by Jade Farhill
So … the few people who knew Abby, and that she wasn’t likely to attack them, were truly gone. Abby had no choice but to agree to the arrangements. “Can you keep me updated on the progress Annette makes with hunting the crazy lady who Turned my sister?” she asked.
Nina pursed her lips, then gestured to the scientists. “This is your team. Lynn Castles is a geneticist.”
A short young woman with mousy brown hair nodded at Abby.
“Kristen Fanning is also a virologist.” A tall woman in her thirties inclined her head.
“Alice Musa is a geneticist.” An older woman with glasses and frazzled red hair held up a hand in greeting. “Trent Whittaker is a cryptozoologist.” A young man with brown hair and green eyes waved at Abby. “And Garry Romaine is a cryptozoologist.” A stern-looking man with brown eyes and a beard nodded at her.
Taking in her colleagues, Abby felt hope—they didn’t have the hard, threatening stares of the hunters, although their expressions were wary.
Abby told them to familiarise themselves with her work. While they busied themselves at their desks, Nina handed Abby their resumes. Of all her team members, Kristen the virologist might be the one Abby would work closest with. Most of the scientists had worked with hunters in the past; only Trent and Alice were fresh from university.
Which meant Kristen, Garry and Lynn would have the most experience.
Abby looked at Nina. “Can I get some DNA from a live vampire?”
“Can’t you use yours?” retorted Nina.
“Half of my DNA is human. If you want a cure that’ll work, I’ll need a full vampire’s DNA.”
Nina rolled her eyes and strode to the phone on the wall beside the door. “Yeah, it’s me,” she barked into the handset. “Get some vampire DNA up here.”
Meanwhile, Abby shaved off a few of her skin cells and put them into five different dishes. Then she approached Lynn. The hunters followed closely, hands on their daggers.
“Here,” Abby said, putting the dish down. “You’ll need to be able to differentiate my DNA from a full vampire’s and a human’s. Study this.”
Lynn nodded uncertainly.
Abby asked the rest of the scientists to do the same.
When a hunter showed up with hair from a vampire, in a dish that smelled like a dank and mouldy room—a dungeon? Was there such a place in this complex?—Abby passed it to the scientists for analysis.
“How many vampires do you have for me to study?” she asked, trying to figure out if there really was a dungeon here.
“Enough,” Nina replied, arms crossed over her chest.
Abby tried not to roll her eyes.
***
They didn’t make much progress that first week. Abby noticed Trent sneaking curious glances at her now and again.
Abby went to the refectory every few days in the hope of seeing Annette or Kenny, but it was weeks before she managed to catch them.
She approached them at their table, aware that the refectory was gradually falling silent around her.
Kenny ignored her, focusing intently on his burger.
Annette was pursing her lips.
“What?” Abby demanded. “I can’t ask about the crazy lady?”
Annette pushed some fries around her plate.
“Can you at least give me something? She Turned my sister, left her to go rabid. I gave you a description of her and where to find her.”
Kenny sighed heavily and closed his eyes. “We’ve been tracking her. She’s not the easiest to find. She’s … cunning. She knows exactly how to evade us.”
Abby thought back to that terrible night. “It might be too risky to send two of you off on their own and lure her that way. But that’s how she got me and Sharon.”
Annette nodded. “Yeah, we don’t want our hunters to be Turned—”
Kenny dropped his cutlery.
Annette stopped short. “Sorry,” she muttered.
Abby cleared her throat. “Um—the crazy lady likes to play games.”
Annette frowned. “How so?”
Abby described the laughter, the song, the trap. “Maybe you can use that to your advantage?”
Kenny met Annette’s eyes. “We haven’t considered that angle.”
“Well … good luck.” Abby left them to it and went to get her cup of blood.
The girl behind the counter—the one Abby had seen on her first day—tilted her head at Abby. “A vampire helping hunters hunt vampires? That’s a first.” She gave a small smile.
