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Blood Feud	By : Nakkinomiko Category: +S to Z > Vampire Hunter D Views: 1908 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Hunter D or its characters. I make no money from this fic.

Chapter List
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D sat at the kitchen table for quite some time after Raina had retired to bed. The conversation had taken an unexpected turn, and he was still trying to sort out the emotions it had stirred up. When he’d first seen Raina in the graveyard it had been like a punch to the gut--she was nearly a mirror image of the young woman Leila had been when their paths had crossed. And to think--he’d actually believed that he was over the feelings he’d developed for Leila.

“You’re thinking about leaving, aren’t you?” The voice came from his left hand. “Are you going to make the same mistake twice?”

D frowned slightly and resisted the urge to slam his hand, palm open, down on the table. The honest truth was, his symbiotic friend was the only constant company he had, and more often than not, it helped him remember that while he was half vampire, he was half human too. The thing had a big mouth, though, and sometimes D hated it when the thing spoke the truth so openly. This time, however, it wasn’t completely right.

“She’s not Leila,” D said softly. “The only thing I could feel for Raina is friendship, and you know it.”

“But you care for Raina, because she is Leila’s granddaughter. Are you going to leave something else you care about behind? How many times are you going to do this to yourself, D?”

“I’m not leaving,” he said. “I promised her I would stay until we had avenged Madeline’s death and found those responsible for her father’s death. I will keep that promise.”

“And then you will move on, like you always do,” the symbiote said, and it made a disgusted noise. “Your Father. . .ow!”

D had fisted his hand together tightly, a silent warning for the creature to not finish the sentence. There were many things that D would talk about--his late Father was not one of them, nor was his mother, for that matter. His emotions where the two were concerned were so jumbled--sometimes hate, but most of the time, love and a deep loss that could never be consoled. His human mother had died so long ago that were it not for the painted cameo he kept hidden beneath his clothes he would not even remember what she looked like. His father . . . he could not be one hundred percent certain that his father was dead. He had disappeared many years ago, and if he were still alive, he was hiding well. D had spent nearly a century looking for him, but with no positive results. He had finally resigned himself to the fact that he was alone on the earth with no family.

Over the millennia he’d encountered humans that he found himself liking a great deal, but he always kept himself as isolated from them as possible. He’d always convinced himself that being alone was better than growing attached to mortals that would wither and die before his eyes. But Leila had been different--he had wanted to stay with her, even though she would grow old and die before his eyes. But he had left, even though he knew she shared the feelings, because death always followed D where ever he went, and Leila really had deserved better than that. He’d watched from a distance as she’d married a man in the village that also had experience as a Hunter. They’d loved each other, and Raina’s father, Arthur had come along. He’d watched as Arthur grew from a boy into a man and became a Hunter himself. He was in town the night Raina was born, and her mother had given her life for her daughter’s that night. His final visit to the town had been for Leila’s funeral--he hadn’t been back since, and might not have bothered to return to the area had it not been for the news of Arthur’s sudden death.

It had been the memory of a little green-eyed girl that had brought him back then. He had to make sure that Leila’s granddaughter was safe, that she was not going to be left to the whims of an extremely cruel world on her own. Except, he found that she was no longer a little girl. Twenty years had passed in that time, and she was a young woman now, and so like Leila that it had nearly undone D.

But she wasn’t Leila.

“Is there anything else you want to say?” D asked in a tone that was edged with warning.

“Ah, no,” came the subdued reply. “Perhaps we should just go to bed and get some sleep, eh?”

D’s response was to get up from the table and take himself to the spare bedroom on the second floor. As far as he was concerned, the conversation was over.

Raina rose early the next morning, showered, and donned work clothes before heading out to the stables to care for the horses. She wasn’t overly surprised to find that D had arrived there before her and was already shoveling clean hay into the stalls.

“Well, you’re useful to have around,” Raina said by way of greeting. He didn’t reply, but she hadn’t really expected him to, so she wasn’t disappointed in the least. She busied herself with pouring feed into the horses’ troughs, and was somewhat surprised to find that the silence between her and D was a comfortable one.

