When you got back to Sarah's safe house you find that Alucard was in your and Megan's room. He had indeed shrunk a bit and his features were edging into a more feminine form. His face was smooth and his hair had grown longer. You had come in to change and get cleaned up.
After you went back downstairs where there was a discussion going on. Alice wanted to hunt down the killers and the vampire that had impersonated Danny immediately. Sarah said that they needed to wait especially since Alice would soon have a six year old daughter to take care of and teach.
"Hi Aunt Violet" Megan said when she saw you. "We were discussing what we should be doing now."
"I heard" you said. "Alice, Sarah is right. There'll be plenty of time to hunt them. Right now you should be thinking about what you'll tell Alucard when he wakes up."
"I'll tell him the truth" Alice said.
"Ok" you said. "You should be there when he wakes up though. If you go hunting now you won't be here when he wakes up."
"I just want to get these people and that monster" Alice said.
"I know how you feel" you said. "I want to track them down but I know that we don't have any leads. Until we have some leads it would be foolish to go after them."
"We have to wait Alice" Sarah said. "If we get something we will go hunting tonight."
At Sarah's words you feel excited. You could be hunting tonight.
"What will we hunt?" Megan asked.
"What do you think Megan?" you asked. Before Megan could say anything you say "We'll be hunting people."
"You mean that we'll be killing people" Megan said. "I won't do that."
"We don't kill people" Sarah said. "We have a special enzyme that keeps them alive even if we drain all their blood. Other vampires though don't have that enzyme as far as I'm aware."
"But we'll be hunting people" Megan said. "Doesn't that bother you?"
"It would if we were hunting unaware, innocent people" Sarah said. "The people we hunt are either those that have given us permission to hunt them or criminals."
"You mean there are people that want to be hunted?" Megan and you ask at the same time.
"Yes there are" Sarah said. "They have the fantasy of being hunted by a vampire. It's basically a game with them that we play with them. It's a win win situation. They get to live their fantasy and we get to feed naturally."
"I should have guessed there would be people like that" you said.
"What about the criminals?" Megan said.
"They prey on other people" Sarah said. "They don't deserve the same consideration as other people. In my 200 years I have hunted many criminals. A lot of those were attempted rapes not only of women but also of little girls."
"What happened to those criminals?" you asked.
"Well usually the victim is able to get away and summon the police" Sarah said. "Of course when they get there they find what appears to be a body."
"Have they ever buried one alive?" Megan asked.
"Not to my knowledge" Sarah said.
"How do we know who allows us to hunt them?" you asked.
"Those that want to be hunted wear a special perfume" Sarah said. "It has a garlic base so it keeps most other vampires at bay. You'll know the sent when you smell it."
"I still don't get it" Megan said. "If it's part of the fantasy then shouldn't they be unaware that they're being hunted?"
"There are many of them that want to be hunted" Sarah said. "Every night that they go out they're aware that they might be hunted. Whether we do hunt them that night or another night is what makes it exciting for them. It's that element of not knowing if they're being hunted that night that makes their fantasy for them."
"I think I get it now" Megan said.
"Good" Sarah said. "Jason, why don't you take Megan down to the basement and teach her how to mist."
"Alright Head Council" Jason said.
"I thought we couldn't transform in the daytime" Megan said.
"The basement is sealed so no daylight gets in" Sarah said. "That means that you will be able to transform down there."
"I thought the same thing for a long time" Alice said. "Then Violet took me into her room as mist."
"So if I'm not exposed to daylight I can transform?" Megan asked.
"That's right" you said.
"Go practice Megan" Sarah said.
Megan and Jason went on down to the basement and you wondered how well she would do.
"Violet, will you help me with Tanya when she wakes up?" Sarah asked.
"Of course I will" you said.
"And would you help me with Beth?" Alice asked.
"Sure" you said.
"I don't like the idea of ones so young going hunting" Brian said.
"We'll be there with them" Sarah said. "That is if we go hunting tonight. For now we wait."
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A few hours later you were back in your room waiting for Beth to wake up. Tanya had woken up two hours ago and had commented that she found Jason attractive. She had found it easy to adjust to being fifteen again and a vampire. Sarah was teaching her to mist now.
