by Simon Cantan
“I know. I’ve no idea what came over me. You’re my best friend, Jaden. I don’t want to lose you over this.”
“You won’t.” Jaden paused. “I have to go. I’m getting to the checkout. We’ll talk on Monday, okay?”
“Sure,” Katie said, hanging up.
She wasn’t sure how to feel. Jaden didn’t see her the same way as she did him, but he still wanted to be friends. Losing him would have been more than she could have dealt with. She resolved to shove down her emotions and be friends, like he asked. After all, he had his pick of any girl in the school. Why would he choose her?
“That was the lover?” Loki asked, his voice coming from a disembodied spot near her side.
“No.” Katie put her phone away. “A friend.”
“A friend you’re in love with. Help me and I can help you. You’ve no idea how powerful I am.”
“I know. You can tip over trashcans at will.”
He fell silent. She let him stew, instead concentrating on putting one tired foot in front of the other. As she walked, her gaze drifted to the sky, as it always did at night.
Hundreds of beautiful stars twinkled down at her. She thought of the countless others she couldn’t see. And around each one of them, planets and moons. Some of which might have incredible alien life that humans would get to meet one day.
When she looked ahead of her, she realised she wasn’t far from the bridge. “Where are we going?”
“The supermarket,” Loki said. “Stop at the garage across the street and wait.”
She shrugged and walked to the garage, where she could see the supermarket. It had closed at nine, so the shutters were halfway down. They’d been left open enough to allow the security guards through with their suitcases. They took the money to an armoured van and got inside. Once the doors were closed, the van drove away from the supermarket, skipping over the kerb as it turned onto the main street.
From where Katie stood, she saw the back door of the van pop open and a case fly out. It spun through the air and landed in a flowerbed. The door swung back with the movement of the van and closed. The armoured van kept going, the guards none the wiser.
“See,” Loki said. “A present for you, to show good faith.”
Katie frowned, looking both ways before crossing the road. She walked to the flowerbed and looked at the case lying in it. It had burst open when it fell, scattering bundles of money in all directions. From the labels holding the bundles together, there had to be tens of thousands there. Hundreds of thousands. Enough to pay for anything she might want.
“Enough to pay for an exorcism,” Katie said.
“You can’t exorcise a god, remember. Now put it in your pockets and let’s get out of here.”
Instead, she reached into her pocket and took out her phone. She found the number, one of the few pre-programmed into every phone in Norway. The police answered after a moment and she gave them all the details. When she hung up, she waited for Loki to grab her phone and throw it aside, but he didn’t.
Instead, he appeared in front of her. “You really are noble, aren’t you?”
“I’m not going to steal money for you.”
“For me?” he smiled. “I’m glad you didn’t. I’ve seen your house, your car. You need the money and you won’t take it. Will you allow me to show you something else on the way home?”
She shrugged. “It had better be on the way. Once the police take this back, I’m going home to bed.”
“A slight detour. Only ten minutes out of your way.”
She nodded. She didn’t have to wait long for the police to arrive. It seemed hundreds of thousands of kroner sitting in a flowerbed was something worth hurrying for. They turned up and only asked her perfunctory details before leaving with the money. They promised to get in touch if they needed anything more, but she didn’t expect them to. As far as they knew, there hadn’t been a crime committed. Just an accident with a faulty door and a careless security crew.
She turned her feet toward home, tracking back along the path she’d taken. When she was fifteen minutes away, Loki appeared again. “Take the next right.”
She looked down the side road, which led off into a housing estate. Shrugging, she took the right. She would give him a few minutes, then turn around and go home. He instructed her deeper into the estate, keeping visible the whole time. He walked beside her, almost as if they were two friends out for a stroll.
Finally, he held his hand up. “Step behind that tree ahead.”
“What?” She looked at the tree with its thick bough. The houses here were further apart, and the lights were dimmer. She worried for a moment that Loki was leading her somewhere dangerous. Then a man with a Labrador approached and passed by, nodding to her as he did so.
She shook her head, trying to clear her fears, and made for the tree, stepping behind it. It was at the edge between two properties. “Now what?”
“The house ahead,” Loki said, pointing a hundred metres away on the right. “That’s where the vampire lives.”
She stared at him with wide eyes. “Vampire?”
“You’ll need get used to that idea if you’re going to hunt them,” Loki said. “Yes, there’s a vampire in there.”
She moved closer to the tree, trying to hide in its shadows, squinting to see the house ahead. Now she looked, the windows had all the blinds down and storm shutters closed. It was odd, since she didn’t know of any storms on the way. The leylandii trees in the front garden had grown high enough to obscure the house from the road. It was only from the side that she could see the house at all. If she’d kept walking on the path, she’d never have noticed it.
A dark figure entered the garden of the house, two shopping bags in his hands.
“Is that the vampire?” Katie asked.
“I don’t know,” Loki said. “Move closer, before he goes inside. But don’t get seen.”
Who did Loki think she was? She wasn’t a ninja or spy, just a regular teenage girl. She slipped away from the tree, her heart pounding in her chest, and hurried across the garden of the next house, and the next. Until she was within twenty paces of the vampire house.
