The Hunter's Den: Dead of Midnight Book 1 Read online

  Daniel made his thinking face. Usually, when he went to his thinking face, he didn’t come out of it with an answer. “Hm. I guess so. You have a better idea?” he asked as he pulled the car into an open spot.

  “Don’t we have some gear, besides this religious stuff? Something more high tech, like a thermal temperature gauge detector or something?”

  “Huh. That would be pretty cool.”

  “So, no. Well great.”

  “Remember Jules, it’s called hunting for a reason. It’s easier to spot them then you think, once you know what to look for.”

  A piercing screech bounced off the concrete of the structure. The walls made it difficult to tell where it had come from, but it was further down, around the corner, maybe further. Jules and Daniel looked at each other, smiles gone. The joking around was great to calm the nerves. The time for that had gone just as quickly as it showed up. “You heard that, right?” she asked, even though she already knew the answer.

  “Yeah. Maybe our guy. Sometimes you get lucky. Let’s go check it out.”

  From the street, the garage didn’t look like much, but from the inside the place was massive. It looped around in interlocking circles, down, down, deep underground. The place was built like a maze, but at least there were directions on every wall. Jules felt a strong urge to hold her crossbow out in front of her, but she knew it was a bad idea. Not a good look for innocent bystanders. Not a good look for the cops. Even still, not a good look for the vamps- Daniel had taught her that the element of surprise was one of their most important weapons. So instead, she just touched it a few times inside of her jacket, just to make sure it was still there. The feeling reassured her.

  After the unknown sound, there was only silence. No more cars, no more screams, just the footsteps coming from Jules’ boots. Guess she still needed to break them in some more. Strange how there could be so many cars, and so many people just a few floors above them. But based on the cold, quiet cement they walked on, the whole place might as well have been abandoned.

  Until they heard it again. It was clearer now, but deeper into the labyrinth still. The cry was high-pitched, a girl’s voice. Daniel stopped for a moment and looked around, then behind the two of them. “Alright. We gotta get down there, now. You can run in those things, right?”

  “I’m way ahead of you,” Jules said as she took off running. She needed to take the lead, not to prove to Daniel that she wasn’t afraid, but to prove to herself. No more time on the sidelines waiting for something to happen. This time, she would make it happen herself. Her heart pounded in her chest, matching the beat of her boots on the cement. She did her best to take deep breaths to calm herself down, but at that point, it was no use.

  Jules rounded the corner first and stopped in her tracks. She saw the figure in the corner, and although the light was dim, the shape was undeniably human. They inched closer to her, slowly, quietly, now. It was tough to tell from a distance, but it appeared to be the girl they had heard, hunched over, heaving up and down. Jules felt a chill on the back of her neck, but it was more than that. It was almost as if someone had dropped an ice cube on her. She turned to look, but there was nothing, and she figured her nerves were playing tricks.

  “What do we do? Where’s the vamp?” Jules whispered. Daniel had his hand on his gun, so Jules followed suit.

  “It’s a dead end down here. Don’t know how it could have gotten away. Looks like she’s already been bit, she’s probably dazed.” Daniel said. “Unless, you know, she’s the vamp.”

  The girl’s hunched over figure was disturbing. Is that what happened after you got bit? How long until she would come to? As they crept closer, she stood up stiff and straight and wailed again and Jules had to cover her ears. She couldn’t have been charmed… maybe she was turning.

  “Hey, are you alright?” Daniel had hidden his gun again and called out to her. Jules, on the other hand, was less trusting. The girl slowly turned her body, and her face followed suit. Black liquid ran down from her eyes, covering her face. She clutched something close to her body in both of her hands. Jules couldn’t tell what it was or what happened to her face.

  “They left me here!” she screamed. Apparently, the girl had only one volume: ear-shattering.

  “Hey, it’s ok, calm down. Who left you here?” Jules asked her.

  “They left me here!” the girl wailed, “they left me and I don’t get any fucking service in this place.”

