by Adele Abbott
“We want to play.” One of them banged the pool table.
“You can have the table when we’ve finished this game,” Doug said. “We won’t be long.”
“You’ve been on here for ages already.” The tallest of the gang stepped forward.
“Only because there was no one else waiting to play,” Charlie said. “Now, if you don’t mind, we’d like to finish our game.”
As Charlie bent down to take his shot, the tall man nudged his arm causing him to miss the pot. Charlie turned around and grabbed the man. “I said you’ll have to wait.”
Suddenly, all the other young men surrounded him.
“Charlie, it’s time to go,” Doug shouted, but Charlie had seen the red mist. The werewolf was surging inside of him. Any moment now, he’d release it, and tear them all limb from limb.
“Charlie, we have to go!”
The next thing he knew, he was being dragged out onto the street where Doug walked him around to the back of the pub. “What on earth were you doing in there? You nearly turned.”
Charlie was still a bit dazed from it all. “No, I didn’t.”
“I can tell when you’re about to turn. Another ten seconds, and you would have gone full werewolf on them. That would have been you and me back in Candlefield, locked away by the Rogue Retrievers. I’ve never seen you go off like that before.”
“I’m sorry. I’m really sorry. I guess it’s all that stuff with Ralph. It’s got me riled up.”
“You’d better get off home before you do something stupid. Don’t stop to talk to anyone on the way.”
“Okay. Thanks for getting me out of there, Doug. I’m really sorry.”
***
So much for his day off. Charlie was beginning to think he’d rather work seven days a week. At least at the gym, he got to work out his aggression and anger. Plus, there were always lots of pretty young women there. Today had been a complete write-off. He usually enjoyed going to see his mum, but the run-in with Ralph had spoiled it. And then to top it off, he’d almost lost control in the pub, and had very nearly gone werewolf on those stupid humans. There was no excuse for that. He frequently came into contact with idiots—not just humans—sups as well. But he’d always managed to keep his werewolf under control. The only time he couldn’t was on a full moon. That’s why he always took himself back to Candlefield—to the Range. He couldn’t do any harm to anyone there. The worst he could do was get into a bit of a scrape with another werewolf. But today, in that bar, if Doug hadn’t stepped in, Charlie would have turned. It would have been a bloodbath, and that would have been the end of the human world for Charlie. He would’ve been back to Candlefield, and probably never allowed to leave again.
When he got back to the apartment, he couldn’t believe his eyes. Neil was in the lounge, laughing and joking with the brunette witch from upstairs.
“Hi, Charlie,” Neil called.
Charlie could feel his anger rising again. Neil could have any woman he wanted, and knew how much Charlie liked the witch, so why would he do this?
“Hi,” Charlie grunted.
“Hello there.” The witch waved to him.
“Hi.”
Charlie was about to make his way to his room when Neil stood up.
“Well, like I said, Amelia, I can’t stay. I’m meeting someone in a few minutes.”
“Okay.” Amelia smiled. “Thanks for the drink.”
“No problem.” As Neil walked towards Charlie, he gave him a wink. “Get in there,” he mouthed.
“Aren’t you going to come and join me?” Amelia called.
“Err—yes. Of course.” Charlie could feel the colour rising in his cheeks as he made his way over.
“So, now I know your name, Charlie.” Amelia held up a bottle of wine. “Would you like a drink?”
“Not for me, thanks. I had a drink earlier, and I’ve got rugby practice later.”
“You play rugby?”
“Yeah.” He took a seat opposite her. She was even more attractive close up.
“I do like rugby players. It’s a much better game than football. Do you play often?”
“Most weekends, and we have two practice sessions in the week. What were you and Neil talking about?”
“Nothing much. I shouldn’t really say this, but your friend’s a bit full of himself, isn’t he?”
Charlie smiled. “Yeah, he is a bit.”
“To tell you the truth, I was going to say ‘no’ when he invited me in for a drink. He’s not really my type. But then he said that you’d be back shortly, so of course I said ‘yes.” She looked around. “Where’s your cat, by the way?”
“Pretty? She isn’t actually my cat.”
“I thought I saw you bring her into the apartment.”
“I did, but don’t let the others know.”
“Your secret’s safe with me.” She put a finger to her lips.
“Pretty shows up most days. I give her milk and some food.”
“That’s probably why she turns up.”
“I suppose you’re right.” Charlie was entranced by Amelia’s smile. “Neil’s okay with it, but Dorothy hates her. She’s the one who’s always giving me a hard time about it. She’s worried the landlord will throw us out.”
“I love cats. I like it when they curl up on your lap and purr.” She hesitated. “Neil told me you’ve taken on a human as a new flatmate. Why would you do that?”
“We didn’t have any say in it. The landlord found her for us.”
“I wish I’d known you were looking for someone.”
“Why? Aren’t you happy with your own place?”
“The flat’s okay, but living with two other girls can be a bit much at times, particularly Julie. You know how vampires can be.”
“Tell me about it.” He grinned. “I love Dorothy, but she can be a bit of a nightmare at times.”
“If the human causes you any grief, just let me know. I’ll sort her out for you.”
