Blood Hunter (The Grandor Descendant Series) (31 page)

“Depends,” said Chris, sitting back on his bed as he considered this question. “If she were powerful enough she might want to do me in, but most witches can sense evil, so hopefully she would be able to tell that I’m not into raising the dead.”

“So you’ve never used that side of your magic?” Ari asked, before she could stop herself. 

The silence that followed this question was filled with tension, but when Chris spoke, Ari looked up suddenly very interested; “Only once,” he said.

“What?”

“Yea, but it’s not what you think,” he said, reaching for a picture frame on his bookshelf. “When I was a boy I had a dog called River; she was five when she was hit by a car. I heard the scream of the tires and raced outside to find her on the side of the road, dead. I don’t know how I did it, but I brought her back,” Chris explained, as he handed her the photograph.

Ari glanced down at the image. There were two people in the picture. The first was a tall but skinny boy who was clearly a much younger version of Chris, and the second was a dark woman with heavily drawn eyelids, whose strong jaw and brown hair, made Ari certain that she was his mother. Next to them was a dog, and when Ari looked at the hound she gasped. It was a husky, almost identical to the one that Chris morphed into when he transformed from man into beast.

“After that River lived until she was thirteen,” Chris added, smiling as he took the picture off Ari and placed it back onto the bookshelf. “She was the reason I wanted to study vet; I didn’t want to have to use the darkness in me to save her, or any other animals.”

Ari didn’t quit know what to say. Her eyes were still locked on the photograph on the bookshelf of Chris with his family. When she left his room a few minutes later, she felt like crying. There was something so surreal and beautiful about his story that made her certain Chris could not be evil. She didn’t care what the coven or any book that she read said; there was no way that Chris had a bad bone in his body.

The last person that Ari went to see that night was Lea. Racing down the stairs she reached Lea’s dorm room and knocked once. Immediately the door swung open. Lea looked tense, though the moment she saw Ari, her already pale skin lightened considerably, as if she had just seen a ghost.

“Oh Ari; thank God you’re alright!” she said, opening her door all the way and ushering Ari inside. “I am so sorry for everything. I never meant for-”

“-it’s ok; it all worked out fine in the end.”

“But what the hell happened. Where have you been?” said Lea. “I tried a scribing spell and it said that you were in Latvia. So then I asked the vampires that you hang out with, and they made up some stupid story about you being on your honeymoon.”

For the third time that day, Ari explained what had happened after the Triad had taken her.

“The Ancients?” said Lea, taking in a sharp breath. “Jesus Ari, I am so sorry. But how did you create sunlight? That’s supposed to be the most powerful source of energy to channel.”

“No idea,” Ari answered truthfully.

“I’m so sorry. If I had of known that it was you that the Triad was after, I never would have made a deal with them. I didn’t even know it was the Triad. They told me that they worked for an Elder in Australia, and that Ragon was on the run, and that if I helped them lure him out, they would agree to take him back for punishment. I just thought… thought that you would be better off without a vampire controlling you. I’m so sorry. But why did the Ancients want you in the first place?”

“Well, to be honest I am not entirely sure. After I met Ragon, I started being able to do things-”

“-like stop time?” interrupted Lea.

“Yea, and so Ragon traced back my ancestors but we couldn’t find a living relative, so we came to England to look in their archives and found out that I was related to a witch called Mary Grandor. I was kind of hoping, seeing as you’re a witch, you might know something about it. There is also a constellation with that name; have you ever heard anything about it?”

“But if you were a witch, then your parents would be also,” said Lea. “Witchly powers are inherited; I don’t know about this Mary Grandor, but if she was a witch and you were related to her, then your parents would have to have powers as well. Did your parents not tell you about your heritage?”

“Both my parents were killed when I was a baby. The Ancients had them killed.”

“Shit,” Lea said, “Ari I am so sorry. If I had of known any of this I would never-”

“-it’s ok. I just wish I knew what other powers I have and what I’m supposed to do with them? And… and how I can stop them from hurting the people I love. Did your parents help you control your powers? Is that how you were able to create that protection spell?”

“Yea, my grams mainly, my dad is also a witch, but ever since my real mum died and he re-married, he doesn’t practice anymore.”

