Token Huntress (18 page)

              “C’mon Esmore, the night will be ours together,” Chase said sweetly as he stood by my side, his hand over mine. He began walking me into the direction of the large bridge.

W
e walked past where I had been once shredded apart by the grenade. The after effects of that were very obvious as a large hole was now in the ground, and everything surrounding was shattered. The rusty light posts were thrown meters away and were in pieces. The water fountain, where I had first met Whitney, was no longer there. It was nothing but an abundance of shattered cement.

The moon which fought against the gray clouds presented itself finally. Tonight it was very beautiful and bold, capturing my attention as I stared up at it. I wondered if I had died on this spot would I have spent the afterlife here? As a hunter it was not something we often questioned as we were programmed to not fear death.

              “Come along, Esmore,” Chase said softly, offering his hand to me. Without realizing I had been fiddling with his necklace around my throat. Slowly he grabbed one of my hands, still watching me in case I did not take kindly to the action. But I did. As soon as his fingers intertwined with mine, it was like taking a breath I had needed for so long. I could not describe the sensation. When he touched me, I actually
felt
. It was as if I had been incapable of feeling for the past few years. It was something I often thought after my mother’s death. Not even James helped me feel. Although he had tried in many ways, I was repulsed by his lingering neediness. Whereas here, right now with Chase, these feelings came to me like a wave of refreshing water. And it was a very hard slap to the face indeed. These were unexpected feelings, ones that I could not understand.

              In the moon’s glow, with his hand holding mine, I was torn by confusion. His chest looked so pale, yet beautiful at the same time. He was angelic in every way. For all his oddness, quirkiness, intensity, and cockiness, I was drawn to him in ways I could not describe.

              “This was once the world’s most known bridge; it was called the ‘Golden Gate Bridge.’ Thousands used to travel over it every day in the technology era,” Chase informed me. A lot of things had lost their titles many years ago when the world changed so horrifically. I think humans gave up on the chance of restoring everything that once was.

“This part of the bridge is still very stable. When the bombings happened the bridge was unaffected, and three hundred years later it still stands. It goes to show the strength of the foundations the humans used,” he said in admiration.

We came to the end of the bridge. There were cracks along the road, and it was littered with rusty objects like cars and other vehicles. My eyelids batted a few times in awe. I tried to imagine a different world entirely. As Token Huntress, there was not time to discover such things. My kind had very little curiosity at all, but with Chase it was as if the world had opened up to me, and I wanted to learn of its beauty. Chase made it feel like time had stopped and I had a brief moment to breathe properly. I could consider the endless possibilities of the world and what they once may have been.

              “Chase, you were once a part of this era, weren’t you?” I asked. I recalled him saying he was four hundred and thirty-one years old. It seemed so unnatural considering he looked to be no older than his mid-twenties. He slowly pulled me down to sit next to him on the edge of the bridge’s road. I stared beneath us where very little water streamed through. Although murky, the moon’s shine made it seem beautiful. The fog hovered over it, adding to the surreal, mystical atmosphere. I could only imagine that once it was glorious. Did the humans of that day regularly admire it or had they forgotten its glory because they were so accustomed to it?

              “I lived in a few eras,” he announced. “But yes, in the time of technology and such, I was there, amongst them. In the time that I was turned it was not like this; life was valued. People had a sense of purpose that they valued above their ego.”

              “Who turned you?” I asked inquisitively. Was he turned against his own will or was it something he sought out?

He gave a shy smile, looking at me and then back to the water’s edge. It was when he looked to the water that I could see the true depth of his pain. Like he always did to dispel a serious topic, he tried to make the situation humorous. But already that fake humor had vanished from his eyes.

              “My mother, actually,” he said quietly. He grabbed a piece of rubble and threw it into the water. His other hand was still holding mine, and when he continued he held it tighter. “She was turned against her own will when I was younger; my father had died in war before that. So my mother and I were left to fend for ourselves. My mother was very beautiful — it is obvious who I got my good looks from!” he laughed, trying to dispel the intensity. “You know I haven’t always been in this country? I have been spread over many because of that one grotesque vampire. I was born in the United Kingdom, and in the end, this is where we fled to.

A vampire broke into our home and after the vampire had his way with her against her will, he decided he enjoyed it so much that he turned her. Of course she didn’t want that, but he threatened my life, so she agreed to it if I was unharmed. The vampire was a very sick and evil man. He was an example of the vampires who had gone rogue and violent... who lacked control over their cravings and slowly would turn into sabers when they gave into that savageness. It is just too compelling for most to refuse.

              During this era vampires could only walk during the night, so I became useful in his eyes to ‘fetch’ women for him to feast from. Eventually my mother was able to control her vampire ways and stayed true to herself for my sake. A rarity. I now understand how lucky I was she hadn’t ripped my throat out the moment she was turned. I have seen it happen far too many times to those who thought they could control their impulses. But that is in a sense the curse. It is because of one’s arrogance and internal weakness that they cannot control themselves. Usually after that they don’t last very long and spiral. They go on a rampage and quickly become sabers themselves.”