They were nearly finished when the sound of horses’ hooves filled the yard, and when Raina stepped out of the barn, she found the town’s sheriff dismounting from his horse. Alex Granger and Raina had been friends for as long as Raina could remember, although their affection for one another was closer to what a brother and sister would feel for one another. Her father had always hinted to both of them that they should marry, and Alex and Raina would look at each other each time and just start to laugh. Alex was devastatingly handsome, with short cropped black hair, blue eyes and a killer smile. He would have made someone a good husband, but Raina had a suspicion that Alex didn’t like women that way--she’d never seen him date a woman.

“Mornin’, beautiful!” Alex called to her as he dismounted. “What’s for breakfast?”

“Alex Granger, you should be ashamed of yourself,” Raina said.

“Oh, I am, but I’m terribly hungry, darling!” Alex returned, grinning at her now.

“Lord!” Raina snorted with mock disgust. “Looks like I’m feeding two extra mouths this morning! Now,” she said, suddenly serious, “will you tell me the real reason you’re out here?”

The smile Alex gave her now was tinged with sadness. “I just wanted to make sure you were okay after yesterday,” he admitted. “I know this has been hard on you.”

“What about you?” Raina countered her smile equally wistful. Alex’s expression became pained for a moment, and Raina stepped forward and wrapped her arms around his waist in a fierce hug.

“You don’t need to be worrying about me,” Alex whispered to her. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders and held her close. He released her and held her at arm’s length. His eyes flickered over her shoulder, and she felt him go very still.

Raina realized that D must have come out of the barn, and when she turned her head, she found him walking towards them.

“Holy Hell,” Alex breathed as he drew closer. He looked down at Raina. “Is that the guy your Grandma used to tell us about when we were kids? I heard rumor last night that you were seen walking with him . . .”

“Yes,” Raina said, smiling slightly. D had stopped near them, and Raina turned to face him. “D, this is Alex Granger, the town’s sheriff and a very good friend of mine. Alex, this is D.”

Alex extended his hand, and Raina found herself breathing a sigh of relief when D clasped it in what was for him a friendly greeting.

“It’s an honor to meet you, sir,” Alex said.

“He’s going to help me bring Madeline’s murderer to justice,” Raina informed him.

Alex looked at her sharply, his lips turned downward in a frown.

“You’re really going to go through with this, aren’t you?” Alex asked.

“Of course I am!” Raina shot back. “Madeline was my friend, and she was practically your sister in-law!”

Alex’s expression became pained, and he looked away from her. His brother, James, had been the human lover that Raina and her father had found murdered in Madeline’s home.

“I can’t bear the thought of losing you, too,” Alex finally said. He still would not meet her eyes. “You’re the only and closest thing to family I’ve got left, kid.”

“I’ve no intentions of dying, Alex Granger,” Raina said. “I’m a licensed Hunter. It’s not like I don’t know what I’m getting into here.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

Alex just gazed down at her for several moments before he gave a slow nod, and then a wry smile.

“It’s not like I could stop you, anyway. Town Sheriffs have no jurisdiction over officially licensed Hunters, and I know you too well, Raina. You’re stubborn as hell. If you’re going to do it, you’re going to do it.” He paused and looked up at D. “Hope you know what you’re getting into, mister. She’s tough as nails and doesn’t take any crap, this one.”

D’s only answer to that was a slight upward curve of his lips.

“Well, now that we’ve got that settled, did you want breakfast or not?” Raina asked, grinning up at her friend. “I can get Raymond to cook us something good.”

“Sure,” Alex said. “And then I can give you the information that I came to give you.”

“I knew you were here for more than just comfort,” Raina said with a frown. “What’s going on, Alex?”

Alex shook his head.

“Food first, angel, and then I’ll tell you and D what I found out via telegraph this morning.”

“How about you just tell us on the way up to the house?” Raina said.

“Stubborn as Hell,” Alex muttered with a grin, but he continued to speak. “Fine. There’s been another vampire kidnapping in Bradington.” His expression was serious now. “It happened two nights ago, and the only good thing about this one is that he appears to have been single, so no murdered lover was left behind. Other than that, it was the usual--signs of a fierce struggle. This one was even stronger than the other vampires that were taken--there were three Barbarois corpses in the mansion. As near as the town officials can tell, the remaining Barbarois must have cut a major artery and bled him to weakness . . .there was a lot of blood on the floor.”

Raina stopped and turned to look at D.

“If they follow the same pattern, they’ll chain him to a post on the east side of the town on the morning of the 14th day,” D said.

