HUNTERS OF DARKNESS

Nightfall meant that Sebastian and the survivors of his clan could finally leave the yacht.

The yacht was tied to the dock and he strode down the wooden planks with his three surviving minions behind him. Only a few remained, and they met him at the car that awaited him.

The house he was taken to was a few miles from the water. It was a modest place that had been taken from one of his victims, one that nobody seemed to miss. Nobody outside of his inner circle knew of this house and he was confident that the Roeskellovs would never find him there. It was a three bedroom house that was located on a large plot of land where he could maintain his privacy, and hopefully regroup.

The living room was furnished as modestly as the rest of it with a sofa, a recliner and two simple chairs that all faced the old TV that was at one end of the room. A few of his loyals lived there and all of them gave him plenty of room as he strode in and sat down hard in the recliner.

Leaning back, he laid his head back and raised a hand to his eyes, massaging them gently as he tried to rein in his troubled thoughts.

One of the loyals, an attractive dark haired woman knelt down beside his chair and gently grasped his hand. “Master Sebastian,” she said just over a whisper. “How may I serve you? Have you any needs?”

He drew a deep breath before he replied, “I need my mind to settle.”

“Would you like to feed?” she asked.

“Shortly,” he assured.

A little smile touched the girl’s face and she assured, “I’ll be here for you, Master, and when you’ve fed I’ll satisfy your other hungers.”

He finally looked to her and patted her hand. “You are a good girl indeed, Cindy. Perhaps you will make yourself worthy of the gift.”

Vanessa closed the front door and warned, “Be very careful about that gift, Cindy.”

The dark haired girl sprang up and wheeled around, backing away as Sebastian also stood and turned to the door.

The broken body of one of his guards hit the floor, flat on his back. His eyes were still wide in a horrified stare, his throat torn out, and his chest and ribs lay open, a deep cavity right in the middle where his heart should have been.

Vanessa’s dark blue eyes remained locked on Sebastian’s, and a strange little smile curled her blood stained lips ever so slightly. More black red blood stained her chin and cheeks, and a little ran down her throat. She was dressed in a yellow blouse that was blood stained at the front and white shorts, and she was strangely barefoot. She raised her chin and informed, “I always loved this place and I so enjoyed you bringing me here over the years. I’ve come home, Master Sebastian. Your favorite has come for you.” She wiped some of the blood from her chin with her finger, then licked it off, never taking her eyes from the vampire master. “I’m still your favorite, right?”

His wide eyes shifted from her to his mangled soldier and back.

“Didn’t think so,” Vanessa confirmed as she also looked to broken vampire. Her eyes slid back to Sebastian, and she grinned, revealing her blood stained predapire teeth and fangs as she reached behind her and locked the door.