The Hunt

Chapter 2

Darren:

We've loaded the two vampires into the truck. They're not really vampires anymore, but they were. They're still unconscious. Their appearance has started to change, the teeth and the eyes are always first. Their hair will stay black for a while and it'll take time for their skin to darken, so I'm told anyway.

"We ready to go Darren?" John calls.

"Yep." I reply, looking up. He's walking towards me through the trees. He comes close and leans in.

"Don't dare question me again. I've told you before, I won't tell you again." He says. He's quiet but I can hear the rage. "You understand?"

I nod my head at him, saying nothing. We don't get on. Never have so far, probably never will. He takes too much pleasure in the job. I don't know why I was put in his group.

We're vampire hunters.

I walk around the truck to the driver's window. It's open already. Chuck is sitting there, arm dangling out. His arm is bulging, a dragon's tail tatooed the length of the forearm. The rest of the dragon covers his chest. His hair is cropped short and he wears a long, messy beard. He's not in uniform. He's never in uniform.

"They secured back there?" he says to me.

"Yep. They're all tied in." I say.

"Better hope so." he says, flashing me a smile. "They gonna go crazy soon enough." He laughs a humorless laugh and I walk away as he starts the engine.

"Let's go!" John calls through the clearing. "We've got to be back before morning."

The ultra-violet lights go out, the speakers are turned off and men quickly pack it all into another vehicle. A four-wheeled drive. John jumps into the passenger side of the four-wheeled drive and they set off through the trees. Two other cars, similar looking, come on over from the other side of the clearing and we set off. I settle into a walk behind the convoy with the others.

John's in charge. We're 15 soldiers of which I'm the newest and the youngest. The others around me are chatting, but I'm not paying attention. I can't get my mind off that family I let run. Why did I let them run? Three vampires, gone. If the team found out, they'd kill me.

This is my third hunt, and it's nothing like I thought it would be. I always wanted to join the corps, from when I was 9 or 10. To protect mankind from the predators, from the monsters. That's what we're taught. In schools, in life. The Hunting Corps is loved and admired for keeping people safe. It's also shrouded in secrecy. I signed up as soon as I could, at 16. Two years later and here I am, fully sworn in, fully trained and it's nothing like what they said it would be. I don't feel like a hero.

The job's a simple one. We hunt them, we shoot them, we bring them in. Nothing else. We don't see them again. Not us, not the soldiers.

A howling fills the night. I look up, the moon's out, I can see it above the trees, filtering it's blue light through. "Damn wolves!" a soldier on my right says. That's Jack, he's a year ahead of me, the closest I've got to a friend so far. He's the same height as me, but built bigger. Stronger. He's got a good head of thick, brown hair. His eyes are grey and his face is smooth. "I don't know why we can't take them out!" he says, to no one in particular.

"We don't touch the wolves." I say, repeating what was drilled into us as cadets. Their howling has filled the night on all sides. A few of the men are looking around nervously as we walk. Jack spits on the forest floor.

"Damn shame that." he says.

"We'll be out of the trees soon enough." I say. The wolves stick to the trees. They never leave. My mind wanders back to the vampire, the girl. I assume it's her family we've got. Why did I let them go? Those eyes, those yellow eyes. They weren't the eyes of an animal. I'm trying to remember when I first realised the vampires weren't animals like we were taught. I don't know, it crept up on me. Sealed when I went on my first hunt.