Hidden (Marchwood Vampire Series #1) (36 page)

‘
Well, he is correct. You have the same beautiful pale blue
eyes.’

She was
annoyed to find herself blushing. He really was exquisite.
Broad-shouldered and tall, his black hair swept back in dishevelled
waves from his aristocratic face. Now his skin wasn’t so pale, he
looked almost completely human. 

‘
What are you gonna do? I mean, now you’re awake and
everything. I guess you can stay here for a bit, if you want
to.’

‘
You are sure? You will allow me to stay?’

‘
Yeah, you can stay. For now. What about the others? Are you
going to wake them up too?’

‘
The others,’ Alexandre said suddenly. ‘Please. Will you
excuse me for a few moments? I must go and see the others. I can
feel them, but I have to look upon them with my own two eyes. They
are down in the cellar?’

‘
You were all in there before ... before you woke
up.’

‘
I must see them!’ He stood up, suddenly agitated. ‘And I must
confess I feel somewhat strange at discovering I have slept for so
long. I need some time to …’

‘…
to get your head around it. Yeah, I can relate to
that.’

‘
Your language is strange. It is ‘modern’ I suppose. It is
hard for me to follow. Forgive me, I must go.’

He left.

Madison sat on
the sofa, her tiny frame unmoving. The clock ticked. The room was
dark and still. She pushed her hair away from her face. She was
scared. Terrified to be honest. She must be crazy to be so drawn to
him, but she couldn’t seem to help herself.

He hadn’t felt
threatening when he spoke to her, but now he had gone … well, now
she could see the true enormity of what had happened tonight.

It was all completely insane. And what on earth would she
tell Ben? How would he react?
Oh, by the
way Ben, you know those statues? Well they’re not statues, they’re
vampires, but they’re really friendly once you get to know
them.
He’d need therapy. Come to think of
it, she could probably do with some too. Only they’d both get
shoved in the nut house if they started saying anything remotely
near the truth.

The darkness in the lounge felt all consuming. Her body had
grown numb and cold. She didn’t know how long she had been sitting
there. She got up and switched on the main light and a couple of
lamps. But even that didn’t make things any more normal; if
anything, it felt weirder to see all the usual stuff in its usual
places, when everything was so
un
-usual.

She wondered
when and if Alexandre would return and what would happen when he
did. He was so beautiful and she couldn’t seem to act normally
around him. She had been either completely tongue tied, babbling
inanely or really rude.

She was
restless. She needed to do something, but what? She knew there was
no way she’d be able to concentrate on anything as mundane as
watching television and anyway, she was feeling a bit creeped-out
being downstairs on her own, not knowing whether or not he would
reappear at any moment.

She made the
decision to go upstairs. She wasn’t going to sit around waiting for
him to return. No. She walked up the wooden staircase and went in
to see Ben, who was snoring lightly.

She turned on
his bedside light and sat beside him. Then she lay down next to him
on top of the bedclothes, closing her eyes and letting her mind
focus on normal things, plans she had for the future. Maybe one day
she and Ben would go on holiday, somewhere warm and exotic - a
beach holiday with lots of water sports. Or perhaps she could get a
horse and learn to ride – that was something she’d always dreamed
of doing.

She tried not
to let any of her thoughts veer down dark paths. She really did not
want to think about Alexandre; it was too terrifying and her mind
was in turmoil. She turned onto her side and drew her knees up
towards her stomach, listening to Ben’s slow rhythmical breathing.
She tried to let her mind think nice thoughts: holidays … warm
beaches … a horse … a vampire. She fell asleep.

*

Once in the
cellar, Alexandre opened up the crates and gazed at the sleeping
forms of Isobel and Jacques with their cherubic faces and blonde
curls. The twins’ hair was as fair and blonde as his was dark. He
smiled at the thought of his lively brother and over-dramatic
sister, but the smile left his lips as quickly as it had
formed.

