Forsaken Pt. 01: Prelude

He stood in the shadows, watching three men playing poker at the only furnishing in the large, open chamber of the warehouse; an old, scuffed folding table. He took a deep breath, preparing himself for the battle he would have to fight, not one of weapons, save for his ability to persuade. The men, Hunters like himself, were his friends, had been for nearly thirty years. He took another deep breath and walked to the table and into the bright glow of the single ceiling lamp, the men looking up and relaxing at seeing him.

"Hey, Eric, glad you made it." The man on Eric's left, Mike, said.

Eric inclined his head and sat. The three looked at him oddly, perhaps sensing that he wasn't there to play poker.

"Well...what's been going on with you, Eric?" Mike asked.

"A lot." Eric replied, "Some of which I'm here to relate to you."

Mike nodded. "All right."

"Where to start...I guess with motivation." Eric said. "You all know why I became a Hunter...?"

They nodded, puzzled as to where this was going.

"Revenge is not a good motivation for hunting, neither is fear." Eric said softly. "I didn't realize this until recently."

"What happened to bring you to this realization?" Victor, the man across from him, asked.

"I'll get to that." Eric replied. He turned to Mike. "Do you recall that hunt I went on about ten years ago?"

Mike inclined his head. "Yes...your referring to that one that didn't respond to normal capture routines."

"That's the one." Eric agreed.

Victor leaned forward, "Wait...I haven't heard of this."

"Neither have I." The man on Eric's right, Yoshi, said.

"All right, I'll start with that." Eric said. "It was ten years ago, just after I had put down that one in Afghanistan. I came back to America, reported in and was on my way home."

*****

It was late at night. I stopped at a mini-mart, stepped out of my car and a furtive movement caught my eye. When I looked, nothing was there, but I felt it...that feeling that something wasn't right.

The movement had been in the alley next to the mini-mart, so I stepped into the shadows, feeling for a flash-grenade in my pocket. The moon was a pale sliver in the sky, but enough light penetrated the darkness for me to see the shimmering luminescence of mist hovering a few feet above the ground. The mist began to contract and coalesced into the dark form of a woman, crouched as though she were looking for something she had dropped. She stood, seeming to unfold from herself as she did, and stretched, all as though she were oblivious to my presence-or ignoring it. I heard her sigh just before her voice, low and sweet, came to me:

"Well, Hunter, I suppose this is where you attack me, unprovoked, of course."

I didn't respond, instead I curled my fingers around the slight cylinder of the flash-grenade.

She turned to me, dark eyes flashing in the moonlight. I was surprised at how...ordinary...she appeared. Not the pale, aristocratic beauty usually worn by her elk. None the less, I found her strangely appealing, a feeling I never felt for one of them before.

"For a Hunter, you are slow..."She said, completely unafraid of me. Indeed, a twist of genuine humor was in her voice, on her shadowed face.

"How do you know I'm a Hunter?" I asked. A stupid question, I know.

Instead of mocking me, or dismissing me entirely, she smiled, "Why, you showed no fear of me upon seeing me solidify."

In an instant my mind cleared and I drew the grenade from my pocket, shielded my eyes and threw it to the ground. It exploded in a brilliant flash of light and UV rays, but when I looked, she was gone. I ran down the alley, but saw no sign of her. Then her voice came to me from above:

"Hunter...I do not know you and yet you attack me...as all Hunters do...following, blindly, a motive as impure and unforgiving as you make me out to be."

Then I saw her above me, standing on the roof of the mini-mart. I clenched my fists at my sides till they ached.

"You call me, and others of my...kind, 'perversions,' a blight to be wiped out...without knowing anything about us, where we came from, who we are. You fear us, hate us and through blind belief in old legends, you kill us. Indiscriminately." She said, sorrow pulling her voice into a husky whisper.

Loud voices came from the mouth of the alley. I looked to see men coming towards me. When I looked back, she was gone, but her voice carried to me:

"I leave you with this: Which of us is the real monster, Hunter?"

That was when the men reached me, wanting to know what that flash had been. I ignored them and walked to my car. One grabbed my arm as I was getting in, demanding to know "What the hell was going on?"

I gave him a cold look and he let go, taking an involuntary step back, "Nothing that concerns you, so forget about it."

