Haley was glad she’d come here. Glad she’d reached Melanie in time. Looking back at things and how they’d turned out, this had been a deviation from the course. If there was a true path to finding the killer, she was as far as she’d ever been from it. She thought about the others with the paranormal police. What they were doing now. How much grief she’d caused them.
She wondered if they were any closer to finding him.
Movement.
Sounds.
People behind her.
Haley stood up beside Melanie and saw Avril had reentered the living area. She was on the carpet with her legs crossed, staring at Haley.
“So how is he?” Haley asked.
“Who?” Avril replied. “Edmond, or Cyrus?”
“Edmond.”
“It will take more than a crack to the head to kill that lunatic,” Magnus said walking in from the kitchen with two glasses of blood. He handed one off to his girlfriend. “I think he’s going to pull through.”
“Well,” Haley murmured. “That is a shame.”
“I don’t suppose he’ll be happy when he wakes up,” Avril said sipping her blood. “You might want to make yourself scarce before then.”
“Oh, I intend to. As soon as Cyrus comes back the three of us are out of here.”
“That’s my brother for you,” Avril said. “The big and up-and-coming hero. I should warn you though, there’s a killer out there.”
“What?”
“Oh yes,” Magnus said. “I heard about that. A killer who fancies young human women with dark hair and suggestive clothing.”
“They say he doesn’t even always feed off his victims,” Avril added. “That he just kills for the sake of killing.”
“We’re due for another death, I think,” Magnus said. “Perhaps it will be you, Haley.”
“The killer doesn’t know where I am,” Haley said irritably.
“Unless the killer is Cyrus,” Avril said.
Haley stared at them, trying to see if they were being serious.
They both looked from her to each other, and giggled.
“You guys are fucked up,” Haley muttered.
She glanced down at Melanie. Her eyes were closed. Asleep again.
Haley decided to see what was taking Cyrus so long. She lowered her eyes and walked back through the living area, brushing past Magnus as she did so. They talked quietly amongst themselves as she neared the backdoor. Haley stepped outside.
“Cyrus?”
She could see him right away.
He was standing in the middle of the tennis court with his back to the house. He appeared to be on the phone with someone.
“Cyrus?” Haley called again, hurrying over.
The figure turned slightly. It wasn’t Cyrus.
It was Edmond.
He turned away from her again.
Haley took a step back, confused. She turned to the right of her, overlooking the jacuzzi.
There was something floating on the top of it.
“Oh no,” Haley whispered. “Oh…”
She rushed to the water’s edge and took hold of the body, dragging it up by the shoulders.
It was Cyrus.
A metal rod had been jammed into the side of his skull.
Haley screamed.
CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
Hearing her cries for help, Avril and Magnus rushed out from the house to offer their assistance. The three of them pulled Cyrus out of the water and laid him on his back. His eyes were open but there were no signs of life.
“Cyrus,” Avril growled shaking him. “Wake up, you bag of shit. Fucking wake up. Now. NOW, CYRUS!”
“He’s dead, Avy,” Magnus said putting a hand to her shoulder. “You can’t do anything.”
She spun round, her eyes fill with merciless rage. “You.”
“Me?” Haley replied.
“You killed him.”
“I most certainly did not!”
Avril stood up, bearing her fangs. “I don’t see anyone else here.”
“What about him?” Magnus murmured.
The three of them turned to Edmond was walking over slowly from the court. They waited for him to approach.
“Was this you, Edmond?” Avril demanded.
Edmond shook his head.
“You see!” Avril shrieked, pointing her finger. “I knew it! It’s her!”
“Fuck off,” Haley shouted back. “Look how he was killed. You think that was me?”
“She makes a point,” Magnus said quietly. He bent down, inspecting Cyrus. “Is this your rod, Edmond?”
Edmond stared at them blankly.
He extended his right hand and his rod slipped into it.
“That doesn’t prove anything,” Haley said. “He’s just used Cyrus’s rod to kill him.”
“Did you see it?” Magnus asked.
“Me? No,” Haley replied.
“What about you?” Magnus asked, turning to Edmond.
He didn’t respond immediately.
“I didn’t see it,” Edmond said. “But I know it was her.”
“How?” Avril demanded.
“I just had a call from an associate from the Vampire Dating Agency. It seems Haley is not all she appears to be.”
“What do you mean?”
“She’s a certified member of the Paranormal Police. She was working a case undercover tonight.”
“I don’t believe it,” Magnus said. “You mean she’s…”
“Yes,” Edmond said walking forward. “Haley’s a vampire slayer.”
CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
Chased. Cornered. Defenseless. Death seemed to be right around the corner. Or perhaps something much worse.
It was right around the time Haley had her hands around Magnus’s throat, strangling him on the carpet inside, when Edmond said: “STOP.”
Haley looked up to see Avril standing over her, brandishing a knife, ready to strike.
Edmond was in the hallway, half standing on Melanie.
