shrugged and cursed and finally given up. There would be other times.
Besides, it seemed there really was a vampire. Men, women, and children had been attacked at night, and occasionally bodies were found with no blood left in them. There were dozens of sightings and as many suspects, but none of them led anywhere. And then a lamplighter had come to see Hawk, and there was no denying the horror in his voice as he told Hawk and Fisher of the dark figure he'd seen crawling up the outside of the house in Chandler Lane;
'All the Guards in Haven, and that man had to choose us to tell his story to,' grumbled Fisher. 'Why us?'
'Because we're the best,' said Hawk. 'So obviously we're not afraid to tackle anything. Even a vampire.'
Fisher sniffed. 'We should have settled for second best.'
'Not in my nature,' said Hawk easily. 'Or yours.'
They chuckled quietly together. The low, cheerful sound seemed out of place in the silence. For the first time Hawk realized just how quiet the empty street was. It was like walking through the empty shell of some village abandoned by its people but not yet overgrown by the Forest. The only sound was his and Fisher's footsteps, echoing dully back from the thick stone walls to either side of them. Despite the heat. Hawk felt a sudden chill run down his back, and the sweat on his brow was suddenly cold. Hawk shook his head angrily. This was no time to be letting his nerves get the better of him.
Hawk and Fisher finally came to a halt before a decrepit two-storey building almost at the end of the lane. Paint was peeling from the closed front door, and the stonework was pitted and crumbling. The two narrow windows were hidden behind closed wooden shutters. Hawk looked the place over and frowned thoughtfully. There was something disquieting about the house, something he couldn't quite put a name to. It was like a sound so quiet you almost missed it, or a scent so faint you could barely smell it; Hawk scowled, and let his hand fall to the axe at his side.
<em>Vampire; revenant; that which returns;</em>
He'd never seen one of the undead, and didn't know anyone who had. He wasn't altogether sure he believed in such things, but then, he didn't disbelieve in them either. In his time he'd known demons and devils, werewolves and undines, and faced them all with cold steel in his hand. The world had its dark places, and they were older by far than anything man had ever built. And there was no denying that people had disappeared from the Northside of late; and one person in particular.
'Well?' said Fisher.
Hawk looked at her irritably. 'Well what?'
'Well, are we going to just stand here all afternoon, or are we going to do something? In case you hadn't noticed, the sun's getting bloody low on the sky. It'll be dark inside an hour. And if there really is a vampire in there;'
'Right. The undead rise from their coffins when the sun is down.' Hawk shivered again, and then smiled slightly as he took in the goose flesh on Fisher's bare arms. Neither of them cared much for the dark, or the creatures that moved in it. Hawk took a deep breath, stepped up to the front door, and knocked loudly with his fist.
'Open in the name of the Guard!'
There was no response. Silence lay across the empty street like a smothering blanket, weighed down by the heat. Hawk wiped at the sweat running down his face with the back of his hand, and wished he'd brought a water canteen. He also wished he'd followed regulations for once and waited for a backup team, but there hadn't been time. They had to get to the vampire while he still slept. And besides, Councilors Trask's daughter was still missing. Which was why finding the vampire had suddenly become such a high priority. As long as he'd kept to the poorer sections of the city, and preyed only on those who wouldn't be missed, no one paid much attention to him. But once he snatched a Councilor's daughter out of her own bedroom, in full view of her screaming mother; Hawk worried his lower lip between his teeth. She should still be alive. Vampires were supposed to take two to three days to drain a victim completely, and she couldn't become one of the undead until she'd died and risen again. At least, that was what the legends said. Hawk sniffed. He didn't put much trust in legends.
'We should have stopped off and picked up some garlic,' he said suddenly. 'That's supposed to be a protection, isn't it?'
'Garlic?' said Fisher. 'At this time of the year? You know how much that stuff costs in the markets? It has to come clear across the country, and the merchants charge accordingly.'
'All right, it was just a thought. I suppose hawthorn is out as well.'
'Definitely.'
'I assume you have at least brought the stake with you? In fact, you'd better have the stake, because I'm bloody well not going in there without one.'
'Relax, love. I've got it right here.' Fisher pulled a thick wooden stake from the top of her boot. It was over a foot long, and had been roughly sharpened to a point. It looked brutally efficient. 'As I understand it, it's quite simple,' said Fisher briskly. 'I hammer this through the vampire's heart, and then you cut off his head. We burn the two parts of the body separately, scatter the ashes, and that's that.'
'Oh, sure,' said Hawk. 'Just like that.' He paused a moment, looking at the closed door before him. 'Did you ever meet Trask, or his daughter?'
'I saw Trask at the briefing yesterday,' said Fisher, slipping the stake back into her boot. 'He looked pretty broken up. You know them?'
'I met his daughter a few months back. Just briefly. I was bodyguarding Councilor DeGeorge at the time. Trask's daughter had just turned sixteen, and she looked so; bright, and happy.'
Fisher put her hand on his arm. 'We'll get her back. Hawk. We'll get her back.'
'Yeah,' said Hawk. 'Sure.'
He hammered on the door again with his fist. <em>Do it by the book</em>; The sound echoed on the quiet, and then died quickly away. There was no response from the house, or from any of its neighbors. Hawk glanced up and down the empty street. It could always be a trap of some kind; No. His instincts would have been screaming at him by now. After four years in the city Guard, he had good instincts. Without them, you didn't last four years.
'All right,' he said finally. 'We go in. But watch your back on this one, lass. We take it one room at a time, by the book, and keep our eyes open. Right?'
'Right,' said Fisher. 'But we should be safe enough as long as the sun's up. The vampire can't leave his coffin till it's dark.'
'Yeah, but he might not be alone in there. Apparently most vampires have a human servant to watch over them while they sleep. A kind of Judas Goat, a protector who also helps to lure victims to his master.'
'You've been reading up on this, haven't you?' said Fisher.
'Damn right,' said Hawk. 'Ever since the first rumors. I wasn't going to be caught unprepared, like I was on that werewolf case last year.'
He tried the door handle. It turned jerkily in his hand, and the door swung slowly open as he applied a little pressure. The hinges squealed protestingly, and Hawk jumped despite himself. He pushed the door wide open and stared into the dark and empty hall. Nothing moved in the gloom, and the shadows stared silently back. Fisher moved softly in beside Hawk, her hand resting on the pommel of her sword.
'Strange the door wasn't locked,' said Hawk. 'Unless we were expected.'
'Let's get on with it,' said Fisher quietly. 'I'm starting to get a very bad feeling about this.'
They stepped forward into the hall and then closed the front door behind them, leaving it just a little ajar. Never know when you might need a quick exit. Hawk and Fisher stood together in the gloom, waiting for their eyes to adjust. Hawk had a stub of candle in his pocket, but he didn't want to use it unless he had to. All it took was a sudden gust of wind at the wrong moment and the light would be gone, leaving him blind and helpless in the dark. Better to let his sight adjust while he had the chance. He heard Fisher stir uneasily beside him, and he smiled slightly. He knew how she felt. Patiently standing and waiting just wasn't in their nature; they always felt better when they were doing something. Anything. Hawk glared about him into the gloom. There could be someone hiding in the shadows, watching them, and they'd never know it until it was too late. Something could already be moving silently towards them, with reaching hands and bared fangs; He felt his shoulders growing stiff and tense, and
