Dedication
For my husband and my son. You both, are my reason and my purpose. Further dedication to the Manallack clan.
Chapter 1 – The Hanged Man
The pipe was broken, causing the water to drip monotonously in the lonely alleyway, down onto the footpath. It was a dark, cold and filthy night. Yet aside from the dripping, it was silent. A figure crouched low as though ready to pounce. In the blanket of the darkened alleyway, only his outline could be discerned. The strangest thing about this figure though, was that he did not move. He was unnaturally silent, focused and very still. His name was Jaegar and he was a vampire and the greatest hunter in the service of The Blood King.
In an instant, Jaegar pounced, leaping onto a middle-aged man who had entered the alleyway. The man did not have time to process what had happened let alone, make a sound. The shadowy figure had bitten deeply into the man’s neck, sucked at the first spurts of blood and then stood back watching as the blood sprayed outward.
After biting, he had dragged his teeth along the man's throat, to cover the bite marks. When discovered, it would appear, upon inspection, that the man's throat had been cut with a knife.
There was a small, satisfied smile at the corner of Jaegar’s mouth as the blood made a splattering sound in accompaniment to the insistent dripping. The man’s hand released a bag of take away food that he had been holding. As it hit the ground, the bag burst, and the food scattered into the already, rubbish laden, alleyway.
Jaegar looked at the food splatter and his eyes, deathly and cold, turned back to the man and watched as the man began to buckle and fall.
“That kind of food will kill you, although, you’ll have to just take my word on that.” He commented dryly.
With that, Jaegar breezed out of the stank alleyway and straight back onto the hustle of the main street. As he walked, he brushed off his clothing with one hand, as though wiping off the rancid smell of the rotted rubbish, he had left behind, his angular face was completely impassive.
“A nice glass of merlot should make up for the rancid blood.” He murmured to himself. His dark, black hair was neatly slicked back and not a hair was out of place. His moments were elegant, purposeful and deadly.
Eventually, he came to a halt outside of a bar called The Hanged Man. On its window was an image of a tarot card, featuring a man, hanging upside down by one foot and looking rather contemplative.
Jaegar pushed the door open and stalked inside, straight to the bar.
“Can I help you sir?” the barman moved over in his direction to ask.
“I would like your best merlot and I would like to have the bottle with me as I devour every last drop. Thank you.”
“If you would like to take a seat sir, I will bring that right over to you.”
Jaegar moved over to the far side of the bar, to a table in a corner which was rather like a nook. It was next to the fireplace and although Jaegar did not need to feel warmth, he enjoyed the crackle of fires and would often gravitate toward them.
Once comfortably seated, Jaegar leaned back into the worn, old, brown, leather chair and exhaled a long, slow breath.
The barman came over with a bottle of wine and showed it to Jaegar who nodded. The barman placed down the glass and uncorked the wine. Just as the barman was about to poor the wine, Jaegar’s hand shot out, halting him from doing so.
“I don’t want to sample the wine. I'll just drink it. Leave the bottle, and then, leave.”
As he was speaking, Jaegar had taken the bottle from the barman and was gesturing for him to go. The barman, did not need to be asked twice and moved quickly away from the strangely, menacing man.
Jaegar then poured a healthy amount into his glass and placed the bottle back onto his table. Lifting the glass to his nose he took a deep breath in as if devouring the wine through smell. As though this was a highly sensual experience, he then allowed his breath to leave his lungs deeply and fully before lifting the glass to his lips to savour the taste. Holding the glass up to the light he examined the deep, red colour contained within. Then addressing the glass as though it were alive, he commented dryly,
“At least I have you.”
Chapter 2 – Samantha
“May I join you?”
“No.” Jaegar replied without looking up.
There was no need for him to look up. Jaegar had scanned the pub as he entered, when he sat, and periodically as he was sipping his wine. Along with scanning, Jaegar also was able to feel how many humans were in a space at a given time. It was part of being a vampire. Jaegar had spotted the woman, from the moment she had entered the pub. He had already profiled her. She was helpless. She was moulded into a tight-fitting dress that accentuated her generously, curvaceous figure. Her shinning, auburn hair was cut into a sharp, sophisticated bob, juxtaposing her somewhat naive face.
“I haven’t had a conversation with a person all day. May I please join you just so that I can speak to someone today?”
The tone as well as her plea caught his curiosity and his eyes darted upward toward her face, noting the desperation in her large, green eyes.
“If you feel you really must but I won’t be speaking much so don’t expect me to validate you.”
He replied coolly, looking back to his glass.
“Oh thank you. You’re a life saver.”
“I wouldn’t go that far.”
“Well I really appreciate it. It was hard for me to get out of the apartment and today, I really pushed myself. It took me over an hour to get ready and look at least good enough to leave the apartment. I’ve given myself a challenge to speak to at least one person and look at me! I’m doing it. ” Her ingenuous voice rang with pride at the last statement.
“Well then, in that case, I am happy to help. It sounds to me like you could be suffering from depression.” Jaegar observed.
“Yes, terribly. It’s shocking. Every time I go to the doctors, they just put me on more and more pills. I've been really going under today.”
“I've heard that depression can be rather like the battle between life and death. Although, that's only, what I've been told.” Jaegar spoke smoothly. He was becoming intrigued with the conversation.
“I don’t know about that but for me, it’s a battle with life. I know I should be living it but I sit there and don’t move, don’t feel, don’t eat, don’t think and before I know it, another day has gone and I’ve missed out on a whole ‘nother day of living my life. Today my thinking was all wrong. I knew I had to get out of the house and to be honest, I don't know how I managed it.”
“What’s your name?”
“Samantha. What’s yours?” Although it was a direct question back to him, there was an edge of uncertainty to her voice. She was clearly not confident of getting an answer but
