by Jade Farhill
“So, Abby, how do you feel about religion?”
“Um … indifferent?”
Trent pulled a necklace from under his shirt: a delicate silver chain with a tiny cross hanging from it. “Now, according to Dracula—”
Nina burst into laughter. “Really? Dracula?”
Abby frowned at her. “He wouldn’t have to resort to fiction if you just told him what vampires do and don’t react against.”
“Well, now that I know it won’t hurt her, I’ll go all out and use a mixture of classic movie lore.” Trent pulled the cross off his neck and held it out theatrically towards Abby. “The power of Christ compels you!”
Abby covered her grin with her hand, trying to contain her laughter. “I think only silver works that way.”
“The power of silver compels you!”
Abby threw her head back. She hadn’t laughed like this since she was human. Even the scientists were smiling.
But the hunters—and Jen—weren’t amused.
From that day on, Abby spent every meal with Trent. Astrid introduced her to the rest of the kitchen staff, who agreed to alternate her meals from blood to rare steak. Doing it this way, meant that Abby got hungrier sooner and had to eat every day, but this made her feel more human than before—and it meant she could spend time with Trent. Maybe living here wasn’t so bad after all.
***
One morning, a few weeks later, Abby was looking through her microscope. It was just after nine in the morning, and her guards hadn’t changed to the day shift yet.
When the doors opened, Abby looked up.
The hunters stepped in with hollow eyes. Abby stood and those eyes turned hard.
“What?” Abby said. “What’s going on? Where’s Jen?”
The hunters didn’t answer—although some curled their lips in disgust.
“Elliot, where’s Jen?” If anyone knew, it would be him.
“Don’t you dare say my name, Vampire,” he snarled.
Abby took a step back.
“And I’ll never tell you where to find a human.”
“What happened?” she implored.
Again, silence.
The hunters on the night shift noticed the tension. “Someone died, didn’t they?” Mae, the leader of the night shift, asked.
Nina nodded. “Yeah.”
A vampire had killed a hunter? Abby knew it was possible, having seen what her sister could do in a blood rage, but she’d also seen what hunters could do. As far as she could tell, hunters only got injured and killed when they weren’t prepared.
Mae swore.
“And that’s not even the worst part,” said Nina. She met Mae’s eyes. “It was The Horror.”
Abby froze—Kenny and Annette and their team had gone out hunting The Horror. They’d had a fantastic plan, something even Abby wouldn’t have been able to escape—she knew this because they’d asked her to contribute. Abby had helped them sure up their defences, giving them both first-hand experience of the crazy lady and a vampiric perspective. They’d only been gone for a couple of days on their latest mission. “What?” she whispered. “Annette, Kenny, the others? Are they all right?”
“What do you think?” shouted Elliot. “You’re the one that led them into that trap!”
Wait, what? “But they survived, right? Someone survived?”
“They all died.”
Abby stared. Kenny, whom she’d rescued from her own sister. Kenny, who’d lost his wife and sought revenge. Annette, who’d overcome her pride and asked for Abby’s help. Annette, who’d led her team into danger so many times and then led them out, unscathed.
Dead.
Abby shook her head, unable to stop seeing their faces in her mind’s eye.
Dead.
Dead.
The scientists came in then, looking drawn. Jen was with them, and went straight to Elliot, embracing him.
“You’ve broken your contract,” Nina stated, pulling out her dagger.
Abby retreated.
Trent jumped in front of her. “What? How?”
“She sent them to their deaths!”
“We don’t know that!” Trent argued.
“She’s been working with the Horror this whole time!”
“If I were, wouldn’t I have let the crazy lady in here?” Abby said.
Jen flinched. “She’s right. We don’t know she’s broken her contract. She’s still legally protected.”
“Jen,” protested Elliot.
She shook her head and stepped away from him. “I can’t let my feelings compromise my job.”
Elliot looked like she’d just slapped him, but Jen was in business mode. “Mae, you were with her when she consulted on their plan. Did anything she say sound like she was setting them up?”
Mae stared at the ground. “It was a sound plan—contingencies, escape strategies. I don’t want to defend her, but I think this wasn’t her fault.”
The day shift exploded into protests.
“Clearly, you can’t see objectively,” shouted Jen over the top of the hunters. “You’re hostile to my client and I demand a new unit to guard her until evidence comes to light of her guilt.”
Abby couldn’t believe this. Evidence of her guilt?
“Or,” Trent added, “evidence that proves her innocence.”
Abby let out a breath.
With the insistence of Jen, the night shift and Trent, a new unit was arranged to guard Abby—a unit of hunters who presumably wouldn’t try to kill her for something she hadn’t done.
Seeing this and feeling safe to do so, Abby said, “I think we all need a day off. We’ll continue working tomorrow.”
Trent stayed with her for a while, then said he needed to tend to his bees.
When he left, so too did her guard unit.
The lab was empty.
Silent.
Silent as the grave.
Abby’s hands shook. How had they died? Did the Crazy Lady give them the decency of an actual death or did she Turn them?
***
Abby couldn’t just sit around in her lab wallowing in sorrow. She decided to visit the last place where she’d seen Annette and Kenny—the refectory.
