by Emma Mills
Eva shook her head.
‘Don’t you kids get taught about stranger danger anymore?’
‘I feel so stupid. Of course we know. I’m the dull one at school… I… I just wanted a boyfriend and he was… he was, oh my god, what was he?… were they? I…I…’
‘She’s hyperventilating again,’ Eva said casually.
I got to it and calmed her down again. Her eyes went slightly glazed.
‘Cora, when he met you was he on his own?’ I asked.
She nodded.
‘He said we needed to drive to the restaurant, which I thought was a bit weird as there are so many nice places to eat in the city. I was a bit freaked out because he looked older and acted older than I expected… I mean it was more the way he dressed and acted. I suppose he could have been a teenager… I dunno…’
‘She’s rambling,’ Eva added. ‘Jump to it, I’m getting bored.’
I frowned at Eva and jiggled the hand a little.
‘So you walked to the car?’
‘Yes, something felt off, but I didn’t want to just go home and then have to tell my friends that I did nothing on New Year’s Eve. I’m so lame!’
‘Was the other vam… man there when you got to the car?’ I asked.
The girl paused.
‘I’m sorry I can’t remember. I don’t know. I remember seeing this sleek silver Merc and thinking how rich his family must be. We paused by the car and he looked right into my eyes and brushed my hair back from my face. I thought he was going to kiss me, and things get a bit fuzzy…’
‘He tranced her,’ Eva said.
‘Can you remember anything else? Anything they said in the car, or here?’ I asked.
‘He said he was sorry, he whispered it in my ear. That’s all…’ she started sobbing again.
‘Okay, let me take over now,’ Eva said, gently pushing in front of me. I sighed and let her do her thing.
With the girl still in a sleep trance we picked her up and carried her to Daniel’s car, which I had gone to fetch as Eva was wiping Cora’s memory and extracting the girl’s address. We drove her home in silence, each of us lost in our own thoughts. I woke the girl when we pulled up a couple of doors down from the girl’s house.
‘Hey, you’re home now,’ I said in a cheerful voice.
‘Er… who are you, what…?’
‘I’m Lottie, remember? We met in town when you dumped that loser… but then you tripped on the curb and banged your head. I called my mate and she came and picked us up. You should go and lie down. I think you might have a little concussion.’
The girl smiled at me, unsure, her smile widening when she looked out of the window and saw her home.
‘Thanks… and I’m sorry I don’t remember you,’ she said, climbing out of the car.
‘No probs… see you around, and don’t date anymore jerks,’ I said with a laugh.
We watched her walk to the front door on unsteady legs and waited until it closed safety behind her, before Eva put her foot down and we sped away.
After a quick pit-stop at the café-bar, with my hoodie pulled right up to hide my almost healed head, and rather off-putting gory hair; we returned home, just as the caterers were setting up in Daniel’s kitchen. I left Eva to the pleasantries and darted upstairs to get a much needed shower.
‘Jess!’ my friends chorused as I opened my bedroom door.
‘You’ve been a long time,’ Brittany asked, raising her eyebrow at me.
I paused, wondering how the hell she knew.
I shrugged.
‘Has you’re head healed?’ Susannah asked, with worried eyes.
‘Did Daniel ring?’ I asked, wondering if Sebastian had updated him.
Brittany shook her head and, reaching behind her back, pulled out her laptop. She spun it round and I could see the live feed from Paulo’s storage rooms.
‘You saw the whole thing?’ I asked.
‘Not quite,’ Susannah said. ‘Brittany was sure you were up to something, but at first she thought it was just that you wanted to see Sebastian.
‘It was about an hour after you’d left that it suddenly occurred to me that I hadn’t checked if my virus had worked. I told everyone about it and we decided we might as well do something useful while we waited for you to come back. At first all we could see was the girl tied to the post. We were discussing what we should do about it when you suddenly leapt into view. We could only just see you, and as you were pushed back we could see the other vampires attacking,’ Brittany said.