Abby winked at her. “There’s a first time for everything, right? Even partial-vampires.”
The girl chuckled slightly.
Abby grinned—a potential friend!
Then the girl froze, her eyes on Abby’s fangs.
Abby quickly dropped the smile.
***
Seeing Abby talking to Kenny, Annette and the girl, whose name was Astrid, and not ripping into their necks made the scientists relax around Abby.
Not to the point where they would actually chat with her—they generally communicated with Abby via the hunters. But at least they didn’t flinch anymore when Abby walked past them.
Trent approached one day, heart beating fast. “Hey, I just wanted to give you an update, and talking through the hunters isn’t the most efficient form of communication.”
“Yeah, it does slow things down.” Mainly because the hunters specialised in killing vampires, not viruses.
“So,” Trent continued, a spark of excitement in his eyes, “I’ve volunteered myself as liaison.”
Abby paused, unsure where he was going with this. “Okay … why?”
“You really don’t seem as scary as these hunters imply. We know you’ve talked to Annette and Kenny, given them ideas on how to tackle your ‘crazy lady’. And you’re always polite and nice to the kitchen staff. They notice it, you know.” He shrugged. “You’re clearly on our side.”
Abby smiled slightly and tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. “Thank you.”
“And I noticed that you’re here pretty much constantly. You don’t even leave at night.”
“I don’t need to sleep—it’s a vampire thing.”
“But you’re so dedicated!”
“I want to help my sister. It’s easy to dedicate yourself to something you’re passionate about.”
He nodded. “Yeah, I hear you on that.” He leaned forward and Abby got a strong whiff of his blood, which made her mouth water. She swallowed; a hunter’s heartbeat drifted closer to their conversation, only a metre away.
“Do you want to know what I’m passionate about?” asked Trent.
“Sure.”
“Bees! They’re amazing. I’m an apiarist. I collect their honey and their wax.”
“How did you end up here if you’re interested in bees?”
Trent shrugged and smiled easily, as if he hadn’t seen much hardship in his life. Abby could remember what that was like. “Well, it was kind of an accident. I got headhunted by HQ. I didn’t really know what to expect—at worst, I get an interesting story to tell my friends. At best, I get the most fascinating job in the world! I mean,” he grinned like he was sharing a secret, “I’m working with a vampire.”
Part of Abby wanted to return to work. But she was also desperate for friendship.
“Can you tell me what it was like to work with your sister?” Trent asked.
Abby took a breath. “Well, it wasn’t like working with me. She had to be restrained. She would attack me every now and then and compel me when she wasn’t. After a while, she realised that I stayed with her because she’s my sister. Then she calmed down, but she still compelled me whenever she could. It was … hard.”
Trent looked shocked. “That’s intense.”
Abby nodded.
“Can you compel me?”
Abby gaped at him.
The hunter behind her reached for his blade.
“Whoa, I can see your fangs,” said Trent.
Abby shut her mou
th and turned her head to look back at the microscope. This guy was fearless or foolish, perhaps both.
Trent’s heart picked up speed. “Ah, I made you uncomfortable. Sorry. I’ve seen your DNA, but not your fangs.”
Abby felt a sharp pain in her chest at the word ‘fangs’. “Trent, why are you talking to me? I’m sure the hunter behind me would be happy to explain just how deadly I am.”
Trent’s heart rate changed. “I’m talking to you because, despite how deadly you are, I don’t think you’ll ever be deadly towards me.”
Abby held her breath for a moment and let that sentence sink in. “Thank you, Trent. No one’s ever said that to me and it means a lot. And you’re right. I won’t be, if I can help it.”
He grinned. “Excellent! Now all that remains is for us to become friends. What do you think?”
The hunter shifted uncomfortably behind them, but Abby couldn’t help the smile that spread across her face. “I’d like that.”
“Does that mean I can call you ‘Abby?’”
She laughed. “I guess it does.”
