Cross My Heart

by Elizabeth Morgan

  I pushed myself away. “I think it would be best if you wash your own face.”

  “Well, considering you’re so useless.” He flinched as I threw the balled-up paper towel at his face. “Getting back to your earlier comment, I had thought about visiting you a few times and definitely recently, but I-I didn’t think you’d want to see me.”

  “Well, I definitely wouldn’t have made it an easy reunion,” I confessed as I plonked down on the bar stool, picked up my slice of pizza, and continued eating.

  “I wouldn’t have expected you to.” Turning to the sink, he ran the tap, cupping water in his hands, and splashed it over his face. Taking a few sheets of the kitchen towel, he then wiped his face.

  “Gone?” he asked, turning back to me.

  “Pretty much.”

  He collected the wet, bloodied towels from the sink and threw the lot in the bin, before collecting the glass bottle of mixture and joining me once more at the breakfast bar.

  “So, Little Miss Paranoid, t’answer your early question, the reason I keep telling you t’get some rest and even eat is because despite what you think, I can see that you’re exhausted, and if we find what we’re looking for, which I’m guessing will entail a shite load of Vampires, well, you aren’t going t’be any good as a fight partner if you can barely keep your eyes open.”

  I swallowed the last chunk of my slice of pizza. “Oh, so now I’ve partially forgiven you, you’re suddenly an expert on what’s best for me?”

  “You know I’m right.” He took a swig of mixture.

  “I’d never admit such a thing.”

  “I know,” he replied with a huge grin. “But seriously, you have been stuck in the basement for two days straight, nodding off for short periods of time and only eating when I nag you enough.”

  I couldn’t argue with the facts. I was tired. I could feel every cell in my body humming with exhaustion, but after forty-eight hours, we finally had a starting point.

  “Look. Bed. Shower. Food. I will continue with Vampire 101, and come tomorrow morning, we will be ready t’take on the world. Okay?”

  I grabbed another slice of pizza from the box. “Okay, but tomorrow—”

  “We will be kicking butt twenty hours from now, if not sooner. I just—” His attention became lost on the red liquid sloshing in the bottle he was swirling. “—I need a little bit more time t’figure out what I can and can’t do.” He gave me a sheepish glance. “You know, so I actually stand a chance at surviving and not being a burden t’you.”

  I placed my hand on his knee. “I won’t let them hurt you more than they already have.”

  A smile played across his lips, revealing the bottom of his little fangs.

  “Careful, slayer.” He placed his hand on top of mine. “It’s starting t’sound like y’care about me.”

  I never stopped.

  I swallowed the words before they could leave my mouth.

  “Besides, if anyone is going t’kill you, it will be me.” I slid my hand from under his and stood. “I’ve earned that right after more than forty-eight hours of having t’put up with your jokes.”

  Pizza in hand, I slipped off the stool.

  “As if you never laugh.”

  “Laughing at you, Than. Not with you.” I exited the kitchen and headed upstairs.

  *****

  ~ Nathan ~

  I slid the last book on the shelf and pressed my forehead against the old leather seams.

  “Boy, that was a lot of reading.”

  “There’s a lot of history between these creatures and Elle’s family.”

  “So, do you feel y’know everything there is t’know?”

  A vengeance pact that had been passed on for years, an entire family sacrificing their lives to keep complete strangers safe from creatures born of someone’s nightmare.

  “That sums it up.”

  Each member of her family had been raised from infancy to hate Vampires, and they all had very good reasons to, especially after the family stories. Not one mention of a decent Vampire. Did that mean there weren’t any? Would I eventually lose my humanity and turn into one of these horrible Leeches, take my place as yet another villain in her family story books?

  “I don’t think there’s an evil bone in your body, Than.”

  “Aww, Elle.” I pushed myself from the bookshelf and turned to the teen who was resting in the computer chair. I placed my hand on my silent chest. “I think that has to be the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me.”

  “Must be. It would explain why there’s a bit of sick in my mouth.”

  Elle was choosing to trust me—something that went against everything she had been taught to do. Everything that she believed.

  “You and she were getting quite cosy up there.”

  The feel of her warm skin under my fingertips … God, nothing had ever felt so good. And the way she smelled, like honey and milk. She was warm and real and the first human contact I’d had in six weeks.

  “She was cleaning blood off my face.”

  “Looked very intimate to me.”

  She had finally looked at me like she used to, like she knew me. It was such a relief.

  “Plus, you apologized for being such a shit-head.”

  It had been easier than I’d thought it would have been, admitting I had been close to losing my mind. Admitting that she had been the only thing that had kept me going.

  “You didn’t mention me, though.”

  “I think explaining that I was talking to an imaginary teen Elle may have steered the conversation off in a different direction.”

  “True. I doubted she would have gotten that close t’you if she knew you were fantasizing about little girls.”

  I moved past her. “Don’t say it like that.”

  “Like what?”

  “Creepy-like. It’s not like that.”

  “Oh, don’t get your knickers in a twist.”

  “If I’d had known what Elle looked like now, then I would have thought of you as an adult.”

  “Yeah, somehow, I think imagining adult Elle would have driven you crazier.”

