by Morgana Best
I sat on the couch and flipped through channels. There wasn’t much on. I considered watching Netflix, but then my thoughts turned to my troubles. I had thought it was going to be problematic becoming a partner in the Bed and Breakfast Business, given the archaic booking system, the appalling website, my aunts’ lack of people skills, and the outrageous themes in the cottages, without the murders.
And then there was Paul’s murder. Once again, I was sure the aunts were keeping something from me. Why would they? Could they have possibly murdered him? I really wouldn’t put anything past the aunts. Was he a rival vampire? Or was there no such thing as rival vampires?
I had given the matter considerable thought lately. I figured if there were such things as vampires and Shifters, which I now knew that there were, then surely there would have to be some sort of hierarchy. Surely there would have to be some sort of governing body that would prevent normal people from discovering vampires and Shifters. After all, the public at large was entirely convinced that vampires and Shifters were mythical, so someone or some thing was doing a good job of hiding their existence.
Talos Sparkes had been killed by a Shifter, and he couldn’t have been the first one in the history of the world. There had to be other deaths by Shifters and deaths by vampires, although my aunts had done their best to convince me that vampires didn’t have blood lust. I had to admit, I had not the slightest desire to drink blood. The very thought of it turned my stomach. My only feeding lust was for coffee, ice cream, and chocolate.
Still, it made sense that some sort of committee, for want of a better word, had to be in charge of keeping the presence of Shifters and vampires from the general community.
The headache was now diminishing, so I lay back on the couch, and thought I would rest my eyes for a second before finding something good to watch on Netflix.
The next thing I knew, I was lying in a dark field. I could feel the grass under me, but my vampire sight wasn’t working. I looked at the sky. The clouds were blood red, as was the moon. What was happening to me? Had someone poisoned me, too?
I tried to sit up, but someone pushed me back down and tipped a bucket of green potato peels over me. “Eat these,” the disembodied voice screeched.
“Help!” I screamed at the top of my lungs. “Help!”
Hands reach for my throat, hands with long, bony fingers. One hand closed around my throat, and the other hand pushed green potato peels into my mouth. I tried to spit them out, and kept screaming for help. Surely my aunts would hear me?
The next thing I knew, the creature had me by the shoulders and was shaking me.
“Let me go let me go!” I screamed. “Help!”
The creature shook me harder. “Pepper! Pepper, it’s me.”
I opened my eyes and saw Lucas standing over me. “Don’t make me eat any more green potato peels,” I said weakly.
“You had a dream,” Lucas said. “Pepper, you were dreaming. It’s me, Lucas.”
I looked at him in shock, and then looked around the room. I rubbed my eyes, trying to make sense of what had happened. “I was dreaming?” I said, more to myself than to Lucas.
“Yes, and it’s a wonder your aunts didn’t hear you,” Lucas said. “You were screaming the place down. I take it you had a nightmare?”
I nodded, only too aware that his hands were still on my shoulders.
“But it seemed so real.” To my embarrassment, I burst into tears. I supposed the stress of the last few days was taking its toll.
Lucas sat next to me and pulled me to him. I sobbed into his chest. I could feel his heart through his thin shirt, beating furiously. I absently wondered if my tears were staining his shirt.
“Nightmares do seem real, that’s why they’re so scary,” Lucas said calmly, stroking my hair.
I sank into him, enjoying his arms around me despite the electric current running through me at his close proximity.
“What was it about?” he said.
I shuddered, and his arm tightened. “I was outside somewhere and there was a monster and a blood red moon, and the monster was making me eat green potato peels.” I laughed, almost hysterically, when I said it. “That doesn’t sound scary when I repeat it,” I said into his shirt.
“It doesn’t sound too good, actually,” he said, “but I don’t understand about the green potato peels.” Much to my disappointment, he held me away from him and stood up. “Can I get you a glass of water?”
