Fan Fiction ❯ The Vampire Hunter ❯ Chapter 9

Chapter IX

Clark left Richard on David's doorstep and then turned her car around to head back to her place. She used the long drive home to think over the events of the past few days.

Things had been a little crazy to say the least. She'd hunted down the Queen of the Vampires. Then she'd been offered a partnership with said Queen, and accepted. Then she'd kissed that same Queen, fought side by side with her, and pretty much ensured that the vampire would remain Queen.

Now what? Clark laughed in the solitude of her car. This had to be one of the most impossible relationships Clark had ever heard of. She was a Vampire Hunter for Christ's sake! Gabrielle was the Queen of the Vampires. How could she ever explain any of this to her boss, to her co-Hunters? "I killed a dozen vampires last night. Oh, and I'm in love with the head vamp."

Clark stopped in mid-thought. In love? No, no, no. No way. Definitely not goin' there. Clark pulled into her driveway and turned off the engine. She stared forward and then her head slumped onto the steering wheel.

"Oh shit. I am," she mumbled into the empty car. She brought her head back up and then hit the wheel with the palm of her hand. "Fuck!"

Clark made her way into her house and peeled off her hardened trench coat. The blood had dried long ago and made the material stiff. She stuffed it into her laundry hamper and then slowly removed the massive amount of weaponry still attached to her body. By the time she was done, she decided to keep going and divested herself of her clothing, too.

After a long hot shower, Clark finally set to work making breakfast. She wasn't hungry, but she wanted to eat anyway. She was worried about what reaction her body might have once whatever Gabrielle had done to her wore off. Dinner had been a long time ago and she knew her body needed fuel, even if it didn't feel like it.

Clark sat down at her computer, with her food and a glass of orange juice, and booted up. In between bites of scrambled eggs, bacon, and toast, along with sips of her juice, Clark typed up every single detail she could recall from the previous forty-eight hours.

It was well past lunchtime when she was done. She sent the document off to her storage site and reset the send date for the other report she'd uploaded before to transmit only if she didn't check back in three weeks to change it again. If she did go on vacation, she didn't want to have to worry about resetting the send date.

Clark turned off the computer and carried her dishes into the kitchen. As she washed them, she thought about Gabrielle's suggestion of a vacation. Gabrielle was right. She'd never taken one, not in all the years she'd worked for the VHA. She'd had plenty of time off during various enforced rests because of injuries, but she'd never voluntarily left work just to.. not work.

Clark wasn't sure what she would do on a vacation. Hunting vampires had been her life for the past twelve years. Everything she did had something to do with that occupation. Everything she read seemed to have some connection to vampires in one way or another. The people she considered to be friends were all Hunters or worked for the VHA in some capacity. The activities she enjoyed in her off hours usually involved something physical that helped keep her in shape for her job.

Clark racked her brain for something she'd done in the past decade that didn't have to do with vampires or hunting them. She couldn't even count the poker games with her co-Hunters because the conversations always involved work and the fact that the games were with Hunters at all invalidated them anyway.

Clark shook her head. Maybe she really did need to get away for a while. A few weeks without vampires. Nothing to remind her of the horrors she'd seen. A little time to have some peace for herself before going back out into the nightmare that was her normal existence.

The phone rang and Clark picked it up, still a little lost in her thoughts.

"Hello?"

"Clark? Graves here. Just wanted to let you know the funerals for Jason and Dale have been scheduled for 2pm tomorrow. We're having a full procession for them. Dale's wife has asked that you lead it. Do you think you'll be up for that? How's your arm, by the way?"

"It's fine. Um, why does Sharon want me to lead the procession? That should be her place."

"You led the mission that he died on and Sharon says Dale always spoke highly of you and would have wanted you to be there. Plus, I don't think she wants to be in the spotlight. I think she wants to be there for their two boys. What do you say?"

"What about Jason's family? Couldn't one of them..."

"His parents said they would be very honored to have the great Vampire Hunter herself leading their son's march to his final resting place. Direct quote."

Clark closed her eyes. "Shit," she mumbled away from the phone. "Alright. What time do I have to be there? And where does it start?"

"It'll begin at noon outside the Hunters' Memorial and then you'll lead the way to the VHA Cemetery and then to their plots. Obviously, there won't be a viewing. The funeral will begin as soon as everyone gets there, which, if they've got the timing right, should be about two o'clock."

Clark nodded and then realized Mark couldn't see her. "Alright, I'll be there. Formal dress?"

"Full weapons, yeah."

