C.O.T.V.H. (Book 2): Judgment (7 page)

“If Mr. Turner is an outsider why is he here?” Jake said, leaning forward on his elbows.

“Tommy Turner was one of the bravest Hunters I have ever known and one of my closest friends; Wesley was his only son.  When Tommy was killed, it was left to us to take care of Wes.  Cort and I did what we could, even going so far as to raise him alongside our own sons, but something is just dark in Wes,” he said quietly.

“Yeah, Grandpa doesn’t like him much.”  Jake nodded.  “He claims he’s no good at all.”

“Cort always was a hard case.  He doesn’t cut people much slack.  Probably what caused problems between him and John for all those years.”  Billy let out a sigh.  “I guess I’ve just got a bit of a soft spot for Wes.  I wouldn’t go as far as to trust him with my life like I would Cort, or Talon or Ben, or John.  But I wouldn’t cut him off entirely either.  Especially now that he’s got his own son. That poor kid needs all the guidance he can get.”

“Yeah, well.  I met him and wasn’t too impressed.  Seems like a real jerk to me.”

Billy laughed.  “Yeah, he’s definitely a smart ass.  But I’ve got a feeling that deep down inside that hard exterior there’s a great kid, and possibly a great Hunter.  It takes a certain kind of person to do this job.  Not everyone can do it.”

“What about me?” Jake asked, staring down at the napkin in his lap.  “Do you think I have what it takes to be a Hunter?”

“I don’t know.  What do you think?  Do you have what it takes to walk into a dark and musty building and cut a man’s head off?  To pull his lifeless, but still twitching body into the sunlight and watch him burn down to cinders?  Can you live with the nightmares?  The fear that one day they will find you?”

Jake held his breath for a few seconds then blew it out.  “I . . . I don’t know.  Maybe.  I mean, I live with most of that now.  Every time I doze off, I dream of Marty White’s red eyes.  I know I’ll never be safe; I’ve come to accept that.  It doesn’t matter where I hide.  They always manage to find me.  You said they won’t cross the Mississippi, well they did for me.”

Billy frowned.  “I guess we’ll see, Jake.  I guess we’ll see.  Just remember something.  If you don’t have what it takes, you need to get out now before the hunts start.  Don’t do this for anyone but you.  You can’t be half in half out with this.  If you are, you’re going to get yourself or those around you killed.  Considering my three grandchildren are going to be on your team, I’d very much like for that
not
to happen.  I like you son.  You seem like a bright kid.  But if you don’t cut it in training, I won’t hesitate to let you go.  You will always be family and you will always have a place at my table, and a safe bed to sleep in, but that doesn’t cut you any breaks with me.”

“I understand.”  Jake nodded solemnly.  “I hope I don’t let you down.  That I don’t let Dad, or Grandpa, or Mom, or even myself down.”

Billy suddenly rose from the table and pulled his belt back together.  For the first time Jake noticed the very large gold buckle he was wearing.

“You see that?” Billy said, putting his hands on both sides of the large buckle.

“Yes sir.”  Jake answered.

“It says ABRC. That stands for Amateur Bull Riding Championship.  You know how I got that?”

“How?”

“Some fool I was hunting with bet me two hundred dollars I couldn’t last eight seconds on the back of a bull.  So I signed up for the tournament and lasted a hell of a lot longer than eight seconds,” he said, with a large grin.  “I won the whole damn thing.”  Jake started to say something but Billy held up his hand.  “The point is I didn’t like someone telling me I couldn’t do it.  I didn’t like myself thinking I couldn’t do it.  So I went out there and proved to myself, and to that hunter, that I could do it!”

Jake nodded that he understood.  “Who was the hunter that bet you?”

“Cort Bishop.”  Billy laughed.  Jake joined in his laughter.

Billy sat back down in his chair.  "You know kid.  After all these years, the thing I feel the most toward that lonely, perverted Maker isn't hate.  Not really.  The thing I feel the most for him is pity."

"Pity?" Jake asked completely shocked.  “But he locked you up.  He was going to turn you into one of them!  Pity is the
last
thing I’d feel for him.”

"Yeah but he wasn’t doing it out of some evil desire to torture me.  He was a slave to his nature.”

“That doesn’t change what he was, what he tried to do.”

