Witchblood (24 page)

         Yet another! Luke is across the road from me, waving to me. I start running toward him, but hands grab me from behind. Iron hard, cold hands hold me back and Luke is shouting at me, and I at him.

         Suddenly I awoke and felt an icy dread steal across my soul. Something foreboding, but I didn’t know what. I looked to the window and saw the dawn creeping round the curtains. I gave in, tied my hair back and got up.
Today is going to be a new beginning. I’m determined
, I told myself. A few silly dreams were not going to spoil my carefully laid plans, and so I went downstairs and waited for Daniel to unconsciously initiate things.

         Eventually, sometime around ten, he said ‘Jess, I need to see Sebastian today at the club. We have a lunchtime meeting. Eva’s not keen on the idea of you being left here, so I’m afraid you’ll have to come with me.’

         ‘OK, that’s fine, but he’s not going to want me hanging around is he, or maybe he will?’ I said, with a contrived wink.

         ‘What are you getting at Jess?’ Daniel said.

         ‘Oh, probably nothing, but you know how I’m
so
not comfortable around him. I’m bound to wind him up with something I say, but I think he
really
liked the taste of my blood, didn’t he?’ I said innocently, knowing exactly where to throw my punches. ‘And I know you don’t want me getting into trouble with him, especially as I still haven’t controlled this telekinesis thing yet. So what I thought was maybe I could come into town with you, and when you’re with Sebastian I could do some shopping. I really,
really
need some new jeans.’ I threw in my deal-breaker and smiled a wide, innocent and totally disarming smile. The one I’d perfected on my father throughout my entire teens.

         ‘I’m not sure, Jessie. I know you don’t necessarily act like it most of the time, but you
are
a vampire; and a new one at that. What if you went on an accidental killing spree?’ he said with a smile.

         ‘You know I won’t. You know I’m not capable of it. Eva tested me in that club. I was surrounded by hot sweaty bodies and I didn’t bite a single one. She thought I’d pounce at Luke and Alex yesterday, but I didn’t, did I? I didn’t even try. Come on, you know I can do this. Pleeese?’ I stepped up to him and put my arms around his neck, closing the gap between us and whispered, ‘You wouldn’t want Sebastian to get his hands on me now, would you?’

         Daniel sighed, grinned and I knew I’d won. He kissed me quickly and pushed me away gently.

         ‘There’s one condition,’ he said, leaning nonchalantly against the table.

         ‘Go on.’

         ‘You have to feed again before we go out. At least that way, I’ll know you won’t be hungry.’

         ‘OK.’

         ‘Feed
properly
,’ he clarified.

         ‘Oh!’

         The scent of his fresh blood assaulted my senses and it took all my control not to crouch down and spring the short distance to him.  Instead, I seemed to fly into his waiting arms and he effortlessly scooped me up and cradled me like an infant. He carried me through to the lounge and sat down on the sofa with me on his lap and I was lost to him, to the amazing aroma that swirled around me and drew me in.

         I was determined to hold myself back, retain some dignity, but it was hard, so very hard. He sighed and moaned and began to caress my body through my clothes. He ran his hand up and down my still pyjama-clad thigh, his other hand massaging the back of my head, whilst holding me so tightly to his neck that I couldn’t pull away even if I wanted to. I actually wanted to rip the shirt from his body and bite my way down his chest, which I remembered vividly to be sensuously smooth and firm.  I ran my hand over the said chest, feeling the delicious hard contours and something in me began to take over and lose the control I was fighting so hard for.

         Daniel gently pushed me back with a long sigh.

         ‘Jessie, Jessie, sweet Jessie.’

         I rolled off him, and letting my long hair swing forward, I surreptitiously licked my lips, tasting the last drops of pure deliciousness that lingered on my tongue.

         ‘Well, that has brought some colour back into your cheeks,’ he said, gently holding the curtain of hair back from my face and smiling at my rising blush.

         ‘You should get dressed before I give in to temptation and utterly ravish you, which I really don’t want to do this minute, seeing as we need to be at Sebastian’s in an hour and a half..... and because I know you’re going to be worth the wait,’ he said, getting up from the sofa, and with a wry smile, pulling his jeans into a more comfortable position.

         ‘OK, I won’t be long.’

         ‘We need to leave in thirty minutes, as I want to check how you’re dealing with the public, en masse so to speak, before I head off to the club. Oh, and we’ll need to get you some money, I suppose.’

We parked in a multi-storey car park in the centre of town, and after a brief stop at a cash machine, he led me straight to the main indoor shopping centre. As we entered through the double doors, the scent hit me and sent my senses whirling like a tornado. It wasn’t painful, and it was definitely easier than being in the sweaty crush at the bar. Instead it was seductive. It was as if I’d entered a Swiss chocolate factory and warm chocolaty aromas swirled all around me, tempting me and making my saliva glands go into overdrive. My mouth filled with saliva and I could feel the sharp points of my new teeth protruding slightly and pressing against my top lip; I would have to be careful not to smile for a while.

         As different people walked past me I got wafts of slightly different scents, some sweeter, some darker, some definitely more appealing than others. I noticed that the appeal of the scent had nothing to do with the sexual appeal of the person, as the sweetest, most delicious aroma I smelt came from a girl about my age, who flicked her hair as she strutted past me, trying to catch Daniel’s eye.

