Forbidden Fangs

Chapter 25

Luchaver pulled the small blue vehicle as far off the side of the road as he could and locked it, taking the keys with him as he stole into the forest. One of his neural implants allowed him to move directly toward his ship, as if it were a beacon blazing in the night. He crept through the woods as comfortably as one of the nocturnal creatures native to the planet. The wind whispered in the treetops and insects trilled all throughout the loam. The vampire found himself thinking of Kylie's face as he moved, and he became so entranced that he almost did not hear the group of humans approaching as he neared his ship. Their voices caught his sensitive ear, however, and he hid in a bush as a trio of men entered the clearing.

The moonlight washed across their long rifles, their thick beards, and their camouflaged clothing.

“I still think this could have waited until morning,” the tall man bringing up the rear was complaining. “It's not like we're going to get any animals in the dark.”

“We didn't come out here for animals,” growled the smallest of the three men, who strode at the front of their small triangle. “We came out here to find a freak killer. The cops are off chasing their tails around Wallgrave, but I think whoever killed that boy is still in these woods. And no one knows these woods better than us. If they're out here, we'll find them.”

“You'd better be right,” muttered the third man, drawing to a halt. “Let's rest a minute, guys, these new hiking boots are killing my feet.”

“I told you, you should have broken them in first.” The man in the lead said, turning around with a shake of his head. “Every time I get a new pair of boots, I put them in a bag and beat them against a brick wall until they've got some flex in them. I never get blisters.”

“You've also had the same pair of boots for the past six years,” the first man pointed out, “some of us like to upgrade once in awhile.”

“Well if you take proper care of your boots,” the smaller man crossed his arms, “there's no need for upgrading!”

Luchaver frowned, ignoring the words as the men continued arguing among themselves. If they continued along the same path they'd been following, they would bump right into his cloaked ship. They likely still wouldn't be able to see it… but they'd know it was there. And they were looking for something suspicious… this would not do. He needed to end them.

“Good evening, gentlemen.” Luchaver said, his voice dripping malevolence as he stepped out of the shadows. “Lovely night for a stroll in the woods.”

The vampire had three rifles pointed at him within moments. He smiled and raised his empty hands, pale palms facing outward.

Snap. Luchaver teleported behind the largest man, behind the whole group of them. He grasped the barrel of the man's gun and twisted it sideways as the panicking human pulled the trigger. The bullet found a berth in the lead man's chest, and he sank to the ground as blood seeped from the wound. The men all screamed in shock, screamed in fear, screamed for their lives. The insects quieted, but no one else was around to hear them. Luchaver pivoted and pulled the large hunter in front of him as the middle-sized man fired. Luchaver's shield slumped forward, and he seized the rifle from those lifeless hands, racking another round into the chamber and firing without really aiming. The last of the hunters dropped, weeping blood from his left eye socket.

Luchaver licked his lips. Such a waste of good food. He could have used a snack, but feeding on the men would be far too suspicious, and he did not have time to hide three large, heavy bodies. He dropped the rifle and ran over to his ship, allowing it to uncloak as he entered through the moulding door.

His mind raced as he rose above the treeline and flew north and east, making a wide sweep around Wallgrave. Things were getting out of control. He was leaving behind more and more bodies, and sooner or later someone might spot him. He needed to complete his mission and get on his way back to Wythiria. He needed to take care of Kylie and the slayer. But first, he needed a safe place to sleep the coming day away. The eastern horizon was already glowing with a red mist that would turn to brilliant, deadly sun in perhaps half an hour. He flew over the thick forest until he found a small clearing within an hour's walk of the slayer's safehouse. His craft dipped downward and nestled into the lee of a large pine tree at the edge of the clearing.

Luchaver leaned back and stretched, getting comfortable in his reclining seat and closing his eyes. As had become customary, a vision of Kylie billowed in his mind. He thought of the way she moved, the way she spoke, the way she'd looked at him. Those deep hazel eyes of hers could lead him on forever. For a time he lost himself in that vision, but then other images disturbed his peace. He saw himself returning to Earth with a Wythirian army, and saw the humans rising up and fighting back, because of his feelings for Kylie. He stirred and opened his eyes, gazing at the opaque, dark windscreen as the day blossomed behind it. He would not let his feelings for Kylie be the cause of the extinction of his people. But he could not leave without talking with her again, and knowing her as deeply as he could.