Vampire Dating Agency

by Rosette Bolter

“There was a struggle. I got the upper-hand.”

  “Is she still alive?”

  Haley shook her head.

  “Does anyone know about this?”

  “Not yet. But I guess they’ll find her body at some point.”

  “Look … Don’t worry about that. If no one saw you kill her, then it could have been any of them.”

  “I don’t care! I just want to go home!”

  Jason put his hand over her mouth to silence her.

  The wind moved past them gradually.

  The pebbles shifted a short distance away.

  “Where’s the keycard?” he asked.

  Haley opened her handbag.

  He took it.

  “What do you need that for?”

  “I’m going to take care of the secondary mission. To rescue our operative in the basement. You need to take this earpiece and get back into the field –”

  “What’s going on here?” a voice suddenly demanded.

  Haley and Jason stood up, red-faced.

  CHAPTER FORTY-ONE

  The vampire Brock Ferns peered over the side of the statue, his fingers adjusting the cuffs of his jacket. At first his eyes were beady, small, unsure. As Haley stepped back from Jason a smile began to form on Brock’s face. He relaxed.

  “Well, well, well,” Brock mused.

  “Buzz off, friend,” Jason said coolly.

  “I don’t believe we’ve met,” Brock said without taking his eyes off Haley. “Perhaps you could introduce us?”

  “I don’t know who he is,” Haley mumbled.

  “It’s not for you to know,” Jason said.

  “Well, whoever you are,” Brock went on, “you should know that I have a date impending with this fair princess, here. I’d really hate for someone to come in between us.”

  Jason took a small step towards Haley.

  She felt him slip something into her hand.

  “I apologize,” Jason said. “I didn’t know she was meant for another.”

  “Really?” Brock frowned. “You don’t want to get busy then?”

  “Some other time,” Jason murmured.

  He nodded to both of them and then walked away in the direction of the house.

  Brock watched Jason’s back intently, before taking a step towards Haley.

  “Who was that?” Brock asked.

  “I don’t know,” Haley gushed. “I just ran into him out here.”

  “I sense your anxiety,” Brock said. “Did I … just save you…?”

  Haley shrugged.

  “Is that it? Or is it something else?”

  Haley shook her head.

  “You’ve been a naughty girl anyway. Trying to escape this place.”

  “I wasn’t – I wasn’t trying to escape –”

  “Just off taking a stroll out here are you then?”

  “I was going home. There’s a difference.”

  “Why on earth would you be going home, may I ask?” Brock questioned. “Have you no desire to follow through on my proposal?”

  “I just … I don’t really feel safe here.”

  Brock put his hand through her hair. “Don’t worry. I’ll protect you.”

  Haley put her hand to his. “But I don’t know you.”

  Brock grinned. “Of course we don’t know each other. And that is what I am looking forward to the most.”

  CHAPTER FORTY-TWO

  The house didn’t smell right going back in. There was something off in the air. Something metallic.

  The noise blared in Haley’s ears. The music, the vibrations, the constant chatter and laughing – it could only feel so deep for so long. Eventually the endurance shifted to outright pain. The curtains were coming down. The illusions, falling away…

  She followed Brock in silence as he led her up to the top floor, the same floor where the Count’s study was located. She peered round the corners wondering if he would be lurking there, after her blood. It was only a matter of time before he would be.

  Haley hadn’t put in the earpiece. Not just yet.

  Since Jason had forced it into her hand on his departure, she had not thrown it away, instead managing to slip it into her bag when Brock wasn’t looking. She wasn’t entirely interested in what the team had to say to her. She wasn’t part of the mission anymore. The house had beaten her.

  They stopped at the far end of the corridor where there was a dark blue door, the same color as the key he’d given her. Brock took out his own key and put it in the lock, opening the door. He went in before she did.

  Inside the room was a small candle-lit table, with a chair facing either side.

  Behind them there was a bar and buffet of sorts, with dishes laid out already prepared. Brock beckoned her over to it.

  “I’m not much of a food-lover,” he admitted. “But perhaps you would like something.”

  Haley didn’t feel as though she could eat.

  “No thank-you.”

  “A drink then?”

  “Alright.”

  “Sit down at the table. I shall bring it to you.”

  Haley complied, heading over to her place at the table. She sat down and folded her hands together, feeling awkward. Nervous. A thought struck her that this was an opportunity to learn more about Brock Ferns. She could make a deduction if she wanted, as to whether he was the killer they were looking for. But… But, she’d already said she wasn’t going to do that…

  Brock approached the table with a tray containing a bottle of white wine in an ice bucket. At the table he set it down, uncorked the wine and filled her glass. To his own glass he removed a flask from his pocket, filled with a dark red colored liquid – presumably blood – and filled his with that.

  Then he sat opposite.

  “Let’s just have a small sip and enjoy the silence,” he suggested.

  Silence?

  Haley peered round and realized it was silent up here.

  The whole world had been shut out.

  She sipped from the glass.

