Sorry everyone for not updating anything! I've been in hospital for a few months now after surgery to remove a few funny (not ha-ha) lumps from places they have no right to be. I'm only now starting to get better and haven't been allowed to do anything, except hope that things don't get any worse.
Thank you all for your wonderful reviews!! - they have really helped me remember that someone out there still likes me.
Kitsune-minkchan kathryn wood hiya Agent Blue
KiaraNeko Kitara Ashley Sinstar
This is the end of this story, but if you want more adventures of Saya and D, let me know and I'll see what I can do.
Hope you enjoy.
Disclaimers apply as in chapter 1, rating is still R.
//blah, blah// - thoughts
Chapter 2:
They rode the rest of the way to the town in silence, but D was struggling with himself. He had no idea what to say to her – all he knew was that he cared for her deeply.
//You love her,// said LH and D reflexively tightened his hold on Saya. She gave a small sigh and leaned into him. D smiled and leaned closer to her, breathing in the scent of her hair, her skin and her blood.
All too soon they came to the town. It was small and the few people that were around scattered into the buildings as they came near.
"Head for that building," Saya pointed.
It looked like the principle building of the town, but as they got closer, D could see that it was actually a type of converted barn that hadn't been repaired for a very long time. They dismounted and walked into the gloomy interior. Inside was a large hall with an old wooden table near the far wall. On the sidewalls were display cases and cupboards. Two men were seated at the table, having a meal. Saya walked to the table while D stayed back. They had agreed that since the deal had been made with her, she would be the one that would collect the bounty.
Both of the men were very dirty and smelly and completely ignorant of even the most basic of table manners. Saya noticed a girl standing in the corner of the room. She was obviously very poor. Her dress had been repaired so many times that the original pattern of the material was impossible to guess, but at least she was clean and seemed not to be completely hostile towards the hunters.
"I have done as I have been charged to do."
She threw the bag with the vampires' jewellery onto the table.
"Here is the proof."
One of the men slowly opened the bag and the golden trinkets fell onto the table. The other one said: "We are so very grateful for what you have done, but we have nothing to give you."
"We are very sorry," said the other, still fingering the gold, not even looking at her.
Saya had expected an excuse not to pay her, but not such a blatant dismissal. She was outraged, she had been almost killed and they didn't even try and lie about the money.
"Very well," she said, her voice a deadly whisper, "then do you at least have a horse for me?"
The one that had thanked her nodded after a while and motioned to the girl.
"It is the least we could do," he said. The other one was totally ignoring everyone in favour of the gold.
Saya looked around the room at the display cases. They were all empty except one that held two beautiful swords. What bothered her was that she had seen the money - all counted out, all 4 million of it - before she took the job.
//Probably going to keep it for themselves and spread lies about the ungrateful hunters that tried to go back on the deal// she mused. Damn.
She turned at a noise from one of the doors and saw another young girl leading a horse into the hall.
"My daughter, Maggie," said the man at the table.
Saya didn't hear a word, she was staring at the girl, or rather at what the girl was wearing. She had lost that amulet in the mountains near here almost 50 years ago. She had spent years looking for it. She walked towards the girl and took the dark purple amulet from around her neck and stared at it in disbelief.
It was a terrible snowstorm. She had chased a pair of vampires into the mountains. There was no shelter and the dawn was coming. The battle was a hard one, but she had won, eventually. Unfortunately, the chain of her amulet was broken by one of the vampires early on in the battle and it was lost in the snow.
She was crushed when she couldn't find it. She had repaired the chain, but the amulet was lost. Her father had given it to her on her 18th birthday, the day a dunpeal became immortal. Draco was the grand vizier of the Vampire King, a very important position, but he always made time for his child. Her father had cared for her and her mother very much.
Every dunpeal that was of age in the palace wore such an amulet, the colour and pictograph inside showing to which house they belonged. Her childhood days in the palace were wonderful. She played with the other dunpeal children and learned many things from the vampire elders. Their society was totally different from what humans believed it to be. The dunpeal were considered as equals in all things. Even the king had a child, a son. No one was allowed to speak his name, so he was just called the prince. He used to teach her how to dance, until he turned 18 and had to attend to matters of the royal house...
Saya paused in her memories. That's why he looks so familiar. She was barely 12 years old when she saw him last, centuries ago, but it was him. She looked over at D. He was the king's son.
He looked at her and took out his own amulet from beneath his armour where he had taken to wearing it. It was the dark blue colour of the royal house. He remembered her now, her purple eyes and her red hair. He used to love dancing with her - they would dance for hours. He had fallen in love with her and was planning to marry her, but after he had come of age the directive was given and there was no time for anything else. Afterwards he had believed her to have been either killed in the attack or taken away to the City.
~~~~~~~~~~
Hunting humans were a crime amongst vampires, thousands of years ago, but there were those that enjoyed the killing. There weren't many of them, but because of all the terrible things they did, humans had started to fight back. By the time the king had given the royal directive that all vampires were to leave the planet and go to the City of the Night, no peaceful vampire was safe from the vengeful humans. The directive was spread throughout the world with the help of the barberois. Unfortunately, some humans heard of it as well.
Evacuating an entire species was not something done in a day, or a year, or even a decade. All the ships had to be moved, more had to be built, supplies and such had to be planned. At last everything was ready, but so were the humans. They attacked the palace just as the first ships took off. In the chaos of the attack, families were separated and many people were left behind. Most were killed within a few days. That disastrous day was proudly called the Burning Day by humans.
Those few survivors took it upon themselves to hunt down the vampires that created and perpetuated the reputation that all vampires are vicious killers. Now, ages later, only these criminals were left. They fed on, violated and killed humans for pleasure. The dunpeal born from those forced unions were hated and shunned, with no knowledge of the glory of the Vampire Empire that was sullied by a handful of criminals.
It was a testament to the strength and planning of the human attackers that even the king's son was left behind. D knew his father was still alive, but he also knew that the chances of ever seeing him or any of his friends and family again were remote. They could never come back for those that were left behind.
He too had taken to hunting down the vampires monsters that had caused so much suffering.
~~~~~~
He couldn't believe that he had found her again. His first love, a love he had believed lost. And now he had fallen in love with her again all these ages later. With tears in his eyes, he embraced her.
She was openly crying as he held her close to him. The humans in the room had no idea what was going on, but they don't really matter much in the scheme of things anyway.
"I've always loved you," he whispered into her hair.
"I love you so much," she whispered back. A long moment later they broke away, still holding hands.
Saya turned to the girl: "I lost this a long time ago, I will pay you for this."
The girl had tears in her eyes. She had always been told that the dunpeal were monsters with no capacity for emotion. Now she knew how wrong people were.
"No, please, it's alright, it's yours."
Saya smiled and bowed her head to the girl. "I thank you."
She turned to the other men in the room and grabbed the bag of trinkets from the table. "I will take this as payment as well as those," she pointed to the swords in the display case.
Before either of them could say anything, Saya had broken the door of the case and tossed one of the swords to D. "They would make a fine price… somewhere else."
Saya grabbed the reins of the horse from the girl and they ran outside. Outside D got onto his horse and they rode off into the forest. They rode hard for an hour, dodging and turning to confuse any pursuers until they came to a clearing in the forest close to a stream. They let the horses drink and then looked at each other.
"I thought I had lost you," D whispered, lightly touching her cheek.
She leaned into his touch, "I thought I would never find you again," Saya whispered.
He brushed her lips lightly with his own. She kissed him and soon he sought entry into her mouth. Their tongues duelled and she moaned softly as his tongue caressed her sensitive fangs. He couldn't get enough of her. These few days had driven him almost mad with her closeness. He lay her down on his cape and kissed her with a fever unknown to him. He felt his fangs tingle and as she kissed him, he felt her fangs scraping on his tongue. He lay a string of kisses down her jaw and to her neck.
When they were naked at last, he admired her she lay before him. Her milk white skin was a stunning contrast to her blood coloured hair. He had to touch her. She gasped as his hands ghosted over her breasts and she could feel her fangs lengthen. Her eyes darkened in desire as she watched him watch her as he explored her body.
At the sight of her so uninhibited before him, he could stand it no longer and caught her mouth in a searing kiss, his body covering hers. She moaned and wrapped her legs around him, his every touch making her shiver in pleasure.
Their lovemaking was slow, anything more would have been too much for their tortured minds and bodies to handle. She arched her back as he moved inside her, exposing her neck to him. He bared his fangs, eyes smouldering and then bit her, tasting her blood. He felt her fangs slide into his flesh as he was sliding in and out of her and then tasted himself as their blood mingled.
She fell asleep in his arms, her hair fanned out around her head like a halo. He had never been so happy in his life. Eternity now is something both of them can look forward to at last, together.
Thanks so much for reading!!
And anyone wondering what happened to LH and Neva, they wisely decided to keep quite and let their friends play.