by Niranjan K
Perhaps it had been foolish of him to have assumed that since the Haspels didn’t blame him for it and since Ray was back to being human, they were all right with what he had done. Till Evelyn Haspel had come for him with a stake in her hand and murder in her heart, he had fooled himself. Perhaps Eve was simply acting on her own, and the words she spoke were only her feelings. Perhaps not. Which was one reason why he had come back. If the Haspels were conspiring against him, it would be better to keep an eye on them. It would also give Ray a chance to ask him to break the bond instead of sending others. Not that he had sent his sister, but he had asked Magnus.
Alistair sat down on his favourite armchair. Magnus had been very decisive. If he was not going to do as he was told, he faced exile. He should not expect any help from the vampire council. Alistair had never liked blackmail and he had never responded well to threats, so he had been angry and had kicked Magnus out of his house. Now that he had had time to think, he knew he had made a mistake. He had two courses left open to him. He could apologise to Magnus and break the bond, but that course didn’t appeal to him. Perhaps it was foolish, but he had his pride. The other course was to defy Magnus and forego the community of his kind. That too didn’t appeal to him.
If Ray were to ask him, though, he could break the bond, and Ray would go back and find the rogue vampire and Magnus would know that he had done what was needed and everything would be all right. Vampires, for all their longevity, didn’t hold grudges. All would be well.
If Ray asked him.
He looked out the window at the sun going down. He could go out to hunt, find some drunk tourist or local, or he could make do with the refrigerated blood he always carried with him. He could also visit Ned. The visiting hours at the hospital would be over now, and Ned was probably asleep. Perhaps he could go to the Haspels’ house and meet Daphne. It was just across the street after all.
Alistair had never thought of himself as a coward, but he was beginning to think that he was. He didn’t want to go there and know that Daphne, Ned, Dan and Anton probably shared Eve’s sentiments.
It had been such a shock when he had seen Eve there. He had fended off many an attack on his life, but it must have been the first time he had let his attacker leave unscathed. Anyone else he would have killed, and not lost sleep over it either, but he could not bring himself to kill Eve. Because when he looked at her, he still saw the girl she had been, he still saw her pain, and he had been there when Shane died and Nancy and Tate with him, and he had seen Eve’s devastation, and he had been sorry for her, that she was still carrying it, that she was still hurting and he had let her go with a threat to tell her mother.
He smiled to himself as he thought of her reaction to his threat. No wonder. Daphne was scary when she chose to be. He rose. He would go out to hunt. He needed a distraction. Because it really did hurt to think Ned and Daphne might hate him. They had been friends for so long, and he had helped them, and… he sighed. He shouldn’t have trusted humans, and hunters at that. He shouldn’t have got emotionally attached to them.
His thoughts were interrupted by the doorbell. He frowned. Who could it be? No one knew he was coming. No one except the man he paid to keep the house in repair. But he had already met him. So, who could it be? He went to the door, cautious. He had already been ambushed once. He wasn’t going to be again. It smelled like Daphne, but her blood type was fairly common, and he had forgotten the rhythm of her heart and breathing, just like he had Ned's.
“Alistair?” Daphne sounded impatient. “Is it you in there?” He opened the door. She stood there, tired, but the smile she gave him was warm and reached her eyes. “It is you,” she smiled as she stepped forward and hugged him. “Welcome back home,”
It was as if a huge weight was lifted off his soul. He felt light, free as he hugged her back. “Thank you,” he said, unable to keep the emotion from his voice.
“I’m happy you’re back.” she said, letting him go, but still keeping her hands on his arms. “Ned would be glad too. We’ve missed you.”
“I missed you too.” he said. “But I thought it best if I stayed away, at least for a while.”
“You know none of us blame you for what happened to Ray.” she said.
“I know.” he said, avoiding her eyes. “I just reached, so things aren’t… I can’t even offer you a drink, but do come in, Daphne. You look tired.”
