Night Shadows

by Billiejo Priestley

  She nods, taking the piece of warped metal from his hand.

  “Let’s get you home.” She shakes her head, she doesn’t want to go back home. It feels too empty without Dan.

  “Well, let’s get breakfast, then?” He would rather stay with her if she isn’t going home. At least that way he knows she isn’t wandering around looking for Dan and getting herself into fatal situations with vampires. He walks ahead as she begins following him; they get to a small café and he turns, looking at her to check it’s okay before he pushes the door open and they both enter. They sit down and order, Cayson rolling his eyes as he looks at her. He knew that she was stubborn and wouldn’t listen to his warnings.

  “So, you’re a werewolf?”

  He nods, smiling at her.

  “What happened to that man?”

  “The vampire? Someone else sorted it while I checked you were okay.”

  She’s satisfied with that. He gave her the answer she needed, he told her that he had killed Dan, but part of her still feels like he’s alive somewhere, somehow.

  “So, vampires can’t come out during the day?”

  “Yes and no. There are three types of vampires, Olivia: Ceprimora, Morgelantous, and Monventla.”

  She nods. “What’s the difference?”

  “Let’s start with Morgelantous. These vampires are born. If a mortal woman conceives with a vampire, the baby will always be a Morgelantous. They can go out in the light and they don’t need blood; so many live just like you.”

  She nods, so the ones who do wander around during the day are not bad.

  “Ceprimora are the ones created through being turned. They can only come out at night and again they don’t kill to feed; they just feed enough to stay strong and then let the victims go.”

  Neither of the vampires Cayson described seemed like that guy she met, so she deduces he must be the other one; a Montalia? Monventous? Mon-something, she thinks.

  “Then there’s Monventla, which is what that guy was. Monventla were once Morgelantous, only they’ve killed someone. Most vampires don’t kill, they just feed and let the victim go, but Monventla are the devil's work. They get pleasure from killing people. They’re full, they don’t need the extra blood to survive; they kill for fun. That’s what your friend was.”

  “So, if a vampire is created by a Monventla, what do they become?” She looks at him, waiting.

  “A vampire can only change a person into a Ceprimora, and then it’s up to that person whether they stay like that and feed without killing or whether they become Monventla. Most end up following the same path as whoever turned them, though, which means they kill eventually.”

  “And you? What about you?” He nods; he knew she would have this question.

  “I am what’s known as a Clasiayn: we are the ones who are born, we have werewolf blood running through us from our ancestors. Then there is Dralious, the ones who turned evil, didn’t stick to hunting vampires but started hunting humans as well.”

  “Both can go out whenever and look normal like you?”

  “No. Killing a human merely for pleasure means a lifetime being a werewolf and Dralious know that. The only way out of the werewolf form is death.”

  Olivia nods to him. It’s a lot of information but she thinks she’s starting to understand.

  “We can come out at day or night, sunlight doesn’t bother us. A vampire bite does not hurt us, however if we’re forced to drink vampire blood we would die.”

  She doesn’t answer, just sits looking at the blank palette of her now-empty plate. She still wants to laugh and call him crazy, but how can she? She saw that man and how fast he moved, it was almost like he’d teleported. She saw where the wolf had bitten the vampire; there had been no blood, just a weird colour liquid seeping out.

  “You need to stay away from those places, Olivia, and me as well. Both bring trouble and are too risky; I can’t protect you all the time, and I can’t protect you if you’re near me.”

  She understands why she needs to stay away from the graveyard but not why she can’t be near Cayson. She wants to be near him, something about him is making her want to see him.

  “Why are you so dangerous?” She can’t see him hurting her, especially because he’s tried to save her so many times.

  “Vampires know me, Olivia; if they see us together they’ll target you. I’m not good company anyway; I’m far too old for you. You need to find people your own age.” He looks at her. Dan was too old for her too; he remembers Dan well.

  “You’re like two years older than me at most,” she huffs, “and Dan was 25, he was a lot older than you and I was fine with him.”

