Out for Blood

by J. L. O'Rourke

  “Bite me.”

  “No, I can’t.”

  “Why? I want you to. In the movies, I wasn’t saying don’t bite me, I was saying not there, not in the movie theatre. Not in public. But I wanted you to. So do it now, bite me.”

  Severn held me at arm’s length, his eyes sparkling hunter bright, his extended fangs white against the darkness. “I can’t.”

  “Why not? What have I done?”

  “I can’t because I need to feed. Badly. And I’m scared that if I bite you, I won’t stop. I’ll drink too much.”

  “Oh.” Who would have thought that having a vampire refuse to bite you would be so crushingly disappointing. Rejection plus. I understood. I was even grateful that he cared enough not to want to risk it, but damn it, I wanted him to bite me. It felt so damned good. Severn seemed to understand.

  “I’m going to get you home, then I’m going to go, hunt, feed. Leave your window open. I’ll be back when I’m not dangerous.”

  Deflated and getting cold, I let him walk me to my door. I could feel the change in his energy as he moved – he was in full hunting mode, twitching at every sound – which is why he saw the shadow before I did. I spotted it as we turned into our driveway. I looked sideways at Severn to catch his attention but he was already watching, listening, tracking whatever it was. I tried to talk, to tell him I had seen it before, but he raised a finger to his lips, motioning me to be quiet. We stood, silently searching the darkness, for what seemed like an eternity but eventually Severn relaxed, kissed me on my forehead and pushed me towards the door.

  “Later,” he promised. I caught a flash of white fang in his smile as he spun on his heel and sprinted away, leaving me no option except to go inside where I knew Mum and Grant would be waiting.

  They were, but the conversation was brief. I merely waved, smiled and called a cheery “good night,” as I kept walking towards my room.

  Severn licking my neck woke me up. I began to roll from my side, where I had been curled up, onto my back to take him into my arms, but he placed his hand on my shoulder to stop me, holding me on my side so my neck was exposed. Severn’s tongue searched across my skin, finding the right spot, then he bit, hard, sharp, without warning. I yelped, then made myself relax and accept the pulsing sting. I wanted to reach the ecstasy of my first bite but this was different. It felt warm, comfortable, addictive. The gentle rhythm of Severn drinking wove a spell I didn’t want to break. Again, it seemed to end too quickly. It felt so good – it would be so easy to let him bleed me to death. Then he was tucking my blanket around my chin and kissing me goodbye, leaving me with more questions than answers.

  Chapter 9

  In the morning I was too tired to move. All I wanted to do was lie in bed. When I finally tried to get up, a dizzy spell hit me and I had to lie down again before I was sick. I tried again and made it to the bathroom where I had to sit on the edge of the bath to stop myself fainting. I sat for a minute, willing myself not to vomit. When I had regained control, I pulled myself to my feet and staggered to the mirror. I looked like death.

  “Bloody hell, Severn, what have you done to me?”

  I glared at the white, colourless face staring back at me from the mirror. Even my normally red lips were pale. I lifted my hair to check my neck. The tiny spots from the first bite had almost disappeared but on the other side of my neck the bite from last night had bruised. I was sure Mum would see it and I didn’t know how I was going to explain it.

  I crept back to my bed and pulled the covers over my head. Maybe if I had another hour’s sleep I would jump out of bed full of enthusiasm and raring to go. Who was I kidding? I wondered if Mum would let me stay in bed all day.

  I was asleep when Mum knocked on my door an hour later. I must have still looked pale as she took one look at me and ordered me to stay in bed for the day. That was fine by me – it wasn’t like I had any plans. The boys had been out hunting so there was no point going to the motel as they would be sleeping and, although I loved spending time with Anita, there were questions I didn’t want to get into with her – well, not until I figured out what answers I could safely give her.

  I wasted most of the day alternately dozing and eating food that Mum brought me at regular intervals but by mid afternoon I was bored. An attempt at sitting up showed my blood levels must have improved as I managed to remain upright without wanting to faint or vomit, so I decided to try walking to the kitchen for coffee. Mum looked up from the dress she was ironing.

