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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.

Chapter List
- 6
- 7
- 8
"Starting to rain." Val commented as they walked down the sidewalk. She'd held out a hand to catch a few of the droplets and she looked up to the gray sky, "That came along suddenly."

Soft thunder was the reply to her statement.

"Ah, sudden storms pop up all the time in Morrow Valley." An old man behind a cart suddenly said, having been within proximity and caught the words Val had spoke. He was selling pastries, "They're here and gone."

"You like it here, old man?" Gencho came alongside the cart, having a look at the items for sale and didn't look particularly enamored with anything.

"Lived here for my entire life, so far! Still alive after all." The old man laughed. He was wearing glasses, a plaid coat and a tan shirt with powder, most likely flour, spilled across the front. His smile was genuine, "I know you're hunters, and I won't tell you what you do is wrong. We're not naive in Morrow Valley. There is a world outside of this town. There's horror and devastation. Monsters. But here in Morrow Valley we've always had the good King Romulus and his children. And before you ask, because I see you're wondering it, yes, they do drink blood. But it's freely given by tributes and those young men and women always come home. I was a young tribute once."

"Uh.." Gencho rubbed the back of his own neck, "You let them bite you?"

"Bite me? No! Of course not." The old man was amused, "They take only enough to feed. It's just a cut. Painless. And then you go home after a rest and some food."

"And Meredith.." Gencho began.

"Meredith isn't like them. She comes by every day and I give her a chocolate croissant. She loves those. Would you folks like some food to take along? I imagine that you'll be leaving soon. You have that look on your faces, like your foot is half out the door." The old man waved a hand over the pastries in front of himself on the cart.

"No thanks, but-" Gencho shook his head.

"I'll take a few of these." Tengen was leaning over Gencho and taking some sugary looking pastry twists, "Gotta bag or something? Don't wanna just put them in my pocket."

The old man handed Tengen a cloth bag and Tengen shoved the food inside of it and then carried it at his side.

"Thanks!" Tengen grinned.

Gencho shot him a glance and then smirked.

"Well, guess we'd better be off." Gencho turned on his heel and saw Val and Renshen waiting for them at the end of the street corner.

"Good luck!" The old man called behind them.

"What was that all about?" Val asked the two men as they reached her.

"Tengen takin' free food again." Gencho murmured, "Y'know, we never saw if they had a bar. Maybe they give out free booze too.."

"Too late now, Gencho Jones." Val pointed at him, "There's booze in the Bella."

"I've decided not to drink anyway. Prayin' is starting to look better." Gencho rolled his bulky shoulders and turned to look to the left, "Huh.."

Another block down, at the junction of the streets, was a large square with a gigantic fountain as the centerpiece. Gencho began to walk that way and found that the others simply followed suit, joining him in his stroll without asking any questions.

The fountain was made from marble, carved by a talented craftsman. Gencho had never seen anything like it. It was white, striking him as delicate and strong. Marble wasn't known for being a very hardy substance under duress, but this sculpture was immaculate, unscathed and smooth.

The sculpture in the center of the fountain depicted a large wolf standing over a small, shy looking lamb very protectively. Angelic figures were poised at the key corners of the sculpture, much smaller than the wolf but larger than the lamb. Two of the angelic forms, the wings opened wide, were playing long trumpets which were aimed in at the center. The other two angels were pointing swords at the wolf, their wings partially closed.

The fountain burbled from soft jets which flowed from the pedestal just below the epic scene, and was filled with pebbles and a few gold coins.

Gold coins?

Gencho ran to the edge of the fountain, placed his hands on the cool marble, and looked down into the water. Yes, that was gold in there. There were silver pieces glinting up at him too. The rain drops were hitting the water in front of him, sending ripples outward.

"Do you see this?" Gencho called out to the others.

"It's really beautiful, I guess." Meredith was saying as she approached.

"Wow." Val was standing at the fountain and watching Gencho react to the coins in the fountain, "That's some piece of art you've got here."

Meredith had a huge duffel bag slung over one shoulder, her satchel underneath of it on another strap. She was also carrying what had to be a sword, very long and thick, in a gray and black sheath, slung over her other shoulder. There was a large 'M' on the hilt. She was using the belt of the sheath as an arm strap. Her cloak was back on, the gray and white one which hung down to her ankles. Those hiking boots had been cleaned up, her dark gray slacks tucked into them at her mid shin. She was wearing a light blue blouse, buttoned up, and a dark blue shirt under it.