Trent nodded, obviously pleased. “Mission accomplished.”
***
Trent invited Abby to lunch the following week. Jen came too; she’d been watching all that went on with a keen eye. As they walked to meet him, Jen said, “I thought you said romance was out of your scope.”
“Jen, it’s not like that.” Abby hoped the hunters weren’t listening.
“That’s not what your smile said the other day.”
“I rarely smile.”
“Precisely.” Jen sent her a meaningful look. “You remember the deal with the hunters, Abby. If you break it, you lose all protection.”
What was wrong with Jen? Were hunters trying to turn her against Abby? “I don’t intend to break anything,” Abby retorted stiffly. “I haven’t worked so hard just to destroy my chances of saving my sister before I’ve even developed the cure. I thought you’d know that.”
Jen looked uncomfortable. “I didn’t mean it like that, Abby. I meant it as a warning, not a threat.”
“You don’t think I’m extremely aware of my vulnerable position here?”
Jen thought for a moment. “Sorry—I guess not talking to you and constantly hearing horror stories from the hunters has made me a bit paranoid. I’m meant to be here for you, not for me.”
“You can leave at any time, Jen.”
“Is that a dismissal?”
Abby shook her head. “No, but it’s an option.”
“Noted. But I’ll work harder on forming my own opinion of you instead of relying on the opinion of others.”
When Abby saw Trent in the refectory, he waved her over excitedly.
She approached and he gestured for her to sit beside him.
Kenny, Annette and their team were there. Abby nodded to them and they hesitated, then nodded back. Maybe this was progress.
Abby took a seat beside Trent. Jen sat at a table nearby, still within hearing range. Elliot, one of the hunters in Abby’s guard unit, moved to stand near the solicitor.
“So,” said Trent, “the hunters finally let me install my bees on the greenery level.”
Abby raised her eyebrows. “I didn’t realise there was a greenery level.”
“Well,” he replied, winking at her, “now you do.”
She chuckled, making sure to keep her lips closed.
“Anyway,” Trent continued, “now that my bees are there, they’re making honey. And—” he produced a jar of it “—tada! The first batch. I’ll call it ‘Hunter Honey’.”
As much as Abby liked alliteration, she wasn’t too keen on the name. “Can’t you name it something else? Like … Trent’s Tasty Treacle or something?”
He smirked. “I guess or it could be Date Level Delight!”
“Date level?” she asked.
“That’s another name for the greenery level,” Jen supplied from her table.
“Oh … I see.”
He opened the jar and started spreading the honey on buttered toast. “Anyone want to try my …”—he paused dramatically—“Apis Antidote?”
Abby chuckled.
Trent beamed at her. “Glad you get the reference.” He offered her the honey. “And just for that, you get the first taste.” Then he froze. “Oh—sorry. You probably can’t have it?”
“Jen,” whispered Elliot, standing near the solicitor, “I don’t get the joke. You’re smart—what does it mean?”
Jen quickly tapped at her phone. “Um—Apis is the genus name for honey bee.”
Elliot and Jen inspected Abby and Trent, looking begrudgingly impressed.
Abby shrugged. “I haven’t had human food since I became a vampire.”
“What?” Trent asked, horrified. “And you’re a scientist? Wasn’t that the first thing you tested?”
“I think the first thing I tested was sunlight.”
Trent pushed the jar of honey towards her. “Try it, in the interest of science.” He offered her a spoon.
Slow heartbeats gathered closer; the refectory went quiet.
Abby sniffed the jar.
It smelled like rotten eggs.
She wrinkled her nose, then took the offered spoon—hunters behind her reached for their blades—and dug it into the liquid. Then she put it into her mouth.
Sweetness burst along her tongue. Abby widened her eyes and met Trent’s. “I taste it. I really taste it! It tastes like honey!”
Annette and Kenny were now openly staring at her.
Jen seemed confused; Elliot wore a disapproving expression.
