Vampire Hunter D: Stolen Sunlight

Chapter 25

It was another day and a half before Leigh was able to discern the whole truth, or enough of it to wish she hadn't ever started looking into it. When she pushed away from the table violently it drew D's attention. He was at her side immediately. "What happened?"

She turned her wide-eyed stare to him, barely managing a whisper. "I'm not wholly human. I knew I was different but..."

D had already figured out that she was more than human, so her statement didn't surprise him. He could tell it bothered her though. He could understand how finding something like that out suddenly could be a shock. He would have her talk about it, but not now. For now, he pulled her close. She merely stood within his arms, not moving for several minutes. Finally, the shock wore off and she clung to him.

Neither paid attention to how long they stood there but finally Leigh moved to pull back. When she stood to face him, her eyes were still troubled, but she had accepted what she had found. "I apologize... I just never expected anything like this." She also finally realized that he had not been surprised by her outburst. "Did you already know?"

D reluctantly nodded. "I have known for some time that you are more than human. It isn't something I have encountered before, and you didn't seem to realize it, so I didn't bring it up."

Leigh turned and braced herself against the table for a moment before falling into her seat. "Well I know now. This gives details on what the pendant was supposed to summon. It states that there were a handful of races almost as old as vampires and some of them were nearly as powerful. The most powerful of them were the elementals. There were never that many of them and they had nearly faded from history by the time this was written. The only remnants of them were the ancestors they left behind. They had merged with humanity to the point they became legend. Those with the blood of an elemental are what the pendant targeted. Even diluted the blood of an elemental was the only thing that could bring the pendant to life."

She trailed off at that point, once again lost in her thoughts. D watched her for a few minutes, knowing she was still trying to assimilate the knowledge she had found. Finally, he broke the silence. "That explains why you were able to activate the pendant. Does it also explain how to reactivate it for you to return?"

That time her eyes were filled with tears when she looked back at him. He noticed she was fighting to not let them fall. She blinked several times and cleared her throat before she spoke. "Yes." Her voice still broke on that single word. He watched as she swallowed several times and tried again. "It states it is only a matter of will. Since it chose me I have a certain amount of control, although it seems as if it will not be easy."

D was shocked to hear it was as simple as willing herself home. He realized in the next moment that there had to be more to it. If it were that simple, he knew there had been several times she had been homesick enough to have triggered it. "What else is involved? I know it won't be as easy as wishing yourself home."

She nodded back to him. "When I was pulled to this time it created... I guess you could call it a wormhole, or a gateway... something like that. Anyway, that will stay open as long as I remain here. The location I arrived is the only place I can go home."

D found that he was torn at her words. It would take them at least two months or more to get back to that castle. On the other hand, he could admit to himself that he wasn't entirely upset that he had two more months before he had to let her go. It was at that point it truly hit him that his time with the woman in front of him was already counting down. He had never expected to find someone like her and now that he had, he found himself questioning his goals. He pushed those thoughts aside roughly as he also remembered she didn't belong there. His goal now was to get her safely home, to the people she obviously missed. Those thoughts did not stop him from pulling her up and into another embrace.