, though, the quick thrumming was like a beautiful symphony, beckoning them to the awaiting feast. It was even stronger in the newborns.

We were halfway there when Shiloh suddenly raised her right hand, wordlessly signaling us to stop. Our party came to an immediate halt, each of us waiting for her next command.

From within the house, there came a sound, a voice.

"I can hear something," it hissed. It was youthful, almost childlike. "Footsteps. I want to look outside."

Shiloh pointed to the high grass beneath our feet, and we all dropped to our stomachs. It was moments like this, when we were stalking our prey from a far, eyes glued on the prize, that I actually felt like a predator.

"No! You know the rules!" Another voice, this one much more masculine chided. "We are not allowed outside. Not even a glimpse. What you heard was nothing. Probably an animal. Come on."

We resumed our steady approach as the two leeches' footsteps carried them to another side of the house, and after a few seconds, we broke free from the long grass and ascended the rickety stairs. I took a deep breath as Shiloh approached the moldy, barely hanging on its hinges door and glanced back at us. No matter how many times I had gone on group hunts before, I had never gotten used to the rush that overcame me moments before we attacked. It was intoxicating.

All of my senses were heighted as I waited for Shiloh's next move, my eyes focused on the door before me. My prey was on the other side, waiting for me. How much longer before I could explode? Before I could let the animal take hold of me? I stood there, standing on the brink of insanity as Shiloh leaned forward and inhaled deeply, tasting the air around us. What was she searching for? After a few seconds that felt dangerously close to hours, Shiloh took a few steps back, her posture becoming significantly more rigid with each step, and with a quick nod to Dex, she kicked the door off its hinges.

The door exploded the moment she took it, sending a shower of splintered wood and age-old dust into the air. The odor of mildew and rot increased, but I found myself nearly incapable of focusing on that. My gaze was straight ahead, through the settling fog of debris, fixated on a huddled mass of bodies not fifteen feet from us.

Pinned up in a corner, their eyes carrying a significant amount of fear, was a horde of at least twenty fresh leeches. They were shivering slightly, possibly from trying to retrain their blood lust as the scent of a Walker was nearly irresistible to their untamed noses, and in a sense, they reminded me of scared children. I knew better than to underestimate them, however. The quivering lot before me was a menace that had to be dealt with. With a shrill shriek, one of the newborns started toward us, his jaw open, a thin line of viscous fluid salivating from his lips, and his eyes focused on his prize. Newborn vampires were strong, much stronger than an average bloodsucker, but like this creature discovered, they were no match for us.

With a simple sweep of her foot, Shiloh brought the beast to his knees, the impact causing the floorboards to splinter, fracture and eventually give way beneath. The entire foundation rocked and creaked, threatening to come tumbling down. Before he could regain his footing, Shiloh placed her foot on his throat, and with a slight tug, his head was torn from his shoulders, causing the group in the corner to explode in a cacophony of snarls and screeches. As they surged toward us, I moved to shield Shiloh from the horde, realizing that they were too close to her. As the tallest stretched out his long arms and tried to snap her neck, my right fist came up and connected with his jaw, sending him flying backward into three other leeches.

There was no time to appreciate the speed of my actions nor the strength of my attack. As soon as one vampire went down, two more quickly took its place. The ruckus we had caused had awoken the remainder of the vampires, which, judging by the direction they poured in from, had probably been nesting in the basement or some underground lair. I stepped back as another skidded across the ground and slashed at my legs with a snarl, coming within inches of tearing my leg off. His assault continued, slashing and inching closer, all the while, I waited for an opening, which approximately ten seconds later, he eventually gave me.

As the leech rose to his feet and reared back to strike at me again, I seized the opportunity of his open posture and lurched forward. Gripping his shoulders to stop his attack, I reached out and seized his throat in my teeth, feeling the skin tear under the power of my bite, and the sinfully sweet venom poured down my throat. With each gulp, I felt myself growing more powerful. It was the ultimate adrenaline rush, igniting my senses in a way that both thrilled and terrified me—and I wanted more.

My ears filled with the sound of the vamp's gurgled screams, and I smiled as though it were sweet classical music and I was enjoying an expensive meal. As soon as his body ran dry, though, I snapped out of it, stepped back, gripped his neck and ripped his head from his shoulders, tossing it to the side. His dead eyes watched me from the floor as I returned to the fray.

