The Vampyre Huntress

CHAPTER 4: ACROSS THE VAST SEA

1850

We came over on a small ship. It was extremely lavish, considering what little we actually had over the years. Gold and burgundy wallpaper graced the chapel and dining hall. The furniture was oak wood and hand carved so beautifully. Our room and living quarters were a nice size. The beds were firm with white silk canopies and the sofas a rich red color. Everything was so amazing. It took eight and a half weeks for our voyage, with the few stops we had to make. It was on this voyage that I met the man who would change everything. The man that would later introduce me to the Lycans and fuel my drive to become a Huntress. It was on this voyage that I met Logan.

One night, Friday night, I was making my way back to my cabin from the dining hall and I was quite engrossed in a novel. I wasn't watching where I was walking and I bumped into a wall. Or so I figured until I looked up into mystifying emerald green eyes.

"I'm sorry, my lady. I wasn't paying attention," He said.

"Oh, no! Do not apologize! It was I who wasn't watching ahead."

"I'm Logan. Logan Kellar. And you are?"

"Aurora Karloff," I replied with a small smile.

"Well, Miss Karloff. Would you mind accompanying me to the sun deck?"

How could I refuse? He was a very handsome man. Very well-mannered too. We spent all night on the deck at the front of the ship. He told me about himself and his family. He has been in America for two years on a prolonged business trip. He is an accountant for a big bank in Paris.

He told me all about the house he owns in a nice community in Paris and an apartment above a restaurant. He has offered us the chance to live in it. Of course, I'll have to work to pay rent. Logan is quite amazing. He comes from a big family, with three sisters and two brothers, only one of whom still lives at home. I told him about Will, Lucy, and Sammi and how Sam had gone crazy after he had been bitten. The look in his eyes told me he was sorry, though he never said it. Before we knew it, the sky over the water had turned to shades of pinks, purples, and blues. Logan took me back to my cabin with the promise of a nice dinner for two on Sunday.

I step into my cabin to find the children fast asleep and decide to take my book with me to the wash tub. I find my night clothes and towel and proceed to run my bath water. Once I'm in my bath and I open my book, a small piece of pink stationery falls out.

Pink stationery. I have pink stationery in the letter room.

I open it with trembling fingers to find the most shocking words I've ever read. The note simply said, "I will see you soon, my love."

I numbly sat there in the bath. I'm not sure how long I watched the pink piece of paper float on the water. A cool breeze flitted in through a porthole and brushed against my exposed neck, causing goosebumps to form on my pale skin. Looking at my hands, I finally noticed they had started to prune.

I decide to keep the letter to myself and slowly slide my hands under it in the water. With my discarded book staring at me from the floor, I sat the soaked piece of paper on the towel beside me.

Bracing myself on the sides of the basin, I gently push down and lift my toned body from the ice-cold water.

The children are still asleep in the next room, but I swear that I hear a soft humming. Wrapping my towel around me and retying my hair, I gently eased the bunk room door open.

Sammi has made her way into the middle of my bed while Lucy and Will are neatly tucked into their bunks. The porthole above the sitting area is creaking in the ocean breeze. I slowly walked over to close it, thinking nothing of the manner I had left it earlier tonight.

I walk back to my wardrobe and pull out a nightgown. Sliding it over my body, I let the towel drop to the floor. I toss up the idea of climbing into bed beside Sammi but eventually decide that I will just rest my eyes on the sofa instead.

Saturday passed by in a blur, I knew Will and Lucy could tell something was bothering me. At lunch, we were seated by Mr. Kellar. He told the young ones all sorts of stories.

One caught my interest as well. It was about wolves. He told about how they were humans and they could shift their bodies at will. These beings had been around for hundreds of years, living among humans. A young lady had fallen in love with a man, who was already promised to someone else, so she did what any logical woman would do. She cast a horrendous spell on him and everyone he loved. Lycans, he called them.

He also told of the protectors. They protect all of the supernaturals, and they kept the peace between species. I wondered if Sam knew of them. Could he have gone to them for help? I hadn’t believed he was dead all these years, that just wasn’t plausible. I wanted to believe that he was out searching. Searching for a cure for Vampyrism. Searching for us. Until I found his note, that is.

Mr. Kellar was snapping his fingers in front of my face when I came out of my thoughts.

“Is there something wrong, Aurora?” he gently whispered, so no one would hear the intimacy in his words.

