A Bloody London Tale (Book 2): The Epidemic

by Prichard, Cornelius

  “At the moment we’re working on the access to blood issue.” Tom looked over at us and then back at Sam’s notebook. “I think it connects to the access to a lot of other things as well. We need to be able to go to shops, but we can’t leave our safe houses until sunset, which means we need places to be open late.”

  “Great.” Olivia sounded relieved. “You’re going the same way we are.” She made her way over to the table. “I have some notes from the conversations we had. If we can work it all together I think we should be able to get somewhere. How long do we have?”

  “A couple of hours. Or we can postpone it until tomorrow?”

  “I don’t want to do that, Tom. The sooner we have this conversation the better. If you can start getting the general public interested we should have a bit of leverage when it come to the government.”

  “Okay.” Tom nibbled his lip. “We want hunters to stay away from safe houses.”

  She looked over her notes. “That’s one thing we don’t have.” She took a pen out and scribbled it down. “I think we were more focused on everyday life, which should have included hunters, but then I guess they aren’t really a part of everyday life - they just might be, so we don’t think about them as much as we probably should.”

  “How did you become a vampire?” I couldn’t help asking, even though I knew I probably shouldn’t. “The three of us were in Romania.”

  “My boyfriend made the most of the epidemic.” She sighed. “He wanted someone to be with him for eternity and he chose me for some reason. I’m still not certain what’s so special about me, but we’re working things through. There have been other vampires who did the same thing. It’s just what happens when they have the chance of a lifetime. For now, though, I’m focusing on doing what needed to be done, and at the moment that’s making the most of this epidemic in a different way.”

  “Exactly what we thought.” Tom smiled at Olivia. “You’re going to be a good ally to have.”

  “Thank you.”

  Amalia

  Miron was waiting for us. “Oh, so you did bring the vampire here.” He stood, crossbow in his hand, and I took a step in front of Isabella. “I don’t have a problem killing you as well, Amalia. The world would be a better place if you weren’t around. The vampires you’ve let go free would all be dead.”

  “Yes, they would, and it wouldn’t change what happened. Killing all the vampires who aren’t trying to eat us just means we’ll have less allies and right now we need their help.” I glared at him. “Your girlfriend’s fine, by the way. I had a talk with her and she said she still loves you. That hasn’t changed, even though you are being a moron. I’m not certain why she feels that way. Personally I’d much rather never see your face again.”

  Fortunately he hadn’t been paying enough attention to Luca. The two of them landed on the floor, the crossbow bolt went into the ceiling, and I breathed a sigh of relief. “Change the locks, Papa.”

  Papa didn’t reply. When I turned to look at him I saw he wasn’t there. Isabella took me hand. “He’s gone to change the locks.”

  “Good.” I smiled. “Luca, get Miron out of here and make sure he doesn’t come back tonight. If he does he’ll have me to deal with.”

  The brother I no longer knew laughed. “Deal with you? What exactly do you think you can do to me?”

  My fury got the better of me then. Before I knew what I was doing I’d picked Miron up and pinned him to the wall. “Don’t even think about it. You don’t know who I am - you know who you think I am. I’m not a soft touch. I’m a woman who’s been fighting vampires for the last year. I’m a woman who is stronger than you and I’m quite certain you know that now. If you come anywhere near us with that crossbow again I will wrap it around your neck.” I probably couldn’t do that, but never mind. “You will stay away until the time comes when you regain your sense. I have no idea what it is that turned you into this, and I’m not entirely certain I care anymore, but I think you could become the little brother I remember you being if you put the effort in.” I dropped him to the floor. “Get him out, Luca.”

  Once Luca and Miron were gone I dropped to the floor myself, burying my head in my hands. “I have no idea how I did that.”

  “Hell hath no fury…”

  I laughed. “Yeah, I guess that’s right. Did I scare Miron?”