  Daniel and Jules looked at each other. The girl was just drunk, and by the looks of it, pretty lost. Of course, she had been staring at a cement wall for an undetermined amount of time, so who knows what her next move was. The object she clutched so intently was, upon closer inspection, nothing but her phone. It was evident that she had been crying. Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately for the girl, there did not appear to be any evidence that a vampire was to blame. Jules had seen that look before. Mascara all over the face, mad at the world for no good reason. The only thing this girl needed was a fistful of Advil, a gallon of Gatorade and at least 12 hours of sleep.

  On top of that, Jules could still feel something was off. That chill on the back of her neck still lingered. She couldn’t tell if it was the structure itself, or someone inside of it, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that they had picked the right building. She looked around behind her. Nothing but cars and trash. There was only one way out, and there was nowhere to hide. It just felt like an extra presence was there with the four of them.

  “I think maybe driving is a bad idea,” Daniel offered. Apparently, he understood the girl’s situation just as well as Jules. Unfortunately, he didn’t have the same intuition about their surroundings. “We can take you upstairs, maybe get you a cab,” he continued, his voice a higher, more sympathetic pitch. His total shift in attitude annoyed her.

  “We can? We’re just going to play babysitters now?” Jules wasn’t so hot on the idea. She didn’t have anything against the girl. She was probably a fine person. It was more that Jules had expected action. She had craved it. She needed it to become her new purpose of being. Action is not what she received, though, and she didn’t want to revert to the way she felt before.

  “Why don’t you just put her in the backseat, Daniel? We can drive her straight home. It’s not like we have anything else more important going on. Oh, wait.”

  Daniel gave a single fake laugh. He was offended. “I’m just trying to help. Besides, there’s no one else here. Let’s just go.” Jules shook her head, but followed suit and grabbed the girl’s left arm. Daniel was right. There wasn’t anyone else in the building. There wasn’t someone watching them. That would be crazy, and it had to just be first day nerves.

  3

  Nothing to Eat

  The three of them swayed from one side of the lot to the next. The girl in between them was stronger than she looked. That or she just had that enhanced momentum that can only come from brown liquor. It wasn’t the start to the evening that Jules had planned, but at least they were almost at the top.

  Once they reached it, the girl’s phone started working again and she hailed herself a ride. Jules was happy to see her go, but didn’t get the warm and fuzzy feeling that only comes from being such a humanitarian. The only thing that could melt the ice in her stomach was revenge. The problem was she wasn’t getting any closer to that feeling. “OK, I guess we got our good deed out of the way. Now what?” she asked.

  “Well, back to the original plan, I guess,” Daniel said as he tried to brush the leftover makeup off of his shoulder.

  “Which was what exactly?” Jules already knew the answer. But Daniel wanted to sell her on the idea.

  “I’m telling you, they’re easy to spot,” he said, “even in this part of town.”

  That part of town that he referred to was full of crazies. Even the people who looked normal clearly weren’t, because they wouldn’t be anywhere near that square mile if they were. The problem was she didn’t have any better plans at the moment.
/>   “Alright, let’s get creeping, I guess,” she said and set out onto the sidewalk of the boulevard. She wasn’t entirely sure what to look for, but the task gave her a renewed sense of purpose nonetheless. The key now was to separate the drunks and the weirdos from the real threats. To separate the predators from the prey. The hunting grounds surprised her- she hadn’t expected the vampire hunt itself to take place in plain sight. Across rooftops, maybe, or through some derelict mansion, maybe. Rooftops would be fine; she hadn’t spent the last six months doing yoga and wind sprints every day for nothing.

  Unfortunately, she didn’t get to use her newly refined talents. Instead, they brushed past hundreds of people. They were mostly groups out for a good time. She started looking for individuals, loners, people that weren’t part of the normal flow. You can’t drink on the street in LA, so people move from bar to bar like they are hopping along islands in lava. If anyone is taking their time, if anyone looks like they’ve been waiting a little too long for no good reason, maybe they’re a suspect. Her whole theory goes out the window if the vamps hunted in packs, but Daniel hadn’t mentioned that.

