Chapter Thirteen
‘What were you thinking Jess?’ Daniel said when we were back at the house. ‘You promised me. You promised me you wouldn’t look for him.’
‘Everything would have been fine if he hadn’t turned up. I mean I hardly left a trail of death and destruction, did I? I was even fine on the bus….what?’
‘You went on a bus?’
‘Yes and everyone survived, all I wanted was to say goodbye to my past. He wasn’t supposed to be there. I didn’t go looking for him, but don’t you think there are more important questions we should ask? Like what on earth is he, if he’s not human? How did you know he wasn’t human? Did you know he wasn’t human when we saw him at the funeral? Why didn’t you tell me?’
‘OK, one at a time Jess, and you would have known he wasn’t human if you’d stopped for a minute.’
‘What do you mean?’ I asked.
‘His scent, they don’t smell the same. Please don’t tell me you didn’t notice?’
‘Of course I noticed. He smelled of my Issey Miyake perfume...’
‘You’re what?’
‘Flowers. He smelled of flowers, but you said I should expect him to smell different because I loved him. You said he’d smell irresistible.’ I said shrugging.
‘Yes, but I didn’t mean completely different, Jess.’
‘Look, I’m sorry, but I’ve known him for four years and I always thought he was human. He sure looks human. So what is he? You still haven’t told me.’
‘He’s an angel,’ Daniel said quietly.
He looked so sincere and genuine that the laughter threatening to explode from me suddenly evaporated.
‘An angel? Right…’
‘Yes. We cross paths occasionally.’
‘What? You’ve crossed paths with Luke?’ I interrupted.
‘No, not Luke. Although Eva and I knew an angel had been with you the night you died. We could smell him, but he’d gone by the time we got to you. We didn’t understand why,’ he said with a shrug.
‘So he was with me? I thought so.’
‘It seems likely. He could have helped you Jess.’
‘What? He could have saved me and he didn’t? Why wouldn’t he? You probably chased him off,’ I said looking up at him accusingly.
‘We didn’t even see him. He left you for us. We don’t know why. I’m sorry Jessie. I’m sorry you have to hear this, but he was right. He failed you. You belong with me now.’
‘But he said he was with me because of my witch blood. To guide me, and now I’m a witch,’ I said, confused.
‘He obviously thinks your potential power died with your human body. He thinks you’re one of us. You are one of us, but it was obviously your human death that triggered the onset of your witch blood.’
It was too much. All I wanted was some normality.
‘Can we go home? I can’t cope with this now,’ I said. ‘I feel sick.’
‘You feel sick?’ he asked, his eyebrows shooting so high on his head they disappeared into his hair.
‘Yes Daniel. I. FEEL. SICK. OK? It’s perfectly clear that I’m not normal, so just accept it already!’
He merely nodded in reply and quietly led the way to the car where we sat in silence until we neared the house.
‘I’m going to have to tell Sebastian and Eva,’ Daniel said once we were back.
‘Daniel, please. They don’t need to know. No harm done.’
‘I should have seen it coming - Eva did. She warned me. I was so impressed at your restraint when you saw Luke at the funeral. I thought it meant you’d chosen me,’ he said, with a heart-breaking half-smile.
‘Daniel, I can’t choose you. I don’t have a choice, do I? Eva has told me how the blood bond means I’m automatically drawn to you. I should be following your orders and be completely besotted by you, shouldn’t I? That’s how it works.’
‘Yes, but you don’t do as I wish Jessie do you? You are free, and you were still drawn to me in the club that very first night. I felt your gaze.’
‘I do like you, really like you; I just don’t want to feel like I’m giving in to something. I want to choose you. And I am sorry I didn’t tell you about today’s plans.’
‘You can tell me anything, Jessie. I mean that. You don’t ever have to be scared of me, of what I will say. I’ll always be on your side.’
‘I ...’
‘No, let me finish. You should have told me that you wanted to go to the cemetery on your own, and to visit the cricket club.’
‘You would never have let me.’