Beth looked like a six year old girl now. No one would recognize her as being Alucard. She started to stir a bit. She was waking up and she would be upset about being a six year old girl. She opened her eyes and asked "Am I a vampire?" Her eyes grew wide and asked "What happened to my voice?"
"We'll answer your questions" you said. "First of all you are a vampire. Second, you're now a six year old girl."
"I can't be a six year old girl" Beth said. "People don't change their age or gender when they become a vampire."
"That's true for other vampires" Alice said. "For us the female can choose the age and gender of the new vampire. I decided to make you a six year old girl."
"Why would you do that?" Beth asked.
"Well I had wanted a daughter" Alice said. "As to why I made you six well, I thought that you might be a danger if I left you as you were."
"But I have a mission to destroy all vampires" Beth said.
"Does that include yourself now?" you asked.
"Well I don't know" Beth said. "I can't destroy myself until I destroy all other vampires."
"I don't think you'll want to destroy us once you find out that we don't kill anyone" you said.
"All vampires kill people" Beth said.
"Then why did you accept the offer to become a vampire?" you asked.
"I needed to continue my mission" Beth said.
You lean in close to Beth and say "You know that that's not it. If you truly believed that all vampires kill then you wouldn't have accepted. If you believed that you would die before becoming a vampire. Another vampire hunter would have taken up your mission. So now, why did you accept becoming a vampire?"
Beth broke down and sobbed "I don't know. I shouldn't have accepted but I did. Oh God, am I becoming like Vlad Dracul?"
"I don't think that you are" you say as you straighten. "I think that you were curious about our clan and the threat of death gave you the opportunity to get an inside view."
"God I'm sick" Beth said still sobbing.
Alice sat down on the bed and held Beth. She started rocking her and said "Shh, you're not sick. You're not becoming Dracula. You won't kill anyway just by draining their blood. You'll be able to hunt the vampires that do kill."
"You promise that I won't kill anyone?" Beth said calming down a bit.
"I can't promise that" Alice said. "All I can promise you is that you won't accidentally kill someone when you're feeding. If you plunge a knife into their heart then they will of course die. That would be your own action."
"Do I call you Mom?" Beth asked.
"If you want" Alice said. "You can also call me Alice if you want."
"I think I'll call you Mom" Beth said. "It feels right. What's my name?"
"It's Beth" Alice said.
Beth looks down at what she was wearing. It was a yellow sun dress. "Do I have to wear dresses?" she asked.
"You don't have to wear dresses" Alice said.
"I'm feeling a strange thirst or hunger" Beth said. "I don't know what it is."
"You're hungry" Alice said. "Let's go downstairs and get you some blood. I'm sure Head Council Sarah has some."
"Do I have to drink blood?" Beth asked.
"You do unless you want to die a slow, painful death" you said before Alice could respond.
"I don't want that" Beth said.
The three of you head downstairs and Sarah brings a glass of blood for Beth. Alice explained how to drink the blood to Beth.
Once Beth was drinking Sarah said "I have some good news. I got a call just a few minutes ago and there's a lead. We're going hunting tonight."
"That's great" you said.
"Violet, I want you and Brian to be walking at street level like you're a couple of teenagers in love" Sarah said.
"That shouldn't be too difficult for them" Alice said.
"The rest of us will stick to the roofs" Sarah said. "We'll be headed toward the art center. We should find the killers hideout somewhere along there. Our priority is the killers. We are not hunting anyone else tonight."
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An hour later you and Brian were walking arm in arm, your head on Brian's shoulder. You had passed several people wearing the special perfume that indicates that they want to be hunted. Of course they weren't the ones you were hunting tonight so you ignored them.
A few minutes have passed since the last couple you saw walking when a young teen stepped out of the shadows. "You know, you shouldn't be out walking at night" he said. "There's no telling what you'll run into."