“Sort her out?”
“I could turn her into a frog.”
“You can’t turn Susan into a frog!”
“Okay, a kitten then. You did say you like cats.”
He smiled, and hoped she was only joking.
“I suppose I’d better get going.” She stood up. “This has been nice.”
“Yeah, really nice.”
After she’d left, Charlie began to curse himself. If he’d had just an ounce of Neil’s confidence, he would have asked Amelia out on a date. But he didn’t; he was too scared of making a fool of himself. No matter what anyone else might say, he knew that someone as pretty as Amelia would never go out with a big klutz like him.
Thirty minutes later, he was in his bedroom—still daydreaming about Amelia, when a knock on his door brought him back to earth.
“Charlie? Are you in there?” It was Susan.
“Yeah. Come in.”
“I’m sorry to bother you. Do you happen to know where Neil is?”
“He said he was going to meet someone.”
Susan spotted the two thimbles on the cupboard.
“My mother has a huge collection of thimbles. When I was a kid, she would never let me go anywhere near them because she was scared I’d break them.”
Charlie looked on in horror as she walked over to the cupboard. He was petrified that she’d look through the magnifying glass, and see the fairies.
“Why do you have this magnifying glass here?” She peered through it. “Oh I see. It lets you see the detail of the thimbles much better. These are really beautiful, aren’t they? They look just like real houses. My mother would love them. You’ll have to tell me where you got them from, so I can buy one for her.”
“Err—they were a present.” Charlie stuttered. “I’m not sure where they were from.”
“And what’s that? Is it a microphone?”
“That? Oh, I just threw that on there.” Charlie managed to glance over Susan’s shoulder at the magnifying glass. There was no sign of
Greta or Bunty—they must have gone out somewhere. That was a close call.
Susan reached out as though she was about to pick up one of the thimbles.
“Could I—?”
“No!” Charlie grabbed her hand. “Sorry, I’d rather you didn’t touch them. They’re very fragile.”
“Oh? Okay, sure. I do like them, though. If you can find out where they’re from, I’d be very interested in buying one.”
Chapter 11
The next day, when Susan arrived at Aroma, she was able to pick out Alex Patmore even though he hadn’t given her a description of himself. He had a pale complexion and a haunted look about him. The only surprise was that he was a lot younger than she’d expected—perhaps only a couple of years older than herself. For some reason, she’d pictured him as being in his fifties.
He’d chosen a seat at the back of the café, away from the other customers.
“Alex?”
“That’s me.”
“Would you like another drink?”
“No, I’m okay, thanks.”
She ordered a cappuccino, and then took the seat opposite him.
“Have you been doing this job long?” She regretted the crass question as soon as it had passed her lips.
“My father was a funeral director, and his father before him. I always swore I’d never join the family business, but then I struggled to get a job after uni, so here I am five years in. It’s not that bad. Most of the time, anyway.”
“When you called yesterday, you mentioned that you thought something was suspicious about one of the—err—clients that you’d had to—err—process?”
“In this line of business, the worst thing that can happen, apart from having to deal with a young child’s death, is when you come across someone you know. Because I’m relatively young that hasn’t happened—or at least it hadn’t until a couple of weeks ago.”
“A friend?”
“Not exactly. More of an acquaintance. The guy’s name was Chris Briggs. He was homeless. I saw him most mornings on my way into work. He used to sleep in the doorways of the empty shops on Bridge Street.”
“Near the bus station?”
“That’s right. I take the bus into work every day. I have a flat out in Smallwash. If I was running early, we’d sometimes chat, and I’d give him a few coins for a cup of tea, or food for his dog, Pedro.”
“How did he end up on the streets? Do you know?”
“He didn’t talk about it much, but from what I could gather, he’d been thrown out of his family home not long after he left school. He had a drink problem—possibly drugs too. I’m not sure.”
“How did he die?”
“According to the report, he threw himself off the multi-storey car park in town.”
“Suicide?”
“That’s what the police say.”
“But I take it you don’t think that’s what happened?”
“There’s no way Chris would have killed himself.”
“But, surely if he was living on the streets—”
“He must have been depressed? You might think so, but you’d be wrong. Chris was one of the most positive people I knew. Whenever I spoke to him, he always cheered me up. And that’s not the only reason I don’t believe he topped himself.”
Susan waited while Patmore took a drink of his coffee.
“He would never have left Pedro. He thought the world of that dog.”
“Did you mention any of this to the police?”
“Yes, I told them what I’ve just told you.”
“What did they say?”
“Not much really. I got the impression that he was little more than a nuisance to them. Chris was a homeless drunk. They weren’t going to spend any time investigating what was probably nothing anyway. As far as they’re concerned, he jumped—case closed.”
“But you obviously still have doubts.”
“Yes, I do. I thought if I could convince you that there’s a story to be had, maybe you could get to the bottom of what really happened. What do you think? Is it something that you might be interested in following up?”
“I don’t know. There isn’t much to go on. If you can tell me everything you know about Chris Briggs, I’ll certainly check it out, but I can’t promise anything.”