“Jake my boy, I've lived a good life.  Sure, there has been some terrible, terrible pain and I’ve seen some really horrific things.  But I have a loving wife, friends, children, even grandchildren.  That poor bastard had none of that.  He was just lonely.  Lonelier than any human could ever know.”

Jake’s mind thought back to Tiberius sitting alone in his dungeon for centuries on end, just wanting someone to talk too.  When he put it like that, Jake could definitely see where he was coming from.

“What is it like, living hundreds of years without ever knowing love, or being able to grow close to someone unless you want to condemn them to a life of hell?”  Billy added.  “Like I said, I feel a great deal of pity for a creature like that."

Sandra came in lightening the mood with her very presence.  She wrapped her arms around Billy's neck and kissed him on the cheek.  "Everything okay,
cheri
?" she asked, looking over at Jake.

"Sure thing hon, just having a good talk with an up and coming vampire hunter is all."

"Okay.  Well, you are neglecting the rest of your guests," Sandra said, rubbing his shoulders.  "Come on Jake.  I think Amber was looking for you."

Jake's eyes lit up.  He could barely contain his excitement.  "Really?"

Billy gave him a hard stare.  "That's my grandbaby, Jacob.  Don't you forget that."

"Yes sir."  Jake swallowed.

"Oh be nice you big mean grizzly bear." Sandra said, kissing her husband on the top of his head.  "They're just kids being kids."

"I know perfectly well what kids being kids can get up to.  That's why I'm warning him up front."

"Okay.  Well . . ." Jake said, standing up and pushing his chair in.

"Oh go on sweetie.  Leave your plate, I'll clean up."

"Thank you Mrs. Williams!" Jake said, all but running to the door.

"Call me Sandra!" she yelled after him.

Jake rushed out of the room looking for Amber.  Instead, he bumped into Diana.  "Hi!" she said, stepping in front of him.  Her long brown hair hung braided down her back.  Jake caught a whiff of strawberry scented perfume.

"Uh hi," he said, back.

"I've been meaning to talk to you," she said, bouncing from one foot to the other.

"Really?  Well I was just on my way . . ."

"Did you know that Whisper, Amber, and I are going to train with you guys?"

"Really?  I didn't know girls could hunt vampires," Jake said, absentmindedly trying to look past her.

"Why wouldn't we be able to?" she said, the tone of her voice going from friendly to hostile.

Awe hell. 
Jake thought to himself focusing on the now angry deep black eyes looking back at him.  
Big mistake.

"I can hunt a vampire just as well as you can!"

"That's not what I meant; I've just never heard of . . .” He didn't get to finish as she rushed away. 
God I hate teenage girls!

Jake continued down the hall into the game room where Buck and Donnie were playing a game of pool, their differences apparently put aside.  Chris was throwing darts at a dartboard in the corner and Amber and Whisper were lying on the couches watching the end of
Titanic.  I’ll never let go? 
Jake thought to himself remembering the first time he’d seen the movie. 
There was plenty of room on that damn door, or table, or whatever the hell it was she was floating on.  All she had to do was move over and poor Leo would have been just fine.

Jake walked over to the couch trying to decide just what to say.  Behind him, Talon Parker suddenly appeared seemingly out of the walls themselves.  “Everyone come into the den.  Our final guest has arrived.  It is time to get started.”

Dammit! 
Jake thought, but followed Talon into the den where he found his dad, Billy, Turner, and Ben already sitting along with two other men Jake didn’t know.  Talon leaned back against the wall next to the fireplace. 

A middle age Hispanic man, dressed in an expensive gray suit with jet-black hair, stood up and walked into the middle of the room with his hands clasped behind his back.  In a metal chair next to Billy was a tall gangly man in a white short-sleeve shirt with short blonde hair and thick horn-rimmed glasses.  He smiled warmly at Jake and the other recruits as they entered the room.

“Have a seat, Jake,” John said, motioning to the spot on the couch next to him.  Jake sat down next to him as the other kids took their seats around the room.

“Everyone here?” Billy asked, standing up from a very familiar looking recliner. 
Man I bet Grandpa would love to get his hands on that chair! 
Jake thought with a chuckle.

