Vampire Hunter D Fan Fiction ❯ God of Death ❯ Chapter 2: Confrontation with the Council ( Chapter 2 )

Chapter 2: Confrontation with the Council

 

The next morning, Melissa was awakened by the shrill whinny of a horse. A thin blade of white light slashed the darkness of her room, telling her it was a fresh day. She rose to her feet and slipped a long robe over her shirt and trousers and walked to the window of the main room. D was out in front of the mill tending to his horse, his wide-brimmed hat hiding his face in shadow. She opened the door and walked outside, stopping to breathe in the fresh air.

`How long have you been awake?' she asked the Hunter. D raised his head slightly to acknowledge that he'd heard her, but didn't look up.

`Since dawn this morning.'

`I suppose you like a head start,' quipped the woman. She looked out towards the entrance to the woods. Her lovely face hardened and her eyes flashed with anger as a low growl issued from her throat.

`Something the matter?' asked the Vampire Hunter, his tone as placid as if he was asking about the weather.

`Two, in a manner of speaking,' she growled. D rose to his feet in one fluid movement and turned to see two distinguished men coming towards the shack. One had hair shot through with grey with a stern, careworn face while the other was younger with dark wavy locks and would have been considered incredibly handsome were it not for the fact he possessed the sharply chiselled features of a criminal. She narrowed her eyes.

`What the hell do those bastards want?' she hissed under her breath, completely unaware that D had heard every word. She walked past the dhampir as the pair came up to the front of the mill and stopped before the dilapidated structure.

`What are you doing here, Ambrose?' she growled. The young man raised his hands to show he meant no harm, his expression of surprise spoiled by the devilish smirk on his face.

`That's no way to greet a friend,' said Ambrose. `Honestly, Melissa, I thought you knew me better than that.'

`We're not friends,' she hissed, her hand straying to her back out of pure habit. `You only concern yourself with me because you want me to give into the council and abide by their laws so you can force me into the corset of a housewife.'

Ambrose's eyebrows rose in mock indignation. `I swear I never even thought of that, my lovely Huntress. I just wanted to check on you and see you had everything you needed.'

`Bullshit!' snarled Melissa.

`Ambrose, please, let me speak with her,' the older man insisted. Ambrose glared at him but relented and stepped back, eyeing the young woman with undisguised lust. The older man rested his gaze on Melissa.

`What do you want with me, Jeremiah?'

`We need your assistance, Hunter Melissa,' said Jeremiah.

`I told you, I'm not interested-`

`I understand that Verna owes you quite a debt,' he cut her off. `It goes to say that we are the ones who condemned you to this fate. Therefore, it's my duty to set things right.'

`Your duty?' Melissa laughed, a harsh sound like breaking glass. `You didn't seem overly concerned about your duties when I had the last years of my childhood stripped from me and was regarded as a hellion.'

`Titus and his coven are tearing our people apart,' said Jeremiah. `Our perimeter security is being decimated. That's when we decided it was in our best interest to hire a little…muscle.'

`You're on your own with that one,' said Melissa icily. `I work for myself, not for you.'

`You're all we have,' pointed out Jeremiah. `Melissa, let me remind you that you are council property.'

Melissa glared at him before storming into the mill. `Not interested.' She hurled the reply over her shoulder as she vanished inside. Jeremiah winced as she slammed the door. D looked at them.

`I think it would be wise to approach her again when she is in a better mood,' he said. Ambrose was about to protest but then he felt that eerie aura hit his face and thought the better of it. He turned on his heel and stalked off, Jeremiah in his wake. D walked inside after they left the woods and saw the young woman fuming on the sofa.

`Council property,' she hissed. `Is that all I am to them? An expendable commodity? They make me sick, him and that fuckhead nephew of his.' She rose to her feet and stormed off to her room. `This is really pissing me off. I'm going to Verna to see the council. Then we'll see who's the worthless commodity.' Her voice was softer when she called from the room. `Perhaps you'd like to come with me. I've a feeling that case concerning Titus has greatly interested you.'

D was silent for a moment. `I will go with you.'

`I'll take that as a yes.' Melissa walked out of the room, clad in a long-sleeved shirt and black leggings that fitted her shapely legs. She threw her cloak on and walked out the door with the beautiful Vampire Hunter in her wake.