How was he to revive them? Would he ever hold a conversation
with them again? Why had
he
awoken, but not
them
? What had happened to him to
jolt him from his slumber? Would they wake next? Alexandre looked
across at Freddie, who appeared happy even in sleep. He walked to
the next crate and stared down at Leonora, her porcelain face
framed with a dark glossy mane of hair. Yes, she was still
beautiful, but she left him strangely cold now.

Of course he
still cared for her, but she was such hard work, so serious and
judgemental. He needed … Well, he did not really know what he
needed. It was all just too bad. What had happened to them all? Why
had they changed into these strange creatures, so powerful, but so
trapped and alone?

He walked back
to the crates where his siblings lay, side-by-side.

‘
Little sister. My brother. Why do you still sleep? Why won’t
you wake? It is I, Alexandre.’

He picked up
his brother by the shoulders and shook him lightly. ‘Wake up,
Jacques. Wake up!’ He shook him harder and then lay him back down.
It was useless. They were hard and unreachable. What was he to
do?

Alexandre sat
on the floor and wept. He cried blood tears into his arms. He wept
for his dead parents and his sleeping siblings, for his lost
century, his old life, his country, his friends - all those things
he had once complained about.

He had called his old life
boring
. Well, he would take back
that old life now in a heartbeat. He would never complain again. He
would appreciate everything he used to have if only he could
reclaim it. But it was all gone. Lost to history. Alexandre felt
scared. He felt weak and alone in this cold damp cellar with his
unreachable family. He had become a creature not of this world. A
vampire. And there was only one thing that could soothe him
now.

In the
darkness, in his fear and confusion, Alexandre headed outside. The
air helped to stem his rising panic. He needed to get to grips with
what had happened. He was living in the future. His century had
disappeared, his family and friends either long since dead, or in
an unreachable sleep. He moved beyond the grounds of Marchwood,
shocked at the similarities and the changes.

Reaching the
outskirts of the local town, he saw that it had not changed too
much - the same public houses, one of the same name, some
different. Furniture stores, selling antiques but most of the
merchandise looked modern to Alexandre’s nineteenth century
eyes.

He saw the
blurred shapes of frighteningly modern automobiles in metallic
futuristic colours with bright beams of white lights and
unfathomable speed. They contained harsh looking people with
unnatural hair and faces. There were no horses on the streets and
the people all dressed in shockingly indecent attire. Shiny black
roads were covered in painted lines and bright lights shone
everywhere. Even the air smelled different. Not so earthy, more
industrial.

No time to
ponder all this; he had to drink. He found a drunken old sot in a
dim alleyway, who most would’ve found repulsive. But the stale
odours and the tattered clothes were not repugnant to Alexandre.
The fragrant blood called out above all else. Alexandre saw only
the helplessness and harmlessness in this lost soul, and the
sweetness ... He would take from him what he so desperately
craved.

He drank
greedily, the anger and grief still coursing through his body. As
he took his fill, his emotions steadied and he felt himself calming
and steadying. His equilibrium returned. Alexandre realised he had
taken too much from this poor human and he laid the tramp down on
the alleyway floor.

He now felt
regret at the way he had taken his fill. He had fed selfishly
without thinking about the man, only about easing his own pain and
ridding himself of his misery. The man still lived, but had drifted
into unconsciousness, hopefully dreaming beautiful thoughts of
better days.

Zinging energy
surged through Alexandre’s body and he remembered what it was to be
a vampire. He had not fully realised how weak he had been. He would
be able to speak to Madison properly now, give her his full
concentration without the distraction of her … human-ness.

He left the
alleyway and looked around properly. This was a disturbing era he
had woken up to. He could not believe his own world had passed into
history, never to be lived through again. He would have to learn
all that he could about this … twenty first century. Twenty first
century!

