THE TOWNSFOLK

CHAPTER 3

-

I

-

Night fell and the clouds appeared, swirling shapes borne by the wind. The light of the moon was snuffed out.

This day—or to be more precise, this evening—was entirely without precedent for the town. Ordinarily, the streets would’ve been filled with merrymakers. Unwinding after a hard day’s work, men with flushed faces would be arguing in bars where the lights burned all night and the hum of the electric organ never faded. Women would be harping about their daily toils while children dashed through the streets with newly acquired fireworks in hand. But tonight, shutters were lowered before the bar doors, and the wind alone danced through the streets. From time to time someone passed by, but they were volunteer deputies with deathly grim faces. The windows of every home were shut tight, and men ranged with weapons and sharpened stakes. For what was probably the first time ever, this town had to deal with the sort of rampaging demon all too familiar to those in the world below.

-

As soon as Laura had fallen asleep, the mayor called for D. “Now it’s up to you.” And saying only this, he left.

Putting the armchair they’d provided him against the wall, D sat down to wait. It was eleven o’clock Night. One of the most common times for the Nobility to pay a call. The young lady in bed breathed easily as she slept. But, though her breathing sounded serene enough, D heard another sound over it. Her breaths were just a bit longer and deeper than those of ordinary people. When she exhaled, her breathing sounded more like a sigh.

If the Noble who’d attacked the girl lived only by night, then the chances were extremely good that he wasn’t aware D was here. No matter who was guarding the young lady, they’d certainly be no match for the power of a Noble. That was exactly the sort of self-confidence that led to mistakes. And all Vampire Hunters found that sense of security the key to destroying the Nobility.

An hour passed, and then two, without anything out of the ordinary. Both D and the girl seemed like statues, motionless. D had his eyes open.

At one o’clock Morning, there was a rapping sound outside the window. Laura’s eyes snapped open. An evil grin of delight rose on her lips, and red light shone from her freshly opened eyes. As if checking just how they’d left her, she looked up above her, then to either side. When her eyes found D, they stopped dead. Damned interloper, they seemed to say.

Those who’d known the rapture in their blood didn’t flee from it—rather, they were doomed to drown in it. Regardless of what she made of the Vampire Hunter sitting there with his eyes closed, after watching him for a while Laura turned her gaze beyond the window. “Who’s there?” she asked coyly. She put the question to the pitch-black space.

Faint laughter came from the darkness. A voice that only the closest of human ears would hear said, “I’m coming in.”

“You can’t,” she whispered back. “There’s a Hunter in here.”

“I don’t have to fear the likes of him. Not even your father can touch me now.”

“But he’s not like other people,” Laura said softly. “There’s something different about him.”

“Don’t be ridiculous.”

Something that looked like a black stain started flowing in through the window while the girl watched. Before Laura’s very eyes it gathered on the floor, took human shape, and became an actual person of flesh and blood. This vampire was gifted with one of the powers of legend—that of entering rooms as a fog. The sight of him there, in an orange T-shirt and wrinkled jeans, would’ve made the bulk of the Nobility grimace. Still young, he was a powerfully built man. Yet his whole body was subtly distorted, looking like a human figure molded by the hands of a child . . .

Looking first at Laura, the vampire shifted his gaze to D. Sleeping, perhaps, D kept his face down and didn’t move at all. The vampire’s eyes began to glitter wildly. Red light tinged D’s form a crimson hue. Soon, the light faded again.

“That’ll keep him asleep,” the intruder said. “Just as it did with the others. He won’t even remember me.”

“Oh, please hurry. Come to me . . . ” Laura writhed beneath the blankets. “I want your kiss. I—I need . . . ”

“I know.” The vampire’s lips twisted into a grin. Though his teeth were dirty and crooked, his canines were particularly impressive. They slanted forward. When he slowly bent over the girl, whose eyes were shut in rapture, the air in the room grew unspeakably cold. And the chill emanated from one point in particular. The intruder looked over his shoulder in disbelief. “You dirty bastard,” he growled. “You mean to tell me my gaze didn’t work on you?”

D got to his feet without saying a word.

Just as he was about to launch himself at the Hunter, the intruder stiffened. His already pale face lost even more color. D’s aura had just hit him. If I move, I’m as good as dead, he thought.

“Any more of your kind around? Before you answer that, you’d better tell me your name,” D commanded him softly. Calm as his voice was, it had a ring of steel to it that said no resistance would be tolerated. “Answer me. What’s your name? Are you the only one?”

“No, I’m not . . . ” the intruder replied.

“How many others are there?”

“One.”

“What’s your name, and what’s theirs?”

The intruder began to tremble. Every inch of him shook, as if he were struggling against the threat that ensnared him.

“You don’t have to tell me,” D said. “If I check you against the resident lists, I should find out who you are. Step outside.”

The man nodded. Slowly he made his way to the door to the front hall. D followed behind him. Something caught lightly at the Hunter’s coat. Laura’s pale hand. Most likely the action was merely a reflex, and not some effort to save the intruder. However, D’s attention was diverted for a split second, and the spell he had over the other man broke. The intruder’s body lost its shape. Wasting no time, the fog rushed for the door’s keyhole like a black cloud and poured through it in a single stream.

D’s right hand went into action. A flash as bright as the moon arced over his right shoulder, and the intruder who was supposedly safely on the other side of the door gave a scream of agonizing death. D’s expression actually changed. Quickly opening the door, he peered beyond it—into the mayor’s living room.

Before him was the intruder, now leaning backward. A sharp wooden tip poked from the left side of his back. From the waist down, the man remained in his fog-like condition. With a deep groan, the intruder fell to the floor, both hands clutching his own throat. It seemed that the fog was probably his true form after all. His fallen body soon covered itself in a black hue and curled up on the floor with a rustling sound.

“What do you think you’re doing?” D’s quiet tone harbored an unearthly air.

“Nothing, I was just . . . ” Dr. Tsurugi stammered, shaking his head. “I heard a strange sound and I froze in my tracks, trying to figure out what I should do, when all of a sudden . . . My eyes met his, and then I just panicked and ran him through.”

Not saying a word, D merely gazed at bits of fog spreading across the floor and the stake dripping with black blood. “How did you get in here?” the Hunter finally asked. His voice was far more terrifying than any heated tone could’ve been.

“I snuck in,” said Dr. Tsurugi, giving the sack over his shoulder a pat. There was a loud clatter that suggested it contained a hammer and stakes. “But everything’s taken care of now, right?”

“It seems we face two foes.” Heedless of the changes those words wrought on the physician’s expression, the Hunter continued. “One may be gone now, but we don’t know the whereabouts of the other. Are you sure there haven’t been any other victims? None at all?”

Dr. Tsurugi nodded.

“The girl’s probably back to normal,” said D. “Go check on her.”

“Sure,” the young physician replied, and he was just about to nod his head. Then his eyes halted at the legs of the corpse that’d been reduced to dust. There was a gap of a fraction of an inch just below the knees. “It almost looks like . . . You cut him, didn’t you?”

Giving no reply, D squatted down by the dusty remains. Once he was sure Dr. Tsurugi had gone through the door, the Hunter stretched his left hand over the dust. “How about it?” he asked.

“Oh, this is a tough one,” a hoarse voice said in reply. “The memory’s been completely erased from the cells. But then, I guess you already know this guy wasn’t made to serve any Noble.” Was the voice suggesting, then, that this vampire had just spontaneously generated?

Not surprised in the least, D nodded. “But those who aren’t Nobility don’t just turn into Nobles on their own.”

“Then that’d mean someone had to make him that way,” the voice suggested. “What we’ve got here is an imitation vampire. The question is, who made it?”

D didn’t reply.

“Come to think of it, they did say something about letting someone into town two centuries ago. Could be him again . . . ” the hoarse voice mused. “Still, it’s all very strange. From what the mayor’s said, and from the way the locals have been acting, it doesn’t seem like there’s been a ruckus over vampires before. So, these characters suddenly show up two hundred years after the fact? There’s no way their strange visitor could still be in town after all this time. What do you think?”

Straightening up, D headed for the mayor’s room. “There’s another one out there,” he said. “That’s all I know.”

When the Hunter knocked on his door, the mayor stuck his head out like he’d been waiting for him to come. “What is it?” he asked.

“He’s been taken care of.”

“My daughter’s been saved?”

“Ask the doctor about that.”

Just as the mayor’s dazed face turned toward his daughter’s bedroom, Dr. Tsurugi appeared. Seeing the mayor, he gave a satisfied smile. The mayor’s shoulders dropped and a deep sigh escaped from him. “Can I see her?”

Not saying a word, D stepped aside. The mayor disappeared into his daughter’s bedroom.

“Remarkable, isn’t it?” As D was headed for the front door, the odd remark followed him. It was neither praising nor sarcastic, but the tone of it was nearly a challenge. “This thing had everyone quaking in their boots, but you come here and things get taken care of in no time flat . . . Although it was yours truly that put the fateful stake through his heart.”

“Yes, it was.” D turned around.

A strangely firm resolve, or something like it, graced the young physician’s face. It was an unusual emotion, one no one had ever directed toward D.

The mayor quickly came back out of his daughter’s room. A smile spread across his face, and he declared, “The wounds on her throat have vanished, and she’s sleeping peacefully. And all thanks to you, D!”

“If you’ll pardon me saying so, I was actually the one who finished him off.”

Looking dumbfounded, the mayor turned from D to Dr. Tsurugi and back again.

“The doctor’s right,” D told him. “I was no use at all.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Dr. Tsurugi countered vehemently. “Mayor, this gentleman not only prevented the sneaking vampire from laying a finger on your daughter, but also succeeded in driving him from her room. I merely happened to be in the right place at the right time. If any reward is to be paid, we’ll split it.”

“You’re welcome to it,” D said, sounding somewhat surprised. His tone was strangely agreeable. Perhaps he was taken aback by events.

“I’d like you to come to my room,” the mayor said with a smile. “You’ll be given your remuneration. We’ll put you up wherever you like in town. Why, if you should decide to stay on permanently with us, that’d be fine, too.”

“Can’t do that just yet.” In the present mood of jubilant confidence, the Hunter’s words hung like icicles. “There’s still another one out there.”

“What?” the mayor began to say, but his mouth merely hung open. “Impossible!”

“No. He said there were two of them. I don’t think he was lying.”

“But—” the mayor sputtered, “You see, up till now there haven’t been any victims aside from my Laura.”

D turned to the physician. Gathering the drift of his question from that look alone, the physician shook his head. “No one’s come to my hospital secretly for treatment.”

“When was the town’s last regular medical exam?”

“A week ago. There were some colds and minor chronic conditions, but there wasn’t anyone out of the ordinary. No one skipped the medical exams. I can guarantee that.”

“The last time his daughter was attacked was three days ago. How about since then?”

“I can’t vouch for anyone after that.”

Letting out a deep sigh, the mayor brought his fist to his forehead. “A fine mess we have here. One problem solved, and another arises to take its place. Now we hear our town—a town our foes in the outside world can’t even get into—has been invaded by not one but two filthy freaks.”

“Only two if we’re lucky,” Dr. Tsurugi said, his expression greatly changed. “You just happened to find out about your daughter, but there may well be other victims who’ve been bitten without anyone noticing. They might not yet have turned into vampires. In some cases, their families may keep them hidden, too.”

“Exactly,” D said with a nod.

While humans feared the Nobility to their very marrow, the love they felt for their own flesh and blood sometimes prevailed over their terror when a member of their family became one of the undead. Many were the families who’d watch their child growing thinner and paler each night and think it better to hide them in some back room of the house rather than have them run out of the village. That was usually the case when a whole family became dark disciples of the vampires. Love thinks little of courting death. When the fangs of the very child they’d risked their life to defend coldly pressed against their carotid artery, was it a feeling of remorse that skimmed through the mother or father’s heart? Or was it satisfaction?

“I suppose it would be best if we didn’t inform anyone that one vampire’s been destroyed?” said the mayor.

Both D and Dr. Tsurugi nodded.

“This may sound a bit odd,” the physician began, “but you’ll have to keep Laura from leaving the house. We want folks in town to believe this incident hasn’t been resolved—because, in fact, it hasn’t been. Mr. D and I can handle the search.”

D donned an unusual expression. The man in the white lab coat seemed intent on running the show. The problem was, he really didn’t look like the pushy type. It was almost as if D’s presence brought it out in him.

“Actually,” the mayor began, craning his neck uncomfortably, “that’s a job for the law enforcement bureau. I’ll have to let them know about this.”

“As they haven’t been able to accomplish anything to date,” D replied, “I don’t imagine they’ll be of much more use in the future. Leave everything to me. And talk some sense into the good doctor, too.”

“Understood. Dr. Tsurugi, I’d like you to remain silent regarding this incident, and keep out of the investigation. Those are my orders as mayor.”

“But—” Dr. Tsurugi began indignantly before restraining himself. “Very well, sir. As disappointing as it may be, I’ll refrain from joining Mr. D in his work. And now, if you’ll excuse me.” Bidding them adieu in a loud voice, the young physician squared his sturdy shoulders and disappeared into the darkness outside.

“Another one?” the mayor mumbled, sounding very weary.

“Another one—and we have to wait until he claims another victim,” D muttered. “The doctor must’ve seen the vampire’s face. He didn’t say anything in particular about it, though.”

“You mean as to whether or not it was someone from town?”

Ignoring the question, D said, “When’s the last time you had a death or a missing person?”

Squinting, the mayor replied, “Last death would be two years ago, missing person would go three or four months back. Exact cause isn’t known, but most likely they got drunk and fell off the town. I’ll make you a list of names and addresses.”

D nodded.

-

II

-

The next morning, there was a rap at the door of D’s assigned lodgings that created quite a racket.

“It’s open,” a low voice responded, but whoever knocked made no attempt to open to the door. “What is it?” the Hunter asked.

“Um, it’s the mayor and Dr. Tsurugi. They want you to come right away. Someone’s sick. Come to the A Block of the industrial sector.” After these fear-filled words, there was the sound of furtive footsteps fading away.

Rising from his simple bed of hay without a word, D made his necessary preparations. Of course, those preparations consisted simply of strapping his longsword to his back.

-

The sun was already high. People on the street watched in terror as D walked by, his stride smooth as the wind. The industrial sector was on the edge of town. It consisted of three colossal blocks of buildings in a row. Aside from the actual energy used to keep the town in flight, everything they needed for their day-to-day existence was produced in the industrial blocks. It was the town’s lifeline, so to speak.

Without needing to see the A Block markings on the doors, D was guided there by the otherworldly atmosphere. A few people were standing at the entrance to a semi-cylindrical dome. The mayor and doctor were among them. And, of course, the sheriff, with the silver rocket-launcher tucked under his arm. Some men, perhaps deputies, were pushing back a wall of people to keep them from getting any closer. As D approached, the mass of humanity parted smoothly, making a path for him. Gazes brimming with fatigue, astonishment, and hatred greeted the Hunter.

At the mayor’s feet lay a man. A white waterproof sheet shrouded him. Keeping his silence, D went down on one knee and lifted the sheet. Under it was a middle-aged man, around forty years old. Eyes thrown wide open and lips zipped tight, his features were a detailed testament to a moment so horrifying he couldn’t even scream.

“What’s the story?” D asked quietly.

“Like you need me to tell you,” the sheriff replied snidely. “There ain’t a damn drop of blood left in his body. One of your pals must’ve sucked him dry.”

“That doesn’t seem to be what happened,” D said, turning to Dr. Tsurugi.

The physician nodded. “Indeed, all the blood’s missing from this body. However, there are no signs of a bite.”

“Check ’im good enough and you’ll find a bite, all right,” said the sheriff. “At any rate, we’ve got another victim now. If you keep relying on some clown we don’t know from a hole in the ground, we’re gonna have a few more on our hands, too. Mayor, I think it’s high time you let my office handle this. You leave it to us. Inside of seventy-two hours we’ll smoke that freak out and get rid of anyone who’s been bitten.”

Mayor Ming’s face was warped with anguish.

“Though the symptoms are the same,” D said, “this isn’t the work of the Nobility, or even of one of their victims. You won’t find a mark on him. My guess is . . . ”

Dr. Tsurugi was already nodding in agreement. “This could very well be some new kind of illness.”

“What?! Now I know you two bastards have gotta be in cahoots!” the sheriff bellowed.

“I’d like another three days,” said D. “If I haven’t found your foe by then, I’ll leave town.”

“You’ve gotta be out of your fucking—”

“Good enough,” said the mayor, cutting off the sheriff. “For the next three days, the search for the vampire is entirely in the hands of Mr. D. Sheriff, you’re not to interfere with him in any way at all.”

Though his whole face flushed vermilion, the sheriff held his tongue.

“A wise course of action,” Dr. Tsurugi said, his back to the gigantic lawman.

“You little bastard . . . ” the sheriff growled, latching onto the physician’s shoulder with his meaty fingers. And then something wrapped around the lawman’s wrist. The mayor’s arm.

“Sheriff,” the mayor said to the face of naked ferocity that greeted him. Just one word. The vermilion hue of excitement faded from the sheriff’s face in a matter of seconds.

“Okay. You’re the mayor. What you say, goes. But he only gets three days. And during that time, he ain’t gonna get a bit of help from us. He’ll have to do all the questioning and all the investigating all by his lonesome. And I’ll tell you one thing—this here town’s pretty damn big.” And then he left, with his men following close behind.

“Well, then, about this body . . .” Dr. Tsurugi said, rubbing his eyelid. “Should we bring it to the morgue, or back to the hospital? Personally, I’d love a chance to dissect it. He didn’t have any family, correct?”

The mayor nodded.

“Then we’ll bring it back to the hospital for the time being. We can’t discount the possibility this is some sort of illness.”

On orders from the mayor, two of the townsfolk were selected and, one at each end of a stretcher, they loaded the body onto the back of the hospital motorcycle parked nearby.

“Well, then, I’ll be running on ahead.”

The young physician departed, leaving only the growl of an engine in his wake. That left only D and the mayor. A forceful wind gusted around the two of them. Perhaps it was a gale that blew from the light into darkness. Or maybe it was something else.

“What is it?” the mayor said succinctly. “You think it could be an illness?”

D didn’t answer him. This was probably the first time he’d found a corpse that’d been drained of blood but didn’t have a mark on it. “I don’t know for sure. We need Dr. Tsurugi to hurry with that analysis. Depending on how this plays out, it may become necessary for him to come up with a vaccine. If that’s the case, he will need to do it quickly.”

“Then you do think it’s a disease after all . . . ” Beads of greasy sweat blossomed across the mayor’s brow.

-

Sitting in a block of sunlight spearing through her window, the girl pondered the fate that lay ahead of her. She couldn’t speak or hear. Dr. Tsurugi had given her the truth quite plainly. And she felt like she’d plunged straight into hell. She would be forced to live in a world stripped of all sound, where she couldn’t convey a single thought unless she had a pen in her hand. The physician had tried to console her by saying that she wouldn’t be left with any scars from the radiation poisoning, but what would that matter?

How old am I, again? The girl tried doing the math once more. Seventeen. At that age, her whole life was still ahead of her. And it’d all been wiped out. When she’d first found out what’d happened, she couldn’t think of anything at all. She just wanted to die. And then he had come. The beautiful face of the man they said had saved her was lodged in her brain. Entirely too gorgeous and completely noncommittal. He saved me, the girl thought, obsessed with the notion. Oh, I hope he comes to see me again. Just one more time.

A number of sounds passed right by the girl. The footsteps of the physician and nurse as they went down the corridor. The creaking of the gurney bearing what looked to be a dead body. A voice filled with revulsion. Sounds from things like the generator and an electric saw passed right through the thin walls, stirring the girl’s hair. Perhaps you could say she was lucky not to have to hear any of that.

So, what happens next? This thought alone continued to occupy the girl’s mind. Before she knew it, the light outside her window had taken an azure tint. She had no idea whether the doctor and nurse were in the next room or not. Once the light was gone, she’d be separated from them by an eternal gulf.

Just then, she saw a figure reflected in the door across from her. As she watched, something like a black stain appeared in one part of the glass, soon spreading across its entirety like a flower opening its petals in a time-lapse film. Before the girl’s very eyes, the stain quickly became a black mass of sorts, its contours shifting faintly as it approached her bed. The girl inched back in spite of herself. She was just about to press the emergency call button when a black hand deftly reached over and snatched it away.

Well, can you understand what I’m saying?

Piercing thoughts crept into her head. The girl’s eyes went wide with astonishment.

Don’t be so surprised. It’s called telepathy. With it, a person can make their thoughts understood without ever speaking. Even a young lady with no voice. Would you care to try it?

The girl nodded. She moved her head so vigorously it almost looked like some sort of exercise.

Okay, I’ll show you how to do it. But in return, there’s something I want to ask you. Will you answer me?

The girl nodded. As her eyes gazed at the unsettling black mass, they seemed to cling to it for dear life.

I understand certain experiments were conducted at your house. The voice rang through her head, and it was accompanied by a delightful stimulation. The secret of that research is hidden somewhere in your house. Tell me where. No, you don’t need to say it. Think it.

The girl shut her eyes. Gathering up all she remembered of the life they’d once lived, she began searching for some concrete example of the experiments her father had undertaken. Coming away empty-handed, the girl conveyed that result.

That can’t be! The shadowy figure’s thoughts were like flames. Your father was involved in forbidden experiments. And only he was able to make them succeed. Answer me. You must remember!

The question burned in the girl’s brain like molten steel. Her whole body trembling, she collapsed on the bed. At that moment, the door opened. The shadowy figure seemed to look that way.

“What the hell are you?” Dr. Tsurugi shouted, his words spreading across the room like a wildfire.

The shadow turned to face the physician without making a sound. Perhaps it was his youth, or maybe he was just reckless, but the physician spread his arms wide and tried to grab hold of the shadowy figure. His hands sank into the intruder’s form. Not just that—the shadow actually passed right through the physician’s body. Molecular intangibility was at work.

“Hey,” Dr. Tsurugi shouted as he raced to Lori’s side, though he had no idea what was going on. “Are you okay?” he asked.

Managing to follow the movement of his lips, Lori nodded in reply.

Noticing the pale blue phosphorescence of his own limbs, the physician pulled back in surprise. That was the aftereffect of the molecular intangibility. “Looks like I’ll have to take something for radiation, too,” the physician said absentmindedly, smiling at Lori.

But in her mind, the shadow’s thoughts still pulsed. You can use telepathy, too, the shadow had said.

-

The body of the deceased citizen was to be buried in the town’s cemetery. According to the autopsy, death had resulted from massive and rapid loss of blood—that was all they could tell. The corpse had been checked from the top of its head to the tips of its toes, but, aside from a few minor abrasions, there wasn’t any sign of the fateful wound. As they carried the coffin with the man’s corpse to the cemetery, everyone thought the same thing. When the sun goes down, he’s gonna get up. After the undertaker’s secondhand robots had finished digging the hole, the corpse was laid to rest. The soil was shoveled back in, and the undertaker—who doubled as a reverend—intoned several words of prayer. And with that, the man was firmly laid to rest with the past.

Soon after, the sun went down. Not a single person remained around this desolate patch of earth, but then a woman of about thirty came with a hurried gait. She was the wife of the man who ran the general store. But there was something strange about the way she walked. It looked like she was being called forward, and didn’t care for it one bit. As the woman moved forward, she threw her head back, dug her heels in, and was tugged along.

Presently, she stood before the fresh grave. Brushing her cheek against the mounded dirt so it rustled against her skin, she then got to her feet again. Hunching over, with a frightened expression and a chilling grin, she began digging into the fresh grave. With every movement of her hands, a vast quantity of earth was thrown behind her. In no time she had made a small mountain of dirt. Even though the soil was loose from the recent burial, the sheer volume of it was extraordinary.

When the lid of the wooden box could be seen at the bottom of the hole, the woman’s lips twisted in an expression of sheer delight. What a blackly evil smile it was. The hole was ten feet deep. The woman stared at the box. The sun had already sunk beyond the edge of the plains. Nothing but the white street lights threw any illumination on the woman’s deeds.

Slowly the coffin began to rise. As if pushed up by the earth itself it ascended, not the least bit unsteady as it approached the lip of the hole. Anxiety and rapture intertwined in the woman’s countenance.

Rising clean out of the grave, the coffin stopped level with the woman’s chin. The lid of the box opened from the inside, pushed open by a pale hand. With the same gingerly pace at which the box had risen from the grave, the dead man sat up. Still seated in the coffin, he turned to the woman and smirked. Pearly canines jutted from his mouth. His eyes gave off a red glow. With a look from him, the woman was completely stripped of her freedom. She smiled back at him. With strangely stiff movements, the man climbed down to the ground. The coffin stayed right where it was.

The man came closer. Saying nothing, the woman waited. For the first time it dawned on her that in life this man had been in love with her. There was a short, soft whistle, and at that point something stuck in the nape of the man’s neck. A thin needle of unfinished wood.

“Sorry to say this, but that’s as far as you go,” a low voice said. To the man’s right there was a rustling of tree branches. The man was at a loss for words. “And since you’ve risen again, I take it you know what the person who did this to you looks like. Tell me.”

Even if the man had wanted to answer, he was still pierced through the throat. Needle stuck in his neck, the man leapt back a good six feet, and at the same time the woman crumpled to the ground.

“You must be destroyed,” D said coldly. “But before you go, you should leave the world of daylight something. How about it?”

The man reached for the end of the needle with his right hand. He had no difficulty pulling out the wooden shaft D had hurled at him. A stream of blood squirted from the wound. The man pursed his lips.

D raised his left hand. Holding it flat and straight like a knife, he moved forward. The red stream that issued from the man’s mouth was split down the middle by the edge of the Hunter’s hand, and both halves vanished in the darkness. But D sensed white smoke rising from the ground where the man’s blood had fallen.

“Quite a strange power you have there,” the Hunter remarked. “But now the end is at hand.” Not giving the man a second chance to purse his lips, D covered him completely with his coat. The moment it opened again, the man fell to the ground unconscious as if jerked down by ropes. Looking down at the man, D said softly, “I’ve taken care of him. Come out now.”

“Thanks a bunch.” There was the sound of branches shaking in a thicket some fifteen or twenty feet away, and then a fairly limber figure appeared. “So, you’ve got a trick that can knock a Noble’s underling out in one shot? When you’ve got a little time to kill, I’d love to see how you do that.” Punctuating his last comment with a burst of cackling laughter was none other than John M. Brasselli Pluto VIII.

“Why are you out here?” D asked.

“Aw, don’t get all tough with me, partner.” Pluto VIII smiled at the Hunter, his expression intimating they’d been friends for ages. “I knew he was bound to come back to life, so I was just waiting around for it. I tell you, that was a hell of a fight you gave that critter. I’m impressed. Very impressed!”

“What are you after?” D asked softly.

“Not a thing,” Pluto VIII replied, shaking his head in earnest. If he was tortured to the point where he could no longer speak, he could probably get by on that gesture alone.

“It doesn’t matter. Just stay out of the way.”

“Yes, sir.” It was hard to tell just what was going through Pluto VIII’s head, but for some reason he gave the Hunter a round of applause, then said, “By the way, were you by any chance planning on taking this creep back with you and making ’im spill his guts?”

“What are you talking about?”

“It’s pretty obvious, ain’t it? You aim to find out just who went and made this character like this. After all, he lost all that blood but doesn’t have a scratch on him. How weird is that?! You’ve gotta look into what’s causing this.”

“You’re exactly right.” Easily carrying the fanged man on one shoulder and the unconscious woman on the other, D turned away.

“Hey, hold on! Wait just a minute,” Pluto VIII cried out excitedly, scampering after the Hunter. “Let me carry the lady. I tell you, I can’t believe how tough it is trying to crack the gals in this here town. I can talk myself blue in the face, but they won’t give me the time of day. I should take this opportunity to make a reputation for myself.”

While it wasn’t quite clear whether the Hunter was dumb-founded or not, as D stood there Pluto VIII basically pried the woman away from him and cradled her body in his arms. “Buddy, do you seriously think this character is just gonna tell you everything? I mean, after all, he’s a freaking vampire!”

D said nothing.

“I’ll let you in on a little secret. I can get him to spill his guts for you. I’ll let you ask him whatever you want, just let me get some questions in, too.”

D stopped in his tracks. As he slowly turned, Pluto VIII must’ve sensed something in the Hunter’s face, and, giving a cry of surprise, the biker leapt back a good ten feet. “Didn’t I tell you not to look at me all serious like that? Just thinking about that mug of yours gives me a powerful urge to jerk off, you know. At this rate, I’m liable to fall in love with you if you don’t watch it.”

“Just what are you up to?”

“Not a blessed thing.”

“Should I talk to the mayor and have him toss you out of town?”

“Won’t do you a bit of good,” Pluto VIII chortled. “I figured you might try something like that, so I found myself a new hideout. Besides, you can’t even find where the vampire’s holed up. You know, I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if you wound up with another one on your hands.” What Pluto VIII said was right on the mark. “So, what’ll it be? Stop looking so grim and make up your mind already.”

“Okay,” D said softly with a nod.

-

Where Pluto VIII finally led D was to an abandoned boarding-house next to C Block in the industrial sector. “What do you think? Pretty great, huh? Got myself three rooms here. Can cook up my grub wherever I please. You’re looking at the lord of the manor,” Pluto VIII said pompously. “It don’t matter to me if you tell anyone else where to find me. Given five minutes, I can move myself into another hideout, you know. I’m a slipperier eel than any vampire.”

“What are you really after?” asked D.

“Who do you think you’re dealing with here?” Pluto VIII said, settling himself into a plastic chair. He invited D to do the same, but the Hunter wouldn’t sit down. The woman from the general store had been left lying next to a street that saw a lot of pedestrian traffic in a place where someone was sure to find her right away. Anyone summoned by a vampire’s power, as she had been, wouldn’t remember a single thing that had happened while under the vampire’s spell. Pluto VIII had set the unconscious vampire down on a large bed of rather simple tastes. Fingering the fiend’s extended canine teeth with morbid curiosity, he said, “Well, now. Let’s see if we can’t get him to answer two or three questions. Okay, now watch closely.”

Saying that, he clambered onto the bed and over to where he’d put the vampire, then laid down on his back right next to the other man. D saw him squeeze down on the vampire’s hand. Pluto VIII closed his eyes. As he did so, all trace of expression vanished from his face. At the same time, the vampire began to tremble all over and his eyes opened wide.

“Pretty slick, eh?” the vampire said in Pluto VIII’s voice. While the face was still clearly that of a farmhand, the expression had taken on an indefinable fullness, and through the eyes and mouth it bore a distinct likeness to Pluto VIII. This little stub of a man actually had the ability to possess other bodies. “Damn, it’s cold,” he groaned. “Inside this guy’s head and all through his body it’s just one great big winter wonderland. On the other hand, being in here I know everything he’s thinking. Now, according to him, he got turned into a vampire by . . . wow, by no one at all. All of a sudden he got cold and fell to the ground in front of that factory. And that’s about the size of it, it seems. Ain’t that the damnedest thing!”

“Is the illness contagious?”

To D’s question, Pluto VIII replied, “I don’t know. What I can tell you is he’s got a powerful thirst for blood. That’s it.” Suddenly Pluto VIII’s voice became muddled. Malevolence flooded into his normally amiable expression. His face now that of a demon, he leapt to his feet. The human who’d possessed this vampire had been overthrown with remarkable ease. Imitation vampire or not, the mental powers that condition endowed the victim with were certainly formidable. Slowly, the demon headed toward D—and then he suddenly grinned from ear to ear, just like Pluto VIII. “Sorry about that,” he laughed in the biker’s voice. “Didn’t mean to alarm you—not that you budged an inch. Well, I guess that’s D for you. So, that’s the only question you’ve got?”

“No, I have another. What in the world were they researching in that house?”

“Can’t say,” Pluto VIII replied indifferently. “He’s probably got the information, but everything related to it is in a fog. Guess that means no answer.”

Nothing from D.

“Looks like our plan has run awry.”

D gave a slight nod.

One of the paranormal phenomena that often linked the bloodsucker to its prey was a transference of memories. Often the memories of a vampire were copied into the brain of his or her victim. In most cases what was transferred was only a small portion of vampire’s recollections, but there were some victims who wound up with all of a Noble’s memories. By sending his consciousness into the other man’s body, Pluto VIII had hoped to access any memories that might’ve belonged to whoever made him.

Not saying a word, D slung the undead body over his shoulder.

“Hey, what’re you doing?!” the corpse—or rather, Pluto VIII—shouted.

“If we’re through with him, I have to get him back in his grave. If you want to get out of him, better be quick about it.”

“What a selfish little ingrate you are,” the man sneered, and then all stiffness left his body. At the same instant, Pluto VIII’s body got up from where it’d been lying on the bed. “I’ll have you know it takes a good deal of mental preparation to leap from one body to another. Oh, I think I’m gonna be sick—”

D left the biker’s room without making a sound.

-

As it moved forward, the town seemed to be glaring down at the brown plains. A group of shepherds and merchants looked up at it enviously and waved. Offering them nothing in return, the town continued its remorseless advance. But one had to wonder if it was actually making any progress. The town went on diligently, headed straight for the sun as it shone down with a strangely spiteful hue.

-

The next day, D called on the twenty or so men listed on the mayor’s sheet as being involved in boarding up the Knight family’s home. All of them gave him the same reply. No one had seen or heard anything strange while they were moving things out of the house. The mysteries of that abode remained shrouded in fog. As D was getting ready to call on the last person on the list, Sheriff Hutton, someone behind him called out his name. It was Dr. Tsurugi. Turning around, D asked, “How did it go?”

“His condition remains unchanged. I wasn’t able to learn anything from the corpse.” He was referring to the man who’d risen from his grave the previous night. D had carried the body Pluto VIII had occupied to Dr. Tsurugi and had him subject it to a second medical examination. “It’s certainly my opinion this was caused by some sort of viral infection, but at the moment I can’t seem to put my finger on the culprit.”

“There’ll be trouble if you can’t.” That was all D said.

Realizing just what kind of trouble the Hunter was talking about, Dr. Tsurugi used the back of his hand to wipe away the sweat he’d just realized was pouring from him. Cold sweat.

“I’ll see you later,” D said, turning his back.

“Wait a minute,” the physician called out to him.

“What is it?”

The young physician shyly scratched at his head, which seemed to be a habit with him. “If you don’t mind, do you think you could pay a visit with me? To Lori Knight, I mean. She’s been acting a bit strangely.”

“Strangely?”

“Yes. Ever since she was attacked by this weird, shadowy character yesterday, her behavior’s been rather unusual.”

“My going to see her wouldn’t change anything.”

“Well, by not going you certainly won’t do her any good.”

“Then you’ll have to wait until I’ve taken care of one bit of business,” D said, and began to walk away. Twisting and turning through a number of streets and back alleys, he arrived at the law enforcement bureau. Pushing his way through a cracked glass door patched together with strips of heavy tape, he made his way inside.

Sitting behind his desk with his feet up while he joked with a couple of his deputies, the giant developed a sudden twitch in his face as soon as he caught sight of D. “What brings you here?” he asked. “You still got two days left. Don’t tell me you want off already?”

“I have business with you,” D said plainly. “Could I speak to you in private?”

Struck perhaps by the Hunter’s chilling aura, the two deputies quickly got to their feet, but the sheriff pushed them back down with hands the size of catcher’s mitts. “Wait just a cotton-picking minute, boys. This here’s the law enforcement bureau. We don’t take orders from no outsider. Least of all from a stinking Vampire Hunter. You’re not going anywhere. You’ll sit right here with me and hear what he’s got to say, you savvy? So, how’s that by you?” The last remark was aimed at D.

D nodded. “Doesn’t matter to me. I just have one question for you. When you were boarding up the Knight house, did you see anything?”

“What do you mean by ‘anything’?” The sheriff laughed, showing a lot of yellow teeth.

“Were there any unusual items? Strange drugs, papers with formulas or equations? Special creatures? Anything like that.”

The sheriff snorted loudly, “Of course there wasn’t a damn thing like that.”

“Then I have another question for you. Why did the Knight family leave town?”

“You might wanna ask the mayor that.”

“Did the whole town drive them away, or—”

“Or what?”

“Or were they glad to leave? Which was it?”

“You come here looking to start trouble, buster?!” Sheriff Hutton snarled. The two deputies braced themselves for action. The sheriff started to rise from his oversized chair. His rear was only about an inch out of the chair when he stopped dead in his tracks. D was standing right in front of him. He was just standing there, an unearthly aura radiating from every inch of his body. That alone kept not only the sheriff but his two deputies as well from moving a muscle.

“Answer me straight,” said D.

“You—you gotta be fuckin’ kidding me,” the sheriff blustered, but his voice quivered nevertheless.

“In that case, you leave me no choice.”

Raising his left hand, D pressed it against the sheriff’s forehead. The same vacuous expression seen on a mental defective spread across the sheriff’s face. Eyes covered with a semitransparent film and drool coursing from the corner of his mouth, the lawman stared vacantly into space.

“Why did the family leave town?”

A reply wasn’t soon in coming. No doubt a battle was raging in the sheriff’s mind, a battle between his own ego and D’s words. The only question was how it all would end.

“That family . . . was doing freaky experiments . . . Don’t know all the particulars . . . ” The words were clearly being torn from the sheriff. And it went without saying the power of D’s left hand was to blame.

“You knew that, and still you did nothing?” the Hunter asked.

“Wanted to . . . but then . . . mayor stopped me.”

“The mayor?” D’s eyes shone. “Why would he do that?”

“Don’t know . . . But I had official orders . . . Wasn’t supposed to do anything . . . about that family . . . ever . . . Seems the sheriff before me . . . had the same orders.”

“How long had it been going on?”

“From way back . . . Roughly two hundred years . . . ”

According to what the mayor had said, that was right around the time the eerie stranger had come on board.

“And their strange experiments had been going on all that time?”

“I . . . I wouldn’t know . . . ”

“Was the Knight family run out of town, or did they leave of their own accord?”

“They . . . ran away . . . ”

“Ran away?”

“Night before they run off . . . mayor gave me orders . . . I went to their house . . . Knights were there . . . Arrested ’em on the spot . . . just like the mayor told me to . . . Threw ’em . . . in jail . . . Daughter was with them, of course . . . Mayor never did tell me . . . why we had to do that . . . Just said they’d committed a serious offense . . . against the whole town . . . and that was all.”

“I see.”

The “offense,” then, was experiments the Knight family had been conducting for generations. But what reason would the mayor—who’d always supported the Knights—have for ordering their arrest? And what could they have told the mayor?

“How did Mr. and Mrs. Knight seem?”

“I don’t know . . . They weren’t scared . . . at all . . . The two of them . . . looked to be giving some serious thought to something . . . What it was . . . I don’t know.”

“How did they get away?”

“The next day . . . I go for a look . . . and the cell wall . . . was melted away. Mr. Knight was a chemist . . . Figure he had something hidden on him . . . Acid or something . . . ”

“I’ll be seeing you again.” D’s hand came away from the sheriff.

It wasn’t until the hem of the Hunter’s black coat was well out the door that the sheriff and his two men collapsed into their chairs as if utterly exhausted.

-

Dr. Tsurugi was waiting for D. “I realize you must be busy, but I’d really like for you to come with me,” he said.

D nodded. “I said I would. Let’s go.”

The two of them set off for the hospital.

“Quiet town,” said D.

“I guess it is, at that. The sheriff and mayor probably have a pretty easy time keeping the peace. They don’t get strangers coming in and causing trouble. And the townsfolk are all well-behaved types who follow the rules. Every so often someone gets a little rough, but no one’s any rougher than the sheriff.”

A smile formed on D’s lips. “Except for you,” he said.

Dr. Tsurugi didn’t say anything, but he gave a great big grin. Quickly looking to D again, he asked, “How long will you be in town?”

“If I was done, I could leave tomorrow.” And then, in a rare move for the Hunter, he asked in return, “How about you?”

“Well, my contract is for a full year. But I suppose I’ll be getting off before then.”

“Wouldn’t it cause problems if their doctor were to leave town?”

“Nothing they couldn’t solve by finding another physician,” Dr. Tsurugi replied.

“Are you bored?”

“Don’t be ridiculous. You wouldn’t think it to look at me, but I studied a bit of psychology. And from a psychological standpoint, you couldn’t find a more intriguing place. By their very nature, towns on the Frontier must exercise rather rigid controls in order to protect themselves from enemies without, but here they’ve taken it to the furthest extreme. Where do you think this town is headed?”

D gave no reply.

“Actually, they wander the earth far and wide with no goal at all.”

“People down on the ground don’t have a goal, either. Humans, Nobility—all of creation is that way,” D said.

“Yes, but in a village, people come in. In towns, people leave. Here, there’s neither. Do you have any idea how much time and energy the people of this town invest to come up with drugs that combat the problems caused by inbreeding? In my humble opinion, the only folks in town in their right mind were the Knights.”

“Do you know anything about them?” the Hunter asked.

“Unfortunately, no.”

“I suppose this place might not suit you. You like traveling then, do you?”

The young physician nodded. It was a deep, hearty nod. His dark eyes sparkled. “Yes. I’ve met all kinds of people. You might say I became a doctor because I like to travel. The Frontier’s not completely hopeless. No matter what they’ve been dealt there, everybody’s giving life all they’ve got. I bet the same is true for the remaining Nobility. And I just want to help folks do that.”

Saying nothing, D continued walking. But in his eyes was something that looked incredibly like a bit of warmth. The young physician failed to notice how his words had brought about a minor miracle.

“You’re a dhampir, correct? Been traveling long?”

“A bit longer than you,” D replied

“I’ll be like you before too long,” the physician said in a fervent tone. “I suppose I’ll get as experienced as you are. Along the way, I’ll learn how to ride and how to use a sword.”

Though the young doctor’s words sounded almost like a challenge, D remained silent.

Presently, the pair arrived at the hospital. The nurse walked just ahead of them, escorting them to the sickroom. Over the course of the ten feet or so they had to go, the nurse nearly crashed into a table, almost put her hand through a window pane, and had to be caught by the physician after tripping over the threshold . . . All because she could do nothing but look at D.

Some pink discoloration remained on Lori’s skin. That was the extent of her injuries. Apparently the plasters for drawing the radioisotopes from her body were no longer necessary, as all her bandages had been removed. Now the girl was wearing blue pajamas and sitting up in bed.

After a bit, Dr. Tsurugi took the memo pad in hand and wrote, How are you feeling? He handed it to her. He did so because D hadn’t bothered to say anything at all.

Scanning the note, Lori nodded. Fidgeting, she adjusted the collar of her pajamas and tugged down the sleeves. She seemed embarrassed to have anyone see the marks her radiation poisoning had left.

Mr. D came to see you, the physician scribbled on the memo pad. He wants you to get well soon.

D picked up the pen. On seeing what he wrote on the memo, Dr. Tsurugi’s eyes bulged out: Why did your parents leave town?

“Wait just one minute,” the physician snarled. “This young lady’s still a patient undergoing treatment. I didn’t bring you here for this. I wanted you to help bring a little life back into her. Most patients need cheering up more than anything. Especially a girl her age.”

“And I came here because I have questions,” D replied.

“I can’t believe your nerve. I never should’ve brought you here.”

“You can cheer her up any time. But my work won’t wait.”

The physician held his tongue.

D continued, “One of the Nobility has been created through means that are still unclear. If that number is allowed to swell to a hundred, we’ll be powerless to stop them. It’s my job to get rid of him. But if I had to take out every person in town, that’d be a bit too much of a workload.”

“This is insane,” the physician said with a mournful sigh.

D turned to face Lori. Silently, he awaited her reply.

Memories flickered in Lori’s mind. This was the same question the shadowy figure had put to her the night before. No one cared about her at all. Her parents’ experiments were the only thing on anyone’s mind. Choking the rage that’d risen to her throat back down again, Lori raised her face. The Hunter’s visage greeted her. Cold and veiled in an unearthly aura, his dashing countenance seemed sad nonetheless. The anger vanished from Lori’s heart. Putting her left hand over her right so the scars on the back of it couldn’t be seen, Lori slowly scratched away with the pen.

I don’t know. On our last night in town, as I was walking past the lab, I heard my father tell my mother, “This is going to change the world.” Right after that, the two of them headed out somewhere, and while I was sleeping the law came and hauled us off to jail.

“Change it how, I wonder?” Dr. Tsurugi mused. Not saying a word, D looked over his shoulder. Over to the next room. The operating room. The room that had a corpse strapped to the table. The physician’s complexion turned the color of clay. “You couldn’t possibly mean—”

“I don’t know,” D said. “But you’d best leave.”

“What on earth do you mean?”

“You’re better off not knowing.”

“You must be joking, after all I’ve gone through.” Dr. Tsurugi added petulantly, “Need I remind you that I was the one who destroyed the vampire last night?”

“I’ll see you later.”

“But, I—” The physician was about to say something, but he bit his lip. Indignant, he left Lori’s sickroom.

D’s right hand went into action. Aside from your family, who went into the lab the most?

After pausing for a moment, Lori wrote, Mayor Ming.

-