The Hunter Becomes the Hunted

“where are we going?” Jack asked turning back to face Charlie

“I need to go home” Charlie replied

“but that will add weeks to our journey, if we have to go back” Jack said “no, not the cabin that you found me in, I once had a house in Dayton, close to Xanax” Charlie said

“why do we need to go there?” Jack asked

“I don’t know yet, all I know is that we need to go there before I face him” Charlie replied

“what if it is a trap?” Jack asked

“it is not, nobody knew about it” Charlie replied

“you said that about the safe house” Jack said

“nobody and when I say nobody, I mean nobody knew that the house existed” Charlie said

“how long will it take us to get there?” Jack asked

“it is halfway between here and Xanax” Charlie replied “it should only take a couple of days if we do not get any delays” Charlie added

The next leg of their journey began and they were getting closer to him, it would not be long until they finally faced him and could attempt to end this, it took three days to get to Dayton, they had only had one encounter with vampires, it seemed that he had stopped sending them, the closer that they got to him

“this is strange being back here” Charlie said looking around

“Charlie, where is the house?” Jack asked looking around all he could see was ruins

“here” Charlie said

“there is nothing here but ruins” Jack said

“it still has all its protections on it, as I am the only one that has ever been here, I am the only one that can see it” Charlie replied

“can we go in?” Jack asked

“no, I need to drop the protections first, stand back” she said and they both took a step backwards “prolejati-vadeparte” she added and all of a sudden a house appeared, it would stand out a fair bit as it was the only house that was left standing

“Charlie, won’t this stand out” Jack said “what do you mean?” Charlie asked

“it is the only house left standing” said Jack

“give me sec” she said and again she stepped back “faceti-mi casa sa arate” she said and the house once again became a ruin on the outside to match all the others around it, the door was still standing, the two of them walked through the door

“why are we here?” Jack asked

“that I do not know yet, we will get some rest and I will try to figure out what has brought me here” Charlie said, they both went into different rooms and fell asleep all most instantly, it was nice to be somewhere that nobody would be able to find them, the protection that Charlie had placed around it meant that nobody could find it and that they were safe, they could sleep with having to worry about being attacked, Charlie awoke with a start she knew why she was here, here was something here that she would need and it was in her library, Charlie got up and went straight to the library

Jack got woken up by the sound of things crashing, he followed the sound to the library and found Charlie going through everything

“what is going on?” Jack asked

“there is something in here that we need” Charlie replied

“what?” Jack asked

“no idea” Charlie replied

“will I know if I help?” Jack asked

“I don’t know” Charlie replied

Jack sat down on the sofa that was there and watched as Charlie went frantically through every book that was there trying to find what they needed, for two days that is all that happened, Jack sat watching as Charlie went through everything in the library, Jack could see that she was getting more and more annoyed

“Charlie, stop” said Jack

“I can’t, I have to find it Jack” she replied

“will you come and sit down, take a deep breath and slowly look around, you might notice something that should not be here” Jack said and Charlie did not argue, just went and sat down with Jack, after all her way was not working maybe Jacks way would, Charlie closed her eyes and took a deep breath, she opened her eyes and began to slowly look around the room and that is when she saw them and jumped to her feet

“what is it?” Jack asked

“I know what it is” Charlie replied

“what?” asked Jack

“well, them really” Charlie said

“them?” asked Jack

“yes, the picture and the chest, neither of which belong in this room” Charlie said going over and picking them up, Charlie opened the chest up first, inside she found an amulet and a book

“what does it say?” Jack asked

“hang on, I need to translate it, it is in Romanian” Charlie replied

“Romanian?” Jack asked

“yes, the original hunters were Romanian” Charlie replied

“but it is your book, you should already know what it says” Jack said

“it is not mine, I have never seen it before” Charlie said

“but it is in your house” Jack said “I have no idea how they got here, I don’t even know how anyone could have got in to put them here” Charlie said looking down at the book, there was a picture of the amulet in the first page, underneath was some writing which she began to translate

“this amulet allows the wearer to keep their own sanity when facing the night walkers” Charlie said

“keep their own sanity, what do you think that means?” Jack asked

“I am guessing that night walkers means vampire” Charlie said

“that would make sense, what about the sanity bit?” Jack asked

“keep their own sanity may mean that wearing this will protect you from the vampire mind tricks” Charlie replied

“that will come in handy, you can wear it when you face him and he cannot control you” Jack said

“I am one of them, Jack” Charlie said

“and” said Jack

“it will not work for me Jack, it is only for a human to wear, it would seem that somebody knew I would be travelling with a human would be with me, it is for you to wear Jack” she said holding it out for him to take

“thanks, I guess” said Jack putting it on “what do you think about the picture?” Jack asked

