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Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlines	By : devilsdoormat Category: +S to Z > Vampire Hunter D Views: 1732 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: Vampire Hunter D is obviously not my original property. I will make no money and benefit only emotionally from sharing. The title character, D, is pulled from both animated movies and not from the manga.

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The hunters didn't spend long in the office before exiting again. There were fewer gunman on the roofs and the ones outside the building had dispersed. They could relax a little now that the Dunpeal had left.

The hunters didn't talk until they'd reached the car.

Renshen was still looking over the map he'd been handed. He ran his thumbs across the paper, noting the text on the side, scrawled messily in the corner.

"To reach Castle Thanos, you will need to pass through Morrow Valley or through Shangor Swamp. Morrow Valley is a kingdom ruled by a vampire, King Romulus Morrow. If you want to avoid this town, please use the swamp instead." Renshen read the words out loud again.

"Then I better gas up here." Gencho said, "She's still got most of a tank, but it's gonna be a long drive to to St. Pietre's Hamlet, I'm sure. I ain't stoppin' in vamp town."

"I've never even heard of Morrow Valley." Val hissed, "What kind of bullshit is that? It's a vampire kingdom. It's ruled by a freakin' vampire. Have you ever heard of anything like that?"

"There was a time, I am sure." Renshen said, "I've never heard of Morrow Valley either and Kendle said that the town is peaceful. They don't mind havin' a monster for a king. Not that I believe it. Maybe we'll liberate the people before we head north."

"We're not gettin' paid to liberate those people." Gencho muttered.

"Aw, com'on, Gencho. Think of all the ladies who will want to thank us." Tengen commented, grinning, "We can swoop in, save all those virgins from that devil and then reap the rewards. They'll probably pay us actual money too."

"Heh.. heh heh.." Gencho chuckled, "You are makin' a good point."

"So now we're after two vampires?" Valeria shook her head.

"Gencho, go get some gas for Bella. Val, see what they've got at the market. Tengen, check out the armory." Renshen pointed at each as he addressed them.

"What're you gonna do?" Tengen asked Renshen.

"Take another nap." Renshen chuckled and opened the hatch to the car.

***

The girl slipped down from the rocky precipice, her long legs catching her as she crouched on another precarious looking rock edge. Her gray and white cloak hung around her shoulders, her hood down as she crept along and neared her quarry. It was a beautiful afternoon and there was a pleasant breeze. Her quarry didn't suspect a thing.

She sent a hand out and nabbed the red and gold butterfly from where it had been perched, a few feet away. She'd grabbed the insect by its body, careful not to squeeze too hard, and brought it over to an empty, glass mason jar she'd brought along with her. The girl opened the lid to the jar, stuck the butterfly in and then closed the lid back up.

"I'll get you a flower as soon as I can, little guy." The girl said.

"Meredith? Meredith, where are you?" A voice, metallic and feminine, called out.

"I'm over here, Shoyan!" The girl yelled back, jumping from rock ledge to rock ledge until she was closer to the path. There were trees near her hunting spot, a forest spreading out to the far mountains, but there was a little path leading back to town only ten yards away. She was nimble and fast, jumping impossibly high and landing with grace each time.

The girl landed on the path and stood up, pulling back her hood.

She was a young woman, only just an adult, tall and slender with long red hair tied into a loose ponytail. A few errant bangs hung down to her chin on one side. Her hair was deep red, a few shades away from being crimson, and her face was peach toned with freckles on her cheeks. Those eyes were big and blue, bright and curious. Her ears were slightly pointed, a single hoop in each lobe. A smile graced her pink lips and she held aloft her mason jar, showing it off. In her gray slacks and scuffed hiking boots, her blue blouse untucked and dirtied, she did a little dance as the other approached from nearby.

"You're awfully close to the boundary again, Meredith." The metallic voice sounded again and Shoyan was there. She was a woman entirely composed of darkness, like a living shadow. Her shape and her face were very distinguishable as a lovely lady, but her hair and robes were liquid black and shifted as she floated toward the girl named Meredith. All of Shoyan was shadow and darkness save for her eyes, two glowing green spots in her inky face, "Why can't you hunt closer to home?"

"All the good ones are out here. Besides, does it matter how close I am? I can't pass the boundary anyway." Meredith sounded sulky and then shrugged, smiling a bit after, "What's up? Why are you looking for me? Something going on?"