You take a good look at him before answering. You estimated his age to be fifteen and he was about 5'5". He had close cropped sandy brown hair and olive colored eyes. He looked like he worked out since he was pretty heavily muscled for his age. He had an arrogant air about like he was used to getting his way. That was what your eyes told you. If you had been human still you would have been nervous about meeting this kid like this. Now your sense of smell tells you a bit more that makes your blood boil. Underneath the
smell of scented soap was the smell of blood and charred flesh. This kid was one of the ones who killed those students.
"What would we run into?" you ask in a sweet voice doing your best to keep your feelings hidden from him.
You must have succeeded since he just shrugged and said "Well the most dangerous thing you have to worry about are vampires."
"Vampires?" you ask with a touch of fear in your voice.
"Don't listen to him hun" Brian said with a note of disdain in his voice. "There's no such thing as vampires. They're just a myth."
"Oh they're more than a myth" the kid said. "They are very real. I've seen them and what they can do. One attacked my sister two weeks ago and killed her."
"How do you know it was a vampire that killed your sister?" Brian asked with that note of disdain still in his voice.
"She was making a video diary when the vampire attacked her" the kid said.
"What makes you think it was a vampire?" Brian asked rolling his eyes.
"It didn't show up on the video" the kid said his arrogant air cracking. "My sister was picked up and thrown on her bed. She started screaming when something pierced her neck. You can see that on the video. She continued to scream for a few minutes growing quieter all the time until she stopped screaming. Another couple of minutes later and she stopped breathing. We found her two hours later. Fortunately she said the name of the vampire but the police didn't do anything about it. So I took it upon myself to kill the
monster who killed my sister."
"What did you do?" you asked though you had an idea you already knew.
"At first I didn't know what to do then I found a group of vampire hunters" the kid said. "They taught me about vampires and how to kill them. Then just this morning I was able to kill the vampire that killed my sister. It was in a university house along with other vampires. We killed them all so they wouldn't kill anybody again. I killed the one that killed my sister and burned it's body. After that I kind of lost the will to continue."
"Why would you lose your will to continue?" you asked. You were curious about his involvement.
"I don't know why" the kid said. "I just felt that most of them weren't vampires. I can't explain it. When I voiced my concern to Brad he assured me that they were all vampires. He explained that most people mistake vampires for humans when they first start hunting vampires. I still wasn't sure so Brad told me to go ahead and leave."
"I have a question" Brian said. "How did you know that the one you killed was a vampire?"
"Well I had felt it" the kid said. "I know that sounds crazy but that's the truth. Also it was going out with my sister. It was it's name that she said. Now I've told you all that I'm going to. Now it's time for you vampires to die."
The kid dropped some type of medallion on the ground then lunged at both of you. As he lunged concealed wooden stakes slid from his sleeves into his hands. You had already been staked once today and you weren't eager to be staked again. So when he lunged at you you twisted out of the way and grabbed his hand and twisted it behind his back. Brian had done the same thing.
"Did you think that we would allow you to stake us?" you asked.
"Of course not" the kid spat. "I don't understand why the medallion didn't work. It slows the undead down. It should have slowed you vampires down enough to allow me to stake you."
"Well there's the problem" Brian said. "We're not undead. We are vampires but we are very much alive."
"We have some information for you" you say. "But first we need to know something. Did you only kill that one?"
"That was the only one I killed" the kid said. "I left soon after that."
"He's telling the truth" Tanya said. "I've been listening to your conversation."
"Well then you have nothing to fear from us" you say as you release his arm. Brian follows your lead.
The kid looks surprised but says "Yeah right. You're vampires and you need blood to continue your unholy existence."
"Whether our existence is unholy or not does not matter" you said. "What matters is that you were right about those in the university house not being all vampires. There were three vampires that we were able to positively identify as vampires. You just identified one more for us. That brings the total up to four with another possible vampire."
"There were only five vampires there?" the kid asked looking sick.
"A possible five" you say. "But that's the max. The rest of them were human."
"Brad had assured me that they were all vampires" the kid said. "Did he lie to me or did he not know? He had said that he was a vampire hunter and I can't imagine that a vampire hunter wouldn't know the difference between a human and a vampire."
"A vampire hunter can make a mistake" Beth said when she and Alice had formed. "Though I can't see one making such a huge mistake. I would say that he isn't a vampire hunter."