“I didn’t know vampires could grieve,” commented one of the hunters in her new guard.
Abby was about to tell him that she could grieve, but then thought of Sharon. Was Sharon grieving Abby? Did she ever think of her?
Did she hate Abby for siding with the hunters and stopping her from killing Kenny?
And what about Kenny’s son?
Tears started running down Abby’s face.
The hunters kept their silence.
She saw the very boy in the refectory. He was sitting down, staring at his knees. He was surrounded by adults, but no one was talking to him.
What was going through his mind? He’d lost his mother a few months ago, now his father.
Abby approached him carefully. “I’m sorry about your father. He and Annette were … They were great. The whole team was great. And … I liked them, especially your dad. I really did.” Her chest ached as she met the boy’s eyes, so like his father’s.
He turned pale at the sight of her. Abby backed off. She shouldn’t be here. She asked Astrid for a cup of blood at the counter before leaving, noticing sadly that even her friend looked wary when she saw Abby.
On her way back to the lab, she noticed little drops of blood on the ground.
That was odd. Odd that she couldn’t smell the blood and odd that it was there at all.
When she got closer to the lab, the blood droplets stopped, and so did she. The trail of droplets stretched all the way back towards the refectory.
“What the … ?” Abby muttered, and sniffled. She didn’t have a tissue, so hastily wiped her nose with the back of her hand.
But when she pulled it away, her hand was smeared with blood.
Did she have a nose bleed? She thumbed her nose and it came away clean.
Then where had
the blood come from?
Abby dropped her cup.
Cow blood joined the droplets of what had to be her own blood on the floor. Just to check, she wiped her free hand across her cheek, making sure to catch all of her tears.
When she looked at it, her breathing shortened.
Blood. Her tears were blood.
Was this why the kid and Astrid had looked so unsettled when they’d seen her? No wonder. This wasn’t human! Humans don’t cry tears of blood!
Everything about her right now screamed vampire.
Just like the one that had killed Annette and Kenny.
Abby sobbed into her hands. This time, she saw the vague redness of her tears out of the corners of her eyes and droplets of blood that were gathering in her palms. She could pretend and eat rare steak and honey, but the truth was, she was a monster.
Of course these people wanted to kill her.
A hysterical scream tried to release itself from her chest, but she clamped down on her rising panic. When she was in control of her voice, she said, “I need some fresh air.”
The hunters around her exchanged glances and started walking her towards the lift.
When she was finally outside—away from the monotonous mirrors, clothing and people—she took in the colours around her.
Green leaves on tan trunks. Brown tracks from iguanas and possum raced each other down the length of the gum trees. The yellow blossoms on the gum trees were like mini suns, lighting up the world around them. Rainbow Lorikeets, vibrant blue, yellow, green and red, flittered among the flowers, screeching at each other.
Parched grassland, yellow and green and brown, rippled in the wind. A red dingo off in the distance, nosing the air.
Yellow-crested cockatoos flying through the air against a backdrop of white clouds streaking across the blue sky.
Colours. Abby hadn’t realised how much she’d missed them until now. When she put on her stark white lab coat, she blended in with the monochrome environment of Hunter HQ.
It made her look like one of them.
But she could never be one of them, and she didn’t need to cry blood tears to know that.
She was a monster.
The hysterical scream tried to rise again, but Abby anchored herself to this moment, taking in her surroundings, hearing the sounds of nature.
Her breathing hitched, but the panic retreated.
After about an hour, a fast heartbeat, one coming from a smaller heart—a child?—exited the hunter complex and went speeding away.
Should she let the child escape, have the freedom that she couldn’t have?
But the shadows were lengthening. It would be night soon. A single child outside at night was dangerous, especially if they were on hunter grounds—a prime target for any opportunistic vampire. And there had been too many deaths today already.
Abby took in a calming breath, then followed his scent.
She tracked him down to a group of banksia trees. The leaves facing the sun were deep green, while their undersides were bronze. A yellow inflorescence in the shape of a cone dotted the ends of each gnarled branch.
Whoever this child was, she approved of their hiding spot.
Abby hesitated a moment, knowing she’d probably scare this kid. “I followed you here because I wasn’t sure if you wanted to be alone or if you wanted to run away.”
The hunters looked at her in confusion and reached for their daggers, preparing to face whatever it was Abby had tracked.
The youth peeked out from behind a tree. He was crying. “I had to get out of there.”
“Taylor?” asked the squadron captain from beside Abby. “You know—”
“My name is ‘Tay-Tay!’ It’s what my mum always called me.”
Abby winced—there was so much pain in that statement.
The squadron captain sighed. “I’m sorry, Tay-Tay. But you shouldn’t come to the surface unattended.” She shifted to put herself between Abby and the boy.
Tay-Tay focused on Abby. “Why were you crying blood?” he asked.
“Because … that’s how I cry.”
“Why were you crying?”
“Because I’m sad your father’s gone. I’m sad my sister’s gone and that Annette and the others are gone. And I’m sad that I’m a monster.”