"Okay. I'll see ya there."

"Right. Bye."

Clark hung up and looked around her house. It was definitely time for her to take a vacation. The dread she felt at the thought of being ogled during a somber occasion for two of her friends finally helped make up her mind. She needed a break. From everything.

Except, the thought of being away from Gabrielle for that length of time made her chest clench.

Clark looked out of the sliding glass doors that led out onto her back porch and saw that the sun was on the last leg of its descent. Gabrielle had said she would visit Clark tonight, so she would probably be there in a few hours. Maybe she could talk the Vampire Queen into coming along.

~\/^^^\/~

Gabrielle walked through the tunnels beneath the city. She'd rested for most of the day in one of her sanctuaries, but she wanted to be the first one to arrive at the Arena. It would help establish her dominance and give credit to the myth that she was impervious to even the sun.

Though all of the Third Order, and most of the Fourth Order, were capable of wakefulness during the day, none of them were able to wake, while the sun was still up, simply because they chose to. Something had to happen to cause them to come out of their slumbers, usually a threat. Gabrielle was the only one who had control over when she slept or woke and it definitely had its advantages.

Gabrielle turned down the last tunnel that would lead into the basement of the Arena. She had an hour before the sun would set behind the horizon. If she could feed on a gladiator or two, she wouldn't have to waste time hunting once she was done with her meeting with the upper Orders and could go directly to Clark's.

That was where she wished she was right now, but she knew Clark needed to be away from her for a while. And she needed to be away from Clark. If she'd gone home with the woman... There was simply no telling what would have happened, but she knew neither of them had been thinking clearly enough to make any of those kinds of decisions at the time. Nearly being killed tended to make people do things that they wouldn't ordinarily do under normal circumstances and Gabrielle didn't want Clark to do anything she might regret later.

Gabrielle opened the door that would lead her out of the tunnels and entered into a room very similar to the recreation room at the Gathering Place. She traversed the length of the room and went through another door, then down the hallway to the elevators. She pressed the button to call one to her and entered her access code to disarm the alarms that would alert the servants to an unauthorized entry.

She rode the elevator down three levels and exited into a cavernous room with stone walls that were reinforced with steel girders. In the center of the huge chamber was an enclosed space with a dirt floor that was what gave the Arena its name. It was a circular area with an eight-foot-high wooden fence around it and plenty of amphitheater styled seats for spectators.

Gabrielle walked around its circumference and headed for the place of honor that had previously been used by Blake whenever he'd been in attendance. The first time she'd entered the place after its construction, Blake had presented the seat to her, since she was its rightful owner due to her seniority, but she'd still been willing to let Blake run things in her place at the time and had declined the offer. That was no longer an option and she was no longer content to let someone else take the reins. For better or worse, she would lead the Order from this day forward.

"Mistress?"

Gabrielle turned at the voice and naturally sat down in the throne-like seat.

"Yes?"

"Is there anything I can get for you?" asked the servant.

She kept her eyes downcast for the most part, but Gabrielle had to smile at the furtive glances the young woman kept sending her way. It wasn't often the Queen of the Vampires gifted them with her presence and the servant wasn't quite sure how to react.

"Yes, there is. Come here."

The woman's eyes widened with mistaken comprehension and she took slow steps toward the Queen. Many of the older vampires could be very rough in their handling of slaves. The girl had no idea what the oldest of all the vampires would be like in her feeding.

"Don't be afraid. I won't hurt you."

The woman looked up into the startling green eyes of the Queen and her fear disappeared. She took the last steps with more confidence and stood before the seated vampire to await her instructions.

"What's your name?"

"Theresa."

"Theresa. Do you know anything about the gladiators tonight?"

Theresa looked at the Queen in surprise. She was a little confused. That was the last question she'd been expecting.

"Um, no, Mistress. Isaac is in charge of the gladiator bouts. I'm just an attendant."

"Send him to me."

"Yes, Mistress."

Theresa hurried down one of the aisles that led to the dirt-packed floor at the bottom of the slanted amphitheater. A few minutes later, she returned with a man who looked like he was in his mid-thirties. He kept his head slightly bowed in deference and waited for Gabrielle to speak.

"You're in charge of the gladiators?"

"Yes, my Mistress."

"I'm not your Mistress. Do you know the backgrounds of those currently in the holding cells?"

"Yes, m- Mistress."

"Are there any that have committed crimes against women or children?"

"Yes, Mistress. There are seven such criminals among those that were taken today; five men and two women. We figured they wouldn't be missed."

