Vampire Hunter D Fan Fiction ❯ Vampire Hunters ❯ Captured ( Chapter 3 )

Part III: Captured

Vahleryie sat on the roof of the hotel, staring at the moon uneasily. Something was wrong. She could feel it in the air. Tonight, the vampire would not attack. It was already past the hour when he would have…but it was a strange foreboding feeling in her heart that made her dread the silence of the night.

Something was wrong. Terribly wrong.

Vahleryie suddenly stiffened. She did not hear him move, but knew instinctively that he was there beside her. The son of the Vampire King, the most renowned dunpeal hunter for the last few millennia. Why is it, out of all the people in this world-human, vampire and the few dunpeals still alive-it was he that moved her soul. He, who was as unreachable as the heavens.

She did not say anything to him, nor did he speak. Between them there was only silence, and then the tension began to grow, until it was thick in the air around them. She felt his slight movement, and knew he was about to move away. Her lips parted and words came out, despite her effort to remain silent and nonchalant.

"He will not come out tonight."

She felt him stop. For some reason, tension eased out of her and she took in a deep breath, trying to calm her racing heart. She did not look at him, only continued to stare at the moon. But her mouth took on a will of its own.

"I don't know what he is planning. But for some reason, he will not come out tonight." Vahleryie took a deep breath. "It worries me."

She sensed him settle back into his place beside her. She did not expect him to speak, so when his quiet word broke the silence, a chill ran up her spine.

"Why?"

Vahleryie recovered quickly. She shook her head. "I don't know. But I've been studying this vampire for the last few weeks before your arrival. Everything he does, is done for a reason. The legions of monsters, not hiring the Barbaroi, attacking at night and purposely evading me. All of it is done with some ulterior motive. But I have yet to discover what it is. And now this. His silence unnerves me most of all. Whatever it is that he is planning it will happen…soon."

She sensed the uncomfortable tension slowly slipping away. The tension was still there, thick with awareness of him, with the undeniable knowing, but not uncomfortable. Only present.

He spoke again after several moments.

"There's been no indication of his true motive?"

Vahleryie shook her head. "Unless it's just to create mayhem. In that he has succeeded effortlessly. If he's planning anything else he has given no suggestion. But I still cannot shake the feeling that there is more to this situation."

She felt him move then. He leapt from beside her onto the roof across from her. He turned to her and she met his dark eyes. Vahleryie felt mesmerized by them. His quiet voice seemed to stroke her soul. But it was his words that hit her to the core.

"So do I."

* * *

The vampire Moloch sneered evilly with narrowed eyes as he gazed into the town. There were now two Vampire Hunters. His great shoulders lifted carelessly. It did not matter if that silly human woman hired several million Vampire Hunters. Her resistance was amusing as well as fruitless. There was only one thing he desired. It was the blood and the hidden power of the dunpeal with the sunset in her hair. Perhaps, once he had that dunpeal's blood and her power, he would taste Sehssta's sweet blood. But now, his plan was complete.

He only had to wait until there was an opening. Then he would take the dunpeal that would be his. Count Moloch licked his lips. He could almost taste the sweetness of her blood and the power she would give him surging through his veins. The dunpeal with eyes of ice, her blood spilling into his mouth and the powerful life in her veins giving him an ultimate forbidden power. She was the only dunpeal in existence that had been born from the womb of a vampire.

And she would be his.

* * *

Vahleryie stood back to back with D as they made their way toward the castle, hacking away at the monsters in their path. Vahleryie had been surprised. The legion of monsters had died down a bit, allowing them to make some progress toward the castle. Did the vampire finally grow the guts to face them, or had his legions at last begun to deplete? Vahleryie shook her head. More than likely, with D assisting, the multitude of monsters seemed less than there actually were. Or perhaps… She shook her head, ignoring the chill going down her spine and the sense of foreboding that accompanied it.

Suddenly a pair of monsters descended from a castle tower attacking Sehssta and her men. Vahleryie caught them out of the corner of her eye and recognized them immediately. They were Barbaroi. She felt D leave her side and jump toward Sehssta and the other humans to aid them. D could deal with the Barbaroi. They were skilled warriors, but D was the best. Vahleryie gave a slight smile…

Suddenly her heart clenched in her chest as she whirled about, her eyes wide in surprise. Her auburn hair flew about her as her blue eyes met the red maniacal ones of the Count Moloch. Vahleryie was given no time to react. Before she could even swing her blade, the vampire disappeared and reappeared behind her, gripped her neck with his claw-like nails with one hand while the other dug its nails into her belly to keep her in place against him. Blood spilled from the wounds on her neck and abdomen. It seeped from her mouth and stained her lips red.

Moloch inhaled deeply, and the bloodlust surged in him, as he smelled the sweet tang of her blood. She was his.

Vahleryie could only manage a hoarse cry as he sank his fangs into the pulse at the base of her neck.

D felt his heart clench in his chest and he turned rapidly about. His eyes widened as he beheld the image before him. He saw the insane sneer on the vampire's face as he held the bleeding Vahleryie against him and the greedy expression when he sank his teeth into her flesh.

D's control snapped.

He leapt toward the vampire and Vahleryie, death in his movements and in gaze.

But D never got the chance to destroy him. Vahleryie whispered his name once as the vampire continued to drink from her and a swirling black wind erupted from the earth beneath them, swallowing both Vahleryie and Count Moloch as they vanished. D raced after them, killing everything in his path. But the legions of beasts sent by the vampire increased a hundredfold.

