Standing Before Monsters (Vorans and Vampires) Read Free Page B

it,” the brown skinned man between the two stated as he placed his mask in a slim pack on his back. “Besides didn’t you read the strange scent on the second vampire? It didn’t smell of death the way the first did.”
    The last figure held a silver sword that he was wrapping with a thick brown cloth. “We were sent for Cyrus by Barong. Someone else managed to kill him for us, but his strays need to be cleansed before another arises to cause more trouble.”
    “Adding a sword to your collection of trophies, Alad?” the woman leaned forward to ask derisively.
    “We can’t leave it for police to find, now could we? A sword laced with silver would raise some suspicion with the locals, Lamassu,” the one known as Alad replied tying the cloth with a few black strings.
    Cutting the two off with a raised hand, the brown skinned leader ordered, “Enough you two. We’ll move to new hunting grounds to throw off the other hunter. If he was tracing the scent of the cat, the change should throw him off.”
    “He isn’t kasha,” Lamassu stated as the three walked across the street beginning to move north.
    “There are others who hunt the night predators,” the leader reminded the woman.
     
     
    Chapter 2- Puppy Love
     
    As the morning rays of the sun peeked through the window, Nick raised the plastic bag holding three strange hairs within examining them closely. Judging them to be either a light brown or a dark blonde in color, if they were from a human, he wondered if tan wouldn’t be more accurate if it came from some form of cat. While he didn’t believe it to be a real feline of natural origin, his nose told him that whatever he had chased was definitely from that family. The odd thing was the reaction from Nicola as she had sniffed the hairs last night.
    A vampire didn’t catch a cold or get sick from any normal human malady. Having allergies before they were turned, didn’t mean they would have them afterwards. They were dead to their old human frailties in truth. Even though his blood helped Nicola retain most of her humanity, it didn’t make her human, so in theory cat dander shouldn’t affect her in the least.
    Maybe the source was a new form of monster hunter that he didn’t know about. If they were as rare and secretive as his kind, there might be no information even as a legend or myth about them. His only hope was that somewhere along the line some human had witnessed a similar creature and recorded it for him to find. He hated being clueless as to what he faced and more importantly the man worried about his friends’ safety if these creatures were in the city to hunt vampires. Not every vampire was an out of control killer thirsting for blood at all times. Marek and his clan had been working with him for a century and there had been no slips for decades for example. They strove to be as much like humans as they could be.
    Placing the hair samples next to him on the couch, Nick took his laptop from the coffee table sitting before him and put it on his lap opening it before starting his browser. He sat with it open a moment looking at the search engine debating on what to type. That was the problem any time that he needed to learn more about the supernatural creatures he dealt with in his life. Sifting through the fiction for the truth was often the hardest part of the story.
    Moving through one search after another, Nick remained distracted until he heard movement from the hallway.
    “Up as usual,” the woman’s voice stated with a yawn as she walked into view. Wearing just a long t-shirt, one that was his if he wasn’t mistaken, an attractive brunette with long legs and bared feet stretched looking perfectly comfortable with the man sitting there looking at her.
    Wandering into the kitchen area, she complained, “No coffee yet?”
    “Sorry, Charlotte, I wasn’t thinking about it,” he answered his houseguest. Having been with him for a couple months now, the voran was almost used to the