The Depths of Darkness

by Laurie Bowler

  I made up my mind. I would wait until Luke was occupied later on before I went off on my quest; there was a small trestle of vines that led down the side of my bedroom window that I could use to climb down. I wasn’t that far up that it wouldn’t be too long or arduous to be able to reach the ground, and from there I would go on foot. Best not to use the magic of transportation less Lilly caught onto it and came to investigate. Matace taught me how to get around with the magical spells; he’d told me to learn in my first few months.

  I hadn’t understood why I had to learn so many spells when all I was classed as was a desk clerk. I was the one responsible for keeping records and reports up to date and keeping a check on the local and national news for any reports that might seem slightly connected to any supernatural beings that spread themselves around the globe.

  Slowly I realised that I hadn’t checked the news in a while and I rushed down the stairs to grab the paper. It wasn’t very easy to find and I could have found the information on the computer but when you’re sick and tired of staring at something electronic all day, reading a paper is like a huge sigh of relief. Luke had stacked the paper in the cupboard in the foyer. I could see them through the glass; there was a paper from everyday this week, in actual fact everyday since last month.

  I grabbed a handful and studied them closely, paying particular attention to deaths and any gruesome unexplained murders that were a little over the edge and possibly morbid. It was the only way to identify if anything else was happening that could quite possibly be linked to Matace’s death, especially since we were given the information the other night on a new possible breed being born and maybe set free on mankind.

  It was awful to think anyone would do that. The last time it had happened and with catastrophic results had been almost twenty years ago. The wild beasts had been untamed and were set free in a revenge attack gone wrong. The mastermind was a jilted mental case lover that had been convinced his family was plotting his death. He had no courage to confront them so he set about his own attack to counteract them and a huge blood bath had been the end result. Not only had the families collided and killed each other with the wild beasts but also the public mortals that had been innocently going about their daily menial tasks were caught up in the cross fire. It took lots of lies and smooth talking from experts from the agency to cover it up before it leaked that there were supernatural beings on earth.

  “There you are,” Luke exclaimed walking through the door, “I have someone here who’s very keen to meet you.”

  Grinning he held towards me my cat, who gradually recognised me and pounced from the safe confounds of Luke’s coat. He leapt into my lap, purring hopelessly and rubbing his fur all over me.

  “Hello boy,” I whispered, “the bad man forgot all about you, didn’t he?”

  Without waiting for a reply, Luke handled the cat expertly and looked him in the eye, and received a loud hiss of dislike in response.

  “I don’t think he likes me,” he complained, “you want to see how I had to convince the wretched animal to come out from under the bed?”

  “Really,” I asked genuinely shocked, “that’s funny; he’s never like that.”

  “Don’t worry,” Luke laughed placing the cat on the floor and warily watching him. “Animals can sense who we are and don’t tend to offer a nice cuddle.”

  I laughed at his expression which was pained to say the least.

  “What are you doing with the papers?”

  “Just searching for anything that might link to Matace,” I muttered cringing when the atmosphere shifted and he seemed to become cold and recluse. “But it’s not so I can maybe send a report to Lilly. Don’t worry I’m not leaving to go anywhere or anything,” I added quickly onto the end.

  “You’d better not,” he warned, “you won’t get far anyway. I run fast, you know I do and I’ll catch you and lock you in your room if I have to. It’s my job to keep you safe and that’s what I plan on doing.”

  “You and your job,” I said crossly. “Luke, where’s this article gone?”

  The paper had been torn, the article missing with a hole in its place that peered through the next page.

  “I don’t know,” he stalked away leaving me to gape at his departing back.

  I wrinkled my brow, he knew where it was and it had been removed on purpose; most likely it was Luke’s way of not letting me see so I couldn’t get into any mischief or want to leave the safe harbour of his home.

  “Well,” I whispered inside the bubble of silence I’d conjured so Luke wouldn’t hear me speaking out loud, “If he thinks for one minute I won’t find them, he has underestimated me. What do you think boy?” I laughed when he jumped straight back on my lap and snuggled down for a long awaited cuddle; I stroked his fur idly wondering where Luke would have hidden the missing articles. I raced back up the stairs and switched the computer back on to dog around on the internet in the local news to see what he was hiding from me.

  Too late, he’d already blocked the internet access and had been true to his earlier threat; there was no way he was willing or going to let me view any news on the latest death reports. I decided to wait until he was occupied or went out somewhere. How much longer can one vampire stand being in the company of a mortal that apparently smells as good as he says I do to him?

  “Oh hi,” he turned to smile from the snooker table, “everything ok?”

  “Yes fine,” I said, “mind if I play?”

  He stared at me and then quickly recovered, instead he offered me a drink and threw a towel over his own chosen drink.

  “You don’t have to do that because of me,” I laughed. “I don’t mind you having a drink you know, and I am aware of what it is that entails as well.”

  “I was trying to preserve your feelings,” he answered grinning, “but hey, since you gave me advice on girls, I guess I don’t have to preserve anything. I never thanked you for that did I?”

