Witchblood

by Emma Mills

  Chapter Four

  We must have been on the top floor of the Victorian building, which presumably had been split into private rooms for guests or workers. Eva had said this was her suite, and it was a spacious room with high ceilings typical of the period and large, tall windows framed with heavily brocaded curtains and blackout blinds. My eyes noted the large curtained four poster bed and solid old furniture pieces, and I wondered how old they were. I was sorely tempted to go and flop on a beautiful French style chaise longue which didn’t quite fit in, but I felt awkward, so instead I stood and watched quietly.

  Daniel stalked straight over to one of the windows where he stood, staring out into the darkness, and down at the street below. I wondered if he was regretting saving me as it seemed I was not quite what they’d anticipated. After all, I certainly wasn’t going to be the loyal flunky they seemed to expect from new vampires. Neither would I be the lover he’d hoped for. How could I be when I still loved Luke? I didn’t want to follow orders, and guessed I was a bit of a loose cannon. If they couldn’t control me, they had to hope I could control myself, and the big question was, could I?

  ‘I don't regret saving you Jessica, although I wonder if I did the right thing for any us, including yourself. If I’d left you to die, you wouldn't be feeling the pain of losing Luke and your life; however I could never have anticipated the strength of your will. As a new vampire you should already be forgetting your past,’ he answered silently.

  ‘So did you forget your wife, Ellie? Is that how you managed to stay away?’ I risked bringing her up in conversation, partly because I was intrigued and partly because I was still mad at him for the last hour.

  ‘Partly. She became a hazy memory over time, but I was also helped by Eva who simply gave me an order to stay away. When she was in my head she was able to tamper with my memories, make everything less acute. If you let me in I could do this for you.’ I immediately felt him reaching out to me with his mind, tendrils of thoughts weaving deeper into my head. I pushed him out and blasted him with my willpower.

  ‘No! I’m not prepared to forget Luke until I’m sure there can be no future for us.’

  ‘Jessica I’ve told you, there is no future. He will smell irresistible to you.’

  ‘You don’t know that. You said it yourself, I’m different. Who says I won’t be able to see him, speak to him. I want to try. I will try.’

  ‘You will not try. At least not until I’m certain that you won’t kill him. It would upset you more than you can imagine, and it’s also highly illegal. We have our own laws, you know. We're no longer allowed to kill humans without a pardon from the area leader - in your case Sebastian - and Sebastian would not allow you to risk killing Luke so close to your own death. Aside from killing Luke, have you not thought what it would do to him if you could speak to him? What would you say? He’s buried you! What future could you have together?’

  ‘Fine. Maybe I could go and find that girl gang and practice not killing humans on them!’ I reeled back, shocked at my sudden realisation that deep inside there was a nagging, burning anger. I wanted to punish them, scare them. Worst of all I wanted to kill them, slowly and painfully. I had a quick, awful vision of picking them up like rag dolls and slamming their heads into the crumbling Victorian walls. Horrified at my violent thoughts, I forced the thoughts away.

  ‘Hmm, somehow I don’t think that would be a great idea either, do you? Although it reassures me that somewhere inside you there is a vengeful vampire waiting to get out. That at least is what we expected from you.’ He raised an eyebrow and grinned at me. ‘However Sebastian won't allow you to murder them, whether they deserve it or not. It would draw too much attention to the area we work in, and the police are still hovering, hoping to find some new evidence to support your case.’

  I walked over and joined him at the window, looking out onto the dark street. The window looked out over the front of the club, and now it was getting late, a small queue was starting to form at the front door below us. The girls were all chattering and giggling, hugging their arms round their tiny dresses in the freezing winter night. Some were already worse for an evening of drink and some stared ahead, wishing they were home already, snuggled up with their boyfriends, but not wanting to seem anti-social.

  The guys were generally all standing in packs, grouped together, dressed in stripy shirts and dark jeans. Occasionally one of them would make a comment and the rest of the gang would heckle their support. With men it was always about the banter, and I remembered how Luke was different when he was with his mates, a pack animal blending in. Yet with me he was tender and affectionate, funny and kind. At the memory, a single tear slid slowly down my cheek and I brushed it away before Daniel noticed it. Though of course, as he could read my mind, there was no real point in hiding it.