All of a sudden you get the dark feeling that something is going to happen. It came on so suddenly and strongly that you didn't think. You shouted "Move!", grabbed the kid, and misted both of you. You see everyone else mist and head away from the area.
Just as you were moving away there was an incendiary explosion that engulfed you. You were able to keep your concentration and remain mist even though the heat and shock wave buffeted you.
You reform on a nearby rooftop along with everybody else. It looked like the worst that anybody had was some redness like a sunburn.
"What the hell was that?" the kid asked in a shocked tone.
"I misted you" you reply. "If I hadn't you would be dead now."
"That was strange" the kid said.
"It was a strange feeling" Sarah said. "In my 200 years I've never been in an explosion. I'm just glad that Violet was able to warn us. Otherwise we would be ash right now."
"That was probably the expected out come" you said.
"Where did the explosion come from though?" Alice asked as she was checking over Beth.
"It was from the medallion" the kid said. "Brad had told me that those medallions had a back up function. They were designed to detonate if the person it was attuned to died from a vampire attack."
"But you didn't die" Brian said.
"That's what I don't understand" the kid said.
"I think I might have an answer" you said. "If this Brad is as fanatical as I think he is then, it makes sense that he would have a way to detonate it from a distance."
"So you mean that he was willing to sacrifice me in order to destroy you?" the kid asked.
"It's possible" Beth said. "Never underestimate fanaticism. I should know about that as I had lived it. I had considered it my mission in life to rid the world of all vampires. I even went so far as to threaten the life of a little girl. I'm ashamed of that now."
"How could you have threatened a little girl?" the kid asked. "You're a little girl yourself."
"She was a grown man before I turned her" Alice said.
"That's not possible" the kid said. "People just don't become a different age or gender when they're turned."
"We are a different type of vampire" you said. "You know that since the medallion didn't slow us down. Now with us when the female turns someone she gets to pick the age and gender of the new vampire."
"That's weird" the kid said.
"It gets weirder" Beth said. "We turn someone by having sex with them first."
"Well now, that is weird" the kid said.
"What's your name?" you asked.
"Oh, it's Anthony" the kid said. "You can call me Tony though."
"Alright Tony" Sarah said. "Are you feeling alright?"
"I'm feeling ok" Tony said.
You look at where you had been just a few moments before and notice a crowd forming. You can hear sirens in the distance approaching fast. As you were looking over the scene you spot Blade and Dagger. They had been following you and they were sure to have seen the explosion. You're glad that they weren't caught in the explosion.
"We need to go down and tell Blade and Dagger that we're ok" Alice said.
"How are we going to do that with that crowd?" Brian asked.
"I don't know" Alice said. "It would be easy if we could talk while mist. Though I don't think any of us can do that."
"Violet might be able to" Sarah said. "She's already demonstrated that she can use one advanced mist technique. Do you want to give it a try Violet?"
"Sure, I'll try it" you said. You mist on down to them keeping yourself spread out so no one would notice you. You figure that to talk as mist you needed to press a bit of yourself against their eardrum and vibrate to make sound. You would have to be careful so as not to damage their eardrums. Once you have some of yourself against their eardrums you concentrate on speaking while staying as mist.
"'Blade, Dagger'" you mist speak. "'Don't be alarmed. We are still alive. I'm speaking to you while I'm mist. We wanted you to know that we're ok. Also I think it would be best if you said that you saw us engulfed in the explosion. The leader of the mass murder at the university house more than likely thinks that we're dead along with the guy that we were talking to. It would probably be best if he continues to think that.'"
Blade and Dagger both nodded almost imperceptibly to show that they understood. You withdraw from their ears and go back to the rooftop. Instead of reforming on the roof to tell them that you decide to demonstrate your new ability.
You enter each of their ears and say "'I did it.'"
"Whoa" Tony said. "I just heard someone say 'I did it' right in my ear."
"I think we all heard it" Sarah said.
"'You should have'" you said. "'I'm speaking to all of you at the same time.'"
"You can go that?" Brian asked.
"'I'm doing it as you can hear'" you said.
