by C P Sennett
“Martin?”
“Yes,” came back his reply from under the sheets, weaker than I expected.
“We’re in a room now with heavy curtains drawn. You are safe, there isn’t any harmful light in the room so you can you come out.”
There was some movement from what looked like a giant monster made of blankets and covers as I had sat him down on the sofa bed.
“Oui…Sorry. I mean yes.” came the reply as the cloth pile came away to reveal the pale Frenchman. He looked pale even for a vampire I thought. His eyes were dark and sunken now and his pupils seemed slow to focus and adapt to the new surroundings.
“Is this sufficient?” I asked.
He nodded. “Thank you, where is this place?”
“Somewhere safe in Suffolk is all you need to know for now. We are where I said we would be. You’re safe and that’s all that matters.” I needed to be harder on Stone than I was on Fern and I needed to get things moving quickly.
He nodded and moved to sit more comfortably on the makeshift bed in the centre room. Then he rubbed at his eyes before adjusting a trainer on his right foot.
“Easy with the hands Martin. I don’t know you yet but I’ve helped you so far so as you know you owe me. You owe me answers!” I said leaning against the wall and close to the curtains.
“Ok.” he replied, putting up a hand as if to ask for a moment to compose himself.
A vampire composing himself in my room sounded wrong but I wasn’t going to let my guard down. He was bloody dangerous and I’d already seen how fast he could move.
“Martin, start talking.” I said.
He raised his hand again. “I can’t, I’m in enough trouble as it is.” he said, sounding as though he had been woken from a deep sleep. Which, I guess he had been in a way but that didn’t help me.
I clicked my fingers making two snapping noises. “Over here, focus on me.”
Again, he raised his hand either to dismiss me or to indicate he was having trouble doing much. Either way I didn’t have the patience for this. If people just did what they were asked first time, life would be a lot simpler.
“Stone, listen. My hand can get real twitchy here.” I said, before touching the bottom of the curtains where I had mysteriously run out of tape. “Very twitchy.”
Martin dived down the side of the sofa bed, pulling the duvet and some blankets back over his head. “No, no.” he added with instant clarity and fear in his voice.
“Then answer me, I’m not your councillor and I’m up against the clock here. I need some answers, a young girl’s life hangs in the balance.”
“I know, you pig.” he snapped. “I know.”
“Then tell me what’s happened?” I demanded.
He looked up from behind the bundle of covers at the side of the bed. I was aware that I hadn’t got a shield spell up or anything ready but I figured he would be suffering the ill effects of the daylight hours still, well I hoped but I wasn’t sure how serious they could be. It’s something common to all young vampires or newborns as they are called. I wasn’t sure the exact age of Martin Stone as a vampire and it does depend on other things. Who his maker was, what was his bloodline and a whole host of other factors but I was sure he wasn’t anything too old or powerful. Some bloodlines were more dangerous to tangle with than others and I was guessing here but he did actually seem fearful of the light.
Mr Stone was already rattled by the cleaner sent to take care of him earlier and now all I needed was for him to hurry the fuck up.
“Martin, come on.” I snapped clicking my fingers again to get him on point. “I’ve been wasting a lot of time trying to get info out of people lately so my patience is thin.”
“Ok, ok.” he snapped then muttering something in French. Something disrespectful I suspected.
He stood and leaned heavily on the bedroom wall. “I’ll tell you.” he said.
He then bit his bottom lip as he considered how to tell me the tale. Well that or what lie to serve me.
“I was approached by another of my kind to find a girl. I’m good at finding people and I was made into a vampire due to my contacts and loyalty among some of the criminal element in Colchester. I’ve worked the bars and clubs of Colchester for years unaware of the vampires’ presence. Then one night this blessing was given to me and I was turned.”
I nodded, “Another time for your story, I need the girl’s info only.” I reminded, pointing at him to hurry it along.
“I was given no choice in this second life but I cannot complain. It’s a good life in many ways.”
I cut in here again. “The girl Martin, the girl, tell me all about that.”
He scowled. “I provide information on people of note when asked. That’s all I do, is keep my ear to the ground. I’m an information source for my kind.”
Nothing like the Broker I thought as I doubt she dealt in kidnapped girls. Well, I hoped not!
Martin continued. “I was asked to find Tabitha, that is her name. All, I had to do was call in when I had found out where she could be reached.”
“By reached you mean snatched.”
He nodded, before adding “She was a nice girl. Some of my kind have specific tastes if you follow.” A look of almost shame flickering on his face. “Well that is why I thought they wanted her. We have our own code as well you know. We need to keep the Veil in place as much as you most of the time. So, we need to avoid deaths from people so drinking too much is bad for business. Most people we feed on we meet in clubs. The victims, they just put it down to a spiked drink or too much. There is no harm, really, if you think about it there is no harm.”
I didn’t agree but let him carry on.
“Most are awake when fed upon and have limited recollections of it. They wake up at home and for many, no foul, no foul.” he said making a pleading gesture with his hands.
I was tempted to pull him up on this but I had to get things moving. “Location Martin, where is Tabitha, who has her now.”