  ‘This is becoming excruciating, Jessica. What are we going to do with you?’ Suddenly he turned to face me and drew me to him. He encircled me in his strong arms, and as they folded me into his chest I found the tension leave my body in a big shudder. His chest felt hard and smooth under his shirt, and at first I wondered what was worrying me until I realised it was the lack of a heartbeat. It freaked me out, and then, as I was about to say something I heard it; a low thump, so sporadic I hadn’t initially noticed it. I guessed it only beat every ten seconds. Was mine the same?

  He didn’t feel cold to my touch as I expected, but maybe that was because I too was running at the same low temperature, who knows?

  ‘Stop analysing, Jessica. You are what you are, changed but alive, and as you found out, our hearts do actually beat, just very, very slowly,’ he said smiling. ‘Things will become easier with time. Now I promise not to erase any memories, but just let me try to help you forget everything for a few minutes at least.’ His voice once again calmed me so I let my barriers down and tentatively let him into my head. His hand traced a lazy pattern up and down my spine as I laid my head against his shoulder. I breathed in his wonderful scent which smelled earthy and rich, a bit like mulled wine bubbling on the stove on Christmas morning. Once again, I felt my new fangs run out and my pulse quicken ever so slightly. My worries faded away and I felt safe and calm.

  Suddenly there was a quick knock on the door. It swung open and before I knew it, my mind reached out and slammed it shut again. As soon as I realised what I’d done, both Daniel and I broke apart and swivelled round. The door opened again and Eva entered, looking most displeased with having had a door slammed in her face, and I can’t say I blamed her.

  ‘Eva, I’m so sorry. I don’t know what I did, or how…’ I faltered.

  ‘So you did this? Hmm, interesting development. Well, we’ll discuss this later. For now I have someone for you to meet.’ She turned around in the doorway and signalled to someone standing in the corridor. ‘Gavin, come here darling,’ she said softly, as she smiled and beckoned him into the room.

  A young, good-looking lad of about twenty entered the room. His hair was fashionably dishevelled, his tight black jeans sitting low on his skinny hips. He looked around interestedly, but was not visibly nervous or frightened, and I wondered if he knew what we were, just as I’d suddenly become desperately sure of what I had become.

  The scent of his warm blood assaulted my senses with a blast and I could very faintly hear the quick drumming of his pulse. My mouth started watering, and my fangs, which had begun to recede with the disturbance, shot out to full length. I was exhilarated and thirsty. Very thirsty.

  I felt my body curl inwards, slightly tensing ready to pounce, and just as I was about to spring across the room and follow through with my natural instincts, Daniel’s hand was laid on my shoulder.

  ‘Slowly, try and rein it in a bit Jessica, remember you can’t kill him,’ he whispered, as Eva stepped slightly in front of the boy.

  Amazingly this was all it took, and I suddenly realised this was a test they wanted me to fail. Within seconds I understood several things. Firstly, if I jumped forth and fed from
this boy, yes, it would be nice and legal, but I’d have failed in my pledge to prove to them that I was capable of restraining myself and therefore seeing Luke, my father or even Alex.

  Secondly, I was not sure how drinking ‘live’ human blood would affect me. They seemed to think it would help turn me into a fully-fledged vamp, thereby losing the human traits I still seemed to display. If these human traits were something to do with my supposed pagan heritage, would they be lost? These were not theories I wanted to test out right now, and in that split second everything changed and I was able to push up my barriers and look at the boy with human eyes. I was in control, just, but my barrier was shaky and my fangs pressed desperately against my tongue.

  Eva stepped towards me, frowning slightly. ‘She’s controlled it. I don’t believe it!’ She sidestepped a little and turned back to the boy. ‘Gavin love, go to Jessica now. Show her what you want.’

  Gavin smiled as if in a dream and silently walked towards me. His scent became more intoxicating the closer he got. He stopped a couple of feet away and smiled lazily at me.

