He hadn’t been turned into a Vampire in the traditional manner, which made no sense. Surely, it was easy to bite a human, let them drink your blood? Why had they done it differently with him? Why go to all the extra trouble?
When a Vampire bit a human, the venom got into the blood stream. If the Vampires were feeding, they easily sucked it back out, but if it was for the purposes of turning—or they were new-born and had no idea what they were doing—then the venom triggered the first stage of the mutation. If a Vampire didn’t baptize an Infected with their blood, then the Infected would run wild, but if they did, then the victim’s body would go into lockdown as the venom worked its magic. A few days in a cold room, and then the new Vampire would wake up.
The Vampires at the facility had kept Nathan in a cold, dark room, from what he described of his cell. The reference the file kept making to the VV injection I could only presume referred to Vampire Venom. And I couldn’t be a hundred percent sure if he had been baptized with a Vampire’s blood, or if they had added some into the cocktail, but whatever they had done, they had definitely killed him and somehow made him a Vampire.
I couldn’t wrap my head around it, and the only person who might have the slightest clue as to what all this would mean was Heather—she was the only living Infected in the history of Vampires, so I was damn certain that the file that currently lay beside me would make far more sense to her. Besides, she was the only family member I could trust with this information, and could my mother get a hold of her? No. She had gone AWOL, which was worrying enough considering the last thing we knew was a Werewolf had shown up and given her some beyond-the-grave message from my aunt Sofia.
Now Nathan shows up as one of the undead, escaped from a facility that had had a run in with Wolves? Not to mention the word Were-gene had popped up in his file a couple of times. I wasn’t a scientist or a Werewolf expert, but I had an inkling that the Vampires were playing with Werewolf DNA. You had to love an obvious name for a substance.
Was all this a coincidence? I really would have loved to believe that, but when you grew up knowing monsters existed and you had your very own family psychic who drummed it into you that everything in life happened for a reason and fate was very real even if she was a bitch at times ... “What t’hell is going on?”
I couldn’t go to my mother and father with this information, and telling them about Nathan was a huge no. I couldn’t even process how my parents would react, but it wouldn’t be in a good way.
If I hadn’t already planned to go across to see Heather, well, Nathan had left me no other choice. I had to find my cousin in the hope that she might be able to shed some light on what the Vampires could have done to him. Problem was, would she be willing to help a boy she once knew now that he was a Vampire?
Were you willing? Are you?
He wanted answers, and I couldn’t give them to him.
I wanted answers, and he sure as hell couldn’t give them to me. What option did I have?
Kill him. Put him out of his misery.
Boy, he had looked miserable. He was clueless and helpless ... so not Vampire material. If I’d have just swung without a thought, I could have done it, but it was his eyes ... though they weren’t his own anymore. Not the light, mischievous steel-blue I remembered from childhood. They were dark, confused, and lost. Dare I say, sad; the most human, Vampire eyes I had ever seen, if that was even possible.
You could have killed him, should have. You can’t trust a Leech.
Every fibre in my body had screamed for me to kill the Vampire in front of me, but I could still see Nathan, and although I was mad at him—still mad at him for how easily he had cast me aside—I couldn’t kill the only friend I’d ever had, not when he was begging for my help.
It would have been a mercy killing.
No, I couldn’t. Not when he looked so afraid. I was the only one who could help him.
“God help me.” I fell back on the bed, staring at my ceiling.
I had no choice. I wanted answers. He wanted answers, and if I was being honest, I was damn curious to know why Leeches were suddenly so interested in biology and genetics.
*****
7:57pm
“You can come out now.” I exhaled while driving past the county line to state we were leaving Wicklow.
I usual got a rush upon sighting that big sign, since knowing I was getting away from home was always bliss, but tonight, I was filled with uncertainty. It wasn’t a feeling I was used to or one that I liked. I was always so certain of everything. Certain that there were no Vampires in Ireland and that their numbers would never grow. Certain that my father was impossible and that our family was truly nuts. Certain that I had made the right choice to go to Heather and be of some use.
My gaze darted to the overhead mirror and partially watched the black seats lifting, Nathan’s pale hand sliding along the plastic underside, his fingers curling round the edges as he pulled himself into a sitting position.
It felt almost ironic. Here was my childhood friend who’d questioned me over every detail of Vampires’ existence and comparing everything to Hollywood’s view on the creatures, and he looked like he was enacting a scene out of Hammer House. Although Christopher Lee was never half-naked or climbing out of car seat storage.
Harbouring a Vampire had not been part of yesterday’s plan, let alone helping one. Christ, could I even help him? Was taking him to Heather the right thing to do?
I glanced back as the seats clicked into place, watched as he stretched his arms, the silver cuffs and chains that had been wrapped around his wrists and ankles now gone due to the help of some bolt cutters, a screw driver, and mallet.
“Well, I hope there’s more room in my coffin because that’s not how the dead should rest.” His eyes met mine in the mirror, and a sheepish grin appeared. “Too early for dead jokes?”
