Fan Fiction ❯ The Vampire Hunter ❯ Chapter 10

Chapter X

Clark stood looking out her bedroom window. Her alarm had gone off a few minutes earlier and she'd risen from bed on autopilot, only to come to a stop in front of the window, as she stared at the bright sunlight streaming down onto the newly mowed grass of her backyard.

She would never be able to share something like this with Gabrielle. And if she decided to be with Gabrielle, she would never see anything like this again for as long as she lived. In fact, seeing the sun on green grass would probably signal her death.

Clark shook her head and turned away from the window. It was already after nine and she needed to get ready, if she wanted to be at the Memorial by noon.

Clark took a shower and then blow-dried her hair. It would take hours to dry on its own, but the blow dryer cut the time down to just half an hour. Then Clark went to her closet and pulled out the clothes and accessories she kept for formal occasions.

Most people wouldn't have thought of the clothing as dressy, but it was considered formal attire for Hunters. Basically, it was an upscale version of the standard dress code all members of the VHA adhered to.

She pulled on the jet-black jeans first, but left the fly unbuttoned. The jeans material was made from a stretchy fiber that kept the jeans hugging her legs, but allowed her to perform high kicks without ripping the crotch out.

Next, she put on a black sports bra before dragging the black cotton no-sleeve T-shirt over her head and tucking it into her open jeans. She buttoned them up, then slid a black leather belt through her belt loops and fastened the polished silver buckle around her waist.

She sat down on the edge of her bed and pulled on black socks, then slid her feet into nearly calf-high black leather boots. She stuffed the bottoms of the tapered cuffs of her jeans into the boots and brought the leather flaps of the shoes closer together. She tightened the laces with each loop around the silver hooks that ran up the sides of each flap in place of eyeholes, until she reached the top. Then she tied the laces off into a bow and doubled it again to secure the knot.

Clark stood up again and reached for the upper half of her black leather "battle harness," as her co-Hunters liked to call it. It slid easily over her broad shoulders and she secured the straps around her arms and waist.

There were loops for stakes along the straps across her back and around her waist. She filled each slot with wooden stakes that had been sanded and polished to a beautiful shine.

The stakes at her waist all went in point down and were spread out in such a way that she would have to bend in some really difficult ways before they would start poking her thighs or torso. But the stakes at her back were positioned a little differently.

The slots were placed diagonally near the top of her shoulders and the stakes went in with their sharp tips pointing down towards her left hip, so that she could easily reach for their blunt ends over her right shoulder. The slots in the middle of her back were also diagonal, but she placed the stakes going in the opposite direction, so that her left hand could just as easily be re-armed. The slots at her lower back were horizontal and Clark staggered the placement of the wooden stakes, so that either hand could reach for the safe end of a spike. The stakes also acted as a kind of armor, deflecting blows that would normally snap her spine or punch through to her kidneys.

On her left upper arm, Clark slid her six-inch steel-bladed knife into its sheath, and on her right, she attached three ammo clips to the outside of the strap that ran around her biceps. She picked up her gun and checked the clip already in place, then slipped it into its holster at her left side.

Clark picked up the lower half of her harness and slid it underneath the wooden stakes, then fastened the buckles around her waist before securing the straps around her thighs. Another gun was placed in the holder at her right hip and four more magazines of ammunition were clipped around her waist horizontally between the stakes; one at her front, one at her back, and one at each side.

Clark decided to forgo the demolition pouch that would have attached to her left hip and replaced it with a short sword to match the knife strapped to her upper left arm. The sword's black leather sheath had a leather thong on the end and she tied it just above her knee to secure the length of the blade to the side of her leg. The sheath itself was beautiful with braided black leather strands, adorned with silver beads, which wove themselves into a Celtic knot design that was practically hypnotic to look at.

Clark took a few steps forward and backward and swung her arms around a little. She performed a jump front snap kick, then a back kick, then a crescent kick and nodded her head in satisfaction. She could move if she wanted to and nothing felt out of place. She was only missing one thing.

Clark went to her living room and picked up the discarded plaster cast from where it had been left on her couch four days before. The seam that Gabrielle had cut along the edge of the cast would be easily resealed with a few strips of casting material, which she happened to have in case of emergencies. In fact, she practically had a complete nurse's station in the closet of her workout room and had been unfortunate enough to have to use it on many different occasions.

Clark entered her gym and went to the closet. She swung the doors open and selected a white cardboard box from one of the shelves and opened it. She pulled out several strips of the slightly stiff material and closed the box again before replacing it on the shelf she'd taken it from. She picked up the strips and the cast and went to the bathroom to wet the plaster strips in the sink. She opened a drawer and fished out a pair of scissors and cut one of the strips into three shorter segments. The other two she left long.

She slipped the cast over her right hand and lower arm and then brought a long wet strip of plaster cloth to the broken seam of the cast. She used her lower stomach and the edge of the sink to press the edges together and then smoothed the wet strip over the joined pieces. She wet the smaller strips individually and placed them horizontally over the longer section and smoothed them down. Then she wet the last long piece and draped it over the others.

The plaster was already starting to warm and Clark worked quickly to smooth the edges down so that the seam became invisible. Luckily, she hadn't been wearing the thing for very long, so there was no discoloration from dirt to give away the presence of the newer plaster.

After several minutes, the plaster cooled down and Clark stopped pressing against the cast to hold it together. She felt the inside give just a bit, but the outside held its shape and didn't crack. She experimented a little to make sure the thing would hold well enough and then cleaned up with her left hand, without a hint of awkwardness, before leaving the bathroom.

She checked the time and saw she had just over an hour before the procession was supposed to start. Clark grabbed her black leather Australian duster and swung it over her shoulders. She only wore the coat for funerals and it immediately reminded her of all the other times she'd worn it. Clark shook her head and headed out of the house.

The drive over to the Memorial only took her forty-five minutes, including the time she spent at a drive-thru to get a late breakfast/early lunch and she found parking in a garage only a few blocks away.

