Dawn of the Hunters

"Whistle like this, Xun," whispered his father, Gabriel, letting out a whistle that bounced around the cave they were in.

The small boy at his side smiled up at him and waited for the sound to stop bouncing around before giving his own attempt. Honestly, Gabriel was impressed Xun was even able to whistle. Most boys in the clan hadn't learned until they were twice his age. At the age of five, the soft sound was quiet, but there was no doubt it was a whistle.

"Can you tell how that rock is hanging down by the way the sound bounces from it?"

"The top is really high up," responded Xun with a nod, tilting his head to the side to listen as his own soft whistle faded out.

Gabriel nodded, unable to respond to the boy's words due to the lump in his throat. Lola would have loved to be here, whistling with them. If only she hadn't tried to go after that girl …

Shaking his head and standing up, he glanced around to make sure the coast was clear and motioned for Xun to follow him. They had been here too long. Monsters were bound to be attracted to the sounds of their whistles. They needed to find a place to sleep for the night, and avoid the people he had noticed the day before. He had recognized some of them, and hoped to escape the area before they caught on to their tracks. He was sure they were people from both his clan and Lola's, determined to get her back despite the years they had been on the run. Her father wasn't one to give up easily.

Movement out of the edge of his vision had him freezing, and Xun froze just as quickly. Gabriel marveled again at the child's ability to survive. None of the other children from the clan had acted like he did, when Gabriel had lived there. He was glad he never took Xun back as the movement grabbed his attention once more, revealing the long hairy form of a werewolf.

It was intently listening to the noises in the cave, and sniffing the ground where they had entered. That entrance was blocked for them. Gabriel was going to have to find another way out.

XxxxX

"Subject 3033 has regained consciousness. Time is 0300. Proceeding with Step Two."

Gabriel opened his eyes to see a white ceiling above his head. Bright lights were shining down at him, making his eyes hurt and water. Tight straps held him immobile on the table.

Where was Xun?!

Panic coursed through him as he fought to turn his head and look around. The image of a female vampire wearing a long white lab coat appeared above him, holding a long needle filled with a bright green liquid.

"Reaction is normal," droned a male voice behind him, out of sight. "Vitals are remaining stable."

"Administering the werewolf strain now," said the woman, as a sharp jab registered on his left arm.

Pain coursed up his arm like fire and Gabriel howled, unable to resist the intense agony.

"Change has commenced," came the woman's voice as he took a breath to continue his screams. "Transferring to containment cell B."

Gabriel fought against his restraints as the vampire rolled his bed out of the room and down a hall. The pain was crawling under his skin like ants, fighting to find an escape and he couldn't seem to find any release from it. As he was rolled into a clear glass-like cell, the vampire released his restraints and almost seemed to disappear from the cell, she was moving so fast.

"Does it seem to be taking longer than usual?" asked the male vampire, holding a clipboard and watching as Gabriel spasmed from the pain.

"Fur should have erupted by now," agreed the woman, with a slow nod, touching her chin thoughtfully. "We should notify Dr. Achak."

"Notify me of what?" came a new voice from the door. The man who entered sounded very bored as he stepped up to the cell and studied him.

All Gabriel could think about was tearing this man's head off. He knew he was a vampire, and was probably responsible for millions of deaths. The pain coursing through his system abated a little in the face of his anger, and Gabriel focused on that with an intense concentration.

"We administered the first dose of werewolf serum approximately thirty minutes ago, and he has not yet erupted any fur," said the female, checking her watch.

"How interesting," said the doctor, tilting his head to the side as he watched Gabriel manage to slow his breathing and the spasms. "Did you take a blood sample before administering the serum?"

"Of course," responded the woman with a nod, as the male assistant disappeared from the room, and then reappearing with a paper in hand only a moment later.

Their speed, when they wished it, was one of the things that terrified Gabriel the most.

Taking the paper, the doctor glanced at it briefly, then handed it back to the woman.

"You didn't check the results before administering the dose, did you, Faith?" he asked, not glancing at her.

Faith's face reddened in embarrassment as she took the paper and studied it for a moment; far longer than the doctor had. The fact that she could blush attested to the amount of blood she had been consuming, and Gabriel turned his hatred towards her, to keep it fueled. A vision of seeing bodies scattered around on the ground after an attack from slavers kept it going.

"He had an unknown virus in his system," she finally said, handing the paper to the male assistant next to her. "We still have some of his blood reserved. Do you wish for us to conduct more tests?"

Dr. Achak cupped his chin thoughtfully, then turned his back on Gabriel, as if he was no threat to him. "You've already administered one dose. Take a sample to see why he hasn't changed yet and then administer another. It would be interesting if we've found a virus that prevents the transformation completely. It could be that he has a higher resistance to the serum naturally, but not likely."

"Of course," Faith said, turning and reaching for a syringe next to her.

Gabriel bared his teeth and growled at her as she approached the door, scrambling to his feet as best he could. She didn't blink an eye, though. She was behind him before he could react, stabbing the syringe in his back and taking the blood directly from his heart.

Flinging himself at the open door, Gabriel ignored the threat of the needle for the tempting freedom, but Faith merely grabbed him by the scruff of his shirt collar and threw him back into the pen before leaving and locking the door.

"Weren't you afraid of killing him by stabbing him in the heart?" asked the male assistant in shock as she calmly placed the syringe full of blood into a tray and picked up another syringe filled with more of the green fluid.

"Did you notice how quickly he was healing when he was scrambling around on the floor? Not to mention the screaming he was doing should have damaged his throat, and it doesn't appear to have done so."

"Very good observations," nodded the doctor. "So, the serum seems to be having some effect on him, assuming the original virus he had wasn't behind the healing. What was his condition when you first acquired him?"

Faith cleared her throat as she glanced at the other assistant and said, "I don't know what his condition was when he first arrived."

"What? What do you mean?" asked the doctor.

"I found him in the entryway, unconscious," said the male assistant.

"Clarence, this man does not appear to be someone who would volunteer for the treatment we would provide," said the vampire doctor, turning to look at Gabriel again.

"I understand that," said the male assistant, Clarence. "But you said not to look a gift horse in the mouth…"

"I'm glad you listened, now rerun the blood sample so we can know more about our 'volunteer.'"

"Yes, Dr. Achak," said Clarence, snatching up the blood-filled syringe and disappearing out the door.

"He's still learning," said Faith softly moving towards the door with the green syringe.

The doctor didn't say anything as she entered the cage and Gabriel lunged at her. If he was infected with the werewolf curse, he should be stronger than he had been. She caught him before he could bite her, by the throat. He tried to scratch her with his fingernails and was pleased to see lines of blood welling up. She frowned and threw him across the cage again. Rolling this time, Gabriel was back on his feet and lunging at her again. She was ready this time, grabbing him by the neck and stabbing the syringe in his left eye.

Gabriel screamed as he felt the fire from the serum flood his face. He didn't notice her back out of the cage or slam the door shut. He was too busy clawing at his face and screaming. This time fur did erupt, but he didn't notice that either.