My journey continued, and I remained in my solitude, although there were occasional signs that other humans had been through. Twice I spotted carved symbols on tree trunks indicating that vampire attacks had happened nearby and I made sure to get out of those areas as quickly as I possibly could. The last thing I wished was to get enslaved again before I had my chance to take out that demon Jack.

With every passing day, I became more impatient to take him out. I wanted that monster's black blood on my hands.

I smiled grimly and continued forward with my single minded purpose.

It was a relief when I finally reached the cranky old man's hideout that I had been heading for. I approached cautiously. "Hadron?" I called out. "It's Jamie."

Other than the shriek of a bird somewhere far away, no response met my ears.

I would have liked it if he had been here, but I was going to see what he had and borrow what I needed with or without direct permission. Hadron would be pissed off like crazy if he discovered I had plundered his supplies while he was gone if I did not replace them before he returned, but that was meaningless compared to the fact that I had a name and location for the face.

A small part of me wished that I had gotten as good of a look at the other vampires that got away, but, he and the one I had already killed were the only two whose faces I could recall.

And the one I already killed I recalled with deep satisfaction.

I wanted it again, but I was certain that Jack's destruction would bring with it a relief sweeter than anything else I had ever experienced. I wanted it so bad.

Wasting no more time, I went to the entrance, a moss covered metal door over a bunker. I knocked on the top hard, and pulled it open. "Hadron? It's Jamie. You around old man?" I called again, just to be safe.

My voice echoed out of the bunker. I climbed down the ladder and looked around the dimly lit room. Since dark was getting closer, I decided to spend the night down here and enjoy the luxury of somewhat increased security. I rummaged around the crates that served as cupboards, and found nothing edible in the slightest. I was not surprised, since he never intentionally left food behind.

I ate some of my dried meat and lay down on the cot in the corner of the small room. I was close to the demon's lair now, probably less than two day's journey. It seemed insane that my quarry had been so close to one of the cranky old man's hideouts, but I supposed that the near location actually worked to make Hadron less conspicuous since who would imagine there was a human living so close?

Weary as I was, I closed my eyes and let myself fall into a rejuvenating rest.

* * * * *

I needed sleep, but my dreams were anything but restful. I dreamed of the demon killing Melissa over and over again, but the dream that shocked me into wakefulness was when she was the one attacking us, and she did not kill Melissa. Instead she drank Melissa's blood with that knowing smirk and then fed her own blood to Melissa in turn. Melissa lay there unmoving, and then those sweet brown eyes opened and looked towards me without recognition but rather with that disturbing hunger I could not bear to see.

I woke up sweating and my heart slammed in my chest. Understanding it was a dream did not help to lessen my distress at the images my mind had concocted to torment me.

Sickness at the thought of Melissa or any human turned into one of those undead monsters sickened me. She had been someone beautiful and the idea of her twisted that way was—

Maybe still better than seeing her dead. I was not sure.

While I waited for sleep to reclaim me, I thought about Melissa, and though I had no desire to admit it, I thought about the leech. What had she been like when she was human? Her beauty was inescapable. I could never quite ignore it as much as I would have preferred to and I wondered if her mysterious nature was something that was inherent to her or something brought on by her undead condition.

It was stupid to speculate because I had no intention of ever seeing her again, even if that body and face were now affixed so firmly in my mind that I could not escape them even in my dreams. It did not matter that I had discovered that there was some good under her egotistical sadism.

I fell asleep pondering the madness of my growing interest in a leech who should mean nothing to me because of her nature alone and that I would never see again.

* * * * *

I woke in the morning and left the cranky old man's hideout, but not before raiding the stash that he kept a short distance away in a tiny natural cave. I pulled out the chest I well remembered and popped the lid with the key I had located hidden nearby. It was good that he was a creature of habit, because he would be really angry at me if I broke his chest while borrowing from him.

I opened it, hoping not to be disappointed by what was inside.

