Part 3

Tala turned the handle of the door and to her surprise found it unlocked. Creeping down the long dark hallway she muttered a curse when she came to a dead end, turning she went the other way which yielded better results – a stair case. She hardly took in her surroundings but from what she did had her thinking of Robin Hood – she had no idea where she was but when she got hold of the person that had grabbed her she was going to rip them limb from limb.

At the bottom of the stairs she found herself in front of a large hall. Torches hung from the walls their flames flickering in the draft while they struggled to illuminate the large room. Tala looked around – forget Robin Hood think Conan the Barbarian, her attention was drawn to two men, their backs turned, heads bowed as they studied a map on the table. “Which of you bastards knocked me out and brought me here and where exactly is here?”  The men turned and the broad one stepped closer. “Glad to see you have woken” moving closer the light from the torches lit up his face.

“Your fucking Vampires!” she stepped back instinctively her fingers searched her neck. “If you’re planning of drinking from me thing again, now if you would kindly show me the way out I’ll spare your lives – today” The broad man laughed “That is thoughtful of you” Angry now Tala moved forward “Look you bloodsucking leech either let me go or die” suddenly missing the wait round her waist she looked down “And where the hell are my guns?”

“My name is Randver I am Chieftain of this the Grigor province and that is Burgfinn” the two men bowed. Tala almost laughed at the comical scene before her “Yeah well I don’t make a habit of getting to know the enemy” spying a door behind them she made a move towards it “Thanks and all that….” The large one stepped towards her blocking the way. “We must talk”

“Look big pale and fangy let me explain again, I don’t like your kind, don’t trust you and hope to wipe you all of the earth so get out of my way before I really lose my temper”

Randver didn’t move instead a smile crossed his lips then spread to his eyes as he started to laugh. “The Slayer has attitude” he turned to Burgfinn then back to her “And what exactly is my kind?” Tala stared at him, was he really that stupid “You and he are Vampire, you know walking dead, bloodsuckers, killers” Randver moved closer but she stood her ground. “And what would that make you?” Now she was confused, made her, she was normal a human not a monster that killed for hunger and pleasure “I am human as you know – I am no killer except when it comes to your kind”

“Are you sure?” he asked. Of course she was bloody sure, she was born human, woke up that morning human and would die human. Randver sent Burgfinn out of the room and he quickly returned with a large mirror. Placing it on the floor Randver motioned her to it “Tell me what you see?” Tala slowly made her way to the mirror, the hairs on the back of her neck stood and a feeling of dread washed over her. Randver stopped her just as she was about to look. “Don’t be afraid”

Stepping back he let her see what he saw. She stared in shock her mind numb her voice lost. Sure she looked the same, face, hair but her chocolate eyes were now deep red and her mouth had acquired two sharp fangs.

Vampire……SHE WAS VAMPIRE! Her legs buckled “You did this” she hissed. Randver nodded to Burgfinn who taking the mirror left them alone,  Randver felt the emotions rolling of her like the ocean as it crashed onto the rocks. “I am sorry”

He was sorry “What was it some sick joke, turn the hunter into the hunted?” she gave a hollow laugh “Well funny ha ha, I hope it was good for you”

“I did not do this, one of my men found you half way through the turning” with a deep sigh he leant against the table and waited for her to recover from the shock  “It seems you were a pawn” Tala shifted position not trusting her legs enough she sat where she had fallen. “What do you mean a pawn?”

“One of my sentinels came across a farm that had been raised to the ground. There he found three bodies, man woman and a child – all dead” Randver explained. “These are dangerous times, a sickness is sweeping the land killing anyone including us leeches” he smirked. “The Helmer of Drayad started hunting the mortal world, your world, this has caused unrest.”

"So what have I got to do with it, why use me?"

“I don’t know. Boaz has already threatened to declare war on Drayad and if Vampires were to blame for the farmer’s death then it would bring the entire realm into discord.” “I would have denied killing them, told the truth.” Tala stated coldly. Randver gave a dry laugh “That would have been difficult dead” Randver knelt beside her “By the time you had completed the turning you would have been frying in the sun, it was set up that way – what would have been left would merely have been proof that Vampires were involved”

Nobody used Natalya Tarasov. When she got her hands on the bastard that did this to her…..

Part 2                                                         Part 4