“We can save him,” Raina found herself saying. “Right? We can save him?”

“We’ll have to fight,” D said. “They’ll be watching.”

“But we can save him!” Raina reiterated.

“Yes.”

Raina turned to look up at Alex. “How many days away is Bradington?”

“Ten, so you‘ll have to leave right away.” Alex said. “You’re really going to go, aren’t you?”

“Oh, Alex! Didn’t we just have this conversation?” Raina hugged him again, her cheek pressed against the warm wool of his overcoat. “I have to do this. I won’t be at peace until I’ve brought whoever these people are to justice. You understand that, don’t you?”

“Yeah, Raina, I do,” Alex relented. “Just be careful, kid. I want to see you again someday. And you . . .” he looked over at D. “Watch her back, okay?”

“You have my word,” D intoned somberly.

“Well, then,” Alex said. He pressed a kiss against Raina’s forehead. “Let’s go enjoy one last breakfast together before you leave town, and when you get back, I’ll make you breakfast.”

Raina reached up to quickly dash away the tears trying to form in her eyes. “I’m going to hold you to that, Alex Granger.”

Their trip to Bradington was uneventful. They only stopped for short intervals at a time, just long enough for Raina to get eight hours of sleep before moving on. They often ate on the move, beef jerky and hard bread serving to sustain them. A wild demon or two dared to attack the pair, and all were severely and quickly dealt with. Raina never even broke a sweat on the nastiest of them. She’d fought much worse in her time.

They rode into Bradington late afternoon on the tenth day of their journey, and Raina wasn’t really surprised to find that the town was almost fearfully quiet. The townspeople looked up at them with fearful, un-trusting glances, and no one spoke to them as they rode deeper into the town. By silent agreement, they headed for the east side of the town, and as luck would have it, there was an inn to be found very close to the city gates.

“Perfect,” Raina muttered to herself as she dismounted. The sun was starting to go down now, and she was very, very tired. She was looking forward to a hot bath and a good night’s sleep. She followed D into the inn.

The Innkeeper moved out from behind the bar as they entered the building. He was a stocky, middle-aged man who gave them an open smile, despite the obvious fact that her traveling companion was not quite human.

“Welcome,” the man said, bowing to them. “How may we serve you?”

“A room, and dinner for both of us,” D answered, and he handed the man a handful of coins. “And information.”

The man frowned at the exorbitant amount of coins D had handed him, and he took a few of them out of the stack and handed them back to the Dhampire before pocketing the rest. Raina had to hide a smile at the surprise that quickly flashed across D’s features.

“No need to pay for the information, not when I’ll give it freely,” the innkeeper told him. “You’ll be wanting to know about Raphael, I’d imagine.”

“Raphael?” Raina’s brows drew together slightly.

“Yes,” the man nodded. “You’re Hunters, right?” His head nodded towards the sword strapped across D’s back, and his hand motioned towards the twin katanas hanging from Raina’s hip.

“Yes,” D answered simply. “And we are here because of the vampire that was kidnapped about twelve days ago.”

“That’s Raphael,” the man said with a nod. “And it wasn’t twelve days, it was thirteen.”

Raina and D exchanged a quick look before turning their attention back to the man.

“Are you sure?” Raina asked.

“Positive,” he said. “He was gone the morning of my daughter’s birthday, and that was thirteen days ago today.”

“Holy hell,” Raina breathed. She looked at D. “We were almost too late!”

“Almost,” D agreed quietly. “Your name, friend?”

“Ian Tavers,” the innkeeper replied.

“Raina,” she said, extending her hand and shaking his. “And this is D.”

The man, who was old enough to be Raina’s father, chuckled softly as he nodded once.

“I kind of figured. You’re somewhat of a legend, sir.”

Raina hid another smile at the discomfiture that crossed D’s alabaster features.

“Have you come to find those responsible for the kidnappings?” Ian asked.

“Yes,” Raina answered. “And we’re going to try and save Raphael, if we can.”

The words made the man’s face bleed of all color, and he shook his head slowly.

“You mustn’t lady,” he whispered, his expression fearful. “You’ll die for sure.”

“Others have tried?” D asked.

“Oh, yes,” Ian said. “Tried and died. There was nothing left but a bloody smear of the one human that tried to save the vampire from the next town over.”

