The Lost Souls Dating Agency (9 page)

‘Of course.' I should have known.

‘It was the only way I could reach her,' he said earnestly. ‘I didn't want to hurt her or leave her with doubts about my true feelings.'

‘Victor,' I said seriously, ‘you truly are a unique specimen.'

‘Of a vampire?' He laughed.

I shook my head. Victor continued, ‘I spoke at great length with Fiona on Saturday. She said that her finding out about my nature would change some things, but not others.' Victor paused and he looked contented. ‘She said it would not change the important things.'

‘Well that's wonderful!' I was delighted.

‘Yes it is.' Victor almost beamed. Then, as quickly, his expression changed to concern. ‘Shaleenee, I've also come to ask for your assistance,' he finally said.

‘Assistance?'

‘You can refuse to do it,' he added flatly.

‘Why would I refuse?' I asked warily.

‘Because it is a big ask of you.'

‘What is it?' I was intrigued.

He cleared his throat, though vampires probably never needed to. ‘I was hoping you would speak to the Vampire League of Albion with us,' he stated loudly.

‘The what?'
The vampire league
?

‘The Vampire League of Albion, the coven of vampires in England who control my kind.'

I looked at him dumbfounded. Of course! I remembered Albion from The Mythical Weekly.

He continued, ‘The League acts as our legal system. We cannot, of course, rely on human laws to control us. The League has their own particular way of meting out justice.'

My brain raced. ‘I'm not sure what to say, Victor,' I stuttered.

‘You can say no,' he said looking at me solemnly. His eyes were a deep shade of violet today. ‘But it would help me very much if another human was there. Plus explaining to them about your dating agency would help my case, for them to know that I was not coercive with Fiona.'

‘Will you get into trouble?' I asked.

‘I'm not sure. I don't know what the protocol is for such matches. I've never heard of my kind paired with human females. Well not for longer than a few hours' he stated dryly.

‘Will I get into trouble for pairing you?' I felt my eyes widen.

Victor looked severe. ‘I will not let that happen. I'll explain how I came to seek your services.'

‘Well that's true,' I said fairly.

‘So you agree to do this?'

‘Do I have to go to England?'

‘No.'

This made me feel better, though the prospect of being in a room full of vampires, even if they were law makers, made me very uneasy.

‘Okay,' I agreed a little apprehensively. ‘When do we do it?'

‘I have a conference room booked for tonight,' Victor said casually.

Shit, that soon? I nearly choked.

I felt a sickening knot tighten in the pit of my stomach. If this were a movie, gothic pipe organs would play a sombre tone right now, a fitting accompaniment to the strange events unfolding before me.

I sat in a conference room on the third floor of an ordinary looking Collins Street office tower. It was surrounded by a maze of other conference rooms used by the various vampire Leagues of the world to contact their “subjects”. The League rented the entire floor. I wondered what the human workers in that building would have to say about their office neighbours. It was like any other office space, plush carpets and Aboriginal art on the walls, with one exception, an absence of toilets. I knew because I had asked the pale looking receptionist, who looked at me distastefully as she answered a definite negative. Ho boy, this was going to be a long night.

I was escorted into a conference room by two guards who were built like Vikings. Their long blonde plaited hair cascaded over strong muscled shoulders. Hell, they probably were Vikings in a previous life. Anything was believable tonight. On entering the room I found Fiona and Victor waiting for me. Fiona rose and hugged me immediately. Her hair was gracefully wound around her head in a loose bun and she was wearing a white lace dress. On her neck was the silver ring Victor had given her, attached to a silver chain. That was the only jewellery she wore. Her blush pink skin gleamed, even in the unflattering conference room lights. Victor, on the other hand, looked grim and distant.

I sat down on a swivel chair near Fiona and gave her a half-smile. I surveyed the surrounds. Victor was standing near a laptop connected to a data projector, casting a blue screen on the wall at the far side of the room.

