By Midnight

by Mia James

  ‘What, the way you did back there with those blokes?’

  ‘They weren’t going to help you, April. Believe me, they had bad things in mind.’

  ‘And how would you know that? Can you read minds?’

  Gabriel walked on a few more steps, looking down at his feet. ‘Listen, April,’ he said. ‘I still can’t tell you everything, not all at once.’

  ‘Oh Jesus Christ, forget it!’ shouted April. ‘I’m supposed to trust everything you say, however ridiculous, but you won’t trust me with your precious secrets? Just forget it!’ She turned to leave the park.

  ‘I could smell them.’

  April gave him a double take. He had said it in such a quiet voice, she wasn’t sure she could have heard him correctly. She gave a nervous laugh.

  ‘You could smell them?’

  Gabriel nodded, his eyes hooded and faraway. He certainly didn’t look like he was joking.

  ‘Okay, and what did they smell of?’

  ‘Violence, cruelty. Sex. The bad kind.’

  April just blinked at him. He was serious, this wasn’t a wind-up. Her stomach felt like an express lift dropping between floors. She looked back towards the bright entrance of the Tube station, but they were too far away now. No one would see them from this distance. She glanced behind her; the park gates were there, but they opened onto the Embankment, thick with roaring traffic. She was trapped.

  ‘I can smell you too, April,’ he said. ‘I can smell fear, regret and … something else - what is that?’

  ‘Leave me alone,’ she whispered, backing away horrified.

  ‘You were right about me, April,’ he said, matching her step for step. ‘I am a killer. A hunter. We all are. Some of us are just better at it than others.’

  And finally the penny dropped, finally she understood what he was talking about, what the real story had been all along.

  ‘You are kidding me,’ she said. April knew she should have been scared, mesmerised, rooted to the spot with terror, but instead she was furious. ‘You are not serious!’ she screamed, stepping towards Gabriel, her hand groping in her pocket. She pulled out her mobile phone, held it up and clicked the button. The flash lit up the little park and Gabriel jerked back, momentarily stunned.

  ‘No way,’ whispered April as she looked down at the screen, because Gabriel wasn’t there. He’s not there. No trick of the light. No faulty camera. He’s simply not there. ‘You’re a vampire?’ She looked up at him in disbelief. ‘You’re a bloody vampire?’

  Gabriel took a step forwards. ‘April—’

  ‘You are! You’re a bloody VAMPIRE!’ she yelled, backing away, but he was too fast. He was on her in a second, his hands gripping her arms. He pushed his face close to hers - and it was terrifying. His mouth was stretched back in a horrible grin, his sharp glittering teeth bared, his nose wrinkled and upturned, his eyes narrow and black. Oh God, so black. The very same eyes she had seen that night in the cemetery.

  ‘Yes, I’m a vampire,’ he hissed. ‘I’m just a monster to you, aren’t I?’ He bent his head lower, his teeth moving closer and closer to her neck.

  He’s going to kill me too. April knew she wouldn’t get another chance. Some older, darker primordial instinct took over and she gripped the knife in her pocket and thrust it upwards, screaming.

  A look of confusion passed over Gabriel’s face, then his arms dropped and he looked down at the handle of the knife protruding from his abdomen.