‘You’re right. I wouldn’t have let you go alone, but I would have driven you there, and let you go in on your own, once I’d checked it was empty. I could have stayed on the roadside and you would have had your privacy. I would have checked the cricket club and found Luke there. This needn’t have happened,’ he said, taking my hand in his. ‘I want you to be happy Jessie, and I know this is harder for you than any other vampire.’
I looked up into his angelic face and realised he looked paler than normal.
‘Daniel, you’re nearly as pale as I was last week.’
‘It’s fine, don’t worry. I’ll feed as soon as Eva gets back. You’re more important.’
He was so unlike anything I expected. He was a vampire, and yet so unlike any human boy I’d ever known. He was totally confident in himself; there were no walls, he played no games. He was gentle and tender, yet sexy and masculine at the same time. He looked no more than twenty-two but had the experience of a century or more, glistening like dark pools in his eyes. He was totally and unequivocally alluring and when my barriers were down I had to admit to myself I was falling for him fast.
‘Daniel, there was one more thing I wanted to do - part of my plan,’ I said, realising that I had to trust him; and I that wanted to trust him.
‘Go on,’ he said, smiling and raising an eyebrow.
‘You’re not going to like it.’
‘I guess not, but I did say you could trust me, didn’t I? I meant it. Tell me, what’s next on your plan?’
‘I want… no, I need revenge. Those girls, they shouldn’t get away with what they did, what they keep on doing. They should be stopped.’
‘So you think that you’re the person for the job? You want to stop them? Avenge your murder?’ he said, sceptically.
‘Yes and no. I mean, I want you to help me. I don’t necessarily want to kill them. Well actually, I would. I’d like to hurt them, a lot. But, I don’t think I could actually do it and live with myself.’
He nodded, and gestured for me to continue. He was listening.
‘I thought maybe we could just scare them. I mean we are vampires. We could give them a taste of their own medicine. Nobody would ever believe them, even if they told anyone.’
‘And you think this would stop them hurting others?’
‘Well, I thought we could maybe threaten them a bit,’ I admitted, smiling.
‘You know, if you sort this gang out another will take its place. You can’t go around ridding the country of all its girl gangs.’
‘I don’t see why not. It could be my new job,’ I said grinning.
‘Hmm, I think Sebastian has other ideas for you. I don’t think he’d want to waste you on the mayhem that girl gangs are currently causing. They aren’t worth the time or the effort.’
‘Fine, but I need to do something about this one. I want you to help me. That way you can check I don’t go too far and kill them - or whatever.’
Daniel sighed, looking serious as he searched for the right answer.
‘Sebastian won’t be pleased. He doesn’t like us using our strength on humans, even bad ones. He won’t like you scaring them. We’d be in trouble,’ he finished, but I could tell he was thinking about it. He hadn’t quite decided.
‘Daniel, I need to do this. It’s bugging me and I don’t think it will ever go away. You and Eva were both in terrible situations directly before you were turned. Eva was fleei
ng for her life in the French Revolution, and you were likely to die of mustard gas poisoning or worse. But I was happy. I had my whole life ahead of me and they stole it. They took away my future without a care and I want to make them pay.’
‘I thought you were happy with me now, in this new life?’ He asked.
‘Yes, I think I can be, but to come to terms with everything that’s happened, I need two things. To say goodbye to the people I loved and to somehow make those girls pay. It would have been okay if the police had caught them and they were being punished, but they’re free, and they are still hurting people.’
Daniel sighed and looked into my passionate face and I dealt my trump card.
‘They were in the paper again this week. I saw it whilst I was on the bus. The report said a man in his seventies had been walking back from the post office after collecting his pension, when he was jumped on by a gang of four girls. They kicked him in the stomach until he gave them his money, and left him bleeding on the pavement. People witnessed it but didn’t do anything to stop them. Again, they all had alibis vouching for their whereabouts. Daniel, they need to be stopped!’
‘Okay, I’ll agree to help you, mainly because I don’t see any alternative. I don’t want to risk you disappearing again the first time you get an opportunity, and frankly it’s about time you had some trust and didn’t have to be chaperoned everywhere.’
‘Yey!’ I celebrated, a huge grin spanning my face.
‘If Sebastian questions me I’ll say it was imperative for your development.’
