Night of the Hunter

Three

Cayleigh grinned when she saw Snow, but the smile was quickly wiped off her face when she saw how battered and bloody Snow was.

"Most of it isn't mine." Snow stated.

"I can smell that. Jesus. How many people did you kill exactly?"

Snow's eyebrows scrunched together. "None. I hurt probably a dozen or so. I jumped into a pool of blood."

"A literal pool? That's just nasty. Even us vampires don't do that crap." Cayleigh shook her head. "Yes, I'm half vampire. Genetically made, of course. Thanks to the lovely human experiments all those years ago."

Snow was starting to think that she wouldn't meet a single, normal human being ever again.

She followed the healer into the mansion. The place had a warmer, much more home-like feel that Gaius's hideout. The entryway opened up into a hall flanked by two huge spiral staircases. They were made of a dark wood, blanketed by a thick, dark red carpet. To the left, large double doors lead into what appeared to have served as an old ballroom, but was now some sort of lounge. The right opened up into a living room, larger than Snow had ever seen. Directly in front of them had another set of double doors that lead to the kitchen, dining room, and probably an office or two.

Cayleigh grumbled something about people not being there, and headed for the doors under the staircase. She pushed one open, motioning for Snow to follow.

"Come on. I want to get you patched up. That's a nasty cut and I'd rather not it fester and become infected."

Snow padded after the healer, unsure of what to do. She could hear people talking from the lounge-like room, but couldn't see them. Passing through the doors, she saw it was a wide hallway with doors lining either side. She could faintly smell food and hear the clanking of pans. And someone yelling at someone else.

Cayleigh stopped at a door, with a small plaque next to it. In fancy calligraphy style writing, it read "Infirmary".

"After you, m'lady." Caleigh smiled, holding the door open.

Ean was sitting up on a bed, trying to fight off a younger girl who was trying to put something on his arm. Adam was laying in the bed next to him, eyes wide open, staring at the ceiling. Ean managed to get the girl off him finally and he slid off the bed, no regards to slipping his shoes back on, or grabbing the rob that hung from an IV pole.

"Cay. Sorry I didn't greet you. They hauled me off before I could say anything."

"It's quite alright, Ean. Always the charmer, you are. How's your brother?"

"He'll be fine. Somehow got a concussion without actually being hit hard enough to cause one. I explained what happened to Con. He just sort of stared at me. Said something about him being lucky to not have had a brain bleed."

The healer nodded. "Well, by the sounds of it, someone was messing with his head. Literally. There aren't many who can do that, especially not on the good side of things."

"You think they were trying to kill him?"

"No, no. If they wanted to do that, they easily could have. I believe it was meant to be nothing more than a simple scare tactic. Though, I'm sure even then Adam should be in far worse shape."

Snow spoke up. "It wasn't Icarus. I know that type of magic is something you have to be born with."

"You are right, Miss Snow. So, it was someone like myself, or the twins here. Or Valentine. I do believe that since Adam is far more powerful and has a strong will, that it is why he isn't in worse shape."