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Vol.1 Vampire Hunter D 13 ñòðàíèöàThat was why he shouted, "Damn"—Rei-Ginsei realized D had noticed the way he'd adjusted the speed of his leap so his chest would be right where the Hunter could stab it. After all. a single thrust through the same vital spot as vampires could kill dhampirs too. Still, why had he resorted to such an outrageous tactic—allowing himself to be stabbed to kill his opponent? Rei-Ginsei was a dimension-twister; through his own willpower, he could make a four-dimensional passageway in any part of his body but his arms and legs and link it with the body of his foe. In other words, when his foe attacked him, the bullets and blades that broke his skin would all travel through extra-dimensional space into the body of his assailant, where they would become real again. A bullet that was supposed to go through his heart would explode from the chest of the person that fired it; bringing a vicious blade down on his shoulder would only split your own. What attack could be more efficient than that? After all, he simply had to stand there, let his attackers do as they pleased, and his foes would die by their own hands. But Rei-Ginsei leapt away. A belly wound wasn't life threatening for a dhampir, and he was badly wounded himself "I'll see to it you pay for my left hand another time!" he could be heard to say from somewhere in the bushes, and then he was gone without a trace. "D, it's all right now—oh, you're bleeding!" Ignoring Dan's cries as the boy ran over to him, D used his sword like a cane and got right up. "I don't have time to chase after him. Dan, where's the north woods?" "I'll show you the way. But it'll take three hours to ride there from here." The boy's voice was filled with boundless respect and concern. The sun was already poised to dip beneath the edge of the prairie. The world would be embraced by darkness in less than thirty minutes. "Any shortcuts?" "Yep. There is one, but it cuts right through some mighty tough country. There are fissures, and a huge swamp..." D gazed steadily at the boy's face. "What do you say we give it a shot?" "Sure!"
Death of a Vampire Hunter
Chapter 7
I t was Greco who'd used the Time-Bewitching Incense to save Doris. The morning after he eavesdropped on the conversation between Rei-Ginsei and the Count, Greco had one of the thugs who usually watched out for him pose as a visitor and call Rei-Ginsei down from his hotel room to the lobby. The thug was gone before Rei-Ginsei got there, however, and by the time Rei-Ginsei returned to his room, the Time-Bewitching Incense had been replaced with an ordinary candle that looked just like it. With the incense in his possession, Greco had kept watch on Dr. Ferringo's house, and when the vampire-physician left with Doris, he'd followed after them but kept far enough back so they wouldn't notice. He intended to rescue Doris and bind her fast with the shackles known as obligation. And, if the fates were kind, he would also slay their feudal lord, the Count. In one fell swoop, he would become a big man in town, and he had ambitions of heading to the Capital. The fact that he had single-handedly dispatched a Noble would clearly be his greatest selling point to the Revolutionary Government, and his best chance to win advancement into their leadership. However, the situation had changed somewhat. The buggy was supposed to go straight to the Count, but it had stopped when a girl in white suddenly appeared, and on top of that, the very same girl staked Dr. Ferringo. No longer sure exactly what was going on, Greco was convinced that something had gone wrong. He got closer to the wagon. Seeing the vampiress and her lurid expression as she prepared to sink her claws into Doris' throat, he'd given the Time-Bewitching Incense a desperate shake. Timid at first, when he saw Larmica writhing in agony and he approached the buggy with his head held high. The incense was in his left hand. In his right hand, he was gripping a foot-long stake of rough wood so fiercely that it pressed into his fingers. Stakes were everyday items on the Frontier. The ten-banger pistol bolstered at his waist with the safety off, and the large-bore heat-rifle stuck through the saddle of the horse he'd tethered in the trees, were for dealing with the Nobility's underlings. His beloved combat suit was in the shop for repairs, just like most of his flunkies' gear. "Oh," Doris groaned as she got up. In her writhing, Larmica must've struck some part of Doris' body and brought her around. Her eyes were torpid for a brief moment, but they opened wide as soon as she noticed Larmica. Then she looked at Dr. Ferringo s body, lying on the ground not far from the buggy, and at Greco and said, "Doc... why in the world?...What are you doing way out here?" "So that's the thanks I get," Greco said, clambering up into the backseat of the buggy. You know, I kept that bitch from making chunky splatter out of you. I followed you out here from town in the dark of night. You'd think that'd win a little favor from you." "Did you kill Doc, too?" Doris' voice shook with sorrow and rage. "What, are you kidding? The bitch did it. Although, it did making rescuing your ass a little easier." Being careful not to let the tiny flame go out, Greco moved Larmica into the backseat with his other