  “I may look young, but I’m not.”

  She looks at him, confused.

  “Look, I stopped aging at twenty. For me to start aging again I need to stop shifting; stop becoming a werewolf.”

  Now she has questions: a lot of them.

  “So exactly how old are you, Cayson? And how old was that vampire?”

  “I was born in 1895,” he murmurs, his head bowed. Her fingers move as she works it out and he snickers slightly at the sight, causing her to lose count. She rolls her eyes and starts again, her head snapping up.

  “You’re 123 years old?”

  “I guess I am, technically. That guy, I don’t know, based on the colour of his eyes I’d say he’s older than me. Most vampires have normal-looking eyes but the older they get, the more their irises turn red, and then slowly silver. That guy’s whole eye was silver.”

  She nods, trying to examine Cayson’s eyes; she can’t see any signs of him aging at all. She tries forcing herself to see something, even just one line spoiling his pale complexion, but there’s nothing.

  “So when you stop shifting and stay like this, what then? Do you just age really quickly to your actual age? Like would you be an old man?”

  He laughs, shaking his head.

  “No, I’ll age just like normal humans, and probably a bit more gracefully at that.” He winks. “Promise me you’re going to leave the Dan thing alone? Forget about him, say goodbye and move on?”

  She knows she should.

  “I want to.”

  He nods.

  “I know, even the vampire telling you he killed him doesn’t seem real, but what do you need to believe it? His body?” Olivia’s mouth opens to answer but Cayson’s phone rings, interrupting her. He pulls it out of his pocket and pushes a button before pressing the phone to his ear.

  “Lucas?” He says in a hushed tone, silent while listening to his friend’s response. “How the hell did that happen? You should have had it sorted.” He rubs his head in frustration with his free hand. He needs to get Olivia home now.

  “Well, let me know as soon as you can. This shouldn’t have been possible.” He hangs up, a dark look taking over his face. Olivia needs to stay away from him.

  “Look, you’d best get home, I have an issue to sort out. It was nice knowing you, Olivia. Stay away from me.”

  When Cayson gets home an incredibly short while after, the first thing he sees is Lucas standing there covered in blood.

  “I swear I had no idea, he jumped on me from behind and while I was trying to get free that twat fixed himself up and ran.”

  “The other guy?”

  Lucas shakes his head. “Didn’t get a look.” They sit and talk, Cayson annoyed that the vampire somehow got away.

  Meanwhile at the café, Olivia gives up waiting to see if he comes back and starts her walk home. It was nice knowing her? That isn’t what normal people say to someone. She arrives home and drops straight onto the sofa, letting her head fall back against the cushions. She likes Cayson, she isn’t sure why, but for some reason, she just does. And him saying it was nice knowing her had hurt; she just wants to have him in her life.

  Hours pass by and she doesn’t stir until the knock at her door brings her out of her thoughts. She’s not expecting anyone but when she opens it, her mum and sister are standing there. They ba
rge past her and sit down without saying a word, their eyes looking disapprovingly at the newspapers strewn over the floor.

  “Olivia, this is not healthy. You haven’t been to work, your phone is off, you’ve been ignoring the door until today, all of- this,” she gestures around the floor pointedly. “This obsession you have with Dan needs to end now; even your friends have given up. If you want to be lonely, fine, be lonely, but isolating yourself won’t help. He left you, just accept it.”

  Olivia sighs. She knows he didn’t just leave, at least not by choice. She can’t tell them that, though, not without risking their lives too.

  “I have not been isolating myself, I’ve been out.”

  Her sister laughs. “Going out alone to escape the empty house doesn’t count; seeing people does.”

  “I have seen people! I’ve met up with Cayson a few times.” She looks at them hoping they drop it, but no such luck.

  “Cayson who?” Her mum looks at her, confused.

  “A friend. That’s who I was with today, I was having breakfast. And as for not answering, I can’t, I dropped my phone and smashed it.” Olivia places the broken phone on the table, proof she’s not lying.