“Oh,” said Ari, “I’m sorry.”

“It’s ok. When I first found out that I was a witch, I was scared shitless. But then I started being able to help people. I realised that I could heal injuries or protect others. That’s why I thought that Ragon was using you. I have seen the way the vamps here treat the students. Half of them are jacked up on blood candy. That boy, Greg, I don’t think he was actually killed by a bear. That seems to be the general line every time a vamp loses control.”

“But not all the vampires here are bad,” said Ari, thinking of Ragon and trying desperately to push the image of Sandra attacking Greg out of her mind. 

“Look Ari, I know that you care about Ragon… I know that you aren’t his source but vampires’ are-”

Sensing Lea’s next words, Ari cut her off, saying, “-I need him Lea… I love him. If I do anything to hurt him I won’t be able to live with myself. The only reason I have been able to do any of this stuff, is because of him. I didn’t burst into sunshine to save myself. I did it to save him.”

“Maybe you can still be together,” said Lea, her voice betraying scepticism.

“Do you know a way that I can stop sunlight from bursting from me?” 

“I don’t know. That sort of power is volatile, being so strong. Like I said, I have never heard of anyone able to control it. I mean, maybe if you were injured your powers would lessen, but I don’t see how that would help you.” Ari looked down at her feet, and Lea swept over to her, reaching for her hand and squeezing it. “I don’t know why you can do the things you can… but it must be for a reason. I promise I will do everything I can to help you find out why; if there is a Grandor legend that has anything to do with witchcraft, I won’t stop till I know what it is.”

Ari stopped to consider this. Though she had only known Lea a short time, it was perfectly obvious that the girl wanted to help her. With this thought in mind, Ari smiled and nodded her head.

Chapter 17 – There’s a Were in There

The next morning Ari went to see the new Vice Chancellor. It was a Saturday and the campus was particularly frosty. The conifers that lined the walkway to the administration office seemed to shudder with each small lick of wind, throwing down many pine needles in Ari’s wake. Though the sky was as always, overcast, today even the birds didn’t bother to come out and sing as they normally would, but remained perched high up, as if hoping to escape the wind and the cold.  It was the start of March, and Ari was just wondered just how much cooler it was going to get, when something frosty landed on her nose. Looking up, she watched as tiny white snowflakes glided down from the sky.

Snow; it was snowing! It was the first time she had ever seen it. Without thinking how much colder it was going to get, Ari smiled up, opening her mouth in preparation for a snowflake to land neatly on her tongue. It dissolved in an instant.   

Professor Jack Phillips was not like any other vampire Ari had met before. He looked to be in his early thirties, although owing to his immortal nature, Ari didn’t find his rise to power particularly shocking. No, there was a charismatic charm to him that she had not noticed before in other vampires. Where Ragon and Clyde were mysterious in the tall dark and handsome kind of way, Jack was poised and straight edge, giving him the appearance of someone with a military background. He was tall and well-built, with short light brown hair, and a beard and moustache. His eyes were small and dark, and when he smiled there were two dimples at the corner of his mouth.

“Hello, Miss Ariana is it? Come in, come in,” said Professor Philips.

Ari pushed the door all the way open and moved over to the chair in front of his desk.

“Now what can I do for you?” he asked. “It said in your email that you wanted to discuss your absence for a mid-semester exam?”

In as least detail as possible, Ari tried to explain why she had been unable to attend her mid semester exam. She had not mentioned anything at all about the Ancients, or Ragon, or the Triad. In fact she had not mentioned anything supernatural at all. By the end of it she had basically told him that she had been away for a week.

“Please don’t think me prudent,” he said, when finally Ari had finished, “but I assume you realise that applying for exemptions for missed examinations, is usually submitted to the course co-ordinator. Is there any particular reason you have brought this matter to me?”

“Yes, it’s just I don’t have a medical certificate for my absence.”

“Then I am afraid that it will be difficult for you to be granted a sup exam,” the Vice Chancellor said, looking at Ari sternly.

“Yes but Thomas and Patrick suggested that I talk to you about-”

Before she could explain further, his face had broken into a smile and he stood, moving to sit on his desk as he said, “-oh, you know Thomas.”

