Chapter Four: Of Truths

Morning had dawned clear and cool above the camp, when Dirk had roused from slumber. Silently, he glanced at his companions; all of whom, with the exception of his father, were still asleep.

"But why am I awake, then? What is this doubt and dread I feel, all of a sudden?" Dirk wondered, as he slowly got to his feet, and made his way to his father's side. D didn't even turn to look, when Dirk joined him on top of a small incline.

"Are you sure you should be moving around?" D asked, in his usual quiet tone.

"I'm a little stiff and sore, but otherwise the broken ribs have healed." Dirk replied; noticing the unusual tension in his sire's tone, and deciding to address it.

"Is there something bothering you?" Dirk in turn asked.

"There is, but I don't have enough proof to verify it, as of yet." D murmured, finally turning his gaze to his concerned son, and then to the spots where Mary-Weather and Granny Viper were sleeping.

"Something is suspicious about those two, isn't there?" Dirk said, getting an idea as to why his father looked a little unsettled.

"Yes. I get the feeling that they had deliberately left something out, when they hired us for this job...But I can't figure out what. I'm sure you noticed how they had tried to convince you to drop out?" D asked.

"Yeah. 'Donna had said basically the same thing to me last night...Just what are they trying to do? Split us up? But why would they do that? How would it profit them?" Dirk murmured, confusedly. D shrugged.

"I have no idea...All we can do is keep our guard up. It wouldn't do to be caught unawares." D stated, glancing back at the campsite again when he heard some movement.

"Got that right. I, for one, would rather not have to dig silver bullets or stakes out of myself after all this is over." Dirk grumbled, as he remembered a few previous hunts that had ended rather badly.

"And on that note, you get a unanimous agreement." Dracula's 'voice' agreed, dryly; as his spectral form appeared beside them as well.

"Any idea how far ahead the carriage is?" D asked; keeping his voice low enough so only Dirk could understand him, and the women wouldn't overhear.

"Unbelievably enough, they are just a few miles ahead. The bridge must be out, thus they have been forced to take a detour." Dracula replied; smirking slightly when D's eyebrows rose. It was the only sign of surprise the dunpeal allowed himself to show.

"So we haven't lost as much ground as we'd thought. Talk about luck!" Dirk muttered, as he shook his head in amazement.

"Luck may not have much to do with this...As it is, we are now dangerously close to entering Roman territory...Land that is still under the jurisdiction of the Vatican...It could well be that those guarding these lands had cut the bridge to prevent this vampire from getting to the last Vampire Kingdom...I would rather not cross blades with them..." D mused, sanguinely, as he watched Belladonna rouse up, find Dirk not where he was supposed to be, and glare rather caustically in their direction.

"True enough. But our paths are going to cross with theirs' sooner or later." Dracula murmured, with concern in his voice not only for D, but also for Belladonna and Dirk as well.

"I know...and I can only hope that a repeat of history isn't what's in store for us..." D thought, uneasily, as he stiffly got to his feet, and started to prepare to get back on the road.

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"What do you mean the bridge has been cut?.!" an enraged female voice screeched, as the woman in question raged in front of the two Barbaroi assassins.

"It's just as we'd said, Lady Suzette. The bridge has been cut, as well as communication with the Empire." the man with the crossbow stated, as he wisely averted his eyes from the furious vampire.

"Damn them all to hell!" she howled, furiously. Cain, in the meantime, sat where he'd been when she'd called out to him the previous afternoon; his eyes even glassier than they had been before.

"Well? What now, Jizabel? Where else can they go, aside from the Empire or the stars?" Mikaila questioned, as she turned her eerie blue gaze to the crossbowman. She was startled when his eyes suddenly lit up in realization, and he looked up at Suzette again.

"There is but one more route to the Empire that I know of, Milady...but it will be risky." Jizabel said, cautiously. Suzette's raging calmed at this, and she gave him an intrigued look.

"Really? Where is this route? How can we get to it?" Suzette asked; her suddenly calm voice sending chills down Mikaila's spine.

"Venice." Jizabel replied, simply. For the first time since the journey had begun, all color fled from Suzette's already pale features, and Mikaila's face went almost paraffin white. They both knew just how dangerous stepping into that territory could be, since it was on the borders between the Empire and Rome...especially for vampires attempting what Suzette was doing.

"We're goin' out of the fryin' pan and into the fire..." Mikaila sourly mused, as Suzette gave the order to the Barbaroi on top of the carriage to move on.

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"Shit. You'd said that they hadn't gone that far, D...So where the hell are they now?" Belladonna asked, peevishly, when they'd arrived at the side of the bridge where the carriage had been just a short while before. Silence was her only answer, and even Dirk held his tongue.

"Is something bothering you, Hunters?" Mary-Weather asked, when she'd noticed the tense and wary expressions on the men's faces.

"Lady Hargreaves, the only thing I am apprehensive about, aside from being dangerously close to the Capital's border, is what you haven't told us. Right from the outset, there has been someone following us...Your ready agreement to stop last night confirming that much." D murmured; turning to look at the woman behind him, and seeing that his comment had gotten a reaction. Her face paled, and she gave him a look tinged in some nervousness.

"Master Hunter...I don't know what to say except how sorry I am...for not trusting you implicitly. I can now see that there was no need to worry about where your alliance lay..." Mary-Weather replied, apologetically, and a bit ashamedly, as she looked back over her shoulder and nodded. Within moments, a tall, black-clothed rider rode into their midst. In his arms was cradled what appeared to be a long-range rifle, and strapped to his back was a sword.

"You aren't a Vampire Hunter like us, are ya?" Belladonna asked, shaking off her stunned silence with that comment. The rider shook his head.

