Vampire Hunter D Fan Fiction ❯ My three leaf clover ❯ welcome back ( Chapter 8 )

Vampire Hunter D

My three leaf clover - ch8 - welcome back

The sun rose almost lazily. Bringing with it a buzzing sticky humidity. Clove was already mounted and ready to go at its first gleam. The pair rode for three days straight at a lazily and laid back pace. As they followed the damp packed earth trail the cliff filled forest slowly gave way to endless rolling plains. A faint breeze blew the humid air around but Clove shivered nonetheless. This place was familiar; she knew it far too well. The beautiful rolling grasses brought up painful and angering memories.

Clove thought for a brief moment of turning tail and avoid the plains all together but mentally slapped her self. She was being silly. It had been years since that day nothing to worry about. Clove sighed at herself for being so chicken for no real reason and spurred Ives on. The past couldn't hurt her but she still wanted to be rid of this place as soon as possible.

She had actually run into D one time before… well she saw him from behind at a distance, and she'd never forget. She was riding through the forest highlands on a high winding mountain trail when she looked down at the cannon below and saw him. He was riding slowly a crossed a bridge with a middle aged man and young boy walking just behind him; some retrieval mission it seemed. Clove had frozen in her seat a coldness seeping into her skin. She had tried to convince herself that it wasn't him but that hat was a dead give away. Clove knew he didn't see her but she was still horribly afraid and confused. Confused at her own reaction to him. Once she'd snapped back to reality she bolted out of there as fast as Ives would carry her and didn't stop until he was ragged and gasping for breath. Looking back she was a little embarrassed at her behavior, her irrational fear that is. Clove silently chided herself for letting her mind wander on this circle of thought again. Thinking over him did no good at all.

Clove rode on through the day and stopped under a lone tree to sleep before continuing on for another day through the plains until she finally came to a traveling rode. She continued on this rode until at sundown she topped a hill and met a familiar town and an old sign. `wel…ome …o Bo..evi…le!' the sign proclaimed in peeling yellow paint. Clove guided Ives through the town's eerily abandoned streets to another familiar site. Unlike D Clove actually liked to keep up with ` rescuies' and preferred to stay with them in their house to a hotel if they'd have her, which they usually did. Clove dismounted and tethered Ives to a nearby fence post then knocked on the door. There was a silence before the approach of footsteps was heard. Lock after lock was clicked out of place and slowly the door opened a young boy's face peeping through the crack.

Clove waited a moment but when it was clear that the boy wasn't going to start the conversation she decided to. "Hello, does a man named Lawrence still live here?"

The boy's mouth dropped and he nodded vigorously. "Yeah, yeah he does. He's my grand pappy but I don't know you."

Clove offered the boy a slight smile. "I knew him when he was very young, would you please just fetch him for me?"

He stood for a moment in indecision then nodded and shut to door. The sound of his rushed footfalls could be heard and Clove waited patiently. Soon the approach of a sloping footfall was heard and slowly the door opened again. An old gray haired old man with half framed glasses.

"Hi Lawrence… Do you remember me?"

The man looked Clove up and down, his face screwed up trying to remember.

Clove sighed. "I'll forgive you for not remembering, I was very young then…"

At this hint the man's face lit up with astonishment. "Clove? Little Clove?"

"I'm not very little anymore…" Clove replied in a mirth filled tone.

Lawrence smiled and moved aside. "Please come in, come in!" Clove took him up on his offer and stepped inside. Upon entering Lawrence quickly went back to locking the door up tight. The house looked much the same except new furniture was present and in a different arrangement. Also the wood looked darker and older than before. The little boy stood in the center of the living room with his head tilted down looking with shy eyes upon Clove. He had messy sandy blonde hair a sprinkling of freckles. The boy must have been only 10 or 12, the age that Clove was when she was here last. He was actually quite a cute little thing looking up at her from beneath brown bangs. Clove gave him another smiled than turned to Lawrence who was approaching the donpeal.

"And who is this little one?" she asked.

Lawrence stood beside Clove and beamed with pride. "That be my one and only grandson David. He lives with me now… just the two of us." That last statement was said with a bit of sadness.

"I'm guessing that something has arisen in this town again…" Clove stated from beneath her hat brim.

Lawrence loped over to an armchair and plopped down into it. At least 50 years must have pasted by the looks of Lawrence. It made Clove sad to see things like this. Humans were slaves to their morality; while 50 years was just a drop in the bucket to Clove it was just about filling the brim for most humans.

"Yes, please Clove sit down…" Lawrence said pointing to a new looking couch. Clove did so and was soon joined by David, although he was still wary of her and sat at the end of the couch.

"Things have slowly gotten worse here," Lawrence said, his voice seeming weary. "But before I go into that would mind if I asked you something?"

"Shoot."

"If it's not to much to ask where did D go? When you left you two were together. Did something happen?"

Clove sighed; she could have figured that was coming. "Yes… We've… gone our separate ways…" She said evasively.

Lawrence had grown wise in his years and decided not to press the subject. "Well… As I was going to say, things have gotten very bad here. It seems another vampire has moved into the fort." He took a breath and continued. "I actually think it to be the same one from years ago… only this time he's more vicious than ever before."

Clove wasn't sure how to feel about this. He was a relatively weak vampire, although that was a long time ago, and seemed to be interested in her as a girl. Now she was a woman and that worried her a bit. If he caught her he most likely wouldn't kill her, he'd put her into his harem… she didn't want to think about what would happen then. "Are you sure it's him?"

Lawrence nodded. "Pretty sure. Women have been disappearing and men are being killed along with our older women. My sister and brother in law among the elderly killed and… my daughter and son in law too. My little girl disappeared but her husband…" Lawrence glanced at David. The little boy had his head bowed and his hand clasped on his knees. "If you remember before he never left body or around and only killed men when they went after him. Not this time. He kills, or more like tears apart, every male and older woman in a home and steals the women and girls."