A smile split my face as I dug around in the various items. Some were probably sentimental since I could not figure out a purpose, but the long jagged hunting knife was exactly the sort of weapon I was looking for. In spite of its length, it was fairly thin and sharp, just the sort of thing would be perfect for carving the demon's heart.

Leaving the area quickly, I continued on my way.

It was in the early evening while I was looking for a good location to rest for the night that the natural sounds of nature were rent by a feminine shriek. It was repeated again as I hurried forward instinctively, careful to keep my footsteps as silent as possible even as I hurried to discover what had happened.

At the very centre of my hopeful heart, I could not help but dream that perhaps the demon had come to me. I was filled with fantasies of finding it attacking another group of humans and getting my revenge while saving others from what I had experienced.

I was both disappointed and relieved to find a clearing with only several humans wearing combinations of animal hides and tattered clothing, with not a single vampire assaulting them. A young woman covered in a blanket was sobbing loudly while an older man and woman tried to comfort her. A pair of children sat behind the trio, doing something in the dirt. The two young men with them stood stiffly while their eyes scanned the tree line, probably watching for any threats that might have been drawn by her noises.

If they were lucky, I would be the only creature alerted by the sound. I considered leaving, but these humans so close to my destination might know what was going on nearby. I revealed myself and held up my hands. "I'm human," I announced.

Both young men leapt to attention, one holding a spear and the other a crossbow, and both the older man and the woman stood up warily behind them, all eyes locked on me.

"What do you want, stranger?" asked the older man, coming to stand by the men I imagined were his sons. He held a spear firmly in his hand.

"Nothing, I heard screams and came to see what was the matter. But now that I've found humans, I would not mind an exchange of information for my protection for the night. You seem to be having some trouble," I offered.

Besides being a decent thing to do, if bloodsuckers did find them, it was possible that Jack would come to me. Vampires guards were lowest when they thought me helpless prey.

The man was still regarding me with some suspicion, and I just looked back at him and waited for him to assess me. "And what information are you looking for?" he asked.

"Just how things are around here. I've been travelling and I find it helpful to find out about leech activity."

One of the younger men glanced between me and his father, and the other seemed to be trying to stare me down. The woman was standing protectively in front of the young woman and had drawn the children close to her.

"Fine, we'll trust your human honour."

There was no need for the distinction other than to warn me to watch myself, because I was one of them and should behave as such. I nodded my understanding. I meant them no harm, but they had no way of confirming that.

The tingling buzz of anxiety wandered down my back as it always did when I was in the company of other free humans. It was a risk to be in a group, because a group could not move silently and leave little footprint as I did. I had once believed there was safety in numbers and like other humans a part of me still craved it, but I had well learned there was danger in clumping together in a tempting group.

Still, it was obvious they were a family, and they reminded me of my own. I moved forward slowly, not making too many jerking movements. The man held out his hand and I shook it. He visibly relaxed as he felt the natural warmth of my hand that proved the life in my veins. The heat soothed me as well, marking him as a potential ally, although one could never trust entirely.

"I'm Jamie," I told them simply.

"I'm Ryan, and this is my wife Amy and our sons George and Nexus. What brings you this way?"

Ah, the obvious question. "I'm travelling around, looking for someone," I told him vaguely. While humans typically supported my goals, they tended to be reluctant to risk getting on the worst side of the leeches.

He seemed to accept my words at face value. "Well, come sit. We've already put out our fire, but we've got some leftover food we could share."

My stomach growled at the offer, but they did not look overly well fed and I was reluctant to take food from the mouths of children. I nodded, but I reached into my bag and pulled out one of the last bars I had brought with me. "I'll trade," I said.

I could feel all their eyes on me and what I had revealed, rare prepackaged food.

"Where did you get that?" Amy asked, breaking her silence.

"Stole it weeks ago," I said honestly. "I know I'm not being followed now."

They looked at each other, and nodded. Ryan took the bar from me and tucked it away before I followed them and sat down to eat in the oddly familial setting.

