Tessa calms herself by fanning her face before answering. ‘You really think that’s a good idea. Not only did he almost kill you without lifting a finger. But you don’t have the recon skills to pull off a job like that.’ Tessa looks sternly into Jeff’s eyes to make him realise she’s not joking around with him.
‘There’s got to be something I can do?’ Asks Jeff.
‘There’s nothing more I need from you right now.’ Tessa turns away from Jeff and begins to head back towards the edge of the roof.
‘I think Vaelen is on to us.’ Jeff shouts. This comment catches Tessa’s attention and she stops in her tracks, turns, and walks back towards Jeff.
‘And what makes you say that?’
‘Rita told me that Vaelen was asking about you.’
Tessa smiles. ‘That’s because he wants me. Well I mean who doesn’t.’ She touches Jeff’s face.
Jeff pulls his face away. ‘I’m being serious Tessa. If he finds you, you’ll be dead. And if he finds out I’m working with you, I’ll be killed too.’
‘You’re thinking too much into it Jeff. It’s probably nothing. Just keep your head down, and don’t let anyone know. And I mean it. I suggest you go home. Spend some time with your family. I know that’s what you want.’
Jeff lets out a smile as he thinks about his family. ‘I would like that. But if we’re getting closer to Dirk I want to help.’ Jeff stops suddenly, the pain he felt earlier came back. He could not believe he’d be willing to give up time with his wife and daughter to carry on with his secret life.
‘You’re letting this vampire thing take over your life. I mean it’s natural, we all get like that eventually. But I could always use your help. So if you want to stick around, it’s your choice.’ Tessa looks Jeff up and down and by his body language she has already determined his answer. There’s a pause in the conversation. The only noises that can be heard is the wind blowing violently between them.
‘What would you like me to do?’ Jeff’s face remains stern. The pain he feels inside slowly fades away.
Tessa nods her head. ‘Ok. Well the first thing is that you need some recon training. And combat training as well.’ Without notice Tessa changes into her vampire form. ‘Change. Now.’
Jeff freezes as he tries to guess why Tessa wants him to change to vampire form. But he quickly shrugs it off and closes his eyes. On re-opening his eyes are pure black.
Tessa grabs his arm and leads him to the edge of the building. They both stand on the edge looking down into the street below. Jeff turns his head toward Tessa. ‘What are we doing?’
Tessa pauses. ‘Training starts now.’ Without hesitation Tessa pushes Jeff off the edge. She laughs over the sound of Jeff shouting before jumping off after him.
CHAPTER 16:
ROMANTICISING DEATH
A new day has broken with yet more dark clouds covering the city. The sky and the streets filled with a heavy down pour of rain. Out from the Ruby Hotel walks Vaelen playing with his car keys. Vaelen looks up at the sky and lets a small moan as the raindrops bounce off his face and bald head. Upon looking down he spots who looks to be Katie standing soaking wet at a bus stop just over the road and to the left of him. He looks to his car parked just to the right of him before looking back at Katie. He puts his keys into his pocket and proceeds to walk across the road to Katie.
‘Katie!’ He shouts over the heavy rain.
Katie turns after hearing her name be called. She spots Vaelen walking up to her. ‘Oh hi Vaelen.’ She says softly.
‘Where are you heading?’ Vaelen leans in closer to Katie so he doesn’t have to shout for her to hear him.
‘I’m going into town to meet Will. Well I would be if the buses were ever on time.’ She replies.
Vaelen pauses for a second looking at how drenched Katie is, and then decides to do the honourable thing. ‘I have my car with me. I can give you a lift.’
‘I wouldn’t want to impose.’ Katie quickly retorts.
‘I’m heading through town anyway. It’ll save you from waiting around any longer.’
Katie looks into Vaelen’s eyes, ‘Only if you don’t mind.’
Vaelen lets off a small smile, ‘It’ll be my pleasure. Come; let’s get you out of this rain.’