“I don’t think it is a picture, I think that it is a map” Charlie replied

“a map to what?” Jack asked

“I have no idea, there is writing on it but it is in ancient Romanian and I am not fluent in that language” Charlie replied

“can you translate it?” he asked

“I can but it may take a while” she replied

“I will leave you to it, it is almost dark and I need some rest, you should get some too” Jack said Charlie was looking at the writing around the map trying to understand what it said, it took a while but slowly the words started to come back to her and she could finally start to understand what it said and what it was that she would have to do, just as she finished and was about to go and get some rest Jack walked back in

“have you had any sleep what so ever?” Jack asked

“have you? You have only just left” Charlie said

“Charlie, it is morning, I have slept through the night but it seems that you have not slept at all” Jack said “I know what it says” Charlie said waving the map at him

“what?” asked Jack

“I know where we must go and what we must do before we face him” Charlie replied

“where?” Jack asked

“first, I must tell you what it says, I am not certain but the jist of it is, in the place that the map leads, there is a potion that will return the drinker to a previous state” Charlie said

“does that mean, that if you drunk it you would become human again?” Jack asked

“I do not know, but I think that we must go and get it, find out if it is true” Charlie said

“would you drink it straight away?” Jack asked

“no, there is no way that I can face him as a human, I need the strength that I have now, if I stand any chance of winning this fight” Charlie replied

“where do we need to go?” Jack asked who was ready and waiting to continue this journey and get it finished with, if this would over Charlie would become human again and he could tell her how he really felt and this time she would not push him away

“from what I can make out, it is just outside Xanax” Charlie replied

“but he is there” said Jack

“he is but I do not think that he would send anyone else after us, he knows that I will come for him and he will feel safer fighting me in his own environment” Charlie replied

“are you sure that he will not smell you if we get that close to him?” Jack asked

“I cannot be totally sure but is we use the berries that Simon gave us, we stand a better chance” Charlie replied

“when do we leave?” asked Jack

“dawn but I would like to train a bit more and there are some things that I want to get prepared before we go” Charlie replied

“where are we going to train?” Jack asked

“I have a training room here” Charlie replied walking from the room

“of course, you do” said Jack following her

“I will not go easy on you this time Jack, you will soon be facing them” Charlie said

“I did not know that you had ever gone easy on me” Jack said

“I have always gone easy on you Jack, after all you are human” Charlie replied “thanks for that” Jack said “I guess that it means that I am no good then” he added

“no, it means that I underestimated you” Charlie replied

“how?” Jack asked

“I took you for a weak human, when in fact you are very strong Jack, I never expected you to make it this far” Charlie replied and they started to train, the two of them spent the entire day training and attacking each other, Charlie did hold back very slightly as she did not want to face them with Jack injured

“that will do Jack, get some rest we leave at dawn” Charlie said and walked from the room

“I was thinking that you could teach me that talking in your head thing” Jack said following her

“no” Charlie said

“why the men in the tress knew” said Jack

“it would take too long and we don’t have time” Charlie said

“but you taught them in a few days” Jack said

“I did not teach them, they already knew how to do it, it takes a lot of training” Charlie replied and looked at Jack, she saw how hurt he look “maybe if we win this fight, I will teach you then” she added

At sunrise the next day Charlie was up and preparing everything that she thought they may need for the fight that was to come, also whilst she was there, she changed her clothes, the ones that she had on she had worn for a very long time, at least she knew she would be clean for a while

“where outside Xanax is it hidden?” Jack asked as he walked into the room

“the entrance is hidden in the forest on the borders of Xanax” Charlie replied

“will we be able to find it?” Jack asked

“I really don’t have any idea but if we do not find it in one day, we will leave” Charlie replied

“why?” Jack asked

“because I am fed up” Charlie replied

“fed up?” asked Jack “yes, I am fed up, I have had enough of running and hiding from them, I hid in my cabin for over 400 years because I did not want them to come and find me, I have spent over 400 years looking over my shoulder waiting for them to come for me and I have had enough it is about time that is was over” Charlie replied

“it will be soon” said Jack

“one way or another it will be over, it will be my end or his” Charlie replied and started to walk away

“it will be his” Jack said following her

“I do not know if I will win or not, only time will tell” Charlie replied

“I do know that you will win, why do you think that you will not?” Jack asked

“because I do not know him, when you know someone you get to learn their strengths and best of all you get to learn their weaknesses which I can use against them” Charlie said “and I have no idea who he is, but it would seem that he knows me and what my weaknesses are” she added

“you do not have any” Jack said

“I do Jack, more than you know but it does not matter, I will face him and I will try to destroy him, if I can but he may destroy me first” Charlie said and walked away from Jack, her weaknesses were the one thing that she did not like about herself and she did not want to talk to Jack about it, this was the one fight that she really didn’t want any weakness in