“You know,” a voice from behind a tree almost made me jump out of my skin. “A girl hanging around graveyards is a bit strange, even by my standards.”
What the hell? It was the guy from the gym. Why was he here this late? Had my senses been off so much today that I didn’t realise he was a part of the supernatural kind? Maybe he was a witch sent from another district? Either way, my guard was up and ready just in case something was to go wrong.
“The same could be said about stalker gym guys who don’t take a hint.”
“Oh, you think I’m here for you? That’s cute,” he stepped more into the moonlight so I could see him clearly. “I will have you know; I’m visiting family. Why are you here though? Bit late, isn’t it?” He winked at me and took another step forward, and I returned it with a step back.
“Like you said, visiting family.” I had tucked my stake away behind my back quickly hoping he hadn't noticed. That would have brought up more questions. “Anyway, I was just leaving.”
Taking a sidestep and walking down the path, I could still feel his eyes on me as I walked away. I was waiting to see if he would follow and when he didn’t, I felt my heart slow a little. I wasn’t the type to normally get spooked or get the jump on like that but clearly, he managed to surprise me.
Or perhaps, I was too distracted by something else to notice him being there. How did he even get in? All the gates were locked, and I had to jump one to get in.
“Watch out!”
Something grabbed me by the back of my head, yanking me down, and taking me completely by surprise. Twice in one night, this won’t do. Before I could react, the vampire was pulled off me and thrown across the ground, and a hand was pulling me upwards. It only took me a second to gather myself and prepare while the vampire began to snarl and hiss at us.
“You should run,” I said, tightening my hands into fists.
“And leave you with that thing? Don’t be daft!”
“I am a lot stronger than you think.”
The vampire started running towards us and I brought my leg up, kicking it in his chest. When he heaved over, I threw a punch across his face and then an upper cut square on his jaw. He stumbled backwards as if to regain his balance before he began foaming at the mouth and snarling more.
Flinging itself towards me, gripping me by the shoulders, aiming incredibly close to my neck, closer than one had ever been before. What was going on? Normally, my fighting game was on point, and I’d never let some new vampires get the one up on me and yet here I was frantically trying to push the thing off me.
Fishing for my stake I had tucked under my jacket, I managed to bring it out quickly and within seconds striking the vamp in the heart and he went up into smoke and ash, dropping right in front of me.
Coughing and waving my hand past my face as I tried not to breathe in any of the ash, I looked over at Mr Gym Guy who didn’t seem at all surprised and quite frankly too relaxed for my liking.
“Well, you definitely showed me,” he lit a cigarette and the small flame lit up his face, exposing his eye-catching blue eyes once again. “I won’t offer to help next time as you can clearly handle yourself.”
“There won’t be a next time.” Putting the stake back in my pocket, I heard him chuckle as he took a drag of his cigarette once more.
“My name is Darius and if I’m correct, you’re Hayley Van Helsing, yes? Leader of the Van Helsing clan.”
It only took seconds for me to pull my gun out, safety off with one bullet in the chamber, and have it pointed up towards Darius. My name or who I was, was not common knowledge and most certainly wasn’t known to the human world, I went simply by Hayley Myles if anyone had asked. And now this guy who I had only met that morning was asking if I was who he said I was.
“Clearly, by your reaction I’m correct.”
“Who the fuck are you?” I spat at him, anger welling up inside my chest as I took a step forward, closing the gap between us more.
“I already told you; my name is Darius.”
“And, what is it you want?”
“Just to meet you for now, but I’m sure we will cross paths again soon Miss Helsing, but for now, I must take my leave.”
He threw something down on the ground, and I heard the sound of glass breaking. Then the area around us filled up with smoke, hurting my eyes slightly and forcing me to lower my gun.
I didn’t hear him run away as the smoke started to clear seconds later. Sighing and almost throwing my gun to the floor in temper, I took off trying to follow some form of tracks he had left but nothing, it was as if he flew away and left no trace behind.
“Fuck!”
I shouted putting my gun back into its holster and deciding to leave the graveyard and head home, annoyed and frustrated. I made note to text Jackson as soon as I arrived home to ask him to do some research on Mr Darius Blue Eyes and if there were any undocumented witches or hunters in RavenBlack I didn’t know about.
Sleep was far from my mind by the time I climbed into bed, but I knew if I didn’t sleep tonight, it would affect my game even more than it did tonight. Deciding to have two drops of Jackson’s potion, I was thankful when I drifted off into a deep sleep and didn’t wake until the late afternoon.