  “Feeling better, dear?” she asked.

  “Yeah, a bit, thanks.”

  “What brought that on? You were fine yesterday.”

  “I don’t know,” I lied. “I think the stress of sorting out the sound in the show, and then Tommy’s kidnapping, finally got to me. As soon as we got time off, I think my body just turned itself off. But I’m feeling better now.”

  “Well, take it easy for the rest of the day. Don’t overdo it. Oh, by the way, Julia’s funeral is tomorrow morning. Are you coming?”

  “Definitely.” I wasn’t going to miss any chance to find out what really happened to her on the beach.

  Thoughts of the beach gave me a purpose for the rest of the afternoon – I needed to find out more about the other Brighton bodies that the Reverend had referred to and tried to pass off as nothing. Time to search the internet.

  For the next hour I searched for everything I could find on bodies on beaches with Brighton in their name and I was horrified at the number, of Brightons as well as bodies. I found forty three Brightons around the world and a deeper search found bodies on beaches in Brightons in England, Australia and South Africa as well as the ones here. Three men and five women. The body count was growing.

  If I hoped the Reverend would give me some more details, I was wrong. Instead, when I let myself into the motel that evening, all I received was an angry tirade.

  “Why did you let him bite you?” the Reverend greeted me. “Let me see.” He grabbed my hair and pulled it away from my neck, revealing the spots on one side and the fresh bruises on the other. “Damn it. Riley, you can’t let him do this.”

  “Why not? If I don’t mind, what’s the problem?”

  “Severn!” The Reverend yelled towards Sev’s door. “Get out here!”

  “What’s the matter?” Severn muttered as he came out of his room, rubbing his eyes and yawning. “Oh, hi Riley, sorry, I was asleep.”

  I was stopped from crossing the room to give him a hug by the Reverend who stepped between us. “Sit, you two, and listen up. This is important.” We sat. “Severn, you cannot, cannot, feed off Riley, and Riley, you cannot let him bite you.”

  “Why?” I asked. I was confused but Severn just looked angry at the Rev who stood in front of us, hands on his hips, prepared to lecture.

  “Let me ask you how you feel, Riley? No, let me tell you, because I bet I know. By those marks, you’ve been bitten twice so, let’s see, the first felt euphoric, you wanted more, but I am betting that last night it made you feel sleepy, calm, and today you felt like crap. Am I close?”

  “Yes,” I was forced to agree. “Actually you’re spot on, That’s exactly how I felt. But so what? If I know what to expect, why are you saying Sev can’t bite me?”

  “Yeah,” Severn sulked. “You can’t tell us what to do.”

  “No, I can’t,” the Reverend continued, “but I can tell you what’s happening, what’s going to happen if you continue. Then, when you have heard me out, you can do whatever you want, but at least I will have done my best. Riley, as you know we have to hunt to feed, so we have a few tricks up our sleeve to make that easier. We need our meals to let us feed, not to fight back, and to do that our fangs contain drugs.”

  “What? Venom? Like snakes?” I glared at Severn. “Have you poisoned me? Am I going to die?”

  “No,” the Reverend was quick to assure me. “You won’t die, if you stop now. But here’s the problem, like any drugs, ours are addictive.”

  “Hang on a mi
nute,” Severn interrupted. “Go back to the one day euphoric, next day sleepy bit. Riley, you said that’s what happened to you, so how did you know, David?”

  “Because of how you were, Severn, and because of how it works. Riley, I’m not belittling your relationship with Severn, I know you two really do care for each other, but what happened to you happens to everyone we bite. We want them to be compliant, and the blood to flow, so with the first bite we inject a small amount of a drug that enhances the experience. That’s why I am betting you felt wonderful.”

  “Yes, I did.”