  I didn’t want to admit she had a point. Fortunately, Elle didn’t have social media so it wasn’t like I could have even known from prior to my six weeks in Hell. I doubt I would have been able to do her justice anyway.

  “So, you do want t’kiss her?”

  Did I? Being so close to her. Being able to feel her breath on my face and the warmth of her skin …

  “Okay, okay. I get the picture.” She pushed off the seat. “Plus, I think if you told her that you imagined her keeping you company …”

  “It would sound just as bad.”

  “Yup.” She stopped next to me. “So, what now?”

  “Well, I apparently have super cool senses and strength and all the other things that make Vampires fairly cool. So, I guess I better get t’grips with my new talents.” I lay my hand flat against the red punch bag. “What d’you think? D’you think I will break it the first hit?”

  “I think you’re getting a head of yourself.”

  “I don’t want t’be taken again.”

  I couldn’t be. I knew I wouldn’t survive if I was. They would either kill me, or I would lose myself completely.

  “You can laugh all you want at that.”

  “I wouldn’t laugh at that.”

  “I don’t want t’make it easy for them, y’know.” I unzipped the hoodie and shrugged it off. “Plus, I don’t want t’stand there like a—”

  “Dickless Vampire?”

  “And leave Elle t’do all the fighting. They’ve made me a monster.” I threw the hoodie on the ground and turned back to the bag. “I want t’make them pay.”

  A wide smile broke across the teen’s face as she moved into my peripheral vision. “Well then, let’s make sure they know it was a mistake t’turn this Irish lad.”

  Chapter Eight

  ~ Danielle ~

  Saturday 17th October, 2015

&nbs
p; 2:11pm

  The scent of coffee and pizza assaulted me as I trudged down the stairs.

  “I can’t believe you let me sleep this long,” I stated while walking into the kitchen, stopping at the sight of Nathan standing at the breakfast bar, his left arm outstretched, a hot mug of coffee cradled in his grasp, the handle pointing to me.

  “You obviously needed it.”

  “Erm, thanks.” I accepted the mug off him and moved to the opposite side of the counter.

  “Besides, roughly two hours and the sun will have set, so we can be on our way. I remember how impatient you are, so it seemed easier t’just leave you be.”

  Well, I couldn’t fault him there.

  “What’s this?”

  Made up of sheets of white A4, the colourful print outs were stapled together to form a map of London.

  I looked at him quizzically. “You made a map?”

  “Say what you want, but it’s very difficult to see everything on a computer.” He placed his finger on a black dot he had drawn. “This is where The Sphinx is located.”

  Taking a swig of my coffee, I looked at the map following his index finger as he moved it to a red dot a little lower down.

  “This is roughly where Freddie and I were when we were attacked.”

  I didn’t miss the catch in his voice at the mention of his dead travel buddy. He hadn’t spoken much about his friend, and in all fairness, I hadn’t even asked about the guy.

  With guilt niggling at me and the understanding that Nathan and I were now on friendly terms once more, I decided it was only right to try and offer some comfort. “How long did you two know each other?”

  “Since I moved t’Switzerland. He was the first kid that spoke t’me at High School.” He folded his arms across his chest. “He was really interested in forensics. Loved learning about Jack the Ripper and other historical murders. The idiot liked t’read Sherlock Holmes.” He glanced at me. “He kinda reminded me of you.”

  My brow furrowed. “He did?”

  “Yeah, he wasn’t a normal kid.”

  “Gee, thanks.” I took another mouthful of coffee.

  “I mean, he was interesting. That stuff didn’t freak him out.” He laughed. “He was the reason we stopped off in London. He wanted to visit Whitechapel and do the Ripper tour and even booked us in to a cheap hostel near the Sherlock Holmes museum.”

  “He sounds … interesting.”

  “Yeah.” He placed his hands on the counter, his fingers curling around the edges. “He didn’t deserve to die.”

  I ducked my head to catch his gaze. “Neither of you deserved to.”

  “He sure as shit would have known what all the crap in that file would have meant.” He nodded to the manilla folder that sat to his right.

  “He an expert in Vampires and Werewolves, as well?”

  “No, but he was smart, y’know. Smarter than me. He would have had a better clue.”

  I reached across and squeezed his shoulder. “I know. It’s hard when everyone is smarter than you.”

  A grin curled the corner of his mouth. He angled a look at me. “Thanks.”

  “Happy t’help.” I dropped my arm and took another swig of coffee. “So, at a glance, the two locations aren’t far from one another.”

  He straightened and took hold of two pencils and an elastic band. “It’s roughly one-point-four miles between the two locations, which got me wondering if the Vampires kept things close t’home.”

  “They have the whole of London t’hunt in.”

  “Yeah, but think about it. All the Ripper murders were in Whitechapel. He had a hunting ground. Predators tend t’have an area they like t’hunt in, and you said this Luca guy was pretty important, so they definitely don’t want him t’stray too far from their crib?”

  “Nest.”

  He placed one pencil on the black dot and pulled the elastic band, placing the second pencil on the red dot. “So, with all that in mind, it would make sense that they hunt in an area where it’s easy for them to take their victims back with them and so forth.”