  ‘Hi there. Evie says you need me as much as she did, maybe more.’ I was paralysed with shock, trying to control my instincts, and as he slowly removed his jacket and undid the top few buttons of his shirt, exposing his neck to me I felt a gush of emotion; hunger, lust and need suddenly merged with anger and a furious disgust. I would not do this.

  ‘No!’ my voice croaked, as my throat had suddenly dried up, but as I stumbled backwards, trying to fight off the built-up emotions, they exploded, and suddenly the room was erupting.

  The mirror over the antique dresser exploded into a thousand tiny shards and as I swivelled round to see it, I saw all the items from the dresser – hairbrush, pots of cream and make-up bag – hovering in the air as if attached to invisible strings. When I looked at the items they shot through the air towards Eva and the boy. Gavin had retreated several paces and appeared to have come out of his trance, as he looked extremely confused and terrified.

  Eva, get the boy out of here and fix his memory. I will deal with Jessica,’ Daniel shouted over the noise as his arms once again wrapped around my body, this time from behind. Eva simply nodded, and pushed the dazed Gavin ahead of her through the door and into the corridor.

  When the door slammed behind them a sudden stillness fell on the room and I didn’t even try to escape Daniel’s hold. Both of us simply stood and stared. I couldn’t process the fact that it had come from me. I was shaking uncontrollably. I’d smashed a mirror with my own mind and furthermore directed the shards of glass towards them. I whimpered slightly and shook some more in Daniel’s tight, silent grasp. My world had been turned upside down and now I knew I’d no hope of returning to the normal girl I once was. What the hell was happening to me?

  ‘Well Jessica, it would be useful if you could do your thing and whiz all these shards of glass into the bin for us,’ Daniel said, as he surveyed the devastation in the room.

  ‘It’s not funny Daniel. I haven’t got a clue how I did it. I really don’t know what, or how I did what I did,’ I whispered.

  ‘So nothing like this has ever happened to you before. You really didn’t know you were capable of doing this?’ he asked, as I moved out of his grasp and turned to look at him.

  ‘No! Never. It would’ve been a pretty good party trick, and useful tactic for ending rows with my dad I admit, but no, I never knew I was capable of this. As for repeating it, I wouldn’t know where to begin.’

  ‘Right, we’d better call the cleaners then and get it sorted.’ Then, almost reluctantly he added, ‘I suppose we should take a little trip back downstairs while it’s being done and see if Sebastian’s found anything out about your family history.’

  He picked up the phone, requested some cleaners and had a general chat, as if cleaning up exploding mirrors was an everyday occurrence. Meanwhile I turned back to the dresser and tried to tidy the various items into a neat pile, wondering what Sebastian would have to say about my latest trick. I shuddered and hoped he still felt affectionately towards me. I didn’t fancy burning at the stake, and I was sure that vampires had no morals, when it came to disposing of an unwanted newborn who didn’t know how to control her wild side.

  ‘Well Jessica, I didn’t expect to see you again quite this soon, although I should have known after tasting your blood you’d be trouble,’ Sebastian said, some ten minutes later as I entered his office.

  When I dared to finally meet his eyes relief shot through my body as I realised he was smiling, with one eyebrow arched high.

  ‘Eva popped in on her way past, and I must say you’ve upset her. I believe she’s never witnessed such a violent display in return for a simple meal!’ he went on.

  ‘I’m sorry Sebastian. I truly didn’t know I could do that, and even now I don’t know how I did it. I just felt angry. I was being pushed to do something I di….’ I was about to say ‘didn’t want to do’ but I wondered how that might sound to him and quickly changed tack, ‘didn’t feel ready for.’

  Daniel stepped forward as he obviously felt I’d done enough talking and said, ‘Sebastian, I believe the witch blood in her has allowed her body to keep hold of her human soul, and it is this soul that the vampire in her is battling with internally.’ Sebastian nodded his head.

  ‘That all sounds very plausible, apart from one small detail. I’ve tracked her family back a couple of hundred years and so far found nothing. Her father’s family go all the way back to typical British Anglo-Saxon heritage, with no pagan names jumping out. If anything they were war-mongering Vikings.’

  ‘But I believe witchblood usually runs stronger on the mother’s side.’ Daniel interrupted.

