Vampire Hunter D Fan Fiction ❯ My three leaf clover ❯ Boyceville ( Chapter 3 )

Vampire Hunter D

My three leaf clover - ch 3 - Boyceville

Years had passed since D's flower chain lesson. In those years D and Clove had been through many a hunt and the older donpeal had a good idea on how much she could handle. So far the hunts were all fairly simple; cleaning out a zombie village, bring back an undead relative, etcetera. D was very thankful for these seemingly easy tasks; even though he now knew Clove could get out of a sticky situation. He had taught her to ride (even though he still had her ride with him), the art of stealth, and simple dagger moves (although he told her to never use them unless there was no other option.) She could easy escape danger and hide but D still did want the girl exposed to too much danger. Left hand often teased him saying it was `parental love'. D would ignore this but would some times wonder if this was indeed true.

Even though it took a few years to gage the girl's durability it only took the first few weeks for D to get a good idea of her personality. She was not afraid of being left alone for periods of time, although she was always over joyed when he would come back, and actually liked riding fast. That was good because D was almost certain there would be times when he would need to push Ives's to his limits. Clove was a very upfront person, she was very curious, and willing to try anything. He was afraid that her overly trusting and kind nature would led her to trouble, but she was not by any means naive. She could never forget the fate that befell her parents and therefore she was trusting yet weary, especially of humans.

The two had been wandering aimlessly for at least a month; it was time to find a new job…

The two were traveling through rolling plains that spanned as far as the eye could see. The setting sun dyed the plains a reddish gold. They had entered the lands of simple farmers and herdsmen, a prime cattle yard for vampires and other monsters. D was sure to find some little village that need a vampire killed. He soon did.

Ives clopped along at a lazy pace. The dying sun shone down on the worn trail and on the two riders. Clove was dozing, leaning against D's upper chest. She had grown over the years and now just above D's hip, which was saying something since he was so tall. Her delicate face was hidden deep within the cloak. Unlike D, she had on a change of clothing, partly because she was growing. D had given up on dresses for her; they always ended up hopelessly torn and dirty. He had dressed the girl in high socks, fitting shorts, a fitting white high collared shirt, and mary-janes. He as gave her a wrap around black with white lace skirt. The skirt was mostly open in the front, hence the shorts, so they didn't interfere with her movements. He really didn't really know why he gave her the skirt, maybe her wanted her too look more like more a little girl. Maybe there was something parental about that. D had an arm hung loosely around Clove as his eyes scanned the horizon, they soon met the form of a man. He was yelling and waving his arms about at the sight of D. Another man soon joined him. D gave the reins a small tug. In response Ives picked up his pace, his quickened pace stirred up the road dust. The bumpiness woke Clove who looked up at D and then to the road a head and the man.

D stopped his horse and looked down at the men. They were normal farmers but by the look of their desperate faces he could tell they were in need of his special line of work. The two had set up two tents, there horses tethered to a ground pole, and by the look of it they had been waiting and watching for help for some time. One man looked older than the other, maybe around 25. He had short dirty blonde hair, an angular face, and wore a worn old cowboy hat. The two were wearing common looking clothes. The other man was not a man at all; he was a boy, a boy of maybe 15 to 17. The boy had short black hair and a youth face. By the look of the two they might have been brother.

The older man stepped close to D's horse and tugged at his hat, "Oh, I'm sorry sir, I didn't realize you had a little girl with you, I-I thought," the man stammered out. "Well you see sir our village has been havin' a vampire problem lately, and well I thought that by the look of ya, you were a hunter for hire…"

"I am…" D responded.

The two men looked at each other. They'd never heard of a hunter with a little girl but they were desperate for help. The younger man steeped forward, "Great! Then we'd like to hire you. Me and my brother can lead you back to our town."

The two brothers climbed on to their horses and began riding down the road; they left their tents and supplies. D reasoned they must have been really in need of help to do this. D followed the two brothers down the country lane. The longer they road the more abundant cattle became. The three horsemen crested a large hill and suddenly the whole village unfolded beneath them.

