by Cat Thomson
She was silently screaming.
***
Katie accompanied James to his mausoleum coven. She recoiled at the sight of the bare stone slabs that the vampires called their beds, at the desolation of the place they called home. Daniel and Sarah understood immediately that James had made Katie a dhampir and they were intrigued by her, hovering around her as she forlornly took in her new surroundings.
"Leave her be," James implored them, and he pushed them playfully away and pulled Katie into his arms.
Just before dawn began to show signs of its placid, rose-tinted face on the horizon, James and Katie lay down together on a slab, and while they slept, the sun's frail spring rays gave sustenance to the earth and its human populace.
Katie had now formally become James's mate and, during those few minutes that she lay with him before succumbing to sleep, she felt buoyantly ecstatic with this knowledge, temporarily forgetting her human angst, her sorrow at abandoning Leopard and the sense of betrayal she had felt when Tom had seen the bite marks on her neck.
***
Location: London
Saturday, 16 May 2026
Sunrise: 05:07
Sunset: 20:47
It was early evening, and James had decided to start the night at Piccadilly Circus, hoping to find himself a visitor to London to entice. Katie's grip on his hand tightened as they stood within the dense crowds.
"What is it?" he asked.
She pointed. On the news channel on the massive LED screen above them, masses of people wearing only black streamed silently through a London street, resolute purpose written in their dark eyes.
The crowds gathered in Piccadilly Circus soon noticed the scene on the screen, and the frenzied sights and sounds of their surroundings ceased to captivate them as their attention became focused on the physical beauty and the self-assurance of the people who surreally marched towards them on the screen.
But it was a young man who soon appeared, walking at the centre of the swarm, the only one amongst them not wearing all-black, that most captured the attention of James and Katie.
"His hair isn't silver anymore, James," Katie whispered, for his hair was now streaked blue-green.
The young man's image on the display continued to move forwards, until his face became indistinct as it overwhelmed the entire surface of the screen, and as Katie watched, she read the words which flowed from right to left across the bottom of the screen:
"Conspiracy theorists are blaming vampires for the increasing number of deaths and disappearances worldwide. The government has condemned the backlash against anyone who looks vampirish and has stated that any perpetrators of revenge attacks will be severely punished."
***
Location: London
Monday, 18 May 2026
Sunrise: 05:04
Sunset: 20:50
"Gareth's just messaged me; he's in trouble," Tom said, looking up from his tablet. Something brushed against his leg and he jumped. "Oh, thank fuck; it's only you, Leopard!" Tom said as he bent to stroke Katie's cat.
Leopard had settled in well at the shelter and had become an adept hunter, keeping the rat population there under control.
"What do you mean about Gareth?" Ed asked.
"Turns out he was off his face, ranting about vampires in Russell Square Gardens early this morning. He was arrested for hate speech; he's in custody."
"How did he manage to get off his face and find his way to Russell Square between leaving here and heading off to work? Do you know if he mentioned us?"
"He says he doesn't have a clue what he said, he was that drunk, but apparently someone filmed some of his rant."
"Check to see if it's been uploaded," said Ed.
"Will do, but you know how it is these days; the government censors and removes anything connected with vampires as fast as it's published or uploaded."
"We'll need to keep an eye out for it, Tom; in case he's jeopardised us."
"Sure, but you know he wouldn't have meant to. He's been really stressed out over his sister. He'd been kidding himself that she hadn't been turned; told me yesterday that he had expected her to have shown up by now."
"I'm not judging him, Tom, but we can't afford to be exposed and we need to foresee any potential trouble that could come from anything he may've said. Now that he's been arrested, they might interrogate him; they've probably already worked out from what he said in the Gardens that he knows way more than the average person."
***
Location: London
Friday, 22 May 2026
Sunrise: 04:59
Sunset: 20:56
Whilst the vampires lay in deep slumber in their mausoleum, Jay mowed the public spaces in the cemetery. The pale early afternoon sun was a long way off from when it would begin to dim and the trees would cast long shadows across the gravestones.
Jay could sense the presence of the vampires. He always had, and he rarely went anywhere near the mausoleum they inhabited to do any gardening work if he could avoid it. But he was superstitious and so every now and then he left a few pennies at the mausoleum's door before he went home.
A gentle breeze stirred to life as he recalled with apprehension what had happened yesterday when he had mounted the mausoleum's wide steps.
"For your lost souls," he had said softly, respectfully, as he had bent to place his pennies on the top step.
A heavy uneasiness had gripped him, for he had distinctly heard a woman weeping inside the mausoleum. He had quickly walked away, taking long strides, his grey-tinged dreadlocks swinging each time he had turned to look cautiously behind him.
***
Location: London
Saturday, 23 May 2026
Sunrise: 04:58
Sunset: 20:58
Sarah, Daniel, James and Katie had just returned to their decaying cemetery. As a dhampir, Katie could see a fourth dimension now, and as she surveyed the night-world through her semi-vampiric eyes, she was overcome by the bewitching beauty of her surroundings - the trail of scattered light left behind by a bat in flight; the tree bark literally glowing with energy; and the intricate detail of the crater strewn half-moon in the clear night sky.