Lord, give me strength.
“You have an hour, and then I’m afraid it’s back in there.” I reached over and grabbed the T-shirt I had pinched from my father’s wardrobe. “It will be big on you, but at least it will cover you up for now.”
His fingertips were cool as they skimmed my wrist, collecting the T-shirt from my grasp. “Don’t like what y’see?”
I snatched my hand back, resting it once more on the wheel. “You look like death.”
“Well then, he needs t’take his robes off more often if he’s this hot.”
He pulled the black T-shirt over his head, but I didn’t miss the smirk at his own joke.
Typical Nathan: he had always found himself funny. He was an idiot.
“Where are we going?” He settled in the middle seat.
I exhaled and moved my focus back to the road. “I read your file.”
“And you believe me, right?”
“I don’t fully understand some of it, but aye—” I met his gaze in the mirror. “—I believe you.”
He relaxed, practically sank into the seat, his head hitting the backrest.
“I want t’show it t’Heather. She’s the only one who might be able to explain what it all means. However, she moved t’London two years ago. So, we’re going t’her. The ferry is at nine-thirty p.m. We should reach Holyhead at eleven-forty-five, and then it’s a five-hour trip to London. But at this time of night, we might be able to make it in four.”
Seven hours give or take. I could only hope it would go swiftly as small talk had never been a strength of mine.
“Either way, we should be at hers before five a.m.”
“Do I have t’go back in the box?”
“Only while we’re on the ferry.”
Only while we were around other people. Being locked in a car wasn’t ideal, but it would at least contain him and mean everyone travelling would be safe. I had no idea if he knew his own strength, if he would be able to break the door off my car or claw his way out of the floor. I had no idea if his thirst was sedated, or when he had last fed. I had offered to find him a hare as there were always plenty
running around in the forest bordering my family’s land, but he had gagged at the idea.
I had never seen a Vampire retch before, well, without the tendrils of smoke escaping their mouths due to the silver I had just shoved down their throat. It was odd.
“I will see if I can find you some clean clothes on the journey.”
“I could really do with a shower. Don’t want to scare the poor girl.”
“Believe me, Heather doesn’t scare easily.”
She had seen more freaky shit in her twenty-one years than most people could dream of, but then, hadn’t we all.
“Will she try t’kill me, once she figures out what I am?”
No concern or fear accompanied his words. His gaze was on the side window, and he suddenly seemed lost in thought.
“Maybe, but she is more like you than y’think.”
Heather had been the closest person my family had known to almost be a Vampire. She was one fatal ingredient away, as had been her mother. In so many ways, Alexis had been more dangerous than any Vampire; she had been an Infected, and they were unpredictable. Yet, my father had let her live in our home, her and Heather. I have no idea if Alexis and Sofia had had to put up a fight for the protection. I could recall the odd whispered discussion between my parents about my cousins, remember one huge argument that had occurred—my father had offered to put Alexis out of her misery.
“My life has never been my own, but you can bet your arse my death will be on my own damn terms. Not theirs, and not yours. This family’s having nothing more from me.”
She had ended her own life when she’d known she couldn’t carry on. I often wondered if Heather would ever reach that point? How did she cope, being so close to the creatures she killed? The creatures that were the cause of both her parents’ deaths, the cause of her issues?
“She might sympathize.”
“So, you’re telling me she’s actually a man?”
A sigh escaped me. And just like that, he was back.
“That was another joke.”
“It wasn’t funny.”
He snorted. “Sheesh, I remember you having a better sense of humour.”
“And I remember you always thinking you were funny regardless of whether I agreed.”
My chest tightened at the sight of him rolling his eyes and huffing. So normal. So Nathan. He seemed so ordinary, so relaxed. Not like any Vampire I had encountered before.
How many times have you carpooled a Vampire? How many times have you had the chance to have a normal conversation with a Vampire? How many Vampires were once your friend?
Reality was starting to catch up. My grip on the wheel tightened.
What was I doing? Driving around with an unrestrained Vampire in my backseat? Taking him to England with me?
“Wait, are y’telling me your cousin’s a Vampire?”
His question broke through the whirl of thoughts. My brow furrowed as my focus moved back to the overhead mirror.
“And you wanted t’kill me.” He crossed his arms across his chest. “A tad hypocritical, don’t y’think?”
Was it?
“She’s not a Vampire.” But she’s not far off being one, and never had I thought of killing her. She had never given me any reason to consider doing such a thing. “She’s a born Infected.”
And more dangerous than the Vampire who is looking at you like you have just given him a maths equation to answer.
“Yeah, that’s right over my head.”
Heather was a trained killer. Plus, a born Infected. Without Sofia’s special mocktails, then Heather would be worse than a Vampire, wouldn’t she? What if she had gone loco? What if she had given in to her thirst? She would be grieving and … God, could I kill her, if it came down to it?
“You a-you remember I told you how Vampires are created?” I turned my attention to the road ahead. “A person is bit by a Vampire and then they have to drink their blood?”