"Sounds like him…" Clove said quietly. The three sat a moment then suddenly Clove rose. "Are you sure he's in the fort?"

"Yes, he's been sighted coming in an out of it."

Clove's head turned to Lawrence, her eyes still hidden with her hat. "Who's the one hiring?"

Lawrence's eyebrows furrowed. "hm?"

"Who do I need to speak to in order to get this job all straighten out?" Clove asked speaking slowly.

"Oh, just speak to me. I'm the mayor now. The town has gotten together a quarter of a million."

"That's a lot for a poor farming town…" Clove stated simply.

"Yes but this is a serious problem…"

Clove's hidden eyes lingered on Lawrence for a moment then she slowly headed for a door.

A small sound of shock escaped little David's mouth at her seeming indifference. "Ah, Clove?" Lawrence leaned out of his chair. "Where are you going? Do you accept?"

Clove glanced back at him. "I'm going to the fort, if I remember correctly the fort's bridge only comes down at night so I'd best hurry…"

Lawrence's face broke out in a grateful smile. "Thanks Clove, and please be careful…"

Clove nodded in appreciation of his kind words and left the house. The sun's descent had brought an unsettling silence and coolness to the land. With her eyes scanning the empty town lanes Clove mounted Ives and headed him to and down the dear trail, which was amazingly still there. It seemed deer were slaves to tradition. The two rode at a fast race pace and unlike last time were there in around 45 minutes.

The place was more pathetic than ever, not even resembling a fort anymore. It just looked like a stone heap. The quarter moon hung lazily in the clear sky just above the trash heap casting strange and eerie shadows. A sound seeped into the air, a faint scream? Clove couldn't be sure. She trotted Ives a crossed the bridge and quickly dismounted upon crossing the archway.

"EHHHHAY!"

This time it could not be mistaken, a blood curdling scream echoed up the staircase and to Clove's ear. Un-sheaving her sword Clove took off down the stairs. Mildew and wet earth wafted up to her nose as well as a most unsettling one, rotting flesh.

Her feet hit the dirt floor and she was greeted with a more unsettling sight than before. There were woman chained to the columns as before only this time there were bodies of men and elderly woman piled all over the place and half the chained woman had been zombified and some had even began to eat their still human chained neighbors. The zombies caught wind of fresh meat and began to struggle against their chains. Clove had to cover her nose against the smell. Ignoring the yelling zombies she made her way to the back room. Glancing in she could see moonlight seeping through. If he wasn't there than where was he?

The room slowly seemed to quite down, almost as if someone had turned the volume on the room down. Clove suddenly felt a coolness seep into her skin, the hair on her neck stood up too. She felt watched. Slowly she turned to face the chained zombies again. Their screams had become muffled groans and they seemed to cower in on themselves.

"Well…"

Clove's head snapped up to the ceiling. Clinging to it was the vampire from long ago. He held onto the rafters with his hands, his back to the ground and his head tilted back to gleam at her. He had luminescent blue eyes and ragged, wavy blonde hair held back in a crude ponytail. He bared his teeth at her then let go of the beam he clung too. Clove readied her sword and swung it at the vampire's head as he hit the ground. With lightening speed held a hand up and caught her sword in an iron grip. His hand and arm slowly becoming metal. Clove grasped her sword with both hands and pulled with all her might to no avail. A laugh rolled from the vampire's mouth.

"What a pretty little donpeal we have here…" With one strong jerk the blade flew from Clove's hand and came to a clattering stop against the far wall. Clove began to back up slowly the vampire taking a step for each of hers so no distance was really made between the two.

The vampire grinned again and licked his lips. "My name is Evan… Now what can I call you my love?" he asked.

Clove as silent still backing up.

"Aw… don't be like that love… The two of us will be together for a while… I must know what to call you…."

Silence again but this time her back hit the earthen walls. She had nowhere else to back up to. Hands shoot out and rested on the wall on each side of Clove's shoulders trapping her between his arms. Still with a sinister smile on his lips Evan leaned in closer to Clove, maybe to kiss her? Clove made a face of disgust and brought her legs up to try and dislodge him. She pressed her back in to the wall and pushed against his chest with her feet. To her surprise he backed up which took her off guard and caused her to fall to the ground. She turned around. Quickly she was on her feet and Evan's arms were around her. He held her back tightly against his chest. He had an amazingly strong grip. Stronger then Clove had thought possible for the vampire. Evan buried his face in her hair and inhaled deeply much to Clove's disgust.

"So beautiful you are, and so fierce too…" Evan pushed Clove's hair from her neck and rested his chin on her shoulder. "Are you going to be a good donpeal for me and tell me your name?"

All he got for an answer was defiant silence.

"So… that's how it is? Very well… suite yourself…" Clove became stiff with fear when she felt his fangs enter her neck. The feeling of blood leaving her was strange. It wasn't like a wound it was a steady pulling. Her vision began to dim and she had a problem with feeling in her limbs. It was the most sickening feeling she'd ever experienced. Clove was a wear of hitting the ground, her eyes staring up at the ceiling and Evan's face. He crouched at her head and whispered, "If you'd like not to be a zombie I advise telling me you name…."

Evan's face and words seemed distance the loss of blood clouding her mind. Clove opened her mouth and spoke, "Clove… my name is Clove…"

She thought he smiled then but she couldn't be sure. "Clove…. Well, you can go to sleep now my pretty Clove…" Her vision dimmed more and faded to black. She was sorry she ever underestimated him.

A/n- hm… this story is finally winding down I can see the end in sight. I hope ya all like the way this is going.