  ‘You stabbed me,’ he said. April watched in horror as he reached up and pulled the knife out and stared at the dark blood on the blade. Gabriel looked from the knife to April, but she didn’t wait to see his reaction. She turned and ran, straight out of the park and into the road without breaking stride. She ran straight across Embankment, packed with speeding rush-hour cars, oblivious to the danger, not caring if she was smashed by a bumper or crushed by the wheels. A car passed in front of her so close it blew her hair out to the side, but she kept going, ignoring the blaring horns and squealing brakes. She was a gazelle being chased by a lion, a swallow chased by hawks, completely focused on putting that moving metal river between them. She almost made it. Her last step fell an inch too short and her toe clipped the kerb, sending her pitching forwards. Crying out, she landed on one knee, grazing it badly. As she staggered back up, she could feel the blood running down her shin, she could see the hole in her tights and the red wound beneath it. It didn’t look good, but she didn’t stop, half-limping towards the river. She knew she’d never make it to the Tube, but maybe there would be a boat or somewhere to hide. Hobbling badly, the pain sending little stars shooting across her vision, she staggered to her left. Towering above her was a huge stone column - Cleopatra’s Needle. Almost hopping now, she made it to the foot of the monument and rested against the stone base for a moment. Where now, genius? she thought. April struggled down the steps at the back and sat down behind one of the huge sphinxes. It was the best hiding place she could hope for in the circumstances.

  She felt her knee gingerly.

  ‘Ouch,’ she whispered to herself. She didn’t think it was that bad, but it was stiffening up. If he found her she’d be unable to run. Will he find me? Is he even alive? It was just typical of her luck. I find the boy of my dreams and he turns out to be a murderous vampire. I really can pick ‘em, she thought. She felt in her pocket for her phone, she had to call someone, but who? She couldn’t very well call the police and tell them there was a vampire loose in Westminster and, by the way, I’ve just stabbed him. Reece! Of course, she would call Reece, he would know what to do. April glanced at her phone to pull up his number and saw the phone’s screen, with the photo of Gabriel there in glorious Technicolor. Or rather, not there. Just like her photo of Milo from the party, there was a weird black swirly hole where Gabriel should have been. She knew she needed to act, but she couldn’t take her eyes off it. A vampire! It was unbelievable, ridiculous. But in a funny kind of way, it all made sense. His sudden disappearances, the things he couldn’t explain, the Circle of Lebanon, even the late-night date in the square, suddenly they didn’t seem so crazy. So why didn’t I work it out before? she wondered angrily. ‘Because vampires don’t exist, you idiot!’ she whispered.

  ‘But we do.’

  April jumped, pushing herself back against the sphinx.

  ‘Please, April, no more running,’ said Gabriel quietly. ‘It’s too cold.’

  ‘But I stabbed you …’ she whispered. ‘You had blood.’

  ‘Yeah, we have blood too, but …’ He lifted his dark-stained shirt up, wincing. There was a hole in his side, but the blood around it was congealed and dry. It looked like an old wound, one that was well on the way to healing.

  ‘How… ?’ was all April could manage.

  Gabriel sat down on the step, keeping a little distance from April. ‘I’m a vampire, remember?’ he said wearily. ‘We heal quick. Bloody hurts though.’ He put his shirt down and cradled his stomach, as if he had bad indigestion.

  ‘You were going to bite me!’ she shouted indignantly. ‘I didn’t have any choice! I thought you were going to kill me, the way you did Isabelle.’

  ‘I wasn’t going to bite you,’ he said. ‘And I didn’t kill Isabelle. I just wanted to scare you. I wanted to let you see what everyone else sees, to see what I really am.’

  ‘But why didn’t you just tell me?’

  ‘How could I?’

  April gave a short ironic laugh. ‘I suppose, “Hi, I’m Gabriel, I’m a bloodsucking demon,” might not win you many friends.’

  ‘We’re not demons,’ he said angrily.

  ‘Oh, it’s “we”, is it? There are more of you?’

  ‘More than you’d believe.’

  All in a rush, April realised that it was all true. Everything. The nests, the Regent, the Highgate Vampire, the book in Mr Gill’s shop, it was all true. ‘Oh my God,’ she whispered, feeling a terrible sense of shame as she remembered the way she had spoken to her father, mocking his silly little
hobby, calling him pathetic for believing in monsters. But he had been right all along.

  ‘So where are they?’ said April. ‘Who are they? How can I tell who is and who isn’t a vampire?’

  Gabriel shrugged. ‘It’s not that simple.’