‘You know, if we want to track them down, tonight will be the best time to do it. It’s Saturday. It was a Saturday when they attacked me. It was also a Saturday night when they attacked the two other girls I read about. All those attacks happened near Exodus, and there are loads of convenient back streets in that area.’
‘So you haven’t been planning it much then?’ Daniel said with a wry half-smile. ‘We could always go next weekend?’
‘My mum always said ‘Strike whilst the iron’s hot’, and although she wouldn’t normally condone violence, I think she’d allow me this. I think she’d want it for me,’ I said, suddenly sure I was doing the right thing. I didn’t want to waste any time, or more to the point give Daniel the chance to back out. I needed him. After all, I’d never in my life been in a fight. The one and only time I’d been in a fight or flight situation I had chosen flight, and look where that had got me! Though I’m pretty sure I would have been in the same situation had I turned around and tried to fight them. Yes, I would definitely have been dead. Or rather undead! You can’t fight against knives. At least human girls can’t fight against knives. Vampires? Now that was a whole different ball game, and I was determined to play them at their own game. And win.
On arriving back at the house I still felt nauseous, so I headed straight upstairs under the pretence of getting changed and when I heard the TV go on in the lounge I tiptoed into the bathroom and stared gloomily at the toilet. I knew what was coming as wave after wave of nausea rushed over me, my stomach clenching as it evacuated its dark red contents into the bowl. A minute later it was all over and looking in the mirror I noticed my old pallor was back, but I felt much better. Instinctively I knew this was not something I should mention to Daniel, along with the toast craving that was creeping back in, so I crept back into my room and chose my evening outfit.
I was dressed for clubbing. I had my skinny leather jeans on again, this time teamed with killer ankle boots and a skinny black polo neck. I know I was all in black, typical vampire attire, and I didn’t normally like to dress to the stereotype, but on this occasion I wanted to look formidable. Hell, I wanted to look like their biggest ever challenge; a challenge I knew they wouldn’t be able to resist. I would look beautiful, which they’d be jealous of. I’d look wealthy, which would fill their pockets; and tough, which they’d want to challenge. Daniel would be hidden; I would appear to be alone. They would walk straight into my trap.
‘Right! Well I can see you mean business,’ Daniel said, as I tried to emulate Eva and glided not quite as gracefully, but certainly as fast, down the stairs.
‘Yep, let’s go. I’m really hyped! It’s so amazing to have you on side,’ I said, still feeling a little overwhelmed by his support, as I knew it would be likely to get him into trouble with both Eva and Sebastian.
I took his hand and let him pull me into his embrace. Going with the feeling, I reached up and kissed him. Luke had walked away from me, twice it seemed, so now I had to start a new life. I had to stop thinking about him. I would try.
For a moment he looked a little surprised, and I realised it was probably the first time I’d proactively kissed him. The surprise only lingered a second, before his emotions took over and he backed me against the wall and crushed his lips against mine. His lips were hard and unyielding, yet somehow warm and tender. They crushed mine, but never hurt. He held my head in a way which sent shivers through my body. I could be kissed like this all night long!
‘Come on then, we should go,’ he said, reluctantly pulling back and disentangling his hand from my hair.
We’d left the car at Exodus, and after briefly checking in with Sebastian and spending a somewhat dull hour sitting pretty in the club, we were now walking the back streets, hunting our prey. Daniel’s arm was wrapped around me casually, and we looked like any young couple out on a Saturday night.
Initially, we walked past the long line forming at the front of the club, and I scanned the faces, not sure whether I wanted to recognise any or not. I yearned to see Alex again. The sight of her at the funeral hadn’t interested the vampire in me, but it had stirred the human girl. I remembered how I’d wanted to run to her and hug her, but then I remembered my dream and shivered. I was pretty sure that if I could control the blood lust, Alex would be more than willing to overlook my somewhat scary transformation and reinstate our friendship.
‘Are you okay, Jessie?’ Daniel said suddenly, interrupting my thoughts.
Oh, damn! Had he been listening? The ‘Alex plan’ was not anything I could expect Daniel to help me with, or agree to. I knew it would be forbidden. I looked at his quizzical face and smiled quickly.
‘Yep, I’m fine. Just wondering how we’ll track them down and what I’ll do when we succeed.’