  Then she saw a vampire. A real old one, judging by his dress. He was something straight out of the Victorian era, with ruffles and big baggy pants tucked into boots. Aside from the cape and the dress, the man’s face was white and chiseled and attractive. People walked up to him, completely unafraid. They put their arms around him and took pictures, and instead of giving him blood they gave him money. There were other characters, too, like Batman and Elvis and even Marilyn Monroe.

  The whole scene made Jules’ stomach turn into knots. These people thought vampires were some big joke. Getting your life ripped away isn’t some joke. That means vampires aren’t a goddamn joke. That idiot isn’t the problem, though. He wasn’t going to make the night any better. Forget about him.

  Jules and Daniel continued past the photo opportunities and towards the heart of the neighborhood. It wasn’t much more than a conglomeration of bars, all there only because the other establishments were, too. It was also where all the drinkers ended up, almost like they were pulled to it. If anything bad was going to happen, it would be in that vortex where frozen drink machines, bachelor parties, and first-time aspiring actresses collide.

  “You see anything yet?” Daniel asked.

  Jules shook her head. “Nope, except for Party City Dracula back there. Part of me wants to stake him, but the other part of me doesn’t want to go to jail.”

  “I hate jokers like that too, but you can’t let them get to you. We got bigger fish to fry, alright?”

  “Yeah, yeah. It just feels like we’re going in circles.”

  “Look, we’ll check The Hub. If this vamp is looking to hunt in plain sight, he’ll be there. The place might as well be a fully stocked deli.”

  “What the hell, Daniel.”

  “Sorry, I’m just saying. Let’s check it out.”

  Getting away from the hustle of the boulevard sounded pretty great to Jules. Unfortunately, The Hub wasn’t much better. The two giant bouncers that guarded the entrance of the club gave the impression that they had something to protect. Once Jules walked inside, though, she got the complete opposite impression. It was packed wall to wall with bodies, every one of them holding at least one drink each.

  “Hookah smoke or frozen margaritas?” Jules yelled over the bass of the evening.

  “You know I don’t smoke,” he shouted back.

  “You do love girly drinks,” she laughed, “I guess let’s split up. You take the right side, I’ll take the left. We’ll meet back at the ‘Big Queasy.’”

  The Hub was like the United Nations of booze. Jules’ first stop was Mexico, painted with wall murals and lined with bottles of tequila. Nothing. Then, she ventured through Japan, a house of sake and sushi.

  She hadn’t had sushi in months. It was her favorite food, once. She didn’t eat it anymore and she didn’t even like to think about it. It came with nothing but a chain of bad memories that dragged her down into a dark place. So now, she hated the stuff and hated the restaurants that served it.

  Maybe it wasn’t about the food, though. In fact, she knew it wasn't. It was about the experience. Not just the sitting down at the little bar, the sake and beer drinking. It was who she would partake in the experience with. Sushi was their weekly ritual. She remembered the feeling she experienced every time, how she would regret the choice to not have sex with him before dinner. It was always so much food.

  No, she could not let her mind go to that place. It was too late, though. Now all she could think of at the sushi place was Sam. It made sense. This whole night was for him, even if he was gone.

  Except it wasn’t. Jules became aware of her surroundings again and backed out of the place and back into the crowd of people. It wasn’t about him. It was about her, right? That’s what he would have wanted. For her to push through, for her to continue on.

  She needed a new goal. Even a short term one. Focus on something else. The cloud of smoke that wafted over from the hookah lounge. That was good enough. That unmistakably strange smell of natural tobacco and chemical fruit went right into her brain, and she did her best to cast the memory aside. Had to get back on track.

  The wall behind the bar had a drink of every color. Jules had learned the hard way: the more colors, the worse the hangover. They waited for the bartender to finish splashing Jaeger across the row of shot glasses on the bar. The smell of the stuff made Jules’ stomach turn.