***
After she’d left the coffee shop, Susan decided to drop in on Jess Parks, one of her best friends from her pre-uni days. Jess, Susan and Dreams had been inseparable at that time. Jess was very different from Dreams who was always away with the fairies. Jess was much more grounded, and always spoke her mind. Susan hadn’t seen Jess since she’d moved to London, but they spoke regularly on the phone. Even so, Jess had no idea that Susan was back in Washbridge.
Jess worked in a travel agent’s just outside the city centre. Susan had wondered if she ought to phone ahead, but in the end decided to take her chances. As soon as she walked in, she spotted Jess at a desk near the back of the shop. There was no one with her, so Susan walked over, and sat in the chair in front of Jess’s desk. Jess looked up from the computer screen.
“How can I help—Susan? What are you doing here?”
“Surprise!”
“Why didn’t you tell me you were coming up? Are your parents okay? “
“Yeah, everybody’s fine. I’m actually back to stay. I’ve got a job in Washbridge.”
“Really? Doing what?”
“Investigative reporter for The Bugle.”
“I’m gobsmacked. I never thought you’d leave London—still less come back to this dump. What went wrong?”
“The paper I was working at folded. It was Dreams who told me about this job, actually.”
“Dreams? I saw her the other day. She never mentioned it. Just wait until I see her again.”
“Don’t give her a hard time. I made her promise not to tell anyone. The only reason she knows is because she was the one who told me about the job. I didn’t even tell my mum and dad.”
“Fair enough. Anyway it’s great to have you back. Where are you living?”
“I’m flat-sharing with three others. Do you remember the old sock factory?”
“Yeah. Didn’t they convert it into apartments?”
“That’s right. I’ve only just moved in. Before that, I was staying in a grotty old motel.”
“You’re an idiot then. Why didn’t you call me? I could have put you up.”
“I should’ve done. I just didn’t want Mum and Dad to find out.”
“Anyway, never mind all that. This deserves a night out to celebrate the gang being back together. You, me and Dreams. What do you think?”
“I suppose so, but I don’t imagine any of our old haunts are still going, are they?”
“A few, but there are some better ones now. We can get hammered, just like we used to.”
“I don’t think so. My days of getting hammered are well and truly behind me.”
“Have you seen Tony?”
The question took Susan by surprise. Tony had been her boyfriend for a couple of years before they’d won places at different universities. They’d made a promise to stay faithful to one another, but it hadn’t quite panned out that way. Susan had kept her part of the bargain, but before the first year was up, Tony had met someone else. Susan had been devastated at the time. She hadn’t seen or spoken to him since, and had assumed that he was still with Lisa, the girl he’d met at university. She hadn’t expected him to come back to Washbridge. He’d always sworn he never would.
“Tony’s in Washbridge? You never mentioned it when we spoke on the phone.”
“I didn’t see any point, but now you’re back, I figured you should know. He and that cow, Lisa, broke up about a year after they finished uni.”
“I had no idea.”
“They were living in Birmingham, but after the split, he came back here.”
“Do you see him often?”
“Not really. On the few occasions I have, he’s done his best to avoid me. I think he�
��s a bit embarrassed.”
“So you’ve never spoken to him?”
“Only once—not long after he came back. I’d probably had a bit too much to drink that night, and I laid into him. I let him know what I thought about him, and the way he’d treated you.”
“You shouldn’t have done that.”
“I know, but I was the wrong side of merry at the time. He didn’t say much. He just stared at his feet, mumbled something, and then wandered off. You’re well shot of him. Are you seeing anyone at the moment?”
“Not to speak of.”
“Me neither. We’ll have to see what we can do about that.” Jess gave her that wicked smile that Susan remembered so well. “I’d better get back to work. The boss here has a stick up his backside. He doesn’t like us to talk to friends during business hours.”
“Sure. Sorry, Jess. I didn’t mean to get you into trouble. We’ll arrange a night out sometime.”
***
Not long after Susan had arrived back at the apartment, Charlie left to go to rugby practice. Neil and Dorothy were also out. Susan was actually relieved to have the place to herself. She was ready for some downtime.
She decided to rest up in the lounge for a while. Once she’d got her breath back, she’d have a shower, get changed, and make herself something to eat. At least, that had been the plan. Within five minutes of sitting down, she was fast asleep.
Fifteen minutes later, when Dorothy arrived home, she found Susan asleep on the sofa. She quickly checked the other rooms; there was no sign of Charlie or Neil.
What did human blood taste like? Dorothy wondered. Could it possibly be as good as everyone said? Most of her vampire friends had tried it at least once, but she never had. Her mum had been very strict, and told her she must never try it because once she did, she’d always crave more. But surely once wouldn’t hurt?
Dorothy remembered what Tilly had said about soft-feeding. She didn’t need to bite Susan’s neck. She could just prick her finger, and draw a few drops of blood onto a saucer. Just enough so she could taste it for the first time. She went into her bedroom, and found her sewing kit, from which she took the smallest needle she could find. After getting a saucer from the kitchen, she crept into the lounge where she knelt next to the sofa. Dorothy held the saucer underneath Susan’s hand, then took the needle, and pressed it into her middle finger.
