by Jade Farhill
The solicitor paused. “What sort of terms are we talking here?”
Abby explained that she wanted a lab and instruments, a team of scientists working under her and, when she had developed the cure and vaccine, to leave the hunters’ organisation as a vampire, without being followed and with two doses of the cure.
“Do you want accommodation while you’re at it?”
“Yes. I want a room with an en suite. I want access to animal blood at any moment of the day. Also, I don’t want to be tested on or put into a cell or harmed in any way. I know how these hunters work—the moment they have me under their power, they’ll betray me.” Abby told her of how they’d treated Sharon, and how they tried to catch her multiple times.
“So you want me to protect you—keep you out of harm’s way?”
“Be my safeguard, yes.”
“And what will you promise these hunters? I imagine they won’t be happy with just your word.”
What reasonable measures could Abby allow for the hunters to feel safe? “They can put a guard or a unit of guards on me, unless I’m in the lab or in my room. I don’t want guards looking over my shoulder—I can’t work like that. And I want to be able to have some privacy, so they can’t come into my room.”
A pen scratched on paper at the other end of the phone, and a fast heartbeat in the background. Why was it fast? Nervousness? Excitement? The assumption that Abby was insane?
“All right, what’s the number I need to ring?”
She gave Jen the number for the advertised job.
“All right,” said the solicitor. “I’ll call them now. Call me back in an hour and a half and I’ll let you know if they will agree to your terms.”
Had Jen already solidified her idea about Abby’s sanity?
The next hour and half were the longest in her undead life. Abby left the shack and her senses registered the heartbeats, location and distance of all the wildlife around her.
With so much noise and movement filling her mind, there was little time for her nerves to get to her. She lay down and stared at the sky, trying to make shapes or creatures out of the clouds. She used to gaze at the stars and the clouds with Sharon when they were children.
Sometimes, their mother would join them, pointing out which were planets and which were distant stars. Helping them identify the constellations.
Abby’s chest tightened—she missed her sister. Where was Sharon right now? Had she stayed in the country? Had she stayed in the city? Was she even still alive?
Abby closed her eyes and shook her head. No, she couldn’t let herself think that. She would go crazy with worry and grief and guilt.
She opened her eyes and focused on the clouds.
At length, Jen called back.
“Tell me, is your name Abigail Rormton?”
Abby felt herself grow cold. “Yes, that’s me.”
“So turns out it wasn’t such a delusional story as I initially thought.”
“They told you my name?”
“Well, I only mentioned that I had a client who would create a cure and vaccine for them if they would let her walk out as she walked in, but with two cures, and they said, ‘Ah, you’re talking about Abigail Rormton’. I obviously didn’t say yes, but we started negotiating under the assumption that you’re Abigail.”
Abby fidgeted. “What did they say? Were they happy with the terms?”
“More like begrudging. If what you say is true, and I’m beginning to believe it is, then you’re putting yourself at serious risk making this deal with them. I stipulated that they’re to pay you for your services. You’ll be their employee, and if they breach the employment contract, you can up and leave—or you could come to me and we’ll sue them.”
Abby wasn’t sure if she wanted to sue anyone. “Wait, pay me?”
“Yes, pay you. They did offer to pay you millions of dollars in the past to do exactly this. I don’t see why that should change now that you’re a vampire.”
“But they’re not going to pay me millions of dollars, right?”
“That’s right. They’ll be paying you $160,000 per year.”
Abby wasn’t really doing this for the money. But the hunters had been advertising the position as a job, so maybe it wasn’t so out of the blue.
“Okay. Did they agree to that?”
“Again, begrudgingly.”
“Did they have any concerns or amendments to the terms?”
“They wanted to have you watched twenty-four-seven.”
Abby felt dizzy. “Anything else?”
“I negotiated them down to having security cameras and guards in the lab when any humans were in there with you.”
Well, Abby wouldn’t have felt safe with a vampire in the room and no one there to protect her.
“But otherwise, your lab is your own, and your room is your sanctuary. There can’t be any security cameras or humans in your room.”
“Thank you,” Abby whispered.
“I also realised that considering the significant risk to yourself and the significant gain to humanity as a result of this partnership, you’ll need someone to make sure you’re all following the terms. You’ll need a third party to intervene if things go bad. I’d like to volunteer for this role. With my fee of $80,000, that should leave some money for you when you’re human again.”
Abby raised her eyebrows. “An hour and a half ago, I could have sworn you thought I was crazy.”
“That was an hour and a half ago.”
Fair enough. A lot can change in an hour and half—Abby’s life had changed in less time.
“You’ll be able to do something if they try to kill me?”
“Sue the pants off them and claim all of your intellectual property, sell it to the highest bidder and announce to the world that vampires exist. Then sit back and profit.”
Abby raised her eyebrows. “I thought you were a human rights activist?”
There was a smile in Jen’s voice. “I was … until I found out about vampires. I see the bigger picture of what you’re trying to create. They see it through a lens of hatred.”
This didn’t bode well for a hospitable working environment, Abby thought.
