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Chapter 9

It had been six months since that fateful evening. The police that investigated the aftermath were clueless on how all the damage happened. Some say a fighter plane created a sonic boom in that area. Others think a small earthquake created the damage. But no one can say for sure how it happened. The damage was shortly repaired, and soon everyone forgot how it happened. No one ever heard from the hunter named Eisenfaust since then. His name was soon forgotten by the people, as if he never existed...
Victor abandoned his duties, and stopped being a hunter. He gave up on everything he fought for, and decided to live out the remainder of his life as a normal human. He took up a job at a local martial arts dojo, teaching people how to defend themselves. Victor became famous at that dojo for being the master of fighting techniques and the undefeated teacher. He made an honest person's living, and he was content with his job. But to his students, he was always sad. He never smiled during his training sessions. He never showed any signs of joy or happiness; just loneliness, sadness, and repression.
Victor just finished his late night class, so everyone was getting ready to go home. The students were all late teens, some early twenties. As Victor was preparing to head into the back to change from his training gi, his two best students approached him.
“Victor-sensei, are you alright?” the female student asked him. “You look down for some reason; more-so than before.”
“I am fine, Raina.” Victor replied kindly. “You should be worried more about your training, than about me.”
“But you must know the old saying, Victor-dono.” the male student replied. “The unhappy master will make the dojo suffer.”
“You do have a point, Jaden, but you also forget: The student that suffers from the master learns nothing.” Victor replied. “You should not worry about my emotions; rather, you should worry about your own, as well as your underlings.”
“Still sensei,” Raina asked. “Is there anything we can help you with, both here in the dojo and elsewhere?”
“No Raina-kun, this is something I must deal with alone. Now you and Jaden go home and rest up for tomorrow. Remember, you have to teach the young ones tomorrow.”
“Yes, Victor-dono.” Jaden replied strongly, as if Victor's words were law.
“Be careful you two,” Victor said calmly.
“And you as well, Victor-sensei!” Raina said reassuringly. The two students bowed respectfully, and Victor did the same. They then put on their shoes, and left the dojo.
Victor took his time cleaning up the dojo and preparing it for the next day. It was around 11:00 when he finished. He changed out of his gi, and closed up the doors. It was a clear night, and nice weather, so Victor decided to take a walk. He went to the park so he could get a better view of the sky. He made it to the center, and stared at the sky.
“Incredible...” Victor thought to himself. “The sky looks wonderful tonight...Yet, tonight I don't have the same feelings as the sky. It has been six months today since...” A tear formed in his eye that soon streamed down his cheek. He quickly wiped it away. Victor was feeling an emotion that he hadn't felt in a long time: intense sorrow. He tried his best to hold it in; however, one tear managed to escape. Once again, he reached into his pocket for the second closest thing to his heart: his ocarina. He set it to his lips and played the tune that long ago filled the entire park. That solemn tune that started it all...
“I think I understand now...what Father was trying to tell me. Vampires can be regular people just like everyone else. Some try to use their gifts for evil...however...some choose to hide them and live like the rest of us. It's not their fault that they are not human, but they are people just like us... I just wish I realized that sooner...”
He continued playing for a minute, until he heard something behind him. He paused to look around, but figuring it was just an animal, he lowered his ocarina and relaxed. As he looked up to the sky, he saw a shooting star.
“A shooting star...I wish...” Victor thought to himself.
As he stared up into the night sky, he lost himself in thought. This was made obvious as he did not notice a person sneaking up on him. The figure was shrouded in a crimson cloak, and wore a black gown...
“I wish... to...”
The woman's icy blue eyes made apparent that Victor was her next target.
“I wish...to be happy once again...”
The woman placed both of her hands on Victor’s shoulders, but as soon as he felt them, Victor grabbed them both and spun to face his attacker. His face of anger turned to surprise as he stared at the closest thing to his heart. His mouth opened, but only one word came out:
“Maeve...”
Her eyes snapped back to her normal shade of gray as she stared at her former love.
“Victor...what...I...” She started quivering like she did before, six months ago. Tears welled up in her eyes, and she started sobbing. As she did this she tried to pull away from him, but Victor still held on to her hands.
“Please, don't go.” Victor said, trying to get her to stay.
“But...” Maeve said while still looking away. “I'm a vampire... I belong to the family that murdered yours.”
“I know you didn't do it. You were too young to even remember it, much less take part in it.”
“But Victor,” she replied. “I am a vampire! You are a hunter... we can't...”
