Chapter Seven: Hunted (1)

Jack reacted with inhuman speed and experience, charging forward and drawing his sword from its sheath at the same time, moving from his position to in front of Elaine in a blink of an eye. He blocked the vampire's sword, sparks flying as the sound of metal hitting metal assaulted their ears. The vampire jumped back, turning out to be Ethan as he glared at Jack with confusion and rage.

Jack pointed his sword at the vamp, eyes locked with Ethan's as Elaine hid behind him, the elf shaking with fear at her near death experience. Jack saw Drake walk up to Elaine's other side out of the corner of his eye, and he knew without looking that Midnight had knocked an arrow and was aiming it at Ethan at this very moment. His mind cleared, no longer bearing any doubt or hesitation; he was never any good at lying or hiding, but fighting, now that was something he knew well.

"Captain...what is the meaning of this?" Ethan slowly asked, never taking his eyes off of Elaine as he glared daggers at her. "Why are you protecting this elf? You are even pointing your sword at me, threatening to kill me. I don't understand..."

Jack ignored him at first, looking back at Elaine, who was gripping his cloak so tightly her knuckles were turning pale white.

"Be careful; he can teleport instantly to a different location. Don't leave my side."

He did not wait to see if she acknowledged his words, turning to respond to Ethan. While he had been fond of the three while he was training them, Ethan was Zillion's cousin, and he did not see himself convincing the vamp to betray the army his own family was in control of.

"I will only warn you once: leave, or I will show no mercy."

He saw the hurt in Ethan's eyes for a second, before it was replaced by anger as he vanished into thin air. Jack reached back with his free hand, grabbing the elf by the arm and yanking her as he spun around, seeing the vamp and once again blocking his blow, Elaine crying out in surprise as she was dragged along against her will.

The twang sound of a bow hit his ears, Ethan vanishing again as the arrow Midnight shot flew by where he had been a moment ago. He appeared behind Jack again, but before he could do anything, a shadow loomed over him, and Jack did not need to see the vamp's eyes to know they were filled with fear as Drake towered over the small vampire. He vanished just as Drake swung, his beefy arm hitting nothing but air.

Ethan appeared in front of them again, refusing to admit defeat despite being outnumbered until he saw Jack again, the vamp freezing in place and staring with panic and fear flashing in his eyes. Jack had decided to use his ability as well, and was slowly being surrounded by a black liquid that rose up from the ground. Not many vampires had seen this ability and lived, Ethan one of the few that had and knowing how dangerous it was.

The younger vamp regained his composure and sighed, standing straight and sheathing his sword before glaring at them. His red eyes were filled with pain and anger, his tone low and dangerous to match.

"I'm not stupid, I know I can't beat all three of you at the same time by myself. I don't know what happened to you, captain, but it has something to do with that elf. We will kill her, and maybe then you will come back to your senses."

The instant he finished speaking he vanished, leaving to inform the army of their desertion. Jack sheathed his sword, looking back to see everyone alive and well, although Elaine was staring at the black liquid swirling around him with her mouth open and eyes filled with awe.

He released the ability, the black liquid falling back to the ground and slowly vanishing into the grass and dirt. The elf snapped out of her stupor, falling back onto her rear and panting like she had run a mile.

"What was any of t-that! Vampires can d-do stuff like that?"

Jack sighed, amazed at her lack of knowledge, while Midnight stared at the elf with utter disbelief.

"You know nothing about abilities, or what some vampires like to call our gifts?"

Elaine got up, calming down and shaking her head. Midnight shook her head before looking at Jack, her eyes growing serious.

"We need to keep moving; he will most likely inform the general, and we will now find ourselves being hunted by Night Stalkers. Assume that any vampire we run across is hostile, and don't hold back like you did this time, Jack."

He felt her eyes burning a hole into his head, saying nothing as he gave the elf a quick look over, seeing nothing was wrong and turning around. He did hold back against Ethan, not wanting to kill the vamp unless he absolutely had to. He went to continue their now desperate journey, stopping when Elaine grabbed his cloak and tugged on it.

"I...had no idea what was going on, and was helpless. T-thank you, all three of you, for protecting me."

He simply nodded, turning and walking as Midnight walked up to the elf's side, looking like a teacher about to scold a student as Drake shrugged and followed them.

"There is no excuse for you not knowing about abilities when your people are at war with ours. Since I am now a traitor and will be attacked on sight for all of this, I might as well go all in and teach you as much as I can, so you won't just stand there like a frightened dear next time."

He heard Drake chuckle at Midnight's words, Elaine looking ashamed, shoulders slumped, slowly nodding in agreement.

"Now, one in every hundred vampires is born with a gift, or what I call abilities. They defy all logic and let the vampire do incredible things, and each one is unique. Some are more powerful than others, while some are made for other things besides fighting. Any vampire with a gift is twice as dangerous as a normal vampire, and both Jack and Drake have abilities."

Elaine looked at the two vamps, her current predicament forgotten as she absorbed the information she was given.

"Both of you have gifts? Are they as scary as that one vampires?"

Drake scoffed, looking offended by her comment. "Ethan's gift has nothing on ours. Mine is simple; I am super strong, and my body is super durable."

Jack heard Midnight groan at his childlike description, turning to Elaine to explain in better detail.

"What the idiot means is that his strength is on a different level than the rest of us. He is already a big vamp, but I have seen him pull up trees by the roots and toss them as if they weighted little to nothing. His body is stronger to compensate for this increased strength; being that strong is useless if you break your own bones every time you do anything."

Elaine gaped at Drake, who beamed with pride as he walked. Midnight rolled her eyes before gesturing to Jack, who was walking ahead and looking at every tree, as if someone might drop out from one at any moment.

"Jack's ability is...more complicated, and it makes him the perfect Night Stalker. In case you did not know, a Night Stalker is a rank of solider that is expected to not only keep their fellow soldiers in line, but to also hunt any vampires that desert or go rogue. Jack's ability allows him to do two things."

Midnight held up two fingers, having Elaine's full attention as she continued.

"First, Jack can drink the blood of any living creature, even other Vampires. He is the only one that can drink vampire blood, as the rest of us can't digest it. The second thing his ability does is the scary part; if he drinks the blood of a vampire with an ability, he absorbs their ability into himself, and is able to use it as if it were his own. As far as I know, there is no limit to how many abilities he can have, and I don't even know how many he already has. That ability with the black liquid is one he took from a vampire years ago, and it-"

Midnight kept talking while Elaine looked at Jack, who had stopped and looked behind them. It was faint, but he could hear movement far behind them. All the trouble they went through to sneak the elf out unnoticed, and their cover was blown anyway. He heard Midnight stop talking as she heard it as well, both Drake and her tensing up. It was either try to reach Silvith as fast as possible, or kill anyone that follows them. This was where things got intense, and he was not sure if Elaine was ready for this or not, but he would learn the answer rather quickly.