"Bring them to me."

"Mistress?"

Gabrielle stared at him impassively when he raised his eyes to look at her in confusion. He quickly nodded and turned on his heel. Theresa remained and waited to see if she had further orders.

"What would you normally be doing right now, Theresa?"

"I am here to serve you, Mistress."

"That's not what I asked you."

"I would be checking to make sure that the needs of any attending vampires were being met."

"And if there were none here?"

"I would busy myself with inspecting the seats to be sure they were clean and in good condition. When I was done with that, I would inspect the floors to make sure they were free of clutter."

"Why don't you go do that then?"

"Yes, Mistress."

Gabrielle tried to shrug off the annoyance of the title as the young woman left. She knew she should have been used to it by now, but it always bothered her. Though she expected the servants to obey her, she preferred that it be because they believed she was worthy of their trust, not that they were unworthy of having a will of their own.

Isaac returned with three other servants, all of whom pointed guns at seven handcuffed people, who were attached to a single steel chain, being led by Isaac himself.

"Mistress? The gladiators you requested."

Gabrielle looked them over. None of them jumped out at her as being particularly more worthy of death than the next.

"State their crimes."

"This one killed her husband, then both of her daughters, before attempting to commit suicide and botching the job. She got off on a technicality and has been living on the streets for the past four months."

Isaac moved to the next one in line.

"This one is a serial rapist, but none of his victims have been willing to testify against him, so he's never been convicted. This one shot his girlfriend when he caught her in bed with his best friend. He was released after two years on good behavior. This one molested his daughter and his niece, but his wife and her sister dropped the charges before he could be brought to trial. This one beat her son until he suffered permanent brain damage. She was released from prison after serving seven years and has only been out for a year. This one was beating his wife for the past few months, but one of her friends is a servant here, so we picked him up so she wouldn't have to deal with the police. And this one set his ex-wife's house on fire, killing her and their three children. He's been on the run for a month, but one of our scouts spotted him and picked him up."

Gabrielle assessed the captives again and made her choice.

"Him and him," she said, pointing to the rapist and the arsonist.

"What shall we do with them?"

"Leave them here."

Isaac looked like he was about to question her again, but then thought better of it. He brought out the keys to the handcuffs binding the two men and released them. As soon as they were both free, they took one look at each other and bolted. Gabrielle grinned. For some reason, they always thought they could get away.

Isaac almost shouted for the others to go after the escapees, but then he saw the look of absolute pleasure on Gabrielle's face. He quickly led the remaining prisoners away and the other servants followed with their guns steadily trained on the captives.

Gabrielle watched the men practically flying down the aisles in their attempt to reach one of the exits. She continued to watch them for another few seconds and then took off after them. She moved so quickly, they didn't even know she'd gone by them, until they saw her standing calmly in front of them. They skidded to a halt.

"Do you deny the crimes Isaac proclaimed you to be guilty of?"

The two men looked at each other. They'd both heard enough stories about vampires to know that lying to one was impossible. They were able to pick up on skin temperature, heart rate, pupil dilation, and a myriad of other things, effectively making them preternatural lie detectors. The arsonist slumped to his knees, knowing he wouldn't be able to escape death. The rapist didn't give up quite so easily.

"They wanted it. That's why they wouldn't lie in court about me." He neglected to mention how he had threatened them all with being gang raped by his friends, if he went to jail.

Gabrielle looked at him. He almost believed what he was saying. But she could see the truth in his eyes. He was desperate to see himself as powerful and even now he was finding it hard to believe that he wasn't in control of the situation.

"You should be thankful I'm going to kill you. If I weren't, you would no longer be able to call yourself a man."

His eyes widened as understanding of her words sank in, but it was a short-lived realization. Gabrielle reached out and drew him steadily to her with an iron grip that he found impossible to free himself from. She used her other hand to push his head to the side and tore into his throat. His blood poured out of him and he screamed and struggled even harder, but that was short-lived as well, as the man lost his strength as he lost more and more of his blood.

Gabrielle let the blood flood her mouth and swallowed the metallic tasting liquid down her throat. She felt it infusing her body with energy and power and drew a little harder to bring more of the wonderful substance into her mouth. The fear she felt coming off the man in waves did nothing to hinder her enjoyment of the man's life essence.

When she'd completely drained him, she let him fall from her arms to crumple in a heap at her feet. She turned around and found the other man still on his knees, patiently awaiting his fate.

"You're not going to fight?"

"No."

"Good."

