Running From the Night (20 page)

Chapter Twenty-Four

It was an uncomfortably quiet walk back to Jelani’s apartment. The trio said little as they walked from the coffee shop to Coal Harbour. After finally reaching the building, and an even more uncomfortable ride in the elevator, Jelani was relieved to finally step out. He unlocked the door and opened it for the two ladies, who stopped, then slowly entered. Once he stepped in, he saw why they’d hesitated.

In the living room, Wen stood on one side and Daniel on the other. The two were clearly in the throes of an argument, and upon seeing him, Daniel looked somewhere between happy to see his friend and relieved that some of the woman’s ire would be divided.

“Well, hello, Jelani,” Wen said, a bit too pleasantly. She noticed Alisha and Saaya—suspicious recognition when she remembered the
dampeal
from Whistler—but seemed too angry to care. “We were just having a discussion about why you two have been acting so mysterious lately. My boyfriend, here, seems to think I’m stupid.”

“I never once said that!”

Wen turned a chilling glare at him. “You tell me you’ve just been working odd hours and have been thrown off. That’s what you tell me.” She put a hand on her hip. “You’ve been acting like someone else, you only want to see me at certain times, and you always keep looking around, as if you’re expecting, or hoping, not to see someone.” She threw another suspicious look at Saaya. “What would you think if I was acting this way Daniel?”

Seeing his friend’s helplessness draped a fresh blanket of guilt over Jelani’s shoulders. Alisha was right. All of this was his fault. A woman he cared deeply for was in danger, as well as his best friend. Daniel was in trouble with his girlfriend, who could be at risk just being around them. And all because of him. His gaze dropped to the floor and he sighed.

The movement was not lost on Wen. “You look like you know what’s going on, Jelani,” she said. “Care to share?”

He looked from Daniel to Alisha to Saaya, then to Wen. What should he say? Wen watched him. “Am I the only one who doesn’t know what’s going on here?” She looked at Alisha, and let her gaze linger on Saaya yet a third time. “I’d appreciate someone bringing me up to speed.”

“I …” Jelani hesitated.
Speak up, woman!
He thought, glancing at Saaya again. “The less you know, the better off you are,” he finally said.

“What the hell does that mean?”

“She must know all or nothing.” It was Saaya who’d finally spoken. She leaned against the wall with her hands in the pocket of her pink jacket. Jelani wondered if the woman ever dressed for the weather.

“I repeat the question,” Wen said, looking directly at her. She tilted her head, regarding the
dampeal
. “I have to admit that I didn’t know Daniel and Jelani knew you beyond general acquaintance. I remember you from Whistler, though. I’ve never seen a person so resistant to cold.”

“I’m, different.”

“That’s all great, but what do you know about what’s going on with my boyfriend? How do you even know each other? Why do you know each other?”

Saaya looked questioningly at Daniel. The look said,
It’s your decision.

“She’ll be in danger if she knows, right?”

“Know what, Daniel? What are you mixed up in?” Wen looked on the verge of panic. “Someone needs to tell me what the hell is going on!” She turned to Alisha.

“You look like you know, too. Tell me what this all is about.”

“I know, and I wish I didn’t,” Alisha said. “Trust me, it has nothing to do with your man cheating on you or anything like that. He’s trying to protect you.”

“From what?”

They had reached that critical juncture. The next words said would determine whether Wen went on with her life in ignorance, or shared their plight. Jelani saw the frustration in her eyes as she looked from person to person as they all looked at each other. Daniel looked like his heart was on the verge of breaking, Alisha looked sympathetic, while Saaya looked just this side of apathetic. Jelani just felt guilty. Tremendously guilty.

“If you speak of this to her,” Saaya finally said, breaking the tense silence, “she must remain with you. You all must remain together.”

“What if she doesn’t know?” Daniel asked desperately.

“She could possibly be safe.”

“Possibly? That’s not good enough.”

“You have proven a more difficult target than he anticipated.”

“Target?” Wen demanded. She turned to Daniel. “Is someone trying to kill you?”

“Make your choice now,” Saaya said. “She will know and remain with you through this till the end, or she can forget what has happened here.”

