The Hunter

The Hunter - Chapter Three

Chapter Two

"Are you sure this time, Father?" I asked, sitting on the small settee in front of our living room window.

It was our twentieth living room window in two hundred years. We had lived two towns over a hundred years before. I had a friend back then. Elizabeth Brackington. When we first moved here from Oklahoma I went to see if her house still stood and if her descendants were still around. The small white house was on the corner, boarded up. It was in disrepair, but it stood. I talked father into buying it and fixing it. We anonymously gifted it back to the Brackington family, where it belonged. I missed Elizabeth dearly. She was one of the few people who I allowed to get close. She was one of the few people I told my secret to.

"I examined the body this morning."

"It's drained of blood?" Mother inquired.

"Yes, Melissa." Father rubbed his temples while closing his eyes. A tell-tale sign he was stressed.

"Where was the poor bastard found?"

"Language, Alyssa."

I rolled my eyes and continued staring out the window. A small girl and a boy who appeared to be a few years older ran down the street in front of their parents. The changing leaves kicked up into the air behind them. I smiled softly watching, wishing my life could be as normal and simple as theirs.

"He was found at the corner of Washington and Landers."

"I'll go tonight," I stated, not even looking at my parents.

"Will you eat before or after you come home?" Mother questioned, she never batted an eye.

"Both."

She glanced up at me, sighing heavily. "Alyssa, how do you plan on attracting a suitable husband if you eat so much?"

"I attracted a suitable husband once. Then we moved here," I argued.

"That was over a hundred years ago," she retorted. "I meant a hunter."

I snorted and turned my attentions back to the autumn scene outside.

"Alyssa, are you paying attention?" Mother asked.

"Of course."

"Alyssa, the blood suckers that have taken up here are nothing to blow off. Rumor has it they're part of Adallan's coven." Father stopped pacing and narrowed his eyes at me. "Which odd since you said you dusted all of them."

"Maybe there were a few who weren't at the house that evening." I bit my lip and kept my gaze trained on the oak tree in the front yard. The branches bowed in the gentle breeze while the gold and orange leaves fluttered from their haven to wither and die on the ground.

Bryston.

"Alyssa, you didn't let any of them go, did you?" Mother asked, standing from her chair in the corner.

"No, Mother. I'm not completely irresponsible."

"When you go out tonight, start where the body was found. Perhaps they were sloppy and are eating where they hunt."

"Perhaps," I muttered, crossing the room.

"Where are you going?"

"To retrieve my hunting gear. It's almost dusk, the vampires will be out soon."

"Yes, very good," Father said.

"Do be careful, dear." Mother kissed my cheek before I went to the library.

To a visitor our library looked like any other library. Father's desk sat near the window overlooking main street, books lined the walls, and a beautiful couch rested in the center of the room with a tea table near it. Despite our differences, I enjoyed tea time with my parents. An advantage to being alive for so long was that we had the opportunity to read many books. We never ran out of things to discuss.