Vaelen leads the way to his car across the street. Katie stops at the passenger side as Vaelen continues around the car getting his keys back from his pocket. He unlocks the car and they both get in. Katie pulls the seatbelt across herself and locks it in. Vaelen puts the key in the ignition and starts the engine. ‘In the glove department there’s a couple of small flannels. Could you pass one here?’ Vaelen asks politely. Katie opens the glove compartment and pulls out one of the flannels and hands it to him. He proceeds to wipe the rain from his face and head. ‘You can use the other one.’ He says. Katie pulls out the second flannel. As she does she spots a gun resting underneath and jumps slightly. Vaelen quickly looks at her then leans across reaching into the compartment and pulls out the gun. He realises the stock and checks that it’s still fully loaded. Clicks it back in, then puts the safety on. ‘Always handy to keep spares lying around. Never know when you might need them.’ He lets off a smile then places the gun back into the glove compartment. Katie begins to use the flannel to dry her face.
Vaelen looks over at Katie and notices that the rain has made all her makeup run. ‘Pull down the visor, it has a mirror, you may want to look at yourself.’ He says with a slight grin.
Katie does so, and lets out a gasp of shock. ‘Bloody took me ages to do that this morning.’ She says now scrubbing hard with the now damp flannel trying to remove her ruined makeup.
‘You have some makeup on you?’ Vaelen asks as he checks his rear view mirror.
‘Yeah in my bag.’ She answers.
‘I’ll tell you what. I’ll drive carefully, and you reapply it on our way.’
‘Thanks’ Katie smiles at him before opening her bag resting on her lap and rummaging through it to find her makeup.
Vaelen pulls the car out from the curb and begins to head down the road toward the town centre. Vaelen concentrates on the road a little more than he usually would due to the weather conditions. This mixed with Katie concentrating on her makeup causes the car to be filled with just the noise coming from the car engine. Vaelen then can’t help but feel uncomfortable in the silence. ‘So…’ Is all Vaelen lets out as he desperately tries to think of a topic of conversation. Reapplying her eyeliner Katie replies, ‘Yes.’
Vaelen resorts to talking about the one thing they have in common, the job. ‘How you finding this whole situation?’ Vaelen sighs softly to himself as he realises he’s so out of touch with the younger generation that he can’t even think of one topic of conversation besides work.
‘Yeah, took some getting used to, but I’m slowly coming around.’ Katie replies still focusing on her eyeliner.
Vaelen could tell by her tone of voice that she had more on her mind so decided to probe deeper. ‘Look I’m not just here to protect you. I’m here to guide and look after you. If there’s something on your mind feel free to tell me about it, and maybe I could help.’ Vaelen quickly looks over at Katie and spots her putting down her eyeliner and slumping back in the passenger seat, before looking back at the road.
‘Well I do have one concern.’ Katie says quietly looking down at her feet.
Vaelen could tell where this conversation was heading so he decides to say it first. ‘And this one concern being that you haven’t changed into vampire form yet?’
Katie looks up at Vaelen, ‘Yeah.’
‘I’m not going to lie to you. It is strange. Every new recruit changes the first time within a week. Me and Jacqueline have discussed it, and we’re both unsure as to why it hasn’t happened.’ Vaelen explains.
‘If I can’t change, surely I’m of no use to the organization.’
‘Believe me this has also been discussed. But it’s best we keep you around. First of all because you show promise. I mean
look at the way you hit dead centre of that man’s head, whilst he was moving, that’s not only impressive, but phenomenal for someone who’s only just started basic training with a firearm. And secondly, for some unknown reason vampire hunters know you’re part of our little club, so it’s far too dangerous to let you lose back into the real world.’
‘I understand.’ Katie nods before putting more makeup on.
The tension in the car had risen from that conversation. Vaelen wants to break the tension so decides to become nosey. ‘So you doing all this for him?’ Vaelen asks. Katie smiles to herself. Vaelen notices. ‘I’ll take that smile as a yes. Have you really thought about it though? I mean the kid never knows when to be quiet.’ Vaelen chuckles slightly.
‘I know, but it makes me happy. He makes me happy. I mean he risked his life for me the first day I met him. That’s amazing and incredible.’
Vaelen slows the car as he approaches a red light. He turns to face Katie. ‘Well I’m glad to see there are women out there that appreciate that.’ Vaelen realises he has spoken out of turn, and fears the silent tension shall return. ‘Well I hope it works out for you.’