  “No,” I grinned back, “but then none of it was true was it, so there’s no need to.”

  “Not everything I told you was a lie,” he answered seriously. “I need you to know that. In time you’ll find out which parts were true and the ones that I had to make up to get you on my side. Do you remember what you first said to me?”

  I thought back, my mind spiraling over the many conversations I’d had with him, the times he’d made me laugh and then it hit me.

  “Oh yeah,” I laughed, “you asked me if I knew anything about a love spell and I told you in no uncertain terms that a vampire, someone that’s already dead shouldn’t be trying to steal someone else’s warm heart because theirs is stone cold.”

  “Exactly,” he laughed, “I can’t believe you said that to me but it got you talking to me and I think you ended up giving me a short counseling session as well.”

  “I did,” I smiled.

  “What do you want to drink?”

  “I’ll take a cola,” I said and stood facing the table picking up the cue he’d just abandoned.

  My own sense of stupidity was about to come a reality. In all honesty, I’d never played snooker but I had played some pool with my dad when I was a kid, and if it all that it required of me was to poke the ball with the stick then that’s what I could do.

  “Do you know how to play?”

  “Of course,” I lied, “I used to play all the time with my father.”

  “I see,” he said, “well take your shot then.”

  Time ticked by, the clock making as much noise as my own heavy breathing did. I felt pretty silly standing here pretending I knew how to play this game just so I could tantalise him and get him to run off in the opposite direction so I could snoop around inside his study without being observed.

  “You're taking a long time,” he commented moving to stand beside me. “Would you like me to help you?”

  “No,” I answered stubbornly, “I can play this game. I’m err...concentrating,”

  “Is that what you call it,” he said hiding
his amusement. “Well, I’ll stand here and wait then.”

  Yeah you do that mister, I thought much to his delight, because he heard me and choked on his drink, much to my own delight.

  I struck the cue hoping that the ball didn’t rebound and bounce of the table, to my delight by fluke or a sheer miracle and without any spells being used the ball struck and I managed to pocket one of the coloured balls. I had no idea what the consequences were for pocketing a ball.

  “Well done,” he said standing next to me, “good shot,” he praised watching me.

  I moved so fast, quick enough to spread my scent around and tease him, he sniffed and turned away abruptly. He was unable to control the scent that enveloped him and drew him under the spell.

  “Can you not move that fast again,” he asked gently without raising his voice, “that was a little too strong for me to take.”

  “I thought you were alright with your drink, and it wouldn’t have much of an effect you know with my scent being around you.”

  “Damn,” he fisted the side of the table and I watched as the leg collapsed and the table ended up lopsided on the floor. “It doesn’t matter whether I’ve fed or not around you, for some reason I can’t control my need to taste you. Your smell is just drawing me to the edge of my self control and I don’t know if I can live under the same roof as you for the next few months.”

  I felt the sharp painful stab of guilt inside my rib cage, but it was all necessary to the cause of finding out the information that I needed. I had to get rid of him or get him to keep his distance so I could sneak out tonight without being seen or being heard.

  “I’m sorry,” I gasped, “I didn’t realise.”

  “I think you did,” he rounded on me his face unhappy and his self control slipping. “You seemed to have done that on purpose.”

  “I wouldn’t do that,” I defended heavily, “Luke, you have to believe I wouldn’t endanger my own life now, would I?”

  He studied me silently and left the room, his feet swiftly and sharply pivoting and marching to the doorway. As he left he muttered something about having to buy another snooker table.

  I waited until I heard him shuffling about and banging the back door as he left the house. He was attempting to distance himself from me and gain control over his treacherous thirst. I left the gameroom and entered his study where I found files stacked on top of the centre of his desk. I glanced at them and I found information sent from Lilly.

  “The sneaky liar,” I said vehemently, “how could he?”

  Secretly he’d been investigating the murders behind my back when he’d told me strictly that I wasn’t allowed to even look at the local news for anything unusual. Here he was requesting and receiving information so he could delve further into the mystery. Fuming, I shuffled through the files. There was nothing I hadn’t seen before and all very circumstantial without any degree of physical evidence to pin onto anybody. It was boring and I was beginning to wonder whether I needed to bother checking to see any of it; maybe I would be better off just going straight to Matace’s house later on.

  The distant sound of a motor bike being started up alerted me to the possible fact that Luke had gone out, exhaling a huge sigh of relief at the prospects of being alone. Darcy had long since gone after making her so-called masterpiece of breakfast. I wished she hadn’t insisted on doing tomorrow; I was quite happy to have cereal or toast.

  Just as I began to close the file, a few paper clippings dropped and floated onto the desk. I picked them up gingerly between my fingers and read the terrible news. More than three attacks that had significant detailing that marked them as some terrible attacker being on the loose according to the mortal world. They were detailed with gruesome effects, Young people dancing at a local field had been viciously attacked by a group of half men and half wolves; this was a weird combination and certainly not anything that was in the records as being reported to be allowed to live.