  April felt another rush of anger. ‘Listen, Gabriel,’ she snapped. ‘You’re either going to have to kill me and eat me or you’re going to have to stop talking in riddles. Seriously, it’s getting on my bloody nerves.’

  Gabriel threw his head back and laughed, then stopped, wincing. ‘You’re certainly different, April Dunne.’ He chuckled, holding his side.

  ‘What’s so funny?’ said April, still annoyed.

  ‘Well, most people confronted by a vampire for the first time scream or beg for their lives. You, on the other hand, stab the vampire and then start telling him off.’

  Despite herself, April started giggling too. She covered her mouth, but it still bubbled out with an edge of hysteria and the chuckles were replaced with great gulping sobs and her shoulders heaved with the effort. All the tension of the day was pouring out with the tears. Gabriel came over and held her and even though she knew she should push him away, she clung to him, her face pressed into his chest. Despite her fears, there was something comforting about his embrace.

  Finally, the sobs became sniffles and she blew her nose.

  ‘So you’re really a vampire, huh?’ she said, wiping her face.

  ‘Afraid so.’

  ‘So what’s it like?’

  ‘Difficult.’

  She snorted. ‘I’ll bet.’ She pushed herself up, trying to stand. Her knee didn’t feel too bad. ‘Come on, let’s walk,’ she said, reluctantly leaning on his arm. ‘So long as you don’t try anything.’

  They walked slowly back along the river, silently watching the rolling black waters reflecting the lights from the buildings. April stopped and looked up at him.

  ‘How old are you?’

  Gabriel paused before answering. ‘I was born in 1870-’

  ‘Good God, but that’s … that’s insane. So are you immortal? Can you never die? Have you always looked like this?’

  Gabriel touched her hand gently and she was surprised that she didn’t flinch.

  ‘Don’t try to take it all in at once, April,’ he said. ‘It’s hard to grasp, but it’s true. It really is.’

  They were coming under the shadow of Hungerford Bridge now.

  ‘How’s the knee?’ he asked.

  ‘It’s okay,’ she said, doubtfully. ‘More to the point, how’s your side?’ She lowered her voice and glanced around. ‘Listen, I’m sorry I stabbed you.’

  ‘Come here,’ he said. ‘I’d like to show you something.’ Bending over, he effortlessly scooped April up in his arms and began running up the steps to the Jubilee Footbridge.

  ‘Hey,’ she protested, ‘I’m not an invalid.’

  ‘I know,’ he said. ‘Now shut up, I’m trying to be nice. And considering you just stabbed me, I’m also being very understanding.’

  April shut up. She was still annoyed about being lied to, not to mention badly freaked out by the whole ‘vampire’ thing, but it was, well, nice being picked up by a boy. RIP feminism, she thought to herself. Gabriel put her down gently and they began walking across the river. The London Eye was a glowing disc on the South Bank.

  ‘It’s beautiful, isn’t it?’ said April softly. ‘I don’t think I’ve ever seen the river at night before. Not up close like this.’

  Gabriel nodded. ‘I used to live near the river,’ he said. ‘I’d come here at night and just watch it flow past. Of course, it was much busier then. And the London Eye wasn’t there - it was all warehouses and pretty nasty slums, and living by the river was considered dirty and dangerous.’

  April stopped and looked around to make sure no one was listening. ‘So you’re really telling me you’re a vampire? A vampire?’

  Gabriel nodded. ‘I know, it’s crazy, isn’t it? But it’s true, I assure you.’

  ‘But what are you? Some sort of … ?’ She wanted to say monster, but she was too polite. He might be a creature of legend, but calling him a ‘monster’ to his face still felt a little rude.

  ‘I’m human, just like you, but I’ve been infected by the vampire virus. I won’t blind you with science, but essentially the vampire disease is constantly destroying our cells and the body is constantly making new ones. That’s why we have great skin and hair, and we never get ill. We age much, much more slowly because our bodies are constantly regenerating. So no, we’re not supernatural, it’s just that science hasn’t caught up with us yet. And no, before you ask, I can’t turn into a bat.’