"You understand what we're saying Violet?" Sarah asked.
"'Of course I can'" you said. "'It takes a bit of concentration to hear but I can.'"
"Please reform as I want to be able to see you when I talk to you" Sarah said.
"'Ok'" you say and then withdraw from their ears. When you had reformed you asked "Is this better?"
"Yes it is" Sarah said. "You've been able to master three techniques that take centuries to learn if you're able to at all. This is interesting."
"What is it?" Brian asked.
"Well if I'm right then Violet is a truly unique vampire" Sarah said. "One that legends are written about."
"What's so special about her?" Tony asked.
"Well if I'm right then Violet can transform in direct sunlight" Sarah said.
"I can do that?" you asked.
"I think you may be able to" Sarah said. "If you can then you are very special. It is said that a vampire that can transform in direct sunlight comes along once every 500 years."
"I haven't heard of a vampire like that" Brian said.
"That's because the legends always have the vampire dieing a few years after being turned" Sarah said.
"Why is that?" Beth asked.
"Because around the same time a fanatical vampire hunter makes themselves known" Sarah said. "I had thought that that was you Beth but now it seems like it's this Brad. Anyway, the vampire and vampire hunter come to a climatic battle and both end up dead."
"What happens that they both end up dead?" you ask fearful of your future for the first time.
"The legends say that the defeated vampire hunter utters a curse and a fire ball engulfs them both" Sarah said. "When people have gone up to where they were they found only a few bones. The most notable of them are fangs."
You look back down at where you were when the explosion happened and shiver. "Do the legends say if the vampire had a sixth sense?" you asked.
"The legends are very clear that the vampire doesn't have any extra abilities" Sarah said. "Why did you want to know?"
"We would have died if I hadn't sensed something was wrong" you said. "I'm guessing that the curse is the trigger to detonate the medallion."
A collective shudder goes through everyone on the roof. It was a sobering thought that they could have just died in the blink of an eye. If you hadn't sensed danger when you did all of you would have been dead.
"That was close" Tanya said. "To think we could have been dead in seconds instead of three months."
Jason moved close to Tanya and and wrapped his arms around her. "What a thought" he said. "You and Beth had just been turned too."
"The only one that should be hunting Brad now is Violet" Sarah said. "Anyone else hunting him will wind up dead. Violet may be the first one to survive well into the next millennium."
"That's comforting to know" Tony said sarcastically. "A vampire that can go out in direct sunlight and transform is a scary thought. That vampire would be virtually indestructible."
"Violet could still die in three months without blood" Sarah said. "Besides she can't do that now if she is a legendary vampire."
"Why can't I do it now?" you asked.
"According to legends you only gain that ability when you have fed from four different humans in one night" Sarah said. "And I mean completely draining them."
"I won't let you kill anyone" Tony said.
"You should consider your words before you speak when you're surrounded by vampires" you said. "If we wanted to we could get rid of you before you could do anything."
"I'll jump before you can sink your fangs into me" Tony said. "Vampires don't care about human lives and you just proved it."
"Before you jump consider this" you said. "I saved your life when I misted. If I didn't care about human life why would I save you? I could have let you die in that explosion."
"That's true" Tony admitted. "You did save my life. But to gain your ability you would have to kill four people in one night. How can you care about human life when you need to kill people in order to get your ability?"
"Well first of all I could decide not to gain that ability" you said. "I wouldn't need to kill anyone then. Second, we have a special enzyme that keeps those we feed off of alive. Even if we completely drain them."
"That's not possible" Tony said. "If you drain someone of their blood they die."
"The enzyme slows down cellular activity to almost zero" Sarah said. "It then reproduces itself and turns to blood. After that cellular activity returns to normal and the person wakes up feeling a little groggy."
"How do you know that?" Tony asked.
"A few of us were kidnapped by the government years ago" Sarah said. They did experiments on us and extracted the enzyme in the hopes of weaponizing it. Fortunately it's effects only come into play when we are feeding."
"You were one of those that were kidnapped" you said. It was a statement rather than a question.
"Yes I was" Sarah said.
"Well I'll believe it when I see it" Tony said.
