6 Chapter 6: Hunters and Rituals

Terrified, Jesse tried not to move as she felt the knife against her throat. She had no clue of what she was dealing with, nor did she know who her attacker was. She tried to glance down, but the male had a hood on, covering his face. Jesse knew this wasn't good and the hair on the back of her neck was completely up. Every fiber of her being, was screaming at her to run, to get away from whoever this was, but there was one problem there, this guy had the upper hand, because if she moved, her throat would be sliced by the weapon. She could feel herself beginning to panic as she tried to look for some way out of this. She decided to try the only thing that might work. She kicked her foot up between his legs and prayed he didn't have anything covering his balls. He didn't, as he dropped his knife and fell to the ground, holding his crotch and groaning. Jesse tried to make a break for it, but two other figures came out of the shadows, preventing her from leaving the alley way. Frustrated, she ran over to the club door, but to her disappointment, it was locked. She looked back at the two men that were blocking her way, and both of them had a weapon. The one man had a stake, and the other had a knife, similar to the first man. The first man, finally got to his feet, and the three of them, began to advance towards her, weapons ready, but before they reached her, someone jumped in front of her, hissing and snarling at the attackers. The men seemed not to care, and continued to advance, but before they got any closer, the back door to the club swung open, and pulled both Jesse and the unknown figure, through the door.

Once inside, Jesse glanced at the hissing vampire, only to realize it was Zane. She grabbed him in a tight grip hug, before turning around and seeing Alec, Calista, Michael, Ginny and Walter, staring at them with concerned expressions. Alec helped Jesse up and examined her throat, she could feel blood, slowly dripping down it. Michael helped Zane to his feet; Alec gestured for the crowd to follow him back to his office, which at that point, Michael turned to him.

"What in the blazes? Those guys are idiots," he growled.

"Not entirely, they work for Gunner," Ginny hissed, "Which can only mean, he knows about the princess."

"You all know?" Jesse asked, as Alec wiped the blood from her neck with his sleeve.

"Yes and no," Calista answered, "It was only after you came back here as a vampire. You told Alec and naturally, he told the rest of us."

"I see."

"Alec also mentioned, you have a prince," Ginny said.

"Yes, otherwise I wouldn't be a princess," she growled, "Meet Zane, my dark prince."

"A rogue? Seriously?" Calista hissed.

"Also, an old family friend. Jesse's family and mine go way back. Somehow, I think they unofficially betrothed us," Zane laughed.

"It seems that way, doesn't it," Alec chuckled, "Although, you can't control her hormones."

"Not until the ritual is fully done," Ginny giggled.

"Ritual?" Jesse asked.

"As the story goes, the vampire blood returning to the body is only part of the ritual to bring the princess back to full power, the other part…" Ginny started.

"Involves the dark prince," Jesse finished.

"Exactly," Ginny giggled, again.

"I remember reading that in my grandmother's passage, what is the ritual?" Jesse asked.

"No one knows, and the vampires that did, have either been killed or died a long time ago, like your mother, your grandmother," Michael sighed.

"There is one that does know what the ritual is and how it's done," Zane said, his gaze darkening.

"Samuel Gunner," Alec said, with venom in his voice, "Like hell, he'd tell a vampire the ritual. He wants all of us destroyed."

"That may be, but unfortunately, the rogue is right," Calista said calmly.

"I'm not a rogue!" Zane snapped, "But I'm also not part of a clan."

"Actually, you're wrong there," Jesse said, cutting in.

"Excuse me?" Alec said.

"Well, a vampire becomes part of a clan when they share blood, correct? You feed from them and they feed from you?" she asked.

"Yes," Michael confirmed.

"Well, Zane is part of the Chaser clan then. He fed from me and I fed from him, the night I disappeared," she admitted, "So, Zane is not a rogue and he belongs to a clan, mine."

"And of course, you are part of the most powerful clan in existence," Calista growled.

"How do you mean?" Jesse asked.

"Well, technically, when you come to full power, you are the leader of all of us," Alec explained, "Which don't get me wrong, isn't a bad thing. We all clearly like you."

"But?" she asked.

"But worry, when you do come to full power, if…" Ginny trailed off as Zane bursted out laughing.

"What?" Jesse asked, giving Zane a puzzled look.

"They're worried…you're going to…exile them…for their behavior," he said, between laughing fits.

"Behavior? Huh?" she said, looking at them, and then realized what he meant, "As much as I didn't have a say, I'm not going to exile any of you. You saving me tonight, kind of makes up for that."

"Are you serious?" Michael asked, shocked.