Gencho found that she was standing next to him, standing at nearly his height. Her light red hair was damp from the raindrops, still pulled back in that ponytail. He eyed her pointed ears and then her freckles. What a strange Dhampir.

"Aatrak always said he was the wolf and I was the lamb. What a dork." Meredith smiled, "I told him it was just symbolism for the entire town."

"There's a lot of money in this fountain." Gencho stated, turning away from Meredith, "This kinda currency isn't even what we use out there, but it's worth a whole fuckin' lot."

"What, gold?" Meredith shrugged, "People make wishes at this fountain. Some of those are mine. I've wished for something like today for.. for a long time."

She smiled and looked to Renshen then, pivoting.

"We're going to be a team!" Meredith raised her fist up, her luggage jostling.

"Yeah, sure. We're pals, kid." Tengen chuckled and came up to the fountain as well, "Don't think anyone would miss any of these wishes, do yah?"

"Don't steal from the fountain, Tengen." Renshen said and clapped the younger man on the back, "You're better than that, boy."

"Maybe I ain't." Tengen smirked.

"We ready to go, Meredith?" Val asked the girl.

"Um, one second." Meredith seemed distracted, "Were my.. my friends coming too?"

"Your friends? I mean the Barbaroi?" Gencho turned around from the fountain.

"Yeah, I forgot to ask." Meredith shrugged.

"They weren't mentioned in the deal, no. And we don't have that much room in the car." Renshen stated, seeing Meredith looking quite torn, "That a problem, Meredith?"

"I.. I guess not." Meredith smiled, "I've just never not had them with me."

"You've got us now, doll." Tengen grinned at her, "We'll be your new family for awhile."

Meredith grinned back at Tengen and nodded, shuffling the items she was carrying before spotting something over his shoulder and jumping a little.

"Oops! Just.. just wait a sec. I need to talk to someone! I'll only be a few." Meredith slid around Renshen and Tengen, bypassing Val and made her way from the Square to a patch of darkness standing many, many feet away near the corner of the street.

Renshen recognized the shadow as that woman from the other evening. The Barbaroi made entirely out of murk and ink. She was standing there, her two green eyes glowing. She was frightening.

Renshen nodded to an area covered by balconies near some buildings on the other side of the road. The gang traveled the short distance there, evading the rain for awhile while they waited for Meredith.

"She better not take too long." Val muttered, "I haven't seen that Dunpeal yet, but he should have been here by now."

"Maybe he took Shangor Swamp." Tengen suggested.

"No, he wouldn't have done that. He'd have come right through here too." Renshen nodded and lit a cigarette.

Val decided to also light up and exhaled smoke from her full, rosy lips.

"You know what this guy's thinkin', Ren?" Gencho asked.

"No, I don't lay any claim to that. I just know I wouldn't want to get my machines rusty in a swamp." Renshen chuckled, "That's the mark of a true mercenary. We'd rather walk right into danger, face first, than risk our equipment gettin' damaged."

"That kinda makes us sound.. stupid." Tengen tilted his head.

"We are stupid. Look what we do for a living." Renshen laughed.

***

"I'm starting to smell magic again." The raspy voice prodded his ears as D rode the horse along the road. They'd been riding hard for days and it was really beginning to take a larger toll on him.

At least the sky was darker now, the clouds covering the sun. It was raining and thunder clapped. He hadn't seen the lightening but he had felt it, electrical buzzing way above him shivering through the air. The trees sighed as the first rain droplets had begun to land on their leaves, the forest on either side of the road swaying in the gentle breeze picking up.

"What sort of magic?" D asked.

"Could be black magic. Could be something more.. demonic. Isn't that crazy? Whatever it is, it's old and it's very powerful. But cautious. It doesn't want to be noticed. It wants to sneak in and wrap itself around your mind without you even sensing it. Familiar but alien. I don't know what it wants, but I think it's a veil. A very particular veil. Let me see." The voice urged.

D stopped the horse and raised his left hand, allowing the creature there to have a sniff at the air.

