When Quintenn arrived late the next afternoon, Claudia and I were quick to fill him in.
Having just returned from a mission, one where he spent an extended time undercover, it was easy to notice now exhausted he was. His black hair was wet with sweat against his brown skin and he looked like he could sleep for a week. Like most vampires though, even the smallest threat of danger stirred within him a strength to over come this.
“There hasn’t been any talk down the grape-vine. If there was an immediate threat, surely someone high up would have some knowledge.”
Pacing inside his office, where Claudia sat in a chair and I stood against the wall, Quintenn struck me again, as he often did, as a strong person. In his late twenties, he was one of the leaders within our covenant and it was too him that we turned to for knowledge and guidance in times of battle. Having seen his fair share of battles he was well connected. If there was anything going on he always knew about it.
“Let me make a few calls. See what I can find out.” He stepped around his desk and picking up his phone, started dialling.
This was our signal to leave. Claudia and I left him alone and walked down the hall towards the living area.
“Do you want to go a few rounds in the gym?” Claudia raised an eyebrow. “Maybe you might be able to take me down. I’m sure you can find a way to channel your frustration into beating me up.”
I knew she was joking and trying to ease me out of the hollow headspace she could see I was in. I appreciated her effort.
“Don’t tempt me.” I managed to smile, but only a small one.
Considering how often our lives were put in jeopardy, it was pressed upon us to continue as best we could. Even if we were under threat we had to keep our cool. We were warriors and we couldn’t stop living when things got hard. Besides we were trained for this. Trained to handle situations when we didn’t have all the answers. I didn’t have to like it; I just had to accept it.
“No thanks.” I sighed. “I think I’ll just lie down for a while, if you don’t mind?”
“Of course I don’t mind. Oh, maybe I can go hunt down Ben, he may want to go a few rounds with me. I’m sure he would enjoy the pleasure of my company” she said suggestively. “Bye.” Claudia waved, turned on the heel of her very expensive Prada shoe and strode away.
I continued to walk to my room and took a nap.
**************




Weeks passed and with Quintenn unable to dig up any more information and with no more attempts made, my encounter was pushed aside for more pressing matters. Life continued. I immersed myself into my home life, trying to reassure my family that I was a normal typical teenager. It was harder than I thought it would be to convince my parents that I wasn’t hiding anything. Especially when three weeks after my attack, Claudia sent me a distress signal to my cell phone.
Knowing it must be an emergency, I got myself excused from school, making the excuse of my grandfather being ill. Cliché, considering my grandfather had died 4 years before. I knew I may have to face the never ending wrath of my parents later, but I couldn’t even think of that now.
Exiting the school’s main office, I had only just shut the door when a black SUV (one I knew very well) came racing around the corner and to a screeching holt in front of me.
The back door flew open.
“Get in!” It was Claudia and the look on her face told me to just act.
Throwing myself inside the car, it took off before I had a chance to shut the door.
“What the hell is going on?” I looked at the faces inside the car. Claudia, sitting next to me in the backseat, Ben and another Death Walker, whose name I didn’t know.
“We’re under attack.” It was Ben.
“What!” I was astonished.
“We were tracking a vampire in the city, when we got a call telling us that the house was being ambushed” Claudia racked her fingers through her hair. “Quintenn told us to come directly here and get you before we went to the Manor. He said it was hunters. Lots of them!”
“Oh my god. How did this happen? What happened to there being no news?” I was looking down at the seat. I couldn’t believe it.
“There has been no news. No one’s heard anything. Sometimes there are whispers. Vampires, who hear things, pass it on. It’s been quiet. Dead quiet.” Claudia was looking at the back of Ben’s head.
“They didn’t want us to be prepared. They planned this. Like the attack on you.” Ben yanked the wheel, turning onto the freeway. He was speeding down the freeway now. Drivers were honking, as he darted in and out. “We’ll get there soon enough.”