Clark turned off her engine and stepped out of the car. She looked around, but she was alone on the third level of the shaded parking garage. She leaned back into the car and grabbed her sword off the passenger seat, then attached it to her hip and leg again. She'd had to take it off in order to sit in the driver's seat of her car.

She locked up the car and headed for the elevator that would take her back to the street level. In only a couple minutes, Clark was back in the sunlight and donned her darkest shades before heading towards the Memorial.

Clark had to hold back a smirk, when people immediately moved out of her path, as she made her way down the street. She made an intimidating image between the clearly visible armament that adorned her body and the all-black attire she wore, especially with the black duster billowing out around her like a cape, as her long legs carried her forward.

The lack of facial expression and the fact that no one could see her eyes because of the pitch black sunglasses she had on, made her look cold and thoroughly threatening and she knew it. It didn't matter that it was the middle of the day and the sun was out without a cloud in sight to obscure its radiance. Everyone who saw her knew she was Death to anyone who challenged her and they made sure to stay out of her way.

With ten minutes to spare, Clark walked up the steps in front of the Hunters' Memorial to where Mark Graves and the families of the two dead Hunters were standing near two black coffins. Every single off-duty Hunter was there, milling around, and Clark had to hold back a sigh when the conversation level noticeably dropped at her approach, as everyone stopped talking to take notice of the Vampire Hunter.

Clark kept her steps regular and acted as though she weren't the focus of several hundred pairs of eyes. The Hunters in her own precinct weren't quite as bad as everyone else, having gotten used to being around her and working with her on a daily basis, but even they stopped to look at her and watched as she ascended the last half dozen steps to greet her boss and the families of her deceased co-Hunters.

"Thank you for coming, Ms. Clark."

Donald Albright held out his right hand to her and then quickly switched to his left, when he noticed the cast. Clark grasped his hand and shook twice before letting go.

"Call me Clark or Dana," Clark replied to the older man.

Clark had told Mr. Albright to call her by her first or last name every single time she had met the man, but he'd never taken the advice. Virginia Albright nodded her head in greeting and dabbed at her eyes, as fresh tears tried to form at their corners. Then Clark was nearly knocked over as two sets of small arms wrapped around her legs at the knees.

"Clark! Clark! Daddy's gone! The vampers got him!" little Joey Ross cried into her leg.

Clark reached down and pulled the little guy, along with his even smaller brother, away from her legs and then knelt down to be at their height. She looked up to see Sharon Ross walking slowly towards them, a sad and watery smile on her face. Clark looked down again at the teary faces of Dale's two sons.

"I know, Joey. That means you're the man of the house now. You gotta take care of your mom and watch out for Davey here. You think you can handle that?" Clark asked the five-year-old boy.

Joey wiped at his tears and nodded.

"Alright, Clark. I'll be a big boy and I won't cry no more," Joey said and tried to stand a little taller.

"Oh no you don't. Big boys cry, too, and don't you ever forget it. You cry as much as you need to, Joey. You, too, Davey. It's always okay to cry when you hurt and I know it hurts. A vamper killed my daddy, too, so I know it hurts a lot inside."

"Your mommy, too, huh," Joey added solemnly, having heard the story about Clark's beginnings as a Hunter.

"Yeah, my mommy, too. And my little brother, but you still have your mom and your brother, so you remember, whenever you're feeling sad about not having your daddy around, you can talk to your mom or play with Davey and then maybe you won't miss him so much."

"Okay, Clark."

Joey reached his small arms around Clark's shoulders and squeezed her tight and Davey copied his older brother and joined in. Clark held them both and looked up to see Sharon with tears pouring silently down her face. Clark offered a sad smile and Sharon returned it. Clark eased herself from the two boys' tight embraces and then got back to her feet.

"They'll be okay, Sharon," Clark told the woman quietly and got a small nod in return.

Clark nudged the children over to Sharon and they held onto their mother's hands, as Sharon led them to where they would be walking near the head of the procession. The Albrights moved to stand next to them and Mark came over to talk with Clark in the few minutes that remained before the march was to begin.

"Hey. How're ya doin'?" Graves asked his best Hunter.

"I've had better weeks," Clark replied.

"Yeah."

"I think I'm going to use my time off to take a vacation. I need a break from all this," Clark told her boss, waving her hand in the general direction of the coffins.

"That's sounds like a good idea. You could use a vacation. And by the time you get back, we'll have the place cleaned up and looking better than new, what with the insurance money the department'll be getting. I think we're going to do a little remodeling while we're at it, spruce things up a bit."

Clark looked at her boss a little funny.

"What are you talking about? Clean what place up?"

"You didn't hear? It was all over the news yesterday. There was a glitch and the sprinkler system went off and flooded the whole building early yesterday morning. The whole place was a mess. It was doubly worse since we're the headquarters for the New York branch. All our computers were down, so we've been having to work through the other precincts for the time being, but the new computers are being set up as we speak, so we should be back in business by tonight. Thank God we send regular back-ups to the facilities in Massachusetts. They're going to have to transfer copies to the replacement computers, once we get everything squared away. You're lucky. At least you won't have to deal with any of it, with you being on leave."

Graves looked around and noticed the lines forming to the sides behind the coffins and gestured with his chin toward the head of the lines.

"I think it's about time to begin."

Clark just barely acknowledged him and walked in a daze to the front of the procession to take her place. She got the signal to begin moving forward and headed down the middle of the cordoned off street along the path that had been set out for the march to the cemetery. Hundreds of people lined the sidewalks and Clark could faintly hear the clicks, and see the flashes, of dozens of cameras going off all around her.

Clark led the procession only aware enough of the outside world to follow the markers that kept her on the designated route to the cemetery. The words "early yesterday morning" kept echoing inside her head and Clark remembered exactly where she had been and what she had been doing at that time. Visions of a little flame-thrower and sprinklers opening up above her played out in her mind's eye, as she kept pace with the lead police car in front of her. Her world shifted significantly and her mind became a jumble of disconnected thoughts and half-remembered conversations.

"I've chosen you because you are the best."

...That's no secret, but what do you mean you chose me...

"Your curiosity and need to avenge your family's deaths won't let you do anything else."