*****

Victor shook his head, "So? She got away...we've all had that happen."

"After using a flash-grenade at point blank range?" Eric retorted.

"Besides, Eric tracked her for almost two months after that." Mike said.

"I nearly had her several times too...but she kept getting away." Eric added, "I followed her to the California coast, where she took a jet to Australia."

"Australia? Why there?" Yoshi asked.

Eric shrugged, "Why not?"

"So, when you say she 'didn't respond to normal capture routines' what do you mean exactly?" Victor asked.

"She wasn't affected by the flash-grenades, she could cross running water and...she wasn't affected much by a wooden crossbow bolt through the chest." Eric answered.

"Nonsense!" Victor shouted. "All the bloody beasts are killed with 'wooden stakes' and flash-grenades...you can't expect me to believe this?"

"Oh, shut up, Victor." Yoshi said, "You always were pompous and melodramatic."

"Stop it." Mike warned the others. "Go on, Eric."

Eric sighed, then continued, "Well, there..."

*****

Were no records of her, at least not in the current files. I did, however, find her in the archives. A file last updated over a hundred years ago. Her name at that time was Alana Bisch. Her record goes as far back as the Hunters, nearly four hundred years of tracking, then it stops.

So where was she? Still in Australia? Somehow I doubted it. It had been three months since I lost her. I don't know why, but I felt she wouldn't stay away that long. Since I had no clues to where she might be, I put her file away and took on other cases, but she was never far from my thoughts.

Then, a few weeks ago, I saw her again. She was standing in a department store I happened to enter. She stopped what she was doing and lowered her head. She never looked at me.

"I was sure our paths would cross again, Hunter." She said to me.

I was caught off guard and just stood there. She let out a small sigh, "Have you thought about the words I left you with?"

"Yes...I have." And I had, for ten years those words had been with me, just under the surface.

"Good...have you found the answer?"

"No." I said, barely a whisper.

"Oh?" She sounded disappointed, "You didn't look very hard then."

"I think the answer lies with you." I said, surprising myself.

"Does it?" She straitened, but still kept her back to me. "Perhaps...but now is not the time to find out."

"I know who you are." I told her.

"Really?" She sounded amused. "Then have we grown so close?"

Growing angry at her obliqueness, I grabbed her by the shoulder, but I didn't turn her to face me, knowing full well that I didn't possess the strength to do so. "You know what I mean...Alana."

She laughed, a haunting sound, filled with pain, anger and...loneliness, "That name I haven't heard in quite some time."

"How did you disappear from us?" I asked.

"Oh no...that I will not answer...not now, maybe never. It all depends on you, Hunter."

"Damn you...you are not like the others of your kind, you are too interested in playing games with me." I accused her.

"No...a game this is not...I want you to think, to find the answer to my question." She said quietly.

"Why?" I asked.

"If you find the answer and if you find me again, then you will know, but not before."

I didn't know what to say to this. I felt uncertain, a feeling unusual for me.

"Hunter...are you going to kill me? With all these people around?"

I pulled my hand from her shoulder, "No...even though it goes against everything I believe, I will let you go."

"Thank you..."

This shocked me. One of them showing gratitude? Unthinkable! And yet, it happened. I watched her go, feeling something in me I had never felt before and couldn't name. She walked out into the night and disappeared.

*****

"You let her go!?" Mike yelled.

"Yes, I did." Eric replied calmly.

"Mike...I don't think he's finished." Yoshi said, "Let him."

Mike glowered at Eric, but he didn't look away. Victor had stayed unusually quiet after Eric had stopped talking.

"Eric, please continue." Yoshi said, clearly curious.

"Well, I did a lot of thinking, about her question and about her. I had come to the realization that..."

*****

I wanted her. I burned and ached with longing to hold her, to touch her, to taste her. These feelings frightened me, for I had never felt the stirring of desire before, especially not for one of them. However, what frightened me more was the answer I got for her question.

For this, I went to Paris, the site of one of my early take downs, and began asking the victims questions...the answers I got were disturbing, to say the least.

We Hunters never delve too deep into investigating. We take them down as fast as we can. We don't care about who they are, only what they are-or what we think they are. It turned out that the victims were only victimized by us. We never stop to wonder why most Vampire victims aren't killed. I found out why, at least in the case of this creature. All of the victims, all women, were it's lovers...they all knew who and what he had been. They gave their blood to him out of love. They even knew about each other and accepted this as part of loving him. He was loving, affectionate and caring to them. Never mean nor violent.