In what seemed like a matter of minutes, we were pulling up in front of the Manor. Jumping out of the car, it was strangely quiet. I had expected screaming, blood even. But this? It was deserted, not a person in sight. It had taken us just over 20 minutes to get here what with Ben’s driving. There was no way the hunters could have massacred an entire house full of vampires and left already. Surely they weren’t that good. Yet, as we entered the house we heard no noise, no signs of distress. All that proved something out of the ordinary had happened were the dozens of shattered windows. Entry points of the hunters. A door or two was barged down too.
We decided to stay together, considering we didn’t know how many hunters we were up against. Silently walking down the hall, we were all alert and ready should we be intercepted. Still, we saw no one. No signs of life. Not until we rounded a corner on the 2nd floor and ran straight into Quintenn.
“Quintenn.” It was Claudia who almost drove her knife into his head. Instead she threw her arms around him. “I’m so glad you’re alright. What happened?”
Quintenn pried himself out of Claudia’s hug. “Finally you’re here, we’ve been waiting for you.” He ushered to us to follow him. “Come with me.” He started walking.
I scrambled after him. “What in God’s name happened?”
He shook his head. “No warning. We had no clue. That is, until about two dozen hunters broke through the windows.”
“Two dozen.” I whispered.
“Maybe more, I didn’t get exact numbers. They broke in and we scattered. I ran into my office and phoned you straight away.”
“Where are they?” Ben was looking ridged.
We were walking down the hall heading towards the stairwell.
“They’re gone. After they rounded us up, the man in charge stepped forward and asked to talk. I told everyone to go to their room, that’s why it’s so quiet.”
“Talk! I’m sorry, what?” I couldn’t believe it. I stopped walking. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“No. Look, I know that this is strange, but we won’t know what they want until we talk to them.” Qunitenn grabbed my arm and made me start walking again.
What they want! What they want is to kill us, I thought.
“Some of the others put up a fight and they were vanquished. We need to hear them out and hope that no others have to die. They wanted to speak directly with our leader. Alana’s just arrived.”
Alana. Wow, I thought.
Alana is for all intensive purposes our leader, but she is more like our Queen. She is old. Not in the sense that she is wrinkly with grey hair, but she has been around for centuries.
“Wait, how is she here? Claudia looked as surprised as I felt. “It’s daylight.”
Quintenn sighed. He looked tired. His hair was wet and his face was smeared with blood, a gash across his cheek, and his shirt torn. “We have our ways.”
Claudia and I exchanged a look and I raised my eyebrows, but we said nothing.
“We had no choice.” Qunitenn continued. “We were unprepared and they would have slaughtered us.” He didn’t look like the liked that idea. The idea of surrendering would be eating him up. He wasn’t one to give up and play dead. Then again, I thought. We may not have to play.


We made the rest of our way to the first floor foyer in silence. Each with our own thoughts. Although I didn’t say anything out loud, I was thinking that chances were the hunters were going to try to slaughter us anyway. They didn’t make exceptions.
My hand slid to the knife on my belt. Well, I was thinking. We aren’t going down without a fight.
As we walked down the last flight of stairs my eyes automatically shot up when we entered the foyer. A reasonable sized room, it was quiet and private. Perfect for talking. Inside the room I saw two hunters standing up against the wall on the inside of the entrance. They were staring blankly ahead but looked at us as we entered the room.
In the middle of the room stood Alana. Dressed in a grey suit set with a skirt, she looked powerful. At 35 years old and with her brown hair piled up in a sleek bun on her head, she didn’t look like someone you should mess with.
Beside her stood 2 vampires I had never seen before. Large and menacing, they were no doubt here to offer her protection.
Facing her were two hunters. One a middle aged man with dark grey hair and a face that looked like it had seen much battle in his lifetime. His eyes, I would have said looked wise, had I not know that most of that wisdom came from killing my own kind. He meant business, that was clear.
It was not he, who my eyes could not leave as we walked towards them, but the younger, blonde hunter standing next to him. In his early 20’s and being at least 6 foot, he stood tall and proud. His hands folded behind his back, he looked like a soldier. With tanned skin and messy hair he was handsome. Anyone could see that. His mouth was a hard line and was we reached Alana and her guards, his eyes, which had been on Alana, flicked towards me.
My breath caught, wether in fear or rage I don’t know, and his icy blue eyes burned me.
I had seen him before.
I noticed Claudia glance at me sideways, but I said nothing to her and we all stopped to hear what the hunter had to say.