“Barbarois!” Raina all but spit the word out, her contempt plainly obvious.

“We will save him,” D told the man.

“The town would be most grateful if you could,” Ian said. His expression told Raina that the man thought they were crazy to even be thinking about trying it. “Raphael is a good soul, despite his vampire heritage.”

D arched a brow a bit at that.

“Really, sir . . .he is. He saved my daughter and son from a rogue werewolf, and he has shared his wealth with the townsfolk. Even during the worst of winters no one in this town ever goes hungry. It’s been that way for nearly fifteen years now, ever since he came to live here.” Ian paused and looked down at the floor. “He will be missed.”

“No, he won’t be,” Raina interrupted. “Because we’re going to save him, aren’t we D?”

“I’ve already said so, haven’t I?” D replied, his tone colored ever so slightly with humor. He turned his attention back to the innkeeper. “But Raina will need rest and food to regain her strength before the sunrise, then.”

“Of course,” Ian said. “Please follow me, I’ll take you to your room. I regret that I only have one room to spare, but it has two single beds. . .”

“That’s fine,” Raina assured him. She shouldered her saddlebags and followed the man up the inn’s stairs. She could sense D following behind her, even though he was quiet as a mouse on the stairs.

“I’ll have food sent up,” the innkeeper told them as he opened the door and ushered them into the room.

Raina nodded absently as she crossed to the closest bed, dropped her bags on the floor and sat down on the edge of the mattress. She had just gotten her boots off when the food arrived, and she was quick to finish of her portion of the meat and potatoes on the tray. When she was through she collapsed on the bed.

“Wake me in a few hours,” she told D, her voice already heavy with the sleep that was overtaking her. She was already asleep by the time D gave a quiet affirmative.

Raina came awake with a start, and knew almost instantly that something was wrong. The room was dark, but she could hear D breathing close by, and after she listened for a moment, she heard noise outside the inn. There were people shouting alarm in the town. She flicked her glance towards the window, and saw D’s shadow against the lightening sky.

“Bloody Hell!” she hissed, and she quickly got out of bed and reached for her boots. “You were supposed to wake me!”

“You needed the rest,” D said. He never turned away from the window. “They only now started to raise the alarm. You’ve missed nothing.”

“What time is it?” she snapped, and hoped that he understood her shortness wasn’t really directed at him. The moment was suddenly filled with a dread sense of urgency.

“Nearly 6:00 a.m.” D replied. He turned away from the window to watch as she finished lacing up her boots over the legs of the nearly skin-tight green-leather cat-suit she wore.

They heard footfalls pounding up the stairs, and a moment later an urgent rapping on the room door.

“Come!” Raina called. She stood and buckled her sword belt on and sheathed her swords in the scabbards as the messenger hastily entered the room. It turned out to be the innkeeper.

“They’ve left him,” Ian said, his words coming in short puffs. “Outside the East gate, just like the others.”

“What kind of shape is he in?” Raina asked.

“They’ve starved him,” Ian said. “He looks to be nothing but flesh and bones, even from a distance.”

“Of course,” D said. There was an edge of ice in his voice now. “It’s the only way to truly subdue an ancient vampire--starve them. You’ll have to be careful, Raina, if you get close to him. In that state, he probably won’t have much control over his hunting instincts. He might attack you and not even realize he’s doing so until too late.”

“Yes, I’m aware,” Raina said. She was moving out of the room now, and trusting that D would follow. Ian followed her, and D came behind. “Ian, are there donors in the village, people willing to share blood?”

“There’s not a person in this town that wouldn’t donate,” Ian said. “I told you--Raphael’s been good to this town. It’s time for us to repay him.” They’d made it to the inn’s common room, and a few of the townsfolk were gathered there, and they made sounds of agreement.

“Good,” Raina said. “Have some of them come to the square now with disinfected knives and a glass or two. I’m going to need a couple pints in less than twenty minutes, I’m afraid. Have the rest wait here, at the inn, because this is the closest place to the gate. Have someone else put dark shades over the window in our room. He’ll have to stay there until it’s dark again--we can move him back to his castle then.”

“It will be as you say,” Ian said. He stopped at the door and let them pass on. “Good luck to you both,” he said as D and Raina left the inn, almost running now.

Raina resisted the urge to tell him that they were going to need a whole lot more than luck.

TBC
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Blood Feud