The Vampire’s Servant
Chapter 176

[Melissa]

-After graduation-

I walked away and quickly found my parents. They were watching me as I went to confirm the information Derrick got. It was true, they were having a party.

"Daddy, did you see the man I was talking to?" I asked quietly as we headed out to the car.

"I did. What the hell is a vampire doing out in daylight? We need to talk to Derrick. Maybe he knows. If they become immune to things like sunlight, what else could they be immune to?" Dad said. "This could be a more dangerous hunt than we thought." Mom added.

"I think we'll be fine, Mom. We have a lot of experienced hunters on our side and Derrick. He's the best of all of them." I smiled.

When I talked to Derrick the morning after we made love for the first time, he told me I shouldn't tell my parents until after the hunt. He promised me he was a one-woman man now and wouldn't be chasing any of the other hunters anymore.

I doubted him a little and thought he was only saying that so I wouldn't tell anyone we slept together, but then I watched him turn women down left and right. He told them he found a special girl and he wasn't going to step out on her. My heart leapt at that. My dad really liked Derrick and I knew he'd be proud to have him as a son-in-law. I hoped I wasn't pregnant, though. I wanted to wait until I had at least graduated the hunter training camp.

After we got to the house I went searching for my boyfriend. He was down in the gym working out. I loved the way the muscles moved under his dark skin. The lights caught the silver in his tattoos and they glittered like stars in the night sky. Just looking at him made me horny as hell.

I sat on the bench along the wall and watched him workout. He was so serious about his hunt. He called it one of the most important jobs he's ever been on.

Taking out two members of the Vampire High Council would certainly put all of our names in the books. I would go to the camp with the prestige of having been in this hunting party following me like a cape. Everyone would know my name.

Derrick started his cool down. I watched his mostly naked body as he twisted and bent, stretching his muscles. I licked my lips, he was all mine.

"You're back from your graduation thing. How'd it go?" He asked.

"Pretty normal. They called names, we got diplomas, people took pictures. There was one thing that was pretty surprising." I told him.

"What was that, baby?" Derrick smiled as he used a towel to dry the sweat on his body.

My mouth went dry. I wanted to be that towel. I wanted to lick him clean. I started fantasizing about all the things I would do to him once this was all over and he was officially mine.

He snapped his fingers. "I'm waiting, Mel."

"Oh, sorry. Death was at the graduation. He was watching his daughter graduate. In the sun. Like a normal human." I said.

"Yeah, ancient vampires can handle the sun for a few hours a day. That's what makes them more dangerous than normal vamps. They don't sleep very much and they can go out in the sun. That's why the plan was never to attack him during the day. An overwhelming force will be our ticket to killing him." Derrick shrugged.

I got off the bench and went to him, wrapping my arms around his thick waist. Derrick was 6'3" with dark brown skin, tightly cropped hair, and eyes that were so dark they almost looked black. He had tattoos all over and several piercings, even one in his... you know.... I'd never felt anything like it with any of the boys I'd slept with.

He rested his hand on my back and rubbed it gently. I liked it no matter if he was rough or soft with me. Derrick was my perfect man.

"What are you going to do while I'm away at the training camp?" I sighed.

"The hunter training camp?" He asked.

"Yeah. It's probably been years since you went, but I still have to go in for a year before I'm an official hunter." I replied.

"Hmm. I think I'll hunt a little and maybe come visit you. Where are they holding it this year, baby?"

"You know I can't tell you that." I giggled.

"But a whole year without me. I don't know if you'll manage it. Come on, baby, tell Big D where you're gonna be. I'll sneak in some night and make sure you don't forget me with all those young studs around." Derrick purred. The thought of him sneaking in to see me thrilled me. I wanted that more than anything. The fact that he wanted to check up on me made me really happy. Like I could do any better than the perfect man I held in my arms. "You have to promise you won't tell anyone. We're not supposed to give out the location. You know why." I reminded him.

"Can't have the monsters finding out where all the baby hunters are training. I know. I promise you, I won't tell anyone. I'd never lie to my girl."

I could hear the truth in his words and pulled out my phone, handing it to him. He took it from me and programmed in his cellphone number before handing it back. I smiled and sent the text with the location to him. "Oh, baby. This makes me more excited than you could know." He grinned, as his phone chimed in his pocket.

"We're going to win tonight, right?" I asked.

"Trust me, baby. My enemies never know what hit them. You'll see tonight. It's gonna be a massacre." Derrick chuckled. "You better go first. I don't want your dad catching wind of us before this is all over. Go get ready to fight."

I nodded and headed upstairs. He was really a thoughtful and sweet boyfriend. My dad would have a fit if he knew I was with an older man. Derrick may be our best hope, but the goodwill he would earn from this hunt would be what cemented him as a good man to my father.

-

Later that night, I was all decked out in my new hunting outfit. Mom bought it for me. It was black and navy blue made of a strong material. I wanted something formfitting, but mom said something loose was better for camouflaging myself. I finished it off with a pair of comfortable black hiking boots.

Hunters didn't really wear leather to hunt, like people thought. It held too much of a scent and our masking spray couldn't cover the sweat built up in the material. Something to keep us cool was definitely better. I couldn't wait for Derrick to see it. He came out of the family room in only a pair of sweat pants. He looked like he was going to bed. We all looked at him curiously.

"That's not going to protect you well from claws." Dad told him.

"We all have our habits. I've ruined too many hunting suits to count. If your enemy wants to get through that cloth, they will. I'd rather be comfortable than covered in something that'll just get torn up anyway." Derrick winked.