"No. I am Lord Hargreaves' manservant. I have been following at a distance since Miss Mary-Weather hired you three." the rider murmured, quietly.

"I take it you are very trusted by Lady Hargreaves' brother?" D questioned, earning himself a surprised look from the three women and his son for that remark.

"Yes..." the rider replied, hesitantly.

"Then you could well be the one we need to get your master out of the vampire's clutches." D stated, then gave him a stern look and asked, "Your name?"

"Riffael Raffit, sir. I have been Lord Cain's manservant since he was twelve." the rider said, calmly, yet with some hope beginning to emerge in his quiet voice.

"Then I suggest you prepare yourself, Riffael. From here on out, it will be just us four." D murmured, decisively. This got widened eyes from both Mary-Weather and Granny Viper.

"What about us? Shouldn't we stay with you? Wouldn't that be safer?" Mary-Weather asked, stunned by this development.

"I think Dad just wants to make sure that you two aren't involved in any more danger, milady. It'll be safer if you go to a village and wait for us...At least, that way, the vampire can't kidnap either of you and hold you for ransom." Dirk said; finally breaking his unusual silence. For a few, strained moments, it seemed as though the young noblewoman wanted to stubbornly argue against the logic behind the Hunters' words; then the rider spoke up, once again.

"Milady, we'll bring Lord Cain back with us, have no fear. We must trust these Hunters you had hired, and have faith in their judgement." the rider stated, as he tried to appeal to the stubborn young woman for some form of an agreement.

"Couldn't have said it better myself." Belladonna muttered, approvingly.

"Fine then. Just please...come back safely, Riff. Okay?" Mary-Weather begged. This got a nod from the pale-haired manservant for an answer.

"Don't worry about a thing, Lady Hargreaves! We'll be back before you know it! In fact, you'll probably hear us coming, thanks to Dirk's sword." Belladonna jokingly said, in an effort to reassure the younger woman. She was rewarded with a slight smile from Mary-Weather for that comment.

"That's if I take the tape off of his mouth..." Dirk mumbled, as he turned his mount in the direction the tracks led, and rode swiftly after his father. Belladonna and Riff were not long in following.

"Godspeed to you...Please bring Cain back unharmed..." Mary-Weather softly said, as she watched them go; knowing beyond a shadow of a doubt that a dangerous path lay ahead of them.

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It was around midday, when they found the trail again. Even though one mystery had been solved, Dirk couldn't help but feel that something else still had yet to be found out.

"So, Riff, is there anything else about your master that we should know about? Something we might be better off knowing?" Belladonna questioned; picking up on Dirk's train of thought almost effortlessly. Not surprisingly, the manservant twitched, clear proof that there was indeed another angle to this problem that they had not been told of, yet.

"Seventeen years ago...Lord Cain's mother was raped by a high-ranking vampire. The vampire in question had come from Byzantium...the Empire...in search of something. Her husband, milord's stepfather, could never find out what it was the vampires were after...and, to this day, they still appear in the lands surrounding the Hargreaves' estate...That is where the vampire, Suzette, comes in." Riff replied, quietly, as a stunned hush fell over the trio of Hunters.

"So your lord is a dunpeal as well? Why wasn't this said at the outset?" D asked, with just the barest hint of frustration in his voice and eyes, as he turned to look at the pale-haired manservant.

"I can only guess that Lady Mary-Weather was worried that you would kill Lord Cain, also, if you knew." Riff murmured, as Belladonna uttered a very unladylike snort of disgust at this.

"So much for trust...Feh." Belladonna grumbled, then added, "She hired us to kill the freaking VAMPIRE for crying out loud! She didn't say a single word about us killing her brother while we were at it! Sheesh!"

"Some people are just predisposed to schizophrenia when it comes down to it, Miss Collins." Dracula dryly muttered; earning himself a snicker from both Belladonna and Dirk and an arched eyebrow from D for that.

"No comment." D silently stated, as Dracula, Dirk, and Belladonna shared some quiet laughter at their employer's expense (all the while with Riff giving them his version of a bewildered look, since he couldn't see the ghostly Count ). And yet, the light moment wasn't destined to last...for, the very second they reached the beginnings of a rough-hewn road, all hell broke loose. With screams and cries that would have frozen the blood of any normal man, mutants of almost every shape and size swiftly attacked. Acting on instinct, D and Dirk unsheathed their swords with lightning quickness; blades flashing like quicksilver as they swept them through their attackers. Belladonna uttered a bone-chilling battle cry, as she fired both guns into the horde, the powerful handguns blowing several mutants to pieces when they got too close. She and Dirk almost jumped when they heard the sound of a rifle go off near them; having forgotten that quickly about the weapon Riff had on hand.

"Great shot, Riff!" Belladonna shouted, in approval, when she saw what his gun had done to several of the mutants. In a neat line, about four or five mutants had fallen...taken down by a single bullet.

"Damn! Glad I wasn't on the receiving end of that! There's more to that so-called manservant than first meets the eye!" Left's voice muttered, in the back of D's mind.

"I wouldn't doubt it." D distractedly agreed; hissing softly when the sore muscles in his side burned slightly in retaliation to the sudden strenuous activity. But, from what he could tell, at least he wasn't bleeding.

"One less thing to worry about, at any rate." D mused, then focused on the fight at hand. Even though the mutants in question weren't extremely strong, the sheer number of them was enough to slow them down.

"Dirk! Miss Collins! We're going to have to plow through them! Be ready to follow me!" D shouted, as the two younger Hunters and the manservant nodded.

"Lead the way! We'll be right behind you!" Dirk replied, after he'd cut another mutant down, and fended off another's swipe at his head. With no more words said between them, D gave his mount a firm kick, and charged off; scattering the mutants in his wake. Dirk, Belladonna, and Riff were not too long in following.