Daniel lowered his eyes, and Jelani knew what he was thinking. If she was left in the dark about this, the Hunter might still find her as an attempt to get to him. Or, maybe he could put her on a plane somewhere. Her next words made the decision even more difficult for his friend.

“Daniel,” Wen said. “We’ve never had any secrets from each other. We’ve been together for too long to start hiding things now. If you’re in trouble, I want to know. I want to help you.”

“I can’t put your life at risk, Wen,” Daniel said. He nodded to Saaya, who casually leaned away from the wall.

Wen looked at her, backing away. “What?” She looked at Daniel in alarm. “Daniel! Why is she here?”

Jelani watched Daniel break when Wen turned pleading eyes on him.

“Wait,” he said, just as Saaya was raising her hand.

The
dampeal
looked at him, her face clearly expressing boredom and nearing irritation. “Decide quickly,” she said.

“Daniel,” Jelani said. “Are you sure?”

“You heard her,” Daniel said, indicating Saaya. “Even if she doesn’t know, there’s a possibility he might still come after her to get to me. Or he might come after her just in case I told her anything.” He looked at Saaya for confirmation. She nodded.

“If you have spent any time together at night, it is unlikely it has been without his eyes on you.” She looked at Wen when she spoke the next words, but it was to Daniel that she spoke. “He knows she exists.”

“Then she needs to be told.”

Alisha sighed and looked at Wen. “Girl,” she said, shaking her head, “I wish I didn’t agree. You do need to know, and you’ll wish you didn’t.”

And they told her everything, Jelani starting with his jog in Stanley Park, followed by the attack on him and Daniel in their apartment. Daniel filled in the portion of his story when they had been separated, and Alisha picked up the story in places from her perspective. Once they’d finished, Wen sat down on the couch, looking at each of them as though she didn’t know whether to laugh or feel insulted.

“I have to admit,” she finally said. “It is interesting that all four of you have managed to keep a straight face while telling me this, and the fact that you all take up the story in different parts is pretty amazing. But seeing how I know you three,” she indicated Daniel, Alisha, and Jelani, “are smart enough to know I would have a pretty hard time believing this,” she then indicated Saaya. “And no offense, but I don’t know you, or your level of sanity very well, I’m at a bit of a disadvantage here. Do you have a bit of proof to give me, something to grasp?”

Saaya, of course, had expected the request. She stood and, quick as the blink of an eye, was standing beside the seated woman. Everyone in the room jumped, and Wen leaped from the couch, backing away. She had taken only a few steps when she bumped into something. She spun around to see that Saaya was now standing behind her. Her mouth fell open and Jelani feared she might scream.

“Ah, ah, that would be a bad idea,” Saaya said, holding a finger up. Wen’s mouth remained agape, but no sound escaped. “The easiest way to share would be through the blood, as it holds all memories.” She chuckled at the look of horror on Wen’s face and looked on the verge of laughter when she saw the same look reflected on the faces of the other three.

“I can see by your apprehension that you have no desire for such an exchange, so I will have to enlighten you in a different way. Look into my eyes, and see the truth through me.” A glimmer of light passed across her eyes, and in that instant, Wen was drawn into them.

Jelani held back his shock. Somehow, he saw what Wen was seeing. She spiraled through the depths of time, experienced life in India over two hundred years past. She saw the British occupation, the separation, the angst and oppression. She felt the confusion only a child could experience in such times. She saw a human woman and a father who was not human.

She felt her first hunger, the primal bloodlust, and the thrill of the hunt. She felt the frightening but rejuvenating fulfillment of tasting blood for the first time. She felt the dark euphoria of her body’s response to the life-giving blood as it coursed through her body, replenishing every cell, every organ.

She also received every memory and experience of the one upon whom she’d fed. She received the rush of emotions, every fear, joy, pain, regret. She felt every single experience rush into her, the flood of a life’s experiences in but a few minute’s time. Wen’s mind screamed. She wanted no more of this. She knew it was the truth, but it was too much to bear! Being a third party witness, Jelani felt the same.

