The Hunters: Chapter Three

The Hunters

~03~

The Fallen Dhampir

Ebil eye!

The planet had lost most of its vegetation in a great war that destroyed almost everything. Most of the planet’s surface was desert and most of the livable cities; towns and villages were spread far apart. Walking in most instances was a sure way to die.

A motorcycle drove through a desert on route to the city Blye. There were two riders. One was a man in his twenties and the other was a girl no older than twelve. The man wore a long black jacket over his attire. He wore a black sleeveless shirt and loose black jeans. His metal toed black mid-calf boots had several buckles on them. He also wore black leather fingerless gloves. White shoulder length hair was blown back as they road forward. A long claymore was strapped to his back. The guard was a circle with a line horizontal.

The girl was similar. She too had white hair but the length was to her mid back. Two black bows adorned the sides of her head just above her ears. She wore a black dress with the length up to her knees. A black bow was sewn at the base of raided collar above three black buttons on a white surface dipping from one shoulder to the other. The lowest point of the white portion was to her mid chest. She also wore white sock stockings and flat black shoes with bows on the toes. Around her waist was a white belt. Attached to the belt, were two holsters carrying two silver guns. Both the girl and the man wore a set of goggles to keep the wind and sand out of their eyes.

The sun was high overhead when a small village came into view. The man looked down at the gas meter. The gage was pointing near empty. He turned the bike off the beaten path and headed toward the village.

“Where are we going?” the girl asked out loud as she sat behind the man.

“We’re not going to make it to Blye on one tank,” the man replied, “We’ll see if we can trade something’s for some extra gas.”

The girl gripped tighter around his waist, “Can we stop somewhere else?”

The man slowed to a stop, “Do you see anywhere else?”

The girl shook her head.

“Exactly,” the man started the bike again, “It won’t take long. I promise.”

The girl stayed quiet as the pair rode in to the village. The village was quiet and looked deserted. They pulled up into a gas station and the man turned the motorcycle off. He dismounted the bike and took off his goggles. His eyes were vivid shade of blue. He looked around the abandoned gas station.

“Hello?” he called out.

The girl stayed on the motorbike and took off her goggles. Her red eyes looked at the nearby buildings.

“Hey, is there anyone here?” the man called out again.

“Dante, can we go now?” the girl asked.

The man, Dante, looked at the girl. They had only known each other for a few months now. Undertaker, by the Organizations command, sent Dante out to one of the coastal cities to deal with a vampire. He found the vampire alright but not before she killed her Elite husband. After a rough fight, the vampire had him trapped. With his weapons lost or destroyed, Dante was helpless. That was when the little girl showed up. She drove Dante’s sword, Executioner, through her mother’s stomach. Ever since then, the girl has become his partner. He even bought her weapons of her own.

Dante felt a connection with the girl. They were both considered Fallen, a being half Elite and half something else. Dante was half human and was blessed to have one Elite power. The girl who was half vampire seemed to have at least two abilities; one from her vampire side and the other from her Elite side.

He sighed, “We’ll go in a minute.”

He walked to the gas pump and somehow got it working by kicking it a little. Dante filled the tank. He crossed his arms and waited.

“Dante—”

“What is it, Ai!? We’ll be going soon!” Dante snapped.

Ai silently pointed in the direction of the old gas station building. Dante turned. There was a man standing a few feet away. He smiled at the two visitors.

“Hello, there!” he waved,” Sorry I didn’t answer you call sooner. With all the monsters running around you can’t be too careful.”

Dante nodded, “That’s fine. We didn’t know if anyone lived here. We’ll pay for the gas.”

The man walked a little closer, “Are you Hunters?”

Dante instinctively reached up for his claymore, “Don’t take another step. I’d hate to kill you by accident.”

The man stepped back, “Oh sorry about that! I just never have seen real life hunters. Just stories, you know. What brings you to our village?”

“An empty tank,” Dante answered.

“That’s true,” the man laughed, “I mean, where are you going that you need to go through Willowfalls?”

“Willowfalls?” Dante looked around.

The man nodded, “Yeah, before the war this place was just on the outskirts of a willow grove. My great grandfather told me about it. Wish I was old enough to remember what it looked like before the war.”

“Sounds beautiful,” Dante stated.

The pump gave a ‘thunk’ indicating that the tank was full. Dante put the nozzle back and reached for his wallet.

“How much do I owe you?” Dante asked

“Your life will do, I think,” the man laughed and charged at Dante.

There was a loud ‘bang’ that cut through the relative silence of the village. Dante sighed as he looked over the man. The man’s nails had grown sharp and his fangs could be seen as well. A hole was in the center of his forehead. As he started to turn to dust Dante turned and looked at Ai. She held one of the silver guns with a steady hand even though the gun looked too heavy for one of her size.

“Level 6 demon,” Ai said without much emotion. Since she was half vampire she could identify others easily.

“Good eye, Ai,” Dante walked back to the bike, “Let’s get out of here.”

“No,” Ai stated.

Dante looked at her, “Why? You were saying moments ago that you wanted to—”

“The gun was too loud, “Ai explained, “They all hear it. They all know we’re here.”

