Vampire Hunter D Fan Fiction ❯ God of Death ❯ Chapter 6: Torn by Conflict ( Chapter 6 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Chapter 6: Torn by Conflict

Melissa snarled in pain, gripping the Vampire Hunter’s shoulder so hard that her hand shook. D held her upright as he cleaned her wounds with holy water and examined them closely. The woman had been right about Lizbeth: the vampire had dipped her talons in a poison that was not only painful but also debilitating to its victim. If Melissa hadn’t doused her with holy water, she would have been at the vampire’s mercy, for the poison was designed to quickly paralyse her. The dhampir Hunter ran his hand over the lips of the wounds, discerning whether or not they had been infected.
‘I see no swelling or reaction,’ he said, his voice as emotionless as usual. ‘Your wounds were only poisoned. There is no infection of any kind.’
‘That’s a relief,’ replied the Huntress through gritted teeth. ‘Although I can’t help but feel guilty about all this. You must be getting tired of playing nurse.’ Her eyes snapped shut and she doubled over as he continued to clean and dress the vampire wounds. She snarled in agony and clenched the hand that was on his shoulder into a tight fist, grabbing a handful of his cloak in the process. D retrieved the antiseptic diluted with holy water from the first aid kit and turned his head slightly to look at her.
‘This is going to be painful,’ he said. He poured some of the liquid into a small bowl and dipped a soft cloth into it.
‘Just get it over with,’ she snapped, mostly out of pain than anything else. D didn’t respond to her. Instead he applied the antiseptic to her wounds. She cried out as burning agony jolted her body. Her grip on him tightened to the point that her fingers bled from the pressure of her nails digging into her flesh. D held her against him so she didn’t fall off the bed as he treated both her wounds. Melissa gritted her teeth so as not to show how much this was hurting her, but it was a losing battle for she snarled loudly. The agony seemed relentless. Her other hand gripped one of his exquisite arms and she squeezed tightly as though she could vent her pain. After a moment, the pain receded and she slumped against his powerful chest, exhausted from her ordeal.
The scent of her blood aroused that cursed lust in D and he growled softly, tightening his hold on her. The Huntress didn’t seem to notice: she was too exhausted from the agony she endured. He could feel his canines lengthen into fangs as his gorgeous countenance shifted to the lurid visage of a vampire. He leaned into her, prepared to sink his fangs into her throat…
He pushed her away from him, inadvertently throwing her onto the bed. Melissa stared at the dhampir Hunter who had his face turned away from her.
‘D?’ She inched closer to him, trying to see his face.
‘Don’t come near me,’ he said. His voice held a slight strain, as though something deeply distressed him. The young warrior closed the distance between them, studying the way the dhampir Hunter’s hands shook slightly. She laid a hand on his face, gently turning his gaze back to her. D looked at her, his countenance still that of a vampire.
She understood why he wouldn’t look at her. She deliberately ran her fingers over his face before cradling it in her hands. D looked at her, a glimmer of surprise in his features. Then he turned away, gently removing her hands from his face. He rose to his feet and walked out of the room, leaving her alone to war with herself.
Why did you touch him?!, her instincts screamed at her. Their blood flows through his veins! Therefore he is dangerous.
He is not dangerous, she mentally argued with herself. He’s helping me. I could never have gotten to the Purifiers’ lair if not for him.
What if he loses control again? He could kill you in a fit of bloodlust.
You have no idea how strong his will is. I know I can trust him.
You’re a Vampire Hunter! Your duty is to kill creatures like him! And now you’re risking everything because of your stupid infatuation with a half-breed.
‘I know what I am doing,’ she said aloud. ‘If it does come to that, then I will kill him without a moment’s hesitation.’ But even as she said that, she was unsure whether or not she could do such a thing.
‘Could I actually do it?’ she whispered to herself. ‘If it came to it, could I truly kill the Vampire Hunter?’
~*~
D was sitting in the main room of the mill when the Huntress walked in, swathed in a low-backed dress of soft, flowing burgundy linen. The strange equipment sitting on the small table in front of the sofa surprised her. It consisted of a small monitor, which sat beside a small control panel that whirred and hummed as lights flickered and flashed on it. The Vampire Hunter himself was sitting in front of the monitor, pouring what appeared to be blood into a small indentation in the control panel. The young woman couldn’t help but shocked.
‘D?’ She ran a hand through her long hair. D didn’t even turn his head. She moved up behind him, studying the analysis on the screen.
‘Nightshade and laudanum with compounds of mercury, tin and lupin,’ she murmured. She looked at him. ‘Is this a poison analysis?’
‘Good call,’ said D, referring more to her accurate reading than her guess at what he was doing. Melissa glanced down modestly.
‘Just because I am a Hunter doesn’t mean I am an idiot, though many seem to think so,’ she said. She studied the analysis again. ‘So, what is this exactly?’
‘I’m analysing what nearly debilitated you last night,’ he said simply. She suddenly glared at him.
‘You took some of my blood?!’
‘I used the blood that I cleaned off your wounds,’ he replied. ‘I did not draw it from you.’
The young Huntress relaxed. ‘I’m sorry,’ she said. ‘I should have known you wouldn’t do that without my permission.’ She sighed.  A shudder ran through her as she remembered how Lizbeth treated her.  
‘Are you cold?’ asked the dhampir Hunter.  
Melissa shook her head.
‘It’s just…the way she was touching me…and licking the blood from my wounds…….I’ve fought vampires before, but she wasn’t just vicious or bloodthirsty. She was…….’ She shut her eyes, shuddering with revulsion at the memory.
‘She was being cruel,’ D supplied, rising to his feet and turning to the young Huntress.  Melissa opened her eyes and looked up at the dhampir. She was silent, as though testing the word.
‘Cruel…’ She nodded. ‘Yes. That was exactly the word I was searching for.’
‘Vampires like her take pleasure in nothing but the pain and suffering of their victims,’ said D. ‘They revel in the taste of blood. They have no respect for mortals, only in their self-preservation.’
The young Huntress shuddered again. ‘I gathered that. I’ve never encountered that before. It reminds me of……’ She trailed off. She did not want to remember the beating Ambrose had given her a couple of days before. She shut her eyes, unconsciously running her hand over the whip welts that were still on her back.
‘Did her behaviour remind you of your tormentor?’
She whirled around to face him, utterly shocked. His face was as expressionless as ever, but she thought she could see something indiscernible in the depths of his icily gleaming eyes.  Gently, D ran his fingers over the whip welts, checking to see if they had started to heal. Melissa swallowed and looked away from him.

