Ten

THE MOMENT LAYTON saw the intruder behind Gia, every human emotion that had been dormant, came to the forefront once more.  Feeling protective was the front runner, spurring him into a frenzy of anger. There was no doubt in his mind that he would have killed the man ten thousand times over for even striking fear inside of Gia. The way her body trembled with terror was enough to make him want to cause chaos of epic proportions for her assailant. But even though she could have died, she was strong-willed as ever. “Put me down,” she beat her fists on his back and kicked her legs. When he reached her bedroom, he sat her on her feet and blocked the doorway.

“Pack.” He ordered.

 Gia cringed. “Not going to happen,” she shrugged her slim shoulders and crossed her arms over her chest in defiance. “Tell me what’s going on and I might be inclined to toss a few things in a bag.”

 “Stubborn human,” he stood his ground.

“Yes, I’m stubborn and pig-headed and whatever other names you want to call me. In fact, if we’re exchanging insults, I guess I could call you a bloodsucking twat-waffle.”

Layton raised his eyebrows, “That’s the best you’ve got?”

“Fuck off,” she cursed.

“If you want me to explain, I need to be at my home. There are some books that will help me better understand what I might be dealing with.”

“Ask me in a nice way.”

“I don’t have time for games.”

 “Being nice isn’t a game you big dumb vampire.”

Layton took a deep breath and rolled his eyes, “Will you promptly place articles of clothing in a bag so I may take you to my residence to ensure your safety?”

“Calm down, Shakespeare.” She put her hands up and went about gathering things she wanted to take with her. Layton stood sentry by the door, making sure no one else came in the house and also to make sure Gia didn’t make a run for it. Before her, his eternity was uncomplicated. The moment she waltzed into his office, everything went to hell in a hand basket. He wasn’t sure if he liked the solitude or the chaos better. For the time being, he would have to be on the fence about both.

***

Upon arriving at Layton’s home, Gia walked around waiting for him to tell her what the hell was going on. She’d run over every possible scenario on the car ride over, but nothing jumped out at her. The intruder must’ve been under the influence of something because Gia knew she was human and that was that.

 “I need to check in with Astrid,” Layton said as he walked to the front door. Gia nodded and watched him leave. She was trapped in his house with nothing to do.

 “Great,” she huffed. While she walked around, she remembered Layton saying something about a book he had. Since she was bored anyway, she decided to be nosy and try to find what he was talking about. Before she set out on her little expedition, Gia took a peek out one of the front windows to make sure he wasn’t lurking in the yard. When the coast was clear, she hurried to his home office. The walls had lines of shelves containing numerous books that appeared to have survived The Crusades. Scanning over the spines of the antiquated reads, Gia felt defeated. The majority of the books were in a language she didn’t recognize. Hell, she did well to speak shitty English, there was no way she could translate whatever crazy language they were written in. Slumping her shoulders, Gia took a seat behind Layton’s desk. She pulled drawers open, searching for anything that could be of help.

“What are you doing in here?” Layton’s annoyed voice caused her to jump.

“I was just looking around.”

 “Right. Did you find what you were looking for?” he stepped further into the room.

“Nope.”

 “Here,” he extended his hand. In it was a small book. “I think this is what you’re looking for.”

“Is it in pig Latin like the rest of your collection?” she took the offering and opened the front cover.

 “No,” he stood on the opposite side of the desk. Gia flipped through the pages of the book, her eyes landing on an illustration. The caption of the drawing read ‘he who hunts the undead’. Graphic as it was, the image portrayed several men subduing what was obviously a vampire. One man held a wooden stake in the heart of the vamp.

“I still don’t understand what this has to do with me,” Gia shut the book, frustration taking over.

“I imagine you’ve thought that the rapid healing of your body has been some sort of miraculous happening.”

“Yeah.”

 “It’s not. There are only two kinds of beings that can heal at the rate you are. Vampires and Dahmpir. For thousands of years, the Dahmpir were tasked with keeping the order of the vampire population. It wasn’t difficult when our numbers were few. They were our protectors. They kept our identities secret until we came out of the coffin, for lack of a better term. Unfortunately when our numbers increased, so did the need for law and order among us. The Dahmpir shifted from protector to hunter.”

“So, they are vampire hunters?”

 “Yes. What began as a harmonious partnership turned into a hate for each other.”

“How are they made?”

 “The Dahmpir are half vampire and half human. They come to fruition when a vampire and a human conceive.”

“Wait, are you telling me I’m one of them? That’s insane, neither of my parents was a damn vampire.” Gia stood, anger plaguing her.

“Are you sure about that?”

“I am. You met my dad, he’s not one of you guys.”

“What about your mother?”

 “No. I mean, I don’t think she was.” Gia’s mind was awhirl with thoughts about her mother. She never knew her mom. The only memories she had of her were a few photographs. In fact, Gia kept one with her at all times. It was her way of having her mom by her side still. Walking around the desk, she left the room and found her purse. When she dug her mom’s photo from her wallet, she went back to Layton’s office. “Here, that’s her,” she said as she handed over the picture of her mom.

“This is your mom?” She watched him study the picture.

“Yes, that’s her,” Gia smiled.

 “She was a vampire.” Layton handed the photo back to her.

 “You can’t tell that from just a picture.” She challenged.

“No, you’re right. I can’t.”

 “Then what makes you think she was one of you?” The silence stretched for what felt like an eternity. Layton crossed the room and peered out the window.

“Because her name is Ingrid, and she was the vampire who turned Astrid and me.”