“No, you see wizard, this matters to your missing girl. You feed on chicken, cows and things and they die for you. We feed on people and they live. Who has committed the foul?”
I moved my hand by the curtains again, self-righteous prick. “Martin, the rights and wrongs of humanity or your kind I don’t give a shit about. The girl, that’s what I want and I’m not going to ask again.”
His sunken eyes looked me square in the face. “Whoever you are, you can’t help her. Let this pass by, let this blow over. This is my advice to you my friend, for saving me, this I give you in return.” he said as though he was doing me a favour, now I was getting annoyed.
Accusingly I pointed at him. “Blow over, what do you mean? I can help her and I’m going to. All you need to do is tell me where she is, that’s it. I’ll do the rest and remember you’re in enough shit as it is Martin. Your people, whoever is involved in this sent someone to kill you, remember. Do you remember your friend dead in the back garden? Whoever is behind this sent someone to clean this mess up and you Martin. You’re the loose end.”
He shook his head in defiance. “No, I helped them, I am valuable.”
“Then why was Paulo at your place? Think it through, just quickly. I am your lifeline here, your only friend in this world. The killer who was at your place is still out there and he has a contract to fulfil. We’ve also taken his van and you can bet he is pissed at that!”
Martin hit the mattress of the bed in frustration. “The girl, she is with the owner of the Valencia nightclub. A private members’ club in Colchester, its owner is Abby Oaks. It was her who wanted this girl, for what I do not know.”
Being honest I’m not the nightclub type these days. Also, the name of the club and its owner wasn’t familiar to me. The past Sentinel of Essex Wilfred Sonoman didn’t leave much in the way of notes when I took over from him. Also, copies of articles he submitted to the Order were left to me but they were sparse and thin on detail. Abby Oaks and the Valencia club I was sure were not in
them. “Where is the club?” I asked.
“It’s not somewhere you will find.”
“Well, I’ve got you Frenchie so I think you’re gonna tell me?”
He shook his head and swore in French, that much I understood. “You can’t get in without me and I can’t go back there as you’ve said. She will have security rip us apart even if I wasn’t wanted, if I took you.” he laughed before adding. “A magic wielder in her club, this simply cannot happen.”
“Why not?”
“It is forbidden, no outsiders, no. Just food and invited guests only.”
“You’re all heart you lot! So, invite me.”
“I’m not a member of this club.” he snarled.
“So, can Abby invite me? Tell me where she is and I’ll go get myself invited.”
He laughed, a genuine laugh as though what I had said was funny. “I don’t know where she lives and the club, it is a well-guarded place. You would be slaughtered.”
“If I am then that gets you off the hook and you can disappear off into the night. Where’s the club Martin? Remember this bitch, she put a hit out on you. She wants you gone, you’re a loose end so you don’t owe her anything, not a thing... However, you owe me and right now I also control the curtains.”
“Sir,” he pleaded, “You do not know how powerful she is.”
I shrugged. “She isn’t in charge of Essex, I know that and if she really mattered I would know her name, trust me.”
“Monsieur, she matters around here.”
Fuck it I thought, I can’t keep dancing with this guy. It’s time to turn the screw. I lifted the corner of the curtain up.
Stone jumped away from the light. It wasn’t bright but he moved quickly. He jumped to the opposite side of the room in an instant. “Fuck you, English pig!” he snarled.
“Martin, if this whole curtain comes down I light you up. It’s that simple… I’m not fucking about! I am the Sentinel for both Essex and Suffolk. I am Eddie Holt and now you’re all out of lives.” My hand snaked up high on the blanket and curtain combination with menace. “Tell me what I want to know now…3…2…1.”
Then, he squealed.
****
Driving away and against my better judgement I had to leave Stone at my place. There wasn’t much information for him to find out who I was and besides, I had already told him.
Stone didn’t have a phone with him and there wasn’t a working one in the bungalow. No internet and he could hardly walk outside and ask someone until it was dark. For now, it was just a giant box for him to hole up in but he was another piece that I had to consider later.
I took Paulo’s van back to Colchester with me. I needed to ditch it but also, I needed to get the Beast back.
I sped onwards, out of Woodbridge and on the dual carriageway then, keeping to a steady seventy as I made my way to Colchester. I would have gone faster but some idiot put average speed cameras in place…grumble, grumble.
I parked some streets away and I didn’t expect to see it there when or if I returned. However, it was out of the way and not too near where I had taken it from. Also, annoyingly, I left the weapons and stuff in the back of the vehicle as I didn’t have time to do anything with them.
Then, it was a five-minute jog to the Beast. Jogging, it’s so not my thing.
Assuming the directions Stone had given me were right then it shouldn’t take me too long to get there. These weren’t the big hitters of the Essex vampire world, that didn’t mean I should take them lightly though. I had a feeling, I wasn’t sure why, but I thought the big serpent creature was tied up in this somehow and I still needed to do something about him later. Even though Essex wasn’t my actual county I was still the current Sentinel for it.
