As the title implies, this will be a multi-part FridayFlash. A very short serial story. One of the many stories I've written based on a dream.
***
“You should get some sleep,” I
said, laying hands on Dirk's shoulders. The rest of the hunters had
retired to their beds, and Brenna's snores suggested she was deep
asleep. I should be asleep too, but our leader was far too stressed
about this monster hunt, and as his adopted daughter, I felt it was
my duty to help him if I could.
Dirk remained at the table of our
little suite, the nicest set of rooms at this inn, poring over a set
of maps, and what few church accounts of the attacks we could find.
Like so many places, many of the unexplained deaths were labeled as
animal attacks or accidents. Unlike other hunts, the only leads we
had were from outside the town, from people who had passed through
when someone else went missing.
He was frustrated and at his wit's end.
“I will, Lamb, just...” Dirk closed his eyes and rubbed at his
temples. There seemed to be more gray hair than normal. “Just as
soon as it makes sense.”
I dug my thumbs into thick knots in his
shoulders; aiding relaxation was one of my talents. One of the very
few things unique to me, that no one else could do. Or would do. “If
it hasn't made sense by now, it won't matter if you burn through
another lamp. Just take a break.”
He groaned as muscles relaxed beneath
my attentions, then leaned back in the creaking chair. This was not
the first night I'd rubbed his shoulders, but it was one of the few
times he'd been so vocal with his enjoyment. “You're right, my
Lamb. When did you get to be so smart?” Dirk tipped his head back
to smile at me, a little too knowingly.
“Might be I've learned a few things.”
I smiled back, then stopped kneading him. “Now get into bed.” I
went to my own, aware of his gaze following me the whole way, and
managed not to rub my hands on my trousers.
Even after Dirk turned down the lamp
and went to his bed, I laid awake for a while, mind too restless to
sleep. So many thoughts insisted on spinning around, chasing each
other, keeping me awake.
Why was this hunt so different from the
others? Why did the town seem to be protecting the vampire? Why did
Dirk keep looking at me like a wife instead of a daughter?
The first two thoughts were hardly my
concern. I was the youngest member of the hunters, and while I helped
out with anything that needed doing, I only had one specific task.
Brenna was a shieldmaiden, Chris the martial artist and thief, Aidan
the cleric, and Dirk was the brains. I was the bait.
Sweet and innocent and barely eighteen,
all the monsters just wanted to gobble me up. Not dumb or naive, and
certainly able to take care of myself if I needed to, but there was
just something about me that lured the beasts out of the shadows.
Aidan called it my grace, like a saint, but Dirk said I was just like
a little lamb. He'd called me that since the first slavering werewolf
had tried to eat me.
My thoughts spun round and round Dirk.
He'd found me after my family had been slaughtered three years ago,
taking me in because I had nowhere else to go. Then he'd found out
about my special nature, and he'd started using me on their hunts. My
fellow hunters treated me like their kid sister, but he treated me
like the daughter he'd lost. He called me his Lamb, while everyone
else called me by my given name, Brook.
But something had changed after the
last hunt. The ambush hadn't gone quite right, and the vampire had
gotten to feed on me. It wasn't the first time I'd been bitten,
wouldn't be the last; it was a small price to pay to keep other young
women safe.
This time, it had lasted longer than
ever before. I'd actually started to enjoy it before Dirk got to me,
and I'd been moaning and shaking when he killed the vampire.
Since then, Dirk had a different look
in his eyes. I didn't understand it, and didn't want to ask him about
it. We all had a good thing going here, like our own crazy family. I
couldn't lose another dad.
Maybe it was just the stress of this
hunt. After we made this kill, everything would go back to normal.