Gabrielle stepped over to him and raised him to his feet. She gently turned his head to the side and lowered her mouth to his carotid artery. Her fangs were so razor sharp the man didn't even know he'd been bitten until he felt the gentle sucking pressure that signaled his blood was being drawn from his body. He caught a wave of pleasure from Gabrielle's enjoyment of his blood and moaned.

Gabrielle pulled the man tighter to her and sucked even harder. She was still in need, still hungry, even after feeding on Blake the previous night and the other human moments before. Between healing Clark's injuries and her own, over the past couple nights, she hadn't managed to get completely back to peak efficiency.

Gabrielle continued to draw out the hot, thick liquid from the man's body, until only a wisp of a stream came at her insistence. The man had died at least a full minute before, his body having given out, as too much of his life's blood was taken from him. Gabrielle lowered his body to the ground and stood back up. She turned to face the three servants she knew had been watching her and gestured for them to come take the bodies away.

Finally sated, Gabrielle returned to her seat high above the Arena's main battlefield. She let the new blood course through her body and sustain it, as she looked out over the Arena and remembered other times she had been there.

The fights began at midnight and went without interruption until an hour before sunrise. Sometimes, servants fought one another for the privilege of being some vampire's slave or to settle an argument. Other times, a challenge was issued from one vampire to another and they would fight until one could no longer defend him- or herself.

Most of the time, however, it was just a chance for the vampires to get together and chase humans that had been abducted from their homes or the streets for sport. Bets were made, both of money and of slaves, on how long the human, or group of humans, could survive against different vampires, or whether they would be able to injure the attacking vamp before dying, or even whether or not the human might be allowed to live and be made a servant.

Gabrielle found the whole thing a little tedious, but she'd thought it was better than letting the world at large continue to be the Arena. Steering the conversation towards the gladiator games of ancient Rome, while in the company of Blake and half a dozen other Third and Fourth Order vampires, she had been able to subtly plant the seed for the construction of the Arena in their minds and neatly gotten over two-thirds of the entire Order off the streets and into a more controlled environment. Gabrielle had learned early on how to choose the lesser of two evils. The Arena was one such compromise.

Gabrielle was pulled from her reverie when she noticed a group of vampires making their way through the aisles to where she was seated. Most of them were Fourth or Fifth Order vampires, though Gabrielle recognized two Eighth Orders and one Ninth among the group, too. When another group of Sixth and Seventh Orders came in right behind the first group, Gabrielle realized they were going to have a full Gathering.

The last complete Gathering Gabrielle could remember had taken place shortly after the VHA had been reformed as a secondary police force working in conjunction with the first full-time organized police departments that had been formed in New York City in 1845. The Association itself had existed for almost as long as the vampires themselves, but they had only gained legitimacy after appealing for jurisdiction over vampiric affairs in the 1850's. A week after the vote had come in, approving the VHA's request for authority as a law enforcement agency, a full Gathering had been called by Blake. After hours of arguments, Gabrielle had suggested what Blake had considered the perfect place to hide from the new threat and that had been one of Gabrielle's last openly influential proposals.

Now, it was time to lead the Order herself. Gabrielle sat straight in her chair and watched as every vampire, down to the Ninth Order, filed in and found seats in an ever widening circle around her own. She studied everyone there.

There were very few that Gabrielle didn't recognize and, judging by her sense of them, they were all Ninth Orders. They looked at her with curiosity and a little apprehension, but remained calm and patient for the most part. The same could not be said for many of the older vampires. Most of them stared at her with disdain and contempt and thinly veiled hate. Those that didn't, however, appeared quietly hopeful and even proud that the First Born had finally taken her rightful place as their Queen. Gabrielle nodded to them to show her thanks for their support.

It was almost two hours later when the last of the upper echelons arrived to take their seats in the amphitheater. Gabrielle had called over a servant and issued an order that all those below the Ninth Order were to be turned away until the meeting was over. She'd watched the entrance and had noticed several loud arguments involving lesser vampires contesting the ban with guarding servants, but when the vampires had made eye contact with her, they'd quickly left.

Everyone quieted down and waited for Gabrielle to speak. She looked over each and every one of the vampires and calculated that over two-thirds of them opposed her rule. However, she could tell that only a few of them seemed to be actively entertaining any ideas of revenge or mutiny. The rest seemed to be waiting in angry resignation.