Katie climbed the mausoleum's steps, her foot kicking a penny from the top step when she reached it. The ping as the penny fell onto the step below rang out in the quiet of the night. James, Sarah and Daniel were on the path leading up to the mausoleum and they stopped where they were. Something was wrong.
Katie's heart began to beat wildly as her eyes penetrated the darkness surrounding her and the red glow of numerous vampire eyes - that had until now been concealed behind gravestones - met her gaze. Nikolas moved out from the shadows to lean against a cross-shaped gravestone. He cast his eyes down to examine the cross - it was tilted towards the ground, having long ago ceased to defy the law of gravity, and the epitaph on its surface was now nothing more than an illegible marking on the stone.
"This gravestone is really quite beautiful, isn't it, Katie? I wonder why it is that vampires never recoil at the sight of the stone crosses that mark the graves of the human dead in cemeteries, and yet we dread the crucifixes found in churches."
Nikolas looked up at Katie when he stopped speaking and held out an outstretched hand to her, beckoning her to come to him. She moved away from the mausoleum steps and crept behind James, wrapping her arms around him as she pressed herself tightly against his back, as though somehow this would protect her from Nikolas and the enemy vampire threat that had now gathered en masse before them.
"We've discussed this before, Nikolas," said James, "you're too late; she's mine."
Nikolas laughed, his large canines glinting. "James, we are not only here for Katie. We've come for all of you; it's high time you joined us. You're the only coven left in London that hasn't."
The vampires who had been standing behind Nikolas now came forward. There were twelve of them, and Katie drew a quick breath when she recognised the one that had been repelled by her grandmot
her's cross in her flat.
Nikolas's cohort strode swiftly forward and surrounded Katie, James and his coveners. James, Sarah and Daniel spun round, desperately seeking an opening in the vampire circle which now ensnared them, but found none.
"Please, don't attempt to struggle, for if you do, I will destroy you," Nikolas said as he moved from the gravestone he had been leaning against to the periphery of the circle. "You will be travelling to my coven in the back of a van and I will be following close behind with Michael in a car."
They all began to walk towards the cemetery's entrance gate and when they reached it, Nikolas took hold of the gate's metal bars and ripped it from its hinges, as though it were nothing more than a flimsy sheet of paper. They continued walking, down the deserted street, soon turning left into Warwick Road.
Large, bright lights suddenly came to life further down Warwick Road, and the unexpected onslaught of intense light caused the vampires to recoil as they covered their eyes with their hands.
"Don't move!" came a command through a loudspeaker.
The vampires scattered and ran off rapidly in all directions, every one of them except James. There had been a surge in police on foot patrolling busy areas like Oxford Street after the crucifixion incident in Russell Square, and as the vampire threat had worsened, the Met had increased the number of counter-terrorist firearms officers, and at night the streets now swarmed with armed response vehicles on patrol.
As Katie squinted through half-closed eyes, she could see armed officers fast approaching and behind them, several patrol vehicles were also moving towards them, slowly at first, but soon gaining speed.
James knelt on the tarmac. "Climb onto my back," he instructed Katie.
No sooner had she mounted his back than James began to run. Katie's face felt taught with the pressure of the wind whistling past them as they hurtled through countless streets at great speed; buildings, cars and trees appearing to Katie as though they were nothing more than streaks of light.
But they soon found themselves back in the same situation they had just escaped - another group of police vehicles lying in wait around a corner. James almost ran into one of the vehicles, but stopped just in time, his hands smacking loudly against the vehicle's cold metal exterior. The surrounding buildings echoed with his laughter as he turned and ran into another street, with Katie clinging onto him breathlessly. They could hear the vehicles come to life and begin to follow them, and also the sound of heavy footsteps on tarmac as police officers chased them, but James easily outpaced them all within mere seconds and slipped into a dark shop entrance where he and Katie hid in a tiny alcove. They remained where they were while James's keen senses read their surroundings and when he was certain that they were safe, they crept out from their hiding place.
"We'll have to go very cautiously from now on; they're everywhere tonight, even more so than usual," said James. "The sun will rise soon, Katie, but if we go back to your place Nikolas will pre-empt our move."
Katie could think of only one place where they would be safe from Nikolas, but she also knew the risk of taking James there would be high. James sensed the tension build up within her and understood before she had even spoken what was on her mind that was making her feel so anxious.
"I'll take you to the shelter, James," she said.
***
Tom exited the shelter shortly after sunrise; the weather report for today was good, and he wanted to take advantage and enjoy the first warm rays of the sun. But as he took his first steps along the pavement, he noticed someone sitting on the kerb nearby - a woman, hunched over taciturnly, her face hidden behind a mass of unkempt hair. He was hesitant as he approached her.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
Katie lifted her head up with effort and pointed towards the sky. "The sun; it hurts my skin," she mumbled.
