by Tanja Neise
Only now did I realise that I, too, could be in danger. And again, the question of why Sally had been kidnapped rooted itself inside me. What did this woman have that someone else wanted? Was Dark wealthy and able to be blackmailed with Sally? In any case, Sally didn’t have enormous sums of money in the bank. At least, if I was to believe what she said. We had often talked about what we’d be able to afford if we were ever to make money. Also, it was partly very simple things that Sally wished for, which weren’t exactly typical for someone who was swimming in money.
Shortly after the elevator doors closed, I asked, “Robert?”
“Yes?” He looked at me, completely mindfully absent, as he too, had been lost in thought.
“Have you already informed the police? Are they already searching for her?” I had noticed that nobody had mentioned that yet. Not a single word!
“No, and for the time being we won’t be doing that either.” Robert said this with such force that I stopped for a moment because I had the feeling that I shouldn’t ask any more questions.
But that didn't last long, because a tsunami of questions was raging inside me. “Do you know why Sally was kidnapped yet?”
His eyes widened, just a little bit, but I had seen it clearly, and I was aware that he was lying, the next moment, when he simply answered, “No.”
“Aha.” Was all I said, but it was enough for him to realise that I’d detected his lie.
He objected: “I’m sorry. As soon as I know more, I’ll fill you in. But at this point, unfortunately, you’ll have to wait a little longer.” His words allowed no contradiction – that was immediately clear to me – nevertheless, I was glad he wasn’t telling me more lies. After all, we hardly knew each other, yet I had the feeling that he trusted me.
“Great!” I firmly drilled my index finger into his chest. “Never lie to me again.” Without giving him a second glance, I stepped out of the lift directly into the penthouse apartment when Mark and Tom, Sally's sons, came running towards me.
“Aunt Liv,” they chimed out, as if from one mouth, and the next moment I found myself in a hug with the two twelve-year-olds. They sobbed and clung to me like people drowning.
“Shh. Everything’s going to be alright, boys.” Helpless, I patted them on their backs. The twins had grown to be as tall as me now, for which reason I had to provide myself a little space, in order to get enough air before I looked into their eyes, seriously. “We’re going to get your mum back.” I sincerely hoped that Sally would be alive.
Robert Tensington
I'd never had a problem lying to others before, and I’d perfected the art of not getting caught. At least that's what I thought until just now. Olivia had seen through me the moment I looked into her eyes.
On the one hand it was nice that she could do that – that someone apparently knew me – on the other hand, it was a risk that I had to bear in mind for the future. For all purposes, who knew what would happen in the next hours.
She had no idea who I was or why she was special. Dark must have figured it out a long time ago because his instincts were extremely strong, his senses sharper than many others of his kind. He was some kind of a highly gifted bloodsucker. And he had kept it to himself. Why? Because of Sally? Because she was friends with Liv?
As soon as I caught him and we were in private, I would have to ask him to speak. Something wasn’t right there. Why hadn’t Dark tried to claim her for himself? He could seduce any human woman with ease. Liv would probably have fallen for him at some point.
When I imagined that, a rage clenched in my stomach that made me nauseous.
And now, here, with the two boys, with Dark's nephews, as I now knew, Liv was showing me another side of herself. A caring, loving side that made me even more attracted to her. Feelings were further complications, clearly. And there shouldn't have been any such complications. I wanted Liv from the first moment on, but in the meantime, I’d been putting my own principles to a hard test. Because I had only intended on possessing her body, however, in the meantime, my mind was thirsting for recognition from her, as a partner.
This was clearly going too far. And yet the prospect was promising just that – sweet joy. Annoyed at myself and the thoughts I was having, I shook my head as I stepped into the apartment. Me and a girlfriend, no, that wasn't to my taste at all. Or was it?
Marc and Tom were staring at me; their eyes were wide. Children still had very pronounced instincts and recognised danger, even if they were not open to it. One boy, the one wearing the Superman shirt, was standing in front of Liv as I approached. I couldn't resist an amused smile, but the child didn't return it. He stayed put and tried to make it clear to me where the line between me and him was.
“Hey guys, this is my boss, Mr Tensington.” Dark grabbed the two of them by the nape of the neck and pushed them forward, where they stood in front of me, quietly. They looked me in the eyes, not looking to the side, which showed a strong will. Genetically speaking, they had probably been blessed with it, assuming that Dark came from this very gene pool. Alphas who knew what was worth fighting for. Admirable, but inappropriate in my presence.
I looked each one of them in their grey eyes and said, “Your uncle and I, we’re going to get your mother back. You can count on us. As long as you stay here in my loft. I don't want you to leave the apartment. Do we have an understanding?” Because Dark was still holding the two, like a female dog holding her puppies, they had no choice but to nod. Nevertheless, one could see the slight defiance in the face of the one who’d already so courageously pushed himself in front of Liv. Secretly, I admired the little fighter's heart. Such lion courage was rare at this age. “Well, then we’ve got that clear. You will listen to Olivia and take care of her at the same time. I’m counting on you.”
