Three

It wasn’t that hard to convince Grifel to join Mercy and Sam on the quest, however she was not that narrow minded, she knew that others would be harder to convince. It mattered little to her now, she would persuade them by any means possible, failure was not an option and not something she was used to.

Sam was another matter, his own mind had been returned to him and he was a bitter sulking companion. He treated Mercy carelessly and without favor, not that she cared much, she still stood by her words, she’d done him a favor. Sam was still adjusting to his new being. It was hard to understand that one was now between the living and the dead, no heartbeat but some bizarre form of blood pumped through his veins, it wasn’t real blood yet it wasn’t a dead substance.

He was still getting used to the extra strength he carried and the extra speed he gained. He disliked being able to see everything in fine detail, it hurt his eyes which were so unused to the effect. He didn’t like that he had to be careful when handling things less he break them. He didn’t like that he had to slow down his speed so that he appeared normal and he did not like the burning desire in his throat and the need to feed.

He refused to give into temptation and the nature that was now his own, he was still very much clinging onto the idea that he was still human, he thought it inhuman to feed off a human as he had once been a human and could still remember his life. Mercy offered no sympathy for her actions and soon Sam stop searching for them. He wanted her to feel remorse for her actions or to let him go, perhaps kill him and end his suffering but she would do nothing. She said life was now his to mold. Mercy had become his new enemy, once a beautiful lady to his human eyes, he had realized that everything he felt for her was a fabricated lie, and there were no illusions of love now that he’d crossed over to her side.

He lasted three days after their arrival to San Francisco before his need to feed became too great. It was a lucky coincident that Grifel noticed his pain and took him out to feed instead of Mercy, who knew what horrors would occur if he had hunted with her.

‘This is your first hunt?’ asked Grifel.

‘I’m not entirely sure’ replied Sam.

‘I do not understand’.

‘That makes two of us. Mercy mentioned something in regards to my hunting, she said it wasn’t my first time but it would be the first time I remembered’ he said bitterly.

‘Ah’ replied Grifel.

‘You understand what she meant?’ asked Sam.

‘Yes’ replied Grifel.

‘Will you tell me?’

‘Are you sure you want to know?’

‘I cannot hate life any more than I do now’ said Sam.

‘Very well Sam. This will not be your first hunt, you killed when you were newly formed, and they were assassins I believe though Mercy was vague in her description. I believe she holds off more information that she releases’ said Grifel.

‘I’ve killed humans already?’ asked Sam horrified.

‘No, the assassins were not human’.

‘But I am to kill them now’ growled Sam.

‘It is but a way of life’ replied Grifel.

‘And if I were to not drink the blood of a human?’

‘It is not advisable in one as young as you, you cannot sustain yourself on nothing, the longer you hold out the more chance there is of a mass massacre’ he said.

‘Would I die?’

‘Perhaps, but it would take a fair few years. Why do you think Vampires are all so old, many before you has tried to search for death but death is unwilling to take us. Do not fight what you are Sam’.

‘If I had never met Mercy this wouldn’t have happened’ he sulked.

‘It would have happened regardless. Mercy tagged you, you were her prey and she hunted you. There were a million different ways she could have done it. Would you have preferred if she had remained hidden in the shadows never showing her face before attacking you and demanding you join her?’ asked Grifel.

‘No’ replied Sam.

‘Exactly, she did you a favor by making the chase personal’.

‘I did not ask for this’ replied Sam.

‘No but you’ve got it. Don’t dwell on the past Sam. Be bitter and angry at Mercy, she doesn’t care, I don’t care and it’s just a waste of time’ said Grifel.

Sam bobbed his head up and down.

‘So hunting and killing’ said Sam.

Grifel sighed; this Sam really was a hard one.

‘Look if you are that desperate to hold onto your humanity, just drink and kill the bad ones. You know the criminals etc. They don’t taste as great but they’ll fill your need’ said Grifel.

‘Bad ones? I can do that, like being the justice the police can’t deliver’ said Sam warming up to the idea.

‘Whatever gets you through the kill’ murmured Grifel wondering what possessed him to come out with the lad.

‘What more do you know of her?’ asked Sam.

‘Who Mercy?’ replied Grifel.

Sam nodded.

Grifel sighed, ‘Not much. Her brother was good at keeping her hidden; he didn’t want her influenced by others’.

‘She’s a monster’ growled Sam.