“Yes, please,” I said, wondering if he was going to give me another lecture about throwing myself at him. “Haven’t you heard about the green potato peels?” As soon as I said it, I realised that of course he didn’t know. I only knew as my aunts had been snooping. I might have put my foot in it by telling him, but I had to give him an explanation now. “The police came around today and took more samples from Paul’s cottage.”
“I thought they did that when we discovered the body?”
I shook my head. “This time they took everything and I mean everything, every fruit and vegetable in the house. They also took away all the garbage, and the aunts saw them bag all the potato peels separately. What’s interesting is that Linda is absolutely sure that there were no potatoes in the house. I googled it and green potato peels produce a substance called solanine, which is fatal if consumed in large amounts.”
“You’re quite the detective, aren’t you?” Lucas said, his eyes glittering.
I caught my breath. What if Lucas was in fact the murderer? He didn’t seem surprised by the mention of the green potato peels. Then something occurred to me. “How did you get in? I locked the door.”
Lucas handed me a glass of water. “It was unlocked when I got here. Pepper, you should make sure you lock it, with what’s going on. Should you stay with your aunts for a while? Just until the police find the murderer?”
I shook my head. “I’d rather stay here.” I was certain I had locked the door. I know I was tired, but I remembered locking it. Could I have been mistaken? And if I wasn’t, then how did Lucas get in? Before I could think on it further, there was a knock on the door.
“I’ll get it, just in case,” Lucas said, motioning for me to stay still.
I assumed it was the aunts, but there in my doorway stood Lila Sanders.
“I heard screaming,” she said. “What’s going on here?”
I was at once dismayed. Was something going on between them? Lila was acting as if she had caught her lover in another woman’s house.
“What are you doing out in the dark, Lila?” Lucas said. “Didn’t I tell you not to leave the cottage after dark?”
Lila ignored him. “Was that you screaming, Pepper?”
I nodded. “I had a nightmare.”
She crossed the room and took Lucas by the arm. “Oh well, it looks like you’re all right now. Lucas, since you’re so concerned about me being out after dark, will you walk me home?”
Lucas sighed loudly, and Lila frowned by way of response. Inwardly, I smiled. It seemed he did not want to walk her home. Unless, of course, he was putting on an act for my benefit. Could they be in it together?
“Pepper, please give me your phone.” I pulled my phone from my jeans pocket and handed it to him without thinking. He did something to it and handed it back to me. “I’ve put myself in your phone as a contact. If anything else happens, don’t hesitate to call me. Now please follow us out and make sure you lock your door this time.”
Lila shot me a look that could kill. I wondered if she had his number, too. Perhaps not, given her reaction.
The two of them walked out the door, with Lila edging ever closer to Lucas. I didn’t know if it was my imagination or just wishful thinking, but I thought Lucas edged away from her.
Chapter 9
I shut the door behind them and then locked it. I was certain I had locked it before, but if so, how had Lucas entered the cottage? The door wasn’t forced; it looked completely normal. Perhaps I was so tired I had just thought I had locked it. With that in mind
, I tested the door by trying to pull it open. It remained shut.
I turned off the light and the TV, and then walked to the kitchen to pour myself a glass of Witches’ Brew. I took it back to the couch.
I sipped the wine and tried to make sense of what had happened. Butterflies fluttered furiously in my stomach, a warning that something was about to happen. Was it a mistake, staying in the cottage? Should I have gone back to stay in a room at Mugwort Manor?
My stomach growled, so I went back to the kitchen in search of a snack. I found some rice crackers, so I figured they’d have to do. I really did need to do some decent food shopping.
Despite being so tired previously, I was wide awake now. What’s more, I felt there was something around. My hair was standing on end. I looked for my phone and thought about calling the aunts, but I didn’t want to worry them. They liked having an early night, and it was just after midnight.
I looked at the moonlight streaming through the cracks between the edge of the curtains and the windowsills, and then the fact that it was a full moon hit me. I shook my head in disgust. I had not done any spells. What witch worth her salt would not do spells on a full moon? Still, I wasn’t in any fit mental state to do some now.