  “So then,” Brock beamed. “Our first date. What would you like to talk about?”

  CHAPTER FORTY-THREE

  Over the next half hour, Haley began to learn more about the man sitting opposite her. Brock Ferns had only been a vampire for around six months. Before that he was still in college, studying film and television. He worked most nights at a golf course as a gardener or something. He had a girlfriend who he’d been with for about year. He lived in a shared house outside of home, but both his parents were still alive. Just a normal, run of the mill fellow, as he presented himself. And then by chance one night after a drinking session with his buddies, he’d wandered off into the wrong alleyway and the next thing he knew he was in a hospital morgue, covered in blood. He’d been pronounced dead at the scene, and in some way it had been correct presumption. In other ways, not so much.

  “Do you remember anything about the attack?” Haley asked.

  “Nothing,” Brock said. “But that was mostly due to my intoxication. I was blacking out before it happened.”

  “What happened to your girlfriend?”

  “I … I broke it off with her.”

  “You saw her again, after?”

  “We were in bed together and as I went to kiss her affectionately, I accidentally took a bite out of her neck. Don’t worry. She’s okay. She didn’t turn. But it was enough for me to know that I couldn’t control myself. And… That I need to be with someone who can embrace who I am.”

  “How did you wind up here? In this place?”

  “Well, I … After I began my search for others of my kind, I learnt about this place and thought it would be a prominent hunting ground. Unfortunately, they’re quite strict with their rules and regulations here. It’s definitely catered more to finding a partner, rather than a blood supply.”

  Haley thought carefully about her next question.

  “Have you ever killed anyone?”

  “No,” Brock smiled. “Not yet.”

  “Really
?”

  “I have hurt some people. I have … cut through skin and flesh. But even though I am now inclined to want to ravage those who cross my path, I still am the same good person I was before I turned. I still have the same values.”

  “But you were hoping this place would be a ‘hunting ground’?”

  “Well. One does fantasize.”

  Haley took another drink from her glass. It was now finished.

  “Another?” Brock said offering.

  “I don’t know…”

  “Go on.”

  He poured.

  And blood for himself too.

  “You know, I…” she began.

  “What?”

  She hesitated. “I found a woman who’d been hurt earlier.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Someone had thrown her off the balcony. She was in the garden. All in pain and everything.”

  “But she’s alright now?”

  “I … I don’t believe so.”

  “I’m not following you,” Brock said. “Did you call for help?”

  “Yes, and they tried to cover it up. I think they finished her off as well.”

  “Who did?”

  “The people who run this place.”

  Brock put his hands together. “Well, now I understand why you were trying to run. You think there’s someone going around killing people.”

  “It would seem so.”

  “But – it would surprise me,” Brock said. “I have met the Count of course, and well, if for instance I was caught hurting any of the women here, he would break my arms off in his fists.”

  “Is that what he said to you?”

  “I don’t recall the exact description,” Brock said. “But it was something along those lines.”

  “So … you’re sure it wasn’t you then?”

  “Wasn’t me – what?”

  “That pushed the girl off the balcony.”

  Brock stared back at her. “Are you actually asking me that?”

  “I want to see what you say.”

  Brock leaned back in his chair, appearing hurt. “No, it wasn’t me. Why would I do something like that? All I care about is finding someone who can make me feel not so fucking alone…”

  He wasn’t looking at her.

  He wiped his eyes with a tissue.

  Haley leaned forward. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to accuse you.”

  “Are you sure about that?”

  “I just want to know where you stand on all this.”

  “I’m … I might be a vampire. But I’m a cool vampire. You know. I ain’t going to fucking kill people. I’m not sick. I’m not deranged. I’m chill.”

  Haley found herself smiling. “You know what, Brock?”

  “What?”

  “I think I believe you.”

  CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR

  The conversation had now turned to Haley. Who she was. What she was doing with her life. Haley did her best to tell the truth about everything, only leaving the Paranormal Police outside the conversation. It was strange in a way, because she actually did feel as though she could confide in Brock. He seemed relatively normal, easy going. He wasn’t allied with this place. Like her, he was just a participant. The more they talked, the further away Haley began to feel from her problems. Where she’d first felt as though she’d been taken hostage by Brock, now she felt as though she could leave at any time. Whether it would be safe for her outside this room was another story. But inside here, she felt safe.

  “I need to know more about you,” Brock said touching his forehead. “I don’t mean the superficial stuff. Who you are as a person how the world sees you. No. I need to know about what’s inside of you. What’s in your heart. I need to know what you crave…”

  “Wow,” Haley murmured. “This is getting intense.”

  “You think that now,” Brock laughed. “Wait till we get to the anal.”

  “Shut up!” Haley exploded. “There’s no anal happening here. That’s off limits.”

  “Wow, really,” Brock beamed. “Not even on a first date?”

  “No.”

  “With a guy you like?”

  “No.”

  “Who’s inside your mind?”

