Vampire Hunters

I sat there staring at the TV, which I had turned off. My pistol, badge, and phone which was tossed on the coffee table. Jake was in the kitchen reading an old leather-bound book. We just got home from work about thirty minutes ago. It has been two days since we received the message from the demons. My phone buzzed continuously, I looked at it and it was Zach who was calling. I picked up my phone to answer it.

“Hello,” I answered.

“Hey, do you guys want anything from Moon Ducks before I come over?” Zach asked as I looked at Jake.

“You want anything, Zach is going to the coffee shop down the street,” I mentioned to Jake. He looked up and nodded.

“Yeah, I’ll take a medium chocolate cappuccino with extra whip.” He said as he went back to the leather book and dug through the cabinets.

“Did you catch that?” I asked Zach.

“Yeah, you want anything?” He asked.

“Nah, I’m good,” I said as Zach ordered.

“Ok cool, see you soon,” He said as he hung up. I tossed it back on the table. Jake walked over to the coffee table with a metal bowl, herbs, and bottles of liquids. He placed them on the table as he looked up at me.

“Hey, can you go get the beginner witchcraft books from the basement?” Jake asked me, I nodded and got up from the couch. I picked up my stuff from the table and ran upstairs. I entered my room, walked over to the table, and opened it to place my gun, badge, and credentials. I then ran downstairs and made a sharp left turn since the stairs to the basement were right next to the stairs to the second floor.

I walked down to the basement and entered the door on the left, which was the room we kept all of our documents. Whether it is IDs, scrolls, social security cards, Witchcraft books, or journals, it’s in this room. The room on the right was our safe where we kept all of our money from the legionary days to now, we also kept our larger weapons in there. Since we became vampires we have saved over thirty million dollars, which is with inflammation of the US dollar and also mixed with Denarii, Ancient Greek drachmas, colonial bits, and ancient English pounds.

I started looking through the books we kept on a bookshelf right next to the inside of the door. I scanned through the dozens of spell books; I picked up two old leather-bound books and a new paperback spellbook. I then made my way upstairs, back to the living room. I placed the books on the coffee table next to the bowl. I heard a knock on the door. I walked over and opened it. It was Tim who was standing on the porch holding a plastic bag.

“What is in the bag?” I asked as he walked over to the table and placed the bag next to the bowl. He looked at me and smiled.

“Just an altar cloth, athame, two candle holders, and some herbs for Zach once he starts his training. What are you guys giving him?” He asked as I pointed at the table.

“A few books, we don’t use them anymore,” I said as Jake dug through the entertainment stand and pulled out an athame and two white candles. He then placed them on the table where he had our altar cloth laid out.

“Where is Aubrey? Isn’t she coming for this?”

“Nah, she has work tonight at the hospital. What about Mariah?” He asked as there was another knock on the door. I walked over to the door as I answered his question.

“She is working a case with Andre she should come after. It’s just a basic vampire, she can handle it,” I said as I opened the door it was Zach. He was holding two coffees. We walked in and handed Jake one. He was sipping his coffee as Jake and Tim went upstairs.

“Do you have a white ritual gown?” I asked him as he sipped his coffee.

“No, I’m guessing I will need one tho?” He asked, and I nodded.

“Follow me, I should have one that would fit you,” I said as Zach placed his coffee on the coffee table. We then walked upstairs to my room. We entered and went to my closet. I looked through my clothes towards the back of the closet where I kept my ritual attire. I pulled off an ankle-length ivory white gown from a hanger and a pair of jeans.

“Here, try this one on,” I said as I handed the gown to Zach. He grabbed it and slid it over his t-shirt and jeans he was wearing. It fitted him perfectly, I reached and pulled off a vantablack robe after I changed pants. We walked out of the closet, I tossed the robe onto the bed. I took off my jacket and a button-down shirt. I turned to my dresser and opened the top drawer and pulled out a plain black t-shirt. I slid the t-shirt overhead and pulled it down. I then closed the drawer and grabbed the robe putting it on over the t-shirt. Zach looked at me in confusion.

“Why black?” He asked as we proceeded our way downstairs. Tim and Jake were down there lighting candles in their robes.

“Well, in blood-binding rituals the two witches or warlocks will wear white and the one performing the ritual will be in black. Whoever is spectating will be in a dark blue. That’s why I’m in black and Jake is in blue with you two in white,” I explained to him as we helped light the candles around the room. Zach walked over to the table and stood next to Tim, I turned off the lights and proceeded my way to the table.

