Out for Blood

by J. L. O'Rourke

  “Oh, come on, you two.” Mum laughed at us. “What is this all about? It’s only January, it’s not April Fools Day. Why are you pranking me? Okay, I admit I have been giving you a hard time, making a few bad vampire jokes, but come on, it’s just because you guys are so vampire-like. But no matter what I’ve implied about you, I am not going to believe that drone flying thing was Aiden. That’s ridiculous. Anyway, vampires don’t fly – they would have to turn back into bats to do that, wouldn’t they?”

  “No, we don’t,” Severn said. “We have wings. Mrs Watson, you might have been making jokes but both Riley and I know that’s because, somehow, you’ve suspected the truth for quite a while. Those jokes were your way of letting us know that you know, weren’t they?”

  “Call me Susan and yes, yes they were. Well, I knew, or I thought I knew, but I didn’t really know because I’ve only heard Grandma’s stories about when she met a vampire and she could have been making it up to scare me, even though he didn’t sound very scary.”

  “Great-Grandma met a vampire?” I asked before Severn could frame the same question. “When? Where?”

  “At her house, in Dunedin, not long before I was born, I think.”

  “Great-Grandma, the witchy one?” I asked. I looked at Severn who was trying to work out Mum’s age and doing the maths in his head. If it was forty years, give or take a year, since the body on Dunedin’s Brighton beach and that wasn’t long before Mum was born, how old was she now and could the vampire have been one of them?

  “This is getting crazy.” Severn put his hands to his lowered forehead and shook his head before he looked at Mum again. “How, why, did your grandmother have a vampire in her house and why did he tell her he was one?”

  “The same reason you’re in my house now,” Mum replied. “Grandma met him backstage in a theatre. Riley, you know that’s who I got my singing voice from. Grandma was always in the local shows. But like you also said, Grandma was a witchy woman. She told me she knew they were vampires before he told her. She said they smelled like vampires. That’s how I picked you guys. Grandma said vampires had a distinctive, soft, musky scent like leather, which we noticed about you lot. All the wardrobe ladies were taking bets on what aftershave you used. They loved it.”

  “It’s probably the wings,” Severn said.

  “Seriously?” Mum almost snorted. “You’re really going with the wing story? You haven’t even proved you’re vampires yet. Where are your fangs?”

  “You asked for it.” Severn stood, turned his back on us, took off his glasses and hung his head. Then with a deep breath and a slight shake of his body, he straightened up, threw back his head and spun back to us in full hunting mode, his eyes flashing ultra-bright blue, his fangs extended. Mum gasped, pressing herself back into her chair in involuntary fear.

  “Wow!” she said as Severn pulled himself back to normal and replaced his glasses. “Wow!”

  “Wait, there’s more,” Severn said with a smile that wasn’t totally reassuring. “Riley, can you please rescue those ornaments from that shelf over there? I don’t want to break them and this room isn’t very big.”

  Mum looked surprised at the comment as she was proud of her large lounge but I knew what was coming. Severn waited for me to move the ornaments then, with a deft tug, pulled off his t-shirt. Moving to the centre of the room, he flexed his shoulders and slowly unfurled his wings until they touched the opposite walls.

  “Oh my god,” was all Mum could say. “Oh my god!”

  Chapter 15

  “I have a thousand questions,” Mum said as Severn furled his wings and put his t-shirt back on. He had spread his wings almost to their full span and he had even let Mum touch them, eliciting gasps of “they’re so soft” as she stroked them like he was a cat. Knowing how Severn hated anyone touching them, I was impressed how patient he was as Mum looked at them from every direction and I could see the relief on his face when she finally let him furl them up.

  “I’ll bet you do,” I said in response to her question. “More coffee first?”

  “Yes, please,” they both said in unison.

  As we boiled the jug and spooned instant coffee into our mugs, Mum couldn’t stop staring at Severn. I wasn’t sure if that was good or bad. I was hoping for good as the small smiles seemed to outweigh the furrowed scowls. Coffee made and a new packet of chocolate biscuits opened, we pulled out chairs and settled around the dining table where we passed the biscuits between us.