  “You could say that, sweetie.” Isabella wrapped her arm around me. “I think you impressed Luca, though. You should have seen the pride on his face.”

  “He knows me well enough to know I would at least try to wrap the crossbow around Miron’s neck, although I’m not certain I’d managed it.”

  “If you don’t I’ll help.”

  “Thank you.”

  Lena

  Getting the full truth out of Remus was important to me. I wanted to know why he’d hurt Mama. I had a horrible feeling he wasn’t going to react well to me asking, but I didn’t think he’d hurt me. When I knocked on the door I tried not to make it obvious why I was there. He opened the door. “I didn’t think you’d be back.”

  “We need to talk.”

  “Do we?” He shook his head. “You can come in if you want, but I’m not promising you any answers.”

  I smiled. “I never thought you would.” Once I was in his flat I turned to look at him. “Why did you kill Mama? Don’t tell me it’s because you thought she stole me, because we both know it’s a lie.”

  “Okay.” Remus brushed a hand through his hair. His eyes were emotionless again and I wished I’d taken a weapon with me, but I didn’t want to believe he’d hurt me. “Sori and I was friends long before I got with Tereza. When I became a vampire she came looking for me, wanting to make sure I was doing as well as I could be, and when she did I thought she loved me the same way I loved her. I’d been in love with her for as long as I could remember and her showing no interest in me at all was one of the most horrible things in the world. In the end I decided I’d rather be with someone who loved me and I picked Tereza. However Tereza didn’t come looking for me when I was turned.

  “Sori… when I told her I loved her said she saw me as a friend and nothing more. I thought I was okay with that, but I wasn’t. After Tereza threw herself in the river I started stalking Sori. She knew what I was doing and I knew she was scared of me. We had a long conversation about that when I found her alone one night - but I didn’t realise she’d done it on purpose, to tell me to leave her alone. She had you, and she had her husband, and I wasn’t ever going to be able to make her love me. She loved me like a brother, apparently, but that wasn’t what I wanted. I wanted to be with her. I wanted to change her, so the two of us could be together.”

  “Even though that would leave me without a mother.”

  Remus shrugged. “It didn’t matter. I know it should have done, but it didn’t, because I loved Sori too much to care as much as I should have done about you. I am sorry for that. I’m sorry my anger left you without a parent.” Our eyes met for a moment. “At the same time I think it’s right you know the pain of not having the people you loved in your life. We are very alike, Lena.” I realised I was alone with him and started slowly walking backwards, getting closer to the door. “You should know better.”

  He was behind me before I could reach the door. I could feel his breath on my neck and I knew what he was going to do to me. Doing my best to seem as calm as possible I shook my head. “This isn’t something you want to be doing, Remus.”

  “Isn’t it? I let you live your life, didn’t I? I could have killed you then, but I let you run back to Sori’s parents, knowing they’d take you in.”

  “Yes, you did, and I haven’t finished living my life.”

  “I think that’s up to me to decide.” His arm wrapped around my shoulders. “If I want to change you I can, because you can’t get away from me. You didn’t even bring a weapon. I noticed that.” He laughed. “Did you really believe I wouldn’t hurt you when it became obvious you’d picked her over me.”

 
; “Why do you think that?” I shook my head. “I picked having clean carpets in my flat. I wouldn’t have got the security deposit back if Tereza had bled on them and my flat mates wouldn’t have been pleased.” For a minute I thought he might even accept what I was saying. It was the truth, but he was the sort of person who seemed to see everything as an attack on him, even if it wasn’t. “Let me go, Remus.”

  “No.” I felt the very tips of his fangs pressing against my neck. “It’s not as though anyone will know it was me. Maybe you were stupid enough to go out and get yourself attacked by a different vampire.” They sank into my flesh and I did my best not to panic, even though I knew what he was doing to me. “What a wonderful time this is.”

  Breathing deeply I opened my mouth to say something, but he covered it with his free hand. After that I’m not certain what happened. The more blood he took the fuzzier I felt and I knew there was a chance he might kill me. By that point there was no chance of me getting away from him.