hand. The young lady in white curled up under the seat without offering the slightest resistance. Not only was she deathly still, but she also seemed to have stopped breathing. "That's the Count's daughter. Was she responsible for turning Doc into a vampire, too?" "No, that was the Count. See, he attacked him last night so he could use him to lure you out here." Greco quickly shut his mouth, but it was too late. Doris stared at him with fire in her eyes. "And just how the hell do you know all this? You knew he was gonna be attacked and you didn't even tell him, did you? You dirty bastard! What do you mean you saved me? You're only looking out for yourself!" "Shut your damn mouth, you!" Turning away from her burning gaze, Greco reasserted himself. "How dare you go talkin' to me that way after I saved your life. We can hash that out later. Right now, we've got to decide what to do about her." "Do about her?" Doris knit her brow. "Sure. As in, do we kill her or use her as a bargaining chip to negotiate with the Count." "What!? Are you serious?" "Dead serious. And don't act like this don't concern you. I'm doing all this for you." Doris was in a daze as she watched the young tough make one preposterous statement after another. Then her nose twitched ever so slightly She'd caught the scent of the Time-Bewitching Incense. Come to think of it, the moonlit night felt strangely like a brilliant, sunny day. Greco said with pride, "The perfume in this candle is to thank. The Nobility has them, and apparently they can change day into night and vice versa. As long as it's lit, the bitch can't move a muscle and the Nobility can't come near us--which is what got me thinking. It'd be so easy to kill her, but considering how she's the Count's daughter, there'd be hell to Pay later. So, we take her hostage to set up a trade, then take the Count's life, too, if all goes well." "Could you... could you really do that?" Her plaintiv made Greco's lips twist lewdly, and when Doris averted her she saw the pale face of Larmica as she lay beneath the backseat breathing feebly. Larmica was lovely, and didn't look very far in age from "Noble or not, there ain't a parent out there who don't "Er, forget I mentioned it." In his heart, Greco thumbed his nose at her. "At any rate, if we kill' em, the two of us will get the Noble's stuff—their fortune, weapons, ammo, everything! All for the huge service to humanity we'll be doing." "But this woman... she hasn't done anything to anyone in the village," Doris said vehemently, sifting through everything she could remember hearing since childhood. "Open your eyes. A Noble's a Noble. They're all bloodsucking Doris was dumbstruck. This coarse thug had just said Larmica. "What's that?" Greco sneered down at her in his overbearing manner, but her expression was so utterly ghastly it took his breath away. Even as she was subjected to the agony of her body burning in the midday sun, she showed incredible willpower. "Father... is not so foolish he would exchange his life for my own. And I will not be a pawn in your trade... Kill me... If you don't... I shall kill you both someday..." "You bitch!" Greco's face seemed to boil with anger and fear, and then he raised his stake. As a rule, he hadn't had much self-restraint to start with. "Stop it! You can't do that to a defenseless person!" As she spoke, Doris grabbed his arm. The two of them struggled in the buggy. Strength was in Greco's favor, but Doris had fighting skills imparted to her by her father. Suddenly letting go of his arm, she planted her left foot firmly and put the full force of her body behind a roundhouse kick that exploded against Greco's breastbone. "Oof!" The cramped buggy, with its unsteady footing, was too much for him. Greco reeled back, caught his leg on the door, and fell out of the vehicle. Not even looking at where the dull thud came from, Doris got out of her seat and tried to talk to Larmica. "Don't worry, I'm not gonna let that jerk do anything to you. But I can't very well just send you on your merry way, either. You know who I am, right? You'll have to come back to my house with me. We'll figure out what to do about you there." A low chuckle that seemed to rise from the bowels of the earth cut off all further comment from Doris. "You are free to try what you will, but I won't be going anywhere." Doris thought her spine had turned to ice when she saw the beautiful visage look up at her, paler than moonlight and filled now by an evil grin of confidence. She didn't know what had just happened. When Greco had fallen from the buggy, the Time-Bewitching Incense had gone out! Larmica caught hold of Doris' hand with a grip as cold as ice. In the darkness, Doris' eyes made out pearly fangs poking over the lips of the child of night as she got to her feet. Doris was pulled closer with such brute strength Greco couldn't even begin to compare. She couldn't move at all. Larmica's breath had the scent of flowers. Flowers nourished with blood. Two silhouettes, two faces overlapped into one. "Aaaagh!" A scream stirred the darkness, and then was gone. Trembling, Larmica shielded her face. There in the dark she'd seen it. No, she'd felt it. Felt the pain of the same holy mark of the cross her father had seen on the girl's neck two days earlier! It would make its sudden appearance only when the breath of a vampire fell on it. The vampires themselves didn't know why they feared it. All that was certain was that even without seeing it their skin could feel its presence. In that instant some nameless force bound them. This was the mark they couldn't allow humans to know about, something that had supposedly sunk into the watery depths of forgetfulness thanks to ages of ingenious psychological manipulation—so how could this girl have the holy mark on her neck? Though Doris didn't understand why Larmica—who'd enjoyed an overwhelming advantage until a second earlier—had suddenly lost her mind, she surmised that she'd been saved. Now she had to run! "Greco, you all right?" "Hurry up and get in! If you don't get your ass in gear I'll Doris finally noticed a man wearing an Inverness standing in front of the horses and holding them by their bridles. For some time now, a number of figures had been standing at the edge of the woods. "As the doctor was late, I thought something might be amiss, and my suspicions proved correct," one of the silhouettes said in a voice of barely suppressed rage. It was the Count. Though her heart was sinking into hopelessness, Doris was still the same warrior woman who'd bitterly resisted the Count all along. Seeing that the whip Doc had taken from her earlier was lying on the seat beside her, Doris snatched it up and swung it at the man in the inverness. "Huh?" Doris cried, and the man—Garou—grinned broadly. She was sure she'd split the side of his face open, but he bobbed his head out of the way and caught the end of the whip between his teeth. Grrrrri With a bestial growl he—it—started chewing up Doris' whip, a weapon that had stood up to swords without a problem. "You're a werewolf," Doris shouted in surprise. "That's correct," the Count responded. "He serves me, but unlike me he is rather hot-blooded. Another thing you may wish to consider—I told him that, should you give us any trouble, he had my permission to hurt you. It might be amusing to see a bride missing some fingers and toes." Suddenly a boom rang out. Still flat on his ass on the ground, Greco had fired off his ten-banger. High-power powder—the type that could easily punch a hole through the armor of larger creatures—enveloped the Count and those near him in flames. The Count didn't even glance at Greco, and the flames were promptly swallowed by the darkness. Such was the power of the Count's force field. "Raaarrrrrt!" The werewolf snarled at Greco. Halfway through its transformation, it glared at Greco with blood-red eyes. Greco gave a squeal and froze. White steam rose from the crotch of his pants. Fear had gotten the better of his bladder, but who could blame him? Doris' shoulders sank. The last bit of will she possessed was thoroughly uprooted. "Father..." Larmica drifted down to the ground like a breeze. With glittering eyes, the Count gave her a hard look and said, "I have an excellent idea of what you were trying to do. Daughter or not, this time I'll not let you get away with it. You shall be punished on our return to the castle. Now stand back!" Ignoring Larmica as she headed silently to the rear, the Count extended a hand to Doris. "Well, now, you had best come with me." Doris bit her lip. "Don't be so pleased with yourself! No matter what happens to me, D is gonna send you all to the hereafter." "Is he really?" The Count forced a smile. "Right about now the stripling and your younger brother are both being taken care of by our mutual acquaintances. In a fair fight, he might have prevailed, but 1 gave his foes a secret weapon." "Father..." From the tree line to the Count's rear, Larmica pointed to where Greco crouched on the ground. "That man had Time-Bewitching Incense." "What!" Even through the darkness the sudden contortion of the Count's face was clear. "That cannot be. I gave it to Rei-Ginsei." Here he paused for a beat, and after closely scrutinizing his daughter's face said, "I can see that you speak the truth—which means the stripling is—" "Correct." A low voice made all who stood there shrink in fear. The Count looked over his shoulder again, and Doris' eyes darted in the same direction—toward Larmica. Or rather, toward something looming from the trees to her back. A figure of unearthly beauty. "I'm right here." A groan that fell short of speech spilled from the Count's throat. Never did I imagine this rogue might come back alive... If Time-Bewitching Incense hadn't played its pivotal role in the duel, the Hunter's survival was far from impossible. But unless he had an aircraft of some sort, it should've taken D another hour by horse to cover the distance from the site of his duel with Rei-Ginsei. And yet D was here. He had been one with the darkness, and neither the Count's night-piercing gaze nor the three-dimensional radar of the robot sentries had detected him. The robot sentries turned in D's direction, but an attack was impossible, of course. Don't try anything funny—I'll show her no mercy." Garou was just about to pounce on Doris when a low but not particularly rough voice stopped him in his tracks. "Doris, you and what's-your-name—bring the wagon over here. Be quick about it!" "Ye—yessir" Doris answered dreamily, not just because of the relief she felt in being rescued, but because D had called her by name for the first time ever. "Garou, grab the girl," the Count commanded sharply. As the black figure prepared once again to leap up into the buggy. it was buffeted with another castrating voice—Doris'. "You come near me and I'll bite my tongue off!" The werewolf snarled loudly and stopped. So many irritations. Greco flopped into the buggy. "I'm prepared to die before I'd ever become one of your kind. If it's gotta be here and now, that won't bother me." The threats of an insignificant human—a mere girl of seventeen—silenced the Count. To all appearances, D and Doris had won this outré encounter. The Count was obsessed with Doris, and would have her at any price. Conversely, if Doris were to die, that would be the end of everything. "We shall settle this another time." The buggy stirred the night air as it sped to D's side, and the Count put his arm around Larmica's shoulder for the first time. The next instant, the two figures nimbly made their way up into the buggy. What was astonishing about this whole encounter was that D never even touched the sword on his back. Even when he'd taken Larmica hostage, he hadn't threatened her with his blade. Larmica had moved to the back as her father ordered, and the second she sensed D's presence behind her, she found she couldn't move a muscle. She was paralyzed by the overwhelming aura that radiated from him—one that the superhuman senses of vampires alone could fully appreciate. The same aura had prevented the Count and Garou from raising a hand against him. "What do you intend to do with my daughter?" the Count called out to D, who kept a steady gaze trained on him and his party from the backseat of the buggy. There was no reply "The little imbecile has crossed me at every turn and cost me the chance of a lifetime—I no longer consider her my daughter. Let her lie in the sun till decay takes her to the marrow of her bones! His words were unthinkably harsh for a father, but then, on the whole, the vampire race had extremely dilute notions ot love and consideration, compared to human beings. Quite possibly it was this trait that had both led them to the heights of prosperity and guided them to their eventual downfall. When her father's words reached her ears, Larmica didn't even raise an eyebrow. "Doc, we'll come back for you later!" Following Doris' sorrowful cry, the buggy took off. After they'd gone a short way across the plains, they could hear a horse whinnying up ahead. Apparently, whoever was out there had noticed them. "Who's that? Is that you, Sis?!" "Dan! You're all right, are you?!" Doris asked, her voice nearly weeping as she drove the buggy over to her brother. He was on horseback. And he held the reins to a second horse. That one had been Rei-Ginsei's, and they'd brought it for Doris. They'd planned on having her ride home with them, but unfortunately they'd picked up some unwanted baggage. The whole reason D had taken Doris and Greco out in the buggy was to solve their transportation problems. "I'm going to lighten our load. You two get on the horse. Dan, you come over here with me." By "you two" he meant Doris and Greco. Because so many of the things that'd been happening were beyond his comprehension, Greco felt like his brains were half scrambled, so he followed orders without the slightest protest. The transfers were effected in a matter of seconds. "Are you sure you can still handle the buggy if you've got her riding with you?" Doris asked from her seat in the saddle. The real question was: how many present noticed the jealousy in her voice? D made no answer, but silently lashed the horses with Doris' whip. The wind howled in the girl's ears as the forest and fiends were left further and further behind. "Dan, you weren't hurt, were you?" Doris barely squeezed the question out as she rode alongside them. They were going full speed to keep the Count from catching up, and the wheels of the buggy spun wildly. "Not a bit. I was gonna ask you the same thing—hey, of course you're fine. D's on the job. He wouldn't let anyone harm a hair on your head." "No, I suppose he wouldn't," Doris concurred, her eyes full of joy. "I wish you could've seen it," Dan said loudly. "It took him less than fifteen seconds each to get rid of them freaks. It's too bad the last one got away, but that couldn't be helped with D being hurt and all." "Huh? Was he really?" It was understandable that Doris grew pale, but why Larmica suddenly looked over at D from her seat was unclear. "Hunters are really great, though. He got stabbed through the gut and it didn't even bother him—good ol' D rode through the roughest country with me on the back and pulling another horse behind us. You should've seen it. When D had the reins, them darned horses would jump right over the biggest crevice or a swamp full of giant leeches without batting an eye. Oh yeah, and they wouldn't stop no matter how steep the grade got—I'm gonna have him teach me all that horse and sword stuff later!" "Oh, that's great. You pay good attention when he does now..." Doris' words were exuberant, but the power petered out of them and they were shredded by the wind. Perhaps her maiden instincts had given her some hint of how their story was going to end. Deathly still and watching the darkness ahead, Larmica "What did you say?.'" Doris was the picture of rage. She realized the vampiress was referring to D. Larmica didn't even look at the girl, but bloody flames fairly shot from her eyes as she stared at D's frigid profile. "You have skill and power enough to intimidate Father and myself, but you have forgotten your proud Noble blood. You feel some duty to the humans—worse yet, you are foolish enough to serve them by hunting us. I feel polluted simply speaking to you. Father wouldn't bother to follow you this far. Slay me here!" Shut up! We don't take orders from prisoners,' Doris roared. "What have you high-ranking Noble types done to us? Just because you wanna feed, because you want hot human blood, you bite into the throats of folks who never did you any harm and make them vampires. They just turn around and attack the family that loved them—in the end, their family has to drive a stake through their heart. Demons is what you are. You're the Devil Do you have any idea how many people die every year, parents and children crying out to their loved ones as they're killed in tidal waves and earthquakes caused by the weather controllers your kind runs?" Doris spat the accusations at her like a gob of blood, but Larmica just smiled coolly. "We are the Nobility—the ruling class. The rulers are entitled to take such measures to ensure the rebellious feelings of the lower class are kept in check. You should consider yourself lucky we even allowed your race to continue." And then, with a long gaze at Greco as he brooded and raced along on his horse, she said, "Indeed, we will attack your kind to drink but a single drop of sweet blood. But what has that man done? I heard. For wanting you, he did nothing to warn that decrepit old man, even when he knew he was to be attacked, did he not?" Doris couldn't find a thing to say. Larmica's voice continued to dominate the night. "But I do not condemn him for that," she laughed. "To the contrary, the man is to be lauded. Is it not appropriate to sacrifice others to satisfy our own desires? The strong rule the weak, and the superior leave the inferior in the dust—that is the great principle that governs the cosmos. There are many among you who seem to share our point of view." "Ha ha ha," Doris suddenly laughed back mockingly. "Don't make me laugh. If you're such great rulers then what do you want with me?" Now it was Larmica's turn to be silenced. "I heard something, too. It made me sick to hear it, but it seems your rather wants to make me his bride. Every night he comes sniffing around my place like a dog in heat, and I turn him down—you'd think he'd be tired of it by now. The Nobility must be hard-pressed for women. Or is it something else? Could it be your father's just weirder than the rest?" The killing lust in Larmica's eyes was like a heat ray that flew at Doris' face. Not to be outdone, Doris met it with a sho of sparks from her own hatred. It was as if there was a titanic spray of invisible embers between the galloping horse and racing buggy when their eyes locked. Suddenly, D pulled back on the reins. "Oh!" Doris gasped as she hastened to stop her horse as well. Greco alone was at a loss as to what to do, but then he decided staying with them any longer would only make matters worse, and he rushed away into the darkness. Though no one was quite sure what he was doing, all of them followed D's lead, dismounting when he climbed down from the buggy. Larmica quickly turned to face the other three. "What do you intend to do?" Larmica asked. "As you yourself said, we've gone far enough the Count won't give chase. Now all we have to do is deal with you," D said softly. A tense hue raced into Larmica's face, and then into those of Doris and Dan. "I've been hired to keep her safe. Therefore, I'll have to slay your father. But anything else is another matter--meaning I now need my employer to decide what to do about you. Well?" His final "Well?" had been directed at Doris. She was perplexed. They'd just been arguing a few seconds earlier. She'd thought she hated the vampiress enough to kill her, but the girl she saw looked like a beautiful, defenseless young lady about own age. This daughter of the detestable Nobility. If not for her family, me and Dan would be living in peace now—I wanna kill her. I've got it. I can give her nvy whip and have her fight D. That'd be fair. If we gave her a chance like that, there'd be nothing to be ashamed about. "What do you want to do?" D asked. Slay me, Larmica said with eyes ablaze. And then Doris shook her head. "Let her go. I don't have it in me to murder. I couldn't do that to her, even if she's a Noble..." D turned to Dan. "What about you?" "It's plain as day, ain't it? I couldn't do nothing as low as cutting down a woman in cold blood--and you couldn't either, could you?" Then the Langs saw a smile spread across D's face. For years after, even for decades after, the two of them would remember D's expression, and take pride in the fact they were responsible for it. It was just such a smile. "Well, there you have it. You'd best go now." And with that D turned his back to Larmica, but she flung abuse at him anyway. 'The stupidity of the lot of you amazes me. Do not delude yourselves that I am in any way grateful. I will make you rue your decision to set me free! Had I been in your position, I would have had you slaughtered like a sow. And your brother as well." Äàòà äîáàâëåíèÿ: 2015-09-27 | Ïðîñìîòðû: 397 | Íàðóøåíèå àâòîðñêèõ ïðàâ |