"It's a veil, I don't know what it's covering though. It's not trying to cover us, that's for sure. The whole area is tingling with magic! It's a barrier too. We've already crossed it." The eyes on that twisted face narrowed, "It let us."

D lowered his hand and began to trot the horse along once more. They were approaching skid marks in the road, the second batch he'd seen in the last day. The huge tank those other hunters had been driving in had apparently made two sudden stops on their journey.

There was a blanched out sign far ahead and the forest was delving back, exposing more road.

He was approaching Morrow Valley Pass.

D was very aware of his companion's sudden and ongoing silence. He was also very aware of the fact that there was something in the shadows on either side of the road. His long sword, strapped to his back, was a clear announcement of his occupation.

When the woman appeared in the road before him D stopped the horse again.

"You are the hunter D." The woman, clad in red and black cloaks, spoke in a soft voice before looking up at him. Her hood was over her face, but he could see her lips moving and her red and white hair spilling out across her shoulders, "Those other hunters, human, they came into town last night. They were hardly any trouble. I hope that you're the same. Well behaved."

D did not reply.

"I see, so you've nothing to say. That's fine." The woman laughed, "I am Elsira the Black Madam, and I do not care if you have anything to say or not. It doesn't matter to me. You've probably heard of me, haven't you? Of course you have. You're too worldly. You know who I am."

"And you know who I am apparently." D finally spoke, his voice low.

"I've heard of you." Elsira's lips pulled back into a smirk, "You kill your own, don't you? How interesting. It must be quite the lucrative profession to hunt down and kill your own kind. It must be very easy too, because you're just as strong as they are. A huge advantage over being a mere human. The human hunters might as well quit since you're on the job."

"State your business, Elsira." D said.

"My my, you're also quite intelligent. You can tell that I have something to say to you." Elsira laughed, "You should know that you will not be able to enter Raziel's castle. He's enlisted the aid of a very powerful witch. He's barricaded himself inside of his castle, hidden within a vast labyrinth. You won't be able to get past it. Mazes raised in a day aren't made from stone. Do you have a plan, Dhampir, or were you going to knock on the front door politely?"

"If you have nothing to offer on the subject, you are wasting my time." D showed very little interest in the witch and was looking through her.

"Right to the point." Elsira raised a hand, "I'll tell you the same thing that I told the other hunters. You will receive no assistance from Romulus Morrow. He simply doesn't care enough. As for his two, full blooded children, they will not help either. Their blood is needed to pass through the maze. Each door will have a seal which must be broken by the bloodline Morrow. Fresh blood. Fresh from the living, willing body of the Morrow standing there. The only one who will help is my daughter, Meredith."

"A Morrow and your daughter." D echoed. She was a Dhampir.

He felt a coldness rise in his chest.

"Yes, hunter. And she is very precious to me. More important than anything in this world. But Raziel must be stopped, and she is going with those other hunters to assist them. You are too late." Elsira smiled, "I guess I wasn't helping you after all. You've already wasted your own time."

D gave his horse the signal to continue trotting.

Elsira stood still as D rode past her.

"Still going?" Elsira asked.

D didn't reply.

"Perhaps you can try making friends with Meredith." Elsira called from behind him, yards away now, "Though you don't seem the friendly sort. That would also be a waste of your time."

The witch said no more.

D could see the town entrance up ahead.

***

"Aatrak won't come say goodbye?" Meredith asked Shoyan, eyes wide and shocked, "But.. but I'm about to leave! I'm going on a real adventure!"

"Aatrak will not get out of bed." Shoyan said, her green eyes lowered, "I am sorry, Meredith. I told him that you wanted to see him, and he won't accept any visitors."

"Is this because of Gallicker?" Meredith exhaled, frowning, "He can't bring himself to look at me again? What if I die on this quest, Shoyan? Huh? Then he'll really regret being such a nanny right now."

"I think it hurt him very badly to realize how grown up you are now, Mere." Shoyan touched the girl's shoulder, "He will get over it, but it will take awhile, I think. And you will not die on this quest. You have the hunters with you. They will protect you."

"Yeah. Did mom talk to you about it or something? They need me to stop Raziel." Meredith pursed her lips, "Only my blood can open the doors in that labyrinth apparently, so we're gonna be buddies."

