Witchblood (13 page)

         ‘It’s not that simple Eva,’ I said, feeling the tension rise in my body once again and trying my best to quell it.

         I stormed out of the pub and through the doors into the dank back street. I stood and took a deep breath of icy air and blew it out, dispelling the tension and trying my best to smile and not grimace. I followed Eva back to the car, the department store forgotten in my haste to return to the house.

Chapter Six

By the time we arrived back at the house, I’d forgiven Eva for her lecture. After all, she’d been very generous and had bought me a pile of gorgeous designer clothes, besides being equally generous with her friendship, which I badly needed. So we both sailed into the house with smiles and a bounce in our step.

         I knew Daniel had been nervously waiting for us as soon as I walked into the lounge, because he looked far too relaxed. The giveaway was that his sports channel had switched to a golf tournament, and Daniel hated golf.

         ‘Had a good time then?’ he asked, his eyes flicking over the pair of us, searching for any problem, his brain waves flicking out, searching my emotions.

         ‘Yes, great. She was fine Daniel; really pretty impressive for a first trip out. We only needed one small trip to The Blackout and that was right at the end,’ Eva answered, smiling as usual.

         ‘One trip? Why, what happened? I knew I should have come.’ He shot worried glances at me, then back to Eva.

         ‘Daniel, its fine, I’m fine. I just got a bit stressed over money, that’s all,’ I answered grinning at Eva.

         ‘Money? You mean to say it wasn’t the blood that tempted you, you were just worried about the money?’ he asked, raising one eyebrow.

         ‘Well, actually the blood was quite tempting at points, but I find I’m able to ignore it until I get stressed. Then it gets harder,’ I tried to explain, but Eva cut in.

         ‘Yes, you picked a strange one here, Daniel. I told her Seb would explain about the money tonight. Talking of which Jessica, let’s get you upstairs and changed for the ball. Daniel can get back to watching his golf,’ she said, as she hauled me out of the room and shot a wicked glance at Daniel.

         ‘Oh very funny, I wasn’t watching it. A football game has only just finished actually,’ he responded, a little too quickly.

         ‘Whatever you say Daniel. Come on Jessica,’ Eva said, as she led me out of the room and upstairs.

         We scanned the purchases we’d laid out ceremoniously on the bed, before Eva put a stop to my dithering and decided for me.

         ‘It has to be the leather jeans tonight, Jessie. Can I call you Jessie? she asked. ‘It suits you better.’ Then she paused, as she saw the mixture of feelings cloud my features.

         ‘Actually, only my dad ever called me Jessie. It was his pet name for me. He was obsessed with Westerns and Jesse James, and as my surname is James I guess that’s why they called me Jessica. My friends all called me Jess,’ I answered, trying not to let the memories of my dad bring tears to my eyes.

         ‘OK, Jess it is then. I shorten everybody’s names, I can’t help it. I even shortened my own. Who’d want to be called Genevieve in the twenty-first century?’ she added.

         ‘I think it’s lovely, really pretty. Are you French then?’ I asked.

         ‘Yes, I had a charmed childhood growing up in Paris. That is until everything went wrong, when I was expected to suddenly become a woman and get engaged on my fourteenth birthday.’

         ‘No way! You’re kidding? Fourteen?’ I exclaimed.

         ‘Unfortunately for me, yes, fourteen. I was expected to marry one of various suitors, who were all at least twenty years older than me.’ She stopped for breath and then went on. ‘Luckily for me, the French Revolution disposed of the need to marry well, and my family made a run for it. Anyway, it’s a long story and we haven’t the time now.’

         ‘Wow! That sounds so romantic and exciting, I…’ I trailed off, seeing her eyes darken.

         ‘It wasn’t. It was hell. People were murdered in the streets. My grandfather was killed at the guillotine, where it took three attempts before he died, to the heckles of the mindless crowd. Our house was burned to the ground and we ran for our lives, leaving most of our possessions behind.’

         ‘I’m sorry Eva. I didn’t think,’ I answered quietly.

         ‘It’s fine. Now, for tonight, as long as you behave and there are no police about, Sebastian may let you into the club, probably hoping to get you to feed, but no pressure this time, don’t worry,’ she added quickly,  noticing my smile fade.

         ‘So you think the leather? Are you sure? I’ve never worn leather trousers before. I don’t want to look tacky or…’ I trailed off, not wanting to offend her since the purchase had mainly been her decision.

         ‘Jess, you’ll look great, believe me. It would only look cheap if we put you in stilettos, but you can wear these great ankle boots, very now... and this top,’ she said, throwing a dark punk-style top at me with bright pink slashes of colour.

         ‘OK. I’m just going to have a soak in the bath first and wash my hair,’ I said as she raised her eyes.

         ‘You don’t need a bath. You have no body odour and your scalp gives off none of the smelly oils it did when you were human. Look, it’s still beautifully shiny,’ she said.

         ‘I know, but my evening bath was always one of my favourite rituals, and I don’t see why I should have to give it up, just because I don’t actually need to clean myself.’ I pouted before adding, ‘Anyway, I can smell the city fumes in my hair and on my skin, and I’d prefer to smell of your Jo Malone shower gel.’

         ‘Fine, at least it’s getting used. I’ve had that bottle for six months. Give me a shout when you’re done. We’re leaving at eight as usual,’ she added, before leaving me in peace to undress and run a lovely deep bath.

