The Witch Hunter (2 page)

She crouched down low behind a tall pine, watching the deer closely. She stilled herself completely, slowing her breathing, becoming as still as a statue, frozen. The deer’s head came up, its nose twitching as it caught a sent on the air. She would be too quick for it to charge her and hopefully it wouldn't bolt until it was too late.

Before she could pounce, she was pushed roughly against the tree, the bark scratching the skin on her face drawing blood. The deer bounded away, startled by the hoots and laughter behind her. She was pulled to her feet and shoved back against the trunk of the pine. Too fixated on the deer, she hadn't noticed anyone approach.

There was a group of five men standing around her in a semi-circle, eyeing her in a way that made her feel dirty. They could only be described as rednecks, unkempt beards, dirty jeans and plaid shirts, except they had more muscle than anyone had a right to. Catching their scent on the air, she recognized the rank male smell of werewolves. 

Liz had only encountered them once before, soon after she was turned, they had cajoled her at work one day calling her names that any woman would find offensive. She wasn't a piece of meat and told them as much. But now? Now  she was afraid. There were five of them and she knew she couldn't hold her own against that many. She prayed that Sam hadn't gone too far and had heard their yelling.

"Well, lookey here boys. A little vampire chasing deer in our forest," drawled the largest man in the centre. "It's a true shame that she be one of them blood sucking leeches. She's a looker, all right." He began to walk towards her, a look of malice in his eyes. 

Sam appeared silently, standing in-between them. Liz kept back, not knowing how to defuse the situation. He stood eye to eye with the man, who seemed to be the pack master, his expression even. Neither moved or backed down. 

Finally, the pack master laughed, "You're bold for a vamper. Be warned. If you come back onto our land, then you and your little girlfriend will pay." He spat on the ground by Sam's feet and backed away, his wolves following. Their hooting and hollering grew fainter as they worked their way back through the forest.

It wasn't until they were far enough away that Sam turned and took her in his arms, "Are you okay? Did they hurt you?"

"No," she hugged him tightly. "They just scared me, is all." The small scratch from the tree had already healed itself. 

He ran a hand through her hair. "Good."

Drawing back, Liz rested her forehead against Sam's. "I have to warn Gabby. If they're going to town, they might try something."

He nodded as she took out her cell and dialed the number. Gabby was one of her oldest and best friends and one of the three people that knew that she was more than human. If she didn't warn her before she crossed paths with the wolves and something happened... She'd never forgive herself.

Gabby sat at her desk at the Real Estate office, tapping her pen against the table top, eyes focused on a far away point across the room. The buzz of her cell phone snapped her out of her daydream. Quickly looking around, she sighed in relief when no one had noticed. Especially her boss, whose office door was closed. Seeing it was her best friend Liz, she picked up on the third ring, ducking behind the partition around her desk. 

"Gabby, I need to warn you," came Liz's panicked voice.  "The werewolf pack is trying to claim the forest near the manor."

"Are you okay?" she asked quietly, trying not to draw attention of her coworkers. 

"They just harassed us a little. Sam was able to scare them off. But, just be careful, okay? They know you're with us."

"Sure, Liz. I'll be on my guard," Gabby reassured her. "Thanks for the warning."

"Okay," she sighed. "I'm going home, but the boys will be at the bar later."

"Sure. Do you want me to come over?"

"No, it's all right. I just don't want to run into them, not today."

"Okay. Well, take care. Call me if you need anything."

Gabby put her cell back in her pocket and tucked her unruly brown hair behind her ear. Liz was one of her oldest friends and newly made vampire. And she was a witch. Typical, ordinary American girls. Liz and the brothers were the only ones who knew her secret and she liked it that way. If anyone ever found out, she'd probably become a science experiment at Area 51 or something.

She would never dare tell her parents. As far as she knew, they didn't have any power at all, so if she came right out and said, "Hey, Mom, Dad. I'm a real life bona fide witch," she was sure it would be a one-way ticket to a mental hospital. Her grandmother had disappeared when she was little, when she was accused of being a few sandwiches short of a picnic, and didn't want them to think it ran in the family. 

Gabby had found her grimore, her families’ book of spells and incantations, amongst some of her Grams' things in the attic. It was only then she began to better understand her affinity with magic.

She began visiting the cemetery near the old Degaud Manor, conducting her 'experiments' as she called them, trying different spells and rituals that were written in the grimore. Silly things, like lighting candles, making things levitate and communing with the earth. The last was her favorite; every witch had an earth sense of varying strengths. She didn't quite understand what it meant, but when she concentrated, she could feel living things around her. Plants, trees, insects. 

That was why she was surprised at first when she met the brothers. She was sitting cross-legged in the old cemetery early last winter, feeling the shift of the seasons in the plants about her, when she began to feel uneasy. She understood later that it was her latent power warning her that she was being watched. She was startled when upon opening her eyes, she saw a man standing in front of her.