“They?” Dante groaned, “I don’t have time for this.”

Doors started opening slowly and curtains were drawn back to look at the two Hunters. Ai got off the bike casually.

She looked up at Dante, “Three more demons and a lot of ghouls.”

“Ghouls? Then there must be a vampire somewhere,” Dante looked at her, “Do you know where he is?”

Ai shook her head, “I can’t locate her yet, I need some time.”

“Her? Great,” Dante muttered, “What, did we kill her husband or something?”

At this point, the ghouls were already walking mindlessly in the street. A shadow flew over them as a feathered winged demon flew in circles above them. Another demon with bulging muscles walked up the main road. Every step he took shook the neighboring buildings. The third was more lizard-like in nature. It crawled up the sides of buildings, its tail trailing behind.

“What do we have here?” the winged demon perched on the apex of a building. Feathers covered her body and served as her clothes. She smiled revealing rows of sharp teeth.

“Level 5 demon,” Ai said quietly.

“Don’t know, Lexi. Looks like a few Hunters lost their way. What do you think, Zor?” the lizard spoke. His forked tongue slithered in and out of his mouth. He laughed similar to a hyenas laugh. His nails were black claws and his tails swayed back and forth, the sun reflected off the blades shooting off.

Ai looked at him a moment, “Level 4 demon.”

“Da, they look like a few going to be dead Hunters, Sep!” the large giant laughed. His skin looked tough like armor.  He was at least seven feet tall but from the looks of things he was the brawn not the brains of their group.

“Level 5 demon,” Ai reported.

“Found the vampire yet?” Dante asked.

“No,” Ai looked up at Dante, “May I borrow Executioner?”

Dante smiled, “That was just what I was thinking.”

He gripped the hilt of his claymore and set the sword down. Ai gave him her guns and lifted the sword with ease. She inherited the unnatural strength of a vampire from her mother.

“So you killed Merve,” Lexi screeched from her perch, “You’re going to have to pay for that.”

Dante barely listened, “You go after Miss Level 5.”

“Understood,” Ai nodded.

Sep hissed, “At least you’ll feed our appetite. We haven’t had anything to eat in a few days.”

“I’ll take care of that one,” Dante whispered, “Stay off the ground. The third one looks like trouble. We’ll deal with him later. Watch out for the ghouls. Controlled by the right vampire and they can cause a lot of trouble.”

“I know,” Ai sighed with boredom.

“Rahhhhhhh!!” the one called Zor ran toward them.

Dante and Ai jumped apart. Dante rolled to one side and as Zor ran past and into the building. He raised the two guns, Judge and Jury, and fired them at the lizard demon. The demon slithered out of the way of any bullets. Zor recovered and charged at Dante again. Dante turned and ran with the demon behind him. When Zor pulled back his arm, Dante ducked to one since. The ground where he just stood was crushed. Quickly, Dante ran up Zor’s arm and from there jumped to a roof. Lexi cackled at what was going on.

Ai rolled to her feet. She watched a moment as Dante made his way to the roof. A quiet groan brought her back to what was going on. She swung Executioner around cutting three ghouls in her proximity. 

“Ooh! The little miss knows how to use a butter knife!” Lexi laughed, “Very good! It wouldn’t have been any fun otherwise!”

Ai grabbed the sword firmly as she tried to control her anger. She charged forward hacking a path for herself. Zor turned slowly and looked at Dante on the store roof. Angered he punched the wall causing part of the roof to collapse. Dante ran on the roof as the floor beneath him gave way. Lexi raised a hand above her head and formed a type of spear. She threw it at Dante who somehow managed to dodge it and keep on running as the ceiling fell due to Zor’s attacks.

Dante fired upon Sep. The slippery demon slid out of the way of the bullets. Sep smiled at the failed attack as he stood on another roof. Dante was running out of roof. He took a deep breath and jumped off the edge and landed on another roof. Dante fired several shots at his target that was on a neighboring roof but all of them missed. There was a click as both guns an out of ammo. He pressed the magazine release and the magazines fell to the ground. Dante ducked behind some cover and pulled out two new magazines from his coat.

Confused on what to do next, Zor looked around aimlessly.

Lexi rolled her eyes, “Crush the girl! I’d love to see her brother cry!”

“He isn’t—” she paused as she lifted Executioner from her last attack, “my brother.”

Zor turned in Ai’s direction. Ai cleared the area of a few more ghouls before facing the boulder of a demon. She held the sword in one hand and pointed it at Zor. One of Ai’s eyes changed color from red to gold. The round guard of the sword suddenly opened along the line. A red eye looked out from the guard of the sword; a black narrow iris looked around at its surroundings. Zor charged at the girl.

Ai pointed at the sword at the roof of the gas pumps. Ghouls were closing in around her and Zor was coming in with 500 pounds of pure muscle. Ai tightened her grip on the sword.

“It won’t do you much good,” she said simply.

