Dalia and Abe understood only too well. Lia's demand was the answer to all the questions, that they dared not ask about the vampire's interest in the missing girl. It was obvious that this beautiful, undead girl had fallen in love with the human boy. They had seen the news that morning, after taking their son to school, so they knew about the Patterson boy's arrest. Lia left the room and waited in the shop while Dalia got dressed. There was no concern about getting the money together, and Dalia was happy to post bail for Jay, because she trusted Lia enough and knew that there was no risk to them losing it. Cora had given Lia, at her request, the name and address of Jay's attorney. She in turn, gave Dalia the same information. Dalia went to see him immediately, and he made all the arrangements and Jay was released from custody. As soon as he went home to his mother's house he called Lia.
"Lia it's me Jay, I'm out" he said, he sounded relieved and he just wanted to hear her voice.
"Jay, oh Jay are you alright? I miss you so much" said Lia her voice was full of emotion.
"I'm okay Lia and I know I have only got you to thank for that. How did you manage to get the bail money?"
Lia was fast on her feet, and the lie easily slipped from her tongue. "Oh that? well the woman who posted the bail is a friend of my parents and she is sort of looking out for me while they're away."
"But Lia to post one million dollars for someone she doesn't even know, that's really something else."
"Oh it's not her money Jay, no it's daddy's and if I say you're innocent he'll say that too."
"Oh well please tell him thank you from me and he'll get his money back I won't let you down.''
''I know that baby'' answered Lia gently. She wished that she could take him in her arms and love and protect him.
''My mom's very impressed, she thinks that I got myself a rich girl!'' They both laughed and Jay could feel his mood lift a little.
''Jay I need to go away for a while, I won't be gone more than a day'' Lia told him apologetically. She felt that she was deserting him in his hour of need.
''Where are you going?'' Jay sounded panicky. He needed her more than ever now.
''Oh nowhere really Jay, I've just got to do a little errand for daddy, in New Hampshire, I couldn't refuse him after he's what he's just done for us'' Lia lied again.
''Well come back as soon as you can. I'll come and pick you up from your house and take you to meet my mom.''
''Oh yes okay I'd love that, I call you when I get back. I love you Jay.''
''I love you too Lia.''
Cora prepared vegetable soup and a buttered bread roll for Jay, and sat with him at the kitchen table while he ate. They chatted about the incriminating shoe that had led to him being arrested. It was clear that Cora was very worried, she felt that she was living in her worst nightmare. The gratitude that she felt for her son's release was nothing short of immense. Lia must be a very special girl, she had really gone out on a limb for Jay. There was one thing that was puzzling Cora though.
"Jay the police came and arrested you in the middle of the night didn't they?'' she asked.
Jay nodded, he really didn't want to go into it. "Yeah why?''
''Then why did you tell me to call and tell Lia about it after I spoke to an attorney?''
With all the recent events, Jay had forgotten that he had woken up and found that Lia's side of the bed was empty. He pretended to be chewing a piece of bread before he answered, because he didn't want to tell his mother that he had found her gone.
''Oh yeah, one if her friend's who lives in Westport got dumped or something so Lia stayed the night with her.''
Cora accepted this without any further questioning, but Jay was left wondering why Lia was out of the house in the middle of the night. He made a mental note to ask her. The mother and son talked a little more about the case that was being made against him. Jay's attorney had assured them both, that the prosecution council were going to have to prove beyond all reasonable doubt that he had actually committed a crime. He added that the finding of the shoe was unfortunate, but it was flimsy evidence and proved nothing. Cora had told him all about Amberlee's behaviour towards Tom Harrison. And the attorney noted down her history of unrequited love with great interest, and said that this would be useful for the defence if it came to court. He asked if it were possible that she had planted the shoe in the back garden herself. Cora said no she had been outside many times and she would have seen it. The shoe had only been put there recently. And when Cora asked if the police had questioned the taxi drivers in the area, to see if they had taken her to the airport, she was told that they had but no one had seen her. The truth, unbeknown to all concerned, was that Amberlee had used a taxi that night, but it was driven by a foreigner who couldn't speak a lot of English. His lack of understanding meant that he couldn't have helped, even if he'd wanted to. She had absconded, and Jay was obviously being set up because according to his attorney someone made an anonymous call to the cops, to tell them about the shoe. The question is, was it someone who was helping Amberlee frame Jay, or was it Amberlee's killer?
