He turned to greet her. ‘Liz! What are you doing here?’
‘What does it look like? I’m a police officer. I’m needed on the streets.’ She was kitted out in full uniform, ready for work.
At first he felt a strong surge of relief to see her. ‘It’s good to have you back on board,’ he said. But then he paused to study her more closely. To him, she still looked sick. Her inflamed nose and yellow-tinted eyes looked dreadful against her blanched skin. ‘You look like you ought to be tucked up in bed with a hot water bottle.’
‘I’ve done enough of that,’ snapped Liz. ‘Now tell me what I’ve missed, and let’s get on with the job.’
Chapter Sixty-One
South East London, New Year’s Eve, 8:30pm, full moon
Chris Crohn’s great escape was underway at last although it had been massively delayed. The car repair guy had taken hours to arrive, and then he’d spent an age fixing Seth’s car. It was already dark by the time they were finally ready to leave.
‘We should wait until tomorrow,’ said Seth. ‘Make a fresh start in the morning.’
‘No,’ said Chris. ‘You’ve been delaying and stalling and pushing back for weeks. If we don’t go now, we might never go.’
‘What about the werewolves, though?’ Seth peered out of the car window through his thick lenses. ‘You said that tonight’s the night of the full moon.’
‘Yes,’ said Chris anxiously. ‘But that’s why we need to escape from London. Highly populated areas are the most dangerous.’
Night had fallen, but the sky over London was covered by a layer of grey cloud.
‘I can’t see the moon anywhere,’ said Seth, gazing about. ‘Perhaps we’ll be lucky.’
‘As long as we stay inside the car, we should be safe,’ said Chris. ‘Just drive, and don’t stop for anything.’
They set off cautiously, Seth using the GPS on his phone for guidance, Chris studying his paper map.
‘What have you got that old thing for?’ asked Seth. ‘Nobody uses paper maps anymore.’
‘Just wait until the networks fail,’ said Chris darkly. ‘Then you’ll be glad I brought it.’
The city traffic was heavy, and they made slow progress. The police had cordoned off some of the roads and were redirecting traffic down unfamiliar routes. Traffic reports on the radio suggested widespread gridlock across the capital.
‘I don’t know this part of the city very well,’ moaned Seth, staring out at the run-down warehouse buildings of the industrial area they now found themselves in.
‘Just keep heading west and we’ll get out of London eventually.’
‘I think we should have gone east instead,’ said Seth.
‘It’s too late to turn around,’ said Chris. ‘Just keep driving.’
After a while the traffic came to a complete halt. ‘What now?’ asked Seth.
Chris studied his map carefully. He wasn’t familiar with this part of London, but he thought he could see the reason for the blockage. ‘We should try turning south to avoid the congestion on the roads heading into central London. When the traffic starts moving again, take the next turning on the left. That should get us out of this jam.’
Seth nosed the car down the next side street and put his foot on the accelerator. The road ahead was clear. ‘This is better. Nobody’s going this way.’
The reason for that soon became apparent.
‘Damn, this wasn’t supposed to happen,’ said Chris.
‘Are we lost?’ asked Seth.
The road ahead was blocked to cars halfway along its length. A sign read, Pedestrian access only. ‘This must be new,’ said Chris. ‘It’s not marked on my map.’
‘We’ll have to turn around,’ said Seth.
But that was impossible. Other cars had followed them down the dead end, and the road behind them was now filled with stationary vehicles. The car immediately behind honked its horn loudly, and soon about a dozen drivers were blaring their frustration.
‘What now?’ demanded Seth.
‘Stay in the car,’ said Chris. ‘Don’t unlock the doors for any reason. I’m sure this will all work out okay.’
Chapter Sixty-Two
West Field Gardens, South London, New Year’s Eve, 9:15pm, full moon
The Singh family was in the habit of staying home on New Year’s Eve. In recent years, Vijay had been allowed to stay up late with his older sister, Aasha, to watch the celebrations on television. Vijay loved to watch the fireworks at midnight on the River Thames in front of the Houses of Parliament and the London Eye. It was one of the most impressive firework displays in the world.
