Tonight, unlike other nights, I was ambushed soon after I awakened. There were four of them waiting for me, all of them armed with stakes soaked in Holy Water. One of them nearly nailed me, and only my quick reflexes allowed me to escape being turned into dust. But I was not totally unscathed, that stake did graze my left arm, and left behind a long slash of charred flesh.

Never mind that, it will be fully healed by tomorrow night.

After the initial close shave, I dispatched all four murderous creatures with relative ease.

Do you know that I oft wonder why is it that I can so easily destroy them, even though I am a lot younger than they? The power of a vampyre grows with age, and I am barely a year old by their standard. Those four whom I just dispatched were at least a half-century old each.

Perhaps I have always been a natural-born killer. Think about it; at eighteen, I was a black belt in karate and survived several hand-to-hand combats with hardcore terrorists and professional assassins. My father will tell you that I am a natural marksman, and I am the undisputed champion in fencing at Bayport High. I am also an expert on bombs…though I had used that knowledge to dismantle a nuclear bomb. But rest assured I could have just as easily set off one.

And I have an extremely high IQ. Believe me, I could have easily given my testers a perfect score. I deliberately made a few mistakes so no one would know about me. Don’t ask me why I did that, though. Have you ever read up on psychos and serial killers? They were all extremely intelligent beings too…and focused, and bored, and they kill in the most imaginative ways as they approach adulthood….

(Now that I think about it, I ‘died’ on my nineteenth birthday. How interesting.)

Are you scared of me yet?

I nimbly dodge aside and a wooden arrow whizzes harmlessly by. I reach out and catch the arrow with my gloved hand and throw it back in the direction from whence it came. My sharp hearing catches a shocked gasp and I know I got the target.

Another ambush! Damn! If they are delaying me, that means they had others going after Joe. Damn, damn, damn…

I am not going to make it in time, I realize despairingly as many more arrows come whizzing towards me. I dive for cover.

A quick scan of my surroundings tells me that there were ten of them. They have the high ground and they have closed off all my escape routes. The continuous flow of flying arrows has kept me pinned to my little makeshift shelter. We are caught in an impasse. But I am at a disadvantage. I know that they are merely buying time to carry out their plans.

‘I need help,’ I think desperately as I search hopelessly for a way out of my predicament.

“Thought you’d never ask!” a female voice rang a little too cheerfully in my mind.

‘Jana,’ I thought sourly.

My…well, she owns me, one might say… Even though she lets me run free most of the time. Surprise? You didn’t think I could learn all that vampyre stuff on my own, did you? And clearly it takes a human to get and make those Holy Water soaked stakes.

I can feel an old familiar stinging sensation on my inner right wrist. I look down and sure enough, the runes there are glowing faintly. It was her way of reminding me that I belong to her.

Jana. She prevented me from killing myself that first time. She bound me to her service with a single binding spell. And she forbids me to harm myself in any way. She taught me how to survive without killing. She taught me about the vampyre world and the rules that governed them. She gave me the knowledge and the tools with which to kill them, and to protect Joe. I am grateful to her for that. At the same time I hate her for her hold over me. Even though I must admit she rarely exercises that right.

And now, I am glad for her presence; anything to keep Joe safe.

Within minutes, she took down five of those creatures with her crossbow, using the knowledge of their locations which I provided for her. She could have simply taken it from my mind, though she has yet to abuse that privilege. For which I am grateful.

‘Don’t worry about Joe. My brother Jonah will see to his safety.’ She flashes that message into my mind.

I let myself relax a little.

But I still need to see Joe truly safe and sound before I can fully feel at ease. With the opening she created for me, I take down the other five as quickly as I can.

Then the two of us head towards Elm Street together.

Jana Van Helsing. Did you recognize that name? I told you before that truth is stranger than fiction. And Bram Stoker’s Dracula is pure fiction, by the way, just in case you are wondering.

Ah, we are there. And I can see Jonah and his two helpers made quick mincemeat out of the creatures after my brother. I count a dozen little piles of vampyre dust that will soon be blown away by the night breeze. There will be no evidence left behind for anyone to know that a little ‘vampyre war’ had taken place right before their doorsteps.

Looking up, I see Jonah’s slim silhouette on the roof right above my brother’s room.

Thank you, I signal to him.

You’re welcome, he signals back, and then he settles comfortably onto the rooftop.

That surprises me, for I thought that I would be taking over guard duty. My brother is my responsibility, after all. But Jana apparently has other plans. She makes her way swiftly to the tree house in our backyard, and clambers up into it with the speed and the grace of a cat. She is so incredibly athletic and acrobatic that it is sometimes difficult to think of her as human. Her brother shares the same talents.

I’m sure you guess by now, they are vampyre-hunters. Jana and Jonah; same age as my brother; they’re twins, and of the Van Helsing bloodline.

I match her pace with equal agility.