The vampire did not need to take a plane to get to Philadelphia. She flew to the State, in her own unique way, and she was really looking forward to meeting Amberlee. The missing teen had been very good company for her father, he was really happy to have her home. Amberlee was not much of a cook, but he didn't mind that because he loved to cook for her. Herb was not concerned about the fact that Amberlee hadn't made any plans, about what she was going to do with her time. He was glad that she hadn't bothered to contact her mother, he didn't want to lose his little princess again.
Herb had gone to bed after his night shift, and Amberlee stood outside the door of his bedroom to make sure that she could hear his soft snoring. Then she phoned Tori.
''Hello?'' The reluctant voice that answered the call belonged to Tori. Amberlee smiled to herself, she could tell by her miserable tone that she had done what she'd been told.
''How did it go then?'' she said eagerly, she was ready to absorb all the gory details.
''I did it, I did what you said okay?'' Tori wanted to hang up and never speak to her again.
''Well what happened did the cops find my shoe, is Jay in prison, or what?'' Amberlee was losing patience now, she had expected more enthusiasm from Tori, especially with her track record of reckless behaviour.
''Yes, yes they found it and yes Jay was arrested, it's all on the internet Amberlee, you can read about it there. I don't want to talk about it, I never wanted to be in....''
''Well you're gonna talk about it Tori, you have no choice, and planting the shoe is nothing compared to what you did to that woman.'' Her words cut into Tori like an assassin's blade. She suddenly felt dizzy, and wondered if her parents would notice if she helped herself to a couple of slugs of vodka. She needed to forget Amberlee Robinson, she desperately wanted to blot the memory of the girl right out of her mind. Getting hammered had become more difficult lately. Her parents were suspicious, and she found that she needed to drink much larger amounts than she did previously. Tori knew that her body was becoming accustomed to her drinking, but she didn't want to stop, she couldn't. Amberlee ignored her silence, she assumed that Tori was accepting that she held all the cards, and where they both stood
Amberlee felt on top of the world now that she knew that Jay had been arrested. She conveniently forgot that she was now living in poorer neighbourhood compared to her home in Portland, and told Tori that bail for a suspect like him would be very high, and judging by the teeny weeny house that they live in, his mother would never be able to afford it. It was only then that the enormity of the situation hit Tori Martin like a runaway train. She tried to reason with Amberlee, and begged her to come back to Maine.
''Amberlee this is getting really out of hand. Jay is in a lot of trouble and he hasn't really done anything wrong, please let's just stop this now.''
''He dumped me!'' screamed Amberlee passionately, then she remembered that her father was asleep and lowered her voice. ''H
e dumped me for that other girl, in front of the whole college. I saw them, together, kissing, as if, as if I didn't matter, as if I didn't even exist.''
''I know Amber, but these things happen, people get dumped all the time. Jay was a total ass that night, I'm not denying that, but he doesn't deserve this, he doesn't deserve to go to jail.''
Tori's words only served to pour more fat onto Amberlee's already raging fire.
''Listen to me Tori Martin'' she said venomously, ''If you say anything to anyone about this, I will make sure that everyone knows that you are a drunk and you drove your mother's car into Samantha Bradshaw, and left her for dead like a dog in the road. So what's it to be your freedom or Jay's?''
''Oh please don't tell anyone, please, I promise I won't tell I....''