“We come together to bind Zachariah Collins to the magical craft of the arts. Are you ready?” I asked as I extended my arm to Zach. He nodded and reached his hand out. I picked up the athame and sliced open the palm of his hand near the cut that was healing from the other day. I then picked up a cloth to clean the blood off the blade once I did I took Tim's hand and sliced open his palm. I cleaned the blood off the blade again and placed both back on the table.

“Please join hands,” I instructed them to do. They turned to each other and held each other’s hands cut to cut, and their other hands held the back of the other person. I picked up a piece of ivory silk ribbon and wrapped it around their hands, bonding them together. I tied the ribbon at the bottom and let the loose ends dangle.

“Non alligabis haec duo simul in nomine magicae animarum,” I said as I placed my hands on top and under theirs. A ball of blue energy grew around our hands.

“Cum enim una cum magicae de potestatem ad unum transferre in nostra translatio ad magica,” I continued to say as the ball of light engulfed our hands.

“Cicero cum voluntate concedam Zacharia magica vires veneficus,” I said as the light grew tighter around our hands.

“Nomine magica peractum est,” I said as the light exploded. I then untied the ribbon and removed their hands from each other. When they did, it healed the cuts. Zack inspected his hands with a smile on his face. Jake took off his robe and laid it on the back of the couch. I snapped my fingers and mine and Zach’s robes vanished off of us. Tim took off his and laid it on top of Jake’s.

“So what now?” Zach asked as he smiled at me. I picked up the books and handed them to him.

“You practice, and we will start with a simple fire-lighting spell,” I said as he opened one book and flipped through it. Jake placed a candle in the center of the table as Zach plopped down onto the couch. Jake picked up the bowl and handed it to Tim, who walked over to the kitchen.

“This one,” I said as I flipped to a page in the book he was looking in. “All you got to do is focus and read off the page it's in Latin. Just repeat after me. Luminis igne,” I said as the candle lit with a golden flame. I spoke, “Venti caeli,” and the fire was out.

“Luminis igne?” Zach asked I nodded. He looked at the candle and focused hard. He stared at it for a while. He opened his mouth to speak.

“Luminis igne,” He said, and nothing happened. He sat back on the couch and looked at me.

“Stop looking at me and focus on the candle,” I told Zach, as he leaned towards the candle and stared at it. He squinted at the candle.

“Luminis igne,” He said firmly. It lit and Zach jumped up in excitement. “What now, I want to learn another one.”

I looked at him picked up the book and flipped through it. I came across a fire-extinguishing spell. I pointed to it and he looked at it. “It does the opposite of lighting the candle.”

“Okay, I got this. Venti caeli,” he said as the candle blew out. He smiled as there was a knock on the door. I got up and walked over and opened the door. It was Mariah, holding a bag in her hand.

“I’m guessing that is for Zach?” I asked as she entered the house. She walked over to Zach and handed him the bag. She smiled and sat on the coffee table while he opened it. He pulled out a clear crystal pendant and a larger white foggy stone-like crystal.

“Thanks, but what are these for?” He asked as he lifted the larger stone to his eye level, inspecting it. Mariah laughed and reached out her hand for the larger stone. Zach handed it to her. She held it in between her hands. It glowed.

“They call this a Witcheslight, the job of this is to provide light by focusing your energy on it. The more you focus, the brighter it can get. The pendant is a focussing pendant for your energy. It helps focus your energy so you can cast spells quicker,” She explained as the Witcheslight dimmed and she handed it back to Zach who was putting on the pendant.

“Hey Zach, the bag next to Mariah on the table is for you also,” Tim said as there was a minor explosion in the kitchen. We looked at Tim and Jake as black ash covered them. I tilted my head a little and stared at them. They brushed off the ash. “Okay, not that mixture at all.”

Jake picked up the bowl and trashed the contents. They went back to doing what they were doing, mixing herbs and liquids. I turned back to Zach, who was opening the bag next to Mariah. He pulled out the contents of the bag and went through it. He started by opening the altar cloth, which had a pagan pentacle printed on it. He folded it back up and laid it to the side. He then picked up the athame and unsheathed it. The polished blade glistened in the article room light. He sheathed it back and began to look at the candlesticks and herbs.

"Thanks, guys. I will use all of this stuff wisely," Zach said as he placed the contents back into the bag. I sat on the couch next to Zach and looked at Mariah, who was playing with her hair. Which she had down over her shoulders. She turned her head to look at me with a beautiful smile. Then she turned her head towards Tim and Jake. The smile she had was replaced with a look of concern as she raised her right eyebrow.