“You’ll come with me?” she asked, hearing the vulnerability in her voice.
“Of course,” said Jen, and it sounded like she was trying to be reassuring.
Abby relaxed slightly. Could she become friends with Jen? She hoped so. To have a friend who understood everything would be amazing. “I’d appreciate that.”
“Good. They agreed that in two days’ time, they would meet us at my office and take us to their headquarters.”
This was real now. Abby curled her shoulders forward.
“They know you can walk into the sunlight, which interests them a great deal, so they said to meet us here at ten in the morning.”
“Ten the day after tomorrow. Okay, I can do that.” Abby heard her voice trembling.
“I’ll be there the whole time, Abigail.”
“Please call me Abby. Everyone else does.” Actually, only her friends and sister did, but she hadn’t seen any of her friends since Sharon was Turned—she didn’t think she could trust them. But now that she was going into hunter territory, she needed to trust people again, and who better to trust than a solicitor in her employ?
“Okay then, Abby. You’re doing a good thing here.”
Abby smiled. “Thanks.”
CHAPTER 15
Two days later, at nine forty-five, Abby met Jen at her office. Jen looked exactly like she did in her pictures: short, with black hair cut into a bob and intelligent brown eyes. Abby heard Jen’s heart start beating faster as she held out her hand.
Jen had a firm handshake. “Nice to meet you in person, Abby. What’s in the backpack?”
“Books. I figured I might need a tome or two while I’m there. Not sure if they’ll restrict my access to the internet.”
“You’ll have access to everything you need to complete your research
.”
Abby smiled. “I doubt watching YouTube will be considered appropriate for research.”
“Depends how you spin it,” Jen chuckled.
Abby really liked Jen. They sat down and started chatting about the books in Abby’s collection. They were mostly old romance novels or fantasies. Nothing to do with vampires or hunting—that felt a little too close for comfort. But romance was a fantasy Abby knew could never be fulfilled as a vampire, despite what Sharon’s movies said, so she was allowed to dream.
A black van pulled up in front of Jen’s office and Abby felt chills racing down her spine. She shivered as she heard the steady and slow heartbeats of the twelve hunters inside the van.
The van’s side door slid open, and out hopped Kenny. When he stood to his full, imposing height, surrounded by Annette and his team, Abby fought the urge to shrink back.
At least he’s still alive, she thought. Even if he’s more terrifying than before. Did he regret telling her how they’d tracked her down?
Annette focused on Jen and introduced her to the hunters. There were a few new recruits, but Abby was looking for Louise. There was no sign of her.
A hand rested on Abby’s arm. Jen’s hand.
Human contact. Abby hadn’t been willingly touched by a human in so long. She was determined not to scare Jen, although she could hear the woman’s heart racing.
But Abby was used to being with humans now—although all the hunters, even Kenny, moved their hands to their daggers when they saw what Jen had done.
Abby looked at her lawyer. “You don’t have to come. You can leave at any time.”
“Noted,” said Jen as she met Abby’s eyes. “Now, let’s go.”
Jen walked up to the van, checking her briefcase as the hunters moved aside and let her in. They looked at her with a mixture of respect and confusion.
The same way they’d looked at Abby before Sharon had Turned her.
Abby stepped forward and the hunters focused their fierce glares on her.
My, how things change.
Would every movement she made from this moment be met with threatening glares? She took another step. The hunters separated and allowed her entrance to the van.
The inside smelled of humans, silver and sweat. Abby sat down beside Jen.
“Miss Rormton, you’ll sit in this chair,” said Annette, pointing to a single chair near the door.
Abby nodded and obeyed; Jen grimaced. They all entered the van and spread themselves beside or behind Abby.
Kenny slid the door shut. Abby tried to regulate her breathing and keep calm. She stayed still, fearing that if she moved even a muscle, a silver knife would be stabbed through her chest.
To distract herself, she looked over at Kenny. He was staring at her. Her gaze travelled to his chest, then back up to his blue eyes. “I see you survived.”
A muscle jumped in his jaw and he nodded.
“Did the person I sent call your team?”
He shrugged. “I thought you said I had to ask them myself.”
“I changed my mind.” Abby averted her gaze.
“What’s this about surviving?” asked Jen, concerned.
Abby explained the deadly encounter.
“She saved your life and you treat her like this?”
“You’re getting angry at the wrong people. We’re the humans,” said a new member of the team, Trudy.
“Don’t be a racist … or species-ist. You can’t classify all vampires in the same way.”
“You have no idea what she could do to you,” warned Trudy. “You’re just a foolish lawyer who’s in too deep.”
Abby gritted her teeth, remembering how the hunters had thrown these exact words at her when she was human. “Don’t insult her.”
The van went silent. Eventually, Abby tried speaking to Kenny again. “There’s something I’ve wanted to ask you for a while.”
Kenny narrowed his eyes. “What is it?”
“Have you ever seen a vampire break out of a blood rage of their own volition?”
“Why?”
“Because Sharon … broke out of a blood rage to Turn me.”
