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WARNING: Some portions of the following work of fiction contain explicit sex. If you are under 18 (or whatever age is appropriate for your location), HIT YOUR BACK BROWSER BUTTON NOW. If you find explicit sex offensive, please don't offend yourself by reading further.

The full disclaimer for this work of Vampire Hunter D fanfiction is at the beginning of Chapter 1.

Author: Charlotte MacFarlane
Email: duckey@ns.sympatico.ca
Feedback: Please, yes, lots.
Forward to others: would be flattered if you did.
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Chapter 3 Shadow Dances

D stood to the side of the bed, watching intently the man on the other side. He was a friend of his father's. Corbin Ranard, a doctor, the very one who provided Dracula with blood to consume. He had long dark brown hair, just past his shoulders. A strong good naturedly muscled build, and stood just short of 6 feet tall. His hazel eyes peered out from behind his small round glasses, as he carefully examined the woman lying on the bed. Finally he shook his head, and sat up. "Tell me what happened. Everything. The smallest detail could be a clue."

"We were decorating the tree," Adrian offered. "She made a star for it, the next thing we knew she screamed and then she was on the floor."

"She was doubled over as though in great pain," Dracula recalled.

"The smoke."

"What?" the man turned to D, who seemed the most apposed to having Corbin over at all.

"Adrian put wood on the fire, but bumped the flu draft. The room filled with smoke. We heard her scream, when the room cleared, she was shaking on the floor, clutching her stomach."

Corbin shook his head. "I don't get it. She shouldn't be like this. I can run some tests..." D slapped away the syringe and sample tubes. "What the hell is your problem?!"

"No tests! You won't take her blood!!"

"She could have a serious problem! One I can't find by examination alone! Tests are the only way I can find out what's going on inside her!"

"NO TESTS!!"

"D...?"

"Kale, are you alright?"

"Miss Kale. I'm Doctor Corbin. Can you tell me..."

"No! No more doctors, no more! Please!! NO MORE!!!"

"Get out!! ALL OF YOU!!!" D slammed the door, as Corbin was the last to leave, then returned to Kale. She hadn't acted like this toward healers & Doctors since he'd found her. "Easy baby. Easy. He's gone."

As D comforted his woman, Corbin turned to the other two men with him. "Downstairs. I need answers and I need them now." As the two settled themselves around the room with Corbin sitting in a wing chair nearest the tree, he began. "Alright. Something is really wrong with her, and it's manifesting physically. What happened before she got here? And I need her whole history as much as you all know. Did anything affect her deeply?"

"They adopted a child, only to have to return her to the natural parents, whom they assumed were dead," Dracula explained.

"Alright, before that?"

"D was nearly killed in a hunt," offered Adrian.

"Before that?"

"She was abducted by sex slavers. She was tortured beyond what most women could tolerate, then sold to a man who continued it."

"And before that?"

"She spent a few years with D, as far as we know nothing."

"What about before she met your son, Dracula? What was she doing before then?"

"I don't know. Adrian knows."

"Adrian?" The young Dhampire was silent. "Adrian? What happened to her before she met your brother?"

"I cant' tell you."

"Her life is in danger Adrian! If we can't get to the root of this, this...whatever it is...could kill her, if not drive her insane!"

"I can't tell you. I promised. She holds people to their word. She doesn't make a promise she doesn't intend to keep, and she expects the same of others."

"Adrian, please. She's your sister-in-law."

"Yes father, she's family. I know that. But she entrusted me to keep her secret, and I won't betray that trust!"

"She could die!" shouted Corbin, rising to his feet.

Adrian rose to meet him, staring down at the doctor from his nearly 6 foot 6 height. "I know!! But what I know, could get her killed!!"

"You make it sound like she's some kind of monster!"

"You'd think that." They turned to see D standing in the doorway.

"How is she?" asked his brother.

"She's calmer, but far from resting. Can you help her or not?"

"No. I can't. From what I've heard, and from what I can tell of examining her, whatever is wrong, it's in her mind, not her body. And that's outside my area of expertise. D please, what happened to her before she met you?"