The boys now nodded eagerly; I had obviously struck the right tone and appealed to their sense of honour. They would do anything for Liv even without my words, I knew that – it was clear. They were physically quite weak but I suspected that they would fight. That was more than I trusted most to do. Dark could be proud of his nephews.
From the corner of my eye, I could see how Liv had followed my speech and something inside me hoped that she’d liked it. This woman was slowly but surely driving me to some sort of obsession. Somehow, I was even beginning to like it, I noticed, in astonishment. Oh man, in the last few hours I’d been tumbling around in a true whirlwind of emotional chaos.
“Dark?”
“Yes?” He looked at me, questioningly.
“Departure in five minutes; we have to take advantage of the darkness.” Time was working tirelessly against us.
“Understood.” Dark disappeared into an adjacent room and the two boys followed him. They admired him. And I? I envied Dark for having a family, even if it was a mortal one.
Now I was alone with Liv, who was fascinated by the interior of my apartment, but when I approached her, wanting to whisk her up into my arms, the elevator doors opened and Spencer came in. Once again he was proving to be a troublemaker. The chauffeur was loaded with shopping bags. Since I hadn’t had any food in the house, good old Spencer had first had to be sent to the next supermarket. Liv took the bags from him, carried them into the open kitchen and inspected the contents. She was kind enough to realise that everything she’d ordered had been obtained. I secretly made a note of giving Spencer a raise. Olivia's satisfaction was reason enough for that.
“Then there's spaghetti Napoli afterwards. And a chocolate pudding for dessert. I’ll be able to cheer the boys up a little. It’ll soon be morning but at that age you're always hungry, aren’t you?” The smile didn't reach her eyes, yet she bravely held herself up in view of the situation, for which I had great respect. The concern for her friend was written all over her face.
Immediately, Liv started putting water in a pot and then put it on the stove. She seemed experienced and moved around my apartment as if she had always lived here. This also made me happy, and the small human part in me saw
her growing old with me at her side. Wait a minute! What was I actually thinking? ‘Never again’ was what I had once decided. Not in that way anyway; for a night, yes, but there shouldn’t be any more women in my life. People died faster than was good for the salvation of my soul. I could not endure that again.
“Thank you Spencer, you can call it a day.” The older man bowed slightly and went to the lift. He would stay close by, as always. Spencer was like a ghost; he was present, but no one really noticed him unless he wanted them to.
I hoped that he would withdraw this time, because the mission that Dark and I had to accomplish, we had to do alone. We did not need witnesses in this case.
I slowly moved towards Liv, wrapped my arms around her waist and stuck my nose in her hair. She smelled so wonderfully like apricots. Instantly, the tension disappeared from me as she leaned back against my body and caused a different kind of tension.
“Oh, Liv, you're playing with fire.” In order not to frighten her, I pulled my lower body back a bit from her, because the lust shot through my veins as if it were pure alcohol. I felt the need to snatch her from me and take her right here.
Smiling seductively, she turned to me and put her petite arms around my neck. “I know,” she whispered. These two words made me even hotter. Groaning, I put my lips to her mouth and our tongues danced together to the tune of a wild melody. She reached into my hair, held my head and kissed my mind into oblivion.
Breathless, I withdrew a few inches. “I love you!” What had I just said? And while I was still asking myself this question, a warm feeling spread through me. I had told the truth. I loved this little lady. Stunned, she looked at me and the smile she gave me afterwards made me happy, and she took hold of me again. Could it be that she loved me, too? Her smile had expressed it, but she didn’t know what I was. Who I was, and what I was capable of. I had to talk to her. But not now and not here. As soon as we had Sally back I would explain everything to her, and if she still wanted me then I’d bring the stars down from heaven for her if she wanted me to.
Anne Rumsfield
The prisoner was tied up in one of the cold storage facilities, where the thermostat hadn’t worked for a long time, and therefore had a normal room temperature. She hadn't had a chance to ask questions because I wasn't the type to talk to prisoners. Having said that, I didn't want and couldn't risk anything happening to Sally Michaels. At least nothing life-threatening. If the vampire didn't show up tonight, I’d have to interrogate the woman the following day. If not, I’d interrogate the vampire, which was much more my style.
There were dozens of ways to make him submissive, and I would get answers, I was sure of that. After all, my father's notes had to be good for something. They mentioned all the vulnerabilities that a vampire had and gave me some powerful tools. By now, two hours had passed and the sun would rise in about seventy minutes, which wouldn’t stop the bloodsucker, but would hinder it. If my father's research was correct, then the sense of smell of these individuals would be so strong that they could find their food sources anywhere. And the dark guy would definitely want to find his dinner, due to the lack of food that prevailed on Earth. If not, I would have to think of something else as a result. Either way, he belonged to me. A clatter directly behind me made me turn around. A rat crawled out from under an old iron pipe. The weapon with the silencer was in my hand so fast – the shot hitting the victim without hesitation – you might have thought you’d seen a robot sitting there instead of me, a darkly dressed woman who blended into the background. I was one of the best snipers in the unit, if not the best. It used to fill me with pride, but by now I knew it was due to my extraordinary cool, which always kept me calm and hardly ever drove my pulse above the resting pulse range of other people. Satisfied, I put the gun away when a vibration on my wrist stopped me. Expectantly, I stretched my muscles and a smile spread across my lips. The game had started, the motion detectors had been triggered, and I bet my little, bony arse that it wasn't an animal this time, at least not one of the usual kind. I skilfully swung myself on the struts up above, directly under the roof and let myself dangle down ten metres above the ground upside down, so I had my hands free to fire the two precision weapons. The years of practice on the parkour ground were useful to me now. My blood vessels were turning into sluggish ice; adrenaline was no longer shooting through them, because the guy could have detected that. My breath went flat and my concentration was intensified like never before. I was grateful for the excellent training I’d received over those countless months.
