The Man Behind the Vampire (The Silver Series)

by Samantha Bates

  "I know him from a long time ago, he was a fierce warrior with no morals and he would kill you at will" again she laughed at him, he was becoming exasperated, no one dared laugh at him.

  "You are mistaken." Although the night was cool, she didn’t seem cold, in fact if anything she looked warm.

  "If I am mistaken, why has he brought you somewhere guarded by vampires and wolves, with cameras on the gates? No-one can get in or out unless invited."

  "You managed to get in. Darius brought me here because it is safe; it is a safe haven for humans injured by other species. It is somewhere to recuperate, I have only been here for one night but so far everyone has treated me with respect, which hasn’t happened for a long time" he heard her wistful sigh, saw her shoulder slump slightly.

  "Who injured you?" there was something compelling about this woman.

  "Why does it matter?"

  He didn’t know why but it did, "because it does."

  "I work the streets; you could consider it an occupational hazard." Ah so that was how she knew Darius, he would take to someone who worked the streets.

  "It still matters" now it mattered even more.

  Although he couldn’t see her, he knew she had closed her eyes, "a warlock, tall and big, I remembered he had a big scar over his eye and a beard, a long beard, he smelled of the sea, I just remember thinking he smelled of the sea and oil, an odd combination. One minute we were in the motel, the next he was gone and I was bleeding. In my head I was trying to move myself, scared that if other's found me I would be dead by morning. My friend found me after seeing him leave and I was still in the room, she took me home. That was three weeks ago."

  He was angry, no he was furious, trying to keep the anger out of his voice "why are you still injured if you were at home for three weeks? Surely you should be getting better" was there something else wrong with her, something more serious?

  This time there was pain in her laughter, he didn’t like the sound of it, or the sniffling of tears that followed it "I still had to earn my keep, it doesn’t matter how injured you are, Carlos wants his cut. Any way it doesn’t matter now, apparently I can stay here as long as I need to. For the first time in a long time I feel safe, well sort of, I think it will take some getting used to."

  "So Darius and the other man, they didn’t hurt you, are you sure?" it didn’t fit, there had to be something else going on, maybe they would come back for her.

  "If I promised to take you somewhere safe would you leave with me?" He didn’t think she would, but he would find her somewhere away from all of this, he had houses in several countries, maybe one of those would be safe enough.

  "No I feel safe enough here, but thank you" he saw her try to move her foot to swing the chair, he knew it would hurt, stepping out of the bushes he swung it gently, she took a deep breath.

  "You smell lovely, masculine and strong, it's nice." He stopped and stared at the back of this stranger’s head.

  "I have to go; can I come and check on you tomorrow night?"

  "It depends, are you going to hurt the people here?" he could hear the tiredness in her voice.

  "Not unless they hurt you."

  "What about Darius?"

  "Please don’t concern yourself with that, we have unfinished business that’s all. I can't leave with you out here. Will you go inside and rest please?"

  "Don’t worry all I have to do is press this and someone will come bring me inside" she lifted her hand and he saw a small box in it,

  "You haven’t pressed it yet?" even he could hear the surprise in his voice.

  "You haven’t given me reason to, I trust Darius and if you know him I trust you" what the hell?

  "I could be his worst enemy" he was his worst enemy, one deadly to know, yet she trusted him, just from association. Her short hair was blowing in the breeze.

  "Ah so you could. But you said you have known him a long time and you would have to know he is one of the most caring people there is and if you know this about him then how could you be his enemy? Before you leave, what is your name?"

  What to tell her, he gave her the one closest to the truth, "Paulo and yours lovely lady?"

  Her laughter tinkled in his ears "lovely lady, I don’t think I have ever been called that, Leila, my name is Leila."

  He left when he heard footsteps in the distance, but he heard her name Leila, lovely Leila. It was time to leave, but he would be back, he now had several things to do tonight but he was thorough and fast when he needed to be.

  Heading into the night, he changed his plans. Now he would only make a brief stop at the apartment over the shop; he wouldn’t have time to linger. When he arrived it didn’t take him long to see it was deserted, giving him time to move on to the new part of his plan.

  He knew where the apartment block was where they carried Leila out of; he just had to work out which apartment it was. He approached some homeless man asking him for Carlos, the man laughed and informed him that Carlos best worker was out of commission, but Adam on floor 3 had some new skin. Eventually after handing him a twenty the man had told him to check the fifth floor and gave a description of Carlos. The best worker, the one out of commission must be Leila.

  Watching the entrance for an hour yielded nothing more than some wayward youths who clearly thought they were the top dogs. Slipping in behind them he was assaulted by the smells, his stomach recoiled, smells had always seemed to affect his senses and this one was not good. Closing his eyes he forced away the revulsion and moved up the stairs, sticking to the inner walls without touching them. On the fifth floor he listened to the blaring music coming from three doors, waiting and watching.