D slowly stepped up to the young doctor. Pulling him off his feet by his shirtfront. "Kale is mine. Do you understand! If any of what you are about to learn gets out and causes her harm...in any way...I will hunt you down! And I will kill you...slowly"

"I understand," the man whispered fearfully, for as D had spoken, his eyes began to glow, and Corbin could see his fangs just waiting to extend. D dropped him back to the chair, and walked away.

"D there was no need of that," cursed his father.

"Yes father, there is. And you, of all, must swear not to harm her, once you hear what I must now tell."

"D..."

"Swear it!!"

Dracula was completely off guard, as D lunged at him. A sharpened stick pressed hard against the vampire's chest. "I swear D. She will be safe from me. My blood word on that."

"Very well." The one thing he knew about his father, when he made an oath on his own blood, he never broke it. She would be safe.

"D, are you sure this is wise?" asked Adrian.

"No, but there is no other way." He tossed the stick into the fire, and supported his weight on the mantle. "I found Kale in the western world...she's...she's an Ark survivor."

"You brought one of those monsters here!"

"What would you have done father, if you had known."

"Turned the bitch away, and informed the authorities."

"That's why I didn't tell you. You turn her away, and I'm gone. You can hunt your own creations and their followers."

"D, Dracula, please, this is not helping. Whatever her origins, she's obviously not what stories tell of Arkers to be, otherwise D would not be with her." Seeing the two calm down, Corbin continued. "What happened D?"

D explained how he'd gone hunting for a vampire that had escaped westward, the success of the kill, and the difficulties getting to the coast. How he'd found the Ark, and rescued Kale. How she was sick in the beginning, the length of her recovery, and how she'd become ill once more, some months later. The way they met Adrian in Edo, the ark that revived earlier and tracked them down. Kale's former love Moos, how the clones were used & died, and especially about the cells and what had happened to Kale while in the tank. "Since the," he concluded, "She's been with me. She's hunting down the last of the arks, toe two years before Donrath, we followed up on leads of old structures or strange sightings, only to find them just ruins. I've taught her hoe to protect herself, the different weapons and how to use them. She chose the crossbow. Then Donrath."

"Adrian and your father told me about that," Corbin assured. "Now, what I'm about to suggest is a little out there, but its all I can suggest. I've worked closely with a man who helps people with outside my field of practice. From what I've heard, Kale has built a wall around herself, and something she can't quite come to terms with. With what happened to her recently, I think the barriers she put in place are no longer able to protect her. She'd fighting for her sanity,...and she's loosing."

"She didn't fully accept the fact she couldn't have children. We spoke of it...many times...it isn't easy for her, but she seemed to be coping with it." 'And then there's what happened in the library," offered Dracula. "What do you have to say about that my son?"

"The library? What happened there?"

"She was sleeping...sort of," Dracula recalled. "I tried to give her a cover, she woke and started screaming. It took her hours to calm down."

"She was still dreaming, that's what D figured."

Corbin nodded. "Then her barrenness isn't the issue."

"Then what is?" asked Adrian.

"I don't know. But I'd like to consult with my friend. Dracula, where's your city line?"

"Linda will show you. Linda?"

"No one else!"

"D, she needs help. The kind I can't give her."

"NO ONE!!"

"D! Think of her!"

"I AM!!"

"My friend is trained to help her. He won't give her secret away. I promise you."

"Don't promise for someone else."

"D. He can help her. I Swear. She's not the only one who has secrets that must be kept!" D's cold hard expression never changed. "D. If you can answer yes, to my next question, then I won't call my friend."

"Alright, what is it?"

"Do you really thing, honestly, in your heart, that she will survive this, without permanent harm to her mental health?"

For a long time D was silent. Thinking. Then, "Call him," he relented. "But he is NOT to take notes."

"If he does, he will leave them here," Dracula insisted.

"Father!"

"D, Doctors must take notes on their patients. I may not like your deception about her, but she is your woman...my daughter now...and she needs all the help she can get. Call him. D return to her side. We will let you know when he arrives."



She'd woken again. What kind of nightmare roused her this time, she couldn't remember. D sat with her in the middle of the bed. She tried to remember, but it didn't work. All she knew was that the dream hurt, and she couldn't stop shaking, or crying. D never felt more helpless. Gently he kissed her brow and turned as a soft knock came from the door. "Yes?"

"Master D," called Linda, "Delron is here. He's in the master chamber."