“I was in the hospital since… I thought I should have a night’s sleep before I keel over too.”
“Good decision.” he said. “How’s Ned?”
She shook her head. “Not good… his heart… it’s too far gone to operate or treat with medicines… so they’re allowing him to come home… the kids think… I haven’t told them… how do I tell them when...”
“When you haven’t accepted it yourself.” he said softly, understanding.
He didn’t want to think of Ned dying. He didn’t come home to lose his friend. He wouldn’t think of it now. Now, Daphne needed him, and he could be there for her,
He hugged her. “You’ll find a way.” he said.
Perhaps it wasn’t the best thing to say, but she relaxed and sighed. “I have to, somehow… I just… I don’t know what I’ll do without him...”
There was nothing he could say to make it easier, and so he stayed silent. He could let her grieve without guilt or judgement, something humans were so bad at. It was all he had to offer his friend, and he hoped it would be enough.
She drew a shuddering breath and wept.
Chapter Nine
Ray couldn’t sleep. Perhaps it was being here after so many years. Perhaps it was worry about Dad. Perhaps it was his body trying to adjust to the new time zone. Perhaps it was the rogue vampire he was supposed to be hunting. Perhaps it was all of that. He just couldn’t sleep, and he needed to. He could feel his own exhaustion. At times like this, he could feel it in the recesses of his mind, the bond with Alistair, like a buzzing in the back of his head, something that was hardly noticeable till he paid attention.
It wasn’t doing anything. Alistair wasn’t doing anything with it as he used to when Ray was still a vampire. At that time, the bond was a tether, connecting him to his sire, and Alistair always knew where Ray was, even though he kept his end closed so Ray never knew if Alistair would be home or not. It was as if, after making him a vampire, Alistair wasn’t interested in him anymore. Not that Ray could blame him, after what he had done. Ray had lived in his house and his needs had been provided for, but Alistair and he had rarely seen each other for almost seven years, before Alistair had come home one weekend and had declared he had enough travel.
Ray tried not to think of it all, of learning to hunt for the first time, of realising how much he had missed Alistair, of realising he was falling all over again in the three years Alistair and he stayed in the same house. The bond had felt like a real connection, something that only the two of them shared. Alistair used to tell him about his past, though that was so far back and on earth. Ray had lapped up all those stories, loved it that Alistair was sharing parts of himself.
And all the while, he had been working on betraying him.
I ought to be grateful.
Ray gave his pillow a thump. Stupid thing. Stupid him, still pining after the vampire who didn’t even want him when he was a vampire. He hoped Magnus would succeed in persuading Alistair to break the bond. It wasn’t anything, it never did anything, but it still was a painful reminder of his stupidity and he didn’t want it any more. It felt foreign, as if it didn't belong, and it didn't. He was a human, and the bond was for vampires. It was best to let it go.
He sat up on the bed, giving up on the attempt to sleep. Before leaving, he had called Magnus and had told him to contact Grimes and have him send everything he had to him. Perhaps he could still work on the case. He turned on the lights and went to his old desk. It was the desk on which he used to do his homework and Alistair had got him a similar one because though he was a vampire, Ray was still in school
and there had been no conceivable reason to drop out.
Why was even the stuff in his old room reminding him of Alistair? He needed to get a life, date, be like everyone else. This obsession couldn’t be healthy. Sex with strangers definitely wasn’t. Refusing to form real connections was a recipe for disaster. Staying away from his family was not the best idea.
Except there was a part of him that couldn’t forgive them for turning him human again. He knew it, even when he knew that never again would he choose to be a vampire. It was only after losing it that he realised how much being human had meant to him, how much being a hunter and a Haspel had meant to him, how much each and every member of his family had meant to him.
And now he had all of that back. He should be more grateful.
Enough with the past.