Most towns take on a different vibe in the evening. Unlike a lot of Suffolk towns where the nightlight is more mid-range, so I am told. In Essex, everything has been dialled up a notch or ten and the reason for this is…vampires!
They run a lot of the clubs, some fronted by humans in the know and some by humans who don’t know their boss is a blood sucking monster. Still, they make good money and generally they keep their disputes in-house. This means they haven’t been too big a problem for me during the six months I’ve been covering Essex. The issue though, is the nearer to London you get, the bigger and more brazen they become.
Deeper into Colchester I went and as I got nearer to the River Colne I headed onto the industrial estate where Stone had told me the club was. I drove on with hardly anybody about. I figured it best to take a look during daylight hours and then decide on a plan of action.
As I drove, I approached the giant white warehouse. It was listed for sale and to let and it had been for ages. It does however get sold from time to time apparently. Just between vampire owned companies but its real use always remains the same. It’s a club, a place for the vamps to conduct their business and eat in private. Handy if you’ve sloppy table manners I guess.
From the outside, it looked like it could have been a fish market or some shoe warehouse. There was a range of bays with high roller style shuttered doors which were closed. No sign of a guard though which was interesting. Perhaps it was so secret that you didn’t need guards.
I wasn’t going to stop though. I wasn’t going to slow up either as I had no idea how many could be watching that I couldn’t see. I needed to think this through and do some reconnaissance. I needed to come back later and take a look when it was dark and things were just starting to happen. I could go in now but maybe nobody was home, except humans and I doubt they would know any of the good stuff.
Looking at what I knew from Martin, the person who owned the club had the girl somewhere.
Martin did find her but he didn’t take her. I considered my options and yeah, observation seemed the best plan for now. Also, I thought I should check in with Monika to see if anything had altered. Monika knew somehow the girl was going to be moved tonight, that much she had told me. What she didn’t know was where the girl actually was. Thankfully now with what Stone had shared with me I had a place now as well.
So, at the end of it all and for now things pointed to Abby Oaks. So, naturally, it was her I needed to sweat.
Though, to be on the safe side, I decided to call Monika and give her an update on what I knew.
CHAPTER 8
Monika wasn’t in agreement with my plan. Then again, she rarely was on the occasions I ran things by her. She paid me to get the job done and so long as it didn’t come back to bite her or her clients, she wasn’t too bothered about my methods. Occasionally, I couldn’t guarantee things not biting her clients but I did as much as I could to mitigate this. In truth I had often wondered how considerate some of her other ‘agents’ were. I suspect, not as bothered about collateral damage as I was.
When I had finished the call, I had some time to kill before I went door knocking.
I went to McDonalds and grabbed some food. Sad, I know, but I do like their chicken wraps. I killed time with a few coffees and then took a trip to St Botolph’s Priory. I was here out of curiosity as a note in the previous Sentinel’s paperwork had said he needed to investigate a spirit here. It was only a brief stay at the Priory as there were a lot of people around. On the positive side, I couldn’t find anything to substantiate spirit activities. In truth, it was just a great example of early Norman architecture and a nice place to visit.
By the time I had a good look around and read up on things of note at St Botolph’s it was approaching time to head back to my ride and get my tools ready for the night’s work. I didn’t want to hit the place too late. There would be more people about and possibly some older, more potent vampires. The ones with real power, the guys and girls you don’t want to mess with.
Oh joy, I thought as I pulled away and drove to where I needed to be.
****
I parked up, a street away and waited. I took out all the things I thought I would need from the hidden compartment in the boot of my Range Rover.
Humans go up in flames easily and leave charred corpses. Corpses that in turn leave questions with police possible media attention, not good. Vamps go up quickly and violently often burning down to ash. I had my staff and the Amulet of Toroco. I would have preferred my rope necklace but needs must. My ring and some silver and iron filings were in a plastic canister on my utility style belt. In truth, it’s a DIY belt I had customised a few years back.
I had a silver dagger as well. It’s a cruel looking thing, not because I am much good with it but it’s the silver in it I want. Most supernatural things don’t like silver weapons. Lycanthropes hate it as do other shapeshifters and it works well on vampires too. They can’t heal wounds from it so easily and vampires, not only are they fast but they recover fast as well.
Fire, sunlight or removing the head are the best ways. Silver is a good second choice. Also, being a dagger, this blade works well for scaring people. After all, humans and wizards don’t like the pointy end either. This blade, it’s a good old fashioned Turkish Bicaq and it’s a good focus for spells also.
I loaded up on everything and then flattened the back seats to give me some room to work as what I was about to attempt required some room. When things were good, I then set about trying to get a look at the Valencia club.
Astral Sense magic is something I’ve always been good at and it’s something often overlooked by many of my kind. It’s hard to learn and very hard to perfect as when it goes wrong it can go badly wrong but it’s helped me a lot over the years.
I sat with my legs crossed and bent forward like a dancer stretching. I had some time now as we were only just starting to lose the daylight and I could take my time and home in on the club with my magic. The range for this type of clairvoyance is short, no more than three or four hundred feet as the crow flies but with time you can really get a good look at what you want.