“Yes and I kind of got caught in some vampire drama’s and ended up missing-”

“-say no more and please call me Jack. I will organise a re-sit.”

As soon as Ari had finished talking with Jack, she raced back to Omega Halls, late for her 10am meeting with Chris. Though it had taken almost no time at all to sort out the details for a re-sit of her missed exam, it had been another half an hour before she got out of the Vice Chancellors office. Once Jack had realised that she knew all about vampires and was friends with Thomas and Ragon’s source, he had spent ages talking to her. Though it was mainly small talk, Ari couldn’t help but feel strange talking to the head of the school about her vampire friends; she had to keep reminding herself that she was supposed to be a source. At one point he had mentioned Sandra and Ari had to bite her tongue not to mention the blood candy incident.

“What took so long?” Chris asked, tapping his watch furiously when Ari finally rounded the corner near Omega halls.

“Sorry, the meeting with the new Vice Chancellor ran over,” she said.

“Vamps in power,” Chris said, shaking his head, “they think that they can mess with any ones schedule.”

Ari scoffed but said, “Shall we.”

The pair began the walk down to Delta Halls, continuing past it until they reached the Three Prong Trek.

“Ine, meni, mini mo,” said Chris, finally pointing to the first of the three paths.

Though Ari didn’t say it, she was glad that Chris had chosen this path and not the middle one, which would lead them to Sandra. She doubted she would be able to find Sandra again even if she had wanted to, but she didn’t want to run into her or Thomas, because they would be sure to tell Ragon.

“So sunshine, what did you tell your blood sucker-” Chris began, until Ari shot him a dirty look, at which point he smiled up at her and added, “-sorry, I mean Ragon.”

Ari looked down at her feet. She had told Ragon about her meeting with the Vice Chancellor, but not that she would be hanging out with Chris afterwards.

Ari dug her foot into the loose ground and said, “Let’s just focus on what were supposed to be doing. Which by the way is what exactly?”

“Right, well, I thought we’d do a little exercise.”

“Excuse me?” asked Ari, her hands on her hips; she didn’t think push ups would help somehow.

“I’ll chase and you hide.”

“What, like a game?” she asked.

“More like a survival tactic,” he explained, already beginning to take off his shoes. “I’m going to be a dog when I attack you.”

“Seriously; I tell you that I can burst into sunshine and I have no idea why or what else I can do… and you think the best way to practice is for you to come after me; do you have a death wish?”

“In case you haven’t noticed Ariana,” said Chris, pulling his shirt off, “but I’m not a vampire and sunlight doesn’t do anything to me. And as for your other powers… well, I think you might be getting a little carried away. Unless you plan on freezing me to death, I am sure I will be fine. Modesty is the best policy after all.” Chris grinned toothily and then pulled his belt free. “You err, might want to turn around for this next part.”

Instantly Ari spun on the spot; she had just realised what Chris was doing.

“But how will your turning into a dog help me?” she called out, now waiting behind a tree with her hands over her eyes.

“I’m going to attack you.”

“I don’t know if that will work; I only tend to use my powers when I’m scared,” she said, half sarcastic, half serious.

“You’re telling me that I’m not a terrifying beast when I transform! I’m hurt.”

Suddenly she felt something soft hit her in the back of the head and Chris yelled out, “Can you shove them in my backpack.”

Reaching down, Ariana picked up the clothes and made to grab his shoes also. She was just considering asking him if there wasn’t a different way that she could learn to control her powers, when she heard Chris yell to her from behind the tree.  

“Ready or not here I come,” he said, before letting out a long scream.

The tearing noise coming from behind the bushes, in combination with Chris’s blood curdling scream, told Ariana that he was beginning the transformation into a dog.

“Shit,” she whispered to herself, glancing around the forest.

Moving back to the path, she began running down it; if she were going to at least try to practice her powers, she might as well act the part. At first she glanced behind her, certain she could hear someone or something following close by, but soon the only noise that she could hear was the sound of crushing twigs underneath her own feet as she walked.