         I looked at Daniel, sure he must have clocked her, sure he must secretly want her, but he just smiled, carefully monitoring my reactions, standing close enough to grab me if necessary.

         ‘Don’t you want her, Daniel? I mean her smell, it’s divine, and she’s pretty too,’ I said, jealousy bubbling in the pit of my stomach, but interested all the same.

         ‘Not really my type. Your tastes change as you age, just like when you’re human, and currently I’m very much into a rare dark, sensuous blood type that is somewhat hard to get hold of.’

         ‘Oh!’ I said, sensing a small disappointment somewhere deep inside.

         ‘I know of only one single source, and as it turns out she is half vampire, half witch,’ he said grinning and pulling me into his arms for a quick kiss.

         I giggled like a love struck teen - well, I suppose I was a love struck teen, but it felt like I’d grown up so suddenly I’d skipped a decade.

         ‘Right. Well, I can see you’re coping fine, so I’m hoping you’re not going to let me down. You really don’t want to end up in one of Sebastian’s cells,’ he said, as I grinned, my smile fading a little as he handed me a wad of notes.

         ‘What? I don’t need all this!’ I said feeling somewhat guilty at his sudden generosity and kindness. He trusted me and I was going to break his trust.

         ‘You’re not going to break my trust, Jessie. You’ll be just fine. I know you will,’
Damn it! Stay out of my head Daniel!

         He grinned and gave my arm a squeeze.

         ‘I’ll meet you back at the car at two, OK?’ he said, as I nodded, unable to speak for fear I’d say something to give away my plan. I desperately didn’t want to break his trust, he’d given it so willingly, but I needed to do this. I needed this time alone, and I knew that even though he was willing to leave me alone shopping, he’d never have considered letting me go where I was now planning, and on my own.

         I’d initially planned to head straight for the bus station, but after our time spent together and our renewed closeness, I simply couldn’t leave without a clue to my whereabouts. It was unthinkable, so as soon as he was out of sight, I retraced my steps back to the car park and scribbled out a quick note.

        
Daniel,

         Sorry, but I had to do this alone, so that we can be together in the future. Today was supposed to be my eighteenth birthday party and I have to say goodbye to that life my way. I’m keeping my promise to you. I’m NOT going to find Luke. I want to be with you. I’ll come back to you.

         Jessie xx
     
 

         I stuck the note to his windscreen and headed straight for the bus station with a sigh. I didn’t have long, as in an hour and a half Daniel would be heading back to his car, and after reading the note he’d come after me. I had two places to go, but they were in the same town, my hometown in the suburbs. I figured he’d check the graveyard first, so that would be my first stop, so I’d be gone before he arrived.

         Luckily there was a bus just pulling out as I arrived, which meant I didn’t have to spend Daniel’s money on a taxi. I hailed it and jumped on, with a grace that even made the driver glance up at me with interest. After handing him a ten pound note and waiting for the change, I went to sit down in the emptiest part of the bus.         

         Forty five minutes later I jumped off again, glad to breathe in the fresh, cold air. A hot bus was
not
a good place for a newborn vampire to sit and wait, mulling things over in her head, trying to avoid the enticing aromas surrounding her. I stopped briefly by the roadside and let the nostalgic memories engulf me. Whichever way I looked, I was met with a familiar sight.

         I’d left the bus a couple of stops earlier than I would have done for home, because it was nearer the church, my first port of call. So I turned to my right and swiftly walked towards the old chapel and the dark woody cemetery behind it.

         Passing through the chapel grounds, I wound my way along a gravel path that cut between the ancient tombs, which broke through the surface of the ground like the cracked and diseased teeth of a prehistoric man. After following the path around the side of the church, I went through a small wooden gate into the new graveyard and looked around me at the people-free landscape. To the side of the cemetery ran a long, thin tarmaced road edged with old oak trees, and following this down I could see the modern estate of new build houses, huddled in a lonely-looking cluster. A cold wind whistled around me, but after my recent meal it didn’t bother me, and I felt peaceful.

         I wasn’t sure where to start looking for my grave, and consequently my father’s resting place, but I decided a good place to start would be the site of my mother’s. I recalled that when she’d died, my father had also bought the adjacent plot, for himself, but I now wondered if he’d given it to me.

         It only took me a minute to find my mother’s grave, as I’d visited it several times in the last year, once to tell her my A-Level results, and again when Luke had finally kissed me. She adored Luke, and I knew she’d be happy for me. However, as I reached it my eyes were instantly drawn past her grave to the next one.

         The headstone was new, shiny, pale marble with gold inlaid writing in swirling loops. The grass that had been planted in front had still not woven itself back into the outer area.  The entire plot was covered with flowers, roses still in their wrapping, huge mixed bunches wrapped in paper, a small bunch of freesias in a little vase balanced precariously against the stone, and my favourite – someone had planted a neat row of white winter pansies, their faces smiling up at the sky.

         I looked up from the mass of flowers and read the words, as tears began to fall silently, streaming down my cheeks unchecked.

Sacred to the memory of

A darling daughter