This tree house brings back many happy memories for me. My brother and I built this together when we were fifteen and sixteen respectively. It was our summer project and we were so proud when we completed it. Mom held a small backyard party for the grand opening of our very first ‘home’ that we built with our own hands. That tree house became the meeting place for the gang as we planned our numerous parties and outings and trips. I reach out to touch the wood, and let myself remember those sweet memories. I let those moments of joy flow over me, and wash away the killing stench from the battle just minutes before.

I know, I know. So now you wonder why I said I am so alone and lonely, right?

Truth is, they are still human while I am not. I cannot bear to be close to them, to be close to anyone, for it reminds me too much of what I am not.

“Frank.”

I look at her with an enquiring expression.

“You are not alone in this.”

Yeah, tell me about that.

“You’re stretching yourself a little too thin.”

“There haven’t been any major attacks on Joe in the last few months...until tonight, that is. So I don’t understand what you mean by me stretching myself too thin…” I start my defense.

“Emotionally…” Jana cuts in, her arms akimbo, and she dares me to contradict her.

Ah…

“I can sense them through our bond, Frank. You cannot continue like that. You have to stop running. Your brother’s birthday is just days away now…”

Doesn’t she think I know that? I look forward to that as much as I want to run away from it…

“Frank, you have to want to live. For your brother. Or don’t you care for him at all?”

“I AM ‘living on’ for Joe. Why do you think I endure the waking pains and the hunger pangs? And I would willingly die for him, so don’t you dare suggest otherwise.”

“But you refuse to live…” she said sadly.

What the heck does she mean by that! Can’t she see that I am already living for Joe? What more does she want? Does anyone want from me?... and why does she sound so sad?

“Your brother won’t kill you, Frank. He will never be able to live with himself if he did. So don’t even think about trying to trick him….However, he will be more than willing to give his life for yours…”

That is my greatest fear….What if he has the power to trade lives? I read about such powers in the ancient texts in the Van Helsing family crypt. Only God can create life, but some can trade a life for a life.

I cannot live on without him. I will never let that happen….

Guess now you know another truth. I know from my previous encounter with those vampires that Joe is very special. The Van Helsings have alluded often to the fact that Joe is special. But I really have no idea how much, and what about Joe that made him special, and in what way exactly. I have no idea exactly what he will be capable of. Though those vampyres believe that having Joe on their side will make them the dominant race of this planet, otherwise they may face extinction.

I finally acknowledge now that it’s because the Van Helsings never told me anything regarding that, even though I know that they know, and that was the reason why I cannot trust them fully.

“Yes, he will be more than capable of killing you, if you really want to know that…” Jana said to me, exasperation clear in her voice.

“Jana, you have always left my thoughts alone…why start peeking at them now?” I ask of her, extremely irate.

“Because, now more than before, you need me to! And someone needs to knock some sense into that thick, stubborn, selfish, idiotic skull of yours!” she spat back at me.

Silence rules between us for the next few minutes. It is extremely rare for Jana to lose it like that.

“Jana…”

She waves away my attempt at explanation.

“Frank….You were a detective. An amateur detective, but a damned good one. What happened to him? Why haven’t you been asking the right questions?”

What the…? I did ask questions. But you guys never answered!

“Ever consider WHY is it that we never answered?”

I blink. No…

Jana shook her head sadly. She looks disappointed in me. I guess I deserve that. I suppose her occasional accusation of me wallowing in self-pity is true.

“You know Vampyre minds are linked. That’s why you can scan for them. Some vampyres, like you, are better able to shield their thoughts than others. But none can shield their thoughts from the Queen…”

I remember Her leaning close to me, Her hands stroking and lips whispering instructions at the same time…

“She might have handed over your initiation to someone else, but for her to be able to use you to directly access Joe’s mind, she gave you a drop of her blood…”

The long slim finger was poised above my lips. I saw that single droplet of blood slowly drip downwards towards me.

“… made you stronger than most [of] vampyres, but that also means that you are more closely linked to Her…”

I felt it land on my tongue. I tasted the sweetness and I tried to reach out for more…

“…that’s why we cannot let you know the truth about your brother….She can still use you…”

I told her I would and She laughed…

I find myself sinking back into that nightmare…

“Frank…FRANK!”

I look up at her, but I am not really seeing her…

SLAP!

That woke me up. Damn! She slapped me!

I glare at her.

Unrepentant, she glares back.

“Frank…I was saying there was a reason why that first attempt was conducted on your birthday….After that they let you both go. There have been no major attempts to get at you guys until now…with Joe’s birthday just round the corner…”

Oh no…no…I am not ready to talk about that…

“Frank, we have no time left….What exactly happened on your nineteenth birthday?”

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Disclaimer

The Hardy Boys belong to Simon and Schuster and the Stratemeyer Foundation. The Hardy Boys Fan Fiction authors of the Hardy Detective Agency have just borrowed them for an adventure or two. The authors promise to put the boys back when they are done with them. The authors do claim copyright to the original characters in this story. Please do not borrow original characters without express permission of the authors.