She continued like this for a little over half an hour, so that the suspense of Chris attacking her had all but worn off. If she were being honest with herself, she had never really thought that Chris’s idea was a good way for her to learn how to use her powers, or to potentially discover any other ones she may have. At the end of the day, she just didn’t find Chris scary, dog or not. It was one thing for him to attack a vampire, but she knew that he would never actually hurt her. Best case scenario he would come at her and she would freeze him; worst case she would laugh as he tackled her to the ground.

She was just considering yelling out to him and saying that she’d had enough, when she heard a faint squelching noise behind her. Though it was still early in the day, the dense canopy of the forest masked the light of the day well. Occasional trickles of snowflakes still showered down, but this deep into the forest, these burst were less and less frequent. The path that she had been following was also becoming increasingly difficult to discern. At the beginning there had been a large, two man path, that was reasonably well maintained, but this far into the Three Prong Trek, there were large trees splattered throughout the path, making it twist and turn unpredictably.

“I know you’re there,” she called out, when a sudden snapping sound caught her attention, and she spun around to face a particularly old and knotted tree. “Come out, come out, where ever you are,” she added, hearing rustling leaves nearby.  

A large smile broke across her face when two eyes suddenly appeared from behind the tree she had been staring at. She moved towards it, relieved that Chris had finally shown up, but stopped suddenly. The eyes staring back at her were distinctively feline, not canine. Standing entirely still, Ari watched in horror as a large cat emerged from the darkness.

Its eyes were elliptical and yellow, not at all like Chris’s light blue eyes. The cat inched further and further towards her, until it was close enough for her to realise that it was no mere cat- it was a lynx. A second louder snapping noise made her spin around, and she saw a second large cat stalking towards her. She watched in horror as the spotted animals moved closer, slinking low so that their bellies brushed against the forest floor. Suddenly there was more rustling and then from all around her, several more cats emerged, adopting the same predatory stance as they began to encircle her.

Without thinking, Ari threw her hands up in the air, as she had done dozens of times, and waited for her attackers to freeze- but they did not. Her breathing was very fast now. She had frozen animals before; why were her powers suddenly not working? Throwing her hands up again, this time with more confidence, she willed herself to stop time, but still nothing happened. She continued to watch the beast’s advance, as a fearful dread sank into the bottom of her stomach.

It happened very quickly. There was a low growl from the first lynx she had seen, just as two large fangs were revealed, dripping with saliva. Then the beast crouched down low, preparing to pounce. Ari couldn’t help herself, she let out a small cry and moved to throw her hands up in the air again, desperate for her powers to work. Still time did not stop and so she did the only other thing she could think of- she ran.  

She had only made it a few paces however when her path was blocked. Looking up she saw three ferocious cats, all snarling at her. Then a long howl ripped through the forest, and all the cats around her turned to search for the source of the noise. A silver coated husky emerged. For just a second, two vivid light blue eyes stared at her, but then he was leaping through the air, so that when he landed, he stood protectively in front of her, intermittently roaring and howling as he turned to face the other animals.

Nervously Ari glanced down, glaring at her useless hands; she was desperate to communicate to Chris that her powers did not work on whatever the hell these things were. But Chris was not looking at Ari; his eyes had become glassy and his face vacant. When his mouth opened it was wide, and a blood curdling scream poured out past his teeth, sending shivers down Ari’s arms. The husky had fallen to the ground, writhing in pain. His ears and teeth were shortening, becoming more human-like, while his legs elongated, the hair covering them, falling away, to be replaced with smooth skin. One last whimper left the shrinking snout, and then Chris turned back into a man. He stood quickly, keeping his back to Ari as his human eyes scanned the chain of lynxes.

“Where the hell did they come from?” asked Chris. “There’s too many of them. Here, take my hand; I’ll transport us.”

Ari was just about to grab Chris’s hand when something very odd happened. A slashing noise, like the sound of many sheets of paper being torn into pieces, resonated through the forest. Ari wasn’t sure where the sound was coming from, until one of the lynxes in front of her began to change. Its eyes had become less feline, its pupils no longer vertical, and then Ari saw it transform. With her mouth open in surprise, she watched as the best began twisting and turning, until suddenly it lay before her, no longer a lynx… but a man.