  “Fire away,” Severn offered. “Ask any questions you like.”

  “How old are you really?” Mum asked.

  “A hundred and twenty nine. I’m the youngest. The Rev is seven hundred plus.”

  “Wow,” Mum said. “Where are you from? None of you have recognisable accents. You all speak very correctly, like you’ve had elocution lessons.”

  “We have. We’ve all tried to lose our original accents. It’s part of being able to blend in without being noticed. I’m from Scotland originally, the Rev is French and Aiden is English from near the Welsh border.”

  “Is that why you went back to France? Do you all live at the Reverend’s house?”

  “His monastery, yes.”

  “His monastery?” Mum spluttered into her coffee.

  “Yep, the monastery of Montagne des Anges – the Mountain of Angels. Note that – angels, not demons. Our locals wouldn’t appreciate you calling us demons.”

  “They think you’re angels? They know you can fly?”

  “Well, not quite. For centuries they’ve seen angels flying over the monastery. They’ve just never connected the angels directly with the unassuming monks in their long, woollen robes. They just think we are extremely pious and, therefore, blessed to be visited by heavenly creatures.”

  “If you’re really a monk, how come you’re going out with my daughter? Aren’t you supposed to be celibate?”

  “Mum!”

  “Sorry, dear, but he did say I could ask anything.”

  “I’m not a monk,” Severn said. “David is. That’s why we call him the Reverend. I just live there. About thirty of the residents are actually monks, the rest of us fake it, but it’s okay because it’s damned cold there and the robes are warm. All of us are vampires.”

  “Next question. When Riley finishes her course and goes off touring with your crew, will she have to become a vampire too?”

  “Only if she wants to. No pressure, Not essential. I guarantee it.”

  “But you have bitten her, haven’t you?”

  “Um...” Severn hesitated and looked at me.

  “Yes, he has,” I said. “I asked him too. He’s ethical, Mum, last time I asked him to bite me, he refused. We’re careful, Mum. It’s all right. He’s not going to drink so much that I die and it’s not going to turn me into a vampire – that’s a whole different process. Hey, look on the bright side, I can’t get pregnant like Anita did.”

  “Oh, I can just see myself explaining that to the ladies in the wardrobe department. My daughter’s boyfriend drinks her blood but she won’t get pregnant. This is too weird.”

  “Sorry.” Severn looked chastised but Mum laughed at him.

  “Cheer up. Like I said, like you guessed, I’m not completely shocked and I’m certainly not horrified. I’ve known you too long now to be frightened of you.”

  “Can I ask you a question,” Severn asked. “In Dunedin, when your grandmother told you about that vampire, did she say what he looked like?”

  Mum thought hard before she answered.

  “Like you would expect a vampire to look. My memory’s pretty vague but I remember her saying he was rather gorgeous - tall, dark, handsome. Black hair, black clothes. Classic B-grade movie vampire. But I never met him, and I was only little when she told me, so my memory could be completely wrong.”

  “Did she tell you his name?”

  “No, sorry, I don’t remember. I’m not sure I ever heard it. Why? Oh, you’re wondering if you know him, aren’t you?”


  “I’m wondering if it was Seth Borman,” Severn replied. “The timing fits. We were in Dunedin then and Seth was often going off doing his own thing without telling us.”

  “Seth?” Mum stood up and paced the kitchen to help her memory. “The gorgeous hunk of flyman, Seth? Could have been. Tall, dark, handsome, yep, it could well have been Seth. Speaking of him, what’s he doing now? He has a few questions to answer about poor Julia, from what I hear.”

  “Like what?” Severn sounded like he dreaded hearing the answer.

  “From what I hear, he was going out with Julia during the show and then dumped her. I know you left early, and Seth wasn’t seen after that night, so I presume he left with you, but he could have had the decency to say something to Julia before he left. Just walking out was pretty rude.”

  Severn glanced sideways at me and I knew he was about to tell Mum more truths than we had ever intended.

