Fan Fiction ❯ The Vampire Hunter II: Bloodlines ❯ Chapter 11

Chapter XI

Clark walked around the huge pyramid and marveled at its size. The blocks that made up the outside of the pyramid were almost as tall as she was and they just went up and up. Clark craned her neck to try to see the top of the structure, but she was in shadow and couldn't quite make it out. She continued to move along the side of the pyramid until she came to the lit side.

Clark stopped dead in her tracks. There was a vampire near. A very strong vampire and it only took her a moment to recognize the sense of which particular vampire she was feeling. She looked around and spotted a short figure in the distance, illuminated by the moon's reflected light. She considered going back the way she'd come, but then the figure began moving towards her.

Within seconds, Clark was face to face with the Queen of the vampires.

"You're here," Gabrielle said in a matter-of-fact, yet disbelieving tone.

"Yeah, I'm here," Clark needlessly confirmed.

"Why?" came the inevitable question.

Clark hadn't thought about what she would say if she ever met up with Gabrielle during her hunt of the vampire. She knew it would be impossible to prepare for it. But she also knew she couldn't lie, so that left her with the truth.

"I know about the Gathering Place. And about your involvement in the VHA."

Gabrielle quietly took in that information.

"What I don't understand is how," Clark continued.

Gabrielle sighed.

"It's actually a lot simpler than you think. But we can discuss it later. I have other things I need to attend to..." Gabrielle started to walk away.

She hadn't expected to face Clark again so soon and this new development with her sister had put her more off-balance than she'd realized.

"No, I think we can discuss it now," Clark reached out and stopped Gabrielle's movement with a hand to her shoulder.

The touch, even through Gabrielle's cloak, made both of them lose track of their thoughts for a moment. Then Gabrielle turned to face Clark again and Clark removed her hand.

The Hunter waited.

"I own them."

The statement was so simple that Clark almost missed its significance.

"You what?"

"I built the VHA. Actually, I formed their group millennia ago, but the current VHA, the one you work for, was organized by me."

Clark couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"Why? Why would you want to create an organization that's dedicated to wiping you out?"

"I wanted to make sure that there would be some kind of safeguard against my species hurting yours. It was my father's original goal in creating me and, later, my siblings. I grew up listening to him speak of your race with such awe. He told me your potential was limitless, that one day you might surpass even his own, if given the chance. When he forgot that dream and I realized the threat my people posed to yours, I decided you would have to become your own guardians. There was simply no other way."

Clark readjusted her view of the universe. She was working for the only line of defense against the vampires and it had been created, and was still being directed, by the Queen of the vampires. Which meant Gabrielle knew everything the VHA knew. Of course, Clark had sort of known that before, but this seemed to make it more real.

"This is insane." Clark paced a little and then returned to her previous position. "You're basically telling me I've been working for you the whole time, even before I tracked you down."

Clark's vision wasn't nearly as good as Gabrielle's, but she could still see a look on Gabrielle's face that seemed... guilty. Clark rewound what she'd just said and tried to figure out where Gabrielle's reaction was coming from. The day of Jason and Dale's funeral, she'd had a lot of questions concerning Gabrielle and the one she was most curious to have answered popped into her head.

"You must have known about me long before you ever let me find you. Exactly when did I first come to your attention?" Clark asked suspiciously.

Gabrielle took a breath. She'd been wondering when Clark would finally ask her that. Kevyn had said she should be honest, that Clark would understand. But Gabrielle couldn't help thinking about the real possibility that she was about to lose Clark forever.

"The first time I saw you was the night you killed your first vampire," Gabrielle replied slowly.

Clark took a step back. And then another. She felt the air leave her chest and had to fight for a moment to get it back. She'd guessed that Gabrielle would say she'd been following her career in the VHA for a long time, but to say she'd been there the night it all started... That had been the last response she'd expected from Gabrielle.

"Wha-? How? Why?" she asked in a jumble.

Gabrielle resolutely launched into her story. It was easier to focus on the past events than the betrayal she could see forming in Clark's eyes again. It was a very familiar look to Gabrielle and she was tempted to simply rip her own heart out than to watch Clark return to that old hatred. But first, she had to give Clark the truth. She deserved that much, at least.