...That's from my psych profile...

"I'm sorry for the loss of your friends. They were good people."

...How could you sound so sure, as if you knew them...

"I know the pain my kind has caused you is... unforgivable."

"I'm saying I'd like for you to stop blaming me personally for what happened to your family."

...Why are you always mentioning my family...

"You were hurt. I wanted to make sure you were okay."

...How could you know about that so soon after it happened...

"I hope one day you will see me and not the demon."

...Have I seen you before...When...

"A group within the Third Order has decided to attack the VHA directly... I've run out of time."

...Why would attacking the VHA cause you to run out of time...Why is it so important to you to keep the VHA around...

"That's because the vampires you usually go after don't even have a rank within the Order; it's too distant and convoluted to calculate... You yourself would probably fall somewhere around three hundred, but that's just a guess on my part."

...How much of a guess...

"But no matter what they feel about us, the VHA is a kind of balance, a check against us becoming too much of a threat. If we take away that security blanket, people who never even thought twice about us will be out for our fangs."

...The VHA protects you...

"You've never taken a vacation."

...You were way too sure about that...

"Why don't you just go and get away for a while, get some space to think."

...You want me to leave...

"Is there some reason you think I wouldn't know certain details about Dana Clark, Vampire Hunter extraordinaire?"

...You know a lot more than you're telling...

"You hate my kind. You've hated them for nearly half your life."

...Did you study me before you let me track you down...

"You could go to the Bahamas or something; get away from me and this city."

...Why are you so anxious to have me leave...

Clark felt her world righting itself, as each little piece of the puzzle fell into place, and she was able to see things she'd missed before. Why hadn't she questioned how Gabrielle had known she was hurt only a few hours after it had happened?

And all the other little details Gabrielle had seemed to know about Clark and her life. Clark had chalked it up to all the articles that had been written about her and the fact that she was Vampire Enemy Number One. But Gabrielle seemed to know... more than what could be found in a newspaper article. The conviction in her voice when she'd said Dale and Jason were good people had somehow escaped her attention in the moment, but looking back, it was clear that Gabrielle had more than just a passing knowledge about the deceased Hunters.

Clark realized it all only made sense if one thing were true. Gabrielle had to have connections within the VHA that were so high up that it would be impossible to deny her access to any of its records, and in such a way that she could not be detected. Locating the Gathering Place of the ruling Order of the Vampires in a hidden basement of the very building that held the state's VHA headquarters would be perfect.

Who would possibly think to look within the VHA itself for the vampires the Association was attempting to hunt down?

Clark spent the rest of the slow walk to the cemetery deep in thought. She knew she was still missing a lot of the pieces. But the more she thought about it, the more Gabrielle's protectiveness of the VHA made sense. If the VHA were destroyed, another force would take its place, a force Gabrielle wouldn't have any control over. By keeping the VHA in power, she kept herself in power.

Clark smiled. Apparently, Gabrielle hadn't let any of her vampire friends in on her little scheme. That was why their decision to take down the Hunters had sent Gabrielle into a mad dash to protect her hidden interests. She would have either had to let her insider status become known or lose that particular ace in the hole altogether. But instead, she took a third option; she recruited Clark, knocked off her competitors, and asserted her right to lead as the First Born.

Clark frowned. No. She hadn't consolidated her power yet. New York City wasn't the only city with a known vampire population, it just happened to have the largest, which Clark now knew was because the oldest vampires had made their home there. But if Gabrielle truly intended to rule over all the vampires, she would have to make sure everyone knew she was in charge now. At least, Clark knew that's what she would do in Gabrielle's place.

Clark almost snapped her fingers when it hit her. Gabrielle wanted her to leave because she herself was going on a trip and she didn't want Clark to notice her absence. Or maybe she was worried her enemies would seek vengeance against her by going after Clark while she was gone.

Clark shook her head. It didn't matter what Gabrielle's intentions were. Clark had a duty to find out what was really going on. At least, that was what she told herself. She tried not to think about her own vested interests in Gabrielle's actions. Clark saw what her own next move needed to be and began outlining a plan in her mind to carry it out.

Standing at the edge of the two graves and only half-listening to the priest's words, Clark sent a silent apology to her fallen comrades for not being more attentive during their final farewell. But she knew, if they were looking down on her, they understood. They were Hunters, too, and it was probably the best good-bye she could possibly give them to be planning a hunt as they were laid to rest.

~\/^^^\/~

Gabrielle's eyes opened to darkness, but the way the subsonic sounds of the settling stones bounced off the walls of the chamber, she knew exactly where everything was around her. She stood and walked unerringly to the only exit and crawled through the small space.

A few minutes later, Gabrielle found herself back in the tunnels and she quietly closed the false wall that hid just one of her many sleeping tombs. An hour later and she was walking out from an alley and onto a busy street. The black cloak she had carried with her now covered her stained and dirty clothing and she appeared to be just another young woman out touring the Big Apple.

Gabrielle stepped into an upscale women's clothing boutique. She knew she looked slightly rumpled, so she wasn't surprised to find traces of disdain in the clerk's eyes, as the woman confidently walked up to her.

"Is there something I can help you with?" she asked, the tone of her voice showing she doubted it.

"Yes. I'm about to embark on a journey around the world and I will need proper attire for each of the many different climates I will encounter."

Gabrielle removed her platinum Visa card from the small pocket that was sewn on the inside of her cloak. That, and a few other pieces of identification she had for her current incarnation in the world of documented identities, was all she ever carried with her.

"I was hoping to find everything I need here, since I hate shopping," Gabrielle continued at the now gleaming eyes of the clerk that were locked on her pretty little plastic card.

"Oh yes. I mean, please, follow me. We carry everything for the well-dressed woman, no matter what the occasion or weather forecast. We have clothing styles from France to Africa, and shoes and hats to go with every ensemble, as well as our exclusive jewelry line to give you just the right touch of elegance..."

The clerk went on with her unnecessary sales pitch and Gabrielle eventually managed to tell her to just bring the clothing and stop talking, if she wanted to get the kind of tip she was obviously hoping for. The woman slammed her jaw shut and quickly did as she was told.