"I'm sure all of you have heard of the events of the past few days. However, in case you haven't, let me fill you in. Blake decided it was time to exterminate the VHA and intended to subjugate the humans once he had wiped out their Hunters. For whatever reason, he believed that starting a war with the humans was the right course to chart for our Order, even though it was quite obvious that we would be destroyed, no matter what the outcome. If we had succeeded in wiping out the humans, we would have starved to death and the alternative would have been to be hunted to extinction by the humans. I could only assume that Blake was insane. He had to be stopped and so I made sure he was."

Gabrielle paused to take in the changes in expression she was seeing reflected in the faces turned towards hers. Many seemed positively shocked, but most appeared to be looking at her in a new light. She continued.

"I have decided it's time I take my place as First Born. I've let things get out of hand. I should have taken over long ago. Blake's actions have shown me that. But I'm here now to correct that mistake and I promise you, I will not fail to perform my duties again."

Gabrielle reevaluated the vampires around her and found that roughly half of them were looking on her with acceptance, rather than uncertainty.

"I'm going to tell you the truth about our origins. Most of you were told that the Father was a god, the ruler of the last Underworld where evil souls go to rest. That is not true. My father was from the stars, another world, and he came here by accident. He was unable to leave, but his abilities were far advanced of the primitive humans he encountered and they revered him as a benevolent god.

"My father knew that though he would outlive the humans by millennia, he would eventually die and the humans would be left without his protection. It didn't take him very long to decide that his offspring could take his place as guardians of the Earth and its inhabitants. He met my mother, Cora, and chose her to bear the first of his children. I was born. Within hours, my father realized I was neither human nor of his own species, but an unexpected mix of both. I unknowingly killed my mother, while seeking the only sustenance my body has ever craved. I grew quickly and was as you see me now within months of my birth.

"My father loved me, but he was disappointed in the obvious flaws that are our greatest weaknesses. I could not stand the sun. Human blood was the only substance that nourished me. But my father did not give up hope. He tried again, with another woman who came to worship at his temple, but the results were the same. Again and again, my father attempted to create the guardian race that would protect the humans he had grown to love.

"I and my siblings feasted on the human sacrifices that were offered to us. Temples were built in our honor as the children of my father, the supreme deity. But I, as First Born, seemed to be the only one my father confided his dreams and frustrations to. He told me of his original plans and his fears that they would never come to pass. I worked with him as we tried to understand what had created the strange mutations that caused the rays of the sun to burn our skin and made it impossible for our bodies to process anything besides human blood.

"When we found the answer, my father raged. There was nothing he could do. His DNA mixed with a human's could only combine to form what we contemporarily call vampires. Just the mixing of his blood with a human's caused the change at the cellular level; it acted almost like a virus, but there was no antidote to reverse the changes.

"My father simply gave up after that. He basked in the attention and worship he received, his only consolation from what he considered his one great failure. The priests gained political power from their positions within the temples and more and more stories were created to explain the events that took place within our divine society. My father, eventually known as Amun-Re, was at first associated only with the sun. But as my siblings created more and more of our kind, the need for human sacrifices increased, and my father became associated with death almost exclusively. He became known as Osiris and chose to revel with my siblings in their nocturnal gatherings.

"I watched as my father tossed aside every dream he had ever had and spiraled into a life of death and debauchery. Though I was First Born, I was female in a patriarchal society and so was excluded as a possible successor to my father's reign. I, once known as Geb, though originally portrayed as an Earth goddess, was rewritten as god of the earth, while my first brother Shu was made god of the air.

"At the time, neither I nor my siblings truly understood the workings of our powers and how they were passed on. We only knew that the change occurred when one of our kind impregnated, or was impregnated by, a human or gave a human enough of our blood. The Second Order was quickly created by my siblings and without regard to the possible consequences.

"During a festival to honor my father, several of my siblings shared their blood with their offspring. The resulting shift in power was immediate. By the end of the celebration, not one of my siblings remained alive. I escaped the slaughter only because I had no offspring and was regarded as separate due to my status as First Born. I also purposely kept myself apart from the others. I had long since taken to hunting alone and I took the sacrifices that were offered to me only when it was required of me by custom.

"It was when I saw my father accept his first blood sacrifice, though he had no need of the blood himself, that I decided he and my nieces and nephews had become a threat to the humans my father had once sought to protect. While attempting to learn how my father might be able to produce the kind of offspring he wanted, I had learned of the ways that our kind can be killed. Over the course of several weeks, I destroyed the Second Order. I took their blood and burned their bodies to ashes."

Gabrielle saw many Third, Fourth, and even some Fifth Order vampires, who were old enough to remember that time, nod their heads, as they recalled the sudden disappearances of their creators. Things they'd wondered about were starting to make sense. Everyone else sat in shocked silence.