“You can’t beat all three of us,” he declared. “But you can save her life.”
“Bullshit,” Haley hissed.
“She’s done nothing wrong,” Edmond said. “Unlike you.”
He walked into the living area and took the knife from Avril’s hands.
“Please,” Haley whispered. “I haven’t done anything wrong either.”
“Aw, you haven’t?”
“No.” Haley climbed off Magnus and backed away into the corner further still. “Yes I’m with the paranormal police. Yes I went in undercover. But not to randomly slay vampires. I’m after someone. I’m after a killer.”
“She killed Cyrus,” Avril said to Edmond. “She has to die.”
“It wasn’t me,” Haley insisted. “Maybe it wasn’t any of us. Maybe the killer’s still out there. Waiting for me to leave.”
“And why are they so interested in you?” Magnus asked.
“It’s a long story,” Haley said.
“Whatever. I don’t care. Just kill her,” Avril advised.
“Why?” Edmond replied. “Maybe she’s telling the truth.”
Haley stood up. “I am. I swear to you.”
“Here’s the deal, Haley. Now either we can just kill you where you stand – a fight I’m sure you know you’ll lose – or you can fill in Melanie’s role tonight and satisfy our urges.”
“Urges,” Avril hissed. “Are you really thinking about –?”
Without warning, Edmond put his arm around her and leaned into her.
Haley watched with confusion, only seeing what was happening when they both came back up from the bend.
Edmond and Avril were french-kissing.
Haley’s jaw dropped. “What the fuck?”
Magnus eyed Haley, a small smile on his lips. Then he stood up and moved in beside Avril. He took her away from Edmond’s grasp as Edmond removed the knife from Avril’s hand. As Avril and Magnus began kissing, Edmond walked to the kitchen counter and put the knife on top o
f it. He then paused a moment, before taking out his phone and snapping a quick picture of everyone. Then he put the phone down beside the knife.
“It’s really very simple, Haley,” Edmond said walking over to the camera. “You can fight us and die.”
Haley pressed herself against the wall, her mouth twisting with disgust.
Magnus and Avril feverishly undressed each other.
Edmond stepped away from the camera and started walking towards them, unbuttoning his shirt.
“Or you can fuck us and live.”
CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
Something in Haley snapped. The train with twenty carriages had steamrolled in and knocked her off the rails. Outside of herself, she knew she could have stood her ground to stop it. A hand and arm outstretched, signaling to the driver that she wouldn’t budge. She could have taken it, in all its force. But it hadn’t played out that way.
She was off the rails. Or lost at sea. At some point though, the island, the light, the gateway would open up. She’d have her chance to run again.
She just had to remember her purpose.
She just had to remember him.
But there was no easy way to say it. No easy way to justify it. There were so many lies and half-truths spinning round her head she felt nauseous. As if she could almost stop thinking. As if she could switch off completely.
The clothes, they were gone.
Gravity appeared to be too.
She was lying down, her body spread out, but she wasn’t on the floor. Something was holding her in place above it. Edmond perhaps. Or Magnus. Or … maybe it wasn’t as simple as that.
She was suspended, she was sure. As they were too.
Higher, and higher still.
Magnus was on top of her. Edmond was underneath.
Avril was between worlds, up by her face, nibbling at her ear.
Edmond was feeling her. His chest at her back. His hands at her hips. They were moving around. Swirling in motion. He felt her stomach. Her buttocks. Her breasts. His teeth were just by her shoulder.
Magnus was fucking her. His penis just went right in. All so casual about it. As if they’d had sex a million times before.
The biting, the kissing, the licking.
Edmond and Avril were all over her. She turned left. She turned right. Their mouths forced their way to hers. Their tongues sticky, and warm, and wet.
Then all of the sudden, the tempo changed.
Haley was back on the floor. The hard, hard floor.
Her knees seeped into the bristling carpet. Edmond forced his way into her from behind.
A yelp expelled from Haley’s lungs. Tears streamed from her eyes.
The fucking was vicious. He was tearing up her walls.
In front of them, Magnus was lying on his back, with Avril sucking him off.
Behind them, the camera. The camera recording everything.
Their faces drenched in green light.
“No,” Haley whispered.
She tried to straighten herself.
Pull away.
“Stop.”
Edmond laughed, his fingernails biting into her.
“STOP!” Haley roared.
She kicked herself away from him, hobbling a few paces away on her knees.
Edmond quickly latched back onto her.
He forced her face around so she was opposite his.
“You’ve already come this far,” he said to her. “Don’t let yourself down.”
“You’re a monster,” Haley said.
“I know.”
He then opened his jaw and bit into her neck, sucking her blood out like a state of the art vacuum.
Haley’s body pulsated.
Her eyes moved past the kitchen bench to the backdoor, barely making out the outline of someone standing there.
It’s you, she thought.
You’re still here.
You’re still after me.
Edmond let go of her and she fell
Fell
Fell…
Staring up into no one.
