Random my loveprize in viewfinder stories.

The Fledgling Vampire part 4 by delmire

   After shooting off a quick message to Asami, the new contact on his phone titled 'Arrogant Asshole', Akihito made his way out the back door into the dim alley where they left the trash. The dark night cast most of the area in deep shadow but it didn't bother Akihito at all. His night vision as a vampire was excellent and he found he was more comfortable knowing that the night would hide his vampirism than he was during the light of day.
   Unfortunately, his comfort came with the cost of complacency. Akihito yelped as a hand wrapped around his mouth, muffling the sound, while another wound around his waist. He was now so at ease with the night shadows that it didn't occur to him to look closely at his surroundings. A stupid thing to do after the events of that night.
   "Don't struggle now, pretty baby," a sickeningly familiar voice drawled into his ear. "I promise to take real good care of you."
   Sakazaki's hand clamped down even harder on his body, hefting him off his feet just enough that he couldn't touch the ground. Unable to find purchase, Akihito was at the mercy of the other vampire as he hefted him onto his shoulder then sped off into the night. He mentally cursed, berating himself as he thrashed around to no avail. The grip on him was unrelenting and the other vampire didn't seem to care how much he kicked or hammered against his back. The group of hunters had been enough of a deterrent to keep Sakazaki away during business hours but the group had left at closing out the front door.
   Stupidly, Akihito had assumed that Sakazaki would lie in wait closer to his apartment because of the threat the hunters posed. He regretted his naivety now. Lights blurred in his vision as they sped through the night, tearing down the sidewalk until they came to an abrupt stop. The movement was sickeningly fast when he was not in control of it and Akihito had to close his eyes for a moment to calm his lurching stomach.
   "I thought you might cause trouble."
   The voice came from in front of him and it took Akihito a long moment to place it. His heart sped up as he looked up to see the three hunters from the bar. The street was empty at this time of night, only the three men in front of him to be seen. One of them held a tiny crossbow out in front of him, while another deliberately cleaned his nails with a wicked looking knife. The one who had spoken with Akihito earlier that evening strode out in front of the group, apparently unarmed, to square up with Sakazaki. The vampire spun around, causing Akihito to yelp again as he was manhandled down to be positioned in front of Sakazaki, his back pressed against the others chest.
   "I didn't take you into custody for the fake license but if you insist on causing trouble for our young friend here, I might reconsider that idea."
   The man spoke casually but the threat in his words was clear. His body language was deceptively relaxed, it was that very demeanour that screamed he was someone you wouldn't want to mess with. Who else would be so apparently at ease when confronted with a potentially violent vampire?
   "I'm just taking my youngling home, where he belongs," Sakazaki called back. Akihito could feel the coiled tension in the vampire's body, at odds with his calm voice. He wanted to struggle but kept himself still. It would be better to be still now and look for an opportunity to escape. After all, he wasn't keen on getting in the way of that deadly looking mini crossbow if the hunter fired.
   "I heard you turned him without his consent," the hunter continued, walking forward a few more steps to stop only a few meters away. Sakazaki took a step back, his hands tightening where they held Akihito in place. "You know that's on par with murder, don't you?"
   Everything seemed to happen at once. One moment Akihito was clutched tight in Sakazaki's hold, the next he was hitting the pavement with a heavy thud. Pushing himself to his knees, Akihito replayed the events of those few seconds in his mind. Sakazaki had twitched as though he was about to run when the hunter with the crossbow had fired, hitting the vampire with a small silvery bolt no longer than his hand. The shot had expertly sunk into Sakazaki's shoulder, just above Akihito's, and the vampire had reflexively dropped him.
   A pained, angry hiss sounded out behind him and he turned around to find the pavement behind him empty. A splatter of blood glinting wetly in the orange streetlights was the only thing left behind of Sakazaki after he fled into the night. Pulling himself to his feet, Akihito took a moment to dust off as the same hunter that had spoken approached. The other two hung back and he noticed that they had both stashed their weapons although they still scanned the surroundings intently.
   The man pulled out a business card and a pen to scrawl something on the back before handing it over. Battered brown fingerless leather gloves covered most of his hands now, matching the beaten look of the rest of his outfit. Accepting the card, Akihito glanced down to scan the words printed neatly in black across the front.
   Don Frye                                                                                                                                                   
   Vampire Hunter
   International Association of Paranormal Hunters                      
   An ID number along with two different phone numbers lined the bottom of the white card. Turning it over to see what was written on the back, he could just make out the words 'House Phantom' and 'Liu Feilong'.
   "House Phantom sounds pretentious but I've dealt with Feilong a lot over the years. He's a decent man and has less of a stick up his ass than the other House leaders. I'll put in a good word with him for you but I wasn't joking when I said you need to join a House, kid. I'm old enough to have enough sense to leave you be when you aren't hurting anyone but if you get yourself into trouble with some of my colleagues, they might have a different attitude. If I hadn't seen you enough over the past few years working at the bar to know you're a good kid, I'd take you in to the association as a rogue. But if I see you next week and you don't have a House ID, I might re-think that and take you in for your own good."
   Frowning, Akihito opened his mouth to protest but Don's stern look stole the words. With a sigh, he admitted defeat and nodded.
   "All right, I'll go see him. Where can I find him?" he asked, pulling out his phone to take note of the details.
   Don raised an eyebrow, looking pointedly at his phone. "Aren't kids now days supposed to be tech savvy? I'm sure that flashy thing as the internet."
   "Ah," Akihito replied intelligently. "Right."
   Well, everything was said to available on the internet. He should have thought of that himself. He went to tuck his phone back into his pocket along with the business card and noticed a message from 'Arrogant Asshole'. Ignoring it for the moment, he looked back up at Don, then the other two still lingering behind him.
   "Thank you."
   The hunter nodded at him then glanced around the deserted street. "His sense of you is vague enough that you should be safe for tonight. That bolt is silver capped so he'll need time to take it out and regenerate. Do you have somewhere to go that he won't know of? It won't hurt to make it harder to find you while you aren't with a House."
   His thoughts returned to Asami and his offer to try his bed out for sleeping. Which to be fair, he did get the chance to sleep on it yesterday although it was more of a pass out after sex then wake up as a bat. He hadn't had the chance to enjoy the cloud-like comfort the no doubt expensive bed offered.
   "Yeah, I have somewhere I can crash. Thanks again."
   With that, Akihito scanned the surroundings, trying to reorientate himself before picking the most likely direction. The super speed that his vampirism gifted him made it easy to find a roundabout way into the center of the city. He frequently walked at night now and the exploring meant he had a far better grasp of directions without bothering with his phone's GPS. Travelling long distances at such speeds had become second nature to him after the weeks of practise but he still struggled with the disorientating speed over short distances.
   Only once he was closer to the center of the huge city did he take out his phone. The brief message made him grin wide.
   'I'll be waiting.'