‘Yes,’ she whispered. ‘He was just as cruel as Lizbeth, but if that were possible, she was even crueller.’ She swallowed hard. ‘This is the burden I bear, D.’
‘For being a Vampire Hunter?’ he said softly. ‘I can’t imagine this is the price you pay for your defiance.’ His voice was like rusted iron as he said it. She walked away from him and stared out the window.
‘You don’t understand,’ she said, crossing her arms over her chest. ‘You may be a Vampire Hunter yourself, dhampir, but at least you do not suffer the constant burden of isolation and damnation. Every day since I became a Hunter, I’ve been beaten, tortured and cursed as a hellion, so much that they compare me to the vampires I pursue and slay.’ She closed her eyes. ‘It has come to the point that I agree with them at times.’
‘Don’t, Melissa,’ replied D. The young woman’s eyes flew open in shock. It was the first time he had used her name. She turned to him. The Adonis looked at her.
‘I have seen and met many Vampire Hunters,’ he said. ‘Some of them bore the same attitude these people do. You are not like them. Not like the people, the council or the vampires. I may not understand what it is like for you, but I do know what it is like to be abhorred for what you are.’
Melissa looked at him, utterly speechless. She had not realised that the dhampir could understand so clearly what she was going through. She’d always thought other Hunters would be colder and less inclined to even try and interact with others of her kind. And since she was a woman, it complicated matters, for female Vampire Hunters were a rarity.
‘Thank you,’ she said softly. ‘I never thought anyone could understand me so well.’ The young Huntress looked into his cold eyes and a sudden rush of warmth surged through her body. She swallowed hard and rose to her feet. ‘I’m going to check the perimeter.’ With that, she walked out of the room.
D was now alone. He returned to his analysis, measuring the compounds of the poison to determine how much had been administered to the woman when Lizbeth injured her.
‘Have you no sex drive whatsoever?’ cried the parasite, breaking the silence.
‘That’s enough,’ replied D, the slightest hint of irritation in his voice.
‘Why don’t you lay off the nice guy act for a bit?’ the parasite said in a needling voice. ‘A smoking hot babe like her would be a hell of a ride if you just let yourself go for a bit.’
‘I don’t think of her like that,’ said the Hunter.
‘Come on! You’re a man, aren’t you? Why deny a girl like that the fulfilment of her desire? Especially a girl like that! I mean, you do have something in common.’
‘She and I are nothing alike,’ replied D quietly, switching off the equipment and rising to his feet.
‘Wake up to yourself, dhampir! She’s a Vampire Hunter! Same as you….And don’t you tell me that you don’t want her, cause I know you too well to let that fool me.’
‘Shut up!’ D snarled, clenching his fist tightly. The parasite’s next words were muffled and he fell silent. D calmed himself and sighed.
‘Be that as it may, I still have work to do here. I still have to find him.’
        ~*~