  Frighteningly there was only one survivor that had been badly maimed. Most likely, he would never be seen in public again; his face had to be reconstructed by plastic surgeons. I knew the agency would have secretly called them in to help; the guilt of the attacks always weighed heavily on the people that worked for us.

  Tye’s name had been scribbled at the top of the articles in Lilly’s handwriting followed by what I presumed to be Luke’s handwriting. A flow of times and dates and short accounts of his whereabouts, like they’d set him up to be followed. It turned out he’d secretly met with Matace on many occasions; I knew he was the one responsible.

  I could put my money on the fact that it was Tye that Matace was meeting the night of his murder and Tye that had killed him. A creepy feeling stole over me and I shivered violently. I neatly replaced the files where I’d found them but not before I scribbled down the information Luke and Lilly had recorded onto a scrap piece of paper I found in the bin. I wanted a little insurance in case the files went missing and Luke found out I’d had a look through them.

  I raced to my room taking the stairs two at a time. Just before Luke arrived, I safely closed my bedroom door softly without making even a hint of noise and lay on my bed with a book open. Luke popped his head around the door, a grimace set on his face.

  “Again,” he said grimacing, “I’m sorry.”

  “Hey,” I waved, “no problem.”

  He left as abruptly as he’d appeared and I continued to ponder the information, placing the book on top of my pillow and turning the key in the bedroom door making sure it didn’t click or make a sound when the lock clicked into place. Knowing Luke, he was sulking and trying to figure out how to maintain some kind of distance between us that would save him from eating me later on. For a vampire, he did seem to have amazing control over his feelings.

  Opening the window and trying to get it to stop squeaking was annoying. The iron clasps had been built to withstand the toughest of weather, and consequently squeaked a little at first. I rubbed some foundation into the hinges to lubricate it and that seemed to do the trick. Slipping through the window had been easier than I thought it might have been, sliding down the trellis was the hardest and the prickles and splinters stuck into my skin, a blatant reminder to never try this again. Blood oozed out of the freshly marked areas as I clambered down to the ground.

  My journey was going to be a short one; I was going to enter into Matace’s home which was the only place that hadn’t been searched yet. I was sure I would find some documents or something that might shed some light on his murder; there was a piece of the puzzle missing that led directly back to the killer or killers. I wasn’t sure the person had acted alone.

  To take down someone as powerful as Matace, the person must be in number, meaning more than one or they must be twice as powerful as Matace to be able to disarm him and slaughter him the way he’d been found. The stomach churning events of late stuck inside my mind.

  Clarette's murder had been as equally as gruesome, possibly more so. Her body had been ripped wide open, leaving her intestines extricated beside her and her other vital organs either crushed or nonexistent like they’d been taken or eaten!

  I stopped in mid stride when I heard Luke’s voice calling for me, shifting my weight when I heard the trellis beginning to groan. It wasn’t like I was heavy but I doubt it was built to withstand the weight of a human.

  “Patty,” he called somewhere in the house, “are you still in your room?”

  His footsteps echoed along the corridors, and I scurried down the rest of the way and landed with a bump on the ground, twisting my ankle which instantly began to swell and hurt like hell.

  “Shit!” I exclaimed quietly.

  I hadn’t paid particular attention to the fact that Luke could hear everything that I was both saying and thinking. Instead, I raced as fast as I could while hobbling with my ankle paining me every time I moved and tried to reach my destination of Matace’s house.

  “Patty!” Luke’s voice bellowed across the garden. I heard the
distinct sound of the front door opening and slamming violently; the wood shuddered from the sheer force he’d used. His temper had obviously risen and was getting the better of him. I scrambled to the edge of the garden and through the gap in the hedge, and I felt the branches scratch at my skin. My body was beginning to feel sore from the thorns of the trellis and now from the branches of my escape through the hedge.

  “Great,” I said running along the street, “First time escaping and I’ve already accumulated enough injuries to last me a while lifetime.”

  I circled around the edge of Luke’s home and spied the main road. Still I managed to dodge the illustrious vampire Luke; he wasn’t anywhere to be seen and I couldn’t hear him even if he was approaching from behind me. Knowing vampires they had their skills that they used to hone in on their victims. Speed, strength and the fact that they could appear in front of you and you wouldn’t even know they’d been following you. They were secretly silent with all their actions.

  “Will you stop,” the voice hissed in my ear. I whirled around and was frozen to the spot; I expected to see Luke but no one was there.

  Shrugging and wondering if I’d imagined it with the wind that had picked up, and thinking I was simply freaking myself out, I carried on running down the road, dragging my foot because of the painful swelling around my ankle. The pain didn’t bother me; I was able to ignore it for the most part being caught up in the exhilaration of the moment. Escaping and getting the better of a vampire so I could visit the one place that hadn’t been investigated for clues, Matace’s house, and knowing I was going against Luke’s wishes to continue with my own investigation to get to the bottom of the mystery and murders was enough to keep me going..