by M. D. Bowden
‘Fancy an explore?’ she asked him.
‘Alright then,’ he said.
But his actions did not go with his words. Instead of getting up he opened up his arms. Sarah gave in and went to him and sat on his lap. He picked up the bottle of bubbly from the floor, it was Prosecco from Italy, and refilled her glass.
‘Cheers,’ he said, and clinked her glass with his.
‘Cheers,’ Sarah giggled, and took a long sip.
She snuggled into his shoulder and finished off her drink.
‘Let’s go!’ she said.
It was her first time in England and she was eager to see her new surroundings. She had been in a complete daze when they had arrived at the house and she had barely taken it in.
Sarah sprang to her feet and extended her hands to him, and this time it was him that laughed. But he did take her hands and allowed himself to be dragged out of his comfort. Sarah opened the front door and beckoned Daniel out of the house, then shut it firmly behind her.
She looked about and could not see another house in sight, just the top of that steeple she had spotted from her window. It was over the hill in the next valley. The sky was dark, which added to the moodiness of the moor, although she supposed it was only about three in the afternoon. A gentle breeze made the tall grasses sway and dim light glinted off patches of watery marsh. Sarah breathed in deeply and did not smell the slightest hint of pine. The air smelt fresh and damp, like it was going to rain.
She turned and looked at the house she now lived in. They lived in. Together.
It was as cute as it had looked in the pictures. The old stone it was made of was rugged in shape, and grey with an array of colors providing gentle variation. Every stone was different, giving the house a truly unique look.
Daniel took her hand and led her away, and she exchanged a grin as they started to walk, not down the track to the road, but off onto the wild moor. The ground was soft beneath her feet. She just had to make sure she avoided all the pieces of granite that were everywhere.
‘So, did you pay for this place?’ she asked him while trying not to sound accusatory.
She was hopeful for an answer that would not fight within her conscience, or make her think less of him. She loved it and did not want to have to let it go.
‘Yes, one thing you don’t need to worry about is money,’ he answered.
Unfortunately that did not answer her question.
‘But why, were you rich before you became a vampire?’ she asked.
He threw his head back laughing.
‘No, we really weren’t. Sebastian taught me some tricks early on, before I left him,’ he said.
Sarah felt shocked – so it was something bad. She felt he must have seen her reaction for he continued.
‘Nothing bad – not very Sebastian! Just ways to make money with stock markets, that kind of thing. He’d had plenty of time to work it out in all his long years. . . .’
‘Oh, that’s great. One less thing to worry about,’ and she gave him a cocky smile. ‘Sorry for questioning you.’
He did not say anything, but pulled her towards him and kissed her. Sarah assumed that meant she was forgiven.
By this time they were trekking up the hill towards the summit that protected their house from behind. It felt good to be out, and walking was a breeze now that she was a vampire. She could just as easily have run, but she wanted to take it all in and she wanted to see everything. Daniel seemed in the same frame of mind as she, because he kept looking around with a look of quiet peace on his face.
A large crow flew overhead, and she watched as its feathers were buffeted by the wind. She wondered how easily she would find it to transform into an animal and looked forward to learning. That could wait a day or two though as they had lots to see and clues to look for. After all they did have a purpose in being here; there was some kind of danger around and they needed to find out what it was, and try to prevent more people getting hurt. That was, if in fact, anyone had been. The people in the newspaper article were described as missing, not dead.
Looking around at the wild beauty of the landscape it was not too hard to believe that something bad may have happened. It was so strange here, so foreign. It felt like a different world.
They reached the summit and climbed the large granite protrusions that topped it. Standing at the top she clung to Daniel’s hand – it was dizzying. She could see a long way in each direction and it opened up her view of their surroundings. She could see to Princetown, the large prison was hard to miss. She could see their house and the church she still wanted to investigate, and could now see it was surrounded by a graveyard and a low stone wall which was much like the one around their house. Beyond the church the moor extended as far as she could see. She turned and realized it was the same in every direction – an extension of hills topped with granite and further moor, and the odd area of woodland nestled in a valley. It would be easy to lose yourself.
She spotted a stone circle in the next valley.
‘Daniel – look,’ she said, pointing in its direction as the wind whipped at her arm. The stone circle had a strange sense of familiarity, like déjà vu, but she was not sure why. She felt drawn to go and see it, to see if it stirred some kind of memory. Maybe she had seen it in a picture? ‘It looks familiar. Do you recognize it?’
Daniel squinted in the direction of the circle, ‘No, I don’t think so. But you do?’
‘I think so, I’d like to go and see it,’ she started moving towards it, but Daniel pulled her back.
‘Hang on a minute. I’ve been wondering whether you might be having prophetic dreams – do you think it’s possible you remember it from a dream?’ he asked.
Sarah thought hard but she really could not remember any of her dreams since she had turned.
‘I don’t know, it’s possible I guess, but if that’s it the memory is entirely subconscious,’ she said.
