He was the first to die.
Jamie jammed the knife through the man’s throat. He fell to his knees, choking on his own blood as red sputtered from the wound.
Before Jamie could do anything else, the other man tackled him to the ground. He quickly pulled a dagger from his belt. Jamie pushed the man off with ease and sent him flying across the room and through the wall before he had a chance to use the blade.
The man tried to get to his feet, but he was too disorientated from being thrown through four inches of plasterboard.
Jamie reached down and pulled the knife from the throat of the dead man. He threw it through the hole in the wall just as the other one managed to stumble numbly to his feet. The knife sliced through the air and struck the man directly in the heart, sending him falling back to the floor in an instant.
Jamie stood in the middle of the room, breathing heavily as he looked around, barely aware of what he’d just done. He put his hand to his head and tried to calm himself as the scent of blood assailed his nostrils. Something’s not right about that smell, he thought as he fell to his knees. The scent, instead of making him hungry was making him feel sick.
Jamie brought his red stained hand up to his mouth and licked blood from his knuckles. His stomach churned with the taste of it. He spat onto the floor, trying to rid his mouth of the foul taste.
He took another look at the men he’d just killed. All of them looked normal, but their blood smelled and tasted wrong. They’re not human? he thought in confusion, wondering how they could look like something they weren’t.
He turned and walked out of the house, trying to figure out what was going on.
Out in the fresh air his head cleared, and he looked back at the open door, remembering that the first man he had slain had been on the phone to someone.
A person he was reporting to.
His eyes shifted along the tree line, half expecting to see more people . . . things, creeping out of there.
He shook his paranoia away . . . Sam was safe, Jamie thought as he ran from the house.
She was safe . . . for now at least.
CHAPTER 28
The voice on the other end of the line went suddenly silent, while the warlock was halfway through giving his report on the latest incident with Sam. Kraven pulled the phone away from his ear and looked at the screen for a moment, checking if the issue was with the device or with the person on the other end of the line.
The little screen was still bright and clearly displayed that the call was still active. With a frown, Kraven placed the phone back to his ear and listened carefully. There were very minimal noises from the other end, just white noise really.
Then a very loud crash.
At the sound of the crash, Kraven hung up the phone, ending the call.
With a sigh he threw the phone to the table. Beside him, Malachi looked to the discarded phone, the turned his curious eyes in his direction. He didn’t ask what had happened, he didn’t need to as the question was obvious on his face.
Kraven pushed himself to his feet. “We’ve been attacked,” he stated, moving towards the exit.
Malachi stood quickly and followed. “Attacked? By who? Where?”
“The surveillance base, just outside of that town where the Witch girl lives.”
Malachi let a heavy sigh. “Was it her?” he asked, though the tone of his voice suggested that even if Kraven had claimed that it had been the girl, Malachi wouldn’t have believed him.
Kraven just shrugged, walking through the tunnels to where there were portals that they could use to travel to the surface. “It could have been, we’ll have to check the tapes when we get there.”
When they came to the portals Kraven placed his hand on the runes that were etched into the stone walls, activating one of them. In his mind he envisioned the location that he wished to travel to. Once the image was clear, he nodded his head towards it, indicating to Malachi that it was now safe to step through.
He did with no hesitation.
Once Malachi had disappeared through the portal, Kraven followed. The opening closing behind him once his feet touched off the wooden floors of their surveillance cabin.
The place was a mess, everything covered in blood. Spatters of it on the walls and ceiling and pools of it on the floor around the dead men.
Kraven stepped over one of the bodies and looked towards the window. Outside he saw a man—well, he was boy really, too young in appearance to be considered anything but.
Though it wasn’t the boy’s youth that caused his heart to hammer rapidly against his ribs.
No, it was the face.
That face.
The boy ran away swiftly, making his way into the woods and completely disappeared within the trees.
Kraven turned sharply to see if Malachi had seen him, and was deeply grateful to find that Malachi was not even in the room.
He had stepped through the giant gaping hole in the wall and into the kitchen. His back to the window, so surely he hadn’t seen.
Trying as hard as possible to hide his panic and fear, he rushed from the room to where Malachi stood. “You need to leave,” Kraven stated sharply.
Malachi looked up at him from his place on the floor by the third body, his expression confused. “What . . . why?”
Kraven huffed in annoyance. Malachi was the only member of their society who ever dared to question him, who never just did as he was told. So, knowing an outrageous comment would be the only way to get him out of here, he said, “I’m moving you back to recruitment.”
Malachi’s expression turned to one of indignation, and he stood gazing at Kraven in disbelief, his lips parted as though he would speak but couldn’t think of the words.
“This girl just became too dangerous, so for now, I’m moving you back to recruitment. Get out of here, now.”
“But you can’t do that! This . . . this is my job. You promised I could be in charge of this one!”
“Malachi!” Kraven shouted. The other man just stared at him. “What I’ve said is an order. Now go home.”