"Ah, yes!" Shoyan shook her head, the shadows shivering, "Aatrak got worried when you weren't at your piano lesson today with Mrs. Yurick. I think it unsettles him that you can evade his.. detection."

"Aatrak's own fault for teaching me how." Meredith chuckled and walked to Shoyan. Meredith was much taller than the shadow woman and looked down at her, "If you don't want me to do it, don't teach me how to!"

"Well, I knew where you'd be." Shoyan floated around and began to hover down the path, "Come along. It's pointless to try to make it there now, but you might as well get some reading in before supper."

"Can't I go out tonight?" Meredith skipped up beside Shoyan, holding the mason jar close to herself, "I told Gallicker maybe we could see if the Playhouse is showing anything.. Or if a band is playing.."

"After you stood up poor Mrs. Yurick? I think not!" Shoyan stated.

"Wah? Are you kidding me, Shoyan?" Meredith exhaled, "Why? I'm older than school age! I'm an adult now! I get to do adult things!"

"You do enough adult things." Shoyan shot Meredith a bright green glance.

"Oh, heh.." Meredith shrugged but then shook her head, "But, no really. I'm nineteen years old, for goodness sakes. I am an adult! Why am I still in classes and lessons?"

"Higher education." Shoyan replied.

"For what?" Meredith asked, "I'm not allowed to leave!"

"Yet." Shoyan raised a dark hand, a finger pointing upward, "There will come a day when your parents deem it safe enough for you to enter the world. It may be down the road a bit but-"

"Because I'm a Dhampir?" Meredith cut her off and walked with long, loping strides, "You keep telling me how bad the world outside of Morrow Valley is. Dad said that humans send hunters, which are just more humans but stupid and scared. Mom says that people are dangerous out there, and that I have to stay safe. But I'm not a baby anymore, Shoyan. I want to go out there! I want to see for myself!"

"A Dhampir isn't treated very well on the outside, Mere." Shoyan told her.

"You've said before. But I'm not a normal Dhampir, am I?" Meredith posed that question and jogged backward alongside Shoyan as they traveled down the path toward the town, "I'm special!"

"Special, of course. Special because you are you. But protected only because of the gifts your mother gave you." Shoyan smiled sadly.

"Yeah! Therefore, I can enter the real world and be totally normal to them all!" Meredith went on, turning herself right again and striding forward, "They're all say, 'Wow, she's so cool! We like her for who she is! I bet she can have a good time!'"

"Perhaps too good of a time." Shoyan chuckled.

"What's the big deal anyway?" Meredith asked.

"Humans are afraid of anything not of their own, Meredith Morrow." Shoyan told her, "The humans outside of our home, I mean. Here, you are beloved because they all know you and they adore your father, the King. But out there, vampires and Dhampirs, even mutants like myself, we are all detested by humanity."

"Maybe I can change that someday." Meredith mused.

"Maybe." Shoyan dropped the subject.

As they came to the town, Meredith could see the streets, busy with people. There were farmers selling their produce on the corner market and bakers with their carts. It was loud and somewhere music was playing. It wasn't particularly great music, but she still liked to hear it.

And there, waiting for them with his massive arms crossed at his chest, was Aatrak.

He was a very tall, very wide shouldered man with dark salt and pepper hair. Aatrak kept his hair short, cropped neatly, and he was older. Old enough to be her dad, as he'd said once when she'd asked. His height was impressive. Six foot eight. He was also much bigger, his powerful form nearly all muscle. His brows were heavy, his pointed canines always managing to poke out just a bit from under his top lip. Aatrak always appeared to have missed shaving for several days, a short beard obvious on his face. He had several scars on his jaw and throat. Battle wounds. His ears were pointed, elongated. One was shredded a bit near the lobe and the other had a silver hoop earring danging from it. Aatrak would have been a terrifying sight to a stranger, but the people in the town passed by him and politely greeted him as they went.

Aatrak smiled and offered an old woman a wave with a clawed hand. He was wearing his short leather coat and his long dark gray slacks that day, his button up shirt struggling to contain his strength. His boots were black and dirty. He liked walking in the woods, after all. After the woman had waddled off Aatrak turned back to Meredith and set his yellow eyes back on her, his smile fading as he forced a serious twist to his dark eyebrows. He was displeased.

"Meredith. You cannot wander off like that." Aatrak said, his voice deep and low.

"Bah, don't lecture me too, Aatrak. I just got it from Shoyan." Meredith walked up to the huge man and showed him her mason jar, "But look what I got. It's a Nymphalis antiopa."

