Hey there friends! I’m currently in a hotel, and it made me think back to this piece I wrote a few years back for my supernatural series The Cross Chronicles. I currently have no idea when the following excerpt will be used, but this scene was in my head and wasn’t going to stop knocking until it had been written. A simplified backstory: Daniel Cross is a vampire, and Amory hunts vampires. Enjoy!
The sun had not yet risen when something woke Daniel. A presence, it seemed. Within the darkness of the room, he found the silhouette of a man sitting at the foot of the bed. The figure sat with his elbows on his knees, he face toward the carpet floor. Amory sat there, his hunched form almost making him look defeated. Something dangled in his fingers; the smell of cheap booze soon crept into Daniel’s nose.
Though Daniel did not move, or at least he swore he hadn’t, Amory spoke to him: “Sorry, didn’t mean to wake ya.”
That confidence, that smugness was nearly evaporated. The human seemed odd without it, not himself. Daniel remained silent, unsure what to make of any of it. He wondered, for a moment, how his enemy had even found him after so many months of going from place to place. Even more puzzling was how the hunter had infiltrated the vampire’s hotel room; the light and cool breeze coming from the open glass door that led to the balcony was the dead giveaway as soon as the thought entered Daniel’s mind.
Maybe he’s here to finally kill me, he thought. Surprised he waited til I woke up. Guess he wanted to be the last thing I saw before I bit the bullet.
“Do you believe in God, Dan?” Amory asked, almost like a friend. Even the way he addressed the vampire, so casual and effortless that the latter forgot for the slightest of moments that the two of them had tried to kill each other multiple times.
“As a kid, sure,” Daniel answered, soft and cautious. If the hunter had come to kill, it would have been over by now. “Nowadays I’m not so sure.”
“Me neither,” the human admitted. “My folks used to drill all that religious crap into my head. Used to claim that our work was meant to glorify good ole JC and his pop. Purify the world of the dark Satanic creatures like yourself. But the work never stops. Never. My old man died from it. Made an example out of my brother to never be too cocky. Can you imagine that? A dumb son of a bitch with a bigger ego than me? Fucker thought he was hot shit when Dad was training him. And then look at what happens! Gets his head torn off like it’s the cap to a fuckin pen! Damnedest thing I ever saw. And then seeing that closed casket, knowing that all that’s left of him is a loosely-stitched neck and a cautionary tale.
“And then God decides that my mom, who never even held a gun in her entire life, she has to die at the hands of a fanger too. But He’s not done there, because I’m not allowed to leave all the killing behind no matter how fuckin hard I try.”
His voice quivered, a cocktail of melancholy and rage. His fingers tightened around the glass bottle. Ever so gently, he rocked back and forth.
“A beautiful woman whose only crime was falling in love with an indoctrinated asshole like me, she has to pay too. And a little boy…”
His voice cracked. In the darkness, Daniel swore he saw tears glimmer in Amory’s eyes.
“I don’t wanna believe in any god who would do that to an innocent child,” the human said. “Even you have better morality than that.”
The two were silent for a long moment before Amory’s arm reached out, the bottle in his hand.
“Want some?” he offered. Daniel could sense no ill intent, but declined regardless. Amory simply shrugged and took a swig for himself.
“It’s just rum, in case you were wondering,” Amory said. “Nothing in it you can’t handle.”
“Thanks,” Daniel replied with more than a hint of wariness. “But still, I’m not much of a rum fan.”
Amory nodded, mostly to whatever thought ran through his head. “Yeah, makes sense,” he sighed. He got to his feet shortly after, making his way back to the balcony.
“Dumb question,” Daniel spoke up as Amory reached the glass door. The human stopped. “Any reason why you tracked me down and broke into my hotel room?”
“Well,” Amory smirked, turning back to the vampire, “I’d originally had the idea to kill you in your sleep. But you looked too peaceful in Dreamland. Anyone ever tell you that? So it didn’t feel right. Reminded me of someone.”
“Oh,” was all Daniel could muster. Amory stepped out into the night.
“Hocked the rum from your room’s fridge, by the way,” the human added, poking his head back in. That usual smug smirk lit up his face, a familiar annoyance. As Amory left, this time for good, Daniel suppressed the urge to run outside and snag the bottle. He opted to lock the balcony door and go back to sleep instead.
Tyler Gohde 