"The name of the vampire you killed was Gannon. I found out he was letting several others in his line drink from him without telling anybody of their new status as higher order vampires. Then they ambushed older vampires to increase their own strength and blamed the deaths on the VHA. Gannon came to me and told me he was building an army to take over from Blake and he wanted me to join him. He said his army was at my disposal, if I promised to let him lead the Order with me…"

~\/^^^\/~

"We would be unstoppable together," Gannon exclaimed, his voice bouncing off the wet looking walls of the alleyway he'd requested Gabrielle meet him in.

"But I don't want to lead the Order. Blake is doing just fine," Gabrielle replied calmly.

"But you're the First Born. You deserve to be in his place and I deserve to be at your side."

Gabrielle shook her head.

"No. If I was ever to take over from Blake, it would be peacefully."

"Oh, you think he'd just let you push him aside?" Gannon sneered.

"Well, I'm not pushing him aside, so it doesn't matter," Gabrielle replied.

Gabrielle started to turn away, but Gannon reached out and grabbed her hand.

"What about me? I've gathered many loyal followers. And you know how I feel about you. You just say the word and with one snap of my fingers, they'll obey any command you wish them to carry out. Let me lead with you and…"

"I told you no, Gannon," Gabrielle said clearly, leaving no doubt that it was directed toward both spoken and unspoken propositions.

Gannon dropped her hand and took a step back.

"Gabrielle, this could have been so different for you," Gannon said and Gabrielle felt six vampires move into the alley to flank her on all sides.

"Gannon, don't do this. It's not worth it," Gabrielle warned.

She'd been so focused on Gannon that she hadn't recognized her sense of the other vampires as a threat. But now, she listened and was able to tell that they were all most likely Tenth Order vampires, like Gannon. They'd probably tasted his blood not too long ago, judging by the inconsistent presences they were all giving off. Though she could sense even the lowest level vampire from a few meters away, one who was going through the transition from one level to the next always ended up throwing her off. They tended to disappear and then reappear intensely every other moment on that higher plane that all vampires could tap into to know when another of their kind was near.

"Oh Gabrielle, I think it's definitely worth it."

With a jerk of his head, Gannon and the six vampires attacked and Gabrielle batted two of the flunkies away, throwing both of their bodies against a wall. Their bones shattered on impact and they fell in a heap of clothing on the ground. Their screams were deafening in the semi-enclosed space, but Gabrielle had to concentrate on the other five vampires that were still coming at her.

She felt Gannon land several blows across her back and someone else tried to kick her legs out from under her, but she stood her ground and kicked back in return. She heard another loud yell of pain that was soon joined by others, as she slashed with abandon at anything that moved close enough for her to reach.

When she was done, she looked up and saw Gannon, with his shirt shredded and hanging wetly on his back, as he turned the corner of the alleyway and disappeared. In a split-second decision, she threw down her cloak and piled all six vampires on top of it and dragged it down the length of the alley as quickly as she could without losing the bodies. She knew the police would be arriving soon, with all the noise they'd been making, and leaving the vampires there to possibly recover, or be questioned and then executed by the VHA, was not a good idea.

Gabrielle looked around the corner and could see Gannon in the distance. He was running, but then he stopped and moved toward one of the houses. Gabrielle looked down and could see the trail of blood he'd left in his wake. She realized he probably intended to feed to build his strength back up and she didn't have much time to stop him. She gathered up the still unconscious vampires within her cloak and did her best to hug them to her body. Then she ran down the street to the house Gannon had chosen.

She tossed the bodies into the bushes for the time being and then saw what had attracted Gannon. A balcony opening off a second-floor bedroom had its sliding glass door open to let in cool air. Gabrielle heard screams and jumped up to the concrete landing. It took a moment for Gabrielle to understand what she was seeing.

A large teenage girl was standing over Gannon's body, which had a long wooden spike sticking out of its chest. The girl was staring at the body and there was no expression on her face. Gabrielle decided it was best to take the gentle route and quietly asked the most logical question.

"Are you okay? I'm not here to hurt you," Gabrielle added.

The girl's eyes didn't even flicker towards her. Gabrielle tried again and took a step forward.

"Hey, it's okay. He's dead."

There was still no response and Gabrielle realized the girl was in shock; her eyes weren't actually focused on anything. Gabrielle took another step forward and reached out a hand to touch the girl's shoulder.

"What's your name?"

Finally, the girl raised her head and looked blankly at Gabrielle.

"Dana. My name's Dana Clark."