  A man in a suit left an apartment with a man who seemed to be offering him protection, a huge black dude carrying a knife in his hand. He watched as the black man returned, calling to Carlos as he entered, excellent that saved him some time.

  There was no music in this apartment, turning the door handle he found it locked; removing his tool belt it took him less than 10 seconds to get into the apartment. It was disgusting, worse than the stairwell. Slipping into the place, he took his time listening, checked the kitchen on the way through, it was empty but rank, no wonder Leila didn’t get better she probably got sicker in here. Hearing movement from the door opposite he ducked round the corner, knife in hand.

  "Hey Carlos, now that Leila isn’t here can I use her blue sequinned top?" it was a females voice, he could hear from the rasp in her voice that she was smoker.

  "No you fucking can't if she returns she will want that top, for some reason the crazy bitch refused to wear it when working, but she will go ape if it’s missing." He could hear the annoyance in the man's voice.

  Another male joined the conversation but his voice was moving, heading this way. Sliding behind the door, he waited until the man entered the kitchen; slipping out behind him he grabbed him round the throat and pressed on his pressure points until he lost consciousness. He was a big guy, but human, so weak compared to him, he moved the man so he was behind the door.

  The girl came in next, heels clipping on the worn linoleum; her eyes widened at the scene in front of her, grabbing her round the mouth before she screamed he lifted her.

  "If you leave without making a sound, in five minutes I will bring you $1000 cash. Just wait outside the door, okay" she nodded, slowly he removed his hand. He wasn’t too worried about her seeing him; he had his hood low, a high necked jacket and different coloured contacts. Slipping the cash from his pocket, he peeled off $500 and watched as she slipped out of the apartment. When you treated people like dirt, there was no loyalty. He knew Carlos was now alone, he would be able to hear if there was another heart beating in the other rooms.

  "You must be Carlos" the man jumped back, he was surprised at how weedy he looked, clearly Mexican, short and thin, maybe he was stronger than he looked although he doubted it.

  "You have 30 seconds to get me Leila's things" Carlos complied too quickly although wasn’t happy abou
t it. Following him into another room, Carlos pulled a bag from under the bed, and held it out to him.

  "I thought it would be Darius, the asshole, but I see he was too chicken to return" he was watching every movement Carlos made.

  "Open it and add the blue top. You do realise that working her when she was so badly injured will make her recovery longer?" Carlos shrugged.

  "Look a mans gotta eat, she knows how it is." Adding the blue top, Carlos zipped it up and then threw it at him, expecting him to reach out and catch the falling bag. Carlos was not a clever man; he pulled the knife from a draw and tried to aim at his heart. When it missed Carlos saw his error and jumped towards the bed.

  Bored, he ended it by throwing Carlos his knife back, only his aim was better, hitting Carlos directly in the heart. He waited until he dropped and looked around for anything that might be Leila's, he found a photo at the bottom of a drawer, it had to be Leila as a child. A further check yielded a gold chain sellotaped to the back of a drawer. Adding it to the bag, he found the woman outside, he handed her a wad of notes, knowing it was more than the $500 he promised but it didn’t matter.

  "Wait 30 minutes before calling the cops." With that he left. It didn’t take long to get to the docks. After securing the bag in the boot of the car he took a walk, by dawn he still hadn’t found the bearded man but he had found the boat he worked on. There was always tomorrow night.

  Chapter 11

  Darius had indeed taken her home, waited the hour it took for her to shower and get ready, all without complaining. Picking what to wear had taken her the longest, eventually settling with a long black skirt and chiffon red blouse. Rather than make a comment about her weight or how long she had taken, he had actually complimented her, but added his preference for a shorter skirt making her laugh.

  And now they were sat in a lovely Italian restaurant, Darius had ordered the steak. Initially she had opted for a salad, until he sent the waiter away and informed her they would sit there until she had a substantial meal that would fill her up. He followed this with a comment about her not letting him fill her up. She blushed so hard; she called the waiter back and also ordered a steak just to provide a distraction. Darius was laughing by the time she finished ordering, although he stopped when she kicked him, before she herself started laughing.

  "I take it you are Darrell?" He nodded in response to her question, "why did you change your name?"

  "You need to read it to find out" he could tell her but something's he didn’t like talking about, something's he still couldn’t say out loud.

  "Your mother sounds lovely."

  He looked far away as he answered "she was, it didn’t matter what she did, she was always kind, caring and loved us all regardless of our faults."

  "Is she still alive?" he shook his head and she saw the pain in his eyes, "no she died a long time ago, anyway what do you have planned for next week?" Talk about diversion, she had only ever seen Darius when he was being charming and gorgeous. This was a new side to him.

  She accepted his changing the subject, "I have a new delivery arriving tomorrow and I have to prepare for the start of the University year. Students will need new books to get the through the semester, always a busy time" This prompted a discussion on their own, very different educations.