  “But last night Severn, you were hungry, right? After you two had been to the movies, Severn, you came back here and you were in hunting mode. I could tell as soon as you walked in. So I knew you hadn’t fed off Riley again and I applaud you for that. You came out with us and, without inflicting Riley with the details, we hunted and we fed well. Then you went back to Riley, Severn. Am I right?”

  “Yes,” Severn agreed reluctantly. “So what?”

  “That’s the other side of the drug, and it’s affected by how we feel, not how the person we bite feels. Severn, you were well fed, so you would have been starting to feel tired and when we are in that mood, the drug in our fangs changes. When we need sleep, our guard drops and we risk being overpowered. To avoid that, to avoid being the victim of our victim, the drug we inject changes to a sedative which is why I was betting Riley felt lethargic afterwards. And finally, Riley, you look pale, so I am guessing that being bitten twice in two days has taken its toll. You’ve lost too much blood. You are going to need a few days to recover fully.”

  “Okay, I get that,” I said, “but what did you mean about the drugs being addictive?”

  “They’re drugs,” the Rev explained, “and like any drugs, if you keep taking them, you will become an addict, you won’t be able to function without your fix. A few hundred years ago, that worked well for us. Villages full of keen, faithful peasants, getting their religious highs by letting winged angels drink their life force. But it doesn’t work as well now. Riley, if you keep getting bitten, even if you enjoy it, you will constantly be taking in drugs that make you euphoric one day then drugs that make you tired the next. Uppers and downers. And like anyone who takes drugs, you will very quickly become an addict, with all the usual problems a drug addict has. I’m sure you have better plans for your life than ending up in a gutter.”

  “I wouldn’t let it get that far,” Severn argued.

  “How would you stop it? The same way Seth did with Meredith and Olivia? Turn her?”

  “What if I want him to turn me?” I asked, my belligerent tone getting a sneer from the Rev as a response.

  “No, you don’t,” he growled. “Not under these circumstances anyway. Look, Riley, we know you’ve spent the last few months wondering if you were turning, and I can see why you might still be considering it, but if you do, it has to be a sensible, well-thought-out decision. It can’t be because you have become an incurable addict and it’s change or die. That’s not happening on my watch.”

  “Yeah, you’re right,” Severn agreed. “That’s not happening on my watch either. Sorry, David, and sorry, Riley, I wasn’t thinking.”

  Chapter 10

  “That’s blown away what I came here to talk about,” I said. “Okay, Rev, I hear you. I am picking up what you’re putting down. I will be more careful. We,” I put my hand on Severn’s knee to include him, “will be more careful. I felt ghastly this morning and I couldn’t figure out why. Well, I knew it was because of the bites but it didn’t make sense that I felt so good one day and so awful the next, so thanks for the heads-up. Sev, I love you a lot but I’m not stupid enough to become a vampire junkie.”

  “Sorry,” Severn said, a small smile and one half-raised eyebrow begging my forgiveness. “But I genuinely didn’t know this stuff either.” With a sudden angry shove, he propelled himself off the couch to tower over the shorter Reverend, matching the Rev’s hands on hips stance and dropping his voice to a menacing growl. “It’s your fault. I am actually really, really sick of your education policy for new vampire converts. It sucks big time!”

  The Reverend opened and closed his mouth a couple of times to form a reply but Severn continued, his voice getting louder with every word.

  “When I was turned, and for the next one hundred plus years, I had a problem with Seth and those nasty, bitchy girls. You were there and you did nothing. For one hundred and ten years you watched them bully me every way they could. And you did nothing. Nothing! Back then I thought that was because Seth was the boss and you were just as low on the totem pole as me. Then, just a few months ago, I find out that you are actually the boss. Not just of this team but the boss of the whole guild, the Grand Master. You could have stopped Seth decades ago but you didn’t. Just like you didn’t bother to explain to me about the drugs in our fangs – information I should have had, especially as Seth made me the hunter for the team. David, would you care to explain why, with seven hundred years’ experience at being a Grand Master, you suck so badly at teaching us what we need to know.”