He plugged in his computer, switched it on and waited for it to start up, stretching in his chair. It wasn’t unheard of, vampires killing their sires, but it was rare. The bond could be manipulated from both ends after a few centuries. Any vampire could learn to shut it down. Finding a vampire through the bond wasn’t the easiest way, so why would the rogue have killed the one who had turned him?
I will know when I find him.
He opened his mail, and the attachments Magnus had sent him. There was the list of witnesses, witness interviews, more photographs of the victims, and of the crime scenes, the layouts of the rooms, the buildings, and Grimes’ conclusions. Ray went through the statements first. There were enough similarities in the statements and enough common points to make Grimes’ conclusion that it was a rogue vampire credible, though none of the victims had been drained of blood. There were bite marks on their necks though, as if a feral animal had just ripped their throat out. Even a first glance at the photographs was enough to indicate that the killings were the work of vampires.
They look like revenge kills.
Except the victims had nothing in common. They came from different parts of the city, worked at jobs that had no connection to one another, had no common acquaintances, didn’t have the same sexual orientation or relationship status or gender, didn’t even drink at the same pub. Revenge kills weren’t uncommon either, especially when vampires were newly turned. Whatever grudge they held as humans didn’t go away as a vampire and the length of the transition process and the pain of it caused them to be almost feral. That was why the sire bond was so important. It kept that part of them in check till the phase passed.
Had the vampire killed his sire while in that phase and went on a killing spree, killing whoever they held grudges against? It was also possible that they were a psychopath. Mental illnesses didn’t go away when one became a vampire. Only physical illnesses were cured. So, it was likely that a human psychopath was turned and had done all this.
Ray read through the witness statements again, making notes, comparing, contrasting. More than the mystery of who the vampire was, there was the mystery of how he had gained egress to the houses of the victims. They would have needed to invite him in. Grimes had thought that he was someone familiar to them, but Surrey had put a question mark in the margin and had written, “check for delivery boys.”
That of course was a needle in a haystack, but it was more likely. Food delivery boys were often invited in while the customers went to get the money. Grimes had had it checked, though and the same outlet didn’t service the victims. Not even the same company outlet. So, unless the vampire fooled all the different outlets into believing he worked for them, had tricked the phone companies into tapping the victims’ phones in the hope that they would order food, it was an impossibility.
It was a long shot anyway.
He checked the deeds to the places, and the leases just to be certain. Sometimes the houses were owned by vampires or the owner would be dead and his family wouldn’t have bothered to get the name in the title changed or there would be no valid leases, but in this case, all the victims held titles or leases, so that was a dead end too.
Something was niggling at the back of his mind, but he was too tired to pay attention. There was something here, but the words on the screen were starting to jumble and he yawned. He needed to sleep. He turned on the computer and went to bed, looking out of the window at Alistair’s house, almost like a reflex. He stopped as he saw the light flickering behind the curtains. The house was occupied.
It could be nothing. Alistair had often talked of selling the house. Owning real estate was problematic for vampires. People could start getting curious, could start digging. An overzealous city clerk was all it took sometimes. It was possible Alistair had sold the house. Perhaps they had been away which was why there was no one there earlier. Or perhaps he had just assumed it was unoccupied based on the closed door and windows.
“Fuck!” Ray muttered.
His sleep was gone. He turned back to the computer again. At least he could get some work done. The whole thing didn’t make much sense. The fact that no one saw or heard anything and that they were all asleep without any awareness of what was happening indicated a vampire who was old enough to have mastered his abilities. And yet, his actions seemed to belong to a young one in the feral phase. Older ones would have hidden their kills. Unless… unless it was deliberate. The savagery of the murders and the openness. He could have been sending a message to the community and the council. If so, why? Nothing made any sense.
He got up and went to the window again. Should he? Did he want to? What if it was Alistair?
Do I want to see him again?
He snorted in derision. That was an easy question to answer, wasn’t it? He went back to the computer. He would probably feel shitty in the morning and Dad might be worried, but going back to bed wasn’t going to help either. It had been years since Ray had had a sleepless night. It was no big deal, though.