But Trent was delighted. When his meal arrived, he offered it to Abby. “Try this too!”
Trent’s steak didn’t smell appetising, but neither had the honey. And animal blood didn’t smell that great, either.
Trent gave her his fork and some hunters objected—including the one beside Jen.
“Oh, she can’t use her fingers for this,” argued Trent. “This is in the name of science! You can’t interfere!”
Abby slowly raised a bite of steak to her mouth, popped it inside and chewed.
It tasted like rotten meat.
She spat it back out onto the table. “Water.”
Trent hastily poured her a glass. She downed it in one gulp.
“Okay,” he said carefully, “try my veggies?”
Abby cautiously tested them.
Rotten. Trent had the water ready this time.
“Astrid,” he called, and she emerged from behind the counter. “Do you think you could bring us a raw steak?”
“Sure thing.”
“You should stop this now,” said Elliot. “She won’t be able to eat it. And besides, it’s raw. Even if she could, it would still be disgusting.”
Trent folded his arms over his chest. Annette and Kenny looked conflicted.
“If she can eat meat, then she’s less likely to attack us,” Kenny said, not meeting Abby’s eyes.
Abby shuddered. Was that the reason Trent wanted to test this? Was he worried about her attacking him?
But Trent was frowning at Kenny. “It’s for science, Hunter. Not for us.”
Abby relaxed.
Astrid emerged with a raw steak on a plate and placed it carefully in front of Abby. “Go on,” she said, her voice encouraging, her heart beating with excitement.
“Can you have the water ready?” Abby said to Trent, who nodded and poured a fresh glass.
Abby cut the steak, pulled a face—it smelled foul—and bit into it.
Then her eyebrows shot up. “Whoa, this tastes good.”
Trent and Astrid beamed. Next, they had Abby try a rare steak, and she enjoyed this too—plus it was warm, which made it seem closer to fresh blood.
But a medium rare steak was too much: it tasted like rotten meat again.
Trent grinned at her and raised his glass in a toast. “To being a little more human than we thought you were.”
Abby burst into laughter and tapped her glass
against his. “Can you bring some honey for me tomorrow too, please?”
“I’d be happy to.”
“All you’re doing is humanising her, making it difficult for us to kill her if she attacks someone,” Elliot grumbled.
“I heard what the scientists said on the first day, just like you did,” Astrid snapped. “She has human DNA.”
“Doesn’t matter, she’s still a vampire!” Elliot replied.
“Elliot,” Annette said sternly, “there are rules we all need to obey, Rormton included. Just ask her lawyer, who you seem so close to, about what they are.”
“Don’t bring her into hunter business!” Elliot spat. Then he pointed at Annette’s unit. “And you can’t talk—your team stopped guarding her because you saw her too much as a human!”
Kenny stood up and glared at him. “We left because she had information that’s helping us track down The Horror.”
A tense silence fell.
Abby exchanged a look with Trent.
“Who’s ‘The Horror’?” he whispered.
Astrid leaned forward to answer. “A vampire we’ve wanted to take down for a long time.”
***
Trent burst into the lab the next day, full of energy. “I’ve been thinking about more tests we can do to prove that you’re more human than vampire!”
Abby tilted her head at him. “Okay, what do you suggest?”
The other scientists and Jen filed in, much more quietly than Trent.
“More tests?” Jen asked sceptically.
“Of course,” Trent scoffed.
Jen rolled her eyes. Elliot gave her an approving smile.
So … Elliot had turned Jen against her. Abby pushed the thought from her mind and focused back on Trent.
“The hunters have been reticent to tell me about vampires, so I’ve had to research on my own,” Trent said.
“That’s because they believe you’ll tell the vampire everything you hear,” said Lynn.
It was hard for Abby to breathe—hearing one of her own team refer to her that way was like a dagger in the chest.
“Well, admittedly, I would.”
Abby chuckled—just like that, Trent had removed the dagger.