“I’m coming,” Haley’s lips breathed. “I’m coming to get you…”
CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT
Haley woke from her paralysis to the sound of a bloodcurdling scream. She sat up, the blacks and greens of the room fading in. She touched her chest and found the drying remnants of a warm, gooey substances. Blood.
As she crept up onto her knees, seamen rolled on out of her vagina. She clutched her stomach, wanting to scream and vomit and vomit and scream – but it was no time for her to suffer. In the centre of her left ear, she heard Melanie’s dying cries whittle away. As well as the crunching. And the gnawing. And the sucking.
Haley twisted her gaze towards the hall to see if it was true.
If it was really happening.
It was.
One of them was raping her too.
Haley quickly covered her mouth, so the squeal wouldn’t escape. She felt around the dark for the remnants of her clothes. She found her blouse – or maybe it was Avril’s – and pulled it over her. Then she began to crawl, as quickly and quietly as she could.
Soon she had reached the kitchen. She continued across the tiles before a loud sound stopped her dead.
Edmond’s phone was on the counter.
It was ringing.
Haley’s heart beat faster and faster.
“Leave it,” came a mumbled gasp. “We’re filming this remember…”
Haley quietly stood up from the floor. Once the phone had finished ringing, she reached out and took it.
Avril’s knife was on the counter. She took that as well.
Then she turned to the backdoor.
Haley put her hand on the handle. She took a breath. Closed her eyes.
And pressed down.
CHAPTER FORTY-NINE
Outside the house of the Rance vampires, the night had expanded. The storm had cleared and the clouds had parted. The full moon hovered in the sky looking down on them.
A black feathered raven sat above all.
Haley staggered across the concrete, barely glancing at Cyrus’s body as the raven inspected it. She rushed forth to the tennis court and broke into a full sprint once there.
The green of the court, the green of the towering lights above –
It stunned.
It burned.
It seared.
Haley’s face reddened, weeping. She grasped hold of the gate fumbling about for the latch, only to discover the padlock still there.
“No,” she whispered. “No!”
She shook it and the fence.
Haley then took a step back. She breathed in deeply.
She had seen it – she had seen Cyrus unlock this thing with a key attached to –
His belt.
Haley’s gaze turned back to the house.
No movement. No shadows.
There was still time.
She hurried back across the court again, this time even faster – and threw herself at the ground where Cyrus lay. She grabbed hold of his belt, twisting it around, until she found the chain attached.
Her fingers glided across the metal, until she found the button. She pushed down and the chain gave way.
Bbrrinng, bbrinnng –
Edmond’s phone.
Edmond’s phone in her pocket.
“Fuck,” Haley gasped.
She took off like lightening, running back across the court towards the gate.
They couldn’t have heard it. They wouldn’t have.
After all, Cyrus had been killed out here without anyone hearing anything.
She should be safe.
The padlock came undone.
She ripped the gate open, just in time to see the backdoor open.
They were coming.
Haley forced her gaze ahead and then ran into the thickened forest before her. Soon darkness consumed everything. Every right. Every left. Every up or down. Haley kept going, the never-ending scream in her mind knowing n
o relief.
It seemed like forever.
The cuts. The bruises.
The trips and falls.
She could hear them. She could hear them coming.
But she wasn’t sure how far away they were.
Light. Normal, artificial, street lamp light. Relief flooded through Haley as she found herself not far away from Cyrus’s car.
She held out the chain in front of her, scrabbling through the keys to what she thought belonged to the car. She rushed to the driver’s side and opened the door, sitting in the seat behind the wheel.
“Please,” Haley whispered. “Please…”
She forced the key into the ignition, and it did fit.
“Oh thank God.”
She pulled the lever out of park, and put her barefoot to the accelerator. The car pulled away and drifted further, further, faster away…
“Yes!” Haley screamed. “Fucking yes! Yes! Yes!”
She turned the corner at the end of the road and took the phone out of her pocket which was making more noises.
She wondered if they were trying to call her.
She slowed down a little, inspecting the newest message.
Thanks for the video, Mr. Rance. I’ll get to work on it as soon as I can.
Video?
Haley hit the brake.
Surely – surely he hadn’t had time to upload the fucking porno he just filmed of her.
Haley bit her teeth together. She had to see.
After a little bit of scrolling and playing around with the phone, she found Edmond’s sent attachments. She opened the first one to which his message read: Watch in private.
Haley then opened the video.
Although she had been dreading it to be the video of her, it turned out to be something much worse.
“Please,” Haley’s Mom said into the camera. “Don’t.”
A gloved hand reached out and ripped away her towel exposing her naked body.
The phone flew out of Haley’s hand as she screamed in agony.
Screamed and screamed.
Over and over.
Her mother’s screams echoed on the phone as the video was still playing.
Haley pushed open the diver’s door and vomited onto the road.
“It’s you,” she choked. “Edmond Rance…”
Vampire Dating Agency II Page 10
