Maxim Vallois, the hunter, nodded.“Yes, that’s right.Bad vampires.Bad werewolves.It’s a rare fae that gets up to the things that would demand punishment, but I’d find myself responsible for them as well.”He paused.The muscles in his jaw tensed, and he pressed his lips together tightly before he spoke again.“Do you remember where you were before here?”
Raven wasn’t sure he could trust this man, this vampire.Everything he knew about hunters said he should, but then… He’d listened.He’d listened while they’d used him, while they’d forced him to watch what they’d done to his professor and her husband.We’re powerful, and I am an old vampire, little Raven.There’s little that can stop me or even slow me down.
The memory of the voice made Raven’s stomach clench.Disgust rolled through him.On instinct, he pulled the sheet he lay under tight to his chest.In the process, he noticed he was naked underneath.Tears clouded his vision.
They had told him, in between what they had done to him, that they were powerful.That they had friends.Supporters.Free thinkers.The vampire had liked that term.Free thinkers, he’d said, as if it were a positive thing, a good thing.Perhaps we’ll take you to meet a friend or two,the vampire had said, his voice and expression calculating in a way that told Raven he should be afraid.
Is this it?Is this hunter one of them?Did he already—Raven pulled his knees up, using the blanket like a shield, knowing full well that it wasn’t.
The hunter uncrossed his legs.“You remember.You are currently naked because an associate of mine, a doctor, cleaned you as best as he could once he brought you here.Obviously, you can shower too.”
A doctor.A doctor was different.Raven’s mind was reeling.He remembered too much, and at the same time, bits were missing: the events just before waking here, in this clean-smelling room.He couldn’t remember being brought here.They had compelled him before to take him places, but he remembered that, remembered the trips.He couldn’t remember anything about getting here, didn’t even really know whereherewas.
And yet, a doctor.Perhaps…perhaps the cops found me?Forum cops.They operate differently.And maybe he is a good hunter, like they’re supposed to be.He doesn’t look bad.He doesn’t look like them.He’s not trying to touch me or do anything, so maybe he’s good?And if he called a doctor for me, then there’s going to be an investigation.
Raven had only a rough idea about what that would entail.It meant someone had saved him, maybe this hunter.Raven hadn’t really thought about that, but there had to be things that would need to happen after getting saved.A trial and—
“Th-th-the evidence…”
Maxim sighed, and there was that tensing of his facial muscles again.“I’m not taking you to get a rape kit done, Raven.There’s no need.I don’t require that kind of proof.I already know some of what happened to you—enough—and I will pass judgment accordingly.Do you understand?”
The tears were cold on Raven’s cheeks.He shook his head.
“Well.I see.I suppose this is backward.I’ll tell you what you missed.Is that okay?”
The question was asked softly, carefully, as if the hunter thought Raven could break.Raven wondered if he looked like that: breakable.Or broken.Perhaps there was no difference.He nodded.
“Okay.Your roommate tried to report you missing.You are of age, so that did not go well, as you might imagine.He came to the Forum, where he knew you’d gone to a lecture, and a friend of mine saw him there and asked what he was doing.That friend got me involved.I was looking for you, but I found you while on a different case concerning one of your professors.”
At that, Raven whimpered.Much like the trembling, it was involuntary.“Prof.L-L-LeRoux…”
The hunter nodded.“Yes.It doesn’t matter how, but we found the place where you were being held.The vampire took your blood, repeatedly and all throughout your captivity, I think.You were delirious, in need of medical attention.”The hunter balled a fist, then relaxed it.“I didn’t manage to save you.The vampire gave you some of his own blood, but not enough to fully push you through the turn, not for sure.When that’s the case, what lies ahead is long hours of suffering and a slow death.So after taking that vampire into custody, I gave you my own blood to make sure you’d turn fully.”
“T-t-turn?What t-t-turn?What’re you saying?”
“You’re a vampire, Raven.”
Raven shook his head, then grabbed the sheet tighter, pulling his legs up farther.
Maxim leaned forward.“You are.You might remember some of it, bits and pieces of the turn.A hot and cold feeling, everything aching.”
“N-n-no…”
“Yes.”The hunter pointed at a side table.It had a small thermos on it.“There’s some blood here.You won’t need to have any for a while, but it’ll help with the jitters.That’s perfectly normal, by the way, and it will go away on its own.”
“B-b-blood?I c-c-can’t drink blood.”
The hunter’s shoulders sagged, and he sighed, then looked back at Raven again.“Water is an option too.When you feel thirsty, that means you really should have blood though.It’ll taste good.Whatever feeling of disgust you associate with it, it’s not going to be like that at all.It’ll just taste a little sour because of what we do to make it stay liquid.”Maxim reached for the thermos.It was the type that had a pressure mechanism at the top, and he opened it with a loud pop that made Raven flinch.“Take a whiff.”
He held the thermos out to Raven, sleek and silver, innocuous looking.
“If I drink, I’ll be a v-v-vampire?”
“You already are a vampire.You’ve turned.The pain is over, and you’re changed.”
Raven didn’t say anything.He had questions, a lot of them.He wanted to know where Jason was, if Jason was okay after going to the Forum looking for him.Raven wanted to ask what he was supposed to do now, and he wanted to ask where the vampire was.Laurenzio.Then there was Daniel, who appeared kind and charming but wasn’t.I need to know where he is too.He’ll hurt me.He’ll hurt me badly.
“Th-th-th-they…made me watch…in the park.There were w-w-werewolves, and someone they said was a v-vampire with blue hair.Is he okay?”
