Witchblood (5 page)

         However, I didn’t feel human for long, as the conversation soon turned back to my new life, and my earlier questions were answered.

         ‘Stakes will only kill you if they go straight through your heart. It’s the one organ which can’t self-heal,’ Eva said with a shrug.

         ‘And garlic does nothing to us. In fact French vampires stink of garlic, because the humans they feed from eat so much of it,’ Daniel explained grinning.

         ‘I thought we didn’t feed from humans. You said you tried to avoid killing sprees?’ I said looking at Eva.

         ‘I said we didn’t
kill
people or at least we try not to,’ Eva said with a smirk.

         ‘We’d have been in a lot of trouble, if we’d left you to awaken with no guidance. If we let you, you would feed until you drained every last drop; but
we
do not,’ Daniel said as I frowned, yet another question forming on my lips, but before it could be spoken, he answered it.

         ‘We can drink blood from a bank, like today, but it’s been changed in the purification process and isn’t ideal. So there are other ways. We can get people to donate freely, they get pleasure from it and we don’t kill them. We just take a little,’ he finished.

         ‘So if you go around feeding on us, ehm…. them, then why does nobody believe in vampires? Why have I never seen anyone wandering around with fang marks?’ I asked, feeling more than a little repulsed at the idea of biting humans for my dinner, but also slightly curious.

         ‘I suppose the best way to explain it is by comparing us to mosquitoes. They are an irritation but you rarely notice them biting you. As long as we don’t take too much blood, we can put the human into a trance, feed and disappear and they don’t know any different. Our fang marks heal in a matter of seconds.’

         ‘Fantastic! I’m a parasite. Just what I always dreamed of becoming! Thank you so much!’ My sarcasm got the better of me and I glared at them.

         ‘Excuse me!’ Eva interrupted. ‘I don’t think of myself as a parasite at all, thanks very much! I think of myself as an elevated being. Right at the top of the food chain, that’s all. I’m more beautiful than I ever was, I’m quicker and stronger than I ever was and I don’t age. Perfect!’ she said grinning. ‘Also, it doesn’t have to be as Daniel suggests, as I rarely need to put the human into a trance. There are some humans I know who understand what we are and worship us. They are an easy feed, if you can put up with their simpering adoration.’

         ‘Daniel, I’ve done this babysitting thing before, and you seem to have picked a reasonably intelligent human. If you think you can stop her running off to kill her family and friends for a bit on your own, I’ll pop into town and pick up some supplies, and I need to see Sebastian.’ Daniel nodded at her and she sauntered off, lithe and cat-like, without a backward glance, leaving me staring after her, speechless.

         I looked from her retreating figure back to Daniel. He was watching me quietly, yet I could tell he was also alert, ready to act if I decided to make a run for it. But what was the point? If I wasn’t dreaming and if this was all true, then I had to believe them. I couldn’t risk killing Luke if I got near him, or any other human for that matter. I didn’t want to be a killer. No, I had to work on getting Daniel to teach me how to control this blood-lust they spoke of. I had to control it before I changed beyond recognition.

         ‘Let’s go back in. Are there any other clothes I could wear?’ I asked.

         He seemed to relax a little and followed me back to the house.

         ‘You’ll have to borrow some of Eva’s until she gets back, but they should fit,’ he answered.

         He led me to a different bedroom, which had the feel of an expensive hotel. The walls were a pale shade of cream and the bed was huge, high and covered in luxurious faux fur throws and suede cushions. There was a lovely, soft, deep pile rug on the floor and a couple of expensive-looking abstract prints on the walls. Eva obviously liked tactile fabrics and had good taste. I hoped the same was true of her wardrobe, as I remembered with some trepidation the tight cat suit she had on in the club. However, on opening the doors I found a neat, well-organised space with about eight different pairs of jeans hanging neatly and a shelf of simple t-shirts and soft jumpers.

         ‘I think she keeps her undergarments in there,’ Daniel said smiling.

         ‘Oh! Yeah, right. Thanks.’ I’d completely forgotten that all I had on was satin pyjamas, and felt a blush rising to my cheeks as I strode over to the drawers, where I found some normal-looking cotton bikinis and a matching vest top. Unfortunately for me, the bras were all too large for my rather petite chest.

         ‘Are you going to stand there and watch?’ I asked.

         ‘Yes please. Though I could get hands on and give you some help removing the pyjamas if you like?’ he added with a twinkle in his eye.

         ‘No, I don’t think so. I was being sarcastic.’

         ‘It’s not as if I haven’t seen you naked before, Jessica. We had a lovely time washing and dressing you. We have a connection. Your soul called out to me when you were dying. I came to find you, we’re meant to be together.’ He seemed sincere, but it came across as sleazy.

         ‘No thanks. You saw me when I was drunk and I made the biggest mistake of my life going down that alley, which I’m paying for by losing the love of my life. My soul was calling out to Luke,’ I said, suddenly remembering the vision of Luke coming towards me, hands outstretched as I bled to death. ‘I don’t want to ever think of that night again. Get out!’ I shouted.

         I was really developing a temper. I stalked over to the door, pushed him the last inch through it and slammed it in his shocked face, retreating to sit on the edge of the bed, tears slowly sliding down my cheeks. I wondered at that. I didn’t think I’d be able to cry, or blush for that matter. It seemed too human. Maybe some part of me had stayed human? Maybe that part could stay in control. Maybe I could see Luke after all, and make him forgive me. I held onto that thought and crossed my fingers, hoping and praying that all was not lost.

