Leticia

by Lindsay Anne Kendal

  “Sounds good to me. The sooner you’re away from here the better.”

  “Jackson stop it!” I scolded.

  “What’s your problem?” Luke asked him, standing.

  “Luke sit down, you’re in no state to be getting on the wrong side of him.” I said, also standing.

  “Just keep away from Leticia and we won’t have a problem, will we?” Jackson warned.

  “Whoa OK, Jackson, come with me,” Nancy said, grabbing his arm and dragging him out of the room. Tristan followed behind them.

  “He’s a dick,” Luke snarled. “How can you stand him? And who does he think he is telling me to stay away from you? If I want to try and get you back I will. You’re not his...”

  “Actually, I am.”

  “What?”

  “I’m his girlfriend.”

  He didn’t respond.

  “I didn’t want to say anything yet, but he obviously wanted you to know. I’m sorry it came out like that.”

  He didn’t say anything to that; he just walked out of the room. I went into the kitchen and shouted at Jackson. He didn’t care about what he’d done or how much it had upset Luke. He just wanted him to know he couldn’t have me. I could understand that, but told him he should have handled it better or let me tell him.

  We spent the evening separately, each of us trying to think how we could find the others the guys in the basement were connected to. I tried to think too hard and in the end, my mind went completely blank. The men had been shouting up to us for food all night, but nobody went down to them. Until they were ready to talk, they could shout all they liked; nobody would pay them any attention.

  Chapter 37

  A week passed by, there were no fights, no intrusions, and to be honest, we started to think that Roger had given up. He must have known it was us who had taken Luke from the lab. Maybe now that he knew we were on to him and that we actually knew who he was, he had panicked and fled. We had fed the guys in the basement a couple of times but not enough to stop them being hungry. They still refused to talk, so we refused to be nice to them.

  Luke had spent most of his time alone, he tried to call some of his friends, but all of them hung up. When he continued to try and talk to them they threatened him with the police. They told him he was sick and that their friend died a long time ago; when he tried to explain that it really was him, they threatened him again and hung up. He was broken hearted to say the least.

  On the odd occasion he did want to be sociable, he would spend his time talking to me or Nancy. He didn’t like Jackson at all and avoided him as much as possible; and he didn’t seem too keen on Tristan either, although he was still very pleasant with him. He would have his down moments, where everything seemed to get on top of him; we all tried to comfort him, but he pushed everyone away. Jackson was the only one who didn’t seem to give a toss about him now; but that didn’t bother Luke. Even Nancy and Tristan had warmed to him and didn’t mind having him around. It’s not like he caused any of us any problems. But Jackson disliked him; I’d asked him why over and over, but all he said was “I have my reasons”.

  Jackson and I hadn’t been too close either. We weren’t being nasty with each other, or cold, it was just that we were busy. I’d had contact from my insurance company regarding my house and was busy sorting it all out. On top of that I would go out regularly to see if anyone was nosing around. Jackson was out and about, he owned several businesses and with everything that had been going on, he hadn’t been around to check how everything was going. I would watch him shift into different people before he left the house. Sometimes looking a lot older than what he was. I guess that’s how he got away with owning the business’s so long. Nobody would suspect anything strange was happening if he appeared to be getting older. As for Nancy and Tristan, they were pretty much the same as normal. Just looking after themselves. Enjoying each other’s company and being all loved up.

  Today I was bored, and I mean really bored. I had no work, which was really starting to get me down, nowhere to go and nothing to do. Jackson was out, Nancy and Tristan were doing the weekly shop and Luke was still asleep. So I decided to see if I could get the scumbags to talk. When I walked into the basement the first thing they asked me for was food. I simply laughed and stood in front of them.

  “Now fella’s, are we ready to be a little more cooperative today?” I asked.

  “Kiss my ass,” the blonde shot.

  “Actually I’d prefer to kick it, from here to the North Pole and back again. I might just do that too if you don’t watch your tone.”

  “Look, we’ve told you everything, you don’t believe us, what the hell are we supposed to do?”

  “The last time you said that you’d missed out the part about Luke!”

  “Please, please can we have some food and water?” The brunette asked.

  “What’s your name?”

  “I’m Tom... he’s David.”

  “Well Tom, David is a loud mouthed jerk so I’m going to speak to you directly, and if he interrupts I’m going to remove his tongue,” I said, glancing at David. “Now, Tom, is there anything else, anything at all that you haven’t told us?”

  He didn’t respond, but you could see he wanted to tell me something.

  “I’ll make you a deal, you tell me something and I’ll take you into the house and make you something really nice to eat, a cup of tea or coffee too.”

  “The guy we call boss...”

  “Tom no!” David shouted.

  “Carry on,” I urged.

  “Well...I’ve met him. I’m one of a few...I don’t know his face, I’ve never seen it and that is the god’s honest truth but I know he’s addicted to the blood... I’ve even seen him drink it... a lot of it. When he injects us with it, he uses a tiny amount, probably the equivalent of... I don’t know... a tear drop. But when he injects himself he pretty much fills the syringe. I don’t know how he does it,” Tom informed me. “He’s selling it, that’s why he wants more... but he also wants it for himself. He can only go a few weeks without it and then he goes crazy. He can handle it a lot better than us though, he has to go a few weeks without it now before he gets sick. Even when it’s wearing off, it doesn’t really seem to affect him.”