Gabrielle allowed herself only a moment to assess the situation and then came up with a plan to fix it.

"Okay, Dana, I need you to do something for me. I want you to help your parents get out of the house. There's a fire and you need to get them out of here," Gabrielle said persuasively.

Dana looked around as if searching for the flames.

"You have to hurry, Dana," Gabrielle encouraged, and the girl looked back at her and seemed to finally focus on her face for a moment, before her eyes lost their color again and she bent over to pick up her mother.

Dana carried her mother down the hall and Gabrielle looked around the room for candles. She found quite a few and finally noticed the scent of sulfur that had been overpowered by the new aroma of fresh blood. Apparently, the Clarks had been enjoying a romantic evening a few hours ago.

Gabrielle located a box of matches as Dana returned for her father, following Gabrielle's earlier commands like an automaton. The vampire shook her head in sadness as she watched the child continue down the hallway towards the stairs. But she had to give the girl credit; she'd taken out a very powerful vampire all by herself. Gabrielle knew that very few Hunters in the VHA ever came across vampires higher than the Twentieth Order and, when they did, they rarely defeated them.

Gabrielle moved quickly as her thoughts rambled on and she brought the bodies of the other vampires into the room. She laid them in the corner away from the balcony and checked to make sure they were all still unconscious.

Dana returned for her younger brother's body and didn't even look at what Gabrielle was doing with the new bodies that had appeared. Nothing existed except her family and she had to get them out of the house because it was on fire. She jogged outside and placed her brother next to her parents.

Gabrielle ran down to the living room and tossed lit matches at anything that would burn. Then she blew out all the pilot lights and turned on the gas stove so that the gas would have a chance to accumulate. There were small fires everywhere as Gabrielle returned to the upstairs bedroom. She picked up Gannon's lifeless body and threw it over her shoulder before bending down to retrieve another broken chair leg to match the one that Dana had used to stake him.

She jumped out of the window and landed with a soft thump on the grass below. In less than a second, she was in front of Dana. She tossed the dead vampire onto the ground and handed the second wooden spike to the girl, who grasped it automatically.

Gabrielle stood there for another few seconds and studied the young woman. She was very tall, but hadn't reached her body's full potential yet. Gabrielle knew that when the girl did, she would be formidable to say the least, as well as strikingly beautiful. But it was the intensity of the girl that fascinated her. Gabrielle was sure that Dana Clark would survive this nightmare and go on with her life someday. She just wished there was something she could say to the traumatized child.

Several things came to mind, but she discarded all of them. There was nothing she could say to ease the girl's numbed pain. Gabrielle left as quickly as she'd arrived and waited on a neighboring roof to watch and make sure that none of the vampires woke up and tried to leave. None did.

The ambulance, fire trucks, and police cars all arrived within seconds of each other and Gabrielle took that as her cue to leave. She took one last look at the girl and stopped dead in her tracks. Dana was looking right at her, though Gabrielle had been careful to hide her position from any straying glances in her direction. They watched each other for a minute and then Dana's attention was distracted by the police, who were attempting to escort her to a waiting ambulance. Gabrielle leapt away at that moment and disappeared into the night.

~\/^^^\/~

"I read about you in the paper the next night. It was then that I realized you hadn't remembered me. But I remembered you," Gabrielle said quietly.

Clark felt her world attempting to tilt itself back into alignment, as she processed the new information about her life. She was getting memories of that night, things she'd blocked out for twelve years.

"You..."

Tears streamed down Clark's cheeks and Gabrielle stood there helpless. She wanted to hold Clark, but she was afraid of what the Hunter's reaction would be to her touch.

"I'm sorry. I should have told you before. But I needed your help..."

"You never needed my help," Clark said raggedly, as she began to regain some internal balance. "I've watched you fight, remember? I've seen you move. Or rather not seen you. I only slowed you down. It was just me, wasn't it? You just wanted... me."

Clark thought she should be angry. She should hate Gabrielle for deceiving her. She wanted to believe she'd been used. But she didn't. All she had to do was look at Gabrielle and she knew. Gabrielle had probably fallen in love with her a long time before Clark even knew she existed. And knowing that Clark hated vampires must have been a living hell for the Queen. To love someone who truly hates you. And Clark knew that Gabrielle could never have argued her out of her hate.

"I'm glad you didn't tell me before," Clark said quietly, as she wiped at her tears.