With a glare, Malachi turned and stormed off, taking the portal home without speaking a word. Only taking time to look in Kraven’s direction with the expression of someone who had been betrayed.
Kraven let a sigh of relief when he was gone. Malachi was angry now, but anger over this little disagreement was something that he would get over quite quickly. Within a week they would once again be on speaking terms.
However, if Malachi found out about him.
That he was alive, that he was here, and most importantly what Kraven had done to him all those years ago . . . that was one thing he would not be forgiven for.
So he searched the base for the security tapes, and kept hold of them. Knowing that the only other piece of evidence he had left to get rid of was the boy who should have been dead.
CHAPTER 29
Jack appeared out of nowhere just as Sam had gotten herself comfortable in bed. “I have news from the Hunters that you may be interested in.”
Sam was all ready for school tomorrow, so she really hoped that this news wouldn’t affect her ability to play normal for the next few months.
“Have they all decided to leave me alone from now on?” she asked, while knowing that what Jack had to say would be nothing close to that.
But she couldn’t help hoping.
“No,” Jack said simply. “But someone has put a bounty on your Vampire boyfriend stalker.”
Sam didn’t smile or laugh. That would only encourage Jack to say more stupid things like that. Which he was doing a lot lately, and he seemed to find it amusing. Being a Ghost must be super boring. Sam shook her head, sighing. It had only been a matter of time before they tried to get to Jamie. Especially if he’d been following her around more than just the times she knew of.
“You’re not going to ask me why?” Jack sighed dramatically and l
et himself fall to the floor, sitting cross-legged beside her bed.
“I wasn’t going to ask,” Sam stated. She didn’t care why someone wanted Jamie dead.
She didn’t know him.
It didn’t concern her.
She didn’t want to get involved.
She had her own problems to deal with.
Jack sighed. “Ask me why.”
“Uh, okay . . . Why?” Sam asked reluctantly.
“He killed the Hunter who attacked you, along with two higher level Warlocks who were running a secret base just outside of town.” Jack did an overly dramatic air grab. “To protect thine honour!”
Sam rolled her eyes. “You’re way too easily amused.” Jack laughed. “If he killed two higher levels and a Hunter, what makes them think that a team of Hunters will be able to kill him?”
“They haven’t hired Hunters to kill him.”
“But I thought you said—”
“No,” Jack interrupted. “They hired a team of Vampire Hunters to kill him, don’t ever mix up Hunters and Vampire Hunters . . . It’s insulting. And just in case the Vampire Hunters don’t do the job—which less face it, they probably won’t because they’re shit at everything except being stupid—they also put a message out across the whole magical community offering a reward for whoever kills him.”
Shit, Sam thought, that’s bad.
A community wide bounty was what was put on Sam too. So she knew better than most that it wasn’t an easy thing to have to deal with. Especially when a lot of the people who go after those bounties are the type who want to take you back dead rather than alive.
The whole magical community.
And poor stupid Jamie didn’t even have much knowledge of Vampires. With knowledge as limited as that, she seriously doubted he knew that other supernatural beings even existed.
Sam couldn’t help but feel partly responsible for Jamie’s situation. If he had just stayed away from her he never would have felt the need to kill those Demons or that Hunter and he wouldn’t be in this mess right now.
Sam sighed, and closed her eyes. She had been starting to believe that she could make it through the year without someone getting killed because of her.
Guess that’s another hope gone.
CHAPTER 30
It was another dull and cloudy day, which Jamie thought was perfect. Because it meant he could go outside without the fear of ending up bedridden for two weeks.
He walked towards the old redbrick building that was the high school, thinking as he jumped up the steps about what to say when he found her. Ideally, he’d simply give Sam her necklace and she’d be so happy she’d swoon and fall in love with him and want to be with him forever.
Except that wouldn’t happen because Jamie had forgotten to bring Sam’s necklace with him.
Alright . . . that was a lie.
He had purposely left her necklace at home. Just in case she wouldn’t speak to him today. After all, she had told him to stay away from her. Well, technically she had. It still confused him to think about what really happened.
Either way, if she wouldn’t speak to him today, he had an excuse to come back and see her tomorrow.
He had chosen to wake up early and go to the school to speak with her. Thinking she would be more comfortable around him if they were both in a public place. And if he went to her house she’d wonder how he knew where she lived, which would most likely lead to an awkward conversation that he didn’t want to have and maybe end up with her calling the police on him.
Jamie walked through the doors into the school which was filled with students, all talking and laughing and walking about. There had to have been at least four-hundred people in the building, which made finding Sam very difficult.
A group of students walked through the doors behind Jamie. He only looked at them for a second, before he moved forward and stopped one of them. “Excuse me,” he said to a boy with brown hair.
The boy looked at him curiously, and Jamie knew by the expression he wore that he was trying to figure out who he was and what he was doing here. “Hello,” the boy said politely. “I’m Scott, are you new?”