  “Really? What happens when it does affect him?”

  “He starts shaking, his voice trembles, but as soon as he’s swallowed more he seems fine again. Like I said though, his symptoms aren’t as severe as ours.”

  “Tom do you know where I can find this man? Where did you meet him?”

  “I met him a couple of weeks ago at Dovestones Reservoir, before that, it was at the lab.”

  “Could you arrange to meet him?”

  “No, I don’t have his contact details.”

  “OK, anything else?”

  “No, that’s it I swear it.”

  I untied him from the chair. I thought he would try and run for it, but he didn’t. After leading him into the kitchen, I made him some soup and sandwiches, along with a cup of tea and sat him down in the living room.

  “Leticia,” he said after finishing his food.

  “Yes.”

  “I lied down there, I do know more but I couldn’t say it in front of David... David knows who this man is. He’s seen his face. He can make contact with him; he’s done it several times before. But he won’t tell you. More importantly... he’s wearing a wire...”

  “WHAT!” I said standing.

  “Wait! The batteries must be dead by now, but the people we’re working with... they know where we are, they will come for us. Especially David, he’s a leader, but he told them to wait... I don’t know why. Leticia, I don’t want this... I don’t want to hurt you. I just want my life back and I don’t want to die. I’m in this way too deep and I don’t know how to get out, but I swear I don’t want any part of this. Originally I signed up because this guy said he was looking for someone; that they had been missing for a long time and he had received a tip that they could be here. He sai
d he was a private investigator and needed my help. I was gullible and needed the money, so I said I would help him; then he told me I had to kill you and bring your body to him and that if I left or called the police he would kill me and my daughter.”

  “Daughter?”

  “Yeah, she’s only five years old. Her mother and I split up while she was still pregnant. She’d met someone else and he wanted to take her and my daughter on. She wasn’t nasty though, she let me see her whenever I wanted to. Her partner was understanding and always made me feel welcome. Then I was made redundant, I couldn’t get another job quickly enough and had very little savings, so I lost everything...this seemed like a dream come true at first, but now, it’s just a nightmare.”

  “Look, I’m sorry for what happened to you, but at this moment in time all I’m interested in is going down there and killing your friend.”

  “He’s no friend of mine so do as you will. I really don’t care anymore, I just want out.”

  I heard the front door open and a few seconds later Jackson walked in the room. He was surprised to say the least when he saw Tom in the living room.

  “What the hell is going on?” he demanded to know.

  I made him sit down while I quickly told him everything I knew. He was livid and as soon as I’d finished speaking he charged out of the room. I grabbed Tom’s arm and dragged him down into the basement after Jackson.

  “You lying piece of shit!” He shouted, walking over to David. He ripped his shirt open only to find the wire. “Now you die!”

  “No wait, please, I can explain,” David pleaded.

  “Too late,” I told him, letting go of Tom and walking over. “You should have thought about this before you betrayed us.”

  Jackson freed him from the chair. He tried to run, but I blocked his path.

  “And where do you think you’re going?” I asked, before striking him so hard that he flew across the room, crashing into some boxes that were being stored down there. “You won’t be leaving this room alive.”

  As soon as he got to his feet again Jackson gripped him and pushed him towards me.

  “Please,” he begged. “Please don’t kill me.”

  “I would say I’m sorry... but, I’m not!”

  I grabbed his head and turned it almost 360 degrees, killing him instantly, then I just let his lifeless body hit the floor.

  “Err, where’s Tom?” Jackson asked, looking behind me.

  “Shit!”

  We ran upstairs and into the hallway only to see Tristan stood there and Tom’s body twisted in a disgusting position on the floor.

  “How did he escape?” he asked, stepping over him and coming towards us.

  Nancy walked in, looked at Tom and shivered. She too wanted to know what had happened. On top of that, Luke came downstairs and panicked when he saw the man on the floor. Jackson said he would explain things while I saw to Luke.

  Chapter 38

  Once I’d explained everything to Luke, he seemed to calm down a little and again said he needed time alone. I didn’t argue with him; I knew he had a lot to take in and deal with. I walked back out into the hall. Tom’s body had disappeared and Tristan and Nancy were in the living room.

  “What did you do with the body?” I asked them.

  “I buried him,” Tristan answered. “Along with his mate, they’re side by side forever now.”

  “Where?”

  “A few fields away.”

  “You know, at this rate these hills are going to become a mass graveyard.”

  “So be it. It’s marsh land, the bodies will move over time. They’ll never be found and nobody will ever know,” Nancy added coldly.

  “Are you OK?” I asked her.

  “Yeah, apart from being pissed off. I can’t believe we were stupid enough to bring those two idiots in here and not search them. I feel ashamed of myself. But I honestly didn’t think about it, it never even entered my head that one of them would be wearing a wire. I mean, where have they got all this equipment from? I think all of them have lied so far about everything. I think they’ve all seen this creep’s face and I am certain they know how to contact him. Think about what they have all said to us; they all say the same thing. It’s as though they’ve rehearsed or they’re reciting something.”