              His black hair was lightly swaying in the breeze as he continued to speak. He was looking intently into the water as he brought all the memories back. “Eventually my mother became strong, very strong for a young vampire. The vampire who tormented her tried to create some false family-like scenario. But when his mind began to alter, he slowly started resembling a saber. My mother wanted to protect me from him, but you cannot raise a hand to the vampire who turned you, it simply cannot happen, you are to be faithful and loyal to them. So when I was fifteen and he rested one night, I silently crept up on him. Most vampires would’ve been alerted by someone creeping on them, but when they turn into a saber their heightened senses are lacking. I had tried it for many nights prior to see if I could creep up on him. Eighteen days straight I did so, just to make sure I could do it without myself or my mother being killed in consequence. And on the nineteenth night I crept up on him and like always he did not move. So I pierced a stick straight through his chest. I killed him.

              I thought my mother would have been overjoyed but instead she cried. Apparently that ghastly vampire had many followers. He was the leader to a coven. There are still a few around these days; a lot of them have been around for as long as the Council. They are ruthless and are the stepping stone between sabers and vampires. Their ways are like a drug to them, and they enjoy torturing... they enjoy the hunt. We Council vampires are more civilized and structured. When I killed their leader, his death smelled of me. To become a leader of the coven you have to kill the current leader. And by killing him I was now the leader, but very easy prey. And so they hunted us in an attempt to kill me and take leadership. Until this day, that coven is leaderless. They cannot claim a leader; it is by death alone that any will be pushed through the ranks. My mother fled with me and for years we ran away from followers. We had many close calls, but my mother protected me fiercely.” His thumb began trailing over my hand absentmindedly. I could tell by the way his shoulders now hunched that he was becoming angry at the thought. I placed my other hand on his, grabbing his attention. He gave a weary smile and continued.

              “My mother would not turn me until she thought I was of an appropriate age. She said she wanted me to have time on my own to think if eternal life was something I truly wanted. And also if it was a risk I was willing to take. My mother had not turned someone before and there are rules when it comes to such things. But at the age of twenty-three, five days after my birthday, she did.

              Still for many years we ran and there were many near death encounters. It still surprised us, the ripple effect after killing that horrid creature. I would have been a far weaker master for them to challenge. So somewhere out there I imagine they still might be in search of me, if they haven’t yet all died. You see, in a sense, they are trapped in that group. No one allowing them to leave, it truly is an unhealthy group. They mostly feed off one another, which is sickening. Vampires can feed off one another but only to a certain extent. Our blood is like synthesized blood. After drinking too much of our own kind, we become sick, even delusional. At this point, it puts us at further risk of becoming a saber. It only takes one slip to become an inhumane creature.”

              I nodded in encouragement. He looked into my eyes then down at the ground before continuing. “In the early years of the twenty-first century, my mother stumbled upon a young vampire. Although so young, only ten years in vampire years, he was my mother’s familiar.” He gave me an arched eyebrow, knowing what I was about to ask. “I will explain shortly. That vampire was Fier—”

              “As in Fier, who is charge of the Council?” I asked, surprised. I thought one’s familiar was a lover, so if I were right that would mean... “Fier is your stepdad?”

              Chase gave an uneven smile, shaking his head lightly as if weighing up the options. “I suppose in a certain way you could claim that. He wasn’t always in charge of the Council. At the time his father, Arab, was in charge of the Council. He promised my mother and me protection, which we humbly accepted. By then the world had changed drastically. Things that had once hurt us no longer did. There were a few who knew of our kind and hunted us, but they were only humans. The only things that still continue to harm us are fire and silver. It is the only thing that can. Once the sun burnt us, as well as blessed water. But when the human kind altered, they no longer respected religion or law. They became selfish and a very dark race themselves.

              Only few could bless water then, because only few remained pure and believed in it. The sun was thickly covered by pollution. The humans would turn on one another in war. Terrorist attacks began; planes would drop from the sky.” He looked at me for a moment, realizing I probably couldn’t quite comprehend what he meant. Although I had read about them, I could not fathom their size. He continued after I prodded him to keep talking. I was learning so much.

              “Mankind destroyed their own beliefs and in that, their only weapon against us. It was myth that items like a religious cross could kill us, it was something we created ourselves to witness the stupidity of humans. However silver’s elements have retained their power over us. Flames burn us to death. However the sabers are still affected by all those things: the sun, silver, and pure water. When they change they regress back to a more primal version of the vampire kind.”

I was surprised by how easily Chase spoke of all this to me, but I remained silent, eager to learn all that I could.

              “By this time, it made us vampires angry to watch, as we were the ones presumed to lurk in the shadows. Of course the government who ruled over the humans knew of us. They considered us a plagued species. Yet because of our strength, elongated life, and healing qualities, more and more of our kind were being taken.

              So Arab took action, and rallied the Councils which had been gathering for many years all over the world. We overpowered the humans; they were so deluded and arrogant in themselves that they thought they could beat us. But of course this was not the case. At first we only wanted partial control, to become the government of the humans. But the humans did not realize their downfall so easily, and what was meant to be a quick sweep of political power turned into war. We only wanted to protect our own kind, who were being taken and tested upon. We wanted equal rights.

By then we could walk in the sun. And we took what we wanted. It spread quickly; those who didn’t know of the Council had the opportunity to stand with us. Within two years we overpowered humans and took what we wanted. But the humans only retreated and continued to sabotage when they could — this is what killed the humanity of the world. I killed many; I am not in denial of what kind of vampire I once was. It is only now that I am older that I do not torture or play games. But I did enjoy the hunt; I enjoyed the darkness that so easily consumed vampires. But the older you get, the more sentimental you become. I have found many vampires to be the same as Tythian. I will never lie to you, Esmore, which is why I am telling you this. I have killed thousands, and some in not so kind ways.”