  ‘Yes, but there is nothing to be found there either. If her mother is indeed Mary Collins, there is no trace of witch in her family either.’ Sebastian turned back to me and smiled. ‘Yet it’s undeniable that you are a little witch. Could you be keeping something from us?’ His smile hardened and I froze. I’d told them all I knew. Could it be that I had a different mother? It was inconceivable.

  ‘No! Mary Collins was my mother. She died a couple of years ago, and I have photos going all the way back through my childhood, sitting in albums in my dad’s house,’ I retorted, regretting the last half of the sentence immediately.

  ‘She’s telling the truth. She’s not hiding anything,’ Daniel said quietly.

  ‘OK, we will send someone over there to recover the albums and then we might be able to shed some more light on the issue.’

  ‘You can’t, what about my dad. I…’ I was interrupted suddenly by Daniel, and I realised I’d overstepped my mark as Sebastian’s face darkened.

  ‘Jessica, Sebastian is your leader. You must show him respect. Never tell him what he can or cannot do. You must apologise.’ He then faced Sebastian and continued, ‘I am so sorry Sebastian, she’s not yet had time to understand all of our ways.’

  I swallowed my modern pride as I realised that he was somewhat dangerous, and in control of my new life, so I managed to stammer out an apology.

  ‘I’m sorry Sebastian, I didn’t mean to sound rude. I was just worried for the welfare of my father.’

  ‘I realise that Jessica, but you must take Daniel’s words very seriously. There is no crime more punishable than disrespecting an elder. We take it very seriously, and regardless of your unique little quirks, you will be punished if you do not respect your station.’

  I looked down at my feet and felt like a little girl, which was incredibly strange as both men standing in front of me looked no more than ten years older than me. The twenty-first century girl in me found Sebastian’s words old–fashioned, and I fought desperately to hide the smile threatening to break out, so biting the corner of my lips I glared at the floor until I'd recovered. When I met Sebastian’s eyes again he carried on, ‘Your father will never know we've been there. You don’t need to worry Jessica.’

  After another thirty minutes, it was decided that Daniel and
I should return to his house in Manchester, but I was still under strict house arrest.

  ‘You realise Jessica, that if you were to have a decent feed your transformation would be quicker and your life could regain some normality. However, if you insist on drinking banked blood all the time, your transformation will take much longer and you’ll be stuck inside Daniel’s dingy house until then,’ Sebastian explained with a wry smile as he handed me a glass of the usual dark red stuff.

  ‘It all depends on what a person’s view of decent is though, doesn’t it, and I don’t feel that feeding from some poor infatuated guy is decent,’ I answered a little too sharply.

  ‘Daniel, you need to take her away before she pushes my patience too far and I decide to teach her some manners, because if she steps out of line again I will surely teach them to her, and my teaching may not be so nice!’ With that Sebastian glared at me, as Daniel removed the glass from my hands and quickly herded me from the room.

  ‘Do you have a death wish, you silly girl?’ Daniel whispered.

  ‘No, I…’

  ‘You don’t realise, but he’s been the leader of the Northern Vampires for more than four hundred years. He has very particular views on how his subordinates should behave and speak to him. He’s been exceptionally lenient with you, I suspect because he thinks he may be able to use your talents at some point in the future. He’s always on the lookout for vampires with special talents, and it’s always useful to have extra resources in the clan, especially if war breaks out with the Southern clan again,’ Daniel said, without stopping for breath.

  ‘Subordinates! I just can’t get my head around this language. Not once throughout my whole life has anyone called me a subordinate, or anyone else I know of for that matter, and since I was murdered only two weeks ago it now seems to be the regular buzzword. It’s just not right!’ I stressed.

  ‘But Jessica, it is right. He’s at least five hundred years older than you, probably much more. To him you’re very much his inferior, a child that has to be educated, that has to show respect. He’s seen more with his own eyes than you have read in your history books at school, and he comes from a world that is so different to yours in every respect. To him you are a child, a servant and a woman – his subordinate in every way.’