The boy inspected her for a moment. “I didn’t know vampires could get sad, or walk in the sun.”
“There are a lot of things I don’t know either.” Abby shrugged. “I only just found out today that my tears are blood.”
The boy focused on his feet. “Do you think it hurt?”
Ah … what was she supposed to say to that? She wasn’t even sure how Kenny died, let alone if it hurt. “That’s one of the things that I don’t know.”
“That’s what everyone says!” He glared at her. “You’re a vampire! You’re supposed to know!”
“I’m not a very good vampire, Tay-Tay. No one ever taught me how.”
“Then how did it feel when you were Turned?”
Abby didn’t know if she should answer that question, and looked to the hunters for help.
The squadron captain just gave a small nod.
Tay-Tay’s lower lip trembled. “Tell me. I need to know.”
Abby took a breath. “Well, I got weak, and my senses and mind started focusing on the only thing that made me happy. I would have died happy, listening to my sister’s heartbeat, because I hadn’t heard it in so long.”
“You were happy that your sister’s heart was beating from your blood?”
Abby shrugged. “I can’t explain it. I’m just telling you what you want to know.”
He threw a rock at her. The hunter between them stepped out of the way, allowing the rock to continue for Abby. It hit Abby in the cheek and bounced off, not even leaving a mark.
“You are a monster!” he cried.
It felt like something was crushing Abby’s chest. “I know.”
“Get away from me! All vampires are evil, blood-sucking demons that need to be killed!”
“I’m sorry you feel that way, Tay-Tay. I’ll leave one of my guards here to escort you home when you’re ready.”
“I have no home! Your kind took it away from me.”
Abby closed her eyes—that one hit deep. She hunched. “I’m sorry. On behalf of all vampires, I’m sorry.”
Tay-Tay and the hunters didn’t look like they believed her. The rage still in the teen’s eyes was palpable. Abby turned her back on him and walked away.
***
Over the next few weeks, Trent’s behaviour changed. He also stopped chatting to Abby, and he didn’t smile at her like he used to.
Abby was worried about him. What had changed? Why wasn’t he smiling anymore? Had a hunter turned him against her?
But the hunters seemed divided on how to treat her: while some were openly hostile, others—like the guards on her night shift—were more uneasy than hostile.
They reminded Abby of how Kenny and Annette used to be around her.
Trent began making mistakes at work. Late one afternoon, he was bent over a microscope when he flinched and pulled back, his hand flying up to his forehead.
“Trent, are you okay?” Abby asked.
“I’m sorry,” he sighed. “I haven’t been very productive recently. I know.”
“It’s fine. But what’s going on?”
His hand rubbed his forehead again. “I get these headaches—they can last for days.”
“Painkillers aren’t helping?”
“Not enough.”
“Is there anything I can do?”
“My neck and shoulders are really stiff.” He rolled his shoulders and stretched his neck from side-to-side, then grimaced. “But muscle relaxants don’t work either.”
“Do the hunters offer remedial massage?”
Trent looked at Nina. She shook her head. “Not to those who aren’t active in the field.”
Trent’s shoulders dropped. “I see.” Then he regarded Abby for a mom
ent. “Could you … give me a massage?”
Human touch. Something to remind her that a part of her was still human. Abby’s hands itched to touch his shoulders. To feel his corded muscles beneath her fingers.
She had to stop herself from nodding too quickly.
“Hang on,” interrupted Nina. “This is against the rules.”
“It’s only against the rules if he doesn’t want me to touch him.”
“And I do!” Trent said quickly. “Uh … I mean, it might ease my headache.”
Elliot narrowed his eyes at Trent. “You’re walking a dangerous path. It can only end with her killing you.”
Abby jerked back. “What? No! I’m massaging him because you hunters don’t offer such a service! And the nearest town is two hours’ drive away!”
“Precisely,” snapped Trent. “And unless I’m mistaken, you can’t stop me.”
So it was settled.
“Abby,” Trent’s voice was gentle, like he was enticing a cat out of hiding.
She really liked the sound of her name when he said it that way. She reached out to touch his shoulders.
The hunters gathered in close, poised to strike if she so much as leaned towards Trent’s neck.
“I used to go get massages when I was at uni, and it would always help with the headaches,” Trent said and this encouraged Abby to start massaging his shoulders.
He sighed. “Mmm, much better.”
“Have you had them for long?”
“Yeah, since I was fifteen.”
That was a long time to deal with headaches.
As she continued massaging, the human contact made her smile with pleasure. He was warm, his muscles stiff under his skin.
“Can you use more pressure, please?” he asked.
“Of course.” She put more force into her fingers. “Let me know if I hurt you.”
“Ahh, that’s making a difference.”
And Abby could feel it too. His muscles were becoming more pliant, the knots easing.
“I think I’m going to puke,” muttered Elliot.
Trent and Abby ignored him. Fifteen minutes later, Trent said, “You should stop there.”
She dropped her hands, her fingers tingling with the urge for more contact.
“I don’t want to tire you out, Abby.”
“I guess there are a few advantages to being a vampire,” she laughed. “I can massage day and night without tiring.”