Tired of Tori's whimpering, Amberlee hung up the telephone and went straight to the computer to Google Jay Patterson. Her heart slightly fluttered at the sight of his picture, as it appeared on the screen. He was extremely good-looking, and as she looked at his beautiful dark eyes she wished that things would have turned out differently. She felt herself harden again, when she remembered how his lips had been pressed passionately against those of that other girl's. Then she read the article below, regarding his arrest. Amberlee was shocked and angry to discover that Jay was no longer in police custody, because he got bail. She saw that she was right about the large amount of money, that was required for his release from the cold and lonely prison cell, that she had imagined was going to be his resting place for a while. Amberlee wondered who on earth did he know who had that sort of money, one million dollars to post bail for him. Then she remembered again the beautiful, wealthy looking girl, that he had dumped her for, on the night of the college dance.
Lia decided to go to Horrocks street in a traditional human way. She made sure that there was no one around to see her descend from the sky. She landed in some wasteland quite near to the airport, and then she walked in the direction, where she could see that there was activity. Lia soon found a taxi rank, and its small queue of people enabled her to get her ride quite quickly. The kindly taxi driver had velvety dark skin and smiling, brown eyes. He jumped out of his car, and asked Lia if she had any luggage. When she said no he opened the back door of the car for her, and she climbed inside. Lia was getting used to the ways human travel in the 21st century. She had only ever travelled by coach and horses, a couple of times with her family. Vampires preferred their own quick and supernatural way of getting from one place to another, but there was no hurry today because Lia intended to wait until the sky was consumed with darkness, before she did what she had come to Philadelphia to do. The taxi driver chatted amiably to her. He thought that she was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen, and he asked if she was from Europe. Lia told him truthfully that her mother had been from the United Kingdom, and her parents now lived in Maine. She also told him that she was visiting an old friend, and it was going to be a surprise, because her friend did not know that she was coming. The taxi driver remarked that her friend was very lucky to be getting such a lovely surprise. When he dropped her off at the modest little street where Amberlee was now living, she paid him his fare, with a huge tip, and waved him goodbye as he drove away. Lia saw that the Clayton house was right in front of her now, but instead of going and knocking at the door, she hid herself behind a nearby wooden fence. Her whole body was concealed, no one would ever know that she was there. The vampire knew that the first thing that she must do is gain entry inside the house. The difficulty was that she could not do that without invitation. She would just have to wait, and be patient until an opportunity revealed itself, for her to take full advantage of. For Lia an opportunity always revealed itself. As she sat and waited, Lia thought about how good it would be if she could just kill Amberlee Robinson. However, she knew that this would spell too much trouble for Jay, he had already had his life turned upside down. Lia love for Jay was becoming stronger by the second, and she had no regrets about leaving her family frozen in time, or killing Elena Hudson. It had all been necessary for her to get what she wanted, and she had succeeded. Abe and Dalia Jackson had been the perfect find, they would be able to do whatever she wanted when she wanted it. Lia had purposely instilled fear into the middle-aged couple, by using stony facial expressions and a certain tone in her voice. Her father had often said that human beings could be wilful, and that a vampire always needed to let them know who was the more powerful. He had said that they had found so many ways to wreak havoc on each other, and they needed to be treated with a firm hand. Valentin believed that they had their own unique power, but they were ignorant of how to use it. However, there were some individual members of the human race who were becoming aware that if they purely focused their thoughts on something they desired, it would come into existence. For this reason he had often told his daughters never to underestimate them. Judging by her recent actions to get Jay imprisoned, Amberlee Robinson was treacherous. Lia knew that the vulgar looking girl would turn over every stone that she could find, in order to engineer the downfall of the boy she had wanted so much. The girl may not have physical fangs, but her metaphorical white pointed teeth were lethal and deadly. The vampire knew that she would really have to strong arm the girl into doing what she wanted. That was not going to be a problem, but Lia knew that she must keep her teeth from Amberlee's view. The suspicion that had fallen on Jay was the only thing that was keeping her alive, and if she were to discover Lia's secret vampire status, there would be nothing to stop her from telling the whole world. Amberlee Robinson's life had been spared by default, Lia was not going to kill her.