Sehssta couldn't believe what she was seeing. Count Moloch had taken Vahleryie. She shook her head. She had been caught because she let her guard down. But D… He had pounced after them without a calculated thought. Even though he still looked calm, but she could sense his loss of self-control. Perhaps the he felt responsible because he was the more experienced? She shook her head again, banishing the thoughts. Hordes of monsters had increased, with D caught in the center of it. She clicked her horse and called for her men to retreat. Her men looked back and saw their leader leaping onto her cyborg stallion. Their cries of warning and reason were drowned out in the chaos.

She galloped toward D, determined to make him see reason and get the hell out of here before he killed himself.

"D! Let's go! The vampire has sent more monsters to finish us off! The Barbaroi you dealt with already were bad enough. You're going to be killed if you stay here in the midst of this! You can't save Vahleryie! She's as good as dead!"

D continued slashing, not heeding her words.

"D, dammit!"

"Vahleryie will not die."

Sehssta shook her head. She could not believe the stupidity she had just heard him utter. She scowled at him. "D! Snap out of it! You can't save her! She's just a normal human! Just from the wounds the vampire gave her, she'd die. Not to mention that deep bite! But if you want to feel better by believing you can save her or that she won't die that's fine, but do it later! You can't take these monsters now! You can't save her now!'

D leapt into the air towards his steed. He landed on the horse, grabbed the reins of Sehssta's mount, and they galloped away.

When they reached safety, Sehssta sighed and turned to him, about to say something. But he silenced whatever she would have said with the look in his dark eyes.

"Vahleryie cannot die. She is like me."

Sehssta's blonde eyebrow shot up. A scowl quickly replaced it. "You are denser than you look. Like you? What the hell is that supposed to mean?! You could die too."

D turned his face away to gaze at the castle. "He cannot kill us easily. We are dunpeals."

* * *

Sehssta still couldn't believe what D had told her. Dunpeals? Both Vahleryie and D were the half-breed children of vampire and human? Sehssta sighed. That would explain their dark demeanors and the expert way in which they demolish the vampires. They have all of the vampire's strength, but none of their weaknesses.

But Vahleryie had been caught. Even with her skill and with her vampire blood, she had still been unable to defend herself against the vampire. If it had been her she wouldn't have been able to do anything either. It was not her place to criticize. But she could not understand D's determination to aid Vahleryie. It would be suicide to raid the vampire's castle just to save one of his own kind. Especially at night.

She shook her head as she gazed at D's back. He was gazing out the window staring at the castle just as the sun began to fall over the horizon. He would leave as soon as it was dark. She wondered briefly if he had a plan as she left the room.

D gazed at the castle, looking for its weaknesses. It was a risk, but one he had taken before. Vahleryie could not die. He still did not understand completely why he felt this compulsion to rescue her, only that he had to, at all costs. He would get her back. The only thing that did not fit in his cold rationale of the situation, was the reason why the vampire had taken Vahleryie. What could Count Moloch want with a dunpeal? Her blood wouldn't have the same effect as that of a human, so why take her? And if he was out to get the Vampire Hunters, why had he just gone after Vahleryie? It was clear now from his tactics that she had been the one he had been targeting from the beginning. Her premonition had been correct after all. Moloch had been planning something. But what still remained to be seen.

But no matter what the situation was, he would find Vahleryie and bring her back.

"Guess you did have a thing for the sexy dunpeal after all, eh? I told you, didn't I? You couldn't hide it from me. And now with that vampire snatching away the only woman you've been interested in millenniums, you're bound to be pissed. That was quite a performance you put on today. I've seen you lose control of the power inside of you, like that time with Carmilla; but I've never seen you lose your self-control like that. Heh, heh. You can try to convince yourself all you want, but that little dunpeal girl has got you licked. It's about damn time you got laid anyway. Might improve your disposition."

The sun fell behind the horizon. D opened the window an leapt into the night.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing?! It's night! You're not… Oh no… You're doing what I think you're doing are you?! Are you out of your mind?! You can't raid a vampire's castle at night! It's SUICIDE! You'll get us both killed! No woman is worth that! Turn around, man! For the love of heaven, turn around!"

D turned to the right and headed toward the stables. He mounted his horse and rode out of the town. His course was already set. He would have his answers.

The hand heaved a sigh of relief. "You scared the living daylights out of me. I thought you were headed on a suicide mission. I know you're nuts, but I didn't think you were that nuts. Where are we headed then? Weren't we going to save your woman?"

"We are," was D's only reply.

"Oh, really? And how're we going to do that with you riding out of town?"

"I need answers."

"Answers?" There was an abrupt silence. Suddenly there was a sharp intake of breath. "You're not going where I think you're going, are you? That's even more suicidal than taking a tour of the Count's castle at midnight! You've completely lost it, haven't you?! How are they going to give you answers?! They'll kill you before they tell you anything! You know that, don't you?!"

"They will give me the answers I need."

There was a brief pause. D did not give it a second thought. He was focused on his goal. He would get his answers, he would save Vahleryie and he would destroy Moloch. And nothing would stop him.

"I don't know who you're talking about, but if it's the Barbaroi, they will kill you on sight! They won't answer your questions! They'll barbeque us! We won't get as lucky as last time! We went from probable suicide mission to a definite suicide attempt."

D remained silent.

"You're insane. You know that?"