‘I never thought in my wildest dreams it would be this complicated —'

Fiona cut me off. ‘What? That dating a vampire would be uncomplicated?' Her laugh tinkled across to Victor.

‘I'm in the room you know.' He looked around at us both.

‘All men are complicated.' Fiona gave Victor a teasing look. ‘Some have just had a few hundred years to perfect their complications.'

Victor looked away, but I saw the smile on his face.

In light of what was to come, I pitied them both.

An hour later, we were deep in conversation with the Vampire League of Albion. The six League members were projected on the wall from the laptop. The head of the League looked suspiciously like Gary Numan. It was hard to be sure. Are friends electric? I hummed in my head. It helped with my nerves.

The League asked for details of Victor's association with Fiona. I was asked to explain my role in the formation of their connection. I tried not to talk too much about my agency. The less they knew the better. I was eager to escape the wrath of the council.

‘What magic did you use to bring them together?' the only female member of the League asked me sternly.

‘What?' I was shocked. ‘My job is to bring people together who I think are suitable. There's no magic in that.'

The female vampire looked dubious.

They dropped their questioning of me and focused on Victor. The League were completely disinterested in Fiona. They asked her no questions. Everything was directed at Victor.

‘When did you decide to seek a human female?' I heard Victor's hesitant reply and was reminded of my own questioning of his motives.

‘What is the nature of your attachment?' the female member of the League asked.

This time he replied with no hesitation. ‘It is very deep. I love her.'

‘Don't be absurd, Wareham.' A male vampire looked at him scathingly. ‘Vampires do not love.' Victor, outraged, turned his head away. He glanced at Fiona. I knew in that instant that vampires were more than capable of love.

After what seemed like an exhausting amount of time the head of the League finally announced they had reached a decision. First they looked at me and the male vampire spoke, ‘Shaleenee Gooptah, you are hereby forbidden to facilitate human and vampire relations, on pain of death.' I looked at him with great astonishment. ‘Our decision is not to penalise you for your role in this travesty.
But
if we hear of any more, next time we will not be so lenient.' He emphasised each word carefully. I hadn't realised I was being judged as well. I just nodded my head timidly. What else could I do but nod to a bunch of vampire elders? I ached to leave that room.

He turned to Victor next. ‘Victor of Wareham, our decision for you is that you cannot have a human mate. You must terminate this association immediately,' he said impassively.

Victor jumped to his feet furiously. ‘I do not accept your decision,' he bellowed.

‘Nonetheless, it is the decision that this council has made,' the head of the League replied calmly.

Victor's face turned dark and his mouth curled into an ugly snarl. He glanced at Fiona and grimaced. She stood up from her chair slowly.

‘Excuse me, your majesty,' Fiona said forcefully, although I knew majesty was said with decided sarcasm.

Gary Numan looked at her. ‘There is no need to call me that,' he said cold-faced.

Fiona bowed slightly. ‘I would like to say a few words if I may.'

‘You may address us directly if you wish.' He considered her with a raised eyebrow.

‘If your concern is for my safety,' Fiona started, and checked herself when the council members looked at each other, ‘and even if it is not, I can assure you that I choose to be with Victor of my own free will.'

‘Human will has little bearing on this. Unending associations with mortals are not allowed.' The League seemed non-negotiable on this.

‘Why?' Fiona asked, her face turning a pinkish red.

‘It upsets the very fabric of our being,' the head of the League said frostily. ‘Humans are our prey, they are not our equals. Vampires only mate with their equals.'

‘What would I have to do to become an equal?' Fiona asked.

I felt a cold silence descend over the room.

‘Are you willing to say goodbye to your mortal existence?' the head of the council stared at Fiona.

‘No,' Victor said loudly and sharply.

‘I can speak for myself,' Fiona snapped at him. She looked back at the screen. ‘What if I am willing?'

‘That would change things.' The head of the League's expression changed from vacant to interested.