  “I’ve never heard you mention Cayson before, Liv.”

  Olivia grits her teeth. Mel knows she hates it when she calls her that.

  “Come on Mel, what do you want, proof? Should I ask him to come around here and confirm that is where I was?” She says it sarcastically, not really expecting them to take her up on her offer. She’s an adult; her sister doesn’t need to know every one of her friends. But, then again, Cayson isn’t exactly her friend.

  “Yes, actually, let’s see if this Cayson exists shall we, Mum?” Olivia stares at Mel. She’s called her bluff and now she has no choice. Sure, she has Cayson’s number, but he made it clear to stay away, and why would he come anyway? She doesn’t want to phone him, but Mel sits looking at her expectantly, tapping her meticulously painted nails on the worn wooden table.

  “I don’t have a phone,” Olivia points out desperately.

  “Take the sim out and use my spare. Here.” Mel hands her the phone, and now Olivia really doesn’t have any excuse. She removes her sim card from her broken phone and slides it into Mel’s spare. Turning it on, she takes the card out of her pocket, Cayson’s number scrawled over some writing she doesn’t bother to read. She keys in the number and types out a message.

  I know you said goodbye, but can you call by my house please? It’s important.

  She hits send on the message, looking up to Mel and smiling weakly.

  “Done! So what, you’re going to sit here and wait until h’s free to pop round?”

  Mel nods, sitting back in her chair, crossing her legs and tapping away on her own phone, their mother still not saying anything. Olivia decides to take things into her own hands.

  “It took you three months, three months to try to call me, I could have been dead a month ago, Mum, and you wouldn’t even have known.”

  “I did know, Olivia. Your boss has been telling us. The fact you haven’t been to work in a few days made her call us, so we could check that you were alive.” Okay, she can’t argue with that. Just as she’s about to try and come up with something else to say there’s another knock at the door. Olivia looks at her mum and sister, both gesturing towards the door. It can’t be Cayson; she hadn’t even told him her address yet. Her hand trembles slightly as she opens the door, to find Cayson standing there and looking at her with a confused frown.

  “What’s so-” He stops talking as Olivia opens the door wider, revealing her mum and sister to the man in front of her.

  “See, he exists.” Olivia can’t resist sticking her tongue out at Mel, who just rolls her eyes as if she’s too mature for Olivia’s attitude. In the background, Cayson is trying not to laugh. He stares at Olivia with a small but inquiring smile. Why had she told people about him?

  “Well, invite him in then,” says Mel.

  Olivia looks at her shocked while Cayson, smiling wider, nods and enters. Olivia instinctively moves out of the way as he walks in and sits down, shutting the door behind him and following him to the sofa. She sits as far away from him as she can get. There’s a hint of awkwardness in the atmosphere and she doesn’t want to aggravate that.

  “Mum, Mel, this is Cayson. Cayson, this is my mum and sister.”

  He nods, smiling.

  “It’s nice to meet you both.” He isn’t stupid, he knows this is just them checking up on her rather than her calling everyone she knows and telling them he a werewolf.

  “So, Liv was with you this morning?” Cayson raises an eyebrow at the nickname which he quickly lowers when he sees the way Olivia is looking at her sister. It’s a cliché, but if looks could kill…

  “Yes, we went out for breakfast,” he confirms. Mel nods, unsure whether or not she should believe him. Cayson looks at her mum, why is she not the one quizzing him? It is as if she isn’t bothered at all, like this was all Mel’s idea.

  “Have you two known each other long?”

  “A few weeks now, so we’re still kind of getting to know each other,” he replies. Mel clearly doesn’t fully believe him.

  “Well, there you go, so can you both leave now?”

  Mel looks at Olivia, shocked.

  “What now, Mel? You wanted proof I wasn’t sat in here drowning under all this crap with Dan and you’ve got it. Yes, okay, so I keep looking over it, but I’m putting myself before all of that as you can see.”