Like me, my brothers and sister had taken my lead and fallen upon the newborns mercilessly, sometimes stopping to take a drink before ripping them apart.

Tobin practically flew across the room, onto the shoulders of a fleeing vampire. The creature collapsed under my brother's weight. Of all of us, Tobin was by far the cruelest—and with good reason. The horrors of his past fueled his anger and made him a ruthless hunter. As he planted his teeth into base of the vampire's neck, and once he had the grip he was seeking, he proceeded to rip the leech's spinal cord through her skin, splitting her flesh and sending a burst of venom into the air. The female emanated a horrific sound, somewhere in between a scream and a howl, until he separated the cord from her skull. She fell, immobile to the ground. After a few moments of staring at her, he decapitated her and moved onto the next leech. Even though I hated vampires and enjoyed killing them, there was something about Tobin's barbaric nature that always secretly scared me. How lucky I was that he was on my side.

Roughly five minutes later, the vast majority of the newborns were dispatched and laying, headless, in pile at the center of the room. Those that had survived had managed to escape and disappear outside. We would find them, though; we always did.

There had been only one injury during the fray, and I had to keep myself from laughing as Collin was patched up by Una. In an effort to take on two leeches at once, a third had slashed his stomach. It wasn't a significant wound, and had we been returning home immediately, he could have healed by the next day, but considering we still had a job to finish, Una took it upon herself to mend him.

As we finished stacking the bodies, Dex and Shiloh descending from the upper level, where they had vanished to at the start of the fight, and we immediately noticed they were not alone. Between them was a male vampire, his shoulders square and his head held high, as though he were some type of royalty. He was our bounty, the one who had been creating newborns and trying to steal the land. He was shorter than I had anticipated and had a boyish face that made him look no older than fifteen years old. However, as he fought against his captors, he angrily shouted at us in what sounded like Spanish. While I recalled taking that as a language course in school, I had no memories of what I had learned, and thus, I couldn't understand him.

Shiloh, on the other hand, could understand him perfectly. She reached down and gripped his hair, pulling his head back so she could look into his eyes, and spoke to him in flawless Spanish. She even had the accent down. The vampire stared back at her, a look of shock and terror on his face, but ultimately said nothing. With an agitated snarl, Dex crossed over to Shiloh and started rambling off in the ancient language. Since I had spent the last few months learning it, I tried to pick up bits and pieces of what they were saying, but unfortunately, they were going too fast for me to understand.

In an attempt to know what was happening, I sought out Una. She had become my unofficial interpreter in these situations; she had also been the one teaching me the ancient language. I found her standing next to Rix, slightly leaning against his shoulder. That was the only PDA they ever let us see. They weren't the only ones, either. I had discovered that openly expressing ones affection was a faux pas of sorts in the Walkers' culture. It was so different from the humans, with their hand holding, public kissing and such. Sure enough, as I sidled up to Una, she leaned away from Rix and focused on me.

"They are trying to get answers from him," she whispered while keeping her eyes on the scene before her. "Shiloh and Dex believe the landowners are hiding something. Unfortunately the leech is not giving away any secrets. Dex is frustrated."

I nodded and watched as Dex and Shiloh continued to argue softly. The idea of the landowners lying to us made me edgy.

After a minute or so, Shiloh and Dex tossed a bag of his head, possibly to prevent the leech's skin from revealing his true form from the humans. There was quite a bit of distance between where we were and the next entrance to the Under Passage, and the last thing we wanted was exposure. Exposure of the vampire world always brought the Volturi. As I thought of the vampire lawmakers, the ones who kept the existence of our prey a secret from the humans, a hazy image of Constantine crossed my mind and I felt my hand snake behind my back, my fingers stroking the scar that he had given me. As I had so many times before, I thanked whatever gods looked out for my kind that he was dead.

Before we headed back into town, though, Shiloh instructed us to burn the house to the ground.

We happily obliged.

Author's Note: Well. I'm back. I can't say that updates are going to be coming quicker from this point on, but I do feel as though I can start writing more and more. I'm heading toward another semester of fulltime hours, so that will be taking up a lot of my time, but I'm going to try and devote more time to this series. I want to bring it to a close as badly as you guys want to read it. Thanks again for all the well wishes and support. It's been a rough couple of months, but I think I'm on the road to emotional/mental recovery.

This is the official end of this chapter. The next time I post, it will be Chapter 2.

Questions? Comments? Concerns? You know what to do!