Page 11 of Hunt Me

Belzar stroked his beard while he pretended to think of options.

“There is a tavern maiden position that recently opened.”

“Really?” she asked eagerly.

“You! Woman!” Belzar shouted, pointing at a brunette woman who was delivering drinks.

“Yes, Belzar?”

“You’re fired!”

“What? No! No! Ma’am, he only jests. Please continue serving,” Matilda exclaimed. The confused woman hesitated for several seconds before serving the guests when her employer did not object. “You can’t do that, Belzar!” Matilda chastised.

“I can. This is my establishment, and you require employment.”

“My friend needs a job; however, I’m 1000% sure this is not how she would want to obtain one. I need to get ready for the meeting. Thanks again, Belzar.”

“You’re welcome, little one. I’ll see you at the meeting.”

***

Matilda’s booted foot angrily bounced as another donor left the podium. They were a bunch of traitors, the whole lot of them. Each one said they were giving up the good fight. Taxes had risen. At the same time, their donor fee had also increased, courtesy of King Alesi.

Matilda wasn’t unreasonable. She understood the need to feed a family and keep a roof over their heads, but if they gave up, all her efforts would have been in vain.

It was she who prowled the darkness, ridding Night Falls of the filthy vamps. She was the one putting her life on the line so they could be free of King Alesi’s tyranny. Of course, there were other hunters, but none who came close to her. They treated vampire hunting as a job, but it wasn’t employment to Matilda; it was a calling. Hunting was the blood that flowed through her veins. It was intertwined in her DNA.

“If there is no one else who wishes to speak, we will conclude the meet-”

“I have something I wish to say!” Matilda exclaimed, standing up. She ignored the frustrated groans and lip-smacking as she approached the podium.

“Matilda, give it a rest!” someone shouted.

“I’ll rest when I’m fucking dead,” she snarled at him. Belzar chuckled from the back of the room. “I attended this meeting with all hopes that we would band together and continue to fight against the vampires, but I was sorely mistaken. I overestimated our strength and unity. I thought we were of one accord, but clearly, somewhere along the line, I was bamboozled. For years, my family has been loyal to the people of Night Falls, vanquishing our enemies without recognition and fanfare. We didn’t do it for the glory or the honor. No, we did it because we loved our village and its people. But you have given up and cower under the vampires’ control. You all are weak and spineless!”

“You’re just a fool!” someone from the crowd shouted.

“You’re damn right I’m a fool because I put my life and wages on the line for this village, and this is the outcome! You all roll onto your backs like dogs!”

“We didn’t ask you to become a martyr for us, Matilda!”

“Oh? You didn’t ask? Well, you sure as hell took my share of the money! Not a single one of you refused a silver or gold piece. Meanwhile, I’m homeless and starving, and not one of you ungrateful sons of a bitches offered me a morsel of food or a place to lay my head at night! I take that back! Belzar and Belzara have been more than hospitable, but the rest of you are selfish, slimy bastards! In closing, I hope you all are satisfied being used as walking blood sacks for the vamps! Do not come crying to me, looking for a savior when the scales unfavorably tip, because I guarantee you, there will come a time when they will no longer ask for your blood. They will take it, and I will happily sit back like the cat that caught the canary and say, I told you so. “With all due respect, fuck every last one of you.”

4

Cloak and Dagger Meetings

“This is the last one, and then I’m cutting you off,” Belzara said as she set a pint of ale down in front of Matilda.

“Whhhhyyyyy,” Matilda whined, slurring as she reached for the pint. She was three sheets to the wind and didn’t know which cup to reach for. Was it the one on the left or the right?

“Because sometimes we don’t always make the wisest choices when we’re drunk off our asses. You will do something you will regret.”

“Gi-gimme a ’xample,” Matilda challenged with a series of hiccups.

“Some unscrupulous bastard might take advantage of your inebriated state, knock you upside your head, and take you.”

Matilda snorted in disbelief. “No one wants me but your brother, and he wouldn’t do that.”