As D left the room, Linda could see Kale sitting there on the bed. For a moment, she wanted to go to her and comfort her, but she wasn't sure how. "Thank you. I'll talk to him before he comes here."

"Corbin thought you might."

D strode into the front room where Corbin and Delron were discussing Kales condition. "Well you're right Corbin," said the large built man "It does sound like repressed memories. I've had some patients with that, but I'll need to talk to her to be sure."

"You have to agree to a few things first," Corbin offered. "She's not your ordinary girl."

Delron raised one eyebrow, and noticed D in the doorway. Their eyes met and D felt all he wanted to say to the man accepted by him. All manor of questions, all statements, all promises, it was like someone just looked at the cover of a book, and knew exactly what each page read. Delron nodded. "You have a powerful mind Mr. Tepes. Your concern for the woman is understandable, but unnecessary considering me. If the city officials knew that I am a mind walker, they could make my living here very difficult." The large man stood to his full 6 foot 7 height. "The third door on the right is it?"

"She'll scream if you enter alone."

"I know. Please, lead the way."

D returned to his room, where Kale hadn't moved from where he'd left her, but had managed to stop her tears. "Why D?" she asked quietly, completely ignoring the two other men. "Why is this happening? Why can't things be simple anymore? All I want is to be with you and have a family. Is that so much to ask?"

"I know baby. This is Delron, a friend of Corbin's. He's here to ask you about your drams."

"D, I've already told you. I don't remember."

"That's why he's here. To help you remember, and maybe shed some light on what happened around the tree this morning."

"I don't think I want to know."

"D, Corbin. Please. Perhaps it would be best if you let me talk to her for a while. Please?" He gestured to the door. D received a nod from Kale, and after a gently kiss, he left with Corbin. "There. Sometimes a conversation such as this is best done between just the two f us...um...may I?"

"Not on the bed. There's a char by the window."

"Ah. Thank you." After moving the chair closer he sat down, his muscled torso straining the buttons on the front of his shirt. For a moment, she thought that if he had to take a deep breath, the tiny disks could fly right off. "Corbin tells me you are much older than you appear."

"D told me he knew. I figured he couldn't keep his trap shut."

"Now, now, he only told me. Corbin can be trusted. You'll see, and so can I."

"Well what do you do?"

"I help people seek the true rood of their problems."

"Great. A shrink. Just what I need."

"Yes, you do."



"I don't like this Corbin!"

"D relax," assured the man, tearing his gaze from the ornaments on the tree. "She'll be fine. Delron is the gentlest man I know. A child could beat him up and he wouldn't raise his voice."

"Does he have a wife? Family?"

"Yes, 2 girls and an older son from a previous marriage. Please sit down. You've nothing to worry about."

"NNNOOO!!!" D sprinted up the stairs at Kale's scream. He'd never heard her scream like that. Bone chilling, full of fear. What could he have done to her to make her scream like that?



"No! No!! NO!! Let me go!!! Kevin!!!!" But it was no use. There were three sets of hands around her and together they dragged her out of the detaining room. At least that's what she believed it was. Piece by piece her clothes were removed from her body, her pants cut away when they could not undo the buttons through her struggles. With further effort, she was laid and strapped to a gurney, completely nude. A moment later other men came and washed her, forcing her over against the restraints. Repeatedly she screamed to be released, but they wouldn't listen. A man in a white coat approached her with what looked like a gun with a needle on it. Everyone called him doctor, but no specific name was used. He abruptly jabbed the needle into her thy, administering chemicals, and drawing blood for tests at the same time.

She was then wheeled into another room, where other men dried her off with towels. Then she was left alone. The drugs she was given slowly make her relax, though she desperately tried to stay awake.

Another man entered, older than all those before, he held a white cloth over his arm as he came close to her. "Please," she begged wirily. "Please, let me go."

The man ran his hands softly over her breasts, making his way down her body. "You Canadians really do have it where it counts, don't you?" he said, pressing his fingers into her. "No! DON'T!! Please STOP!!" Suddenly the image of a man with long black hair, a beard and mustache flashed across the man's features. Then there was a man with short brown hair and glasses. Swiftly the image changed between the three men, and the pain became worse with each image. "NNNOOO!!!"