The shop stayed open well past closing time in order to continue showing its new favorite customer everything it had to offer. By two in the morning, Gabrielle had enough clothing to fill a steamer trunk and enough on order to fill several more. However, those items were being sent to their final destinations, so that Gabrielle didn't have to carry them with her.

She left the boutique with orders to send the clothing she would be taking with her to Michelle's house and then headed to the Arena. Since the sun was down, Gabrielle decided to enter from the street rather than take the tunnels. It only took her an hour to get from the shop to the temporary Gathering Place because of the shortcut she took along the rooftops of the high-rise buildings. Jumping from building to building was exhilarating and she was in a particularly good mood when she reached the building that hid the Arena beneath its foundation.

She was granted entrance immediately and headed for her reserved seat. There was a battle going on in the Arena between two Sixth Order vampires and Gabrielle paused in the middle of her ascent to watch them.

One of the contestants was Yelena, a relatively young vampire from Russia. She had been born in Moscow in 1443 and had moved to Sibiu in Romania in 1452 with her parents and three older brothers. A year later, Constantinople had fallen to the Turks and the political climate of the land had become even more unstable than it had been before.

A young prince, named Vlad III Dracula, from the Romanian province of Walachia, had attempted to claim the throne several years earlier with Turkish support, but his reign had only lasted for a couple of months before he was forced to flee into exile. He returned in 1456 and murdered his rival in order to reclaim the throne, this time with support from the Hungarians.

Yelena didn't meet the Prince, otherwise known as Vlad the Impaler, until shortly after her seventeenth birthday in 1460, when the Prince had ten thousand of her city's inhabitants impaled, including her entire family. Yelena had only narrowly escaped death herself by hiding among the dead bodies of those that had managed to get themselves killed on the way to the stakes. Two years later, Vlad III had been ousted from the throne again, this time by the Turks, and retreated to Transylvania, where he was imprisoned for several years by the reigning Hungarian king.

Yelena had fled to Bucharest after the massacre and met up with Baran, another native Russian, who also happened to be a newly converted vampire of the Fifth Order. Three years later, after serving as his personal slave under conditions she thought couldn't have been worse if she'd stayed under the Prince's rule, she was Gifted.

Afterwards, Baran had moved on, but Yelena had remained in Bucharest, undecided as to what she would do with her new immortality. However, in 1476, shortly after Vlad III returned to claim his lost throne for the third time, the Prince was forced into a battle against a large Turkish army with a very small contingent of his own loyal people.

Yelena saw her chance for revenge and took it. In the middle of the fighting, though the Prince was actually winning against the larger force, Yelena cut him down and left him for dead. She later found out that his body had been decapitated and his head had been sent to Constantinople, where the Sultan had put it on display as proof that the cruel Impaler was truly dead.

At the moment, though, Yelena was proving her fighting abilities were still very much a part of the present. The contest had obviously been going on for quite some time and Gabrielle could tell Yelena's opponent, an older Sixth Order vampire by the name of Gunther, was tiring. She listened to those around her and had to smile when she heard nearly everyone commenting on their beliefs that Gunther would be victorious.

"One hundred says the female wins," Gabrielle said loud enough for those within five rows to hear her over the shouts of encouragement and disgust that alternated with each blow from the adversaries on the battlefield.

An Eighth Order vampire near her right snorted and turned his head away from the fight long enough to look her in the eyes, as he said, "A hundred dollars isn't even worth my time to think about it."

Gabrielle smiled, but there was no mirth in the expression.

"I meant one hundred thousand and I will cover all bets that are brought to me."

The vampire's eyes widened and he swallowed noticeably. A moment later, several dozen takers made themselves known and Gabrielle exchanged markers with each of them. Then she completed her trek to her seat and settled in to watch the outcome of the fight.

Ten minutes later, Gabrielle was accepting checks and receiving bartering offers of slaves, jewelry, artwork, and property from the humbled bettors. By the time she was done counting up her winnings, she figured she'd grossed 3.7 million dollars in just under fifteen minutes. Gabrielle called Theresa over to her.

"Please tell Yelena I would like her to join me as soon as she's able."

Theresa nodded and headed off to find the victorious vampire. Half an hour later, Gabrielle saw Yelena threading her way through the crowds to reach Gabrielle's seat.

"Congratulations on your victory," Gabrielle offered.

"Thank you. I hear congratulations are in order for you as well. But might I ask why you bet on me, when everyone else seemed so sure that I would lose?" Yelena's slight accent gave her words a lyrical quality that made Gabrielle smile.

"Because I knew you would win. Gunther lacks endurance, but otherwise, you are evenly matched. When I saw him wearing out, I knew it was only a matter of time before you triumphed. I'm glad you proved me right."

Gabrielle motioned for Yelena to take the seat beside her and Yelena nodded her head and graciously sat down.

"I would like to ask a favor of you, Yelena."

"Anything, First Born."

"I need to visit the other enclaves. I'm sure they all know by now what has transpired here, but I need to meet with the others in person. I would like you, and a few others, to come with me. You may bring two servants and I will provide all the travel arrangements. We will be gone for approximately three weeks. What do you say?"

"I would be honored. Who else will be traveling with us, if I may ask?"

"I intend to request Michelle and Shiri to join us. However, they were never warriors like you."

"You expect trouble?"

"I don't know. Those among the upper Orders didn't exactly embrace my rule here. I see no reason why things would be particularly different anywhere else. That's why I want to visit with the others in person. My presence should help to reinforce my intentions to take full control of the Order."

"'Full control'?" Yelena questioned.

"Yes. Full control," Gabrielle refused to elaborate.

Gabrielle caught Shiri's gaze near the bottom of the amphitheater and gestured with her head for Shiri to come over and to bring Michelle with her. A few moments later, the two were standing in front of Gabrielle and Yelena respectfully rose to offer her seat to whichever of the senior vampires wanted it. Michelle waved her hand to tell Yelena to sit back down.