Gabrielle looked up.

"What?"

"I wouldn't have... understood. I would just have hated you more. And... I never want to hate you again."

Gabrielle felt warm blood trickling down her cheeks and she automatically caught it with her cloak.

"I love you," Clark whispered, as her own tears renewed themselves.

She hadn't meant to say it out loud, didn't even know she'd said it until she heard the words coming from her mouth. But the look on Gabrielle's face made second thoughts vanish.

Gabrielle watched as Clark took several tentative steps towards her. Then her face was buried in Clark's chest and she held the human as tightly as she could without breaking anything.

Clark sobbed into Gabrielle's neck. She wasn't sure where all the tears were coming from. She thought some had to do with the newly awakened feelings of grief for her family, while others were due to how much she'd missed Gabrielle during their time apart. But the release felt good and Clark didn't try to fight it.

"I love you, Dana," came Gabrielle's muffled declaration and Clark smiled.

They pulled back from each other just far enough to get a look at one another's faces.

"You weren't entirely correct, though," Gabrielle responded a little belatedly to Clark's earlier statement. "I did need you. Mostly, I needed you on my side. You were following me and things were getting tense with Blake and his people. I couldn't very well have you trailing after me while I destroyed him and his group."

"It certainly would have confused me," Clark smiled a little.

"I'm sorry about your family. If I'd gotten there just a minute sooner..."

"Don't. I've done that to myself for the past twelve years. It wasn't your fault. And... Gannon?... is dead now, so there's no one left to blame. Anyway, he got what he deserved," Clark said and Gabrielle recognized the cold edge in the Hunter's voice.

Gabrielle gently pulled away from Clark's embrace and turned her back on the Hunter.

"Clark, I've... I've done the same things that Gannon did to you." She turned back around to face the woman. "I can't let you pretend I'm any different simply because I haven't done those things to you personally."

Clark took a breath.

"I... I don't know what to say to that. I know what you are, Gabrielle. And it doesn't change how I feel about you. I don't know what that means. Maybe I'm deluding myself, but everything I know about you tells me you are nothing like Gannon. Or Blake, or any of the other vampires I've ever Hunted. You kill humans for food and not long ago, that would have been all I needed to know to put a stake through your heart. But I know the humans you kill. They're evil. They hurt my kind worse than you ever have and I would personally stake them before I'd stake you."

Clark closed the distance between them again, the chill night air of the desert having very little to do with her need for Gabrielle's contact.

"I don't... agree with everything you've done or are doing, but..."

"What do you mean about what I'm doing?" Gabrielle interrupted.

Clark paused at her slip, but decided neither of them seemed to be going halfway this night, so she might as well go ahead and tell Gabrielle the rest of what she'd gleaned from watching Gabrielle over the past couple of weeks.

"I don't know all the specifics," Clark began. "But from what I've been able to piece together, you're working on consolidating your power within the Vampire Order. Judging by the cities you've visited, I'd say those groups have numerous government contacts that you've probably been working with, too." Clark watched Gabrielle's face. "Or maybe they have nothing to do with the vampire groups and they're linked directly to you," Clark amended.

Clark put those two pieces together for the first time, and added the recent revelations about the VHA.

"You also run the only defense against the vampires. With all those things in place, there isn't anything to stop you.. from simply taking over. Everything," Clark breathed.

And she'd thought Blake had been the one intent on world domination.

"Actually, there is," Gabrielle replied.

"What?"

"My twin sister."

That one threw Clark for a loop and it took her a full minute before she was able to ask a coherent question.

"Huh?"

Well, semi-coherent.

"She visited me for the first time just before you arrived. She apparently figured out my plans, too, and doesn't agree with my reasons."

"Your sister?" Clark was slowly catching up.

"Yes. Her name is Cynthia and she apparently took on the name of Apophis at some point. That in itself tells me a lot about her," Gabrielle added, mostly to herself.

"Wait," Clark held up her hands. "Let me get this straight. You have a twin sister named Apophis, or Cynthia, and she plans to stop you from taking over the world?"

"Something like that."

"May I ask why you intend to take over the world?" Clark asked rather calmly, since she could think of much worse people in that position than Gabrielle.

"There are things I know, things that I want to teach your people, but I won't do that until this world is united. I made that mistake before and it cost your species dearly. It's still hurting you. But with the majority of governments under my influence, I can guide the stronger nations towards helping the weaker ones. And not the kind of "help" that's going on now, but real help."