  By the end of the meal she was completely relaxed; she had actually been able to ignore the fact that Darius was a vampire. As soon as dinner was over he took her home, walked her into her kitchen and said goodnight. On the way out he kissed her chastely on the lips. Making a cup of a hot chocolate she climbed into bed to continue reading, it was all fascinating, he was enthralling, his life was intriguing.

  By the end of the year I was madly in love with Emily, and then father returned. Emily and I had started a slow courtship, one that maman approved of. On her days off we went walking, on my nights off she read to me and Charmaine. During the day I would help her with her chores. Slowly our feelings deepened until the day I took a brave step and kissed her. I had wanted to kiss her for weeks but was terrified. For all of my upbringing, I was relatively naïve about relationships. The kiss itself was okay, good even, albeit a bit hurried and wet. I think it must have been Emily's first kiss as well.

  Charmaine caught us and told everyone, we were both mortally embarrassed, but it prompted maman to talk to me about a woman's virtue, making a point to mention Emily's virtue and genteel upbringing. I didn’t need maman to tell me; I already knew that and if the circumstance had been different, I was not sure Emily would have looked twice at the son of a prostitute.

  We continued to spend time together, sitting by the nearby lake, walking into the castle; she wasn’t embarrassed to be seen with me. Occasionally she permitted me to kiss her, but only when there was no chance of getting caught. By this time I knew she had run away from England. The day after her father announced her betrothal to a man in his forties, she was on a boat.

  On the day she turned 18, we were married and she was so happy. It wasn’t a large ceremony, just a small one with the ladies and a few of the local people. The service was quick and to the point (the father there liked his ale and was quick to get away). We had a small party back at the house, we even received some presents, and it was lovely. I was so happy. Over the months I had been putting a little money aside, enough to get Ms Lilly to rent us one of the bigger rooms.

  The first night together was what I imagined happened for most people. Maybe it was even better than for most people. Looking back with amusement, I consider 45 seconds a bonus. Living in a brothel had at least given me some idea of what women liked and disliked.

  Ms Lilly had even taken me to one side and given me some tips, make sure Emily was relaxed, check she was wet enough, when I questioned how I would do this, I was so mortified at her reply, Ms Lilly wasn’t shy with showing her amusement at my mortified face. Maman and Ms Lilly took Emily up to the bed room to prepare her, I wasn’t sure what prepare meant but I wasn’t going to argue. I prepared myself by having another drink.

  When I went up to our new room, I was amazed to see candles lit on every surface, Emily was laid on the bed in a little slip, even picturing it now she looked lovely, her long brown hair tumbling round her shoulder's, a little cream slip shirt hanging off her shoulders. Taking a step into the room, I was ready and waiting, slipping off my trousers I walked forward, I could see her nervousness; shit even now I can remember my own.

  Bending to kiss her, she responded in a way she had never been able to do before, she opened her mouth and arms to let me in. Climbing onto the bed, I fumbled a little trying to follow Ms Lilly's advice. I would love to say that it was wonderful and magical but it wasn’t. It was quick and messy, awkward for both of us. Even then I knew I had a lot to learn, I was dogged in this learning.

  Two nights later, one of the errand boys returned with a message saying that father had returned and was on his way to Ms Lilly's to meet his new daughter in law. When he arrived somewhat drunk, I was surprised to see my father looking old. He declared himself impressed with my bride and then told us he was planning on staying. It was time for God to take second place to his family, I considering asking him whether God could have done this when we were children rather than adults, but didn’t think maman would appreciate it.

  I wasn’t convinced he would stay, but maman seemed sort of happy with it, not in the way she was happy with Edward, but still happy. Charmaine though was pleased. It lasted a week, I had been helping Claude on his farm more and more because he was getting old and needed someone stronger. I had returned to the house through the yard, planning on trying to clean myself up before finding Emily. I heard something to my right, a whimpering, thinking one of the ladies was in trouble I raced round the side of the house. What I found nearly floored me; father was pushing Emily against the wall, pulling at her dress. Her lovely dark hair was a mess, strands pulled out, a mark on her right check.

  Racing over, I pushed him to the ground, I still remember him looking up at m
e, looking me straight in the eye. I kicked him, a rage inside me welling up. Ignoring him and facing Emily, I helped her up and sent her inside to find maman.

  "Why?" I was furious, my own father, even now the thought is enough to make my blood boil.

  "What does it matter, you live with whores, just because she doesn’t sell herself she is no different from the others."

  I kicked him in the face, I think he was shocked, he just lay there. When maman came out, she pulled me away, crying she sent me inside, when she returned she returned alone. We didn’t see my father for several years. Emily however was terrified; she feared he would return when she was alone. Every time there was an unexplained noise she burst into tears.