"With the power I gained from their blood, I confronted my father. By then, even he had forgotten who he really was, believing himself to be a god. I killed him and took his blood as well.

"By that time, we hadn't been seriously worshipped for centuries. No one even seemed to notice when the secret nightly festivities were no longer attended by the gods, only their priests. The Romans had come and, when Christianity took its hold, Theodosius had ordered our temples closed. So there was nothing left for me. I encouraged the belief that my father had actually been the Christian representation of evil, known then as the Diabolos, the Greek word for the Devil. I had hoped that it would keep our numbers from becoming too great, that the humans would fear for their eternal souls and wouldn't accept the Gift.

"I went into seclusion. I couldn't face any of you, after what I'd done, and I had no wish to remain around humans who would either worship me or condemn me as a demon. So, I left. I wandered through lands untouched by humans. I hid in caves or buried myself in the ground during the day and spent my nights with only the stars for company.

"When I finally returned, I found that, rather than scaring humans away, my lies and the myths surrounding my father had actually attracted many of you to the Order. You had done things you were sure would send you to Hell when you died and so you chose immortality to escape your fate.

"But I'm here to tell you that it's not true. We are not evil, nor are we the progeny of an evil deity. I cannot tell you whether there is an afterlife, but I can tell you that, if there is, it is our actions, our hearts, not our species, that will determine our final destination."

Gabrielle let her gaze roam over the vampires that sat in rapt attention to her tale. She was struck speechless at the blood tears that coursed down many of their cheeks. Centuries of guilt and fear were shed with each drop of blood and were replaced with a tentative hope. There were still a large number of vampires who regarded her with disgust, but the amount had dwindled to less than a quarter of those present.

Though Gabrielle had remained on the outside of most of the activities of the Order, she had come to realize that very few of the upper echelons had chosen to become vampires to gain power. They killed to live, and they did enjoy that killing, as did she, but it was simply a means to an end. Most of them had simply resigned themselves to being evil and acted accordingly. Now that Gabrielle had once and for all dispelled the myths surrounding their origins, they realized there might be hope for them after all.

Gabrielle let everyone compose themselves and straightened in her seat to signal that she was no longer the First Born telling them a story, but the Queen of the Vampires about to make some announcements regarding the Order. She soon had every eye focused on her.

"Now, with these things in mind, I have decided that there needs to be a few changes concerning the giving of the Gift. Everyone here has been taught that the Gift is precious and should only be given to a select few who understand what it means to become one of us. However, we all know that our younger members have lost that respect. They give the Gift on a whim to anyone they want to in the moment. This cannot continue."

David stood.

"How do you propose we stop them? We're not baby-sitters. We can't be responsible for their actions." He sat down again as Gabrielle began to answer him.

"I propose that we no longer offer shelter to those who insist on sharing the Father's blood with any human that comes along. Let the VHA have them and let us remain in the shadows as we have always done. Few even knew of our existence until the youngest of us began offering the Gift to anyone who would take it. Even now, the VHA only suspects of our existence, hunting down our foolish grandchildren because they do not hide themselves as we do."

"But they must know now. Ye've led Dana Clark directly to us," Nola said, her old Irish accent not quite gone from her speech even after so many centuries. She was the strongest surviving supporter of Blake's ideas of vampiric superiority over the humans.

Gabrielle shifted in her chair and tried to think of a way to explain her belief that Clark would never betray her.

"She's right," Radburn spoke up. His English accent was thick, as he had never even tried to get rid of it to fit into the current society he lived in. "As long as Dana Clark lives, the VHA is a threat to us. I agree that attacking the VHA directly was not the smartest idea Blake ever had, but he was on the right track. If we're to go into hiding, as I think you're suggesting, everyone who knows of our existence must die."

"No." Gabrielle's voice was soft, but everyone could see she was struggling to stay in control. "No one is to touch her."

"But ye must admit, she is the greatest threat to us, even more so than the VHA itself. She knows of us, knows our names, knows where we meet. She may be your... But should your... alliance ever end, she could bring about our destruction," Nola argued.

"If our alliance ever ends, I will kill her myself. But no one else is to touch her. Does everyone understand?" Gabrielle asked quietly.

"So, you've taken her as your servant?" a Sixth Order vampire from Russia named Yelena called out from the back.

Gabrielle shook her head.

"No."

Everyone waited for the Queen to elaborate, but she didn't.

After a full minute of silence, Shiri cleared her throat and spoke.