  “Yeah you’re right; the stories are too similar... unless... everyone has been telling the truth.”

  “I doubt that highly. At the minute though, I’m more pissed about the wire than anything.”

  “Why were they wearing it?” Tristan asked. “I wonder if they let us capture them purposely?”

  “Why would they do that?” I frowned.

  “To get some insight into us. So that we would be so preoccupied with questioning them that we would drop our guard.”

  “I doubt it, nobody attacked did they?”

  “True. But there had to be a reason for it.”

  “I agree, but since I killed David and you mangled up Tom, I doubt we’ll ever find out.”

  “True.”

  “Tom had a daughter by the way; she’s only five years old. She will never know what happened her father...”

  “Tish you can’t think like that. He was trying to escape, he would have gone straight back to the rest of these lowlifes and...”

  “No, you see I don’t believe that. I’m sorry Tristan but not everyone in the group is heartless and addicted to the blood. This guy lost everything, his daughter, his job, his home... he just wanted money to be able to get back on the straight and narrow...”

  “Tish...”

  “Did you know that whoever this evil son of a bitch is, threatened to kill his daughter if he didn’t continue to hunt me. So d’you know what? I don’t blame him for doing it. He wasn’t thinking about his own safety, he was looking out for his baby... and she’ll never know.”

  “I don’t think that's necessarily a bad thing,” Nancy commented. “I mean about his daughter not knowing. If I found out my father, had I actually cared for him of course, was hunting some woman and trying to kill her to save me... I wouldn’t be happy.”

  “I understand that, but also think on this; she’ll never know where he went, why he went, she’ll wonder if it was her fault... if he even loved her. That is so upsetting.”

  “I know. But there’s nothing we can do about it, not now.”

  “Yeah, I know.”

  They both turned silent, so I decided to find Jackson. However, when I left the room I bumped into Luke.

  “I was looking for you,” he tried to smile. “Can we go for a walk, even if it’s just for half an hour?”

  “Erm, yeah, OK.”

  I let Tristan and Nancy know we were going out, just so they didn’t panic when they realized we were no longer in the house. Then we headed into the fields behind the property.

  “Are you OK?” I asked him.

  “Yes and no, to be honest I feel strange, I don’t know how else to describe it. But I think I need to stop being on my own so much now. I need to mingle and try and get my personality back.”

  “I think that would do you the world of good.”

  “Would you come out with me?”

  “Where?”

  “I don’t know. We could go for a meal or to a pub one night if you like? We could go tonight if you’re not busy.”

  “Luke you know I can’t do things like that with you. I’m with Jackson, I won’t betray him.”

  “So leave him, you haven’t known him very long, you’ve not been a couple...”

  “I won’t do that, I’m sorry. He’s in my heart and I care for him so much, I love being around him and he cares about me...”

  “So do I!” he shouted. “Doesn’t that matter to you?”

  “Of course it does, but...”

  “He doesn’t care about you as much as I do!”

  “Rubbish, you can’t say that, you don’t even know him,” I snapped. “And he doesn’t want to change me! YOU DO!”

  “Not anymore...”
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  “Bullshit, you had a pop at us for being different only a few days ago. We’re not normal remember. Why would you want to be with someone like that? Someone who isn’t human?”

  “Because no matter what you are I can’t stop loving you!” he blurted out. “Every day I spent in that lab I thought of you. You were the only thing on my mind. I just wanted to get out of there and get back to you... thinking of you kept me sane.”

  “Luke, it’s been nine years; I know it didn’t seem that long to you... but to me... it felt even longer. I was heartbroken; I can’t begin to tell you just how upset I was. I spent a long time alone and eventually, it stopped hurting so much. There will always be a place in my heart for you... but I can’t be with you again.”

  “Do you still love me?”

  “Luke...”

  “Be honest,” he said, hope in his voice.

  “I’m sorry, but...I don’t...my heart belongs to someone else.”

  He turned away from me and I heard him taking deep breaths. “Are you in love with Jackson?”

  “I’m not answering that.”

  “Why?”

  “Because that’s none of your business.”

  “Please just answer me.”

  “No, I’m sorry, I won’t.”

  “Will you ever reconsider?”

  “No, I’m really sorry, I care about you I do; I always will and I wouldn’t ever see any harm come to you. I will be your friend forever... but nothing more.”

  “There’s absolutely nothing I can do?”

  “No Luke, there isn’t.”

  He didn’t speak again for a few minutes and I debated leaving him to his own thoughts again. But I didn’t want to leave him alone in case we were being watched. I didn’t know what to say to him to make him feel better. I didn’t like hurting him, but the last thing I wanted to do was give him false hope. I don’t agree with playing with peoples hearts. That is just plain cruel.

  “I think we should go back inside. It’s going to rain.” He said, walking away from me.

  “Luke... Luke...”

  “What?”

  “Can we be friends?”

  “I don’t know if I can be; you’ll have to give me some time.”