"Good evening. I was just telling Yelena of my plans to tour our other holdings. I would appreciate it if you both could accompany me, along with Yelena here. You may both bring two servants each."

Michelle and Shiri looked at each other, holding a silent conversation with one another based on three thousand years of life together. They each gave an almost imperceptible nod and Shiri turned back to Gabrielle.

"How soon do we leave?"

"A few days. Several packages should be arriving at your house, Michelle. They'll contain my clothing for the first few stops on our itinerary. Please have Samantha pack them away for me in the luggage that should be arriving with it. I'll take care of our travel arrangements. Just make sure everyone has their passports and necessary ID."

"When was the last time you traveled, Gabrielle?" Michelle asked.

"I think it's been about thirty years, why?"

"You'll need to renew your passport then. They expire after ten years," Michelle told her.

"Oh, I don't think that will be a problem," Gabrielle assured them. "I'll let you know tomorrow night when we'll be leaving. Theresa?" Gabrielle turned her head to question the woman standing off to her left, who had apparently decided she was Gabrielle's servant, even though she knew it would never be official.

"Yes, Mistress?"

"Find David, please."

"As you wish," Theresa replied and hurried away.

Gabrielle shook her head slightly. That was her greatest fear regarding Clark; that under her influence, Clark would turn into a mindless servant with no will of her own. Then Gabrielle tried to picture Clark running around doing her bidding and had to quickly stifle a snorted laugh. No matter what, Clark would always have a will of her own, even if it were temporarily subsumed by her desire to be with Gabrielle.

Gabrielle herself was finding it difficult to keep her priorities straight where the woman was concerned. Plans that had been centuries in the making didn't seem as important to carry out now that Clark was in the picture. If the threat hadn't been to the VHA, and she hadn't had to kill Blake, Gabrielle knew she would have been perfectly happy to disappear with Clark somewhere and let the rest of the world worry about itself. Then again, if the threat hadn't been to the VHA, she never would have gone to Clark and, even if she had, Clark would probably have refused to work with her.

Theresa returned with David and Gabrielle pulled herself out of her musings.

"Good evening," Gabrielle greeted him and he nodded.

"Good evening. I hear you took some of our younger members to the cleaners earlier," David gave a mischievous grin and Gabrielle returned it.

"Maybe someone should have mentioned I've never lost a bet."

"And where would the fun be in that? As soon as I heard who you were betting on, I made a few wagers of my own. Thank you, by the way," David acknowledged and laughed.

"You're welcome. Now, if I might ask a small favor in return for fattening your bank account?" Gabrielle inquired.

"Of course. What is it you require of me?"

"I'm leaving for several weeks to meet with some of our more important subsidiaries and I need someone I trust to fill my place, while I'm gone. You fought by my side when you could have chosen to support Blake. I haven't forgotten that. Will you act as my proxy in my absence?"

David sucked in a breath. He studied her eyes for sincerity and found it. He slowly lowered himself to one knee and bowed his head.

"I will act in all things as I believe you would until you return."

"Please rise, David. We've known each other for too long to start going formal now," Gabrielle smiled.

David rose to his feet again and gave a sheepish grin and a shrug of his shoulders.

"It felt like a formal occasion."

"I'm not beknighting you," Gabrielle grinned. "I just want you to look after things here, while I'm gone."

"Alright. When will you be leaving?"

"Within the next few days. Will the Gathering Place be ready by then?"

"Yes. The last repairs should be completed tonight."

"Perfect. I realize everyone will know by then that I'm leaving you in charge, but I want to announce it to the upper Orders before I go. That way, there will be no misunderstandings."

"I'll let the Fifths and up know there's an assembly tomorrow," David promised.

"Thank you. Well, if you will all excuse me," Gabrielle said in parting, as she rose and nodded to each of the four vampires in turn, before moving down the center aisle towards the elevator. She rode it all the way to the top and then climbed the last flight of stairs to exit onto the roof.

Gabrielle walked to the edge and scanned the view that was laid out before her. The lights of the city were beautiful and Gabrielle remembered other cities she had looked down on, but those times were long ago and the lights had been torches and candles, instead of electric current running through tungsten filament or mercury vapor lighting fluorescent bulbs.

Gabrielle was sometimes in awe of the changes she had seen in human society over the millennia. And the technological advances that humans had made could only be described as magic. In the time Gabrielle had been born, she knew that the humans hadn't even dreamed of such things being possible. She herself had only known of the possibilities because of her father's teachings and had only used that knowledge on a few occasions.

But Gabrielle knew humans hadn't even come close to reaching her father's level of technology. And before she did anything to alter that, several things needed to change.

Gabrielle closed her eyes and tilted her head back. She let the cool wind blow over her and her black cloak fluttered all around her, as her thoughts turned more personal.

Her world would always be dark. She had seen the sun in a movie theater once and had decided, as she walked out with the movie still playing behind her, that she would never do that to herself again. Everything looked too beautiful in the light.

Gabrielle couldn't stop the question that asked itself unbidden in her mind. What did Clark look like in sunlight? Gabrielle had no frame of reference with which to formulate an answer. The most she could do was remember Clark with the light from her living room lamps shining on her. And she could easily imagine Clark in torchlight, since she'd lived most of her life with fire as the only source of illumination at night. Moonlight wasn't difficult to imagine either.

Gabrielle opened her eyes and took one more look at the city before leaping off the edge of the roof towards the slightly shorter building in front of her.

~\/^^^\/~

Clark woke just before dawn and prepared for her day. She was on the road before the sun was able to rise much above the horizon and pulled into the parking lot of the VHA's 46th precinct by six.

She didn't go into the building, though. Clark walked around the huge structure and tried to recall what she had felt as she'd been led inside while blindfolded. There had to be an entrance separate from the one that the Hunters and other VHA employees used. She just had to find it.

Clark had thought about beginning her investigation the night before, but even though that would have lessened the chances of someone from the VHA spotting her, it upped the chances that she would run into a hostile vampire. Though Clark knew she would have no problem killing a vamp, she didn't want Gabrielle to know she knew Gabrielle's secret.