"What are you guys exactly doing?" She asked as I looked at my brother and Tim who were struggling to mix whatever they had in the bowl. They stopped and placed the bowl down. They picked up the leather-bound book and turned it around to us. Tim pointed to something on the page.

"This stupid demon repellent potion. It's not mixing right or anything," Tim said as I laughed.

"What? What is funny?" Tim asked angrily as he slammed down the book. I looked at him with a serious look.

"Aren't you supposed to be a master warlock?" I said trying not to smirk or laugh. He looked at me with disgust and if looks could kill I'd be dead. He went back to the book mumbling to himself. Mariah and I looked at each other and laughed.

"Oh, I might know where I went wrong. Look at this Jake it says a lock of witch's hair. We have been using mine. Hey, Mariah come over here, I need some of your hair," Tim said as he made his way towards Mariah with scissors in hand. She reached up to her scalp pulled out five or six strands of hair and handed it to Tim. Tim looked at her in amazement. He took the hair and went back to the kitchen. I turned back to Mariah and smiled.

"So how did hunting the vampire go?" I asked. She turned back to look at me.

"It went well, it was just a newborn so it was easy," She said as we all stopped what we were doing and looked at her.

"A newborn?" We all asked at the same time. She looked around at us.

"Yes, why are vampires not turning people anymore?" She asked as Jake made his way over to us.

"Nope, we haven't heard of a nest turning anyone for a few years now. If someone is turning people into vamps that is not a good sign. When we go in tomorrow we all need to look at signs of vampire attacks and figure out which nest is turning people and why." Jake said as Mariah and Zach nodded their heads. Tim then came out of the kitchen with a huge smile on his face.

"Not that anyone cares, but I successfully brewed the potion. With no help from you," He said as he looked at me. I looked at him with an unpleased look. "What?"

"Did you hear that a nest might be making a vampire army or did that escape you?" I asked as he looked around at everyone who was staring at him.

"No, I heard. We will look into it tomorrow," He said with a smile. Tim and Jake made their way back to the kitchen as Mariah got up from the table.

"Where is your bathroom?" She asked as I looked up to her.

"It is upstairs first room on the right or you can use the one in my bedroom. Which will be the room next to it," I said as she smiled and went upstairs to the bathroom. I pulled out my phone and started going through my news feed on social media. I scrolled through the daily news along with the abundance of memes that Tim posts on a daily. I got a text from Jake. Are you gonna ask her out or not? It read. I looked up at him who was smiling at me with an eccentric look. I shook my head and replied.

Is there a reason why you're in my business? I sent the message to him. He looked at his phone then his fingers started to move. Then my phone made a DING sound. I looked at it, and the text read, It's either you ask her out or I will ask her out for you. He even put a smiley face at the end of it showing its teeth. Mariah came back down and sat in the recliner next to Zach.

"So do you guys think it would be a good idea for me to make a love potion?" Zach asked as Mariah and I looked at him both with a concerning look placing my phone in my lap.

"Why?" I asked him as he looked up at me from the book he was buried in.

"Well, you see there is this girl at Moon Ducks named Madi, and man she is beautiful. Every time I try to talk to her I choke on my words. So I am hoping that a love potion should work," he explained. I looked at Mariah who was staring at the coffee table. She was twirling her hair around the pointer finger of her right hand. While rubbing her dark blue crystal pendant, which she wore around her neck, with her left hand. She was seductively biting her lower lip. She looked up at me and gave a flirtatious smirk as she continued to softly bite her lip. I was so intrigued I wasn't paying attention to Zach as he continued to babble about the barista.

"Hey, James. Are you okay?" Zach asked as he waved his hand up and down in front of my face. I shook my hand breaking her witch-like trance. I looked at him with a blank confused face.

"Yeah, I'm fine, why?" I asked as I nodded. He looked at me like he wasn't convinced. His mouth was straight with his eyebrows hanging down above his eyes as he shook his head.

"Dude, you are drooling like when Andre looks at pizza," He said as my phone made another DING. I picked up my phone and it was a text from Jake. Dude, man up and ask her to dinner. It read I then tossed my phone onto the table. It dinged again, I just shook my head as I looked at Zach.

"I mean a love potion just magnifies the lust that is already there. Wait, if that's why you always have a damn coffee every time I see you?" I asked as he slowly sipped the coffee that he picked up from the table while I was talking. I rolled my eyes and picked up my phone to look at the text. To my surprise, it was from Andre.

ANDRE: Hey, are you busy?