  Amalia

  Luca wrapped his arms around me. “I think you showed Miron what you were capable of.”

  “When did my little brother become…” I shook my head, unable to find the word. “I remember looking after him when Mama was out hunting. He used to cry whenever she went, certain she wouldn’t be there when he woke up in the morning, and I thought that was why he was worried about me. He wasn’t worried at all. Instead he’s become a clone of Mama and Grandpapa and I don’t understand how it’s happened.” A tear trickled down my cheek. “How did I miss this, Luca?”

  “You were busy trying to hunt a vampire who is causing a lot of damage. The vampires say they took in five more tonight, so he’s definitely been out there, while the other hunters were focusing on getting to the hospital in time to rid the world of ‘danger’. Young vampires are dangerous, but the best thing we can do is teach them how not to be, instead of killing them.” He shook his head. “I tried to convince them we needed to be out looking for the mad vampire and stopping him before he hurt anyone else. As far as I can tell they don’t truly believe in the mad vampire. Even though it was Miron who found out the truth they still think it has to have been one of the vampires who lives here.”

  “In that case I need to prove them wrong.” I stood, wiping the tears off my cheeks, and made my way upstairs. If I was going to kill the mad vampire I needed my weapons. Once I had them in my hands I felt ready to go. “Are you coming with me, Luca?”

  “Last time I asked if you wanted someone to hunt with you I remember you telling me not to treat you like a weakling?”

  “I was angry with you. I shouldn’t have been, but I was.”

  “You were angry with me for telling you I loved you?”

  “As illogical as it sounds, yes, I was.” Shrugging, I went back down the stairs. “I didn’t want you to be in love with me. I still don’t, but I realise it’s not up to me to decide that.”

  “You don’t want me to be in love with you, because you don’t want to be in love with me.”

  “Love’s a weakness, Luca. When I’m out there hunting with you we need to be focused on the vampire and I have this horrible feeling you’d be more focused on me.”

  “Love is not a weakness.” Isabella walked out of the kitchen. “Love gives you both strength, Lia.” She walked toward me. “Do you think my love for you was a weakness?” I shook my head, remembering her stopping a couple of vampires from hurting me. “In that case stop being a fool. Take Luca out hunting with you. It will make this much easier than it is when you’re alone or when you’re with someone you aren’t entirely sure you can trust. He is a good man.”

  “Thank you.” Luca took my hand. “Are you happy for me to come hunting with you? I don’t have to come if you don’t want me to.”

  I looked at Isabella. “Come with me. I want you by my side. At least then I know you’re safe.”

  Without saying anything more I left the house. I was more determined than I had been before to find the mad vampire, because I was going to show the hunters they were wrong. Far sooner than I expected Luca joined me. “There isn’t much of the night left.”

  “No, there isn’t.” We were lucky the nights had been as long as they were. “Do you have any suggestions?”

  “I’m happy to go wherever you do, Lia.”

  Gareth

  The make-up artist gave me one last brush and then she was gone. I was sitting on the… stage. Even though I’d been given the guided tour I still wasn’t entirely certain of the terminology I was supposed to use and having a hunter right next to me wasn’t helping my nervousness. Neither was Tom, for that matter. He seemed to be antagonising the hunter, which really wasn’t a good idea, but then I wasn’t surprised. The hunter didn’t believe we were young vampires because we were able to keep control around him and Len.

  “Okay, the first thing I’m going to show is proof the two of you were on the planes you say you were.” Len smiled at us. “Cormac hasn’t yet seen this proof, which is why he doesn’t believe you, but he will do soon enough.”

  Cormac laughed. “Exactly what is it you have? Some easily forged paperwork?”

  “CCTV footage from Heathrow Airport showing Tom and Gareth leaving for Romania, before returning a week later.” When I looked at Cormac his face was pale. “Gareth has been a vampire for three nights now.”