Olivia Morgan
The boys wolfed the spaghetti down as if they were on the verge of starvation. It was only four o'clock in the morning but they were as hungry as two bears. Just as I’d predicted. Finally, as they each sat on the large comfortable sofa with a bowl of chocolate pudding and stared at the TV with an empty look, I could see that the two boys’ worlds had been thrown off their hinges.
I sat down between the two and put one arm around each of them; they immediately cuddled up to me. They were just children, even if they seemed to be quite big, physically. The fear for their mother could be seen in their still far-too-young souls and I, too, could not escape its clutches. I comforted them.
Why had Sally been kidnapped?
What was special about this Dark guy? Was he really the uncle of Sally's sons? Strictly speaking, he was far too young. Her parents had been very old at the time of her birth and Dark was at least twenty years younger than his alleged sister. Theoretically, they couldn't have been related, at least not in that way. Sally's mother wouldn’t have been physically able to give life to a child at that old age. Something was not right about this story.
“Say, Tom, is Dark really your uncle? Your mum’s brother?” Tom raised his head and looked at me, his gaze revealing the inner conflict. He was obviously in a fix and still didn't want to lie to me. “You can tell me, I'm mixed up in all of this anyway.”
The small body collapsed and I immediately felt the weight of his head on my shoulder. “Yes, he is. But nobody’s supposed to know. I'm not allowed to talk about it.”
Aha, a family secret. Maybe he was the illegitimate child of Sally's father – the black sheep of the family, hence the name and the dark clothes. Nevertheless, it didn’t fit his age. Psychologically, the man presumably had a problem. He never laughed and was always dressed in dark clothes. Amateur psychology was wasted on me, I thought, sarcastically. Any idiot could have come to that conclusion.
The boys next to me must have fallen asleep because their breathing was sluggish and regular. Carefully, I peeled myself out of their embrace and placed each of them in a corner of the sofa. Unfortunately, there weren’t any blankets within reach, but I would find something to cover them up with, I thought. I curiously strolled into one of the adjacent rooms. It was a study; an antique lamp was still burning on the desk and gave the room sparse light. It was an extremely masculine room, dominated by dark woods and colours. I could very well imagine Robert sitting at the monstrous table and working on his laptop. As beautiful as it was in here, I still couldn't find a blanket, so I continued my search.
Behind the next door there was a bedroom, whether it was Robert’s, I couldn’t say, because I didn’t find anything personal in there. I couldn't find any blankets either, and I definitely didn't want to look for them in the cupboards, so I took the large cover from the bed and went back to the living room with it. Carefully, I spread the mountain of fabric over the boys.
The view from the window was phenomenal, but that didn't really distract me from my thoughts. Actually, I ought to have lain down for a little while, but I couldn't think of sleep, even with the best will in the world. New questions kept going round and round in my head. Why had Robert and Dark not informed the police? Where were the two men at that moment? Hopefully nothing would happen to either of them. I was clearly far too worried about Robert Tensington; I had to get out of that habit as soon as possible. My heart, however, was beating torturously at the t
hought of all the terrible things that could happen to him.
I turned away from the nocturnal panorama of Seattle and went back to the study, where I had just discovered a small library. Perhaps reading would help stop this constant ruminating.
Just like his company building office, Robert had a good selection of written works here. I ran my fingers devoutly along the spines of the books as I read the titles. There was at least one classic from every genre, but there was more modern fiction, too. Only wealthy people could afford books; all other people resorted to electronically recorded literature.
A very old-looking binding caught my eye. Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet was its hardly legible title. Carefully, so as not to damage the old book, I took it off the shelf and opened it. Several photographs slipped out and sailed to the ground. Frightened, I took a step back and hoped that I wouldn’t damage any of them. However, I’d been able to catch one of the photos. Robert was looking back at me, and yet it couldn’t be him. He was wearing a uniform that the English had worn during the Second World War, and it was clearly a very old, yellowed photograph. Nevertheless, the man in it looked exactly like Robert. Maybe it was one of his ancestors. The resemblance was astonishing.
When I bent down to pick up the other pictures, I held my breath as I grabbed the photo that was closest to me. It must have been taken in the eighties of the twentieth century. It was Robert in a mesh shirt, with a backcombed blonde on his arm. The woman was wearing neon-coloured clothes and was heavily made-up. The photo’s print date was on the back – 6th June, 1985. There was an intimacy between the two that I didn't like. Hey, what was wrong with me? I was looking at old pictures and getting jealous of some of Robert’s relatives? This was ridiculous!