The tepid sun had the power to burn Katie's dhampir skin even at this early hour and its rays felt sharp as they penetrated her eyes.
"Katie! I didn't recognise you," Tom said, taken aback by the pallor of her skin and the dishevelled state she was in.
"I'm not used to being up during the day, Tom. I'm so tired."
As Katie said this, she slumped forward again. She had fainted.
***
"She still has puncture wounds on her neck. And what about the vampire she's been hanging out with - will he come looking for her down here?" said Martin.
Katie was lying up on her old bunk bed and Leopard was walking up and down alongside her, sniffing at her body curiously, the hairs on the ridge of his back raised. She had been in a deep sleep, but the sound of voices next to her bunk had gradually brought her back to a state of wakefulness and she opened her eyes. Jonathan swiftly brought his crucifix up from his side and held it in front of her face. She groaned and shut her eyes again, then rolled on to her side so that she was no longer facing the curious group gathered at her bedside.
"Katie, turn around and look at us," Ed commanded.
"Let her be, she's tired," said Tom.
"She's been sleeping for hours," said Ed. "We need to know that we can trust her if she's going to stay here. It'll be nightfall soon. What then? Will she transform and attack us? Katie, turn around."
Katie reluctantly turned over and found herself face-to-face with the crucifix again. But she didn't avert her eyes from it and Jonathan lowered it.
"You still have bite marks," said Ed. "And they're clearly new."
Katie stared straight ahead, unresponsive.
"You can't stay here."
"Ed, don't be so harsh!" said Tom
"She isn't cooperating; she must have something to hide."
Katie looked at him. "I'm sorry, Ed. Ask me anything ; I'll answer all your questions."
"Why do you have those marks on your neck?"
"James does that to me, when we-." Katie lowered her eyes; she did not wish to divulge to them the intimate details of her liaisons with James.
Ed recalled the man they had watched enter her building after nightfall on the day that Tom had installed the hidden camera.
"James is a vampire, isn’t he? Tom said you were battling with exposure to the sun when he saw you this morning."
Katie began to feel threatened by Ed's questions, as though if she told him too much then his newfound knowledge would somehow work against her and James. She didn't answer him.
"You can't stay, Katie," said Ed. "We can't be sure that your being here right now isn't some kind of Trojan plot."
***
Sharon and Tom knew the rules - no wandering off beyond the designated areas - but tonight they were craving a moment of intimacy, out of sight of the others, and had ventured off on their own. They were sitting on the cold concrete floor on the shelter's desolate lower level, so engrossed in their heart-to-heart conversation, that neither noticed when two figures approached them furtively from afar; they were oblivious when the two figures reached them and stood close to Sharon.
Tom kissed Sharon while the two figures stood, waiting. As Tom pulled back and took a drag on his roll-up, he realised that he and Sharon were not alone. He got up slowly and began to retreat, warily, his eyes never moving from one of the two figures standing just beyond Sharon. She turned to see what had startled Tom.
"Hello, Sharon," said Katie.
But it wasn't Katie who had caused such fear in Tom; it was the vampire who stood alongside her that had. Sharon screamed, but remained where she was, too stricken with terror to move. It wasn't long before several humans came running down the tunnel. When they saw the reason for the furore, terror rose up within them too. None of them had brought crucifixes with them or anything else that might protect them from a vampire.
"Why did you bring him here, Katie? And how did you get the door codes?" Ed shouted.
"I watched Tom key them in this morning, before he carried me down," said Katie.
Jonathan, Mark and Alex ran back in the direction they had all come.
"But you had lo
st consciousness. Or was that just a ploy?"
"No, Ed, it wasn't - I came to in the shade at the shelter entrance, but only for a short while."
"It's true and I'm sorry," said Tom. "She did open her eyes for a second or two, but I thought nothing of it; she seemed too sickly and weak to be aware of her surroundings. I should have been more careful and I should have said something. I had no idea she had watched me enter the door codes."
"James wants to talk to you," Katie said. "Please listen! He won't harm you; he no longer kills humans."
"No doubt that's what he tells you, Katie, and you're foolish enough to believe him," said Ed.
Jonathan, Mark and Alex could be seen in the distance, making their way back down the tunnel, carrying crucifixes and bottled holy water.
James fell to the ground at the sight of the crucifixes. "Get those things away from me," he hissed.
"No! If you destroy him, I will die," Katie screamed when she realised what was about to happen, and she moved to cover James's body with her own.
Ed looked contemptuously at her. "Of course you will," he said.
"It's true; I've made her a dhampir. She can't live unless she's sustained by me." James battled to speak as the power of the holy paraphernalia increasingly overwhelmed him as the three men advanced down the tunnel.
"What the hell did you do that for?" said Ed.
"It was the only way I could stop Nikolas from making her a vampire."
At the mention of Nikolas, Ed's resolute contempt for James wavered. "Why would you find it so important to stop Nikolas from making Katie a vampire? Surely it makes no difference which one of you turns a human?"
"Because she is my mate," James whispered hoarsely.