"So, what about us? Are we still allowed to give the Gift to our servants when we think they're ready?"

"Yes, but you must bring them before me first. I want to know every new vampire that is brought into our ranks. I will not tolerate another Blake."

Many of the vampires frowned at the new condition being placed on their choices of offspring, but they all eventually nodded their agreement to abide by Gabrielle's new laws. With the two most important issues out of the way, Gabrielle moved on to more mundane matters.

"I'd like someone to volunteer to be in charge of the repairs to the Gathering Place. We can't keep meeting here. It's disruptive to the Arena's normal activities and I would rather have our young ones playing here than in the city, where they will most likely bring the wrath of the VHA down on us even harder."

"I don't believe this! Ye're afraid of them!" came the disgusted voice of Nola again.

"No, not the way you think. If we went up against the VHA, I have no doubt in my mind that we could wipe them out in a single night. But what do you think the reaction of the rest of the humans would be when they woke in the morning to find their only defense against us destroyed?"

Gabrielle looked around and pinpointed her stare at those who still held to their loyalty to Blake.

"I'll tell you what their reaction would be. There would be widespread panic. Not just here, but in the entire country and quite possibly the whole world. Right now, the VHA knows of about a third of our true number and estimates the sum of our whole Order to be roughly twice that amount. The public at large knows even less and pays very little attention to us. But if we were to suddenly attack them on such a massive scale and in such a deliberate way, they would finally see us as a real threat and not just another reason for the government to raise their taxes to hire more Hunters.

"Yes, many of them would run, but even more of them would fight back. The humans have entire armies that could be sent after us. And they have one very important advantage that we do not. They don't have to stop fighting or searching for us when the sun comes up. What do you think would happen if the military decided to point its radar at New York City, or any of our other major holdings, instead of the skies or the oceans? They would discover our tunnels, our only means of movement and escape during the daytime.

"Blake was insane to want to try to attack the humans now. A few hundred years ago, it might have been possible, though I would still have been against it. But now, there are only two possible results of taking such an action. Either the humans would wipe us out, or we would be forced to wipe out the humans, our only means of sustenance, and therefore we would still eventually die out or live an eternity in starvation."

Gabrielle shook her head in disgust at the continued stupidity of some of their oldest members. She was also tired of the whole discussion and was itching to go see Clark. She took a deep breath and tried to calm herself.

"The matter is closed. If I hear any more on this subject, I will assume you are a traitor and insane and I will simply kill you. Is there anything more we need to discuss?"

She got a sea of shaking heads and stood from her seat.

"Enjoy your evening," she offered them as she walked through their numbers down the aisle to the exit.

Several servants came to her when she waved them over as she neared the elevator doors.

"The Arena is now open to all who come," she told the closest slave and entered the elevator. The doors closed behind her.

~\/^^^\/~

Clark felt the hairs on the back of her neck rise and looked around for the presence she knew was near. She set her book down on the picnic table on her back porch and stood up. She reached a hand around the sliding glass door and felt along the wall. She found what she was looking for and flipped the light switch to turn the porch light off so she could see into the darkness better.

Clark scanned the line of trees that surrounded her backyard on all sides. She held perfectly still and then saw the shadowy movement between two motionless trees that had been invisible in the glare of the porch light. The short stature and black cloak made her smile inwardly. She'd figured it was Gabrielle, but there'd been no way for her to be sure it wasn't one of the other vampires, deciding the infamous Dana Clark was a liability and coming to make sure that loose end was taken care of.

Gabrielle seemed to glide across the grass toward Clark and stopped when she was only a few feet from the tall woman.

"Hi," came the soft voice from within the cloak.

"Hi," Clark answered.

"Did you get some rest?"

"Not really. I haven't felt tired. I think it's from what you did to me."

"It'll wear off soon, I think. So, you got home okay?"

"Yeah. I'm here, aren't I?" Clark smirked.

"Yeah, you are," Gabrielle said.

Gabrielle's voice hadn't risen much above a whisper since first speaking. Clark was suddenly worried. She needed to see Gabrielle's face. She slowly reached forward to push back Gabrielle's hood. Clark didn't pull back her hands after the hood was down and seemed paralyzed once she got a look at Gabrielle in the dim moonlight.

"Clark, please move away," Gabrielle's voice was strained.

Clark didn't move.

"Please, Clark."

Clark slowly pulled her hands away and they came to rest limply at her sides, but that was it.