  April smiled. They walked a little further. She had been right - her knee was stiffening up, making her lean on Gabriel a little more. She found she didn’t mind that too much.

  ‘So how did it happen?’ she asked, looking up at him. ‘How did you come to be a -’ she whispered ‘- vampire?’

  ‘I got bitten,’ he said simply.

  April shot him an impatient look and Gabriel shrugged.

  ‘I chose to become a vampire,’ he said quietly. ‘And I did it for love.’

  April still didn’t know how to react to all this new information and she certainly wasn’t sure how she felt about Gabriel Swift any more, but she definitely didn’t like him using the L-word when it wasn’t connected to her.

  ‘Love?’ she asked as they began walking across the bridge again.

  ‘I know, it sounds crazy, but I was young and impetuous and … anyway, I was a student, studying law. I didn’t have enough money for a social life, though, so I used to come out here walking at night, that was my entertainment. Then one night, just over there—’ he pointed downstream ‘—I heard a scream. A gang of yobs, just kids really, were roughing up a girl, trying to steal her pocketbook. So I waded in.’

  ‘My hero!’

  ‘Yes, well.’ He coughed. ‘That time it didn’t really go my way. I got quite a beating. In fact, the young lady in question ended up pulling them off me. All very embarrassing.’

  ‘And she became your girlfriend?’

  He nodded. ‘That was Lily, who became my girlfriend - fiancee, actually. She was beautiful and sweet, but she was also strong-headed. She hated the constraints of her sex, how she had to conform to certain old-fashioned notions of decent behaviour.’

  ‘I’m with her there.’

  ‘Her attitude was always “why shouldn’t I go out walking alone?” She was an original thinker. So we began courting, and we fell in love and I proposed.’

  ‘So what went wrong?’ April could hardly believe she was feeling jealous of a woman who had been born over a hundred years ago. But given the way this evening was going she wouldn’t have been entirely surprised if Gabriel had suddenly produced his beautiful fiancée, still alive, still radiant and brave.

  Gabriel shook his head and looked out at the river. ‘She got sick. Consumption - tuberculosis. It might be hard to imagine what it was like in London a hundred years ago, but the conditions were terrible. Disease. Overcrowding. Whole families would jump into the Thames to avoid starvation and TB was the biggest killer of all. All it took was for one infected person to cough in an alleyway or marketplace and everyone who walked past would inhale it and contract the disease.’

  They had come to the end of the walkway now and Gabriel helped April down onto the South Bank path. They walked into Jubilee Gardens where there was a small fair in the shadow of the big wheel. They stopped to watch the children going round and round on a Victorian-style carousel, squealing as the horses dipped up and down.

  ‘It was so hard to watch,’ said Gabriel. ‘She was wracked with pain every time she coughed, blood spotting her handkerchief. Then it spread to her neck and leaked through her skin as a horrible pus. She lost weight and finally it spread to her spine and she found it difficult to walk. I so wanted to save her.’

  He paused, looking up at the stars for a moment.

  �
�There had been rumours about bad things happening around Christchurch even before Jack the Ripper. Bodies turning up. It was a dark place back then, even in the daytime with the fog blocking out the sun. People could do what they liked, then disappear into the shadows. I had a friend, another student, who boarded in Whitechapel because it was cheap. He fell in with a bad crowd, drinking gin, smoking opium, worse. One night he told me about the vampires. He spoke about them in hushed tones, as if he was talking about royalty. I was as sceptical as you were, but he showed me his scars. They were using him as a “feeder”. That’s what we call someone who allows a vampire to drink their blood. He was evangelical about it, he said his “master” would turn Lily - if he made her a vampire she would never be sick again. He wasn’t just a powerful vampire, he was the Vampire Regent, the top man.’