  “Three very long nights.” I smiled at Len. “How did you get Heathrow to give you the footage?”

  “I’m very persuasive when I need to be. We’re on in five, so I want you both to be ready.”

  Nodding, I brushed my hand through my hair. I’d been told not to do it, because it would affect all the work the hair stylist had done, but it was one of the things I did when I was nervous. “We’re going to be fine, Gareth.” Tom smiled. “This is what we need to be doing.”

  As I held onto that thought I made certain my smile wasn’t going to falter as the camera man counted down the last few seconds. “Good evening, everyone, and thank you for watching tonight. I’m Len Harris and tonight I have with me some very interesting visitors. The first we’ve met before: Mr. Cormac Richardson, a man who says he’s been a vampire hunter his whole life. My other two guests are new. Both were changed into vampires during this epidemic. I’d like to introduce Mr. Tom Keeley and Mr. Gareth Thompson.”

  “So they say.” Cormac shook his head. “Show your proof, Len, and then I’ll believe these vampires are as young as you saw they are.”

  “Always so impatient, Cormac.” Len laughed. “If you’re really that determined to be proved wrong…” He gestured at someone and the footage came up. “This is Tom entering Heathrow Airport. I’m sure everyone can see the date and the time on that. Now we have Tom leaving Heathrow… you really don’t look very well there, Tom.”

  “I wasn’t feeling great, Len. I remember knowing I had to get home and I thought I remembered my sister saying something about picking me up. Unfortunately she did.”

  Len already knew the story, but I could still see the sympathy in his face. It seemed as though he was actually on our side, which was unexpected. “Tell us what happened, Tom.”

  Breathing deeply, his hands shaking in a way I’d never seen before, he looked into the camera. “We got back from the airport and she told me to go to bed. Even though she was three years younger than me she always felt the need to look after me. That was just who she was. I did as I was told. I don’t remember going to sleep, but I do remember waking up.” A tear trickled down his cheek. “I felt fine. It was as though whatever illness I had was gone. I was hungry, though, so I went downstairs. I don’t know what she was doing in the kitchen. She turned to look at me, smiling, asking if I wanted something to eat. My senses felt like they’d been doubled or tripled or something, because I could smell her, and I could hear her heartbeat, and before I knew what I was doing I was there, in front of her, my teeth burying themselves into her neck.” He swallowed and I reached out to take his hand. I didn’t care if people thought we were g
ay. Tom needed my support and he was going to get it. “Thank you.” He shot a smile at me. “It wasn’t until it was too late I pulled myself away.

  “I checked her pulse, but there was nothing. I had no idea what to do. I’d just killed my sister, my baby sister, and I wanted to get out of the house as quickly as possible. At the same time I didn’t want to leave her alone. So I sat there, with her, trying to work out what I was going to do next. There was obviously something very wrong with me, but I had no idea what it was. When someone knocked on the door I forced myself to answer it. I knew my parents weren’t meant to be back for another week, but it could have been one of our friends. It was Jack. Apparently someone he knew at the airport had seen me not looking well and he’d got to mine as quickly as he could. Unfortunately he wasn’t fast enough for my sister. He did whatever it is he does. My parents know my sister is dead, they know it’s because of me, but they won’t know it’s because I’m a vampire until they get back… unless they happening to be watching if the show. If that’s the case I want you both to know how sorry I am. I never meant for that to happen. If I could turn back time I would. I want her back more than I can put into words.”

  “You didn’t ask to become a vampire?”

  “No, I didn’t. This was something I didn’t know had been done to me until it was far too late. By then my sister was dead. I think she was dead the moment I got in that car. Maybe, if she hadn’t been in the kitchen when I went downstairs, she might have survived, but young vampires aren’t meant to be left alone. Leaving hundreds of us… it was always going to become chaos, unfortunately, and there’s nothing that can be done to change it now.”