‘Depends on how you look at it’ replied Grifel, ‘Humans capture things all the time. They have zoo’s where they raise animals in captivity. How is Mercy any different? She was raised in captivity by her brother; she doesn’t know how to act any differently’.

‘Then we are all doomed’ said Sam.

‘Not so, she rebelled didn’t she. She ran from her brother. What’s to say she won’t change her own path?’

‘Your theories speak nothing of her, a monster cannot change its spots’ said Sam.

‘Then you are doomed to be a monster’ replied Grifel.

‘How dare you!’ shouted Sam, ‘I am nothing like her’.

‘But you are Sam. You are one of us now, struggling to grasp at humanity, the sooner you accept your fate the better for everyone’ said Grifel getting up to leave.

‘Wait, you can’t leave me! I cannot hunt without you’ he cried.

‘There is no training kid, you have to hunt alone, let your instincts take over’.

‘But what if I hurt somebody?’

‘Then you’ll be doing what you’re supposed to’ said Grifel leaving Sam alone.

Mercy sat alone, her mind drifting from one thought to the next. Sam and Grifel had long since departed, she thought it a shame that Grifel was lowering himself to the level of Sam just to help the young vampire hunt but Mercy supposed there were a lot of vampires out there that longed to keep hold of their humanity. Personally Mercy couldn’t stand it, why be conflicted by emotions that just got in the way of what was natural. Mercy didn’t want to feel consumed by grief or guilt while draining her prey that would just put a downer on things. She had heard of plenty a vampire who had died from being consumed by guilt of their actions. It was mostly changed vampires who behaved that way, it was once that changed vampires were a rare commodity but in recent years the vampire race had expanded and under the watchful eye of Thayer a new line of changed vampires had started.

The night was dark and seemed cold, the stars were fading in the sky, and their once luminous light diminishing as the world grew old. Mercy didn’t understand how humans could live in a world like this, were morals and society were so corrupt and screwed up, she need only take a look at her own world to see the similarities, if Thayer wasn’t removed from the throne soon, Mercy’s world would risk becoming as bad and run down as the disgusting human world she currently found herself on.

‘What are you thinking of?’

The shock showed in Mercy’s eyes for just a second before her mask was back in place, she hadn’t realized that Grifel had returned. She should not have let herself get distracted.

‘What is to come if my brother remains on the throne’ she replied.

‘You talk dangerously’ he replied.

‘I have reason to’ she said.

‘What is your plan now?’ he asked.

‘Alaska’ she responded.

‘You know of other outcasts there?’ he questioned.

‘No but I feel it’ she replied.

‘I didn’t know you could feel’ growled the voice of Sam, his chin dripping with blood.

Mercy ignored him and he left the room.

Grifel however could sense her anger, ‘He needs time, and you took away his life’.

‘I could have killed him’ she replied.

‘But in his eyes you cursed him’ he said.

‘I do not care what he thinks of me’ she said.

Grifel could not decipher whether she was lying or being truthful so he dropped the subject.

‘I will come with you to Alaska’ he said.

‘That is a good decision’ she replied.

‘And I will teach Sam’ he added.

She turned to look at him studying him with her eyes, ‘For that I am thankful’.

No more was said on the subject, Mercy wanted to leave immediately, travelling by night was easier than travelling by day. Though Alaska was far away, she didn’t want to spend all of it on human transport acting like a human. She was a vampire and it felt good to run through the night at a speed that was humanly impossible.

‘We are ready’ said Grifel, while Sam stood behind him.

‘Then we shall leave’ she replied.

The night was on their side as they set off, Mercy leading the way and Sam stumbling behind, Grifel only had so much patience for the boy, for him everything came naturally, for Sam he had to work on things. They covered much ground in the dead of night but come the rising sun of the morning, the masks came on and they prepared to act as travelling humans. It was disgusting for Mercy to degrade herself to the level of humans but it was a necessity.

The first bus ride was quiet and boring, Sam’s moaning had quieted, Grifel was silent and actually seemed to be reading a human book and Mercy was silently contemplating how long it would take her to kill every human aboard the bus. Three buses later and no one was feeling quite so agreeable, however, the night was setting once more, meaning after this buses last stop they could begin running again.

