A Bloody London Tale (Book 1): Unrest Rising

by Prichard, Cornelius

  “Jake?” I shook my head. “I’ve never met a vampire called Jake and I know a lot of them.”

  “Jake’s like Naomi. He wasn’t a part of the community until the riots and I think, from what Alison said, Jake’s been working with a vampire called Ben.”

  “That would explain it.” I smiled. I liked Ben, and I liked Liv, so Jake was in good company if they were the people he’d chosen to join. “The riots have brought a lot of vampires to London, brought a lot of vampires out into the open, and that’s why I think they’d been a success, mostly.”

  “You still want change?”

  “Of course. That’s never going to be something I don’t want, because we deserve equality, no matter what the majority of the human race think.” I reached out and squeezed Susie’s shoulder. “You know I don’t include you in that.”

  Grinning, she shook her head. “I know.”

  “Want a cup of tea?”

  “Sounds good.”

  As I walked into the kitchen I decided it was time to ask a question I hadn’t dared asked before, although I probably should have done. “Why do you keep coming here?”

  “I like you, Paul. You could have carried on walking when I was asking for an interview, but you chose to step forward and that is something I will never regret doing, because it gave me a chance to learn what it’s like to be a vampire from a vampire. Since then I’ve had a couple of others come to me, saying they’re willing to give an interview too. None of them will ever be the same. You were the one who showed me the truth and that’s something I’ll always be grateful for.”

  “Susie…”

  “Don’t. Maybe the majority of humans still don’t believe what you’ve said about being a vampire, but I do. You’re a better person than they will ever be, because you don’t hide. You don’t pretend that all vampires are good people. You don’t pretend there are some of your people out there hunting in the darkness, while the rest of you are fighting for equality, and I really do like that about you. Another vampire might stand there and say every vampire is a good person. You didn’t.”

  “Of course I didn’t. I know too many of the bastards who do what they believe is right - they’re the ones who hunt humans, who go into bars searching for someone they can bite, hoping that whoever it is will get so addicted to the sensation they go out hunting for someone to bite them.”

  “That really happens?”

  “Unfortunately, yes, it does. There are people who don’t dare leave their homes after sunset, because of their fear of vampires. There are people who ignore that, because they don’t think it’s possible a vampire will hurt then, and I have to admit it is very unlikely - but that doesn’t mean it will never happen. Some of the vampires I know have decided they’re happy to go out hunting as it’s the only way they’re going to be able to feed. I wish they hadn’t made that choice. At the same time I understand why they did. Humans who are willing to donate blood to vampires are very rare now, sadly, so we have to go looking for our food.”

  “What about Teresa?”

  “She’s a helper. I doubt either Lise or Jess will have ever fed from her, although, knowing Tree, she probably has offered, more than once, as vampires do need to feed regularly. Luckily another option is animal blood and if you happen to be close to a butcher who’s willing to help vampires that’s another option.”

  “What happens to vampires who don’t eat?”

  “They starve, like everyone else, although it’s different for vampires. We don’t need to eat every day. Every other day is enough to keep us full, but once we stop eating regularly… as a community we do our best to make certain that doesn’t happen. The London community of vampires isn’t huge though and we don’t all know each other. As you know some vampires don’t want to be part of the community and I honestly don’t blame them. The epidemic that happened ten years ago should never have happened. I think, once one vampire did it, the others joined in, because our numbers were dwindling at the time.”

  “Why?”

  “Are you interviewing me again?”

  “No, I’m just fascinated and we have some time tonight before I need to be out recording. They want me to start from midnight tonight.”

  “Why?”

  Susie laughed at me repeating her question. “They think it would be best for us to view the peak moment in from as many places as possible tonight, because so far there hasn’t been anything more than property damage and everyone knows that Olivia Mead has already been in touch with the shop owners who’ve been most affected.”

  “Without Liv we would have been rioting a long time ago. She was the one who kept trying to keep us strong when we were feeling at our lowest. At the most recent meeting it became obvious that even she didn’t believe what she was saying any longer, so that was when we decided we didn’t have any other choice.” Paul shrugged. “Sometimes I wish we did, because this wasn’t what we wanted, but when you know you’re not being listened to… when you see the one person who’s always believed she can convince the human race we should be given the equality we crave losing the will to keep fighting you know you have no other choice but to fight in any way you can. For us that led to these riots and they aren’t going to stop until the government starts making things better for us.”

  “Do you really think they can?”

  “I think they can try, Susie. Trying is better than nothing. Trying is what they were doing ten years ago. I remember they were offering money to anyone who was willing to keep their shops open for us and that was something we were all so grateful for, because it had been a long time since we had something like that.” I laughed. “Maybe it would have been better for them not to have tried in the beginning. If we’d never had that we never would have known what we were losing and then we wouldn’t have been rioting.”

  “At the time they didn’t have another option.”