"Do not think that you can change the subject, Meredith." Aatrak said and then had a look at the butterfly, his pupils shrinking and enlarging as he studied it, "That is very nice though, but you will need to feed it."

"I'm was thinking I'd put a flower in the jar with him, but I also might just put in a drop of sugar water. Or maybe I'll let him go." Meredith looked at the fluttering insect in the jar, "I really wanted him for the collection, but now I feel bad."

"Why do you feel bad?" Aatrak asked her, his tone softening. He couldn't stay mad at her.

"Because he deserves to be free." Meredith sighed and opened the lid to the mason jar, "And this is why my collection never grows. I keep letting them go. But they're pretty to look at, and it feels good to have them for a little bit."

The butterfly left the jar and went on its merry way, back to the woods.

Shoyan sighed and touched Meredith's shoulder.

"It is good that you have other hobbies then, isn't it?" Shoyan chuckled.

"Sure is. Speaking of which, I did a new drawing in the woods today. Here!" Meredith pushed her cloaks back and exposed her brown leather satchel. She unclasped the front and opened it, sliding out a large black book. The book was quickly opened to show off a drawing of a deer standing in repose next to a small body of water, "It was a doe. She didn't even see me."

"Hm." Aatrak eyed the drawing, "She looks delicious."

"Aatrak! No eating my models!" Meredith chuckled, "But it was really great. I was able to remain undetected and just draw her. She's really beautiful."

The drawing was in fact very good and Shoyan smiled and nodded.

"Why not do some life drawing in town?" Aatrak asked her and waved a hand toward the bustling street, "Or maybe draw near the lake, or at the horse farm? You cannot keep wandering off like that."

"I've been there so many times." Meredith sighed, "Aatrak, can't you please ask mom to take this spell off of me so we can go for a walk and I can draw something new? I'm about to walk into the lake just to end this misery."

"You know that would not work." Aatrak shook his head, "Deep water will not accept you."

"Then let me roam! I need to be free!" Meredith gritted her teeth.

"Your mother would not approve." Aatrak said.

"He's right, sweetie." Shoyan gave Meredith a hug, a shadowy arm sliding around the girl's middle very easily, "Your mother wants to wait until the world is a little safer, or you're a little older and more mature."

"More mature?!" Meredith huffed, "How can I grow up when she won't let me? Dad's just as bad, but at least he doesn't lecture me. He doesn't even talk to me if he can help it."

Meredith moved away from Shoyan and began to walk into the town, sliding her sketchbook back into her satchel and lowering her head.

Aatrak and Shoyan took their places behind her, following.

"I realize that you are bored, Mere, but this truly is for the best. You do not know what it is like out there. Morrow Valley is a safe haven." Aatrak spoke.

Meredith exhaled and she paused in front of a book store.

"Sometimes I visit this bookstore, Aatrak, and I ask if anything new is in. But I always know the answer. It's No. There's never any new books in because no one ever leaves or enters Morrow Valley. It's always the same thing, every day." Meredith turned to look at Shoyan and Aatrak, her hair in her face as she spoke, "I know there's a bigger world out there and I want to see it. I'll accept the risks."

"You aren't the one who is making the choice though." Shoyan told her and frowned, "I understand, Meredith. It was hard for me to adapt to staying in just one place myself, but I love it here in Morrow Valley. I love having you in my life."

"The same goes for me, Mere." Aatrak nodded, smiling. He was showing off his sharp teeth.

"But you guys got to experience life outside of this place first. I didn't." Meredith stated, stepping backward and leaning against the brick storefront, "You were Barbaroi. You got to experience so much. You've both told me stories, so it's too late to hide it now. I feel like a princess from one of my fairytale books, trapped in a tower."

"You are a princess, Meredith, but you are not trapped." Aatrak said to her, "One day, you will be allowed to see the world outside of this village. But that day has not come yet. You are a Dhampir and immortal, and you are so young right now. This time will seem like the blink of an eye, trust me."

"It's just not fair." Meredith muttered, looking away from them, "If this were a story from the Playhouse I'd get a song right about now."

"Writing a play, Mere?" A thinner, sharper voice was heard immediately after Aatrak's head canted to the left. He'd heard the approach before the newcomer had even spoken.

"Maybe, Gallicker." Meredith managed a smirk.

Aatrak turned around to look at the other man.