I certainly didn't mind the show. There wasn't a mark on him from his previous fights, so he must be pretty good at keeping them off him. I looked forward to seeing him fight.

We turned our attention back to my father. He went over the plan, where we'd park, the route we'd take, and where we'd all be stationed. When that was done, he went over the makeup of our enemy.

It looked like vampires, werewolves, humans, and one dhampyr. From what Derrick said, they were just living versions of vampires. The same things that could kill vampires could kill dhampyrs. Literally one thing made them special, and it was that they were totally immune to sunlight.

Everyone loaded into the cars and trucks with their weapons. It was a bit of a drive to the place where we would enter the forest. We didn't want to alert them to our presence.

We sprayed down with our scent blocker once we were out of the cars and our trek began. I scurried to stay next to Derrick. We would split up to take our places for the attack and I wouldn't see him until after the fight was over, if I didn't see him during the fight. I took my place and watched. Derrick would give the signal when the time was right to start shooting. The people with the guns and silver bullets would unload every clip they had into the party tent. That would take care of the humans and werewolves. It could damage the others pretty well.

After that, those of us with stakes and crossbows would be up. The vampires would most likely charge out of the tent toward us. We would start shooting, aiming for their hearts. The estimated time for this whole attack was under thirty minutes. Short and sweet. Crouched in my spot, I waited for the signal. I had a stake in my hand, ready to load it up and kill some vampires. I was hoping for the Master of the territory or even Death himself. I'd marked my stakes at the end with some of my favorite nail polish. I'd know who I killed.

Suddenly, a howl sounded from in the forest. The lanterns in the tent went dark and I couldn't see anything by the sliver of moonlight available. It was a trap!

There was a grunt and a crack from nearby. I looked over and could make out the outline of a vampire on the nearest hunter. I loaded my crossbow and shot him in the heart. Then I got up and ran.

Fighting, screaming, and growling sounded around me. I held on to my weapon and tried to help where I could, but there were too many of them. I saw a hunter I recognized and was heading for him, when some huge monster barreled out of the woods and grabbed him, then pulled his head off like he was a doll.

I bit back a shriek and fled. This wasn't how this was supposed to go. I heard blades clashing to my left and went that way. It had to be my mom. She was the only one with a sword.

When I arrived where she was fighting, I saw her opponent. It was Sean. He looked green in the moonlight and had a sword. He fought her hard and, in the end, ran her through. I watched my mother's body go limp.

Before I had a chance to do anything, another hunter attacked him and wings popped out of his back. He flew up into the sky with her and dropped her on her neck. I needed to find Derrick. He could keep me safe until we could get out of here.

I searched all over. Everywhere I went, I saw people, my people, being killed. I stumbled to the edge of a small clearing.

In the clearing was my father. He was fighting with a tall, pale man. He must have been a vampire. I loaded my crossbow.

As I brought it up and tried to aim for an opening, the vampire reached into my father's chest and pulled out his heart. Tears tried to form in my eyes, but I blinked them away. I couldn't be weak.

"This is for my father you bloodsucking fuck." I growled and shot.

The stake flew toward him quickly, but didn't hit him. Faster than I could blink, he was a couple feet from where he'd been and Echo stood in his place. The stake stuck out of her chest. I smirked. His face fell. I was glad I hurt him as much as he hurt me.

I turned and fled into the forest. I needed to find Derrick and Alex and get the hell out of here. I heard my brother yelling something and ran toward his voice. A sad sounding howl rose up in the forest behind me.

Good. I hoped whatever wolf that was, he suffered. I leaned against a tree and caught my breath before continuing on.

Alex was near a stand of trees, yelling at Derrick. I was so relieved to find them.

"You used all my bullets! How the hell are we supposed to get out of here?" Alex shouted.

"That's the thing, buddy, you're not." Derrick chuckled with a malicious grin.

"You did this! You set us up!"

"Yep. And you were all too eager to walk into my trap. Now is time for you to die, buddy, then I'll find your idiot sister and end her too." He said and shifted to half wolf form before slicing my brother up with his claws.

No. My perfect boyfriend. The hunter I was going to marry and hunt with. He was a werewolf. I fucked a werewolf. Oh, god, he came inside me. I retched.

"Ah. The little woman. You know that scent blocker wears off if you're afraid enough. I can smell you my terrified little hunter." Derrick laughed. "Come to Big D and let me make you feel better."

"You used me. I can't believe I let you have s*x with me." I cried.

"Yeah. I've had more skilled and more talented women, but there's something about a fresh and eager piece of meat dangling in front of my nose was just too much to resist." He chuckled as he sniffed around. "The best part was getting you to tell me where the hunter training camp was. I'll make sure none of them know it was you, baby. Just like I promised."

I loaded my last stake. I had a silver knife, if he got close. I pushed away from the tree and took aim.

"You better aim true, girl, because I'm coming for you after you get your shot off." Derrick grinned.

"I hate you." I whimpered and shot.

He dodged my shot and rushed at me. My hand was on my knife, but I didn't have time to pull it before he was on me. He pinned me to the ground and wrapped a clawed hand around my neck.

"You're a shit hunter, a shit human, and a pretty shit lay. This wasn't your fault, though. Your daddy wasn't very good at his job and all hunters are idiots in general." Derrick murmured. "Now this is done, I've got a little witch to seduce. See you in hell, hunter girl." With that, he squeezed until I couldn't breathe. Then something popped and everything went black.