  “We’ll leave you to it, love.” Her mum stands up and walks to the door, Mel seemingly unhappy with that. She follows their mum reluctantly, but stops just before the door to turn back to Olivia.

  “How did you break your phone, anyway?”

  Cayson starts to answer before Olivia has even opened her mouth.

  “She dropped it just as I was stepping forward; it was too late to stop myself and I stood on it. I’ve said I’ll replace it, it was a complete accident.”

  Mel seems to be satisfied with this answer, nodding curtly before she walks out. Cayson laughs as the door shuts behind the two women.

  “Now I understand what was so important. She just doesn’t give up, does she?”

  Olivia nods, not finding it very funny.

  “My mum doesn’t care, as long as I’m alive. It’s Mel who can’t leave things alone.”

  Cayson nods. “She’s just worried – overly worried, yes – but at least you have someone to worry about you.”

  Olivia laughs. “Trust me, it’s overrated. Sometimes I think it would be better to not have a family.” She looks at Cayson guiltily, realising what she had just said. It was inconsiderate of her; he had lost his family decades ago.

  “Sorry, I didn’t think. I doubt not having a family for so long is much of a good thing.”

  He laughs, shaking his head.

  “As I said, Olivia, it runs in my bloodline, so my family are there, just none from when I was born. I do see family from time to time. Most stop shifting after around twenty or thirty years, settle down and whatnot. I just don’t see the point in that. I enjoy protecting people; I can’t do that without shifting.”

  Olivia nods wordlessly. They both sit in silence for a few moments.

  “I’m sorry,” she starts, “I know you said goodbye and that you never wanted to see me again.” She should never have made him feel like he needed to come here.

  “Olivia, I would love to keep seeing you. Let’s be honest though, my world will just get you hurt, and I can’t live with that happening again.” She looks up, curious. What does he mean, ‘again’?

  “What do you mean, ‘again’?” She voices her thoughts and he avoids making eye contact, his eyes fixed on the floor. Yasmine. Yasmine was beautiful.

  “That doesn’t matter right now,” he says after a pregnant pause. “Just take it from me; you’re safer without me than with me.” He can’t go through that again. Yasmine was an amazing witch who was killed just because sh
e got too close to him.

  “Look, everyone needs friends, especially ones who know what they are going through.” Cayson nods in agreement. It’s selfish of him to want to keep her around, he knows that, but maybe she’ll be fine after all?

  “So, that is Dan then?” He changes the subject swiftly, pointing to the newspapers, while Olivia nods.

  “Everyone told me I was stupid, that it just a crush, that it wouldn’t last. When he disappeared, everyone told me it was him running away because he’d realised I was a child and he needed a woman. I almost believed them until I remembered seeing a similar story in the papers, so I did my research and found more.” She stands up, heading towards the kitchen.

  “Drink?” Cayson nods. He’s already here, staying can’t do much harm.

  “Coffee, please. Black, no sugar.”

  She nods as she walks through to the kitchen, making the drinks, while quietly humming. As she does, Cayson looks at the papers she has collected, distracting himself until she walks back through and hands him a steaming mug.

  “So, he was twenty-five when he disappeared?”

  Olivia nods. Mel wasn’t pleased about that; her mum, however, thought it would be over just as quick as it started.

  “Yeah, we had been together since I turned sixteen, we got this house together on my seventeenth birthday.” Cayson makes a small interested noise. Dan must have liked her to move in with her.

  “So, what about you? Just Yasmine?”

  Cayson nods.

  “Yeah, in terms of serious relationships. I’ve had one night stands but as far as relationships go, Yasmine was the only one.”

  “Do you have any friends who aren’t werewolves?” She looks at him as he nods.

  “No. They’re the only ones who aren’t at risk as a result of knowing.”

  She nods, that isn’t good. Sometimes people need to rant or complain; how can he complain about being a werewolf if he needs to when his friends are all werewolves too? She glances around. She knows how it feels because it’s kind of the same situation as her. She doesn’t have anyone she can complain about her mum or sister to.