Katie looks up at Vaelen slightly puzzled. ‘You’re not cold hearted at all are you?’
Vaelen smiles as he puts his foot on the accelerator as the lights change green. ‘Can I let you in on a little secret of mine?’
‘Sure.’ Katie replies.
Vaelen takes a deep breath before continuing to talk. ‘I’m a romantic at heart.’ He chuckles to himself. ‘There’s nothing like the feeling of love to make you feel alive. But I must warn you, it’s never like it is in those romantic comedies you see at the cinema or on television. It’s hard and most of the time it wasn’t meant to be. Something usually always gets in the way of love and breaks it apart. And in our line of work something getting in the way is a high possibility.’
Katie puts all her makeup back into her bag and slumps back into the seat. ‘I know you’re right. But you have to try, don’t you?’ She looks at him.
‘Yes. Definitely.’ He looks back at her and smiles. ‘So whereabouts you meeting him?’
‘Just up here.’ She points towards the end of the road in front of them.
Vaelen leans slightly forward and squints his eyes a little. ‘Yep, I see him.’
Vaelen pulls the car up to the curb. The rain had now stopped and the clouds had started to part letting some natural light flood the streets. Will spots Katie getting out of the car and walks over to it. Vaelen rolls down his window as Katie shuts the passenger door and walks around the front of the car. ‘Hey.’ She says as she gives Will a hug. Will hugs her back and kisses her cheek. As she lets go of the hug Will notices that Vaelen is in the driver seat.
‘Hey Vaelen. Well well well. Look at your ride. Who did you have to suck to get this thing? Get it. Suck.’ Will laughs. Katie smiles as she puts her arm around Will’s waist.
Vaelen sticks his head out of the window. ‘Keep staring at my car and I will personally rip your eyes out and shove them up your arse.’ He says.
Will laughs, ‘You can’t be serious?’
‘Try me.’ Vaelen states sternly.
‘Ok. Goodbye.’ Will quickly turns and walks towards the high street. Vaelen gives Katie a cheeky smile and a wink before speeding off back onto the road. Katie turns and jogs to catch up to Will to spend the day in town with him.
† † † † † † † † † † † † † † † †
After a full day of shopping and basking in the sunlight Will and Katie decide to call it a day. They head towards the same park in which they were attacked in. They walk hand in hand. Katie is filled with joy after a day spent getting to know Will better and is elated that he seems happy with her too, happy enough to hold her hand. Will turns to Katie just before they arrive at the park. ‘Katie.’ He says softly.
She looks up into his eyes. ‘Yes?’
‘Today has been wonderful. It feels good to just…’ He stops speaking and looks away.
Katie feels as though she knows what he was going to say and finishes his sentence, ‘be normal for a change?’
Will smiles softly and looks into her eyes. ‘That’s exactly it. Ever since all this began, I’ve felt like I haven’t been able to be myself. But being with you, I want to be nothing but myself.’
Katie’s entire body fills with warmth as her heart pounds faster. Without thought she throws herself at Will and holds him. Will wraps his arms around her and holds her tight. With her head buried into his chest she begins to weep. ‘I’m constantly scared for my life.’ She cries.
Will loosens his hug and softly caresses her cheek as he lifts her head to look at him. ‘I promise I will protect you, and everything you hold dear.’ He wipes a tear from her face with his thumb.
‘Thank you Will. For everything.’ She sniffs back her tears and embraces him once again. He wraps his arms around her again, one around her body the other holding the back of her head gently playing with her hair. He kisses the top of her head before letting go. Katie pulls away and stands beside him once again. They both look on ahead to the park. Will’s head fills with images from the night Leofric appeared and attacked them. He takes a deep breath and closes his eyes. Katie spots his hurt and grabs his hand tight. From the shock of her hand Will jumps causing him to open his eyes quickly. He looks down at Katie’s hand holding his and smiles. ‘Do you want to make sure you get me home this time?’ Katie jokingly asks to lighten his mood. Will nods and smiles as they begin to walk through the park. Will’s head fills with thoughts about what he had just said. How could I make that promise to her? Who am I kidding? If it wasn’t for Vaelen that night, we both would be dead. Surely I should think about my own well-being first. But I can’t help but want to be there for this girl, she’s so innocent. What would the council want with someone like her? Furthermore what do they want from me? I’m a failure at everything I do. No I can’t think like that. I’ve been given this burden. A burden it may be. But it’s given me a new purpose, a new power, a new path in which my life can take. I can’t waste it. I shall become a new person. Not just for me, but for the people I care about. I will not allow anything bad to ever happen again.