 

It was a short ride to the city, and Melissa saw it as no surprise that they drew stares as they passed through the gates. Alone she had men people leer at her because of her lithe, graceful body and chiselled features, but this time she was not the focus of attention. Men, whose faces showed the urge to kill, reached for their swords or guns the very second they saw D. Not that they'd been told what he was, but rather because of the eerie aura that hung about him. The women and girls, and even some of the younger boys, looked like they would swoon as they watched him go by, and it came to no surprise to the Huntress as she glanced at the Adonis who gave them reason to fawn.

They reached the council building and dismounted. Melissa turned to D.

`You don't have to go in with me,' she said. `You can stay here or leave, if that's what you want.'

`I came here on business,' said the Hunter. `I wish to learn more about the coven of vampires that has been terrorising the people.'

`Then, let's go. I want to give this uppity bastards a piece of my mind.' She turned away from him and stalked into the building. D followed the fierce beauty to the council chambers and the woman burst through the doors without hesitation. She was furious.

`What the hell is the meaning of this effrontery?' she demanded. One of the elder members, a stern man with greying hair and a wiry beard, looked at her.

`What do you mean, Vampire Hunter?' he asked curtly.

`You tell me, Amicus,' she spat. She advanced on the council members and they had to lean back from her. Rage-fuelled indignity flashed in her eyes. `Jeremiah told me that I'm council property. Who the fuck do you piss-ants think you are?!'

`Hunter Melissa, please calm yourself or we will have no choice but to remove you,' said a man with a shock of red hair and wire-rimmed glasses.

`No, Dorian, I want to know why I am your property. Am I nothing but a fucking expendable resource to you?! Let me tell you something: you assholes would be bloated bloodsuckers if it weren't for me. Don't forget, you're the ones who condemned me to this state. Every time I enter those gates I hear nothing but “Whore of Damnation,” “Bitch of Death”, and other names that I will not say aloud because they use expressions so vulgar that I would only say them in extreme cases. It's because of your fucked-up laws of tradition, that I'm your Vampire Hunter in the first place! I killed for this city and the way you repay me is to shun me! To treat me as a fucking abomination!!'

`Please, Melissa, this is a Christian community,' said Amicus. `You are before servants of God here.'

`To fucking hell with God!' snarled Melissa. `You would be Lucifer's bitches if it weren't for me! Let me remind you that I am the only Hunter in this region and to find another as good as I am you would have to take a fucking ship! So next time you look down on me as your property, remember what Verna would become if it wasn't for me breaking your fucking laws. So your God can go fuck with the devil for all I care!'

She was breathing heavily from her tirade. Her eyes glittered with a dangerous fire and her fingers were twitching spasmodically with rage. She looked like she wanted to leap over the council table and strangle the first person she could reach. Amicus rose to his feet.

`Remove her from the premises and lock her up! I want her charged with blasphemy!' he roared. Melissa turned to the approaching guards, her hand straying to her sword.

 

She felt a strong hand on her shoulder and immediately felt the fire die down as she turned to D. She wordlessly stepped back as the dhampir stepped out of the shadows. An expression of ineffable terror struck the guards' faces and they stepped as far back from D as possible.

`And who are you?' asked Amicus curtly.

`I am D, a Vampire Hunter,' replied the Adonis standing before them. Melissa was amazed to see the colour drain from the faces of the council.

`We've heard a great deal about you, Mr. D,' said Dorian, trying to keep the quaver from his voice. `You're no doubt here because of Titus?'

The Vampire Hunter nodded.

`Well, considering you came with our resident Vampire Hunter, I can see you already know of our plight. The vampires have nearly destroyed our perimeter defence and more of our people are being killed or turned with every passing day. We are offering five hundred thousand dalas for the extermination of Titus and for the eradication of his coven. We are in desperate need of assistance, considering our own Vampire Hunter refuses to help us.' He scowled at Melissa, like a master scolding his pet. She growled, flexing her fingers.

`Killing Titus and his coven will not be an easy task, nothing I can't handle,' said D simply. `But five hundred thousand is not enough.'

`What?! How dare you?!' roared Amicus.

`That's enough!' shouted Dorian. He glanced at the quiet Hunter and consulted the rest of the council. They came to a decision and Dorian turned to D.

`We will double the price,' he said. `Will you accept our offer?'

D seemed to consider this for a moment and then nodded. Dorian seemed satisfied with the arrangement.

`Is there anything else you want?' he asked. D was silent for a moment. He finally answered.

`Your Vampire Hunter.'

Amicus glared at her. `What about her?'

`I will need someone who knows the coven's movements and has knowledge of previous attacks,' he said. `I will require Vampire Hunter Melissa for this.'

`Absolutely not,' blustered Amicus. `She is an abomination before God and must be punished for her blasphemy.'