After I had eaten five or so rice crackers, I lost my taste for them. I drained my goblet, and then went to my bedroom. I didn’t push the heavy chest across the door. For some reason, I was feeling braver.
Before I got into bed, I couldn’t resist looking out the window in the direction of the other cottages. No lights were on. I had no idea if Lucas and Lila were together. I had to admit to myself that I was jealous. Of course, I had no right to be, but that didn’t help.
I was about to turn away from the window when I saw a flash of movement. I thought it was a trick of the light, and then my blood ran cold. Something was moving next to Lucas’s cottage. Could it be the murderer? Was he or she after Lucas? I reached for my phone, in case I needed to call him to warn him, but then my hand froze.
What if it was Lucas himself? If he was the murderer, prowling around out there, and knew I had seen him, I would be in danger.
Still, I was a vampire. I could move fast if I had to, and whoever had killed Paul had killed him with green potatoes, not with teeth or claws.
I watched as the figure left Lucas’s cottage and scurried over by the scrub that lined the sand dunes on the way to the beach.
A rush of adrenaline surged through me. I don’t know whatever possessed me. The next thing I knew, I was hurrying towards the back door. I let myself out quietly and slipped into the darkness provided by the cloud cover.
I moved quickly behind some bushes just as the figure looked up. I froze. It was a Shifter, a huge wolf. Was it Lucas? Surely not—I just couldn’t believe he was a Shifter wolf. The aunts had been sure that he wasn’t.
The one good thing was that the werewolf was alone. The aunts had told me that vampires could outrun Shifters, so with that thought boosting my confidence, I followed the werewolf down to the beach.
I waited at the top of the sand dunes at the edge of the beach because if I stepped out of them, the werewolf would see me.
After what seemed an age, I sneaked down to the beach. I could see the werewolf in the distance, running along the wet sand with the waves crashing on the shore.
I didn’t know what to do, so I decided to hide in the scrub and wait for the werewolf to come back. If it went into Lucas’s cottage, then I would know it was him.
I waited for so long that I began to think the werewolf wasn’t coming back. What if it was just passing through? Perhaps it had taken another exit from the beach and doubled around the back of the cottages. That would be a long detour, and there was no clear path. Still, perhaps werewolves did not worry about such things.
I was lost in thought when something headed straight for me. I violently jumped backwards, only to see it was a rabbit. I sighed with relief and then looked up.
The werewolf was standing directly in front of me. My escape from the rabbit had thrown me directly into its path.
The werewolf at once morphed into human form. It was Linda.
I stood there, horror stricken, rooted to the spot.
She cleared her throat. “Pepper. Sorry, I was skinny dipping.” Her hands moved to cover her appropriate bits.
Perhaps she thought I hadn’t seen her in her wolf form? I should play along with that. “Sorry to intrude,” I managed to say. My heart was beating out of my chest. I wondered if Shifters ate people, whether they tore them to shreds.
She continued to look at me. Finally, she said, “You saw, didn’t you?”
I nodded.
The clouds slowly trailed away, exposing the moon.
“We can’t stand here. Someone will see us. We need to talk.”
“Talk?” At least she didn’t say she wanted to devour me. “What about?”
“About me being a Shifter wolf and you being a vampire.”
“Vampire? But, but how did you know?” I stammered.
“You moved with vampire speed when you shot out of those bushes,” she said calmly.
“It was a rabbit,” I said stupidly.
“Pepper, we need to move—now. Can we talk?” She asked as if it were a mundane matter like inviting herself over for coffee.
“Sure.” The two of us moved stealthily to the back of my cottage. I unlocked the door and we hurried inside.
“I’ll get you some clothes.” I grabbed the first pair of jeans and shirt I could find and handed them to her.
