Oxford Blood (9 page)

Harriet insisted that she’d explained it all. “I’m going to
take it easy for now, and then try to get on with my essay. You know the
Professor wouldn’t take a little thing like a knife attack as an excuse for not
getting work done!”

Caroline reluctantly agreed to leave, having made Harriet
promise to come to hall that night with her and Ben.

As the afternoon progressed, Harriet began to feel slowly
better. She wasn’t in the mood for writing an essay on the causes of the
English Civil War, but it was good to have something to focus on and she made
surprisingly fast progress. It was one of her favourite periods of history and
she enjoyed working out how random events had come together to cause something
as unexpected as the execution of the king.

Between chapters, she couldn’t resist researching vampire
legends on the internet. It was utterly preposterous of course, but if Tom
hadn’t changed his tune the next time their paths crossed, at least she’d have
some ammunition of her own to banter back with. There was nothing about the
Cavaliers or any tale of vampires being recruited from promising university
students. That was what she’d expected but it was surprisingly comforting to
have it confirmed.

She twisted the necklace around her fingers as she always
did when she was worried. The Piso Balla, Tom had called it, and the reference
had certainly got a reaction from George. She wondered again if they’d both
been in on the joke.
Or whether there’s some truth in it after all
, a
traitorous part of her brain whispered.

Unable to settle back to work, she looked up ‘Piso Balla.’
She quickly established that a Balla was a type of Roman necklace and the Piso
were an ancient Roman family, but couldn’t find any mention of vampires or
particularly noteworthy jewellery in connection with them.

Eventually, it was time for dinner. Having got the story off
her chest she didn’t want to discuss it with anyone else but reluctantly headed
over to Josh’s room. Everyone else was already there and their worried
expressions suggested that Caroline had told them something. They managed to
skirt around the subject, but conversation was strained. All in all, Harriet
was glad when dinner was over.

“Bar at nine?” Caroline suggested to the group as they
headed back to their respective rooms.

“Sorry, I’ve got an essay due in tomorrow,” said Olamide.

“Drinks with the rowers,” Ben replied, with the unhappy look
he gave every time he had to turn down an evening with Caroline.

Josh nodded however and Harriet felt a degree of relief.
Whilst reluctant to tell him anything that had happened, she’d be grateful for
the moral support.

Everyone departed for their rooms, leaving her alone with
Josh. She tried to make light conversation, asking him how his rehearsals for a
concert were going, but he looked at her sternly.

“What is going on with you? Something’s wrong and I don’t
think you should keep us all in the dark.”

“I’m fine,” she said, trying to sound convincing.

“Don’t be ridiculous. I see you every day; I can tell when
you’re in a bad way.” They were walking into their staircase now, and Josh
pointed angrily towards Tom’s door. “Let me guess, it’s got something to do
with him. Whenever you’re upset or distracted, it all comes back to Mr Flyte.
Will you please just get a grip?”

“Alright, it’s sort of to do with Tom. If you really want to
know he saved me from being attacked.” She paused for effect. “And let’s be
honest, I didn’t see you helping.”

Josh looked slightly sick and Harriet worried she’d pushed
him too far.

“Who attacked you?” he finally managed to ask.

“You wouldn’t know them. A socialite type from Christ
Church. I’m sorry Josh but I really don’t want to talk about it.”

Josh looked as though he was about to launch a full-scale
inquisition. Instead, he hugged her. “I’m sorry. About whatever exactly
happened and about pushing you to tell me. I won’t ask anymore, but if you want
to talk, any time of the day or night, you know where I am. In the meantime, I’ll
see you in the bar at nine.”

Without another word, he went into his room. Within a
moment, all Harriet could hear was him hammering out a furious Shostakovich
piece on his piano. She threw herself onto her bed and considered abandoning
any attempts to be social and just having a quiet night.

Just before nine however, Caroline appeared and all but
dragged her to the bar. “What do you want?” she asked. “I’m buying; I think you
need a drink.”

“Thanks. White wine please.” Harriet glanced around her
nervously, to make sure Tom wasn’t there. To her relief there was no sign of
him.