  ‘Fantastic! Well he should have seen the women’s suffrage movement in the early twentieth century, or did he conveniently forget that? It’s all very well you spouting history at me, but history has moved on and you vampires need to move with the times and stop talking as if you have something stuck up your …’

  ‘Jessica stop!’ Daniel interrupted me. ‘Some of us do move forward and take on new views, but then I’m a comparatively young vampire, and it is a lot harder for the older ones. More to the point, they don’t need to, as they have the power to keep things the way they want them. If you disrespect them and they decide your talents are not worth the back-talk, they will simply dispose of you. No discussion. No jury. Talking of which, this discussion is over. Now let’s go home.’

  During this whispered conversation, Daniel had been quickly steering me back through the corridors to the back of the club. We exited through the rear service door we’d arrived through and found his car waiting for us. With my new vampire hearing, I could hear the shrill voices of the young, drunk girls queuing for entrance to the club, and found that if I zoned in on a particular group I could pick out specific words, conversations. I could hear two guys talking in low slurred voices about the voluptuous assets of the women in the queue ahead of them, who in turn were sniping about the woman with a cute boyfriend.

  ‘Jessica, get in.’ Daniel’s voice interrupted my eavesdropping and I reluctantly climbed into the passenger seat of the car.

  ‘So where do you live? Where are we going? I hope it’s not up near Piccadilly and my old student accommodation; that would be a little close for comfort!’

  ‘No. I live in Didsbury. Do you know anyone there? Not that it matters, as you won’t be going out anyway,’ he said, grinning at me again. He had visibly relaxed now he was back in the driver’s seat and we were zooming away from the infamous Sebastian.

  ‘No I don’t know anyone in Didsbury, all my friends live in the city centre or Rusholme. Why do you live in Didsbury? Is it because of the students?’ I asked.

  ‘Yes partly. It’s ideal for us to live there, because the neighbours change every year and no-one notices if you don’t grow any older,’ he answered. Students don’t generally notice or care what their neighbours get up to,’ he answered.

  We drove in silence for a while and I noted with relief that at least his music tastes had moved with the times, as he turned the volume up on my favourite band’s latest album.

  After only twenty minutes or so we’d pulled off the main road and turned onto a quiet suburban street flanked with huge Victorian houses; typical student houses all spilt into flats or simple bedsits. Half way along the street, Daniel turned off the road into the short drive of a huge old detached house with a high pitched roof and leaded windows which shone in the moonlight.

  As the car stopped outside the house, Daniel clicked a remote, a garage door started lifting, and we drove down into a converted cellar. As the garage door closed behind us, an automatic light came on and lit our way from the car and into the house, through the cellar door and up into a spacious hallway which I gazed around eagerly.

  ‘I'll show you to your room. Follow me.’

  Daniel led the way up the soft carpeted stairs towards the front of the house, and into a perfect Victorian bedroom. The walls were painted duck egg blue and there was a cream painted fireplace with ornate carvings, and an antique French dresser. After a very long day, I let out a long sigh and smiled a genuinely happy smile.

  ‘This is to your liking, I hope?’ Daniel asked quietly.

  ‘Are you kidding? This is heaven. You couldn’t have picked a more perfect room if you’d hired all the country’s best designers. I love it. Thank you so much!’

  ‘Good, I'm glad. I’ll leave you to settle in and bring your things up shortly,’ he said smiling back at me, seeming pleased to have made me happy at last.

  He closed the door quietly behind him and I heard his soft footfalls retreating down the stairs. I walked straight over to the huge black wrought iron bed, took in the beautiful patchwork quilt and cream crocheted cushions before turning my back on it, and with arms flung wide, let myself fall into its soft embrace. The mattress was soft but the springs proved the bed to be an authentic Victorian piece as they squeaked in protest. I quickly stilled my bounces and hoped Daniel hadn’t heard my childish behaviour as I stared up at the rather fabulous gothic chandelier.

  Lying on my back, I looked past the heavy silk curtains, framing the large leaded windows, and out at the moonlit night. All at once I felt the impact of the last twenty-four hours. It was probably nothing to your average vampire, but I felt a tiredness wash over me and my eyes became heavy. I gave in and let myself drift into a sweet oblivion.