  “Can I get you guys something?” the girl asked. Her eyes met them once and then continued to scan all the other customers across the room. She could pay attention to the whole room at once- a good bartender, and a good witness.

  “Yeah,” Daniel said and leaned across the bar. “I wonder, have you seen any...weird characters tonight?”

  “What? You mean besides you? Look I’m busy, you want a drink or not?”

  “Forget the drink, this is for you,” Daniel slid a twenty across the bar. “This isn’t a line, alright? We’re just looking for a friend.”

  “Alright, fine,” the bartender grabbed the bill and slipped it in her shirt. “What’s she look like?”

  “It’s a guy. He’s pale, real pale. Doesn’t drink much, either, probably just creeps around. Maybe tried to hit on girls, that type of thing.”

  “Look man, I haven’t seen him, but sounds like maybe you should try the goth club down the street. Happens every Saturday. I gotta get back to work.”

  The bartender turned away, focused again on the rest of the masses. Daniel didn’t bother yelling over anyone anymore. Instead, he gestured with his hand and headed for the door. Jules followed suit.

  The cool midnight air hit Jules and she wished it would sweep her away with it. “Is this pointless? Because this seems pointless,” she exhaled, dejected.

  Daniel scratched his head. “It doesn’t usually go like this.”

  “I’m not really up for more barhopping. I’m trying to cut back, you know? These crowds aren’t making it easy on me. The whole vibe just makes me want a drink more.”

  “Yeah, you’re probably right. This seems like a dead end. There’s no use in us sticking around here. We’ll have to find another lead, for next time.”

  “So what? You want to go back to the Rustic Lodge and talk to the same old man?”

  “There’s no point. He told us everything he knew. Sometimes it’s a waiting game, Jules. The important thing is we make sure we stay one step ahead of the vamps, you know?”

  “I guess,” she sighed, “I’m not hammering stakes and I’m not drinking, but I don’t want to go to sleep, either. Let’s just go to the 101. I could use a coffee.”

  “Alright, let’s go find the car.”

  Jules didn’t know what else to say on the walk back. Her adrenaline had subsided, and now her body was ready to crash back down from the clouds. The brief excitement had felt so good, but the new disappointment took all of the joy out of it. She didn’t eve
n get to catch a glimpse of the vamp, and the fact she was so ready to kill or die in the moment now seemed ridiculous and she felt more embarrassed than anything else.

  Daniel fired up the Nova and Jules stuck her arm out the window and stared. The sidewalk action had died down. At that time of night, the pre-parties were over, and the after-parties were still a few hours off. Everyone was where they wanted to be. Everyone, it would seem, except for Jules.

  The 101 Café was dead, and that was always good news. The two of them sat down across from each other in an avocado green booth that matched all of the walls that weren’t made of stone, as well as the ceiling and the countertop. The jukebox played CDs, which somehow seemed even older than playing vinyl, and the Polaroid photos on the wall had only become more charming with each year spent basking in the sun. It was a place from another era, one that Jules wasn’t intimately familiar with, but nonetheless, one that she liked to travel to whenever she had the opportunity. Anything was better than the present, although the coffee and the moment of quiet weren’t too bad.

  Daniel, of course, couldn’t leave the silence alone. “I’m sorry, Jules. Maybe it’s a sign, you know?” he said in between mouthfuls of his usual, the Joe’s Special Omelet, enough food for three at least.

  “A sign of what, exactly?” Jules said, staring into her coffee.

  “Maybe you shouldn’t be out there, you know? Trying to pick fights with vamps, I mean.”

  “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

  “I’m just saying. It’s not the worst thing in the world that we didn’t see any action tonight. Action is not a good thing, you know? Action is what got Sam killed.” Sure, action was the reason it was just the two of them sitting there instead of three. But vamps got her into the current state of affairs, and she figured killing them was the only thing that would get her out.