It was a simple looking place, filled with god-fearing folks by the look of it. It was named Boyceville and was a cluster of brick buildings and cattle pins. The first thing Clove noticed was the large graveyard filled with freshly turned dirt. D followed her gaze, Clove hated seeing innocent people hurt. As they navigated the town the people stepped back and gave the donpeal stares. The brothers led him straight to the town hall. It was in the center of the village right next to the center square that was shadowed in darkness thanks to the large building. The town hall was two stories tall and had a tall bell tower on it, D guessed it double as the church.

The two donpeals dismounted their horse, as did the brothers. The younger one grabbed all of the horses' reins to put them in the stable; the other was already headed for the town hall, urging them to follow. D looked at Clove, she knew what to do. Tend to Ives and stay out of view for the time being. As Clove took off after the younger brother and Ives D followed the other brother. The building smelt of wet cement and mold. It was very dust as well, the sun rays that slipped in illuminating them. The older brother led D down several halls and stopped at a closed door. He knocked and a voice answered, `come on in.'

The man opened the door and stepped in, "Um Mayor, we've finally got a vampire hunter, come on now."

D, his large hat shielding his eyes and face from view as usual, walked in and stood facing the mayor. The mayor was a plump man. His cheeks were fat and his double chin rolled over his collar. He was a red headed man and he had muttonchops as well as a mustache that curled at its ends like some railroad villain.

The man smiled, his chubby cheeks nearly hiding his eyes, "Well good sir you arrived just in time it would seem." He got up and went to the front of his desk. "We've a bit of a vampire problem, you see this vamp has been stealing our women and children, we'd want you to go and destroy him as well as bring back any survivors…" When D said nothing to this he continued, "The villagers have scrapped together 150,000 dollars…"

D cringed, that was not nearly enough… he sighed. He would do it though, of course he would. Clove would never leave him alone if he turned down anyone. More so she would have this crest fallen expression on her face when he explained that they weren't going to help this village. That is something he wouldn't be able to stand, the look in her eyes when he told her… No, he couldn't face that. D inclined his head, "That is barely anything but… I'll accept…"

The mayor's face erupted in a wide smiled, "Wonderful, you'll get free lodging and stable while you stay here. Oh," with a closed hand he pointed to the brother. He took his hat off in response. "This is Jake and his little brother's name is Lawrence, I believe you already met him. The two brothers will help you with anything you need."

"That's right, we'll take you to the vamp's ruins too, but we can do that tomorrow," Jake said.

Jake said his good byes to the mayor and led D from the building to the stables. Jake had pulled his hat back on to cut off the sun glare when they crossed the square. He led D into the village's stable. It was the usual stable, straw littered and smelling. It was a simple walk through stable. It really didn't have an entrance or entrance just a large open hall with stalls on each side.

Clove and Lawrence where near the other end. He was knelt down with his back to the approaching men speaking to Clove about something. D didn't like Clove fraternizing with the clients but she didn't care and he had to admit her closeness with them often came in handy. People would much rather deal with a cute little girl then a black clad pale horsemen with a big sword. Clove peeked around Lawrence and smiled down at D. Lawrence turned too and stood at his brother's arrival.

He smiled at his brother, showing off his white teeth. He had a pleasant smile and D could recognize that he was man who was light hearted and a person who was easy to be around. With all of his travels and different clients he had become very good at reading people.

"Hey bro!" Lawrence yelled. He had his arms open and grasped his brother's shoulders tightly. He pulled away and looked to D and then back to his brother, "So I'm guessing out vampy problems will be over soon right?"

D kept his stone face and ignored the younger man. He moved around him and went to Ives. He jumped over the stable door, more like stepped really, and began to untie Ive's saddlebag.

Lawrence looked down at Clove with a puzzled expression, looking for an explanation. It seemed that she had explained a bit about his nature to the younger brother. Clove looked up at Lawrence and smiled, "Yes, everything will be fine now!"