"Your mother had a long talk with me earlier today, yes." Shoyan replied, "And she said something to Aatrak too, though he didn't respond. He just laid there like he were dreaming."

"Ugh." Meredith shook her head.

"It was brave of you to agree to go." Shoyan pulled Meredith into a hug.

"Ugh. I had to, y'know? Raziel's being a dick and stuff." Meredith smiled, giving Shoyan a squeeze and feeling her arms nearly pass through the woman, "Using black magic and eating people, or whatever. I mean, I care, I really do, but didn't dad always say to just worry about our home and our village?"

"Lord Romulus always felt that his kingdom came first." Shoyan brushed Meredith's hair away from her face, "But you can choose whether or not to be like him."

"I don't want to be anything like him." Meredith said, eyes closing, "I'll go with the hunters, but when I come back maybe I'll decide it's time to just pack my bags and go. You guys can come with me. We'll blow this joint together and start a new life."

"I think we'd all love that very much." Shoyan smiled.

"And the hunters, I'll have to make sure they're safe too." Meredith shrugged, "I mean, I saved their butts twice so far. Once from you guys, and then again from my mom. Third times the charm. Though I guess they can handle themselves pretty well. I don't know."

"Worry about yourself before them." Shoyan poked at Meredith's nose and her finger traveled through the girl's face.

Meredith swiped at her own nose, smiling.

***

"Do you see that?" Tengen asked Gencho.

"Hm?" Gencho was cleaning under his fingernails with a blade, sitting on some marble steps.

"Lookit the Barbaroi woman and the Dunpeal girl." Tengen whispered.

Gencho turned to look.

"Huh." Gencho shrugged.

"You ever seen a Barbaroi get that cuddly with anything or anyone?" Tengen asked.

"Never seen a Barbaroi that wasn't about to get splattered." Gencho chuckled, "Until we got here at least."

"S'weird, right?" Tengen grunted, "Renshen Bui, what do you think of that?"

"I think that you're too curious, Tengen Hai." Renshen replied, standing a few feet away and smoking a cigarette. He turned to look down at the other two men, "You've nearly gotten us all killed more than once because of your need to push boundaries. You too, Gencho. Sometimes you need to stop and take it all in, but not poke at it or try to tear it apart. A good hunter knows not to pull the thread. You go in, do what needs done, and you survive. If you have to run, you run. Being a trigger happy madman isn't the same as being brave."

"Like when you wanted to run from the Dunpeal chick and the Barbaroi body guards?" Gencho laughed under his breath, "Is that what you meant?"

"It wasn't an ideal situation." Gencho snapped at them, trying to keep his voice down, "They weren't our targets. We should have just kept our heads down."

"And lost the chance to kill some monsters?" Tengen smirked, "You're a coward, Renshen."

"I'm also the oldest and most experienced of us all, Tengen. I trained you, never forget that." Renshen grinned, "Your hot head is going to get us all killed one day. And if not that, then Valeria's attempts at magic will most certainly all turn us into frogs some fateful night."

"I'm getting better, not worse." Val pushed Renshen's shoulder, "I'm getting sort of anxious waiting."

As if on cue, Val raised an eyebrow and nudged Renshen again whens she heard the sound of hooves approaching the square. Whatever or whoever was around the corner had also gotten the attention of Shoyan and Meredith, who were turning to look down the street.

The hunters watched as D stopped his horse. He was there in the middle of the street facing the fountain. The townspeople were not staring or even passing him a second glance. A woman walked around his horse, fixing her hat, and then continued on her way. D watched the woman go before turning to the fountain.

"I wonder if he's as weirded out as we were." Tengen whispered to Renshen, leaning toward the other man, "Um, should we.. uh, get Meredith now? I think it's time we get Meredith into the car now."

"Unless the witch told him about Meredith too, maybe he's just passing through. Like we were going to." Gencho muttered, but was twirling his knife.

Meredith and Shoyan were watching the Dhampir quietly before the young girl pointed at him.

"Hey! That a buddy of yours?" Meredith asked loudly.

"Nope." Gencho called back to her.

The other hunter, the Dhampir, didn't even tilt his head to take note of the four people around the corner to his left. His eyes didn't even drift over to acknowledge them.