‘Of course Brittany was about to rush after you. I literally pulled her back across the room to watch the action on the laptop, just Eva started pulling those guys off you, and then we spotted Sebastian, so we knew you’d be fine,’ Susannah added.
‘It was frustrating because you kept going off camera, so all we could do was watch the poor girl get more terrified and then throw up. It was a relief when we saw Sebastian dragging two of them across the far edge of the screen and you two talking to the girl,’ Saffy said quietly.
‘Why didn’t you tell me?’ Brittany asked.
I could see she was upset and angry at the same time.
‘I’m sorry Brit. I honestly didn’t expect to find what I did. I was planning on grilling Paulo on his own, to get more details, and I knew he wouldn’t open up if I had you with me. I called Eva as soon as I realised something was going on… I knew I had back-up.’
‘So what happened? We saw Sebastian drag two of them away, but what happened to Paulo and the other guy?’ Saffy asked.
‘Paulo escaped, he made a run for it, and Eva beheaded the other,’ I said with a grin.
‘Ugh! That explains the vomit then,’ Saffy said, grimacing.
I went on to tell them the whole story and by the time I’d finished, Susannah had performed a little extra healing on my tender head and I’d finally had a shower, it was time to get ready for the party.
Chapter Six
The house looked fantastic. What had looked slightly amateurish in the daylight was transformed with the flickering red lightbulbs and a night sky, casting a gloomy, war-torn light through the house. Brittany, Susannah, Saffy, Caoimhe and I were all dressed in matching black combats and vests, our inspiration taken from a favourite book and movie series we had loved when we were just settling into our friendships, years before. We were Dauntless!
Eva being Eva and always finding a way to turn any costume theme sexy was dressed as Tank Girl, some weird retro cartoon character from when I was a kid. She looked pretty strange with itty-bitty denim shorts on, knee-length military punk boots, a black bra and a shredded white vest top. To finish the look she had a fluffy hat with kangaroo ears and a pair of flying goggles.
‘What are you supposed to be?’ Brittany asked, staring at the hat on Eva’s head as I smirked and bit my lip.
Eva scowled.
‘Are you actually telling me that none of you have heard of Tank Girl?’ she said.
We shook our heads.
‘I’ve heard the name, but just in passing,’ Susannah admitted.
‘Ugh! Go and look it up. Tank Girl is ten times more dauntless than your twenty-first century version,’ she said, shaking her head and marching off to order some poor catering girl around.
‘Did you feel that?’ I asked Brittany some time later, when we were sitting in the kitchen people watching. It was around ten o’clock and the house was getting crammed. Eva always invited extra people to her parties because she had a fear of them fizzling out, but everyone knew her parties were the best, so everyone always turned up!
She nodded and we both stood up and looked out of the window. In the first year I had become both a witch and a vampire we had applied serious security wards to the perimeter of the house, on the ground and in the air. It was like an invisible bubble that encompassed the entire property. It acted in two ways, firstly projecting an uninteresting vibe to any passing humans, and secondly it warned us of any approaching guests, invited or otherwise
. Tonight we had disabled the front of house ward, allowing party guests to come and go as they pleased, but we had kept the airspace and back garden wards active.
Looking out across the garden we could see nothing.
‘Should we put the floodlights on?’ Brittany asked.
I shook my head.
‘Not yet. Remember, there are quite a lot of regular humans here tonight and we don’t want them to see anything they shouldn’t.’
There was a sudden movement in the trees.
‘We should go outside and check it out,’ Brittany said.
‘Grab Caoimhe and Suze,’ I said. ‘Eva, if you can find her, and be quick.’
Moments later Brittany turned up with Susannah and Caoimhe.
‘Saffy was snogging the face off some poor human and Eva was deep in convo with Sebastian, who has just arrived.’
I nodded and we looked out into the night again. Another movement, this time closer. I opened the door and we slid out into the night.
‘You two go that way, Brit and I will go along this side and we’ll meet in the middle by the trees,’ I whispered.
