Hunter Born, Page 3

be temporarily blinded and understandably pissed off. But if he really was a vampire . . .

  The door swung open and the man–no, the vampire–looked at Trudy, not unkindly. She stood frozen and she thought for a moment her paralysis had returned.

  “Can I help you?” He looked at her, his eyebrows crinkling.

  With exaggerated slowness, she held out the UV ball and pushed the slider until it stopped. Trudy squeezed her eyes shut as the brilliant flash of light went off. She heard a startled shout and felt a burst of heat. She stumbled backwards and fell hard onto her rear end into the damp grass.

  When she opened her eyes, a blanket of ashes lay across the open doorway. A small flame in the center of the pile flickered and went out as the last few ashes fluttered to the ground.

  She blinked.

  She pictured herself sitting in the wheelchair at Brian’s funeral seven months earlier.

  Then she broke into a huge grin.

  June 18, 2009

  “Liz! Sahib!” Trudy shouted as she practically skipped through Liz’s garage door to the command center they’d set up. Liz turned to look at her with a mix of relief and curiosity. Sahib stood and smiled, his skin puckering slightly over the scar that ran down the left side of his face.

  Trudy held the UV ball out in front of her on the palm of her hand. “It worked! It exceeded our greatest expectations! Its effect on the vampire was phenomenal.”

  With a triumphant shout, Sahib ran over and picked Trudy up, spinning her around as they whooped with glee. Liz jogged over and they embraced in a three-way hug. They pulled apart, their eyes shiny with exultant joy. Liz and Sahib felt almost like family now and their shared traumas at the hands of vampires brought them particularly close.

  “You’re a bona fide vampire hunter now. You made your first kill,” Liz said. “How does it feel?”

  “I . . . it feels . . .” Trudy’s voice drifted off. The vampire hadn’t seemed terribly threatening, but–

  “Trudy.” Liz grasped her by the shoulders. “You did the right thing.”

  “I know, but he was just sitting there, reading a book.”

  “Trudy.” Liz looked her right in the eye. “Axe murderers and child molesters read books, but they’re still monsters. You saved lives by killing that vampire. Brian would be proud of you.”

  “You’re right, of course,” Trudy said.

  “Good,” Liz said, stepping back. “Now, if you’re ready, I’ve got your next assignment. Check this out.” She walked to the desk at the back of the garage and picked up a newspaper. She handed it to Trudy and tapped one of the headlines.

  “Murder in the Adirondacks,” Trudy read out loud.

  “A brother and sister were camping early last week and the sister was killed in a random attack,” Liz summarized. “And guess what? The brother claims the killer was a vampire. Sound familiar?”

  Trudy skimmed over the rest of the article. “So you want me to track down this killer? Figure out if it was really a vampire?”

  “No. I want you to talk to the brother, Joe Paterson. See if you can bring him on board.”

  June 19, 2009

  It was a balmy Friday afternoon, and Trudy sat in her car across the street from the townhouse where Joe Paterson lived. She had his name from the newspaper article and had figured out his address. She’d also discovered he wasn’t home at the moment. Having no idea when he would return, she continued working on her crossword puzzle as she sweated in her car, waiting for him to make an appearance.

  Shortly after three o’clock, a man in his twenties with blond hair walked down the sidewalk and turned up the front steps of the townhouse. A thick layer of stubble covered his chin, and he walked with the heaviness of a man four times his size. Trudy empathized with the grief of his recent loss.

  He entered the house and she exited her car and crossed the street. Trudy climbed the steps to his front door and rang the doorbell. She waited for a moment, but there was no response.

  Leaning to her right, she could see in the window. The man sat on his couch, head resting in his hands.

  Trudy knocked. “Hello? Joe? I know you’re in there,” she called through the door. “Please, I’m not here to sell something or collect money for charity. We need to talk.”

  After a few moments, the door opened a crack and his haggard face peered out.

  “I know what happened to you last week,” she said. “My name is Trudy, and I believe you. I know that vampires are real because I survived a similar attack. Can I come in?”

  Joe stared at her for several seconds before stepping back to let her in.

  If only Brian could see her now, following a destiny she could never have imagined. Her new lot in life, as a vampire hunter.

  Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this story, be sure to check out the Darkness Trilogy, starting with Book One: Welcome to the Darkness.

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