Jamie shook his head. “No, actually, I’m just looking for someone. I was wondering if you could help.”
Scott gave him a friendly smile, which made Jamie feel that he had picked a good person to ask. “Sure,” he said. “Who are you looking for?”
“It’s a girl named Samantha Jacobs.”
The smile disappeared from the boy’s face almost immediately, he eyed Jamie suspiciously. “Why are you looking for her?”
The air surrounding Scott suddenly became very heavy and stale; Jamie could sense some very unpleasant emotions emanating from him. He was upset and angry because Jamie was looking for Sam. Which made Jamie think that either Scott hated Sam, or hated the idea that someone was looking for her.
Maybe he hadn’t picked the right person after all.
“Uh,” Jamie thought quickly. The necklace. “ . . . I found something of hers and I need to return it.”
“You can give it to me,” Scott said, holding his hand out, his body language giving the impression that he didn’t want Jamie anywhere near Sam. “I’ll make sure she gets it.”
“That’s okay,” Jamie said, eyeing him with suspicion. “I’d rather give it to her myself.”
Scott gave him a glare, making it obvious that he didn’t feel like being friendly anymore. Despite the fact that he was watching Jamie in an unpleasant way he pointed to the end of the hallway. “Go right, her locker’s at the end.” Then he stormed away before Jamie had a chance to say thank you.
Jamie walked to the end of the hall, then turned right. The hallway was crowded with students, all walking or rummaging through their lockers. He spent a few moments scanning the crowd, standing on his toes so he could see over everyone. He spotted Sam’s white-blonde head at a locker near the end of the hall. He moved towards her, pushing his way through the throng of humans. “Sam,” he said as he approached her.
She turned to look at him. He could tell by her expression that she wasn’t pleased to see him.
“What do you want?” she asked, as she closed her locker door.
“I want to talk to you,” Jamie said.
“About?” she asked, seeming as though she was making an attempt to keep the conversation to a bare minimum.
Jamie hesitated for a moment. There were so many things he wanted to say to her and so many questions he needed to ask, and yet right there and then, he couldn’t think of a single word. Sam looked at him impatiently, her hand on her hip. He just shrugged and said, “Want to go out some time?”
Sam rolled her eyes and turned away from him, hurrying down the hall. Jamie stood there for a moment feeling frustrated by the fact that she was ignoring him, especially since he had saved her life only two days ago. How could she be so ungrateful? She could just say no. She didn’t have to ignore him.
Sam disappeared into a classroom. Jamie followed her. The teacher looked up at him in confusion, as did all of the students in that class.
“Are you Elliot?” the teacher asked as she looked at him.
Jamie gazed at the woman, then at the twenty seven students in the room. Realising that he should have better shielded himself before walking into a school he had no reason to be inside of.
He hadn’t thought this through.
With one last glance at all of the faces in the room, he sent out a wave of Power. he said. One by one all of the students, as well as the teacher, looked away. All except for Sam, who kept a steady gaze on him every moment he stood in the doorway.
Jamie sent a current of energy directly into Sam’s mind. he said.
She didn’t.
Her gaze didn’t falter in the slightest.
Jamie saw a trace of a smile at the corners of
her lips. He tried again, this time saying something different. He put his phone number into her head.
Sam looked down at her notebook and started writing. She must be writing the number down so she won’t forget, Jamie thought triumphantly and turned to leave the room, when Sam held her notebook up for him to see what she had written.
In big black letters across the page, were the words;
I'M IMPERVIOUS TO VAMPIRES
YOUR POWERS WON'T WORK ON ME
Jamie stared open-mouthed at Sam as she placed her notebook back on the desk.
Quickly, he backed out of the classroom and frantically looked around the hallway at the students that were wandering into classrooms. Had she told people? Did they all know? Surely if she found out there was a Vampire in town she would have told someone. Jamie left the school in a hurry, convinced that there had to be at least one other person in the town who knew his secret.
And wondered if they believed her, knowing that if one person believed it, it was only a matter of time before rumours began to spread, especially in a town so small.
Someone would come for him. It was only a matter of time.
He had to find out who she’d told, and the only way to do that was to confront her. His influencing Power didn’t work on her, so what else could he do? Scare the information out of her?
She hadn’t seemed very fearful of him as she’d held her accusation for him to see. If anything, she’d seemed amused.
Jamie wandered out of the school in a daze, thinking that he would have to leave town. It was the only way to keep his secret.
CHAPTER 31
There was a knock on the door just a few minutes after Jamie ran out of the school. Sam looked up as it opened and in walked a boy with short, dark hair.
“Elliot?” Ms Mason asked, looking up from her desk. The boy nodded. Ms Mason smiled at him, then she turned to face the class. “Everyone, this is Elliot, he’s new so be kind.” She turned back to Elliot. “You can take one of the empty seats.”