It was finally getting dark, and Lia had been hiding behind the fence for a few hours, mulling over her thoughts. The Philadelphian weather being much warmer than she had ever been accustomed too, did not bother her at all. Nevertheless she did prefer the chillier climate of Maine. Lia suddenly heard a sound, coming from the direction of the house that she had under surveillance. The front door opened and a middle aged man, who was losing his hair, stepped out. Dalia had told her that the missing girl was living with her father, and the description she gave was identical to the man she now saw. Lia walked from behind the fence. This was her chance to gain entry into the house. It would have to be under false pretences, but she had already hatched out a plan. Herb didn't see her as he strolled to his car. He was in a happy mood and was whistling, it had been many long years since he had felt so contented. He walked to his , and put his hands in his pockets and searched around in them for his car keys. When Herb realised that he left them in the house, he shook his head slightly in silent self scolding, and went back up the front path to get them. When Lia saw him re-enter his house, she felt that her plan couldn't go better. Herb needed to get away quickly. He would not ask to many questions, when a young girl who he had never seen before turned knocked on his front door and said that she was a friend of his daughter. Lia did exactly that. Having found his car keys Herb was on his way out again, when he heard her knock on the door. He opened it and was very surprised to see a stunningly beautiful young girl there in front of him. Herb had never seen anyone quite like Lia before, he momentarily thought that she wasn't real. But then she spoke.
"Hello Mr Clayton'' she said with a sweet and polite voice.
''Hello do we know each other?'' Herb, suddenly remembering his rapid advance into middle age, pulled in his stomach, and ran his right hand through what was left of his hair.
''No, we haven't met, I'm a friend of Amberlee's we met a couple of days ago.''
Herb felt a little put out. Amberlee hadn't mentioned that she had made a new friend, and anyway how could she when she hadn't been out of the house?
''Well that's strange'' he said ''Amber never mentioned it. She hasn't been out of the house since she got here to my knowledge.''
Lia knew that she had to think fast. ''Oh I saw her in the back garden, I'm visiting my aunt who lives two doors away.''
Herb looked very surprised indeed. ''You're
Erica's niece, really?''
Lia doesn't deny it. ''Yes, yes that's right aunt Erica is my mother's sister.''
In Herb Clayton's opinion Lia had taken the very best of the family gene pool, he couldn't imagine that aunt Erica could have ever looked anything like the pretty little thing that stood before him.
''I'm goin to work so you girls will have the house to yourselves, have fun now and give my regards to your aunt.'' When Lia walked into the house he had got into his truck and driven to work. The coast was clear.
The vampire went quietly into the small living room. It was quite shabby, and looked liked it needed a feminine touch to bring about a cosy welcoming atmosphere. The red carpet was worn, and the fabric on the three seater sofa had faded with time. Lia noticed a photograph of a baby girl, who she took to be Amberlee. It had been the only photo that Alexis had let her father keep, when she had cruelly taken her away from him. Lia could hear Amberlee in the shower, she was singing and totally unaware of the presence of a vampire in her house. When she heard the water stop running, Lia listened for Amberlee's footsteps padding to her bedroom. She then heard the sound of a hairdryer, as Amberlee dried her wet , thick hair. Lia was now very used to the strange gadgets of this modern world, the sound of the dryer did not confuse her at all. Then all went quiet and she heard the click of a lamp being switched off, as Amberlee climbed into her bed. Lia wanted the girl to feel as vulnerable as possible. She was after all her rival in love, and they were now going to meet without, Lia showing who and what she truly was. Amberlee might not feel so threatened, when she saw that Lia was only another teenage girl. So she waited for about two hours so that she would be fast asleep when the vampire finally went into her room.
The strong, cold chill that enveloped the air in her bedroom, was more than enough to shake Amberlee out of her slumber. She found herself face to face in the dark, with an extraordinary looking young girl. At first she thought that she was in the middle of a very strange dream, but then it suddenly dawned on her that this was the girl who had played a huge part in her humiliation, back in Portland.
Night Feast Page 14