The journey had so far taken two days and Mercy reckoned that they’d reach Alaska by nightfall, and then it was just a question of hunting out the vampires. They had stopped to eat the night before, camping tourists were on the menu and both Mercy and Grifel had been incredibly satisfied with their meal, while Sam was unfortunately still stuck in the grief stage.

‘Alaska’ stated Grifel.

‘Alaska’ replied Mercy.

‘Where to?’ asked Grifel.

‘North’ replied Mercy.

The trees were overgrowing in Alaska, Mercy welcomed the overcrowded scenery as it better hid their movements, and the snow was falling fast and heavy here, the temperature no doubt very cold for humans. Mercy felt that they were close; it wasn’t so much a smell as a feeling that guided her through the mass of trees. Mercy had long since blocked out the rambling nonsense coming from Sam, he was most put out with the way things had been progressing, she assumed that he had hoped that she would feel some sort of regret for turning him but she felt nothing. As far as she could see he was an asset to her plan.

Snow always made her think of her brother, though snow was rare in her world her brother liked for her to ‘experience’ everything. However, his ideas were not the ordinary run of the mill ideas that everyone thought of. For example a normal family might have taken their children to see actual snow but Thayer had thought of something much better…

‘Behold dear sister’ said Thayer throwing open the doors with much gusto.

Mercy looked all around her in bewilderment, she was still young and not much time had passed since the death of her parents.

‘I don’t understand’ she said.

‘You said you wanted to see snow, I have made snow for you’ he said.

‘But snow is white’ replied Mercy.

‘And white snow is boring’ growled Thayer, ‘This red snow is much better’.

Mercy looked up, recoiling slightly, three bodies were strapped to the ceiling on rotating fans, wounds all over their bodies allowed the blood to fall and the fans made it fly in all different directions. A long with the bodies were pillows, their feathers flying around and mingling with the blood.

‘You had to look up didn’t you!’ cried Thayer, ‘It’s ruined now’ he said.

‘I didn’t mean to’ said Mercy.

‘Don’t you want to play with your new toy’ said Thayer.

Mercy would have replied but he didn’t give her a chance, strolling from the room he shut the door behind him, locked it and left her.

When he returned many hours later, he found Mercy covered in a congealed gunk of feathers and blood.

‘You leant to enjoy your present then’ he said.

‘Yes brother’ she replied.

Funny thought Mercy, that wasn’t the memory she was thinking of, she had almost forgotten that even happened, it was obviously pushed back into her brain where she couldn’t access it. No matter, she was a timid little fool back then, now she was better, different.

‘Are we there yet?’ moaned Sam.

‘Shhh!’ said Grifel.

Mercy rolled her eyes, it was too late, they’d already been given away by Sam’s comment, their arrival would no longer be a surprise, it was a shame really, the house stood before them and Mercy had been looking forward to surprising them.

‘Hands up! What are you doing here?’ shouted one voice.

‘One move and I’ll kill you where you stand!’ shouted another.

‘We’ve waited for you and now we will have our revenge’ cried the third voice.

Grifel prepared for attack while Sam slid to the floor and waved his hands above his head in surrender.

Mercy seemed almost amused, no she was amused and she showed it by laughing out loud. If anything this seemed to anger the strangers more and Grifel wonder what on earth she was doing.

‘I think you’ll find I’m in charge’ she said calmly, cocking her gun and pointing it ahead.

‘A human gun? That has no effect on us’ said one of the voices, a male.

‘It does not matter that it is a human gun, what matters is what’s inside it’ said Mercy.

‘Human bullets do not affect us either’ said another voice, this time a female.

‘This gun contains no human bullets’ said Mercy.

‘Then what does it contain?’ asked the third voice, again male but a lot younger judging by the tone of voice.

‘Vials of assassin blood’ said Mercy.

There was a collective gasp as four of the six vampires there realized the danger she held in her hand.

Three figures stepped from the shadows into the light, two males, with brown hair – looking like a Father and a Son and a woman with long blonde hair, - the Mother Mercy assumed.

‘You better come in then’ said the older male, as he began to lead the way into the house.

‘You are too kind’ said Mercy falsely.

‘You could lower your gun’ said the female.

‘But I will not’ replied Mercy.

‘And why not?’ asked the younger male.

‘You have not given me a reason to trust you’ replied Mercy.

‘You have not given us the same reason’ replied the female.

‘I have no need to’ said Mercy.

‘Who are you?’ asked the elder male.

‘Your salvation’ replied Mercy.