"You cannot undo the past; you can only look forward. Something my mother used to say," Jesse giggled, then sobered, "That being said, as long as none of you put another hand on me, unless I okay it, then your safe."

"Agreed," they all said.

"So, by what you all said about rituals, what does that mean?" she asked.

"It means you're in between. Not fully vampire, but not fully human, like a half breed, which is more dangerous. You can be killed easily," Alec explained.

"Great, that just makes everything better, doesn't it?" Jesse growled.

"Nope, which means you would need more protection now that ever," Zane said.

"Wait a sec," Jesse said, pulled her phone out and dialing a number, "Hey, can you come to the club?" she asked, "Yes, now!" she snapped, hanging up the phone and leaving the office.

She headed to the front of the club and waited about ten minutes before a woman, with an annoyed expression came walking down the street. Jesse ran up to her and gave her a tight hug.

"Jess…I can't breathe," she growled.

"Sorry, Amy," she said, releasing her.

"What is the urgency, that couldn't wait till later?" she growled.

"This," Jess answered, raising her gums to reveal her canines.

"Figures," Amy laughed.

"They didn't turn me."

"Not what I meant. I already knew who you were, but I didn't think you would ever figure it out," she smiled, "What do you need from me?"

"Do you know anything about this ritual? Please tell me you do. They said only Samuel Gunner knows and he's a badass."

"And my brother," Amy growled.

"Wait? What?" Jesse asked, shocked.

"Like I was going to mention that in front of Alec. Yes, he's a badass that doesn't see vampires the way I do, so unfortunately, not a good idea to go anywhere near him if you are a vampire," Amy explained, "Aside from that, it's called a 'Blood Ritual', and it appears the first part is already done. You found the dark prince, exchanged blood and touched the amulet with your lips."

"What else is there?" Jesse asked, confused.

"The part that is the most complicated. You need to drink from the leader of the hunter clan."

"Your brother," Jesse said, quietly.

"Exactly, I'm not going to stop you, but that is a very hard thing to accomplish. The hard part is getting close enough to him," Amy said.

"Amy," Alec said, walking up to them.

"Alec, still fucking my friend?" she asked, annoyed.

"Sadly, no. She cut us off."

"Good."

"Why are you out here anyway?" Jesse asked.

"Because after those goons attacked you, we figured it could happen again," he growled, annoyed.

"Goons?" Amy asked.

"Hunters that work for Samuel," Alec answered.

"I see," Amy said, eyeing Jesse, "I might just have an idea," she said, smiling.

"Such as?" Jesse asked.

"A way to get close enough to Sam, without getting killed. He doesn't know who the princess is and he's a stickler for damsels in destress."

"You're saying for her to act like a victim? She's a vampire, he'll see right through her," Alec hissed.

"She's also still human, hiding the vampire part, at the moment, is easy. He'll save her and protect her and then when she sees the best opening, she can finish the ritual."

"Ritual?" Alec asked, confused.

"It's called a 'Blood Ritual', which intel's me to drink from the leader of the hunter clan to complete it," Jesse explained, "No wonder my family went into hiding."

"You're kidding, right?"

"No, first part was exchanging bloods with her prince, and touched the amulet. The last part is taking blood from the hunter leader. This makes her a complete vampire and protects her from all hunters, including him," Amy explained.

"Why are you helping vampires?" Alec asked, eyeing her.

"Because, I've been friends with Jesse since we were children. She's very dear to me and I wouldn't want to see harm come to her."

"How do you know about the ritual?" Ale inquired.

"Amy Gunner. Samuel Gunner is her brother," Jesse answered.

"What?!" Alec said, taking a defensive stance.

"Try it, big guy. You'll be on the ground quicker than you can say my name. If I wanted to harm you, I would never have allowed you to drink from me," Amy hissed, clearly annoyed.

"True," he sighed.

"Good. Now, all we need to do is set a scene between Sam and Jesse, so that he comes to her rescue and saves her. If he calls on me, I'll pretend I don't know her, so that it is more convincing," Amy smiled.

"Is Sam that gullible?" Alec asked.

"When he doesn't know the difference, yes."

"Her fangs?"

"Different from yours, she can easily hide them."

"Fair enough. So, where should this trap be set?" Alec asked.

"In the park, early tomorrow evening when vampires first come out to hunt. Best vampire to survive an attack from Sam, is you or Zane," she said.

"Zane is probably not the best choice. He's very protective and won't go for this plan," Jesse said.

"In other words?" Amy asked, not knowing Zane well.

"He'll be a liability. Keep this between the three of us. We can't have him, busting our plan," Alec answered.