"Tell you what then" you said. "I'll drain someone and if they don't wake up I'll let you stake me. Though if they don't wake up it has to be proven that they died because of blood loss."
"Just staking you isn't enough if the person doesn't wake up" Tony said. "I have another idea though. I'll let you drain me if you each give me your word that you won't feed off of another human again if I don't wake up."
"He has a medallion that will make our word binding" Beth said.
"Of course he does" you said. "But you do have my word on that."
"How can you give him your word?" Alice asked.
"I'm that confident that he will wake up" you said. "Besides, the deal only comes into effect if we all give our word and he lets me drain him."
"A smart one" Tony said. "That is indeed true. So one of you have given me your word. Is their anybody else?"
"I give you my word" Tanya said.
"Well if Violet and Tanya give their word then so do I" Sarah said. "You have my word."
After Sarah gave her word everybody else gave theirs. That was one part of the deal done. Now for the next part.
As you approach Tony you say "Don't be afraid. There will be only a moment of pain and then you'll feel pleasure."
"I'm sure that there will be great pain" Tony said. "I'm also sure that I won't be waking up and I'll have saved all those that you would have killed."
You extend your fangs and then whisper in his ear "You didn't think things through. If I was another type of vampire I could get around what you want by turning you. You would wake up as a vampire. You should have thought about that before. Now it's too late." You finally sink your fangs into his neck and begin feeding.
You can see why you were so excited about hunting. The feeling of actually sinking your fangs into flesh and feeding on warm blood straight from the body is euphoric. It was a natural high that could become addictive. Tony started going limp and you gently lower him to the ground and continue to feed. Finally your fangs are not drawing anymore blood out of his body so you reluctantly pull your fangs
from his throat.
"How long before he wakes up?" you asked.
"He will wake up in an hour" Sarah said. "During the next hour we need to make sure that nothing happens to him so that he will wake up."
"He'll probably wake up afraid" you said.
"Why is that?" Sarah asked.
"I told him that if I was a different type of vampire that I could get around his deal by turning him" you said.
"So he'll wake up thinking that he's a vampire" Sarah said.
Beth giggled and said "Well this should teach him to be more specific. He should have said if he didn't wake up or woke up as a vampire."
"Well we'll have to deal with it" Sarah said. "We need to make sure that he doesn't have anything on him that he can use to kill himself."
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After an hour Tony started to stir. The first thing out of his mouth was "Oh man, I'm a vampire now."
"You are not a vampire" Sarah said. "Violet only said that to teach you to choose your words more carefully. I don't approve of what she did." At this point she gave you a withering look and you gaze down at your feet ashamed. "I can assure you though that you are not a vampire."
"How can I believe you?" Tony asked.
"I give you my word that I did not turn you into a vampire" you said. "If I did then lightening will strike me where I stand right now."
Tony was looking around like he was expecting lightening to strike you. When it became apparent that lightening wasn't going to strike you he said "Ok, I guess you're telling me the truth that you didn't turn me. Though you could have taken just enough of my blood to make me lose consciousness. Will you give me your word that you drained me of all of my blood?"
"I can only give you my word that I continued to feed until I could draw no more blood" you said. "Whether I completely drained you or not I don't know."
"If you did feed until you could draw no more blood then you did drain him as far as you could" Sarah said. "There will always be a little blood left in the body. When we say we drain someone completely it just means that we couldn't draw anymore blood."
"Alright I understand that" Tony said. "Well here I am still alive and not a vampire. So you have one of the four you need to gain your ability. You should go hunting for the other three. I won't stop you."
Over the next three hours you feed off of three more people. Since the night was growing short you couldn't stay to make sure the people would be ok. Fortunately Sarah had the others stay with them until they woke up. One you couldn't have cared less if he woke up or not. He had been attempting to rape a woman when you came across him. Of course the woman ran away screaming in terror at what you did. Maybe after she calmed down she would actually thank you for what you did. Especially when she hears that you didn't kill her
attacker. Anyway you were able to feed from four different people in one night. Now all you had to do is wait until daylight to see if you're one of the legendary vampires.