At ten to eight I glided down the stairs, my grace disguising the butterflies in my stomach. I hardly recognised myself, and realised with a pang that if Alex and Luke were in the club, which I doubted, they wouldn’t recognise me either. My new svelte body was clad in designer leather, which as Eva said looked nothing but fantastic; my new dark hair swung down past my shoulders in glossy sheets. My pale face shone out, and my lips were so dark anyway they needed no lipstick, just a little shine. I entered the living room and waited for their appraisal.

         Daniel said nothing, but his eyes roamed up and down my body, and he let out a low sigh.

         ‘Here comes the vamp! You look great Jess. Didn’t I choose well, admit it, you love it?’ Eva exclaimed.

         I smiled back. ‘Yeah, it’s great, thanks Eva,’ I admitted with a small smile. I still didn’t feel like me, but maybe this could be the new me. I held my head up confidently and followed Eva down into the cellar and into Daniel’s car.

         An hour later, thanks to the traffic trying to get into town, we were all standing in Sebastian’s office once again.

         ‘Well well, Jessica, look how you shape up. I think I should have waited a week to taste your blood. This week I could have enjoyed myself so much more.’ His eyes glinted shamelessly as they wandered up and down my long, leather-clad legs, before finally stopping at my eyes, where he grinned a lazy smile, showing a little fang in the process.

         He made me shiver. He was like the big bad wolf, and I knew he would without any doubt, eat me all up if he could get the chance. But before I could say anything in return, Daniel jumped to my rescue.

         ‘Yes, I’m sure Sebastian, but I doubt she would taste as good today. She’s been feeding well all week, and as you can see from her eyes, she’s made the final changes now.’ He spoke politely, but so cool it made me shiver, and I wondered if Sebastian noted the hint of challenge in his voice.

         ‘Yes, yes,’ Sebastian said. ‘Your new clothes suit you Jessica, as does the hair. Daniel, you have to stop with the dark brooding hero act. I was only teasing Jessica, and I have no intention of getting any closer than this. We have business to discuss. After Jessica’s murder, business has been a little slow. In fact Eva, you and Daniel can go and do some promo in the bars now, whilst I talk to Jessica.’

         Daniel smiled at me sympathetically, before he and Eva obeyed and left the room. I glanced around to see if there were any other vamps around, but we were alone.

         ‘It’s fine, Jessica. Honestly, I won’t bite!’ He grinned at me as I involuntarily smiled at his choice of phrase.

         ‘Come, sit down. I have much to explain to you,’ he said, as he walked over to the comfy armchairs, and motioned me to sit opposite. ‘Have you fed tonight, Jessica? Would you like a drink?’ he asked charmingly.

         ‘Umm, no. I mean yes, I would like a drink, thank you,’ I stuttered, suddenly feeling shy again.

         He pulled out his mobile from his pocket, pressed a single button and curtly ordered a couple of drinks. It sounded so normal, and it continued that way as he asked mundane questions about how I was settling in at Daniel’s house, and whether I’d been out yet. I was just telling him about the shopping trip, excluding the detour to the pub, when the same bartender from the previous week knocked on the door and entered with our drinks. Once the bartender had left the room again, conversation became more business-like.

         ‘Jessica, I know Eva has told you about your father, and without further digression I have decided to allow you to visit him.’

         I was just about to smile like a lunatic when he added, ‘but I don’t want you to think it’s a family reunion. It’s business. He holds the key to your past and we need information,’ he added, without a smile this time.

         I nodded solemnly, trying my best to hold back the glee, which was waiting to burst out. No matter what the reason was, I was going to see my father. I hadn’t quite realised how deep the pain at being severed from my family and friends had been, until I was told I could see one of them again.

         ‘When should I go? Has he woken yet? How will I get there? Will Daniel come with me?’ A multitude of questions burst from me, and he waited until I’d calmed down before answering.

         ‘My sources say he is starting to show positive signs of recovery, so we expect to be able to visit in a couple of days. We have a night porter who’ll let you into the hospital out of visiting hours. Eva and Daniel will accompany you to take care of the ward staff, whilst you see your father.’

         ‘What do you mean, ‘take care’ of the ward staff?’ I shuddered at the connotations, but couldn’t believe that Eva or Daniel would harm anyone without reason.

         ‘Ahh, I see you still have that human soul, Jessica. You care far too much for your human past. But to put that little soul at rest, Eva and Daniel will merely be putting any human hospital staff in your path into a kind of hypnotic trance, which will allow them to carry on with their work without noticing you and your companions. When you’ve finished, they will carry on, like busy little bees not knowing any different.’

         I should have known better than to ask the questions. I was beginning to realise that I got treated less like a freak if I kept my morality issues to myself, and from what I’d seen so far, the vamps were far less of a threat to humans than the humans were to each other.

         ‘Now Jessica, Eva tells me you have another question for me, regarding your finances?’ he asked me, the edges of his lips twitching and curling up slightly.

         ‘Um yes, I suppose I was just wondering how I get money. I mean, Eva has bought me all these clothes,’ I said gesturing up and down my body, ‘and both she and Daniel have expensive cars. I obviously can’t access my bank account, so how do I get money of my own?’ I asked.

         ‘It’s simple, and our money is quite legal. When you live for several hundred years, you tend to acquire property and businesses and money just builds up. For example I’ve been trading on the stock markets since their conception. I’m quite a pro.’ He stopped to smile at me.