We watched as Susannah and Caoimhe ran quietly along the opposite side of the garden, sticking to the shadows. We set off along our side.
‘The movement came from those bushes…’ I began.
‘Jess! Is that you?’ A male voice called out.
We ran into the trees towards the voice.
‘Luke! Leo! What happened?’ I asked, as Caoimhe and Susannah ran to join us.
Leo was supporting Luke, his arms wrapped around him, holding him up. Luke’s face was as pale as the moon above us, as he limped on one leg, holding the other off the ground.
‘Oh No! Luke,’ Caoimhe said, rushing forward.
‘Hey, it’s okay. Babe, I’m fine,’ he said gently.
But I could see he was not fine. My eyes spotted the things the others could not see in the gloom of the night. His thigh bone was jutting out through his jeans, the entire leg soaked with blood which I could smell strongly, and more blood was seeping through his top. I closed my eyes momentarily and forced myself to stop breathing.
‘Oh God! You’re bleeding… Jess he’s bleeding,’ Caoimhe said, panicking and holding her hand up to the moonlight.
‘It’s fine, Caoimhe, calm down. You’ve seen worse…’
‘But it’s Luke!’
‘I know, but you’re not helping. Let’s get him inside. Leo, let me lift him, okay?’
‘No bloody way, Jess! I’m not having a girl carry me!’ he laughed, but I watched as he tried to mask the pain.
‘You’ve got no choice, and I’m not a girl remember… I’m a vampire! So cut it out else I might decide to have a quick snack!’
I pushed Leo back and scooped Luke up in my arms like a doll, darting vampire style across the garden, leaving the others in my wake. I waited briefly for them to catch up.
‘We need to get you upstairs without anyone seeing, so hang on, right?’ I said.
He nodded.
‘Suze, will you unlock the windows up there for me?’ I asked as she ran up.
She nodded and muttered a spell. The windows above us popped open, she gestured with her hands and they flew wide.
‘Tell Eva and meet us up there,’ I said.
I bent my knees and jumped with Luke still in my arms. We landed gracefully, skimming over the window-ledge and into the room. I placed him gently on Brittany’s bed and surveyed his wounds.
Minutes later Eva and my friends sped into the room.
‘Where’s Daniel?’ Eva demanded, asking the question that had been on my lips ever since I found him.
‘Eva!’ Brittany said. ‘Give the guy a break.’
‘He’s okay. He wasn’t hurt. He saved me…’ Luke panted, struggling to breathe.
‘Enough… shhhh,’ I ordered him. ‘Leo can talk to Eva, and we need to get you healed.’
‘Okay, I want Saff to stay, but everyone else needs to leave the room,’ Susannah said, taking charge.
I glared at her for a second, feeling old possessive emotions rise up, but I knew she was the strongest healer in the room, and Saffy was best with earth magic. I nodded and linked my arm through Caoimhe’s.
‘He’ll be fine. He’s in the best hands, I promise.’
We followed Eva and Leo out of the room and gently shut the door. Sebastian was waiting for us.
‘I’m going back to Exodus,’ he said. ‘I need to keep an eye on things and get in contact with Connor and Daniel.’
Eva nodded.
‘Let me know if you need me,’ she said.
He glanced at me, as if wondering whether to say something. He smiled grimly and then left.
I turned on Leo. Leo was a human-born angel like Luke. Luke had met him nine years earlier when he had been seconded to the Angelic Guard in York. They had become friends, both sharing complicated romantic histories.
‘Leo, what happened?’ I asked. ‘Is Daniel coming home?’
He shook his head.
‘Not yet anyway. Every lead we found turned out to be a dead-end. It was like we were being played with. Daniel had this crazy idea that Connor had turned traitor, which is why he didn’t want you involved,’ he added, turning to Eva.
‘He’s not. Connor’s good and Sebastian trusts him,’ she said.