The figure stopped in the garden and Katie froze. What abilities did vampires have? Could he smell her? Hear her? Then the figure transferred the bags into one hand and felt in their pocket, producing a key.
She strained to see the person as they approached the door. There were no outside lights on the house, and the streetlights were blocked by the trees. The figure pushed the key into the lock, opened the door, and light fell on his face for the first time.
Katie had to stop herself from saying his name. She watched Jaden take his key from the lock, go inside, and shut the door after him.
Chapter 9
Pureborn
Jaden struggled to the kitchen with the heavy bags. By the time he got them to the counter his hands felt like they were burning. He kept meaning to bring his backpack with him, but forgot every time. After putting the groceries away, he made his way to the living room.
The coffin was where he’d left it; resting on a solid oak trestle table he’d bought in a charity shop and had delivered. It had been a nightmare to get through the door. With a shot of irritation, he saw a pile of earth on the floor near the coffin. His father had been up in the daytime again. He always stayed up far too early, then couldn’t wake up on time.
Jaden grabbed a dustpan and brush from near the door and moved to the coffin, sweeping the dirt away and putting it in a nearby bucket. He replaced the dustpan and brush, and knocked on the wooden lid of the coffin. “Dad, time to wake up.”
The lid eased open and his father, Rans Beck, sat up at the waist. He had his hands resting across his chest and his fangs extended, the same way he always slept. His long brown hair had dirt clinging to it, and his brown shirt was stained. He turned his head to look at Jaden. “What time is it?”
“Almost ten,” Jaden said. “You were meant to be up hours ago.”
&n
bsp; “Damn it.” Rans climbed out of the coffin, spilling more dirt onto the floor in the process. “Why didn’t you wake me earlier? You know there’ll only be drunks around soon.”
Rans screwed his face up in disgust. Jaden knew his father couldn’t abide blood with alcohol in it. It was part of the reason Jaden never woke him early if he could help it. There was less chance of children being out so late, and if people were out drinking, at least they’d had a good time before they were killed.
“I need to make something to eat,” Jaden said. “After that, I’m heading to bed.”
Rans stretched. “You should come with me. It’s not too long until your birthday; I can show you a few things.”
Jaden shook his head, turning to walk to the kitchen. He didn’t like the reminder. When he turned eighteen, he’d need to hunt like his father, go out and kill innocent people to keep his own existence going.
He opened the bag of potatoes and peeled them, his thoughts running over and over. He’d known from early childhood he was going to be a vampire. His father had never tried to hide it. As a pureborn, Jaden wouldn’t be turned; he’d change into a vampire when he became an adult. Then the thirst would start. Food wouldn’t sustain him anymore. Instead, he’d need fresh blood.
From the way his father described it, Jaden knew it was impossible to resist. The thirst could only be delayed. Eventually, it got so bad he would fall on the next person he saw.
A few more weeks until his birthday, then no more school. No more normal life, no more sports. Most of all, no more Katie. He winced as he thought about her. When she’d kissed his face on Friday, it had felt electric. He’d been longing for it for so long, he’d almost kissed her back right then and ruined her life. Falling in love with a vampire was great in the movies, where the vampire could resist his urges. If Katie fell in love with him, she’d end up a meal. She’d be the small antelope the lion takes care of while it’s not hungry. Right up until dinnertime rolls around and the antelope finds out why the lion was being so nice.
His finger stung, and he realised he’d cut it while he wasn’t paying attention. He put his finger in his mouth, feeling the coppery taste run over his tongue. Could he really eat blood? It didn’t seem like it would be enough to sustain him.
He took his finger from his mouth and went back to cutting the potatoes.
“It gets better,” Rans said from the doorway. “In a few weeks, it’ll taste better than the steak you’re preparing.”
“Aren’t you late?” Jaden asked.
Rans nodded, disappearing back out. Jaden heard the front door close and breathed a sigh of relief. Rans was a constant reminder of what was happening to him.
He tried to imagine someone out there, unaware their life was about to come to an end. One person a month, for the two centuries his father had been alive. Jaden paused for a moment, trying to calculate it in his head. He gave up when he realised it was more than two thousand. Was continuing his own existence worth ending two thousand other peoples’?
He didn’t want to die, but he couldn’t imagine killing people to keep himself going.
Chapter 10
The Shock
“Jaden is a vampire?” Katie turned to look at the air where Loki’s voice came from. “That’s not possible. He goes to school. He’s out in the daytime. We had spaghetti with garlic bread for lunch on Wednesday. He’s even gone to church.”
“You’re babbling,” Loki said. “Try to whisper, we’re still in a dangerous spot here. Move back to the tree we started at.”
She followed his orders numbly, returning to the tree and slipping into its shadow. “Is Jaden a vampire?”
“No.” Loki appeared beside her. “Not yet. He’s pureborn.”
She shot him an annoyed glance. Why was he being so cryptic?
“He was born a vampire,” Loki explained. “His mother was pregnant when she turned, so he was already a vampire by the time she gave birth to him. He’s just been growing toward it, like you have as a Godchosen. When he hits eighteen, he’ll turn. He’s already turning a little, so it can’t be long.”