Kenny raised his eyebrows. “I wondered how you managed to … survive, if that’s what you can call it, that night. She almost killed me, then she took you. I figured you were dead for sure.”
For some reason, it felt so good to talk about this. Perhaps it was because it was a shared trauma that neither of them had managed to process yet. Maybe it was just Abby’s trauma. Either way, she relaxed her shoulders. “Yeah, so did I. She felt like a predator, a crocodile. Once she had me in her grip, she wasn’t going to let go.”
Kenny nodded stiffly.
“How many people died that night?”
“Four.”
Abby winced. But there were five missing from this team.
Kenny noted the look on her face and nodded. “Yeah, we are missing one.” He looked down. “My wife, Louise, died a few weeks after you did. A vampire lured her away and Turned her, then gave her back to us.”
Abby froze—that sounded like the crazy lady. She remembered thinking about hunters who’d been Turned committing suicide. She couldn’t bring herself to ask how Louise had died. “A similar thing happened to Sharon.”
Kenny and Annette exchanged a significant glance. “Did you get a look at the vampire who Turned her?”
“Only a glance. The rest of the time, she was in darkness. I did hear her voice, though.”
“Describe her,” commanded Annette.
“‘Describe her, please,’” Jen amended sternly.
“Describe her, please,” Annette said through her teeth.
Abby looked down at her hands. “She had dark hair. It might have been red or brown or—hang on, her hair was red when she was behind my car, brown when she was in front.”
“How did she get in front?” asked Kenny.
“I … ah …” Abby looked out the window.
“You what?” snapped Annette.
“I may have reversed over her,” she said quickly.
Jen looked horrified.
The hunters chuckled.
“Well, at least we know you had some sense before you Turned,” Kenny said.
“You’re laughing at that?” Jen cried.
“Serves her right for Turning Sharon and then my wife,” Kenny replied.
“What would truly serve her right is death,” muttered Annette.
Abby shuddered.
Sensing the hostility in the atmosphere, Jen said, “You really ran her over, Abby?”
“Yeah, but … I can explain. See, she compelled me to get out of the car and I almost did, but then I accidentally burst a blister on my foot, and the pain snapped me out of it.” Seeing the confusion on Jen’s face, Abby added, “That’s how you break compulsion—pain. The hunters might have a different method, but that’s mine.”
Jen turned to the hunters.
“We’ll teach you later at the induction,” Annette said.
“And,” Abby continued, “thinking about it now, she was an old vampire—she felt like a predator without having red eyes. I can’t really explain it other than the fact that she radiated power, and I knew she’d kill me in an instant if she got the chance.”
“You said you came across old vampires before?” Kenny asked.
Abby nodded. “Yeah, but he thought I was hitting on him and trying to get into his good books, instead of trying to use him as my test subject.”
Trudy snorted.
“And he told me to find him in a hundred years.”
“Back to the female vampire,” Annette said, sending Kenny a stern look. Kenny shrugged, as if to say, ‘why can’t I ask about old vampires, we want to kill them, right?’
“Basically, she terrified me when I realised I’d almost followed her into the rainforest. So my survival instincts kicked in: I hit the accelerator and reversed over her. Then I called the emergency services and was just asking for the ambulance when … she stood u
p.”
None of the hunters seemed surprised.
“Where did this happen?” asked Trudy.
Abby told her.
“That’s where we were when …” Kenny said, sending Annette a significant glance.
“Yeah.” Annette sighed. “Don’t worry, I’ll make sure the president gives us this job.”
Alarmed, Abby said, “Are you going to go after her?”
They didn’t say anything.
“But she’s deadly, and, well, I guess you are too, but …” She petered out. If she were in Kenny’s position, with his personality and job as a hunter, she’d want to go after the crazy lady too.
“What else can you tell us about her?” asked Kenny.
“Um … Her hair was up in a bun. She wore like a leather outfit—”
A murmur rippled through the van.
“What?” asked Abby, but no one responded.
“How did Sharon not go rabid?” Kenny asked, shoulders hunched.
“I trained her. The crazy lady—or that’s what I call the vampire who Turned her—said the only way for Sharon not to go rabid was to train her.”
“But she was rabid,” Annette snapped.
“She wasn’t. You were torturing her—”
“Yet she still went into a blood rage!” Annette retorted.
Abby shut her mouth, unable to deny that. “She also broke blood rage.” She paused. “If ever you come across Sharon, please don’t kill her.”
The hunters were silent.
“Your hair really grows?” Trudy asked.
Abby took the change of subject as proof that they weren’t about to make any promises.
Abby nodded. She was asking the wrong people, that much was clear.
“How did you know you could walk in the sun?” asked Kenny.
Abby explained her scientific methods as the van continued along its course. Eventually, they arrived at a dull grey building in a rural area outside the city.
As they pulled into the driveway, Abby realised the building was a giant garage that housed what seemed like hundreds of vans, all parked in orderly lines.
They parked beside another black van. A hunter got out from the front passenger seat and motioned the others to follow. The hunters made it clear that Abby was to come out last. She complied, trying to make things go smoothly by showing that she would behave.