‘We’re not so sure, but he did turn up… so anyway, we found nothing. We were giving up and ready to come home. We were in this dodgy part of London where there’s loads of homeless people. Normally they’re pretty quiet, tend to keep out of your way, but tonight they were acting weird, aggressive… real in your face.’
‘But they couldn’t have attacked you like that?’ I interrupted, nodding towards Brittany’s room.
‘No… Daniel overheard one of them warning the others not to go near us. He asked why and this old man looked right in his eyes and said we know what you are. Daniel brushed it off and we’d turned round to go back the way we came, but they started following us, telling us we couldn’t take them, they wouldn’t stand for it. We knew then we had finally found something. It took ages for Daniel and Luke to calm them down and make them talk, but I think the older man began to trust them, so they started to tell us how a couple of weeks ago two kids were taken from the street. Most of the other tramps were asleep but this one guy saw them hunch over this boy and drag him away. Same thing happened the next night. Then nothing, until the last couple of nights when they came back again. He said they saw him feed from one woman and leave her dead, and last night they took another. It was like they didn’t care anymore. The new homeless lad tried to stop them but they shoved him away so hard they said his head crashed into the wall and he died too. The police said they’d send someone down, but they haven’t…
Eva looked at me. It seemed that whatever was happening in London was being replicated in Manchester.
‘What happened to Luke?’ Eva asked.
‘While we were talking to the homeless men four vampires attacked. We didn’t see them coming. One suddenly leapt into the middle, grabbed the old man and literally ripped his throat out. He dragged the body past the homeless and told them that was what they got for talking. We couldn’t do anything because we were busy fighting the other three.
‘But you and Luke have your lances?’ I queried.
If there was one weapon that could beat vampires it was the shimmering blue sword the Angelic Guard carried. Leo looked down.
‘Luke just didn’t get time to pull it out. Vampires are fast! And we haven’t had any trouble for years so I guess we just weren’t prepared. Daniel had called Connor before they turned up, to update him and tell him to join us, and when he arrived he did help fight, but by that time Luke was in a mess and Daniel was fighting off three vampires whilst I was trying to protect Luke from the other. When they saw Connor arrive they took off. It was weird. All but one of them escaped and Daniel sent me home with Luke.’
Leo looked shattered. He shook his head. ‘
It went so wrong, so fast. Honestly we had no idea, nothing all day, and then it exploded…’
‘Leo, thanks for bringing him home. You saved his life,’ Caoimhe whispered, tears in her eyes.
‘I’m so sorry I couldn’t do more.’
Brittany’s door opened and Saffy came out.
‘He’s fine, just resting. You can go in if you like,’ she said.
I stepped back to let Caoimhe past and hung back, waiting for Eva.
‘What do you think’s going on?’ I asked her, when we were alone.
‘It sounds like they are creating a rebellion, as Sebastian first thought. They obviously couldn’t round up enough support from existing vampires so they’re making more.’
She shrugged.
‘It’s actually not that worrying, now we know what they’re up to. New vampires will follow their orders, sure, but they’ve learnt nothing about how to survive. We’ll find them and put a stop to this easily.’
I nodded slowly.
‘There haven’t been any significant numbers of human disappearances recently though, have there?’
She shook her head.
‘No, nothing unusual. So they’ve obviously just taken a few homeless strays… it’s hardly an army!’
‘Do you think Daniel will be coming home?’
‘I don’t know Jess, but you’ve got to stop strangling him. Relationships don’t last forever, especially with our kind!’
‘Ten years ago you were the one that told me I was weird for not wanting to be permanently attached to Daniel, and now you’re telling me to let go?’ I said, feeling the emotions I’d been quashing for the past week stir inside my belly.
‘Yes Jess, I told you that ten years ago! You can’t expect him to be like you and want a human relationship. You stopped him from having a regular vampire attachment…’
‘Oh yeah I forgot, the kind where the vampire maker is the boss and the one he chooses basically acts like a sex-slave! Daniel would never want that! I wouldn’t have this if he regretted our relationship, would I?’ I stormed, holding up my left hand.