Billy looked around the room making eye contact with everyone.  “I would like to introduce you all to someone very important to our work.  This man has made all of this possible.  He has put his blood, sweat, and tears into helping us do what we do.  No one has sacrificed more than him to help us.  Without his support, we would still be scrounging for money and supplies like back in the old days.  On top of all that he’s a good friend to Ben and myself.”  He motioned to the man in the middle of the room.  “This is the Secretary of Supernatural Affairs, Daniel Hernandez.”  Billy sat back down in his recliner.

“Thank you, Billy.” Hernandez nodded in his direction.  “I’m happy each and every one of you has come to the very serious decision to join our cause.  Myself and my associate Derek Carson,” he motioned to the man sitting in the metal chair, “are honored to meet you all.

“Now, that being said, I am going to tell you right now that this is no joke.  This will lead to a very hard, very bloody life.  One that not everyone is cut out to do.  So if any of you want to drop out now, please speak up.  There will be no repercussions; no one will think less of you.”  He grew quiet as everyone glanced around the room.

“Last chance guys,” Ben added, “Mr. Hernandez isn’t kidding.  A lot more is at stake than just your life.  If things go badly, there’s a very good possibility you could end up as one of the enemy.”

Again Jake glanced around the room, he saw Buck roll his eyes.  Diana squinted angrily when he looked at her.  Chris looked especially nervous, but no one spoke up.

Hernandez nodded then began walking around the room.  “Over the next two to three years you will commit entirely to your training. 
This
will be your life.  During that time, you will learn everything from unarmed combat, firearms, explosives, breeching techniques, vampire lore and history, to survival tactics.  You will receive training equivalent to and in some ways greater than what Marines, Navy Seals, and Green Berets go through.  You will be pushed to your physical and mental limits in ways you can’t yet imagine.  However, let it be clear you are not soldiers. You are Hunters and you will be trained as such.  That is why along with your military training various Hunters will be there to help show you the ropes.

“At the end of May you will take a break but will return again in August.  Ten months out of the year, six days a week you will be here, training.  Until your trainers say you are ready.  If you survive, you will hunt your first hunt.  Now, knowing all of this there is something I need each of you to understand. 
We
are not going to win this war.  Do you understand what that means?”  He looked around the room making eye contact with Jake.  “Let me say it again. 
We
are not going to win this war.”

“Then why do we fight?” Chris asked, “if there is no chance for us to win.”

“I said
we
wouldn’t win.  I didn’t say that victory wasn’t possible.”

“But . . .” Chris started to say.

“Let me explain.  As far as we know, most Makers live to be hundreds if not thousands of years old.  So, odds are that the war will be won far, far into the future.  Our grandchildren’s grandchildren will most likely be fighting these same monstrosities.  However, until that day we will do what we can to help the cause.  So as I said,
we
will not be the victors.  Therefore, if you have any grand dreams of singlehandedly ending the War, I want you to put those thoughts out of your head.  We don’t need heroes.  We need Hunters.”  He clasped his hands in front of him, “any questions?”

“What about education?” Amber asked.  “We can’t survive on military tactics alone, and you aren’t leaving any time for us to attend school.”

“I’m working on that as we speak,” Ben answered.  “We had a tutor all lined up for you guys but it didn’t work out.  It’s hard to find someone that fits the right profile.  You have to remember, anyone that joins this operation has to qualify for top-secret clearance.  We can’t just grab some teacher off the street and say ‘Hey!  The world is full of vampires!  Want to come teach our kids?’”

Amber smiled, “Well if anyone can find one I know you can Uncle Ben.”

“When do we get to see our first vampires?” Buck blurted out.  “I don’t need any damn teachers teaching me science and math and other crap I won’t need.  I just need to know how and when to hunt.”

“Don’t be in such a rush tough guy,” John said, “Vampires aren’t something to take lightly.  They’ve killed six Hunters this year alone.  If you don’t take them seriously they will rip you to shreds.”

"But Buck's already killed a vampire," Donnie said, sarcastically.  "Isn't that right big man?"

"Man shut up!" Buck yelled, rising to his feet.  “I'll kick your ass right now!"

"Shut up both of you!" Wes Turner said, rising to his feet and slapping Buck in the back of the head.  "You have no idea of what you are about to face!  You will only survive if you do it together!  Do any of you know how many solo hunters are out there? Not a goddamn one.  Why?  Because they are all dead!    If you do not work as a team, you will die and even with a team at your back, you are more than likely going to die!”