"Another hunter." Shoyan was churning, black blades sliding down her arms and erupting from her palms.

"I seek to pass through Morrow Valley." D spoke, his voice low but clear, "I have no quarrel with you."

"How polite." Val chuckled.

"Does the Lady know that you are here?" The shadow woman asked D.

"Oh wow!" Meredith had to be stopped by Shoyan before she walked over to the tall hunter in black, looking up at him on that cybernetic horse, "Oof.. hey. I just wanted to say Hi."

"No, Meredith." Shoyan stated, her eyes burning bright green, "This one, this is the Dhampir hunter she spoke of. She said he'd come, but I didn't know when."

"A Dhampir?" Meredith eyed the shorter Barbaroi woman and then D again, "Like me?"

"No, not like you." Shoyan shook her head, "Pass through then, hunter. You will not be attacked. Good travels."

"I've never met another Dhampir." Meredith watched as D merely met her gaze and she found that meeting his eyes caused her some discomfort. That gaze was stony and distant, "You're on the same mission that the others are, aren't you?"

"Yes." D nodded to her.

"So you're all going to the same place." Meredith pointed out.

Gencho grunted.

"Ok, princess, it's time to get in the car." Gencho stood, stretched his legs and walked over to Meredith.

He gave her a gentle tug away from the fountain and she started to walk with him. Gencho did his best to navigate Meredith around the other Dhampir.

"I like your horse." Meredith said to D as Gencho ushered her toward the sidewalk.

They were met by Val, Tengen and Renshen. Meredith seemed pretty intent on looking back, though D didn't even spare her a second glance.

She didn't look like any Dhampir he'd ever seen. The girl had far too much color in her cheeks. Meredith carried herself in a very human way, her movements almost awkward as she'd walked by him. She wasn't human though. No, that he could tell right away. The Noble blood in her veins was subdued and it had not been lost on D that everything in this town was muted in similar ways. The people were all driven by a singular purpose to act normally, even to the point of ignoring the monsters in their midst. Whatever sort of curse the witch had cast upon the town was not affecting him but he could feel it in the air. A dark, heavy sheen of silken fabric that covered everything like an oil slick. It obscured the reality. The lambs were grazing while the wolves sat among them. Oblivious. Dreaming.

The human hunters didn't seem to be aware of the spell, but they looked keen to the strange behavior of the townsfolk. Their nervousness was palpable.

The Barbaroi woman was glaring at him. Of all of them, she seemed the most deserving of his attention and D felt no reason not to look at her. He acknowledged her, studying her face.

"I commend Meredith's bravery, but you hunters had better watch over her just the same." The shadow was speaking. She'd torn her green stare from D, her eyes closed. She was unable to hold his gaze. The woman was pure black when the green glow disappeared. Even her features melted into pitch until those eyes opened again.

D became aware of the black and red figure stepping into the square, coming to stand beside the Barbaroi woman. When the Barbaroi woman saw the figure she nodded her head and bowed a little, floating over to the right a few inches.

"My Lady." The shadow whispered.

"Good, I didn't arrive before you left." Elsira chuckled, pulling back her hood to reveal her face. She was lovely for a woman peaking in her forties, but had the age of one much older in those cold blue eyes, "Meredith, I have to remove the charm on you first."

"Oh!" Meredith went sprinting back to the woman, running past D.

The girl approached her mother and bent down. Being face to face required Meredith to get down lower, and the woman was raising a hand to the girl's face.

D gave the reigns a snap and began to trot the biomechanical beast to the right, aiming to swerve around the fountain and veer back to the main street.

"Yeah, no need to stick around." Tengen called out, "We've got this. Good luck!"

"Hey, how's he gonna get through the Labyrinth?" Meredith asked her mother, turning to look at the departing Dhampir, "I thought that only I could? And if he's headed for the same place.."

"He won't be able to. But don't worry about him, my dear." Elsira turned Meredith's face back to hers, seeing that the girl was distracted, "You are with the hunters who are destined to stop Raziel. But you can't go anywhere yet, can you? No, mother has to remove something from you first.."

