Hunting Haven

Gabriel

What a night.

As if having to respond to a call with Haven in my squad car wasn’t bad enough, the vampire was following us as well. OR, more accurately, following her. The desire to search the area with my scrying stone. I was glad I’d neglected to return it to the Hunter’s Association along with the rest of my tool kit.

The spelled crystal was a solid clear quartz when no inhuman creatures were in range. When there was one nearby, it filled with a dark, oily substance—not unlike vampire blood in appearance—until it grew as dark as obsidian. It would have taken just a glance to search for the vampire, to find him and put him down, but there was no way I could explain the crystal to Haven. Not to mention the fact that she was so visibly shaken, I couldn’t leave her to hunt.

Still, not pursuing that bloodsucker? It killed me inside. He would be back for her. The only benefit to the situation was that he didn’t know I was a hunter.

I took a deep breath to center myself as Haven finished describing her encounter with the leech. “It sounds like you need to get some rest. There aren’t any contacts that make eyes glow the way you described. Not without a black light.” As much as I hated myself for keeping her in the dark, I had to convince her that she was mistaken. It was better to keep her out of the loop. If I could make her believe that she hadn’t actually seen a man, it’d be easier to keep her from learning about the existence of supernaturals in the future. Because once she knew? She could never go back to living a normal life.

“I know what I saw,” she countered adamantly.

I’m sorry. I let go of her hands, forgetting I’d even held them still. It had been an instinct to sooth her fear when I’d entered the car, but it didn’t feel right to comfort her as I lied straight to her face. Sure, it was to keep her safe, but I still despised myself for it. “I was inside for a while. You probably dozed off.”

She frowned at me but nodded. “I don’t even remember closing my eyes, but you’re probably right. It’s been a long couple of days.”

I remained quiet for a moment and let her convince herself before asking her to put her seatbelt on so we could get back on the road. We were about twenty minutes from her house, and a majority of that ride was in silence until Haven broke it.

“The woman. Is she okay?”

I frowned, glancing at her before returning my eyes to the road. “How’d you know it was a woman?”

“You said you wanted to make sure she’s okay. Is she?”

She was perceptive. I’d give her that. When dispatch came on over the radio, all I could think about was making sure Christine was okay. In the five years that I’d been with the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Department, I’d responded to calls at her address over a dozen times. It was always the same thing. Her husband, Jason, would come home after a night of drinking and slap her around. The neighbors would call us because of the noise. And when we showed up? It was always to a bloody Christine saying she’d fallen down the stairs. Or walked into the door. Or tripped and cracked her head open on the end table. It was frustrating to know what was happening and be able to do nothing about it. Even if we talked to her privately and took her husband into another room, her story remained the same. I knew he hit her, all the deputies did, but without her corroboration all we had to go on was a noise complaint called in by the neighbors. Our hands were tied by the law, and it fucking sucked. It was situations like this that made me long to be a hunter again. The red tape of being a cop wasn’t a problem I had encountered before. I was used to finding monsters and putting them in the ground. But when the monsters were human? All I could do was wait until he slipped up or Christine decided she’d had enough.

“She’ll be okay for now at least.” That was the best answer I could give. One of my fears was responding to a call to their house and finding Christine’s lifeless body. I firmly believed if she didn’t get out of there, he would kill her one day.

“It’s hard,” she murmured as she stared out the window. When I said nothing, she continued. “Leaving. It’s hard. People who have never experienced it think it’s easy, but it’s more than just getting your ass beat. You’re conditioned to believe that you’re nothing, that you deserve the pain being inflicted on you. If you’d been better, done better, then you wouldn’t get hit. If you just didn’t make him mad, everything would have been fine. And then when you finally gain the courage to leave, you have to figure out how. Abusers are good at what they do. They isolate you. Make you feel lower than dirt, feel like you have no one but them.”

“Is that what he did to you?” I asked, quietly. Afraid to break the spell her tale had weaved. I’d just met her the night before, but this? It felt like I was actually seeing the real Haven, and not the fiery front she put on. She was complex. I knew I’d regret being intrigued, but I wanted to know more about her. It was a terrible idea. I should treat her the same way I used to treat any other hunter case. Put the supernatural down and then move on to the next town. No strings. No complications. Certainly no details.

She shook her head. “That’s not even half of it. I’m just saying, don’t judge her too harshly. It’s not easy to decide enough is enough. It’s even harder to actually manage to get out.”

According to the information I’d collected off her license the night before, she’d turn twenty-six in two months, but when she spoke she sounded so much older. Worn down and burnt out.

We both descended into silence. She was done sharing her story and me? What could I say? I’m sorry you went through that? Pity wasn’t something a woman as strong as Haven deserved, and she had already helped herself. I had nothing to offer.