"I see. Okay, so tomorrow evening around six, go for a walk in the park," Amy said, turning to Jesse, "I will text my brother and say I spotted a vamp, hunting a defenceless girl in the park and that I require assistance."

"And that's where I come in. I will attempt to attack Jesse, but Sam will stop me."

"Exactly. Alright, plan set, now we just put it in motion," Amy smiled, yawning, "Now, back to bed for me until tomorrow evening. Night guys."

"Night Amy," Jesse said, while Alec escorted her back into the club, "What do we tell the others?" she asked Alec.

"I'll figure that out, you should head back to my place and get some sleep. Zane is welcome to stay there if he wishes."

"Okay," she said.

"I'll have Mark drive you, to protect you," he said, heading towards Mark in the club, "Mark," he called, forcing Mark to turn around.

"Yes, boss?" he asked.

"Can you take Jesse back to my place please? I'll tell Zane the address later."

"Yes, boss," he smiled, gesturing for Jesse to follow him.

The two of them got into his car and started driving. Most of the drive was quiet, which was unsettling to Jesse, considering what their plan was tomorrow evening. Mark turned a corner, and the car went flying. The two of them rolled around in the car until it finally stopped rolling. The car was upside down; Jesse, dazed and bleeding, looked towards Mark, who was not moving at all. Pain filled her as she reached to see if he would move from her touch, he groaned, clearly in pain. She was glad he was alive, but quickly regretted it as she looked out her side window to see strange looking creatures, slowly coming towards the car. They looked deformed, and they had canines, like vampires, but were ugly as hell. Jesse reached for her seatbelt buckle and winced in pain and the buckle released. Her entire body was screaming to run and leave Mark behind, but she couldn't, he was kind to her and she wasn't going to leave him here to die. She reached and unclipped his buckle. She then, crawled out of the broken passenger window and quickly ran around the car to pull him out. He was heavy, but her adrenaline allowed her to help him; she rested him against the side of the car as she thought about what to do next. These weird creatures were advancing on them and they were surrounding them. She looked over to Mark, who was slowly waking up, but as he did, he tensed. He shoved Jesse, in the opposite direction of the creatures.

"Run!" he screamed at her.

"What? I can't leave you," she said, ignoring him.

"These are far worse than hunters, now run!" he hissed, shoving her again.

They both heard something landing on the car, and they both looked up to see a man, no more than six feet tall, with short dirty blonde hair, holding a crossbow.

"He's right, you know. These things are pretty nasty," the man said.

"Run!" Mark repeated, as the man aimed the crossbow at him.

"Hey! What the hell do you think you're doing?!" Jesse snapped, grabbing the crossbow and forcing it out of the man's hands.

"He's a vampire!" the man hissed, clearly shocked.

"Yeah? And one who attempted to save my life!" she hissed, before aiming the bow at the deformed creatures and letting off a shot.

It pierced the creature in the chest and it dissolved instantly. She felt the man grab his crossbow back and quickly let off shocked, killing the rest of them. He then grabbed Jesse arm and rushed her away from Mark.

"We can't leave him," she hissed, "He'll be killed."

"He's fine, there won't be more of those things for awhile and I'm sure his buddies will find him," he answered, coming up to a car and forcing her inside.

"Hey! I have a home!"

"I'm getting us as far away from this area as possible," he growled, turning the car on and slamming on the gas, causing the car to skid.

The man continued to speed through the city and into the country side before he finally slowed down. Jesse was a bit terrified as she had no idea who this man was. She looked over at him and noticed he had light blue eyes, like Amy's.

"Who are you?" she finally asked.

"Samuel Gunner," he answered, not taking his eyes off the road.

"Samuel Gunner?" she repeated.

"Yes, head vampire hunter. I'm only telling you this, because you saw those creatures."

"Were they the ones that flipped the car?" she asked.

"I imagine so. Did you not know the driver was vampire?" he asked.

"I did. He was giving me a ride home," she confessed.

"Are you a pet?" he asked.

"Kind of, why?" she asked, nervously.

"No need to be nervous, that's a human's choice if they want to be a pet. Our hatred is towards vampires. Was that your master?" he inquired, turning into a long dark driveway.

"No, he works for my master," she answered, going along with the pet theory.

"Alec Trace? I never thought that asshole would take a pet," he growled.

"Well, he does."

"How's your head?" he finally asked, grazing it with his fingers.

"Sore, but I'll live," she answered, "Where are we going?" she asked.

"My safe house," he said, pulling up to a house and parking, "My sister and I tend to live out here. She has a place in town, but mostly stays here," he explained, getting out of the car.

Jesse got out, but noticed, his car was the only one here.

"Where's your sister?" she asked.