Clark stopped. The way the air moved, the sounds of leaves rustling from a soft breeze, and the subtle scents carried to her on that same breeze, told Clark she'd been there before.

Clark began searching with renewed interest. It only took her a few minutes to find the well-hidden seam in the wall, but it took her half an hour to find the triggering switch.

Clark quickly looked around and realized the door was very well placed. Even someone standing ten feet away would not have been able to see what she was doing with the thick shrubbery shielding her from view. And the sound of the door opening was nothing more than a grated whisper, as stone rubbed gently against stone.

Clark walked through the full-sized door and saw the metal stairs she had walked down while still blindfolded. There were several windows high up on the wall and Clark realized they were there to give the impression that this part of the building simply contained more offices. Clark was pretty sure this entire section would show up as a boiler room or some other innocuous looking area on a blueprint of the building.

Clark paused. If that was true, then Gabrielle had been involved with the VHA for a lot longer than Clark had originally thought because Clark couldn't see anything that would make her think this area had ever been any different than it was at this moment. It had obviously been built as a part of the structure when the building had first been constructed.

Clark looked around. As far as she could tell, there were no alarms guarding the door she had just entered or the stairs she intended to go down. One final check and Clark was satisfied that it was safe to proceed.

She headed down the stairs slowly and tried to keep the clang of her boots connecting with the metal stairs from becoming too loud. At the bottom of the fifth flight of stairs, Clark stopped at the door she had entered with Gabrielle and the other vampires several nights ago. She checked around the door for wires or any strange pieces of metal that would signal an alarm mechanism and could find none. Then she studied the ceiling and corners of the room for possible video surveillance, but again, there was nothing that she could see that would alert anyone to her presence.

Clark tried the door and let out a small laugh when she found it locked. She had been getting a little worried at her inability to find any security measures for a place that was supposedly so important. Clark pulled out her picks and went to work. A minute later, the lock clicked and Clark turned the knob to open the door.

Clark put away her lock picks and stood up from her crouch by the doorknob. She cautiously peeked her head around the doorway and was assaulted with the scent of fresh paint. She blinked in surprise. All traces of the damage she had done to the room with her little flame-thrower were gone. In fact, if she hadn't torched the room herself, she wouldn't have thought the place had ever seen a match, let alone a gasoline induced blaze.

Clark let the door close behind her and looked over to the only other door out of the room, which she knew wasn't an exit. It went to the bathroom where she had retrieved the water for the vampires to use to clean the blood off themselves.

She walked around the room, looking for anything that might give her more information beyond the simple confirmation of her guess that the Gathering Place was located within the VHA's main headquarters. There was nothing.

Clark headed back for the door and entered the stairway again. She made sure the door locked behind her and then looked down the stairs. She knew there was at least one other room in these lower levels, but the smart thing would be to leave before she was caught snooping around.

Clark hesitated. There was probably quite a lot she could learn, if she kept checking around. Gabrielle probably had duplicate computers ghosting the legitimate ones upstairs. As long as she only made requests for information at the same times that the registered ones did, no one would notice that data was also being sent to a second unlisted computer. Or she could simply have a program running in the system that caused back-ups to be sent to her at the same time they were being sent to the Learning Center in Massachusetts.

Clark shook her head. She could check that out upstairs by simply scanning for piggyback signals and hidden files. Clark had never been known to play it safe, but neither could she have been termed reckless. She knew when a risk was necessary and when it was just plain stupid.

She turned around and headed back up the stairs. Now that she knew how to get into the Gathering Place, she could always come back at another time. There was no reason to risk tipping her hand so soon.

Clark checked her watch after securing the stone entrance behind her. It was just after seven, so she still had another hour or two before the precinct would start to get busy. She reached into her coat pocket and brought out the cast she'd managed to slip off her wrist without cracking it open again. She slid it back onto her hand, scraping her thumb's second knuckle, as she pushed her hand into the cast. She peeked around the bushes and then nonchalantly walked around the building to the main entrance.

As soon as she crossed the threshold of the front entrance, Clark smelled the damp musty odor of wet carpet that was left over from the flooding. She took several deep breaths to try to acclimate her nose to the annoying smell, but it didn't help much.

She got a couple of hails from a few people that looked like they had been there since the night before and headed to the armory. She flipped through the inventory list until she found what she was looking for, then went to the proper shelf and snagged the item, along with its necessary counterpart.

Clark slipped the items into her pocket and returned to the inventory list. A minor notation about a malfunctioning button and that the items had been sent off for repair took care of any possible discrepancies the next time inventory was taken.

Clark left the armory and went to her desk. She booted up the brand new replacement PC and logged online. A quick search and a credit card number later and she had a ticket to Nassau, Bahamas for noon the following day. She didn't plan to be on the plane when it took off, but having purchased the ticket would keep her body from subconsciously betraying her impending lie to Gabrielle's preternatural senses.

Clark signed off and began a sweep of the 46th precinct's Intranet. She didn't find anything, but she hadn't really expected to. Internal security sweeps were regularly made to keep intruders and viruses out of the system, as well as to monitor unauthorized access to the VHA's restricted areas.

Clark called up her personal VHA home page and entered her password, then utilized her maximum-security clearance to do a search of all the Intranets of all the VHA precincts in the United States for all members and outside agencies with access to the VHA Intranet. She was one of the only Hunters that had been given maximum clearance and because of that, she rarely used it.

However, it did come in handy, even though the clearance wasn't really total. She had access to all files held within the VHA's public, criminal, and research databases, but she was restricted from editing all but the criminal files and she was still barred from pulling up the financial records. Then again, she had no interest in the VHA's tax records or how much her co-Hunters made per year.

Clark sat back in her swivel chair and twisted back and forth, using the bottoms of her boots to move her seat from side to side, as she tried to think of a way to find out if there were any unlisted computers hiding on the Intranet, without inadvertently alerting them to the fact that they'd been discovered in the process. She played with her bottom lip, as she thought about possible strategies, and her eyes absently scanned down the search results listing all known access points. What she saw almost didn't register.