  “He didn’t speak to her because he couldn’t,” Severn said quietly. “He was dead. He travelled back to France with me in a body bag.”

  “Oh! Can I ask what happened?”

  “It’s better if you don’t know. It was between us vampires. Things got complicated and very messy. But it’s a pity we didn’t know about Julia. He kept that very quiet. If we had known, I’m sure the Rev would have made up a story to cover him leaving that she would have believed.”

  “What about the rest of the crew that was with you before? The older guy and the two girls? Are they all vampires too?”

  “Yes they are. Finn really is Aiden and Meredith’s father and Meredith really is Aiden’s twin sister. Finn is loving it at the monastery. He spends his days pottering around fixing things, like the plumbing, and wiring new electrical fittings, so the monastery loves him too. Meredith and Olivia are supposed to be at the monastery too, under supervision, which translates as being deprogrammed from Seth’s bad habits, but I have a horrible feeling they might not be.”

  “We think they’re here,” I added. “We think they’ve been following us around.”

  “And now that Aiden’s been stupid enough to be seen flying,” Severn said. “we are smack in the middle of vampire hell.”

  “What did the Rev say when you showed him the video?” I asked.

  Severn grinned. “I can’t quote him exactly but it was a long sentence full of ancient French curse words.”

  “He wasn’t impressed?”

  “What do you think? He was all for tracking Aiden down straight away and dealing to him on the spot. I managed to calm him down and not to tackle Aiden as soon as he got back, but they will both wake up soon, so I should get back and referee the discussion that’s bound to happen.”

  “Should I come with you?” I asked.

  “No, leave it to me. I’ll see you at the show later this afternoon. I‘m not guaranteeing the others will be there too, but we can manage if they don’t turn up.” He turned to Mum. “Thank you for taking this so well. I couldn’t believe it when Riley found out and wasn’t scared of me, or shocked, or repulsed, but I can see where she gets it from. You two are unreal.”

  Mum watched as I walked Severn to the door and kissed him goodbye, then she laughed.

  “I’ll notch that one up, I’ve just been called unreal by an undead.”

  She walked away, singing the verse by Tom Petty about the vampires walking through the valley. I hoped she would run out of vampire songs soon.

  Chapter 16

  I figured it wouldn’t take Mum long to swing into her usual remedy for when she had too many things to think about and I was right. After Severn left, she went into a frenzy of house cleaning, which I dodged by retreating to my room. About an hour later she knocked on my door with the question I was expecting.

  “I am still reeling from this morning’s information overload. My head is spinning and I need a break. Do you want to come shopping?

  “Yeah, okay. Where are we going?”

  “Northlands.”

  “Awesome. If we’re going there, can I text Anita and see if she wants to meet us?”

  “Better than that. If she wants to come, we’ll pick her up on the way.”

  I flicked Anita a text and twenty minutes later the three of us were walking through the mall entrance. I knew from experience that Mum would head straight for the clothing shops where she would spend ages in the fitting rooms, trying things on, so it was good to have Anita to talk to while I stood, endlessly waiting with the occasional nodding of approval at Mum’s choices. Anita had seen the video too.

  “What about that drone?” she said, almost jumping with excitement. “Isn’t it the coolest thing ever? Caleb must have watched the video about a thousand times, trying to work out how it’s done.”

  “I saw it on telly this morning,” I said, playing it down. “It’s cool if it’s real, but I reckon it’s just some clever animation.”

  “Don’t spoil the magic!”

  “Why not? I’m backstage crew. We’re the guys who know the truth behind all the magic. We’re the cynical, unshockable realists who work behind the curtains creating it. So I’m in the camp that says it’s a fake, sorry.”

  “Well that’s boring,” Anita sulked, but not for long. “You should see my costume, it’s amazing.”

  “Costume? You’ve lost me. What costume?”

  “For the MFR. Remember I told you how Caleb’s family are all into medieval re-enactment and they were going to take me to the next event?

  “Oh yeah. You said you were going as someone posh and Caleb’s mum was helping you make your outfit. So what’s it like?”

