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The Scarlet Hunter	By : naturechild02 Category: +S to Z > Vampire Hunter D Views: 2103 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own rights to Vampire Hunter D or any of Hideyuki Kikuchi's works. I do not make any profit/monies from this story. This a fanfic written merely for the enjoyment of myself and others.

Chapter List
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Her face was covered when she entered town but the people recognized her. The men tipped their hats and nodded their heads. The woman curtsied and looked at a loss for words. Most tried to ignore the humongous cat trailing behind her. She read the truth on their faces: someone had died. No, it couldn’t be…
She came to Dathan’s door and barged in without knocking. She could hear half a dozen people in the parlor but Lindsay was coming down the stairs and saw her first.
“My God! Dathan! Dathan!” she called and he came running behind up her. He was opening his mouth to ask Lindsay what the matter was, but when he caught sight of the Hunter at the door, he left it open in shock. He ran down the stairs two at a time and embraced her. Katherine hugged him hard, her only blood relative left and her dear brother whom she had missed.
The visitors in the parlor crowded around to see what all the fuss was about. “Katherine my dear!” Dathan was beside himself and she stepped back to look at him. His face looked a bit pale and his eyes had the red rims of tears he would not let spill. He was dressed completely in black. Everyone was.
“Dathan, is it Aunt Margaret? What happened? I had a terrible dream about her.” She removed her face covering and gripped his shoulders.
“She has passed, dear. A few nights ago. I was not sure how to get word to you.” He suddenly looked exhausted and she felt for him.
“I knew, I dreamed about it. I was just entering the Forlorn Mountains but I felt that something was wrong. Where is she?”
“In the parlor. She went peacefully one night. Just like father.” Here he embraced her again. “I am so glad you came home.”
“Lindsay, please prepare a plain black dress for me. I will stay until she is laid to rest.”
Lindsay nodded readily, happy to assist her husband’s grieving family. Katherine took her brother’s hand and the whispering crowd parted as she stepped into the parlor. A large wooden coffin was laid on a table. She paused to set down her sword and bag of gear. Tomo jumped up on a couch to rest. His loud purr was now the only sound in the room. Katie slowly approached the coffin and peered inside.

There she lay: her ancient, wrinkled face, gray hair, and small mouth with its corners slightly raised in a smile. She did indeed look at peace. Katie wanted to touch her; to feel the coldness that made her death a reality but her hands were shaking. Dathan squeezed the hand he still held and she looked at him, distraught.
“Come, you have had a long ride,” he said as he led her upstairs to her room. Nothing in her room had been touched; everything was exactly where she had left it. “I will have Michelle draw you a bath,” Dathan pulled the door.
“Wait, Dathan.” Katherine felt overwhelmed by it all. Being home like this in the room she grew up in, her aunt’s dead body downstairs, the knowledge that her brother was all she had left. She wasn’t sure if she should cry or scream. Taking in a deep breath, she tried to calm her nerves and regain her composure. “I am sorry I was so far away and could not get here sooner. I will stay until everything is taken care of. Is that okay?”
“Of course,” he smiled at her and closed the door. Katie lay on the bed and thought of her aunt. When Michelle came a few minutes later to get her for her bath, she was already asleep.

She could still wear the dress she had worn to her father’s funeral. A little tight on her well-toned arms and her chest, but it was all she had in black. With her pale skin and red hair, she stood out the most at the funeral. The night before she had crept downstairs and said a few words to her aunt’s body and shed some tears. But today she must be strong. For Dathan. He was not crying as he stood between his sister and his wife holding both of their hands. Katie hoped he wasn’t clenching Lindsay’s hand as hard as he was hers.
After the coffin was lowered and Dathan and Katherine threw their fistfuls of dirt, they stepped back to let the minister speak. Ray stood behind Katie and she could feel him staring at her back the entire time. She wasn’t sure what to say to him. They had been friends since childhood but after he had ratted her out to her brother that night, the sight of him only angered her. After everyone dispersed, Dathan took her arm and led her inside to sit and talk.
“Katherine, Margaret set her affairs in order before she died. She gave me most of her money, but she wants you to have her house in Carrillo. You can sell it or keep it, whatever you wish. Even a Hunter might need somewhere to retire to.” Katie hung her head a bit. She was afraid he was still angry about her profession but she looked up in amazement at his next words. “I am proud of you Katherine. The whole town is; they have kept your secret well. And I think father would have been, too. I know Aunt Margaret was. After I told her about you leaving, she wrote letters to me about everything you had done while you had been ‘at her house.’ The amazing stories that you had told her seemed a bit extreme for my baby sister, but I believed most of them. Of course, I did hear something about a giant lizard that just seemed too outlandish.”
Katie laughed for the first time in days and found that it felt good. “That was true! That was the first time D and I worked together. When I had to stop wearing that hat because it was no use hiding that I was a girl. I think D had already guessed.” She got quiet and looked at the floor.
“You should see the way your face lights up when you mention him. Are you in love with him?” Dathan seemed more curious than accusatory.
Katie continued to concentrate on the parlor rug. She tried to keep her voice neutral when she replied. “What does it matter? There can never be anything between us.”
“Because you are Hunters or because he does not love you in return?”
She looked in his eyes and smiled. “It is enough for me to be near him. How could a girl like me ask for more? What do I have to offer any man but bloodshed and grief?”
“Hmm, you know, Ray is still pining over you.” Dathan smiled mischievously.
Katie rolled her eyes. “He cannot take a hint, can he?”
“Perhaps you should stop toying with him and give him a serious no.”
“I thought I made it pretty clear when I left.”
“Be kind, he has always loved you. Since we were kids.”
“It is not love that drives him or he would not be trying to cage me against my will. He knows I value my freedom and yet he still pursues me. If only I were ugly and fat; my life would be much easier.”
“And mine as well,” Dathan laughed.
“That is the first I’ve heard you laugh in a week,” Lindsay came down the stairs, “You are all packed my dear.”
“Where are you going?” Katie asked.
“Where are we going? You and I have business in Carrillo about your new estate. Someone must care for it while you are away. We leave this afternoon. Have a chat with Ray before then, please? And get that huge cat away from Lindsay, it makes her nervous.”