`If you do not release her, you will have no means of killing Titus,' said D. His voice had acquired a shade of frost. Amicus looked like he was about to explode, but he defused himself.

`Fine,' he growled. `Get that blasphemous bitch out of my sight.'

D turned on his heel and left with Melissa in his wake. When they were out of the building, D turned to her.

`I need to know everything of Titus and the coven's movements within the last twenty-four hours.'

Melissa nodded, her mind still reeling. He didn't realise that he just saved her from a month of torture, which was the punishment for blasphemy in Verna. `I can do that.'

`Good. Now, let's get back before they change their minds about releasing you.' With that, the two Vampire Hunters raced through the city gates and into the night.

~*~

 

Melissa hadn't forgotten about Titus, and Titus hadn't forgotten about her. It had been nigh on a fortnight since the attack and the arrival of the dhampir Hunter, but Melissa didn't relax her guard for a second. Knowing the Purifiers as she did now, they would stop at nothing to drain the blood of every man, woman and child Verna had spawned, even if it meant sacrificing a few of their own. It was a small price to pay to appease their lord.

But she didn't think that they would exact their vengeance so soon.

 

Melissa was brushing down her horse in the stable when she felt a presence. She turned and saw a tall woman with red hair standing there, surrounded by a group of vampires of heavy build. She eyed the Huntress with anger laced with lust.

`My, you are a pretty one,' she cooed. `But that won't stop me from killing you the way you did my brother.'

`I didn't kill your brother, merely his cohorts.'

`Be that as it may, you're still going to pay for his death.' She gestured to the vampires behind her. `My boys want to play with you, but I will be the one taking your life and draining it from your veins.'

Melissa drew her sword and smiled evilly. It was a curse, really, to thrill to the slaughter of a few vampires. But it was one she bore with pride. `Then come and play. I'm dying for a decent kill.'

The woman's laugh was like the ringing of bells. `Very well. Have your fun…it won't last.'

The vampires attacked the Huntress. She kicked the first in the stomach before she sliced off his head. Another had his heart ripped out as he was impaled on her naked blade. One threw a wild punch that connected with thin air and she cut off his arm before slitting his throat from ear to ear. She stabbed him in the heart and he fell dead in spurts of blood as she dispatched another. The redhead attacked, swinging at her with talons more lethal than an assassin's blade. Melissa avoided the claws and kicked her in the stomach. She stepped back and snarled. The Huntress snarled as she felt pain rake up her spine and she twisted to avoid another swipe. But the vampire was prepared for this and she grabbed the woman by her arm. Melissa struggled to get out of her grasp as the vampire raised her talons for the final blow.

The vampire suddenly released the Huntress with a hissing snarl, clutching at the wound in her stomach. She glared, her grey eyes filled with hatred.

`Curse you, dhampir!'

`Leave or that face will be the next thing I carve.' D stood in the shadows, his sword gleaming in the dim light. `This is no place for the likes of you.'

`Half-thing! You will pay for this. I will tear out your throat and drink the blood that gushes from it. I will soon dance on your grave.' With a laugh that was nothing but pure evil, she ran off into the trees. D sheathed his sword and looked at the Huntress who was wincing in pain.

`Are you all right?'

`Just a scratch from that fucking bitch,' growled Melissa. D gently turned her to the side and saw the deep gouges in her back. She hissed as he touched them. He looked at her.

`Let's get you inside so I can see to that wound.'

Melissa allowed herself to be steered inside by the dhampir and he sat her down on her bed. He walked out of the room and returned a few minutes later with a rustic first aid kit. He set it on the bed and opened it before turning to her.

`Take off your shirt.'

`Excuse me?' Melissa shot him a look.

`I need to be able to access the wound so I can treat it,' explained D. `Remove your shirt.'

Melissa looked at him briefly before complying with his request. She gently peeled off the ruined shirt and held it against her so she was covered. D brushed her hair away from her shoulders and applied a healing salve to the wounds. She hissed sharply, inadvertently gripping his shoulder. She felt like she was on fire.

`I'm sorry,' he said. `But this will hurt.' He soaked the cloth he held with antiseptic and pressed it against the scratches. She snarled, her knuckles turning white from gripping his shoulder so hard. She arched her back slightly as she choked back her cries of pain. She couldn't believe it hurt so much.

Then it was over. She released his shoulder and slumped forward, nearly passing out from the pain. D grabbed her before she hit the floor and she looked up at him.

`Your wound's not infected,' he said. `But I need you to rest on your stomach so you don't further hurt yourself.'