Elsira pressed her palm to Meredith's forehead. There was a warm, blue glow which emanated from under her hand, wisps of light flowering around the girl's face. Meredith's eyes opened wide as Elsira drew her hand away, revealing a strange, illuminated circle, symbols drawn within it. Meredith couldn't see the symbol, but she could see the light.

"A protection rune." Val breathed, watching, "Placed right on the girl's forehead."

"You drew on my face?" Meredith was either incensed or incredulous.

"You are my most valuable treasure, my daughter." Elsira grinned and then threw her fingers apart. The symbol dissolved, fading away. Soon, it was completely gone, "And now you won't be stopped at the boundary."

"Wow." Meredith smiled ear to ear and then stood up tall, looming over her own mother, "This is really happening, isn't it? I'm finally going to get to see the world!"

"Yes, Meredith, you're fina-" Elsira began.

"Adventure! Intrigue! Danger!" Meredith cried out, raising a fist, "Finally! I'll battle bad guys! Save lives! I'll fight side by side with my teammates, nay, my friends!"

She ran back over to Gencho and Tengen, her luggage nearly being dropped as she danced around them.

"Oh boy, I do love the enthusiasm." Tengen placed his palm to his face.

"It never stops." Shoyan laughed a little.

"Do protect her, hunters." Elsira smiled and then nodded, "I won't be able to help, you see. Watch over my daughter and keep her safe from harm."

"Yeah, we'll do that." Tengen gave a thumbs-up to Elsira, "She's our newest addition, after all."

"Wow!" Meredith swooned, "I can't believe I'm on a team!"

"I guess I should ask, what does she eat anyway?" Val was asking Meredith and then turned to look at Elsira, but the woman was gone, "Ur, what do you eat, Meredith?"

"Um. Ham. Eggs. Soup. Bread. Pickles. Bacon. Beef. Chicken. Fish." Meredith was counting her favorites foods off on her hand, moving to a second hand as soon as it was required, "I eat everything. But I don't like seeing how it was made. Poor little things."

Tengen laughed and Gencho snorted.

"Com'on. Let's get going." Renshen finally spoke up, looking down the street.

"Goodbye, Meredith. I will let Aatrak know that you have left." Shoyan said, "I will also let Gallicker know. He's currently patrolling the south border, so it may be a surprise to him."

"Oh, Gallicker.. I'll.. tell him I'll see him soon, Ok? Bye, Shoyan! I love you!" Meredith skipped backward in the direction that the hunters were beginning to take.

"Hurry up now." Renshen chuckled.

"We don't have to worry as much now though, do we?" Tengen was beginning to walk off, back toward where the car was parked many blocks away, "He'll have a head start but what's he gonna do?"

"Poor guy." Meredith mused.

"Don't feel bad for that dude, Meredith." Tengen called back and soon found himself walking beside the girl as she'd rushed to catch up with him. They were walking side by side down the sidewalk while Meredith dodged friendly, waving people and waved back weakly.

She was still merrily bopping along, carrying her bags.

"Why not?" Meredith asked Tengen.

"Because he's a jerk." Tengen explained.

"Oh." Meredith looked forward, "How is he a jerk?"

"Well, y'see, Meredith, there's two kinds of hunters out there." Tengen slid his hand into his front pocket, found his cigarettes and lit one up as he was walking beside the girl, "There's the honorable kind and the dishonorable kind. And he's dishonorable."

"How is he dishonorable?" Meredith asked Tengen.

"Uh, well.." Tengen took in a drag of smoke to give him a moment to think, "You saw him back there. Didn't have much to say, did he? Like he was hiding something, right? And he wasn't friendly to you, was he? Nope. Didn't even say Hi. I mean, once we realized that you were cool, we were all pretty open to the idea of getting to know you better. But that guy.. He's trouble."

"Makes sense." Meredith nodded her head and skipped over a gap in the sidewalk.

"This town is pretty beautiful." Val had caught up but was a few feet behind them, stalking along in her sharp heels, "Very old, some of these buildings. Very new, a few others."

"Yeah, there was a huge disaster about twenty something years ago." Meredith shrugged as they walked together, "They had to rebuild a lot of the town. My dad helped with that of course. That's another reason he's so beloved among the people. I guess he's pretty nice to them."

"Pretty nice?" Gencho sounded curious, picking up the rear.

