The Hunter Becomes the Hunted

It Charlie and Jack two days to reach the boundary of the next village, they had not spoken a single word to each other, just walked in silence contemplating what would happen next, Charlie found it very strange that they had not seen a single person in the two days that they had been walking, how dead the world seemed without all the hustle and bustle of life now, all they had to worry about was vampires, Charlie put her bag down on the floor by some trees

“we will rest here for tonight and enter the village in the day light” Charlie said and laid down to rest, Jack did not answer, just sat down near a tree, they had not been resting for very long when they were surrounded by a large group of armed men

“get up and give me your weapon” one said holding a sword to Charlies throat

“give me a second, you do not need that” she said pointing at the sword “and who are you?” she asked

“I am Leon guard of Daxon and you will be taken to our lord” Leon said

“I will get that back” Charlie said handing him her sword and being handcuffed

“our lord will not let you live to have it back” Leon replied and nodded at the other men, who all proceeded to surround her and point their weapons at her “we are all trained to fight so, do not attempt to escape” Leon added

“wait one damn moment, why are you guarding her and not me?” Jack asked going over to Leon

“she is a vampire and you are not” Leon replied

“who says I am not?” Jack asked

“you are not you are just this things slave” Leon replied

“I am no slave” Jack said

“Jack enough, we will see what this lord wants when we get there” Charlie said and Jack stayed quiet

“as I said a slave” Leon said to Jack with a look of absolute disgust in his eyes, Jack did not say another word, just followed behind as they lead Charlie to the gates of the village, what was going on and what did they know Jack thought as he followed behind them, as they reached the gate’s they were greeted by a short fat man

“hi I am David” he said holding out his hand to Jack, who did not take it “put that thing in a cage” he added looking at his men

“what are you doing? We are here to help?” Jack said

“my friend, that thing is not here to help” David replied

“why do you say that thing? She does have a name” Jack asked

“that thing is a monster and does not deserve a name” David replied

“her name is Charlie and she really is here to help” Jack said

“my friend, you have no idea what that thing is, you have been deceived and are under its spell” David replied

“stop calling me your friend and you have no idea who Charlie is” Jack snapped

“my friend, I will show you what she is” David said “bring her” he added and Jack watched as Charlie was taken from the cage and dragged through the streets and into a large hall, where she was thrown on the floor

“where is the king and what is he planning?” David asked shouting at her

“I cannot give you the answers that I do not know” Charlie replied

“lies” David shouted “what are his plans?” David asked

“to die” replied Charlie

“I had hoped that you would tell me the truth and that we would not have to resort to violence” David said “what is he planning?” David shouted again

“to travel the world” Charlie replied

“every time that things lie’s, beat it” David said to his men and for an hour David kept asking the same question over and over again but Charlie had given up answering him as he did not seem to want to listen so, instead she was just beaten

“stop it” Jack shouted “she cannot give you the answer that she doesn’t know” Jack said

“she lies” David said “hold him” he added as he saw Jack go to move forward

“stop before you kill her” Jack shouted

“she cannot die this way, when she gives me the answers that I want, I will end her suffering” David replied and could see by the look in David’s eyes that he was not going to accept the fact that Charlie did not have the answers that he wanted so, instead he looked at Charlie

“Charlie fight, do not let them do this” Jack said

“they are human Jack and I will not hurt humans” Charlie replied

“they are not acting human, they will kill you” Jack said

“I will not hurt them” Charlie replied

Jack had to watch for another four hours as Charlie was beaten, David finally realised that she was not going to answer him so, he stood up

“enough” he shouted “chain it to the light wall, at dawn it will answer my questions or it will die” he added

Charlie was still being held on her knees but she couldn’t help but laugh at this funny little fat man for thinking that sunlight would hurt her, he would certainly get a shock at dawn

“why do you laugh?” David asked

“because I think that you are funny” Charlie replied

“why am I funny”” David asked

“because you are a stupid little fat man who thinks he knows everything, when it seems you know nothing” she replied still laughing

“we will see who is funny when the sun rises” David said

“we will” said Charlie still laughing

With the beating that Charlie had taken she was too weak to move herself so, was dragged to the wall of light as they called it which turned out to just be an East facing wall with chains on it, Charlie was chained to it