This evening there had already been fireworks when Aasha announced that she intended to go out with friends. Her parents had argued with her, saying it wasn’t safe, but in the end Aasha had got her way. She always did.
‘You can’t let her go out on her own,’ Drake told Vijay.
‘What do you mean? She won’t be on her own. She’s meeting her friends.’
‘Yeah,’ said Drake. ‘But they’re just girls. You’re her brother. You should be around to protect her.’
‘Protect her from what?’
Drake rolled his eyes. ‘Oh, I dunno. Like, cannibals, serial killers, Beasts, all kinds of maniacs.’
‘I don’t know,’ said Vijay. ‘Mum and Dad will kill me if I go out too. And Aasha won’t want me with them.’
‘Never mind that,’ said Drake. ‘We’ll go together, you and me, and follow them at a distance. Just to make sure they’re safe.’
Vijay should never have allowed Drake to talk him into it. The real reason Drake wanted to follow Aasha around was because he fancied her. Although Aasha was two years older than Drake and ignored him completely, Drake just couldn’t take his eyes off her.
Aasha’s big dark eyes, long black hair, and smooth milk chocolate skin made her a beauty, for sure. But she was Vijay’s sister. Thinking about her in that way was totally gross. And Drake thinking such thoughts – or worse – made him feel ill. If Aasha needed protection from anything, it was from Drake’s overactive hormones.
At least Drake had moved back home with his mother and her boyfriend. After Mr Canning had been taken away by the police, the school governors had made the decision to close the school until after Christmas. It meant they’d been given an extra-long Christmas break, and it also took away any reason for Drake to continue staying at Vijay’s house – if there had ever been a real reason in the first place.
Thankfully it also meant that Vijay no longer needed to skip school and lie about it to his parents. And best of all it had stopped Drake following Aasha’s every move around the house with his stupid puppy-dog eyes.
But now this New Year’s Eve thing had kicked off, and Vijay didn’t know how to get out of it. ‘All right,’ he said eventually. I’ll give Rose a call, see if she wants to come too.’ If Rose was with them, it might make it easier to keep Drake under control. But Vijay knew that wasn’t the real reason he wanted Rose to be there. These past few weeks he hadn’t been able to stop thinking about her red hair and green eyes. Her pale freckled skin haunted his dreams at night. He couldn’t deny it, he was in love, just as Drake had fallen for Aasha. And if following his sister around town meant he could be with Rose, he would do it.
He wondered if Drake suspected the truth, but his friend gave no indication that he knew how Vijay felt about Rose. He was too focused on his own love life to notice anything else. ‘I’ll meet you at nine o’clock,’ Drake told him. ‘We’ll follow Aasha and her friends into town, and make sure she’s safe.’
‘Do you know how creepy you sound?’ said Vijay. ‘Since when did you become a stalker?’
‘It’s the honourable thing to do,’ insisted Drake. ‘Any brother who really cared for his sister would do the same.’
As soon as Drake had left, Vijay called Rose. It was good just to hear her voice again.
‘You’re going to do what?’ she asked, once he’d explained why he was calling.
‘I know it’s creepy, but Drake insisted.’
‘Are you really worried that something will happen to your sister?’
‘Not really. I’m more worried about what Drake might do. But he made me promise to go with him.’ He paused, considering his next words carefully. ‘I don’t suppose your parents will want you to go out after … everything that’s happened.’ He still couldn’t get over the fact that Rose had stabbed the Headmaster with the pen. She was so much braver than him. She was amazing.
Rose hesitated before responding. ‘If I ask them, they’ll probably say no,’ she agreed.
‘Yeah,’ said Vijay, unable to conceal his disappointment. ‘That’s what I thought.’
‘But if I don’t ask them, they can’t say anything,’ she continued brightly.
So now here they were sneaking out into town, the three of them following his sister and her girlfriends as they went from pub to pub along the streets of London. It wouldn’t have been Vijay’s first choice of activity for a night out with Rose, but she seemed to think it was a great adventure. She giggled loudly and Drake scowled at her, telling her to be quiet. Vijay tried to relax and enjoy himself. He just prayed that Aasha wouldn’t spot them, and that Drake wouldn’t try anything stupid.