When I pulled into her driveway, she turned to look at me. “Be patient with her. Let her know that the help is there, but don’t pressure her. You have to let her decide to leave on her own.”

I nodded. “Thank you... for sharing. I’m sure that can’t be easy.”

“Yeah, well, you said I was sharing with friend Gabe and not Deputy Crenshaw when you took me to work. I’m assuming that still goes now.”

“Absolutely.”

“Good night, Gabriel. Thank you.”

She climbed out of the car and I followed. “I’ll walk you to the door.”

“You can literally see my door from here.”

“Yep and I’m still going to walk you to it so don’t bother arguing.”

She shook her head and let out an amused huff. “Whatever floats your boat, I suppose.”

Once she was safely locked inside her house—I waited until I heard the deadbolt engage—I went back to my squad car and shot a quick text to Dane before leaving. Well, moved my car was a more accurate description. I parked around the block and walked back to Haven’s to keep watch.

Leaving her alone made me anxious now that the vampire had upped the stakes. It was bad enough that he’d already broken into her car and stolen items with her scent. The fact that he let himself be seen? His stalking was escalating.

I found little comfort in the fact that he probably wouldn’t kill her. The photo we’d found in her car was enough to make me think he’d change her once he was ready. I wasn’t sure why he hesitated and followed her instead. It wasn’t like vampires to show any sort of long term restraint. They’d play with their prey, but it usually didn’t last more than a night. They were slaves to their bloodlust, after all. Being a vampire was truly a fate worse than death. I refused to let him take Haven’s life away from her, especially after learning some of the hell she’d already experienced as a human. No matter what the cost, I’d keep her safe.

Twenty minutes passed, and there was no sign of the bloodsucker. My crystal remained free of it’s oily vampire tracking essence, and nothing alerted my heightened hunter senses. Still, I found it hard to leave. It would only be a few more minutes until Dane arrived, anyway. It wasn’t weird that I was watching her house or anything. I was just keeping her safe. Yet, for some reason, I felt just as creepy as her ancient stalker.

“Psst, Crenshaw,” Dane hissed from the tree line across from the house.

I barely managed to stifle an eyeroll, jerking my head to the side in a come here motion. He joined me in the shadowed gang way between Haven’s and her neighbor. “Should I be the one saying psst? You’re the cat.”

He flipped me off. “You do realize panthers are not pets, right? I can definitely claw your face to shreds or bite off a limb or two if you piss me off.”

“Uh-huh. Consider me terrified,” I replied deadpanned. “You were the one that wanted to help keep her safe so welcome to the team. You get to stand watch tonight.”

“Cool. When do I get to meet her?”

“You don’t. No supernatural interaction.”

“It’s not like I’m going to introduce myself as a big ass predator, bro. Chill.”

My eyelid twitched at his nonchalance, a surefire sign that I was stressed and ready to lose my cool. “This is serious, Dane. The vamp made contact.”

Our relationship was antagonistic even in the best of times, but, for once, he grew somber. “Contact how? I’m assuming she hasn’t been infected.”

After I explained the encounter, Dane shifted from foot to foot. I’d dealt with enough informants as a deputy and a hunter to know that he wanted to tell me something, but he was afraid of the consequences.

“What is it? If it helps keep her safe, I need to know.”

“I’m... fuck.” I didn’t prod any further. My silent stare remained trained on him, waiting for him to cave. He would tell me. I knew he would. Protecting humans was important to him, especially considering his upbringing. If he hadn’t been dedicated to saving humans, I would have ended him already.

He cracked his neck, a nervous habit, and—after a long pause—explained. “The Council of Shifters would put me down if they found out I shared this with a hunter.”

“I’m not a hunter anymore.”

“But you’ll tell them.”

“Maybe. What is it?”

“Lavender. Vampires can’t drink it. It’ll make him sick, so even if he gets to her somehow, he wouldn’t be able to drink enough to change her. It’d buy you time to save her if need be. You just have to figure out a way to get her to ingest it.”

The implications of his words settled over me. He was right. I would have to notify the association. If something as simple and commonplace as lavender could protect hunters from being turned into a vampire...

“Wait, why would the shifter council care if you told me something to protect humans from being changed into vampires?”

“Because it affects shifters, too. Think of it as wolfsbane, but for all supernaturals.”

“Holy shit,” I murmured. This knowledge could change so much, save so many. He was right. I would absolutely share this information with the Hunters’ Association, but I wouldn’t put him in danger for helping me save Haven. I felt an odd sense of loyalty to the organization I left behind, but I also wouldn’t betray Dane just to help them. “Once I end this vamp, I’ll tell them that he was the one who told me about the lavender. That he tried to barter for his life with the information. They’ll believe it.” Hunters and supernaturals had been at war for thousands of years. They could last another week or so in the dark.

Just like that, I had another reason to kill Haven’s stalker.