The Vampire Hunter

Chapter Eight

I come out from behind the tree, too many thoughts are rushing through my head. Was Lloyd a hunter like me? Maybe he descended from hunters, too. I didn't want Lloyd’s friend to see me in case my theory was in fact not true. Hiding in a forest is however fairly easy because of, well, the trees. I watch Lloyd’s friend, who might be the brother he was talking about earlier, head into a deep part of the woods, is he burying the body? Why would he want to clean up my brother's mess? There are so many questions and so many answers to what I am witnessing. Every instinct in my body tells me to just turn around and forget what is happening.

Be normal, Leila, remember?

There is something deep inside me telling me it is the right thing to do. I just had to be careful.

"Baelen? You here? I got the shovel." A familiar voice shouted.

I move my head back behind the tree, holding my breath as Lloyd comes to join his brother. They are burying the body, why else would they need a shovel? Baelen snatches the shovel from his brother's hands, thanking him as he sticks it in the ground and begins to pull up some weeds and mud.

"How deep are you going to dig?" Lloyd asks.

"It needs to be deep Lloyd, very deep. We can't risk anyone digging up Scott..." Baelen mutters with his head down. He is too focused on getting a deep enough hole to put the body in.

Wait, Scott? They knew the vampire? Confusion begins to flood my mind, along with all of the questions I already have brewing in there. But I know that somehow, the pieces will all fit together if I stayed where I was, watching them quietly.

"No one can find out that our brother is a vampire, they might ask questions about us. We can't take any chances. There, this is deep enough. Help me put him in." Baelen says, lifting up his head to look at Lloyd.

Scott was their brother? Was he just turned into a vampire? Newly born vampires are sloppy with their techniques. And if my brother of all people could catch this Scott guy without any help, he must be newly turned.

"Yeah but, Baelen, what if they kill us too... Or even worse, what if they only kill one of us? I couldn't stand to live an eternity without my family. It's only us left now Bale, we need to take care of each other." Lloyd says, looking Baelen directly in the eye.

They were vampires too? Suddenly I am frozen to the spot.This should be the point where I run away, but I can’t. Everything in my body has shut off. I stand there for a while, trying to catch my breath. I know exactly what is going on now. My brother didn't just kill any vampire. He killed Lloyd's brother. They were burying Scott as a memorial.

"Even if I died, you'd still have that girlfriend of yours." Baelen teases, trying to distract himself as Lloyd picks up Scott's body.

"Her name is Leila, and she isn't my girlfriend. And she has no clue about any of this, and I want it to stay that way. So please, don't try and eat her. Control yourself." Lloyd warns. Baelen laughs.

Eat me? What did they mean? Drink my blood? I was right. They are vampires. I had to tell my parents. Without thinking, I turn around and run.

"Leila?" Lloyd shouted as I ran. I don't stop, I couldn't stop. I had to keep running. I hear footsteps behind me, I stupidly turn around and see Lloyd running after me.

His speed is, of course, impeccable. As I turn my head back, I see a loose branch in the ground. Before I know it, I comically fall to the floor. And within a few seconds there is a new shadow on the ground, a figure peering over me. I know what was going to happen, they knew that I knew.

My time is up. I am going to die.

But if I somehow survive this, I want to know whether it will be Lloyd, Baelen or both of them killing me. So I take a deep breath, and look up.