Vampire Hunter’s Revenge

Chapter Seven

The drive away from Oasis was uneventful. Eva had the window rolled down, her face turned into the wind, watching the city life as they passed by. After being cooped up in the bunker for so long, even the polluted air of Los Angeles felt fresh in her lungs. It was a gloomy, overcast day, but every now and then she felt a sliver of sunshine brush her cheeks. There was a peaceful smile on her face that Zack had never seen her wear before, and as he navigated along the packed streets he made a mental note to look for reasons to bring her outside more often.

Before his GPS unit even told him which house he was looking for, Zack noticed Eva's posture change from the corner of his eye. Her shoulders squared as she sat up straighter, her brow furrowing slightly as she turned her gaze along the row of houses. "It's that one," she pointed out the window, a brief moment before the GPS told him to turn into the drive. Zack glanced over at his fellow Hunter curiously as he made the turn. The moment the car stopped at the end of the driveway, she was unbuckling the seatbelt and opening the car door, before Zack even put the car in park.

Moving only slightly slower, Zack got out as well, walking around to the trunk as Eva stepped forward towards the abandoned house. "One of these days, you'll have to tell me how you do that."

"It's easy," the woman replied, coming out of her fixation long enough to glance over her shoulder with a grin. "I'm clairesentient."

Zack nodded in acknowledgement, but didn't answer as he popped open the trunk. So Eva was one of those people that could feel energy. That actually made a lot of things about her make more sense. As he gathered the bags from the trunk, he watched with his own fascination as she approached the house cautiously. Her hands were splayed out a few inches from her sides, as though physically feeling the air around her. She stepped slowly,her gaze taking in everything that she passed and approached.

A few moments later, he was walking up beside her, holding her bag in one hand with his own slung over his other shoulder. "What do you feel?" He asked the other Hunter.

"Right now... Just a lot of negative energy," Eva answered simply, reaching out to take her bag from him without looking. "We're going to need to start with a bit of cleansing before I can sort out any more details."

"Guess we better get started then." Stopping at the front door, Zack pulled out his lockpicks, and a few moments later they were inside the house.

The inside was just as empty as the outside was, with only a few pieces of dust-covered furniture shoved in a corner and abandoned. More dust swirled around their feet with every step they took towards the living room. Eva set her bag down on the floor in the middle of the room, then began to wander down the hall towards the bedrooms. "Go ahead and start burning sage in here. I'll see if I can find the focal room."

Zack wasn't thrilled about splitting up, but the other Hunter didn't give him a chance to argue. With a heavy sigh, he set his own bag down on the table and pulled out a bundle of sage and fished his lighter out of his pocket. He lit the tips of the leaves, and let them burn, watching as the gray smoke curled upward. The familiar scent was as soothing as always, and for a moment it was easy to forget he was in a haunted abandoned house while he paced slowly around the living room.

It was only a few minutes before Eva rejoined him and began to dig through her bag. "The energy is definitely strongest in the bedrooms, but there's still too much interference for me to pinpoint what it is." She handed him a simple black cord with a black tourmaline pendant. "Put this on. It'll help keep the negativity from affecting you while we figure it out."

"Thanks." Zack took the necklace from her and slipped it over his head. "Is the sage working in here at least?" he asked, gesturing around to the smoky haze now filling the living room.

The other Hunter nodded. "Enough for me to tell that the energy in here is just remnant. I don't think we'll be able to clear it completely until we get rid of whatever's staying here."

Well, at least they were making progress. Zack turned and began to make his way slowly down the hall, waving the sage bundle through the air in all directions. Eva grabbed a couple more items from her bag before following him. She waited until he filled a room with smoke before entering herself, concentrating on the feel of the energy within. As she stepped into the smallest bedroom, the Hunter stopped just past the doorway, her breath catching in her chest as the hair stood up along her arms and the back of her neck. "Here..." she whispered softly, slowly moving farther into the empty room. "This is where the trauma happened. It bled through the rest of the house..." Her chest ached as she could only imagine the horrible things that must have happened in that room. "I'd guess long-term abuse... Most likely a child..." The worst type of monsters weren't supernatural.

"Think there's a ghost here?" Zack's voice from behind her almost startled her, so lost she had been in her thoughts.

"If there is, it's dormant. We'll need to draw it out before we can banish it." Nothing was ever simple.

Setting down the items she had brought with her, Eva opened the container of sea salt and poured it on the floor in a circle just big enough for the both of them to sit inside. Sitting cross-legged on the floor in one half of the circle, she nodded for him to sit across from her. Zack obeyed the silent order and watched closely as the other Hunter lined up the remaining objects in front of them. A large chunk of black tourmaline on one side, a white candle in the middle, and an incense burner on the other side. She lit the candle and a piece of charcoal on the burner, then reached into a pouch and sprinkled a mixture of herbs and resin over the smoking briquette. The earthy aroma quickly filled the room, blending with the sage that lingered. Eva closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

"Need me to do anything?" Zack asked hesitantly.

Eva didn't open her eyes as she replied. "Just be ready for anything."