Off With His Head

07. Off With His Head

"So what's first?" We are back in the car and I am taking the opportunity to ask as many questions as I can. "Are you going to teach me how to fight? Tell me what weapons we use? What other creatures are there? Do Goblins exist?"

Zach turns to Caleb in the passenger seat, "I am regretting this already."

"Jennings, first things first, we have to kill your boyfriend," Caleb answers only one of my questions, ignoring the rest.

"He's not my boyfriend," I mutter darkly.

"Yes he is," he retorts. "Now we need to plan our strategy, we only have a couple of days to do so."

"It seems to me that it's blindingly obvious. I will go on my date with Henry and as we get out his car and walk to wherever he is going, you attack and stab him with a," I pause, "a wooden stake?"

"No," Zach says, "clearly you have been too fond of the internet and those vampire television shows. The only way to kill a vampire is to behead them with a weapon made of iron."

"I'm sorry," I say incredulously. "Could you repeat that?"

"Behead. Weapon made of iron," Zach reiterates. "Which part didn't you understand?"

"Why iron?"

"Iron is a vampire's sole weakness and is the only element that can cut through their skin. You can't stab them in the heart as their hearts are no longer beating," Zach says as if this is obvious. "You have to separate their head from their bodies to ensure their deaths."

"The door to Lideri's meeting room is made with a mixture of iron and silver, it ensures both vampires and werewolves cannot enter," Caleb explains.

Oh, so that was the heavy metal.

"Can we go back to the beheading part?" I can't seem to get over how gruesome that sounds.

"It's not as bad as you think, Jennings," Caleb says softly. "There is no blood running through their veins, and once their head is removed from their body, they burst into flames and turn into ash. It's easy to clean using a small vacuum."

I give an involuntary shudder. "Tell me more about the organisation."

"It was founded in 1880, when it became clear that humans did not walk alone on this earth," Zach sounds like he is reciting from a history book. "The first Lideri was called Edward Cartell, he became aware that the girl he was betrothed to marry, was acting very strangely around the time of the full moon."

"PMS?" I suggest, earning a chuckle from Caleb and a look of disdain from Zach.

"One night he followed her to a cave not far from her home and witnessed her transform into a beast. He ran away from the sight, hardly daring to believe that the woman he loved could be a monster. The next morning reports surfaced about missing children and villagers savagely killed and ripped to shreds. He knew in his heart that it had been her and realised that he would have to be the one to put an end to her. The next night as she was sleeping, he crept into her room and drove a silver dagger through her heart."

"Then he began to look for more creatures like her, taking on recruits as he travelled the world." Caleb continues the story, before I can ask how he knew what weapon to use. "and so the League of Hunters was born."

"The League of Hunters? Is that what it's called?"

"No," Zach answers, "Caleb just likes to call it that. In truth, we are just known as the Hunters."

"Check it out," Caleb rolls up his sleeve and shows me his shoulder. There is a tattoo there of a circle, the size of a small coin. Seven lines surround it, extending outwards, all with a small mark on them. One is longer than the others, with two lines that run through it. "This is our sign. You will have to get one too, once you decide on your speciality."