His clothing
would have to change, but from what he had briefly seen before, the
fashions today left much to be desired. Everybody looked
bedraggled, dull and half-dressed. Isobel would have a fit. He
thought about how outraged she would be at having to go out in this
bizarre modern clothing and then he remembered she would not be
going out anywhere.

He made his
way back to Marchwood House and it only took him a few moments. To
those who saw him, he appeared to be just a fleeting shadow on the
wall or a half-glimpsed figure in the distance. A long-forgotten
memory of someone or something.

*

The following
morning dawned clear and cold. Madison had fallen asleep in her
clothes, on top of Ben’s covers. She was freezing and rubbed her
arms quickly to try to get the circulation going, but she still
felt numb. She really would have to sort out the heating in this
house. She realised Ben was no longer in bed and she shouted out
his name, but her voice sounded hoarse and all she could manage was
a quiet croak.

‘
Ben!’ She ran out of the room in a panic and clattered down
the staircase in her boots that she still wore from yesterday.
‘Ben! Where are you? You okay?’

The events of
yesterday evening flooded into her brain. Had she really tried and
failed to kill a vampire? Where was he now? Was he still in the
house? And where was her brother? ‘Ben!’ she shouted really loudly
this time as she approached the kitchen. He had been unconscious
for days and now he was missing. ‘God,’ she muttered to herself.
‘Let him be alright. Please. He’s just a boy.’ She shouted again,
‘Ben!’

‘
God help us, child,’ Esther said to Madison as she walked
into the kitchen. ‘Do you have to shout so loudly?’

Ben was there,
sitting in the kitchen opposite Esther.

‘
Ben! You’re okay!’ Madison ignored Esther.

‘
Yeah, sis.’ He smiled up at her worried face. ‘I’m great.
Feel fine.’

‘
I didn’t know where you were.’

‘
What?’ he said. ‘Do I have you let you know every time I go
into a different room now?’ He raised his eyebrows and looked at
Esther who had stood up and began busying herself with the kettle,
refusing to be drawn into their conversation.

‘
You know what I mean, Ben,’ Maddy retorted. ‘You were
unconscious for days and then you weren’t there
anymore.’

‘
I was sleeping and then I got up to have breakfast,’ he
replied. ‘And anyway, why were you sleeping in my room last
night?’

‘
Just wanted to make sure you were okay. Have you seen anyone
else since you’ve been up?’

‘
Like who?’

‘
I dunno. Anyone.’

‘
No, I haven’t seen anyone except Esther. Why? Should I
have?’

‘
No.’ Maddy thought quickly. ‘The doctor. I meant have you
seen the doctor?’

‘
He’s on his way,’ Esther said. ‘Be here any minute. But this
lad looks right as rain now. Doctor Wilson asked me to ring him as
soon as he woke up.’

‘
Great,’ Madison said. ‘Well, little bro, I’m really glad
you’re feeling better.’

‘
I can’t believe I missed Christmas. I mean, why did I have to
get ill
then
? Our
first Christmas in our own place.’

‘
I know. It’s a bummer but don’t worry. We’ll have a belated
one with all the trimmings and presents and everything.’

‘
Wicked,’ Ben said through a mouthful of scrambled egg on
toast.

‘
Don’t go in the dining room,’ Maddy warned. ‘Your present’s
in there and I want us to ... Hey!’ she shouted as he jumped up
from the table and dodged past her.

She chased
after him, but it was too late. Ben pushed open the dining room
door and there it stood in all its shiny glory, gleaming in the
corner with a big red bow around it.

‘
Oh wow! A trail bike!’ he gasped.

Maddy forgot
her annoyance and just enjoyed the look of happiness and excitement
on his face as he skidded across the room still draped in its
redundant Christmas decorations.

‘
Merry Christmas, shortie.’

*

Alexandre felt
the previous evening had proved most unsatisfactory in terms of
finding out exactly what had happened to wake him from his long
sleep. He had meant to quiz Madison further, but he hadn’t been
able to think properly. The date, the lost years – these
revelations had blurred his mind.