Free Vampire Hunter D: Dark Nocturne

“You know, I’ll be moving on soon, too.”
    â€œStop trying to be like Mister D. Back at our inn, we’re shorthanded and could use some help,” Amne said, putting her strength into the arms she’d twined around Ry.
    Heartlessly prying his way free of the girl, Ry got to his feet. The severity of the gaze he concentrated on the door made Amne’s anger turn to fear.
    â€œWhat is it?” the girl asked.
    â€œSomeone’s coming.”
    â€œWhat?!”
    â€œFrom the first floor. They’ll be coming up the stairs any minute now. And there’s a bunch of them.”
    â€œWell, I don’t hear anything. And how come you know all this?”
    But Ry couldn’t afford to let that question leave him reeling. The footsteps from the first floor were now climbing the staircase, and even Amne could hear them gathering just beyond the door.
    â€œI don’t like this,” said the girl. “Who on earth could it be? I didn’t think there were even that many people in the whole house.”
    Just as Ry was considering an escape through the window, there was the sound of the lock being disengaged and the door slowly opened. The figure that waded into the feeble light was familiar to the two of them. As were the wraithlike figures that lingered to the rear.
    â€œYou’re still awake, it would seem,” the figure said.
    â€œBut you’re . . .” Amne began through chattering teeth.
    â€œMadame Mayor . . .” said Ry.
    __
    Â 
    D got off his horse in the courtyard. A crisp incandescence filled the ruined garden this evening. Moonlight. He looked at the window. A human figure melted into the fleeting lamplight.
    D entered the mansion. As he walked down the ancient corridor, he seemed terribly well-suited to the mansion by night. More than anyone else, this young man was a perfect match for decay.
    The door to the room was open. The beautiful figure that sat by the window turned to face D.
    â€œA little late, aren’t you?” Price said mockingly.
    â€œWhat are you doing?”
    â€œI’m waiting. For the singer, that is. I, too, grasp the beauty of the night.” Once the youthful warrior had confirmed that D had his eyes shut, his expression became one of amazement.
    â€œAnd are you going to become a descendant of the night?” asked the Hunter.
    â€œWhy would you ask that? You know something after all, don’t you? Once again, I ask you the same question. Why have you come here, D? ”
    â€œBut that’s not something for the singer to decide,” D continued in a leaden voice.
    â€œWell, who shall decide then?”
    â€œThe will of the night—the one who created both the singer and the song.”
    â€œAnd that would be—?” Price began to ask as he left his place by the window without a sound. His eyes were giving off a red glow.
    The seat by the window was reserved for the singer. Price was dumbstruck as he gazed at the woman in the gossamer gown. Particles of light glistened in the folds of her dress.
    â€œI have heard your song,” Price said in an absent-minded tone. “And that’s why I’ve come here. I finally realize that I was summoned.”
    But there is need for only one of you , a voice chimed in his head—the voice of a lady. A voice so beautiful it would be impossible to judge what kind of woman she was.
    â€œThen that would be me.”
    There is one more. And he will surely come here as well.
    â€œSo, who gets to decide?”
    The will of the night.
    Price looked at D. The man who’d given the exact same reply as the phantasmal singer had solidified into a statue hued like the very darkness.
    â€œWho are you?” he asked. “What are you supposed to be?”
    His answer came quickly.
    â€œI’m a Vampire Hunter.”
    But D’s next words were directed at the illusion: “There’s more than one of you.”
    Is there?
    The voice in