It was nice, but the strong resemblance gave me a sick feeling. They were so obvious, if a leech came for them it would be like shooting fish in a barrel. I could help them for one night, but what good would that do?

We ate a foraged deer stew in relative silence, other than some stilted idle conversation. The woman was keeping the children well away from me, and the crying young girl had been hidden away in their wagon. I could still hear her making distressed sounds from time to time. Amy went in and out more than once while I ate with the men.

It was none of my business, but I asked anyway. "Is there anything I can do to help with that situation?"

Ryan shook his head. "I doubt it, she's got a fever. Amy's doing what she can."

"What caused it?" I asked.

"You a healer?"

"I've picked up a thing or two."

He sighed. The situation was obviously laying harshly on his mind. "We got swept up in that leech branding program they've started recently. Thought we were going to die, but instead they just seared our skin with numbers and threw us back out. They were hardest on her, and my oldest girl isn't taking it well."

One of the boys, George I thought, muttered "Damn Vienne," under his breath.

My ears perked up at the sound of her name, but I did not let my reaction show. Was she related to this travesty, or had she just wormed her way so far into my consciousness that I was imagining that I was hearing her mentioned?

"I didn't know that that they were doing that," I said.

"No? You really must have been out in the middle of nowhere not to have heard. I bet they've caught a third of us by now," he said with a rueful shake of his head.

"Yeah, I sure was. Been lying low." The lies came easily, pushed on by the control the leech still exerted over my mind.

"Hey, boy, show him your arm," he said.

The older boy pulled up his sleeve to reveal a pink wound on his bicep. It was a dozen numbers stamped in a rectangular shape.

"They're apparently only branding those above sixteen, but they wouldn't listen that Lacy is younger than that," he said with real anger tingeing his words.

"I can look for some plants that might help with her infection in the morning," I offered.

He nodded. "We'll try anything."

"So, what can you tell me about the leeches around here?" I said, turning my attention to the information I had really been trying to get from them.

"Well, like I said, there's the branding, I heard it was some new council bullshit—" he paused to spit, "And they're rounding up all the humans they can catch. They caught us two days south east of here, so you might want to avoid that area, although they're also moving around. From what I could see they sort of set up and sweep the area. One of them fed off my girl, but there was shit all I could do about that."

I was not surprised to hear that. It was probably the reason the leeches were doing the branding in the first place. The loss of blood was probably also part of the reason she was having more difficulty healing than the others. Hot anger welled up in me, but I was glad that the girl had survived.

He continued talking. "So, if you want my advice, I wouldn't head much further west. There's vampire territory over there, and I've heard lots of rumours about that one. Not a place you want to be caught. We're just skirting the line north, and it'll be a relief when we've put some distance more between us and that one. Where you heading?"

Exactly into the place they were avoiding. While the thought was not relaxing, it was also not something I was unaccustomed to. "South." I was often going in the opposite direction of my fellow humans.

Maybe this would be the final time. The thought was sweet in my mind.

He nodded. "I've heard word that the leeches don't function as well in the cold, so that's where we're heading, north until it's not worth their trouble to follow us anymore."

I did not know if that would work, but I hoped that it was true. "I wish you luck."

We continued talking until dark, and then the night watch began. I kept my weapons close to me, feeling less secure than I usually did when I was alone, even as I took my turns to sleep between watches. They followed a similar system to how my family had once protected ourselves and I fell into it with ease.

We were not assaulted during the night, and it was with relief I met the early sun, although my memories of her being outside before or after the rising and setting of the sun diminished my comfort somewhat. It was one thing to hear rumours that some old ones could do that, but witnessing it had affixed it into my mind in a tangible way.

I searched out the healing plants I had learned from my mother and made a paste for them to use on the girl's wounds.

Ryan offered me a place with them to travel north, but I refused as genially as I could. With a final farewell, it was time to continue on.