  “True.” I remembered then I hadn’t answered her question. “Vampires numbers were dwindling ten years ago for two reasons. The first was the number of suicides, because a lot of vampires never wanted to be what they became, so those who felt it would be better to be dead than a vampire made the decision to step out into the sun.” I shuddered. The very thought of doing something like that was… I shook my head. “I don’t know how they could have done it, but they did. The other reason was the hunters. At the time we had much less human help and that made it easier for the hunters to catch us when we were sleeping.”

  Teresa

  Alison wanted me to meet Jake, so I went with her after the interview. It was a long time since I’d gone anywhere in a car and I made the most of it, because I didn’t think I’d be going anywhere in the car any time soon, because neither Lise or Jess could drive and it wouldn’t have mattered if they could as none of the car dealerships were open at night. “Jake… we haven’t seen a lot of each other in the last few weeks, because I’ve been busy at the studio and he’s been finding himself a place in the vampire community.”

  “That’s good.”

  She smiled. “I know. One year I tried to convince him to go to the winter solstice celebrations, but he told me he had nothing to celebrate. He never wanted to be a vampire, so why should he be there pretending that was what he wanted?” She shook her head. “Until recently he didn’t understand it had very little to do with celebrating being a vampire. It had to do with connecting again. I think part of the problem was his fear of meeting the person who changed him there.”

  I hadn’t wanted to ask how Jake had become a vampire, because I didn’t think it was a question I should ask his sister. Once I’d got to know him I’d ask him how he became a vampire. That was the polite way of doing things and he could then decide whether he wanted to tell me or not. Alison would have told me, that’s something I’m certain of, because she thought of me as a kindred spirit. When our eyes met I couldn’t help thinking the same thing. We’d been through similar experiences, so we knew what it was like for the other to go through the pain of
trying to look after a sibling who’d been changed, a sibling who’d been thrown out, a sibling who was just beginning to accept that being a vampire was something they could deal with.

  “Nay’s never been to one either. Lise and Jess took me a couple of times, so I have met a lot of vampires. Actually knowing them… it’s really hard to get to know a vampire. They have to really trust you before they’ll start opening up. It took me two very long years to convince them to talk to me.”

  “How long have you been working for them?”

  “Since I was fourteen. They didn’t know how old I was at the time, because it was easy enough for me to hide.” I shrugged. “In the end I had to tell them. It didn’t change anything. They still wanted to keep me on, because at the time I was dropping in a couple of times a week to take them the things they needed and collect shopping lists. Once that was done I was asked to leave. When I eventually proved myself to them, which took me much longer than I was expecting it to, they asked me to visit more often, asked me to do more things for them, got me to take one of Jess’ favourite dresses to the dry cleaner’s.” I couldn’t help laughing. “I think it was doing that, of all things, that made them certain they could trust me. I have no idea why.”

  “You took a much loved item, did what needed to be done, and then returned it. If I was a vampire I think I would have felt the same way. As a human I definitely would, because I don’t trust anyone to get my dry cleaning for me.” She grinned. “I didn’t even trust Jake. He’s my baby brother, so if there’s anyone I should be able to trust it’s him, but I didn’t.”

  “How old was Jake when he became a vampire?”

  “23, and he hasn’t aged a day. I’m 35 now and I’m beginning to think about asking him to change me, because death… it’s still far away, but that doesn’t mean I’m not scared of it. I hate the thought of leaving Jake alone.”

  “I feel the same way about Nay, which is why I’ve been trying so hard to make her a part of the vampire community. The last thing I want is for her to be alone when I die and that’s what will happen if she doesn’t accept she’s a vampire. Moving in with Lise and Jess, luckily, did seem to help a lot. If we hadn’t… I don’t think even the riots would have convinced her that she should become a part of the vampire community.”

  “Jake, for some reason, saw the riots as his chance to get involved. I remember there being a vampire… I’m not certain what his name was.” Alison bit her bottom lip. “Ben, maybe… I don’t know. All I know is Jake went out one night, telling me he was going for a walk, and that wasn’t long before the riots. When he got back he said he’d met a vampire and he was beginning to understand what I was telling him about the winter solstice celebration. He still didn’t go, even though I thought he would. It wasn’t until the studio rang me I realised he knew about the riots before they happened.”

  “Most vampires did. The word was spread and that’s the whole reason Lise didn’t go. Jess did. She wanted to make sure things didn’t get out of hand and when she saw the vampires were behaving the way she expected them to, she returned home. Lise was so happy, because she was worried about something happening to Jess. Both of them have gone out a couple of other times, taking food and drink to the other vampires, because they think it’s important for them to keep their strength up.”

  “Okay, I thought vampires could only drink blood.”

  “That is actually a myth. Vampires can eat normal food and a lot of the vampires I know love a good cheese and pickle sandwich, but it’s the blood that keeps their bodies working the way they need to be.” I shook my head. “It’s really hard to explain how vampire bodies work, because I don’t think the vampires know how they work either. One thing I know is it takes a lot more alcohol to get a vampire drunk than it does a human.”

  ***

  Being led into a strange house did worry me, until I saw the vampire at the kitchen table. He jumped up. “You’re Teresa.” He beamed at me as he bounced over. “I’ve heard such good things about you from Ben.”