The brothers exchanged glances. "Well…" Lawrence said, "I guess we should get you over to our place where you can get some rest." The brother's took off at a fast clip. D shouldered the bag and followed, Clove right at his side. As the sun slowly slipped behind the cottages the two humans and two donpeals entered a quant little half-timbered house. The house opened into a large pallor like room. It was filled with usual living room type things, couches, tables, and the like. To the right were two open doors, which D could see led to the kitchen and dinning room. Stairs right next to the entrance led to a second level. D assumed that that's where the bedrooms where. It looked rather big for just the two they must have experienced this vampire problem first hand.

Lawrence stepped into the pallor and sacked out on the couch. Jake turned to D and said, "We should all go to sleep early so we can head out at dawn." He began to climb the stairs, "Come on up, I'll show you to your room." Jake led and the two donpeals followed.

They scaled the creaking stairs and walked a narrow hall. There were four doors; two on each side, and one at the end of the hall, which Jake explained was the study. He led them to the last door on the right and opened it. "You all can stay here, you can just head down stairs in the morning and we'll show ya the vamp's place." With that Jake left them.

The room was small, furnished with a single bed, dresser, and a table with chairs. D dropped his bag on the table with a resounding thud and took of his cape, dropping it over the bag. Clove ran to the window, the only window, and opened it. The room was stuffy and the cool night air was refreshing. Clove hung from the window, reveling in it. She soon turned away and sat herself on the bed to begin removing her shoes and socks. D didn't have an issue with sleeping with shoes on. Many humans preferred to remove them, as did Clove that was something he really didn't understand. He always thought that removing and putting your shoes was a meaningless action. D was someone who liked to cut corners.

D glanced at Clove. "You look wide awake for someone who slept for most of the ride…" he murmured.

Clove looked back at him and shook her head. "Well I'm not really awake," she said. "I'm actually tired… I guess talking with Lawrence woke me up for a few minutes. She let out a yawn and crawled to the head of the bed. She wriggled under the covers D coming to sit on the bed next to her. He didn't even need to ask before Clove began. "He told me about the vampire and his family. He said that this guy likes to kidnap women and that he took his twin sister and his mother. Their dad went out to look for them along with another dozen village men and never returned."

`That's why it's only the two of them…' D reasoned. "Did he say anything else?" D asked. "About the vampire's castle?"

Clove nodded. "Yes, he said that the vampire is staying in this old abandoned ruins of a castle. He said it actually wasn't a castle, more like a fort. It's on a high cliffy hill and surrounded by a river mot. The only real way to get in is by this rickety bridge." The little girl yawned again and pulled the covers under her chin. D removed his hat and tossed it on the table. He lay down flat on the bed, staring at the ceiling. "Are you going to ask?"

D looked over at Clove. "Ask what?"

"Ask if I talked about us…" clove said quietly.

"Did you?" he asked.

"Well… yes, but not that much. I just said that you're less than friendly and to talk to me first…" When Clove had finished the two were silent a moment. "You know you can be scary to people who don't know you, people are afraid to talk to you…"

"And D cares why?" left hand spoke up. After the whole day not saying a thing he had to say something.

A smile cracked at the edge of D's lips. He guessed he should be more people friendly since he dealt with them all the time but that was Clove's job. She was good at it.

"D…" Clove's little voice piped up.

D turned his head to the girl he knew what she wanted. He sat up, pulled the covers down, and climbed under them. Clove always asked him to do this, to sleep next to her. Maybe it was a fear deep down of things in the night, that he just comforted her in some way. Clove wriggled in close to D and was asleep in minutes. D sighed and let himself relax Clove was the only person who he could feel this relaxed with. He laid his arm around Clove and brought her in close, her heartbeat lulled him to sleep.

A/n - another chapter woot! Ok I actually have a whole storyline pictured in my mind so hopefully things will role smoothly. If you took the time to read please take the time to review too, please!