Katie looks up at Will to see him deep in thought. ‘What you thinking about?’ She asks. Will snaps from his inner thoughts to answer her.
‘Oh sorry. It’s nothing important.’ He answers without looking at her, just in case she could tell from his eyes that he was lying to her. They walk in silence for a few minutes. Katie blissfully unaware of Will’s feelings.
‘I live just around this corner. I must warn you though I think my mum might be in.’ Katie looks down.
‘You seem ashamed.’ Concerns Will.
She looks back at him. ‘She hasn’t been in a good place since my father died.’
Will is shocked by this revelation. ‘I’m so sorry to hear that.’ They both stop walking.
‘It’s ok, it’s in the past. Happened about sixteen years ago.’
‘Do you mind if I ask how he passed?’ Will’s voice is a little shaky as he asks.
‘Oh he went missing. The police did everything they could to try and find him. But all they found was a pool of his blood about half a mile out of the city. So he was presumed dead.’ A tear rolls down Katie’s face. Will embraces her, she wraps her arms around him but continues to talk. ‘And since then, my mum hasn’t been able to cope. With the pressure of losing her husband and then having to raise me by herself she broke down and found solace at the bottom of a bottle.’
‘That’s shit.’ Will says without thinking.
‘You don’t say.’ Katie pulls away from Will and wipes away her tears.
‘I’m sorry. I couldn’t think of what to say.’ Will apologises.
‘No it’s ok. It is shit. Even more so recently, seems the alcohol does nothing for her on its own. So now she relies both on that and drugs.’
‘What drugs does she take?’ Will immediately realises
that asking these questions was a stupid idea, but he can’t bring himself to stop as he wants to know every detail about Katie’s life.
‘I believe it’s mainly heroin, but I think she’ll do anything she can get her hands on.’ Just as Katie finishes her sentence she begins to walk toward her house, holding her arm behind her indicating with her hand for Will to hold it. He does so.
As they stand in front of Katie’s front door she reaches into her bag to find her door key. Suddenly a smash of glass can be heard from inside of the house. ‘Mum?!’ Katie panics and with speed finds her keys and unlocks the door. Katie pushes through and heads down the corridor toward the kitchen. Will closes the door behind himself then heads to the kitchen. The smell of damp and tobacco fill the air. He can’t help but notices damp and mould growing down the walls, and the carpet below his feet that look as if they haven’t been hovered in years. He sees Katie holding her mother who is slumped over the sink throwing up with a broken bottle in her hand. ‘That’s it mum, just get it all up.’ Katie says calmly as she rubs her mother’s back. ‘Will, could you do me a favour and clean up all the glass, my mum isn’t wearing any shoes.’ Katie asks.
‘Erm, yeah sure. Where’s a dustpan and brush?’ He asks.
‘Should be in the cupboard beside me.’ Katie answers.
As Will proceeds to look in the cupboard he feels as though his usefulness is being underplayed in this situation. He pulls out the dustpan and brush and sets it on the worktop next to the sink. ‘Look, you do that and I’ll look at your mum.’
Katie looks at Will confused as to why he would say something like that. ‘I’m perfectly capable of looking after her, I do this every day.’
‘Katie, I went to medical school, I may have more knowledge about this than you do.’ Will states quite sternly.
Katie stares at him for a moment and then agrees. She lets go of her mother to allow Will access to her. Will grabs hold of her and pulls her hair from her face so he could take a look at her. He’s shocked to see how skinny, wrinkled and pale she is. The most worrying thing to him is the cold dead look in her eyes. ‘Excuse me Miss, my name’s Will, I’m here to help you. Do you mind telling me your name?’ He gets no answer as she continues to stare blankly into the sink full of her sick.
The Vampire Council: Case File:1 Page 9
