Chapter 3: Love, Blood, and Fangs

Marcus Cutler POV:

I ended up pulling an all-nighter as I drove to the town in question, but I made good time, arriving shortly after ten the next morning.

Naturally the first thing I did was find a motel where I could get some much-needed sleep.

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I woke up in the early evening feeling energized and refreshed. The perfect state to begin a hunt.

Opening my laptop, I looked at the file I had been given again, and then pulled up an image of town on google maps. The first step when trying to confirm the presence of vampires is to identify potential lairs and hunting grounds for them.

Now, fiction would have you believe that vampires sleep in coffins, they’ll either burn or sparkle in sunlight, and they’re nocturnal.

But those fictional vampire facts are … well, fictional.

Most vampires aren’t dead long enough to be buried, so coffins don’t do them any good.

Vampires don’t burn in sunlight, and they don’t sparkle either.

The nocturnal bit is more of a half-truth. Vampires are naturally nocturnal creatures, but they handle daylight hours as well as any other nocturnal creature. Sleeping all day and becoming active at night is a matter of personal preference, not a survival requirement.

For all I know, the vampire I came here to hunt was out and about while I was sleeping.

What all of this means is that the places most people would think to look for vampires, graveyards, mausoleums, and haunted houses won’t work. A vampire would be more comfortable in a well-furnished home with a bed than any of those places.

Finding a suitable hunting ground first is usually a better bet when you’re trying to find a vampire.

Since most vampires do play into the stereotype of coming out at night, the social members of their kind favor places where people congregate, providing them with large selections of prey to choose from. Bar and nightclubs are favorite hunting ground for such vampires because of the crowds they drew, and because bite marks can be disguised as aggressive marks of affection.

On the other hand, anti-social vampires are harder because their hunting grounds are wherever they can get someone alone. It could be in a park, or even on someone’s front porch.

The file I’d been given didn’t specify how social the local vampire suspects are, so there wasn’t anything to go on there.

That would be alright though. Vampire hunting wouldn’t be interesting if it wasn’t challenging.

Since I don’t have anything to contradict it, I’m going to assume that the local vampire is nocturnal and social.

With that in mind, I changed my search to look for probable hunting grounds. The town was too small to have any nightclubs, but it did have a reasonable number of bars along the main street. The most popular one was called the Hunting Ground.

I had to smile at that.

I didn’t know if that was a coincidence or not, but looking at its reviews, and with a name like that, a vampire wouldn’t be able to resist it.

Once I had the address, I took a quick shower and changed into something I hadn’t slept in all day. I opted for jeans, a polo shirt, and a black leather jacket, though I kept my knife in my jacket pocket.

Just because I wanted to be presentable it didn’t mean I shouldn’t be prepared.

I headed out once I was ready.

The Hunting Ground wasn’t far from the motel, and I could have walked if I wanted to. But if there was a vampire there, and if I killed it tonight, then I would need to get out of town quickly. Going back to the motel wouldn’t be an option.

I parked on the road outside the Hunting Ground and judging by the number of other cars on the road, I wasn’t the only person from out of town stopping at this bar.

Stepping through the front door, I found a decent number of people inside. People were drinking, talking, some were shooting pool at tables scattered around the room, and there were even people trying their luck against a mechanical bull in one corner. The reviews had said the Hunting Ground had something for everyone, and I could see they were true.

I didn’t find a place to sit right away. Instead, I took a few minutes to watch the room. One thing I notice was that at one point or another, all the patrons would turn and look across the room. Once I had seen it enough to know where they were looking, I started making my way over.

I found her seated in a booth at the furthest corner from the door. Julia Locke.

She was even more beautiful in person than in the picture I’d been given. Her black hair was tied in an elegant braid, and I knew the deep crimson of her lips had not been achieved using cosmetics.

It confirmed all the suspicions of who or what she was.

Her beauty was not the only indication of her true nature though. It was how she was watching the room, carefully scrutinizing the other patrons as if she was trying to pick out a target. Her posture looked relaxed, but I knew she was poised to strike once she saw her opening.

This woman was a predator.

Fortunately, so was I.

I schooled my face into a friendly smile as I walked over. There was nothing wrong here. I was just going to talk to a beautiful woman who looked like she could use some company.

The vampire turned to me as I reached her booth, and I smiled back at her. “My I sit down?” I asked, gesturing to the empty seat.

She returned my smile, though she kept her lips closed. “Please,” she invited, her voice had a musical quality to it. The vampire waited until I was seated before she spoke again. “You’re from out of town.”

Considering how long vampires live, it wasn’t surprising that this one could identify who was and wasn’t a local. I just smiled and nodded. “Yes, I am,” I confirmed anyway. “How did you know?”

The vampire gave me a small shrug. “I know everyone here,” she replied. “I’m Julia, by the way.”

“Marcus,” I introduced myself.

Julia’s smile grew. Placing her elbows on the table, she laced her fingers together and rested her chin on them. “So, Marcus, what brings you here?” she asked me.

I shrugged. “Oh, no particular reason,” I lied. “I’m just passing through.” I gave her a speculative look. “How about you? Are you wait for someone, or are you here by yourself?”

Julia laughed softly; a sound more musical than her voice. “I came here by myself,” she replied. “But I’ve been trying to find the right person to leave with.” She leaned closer. “Maybe that person found me instead.”

I gave her a small chuckle. This was too easy. “Are you always this forward?”

“Only with people I think are interesting.” Julia’s smile grew, and I could see the tips of her fangs now. “And if I think the other person is interested in me.”

I smiled openly. “I think you’re very interesting, Julia,” I told her honestly. Just not for the reason you want me to be. “Can I buy you a drink?” I offered.

“I’ll take a drink,” Julia replied. I could see a predatory gleam in her burgundy eyes. “But not from here.”

“Did you have another place in mind?” I asked. “Someplace private?”

Julia was barely making an effort to conceal her fangs anymore as she rose to her feet and offered me her hand. “Come with me,” she invited.

I took Julia’s hand without hesitation. There was no reason not to.