The sword broke off in to segments and shot off toward the roof. Upon impact the sword contracted again pulling Ai out of the way of Zor’s charge. Zor crashed into the building Lexi was perched upon, destroying a lot of ghouls in the process. The impact sent the building crashing down. Lexi spread her wings and flew into the air. Ai stood on top of the roof. She held Executioner with one hand, it returned to its sword form with the eye still looking around.

Ai looked up at the flying demon. She whipped the sword over her head, the sword again breaking into segments. Ai cracked her weapon like a whip. She screamed as she circled the sharp whip around and sent it in the direction of Lexi. The tip of the whip circled around the woman’s leg, the sharp ends digging into her skin. The demon cried in pain. Ai held on to the sword hilt and stood her ground.

Dante looked at the new bullets in the new magazines. The tip of each bullet was colored red. He smiled and loaded his guns.

“Let’s see how you like this,” he said.

He emerged from his cover and fired several shots. Sep stepped to one side. The bullet tuned slightly and struck the demon in the side. Surprised and in pain, Sep looked down. Three other bullets struck him head on, one in the shoulder and two in the abdomen. The demon charged at Dante. His claws were raiser sharp. Dante stepped back, ducked and dodged, trying to get a clear shot to fire. Sep turned suddenly; his tail tore at Dante’s legs and pulled them out from under him.

Dante fell on his back and Sep leaped upon him. Jury was knocked out of Dante’s left hand. Dante raised his right arm to protect himself as Sep bit down with his fangs. Sep pushed Dante’s right hand against his left shoulder making the gun he still had useless. With his other hand, Sep clawed at Dante anywhere he could. His tail slashed for Dante’s head. Dante crawled back awkwardly as he tried to get ahold of the other gun that was tossed.

Lexi flew higher into the air pulling Ai with her. She formed a spear and threw it at the girl. Ai twisted her body to avoid the danger. The spear flew past her by mere inches. Lexi dove down and the serrated whip cut through her leg. Ai was left free falling. She threw the whip at Lexi who was below her after her dive. It wrapped around her waist as Ai pulled. Lexi fell to earth. She was bleeding excessively as she tried to crawl to find shelter.

The demon looked at the larger Zor and shouted, “Don’t just stand there do something you stupid—”

Her sentence was cut off as Ai drove the sword through her head. The demon dissolved into dust. Due to the height Ai fell, the sword was driven half way into the ground. She pulled the sword out with minimal effort.

Dante felt behind him for his gun with his left hand. His fingers brushed against muzzle of the gun and tried to pull the gun toward him. Sep bit harder into Dante’s arm and clawed at him. Dante used his Elite power and blew fire in the demons face. While the demon let go of his arm he got the gun in his hand aimed it at the center of Sep’s forehead.

“Get off you son of –,” he fired the gun. Dante pushed the demons body off of his as it dissolved into dust and got to his feet

Zor exploded in anger at the death of his friends. He blindly charged at Ai. Ai dove out of the way. Dante reached the edge of the building roof.

“Ai!” he called.

She looked up and threw the sword as Dante tossed the guns down to her. The eye in the sword closed and looked as it had before. When Ai held both guns, the guns glowed a gold color. The two guns turned into a single rocket launcher. It looked much too heavy for a human to carry but Ai had no trouble wielding it. A long blade extended from the barrel a chamber of six massive bullets was attached at the back. Ai held the launcher with two hands. Her left hand held on to a horizontal handle that stuck out to the left of the gun and the other one held on to a bar on top of the gun.

Zor turned and looked at her and ran at her. Ai looked at him and moved her left hand finger to a red button on the handle.

“Boom,” Ai pressed the red button.

The chamber clicked turned and clicked into place. Then there was the loud “boom”. Ai was pushed back by the recoil. The large bullet struck Zor. He slid back at the impact. Ai pressed the button again and the chamber turned and another “bang” erupted. Zor slid back again. He looked up and charged at her again. There was a dent in his chest where the two bullets hit. Ai raised the angle slightly and pressed the button. The third and final button struck Zor in the same spot and he fell, bursting into a pile of dust.

Ai swung the launcher around and aimed in at a building. The curtains went back in place, “Level 5 vampire. Found you.”

Ai's dress from www.aliexpress.com.

She pressed the button and the bullet struck the building. Ai fired the remaining two bullets all but demolishing the building. When the gun was spent it glowed gold and returned to the two hand guns Judge and Jury. Ai’s gold eye returned to its original red color. She looked at the rubble that was the building. Dante walked up beside her.

“She got away,” Ai stated.

Dante shrugged, “Oh well, we weren’t getting paid for this anyway.” He pointed to the motorbike, “Mount up. Let’s get out of here.”

Ai sighed, “Fine.”

Dante smiled, “You’ll get her someday. Come on, we still have a ways to go.”

Ai nodded and started walking to the bike. It was now the afternoon as they rode out of the village. Ai sat in the back. She looked back at Willowfalls and sighed. She vowed she would find the one that got away.

Question: I need your opinion.

Is this to violent/bloody? Should I tone it down? Are you all scarred for life? Isn’t apple pie the best with vanilla ice cream? If someone out there is like “OMG! What the heck is wrong with you!?” you know you can tell me, right?