Hunters

Chapter 10.2.

Rachel propped her hands against the glove compartment, trying to keep steady. "This road is killing me!" Twist after turn and pot hole after pot hole. They'd be better off in a tractor. "Can't you at least avoid some of the holes?"

"Trust me, the ones I'm not hitting are deeper." Daniel chuckled. "Where's your sense of adventure, Rach?"

"Oh, let me see. I left it in Târgovişte, on top of that useless tower." 

She wasn't exactly being fair – the tower had been pretty cool, as well as the ruins of Vlad's old residence, but they'd found nothing. Not even a mild trace of paranormal activity or a lonesome vampire. They hadn't felt a single vampire since arriving in Romania, and Rachel was starting to feel rusty. Maybe Vlad wasn't here after all. Maybe he resided in a mansion in Beverly Hills. 

"Any more ruins you want to check out?"

"As far as I know, Bran Castle isn't a ruin. So we might find something there. Hopefully, Vlad."

"So, how far is it?" Rachel stifled a yawn. She hadn't gotten much sleep the previous night, and the traveling had her yearning for a place to rest before driving into Vlad's potential hideout.

"Less than a hundred kilometers from our position. But I think we should rest, so we're stopping in Câmpulung for the night." Daniel rubbed one eye. "We're almost there anyway."

"I'd like you to ask for my opinion, too."

"Fine." Daniel sounded annoyed. "Is it okay if we stop in Câmpulung for the night? Mom?"

"You don't have to be a jerk about it." She looked out the window pointedly. 

Both their tempers had bubbled just beneath the surface all day. Rachel could tell he was almost as pissed as she was about their current situation, even if they'd avoided touching. But they'd both tried and managed to keep everything civil, even friendly.

The building to her right caught her attention. "What's this?" It appeared to be a factory except for the space rocket-launcher look-alike in the middle of the courtyard.

"That's a cement factory. The launcher is a cooling tower. We're close now."

Rachel analyzed the buildings as they drove past the factory, toward a roundabout. When she finally got bored, she looked beyond it. A thin strip of road led to their right, like a winding snake, and got lost between a hill and a half devoured chalk mountain. The breath hitched in her throat. That hill looked awfully familiar. She closed her eyes and tried to remember where she'd seen it before. The image flashed behind her eyelids: her and Daniel, him with his arms around her, sitting on top of a hill. That hill. How could it be real?

"Whoa!" Daniel braked abruptly.

The seatbelt cut into Rachel's shoulder as it stopped her from bashing her head against the windshield. Her eyes popped open, all thoughts of hills and dreams out of her mind. "Are you crazy?"

"Can't you sense that?" Daniel's voice shook.

"Sense what?" She didn't even get the entire sentence out before he was out of the car, gazing around like a maniac.

She climbed out and marched toward him. Halfway there, she felt it too: the cold creeping under her skin, settling in the core of her very bones. Smoky hands seemed to wrap around her neck, restricting air access. Her heart beat erratically and she actually felt fear, despair.

"What's going on?" Her question came out as a whisper.

"I have no idea." Daniel returned to the car, glancing over his shoulder. "I've never sensed anything like this before. Let's get to town and see if it's worse there."