She took her drink and sat down with Caroline. After a few
moments, Josh came in and joined them. He’d calmed down since his earlier
outburst and though he gave Harriet a few concerned glances, he was clearly
trying hard to be cheerful as he sipped his pint of Strongbow.

They sat and talked for an hour or so, and Harriet had
almost managed to convince herself that this was a normal evening in the
college bar and pushed the horrors of the night before to the back of her mind.
Feeling more relaxed, she went to the bar to buy her round, and suddenly, there
was Tom.

“So, have you calmed down enough to thank me for saving
you?” he asked lightly.

“I don’t want to talk to you,” Harriet replied. She knew she
should just walk away but felt rooted to the spot. “I still don’t understand
what happened last night. Maybe you did save me but there was no reason for you
to try to scare me with all that nonsense. So tell me, was it a pathetic joke, were
you on something, or are you actually slightly insane?”

Tom seemed as conflicted as she felt, glancing around him
and refusing to look her in the eye. He ordered a drink before he spoke.

“I meant every word of it, but I got carried away,” he said
finally. “I got too close and I told you too much. Remember what I told you
about wearing the necklace and not inviting people in, but otherwise forget
it.”

Harriet studied his face. His gaze was level and open, with
no sign of malice or trickery. He seemed entirely sober and calm.

“You really believe this don’t you?” she finally managed
shakily. “It sounds completely crazy to me, but maybe if you try to explain it
to me properly I could understand. Maybe I was too harsh last night. I guess
you did save me. I can’t imagine what would have happened if you hadn’t turned
up when you did.”

“Nothing much,” Tom said nonchalantly. “You’d have lost a
little more blood. George would be looking a little healthier tonight. He
wouldn’t have been stupid enough to kill you out there. Don’t go around
thinking I saved your life. I just protected your honour I suppose.”

Harriet was shocked at his attitude. “Tom, please. I don’t
understand. You were all over me on that first day, and then ever since, you’ve
done your best to blank me. Last night you saved me but today you’re all
dismissive again. I’ve long since given up on anything happening between us,
but can’t we be civil? Can’t we be friends?”

“I don’t have human friends,” he snapped. “I have
acquaintances who are useful to me and I have people who are a source of
regular blood. You’re not useful, you’re downright dangerous and whilst I’d
love to, I’d never dare drink from you.

“Don’t make this more difficult than it needs to be. Do your
best to stay away from me and I’ll continue doing my best to stay away from
you. Believe me, if you ever get into trouble again, I’ll be there and I’ll
keep you safe, but otherwise we should do our best to pretend we’ve never met.”

Harriet gripped the bar, trying desperately not to cry. She
tried to speak but couldn’t form words through her rapidly constricting throat.
Besides, she couldn’t think of an answer that would help matters. She still
wasn’t sure whether he was crazy or malicious and didn’t know which would be
worse. Tom picked up his drink and strode over to the group of second years
who’d been calling him. Harriet dragged herself back to her table where
Caroline and Josh were deep in conversation.

“Well?” said Josh sternly.

“Basically he told me never to speak to him again,” Harriet
replied, her voice devoid of all emotion.

Caroline looked aghast.

“Right, that is it,” Josh said, scowling. “I’m not having
him treat you like shit. I don’t understand it. He’s perfectly nice to
everybody else. I’m going to go and tell him exactly what I think of him and
all his nonsense.”

“Josh don’t,” Harriet said half-heartedly. In truth she
quite liked the idea of someone screaming at Tom on her behalf. Josh was on his
feet looking furious, his features twisted into something scary.

“For goodness sake sit down,” Caroline said in her best
stern lady of the manor tones.

Josh reluctantly complied. In all the distraction, Harriet
had managed not to look back at Tom’s table and was forcing herself to sit with
her back to it. Caroline however was staring straight at it and despite her
attempts at normal conversation, Harriet could see her expression growing
gradually more strained.

“What is it?” she whispered when she could stand it no
longer. “What’s he doing?”