         Thankfully Daniel gave me the space I needed, and eventually I stopped moping and got dressed in some comfy boyfriend jeans, a pale blue t-shirt that made my eyes shine more than ever, and a soft, baby blue cashmere sweater. I found a brush on the dresser and combed out the minor tangles in my now beautifully shiny hair, tying it back loosely with the hair band which I always kept on my wrist, and which obviously had been overlooked at the undertakers, or morgue, or whatever it was called.

         I looked in the mirror and I appeared normal, well healthier than normal, but still me. I didn’t look like a monster, and if I didn’t think about the events of the past few hours, including me knocking back several mugs of warmed blood, I would never believe that anything had changed.

         After spending a couple of hours cooling off in the bedroom, I decided I’d better go down and face Daniel. After all, I had to live with the guy, until they’d trust me on my own.

         ‘Hi,’ I said entering the lounge. Daniel was sitting with his back to me, watching the news.

         ‘Any news of me, then?’ I quipped.

         ‘No, but this is national, we don’t get the local northwest news here. How are you feeling?’ he added.

         ‘Fine, I... erm... just get really angry bouts, and I feel like I’ve lost everything for just one stupid mistake. As for the club - yes, I was attracted to you, but I walked away. I stayed faithful to Luke. Eva said that as vampires, you could sway people to want you. So who’s to say you didn’t do that to me?’

         ‘I admit, I did try to glamour you, but as you said, you walked away. When I looked up into your eyes, I wanted you there and then. Nothing Eva could have said would have swayed me. It was inevitable, and yet you refused me.’

         In some ways the new information helped me, but in others it worried me. I couldn’t yet read him. Earlier, he’d obviously been flirting with me, but now he was being quiet and contained. He felt a connection with me which I didn’t feel ready to accept, or admit.

         A week and a half passed before I saw Eva again, and I spent those days in an uneasy company with Daniel. I found that when I looked into his eyes, my human feelings would weaken. In those brief moments, I felt attuned to him as if we were two halves of a whole. I realised as time passed that I could judge his mood, and sometimes I finished his sentences, his words springing into my mind before he spoke them. I wasn’t sure what was going on, but he seemed to feel the same, as he instinctively seemed to know when I was mulling over Luke and feeling resentful, and those times he stayed away and gave me space. He watched me with cautious eyes, and occasionally I saw bewilderment in them, as if he didn’t understand why I’d feel that way.

         Consequently, I avoided eye contact, avoided conversation. I spent my time watching television, and became obsessed with following my murder case on the internet news websites.

Eva had only been gone a couple of days, when I’d grown bored of daytime television, especially as they didn’t have reception for any channels other than BBC One to Channel Four. Having said that, it didn’t surprise me, seeing as the house was seemingly in the middle of nowhere and surrounded by mountains! I’d asked hopefully whether they had an internet connection, fully expecting the worst, but to my relief they had.

         Daniel led me to his room which was disappointingly boring. It had been painted in very modern and manly beiges and browns and he had a plain white duvet cover and a cream rug on the floorboards. Over in the corner was a neat desk with a compact PC, a set of speakers and an iPod. Maybe I’d been expecting some black satin sheets or, well, I don’t know really, just not this. Luke’s bedroom at university was always crammed with stuff, and if honest was a little smelly, but at least it was interesting; it showed me who he was. This room told me nothing.

         I sat at the desk with a new mug of dark, silky blood, which was an acquired taste, but like Twiglets or Marmite, it set your taste buds alight and made you want more. I booted up, waiting for Google to load. I initially did a search on the BBC, but soon found more information on the northwest news sites. I looked in horror at the photos of the blood-stained alleyway and then read the reports. I began to feel strangely detached. It didn’t seem real. After all I was sitting here; I wasn’t dead after all. However, as I read the statements from my family and friends, my eyes blurred and I struggled to read about their grief. It was still far too raw.

         I read the report of how my body had been found in the early hours of the morning. It confirmed, as Daniel had already told me, that I’d been stabbed once in my back, piercing a major artery from which I’d bled to death within a matter of minutes. There’d also been multiple internal injuries, caused by a continuous kicking which had fractured my spine and would have left me paralysed if I’d not died; and of course there was the sliced cheek to mark their work.

         Anger coursed through my body like an electric jolt, as I read about the gang and how they’d left other girls for dead. Some of these had survived, but were scarred for life and too scared to prosecute. I wanted to kill them, to rip out their throats and fling them aside like rubbish. Whoa! The feelings shocked me to the bone and I wondered if they were due to being a vampire, or just being a victim.

         Due to the cheek wound, my missing handbag, and the fact that they found my shoes several feet away, the police had correctly assumed that I’d stupidly tried to run. Even though they knew all this, they were currently at a loss, unable to proceed, as there was no evidence and no CCTV cameras on that alleyway. They had interviewed all the girls and come up with nothing helpful, as they all had fabricated alibis. They’d ended my life, and they were getting away with it. I hated them.

         I clicked on photos of me happy and smiling, contrasting with the photos of my family and friends. Alex was caught up in a cloud of guilt because she left the club without me, and Luke, the grieving boyfriend who’d been met at Manchester airport with the worst possible news. Further on, I noticed they’d managed to track down my father and the paps had got a picture of him leaving the funeral home, his face drawn, his eyes sad. The poor man had lost his wife only a year ago, and now his only child; and all because some silly power-hungry girls had decided I didn’t respect them enough.