With the answer, I sought Alana out. It took only a few days, she had never been far from me. I saw her crossing a street, but lost her. I began asking around. I found out that she came into town for supplies and that she lived out in the Painted Desert.

How easy it had been! To think that I lived only miles away from her. I searched for her all over the desert, till, one night, I saw the light of a campfire. I walked towards it, my chest tightening so that I was sure I would have a heart attack.

As I got closer, I could see someone walking around, but could not make out details. I stopped, my heart pounding like a trip-hammer. The figure stopped and stood still, as though listening. Then her voice drifted to me:

"Ahh...Hunter, you have come...I am glad."

"Why?" I asked, raising my voice to be heard over the distance. Even though she could probably hear me just fine.

"Come, sit by the fire and I will explain."

I nearly ran to get to the fire, feeling anticipation-of what, I didn't know. When I stepped into the light, she also stepped out of the darkness opposite me. I stopped short, for she was completely naked!

She smiled at me, "You have excellent timing, Hunter...I just got back from my nightly walk."

"Naked?" I asked, incredulous.

She laughed, "No...but that takes some explaining." She walked around the fire, coming towards me. I couldn't help appreciating her naked body. She was the most beautiful creature I had ever seen. Her hair was loose and blowing slightly in the wind, a dark mass of shadow flung out behind her. She was pale, but not as pale as she should have been. Her breasts were large, but not overly so. She had some extra weight, but it only added to her allure. In the flickering fire light, I could see the dark patch of her pubic hairs.

All of this hit me hard, for I had never seen a woman like this, had never even been interested in women until Alana. She swam before me and blurred as I fell back, tripping over a rock and hitting the ground, knocking myself unconscious.

When I came to, she was kneeling next to me, looking into my eyes, concern on her face. I noticed, then, that her eyes were a soft brown.

"Are you all right?" She asked me.

I sat up, pain pounding in my head. She laid a hand on me, I looked at her and she smiled, "I'm fine, other than a headache."

She helped me up, then motioned me to a camp chair she had brought out. She stood next to me, as though she wasn't sure I was really all right.

"Why do you care how I'm doing?" I asked her.

She didn't answer until she had gotten a chair for herself and sat, "This isn't easy for me...even after the lifetimes I've lead." She took a shaky breath, surprising me. "From the moment we met in that alley, I knew I was going to fall in love with you..."

I laughed and she cocked an eyebrow at me. I shook my head, "I'm sorry...it's just that...I'm a Hunter, I was trying to kill you."

She nodded, "Yes...but something about you, something...spoke to me."

I studied her a moment, causing her to blush, which caught my attention, "You just blushed!"

"Yes...well, you were looking at me rather like you wanted to memorize my form."

"No...Vampires don't blush..."I said.

"And why don't they?" She asked, teasingly.

"Their bodies don't use blood for anything else but energy." I responded.

She nodded again, "I didn't use to blush...a long time ago."

"About a hundred years ago?" I asked.

She smiled, "Around then, yes."

"What happened? How have you been eluding us for so long?" I queried.

She sighed, drawing my eyes to her breasts. It was my turn to blush, "Oh, Hunter...that is a long story...one which I will tell you on one condition."

"Which is?"

"Answer a question for me." She replied.

"I found the answer." I said quickly.

She shook her head, "No...not that one...I know what answer you found, or I would not be here talking to you."

"All right, what is the question?"

"Do you love me?" She asked softly.

I stared at her, shocked, "Yes...I believe I do...though it took many years for me to admit it." She looked so pleased, I reached my hand out to her and she laid hers in it. "Why we found each other, neither of us may ever know...but I have never felt this way about anyone, not even my parents."

"Are they why you became a Hunter?"

I nodded, "We Hunters...we're the monsters...we kill your kind out of revenge, hate...fear."

She squeezed my hand gently, "That's all behind you now...at least, I hope it is."

I pulled her hand until she came out of her chair. She smiled at me as she sat in my lap.

"Yes...it is..."

Our lips met, driving all my doubts away. I caressed her bare back, aching with desire. Breathing heavily, she pulled away slightly, but remained where she was.