Aldredge, Nancy - Private Detective
Aldredge Investigative Services
Location
Clearance = Minimum

Alucard, Gabrielle - Classified
enter password: ****

Anderson, Christopher - Lieutenant; VHA/NYPD
VHA, 46th Precinct
Desk 7
Clearance = Medium

Clark moved back up the list and stared at the name. There was something about... Clark grinned. Cute, very cute. Clark let go of her lip and brought both of her hands to the keyboard. She tried the most obvious choice for a four-letter password for a vampire.

enter password: vamp

Password Failed. Please Input Proper Password.

enter password: fang

Password Failed. Please Input Proper Password.

enter password: dark

Password Failed. Please Input Proper Password.

enter password: dead

Password Failed. Please Input Proper Password.

enter password: ****

Clark sat back, as the entry box reset itself. It was possible, if she failed to give the correct password too many times, that she could trigger an alarm or even activate a virus that would wipe out the contents of the protected area, if not the entire system. Clark tried to think in terms of Gabrielle. Words like "peace" and "Queen" came to mind, but they were invariably longer than four letters.

Clark blinked. No. Clark shook her head. No way.

Clark moved her fingers over the keyboard in a very familiar pattern.

enter password: dana

Password Accepted. Please Wait While You Are Connected...

The screen abruptly changed and Clark sat staring at an entrance page that showed links that would presumably give her access to every possible area of the VHA. Clark tried to take in the information, but her mind was blank. She was looking at a single resource that would grant her the ability to search every single database connected to the VHA and its sister organizations throughout the entire world.

And it was apparently sanctioned by the VHA itself.

There were no hidden files or clandestine data siphoning going on. Gabrielle Alucard had all the clearance she needed to check up on the VHA's activities whenever she wanted and she could even change information or delete it altogether. From what Clark could tell, all Gabrielle would need is a computer, a modem, and an access number and she could wreak merry havoc anywhere within the system whenever it suited her.

Clark logged out and shut down her computer. She checked the time and looked around at the increasingly crowded workroom. She was supposed to be on leave, so she didn't bother to sign out as she exited the precinct, since she hadn't signed in either. She waved a few farewells to those that spotted her, who were brave enough to greet her, but then she was out in the fresh air again and headed to her car.

She eased the cast off her arm again and set it down on the passenger seat, then brought out her keys and started the engine. She pulled out of the parking lot and back onto the street and headed for the nearest shopping district.

Parking was a hassle, but Clark eventually found a spot and made the trek back to the store that had caught her eye. She pushed the door open and the bells hanging from the handrail jingled to signal her entrance.

An older man looked up from his place behind the back counter and greeted her.

"Good morning, Miss. How are you today?"

"I'm fine. I'm looking to buy a piece of jewelry for a friend."

"Ah, is there anything special you had in mind?"

"Something in silver. A brooch, maybe, or a necklace."

"Excellent. We have some fine pieces over here."

The shop owner walked around behind the counters, which lined the side and back walls of the store in a U shape. He slid the backing glass door open from behind one of the display cases and pulled out several trays of pins and pendants. He set them on the glass countertop and looked at her to judge her approval, or lack of it.

Clark scanned the two trays of rather gaudy looking brooches and shook her head. There was no way in hell she would ever buy anything that looked like that, no matter what the circumstances, even if she was planning on giving the thing to someone else. Not even as a joke.

She moved over to the single tray of pendants and her eyes immediately focused on the lockets. That would work perfectly. But none of them really seemed to stand out. Most of them had embroidery-like designs etched into their surfaces. A few, though, were bereft of any markings and Clark picked up a medium-sized piece with a simple polished silver triangular bail that could accept a chain.

She looked up from the locket and saw the barely contained twinkle in the storekeeper's eyes. She smiled at him.

"How much?"

"For you? I think I could be persuaded to let it go for... say... sixty-five dollars?" the man questioned hopefully.

Clark looked around the shop and noticed an engraver's machine just as she was deciding the price was acceptable.

"You do engravings?"

"Ah, yes. I can add initials, dates, border designs..."

"What about a simple picture?"

"Well, that depends. How simple?"

Clark described what she wanted engraved on the locket's exterior and the storeowner finally agreed.

"So, how much for the locket with the engraving?"

"Well, since it's a special order..."

"And I need it now, today."

"Oh. Well. You didn't say it was a rush order. That's extra."

"How much extra?"

Clark was getting a little impatient.

"Well, the cost of the locket, plus the engraving, plus the priority status... Let's make it an even one hundred," he grinned.

Clark knew she was getting taken, but she really hated the whole bartering process.

"Fine. How soon will it be ready?"

"Come back in an hour."

"Great."

Clark left the shop and headed across the street to a small deli. It was still early for lunch, but Clark had skipped breakfast in favor of getting a jump on the morning traffic and she quickly ordered a turkey sub, with chips and a soda. She sat down to eat underneath the awnings that covered the outdoor tables and then passed the remaining time with some good old fashioned people watching.

Finally, she dumped her trash in the garbage can set out for the deli's customers and ran back across the street. She opened the door with a loud jingle and saw the shopkeeper behind the counter again, rubbing the locket with a white polishing cloth. A silver chain had been threaded through the bail.

"Ah, there you are. Just about done. Just let me get you a box and..."

"I don't need a box," Clark quickly cut in.

Clark pulled out her wallet and withdrew five twenties from the leather billfold. She held them out to the man and received her locket in exchange.

"Thanks."

"Thank you. It was nice doing business with you. Come again," the man said to her retreating back.

~\/^^^\/~

Clark felt Gabrielle's presence less than an hour after sundown. She'd given herself a pretty good workout that afternoon, running the circuit of her weight machines three times, and had just finished dressing after a long hot shower, when she realized Gabrielle was near. She palmed the now disguised quarter-sized item she'd taken from the armory earlier that day and tucked it's hand-sized complement deeper into the pocket of her coat, which was draped over the chair in her living room.

Clark stuffed both of her hands in her jeans pockets and walked through the open sliding glass door to wait for Gabrielle on her back porch. Clark could see her coming through the trees and then the short vampire was moving over the grass to join her.