“Katie, my love, we have been friends for so long how could you not know how I feel about you? Please stay here with me.” Ray pleaded, his voice as sweet as honey. He was giving her puppy eyes and caressing her hand. They stood in the garden as Dathan and the servants readied a carriage. It seemed only appropriate that it was winter and no flowers bloomed here. The scenery was as dead as her feelings for this boy. She sighed in frustration.
“You know very well I do not feel that way. I love you as a friend only. Why do you insist on badgering me? When my brother and I return, I will be off again and this time I will be gone for quite a while. Perhaps a year.”
Ray flushed with anger. “It is that damn dhampir. I have heard the rumors that you ride together. What else do you do together, I wonder?”
Katie slapped him. The blow was actually harder than she intended, and she knocked him to the ground. She was angry but she saw the opportunity to get him off her back for good. “Yes, Ray, I leave all of you for him. Now go find another girl to shower all your false affections on and leave me be.” She stormed off without another word or a backwards glance.

Daniel Clemmons and Josephine Clemmons the graves stated quite plainly. No words of love or comfort, only the dates of birth and death. And of course, the newest headstone beside theirs was Margaret’s. There were a few other graves of distant uncles and cousins, mostly with Clemmons as the last name. They were crowded together beneath a cherry tree at one corner of Dathan’s land.
“The last of their clan. It is a bit depressing,” D mumbled to himself as he crouched over Katherine’s father’s grave.
“What are you being all sentimental for? It isn’t like you miss any of your people.”
D stiffened and stood up, glancing behind him. Katie was walking toward him. She wore black pants and a matching shirt; she could no longer stand the dresses Lindsay pressed her to wear. She carried flowers. “I did not expect you to be here.” She looked surprised and relieved.
“I am sorry to come here without asking permission,” the dhampir said, “I was only thinking what a shame it was that I never had the privilege of meeting your father. He sounded like a great man.”
Katie gave a strained smile but she looked as if she might cry at any minute. “He was. He was the best.” She opened her mouth to say more but nothing else came to mind. D stepped back so she could place the flowers on the graves. She carefully cleared away grass and muck from each gravestone and sat down in front of her parents’.
“How are you father? Mother? We have been doing well here: Dathan and Lindsay and I. I am sure you have seen Aunt Margaret by now. I know she has some crazy stories about me to tell. I promise you that most of them are true. I am enjoying my life but I look forward to the day that we can be together again.” She glanced up at D and there were tears in her eyes but she would not let them spill. “This is D; a friend of mine. He is a Vampire Hunter, the best in the business actually.”
She stood up and brushed her clothes off. Her mood was so solemn and dark that she seemed like a completely different person. D didn’t like it.
“I just wanted to stop by because it may be a while before I can return. Perhaps I will not return this time but meet you in Heaven. Whatever the case may be, I miss you and will see you soon.” She turned to leave just as Dathan approached with a beautiful white mare.
“This is Star. Take care of her, sister, for she will take care of you.” Her sword, clothes and bag of gear were strapped to the saddle. Tomo was already perched on its back, ready to ride. The horse didn’t seem bothered by the large cat in the least.
“Why a white horse, brother?”
Dathan looked at D as he answered, “Because you are the sunshine to his night.” Katie flushed a little but hid her embarrassment by leaping to the saddle. While she mounted, Dathan and D exchanged a look. An understanding passed between them though no words were spoken.
“Should I not at least say goodbye to Lindsay?” Katie questioned Dathan as she fingered the mare’s beautiful mane.
“Well, she is resting right now. She has been tired, sickly and moody lately and I am thinking that maybe…” he grinned sheepishly at Katie as she realized what he meant.
“Oh Dathan! I am so happy for you!” she leaned down and hugged him hard. “I hope it is a beautiful little boy. Give word when it comes close to time, okay? Even if it's just screaming it to the sky!” She was so happy at this news that she thought her heart might burst.
“Take care, future aunt,” Dathan slapped her horse’s rump and she took off waving like mad. “Take care of her, D,” his look was serious now as was D’s answer.
“I will.”
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The Scarlet Hunter