"I need to know your name, Hunter." She said, smiling at me.

"Oh, yes." I said, laughing. "Eric...Van Dross."

"Well, Eric, I believe we're ready now." She said, laying a hand on my chest.

"Ready? For what?" I asked.

She gave me a look and I blushed again, "Oh."

She laughed and slid off my lap, "Yes...'oh'." She laughed again. "Don't worry, I don't bite...at least, not always."

Still blushing, I stood and watched her, "We just found each other...isn't this rather soon?"

She laid her hands on my chest, "There is a reason."

I touched her face, feeling wetness there. I kissed her forehead, "Why the tears?"

"Sit down...I've decided to tell you about me first." She said.

I sat back down, but she shook her head and motioned me to a spot by the fire, "Leave the chair."

I walked to her and we sat. She leaned against me, waking feelings of protectiveness. Uncertain in this new realm of emotions, I put my arms around her.

"Aren't you cold?" I whispered into her ear.

"No...not really." She answered. "I like to be naked out here...for reasons you may figure out as I tell you this story."

I kissed her neck and she squeezed my hands, "I've never had such feelings for anyone...I'm actually afraid of messing it up."

"You won't." She said. "Now listen."

I smiled and kissed her neck again. She took a deep breath.

"I have been alive for nearly three thousand years...I am one of the first." She stopped, took one of my hands and kissed it. "I always hated what I had become." She shivered at some memory, then continued:

"Through the millennia, I tried not to indulge my need...though it was hard and left me often too weak to do more than find my next meal." She took my other hand and moved them up, over the swellings of her breasts and sighed as I cupped them. "Then I came to America. I roamed everywhere, till I found this place." She motioned with a hand towards the darkness.

"This very spot is where I changed again. It's where I met one of my lovers, a man by the name of Michael Sates." I could hear her crying softly, so I kissed her hair and squeezed her. She turned her head to look at me, a few tears sparkling in the firelight, and smiled. "He wasn't happy with what he was either...though, I believe he was more comfortable with it than I ever was with mine."

"What was he?" I asked.

She laughed, "Would you believe he was a Werewolf?"

"A 'Werewolf?'" I repeated.

"You don't believe in Werewolves?" She asked, amusement in her eyes.

"I've never seen one, but I can't rule it out...especially since I spent most of my adult life hunting Vampires."

"Exactly." She said and laughed again, softly. "He lived out here so he would be away from people during his cycles. I came across him when I came out one night. He was sitting by a fire, right where we are now, staring up at the sky. When he heard me he called out,

'Vampire...what do you want?'

"'Nothing' is all I said. From there we somehow ended up talking most of the night away. We continued meeting here until he admitted that he found me attractive (which didn't surprise me, most Vampires are almost painfully beautiful, and I was no exception. Indeed, at the risk of modesty, I was probably one of the most beautiful) and may be in love with me." She had a far away look and let go of my hands. "It changed me...not since I was human had any man said such things to me out of true desire and not from my Vampiress powers of seduction. I had actually been hopeless and feeling lost till he came into my life...but love? Was it even possible for a Vampire? I still don't know." She closed her eyes and let her head fall forward. "I can't say I loved him, but I really don't know. I do know that I...appreciated him. I liked him...was attracted to him...so we became lovers."

She fell silent. I put my hands on her shoulders, but she shook them off. She leaned away from me and I could see her sobbing. I felt confused, incapable of comforting her. In that moment I hated myself. Intensely. So much that she sensed it.

She turned to me, her eyes red from crying and just looked into my eyes before saying:

"No...don't...it isn't your fault."

I lowered my head and she sighed, "We're both in pain...but I must finish now...to leave it here..."

I nodded, looked up at her and gave her a smile. She smiled back, then continued:

"For months we were together, always meeting after the sun went down. Then, one night, I came here and he was no where to be seen. I waited for a long time. Then the air brought me a waft of blood-scent. It was his...it had a slight...wildness to it, like that of the animals I fed from. I followed the scent, till I found him, bleeding from several holes in his chest and back. He was trying to crawl to our meeting site, to crawl to me. I picked him up and carried him back to the fire.

"He told me that a Hunter had found him. That he was dying, with nothing I could do...with his last moments, he gave me my freedom..."