Hansel

There had been nothing from the vampires so far and dawn was just a few hours away. I was starting to feel tired. We hadn't gone with the plan tonight, Katja needed rest she'd lost a lot of blood. She laid there on one of the benches; I had draped my jacket over her earlier to keep her warm. I kept stealing glances at her as she slept, I felt protective of her, and I wanted to keep her safe. Awake there was a hardness to her, something that seemed to keep her closed off, though at times her emotions broke through. In sleep however the hardness washed away and she was peaceful, beautiful even andfelt protective of her, I wanted to keep her safe vulnerable.

"You like her, don't you." Gretel stated as she walked towards me having come down from making sure Ben was ok in the bell tower.

"She's an interesting woman. She knows what she's doing."

"And she's pretty; don't think I haven't seen the way you look at her. Just be careful Hansel, she has a death wish. I don't want to see you lose someone again." I nodded not knowing how to answer her.

"I kind of understand her though, she's lost everything, believes it was down to her. The only person she had left was killed by that vampire. I guess the way she sees it is she has nothing left to live for. It's him or her." I said quietly, but maybe we could give her something to live for I thought.

"Well either way, just be careful I want to help her, but…this is beyond us Hansel, we've never faced vampires, I hadn't even realised they existed, in all our years I've never heard of an incident with vampires or werewolves." She sighed.

"I know, but she's all alone out here, she hasn't got anyone, and you heard her, survival rates for hunting them alone are low. When this is done, maybe she can stick with us, we could always use more trained help and we can branch out, hunt vampires and everything else, we can learn." I replied, looking again to Katja as she sleeps soundly.

"Ok, just don't think too much into it Hansel at least not till we kill Valentin." I nodded in agreement and went back to one of the windows looking out. Most of the villagers were asleep or trying to.

Before I knew it dawn was breaking in a red haze on the horizon, it would be raining today I thought turning as Katja sat up and rubbed her eyes.

"Morning." I smiled making my way to her.

"Morning, how long have I been asleep? Did he attack?" She asked groggily huddling in my jacket.

"No, we haven't seen any of them; it's been quiet all night." She frowned.

"I don't understand, why didn't he try something…anything." I sat down next to her.

"Who knows, but it's given you chance to rest up, we'll get him tonight." I tried to assure her.

"Sure I guess that's a bonus."

We chose to split up again, we'd regroup later well before dusk so that Valentin couldn't try anything and none of the females would be up and able to attack. I was still worried about Katja she seemed a little different a little more distant than she had been.

When Katja didn't arrive back when we said Gretel and I immediately went out to look for her after checking the church. We set off quickly in the general area that Katja had been traveling in. It didn't take us long to find her, she had somehow gotten cuffed to a tree.

"Katja? What happened?" I asked coming around to her as Gretel scanned the area for whoever had done it. An eerie silence filled the air, Katja had been looking up at the sky her head whipping down at the sound of my voice.

"Oh…Hansel, quick let me out, get these off me." She begged, her grey eyes flashing, something was wrong, but I wasn't sure what. Gretel walked back towards us a key in her hand.

"Wait," I threw my arm out blocking Gretel.

"Hansel!" Gretel exclaimed. "What are you doing?" She said as Katja's eye's flashed almost a bright blue.

"Something isn't right," I started.

"Hansel please, take these off me, what if they come?" She begged, the silence seeming to press down harder on us.

"No, how did this happen? No vampire could be up this early and why would the key be left nearby for us to find?"

"Hansel we need to get those off her, the sun is starting to go down we can't risk being out here much longer." My sister warned.

"Listen to Gretel, it's dangerous out here." There was a lilt to Katja voice, something beckoning, enticing. When she yanked hard on the cuffs them digging in to her wrists I made forward to help, to stop to do something, but her eyes seemed darker, more like the storm grey colour they had been the first night we held her in the cell. "Holy water, the cut it hid the fact I've been bit!" She shouted, panic evident in her voice as terror filled her eyes as they flashed that brilliant blue again.

"Oh shit….we need to get her to the church to," But Gretel was already moving cutting open the wound I had sown as Katja jerked away.

"Hansel hold her, I'll try to cleanse it as much as I can." Gretel ordered as I moved behind her wrapping my arms around her pinning her arms as best I could to her side. Gretel quickly began to pour holy water over the wound. Katja screamed and thrashed as hard as she could I just wanted to hold her gently and tell her it'd be alright.

"Okay I think that's it she doesn't seem to be distressed anymore." Gretel said assessing the look on Katja's face as it rested back on my shoulder, she looked exhausted.

The second the cuffs were off, she kicked out at Gretel knocking her back and slammed her head backwards into my face slipping from my grasp. She danced backwards as I tried to grab her, a malicious smile curling her lips.

"Why didn't it work?!" I shouted as Gretel.

"I don't know! She said to cleanse the wound; perhaps I hadn't done it long enough?" She shouted back as Katja laughed and fell to her knees. She reached for her side as Gretel and I tensed, but she grabbed the holy water she was carrying and started to drink it. Her body trembled before she finally collapsed to the forest floor.

Gretel and I looked at each other and didn't know what to do; we took a step forward just as she pushed herself up blinking a few times. "I-I think, I've been cleansed." She breathed a sigh of relief. I moved to her side and pulled her gently to her feet.

"We should have cleaned it last night." I said softly chastising myself as her knees buckled. I swept her up in to my arms.

"It's not your fault, I should have known." She replied as Gretel scouted ahead of us. "But if it wasn't for you, Gretel would have set me free and I would have gone to Valentin." She sighed resting her head in the crook of my neck as I carried her.

"And we'd have come after you; we'd have made sure you never got to him." I assured her as I carefully picked my way through the forest following after Gretel. She looked up at me then, all the strength and hardness completely gone leaving the young vulnerable woman she'd have been if not for Valentin.

"Thank you Hansel…thank you so much." She whispered as she pressed her soft lips to my cheek before resting her head again on my shoulder, but leaving a hand on my cheek as I carried her back in to town.

A/N: I am so sorry for how long its taken for me to get up a new chapter, thank you all for baring with me. I'm suffering with writers block and as such everything is taken a lot of time to update. I'll try to get a new chapter up as soon as I can, but it may be a while again till I get up a new chapter.