‘I was wondering if you’d mind if I tried tapping into your dream, next time I think it looks like you’re having one, and see if I could see if they might give us a clue as to what to do,’ he said.
Sarah felt her cheeks heating; what if she dreamt about him? But so what? He knows she likes him now, loves him, so would it really matter?
‘Ummm, that would be ok – but if it’s obviously not a prophetic dream you have to stop watching, ok!’ she scolded him.
He nodded with a grin, ‘Sure,’ he said. ‘But listen, just in case . . . if you do recognize this place from a dream, it might be relevant as to why those people are missing, so look out for clues, and danger.’
‘I will,’ she said, suddenly serious.
They exchanged a glance of agreement and started to descend the hill towards the stone circle.
CHAPTER 15
They were nearly there, and Sarah took a break from watching where she placed her feet to look up at the stone circle ahead. It was large enough for a small party to picnic in, and she imagined witchy ceremonies being conducted in ages past. The granite stones were all different shapes and sticking out of the ground at odd angles, some of them as tall as her chest. They clearly formed a circle. She wondered who had made it.
On the furthest stone was another crow. As her eyes fixed on it it flew off and settled out of reach, yet seemed as if it was watching them.
She shivered, was it the same crow she had seen before? It looked awfully big, yet she supposed she was not used to the wildlife around here; maybe all crows were that large.
She stepped into the circle and instantly smelt blood.
Her eyes darted to Daniel’s and he nodded. He had smelt it too.
She watched as Daniel got down on his knees in the center of the circle and inspected the ground.
The wind kept blowing her hair across her face so it was hard to see. Sarah pulled a band out of her pocket and pulled her hair up into a pony tail, out of her eyes, so she could see better.
Daniel was pulling apart blades of grass and poking the gro
und with his fingers.
‘There is blood here – it’s absorbed into the soil. It’s not that old either, maybe a week or two. I’m thinking that this could have been a sacrifice,’ Daniel said.
Sarah continued to watch him as he looked about, inspecting the site.
‘I can sense the traces of magic,’ he said.
‘Looks like it’s going to be more complicated than a rogue vampire,’ Sarah pointed out.
She looked about the site herself. She did not exactly recognize it, but she still had that sense of déjà vu. And she also had an uneasy feeling, but was that just triggered by the blood? It sure made her thirsty, and her senses were heightened.
She looked back at the crow and met its beady eye, and then it turned and flew against the wind, disappearing from view.
‘Did you see that crow?’ she asked Daniel.
‘Hmmm?’ he said, he was focused on the ground once more.
‘The crow. Did you see it?’
‘I caught a glimpse, why? Was there something strange about it?’ he asked.
‘No, I just had a sense it wasn’t quite right. I thought it looked like it was watching us,’ she said feeling silly.
In retrospect it seemed quite unlikely.
‘Really? I will look out for it. Point it out if you see it again,’ he said.
Sarah was pleased he took her seriously, although wondered if he was humoring her. But why would he – he himself could turn into a bird. The crow could have been another vampire.
‘Can you tell if someone, or something, is a vampire?’ she asked him.
‘Yes. Their heart beats slower than a human heart, so it’s not hard once you get used to it. I’m not sure if I could tell if a bird was a vampire though,’ he said, picking up on her trail of thought, ‘I don’t know what happens to my heartbeat when I transform.’
‘So you think the missing people were killed right here?’ she asked.
Daniel nodded sadly.
‘I think you must remember this place from a prophetic dream. It seems too much of a coincidence that we would have found this place so quickly otherwise,’ Daniel said.
He stood and walked closer to Sarah.
She inhaled as he stepped very close and brought his hand up to her cheek.
‘How are you doing?’ he asked.
‘I’m ok,’ she shrugged her shoulders, ‘A little freaked, but ok.’
She did not step away though; she leant on him, taking his comfort.
‘I wonder where the bodies are,’ she said loudly, so her voice carried over the building wind.
Daniel stepped away and went back to inspecting the ground.
Sarah continued to look about, trying to search her recollections, or remember her dreams.
Nothing.
She did remember feeling uneasy when she had woken up that morning and shaking away memories of a dream. She resolved she would not do that again. She did not want to miss any important clues. It would be exciting if she was a prophetic, she thought, wondering at what mysteries she might uncover.
‘Hey Sarah, I think I can trace a trail,’ Daniel said.
He was outside the stone circle and beckoned for her to follow.
‘A blood trail?’ she asked.
‘Yes, and the odd footprint and flattened grass. It’s subtle and hard to see, but it is there.’
Sarah followed Daniel slowly, looking at the ground too. She could still smell the blood, very faintly on the air. It didn’t smell good as it was too old for that. It smelt stale, dead. It made her feel sick.
She could see the odd flattened impression on the ground, and could imagine that bodies might have been dragged this way. They were walking deeper into a valley and Sarah spotted a trench ahead. She had a bad feeling.