‘Are you sure?’
‘Yes,’ I said, somewhat irritably, not comfortable with the lie. ‘Surely you know if you’re always listening in?’ I grumbled.
‘I don’t always listen in, Jess. You know I can’t, and if I could I wouldn’t. I’m not a telepath. If you project your thoughts to me then I can hear, if you’re in trouble I can hear, and hopefully find you, and the same applies to you. You have to make an effort to communicate telepathically and it’s always easier in the beginning when my blood is the only blood within you.’
‘I know, but it feels like I’ve lost so much and I can’t bear the thought of losing my privacy as well. I’m sorry. I know you wouldn’t listen in purposefully, but it feels like you always know what I’m thinking,’ I said. Now I was having this conversation I might as well see it through.
‘Yes, in the beginning I could hear you much more clearly. Like I said, my blood was strong within your body; it was making you what you’ve now become. Also you were new, and you projected everything my way, whether you wanted to or not,’ he said with a smile.
‘And I don’t do that anymore?’ I asked.
‘No, over the last couple of weeks I’ve heard you less and less. Now, I only hear you when you’re emotionally distressed, for example I heard you call me loud and clear in the club when you saw Gemma, and I felt your pain when Eva was making you try to move that mug.’
‘OK,’ I said nodding with relief.
‘But always remember Jessie, if you need me and I’m nearby, you should be able to call me.’ He pulled me closer and placed a kiss on the top of my head. I gratefully turned in to face him and tilted my face upwards for more, quite happy in that
moment to forget the hunt and go back home.
I looked up, somewhat shocked to see his face change so swiftly. The Daniel I knew and was coming to love – yes, I could now admit that easily - had disappeared and in his place was a lethal predator. His face turned hard, cold, and his eyes glittered. I wondered briefly what I’d done to provoke this reaction. It was truly frightening, until he spoke. He whispered in my ear, his cold breath sending shivers down my spine.
‘They’re here, Jessie. I can smell them. They went this way only a few seconds ago. Down that street I think.’
‘You can smell them?’ I asked. I breathed in deeply, but all I could smell was the dank, slightly rotten smell that seemed to permeate the back streets of the city. I shook my head slightly and replied.
‘I can’t smell any humans around here. It just smells rotten.’
‘That’s them. Breathe in deeper and you’ll smell the blood. It’s not like the attractive aroma you’re used to. They smell rotten. Evil usually does.’
I breathed in and there it was. I could definitely detect a lingering smell of human blood, but it was definitely unpleasant. There would be no chance of me wanting to bite these girls.
‘Eeuw! That’s not nice. Are you sure that’s them?’
‘Yes. I remember it from the night you died. I could smell them all around you and in the alley.’
‘Okay, well, this complicates matters. I was hoping to scare them with my formidable fangs,’ I said grinning, ‘but I can’t see how that smell is going to help.’
‘Don’t worry, anger as well as blood lust will arouse the vampire in you.’
‘Right. Well I guess this is it then?’ I said, suddenly unsure of what I was going to do. I wasn’t a violent person and my human soul didn’t feel comfortable with the idea of hunting these girls, even though the vampire was more than ready for some action.
‘They know we’re here. I saw one look out from behind that industrial bin. They’re waiting to see where we go, but they won’t attack you with me here. They only attack girls on their own… or the elderly.’
That did it, as I remembered the news report from the paper, and the poor old man left bleeding in the street, because everyone was too scared to interfere. Well, I wasn’t scared. They weren’t going to get away with it.
‘You stay here and hide yourself until I need you,’ I whispered.
‘I don’t like you going in there alone, Jessie. It doesn’t feel right.’
‘I’m a vampire, right. They can’t hurt me. I just have to make sure they don’t get my heart or chop off my head, right?’ I said grinning a little hysterically. I had to do this now, before I lost my nerve.
‘Bye, see you tomorrow. I’ll be fine, the main road’s only a two minute walk away. Bye,’ I shouted, hoping the girls were listening as I pushed away from him and shouted my false goodbye.