 It was dark, the clouds shrouding the moon and allowing no light to pass through. Ambrose could hear his uncle downstairs consulting the council with their findings and sneered in disgust. His uncle had always been a snivelling fool. He was soft, weak for allowing the half-breed to take their resident hunter from the punishment that befitted the blasphemous conduct she indulged in. But the time was coming and soon all of that, all of the whining and putting on airs to affect a sense of authority, would pass. A true leader would come. One that would reward him for his loyalty.

The sound of nails on glass. Ambrose frowned and crossed to the window, pushing the thick curtain aside. He saw nothing at first, but then he caught sight of dark red hair and gleaming grey eyes. It was Lizbeth. He quickly opened the window and stepped back, inviting her inside. She glided through the window and turned to face Ambrose as he closed it and locked the door. The Covenant nephew turned to her and was startled to see her nursing a wound to the chest and her haunting beauty disfigured and burned.
‘What happened to you?’ Ambrose demanded, taking in the damage. Lizbeth growled in frustration.
‘That Vampire Hunter and her half-breed pet,’ she snarled. ‘They tried to infiltrate the compound in the ruins.’
‘Did you stop them?’
‘I tried!’ cried the vampire. ‘Do you think I splashed myself with holy water? Your rogue Hunter did this to me!’ She winced, the pain from her burns jolting her body. Ambrose sat her down and sat next to her, examining the damage. Lizbeth growled again.
‘That half-thing, D,’ she said. ‘He is beginning to become a thorn in my side. How are we suppose to carry out our plans with him looming over us?’
‘You needn’t worry about him,’ said Ambrose, picking up a knife from the bedstead. ‘You just concentrate on the girl. That bitch will not stop until every vampire is dead. We need her out of the way if Titus is going to affect control of this petty village and its simpering peasants.’ He slit his wrist and blood welled up, thick and viscous. Lizbeth caught sight of the blood and her eyes flashed red. Ambrose held his arm out to her and the vampire took it. Unhinging her jaws like a snake, she closed her mouth over the cut and began to drink. Ambrose nearly swooned as she took what she needed, his hand resting on her head. He could see the burns fade before his eyes and she drew away, her lips dark with his blood. He bound his wrist and looked at her.
‘Don’t worry,’ he said, laying his hand on her face. ‘In a matter of days, this town will be at our feet. Then we can take down Titus and rule the coven ourselves.’ An evil smile lit up his sinisterly handsome face. ‘Forever undying, immortal. Nothing will be able to stop us.’
Lizbeth smiled, cradling his hand in her own. ‘And by the pestilent gods, this world will burn.’ She suddenly threw herself on him, kissing him fiercely. Ambrose returned the kiss with equal passion as they fell onto the bed.

The wolves howled outside, drowning out the cries of passion that broke from them.
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