"I was hoping you'd come tonight. I have a ticket for the Bahamas and the plane leaves tomorrow at noon," Clark began.

If Gabrielle hadn't shown up, Clark knew she would have simply paid the fee to change the departure day on her ticket, in order to keep a clear subconscious.

"I won't be able to see you off," Gabrielle said in response.

Clark could hear the sadness and resignation in Gabrielle's voice.

"I know. I kind of did that on purpose. I don't want to say good-bye to you at an airport."

"But it's okay to say good-bye here?"

"No, not really. I don't want to say good-bye at all. But you're right. I need time to figure things out."

"I'll be here when you do. Either way," Gabrielle added quietly.

Gabrielle watched, as Clark pulled her hands out of her pockets, and saw a small silver locket on a thin silver chain hanging from the woman's right hand. Clark held it up for Gabrielle to see it in the moonlight. It was plain and polished to a radiant shine, except for two engraved images that overlapped each other on the front cover.

Gabrielle's unnatural eyesight picked up the images easily and her eyes widened a little, then she smiled. Engraved on the front of the locket was a set of fangs and a stake placed diagonally between them. The fact that the two symbols seemed to go together, even though they were obviously opposed to one another, didn't escape Gabrielle's notice.

"I'd like you to wear this for me. It will keep me close to you, even if you can't see me," Clark told the vampire truthfully.

The little GPS unit hidden inside the locket would transmit its location to Clark every time she used the handheld tracker to query the unit. There was nowhere on Earth that Gabrielle could go that Clark wouldn't be able to find her, as long as she wore the locket.

Clark moved forward and opened the clasp on the necklace to place it around Gabrielle's neck. She hooked the jump ring inside the clasp and closed it again, then stepped back to admire the beautiful piece of jewelry against the skin of the beautiful vampire.

"It suits you," Clark complimented.

"Thank you."

Gabrielle put a hand up to touch the locket and looked up into Clark's eyes.

"I'm going to miss you," Gabrielle said softly.

Clark nodded and stepped forward again. She enveloped Gabrielle in her arms and held her. Gabrielle wrapped her own shorter arms around the muscled torso of the Hunter and rested her head against Clark's chest. She let herself escape for a few minutes inside Clark's embrace and stopped thinking about the past, the future, and everything that existed outside of that moment in Clark's arms.

Clark, on the other hand, found it impossible to get away from her thoughts. She had no doubts now that she loved Gabrielle and it felt like she was stabbing a stake through her own heart with the half-lies she'd told the little vampire.

But she needed to find out what was really going on and she couldn't take the chance of asking Gabrielle and either being lied to, or not answered at all. She was a Vampire Hunter and, though she didn't see Gabrielle as a threat anymore, it didn't mean Gabrielle wasn't involved in something that could hurt the people she had sworn to protect. One way or another, Clark needed to know.

They both loosened their holds at the same time and Gabrielle took a small step back, but remained within Clark's arms. Gabrielle stared up at Clark's face and her hands automatically went up to Clark's neck, as the woman leaned down to kiss her.

Gabrielle opened her mouth almost immediately and felt Clark accept the invitation. Her own tongue swirled around Clark's and she felt Clark's grip on her waist draw her firmly to Clark's body. Her own grip in Clark's hair tightened and she held on, as Clark pressed her lips harshly against Gabrielle's.

Clark needed to reassure herself that everything would be all right. She put everything she had into the kiss and managed to lose herself in the sensations of being inside Gabrielle's mouth. Clark let go of her hold on the vampire's hips long enough to move her hands underneath Gabrielle's cloak to cup firm butt cheeks. She pulled Gabrielle even harder against her and ground herself between Gabrielle's legs. She heard a whimper and felt Gabrielle half-heartedly attempting to pull away, but Clark held her tight and pushed her tongue even deeper into Gabrielle's mouth.

Gabrielle tried to protest. She knew they were in dangerous territory. It was taking all her will to keep her fangs from extending. Her recent feeding from a half hour before had left her feeling sated and that was probably the only thing giving her enough strength to resist her natural instinct to taste Clark's blood.

Gabrielle finally managed to get herself under control again and pushed Clark back against the picnic table that she'd found Clark reading at on her last visit. Clark's eyes glittered in the moonlight and she willingly sat on the edge of the table and spread her legs in an obvious request for Gabrielle to move into the open space. Gabrielle swallowed audibly. She was very close to simply giving in and dealing with the consequences later.

Gabrielle shook her head. There was too much at stake to let it all be destroyed by one foolish decision to yield to her body's baser urges.

"I want you, Clark. I want to taste that sweet blood that flows through your veins and I know you think you want that, too, but that's why you're leaving tomorrow, so that you can make sure this is what you really want." Clark's eyes calmed and she scooted off the end of the table to lean against it, while Gabrielle spoke. "There's no going back afterwards. You need to understand that."

Clark watched Gabrielle for several moments and then pushed herself into a fully standing position and hugged Gabrielle to her, which Gabrielle readily returned. The hug was short and Clark released her after only a few moments. She kissed Gabrielle on the forehead.

"Alright," Clark murmured her assent.

Clark pulled back and they stared at each other for a while. Eventually, Clark gave a small smile.

"You should probably go," Clark whispered into the night air.

"Yeah, I should," Gabrielle whispered back and gave a smile of her own.

Long seconds later, Gabrielle nodded, as if finally accepting that she needed to leave, and raised the hood of her cloak. She turned and walked across the yard, then disappeared into the woods.

Clark stood there for a long time and watched the trees, as the moon moved slowly across the sky. Her thoughts felt like they were trapped in molasses and she was close to a meditative state when she noticed the moon had shifted from one side of the sky to the other. She shook her head to try to clear it.

She would see Gabrielle again. No matter what happened, they would work things out. It was crazy to think so and she knew it, but she couldn't help but believe it. Gabrielle might be the leader of the vampires and Clark might be the most famous Vampire Hunter that ever lived, but they fit together somehow. She looked at the trees again.

This isn't over, Gabrielle.

"I'll find you."