“Katie by the looks of it,” said Caroline angrily. “I can’t
believe this.”

Turning her head slightly, Harriet saw that this was true.
He was sitting, holding the glamorous fresher, who was wearing a tight green
cashmere dress and looking absurdly pleased with herself. They were snuggling
into each other more by the second.

“He’s doing this on purpose,” Caroline said. “She’s been
pursuing him all term and he’s shown zero interest. He’s just trying to prove
some idiotic point to you.”

“Well it’s certainly working,” Harriet whimpered. As she
spoke, Tom and Katie moved in for a kiss. She could hear the cheers and laughs
coming from Katie’s friends and decided she could take no more. Without further
explanation, she stood up to leave. For a second, Tom broke off the kiss and
glanced in her direction, and then she was out of the door and he was back in
Katie’s embrace.

Trying to act as calmly as possible, Harriet walked into the
main quad. The cool night air calmed her a little, but she still felt
mortified. She just couldn’t understand Tom’s intentions, his wild mood swings.
Just tonight, he’d worked so hard to make her warm to him, make her almost
listen to his bizarre theories, before publicly humiliating her. She wished
she’d managed to slap him before leaving the bar.

She walked round and round the college grounds, hoping that
the beauty of the buildings would help to soothe her, but it was no good. She
soon decided to give up and go to her room. Even though she still felt weak and
tired from the events of the night before she doubted she’d be able to get to
sleep, but thought it best to give it a try.

Walking into her staircase, she found several elaborate
bouquets of flowers. An envelope, fastened with sealing wax stamped with a
crest, had been pinned to her door. She opened it to find a handwritten letter.

Please accept my apologies for last
night. I miscalculated the situation and I didn’t realise who you were. I am
terribly sorry if I caused you pain, I absolutely didn’t mean to. Don’t worry;
I can’t come in your room yet. However I got someone to let me in the staircase
and have left the flowers as a further apology. I’d love to see you again.
You’ll be perfectly safe – even if I wanted to do anything, I wouldn’t risk it
considering what I now know. I’d like you to accompany me to the Cavaliers’
Winter Dinner on Friday night.

Call me.

Yours, George

A mobile number was incongruously scribbled at the bottom.
Harriet read the letter several times, her heart pounding. She knew that the
sensible thing would be to throw it away and do her best to never think of
George again, but she wanted to know why he’d acted in the way he had, and
whether it had all been a joke that had gone too far. It was becoming clear
that she wasn’t going to get any sensible answers from Tom. Turning up at the
Cavaliers’ party would show him she wasn’t going to be frightened by his
ridiculous stories, and going as the guest of someone who was even more
glamorous than he was would make it all the sweeter.

Nonetheless, Tom’s warnings played on her mind. There was no
way she was going to buy his vampire nonsense, but for all their charm and
beauty, there was clearly something not quite right about either him or George.
Harriet decided to sleep on it and went to bed, but her mind was whirling and
the cuts on her neck ached, so she lay awake for hours.

Chapter Six

“I
stopped George from having his way with her a few days ago, but now he’s
invited her to the Cavaliers’ Winter Dinner, and I’m worried that she’s going
to accept. I’m not sure how to stop her. Would you allow me to take her myself
so she can meet everyone but stay safe?”

Gripping the phone handset hard, Tom waited nervously for
Adelaide’s response. The thought of George and Harriet together made him sick.

“I fail to see what the problem is Tom. You were tasked with
keeping away lowlifes and those who sought to take advantage, not with stopping
senior Cavaliers with impeccable pedigrees from taking my daughter as their
date for prestigious events.”

“So you are in favour of this?” Tom was shocked. “But George
has such a reputation. The number of girls. The violence. The endless feuds
with Rupert and anyone else who disagrees with him.”

“Do you think I care about any of that? Are you so rusty on
your history that you need reminding that George was a founder member? That he
fought in the vampire regiment during the Civil War? That he’s extremely
powerful and well respected and for what it’s worth very charming and
attractive? Do you not understand that I want my daughter to be turned by the
best?”