Gallicker was almost as tall as Aatrak but was much younger. Gallicker was only a year or so older than Meredith herself. His hair was long and black, shaved on one side and brushed over the side of his face. Gallicker had needle sharp fangs, his ears very elongated and pointed. He was a thin man, gray and pale, and was wearing all black. His pants were black leather, custom made due to how spindly his body was. The same went for his shirt. Black fingernails tapped on his belt as Gallicker strode over to Meredith and looked down at her.

"I'd definitely see any play you wrote, Mere." Gallicker grinned. His eyes would flash entirely black sometimes, but usually they were a sickly gray.

Aatrak didn't enjoy the way Gallicker spoke to Meredith and coughed.

"Your father Hakreen told me that you despise the theater, Gallicker." Aatrak stated, straightening his shoulders, "It must be a true sacrifice to go there so often."

"Do you, 'Icker?" Meredith asked the thin man. Her brows knit, concern in her eyes.

"What? No! I love the threatre, Mere!" Gallicker grinned, shaking his head and raising his hands. When Meredith turned away to look at her satchel Gallicker shot Aatrak a black eyed glare. "Don't know what my dad's on about, eh heh.."

"I want to show you something I drew today." Meredith said and was pulling out her sketchbook, "It was this really pretty deer, though I gotta make sure Aatrak doesn't eat my models! You could always model for me one day, 'Icker."

"I'm sure Aatrak wouldn't eat me." Gallicker smirked at the older man.

"Too grisly." Aatrak grinned, "And not enough meat on those bones."

"Ew, gross." Meredith laughed and opened the book, showing Gallicker the drawing and smiling when the man looked impressed, "Anyway, I guess I'll be trying to do some sketches at the lake again."

"Maybe you want some company?" Gallicker asked.

"Not tonight, Gallicker." Aatrak said, "Meredith has reading to do."

"But it's nice out, and there will be a band. And there will be drinki- there will be free food and dancing Com'on, nanny wolf. Let me take the lady out." Gallicker smiled, raising his brows, and put on the best presentation that he could, "It's Summer Festival this week and every night Meredith's missed the fun. Loosen the leash a little? Please?"

"Please, Aatrak? Please?" Meredith focused on Aatrak and folded her hands, staring up at him with those big, blue eyes. Her little smile was expectant and hopeful.

"Ah.. Ah dammit." Aatrak grunted, "Fine!"

"I owe you one!" Gallicker pointed at Aatrak, "Tell yah what, we'll have a guy's night, right? Game of cards? Whaddaya think?"

"Cards, eh?" Aatrak shoved his hands into his jacket pockets, "Do not bring a game to my table unless you are prepared to play big."

"Oh, I'm prepared. Com'on, Mere!" Gallicker took Meredith's hand and they walked off together down the street.

Soon, the two were gone, turning around a corner as Gallicker hooked Meredith's elbow into his. They were talking and laughing, their voices fading.

"That was nice, Aatrak." Shoyan said to him, humming in amusement.

"I had better keep an eye on them." Aatrak bristled a little.

"Oh, let her have her fun." Shoyan laughed, "A girl only gets to be a girl for a short amount of time."

"That is what I am worried about." Aatrak muttered, turning his yellow eyes to Shoyan's green ones.

"Now now, Magda and Hakreen didn't raise a scoundrel." Shoyan poked Aatrak in his side, "Calm your blood, mutt. We'll see Meredith tonight when she gets home from the festival."

"I have known that boy since the day he was born. He had trouble in his eyes." Aatrak stated, "I just do not like the way he looked at my Meredith."

"Meredith is very lovely. Boys will look at her." Shoyan touched Aatrak's shoulder, having to raise her shadowy arm up high, "But she is also very smart, Aatrak. And she is very independent. You can't guard her forever, you know that."

"I do." Aatrak sighed, "I just long for the days when she was.. smaller."

"Those days are long past, my dear." Shoyan's smile exposed her black teeth in her black mouth, "Children don't stay children forever. They grow up."

"I was hoping she would have taken longer to grow up, being a Dhampir and all.." Aatrak mused.

"No, they grow up normally. They just stop aging at around.. well, Meredith's age." Shoyan said.

"So she will be this age, as she is now, forever?" Aatrak grunted, "I cannot bear it."

Shoyan laughed.

"Perhaps if we attended the festival as well.." Aatrak began.

"She would feel as though we were smothering her or spying on her, Aatrak." Shoyan shook her head at him, "No, let's head back to the castle. I am sure there is work to be done."