“No, Mr. Kellar, I was just very intrigued and caught up in my thoughts.”

The face Logan made towards me, showed me that he knew what I was thinking. Two days together and he already knew me so well.

The rest of lunch passed by rather quickly, and before I know it I’m walking across the deck with Logan again. He delivered me to my quarters and I have Lucy and Sammi’s help laying out my clothing for our dinner date tomorrow night. I lie in bed and think about how amazing Logan seems and how Will, Lucy, and even little Sammi, love him.

I don’t expect this date to go anywhere but I do hope he at least asks for another. I haven’t courted since Sam first came into my life, but we are on a ship to a new life so the least I can do is give it a try. I fall asleep with thoughts of Logan and what tomorrow brings.

Sunday.

Today is the day of the date Logan has set up. All day I’ve been excited, now as I’m getting dressed, I’m getting nervous. I decided to wear my jade green gown with lace trim. I let my black hair fall in natural curls down my back, and applied a light blush to my cheekbones. I slipped on my heels and heard a deep knock at the door. Lucy waltzed into the powder room with Sammi in tow, dramatically announcing the arrival of my date. Both girls giggling and twirling in their long nightgowns.

I step into the sitting room and am engulfed in small arms. William pulls me down to his height and kisses my cheek, all the while, glaring holes into Logan’s beautifully tailored waistcoat.

Logan, a momma’s boy himself, quietly laughs and reassures Will that I will be back in my cabin in a timely matter. Logan then places a light kiss on both girls’ knuckles and bows to them, causing both the giggle again. Such a gentleman, I thought.

As we make our way to the cabin door, I feel warm tingles and a firm hand encasing mine. I must be anxious because I swear I feel sparks and my tummy flips. We make small talk as we walk down the corridor and through the ship. When we got to the dining hall, Logan gracefully pulled out my chair and the waiter poured my glass full of water.

“You look stunning tonight, Aurora.” He said, making my cheeks heat up.

“Thank you. I wasn’t sure of how to dress, so Lucy helped me. The dress was her choice.”

“She definitely has great taste. The green looks amazing with your eyes” he complimented nicely.

I shyly smiled and we sat in a comfortable silence until our food was brought out to us. After dinner, we took a walk down to the main deck. It was a beautiful night, the stars bright and shiny. The air was warm and the breeze cool.

Now was the time to ask Logan about The Protectors and the supernatural creatures. I took a deep breath and asked “ Are they real? The Protectors from your story, I mean.”

“Yes, dear Aurora. They are as real as you and I. As real as your husband, Sam. They tend to keep to themselves, and they each have a different job.

The Hunters track down the different supernaturals and eliminate the ones breaking the law. Like for instance, the supernaturals you had an encounter with, are vampyres and they normally stick to their own covens. Those particular vamps were rogues. They do not follow a coven or were banished from the one they were born or created into. Because they turned unwilling humans, they were hunted down and disposed of.”

“Wow! I didn’t know they actually did that. I didn’t want to believe it was possible until I had witnessed what had become of my Sam.”

“There are Lycan rogues too. They are just more common and easier to scare away. The Lycan Alpha of the pack normally has the most strength and power. He has a mate that leads beside him. She is of equal power to her mate. A pack consists of around three hundred wolf members, and they mingle with the humans in schools, work, and recreational activities.”

How is it that I would bump into the one person that knew so much about this? Logan knows exactly what I went through, what Sam went through. I’m starting to believe that he is not of human decent. I dare ask.

“Logan, how is it that you have come to know so much about something once believed to be only mythological? A mere fairy tale to entertain small ones? It sounds like it comes so naturally to you.”

The way Logan looked at me, I knew I wasn’t going to get a small answer. He had a look of sorrow in his eyes and I’m sure I had guessed it before he could even say anything.

“You’re one of them, aren’t you? A Lycan.”

He looked away, out over the ocean. When he looked back at me, his green eyes were glowing an eerie yellow. He looked deadly, yet strangely handsome. I wasn’t the least bit scared. I had a feeling he was too good to be true in the first damned place.

Logan took a step toward me and tilted his head, his hair looking a bit longer and his teeth more jagged. He reached out and cupped “Does the monster I am not frighten you Aurora?” He asked with a hint of hopefulness in his rough voice. Somehow, my stomach went into flutters and I felt a tightness in my chest.

“No Logan. You do not scare me and you are nothing of a monster. I actually think you are quite fascinating.”