I had the benefit of knowing where they were, and I also noted the slightly rotten smell getting a little stronger as I closed the gap. I started humming, more to steady my nerves than anything else. I kept my eyes trained on the street ahead, knowing I couldn’t look left as I walked past their hiding place. They’d attack from behind, as always.
‘Hey, you! Hi, have ya got any spare change?’ called a girl, whose voice stirred something deep inside, a terrible memory. I took a deep breath, and made myself stumble a little, showing a little vulnerability. They’d like that. I took another step, pretending to ignore them.
‘Hey bitch! Where you going? Don’t you want to help me? Hey girls, the bitch is too stuck up to talk to us.’
I took another step, waiting for the attack. With my new improved hearing I zoned out all the road traffic noise and concentrated on the sound of their soft-soled trainers sneaking up on me. I’d never bothered to use my new talents to their max before, and I was somewhat taken aback by the minute details I could pick out when I concentrated. I could distinguish between three different footsteps. Did this mean one girl wasn’t present or had I heard wrong? I listened again, and took another step away. They picked up pace and started to fan out behind me. No, there were definitely only three sets of footsteps. Okay, this would be easier for me, but one girl would miss out on the lesson.
They were within touching distance now. I felt the anger and resentment coil like a spring inside me, and suddenly I felt my predatory instincts kick in. Instinct overrode both nerves and caution. Adrenaline flooded my veins and I felt my fangs suddenly start to push through the tight skin in my tender gums. The tiny hairs stood up on the back of my neck, alerting me to the gang’s uncomfortable closeness.
I paused and let them surround me. The first girl I saw took my breath away as the memory of her mean, scarred face flashed through my head. Then it all happened so fast. The girl behind me grabbed my ponytail and pulled my head back, whilst the girl on the left punched out, hard and fast into my stomach, and the girl on my left simultaneously punched my face. I heard her fist slam into my cheekbone, with a resounding crack and pain sliced through my face. As my face was burning a fresh pain burst to life in my stomach. I thought vampires didn’t feel pain? Damn!
All this happened in a split second, and as the girl behind me reached for my bag I zoned in. Playtime was over! I brought my right foot up and angling it backwards and straight out I kicked as hard as I could. In retrospect, it was possibly a little harder than necessary because the girl let out a shriek, letting go of my hair as she flew backwards by about ten feet. She landed with a shocked thud in the middle of a muddy puddle, and I winced as her head slammed into the side of the dustbin, knocking her out cold.
It took the two girls at my side a couple of seconds to catch on to what had happened, giving me time to prepare for my next move. I thought they’d take the opportunity to turn and run, but clearly they were not giving in yet. They both drew evil-looking knives from their back pockets and advanced a step towards me, smiling cruelly.
‘You’re going to regret that, bitch.’
I took another step backwards and spoke.
‘It was you that hurt the man at the post office, wasn’t it?’
‘So what if it was?’ The grimy-looking blonde replied, a smug smile spreading across her face.
‘Do you recognise me?’ I asked, taking another step out of their reach.
‘Should we?’ The dark haired girl said with a careless shrug.
‘What if I told you my name was Jessica James?’
‘Nah, doesn’t ring a bell with me, does it you Ash?’ the blonde replied.
‘Nah, why? Are you important or summat? Do you think that’ll stop us hurting you?’ Ash asked, sniggering evilly.
‘Right bitch, I’m bored of chatting. It’s payback time!’ the blonde interrupted.
‘You’re damn right about that,’ I said, and as they both swung their knives forward I was somehow able to see it all in slow motion, gauging exactly where each knife was going to strike. Both my hands darted out, faster than a rattle snake going in for the kill, and with strength I didn’t know I possessed, I caught both of their hands. I hauled their arms up twisting them simultaneously, so both girls dropping their knives ended up facing away from me, their arms twisted up behind them.
They struggled helplessly in my iron grasp and I realised with a jolt that I had to do something fast, before the animal took over and I ripped them apart. With a degree of relief I hurled the girl in my right hand forward so she flew at quite a pace to land with a bump next to her friend, who was stirring with a groan. The blonde in my left hand soon joined her, and I took a deep breath of the night air quickly before I darted towards their now cowering bodies.
‘What the ...?’ one asked.