  “Definitely not. And you’re not inside my mind anyway.”

  “We shall see.”

  Haley laughed again, finding herself pulled in by his charm. She took another drink of wine and realized she was tipsy as well.

  “But seriously,” Brock said reaching for her hand across the table. “Who are you? Tell me. Please, tell me…”

  Haley blushed. “I’m no one.”

  “Who was your first love?”

  Haley blinked. “I don’t know. My Mom? My pet dog Mr. Goldstein?”

  “Don’t fuck with me now,” Brock said. “Who first stole your heart?”

  Haley shrugged.

  “Do you not want to tell me? Is it still raw?”

  “No,” Haley gushed. “I mean. I was … young.”

  “Well, derr. No shit Sherlock.”

  “It doesn’t matter now.”

  “I want to know about it.”

  Haley sighed. “Why?”

  “Because I want you to entertain me. It’s … not a one-way street either. I’m sure, in a very short time, you’ll find me rather amusing.”

  “I’ll just … I’ll answer your questions. But I’m not telling a story…”

  “Who was he?”

  “A friend of my cousin’s. We only met the one time.”

  “How do you mean?”

  Haley rolled her teeth around. “We were on holiday. Up at my Uncle’s beach-house. I was thirteen. My cousin’s friend was fifteen… We… Had a moment…”

  “Describe it.”

  “It was nothing. We just … held hands. Everyone else had gone inside. We standing on the beach. Looking up at the stars. And he … held my hand.”

  “What happened next?”

  “Nothing. He was gone the next day. I used to dream about him afterwards. I really wanted to see him again, but for whatever reason, it never happened.”

  “But you’ll always have that moment.”

  Haley crushed her shoulders together, reeling. “Can we talk about you now?”

  “You want to hear about my first love?”

  “I … Just tell me a story.”

  “Alright…” Brock thought for a moment. “You know when my I moved out of home I decided to change my name.”

  “Really? What was it before?”

  “It’s not important. I just felt … like I wanted to be someone else. I told you I had a girlfriend, didn’t I?”

  “Yep.”

  “She wasn’t my first love. No … I was … much younger. In the middle of my adolescence. You know what that’s like. Bleeding high school.”

  “Well, don’t beat around the bush. Who was she?”

  “I’m trying to remember. She was either a friend, or a sister, or some kind of relative to my friend, who I was staying at his parents’s holiday home by the sea. I only met her the one time.”

  “Sounds a bit like my story.”

  “No, no it’s very different. You see she and I … we, well, we had an understanding. I think – she had an awesome nose. Like it was so small, and so cute. It was her defining feature. Or I could be thinking of someone else. Anyway, we were at edge of the water together. Looking out one night at the stars and I … I think … I think I held her hand a moment. But then it was over. And I had to go back home and…”

  Brock trailed off.

  Haley stared at him. He stared back.

  Was it … could it … but …

  Brock burst out laughing. “Got you! Ha, ha, ha!”

  Haley’s jaw dropped in shock. Then she picked up her half filled glass and tossed the wine at him.

  “Hey,” Brock growled.

  He jumped around and leered at Haley as though he was about to pounce.

  Haley got out of her chair and stepped back, j
ust as she was tackled to the ground.

  She could feel his hands on her, wrestling her, and the alarm clock was about to go off again.

  She reached for his elbow, looking to disable it, only…

  Only…

  Only to realize Brock wasn’t attacking her.

  He stared down at her from above as they were huddled on the floor together, his eyes searching hers.

  “Sorry,” he whispered. “I was just joking around.”

  “I know,” Haley muttered.

  “I want to show you something now. Are you ready?”

  “Nothing vulgar is it?”

  Brock’s body tilted back a bit. “Guess you’ll have to wait and see.”

  CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE

  There was another room adjacent to where they had been dinning. Haley had been unaware as the door leading to it was tucked away in a place where it should have opened up to a closet or something. Instead, it led into a full sized master bedroom complete with a king-sized bed with blue covers and sheets.

  “Um…” Haley said biting her lip.

  “Over here,” Brock said leading her past the bed.

  They walked over to the far wall and Brock shifted the curtains aside. They led out to a set of double doors, opening out to their own private balcony.

  “Come on,” he said, holding one of the doors open for her.

  “It’s cold out there,” Haley resisted.

  “I have just the thing.”

  Brock left the doorway and went over to the closet to retrieve a large blue-colored fur coat.

  “Why is everything blue in here?” Haley asked, accepting the coat.

  “I don’t know,” Brock said. “It’s just sort of the theme isn’t it?”

  He held the door for her again.

  Haley stepped outside.

  She walked to the edge of the railing and stood against it, looking over the back part of the estate. Brock joined her.

  “So this is your little hotel room tonight, is it?” Haley asked.

  “Something like that.”

  “Do you have to pay them for it?”

  “I don’t have any money,” Brock confessed. “I’m on a contract. I have to perform services for the agency at some point down the line. Whatever those may be.”