She nodded and he gently lay her on her stomach, seeing she was so weak from the pain. Vampire wounds were nothing like regular wound where they would only hurt for a seconds. They were inflicted so that the victim felt pain until the vampire that gave the wound returned. And they were extremely resistant to normal treatments and had to be cleansed with an antiseptic diluted with holy water for them to heal properly.

She fell asleep and the Vampire Hunter left the room, leaving her to rest.

~*~

It had been a few hours since the attack and the Huntress was still asleep. D had gone to patrol the area to see if the vampire woman would return. Seeing the area was safe for the night, he returned to the mill where she was still resting in her room. D set his sword against the wall and removed his hat, hanging it on the sword's cross guard. He walked to the fireplace and studied the mounted weapons above the mantelpiece. His eyes lit on the Huntress' sword and he removed it from its accustomed shelf. He sat down on the sofa and studied the weapon, handling it as though it may break. The scabbard was crafted from boiled black leather and tooled with lacy designs in the glowing silver that was mined from this area and sold to merchants for a very high price. He drew the sword from its sheath and let his eyes wander over it. It was a thing of beauty with a blade that limned to an elegant arc and was engraved with intricate patterns of thorny vines. A dragon eye jewel of the deepest violet was set into the cross guard of the sword which was bronze engraved with a strange creature with swan wings and shooting fire from its long-fingered hands. The blade glowed with a cold silver light and seemed to be the only weapon that suited this young woman.

A vulgar voice broke the silence.

`And what's eating at you, dhampir?' it asked. `You've been acting very funny lately. Protecting a woman you barely know. Comforting her when she's in pain. You're not in love with her, are you?'

D sheathed the sword. `You're out of line,' he said, his voice carrying an undertone of warning.

`Not surprising,' chuckled the voice. It seemed to be coming from his left hand. `That Hunter is the finest woman I've seen in years. A bit of a frosty-box but I'm sure she'll melt in time. But you don't care about that, do you? All you're interested in is killing vampires. Bloodshed and destruction is the only life you're destined to bear, but I know you too well to let those pretty excuses fool me. You envy human emotion and long to share the warmth of another's heart, but you think it's impossible for a man like you to fall in love. Have you forgotten you're only half vampire?'

`Not once,' replied D, his voice cold as ice. He returned the sword to its rightful place above the mantelpiece.

`Now, let me tell you something, dhampir. You may not have much of a human side, but sooner or later you're going to have feelings for the girl, and when that happens you'll show your fangs. It's in your blood, you can't-`

D had clenched his left hand in a tight fist. He did it with such strength his flawless young flesh shook, and a bright trickle of blood spilled from between his curled fingers. In the light of the room, his face became a devilish one.

A soft voice floated to him through his concealed rage.

`I want to thank you for what you did today.' Hellfire had entered the room. D turned to her, the devilish light gone from his countenance.

`It's my job.'

Her expression became one of concern. `Your hand.'

The Hunter looked down and saw his hand was still trembling. He relaxed his fist but blood still trickled through his fingers.

`It's fine,' he said. `There's nothing to be concerned about.'

Hellfire walked to him and took his arm like nothing had been said. She gently opened his fist and saw the wound he'd inflicted on himself. She touched her fingers to his bleeding palm and examined the wound closely.

`Something greatly upset you,' she said. She looked up into the frostily gorgeous visage, searching the grey eyes that locked on hers. `What was it?'

The beautiful Vampire Hunter looked at her before averting his gaze. He closed his eyes briefly as he gently pulled his hand away.

`It'll heal soon enough.' His voice was the same as it always was: beautiful and yet emotionless. Hellfire frowned slightly and then looked away from him. Trying to talk to this admirably beautiful creature was like trying to speak to the night itself. He never seemed to want to open up to her. She shook her head slightly. It didn't surprise her: she was damned. Why would he care about her when there was nothing to care about? She walked to the door, grabbing her sword from the wall and slinging her cloak over her shoulders.

`Where are you going?' D asked, finally looking at her.

`To see what I can find out about the Purifiers,' she replied, her voice emotionless. `Perhaps Titus will actually show his face tonight.'

`You risk a great deal going to hunt them after this evening's attack,' said the dhampir. `You can't do this alone.'

Hellfire turned to him, her hand on the open door. `I'm a Vampire Hunter, D. I'm always alone. No one will miss me when I die anyway, considering what I am.' She sighed. `I have to go…… It's my job.'

Throwing D's words back at him, the young Huntress shut the door behind her.