"Oh, sorry, he's great to the people of the town." Meredith chuckled, "I just don't get much time with him. He's always so busy and distracted. It's Ok. I got used to it."

"Daddy wasn't around a lot, huh?" Tengen asked Meredith.

They reached an intersection and a group of young women were grouped together like a flock of geese all waddling in the same direction right before their eyes. The women were talking, gossiping, and giggling as they went. Fine clothing and nice dresses. Gencho followed them with his eyes.

"No, he was around. Just not.. there." Meredith shrugged.

"Huh." Tengen sent Meredith a glance and saw that she was looking down.

The car was just another block down and Gencho took the lead, fiddling around in his pocket for the key to the hatch on the side. He arrived there first, unlocking the door and lifting up, the hatch rising with a mechanical whir and exposing a portal into the inside of the vehicle.

Gencho entered, stepping up along the metal braces used as a small ladder and disappeared inside. Meredith arrived next and leaned up, peering inside before blinking.

"Go on. Go on in, sweetie." Renshen urged her.

Meredith went in and found herself stepping on metal grate floors with a long rubber mat rolled out from the front to the very back of the vehicle. There was a driver's seat, the pedals and drive shafts similar to the ones in some of the smaller cars she'd seen in the town, but there were more of them in this particular vehicle. The dashboard had various buttons and lights on it too. There was a monitor of some type, like a glass screen, sitting near the driver's right.

Bench seats were placed toward the front, cushions placed haphazardly on a few of them. There was a single seat behind the driver's chair, and then a rack with weapons hanging from it. Four cots were visible then, behind the bench seats. There were trunks pushed under each one and racks above them. Cubbies were built into the vehicle itself next to the beds. One bed was made nicely. Two were a mess with the pillow and blankets laying in a pile. The third bed was stripped down to the mattress.

In the back was a little kitchen area with shelves. Cans were strapped to the shelves in rows. There was a small machine with a round portal window further back and Meredith recognized it as a washing machine. She'd seen a larger version before. All the way in the back, on the left, was a closed door. A towel hung on a hook beside it.

"Welcome to our humble abode." Tengen said to her and entered, "Have a seat."

"Hey, where's she sleepin' anyway?" Gencho asked, getting comfortable in the driver's seat.

"Does she sleep?" Val asked.

"I sleep." Meredith frowned, "Why wouldn't I?"

"Well, because.. uh.." Tengen rubbed at the back of his head.

"Because I'm a Dhampir? Do we typically not?" Meredith seemed taken aback.

"I don't think you do." Tengen grinned and leaned toward her only to step around and have a seat in the second bench in.

Meredith was placing her bags in the front seat. She went to the weapons rack and began to hang her sword there, much to the surprise of the hunters.

"Huh. I do." Meredith was returning to her bags.

Gencho was turning on the car. It rumbled to life.

"So, where's she sleeping?" Gencho asked again.

"You boys wanna share a cot?" Renshen chuckled and sat in the single seat behind Gencho.

"Are you kiddin' me?" Gencho was genuinely shocked and then narrowed his eyes, "Don't even joke about that, old man."

"You guys shared a cot before." Val noted out loud. She was amused and showed it proudly as she sat near Meredith's bags.

Tengen was flopping into one of the messier beds.

"Or maybe she can share a cot with one of you boys." Val then suggested.

"Whoa now!" Meredith grinned, her cheeks flushing, and she raised her palms up, "I don't think that'd work very well. I like to stretch out a little. Not that I don't want to get to know you guys better."

It hadn't been what Val was expecting to hear from the Dhampir girl and when the car began to drive down the cobblestone road she saw Meredith smirk. The girl knew. She wasn't an innocent.

"I'll sleep in a bench seat. You can have my cot, Meredith." Renshen said and lit up a cigarette.

Meredith coughed a little, being trapped with the smoke a little different than being outside around it. It stunk like burning but she forced herself to deal with it. If her new friends had some stinky hobbies, who was she to judge them?

"So, I'm kinda hungry." Meredith told Renshen.

"Are yah? Ok." Renshen nodded, "I'll make dinner when we hit the road outside of town. I don't wanna lit up the stove with all this bouncing."