ME: No, why?

A: Well, you see I might have gotten a flat tire. I'm over off of 67th and I35 South, on the right shoulder. Can you come to help?

M: Yeah, give me about 20 mins.

"Hey I have to go help Andre he blew a tire on the highway," I said as I got up from the couch. I turned to start my way to the door when Jake approached me from the kitchen. He came close to me, a little too close.

"Ask her to go with you it's the perfect date," Jake whispered as I turned my head to look at Mariah who was playing on her phone.

"Hey Mariah, do you want to come with me?" I asked. She looked up and smiled as she stood up from the recliner. She slid her phone into the front pocket of her work pants. She made her way over to me.

"Well on that note I guess I'll go to the hospital and have dinner with my wife," Tim said as we walked down the few stairs that separated the house from the kitchen. He patted Jake on the back, "I will see y'all tomorrow."

"Later, have a safe night," Jake said as Tim waved at everyone and exited through the front door. I looked at Zach who was still sitting on the couch looking up at me sipping his coffee. He blinked at me, Jake walked over to the table and grabbed the remote. He turned on the TV and sat on the couch next to Zach.

"You wanna split a pizza?" He asked Zach as he looked at him. I changed into a pair of sneakers I kept next to the front door.

"Sure," Zach responded as Mariah and I walked out of the front door. I closed it behind me, we made our way down the front porch steps. We walked over to my car, I got into the driver's side and Mariah got into the passenger side. She pulled the seatbelt over her perky goddess chest and clicked it into the buckle. She looked up at me and smiled.

"What?" She asked as she gave a slight giggle. I just shook my head buckled my seat belt and turned on the car. I backed out of our driveway and shifted into drive. I dove to the highway and headed south to Andre.

"So, why almost four hundred years before you found us?" I asked her as I pulled up to Andre's two thousand eighteen model Ford Fusion.

"I mean I was always there near you James, either in the same town or right next door. I just couldn't bring myself to talk to you. Since I knew I had broken your heart during the trials," She explained as I turned on my emergency lights and hazards. "But, now I am happy I did. I missed you and Jake so much."

We got out of the car, I made my way to my trunk and opened it. I picked up a medium-sized black case I kept in the trunk. Inside it had a few road flares, a safety vest, and a couple of pop-up road cones. I pulled out a road flare from the case. I walked a few feet behind the cars and struck the flare on the ground lighting it. I dropped at my feet watching it bounce on the pavement. I turned and walked back to the front of my car.

"So, which tire is it?" I asked Andre as Mariah leaned against the hood of my car. He walked to the right rear of his vehicle and pointed to it.

"This one, it's the only one that is half gone," He stated as I made my way over to the side of the car where Andre was standing. I looked down at the tire, he was right. The tire looked like a cheetah got a hold of it and tore it to shreds. I looked back up to him.

"You have a spare right?" I asked Andre, He nodded and used the key fob to open the trunk. I poked my head inside and trunk and lifted the trunk liner. The tire was there in the trunk but I didn't see a jack. I pulled the tire out of the trunk and laid it against the car.

"You don't have a jack do you?" I asked him.

"I don't know," he said as he shrugged. I walked to the back of my car and grabbed my jack that was in the trunk next to the black case. I carried it to Andre's car and placed it on the ground next to the flat tire. I laid on the ground placing the jack under the frame and a sturdy piece of steel near the tire. I slowly jacked up the jack until it came flush with the car. I then jacked it up just enough for the jack not to move. I got off the ground and walked over to my trunk and pulled out a ratchet and socket that would fit the nuts on the tire.

I then walked over the flat tire and broke the nuts loose. I jacked the tire off the ground and finished taking the nuts off. I then looked at Mariah.

"Can you roll the tire to me?" I asked her, she grabbed the tire and rolled it to me. I balanced it on my knees, which I used to raise the tire onto the bolts. I pushed the tire flush against the brake rotor. I then hand-tightened the nuts and used the ratchet to finish tightening them. I then got to my feet and lowered the jack and pulled it out. I picked up the tire and tossed it into Andre's trunk and took my jack and rachet to my trunk and tossed them in there. I closed the trunk, I then walked over to Mariah and leaned on my hood.

"Thanks, I need to get a tool kit and a jack. This is the third time this year too. So what are your guy's plans for the night?" He asked us as I looked at Mariah. Who looked at me with a smile.