‘How?' Fiona asked.

‘It would mean you are no longer human.'

‘Would that also mean I can be with Victor?' she asked with intense directness.

The League members said nothing. Victor took Fiona's hand. ‘Please don't do this,' he said imploringly.

‘If it's the only way,' Fiona said strongly and let go of his hand, ‘I will do it.'

She looked back at the screen and said confidently, ‘How much time do I have to make up my mind?'

The six members of the League conferred. It was a strange discussion. Their lips hardly moved. They seemed to communicate telepathically. In about a minute, their silent discussion was over.

‘You have one lunar month,' the head of the League stated.

‘And if I change my mind in that time and decide I do not want to go ahead with it?'

‘Then we will arrange for your memory to be erased. You will have no recollection of these events and you will never know that Victor of Wareham existed.' As he said this, Fiona looked at Victor. But he was glaring intently at the League. She turned to look at the screen.

The head of the League continued, ‘Do not take your decision lightly. It is a long and arduous journey to become one of our kind. Victor will not be allowed to be your maker otherwise the blood tie between you will be too strong.'

‘Too strong for you to control,' Victor spat the words out angrily.

‘New vampires require control, Wareham, you know that only too well,' the council head said sternly. ‘You will not be able to control her if you are so closely tied, as it seems you already are.'

‘I accept your terms,' Fiona said quietly. ‘I will let you know of my decision soon.'

‘Very well…' the head of the League started to say, but before he completed his sentence, a few things happened in quick succession. Victor leant over and told me to duck under the table. Hearing the urgency in his voice, I did as I was told.

Victor zoomed to the laptop and hit a button. The screen went blue as the connection to the League was lost.

He grabbed Fiona, covered her head with his jacket, and told her to hold on. She squirmed and yelled, ‘What the hell are you doing?,' but Victor did not loosen his grip.

I saw his feet move in a blur across the room from my vantage point under the table. They were moving at super-human speed. Fiona's feet were tangled around his body. She clung to Victor.

There was a loud crash, Fiona screamed and shards of glass flew towards me. I scrambled out from under the conference table and gasped. The large glass window in the room, with a majestic view over the city skyline, was completely shattered. Bits of glass scrunched under my shoes as I ran to the broken window. I gazed out into the dark night and saw the faint outlines of two large human shapes flying through the air away from me.

In what seemed like months later, I sat down heavily on my bed at home. I looked at the clock on my bedside. It was five a.m. I tumbled onto the covers and looked at the ceiling while I thought about the last few hours.

A second after Victor broke the glass window and disappeared into the night sky with Fiona, the Viking security guards had burst into the room with their fangs at full extension. They dragged me kicking out of the room. The guards handed me over to the receptionist waiting outside. I tried to free my wrist from her grip but stopped when the woman hissed at me through her sharp fangs.

The guards scanned the room quickly and reconnected the laptop. The League were waiting at the other end. All six members looked agitated and angry. The guards spoke to them at great length. I did not understand the language they spoke but I understood the intonation. It sounded like instructions.

When they finally finished, the guards came outside and questioned me. But I knew as little as they did. Victor had never mentioned he would be flying, literally, out of the room with Fiona.

They led me back to the room.

‘Shaleenee Gooptah, do you know anything about Victor of Wareham's plan tonight?' The female vampire looked intently at me. An uneasy warmth spread over me and I felt my mind go numb.

‘I know nothing about it.' My mouth moved involuntarily. What was I doing?

‘Are you sure?' The woman stared at me.

My brain was jello. I felt disconnected with my body. I did not even feel my lips move as I said, ‘Yes, I'm sure.'

With that answer, the warmth was gone and the female vampire was no longer interested. The head of the League motioned to the guards who led me outside the room. I felt shaken but I was free to go. I ran out of the building as fast as my feet could take me.

***

Two days later, while I was at the warehouse, my mobile rang. It showed an unknown number. I picked it up warily.