Chapter Sixty-Three
Clifton Blood Clinic, North London, New Year’s Eve, 10:10pm, full moon
The nurse at the Blood Clinic was called Dawn. James liked her immediately. She was a tiny woman, but with strong and practised hands. She pushed a needle into James’ finger efficiently and almost painlessly. James’ nostrils flared as he smelled the faint aroma of the blood. After almost a month without feeding, even the scent of his own vital fluid flowing into the syringe had the power to rouse his hunger, making his anticipation of tonight’s hunt grow to a new height.
The nurse chatted to him as she took the sample for screening, explaining that the clinic was open later than usual tonight. They expected it to be one of the busiest nights in the capital’s hospitals, at least in the Accident & Emergency departments. With all the recent trouble, blood supplies were under unprecedented pressure. Just a single day’s supply remained of the rarest blood groups.
James nodded and watched as the nurse withdrew the needle and applied a gauze pad to his finger.
Samuel and the nurse seemed well acquainted with each other already. ‘Hello again, Dawn,’ he said when he saw her.
‘Back again so soon?’ she asked.
Samuel grinned. ‘I couldn’t stay away, Dawn. You stole my heart when you took my blood.’
The nurse raised a sceptical eyebrow. ‘Is that so? Well, I’m glad to see you again. O Negative is in urgent demand. This blood will go directly to the operating theatre.’
James had never given blood before and still wasn’t sure that he wanted to. ‘Won’t it weaken us before we go hunting?’ he asked Samuel, as they waited for their haemoglobin results.
‘Nah,’ said Samuel. ‘It’ll give us a healthy appetite.’ He smiled. ‘You oughtn’t to be afraid of needles after spending all that time in Intensive Care.’
‘I’m not afraid,’ said James. ‘I just haven’t done it before.’
‘I bet you’ve tried lots of new things these past few weeks,’ teased Samuel. ‘Don’t tell me you haven’t enjoyed them.’
James blushed.
Since becoming a werewolf and meeting Samuel, his life had changed out of all recognition. Everything was new. Everything was bright. Every moment he spent with Samuel stretched out like a blissful eternity. Everything they did together felt like the first time.
They’d been shopping together that afternoon in the New Year sales on Oxford Street, and James had never enjoyed shopping so much. He’d bought clothes he wouldn’t have dared choose himself. Samuel had a sharp and adventurous eye for fashion, and by the time they’d finished, James hardly recognized himself.
‘What about the money, though?’ he’d asked. ‘How are we going to pay for all this?’
Samuel had dismissed his concerns with a wave. ‘Money’s no problem now, James. We have more than enough.’
‘But how? Where do you get it from?’
‘Leanna. She has enough money for all of us. And in any case, I have a feeling that money isn’t going to be important in the future.’
They had talked about that future often enough during the weeks they had spent together. James found it hard to imagine, but Leanna had a vision of a world where all weakness and suffering would be swept aside. Those who inhabited this bright future would be strong and resilient. Samuel also dreamed of a fairer, more equal society, where black and white, gay and straight would live together in harmony. James didn’t fully understand either of these dreams, but he hoped with all his heart they would come true.
The meeting with Leanna and Warg Daddy that afternoon had left him anxious though. Can we count on you, James? He didn’t know what she had meant by that. Count on him for what? He still didn’t understand her hostility toward him. He understood Adam’s antagonism easily enough. That was all about power. Samuel had defied Adam’s authority by bringing James to the house, and Adam hated to be challenged. But Leanna? James had never done anything to make her so antagonistic. Except … that time he’d first turned, he’d savaged all those people at the railway station, and Leanna had been furious afterwards. It didn’t seem to occur to her that she and the others regularly went out killing.
Double standards. James knew all about that. Father Mulcahy had been the same, for all his pious words. Love thy neighbour, he had told James. Unless it was the wrong kind of love.