  “A-maze-ing! It’s some kind of super-soft velvet with braid trim around the neck and a silver cord under the bust. I’m supposed to be from the twelfth century, so it’s got these absolutely humungous sleeves that fall in these huge points right down to the ground. I’ll have to practise wearing it so I don’t trip over them.”

  “What does Caleb wear? A codpiece?”

  “No way! His persona is a wandering minstrel so he’s just got a tunic over leggings. And, yes, before you ask, it does cover his bum. I’m looking forward to it, it sounds like so much fun.”

  “I’m just glad you two have found something you can enjoy doing together, and with baby when it arrives.”

  “Me, too.” Anita nodded enthusiastically. “It’s so weird. I hardly noticed him at school and now I find we are so alike, its spooky. What about you and Severn? Do you like the same things?”

  “Yes and no.” Let me think – he drinks blood, I let him. Not a good answer. “We both enjoy being backstage crew and we’re working well together on this show. He really knows his stuff behind the sound desk, that’s for sure. I’ve got a lot to learn to keep up with him. Which is why I’m doing the sound engineering course. I want to be his equal backstage, not his bumbling apprentice. But there are other ways we are not at all alike.” He’s undead, I’m alive. “He’s way more into computers that I am, but that’s okay, I can do other things when he’s being a geek. We like the same type of chocolate, so that’s got to be a good sign.”

  “I can think of nothing more important,” Anita said with an expansive wave of her hands that ended in her pointing towards the fitting room. “Hey, your mum is waving at us. I think we’re needed.”

  We hurried over to Mum who had started to panic as she had noticed the time.

  “Look at me,” she moaned, “I’ve done it again. I got so carried away trying on these outfits, I’ve taken up all our shopping time. You girls must be so bored.”

  “We’re fine,” I assured her. “We’ve been swapping gossip. But, if we’re going to eat before we go to Mona Vale, you do need to make some decisions. How many of these dresses are you going to buy?”

  Mum picked a dress off the rack and handed it to me. “This one,” she said, “and this one.” She handed me a second dress, then a third. “And I can’t possibly leave this one. Do I need that one with the stripe? No, no, some self control needed here. Just these three. Let�
��s go.”

  Credit card processed and parcel wrapped, Mum swept us off down the mall, telling herself off every time she slowed to browse in a clothes shop window, but encouraging us to wander through the shops that we liked which, for Anita, included any shop that had fluffy toys. It was in one of these shops, while Anita was cooing over a bright blue bear, that Mum found the bat.

  “Riley, look,” she said, pulling it out of the rack. “I have to get this for Severn.”

  “Seriously?”

  “No, that’s the whole point, it’s not serious at all. Look, it’s just right. It’s got this little, black body then look, you undo this Velcro and its wings unfurl. It’s perfect. He’ll get the joke.”

  I had to laugh. It was Mum’s way of saying she accepted Severn, as my boyfriend, as a vampire, as a family member. My mum was, as Severn said, unreal.

  Mum bought the bat and treated Anita to the blue bear as well, then checked her watch and declared it was time to leave. We dropped Anita and her bear outside her house and drove home, arriving half an hour before Grant. As his car pulled into the drive, Mum grabbed my arm.

  “Let’s not tell Grant anything about today.” Mum dropped her voice to a conspiratorial whisper. “We can say Severn came over and we can tell him you put your application in, but nothing else. Okay?”

  “Whatever else are you talking about, Mum?” I batted my eyelids and put on my innocent face. “Your shopping trip?”

  “You know what I mean.”

  “Of course I do. Mum, I’ve known about Severn for months and I haven’t said anything. I’m not exactly going to drop vampires into the dinner conversation. Just make sure you don’t.”

  “I won’t. And we need to be on the same page if he brings up that damned video. Let’s agree with him that it’s a drone.”

  “No. If we agree with him, he’ll automatically be suspicious. We will agree that it’s okay for him to think it’s a drone but I’ll say I think it’s a fake – that’s what I told Anita so I’d better be consistent – and you say you bow to his opinion that it’s probably a drone but you are secretly hoping it’s a demon. Okay?”