She felt the revulsion of cannibalism; of feeding on a species half her own. She felt the sickness to her stomach of what she had done, and what she would have to do again. She felt the anger and self-hatred, the remorse and fear of what she’d done and what she was. She felt the hopelessness and despair. And then she saw her father, who helped her to understand her nature and his. She felt the strength and steadiness, the love, though not warm, but absolute. She felt protected and sure. She saw her mother, and felt the warmth of her human love, and the compassion radiating from her.

The experience ended, and Wen would have fallen to the ground if Daniel had not been standing next to her. He caught her in his arms and lowered her to the couch. Jelani felt similarly jarred from the experience and had to place a hand on the wall.

“What did you do to her?” Daniel demanded, looking from Wen to Saaya and back.

Saaya favored him with a profoundly bored look. “Must you waste my time with rhetorical questions? What do you believe I did?”

Wen groaned and Daniel sat down next to her. “I …” she stammered. “I can’t believe it.” She took a deep breath and sat up. “I can’t believe it, but I can’t deny it either.”

Alisha shoved Daniel out of the way and sat down next to her friend. “What, girl? What happened?”

Wen looked at her. “I saw everything.”

“Hardly, child,” Saaya said, walking across the room to look out the window. “You saw a glimpse, a flicker.”

Saaya looked as though she couldn’t decide how she felt about sharing even a small bit of herself with a human. Jelani was left with more questions. Saaya had shared with Wen by simply looking her in the eye, yet had told him it was easier through the kiss they’d shared. And how had he been a part of this experience just now?

“I can’t believe it,” Wen said, “but I know it’s true. Vampires?”

Alisha nodded. “I wouldn’t have believed it either if I hadn’t nearly been killed by them earlier tonight.”

That comment brought Wen out of her stupor. “Killed?” She looked at Alisha in alarm. “What happened?”

“It’s my fault,” Jelani said. “It all started that night. If I hadn’t come home, Daniel wouldn’t have been attacked and wouldn’t be involved, and by extension, you as well.” He glanced at Alisha.

“If I hadn’t been out with Alisha, they wouldn’t have even known about her either. If I had just left town like I should have, you all may have been wondering why I left, but at least you wouldn’t be sharing my problems now.” He looked at all of their faces, looked each of them in the eye, and apologized.

“I’ll never be able to forgive myself for this, but I also know it’s in the past and it’s done. I’ll do everything I can to make this right. I promise.”

For a while, the room was silent as each person digested the situation. Again, Saaya broke the silence. “I guess this is a good time for me to let you off the hook,
jaan
.” She never turned from the window as she spoke. “If you had left town, they may well have come to find you wherever you fled. But it is not uncommon for them to use someone close to you to bring you back to them. So there was a good chance things could have ended much worse if you have left. Not only would you likely be dead, but possibly one of your friends as well.”

Jelani wasn’t comforted. The likely outcome should he have chosen differently didn’t change his lack of good judgment.

Daniel stared at Jelani and guessed at his inner turmoil. “Alright, alright, man. You can stop punishing yourself in that thick head of yours. You fell in the mud and dragged us in with you.” He stood and lightly punched Jelani in the shoulder and smirked. “I promise we’ll fight over it later. Let’s just survive this first, and then you can wallow in the misery of your guilt with a black eye to go along with it.”

“Thanks,” Jelani said. “I’m not going to say I still don’t feel horribly responsible for all this, but I appreciate it.” He looked at the two women sitting on the couch, one who would eventually marry his best friend, and the other who meant more to him than he had realized. The thought of losing Wen’s friendship and a possible future with Alisha was more than he wanted to think about. He’d always been more of a solitary person, often preferring to be alone than with company. He’d found friends here that had changed that.

“I’ll make it right,” he said again. He didn’t know whether he should feel heartened or undeserving when the two women glanced at each other and their faces softened.

“Everything happens for a reason,” Wen said. “We just have to figure out why.”

“Well we better figure it out soon. I don’t think they’re going to waste any time trying to get to us again.”

“They?” Daniel asked, likely having forgotten about the details Jelani and Alisha had shared about tonight.

“Yeah,” Jelani said. “When the guy came after me, he brought backup. There’s four of them, now. Well, really three. Alisha and I killed one of them.”