"She got called into town, so she won't be back till tomorrow I think she said," he explained, escorting her up to the front door.

They entered the house and Sam escorted her to the living room and then forced her to take a seat on the couch. He left the living room and a few minutes later, came back with a case of some sort. He placed it next to Jesse, and she saw that it was a first aid kit.

"What were those things?" she asked, as he put a lotion onto a piece of gauze and dabbed it on her forehead.

"Those are vampires that kill humans," he answered, quietly, "They drain a human dry. After a certain amount of time of doing it, the vampire is classified as rogue and therefore, becomes what you saw tonight."

"Geez, they look scary," she sighed.

"They are. Those things, are more terrifying than a vampire. I would much prefer the vampires, then the rogues."

"So, vampires are classified as rogues if they've killed a certain number of humans?" she asked.

"I believe the number is ten, but you'll have to check with Alec."

"Zane is supposed to be a rogue," she said.

"That is a different thing. Zane has never killed a human, but if you don't belong to a vampire family, you're classified as a rogue, but of a different group. He'll never turn into one of those," Sam sighed.

"How would you know?" she asked, hissing as he put the lotion on a sensitive spot.

"Because, Zane is my brother," he answered.

"What?" she asked, shocked.

"He was bitten by a rogue vampire and was drained dry," he said.

"Who saved him?" she asked.

"Your master," he answered.

"Is that why you're not entirely against Alec?"

"Partly. He taught my brother not to kill humans and to respect them," he said, "Take your shirt off, I need to see the damage please," he asked.

Jesse did as she was told and saw just how bad the car accident had left her body. She had gashes and scratches all over her body.

"Could I use your cell please?" she asked him, as he continued to tend to her.

"Here," he said, handing it to her.

She dialed a number into it, which was Alec's and waited for him to pick up, when he did, his voice was fuming and before she could say anything, Sam grabbed the phone from her and put it on speaker.

"Hey high and mighty, chill out!" he hissed.

"Sam, what the hell have you done?" he growled.

"I didn't do anything and thanks to your pet, I didn't kill your bouncer either," he growled back, "His car was rammed by a group of rogue vampires. How many are there?"

"I don't know, I lost track," Alec admitted.

"Well, I killed five tonight, alone."

"Four!" Jesse snapped.

"Right, your pet shot one, protecting your buddy," Sam growled.

"Are you okay?" Alec asked, "Certain lover is panicking."

"Quite a bit banged up, but I'll live," Jesse answered.

"You hurt her and I'll have your head," Alec hissed, addressing Sam.

"You know I don't kill pets," he hissed back.

"Not what he meant Sam," a voice hissed on the phone.

"Zane?" Sam asked, confused.

"These guys are dumb to think they could hide anything from me," he growled, "I knew what you were up to Jess, but I didn't think something like this would happen."

"I don't think anyone did," Jesse sighed.

"What in the blazes are you talking about?" Sam asked, confused.

"It's complicated Sam," Zane growled.

"Fine, whatever. She'll be back with her master as soon as the dawn hits. I won't risk going back till then," he growled, before hanging up, "What does he mean?" he asked, glaring at her.

"I'm not supposed to say," she answered.

"And I could always force the truth out of you," he growled.

"How?" she asked, nervous.

"You're in my house, sweetheart, I could easily overtake you," he grinned, cupping her breast.

"I'm technically dating your brother," she admitted.

"Technically, meaning, you're not fully together yet," he said, his grin becoming wider, "I allowed a vampire to live, because of you."

"So, you'd screw your brother's girlfriend?" she asked.

"Well, maybe you'll fall for me instead of him," he laughed, slipping his hand under her bra, caressing her bare breast beneath it.

"Seriously?" she hissed, pleasure building in her.

"Seriously," he pulled, reaching around her back and unclipping the bra, allowing the material to fall away, exposing her lush pale breasts.

She wondered if she should tell him who she really was, would he kill her, or did it matter. It seemed like he had a thing for vampire pets.

"Why am I so interesting to you?" she growled, as she watched his hand, undoing her jeans.

"Don't get me wrong Jess, I know exactly who you are," he smiled, forcing her jeans off her, revealing her vagina.

"You do?" she asked.

"My brother's girlfriend and Alec's pet. Interesting combination."