  I watched as he drew a perfect circle starting and ending on the red dot.

  “There’s more nightclubs in this area, for one, so more vulnerable drunk human.” He placed the pencils and band on the counter and pointed at the circle he had drawn. “So, would it make sense t’check this radius, especially because these two locations are so close together?”

  I stared at the map, the hot mug cradled in my hands. “Y’know, you’re smarter than y’think.”

  With only the knowledge that Heather had been directed to a nightclub, The Sphinx would have been our starting point, but with no hint of indication in which direction the Nest was, we would have been pretty stuck once we go there. Sure, the idea was to search the area and widen the search, but knowing that the spot where Nathan and Freddie had been taken was so close by suddenly made this task a little more hopeful.

  No such thing as coincidences.

  We could go in the wrong direction, or maybe the Nest had moved, or maybe the Vampires lived way on the other side of the city, but I couldn’t fault his logic. The Leeches stayed around Dublin when they followed my aunt and cousins over. Sure, they fanned out a little, wandered into town and such, but they were never too far from us. So, it would make sense they would hunt around their safe haven. Animals did it all the time.

  I suddenly felt dumb. It all seemed so obvious, but I was only ever following orders, my father telling me which areas to hunt or check.

  “Thanks,” he replied to my previous compliment.

  “Not Freddie smart, but—” I flinched as the band weakly hit my forehead.

  “I just figure it was a starting point. London is huge, and with only the note t’go off …”

  “This is-it’s great.” I raised my mug to him in a salute. “I think you might be on t’something.”

  He seemed genuinely pleased with himself, like a schoolboy who had answered a question correctly.

  “So, what’s the plan?”

  He moved over to the oven, opening the door and collecting the tray. The remaining three slices of Hawaiian pizza lay on the black metal, the cheese bubbling slightly. My stomach rumbled.

  “We patrol the area, and we find a Vampire, and then we get it t’take us to the Nest.”

  “That easy, huh?” He slid the pizza off the baking tray and onto a large plate which he put down in front of me.

  “They won’t willingly take us to the Nest. They will need some persuading.” I patted the blade on my hip.

  “So, let’s say they take us.” He placed the tray on top of the stove. “Then what? I imagine there’s going t’be more than a couple of Vampires in there.”

  “We sneak in and look for Heather. Kill any Vampires that attack us.”

  “That still doesn’t answer the part about there being a load of Vampires in there.”

  I placed my mug on the counter and picked up a slice of pizza, blowing across the surface. “They won’t all be in. They will be out hunting. We will be fine.”

  “Easy for you t’say. You’ve been doing this for years.”

  “And you have all their strength and speed. All you have t’do is react and defend yourself.” I took a bite of my pizza. “Besides, I heard you going t’town on the punch bag last night. So don’t tell me you don’t have a decent right hook.”

  A sheepish look crossed his face. “Yeah, we may need to replace it.”

  ***

  In theory, the radius idea had been great, but practically, it wasn’t working as well. We had spent hours looping the perimeter of Nathan’s pencil border, which happened to be the heart of central London. A place I had never been to, which was yet another slap in the face at how isolated my life had been. I lived like an hour or so away by plane, and I had never travelled to London before. It seemed crazy. Wasn’t that an unwritten must-do on the bucket list of anyone who lived in the UK or Ireland?

  Regardless of the fact, I didn’t have longer th
an a few seconds to take in the sight of Big Ben, Number 10, Downing Street, or even Buckingham Palace as I circled round and round the selected area, closing the circle until Nathan and I once again met across the road from the Sphinx.

  He looked deflated as we came to a halt. “Elle, we’ve be doing this for hours.”

  “We just need t’find a Vampire.”

  “It’s proving rather hard.”

  “They should find you easily.”

  He looked confused. “They should?”

  “You’re—” I gave him an apologetic smile. “—one of them. Or rather, you’re a different type of them, and you escaped them. If they get a whiff of you, they should take notice.”

  “You may have explained this as we left the house.”

  “I didn’t want you t’stress.”

  “Me, stress?”

  We had done the first sweep together, which had taken just under two hours. I had then suggested we split to cover more ground, which would have been far easier for him considering Vampires could be rather fast. That’s if he even knew how to be fast.

  Splitting up had made more sense, but after almost six hours, my hope was running dry.

  “I just don’t understand.” I glanced across at the nightclub Heather was last known to have visited. “Logistically, we should have at least come across one by now. This is London, for God’s sake. The UK Colony is apparently rather large, and there’s so many people out.”

  London nightlife had a pulse, and it was easy to see why the Vampires would have chosen to remain in the capital. The place was like a buffet with tons of quiet streets and dark alleyways and backroads. Perfect dining for a Leech.

  The fact that my father expected us to have any in Ireland was almost laughable. Who would pick a salad over a steak?

  “Maybe they’re all on a diet?”

  “Seriously? Jokes?”

  He shrugged. “What now?”

  “I just need a minute.” I walked to a nearby alley and leant against the wall at the mouth. Nathan mirrored me.

  “A penthouse,” he commented, looking up at the buildings around us. “That’s where I’d hide out.”