"James and I are gonna go to dinner and then probably back to either my place or his and talk while we drink wine or maybe watch a movie and cuddle. We haven't figured that part out quite yet," she said as she slid closer to me. The only thing I could think about was why she was flirting with me earlier. Could it be possible that after all this time she still loves me?

"Cool, well I'm gonna go grab food and go home I bought a new graphics card for my computer," he said in excitement with a smile. He then got into his car and left. Mariah stood up and proceeded to the passenger side of the car. She opened the door and got in. I waited for a couple of seconds before I moved. I then made my way to the driveway. I opened the door and got it. I turned on the car and buckled my seat belt.

"So where do you want to go?" I asked her as I turned my head to look at her. She was looking at me with her beautiful dreamy blue eyes. She looked down then back up.

"I'm in the mood for Chinese," she said. I smiled and put the car into drive.

"Great, I know this fantastic place not too far from here in Merriam," I said as I drove to the restaurant. I got off at the next exit from us since it was over by the off-ramp. I pulled into the parking lot into an empty spot. I turned off the car and we got out. We made our way inside to the front counter where this older Chinese woman stood. She looked up at me and smiled.

"Just the two of you?" She asked as she typed something on the computer. I nodded and pulled out my wallet.

"Yes, ma'am," I said as she picked up two menus. She walked around the counter and we followed her. She took us to a booth in the back corner of the restaurant. She placed the menus on the table and walked away. Mariah sat on the bench closest to us and I took the one across from her. She picked up the menu and started to inspect it. I just pushed mine to the side and placed my wallet on the table. This younger woman came to the table probably in her mid to late teens.

"What can I get you to drink?" She asked as we looked up at her.

"I'll take a water," I said as I looked down at Mariah.

"For you miss?" The waitress asked Mariah. She twitched her lips back and forth while she was thinking.

"Um I will take a cola," She said as she looked back down at me. Her eyes sparkled in the light from the hanging lamp above our booth. She leaned forward with a beautiful smile. "So this time I promise I'm not gonna leave you unless I die. You have no idea how much it hurt me to be so close to you but so far away," She said as the waitress came back with our drinks. She placed them in front of us with a couple of straws.

"Do you two what you want to order?" She asked us. I nodded and Mariah started to order.

"I will do the Kung Pao Chicken with a side of egg rolls and Rangoon," She looked at me. I looked up at the waitress.

"I'll take the same thing," I said as I handed her the menus. She jotted it down on the order pad she was holding. She took the menus and left. I looked at her with pain in my eyes, I then looked down at the table.

"How could you do that to me? I was deeply in love with you Mariah. I know we only knew each other for only a few weeks. But, that time with you was the best few weeks of my life. I'm happy you are alive but I feel hurt," I said as I looked back up at her. She glared down at the table with a pained look. I reached my hands across the table and held her hands. "I love you a lot, Mariah."

She looked up and a tear rolled down her cheek. I raised my hand to wipe it off of her cheek with my thumb. She smiled as she raised her hand to mine. She moved my hand back down to the table. The waitress came back with our food and placed it in front of us. We ate and talked for a while. When we finished I paid the bill. We then left, and when we got out of the car I opened the door for her. I then walked over to my side and got into the car. I then began to drive us back to my place. When we got home I pulled into the driveway and turned off the car.

"Would you like to stay the night?" I asked her as I looked at her. She nodded excitedly. We got out of the car and made our way inside the house. Jake was sitting on the couch with an empty pizza box on the coffee table. I tossed my car keys into the bowl on the counter.

"Did Zach leave?" I asked as I sat on the couch taking off my shoes and placing them next to the couch.

"Yeah an hour ago," He said as he looked up seeing Mariah. He had a colossal smile on his face. "Is she staying the night?"

"Yes, now we are going up to my room. We will see you tomorrow," I said as I got up and walked over into the kitchen. I opened a cabinet that was above the stove. I pulled from it a bottle of red merlot. I grabbed two wine glasses from next to the sink. We made our way up the stairs.

"Make sure you use protection," Jake yelled as we entered my room. I walked over to the side table and placed down the wine and glasses. Mariah walked over to the other side of the bed took off her shirt and laid it on the side table.

"You don't mind if I get comfortable do you?" She asked as I shook my head. She kicked off her shoes and slid off her pants. She was wearing pink panties and a black bra. She crawled onto the bed as I walked into the bathroom to change into my pajamas. When I came out her bra and panties were on the bed off of her. She was under the blanket with a flirtatious smile.

"You gonna come and make love to me or just stand there like a lost puppy," She said as I pulled the blanket off her and straddled her. I began to kiss her as she took off my shirt.