‘How di..did..?’ said the other.
‘Oh, you care who I am, now you think you might not win?’ I snarled. ‘You saw me only a few weeks back. You!’ I said directing my glare at the dark haired girl, ‘you stabbed me in the back, stole my bag and my ring, and left me for dead.’
‘No, no, you c
an’t be. She’s dead. You don’t look anything like her. She... she was blonde, and we didn’t get no ring.’
‘Haven’t you heard of hair dye?’ I shot back as they shuffled further back against the filthy bin, and I took a step towards them. ‘I was found seconds before I died, and I was changed. I was saved,’ I said. I was suddenly overwhelmed with a rush of emotion and power as I tried to ignore the vision of Luke I’d thought was a hallucination. He had left me to become what I was, and I could feel the vampire’s cells in every vein of my body making me hard and strong. I instinctively knew I could dart and jump with the dexterity of a cat. For the first time since my death, I revelled in my new body and stretched my limbs. It was time to finish this.
I darted with a sudden rush of adrenaline the fifteen feet to the other side of the alley. Just before I reached it, I leaped gracefully at the brick wall, and knowing their eyes were glued to me, did a smooth back-flip and darted back to their corner, where they were desperately scrambling up to their feet. My little display had taken less than a second, and I still had them backed into the corner.
‘This is what I am now,’ I said smiling broadly. I instinctively knew the angle of the light of the bright full moon and tilted my head back slightly so they got an eyeful of my new and very sharp teeth. ‘And I’m fed up of you ruining people’s lives.’
‘No, no! You... you can’t be. That can’t... no, no, no!’ the blonde stammered. The two other girls had frozen, their eyes locked on my teeth.
Huh! Somehow their fear didn’t fill me with pleasure. It wasn’t who I was. I just wanted to make them stop, but I had to be careful if I didn’t want to become a monster myself. It would be all too easy.
‘Get your skinny little asses out of my sight. I’ll be watching you, and if I ever hear of you hurting people again, I’ll hunt you down and you’ll have more than a few bruises, I promise you!’ I finished trying to sound scary and serious, whilst struggling to conceal the urge to giggle.
Not one of them moved a muscle, and it took me a minute to realise they were still too petrified to move any closer to me. I took a step back and watched as the two blondes shot past me and ran off down the street, calling for their friend.
The dark haired girl, the skinny girl from my nightmare remained, staring at me. A frightening smirk crossed her face and I wondered briefly if the bang to the head had caused any lasting damage. Why didn’t she follow her friends? Instead she took a step towards me.
‘If you’re really that dizzy blonde I cut up, I don’t reckon you’ve got it in you to follow through with those threats. You were a wuss then, and you’re a wuss now. No matter what you’ve become. I’m not scared of you. If you’d wanted to kill us, you would have already.’ Her eyes were wild, and her face was hard and emotionless. Her pupils dilated with drugs.
For a second my instincts failed me, I was so thrown by her reaction, and in that second she drew her knife and jabbed it into my side.
Shit! The red hot pain sliced through my torso and I took a second to feel my side and look with shock at the blood pouring out onto my hand. I doubled over and drew in a deep breath. I hoped I healed as fast as Daniel had, that first day I’d attacked him, and with that thought and the smell of fresh blood wafting up and around me, something snapped.
Before she could stab me again I pounced the short distance, and fangs bared, I grabbed her like a rag doll and threw her down the street. I leapt after her landing gracefully at her side, as she attempted to scramble to her feet, her cheek bleeding as she cradled one wrist against her chest; but I was on to her before she had a chance to stand. I grabbed her again by her coat and scrunching it in my fist I held her high, her feet scrabbling to gain purchase on the floor. My instinct fought between biting the girl and releasing her. Her evil stench was so bad that I knew I’d regret it if I tasted her foul blood; but the scent of my own fresh blood confused me and I drew her towards me.
Jessie, no! A voice in my head whispered to me. Don’t let yourself down. Let the girl go. I looked at the girl’s ashen face and realised I’d done enough. She trembled slightly and I noticed a tear in the corner of her eye. I instantly dropped her, and at the same time I whirled round to fight, realising someone was coming up behind me – fast.