His free hand, rubbed up and down her clit, sending chills through her entire body. He released her breast and forced her legs further down the couch. He moved his hand away from her vagina, and released it with is mouth, flicking his tongue on her clit and going in and out of her. This sent more chills through her body as she realized, she was at the mercy of a very powerful hunter. One she realized, was part of a family that was friends with her family. She felt his hand return and start massaging her clit, while his tongue continued to go in and out of her. She could hold back and she released in bliss. She watched as Sam, took off his own jeans, revealing a rock-hard penis, that looked almost as big as Zane's; he rubbed it on her before completely inserting it all the way into her. She let out a gasp as he began to thrust with even speed, not to fast, not to slow. As he continued to thrust, he put is mouth on one of her nipples, while he used one of his hands, to play with the other, causing her to squirm below him; as he continued to thrust, Jesse saw an opportunity to finish the ritual. She wrapped her arms around his neck and trailed her tongue along it, feeling him shiver. She then, quickly sank her teeth into his neck and began to feed from him; she could feel him fighting her as he realized he was screwing a vampire. He had stopped thrusting, and tried to pull away, but it was futile. She starting thrusting her hips, so that she could continue to feel the pleasure as she drank. She was surprised that he hadn't tried to strangle her, but then, she caught him by surprise. As she released his neck, he pulled back and fell to the floor. She moved quickly and got on top of him and inserted him back into her. She continued to thrust until she could feel him about to cum. She continued to ride him until he released in udder bliss; she then bent down, kissed her fang marks, which quickly vanished, got up and sat on the couch, naked. She watched as he got up and roughly put his jeans back up and glared at her; she simply smiled back at him.

"Zane infected you?" he hissed.

"No," she answered.

"Alec?"

"No."

"Then how," he started, before she cut him off.

"The name Chaser, ring a bell?" she asked.

"My mother was friends with a Chaser," he said, feeling his neck for bite marks.

"Yes, my mother. My grandmother's name was Karen Chaser. Her daughter's name was Sarah Chaser."

"You're Sarah's daughter?" he asked.

"Yes, and it seems my family was the first line of vampires. There's this thing called a 'Blood Ritual'," she started.

"I know what it is," he growled, cutting her off.

"Well, I needed three things."

"Blood exchange between you and the dark prince, feeding from the amulet and my blood."

"Yes, and I took this opportunity to do so."

"And now, I can't even kill you."

"I seriously doubt you would have. Your sister is my best friend, your brother is my dark prince and it seems our families were friends."

"Geez, I've clearly grown up on the wrong side," he growled, sitting down next to her.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"Unlike my sister, Zane and I were raised by our father, the previous leader of the hunters. He was killed by a powerful rogue. After he died, I took over. Zane gave up being a hunter after he was turned. So, our father originally raised us with the same hatred he had. When Zane was infected, he learned more than I ever knew about vampires. My sister, on the other hand, is a wild card," he laughed.

"I can see that."

"Anyway, I had no idea that my mother's best friend was a vampire."

"My mother wasn't. my grandmother was three-quarter human, my mother was human and so was I until recently. According to what my grandmother wrote, it was to protect us from the terrible hunter. It seems now, that isn't such an issue," Jesse explained.

"At the time, perhaps. Now, it seems we have bigger issues. It seems the rogues have grown in numbers and are clearly attacking everything," he sighed, as his phone went off, "Geez, now what do they want?" he growled, answering it and putting it on speaker, "Yes?" he growled.

"We learned some new things about what happened," Alec said.

"Such as?" Sam asked.

"The rogues were targeting vampires," Zane answered.

"What? You're all the same, what the hell?" Sam said, shocked.

"No, we feed from humans, we don't kill them. The rogues do, that's why they're called rogues," Alec sighed.

"You make a valid point," Sam groaned, "But why are they doing that?"

"When we picked up Mark, one attacked us and we managed to subdue him; he spilled everything, thinking we were going to spare him. The rogues are wanting all the power now and he said that they have a powerful leader they're following," Alec explained.

"They also said, the leader is searching for something," Zane started, but then went quiet.

"Sam knows who I am," Jesse said, "The ritual is complete."

"The leader is looking for you," he finished.

"Why me?" she asked.

"No idea, the rogue wouldn't tell us that, said it was top secret, but the leader had to have the princess, or rather, the queen of all vampires."

"Queen?" Sam asked.

"Once the ritual was completed, the term changed from princess to queen," Alec explained.

"So, now what?" Sam sighed.

"I think, as much as you will hate this idea, vampires and hunters are going to have to work together," Jesse said.

"Seriously?" they all said.

"Yes. We need to work together to defeat a greater enemy. As much as they don't want to, the vampires have to listen to me and the hunters have to listen to you. If we don't work together, all species, humans, vampires and hunters won't have a chance to live," she sighed.

"She's unfortunately right," Zane agreed.

"I know," Sam admitted.

"Come back to the club and we can figure out a game plan," Alec said, "It's sunrise, so it should be safe."

"We'll be there shortly," he said, before hanging up.