"I know we're not doing a very good job right now, but I think we'll get there eventually," Clark defended her species.

"You don't have 'eventually.' You're destroying the ecosystem. You're on the verge of blowing the entire planet up. Even if I didn't care about the human race, I would still have to do something. To put it bluntly, you're my species' food supply and regardless of our immortality, I don't think we would survive a nuclear holocaust."

"Yeah, that's pretty blunt," Clark acknowledged.

"It's also my fault you're here."

Clark raised her eyebrows.

"Not you personally. Your race's technology. I was trying to help and I led your people to discover nuclear energy, among other things. They were just supposed to be stepping-stones to even better forms of energy, but instead your scientists created bombs. I had never imagined that use for the knowledge I offered."

"We can be very inventive," Clark joked to try to lighten the mood.

"Yes, and that's why I can't share any more than I already have until I can control what your people will do with it."

"Gabrielle, no one is capable of exerting that kind of control over so many."

"I could argue, but my examples wouldn't exactly help my case," Gabrielle replied. "Maybe control is a bad choice of words. Think of it more as learning to see the world in a new way. A hundred years ago, the more powerful light-skinned humans considered anyone with dark skin to be inferior. They were enslaved and treated as property, rather than human. But today, that view is held by a minority that is growing smaller and smaller with each generation."

"True," Clark agreed.

"But your people are still far from being able to work together as a unified race, and as the single force behind all the governments, I could guide you in the right direction. I could influence the laws and direction that the nations of the world take. There would be one vision being acted out in different ways by every leader on the planet. It would be slow, but the effect would be cumulative."

"You couldn't have just started working on this now," Clark noticed.

Gabrielle averted her gaze for a moment.

"No."

"How long?"

"Millennia."

Clark let out an exasperated sigh.

"How is that even possible?"

"Clark, I'm very old and was born for the sole purpose of protecting the human race. Is there some reason I shouldn't have come up with these ideas a long time ago? I've had centuries to consider how best to help the humans, though I admit, I did sort of botch one of those attempts. But it was simply impossible for me to implement any of my plans until very recently."

"Why not?"

"For one thing, there was no global communication, which definitely plays a part in world relations. For another, as I said earlier, your species had a lot to learn before they could even begin to take those first steps towards working together. Even now, the only things that tend to bring your nations together are natural disasters or attacks on their allies."

"All right, so I'd vote for you, but you can't just make yourself our de facto leader."

"Yes, I can. I made the mistake of giving your people knowledge before they were ready for it and I'm the only one who can fix it."

"So, you're doing this out of guilt?"

"Maybe, but it's only one of many reasons, which I've already told you."

"Gabrielle." Clark reached out and forced Gabrielle to look at her. "Gabrielle, you made a mistake and I think you're about to make another one for the same reason. You're trying to help, but this might not be the best way. Just because you've had a long time to think about it doesn't make it right."

"Then what do you suggest?"

"I have no idea, but there's a saying. Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely. I don't want to see that happen to you."

"You think I'm power hungry, too?" Gabrielle asked in a surprisingly small voice.

"No. If you were power hungry, you wouldn't have waited until now to try to take over the world. You never would have relinquished your power when you were still seen as a goddess."

Gabrielle nodded.

"So, she thinks you're power hungry?" Clark guessed.

"Yes. Or that's what she says, anyway. I'm not sure what her real motives are."

"Maybe that should be where we focus then. Find out as much as we can about her."

"You're right." Gabrielle looked around and realized the sun would be rising sooner than she'd thought. "I guess I'll see you tomorrow night."

"Where should we meet?"

"Where are you staying?"

"The Sheraton Cairo. It's really close."

"Then why don't we meet there?"

"Okay, that'll work."

"All right, tomorrow at sunset. I'll be waiting in the lobby."

"I'll be there."

They paused for a long moment, neither wanting the night to end, but aware that it would anyway.

"I have to go," Gabrielle reminded them both.

"I know. I'm sorry. Go on. I'll see you, well, tonight, I guess," Clark looked at her watch.

"I love you," Gabrielle told her.

"I love you, too," Clark replied, and then Gabrielle disappeared before either of them could say goodbye.

Clark looked around and finally noticed the lightening sky. Gabrielle had really been cutting it close.

"Dammit. I should have kissed her."