"Road outside might be worse." Gencho stated.

"I brought some food, if you guys would like to share. I brought a lot of stuff." Meredith was opening one of her bags and pulling out a sack, "Do you like meat pies?"

"I'll take a meat pie." Tengen called from his bed but didn't stand.

Meredith stood and took a small paper package to him.

"Don't serve him. He's a grown adult. He can walk over and get it." Val muttered.

Meredith had already handed Tengen the wrapped up slice of pie and he was opening it up.

"Meredith's nice. It'll be a real change to have a pleasant lady in the Bella." Tengen spoke after he'd chewed and swallowed.

"Screw you, Tengen." Val smirked.

"I bet you're all nice." Meredith returned to her bag, got out another paper package and offered it to both Renshen and Val. They both declined, shaking their heads, "What is a Bella?"

"Bella is my baby." Gencho replied, "You're in her."

"You named the car Bella?" Meredith smiled.

"Yeah, because she's so beautiful." Gencho was grinning despite himself.

"I think that's sweet." Meredith nodded, "Would you like anything, Gencho?"

The man watched the road, stopping for a moment for a couple crossing the street. He then proceeded forward, veering around the fountain. Meredith could see through a window portal and could not spot Shoyan anymore.

Gencho Jones seemed vexed for a moment before he exhaled.

"Yeah, sure. What kind of meat is it?" Gencho asked Meredith.

Tengen slowed his chewing, almost finished, and stared at the pie. His brows lowered. He hadn't asked before chowing down, had he?

"Venison." Meredith replied.

Tengen was relieved and shoved the crust into his mouth.

"Pie me." Gencho put his hand out, palm up toward Meredith.

***

'This morning I began an adventure. My first adventure.'

Meredith was writing in a brand new sketchbook. She'd started on the first blank page and while she usually didn't write on drawing paper, she felt like this was the perfect time to begin doing so. She'd only purchased this book recently, planning on using it for her nature sketches. It was bound in brown leather, like a journal.

'We've stopped for the evening. Gencho needed to rest.' Meredith wrote.

It was dark in the cabin of the Bella, but with the faint light from the moon outside she was able to see quite well. There were also a few red and blue blinking bulbs at the dashboard. A humming came from a round, large tube near the washing machine and it also had a blinking red light over the word 'heating'.

Meredith was sitting, legs crossed along one another, on Renshen's bed. It smelled like the man, but it didn't bother her. Renshen was sleeping in a bench seat, his head on a pillow and a blanket thrown over him. He'd thrown some cushions down and passed right out.

Val was sleeping on her side, breathing quietly. Tengen was sprawled across his bed, an arm hanging into the center aisle. He had a soft snore. Gencho was on his belly, his breathing deeper.

'Gencho Jones is the tattooed, pierced man who I thought really wanted to see me dead a day before.' Meredith was writing, 'But he's pretty nice now. He really loves his car, the Bella. Tengen Hai also wanted to kill me, but he's funny and sweet when you get to know him. Valeria Talbot is nice too, but I think she's got a wall around her. I can tell she wants to open up, but she holds back.'

Meredith paused to observe them.

They'd parked the Bella by a rock formation, the rest of the road all flat with periodic bursts of jagged rock and thin trees. It had started to look like that after they'd been out of Morrow Valley for six or seven hours. The trees and the forests had just dropped off into flat, ashy earth and rocks.

'Renshen Bui is their father, but not their father. They were all adopted, he said. He seems like a really nice guy, but I think he's really sad. I can see it sometimes when he talks to me.' Meredith jotted her thoughts down, 'Gencho likes my tattoo, not that I chose it. Val seems interested in the magic, but I told them it's not that interesting. I think they like me though. Oh, and it was super weird when they all just got undressed in front of me. Yeah, that was interesting. I did it then too. Super weird, but I'm no prude.'

She grinned at her own writing and drew a smiling face with sharp teeth next to her last words.

When she was done writing she rolled her shoulders, set the sketchbook more firmly in her lap and began to sketch Gencho as he slept. He only moved a little, scratching his face before returning to his slumber.

She drew Tengen and Val next. And then Renshen.

Meredith felt exhausted by the time she was done and closed her book, put it into her bag and decided it was time to go to bed.
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Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlines