A Hunger for Darkness

A Hunger

For

Darkness

Cooper Flynn

This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

A Hunger for Darkness

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© 201
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Cooper Flynn

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced electronically or in print without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews.

For Lauri, who convinced me I could.

Chapter One

The young ones were the easiest to kill.
They were slower, weaker and not as cunning. Unfortunately, Kenzi Roark was hunting an old vampire. Four hundred years made Gabriel Sands one of the oldest vampires in North America.

Stalking Gabriel through the darkness of Central Park well after midnight, Kenzi moved cautiously, trying to keep him in sight while watching for park police. She concentrated on keeping her breathing steady and even. Her features were calm, but the sharp chin and full lips coupled with the intensity in her hazel eyes gave her the look of a predator. Dressed in dark gray, she carried her crossbow at the ready, waiting for her chance.

Gabriel was walking casually across one of the great open fields, a ghostly shadow in the moonlight. Sooner or later he’d find someone; a cop, a bum or a criminal stalking for their own prey. Kenzi stayed downwind. There could be no fair fight between this vampire and a human, even one as carefully trained as Kenzi. He would be far too fast, and too strong. Surviving this long insured that he would be clever enough to spot a trap. The only workable plan was to get within range and put one or more arrows into him, with his heart the target.

Kenzi worked around the edge of the clearing with careful footwork. She was patient; carelessness would kill quickly and mercilessly. She found the trail Gabriel had followed into the woods and paused. He was no longer in view but she would track him. The city sounds were muted here. The city outside the park would be buzzing with activity as always, but here she was shielded from the noise.

She took a few steps in before she felt it. The silence was that of the jungle while a predator lurked. Every creature was staying still in the hopes that this manifestation of death would pass them by this night. Kenzi dropped into a crouch, crossbow ready; she might get one shot. She didn’t.

Kenzi was grabbed by the back of the neck and thrown into a tree a dozen paces away. The impact sent her weapon flying and knocked the breath from her. She pulled a pistol from her belt with the full knowledge it would be futile. Her eyes darted wildly back and forth without seeing her attacker. She had the pistol low and ready when she felt the bones of her forearm crack from a blow that could have been delivered with an iron bar. She sobbed and cradled the arm against her chest. Gabriel was going to toy with her.

Another blow sent her sprawling; her broken arm screaming in protest. Kenzi lay still and tried to slowly reach for the packet containing poison in her pocket. It was designed to quickly lace her bloodstream with a powerful chemical that would kill her, but might also sedate the vampire when it fed. She would give her back-up team time to find him and take revenge.

A powerful hand gripped her wrist and her neck. She felt the inhuman strength in the hands that pinned her helplessly.

“No, my little huntress,” a voice whispered from just above her ear, “I won’t have you spoil the meal.”

Gabriel turned her over. Even in the darkness Kenzi could see the cold beauty of his face. The lines were uncorrupted by age but had grown hard and cruel. He wore his hair long and it curled around his ears. No one would mistake him for a young man any more despite his arrested age. His eyes were no longer lit by any human feeling. These were the eyes of something as pitiless as time.

Kenzi faced death calmly. From the beginning of her training she had been told this was likely. Most hunters died this way, and after seven years Kenzi was a sesoned veteran despite being less than thirty years old.

Gabriel waited; watching her face for something. After a moment he sneered in disgust, his fangs finally coming into view. Many hunters would have loved to have them as trophies. The long fangs of the older vampires brought greater prestige, despite Center’s efforts to discourage the practice.

Kenzi tried one last kick. Gabriel didn’t budge but he did smile.

“That’s what I was waiting for huntress, that last bit of fight. I want to watch hope fade in your eyes; I want to watch the dread grow.” He spoke as though reciting poetry, smiling in the moonlight.

Kenzi kept her face neutral; determined to keep one last bit of satisfaction from him. Gabriel searched her eyes again. His smile faded. He leaned in, his face nuzzling her neck like a lover. His lips were cold against her skin as he slid them up and down her neck. His body covered hers, his iron grip still holding her unbroken left wrist. His weight smothered her and his smell reminded her of some beast of prey; a musk almost sexual in its intensity.

The lips receded and she felt twin needles on her neck above the carotid artery. The swiftly pierced her and ripped her open. She felt the hot blood pumping into Gabriel’s waiting mouth. He swallowed noisily. The pain quickly faded; she felt as though she was floating in a warm cloud. It became almost a sensual pleasure as she drifted from consciousness, regretting nothing.

Kenzi lay alone and broken on the forest floor. Her mind was a fading spark in a pile of cooling embers. She was aware of a presence with her, but it no longer was important. She waited. Something was pushed to her lips. Warmth flowed over them.

A glow began to expand within her. The liquid fire was almost sensuous as it spread through her. First her face and chest began to feel as though they were being caressed from the inside out. Her breasts swelled and she felt her nipples harden. Then her arms and legs began to tingle, like they were aching to be touched or stroked.

Kenzi knew she was being cradled in someone’s arms, but she didn’t care about identity.
She was craving the slow trickling warmth that flowed down her throat. She heard herself moan as an amber glow seemed to settle over her. Deep between her legs she felt a pressure building. Every fiber of her being was crying out for more.

Kenzi felt herself being lowered to the forest floor. She was too weak to do anything other than whisper a cry of disappointment. She wanted more – she wanted to lose herself in that enveloping pleasure. She was alone on the forest floor. Without understanding her thoughts slipped away again and darkness enfolded her…..

The light hurt her eyes, even through her closed lids. Kenzi heard voices drifting down to her through the haze. She struggled to reach them and her eyes slowly opened. Over her stood an older woman with silver hair placed in a tight bun on the back of her head. Despite her age her back was ramrod-straight. Icy blue peered from deep-set eyes.

“Mackenzie, are you with us?” Director Leah Whitechapel asked, her face creased with concern.

Kenzi struggled to sit up but her arms wouldn’t move. She stared at the restraints on her wrists in confusion. Her right forearm was covered in a brace, and a dull ache brought back memories of the night before.

“Mackenzie,” Director Whitechapel started again, “You’re in Medical, at Center. The retrieval team recovered you from Central Park last night.”

Kenzi fell back against the pillows. The room was stark, without windows or any of the comforts of a real hospital. This was The International Center for Virology, always referred to as ‘Center’, never ‘The Center’ by those who knew its true nature. Nothing was wasted on appearances or comforts. Director Whitechapel believed such things bred weakness. She also didn’t believe in nicknames, and so was the only person alive who called Kenzi by her given name.

Next to her stood Joshua Pike, who had been her back-up the night before. He was tall at several inches over six feet and had a deceptively loose and lanky build. He could look like a marionette puppet with the strings cut in one moment, and move like a shot arrow the next. His wild dark hair framed an angular face just saved from ugliness by blazing dark eyes that could be tender in unguarded moments. Now those eyes were stricken.

“I’m so sorry, Kenz, I wasn’t fast enough, and I lost you in the woods….” He turned away before emotion could unmask him.

Kenzi breathed deeply for a moment before asking, “Why am I restrained?”

The director looked genuinely sorrowful, unusual for a woman legendary for stoicism. “You’ve been infected, dear.” Her voice was soft.

An icy fist closed around Kenzi’s heart.

“That’s impossible!” she protested, “I don’t feel different! It’s a mistake!”

“I’m sorry, dear. There’s no mistake. Apparently Gabriel Sands turned you. I’m so sorry,” the director said. “We ran the tests twice.”

Kenzi flailed briefly against her restraints before squeezing her eyes tightly shut. A tear welled from the corner of her eye. She bit her lip to keep from sobbing. Emotional outbursts were simply unacceptable. For a moment she thought Director Whitechapel was going to pat her hand but she pulled away.

“Mackenzie,” she said softly, “We’ve never had a subject this early in the infection process, and never one of us. We have to run tests. I hope you will cooperate as long as you can, and I promise we will treat you humanely and make the end painless.”

The horror struck Kenzi again. “Why would he do this to me? Why?”

The director was as kind as Kenzi had ever seen her be. “I don’t know. Maybe it was a sick joke, or a perverted idea of revenge, either way, I’m so sorry.”

With that the director turned to leave. “Take her to Containment,” she ordered the guards as she left the room.

Joshua looked at her one more time, his face a study of grief. He paused as if to say something, but dropped his head instead and followed the director from the room.

Kenzi understood. Now she was the enemy.

Chapter
Two

Various technicians came and went, drawing blood or other fluids. They never looked her in the eye and Kenzi quickly gave up trying to speak to them. They were efficient and never malicious, but they made no effort at making her comfortable. Kenzi expected no less. Now she was a vampire. The irony would have been amusing if she could feel the humor. She was Center’s most effective vampire hunter and now she was the very thing she had been trained to hate - to kill.

No effort was made to feed her beyond fluids fed to her by IV. She wondered idly when she would begin to feel the change. Attendants changed her sheets around her and bathed her, not for her comfort but for theirs. They were only interested in tracking the virus as it slowly altered her, at the level of her DNA. A day passed, then two.

Containment was usually used for interrogating slaves; those still-human familiars used by the vampires to do their masters’ biding in daylight. Their only pay was the promise of eventual infection and eternal life. The most odious of these slaves were those who procured unsuspecting prey for their masters feeding. Slaves were interrogated but never released. An on-site crematorium disposed of any evidence.

The room was bare concrete with stark lighting. The stainless steel chair had been unbolted from the floor and removed. Her gurney was now center-stage. Kenzi knew two guards would be waiting outside the heavy steel door. A camera stared unblinking at her from a corner.

It was the idea that she would become someone, or something else, which terrified her. Death was what she had expected. She was an operative; a hunter, the lifespan in years was usually measured in single digits. All of them had been recruited young. Often they were orphans as a result of the vampires they hunted. It was easier to breed the hate that way.

Kenzi had been the orphan of a drug addicted mother who had been taken by a vampire one frosty night in an alley. Social Services had taken her at first until Director Whitechapel found her. Educated and trained to be a remorseless hunter, she’d led a Spartan life, but had a sacred purpose. All of those in her training class had been killed one by one.

There had been no visitors. She imagined the Director had either declared her dead or quarantined her. She reflected on her life at Center, taking comfort in the memory of vampires killed. Sleep came in intermittent naps, and without any external cues she had no idea if she was awake in the middle of the day or the dead of night. Those who were studying her did so in silence, though she had known several for years. In victory, these had been some of the same people who had tended her wounds. Now they took their samples from her in cold detachment.

The steel door opened again, and Kenzi didn’t bother to look. Her restraints dampened her natural instincts, and she expected another expressionless tech.

“Hey there,” a feminine voice said softly, with a faint catch of fear.

Kenzi surprised herself with a smile, a smile that Katerina Ivanova had always been able to coax from her.

“Kat! How did you get in here?” Kenzi felt her eyes puddle with tears, but she would not let them fall. Even now her pride and training would not allow it. Even as Katerina stood near the door, Kenzi could smell the unique scent of Katerina’s body, a scent of floral soaps and something warm and indescribable that Kenzi had never consciously recognized before.

“You don’t think Old Lady Ice could keep me out do you?” Katerina crossed to her, stopping just out of the reach of Kenzi’s restrained hands. A hesitant smile contrasting with the single tear that crept down her cheek. Katerina had never had the iron control of her emotions that Center tried to instill.

Old Lady Ice was the childhood nickname they had dreamed up for the Director. Katerina had been a year behind Kenzi, but the two had become best friends during the years at Hexum House, Center’s training academy which pretended to be a boarding school for orphans. The two were study in contrasts, Kenzi the dark-haired American, and Katerina, the blonde Russian.

“You can’t be here! If they find out….” Kenzi glanced back to the door, anxious against discovery her eyes darted to the cameras in each corner of the room. “They know you’re here.” She leaned back against the bed and closed her eyes.

“Yes, I’ve been pleading with them for days. They’re watching us to see your reaction.” Katerina clasped her hands in front of her. Despite the skin-tight black exercise clothes that were the uniform inside Center, she still looked like a blonde school-girl. Her blue eyes were deceptively innocent. Kenzi had seen that same innocence in her face even when it was splashed with vampire blood. Katerina had the purity Kenzi recognized as total devotion to a cause.

“I’ve missed you, little girl. I’m counting on you to keep up the fight when I’m gone.” Kenzi said with a sad smile.

Katerina swayed as though to step forward, but stopped herself, undoubtedly remembering an order.

“This is killing me! I don’t know how I can do this without you,” she sobbed. “I’m not like you, I’m not the fearless warrior you are!

“Easy, you can’t let the Director see you crying like a baby!” Kenzi scolded, though her tone was warm. “You can continue like you always have. You are brave, and you are one of the best fighters I’ve ever seen. I believe in you.” She said the last words with special emphasis, and held Katerina’s eyes with a fierce gaze.

Katerina’s face hardened, and the avenging angel showed herself. “I will destroy the abomination that did this to you!” She vowed.

“Thank you, make sure you do, but most of all, find a way to live. Live as long as you can, and find some kind of peace and pleasure while you do.” Kenzi closed her eyes again and sighed. “We spend so much time killing, we forget that even we can find a few moments for joy. And tell Joshua not to blame himself. Tell him I’m sorry.”

Katerina looked confused, and reached for Kenzi’s hand before stopping and letting it fall to her side.

“The hell with it,” she cried and grabbed Kenzi’s hand, “I love you, and I’ll never forget you. You’ll be with me always.”

Kenzi squeezed the hand gratefully, and felt a rush of emotion that threatened to break her resolve.

“I love you, too. Now get out of here, I have work to do.” The lame joke made them both smile.

Katerina left and the silence returned….

She didn’t know how much time had passed when she heard a noise outside the door. The tech taking yet another blood sample seemed unaware until the door opened. There was blood on the door, just a small smear but to Kenzi’s horror she could smell it. She could also smell fear.

Through the door stepped a tall man wearing the casual clothes of an evening at a nightclubs. He smiled easily as he caught sight of Kenzi, who knew what he was immediately; vampire. The tech was still bent over her, oblivious to his danger. Kenzi struggled to scream but her throat closed. She thrashed briefly at the restraints on her hands and legs.

Her thrashing caught the tech’s attention. Looking up at her with a frown, he realized his danger too late. The vampire had silently crossed the room. His expression didn’t change from his friendly smile as he shoved the tech across the room. He bounced from a wall with a sickening wet thud and collapsed.

“Hello, Kenzi,” the vampire said with a faint brogue that sounded Irish, “would you like to go?”

“Who are you? Why are you here?” Kenzi gasped as she struggled against her restraints.

“I’m Connor Devlin, and I’m here to get you out.” The vampire stood next to her now, and looked down with a smile.

“Stay away from me!” She almost sobbed at her helplessness.

“Relax,” he smiled, “I’ve come to give you a choice. You can stay and remain a guinea pig and be put down when they’re done, or you can come with me.”

“I’m not going anywhere with you!” Kenzi spat.

“It’s your choice,” he said reasonably, “but you have no other choices here. Why not come with me? You can hear what I offer, if you don’t like it, you can die then, or return here.”

As he spoke he was unfastening the buckles on the wrist and ankle cuffs that had bound her to the bed. Kenzi sat up quickly, careless of the thin gown she wore. She studied the figure before her. He was tall and broad-chested, though he had a narrow waist. He could have been twenty-five or thirty-five with dark curly hair and unreasonably green eyes. He smiled again and by the length of his fangs she guessed him to be not much over one hundred.

He offered a hand, “Let’s go.”

Kenzi studied him for a moment. She wasn’t ready to die and she had always been trained to exploit opportunities. Perhaps all of this was a mistake. Maybe she could gain valuable intel about more vampires. These thoughts flickered half-formed through her mind. She ignored the hand he offered and stood.

Following him out the door, she stepped over the two guards now sprawled across the floor. She was surprised to note they still breathed. A red light flashed in the corridor. Center did not employ sirens, every guard and operative inside would have already received a text informing them of the security breach. Pulling the brace off her forearm, Kenzi flexed the muscles and felt only a faint ache as she followed the vampire.

Connor stepped aside and gestured for her to lead the way. Kenzi stood for a moment, studying the vampire and thinking. Behind her lay a certain fate, and until then, captivity strapped to a bed. In front of her was nothing but the unknown. The vampire had killed no one in Center as far as she could tell, and his words still ran through her mind. She could always return. She turned and lead them through an unmarked emergency exit and up through several flights of stairs into the cool night air of Manhattan. The evacuation had taken less than three minutes.

They walked without obvious haste away from Center. Kenzi risked one glance back to see if they were followed. She realized she didn’t know what she would do if they were. Would she cry for help? Or would she flee from her own certain death? There was no pursuit.

The vampire quickly removed his own jacket and threw it across her shoulders. She knew the night air was cool, but somehow it didn’t bother her despite her own thin gown. He pulled her into an alley and guided her back into the shadows.

“You made a wise choice,” he said.

“I don’t understand; how did you know where I was? Why did you want to bring me out? Is this some kind of vampire loyalty thing? Because I just became one and I’m not interested!” Kenzi had slipped into a defensive combat posture without conscious effort.

The vampire responded coolly, “I did it because I have a plan for you, and an offer.”

Kenzi felt rage beginning to crowd aside her desire to learn from this thing before her. “What do you mean you have a plan for me?”

“I think we may be able to help each other, we both want the same thing.” Connor stood casually, as though enjoying a chat between friends.

“Want the same thing? How is that possible? I want to destroy every living vampire!” The words came with every ounce of venom Kenzi felt.

“Exactly,” Connor said.

Kenzi stood in silent shock.

“I thought that might surprise you. Are you willing to hear more?” Connor asked.

“I don’t know what to think. I’ve never heard of a self-loathing vampire before.” Kenzi’s eyes narrowed as she studied him. “I need a little time to process everything that’s happened to me.”

“Fine,” He said, his hands open, “if you want to go, then go. You have maybe two more days before the changes will make you unable to function like a normal human. Enjoy them, then you can kill yourself if you’d like. If you change your mind just call my name. I’ll come to you and you can hear my proposal.”

“I won’t become a monster like you,” Kenzi said quietly as tears began to well in her eyes.

As she turned to go Devlin grabbed her arm and whispered harshly into her ear, “You have no idea what kind of monster I am, maybe you should learn before you make any final decisions.” In his anger, the Irish brogue became more pronounced, but still time-faded.