Daniel continued to look at the trail, she was not sure he had even noticed the trench. She did not say anything as she did not want to distract him, in case she was wrong.
She knew she was not.
The smell of death grew stronger as they got closer, and Daniel shot her a look of concern. She knew he could smell it too.
They arrived at the edge of the ditch and looked inside. Sarah could not see anything at first, and then pointed to a gap in the ground under a large slab of stone.
Daniel nodded and went to investigate.
Sarah stayed where she was.
She kept looking around for the crow, and then she spotted it far off in the distance. It was still watching them. She wondered if it had been the whole time.
‘Daniel – the crow!
Daniel stood to look and Sarah pointed him in the right direction, but the crow had gone.
CHAPTER 16
The sorcerer settled on a rock outside his cave and transformed back into a man. He shook himself so he felt human again, and grounded to the earth. He thought darkly about what he had seen.
Two vampires.
What were they doing here and why were they investigating the deaths?
It seemed most unlike vampires. Surely all they cared about was killing? They would not care about what he had planned.
They were already immortal.
But what if they planned to interfere?
He could not let that happen. It was still two weeks until the next full moon when he would need to perform the second sacrifice, the one that would complete the ritual and raise Nathaniel.
That was two weeks that his plans could be thwarted, that his vision could be ruined.
He paced back and forth, thinking about what he should do and considering the most appropriate way to kill them.
He knew where to find them as he had followed them back to their stone cottage, while keeping out of sight. But he did not know how strong they were.
He would need to test them.
He pictured the country side surrounding their cottage in his head. It was not far from the stone circle, no wonder they had found it. He pictured the lay of the land and remembered the church.
The graveyard.
Now that was an idea.
He would wait until it was late, until it was dark and they were likely to be asleep, then he would carry out his plan.
He hoped they would be weak, that they would fail the test: That they would either run or perish.
CHAPTER 17
Sarah slumped back on the sofa and held out her glass as Daniel poured her some wine. She took a gulp and sighed.
The excitement of their arrival had worn off.
Now she could not shake off a feeling of dread.
She took another sip of wine, hoping that it would help. It did, a little.
Daniel sat down next to her and she rested her head on his shoulder. It was starting to get dark outside and Daniel had lit a fire in the hearth. It crackled away and provided a soft warming light.
This would be an ideal situation if it was not for her lurking memory of those bodies. That smell. The crow.
Sinking into negatively was not good. The lower she sank the more it was impossible not to think of her children. Of hugging them, providing them with comfort, while making herself feel better. She had to snap out of it, but how?
Blood.
Her veins felt dry, and she was beginning to notice her mood was influenced by how recently she had fed. Blood made her feel jubilant. It enabled her to push aside her fears and memories. It made her feel strong.
Hunger made her weak, not just physically but emotionally.
She sat up and turned her head so she could look into Daniel’s dark eyes.
She uttered one word.
‘Blood.’
He put down his glass and stood, pulling her with him, and went straight to the door.
Sarah let her hunting instincts take over. She was not afraid to be wild as she knew it was the only way to make herself feel better. Daniel would stop anyone getting hurt. He was right by her side, and he would stay close, protecting her. Protecting anyone that might happen to venture into her territory.
She sprinted int
o the night, her presence covered by the dark, and felt a strong wind slapping at her skin. If the moon was out the clouds were too thick to tell.
She appreciated the darkness and the speed.
She felt exhilarated.
She stopped and saw a stretch of woodland - the oaks she had longed to see. If there were any large prey to hunt that was where she would find them.
She glanced over her shoulder, checking that Daniel was still with her, before speeding down the valley towards it.
As she approached the woodland she slowed. She did not want to scare away any animals that were there. She started to stalk inwards. It was even darker under the canopy of trees with their new leaves that smelt fresh and vibrant.
She stilled and listened hard for a heartbeat, a sense of life, of blood.
She heard tiny beats coming from every direction. The forest was full of life. There was life in the trees, in crooks and holes and burrows. But she wanted something larger so she listened harder. Further away she heard a deeper beating and sped up, shortening the gap so she could see what it was.
She was so hungry, so thirsty – she could not wait to feed. As she neared the pumping heart she could not stop. She saw a small red deer and was on it in less than a second. It was young and not used to this form of danger. She sank her teeth through its neck and felt whole again as its blood flowed down her throat, its power into her cells and muscles. The blood tasted sweet with youth, and she drained every drop, feeling the heart slow and then stop. She held the deer tight, not willing to miss any blood she could get. Finally she released her teeth and set the deer by a tree, feeling sad about ending its life. She tossed some leaves over it as a mock burial.
She glanced up at Daniel who was leaning casually against a tree. She was just about to speak when he brought his finger to his lips to tell her to be quiet.
It was his turn.
Sarah listened out, wondering what he had heard, and discovered there was another young deer nearby.