“I will see you at dawn” David said

“not if I see you first” Charlie said she couldn’t resist but to scare him and it worked she could see the fear fill his eyes at the thought of her escaping and getting him

“I want her guarded” he shouted and walked from the room

“Charlie” said Jack going over and wiping away the blood

“nettle tea” she mumbled

“I will not leave you, why did you make that comment about seeing him first?” Jack asked

“because the stupid fool needs to know what real fear is and because I thought it would be funny” she replied “get my tea” she added

“I am not leaving you” Jack said

“I am not going anywhere” Charlie said rattling the chins and laughing “get my tea and then get some rest” she added

Jack did not argue anymore, he knew that she would not hear anymore, Jack handed her the tea and left, no matter how strong she thought she was Jack considered her a friend and would try his hardest not to let any harm come to her, Jack knew that she had a hard exterior and acted as if nothing bothered her but he thought that on the inside she was like everyone else, just because she wasn’t fully human didn’t mean she didn’t have feelings like everyone else, Jack found somewhere to rest for the night

Just as Charlie woke up she could smell the sunrise coming that was the weirdest part about being a vampire was that she could smell the sunrise coming, Jack walked in and looked at her with his mouth open

“what do I have something on my face?” Charlie asked

“you have nothing when a few hours ago you were covered in cuts and bruises” Jack replied

“and” Charlie said

“you really do wind me up at times, you don’t act human but will not defend yourself when you are attacked” Jack snapped

“I will never hurt a human” Charlie replied

“ever when they beat seven hells out of you” Jack said

“even then Jack, I have rules and not hurting a human is one of them, I will never lift my hands to a human no matter what they do” Charlie replied

“how are you healed?” Jack asked changing the subject

“I am sure I have told you that as a vampire I heal quickly but when I drink tea the healing is almost instant” Charlie replied

“oh” said Jack

“the sun will rise soon and he is on his way” Charlie said

“how do you know? “ Jack asked

“I can smell both” she replied as David and his guard walked into the room

“you will tell me his plans or you will die” David said

“will I” replied Charlie

“if you want to take his secrets to the grave with you then so be it, the sun is rising and you will die” David said

The sun began to rise and shine through the window, Charlie wasn’t going to do anything but at the last moment she changed her mind and she started to scream and writhe in pain

“Charlie” shouted Jack forgetting for fraction of a second

“sorry Jack” Charlie said stopping what she was doing and smiling at Jack

“you really need to work on your sense of humour” Jack snapped

“well I thought it was funny” Charlie said

“but, but, but” David said

“let me guess, you were told that I was a real vampire” Charlie said

“but you are” said David

“I am something but I am not the same as them” Charlie replied

“but we were told you were” David said “let her out” he added

“no need” Charlie said and snapped the chains with David staring at her opened mouthed again “let me guess you were told that these could hold me?” Charlie asked

“yes, we were told that they would hold any vampire” David replied

“only these will hold a vampire” Charlie said taking a pair from her bag and showing him “what other rubbish have you been told?” Charlie asked

“that we should put garlic around the village and the only way to kill them is with stakes” David replied

“enough, I do not need to hear anymore, it seems that whoever had passed you this information is trying to take you for a fool” Charlie said “I would like to meet whoever it is that told you this rubbish” she added

“yes, yes, we will find you when he comes back, he is not in the village at the moment, anything at all that we can do to make up for our mistake” David said

“no harm, no foul” Charlie replied and watched David and his men walk away to let them gather their stuff, Charlie had just picked up her bag and turned to face Jack who was looking really angry at her

“what Jack?” Charlie asked

“you could have escaped at any time?” Jack asked

“yes” Charlie replied

“and you let them beat the crap out of you” Jack said

“yes” she replied

“why did you stay in chains?” Jack asked

“in chains I can get information” Charlie replied

“you could have done that out of chains” Jack said

“I could but I do not torture people for information Jack, you will find most people talk better when one of them is in chains” Charlie replied

“you are so bloody frustrating, I need to be alone” Jack said

“and I need to find my sword” Charlie said

Jack and Charlie walked from the room and both walked in different directions when they got outside, Charlie was struggling to understand why Jack did not get the fact that she did things her way and if he did not like it he could leave, no matter how many times she told Jack he didn’t seem to understand that she did not need his or anyone else’s help or protection, she was capable of doing both on her own.