The Vampire Hunter's Daughter: Complete Collection(4)

“Sure,” I said.

“Chloe, much of what I am about to tell you will be hard to believe, but it may also fill in some of the blanks that you have wondered about at particular times in your life. Have patience and listen.

“Those people who killed your mother, I’m sure you noticed something different about them, like their strength and the way they died. If you guessed they aren’t normal, you would have guessed correctly.”

He paused.

I opened my mouth to speak, but he quickly lifted his hand to silence me.

“Yes, as you probably suspected, they are vampires. And we… we kill them. We are vampire slayers, or hunters, whatever you prefer. For generations, our family's bloodline has borne hunters. It is our job to kill the evil to keep humanity safe.”

My mouth dropped open. I wasn’t really that surprised about the vampires and stuff. I think it was more the issue of hearing someone else say there were actually vampires.

“Now a story begins,” the man who called himself my grandfather announced. “About fifteen years ago a young woman who had been raised right here in this very community with our hunters fell in love with a vampire. She was one of the very best of us.”

The old man’s lips turned up into a smile at the memory.

“Even as a little girl, she trained constantly and learned with determination. It was her dream to be the best of all of us. For her, it was either be first or be killed.

“This amazing woman was your mother, Felicia. Felicia could take any of the men here in a fight. When it came to vampires, there was something about her that could almost mesmerize them, giving her the perfect opportunity to attack.

“That was until the day she met Trevor. We found ourselves in the midst of a battle one night in the park. She had tried to catch Trevor’s gaze and draw him into her grasp, because he appeared to be the leader. For some reason, her gifts did not work on Trevor. However, when Trevor saw her, he decided he wanted her. He kidnapped her.

“Your mother fought him, but he was the only vampire your mother could not kill. He took her, and they disappeared for almost a year.

“Your mother told me the time she spent with Trevor wasn’t so bad. I would like to think he was the most horrible man in the universe, but apparently he treated her pretty good. She was the only one he treated well."

My so-called grandfather paused to take a sip from his own water glass, which also sat on the nightstand.

I kept quiet because he asked me to and because the story was getting good.

He cleared his throat and continued. “Trevor’s intention was to turn your mother. She told Trevor she loved him, and she would never leave him. But she didn’t want to be a vampire. During her stay with Trevor, he treated her like a queen, gave her everything her heart desired. Unfortunately, he forgot one tiny detail: Felicia was a vampire hunter. The hatred for vampires ran deep in her veins and could not be forgotten, even by loving one of them.

“When one of Trevor's men tried to rape her, she killed him. Trevor would have killed him himself, had he known what the man had tried to do. Felicia had been embarrassed and had no intention of letting Trevor know what had happened. She told him the man had assaulted her. She announced she was pregnant, with you, and that she had only acted to defend her unborn child.

“Trevor was ecstatic. You have to realize how rare this was. Perhaps… once every couple hundred years is a child conceived with a vampire. But… a vampire child combined with the blood of a vampire hunter… that is completely unheard of.

“Felicia knew deep in her heart she could not stay with Trevor. She wanted her child to be safe, and have a good life, not to live in a world of darkness with a bunch of vampires. And there was the question of your safety. Children are like candy to vampires… the blood is sweet.

“So Felicia fled and came home shortly before you were born. When you were born a healthy little girl, we sent the two of you into hiding. Your father has been searching for you for years. That's why you've moved several times. That's why your mother drenched herself in that god-awful perfume and made you do the same thing, and that's why your mother was murdered right before your eyes. Because you are a very, very special child, Chloe Kallistrate.”

He bowed his head and placed his fingertips on his temples. “Trevor will stop at nothing until he has you.”

I had been laying back on my pillows, listening to this story. It did explain a lot of the weird behavior I had noticed in my mom. Sometimes she would get all crazy and just decide to move. She would start packing all of our stuff and clean the house with bleach from top to bottom before we left. Really, I just thought she was nomadic and had sudden urges to move. And the perfume, she changed her scent once a year and wore a lot of whatever she chose. She took about three showers a day, too. Yeah, now I get it, everywhere we went we left a scent.

I did have one question though. Actually, I had lots of questions, but just one for the time being: “How did you know that we needed help when Trevor’s men attacked us?”

His eyes met mine. “Chloe, our blood isn’t regular blood. We have the bloodline of vampire hunters. Our blood is almost magical. I just knew. Your mother is my daughter, and I just knew we had to go to her. We were too late to save her. Now we will honor her life by keeping you safe, because that is what she dedicated her life to doing.”

I nodded.