  Severn remained glaring down at the Reverend until the Rev hung his head and moved away, walking to the small kitchen before returning to face Severn. He opened his mouth to speak, closed it again and retraced his steps through the kitchen and back to us.

  “You’re right. You’re absolutely right. Unlike Seth, I never had any ambition to be Grand Master. The only reason the Council voted me into the role when Father Albrecht decided to step down was because I own the monastery and the land it’s on – not because I have the qualifications to be a good Grand Master. To be honest, one of the reasons I agreed to keep an eye on Seth and not stay back at Montagne des Anges, being Grand Master, was because I know Albrecht, Arnaud and Maurice can all do a much better job of running the place, and teaching new recruits, than I can. That’s where I failed with you, Severn. When Seth first turned you, I should have intervened. I should have taken you aside, explained what was going on and sent you back to the monastery to learn this stuff. I failed completely and for that, I sincerely apologise. Yes, you need proper training, and so do I – in how to be a Grand Master worthy of the title.”

  He held out his hand and, after a thoughtful hesitation, Severn accepted and shook it.

  “Okay,” I interjected, “Let’s all agree that we’ve all made mistakes but I didn’t come here for an intervention. If you think we’re not being careful, I think someone else has a similar but bigger problem. Where’s Aiden?”

  “Out, why?”

  “Brighton beaches, and things left on them. What has Aiden been up to and why are you covering up for him?”

  “Covering up? For Aiden?” The Reverend sounded genuinely surprised.

  “Yeah,” I replied, “I reckon you are. I’ve been on the computer searching Brighton beach and bodies – there are a few more than you’ve been admitting to. Have you guys been to South Africa?”

  “Yes, four times,” the Rev admitted. “What are you getting at?”

  “Bodies on beaches named Brighton – I found eight of them – in England, Australia, here and in South Africa – all places you guys have been. Coincidence? Convince me!”

  “Show me,” Severn interjected. “I need to see this.”

  “Sure,” I said. “But make it tomorrow. Right now I’m chock full of information that I need time to process. In the meantime, maybe you can convince the great Grand Master to let you in on what he and Aiden have been up to behind your back.”

  Not waiting for an answer, I walked out, slammed the door behind me, rescued my bike that was still locked to the fence from yesterday, and pedalled home, thankful that the wind in my face was keeping me alert as Severn’s drugs in my system were still making me dizzy if I moved my head too quickly.

  At home Mum and Grant were discussing their plans for tomorrow which gave me a good excuse to join in and ask if they had heard anything about what happened to Julia.

  “Apparently she d
rowned,” Mum said. “It was on the news. What they can’t figure out is how she got to the beach where she was found. The police are asking for information from anyone who might have seen her travelling to the beach or walking along it.”

  “They found her car,” Grant added. “It was still at her house, so she didn’t drive to the beach.”

  “She might have driven with someone else,” Mum suggested.

  “Or taken a bus,” I said.

  “That’s why the police are calling for witnesses,” Grant said.

  “So there were no marks on her?” I asked.

  “I suppose not, if she drowned,” Grant said.

  “I doubt they would put that sort of detail in the paper,” Mum pointed out.

  “What sort of marks were you thinking of?” Grant asked. “Have you heard something we haven’t?”

  “No, no. I ... um ... it’s all just so strange, isn’t it? I mean, it’s a wide, flat beach. And it was Julia. She’s the last person I would have expected to even go to the beach, let alone drown there. She hated swimming.”

  “How did you know that?” Mum asked.

  “We talked about it one night at the show. One of the dancers was saying how he had bought a new surfboard and I remember Julia saying she couldn’t swim and there was no way she would ever go in the sea. Apparently she had nearly drowned when she was a kid and was still scared of the water. So it’s a bit weird that they found her at the beach.”

  “But it explains why she drowned,” Grant said. “If she couldn’t swim.”

  “But why was she there at all? And at night?”