"I still... want..." Clark's throat was tight. She swallowed a few times and inhaled a few deep breaths. "God, why do you affect me like this, Gabrielle?" Clark breathed out.

"I don't know. No one has ever... I've never felt like this. I've never considered... But with you... I don't know."

Gabrielle was sure there was no way Clark could have possibly interpreted her half-spoken thoughts, but Clark nodded and Gabrielle knew she'd understood.

Clark reached up with her right hand and gently brushed the tips of her fingers against Gabrielle's full lips. They were so soft and Clark felt her breathing hitch when Gabrielle's eyes closed and the vampire's tongue made contact with her index finger. She tentatively pushed the tip forward and her breath came out in a gasp when Gabrielle sucked in the length of the digit. She heard Gabrielle moan a growl deep in her throat and stepped forward. She had to have more contact.

The finger in Gabrielle's mouth was quickly removed and replaced by Clark's tongue. The kiss was savage in its intensity, gasps and moans coming from both, as they desperately tried to touch and taste one another as much as possible.

Gabrielle felt Clark run her tongue over retracted fangs and they immediately extended. She grunted and tried to pull away, but Clark held tight and continued to lick along the length of the sharp canines, as she moved around inside the vampire's mouth.

Gabrielle knew what Clark was doing. She felt the woman slide the surface of her tongue across the razor sharp tips of her fangs and knew it was just a matter of time and a little more pressure before Clark's skin would be broken and she would be able to taste the woman's sweet blood.

Gabrielle gathered her strength and will and gently, but firmly, pushed away. Her breathing was as ragged as Clark's and she held the woman by the shoulders, partly to hold her at bay, but also so she herself didn't fall to her knees.

"You can't.. We can't," Gabrielle panted out.

"I need you, Gabrielle."

Clark's eyes were wild and she tried to move forward again, but Gabrielle held her with an iron grip, not even exerting herself.

"You don't know what it would mean," Gabrielle said, finally managing to bring herself under control and slowing her breathing.

"Tell me."

"You would become my slave. My servant. Your loyalty would be to me and me alone. Not the VHA, not your friends, not yourself, not anyone but me. Before you make a decision like that, I want you to be completely free of my influence. If you choose to be with me, you will eventually join the Order. You'll have to kill to feed your hunger. Kill humans. Almost every day. Do you really think you could do that?" Gabrielle stared intently into Clark's eyes. "You hate my kind. You've hated them for nearly half your life. A lot has happened in the last few days and I think you need time to think about it all. Have you thought about taking that vacation? You could go to the Bahamas or something; get away from me and this city. You could leave and come back to me with a clear head."

Gabrielle waited and Clark eventually nodded. She'd already made the decision that she needed to get away for a while. But her idea of getting Gabrielle to go with her had just been shot to hell. Unfortunately, she agreed with Gabrielle's reasoning. She felt a need for Gabrielle that bordered on addiction and she knew she hadn't been thinking clearly a few moments ago. Maybe if she got a little space away from the vampire, she'd be able to figure a few things out, figure out what she really wanted.

Gabrielle smiled slightly at Clark's acquiescence and removed her hands from the woman's shoulders.

"You should get some sleep. You've been awake for a long time and when the healing wears off, it's going to hit you hard, if you haven't rested."

"You've done this to other humans? Not just animals?"

"Yes, a few times, but never as much as I've done for you. I think it's why you need to be away from me for a while. I think it might be influencing you."

Clark considered the vampire in front of her and debated with herself about how much to say to her. Her decision made, she spoke.

"Gabrielle, I felt like this before you healed me the first time."

Gabrielle looked up from where she'd been studying Clark's shirt.

"What do you mean? You hated me."

"Yeah, but I also... I felt a pull towards you from the beginning. I just fought it because I'm a Vampire Hunter and you're a vampire. That makes us enemies." Clark shrugged as if to say that's just the way things were.

"And now? You're still a Hunter and I'll always be a vampire." Gabrielle shook her head to dismiss the question. "How soon do you think you'll be leaving?"

"There's a funeral for Dale and Jason tomorrow afternoon. I'll probably leave a few days after that, once I figure out where I'm going."

"Good. Then I can see you again before you leave."

Gabrielle leaned up and kissed Clark on the lips. It was neither hard nor soft, just a way of making physical contact. Clark pushed into the kiss, but held back her impulse to deepen it. After a few moments, they both pulled away.

"I'll see you in a couple days, alright?" Gabrielle asked.

Clark nodded.

They held each other's eyes for a few more moments, but Gabrielle finally turned away and disappeared back into the woods.