It was as if he was a statue, until he grinned lopsidedly at her. "Well, well, well. What do we have here?"

Gabby panicked a little. She hadn't sensed the man at all and she could always feel people when she had her earth sense focused. That would mean that the man was... dead? That couldn't be right. She scrambled to her feet and took a few steps back.

"Leave her alone, Zac." Another man had appeared beside the first out of thin air.

The first man, Zac, rolled his eyes, "I wasn't going to eat her, brother, if that's what you're thinking. She's a witch and I don't want her to cast any witchy juju spell on me."

"You're both dead," she stammered.

"As a door nail," Zac grinned.

"Forgive my brother," the other man said, stepping forward. "I think you know what we are. We can't hide from you, but we mean you no harm."

"Vampires," Gabby said, finally realizing. The only undead creature that she was aware existed.

"Ten points to Glinda," clapped Zac.

"Ignore him," said the man. "I'm Sam, the moron is my brother Zac."

It took her a while to trust the vampire brothers, being their mortal enemy and all. She quickly came to realize that they were different, despite all their faults. Zac was always an asshole and Sam was always kind hearted, but they never hurt or compelled anyone. They'd ingrained themselves into the town as normal young men. Sam had even got a job as a gardener with help from her childhood friend, Alex. 

So, when Gabby walked into Max's, the bar they frequented after work, she smiled when she saw them sitting in a booth along the far wall. "Happy birthday you musty old man," she elbowed Zac as she sat down.

"Please, don't remind me," his eyes rolled in exasperation.

"Can I get you a drink?"

"Go for it Tabitha." They watched her retreating form. "I've been looking for you all afternoon," Zac hissed, once Gabby was out of earshot.

"I was out with Liz," Sam fidgeted.

Zac didn't notice the gesture, he was too busy eyeballing Alistair, who had just walked in. "Uh oh," he gritted his teeth.

Sam frowned. He knew all too well from his tone that Zac had gotten himself in trouble again. "What did you do, Zac?"

"I didn't start it, just so you know."

"Start what?" Sam groaned, like they needed more trouble.

"Big bad, super creepy vampire over yonder is out to get us," he gestured towards Alistair, who was now over at the bar. "He's looking for some black haired, blue eyed woman who's pissed him off and he seems to think we know something about it."

"Obviously, we don't," said Sam, trying to keep his voice even.

"I told him as much, but I don't think it matters anymore," he grimaced.

Sam sighed, "You couldn't help but talk back, could you?"

Zac raised his hands in defense, "Hey, he came in talking like he was out of
Lord of the Rings
, even you couldn't pass on the opportunity." Looking over to Alistair, he noticed Gabby standing next to him. They were
talking,
and he was buying her a drink! Bloody hell, did she know he was a vampire? What kind of witch was she?

Sam snorted his disagreement, and before he could speak Zac interrupted, "Yeah, yeah. Don't say it, bro. I get it. We can't afford to be exposed as blood sucking parasites. Believe me.
I get it
."

His brother sighed, "We have another issue to deal with." Zac raised his eyebrows expectantly. Like they needed more issues with a vampire bent on making their life hell.  "Liz and I had a run in with the werewolves," Sam said, not looking at his brother.

"Oh, so you want to have a go at me when you've been out pissing off the puppy dogs?" Zac scowled. "Did you piss in their territory?"

Sam nodded, reluctantly agreeing with his brother, "Seems like they want to claim the land bordering the manor."

"Sounds like they already have," Zac sneered.

"They warned us off, but given
any
opportunity they will attack us anyway," he said through gritted teeth. "They're getting bolder."

Zac felt the anger rising within him. The dogs had threatened his brother
and
Liz. She was his brother’s girl, but he had fallen for her just as hard. The only thing that had stopped the wolves from attacking was the fact that the moon wasn't even half full yet. He was thinking about the many ways to kill the werewolf pack, when Gabby sat back down at the table.

"I see Sam told you about the pack," she said, when she noticed the scowl etched on his face.

"Wait until you hear who Zac pissed off today," Sam changed the subject.

"Your boyfriend over at the bar," Zac inclined his head towards Alistair.

"He's a..." Gabby stammered, suddenly feeling foolish.

"Yeah," Zac rolled his eyes. "What kind of witch are you that your witchy compass doesn't work?"

"It's serious Gabby. He could expose us all, or kill us. So stay away from him, okay?" Sam warned.

Gabby fidgeted nervously and pushed away her glass, as if she was suddenly wary of drinking it. 

Zac snorted, "What, do you think he put a vampire roofie in there?"

"Shut up," she hissed.

"I'm going to have a word with him," Zac stood. "You better leave. I don't want you more involved than you already are. You better split too, Tabitha."

"Just don't go doing anything stupid," Sam warned, more out of habit than anything.

"Too late for that," Zac sneered sarcastically.