She popped into my bathroom to get changed, which I thought rather strange given that I had seen her naked for the last few minutes. It likewise seemed somehow weird to see her dressed as a normal person after she emerged from the bathroom. “Tea? Coffee? I’m afraid I don’t have much to eat,” I said.
“Just a glass of water,” she said. “You go ahead and have some of your Witches’ Brew.”
I was shocked. “You know about that?”
“Yes, of course. I didn’t know you were a vampire, though, not until I saw you move so fast. Do your aunts know?”
I ignored her question, and hoped she wouldn’t press me on it. I wasn’t about to confide in her. Instead, I changed the subject. “I saw you in your wolf form outside Lucas O’Callaghan’s cottage, and I thought he might be the Shifter.”
“Him? You actually thought he might be a Shifter wolf?” She stared at my face, searching for something.
“Yes.”
For some reason, Linda seemed puzzled. “So, have you only recently found out that you’re a vampire?”
“Yes. How did you know?”
Linda sipped her water, and I was certain she was avoiding the question. “You weren’t turned, were you?”
I nearly coughed up the Witches’ Brew, given the fact that my aunts had told me people couldn’t be turned, but caught myself just in time. “No, I’m a genetic vampire.”
For some reason, Linda seemed relieved by my answer. “So how much do you know about vampires?”
“Not much, really.” I took my seat opposite her and sipped some Witches’ Brew. I tapped the rim of my glass. “I know about this, and I was told that vampires and Shifters aren’t supposed to get along. Is that true?”
Linda shrugged. “I suppose it depends how traditional you are. Traditionally, Shifters and vampires aren’t friends, but these days, they often form good friendships.”
I was relieved to hear that. I quite liked Linda, even more so now that I realised that she wasn’t going to eat me. “So what were you doing tonight? Just having a good run along the beach?” I asked her, and then laughed.
Linda narrowed her eyes. “What are you laughing at?”
“I hope you don’t think I’m rude, but I was laughing that you were running along the off-leash dog beach.” I thought I had offended her, but then she burst into laughter. I joined in.
“Actually, I love to have a run under the full moon, but Paul never let me.”
&nb
sp; I held up a hand, interrupting her. “Wait. Paul was a werewolf, too?”
Linda nodded. “He was such a control freak, he would never let me run along the beach. I used to sneak out at night. If you remember, I mentioned I’ve been coming to Lighthouse Bay for years?”
“Yes, you did.” I remembered something else she said. “Didn’t you date Henry Ichor? And wasn’t he a vampire?”
“Yes, that’s why he said it wouldn’t work between us. He was quite traditional like that. Still, he had that vampire charm, that allure that some vampires have.”
Something bothered me. “So you couldn’t tell that I was a vampire? Don’t we smell different or something?”
Linda laughed again. “No, no more than you can spot another vampire or a Shifter. Haven’t your aunts told you this?”
I didn’t know what to say. I supposed I looked like a kangaroo caught in the headlights.
Linda laughed again. She seemed like a different person—the moonlight run along the beach had clearly done her some good. “It’s fine, Pepper, really. I know your aunts are vampires.”
“But how?” I asked her.
“I only just figured it out. You recently moved here and you only just found out that you’re a vampire. Your Aunt Maude is nice to me, but I’ve caught your Aunt Agnes looking daggers at me. Plus they seem too interested in Paul’s murder.”
“You didn’t murder him, did you?”
Linda looked shocked. “Goodness, no!”
I was embarrassed. “Sorry. It wasn’t me either, for what it’s worth.”
“I’m at a loss to know who it was, and don’t think me cruel, but I feel as if a huge weight has been lifted off me.”
I nodded.
“Pepper, have your aunts told you about Lucas O’Callaghan?”
Chapter 10
Time seemed to stand still.
“Lucas?” The word echoed around the moonlit walls.
Linda eyed me speculatively. “You don’t know, do you?”
“Know what?” I had a feeling it wasn’t going to be good.