The victims. The crime scenes. The witnesses. The police reports. The autopsy reports. There was something he was missing. Something important, but he just could not put his finger on it.
“Fuck it all.” he muttered.
Chapter Ten
It was the banging on the door that woke him.
“Ray! Aren’t you up yet?” Anton sounded impatient and exasperated. “We’ve to go to the hospital in 30 minutes. Ray!”
“’kay,” he mumbled, wincing as he sat up. He had fallen asleep at his computer. He shook his head and rotated his neck and stood up to stretch. “I’ll be there in a minute.”
“You better be.” Anton said and the banging stopped.
Ray yawned, rotating his neck again. He couldn’t remember at what time he’d fallen asleep. He checked his phone and saw that it was almost 9. The visiting hours started at 10. Everyone must be eager to get to the hospital by then. As much as he wanted to see Dad, he dreaded it as well. He wasn’t certain what to expect, but he knew he would be gutted if he were to see even a hint of disappointment.
He was out of the room, showered and ready within 20 minutes.
“Had breakfast?” Mom asked.
“Not hungry.” he said, which was true.
“Have some juice at least.” she said, pouring it for him.
He accepted the glass and the two slices of toast that she handed to him. She used to do this whenever anyone said they weren’t hungry.
“The traffic might be killer at this hour,” Anton said. “We may be late.”
“It’s not the end of the world if we’re a few minutes late, Anton.” Mom said. “Let Ray finish his breakfast.” She paused. “I’ll be going with Alistair.”
Ray choked and coughed and Eve started thumping him between the shoulder blades, her voice shocked as she asked. “Alistair?”
“He’s back.” Mom said. “And I know Ned would love to see him. We’ve missed him.”
Ray’s fit of coughing was over, but he couldn’t speak. He could hear the others speaking and his mind registered the words, but nothing made any sense.
“Is he going to stay long?” Anton asked. “Because I would love to introduce Bruce to hi
m. He never believed it when I said I knew Alistair.”
“Anton!” Eve looked angry and upset. “What the hell! It’s not as if he’s a movie star.”
“He’s one of the oldest vampires.” Anton said. “He’s famous among hunters. What’s your problem?”
“Are we just going to stand here and pretend that he didn’t turn Ray?” Eve demanded, her voice shaking. “How can you all… he’s not our friend! He’s the enemy!”
“That’s enough, Eve!” Mom said, her voice sharp, at which point Ray’s faculty for speech returned.
“That was my fault, Eve. If you must blame someone, blame me. I went to him. That was on me.”
It hurt to say the words and he deliberately kept his gaze down, not daring to look at them and see the disappointment, the hurt, the pity in their eyes.
“You were sixteen!” Eve said. “You didn’t know any better!”
“I’m a Haspel for god’s sake!” Ray said, impatiently. “I knew enough, Eve. We all did, even Shane. So, don’t hide behind my age which had nothing to do with it, okay? I chose it; it was me.” He paused and looked at his mother. “I’m glad you’re still friends with him, Mom, you and Dad. He’s one of your oldest friends. It was my fault, anyway.”
“No one’s faulting you, Ray,” Mom said softly. “No one, do you hear me? You’re the only one blaming yourself. It wasn’t your fault, and it certainly wasn’t Alistair’s. It was a combination of circumstances… but Ned and I always felt it was our fault that you felt you couldn’t come to us with the things that were bothering you.”
Ray wanted to scream. It was no one else’s fault? Why couldn’t anyone understand that he was to blame? He wanted to be with Alistair. That was the long and short of it.
“We only ever blamed ourselves.” she said. “I was… reeling, and coping after Shane’s death, and... Ned was coping in his own way, and we also had to be there for Larry and Pen because they lost their children, and Dan was busy looking after Anton, and Eve was grieving and … we none of us had time for you… you lost your twin and none of us had time for you...”