Father Mulcahy had sent James on his journey into the wilderness, and now he had become Leanna’s scapegoat. It was a small price to pay to be with Samuel. And he would try to be more careful tonight. When the blood lust came, he would keep it under control.
‘Good news,’ said Dawn, returning with the test results. You’re both cleared to donate. ‘Who wants to go first?’
‘Me,’ said James, standing up. ‘I’ll go first.’
The procedure wasn’t as painful as he’d imagined. As Samuel had said, after all the time he’d spent in hospital, giving blood felt like little more than a pinprick. He didn’t even feel weak afterwards. ‘Please take more,’ he told Dawn. ‘I want to help as many people as I can.’
‘Hey, easy, there,’ she said, swabbing the place on his arm where the needle had been. ‘One pint is plenty, thank you very much. You’ll end up in hospital yourself if I take any more. You can come back in a few months if you want to donate again.’
‘Thanks,’ said James. ‘I will.’
‘I think you’ve missed the point, James,’ said Samuel on the way out. ‘Leanna’s plan isn’t to cure people by donating blood; it’s to accelerate the spread of the condition.’
‘Oh, I know that,’ said James. ‘But if we can help people too, shouldn’t we try to do that?’
Samuel slung an arm casually over James’ shoulder. ‘That’s what I love about you, James. You’re so sentimental. I do believe you don’t have an uncaring bone in your whole body.’
The New Year’s celebrations were already well underway when they left the clinic at eleven o’clock. Party-goers and revellers streamed through the streets, heading south toward the river and the centre of town. They flocked toward the bars, pubs and clubs in search of fun, in anticipation of midnight fireworks. Police in high visibility jackets walked alongside, watching carefully for trouble. There were a few other werewolves too, cloaked in human form, but revealing themselves to James by their scent.
And among them all weaved vigilantes – groups of young men, their heads covered by dark hoods and caps, their faces hidden by masks.
Chapter Sixty-Four
St John’s Road, Battersea, South West London, New Year’s Eve, 11:10pm, full moon
Vijay, Drake and Rose watched as Aasha and her friends disappeared into one of the noisiest pubs in Battersea. Loud music blared from the pub, and the street ou
tside thronged with people, young and old, many of them the worse for drink. A group of smokers stood immediately outside the entrance to the pub, breathing their poisonous fumes defiantly into the cold night air.
Vijay hesitated as Drake tried to drag him inside. ‘I’ve never been inside a pub before.’ He hated the idea that Aasha and her friends had disobeyed her parents’ wishes. The pub seemed to contain all the vices he had been taught to avoid – alcohol, tobacco, and idle people who wasted their time smoking and drinking.
‘Shut up,’ hissed Drake. ‘Keep your voice down. It’s just a place to hang out and get a drink. Anyway, Aasha’s inside, so we have to go in.’ He pushed open the door and went inside. Rose went with him.
Reluctantly, Vijay followed.
Crowds of people packed the pub. They all talked loudly over each other, making the worst din Vijay had ever heard. Everyone seemed to be taller than him, and he only just caught sight of Drake and Rose before they disappeared into the wall of people before him. His glasses were steaming up after coming in from the cold, and he struggled to see clearly. There was no sign of Aasha anywhere. He pushed his way through the crowd, fearing getting lost in here on his own.
A man spilled beer over Vijay’s jacket and seemed to think it was his fault. Vijay slipped quickly away from him in case the man became aggressive. The bitter stench of beer on his jacket made him wrinkle his nose in disgust.
He caught up with the others near the bar.
‘Let’s get a beer,’ said Drake.
‘What?’ shouted Vijay. The noise inside the pub made ordinary speech impossible.
‘I said, let’s get a beer.’
‘No. I don’t want anything.’
‘Just a coke for me, please,’ said Rose.
‘Come on, guys, it’s New Year’s Eve.’
‘But we’re not eighteen,’ insisted Vijay. ‘And anyway, Sikhs don’t drink alcohol.’
‘Live a bit, man. You only live once.’
Lycanthropic (Book 1): Wolf Blood Page 26
