Fan Fiction ❯ The Vampire Hunter II: Bloodlines ❯ Chapter 3

Chapter III

Clark nodded to several Hunters as she walked into the VHA's 46th precinct. The large stiff-sided bag she had slung over her shoulder was empty and it was easily held in her left hand, while her right hand, back in the cast again, remained free.

She immediately headed for the equipment room and set the black bag down on the floor and then unzipped the top of it. Then she began to retrieve the items she knew she would need for her upcoming trip.

She picked up two packages of a dozen stakes each, a box of one dozen coagulant grenades, a miniature flamethrower, along with two refills for the tank, a black nylon glove-gauntlet with loop sheaths for half a dozen throwing knives, and several boxes of ammo clips for each type of gun she intended to bring with her.

Clark brought the armload of stuff back to where her case was lying on the floor and gently dumped it inside the bag. She went back to the shelves and pulled down a bodysuit that was made of a similar material to Kevlar, the tightly woven fabric that was used to make bulletproof vests. The suits were vampire fang and claw proof, but because of their drawbacks, namely a reduction in movement due to weight and very little give to the material, very few Hunters wore the things and the Association didn't require them. However, Clark could remember several situations in which she had been very glad of the extra protection, so she stuffed the suit inside the bag and went back for more.

Clark grabbed a set of knives that would go with the glove-gauntlet and then saw a small package of microphones. The little bugs could come in handy, so she picked them up, too. She also snagged a box of blank disks to make back-ups for her laptop, in case the computer itself ended up getting damaged, and a small portable printer that could be attached to her laptop to make hardcopies.

After looking over the shelves again, Clark decided to grab an empty sports bag from one of the bottom shelves and filled it with everything else that looked like it might be useful. Clark didn't know what she would face in the next few weeks, but she intended to be as prepared as she possibly could be.

Clark picked up the bags with her left hand and grunted slightly at the weight. She really wished she could use her right hand, but no one would believe she still had a broken wrist if she attempted to carry anything heavy with it.

She walked out of the equipment room and headed for the front doors.

"Clark!"

Clark stopped and turned her head at her chief's yell. Mark Graves stood in his doorway and motioned with his head for her to come over to him. Clark discreetly dropped the bags out of her left hand and turned around to join him in his office.

Mark went around the side of his desk and sat down. He stared at the top of the flat surface for a moment and then looked up at Clark's still standing form.

"What's going on?"

Clark didn't even blink.

"I came by to pick up some stuff. I figured I'd work on a few things to keep me busy while I'm on vacation."

"You logged in to a classified VHA account at eight-twelve AM on Monday morning and stayed on for twenty-three minutes. Now, what is going on, Clark?" Graves asked in the most threatening tone he had ever used with the young woman.

Clark looked out his darkened window and tried to come up with an explanation that would sound plausible without actually being the truth. She couldn't do it.

"I can't tell you." Clark held up her hands to keep him from interrupting as he opened his mouth to speak. "I really can't tell you. I can't tell you anything. Anything I might say would give you too much information, but I can tell you one thing. If anything happens to me, the VHA will receive several files with detailed reports of everything." Clark leaned forward and braced her left hand on the edge of his desk, as she looked him dead in the eye. "Sir, you're just going to have to trust me on this one. Please."

Graves stared at her for a while as a million different thoughts ran through his mind concerning his best Hunter. Clark had always been a loner, but Mark had never considered the possibility of Clark attempting to work outside the law. The thought of Clark going rogue almost made him ill. Clark truly was the best in the business and, if she ever changed sides, there would be very little he, or the VHA, could do to stop her.

Graves studied the Hunter's eyes. He was by no means good at reading Dana Clark's expressions, but he knew what he saw wasn't betrayal. There was uncertainty and hesitation, but no deceit. Whatever she was doing, it at least seemed to be right in her eyes. But he still didn't like being cut out of the loop. The idea of Clark lying to him, or simply withholding information from him, left a sour taste in his mouth. But he still trusted her. She was, after all, The Vampire Hunter.

Graves very slightly nodded his head and then jerked it towards the door. Clark almost sighed in relief and then nodded her head in thanks before turning to walk out of his office.

Clark made her way through the maze of desks again and retrieved her bags, then walked out of the building. The bags went into the trunk of her car and she drove home with the look on her boss's face floating around in her head.

She had never lied to him nor had she ever refused to answer a direct question before now. The look he'd given her had shown he'd known it, too. It was only the fact that she had given over a decade's worth of exemplary service to the VHA, and to him personally, that had allowed him to let her off the hook. At least, for now.

Clark pulled into her driveway and brought the bags into the house. She checked her computer before doing anything else. Gabrielle was supposed to have arrived in Washington, D.C. at eight-thirty and it was now nine-twenty. Clark found the flashing alert icon blinking on her screen, so she clicked on it. It immediately pulled up a page with the latest search results for the names she'd flagged.

Reservations for the entire group had been made by Gabrielle Alucard at eight-forty-five PM for a twelve AM flight out of the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, except for Mr. Chen Wu, who would be leaving on a three-forty-five AM flight. They would be arriving at the Chicago O'Hare International Airport at one AM with a one-hour time change that would give the vampires an extra hour of nighttime.

Clark twisted back and forth in her chair. Gabrielle only intended to stay in Washington for a few hours and with an arrival time of one AM, she would have about four hours before she would need to seek shelter or hop on another plane west.

Clark decided to wait. She would see what Gabrielle's next destination was and then figure out whether to go there or wait again.

In the meantime, Clark busied herself with packing. She would have preferred to travel with only carry-ons, but there was no way to bring all the equipment she wanted to in just a couple of over the shoulder bags. And if, by some twist of Murphy's Law, her luggage happened to be lost, she could always get replacements from the local VHA, as long as she was near a VHA office or precinct.

Clark wasn't sure what she could do once Gabrielle left the United States. There were worldwide VHA offices, but they weren't in every city and sometimes an entire country had only one headquarters and that was all. But Clark had a feeling that wherever Gabrielle went, there would be a VHA office nearby. And even if there weren't, Clark was pretty sure she would be able to figure something out. She'd always been able to think fast on her feet.

Clark heard her computer beep and set down the fang proof bodysuit to go check her computer. The alert icon flashed at her again and she clicked on it to bring up the latest information.

New reservations had just been made at one-thirty AM for Chen Wu, Samantha, Theresa, and Trevor to leave at four PM that afternoon. They would each have two trunks of cargo going with them, but only one of each pair of trunks was marked fragile. They would arrive at the Los Angeles International Airport in California at six PM.

Clark clicked on a link to make her own reservation. The next flight to Los Angeles would get her there at seven AM. Clark sent off her request and received confirmation of her flight number before logging off her computer and shutting it down.

With the last of her packing done, Clark called a cab and then headed for the JFK Airport.