“I am no longer a hunter...” Victor said solemnly. “I gave up my fight and my want for vengeance because I learned something. I learned that vampires are people as well as humans. Sure... some use their abilities to hurt others. But there are ones that don't want to hurt people...just like you.” Maeve was till trying to get away from Victor.
“And besides...” Victor said calmly. “...I love you.”
When Maeve heard those three simple words, she stopped trying to pull away. Instead she and Victor became closer to each other. And underneath the moonlight and the multitude of stars, history repeated itself. When they finished, Maeve pulled back from him.
“Victor...” she said shakily. “I'm going through blood withdrawal. You have to get away from me so I do not revert to instinct and attack you.”
“Blood withdrawal...” Victor said calmly. “...You need human blood to come out of it right?”
“Yes, but I need a lot of it to fully recover; and the only place that has enough is either my home, or a grown human.”
Victor was thinking hard. “What about a taste? Would that slow its effects a little?”
Maeve looked at him with a little confusion. “It might, but it would only stop it for a few minutes. Why?”
Victor pulled out a knife from his pocket and made an incision in his hand. “Maeve, I need you to tilt your head back.” When she did so, he clenched his fist to draw blood. He then let it drip into her mouth for a minute, and then applied pressure to seal the wound. “That should hold you until we get to your house.”
“What do you mean? We would never make it back to my house in time!” Just then, Maeve noticed that Victor’s eyes, for the first time in six months, turned to green. He was not angry, or enraged. He had a need for his true strength to appear. He had someone to rescue.
“Point me towards your house,” he said swiftly. “I will get you there in time.” She pointed towards the forest area, and as soon as she did, Victor picked her up and carried her in his arms. He then tore off and ran at an inhuman speed towards her home. He appeared as a streak in the night. After five minutes of heavy running, they reached her house. He blew open the door with a light shockwave and ran inside. As soon as he entered however, he was greeted by an enraged Ren Sinclair, who was investigating why the door nearly exploded.
“YOU! What are you doing with my sister?!?” he ordered.
“You are Ren Sinclair, am I correct? Your sister needs help. She told me that you had a blood reserve in case of Blood Withdrawal. She needs it desperately!” Victor said hurriedly.
“Why in Hell would I listen to you, hunter!” Ren yelled angrily. “If you do not release my sister right now, I will tear you apart!”
Victor became angry. “What do you value more: my death, or your sister's life?!?” he yelled.
Ren stuttered for a moment. “Why you!” He was about to charge Victor, when Maria, Henry and Carrera Sinclair burst in. The second he saw his daughter limp in Victor's arms, Henry became enraged.
“What are you doing with my daughter? Answer me!” Henry yelled down at Victor.
“You are the leader of this household, are you not? Your daughter is going through extreme Blood Withdrawal, and needs help! She told me that you had a blood reserve in case of emergency, and so I carried her all the way here. As her Father, you need to help her now!” Victor stressed.
Carrera got the message right away. “Ren! Go right now and get a couple packets from the reserve!” Ren paused for a moment. “NOW!” she yelled. Ren immediately obeyed, as Henry came down and helped Victor get Maeve on the couch. As soon as Ren came back, Maria administered the blood to Maeve. As Maeve recovered on the couch, Carrera approached Victor.
“Thank you for rescuing my daughter,” she said kindly. “But I must know: if you knew she was a vampire, why did you help her?”
Victor politely bowed in respect. “Because madam, your daughter has changed my life for the better. It seemed correct to save her life.”
“We owe you much for saving her,” Henry spoke. 'May I ask who you are?”
Victor lowered his head. “My name...is Victor Donovan. I am the son of Edward Donovan, whom you murdered.” As soon as Henry and Carrera heard this they backed away as a defense.
“You! You are the hunter!” Carrera spoke in fear.
“No longer.” Victor said shamefully. “I am no longer a hunter. Do not be afraid of me. I harbor no hatred towards you or your family.”
“But why did you save her? If you knew of her lineage, why did you try to help her?” Henry asked, baffled.
“As I said, your daughter has changed me for the better. She showed me that vampires are not monsters, like I was led to believe. Because of this, I corrected my killing ways and started my life over.”
“And even though I killed your family...” Henry was impressed by Victor's new resolve. “I believe I owe you an apology. I misjudged you.”
“Why should we trust him?” Ren yelled out. “This pitiful human is probably lying through his teeth!”
“What's all this noise down here! What's going on?” They all turned to see a woman standing in the entrance to the room. She looked like the mirror image of Maeve, except she looked as if she was thirty years old. It was Elda Sinclair. When he saw her, Victor stood up. As soon as he did that, Elda's eyes widened.
“It... It cannot be!” Her face looked like she saw a ghost. “Is that you...William?”