"Bah." Aatrak muttered but smiled regardless, "How I detest being old and no longer needed."

"Quiet, you." Shoyan scolded him and they were off down the path toward the looking castle, far off in the distance, "You are needed! Give me a ride."

Shoyan floated over to him and latched onto his shoulder, hovering above the ground as he carried her along. She was nearly weightless. Aatrak kept walking even when Shoyan patted his head.

***

"There he is! There he is!" Tengen hissed, "Look!"

They had been on open road, the lands flat and tough. The earth had been scorched and dried to a husk, the sand kicked up way too easily by the Bella. The ride had felt like hours while Gencho drove, the man having smoked a cigarette out of the open window more than once. Val and Renshen had been drifting off a little.

But Tengen had been searching the window portals like a madman for the last hour and a half.

Gencho spoke up soon after Tengen had.

"He's right. I gotta visual on the Dunpeal. Look left." Gencho pointed a thumb to the left, "I knew we'd catch up quick. My girl doesn't fuck around. I've had the gas down hard."

"We'll pass him at this rate." Renshen had stirred and was looking out at the horizon.

Far off, Renshen saw the dark figures. A horse and its rider. All black.

"Want me to try slowing him down a little?" Valeria Jones chuckled.

"You got a spell up your sleeve?" Gencho asked.

"I've got a few spells up there. Maybe I'll give us even more of a lead." Val grinned.

Renshen sighed.

"What's the matter, Ren? Feel bad for the poor guy?" Gencho laughed.

"Nah, just hate cheatin'." Renshen shrugged.

"It ain't cheatin' if it ain't human." Tengen pointed out.

"We'll need more of a lead to give me time and space to draw the runes out." Val stated, "Gencho, do you think that you could get us an hour lead on that Dunpeal?"

"Uh, yeah?" Gencho laughed, "Are you kiddin' me? I could get us a day ahead in the Bella. You gonna lay down a trap, Snowflake?"

"Something like that." Val smiled and stood, holding herself steady by placing her hands on the backs of the car seats. She made her way to the back of the Bella and opened a large storage container.

"Nothin' fatal, Val." Renshen said, his tone firm, "I don't wanna be known as the group that kills other hunters, even if they are monsters themselves. This Dunpeal may be a thorn in our side, but I've heard he's good and he's sought out just as often as we are, if not more. I don't need the reputation that comes along with murdering the competition."

"I'm not going to murder him, Ren." Val said, returning to the front seat with a small, tied off cloth bag and a large book, "I'm just going to take a wide area of land he's bound to ride through and make it twist."

"Have him running in circles?" Tengen barked in laughter, "That is priceless. Can you even do that?"

"Yes." Val shot Tengen a heated glance, "This is actually not too hard, if I remember it correctly. I haven't performed this one yet, obviously, but it's not like it takes too much in return. I saw my mother cast this one on a Lord who was coming to collect her taxes. He walked around in the same fifty square feet for an entire day before collapsing. He'd been calling for help, saying he was lost. I'm sure he survived; The spell only lasts for as long as the caster chooses. My mother was a bitch but she wasn't that dedicated and couldn't be bothered to concentrate on long lasting spells."

"So how long will you cast this spell for?" Renshen asked Val.

"Another day perhaps." Val shrugged, "Maybe two days.."

"He's a Dunpeal. Make it three." Gencho grunted, "He'll survive that."

"Get us a day ahead and I'll cast it. I'll make it three days." Valeria Talbot said, her voice low, "In the meantime, I can read the spell over and over. Memorize it. See what runes I need to draw."

"We got a three day drive to Morrow Valley." Gencho coughed, "Glad I got us a lot of gas. He's on a horse and, mechanical or not, we're gonna make better time on him no matter what. But I'd rather be sure, y'know? He might not sleep. He might keep going."

"Looks like we will need to take turns with the Bella." Tengen said to Gencho, leaning up alongside the other man and looking through the front window, "I promise I'll be gentle with her."

"Ugh." Gencho muttered, "Or I'll drink coffee for three days straight."

"We'll take turns, Gencho Jones." Renshen said, "No one is falling over from exhaustion on my watch."

"We'll need a flat patch of land and an idea of where he's going." Val said.

"He'll have to take that mountain pass." Tengen turned to Renshen, "The pass on the map Kendle gave us. No other way through the mountains. We can put the trap there."

"A smaller area? Even better." Valeria chuckled, touching a page in the open book, "Let's just get there. I'll be ready."
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Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlines