Ordained (8 page)

“Once upon a time, we would infiltrate a nest, befriend the vampires and determine the best way to wipe them out. These days, we hunt bigger game and leave the vamps to you guys. We’d have to be pretty bored or come across a really large nest to even bother.”

“Oh,” said Emily, as if her mind was far away. Her face looked ready to pass out, tired and blank.

“Are you okay?” Abby asked. She did ask for this…

“Yeah,” she replied, unchanged. “It’s just – a lot of information to process. I had always considered this a possibility, but honestly, I never thought for one second there’d be any truth to it.”

Abby looked up and out through the glass dome. The night was still young, too early for her to turn in. Noel was already out for the night getting a feel for their new surroundings. She too wanted to go but he was insistent she speak with Emily first. She hadn’t had any fresh air in several nights. She yearned to be outside in the crisp, cool air.

Emily’s unexpected question pulled her back to the warm atmosphere of the conservatory. “So how did your kind originally become infected?”

“Same as legend says, bitten by a rare type of vampire bat. Most were accidental, like the cannibal, but a few were intentional.”

“Like you?” she pursued.

Abby answered with a quick lift of her eyebrows. “It wasn’t until the cannibal began turning people that we even realized we could infect others. Originally, for the mutated, it was a simple case of gingivitis that allowed the blood to transfer to the victims. After several mutations, they developed fangs.”

Emily’s face puckered as if she bit into a sour lemon. “Do you have the fangs?”

Abby chuckled. “No, none of the pure do.”

“Were you bitten by bats?” asked Emily, slightly disgusted at the newer thought.

“I wasn’t, but there’s an elder or two still alive that transformed that way.”

“And people think rabies are the worst thing you can get from an animal bite.”

Abby’s lips softened upward. “Don’t worry. After what happened with the cannibal, my kind hunted down and destroyed the bats. Noel and I were both infected by introducing the blood of a pure vampire into our bloodstream.”

“I don’t understand how that makes you immortal,” Emily said, befuddled.

“Join the club,” replied Abby. Truth was, her kind had spent millennia trying to figure it out. It was only with recent advancements in technology that they were able to more clearly define their unique characteristics.

“I’m not quite sure how it all works, but I’ll tell you what was told to me by our researcher. It has something to do with cellular apoptosis.”

Emily looked lost, dumbfounded. “Abby, this place taught us how to read and write, but it wasn’t meant to get us into college. I’m gonna need simple terms.”

“It means cell death. Every cell in the human body has some sort of self destruction button. If the cell is sick there are several possible ways for it to die. If it starts inside the cell, something called p53 is needed. If outside the cell, it’s necessary for lignands to bind to the cell wall. The blood from my line acts like a poison, causing every cell in the body to start the process for cellular death. But our blood also contains decoys in massive numbers. They’re blank forms of p53 and lignands. They attach, and since they don’t actually do anything, the cells can no longer kill themselves. It also seems to keep us from aging further. Noel and I are in what seems to be limbo, neither life or death progress any further.”

“Wow,” said Emily, looking completely taken aback. “That still went completely over my head.”

“Took a while for me to get it too,” Abby said reassuringly.

“Okay, I’m not a science person, but tell me this. You can keep your cells from dying but what about infection? Say your cells get sick and they can’t be replaced because they can’t die?”

“Look at you,” Abby said brightly. “Smarter than you know. Until recently, we didn’t know this is what our bodies were doing. Our kind rarely gets infections. Somewhere along the line, someone did get sick and decided to drain himself of the tainted blood. He had a transfusion done, pumped himself with some medicine and the infection seemed to go away.”

“Wouldn’t that kill you? Losing all your blood?”

Abby grinned. “If it did, that stupid mural in the front lobby would depict it as another option.”

“So how long have you guys been this way? Were you a pure vampire when you lived here?”

“I wasn’t, but Noel was turned back in the late 1700’s. He was on his first assignment in Romania when he found me wandering in a forest. I was three and all alone. He understood the mark of the hunter on my shoulder and brought me here. Thirteen years later he returned to collect me.”

“Why?” asked Emily, confused.

“He claimed guardianship when he dropped me off. He knew hunters were released into the world without guidance and wouldn’t leave me there to train if they didn’t approve his terms. I spent the next nine years working with Noel…until-”

“Eraticus,” interrupted Emily.

Abby nodded her head, her eyes gazing out into the foliage. She remembered it like it was yesterday. She too had the brooding monster seek her out. She could still feel the heavy pressure sitting upon her chest, suffocating her, the cold dark eyes staring down at her from less than a foot away. His breath was rank and hot. Sharp talons cut into her neck as he gripped her tight. She was beginning to lose consciousness from blood loss when she pulled that dagger from her boot and began swiping blindly.

“I lost,” Abby said solemnly. “Just like everyone else. But not before permanently scarring his left cheek.” Abby drew an imaginary slash mark on her cheek. “In retribution, he left me to die a slow death.”

“Giving Noel time to come in and infect you before passing on.”

“Lucky me,” sighed Abby.
Damned to life in darkness and solitude.

The thick, old-fashioned curtains in the library had been drawn by Emily to block all natural light. Abby felt relieved that Emily knew. They always had to be careful of their actions, careful not to reveal their vulnerabilities. It was only a matter of time before she figured it out and called them on it.

Abby was curled up against Noel on the sofa. They were trying to read an ancient book on the history of hunters. They were hoping to learn more about how a hunter became intertwined with the demon Morphus. The writing had faded and the flow of the language really slowed them down. Both were determined to continue, hoping it would mention something about the ordained huntress.

“Maybe we should call Sergei. See if he or one of our associates can decipher this for us,” Noel suggested.

Abby hated the idea of using their organization to help them out. She wasn’t sure who she could trust. Only two people within the organization knew of and approved all the members, their leader, Lord Gaius, and their recruiter, Nicodemus. They were told there were only about twenty pure vampires, but Abby was wary of the information given to them. Currently, she and Noel only knew a few. Sergei was a language specialist that was offered to them when they first started seeking information on Morphus. Barron was the scientist who tested and researched everyone’s blood in the group. He was introduced to Abby at his request due to a particular interest in her heritage. He was hoping to find the particular genes, if any, which were responsible for the attributes that made Abby destined to be a huntress. With her and Noel, that made up six out of the organization. Of those that remained, the only information ever given to her about their identities was that each offered a specific skill or expertise that could be called upon when required, never before.

Abby strained her eyes in a particularly worn out area on the page. She angled the table lamp underneath, trying to bring out the faded lines in the paper. “No. We can figure out enough to get the gist of it. We’re just having trouble seeing it. Maybe we can Xerox it. Make it darker.”

“Yeah, maybe.”

A loud thump turned both their heads toward the wall bookcase. Emily had been scanning the upper most shelves, removing each book to see if something may have fallen behind. Finally giving up, she had jumped a few feet to the floor.

“You know, Chancellor Moore has his own private collection in his office. Anything useful is probably in there.”

“These books are useful. You just have to know what to look for,” stated Noel, his eyes returning to the book.

“I’m just saying, ask the Chancellor for his collection. You’re here to help. He should be willing to share.”

“Yeah, cause he looks like a sharing kind of guy. I’m sure he’ll jump right on that,” replied Abby sardonically.

At that moment, Darby entered the library with Mira. Both appeared to be in their mid twenties.
So young
, thought Abby. Emily had been the same age when they met two years back, but she seemed more mature than these two; stronger, more confident.

Darby had a beautiful glow to her lightly tinted skin. She had long blonde hair tied loosely in the back and eyes as blue as the sea. Mira, on the other hand, was far plainer. Sallow skin, mousy brown hair and unspectacular brown eyes - if ever there were a plain Jane, Mira was it.

Both came to about five foot five and had a lean, healthy weight. Surely flexible, they seemed to have little muscle mass. This astonished Abby. All of the current female hunters were far lighter and less dense than Abby and the women from her time period. Abby stuck out like a sore thumb. She dearly wanted to feed them all.

Emily was one of the more attractive huntresses. And she was the only huntress that had some weight. Probably due to the extensive workouts she was put through since they met. That and an appetite for red meat she curved on a daily basis.

“There you are. We’ve been looking everywhere for you,” Darby said to Emily.

“It’s time to go,” added Mira, tapping her watch.

“Where are you guys going?” Noel asked.

“To the festival down in town,” answered Emily.

She didn’t seem too enthused. Abby had a feeling she was bullied into going by two very neglected friends.

“It has your typical stuff. Carnival, rides, fireworks.” Mira’s eyes lit up at the very thought of it. She probably didn’t get out much. With uncertainty, she added, “Do you guys wanna come?”

“What’s the weather like?” Abby wasn’t really interested. She had far more pressing matters on her mind.

She immediately regretted asking. Mira flung open the shades and sunlight streamed in right up to the edge of the sofa. Abby and Noel jolted backwards, jerking their legs into their chests. Emily’s mouth dropped open in shock, only silently laughing once she realized the sun was a foot shy of reaching them.

Luckily, Mira and Darby were too engrossed with the view to see their reactions. Abby and Noel had settled down again before they turned back.

“Beautiful. Not a cloud in the sky.”

“I see that,” replied Abby. “Maybe I’ll meet up with you guys later tonight.”

“You’re sure?” asked Darby. “It should be really fun.”

“Yeah. Truth is, with red hair, pale skin and freckles, I’m a little allergic to the sun.”

“Oh, we’ve got sun block,” offered Darby quickly.

Noel chuckled. “Yeah, that’ll help.” He never even looked up from the book.

“That’s okay, really,” affirmed Abby.

“Sun block with SPF 1000 would still burn her,” added Noel.

“It’s true. Literally fire-red,” said Emily, waving spirit fingers as if they were flames.

“Well, okay. Maybe we’ll see you tonight then.”

“I’ll meet you guys at the back in five, okay?” declared Emily.

After pleasantries were exchanged and the girls had left, Emily closed the curtains again.

“Thank you,” said Noel.

“Not a problem. But you might want to push that sofa a little further back.” She smiled as she left the room.

“Holy hell!” cried Noel, stretching out from his scrunched-up position.

“There is no way in hell we can predict each and every one of their actions before they do something like that.”

They readjusted themselves on the sofa to more comfortable positions.

“You realize we almost blew our cover right then, right?”

“It’s only Emily. We’ve told her one secret, one more wouldn’t kill us.”