“I remember very clearly, which was why I was baffled when that didn’t happen to me. Thought you had been telling fibs.”
“They seem t’have found another way of creating Vampires.”
“Why would they want that?”
Great question. Why create Vampires differently? Why had Heather survived? Why were the rules suddenly changing?
I shook my head and took a deep breath, needing to concentrate on the conversation we were having instead of the one going on in my head.
“I don’t know, but hopefully, we can find out. When a Vampire bites a human, they give them their virus. Now, if the Vampire doesn’t baptize the human with their blood, then only one stage of the creation is complete. We refer to humans with the virus as Infected. Basically, the virus is breaking down their body, and if left, they can go insane and—”
“So, it’s normal for people t’go insane if they have this virus?”
“Well, it’s not their fault. The virus wants t’be fed so it’s the need for blood which actually causes the human t’go insane. I mean, think about it. You’re human, and you want t’drink blood, it’s gross and wrong, but you can smell it and hear it gushing in people’s veins ... in your family’s veins. You want t’hurt people. So, one way or another, you’re more than likely t’crack up. Infecteds are a liability, so if there are any running around, Vampires find them, offer them the change, or kill them because they can’t have the human world knowing of their existence. Infecteds are usually created by mistake, often by new Vampires who have no idea what they are doing.”
“So, you think I’m an Infected?”
I had no idea what to think; this was out of my box of what was normal.
“I want t’say yes.” I glanced back in the mirror. “You seem calm, you’re not overly hungry, but your fangs are under half the size and showing without you transforming, which isn’t normal.”
His eyes widened as if he had just figured something out. “Oh, yeah, the Master out of Salem’s lot. That’s what I’m supposed t’look like, right?”
I rolled my eyes. “Your fangs are puny. You don’t appear t’have any of the Vampires’ strength, and apart from your sickly complexion, you look like a regular guy.”
And although saying all that out loud helped, it didn’t calm me. It wasn’t right. This was not what was supposed to happen. Why did he look like the Hollywood version of a Vampire?
“Are y’done devampulating me?”
“Excuse me?” A laugh escaped me. “What t’hell does that even mean?”
He shrugged. “The same as emasculating, only we aren’t talking about my manhood, just my vamphood.”
“It’s so worrying that you’re creating your own terminology.”
“I’ve been locked up for six weeks with nothing t’do but think about this condition that I now have that doesn’t fall under the natural law. It seems fitting t’create terms t’simplify the insanity that is my descent into the realms of impossibility. Sue me.”
I couldn’t help the smirk that curled the corner of my mouth. He was still an idiot, and despite his current predicament, that was a good sign. He was still the Nathan I remembered. Still had his character. There was something strangely reassuring in that. Something comforting.
Yeah, but you being comfortable with a Vampire is not a good sign.
“Anyway, you’re not an Infected. However, Heather is, which is why I think she will be able to explain all of this better than I can.”
“So, your cousin has this Vamps Virus? How come you never mentioned it?” He almost sounded offended.
“Erm, because you thought I was crazy for believing in Vampires t’begin with, and the idea that I was training t’hunt them sent you into a fit of giggles.”
“Well, yeah—” His voice softened. “—That’s because Vampires weren’t real back then.”
“They have always been real.”
“Not t’me.” His voice dropped to a whisper.
My heart lurched. This was all too surreal, all too crazy.
“Well—�
�� I cleared my throat. “I thought you wouldn’t be able t’wrap your childish head around anything else I told you.”
That earned me a very defiant look through the mirror. “Try me.”
“Heather was born with the virus. My cousin Alexis was bitten when she was pregnant. That’s why she, Heather, and my aunt Sofia originally came to live with us. Ireland isn’t a hotbed of Vampire activity. It seemed safer over here for them.”
I heard him shift in his seat. “So, Alexis was an Infected?”
“For a while, until she put a gun to her head.”
“Sorry, I knew she had taken her life. I just didn’t know she—”
“It’s okay. I mean, it wasn’t, but she had been battling with violent thirst for eight years. On top of that, she had mistakenly got her daughter infected, and the night she was bit, well, the reason she got bit was because she went after her husband. He had gone to the United Colony ... they ate him alive.”
There was a long pause before he spoke again. “You mean that in the literal sense, don’t you?”
I glanced back in the mirror and nodded.
I don’t know how it was possible, but he suddenly looked even paler.
“Fuckin’ hell. How the shit do you deal with all of this?”
“I’ve been brought up with it. This is my life.”
He scrubbed his hands across his face and through his hair. “Christ, Elle.”
“Alexis killed herself, so Sofia raised Heather, fed her blood a few times a day, and I dunno, it seemed t’do the trick. You’d have never known that Heather was an Infected, but then Sofia was very protective over her. The only real reminder was the fact that more and more Vampires seemed t’be coming over. It was great practice for our training, but when Sofia took her back over to London two years ago, all the Leeches went with them.”
He rested his elbows on his knees as he leant forward. “So, they were only here for Heather?”
Cross My Heart Page 8