  I racked my mind for a Ben I knew. “You know Liv’s Ben?”

  “Yeah, and I met Olivia today. Ben wanted me to meet her. I can’t believe I met the Olivia Mead.”

  That made everything easier for me. If Ben trusted Jake enough to introduce him to Liv then I was happy to trust him myself. “Liv’s a good person.”

  “When I told her you’d agreed to an interview with Ally you should have seen her face. She went from being pale, to laughing, to saying something like ‘That’s Tree for you’.”

  “Liv knows me well enough to understand why I made the decision I did.” I also understood why her first reaction was panic. If someone I cared about had decided to do something silly like go on the telly in the midst of the riots that would have been my first reaction as well. “Did you like her?”

  “Even though she was knackered she answered all of my questions. She actually answered some of the questions I didn’t know I had.”

  “Did she tell you she was changed at the same time you were?”

  Jake nodded. “Ben changed her.”

  I remembered hearing the story from Liv herself. A lot of vampires chose to talk to me, because Lise and Jess trusted me, which was nice. “What happened to you?”

  “There was a girl. She was gorgeous and I ended up in bed with her. There was no way for me to know she was a vampire.”

  “At the time we didn’t know vampires existed.”

  “Exactly. I couldn’t know to ask her if she was going to turn me into a vampire if I didn’t know that vampires existed and that’s exactly what she did. We used a condom, but…” He ran his tongue over his lips. “It was her condom. She must have put a hole in it, because I found out recently she changed a lot of us around the same time. Although I don’t know exactly how it would have worked she also changed a lot of girls as well.”

  “Oh, an equal opportunity changer.” I wasn’t going to go into the technicalities of how a female vampire could turn a female human. That was just too much. “I’ve met a couple of them and they know exactly what I think about them.”

  “I can’t believe you met Olivia Mead before I did.” Alison sat down at the table. “How can that have happened?”

  “Don’t worry, Ally. I’ll introduce you to her soon enough.”

  ***

  When I was a street away from home I heard a strange noise. It was nearly dawn and I knew I shouldn’t be out alone, but I wasn’t going to accept Jake’s offer to walk me home, not when I knew how close dawn was. Alison was already asleep and I wouldn’t let him wake her up, either. Normally I walked a lot. Normally I wasn’t out walking at nearly dawn during the riots, when an interview I did was put of the telly. Having my face disguised did help. There was no point in them hiding my voice, though, because people already knew it from when I rang the studio. I put my hand into my coat pocket, hunting for the knife Lise had convinced me to carry.

  At the same moment I found it the person who was following me jumped me. The only thing I could do, in the hope it would scare him off, was scream. Loudly. It startled him enough that he jumped, which gave me a chance to get the knife out, and I held it out, hoping I looked like the sort of person who’d use it. Instead he laughed at me. “You’re not going to use that, little girl.”

  “She might not, but I will.” I knew the voice and I wished I could work out why. “I have no problem with stabbing you when you just attacked a female walking alone.”

  “Traitor bitch.”

  “Oh, it’s one of you. How wonderful.” That voice was one I wasn’t expecting to hear and I looked up at the sky. “We’re okay, Tree. I’ve still got twenty minutes before I need to find shelter and I’m sure Lise won’t kick me out when I saved your life.”

  “I can save my own life, thank you very much.” I couldn’t help smiling as the man who’d been pinning me down was lifted off me. “I appreciate the help though.” That was when I found myself facing the owner of the first voice. “Susie!”
I smiled at her. “Alison’s told me so much about you.”

  “How did the interview go? I haven’t had a chance to see it yet, even though I wanted to.”

  “It was really good and then we went to talk with Jake.”

  “Ever since the beginning of the riots he’s bloomed apparently.”

  “Meeting Ben does that to people”

  “He knows Liv’s Ben?” Paul walked over to us. “That’s a surprise, but I don’t know why it is. Ben’s always been a gatherer of people who need guidance.”

  “And Liv hasn’t?”

  Paul shrugged. “You make a good point there.” He took my hand. “Now, let’s get you home, and then I can get some kip. It’s been a long night.”

  “What were you up to?”

  “Showing Susie all the places she needed to be recording.”

  As we walked I sighed. “Seriously?”

  “It’s time people knew the truth, Tree. We can’t hide things from them. They need to understand how hard things are for us.”

  “I know, but taking a human there…” I look at Susie. “I’m sure you can cope with it. We just do our very best to help them and as we don’t have any help ourselves…” Shrugging, I blinked away tears. I wasn’t certain if it was shock or the memory of seeing those places myself. It was probably a mix of both. “Vampires are lesser being, Susie, and they know it.”

  “If there is anything I can do I will do it.”

  “Thank you.” I took my key out of my bag. “Having people like you, and Alison, on our side, is a step in the right direction. Without the two of you…” I unlocked the door. “Without you I don’t think we’d stand a chance of convince the rest of the human race vampires deserve equality.”