“Three weeks. His birthday is just after mine.”
Loki nodded. “There’s only a single vampire in there, I’m guessing one of his parents. In three weeks, there’ll be two of them.”
Katie leaned against the tree, her mind reeling. She’d known there was something wrong at Jaden’s house, but she’d never seriously thought it could be anything like this.
“Hide,” Loki hissed, going invisible again.
She slipped behind the tree as the door to the house opened. A man walked out and closed the door, turning to survey the night. Then he skipped to the front gate, moving quicker than anyone she’d ever seen before. He disappeared down the path in moments.
His movements looked familiar, but she couldn’t figure out where she’d seen them before. “What was that? Why did he move like that?”
“It’s his strength. You’re the space girl, you’ve seen men walk on the moon. Gravity isn’t strong enough to hold him down like it does you. So skipping is the fastest way to move. From his speed, he’s centuries old.”
“He can’t just walk?”
“It’s difficult to gauge for them. The smallest changes can make the difference between closing a door and ripping it off. Control becomes a problem.”
Katie thought about the bruises Jaden had. His father could try to pat Jaden on the head and give him a concussion.
“You should go home,” Loki said. “Where it’s safe. Keep my symbol close, in case we run into him again.”
She nodded and hurried away down the path. Her heart hammered and she couldn’t stop glancing around her. The people she passed stared at her, but she ignored them.
Only when she was out of the estate did she allow herself to slow. “Tell me more about them. They can’t go out in the daytime?”
“That’s right,” Loki said. “Surprisingly, fiction got it mostly right. You’ve seen vampire movies, tell me the rules.”
“No daylight, no garlic, and they have no reflection.”
Loki snorted. “I did say mostly right. Daylight is a no-no for them. But they don’t mind garlic, as your friend’s lunch shows. He’s part vampire already, he’ll get more sensitive to all the vampire things soon.”
“What about needing an invitation to enter?”
Loki nodded. “They do need an invitation to enter a home, but anyone can give one. Sometimes they have a slave to invite them in.”
“A slave?”
“A human shell they’ve reduced to serving them. The slave can go out in the daylight, act normally, but if they’re in a house, they can invite their master in at night. Then all bets are off.”
“How can we kill them, then?”
“Good. I’m glad you’re coming around to the idea. We cut off their heads and burn the bodies. Forget everything you’ve read about stakes. I’ve never seen it work.”
“Cut off its head?” She couldn’t imagine decapitating a person, let alone burning the body. Her thoughts went to the goat at the demon church and tried to project that to a human. She shuddered.
“Don’t worry,” Loki said. “We’ll begin training tomorrow and I’ll show you how.”
With a start, she realised they were already home. It hadn’t been far to walk. A vampire was living a short distance from her house and she’d never known. More importantly, Jaden had been there for years.
Could her best friend really be a vampire too? It didn’t seem possible. She couldn’t imagine Jaden ever killing anyone.
Chapter 11
Training
When Katie woke the next morning, the soles of her feet felt hot. She wasn’t surprised, considering how much walking she done the day before. It must have been twenty kilometres or more.
She pushed her blankets aside and sat up. As she did so, she found Loki sitting in the chair beside her desk. Some part of her had hoped the events of the day before were imagined, but seeing Lok
i confirmed they were true.
“Oh good, you’re awake,” Loki said.
She groaned, already knowing what was coming.
“We need to get started with your training,” Loki said. “If we don’t, you’re never going to be able to face vampires.”
“I need to study today, I didn’t get anything done yesterday. If I don’t hit the books, I’ll fail all my classes.”
“Fine, then the next time Rans hunts, some innocent person’s soul will be on your conscience.”
“That’s not fair. I’m not killing them.”
“You’re the only one who knows about him.”
“Let’s call the police and let them deal with it.”
“Fine, if you want to see a lot of dead policemen.”
“Surely they’ll be better able to deal with it than I will be.”
“I’ll be the judge of that,” Loki said. “At least give me a few weeks to train you. If either of us don’t feel comfortable at the end of those weeks, we’ll call the police.”
She sat for a moment on the edge of her bed, thinking. If she didn’t agree, he’d never leave her alone. After all, he was with her 24 hours a day. She needed to keep him happy, but she knew she would never be ready to fight a vampire. “Okay, fine, three weeks.”
“Good,” Loki said. “Now get dressed, we’ve got a lot of work to do.”
Her thoughts went to her grades, as she grabbed a towel and headed for the bathroom. They weren’t great to begin with, but without studying at all for the next few weeks, she might fail. But at least she had one more year to go. Without Sonneillon and once the vampire was dealt with, she could concentrate on catching up.
Thankfully Loki didn’t materialise while she took a shower. She tried not to think of him hovering in the air somewhere, being invisible. Once she’d dried herself and got dressed, she headed downstairs.
Her father wasn’t at the breakfast table when she got there. It was Sunday, so she knew he’d be out worshipping Klondike. His god was simple enough to worship, only requiring a shot of bourbon poured into a nearby river. At least his god didn’t have him hunting vampires.
