Dance Until Dawn

by Berni Stevens

  ‘Am I so repulsive that you would deny me something so innocent?’ He put his fingertips gently to my jaw, and made me face him.

  He was really, disturbingly close.

  His eyes reflected the moonlight, yet glowed with intelligence and humour.

  ‘You are so very beautiful.’ He murmured almost to himself, his hand now cradling my face.

  I felt as if I could drown in his eyes, and involuntarily tensed in anticipation of his kiss. He kept his hand on my face, and leaned in closer, until his lips found mine in a gentle, almost chaste kiss. His lips were like velvet, yet I felt the burn of his touch run through my whole body like an electric shock. Disturbingly, his kiss felt really familiar, almost as though we had been together for years. Fear of the unknown flooded me, and when he drew back to look at me I scooted away from him at once.

  ‘Was that so bad?’ he asked dryly.

  I looked at him without speaking, and he laughed aloud as he settled back against the tomb again. He lit a cigarette and blew smoke upwards, still smiling to himself. ‘What am I going to do with you?’

  ‘Is that a rhetorical question?’

  ‘Perhaps.’

  We sat in silence for a while. Will looked completely relaxed as he happily smoked his cigarette, while I sat nervously at his side, not knowing what to say or do. I felt like a virgin on her first grown-up date. I didn’t trust him. I wasn’t even sure I liked him. But he certainly possessed a magnetism that drew me to him like the proverbial moth to a flame. How very aggravating.

  He finished his cigarette, stood up abruptly, and looked down at me with an unfathomable expression.

  ‘Shall we go?’ He offered me a hand.

  After a moment’s hesitation, I took it, and he pulled me to my feet.

  ‘As you are clearly not going succumb to my advances, we may as well go home.’ He raised his eyebrows hopefully. ‘Unless you are going to succumb?’

  ‘Home.’ I said firmly.

  ‘So heartless, Elinor. Cruel and utterly heartless.’

  After leaving the cemetery safely locked behind us, we walked in silence towards Will’s road. Several times during the walk the burning sensation in my stomach made itself known and I rubbed it surreptitiously, or so I thought. Will put his hand on my arm. ‘Are you in pain?’

  ‘A little.’ I always put all pain down to the Thirst, and so I hadn’t mentioned anything to Will.

  When we reached the front gates, Will swiftly keyed in the combination and they swung open. Once they were secure behind us, he gripped my arms and turned me to face him.

  ‘Describe the pain.’

  ‘Burning. Sharp, it’s only the Thirst again.’

  ‘No. It is not.’

  Without another word, he lifted me in his arms, and somehow managed to unlock the front door whilst carrying me. He strode across the hall, down the stairs to his bedroom, and dumped me on his bed.

  ‘Point to where the pain is,’ he said tersely.

  Obediently I pointed in the general direction of my belly button and he frowned.

  Without any further conversation, he took my coat off and threw it to the floor, then went to remove my skirt.

  ‘Hey,’ I said. ‘What the hell are you doing?’

  ‘Elinor, just this once, please be quiet.’

  Then my skirt, boots and tights were off too, leaving me in my jumper and underwear and lying flat on my back on Will’s bed. Marvellous. I went to sit up but he prodded me in the chest and forced me back down.

  ‘Keep still.’ His gaze travelled up my legs to my belly. ‘Oh merda!’ He spat out the words.

  ‘What?’

  ‘Your belly has been pierced with silver.’

  ‘I know that. I was there.’

  ‘We cannot wear silver,’ he said. ‘This thing will have to come out. Have you been suffering like this all the time? Why the hell have you not told me before?’

  ‘Well we weren’t exactly having friendly conversations before, and I’ve had a couple of other things on my mind since.’ I ground out through gritted teeth. ‘It’s burning.’

  Will looked grim. ‘Yes, it would. Stay still.’

  He went into the bathroom, returning with a dry face flannel.

  ‘This is going to hurt. Do you want me to knock you out?’

  ‘Don’t you bloody dare,’ I said, still through clenched teeth.

  He peered down at me and smiled briefly. ‘Then at the risk of sounding like an old Hammer horror film, look into my eyes.’

  I gave a rather hysterical snort in spite of the pain, and he put the flannel in my mouth.

  ‘Bite that,’ he said. ‘It will be preferable to your tongue.’

  I wondered whether it was just his way of keeping me quiet, but obediently bit into it anyway, and then stared into his eyes. I watched the different shades of green glint and sparkle, like deep pools of emerald fire, so perfect to submerge in. He was fiddling with the clasp to the bolt, and the pain seared through my stomach again. My teeth sank further into the flannel, and I felt relieved it wasn’t my tongue. I clenched my fists and tried to just concentrate on his eyes. His handsome face looked stern as he freed the bolt part of the rod.

  The burning sensation grew stronger, making me arch my back.

  ‘I am going to pull it out now.’

  As he pulled, the pain caused me to scream in agony, but luckily my screams were muffled by the flannel. Then, at last it was over, and Will removed the flannel from my mouth. My hair stuck to my head in damp tendrils, and he moved it out of my eyes with gentle fingers – fingers that were burnt from gripping silver. Tears streaked down my face and he brushed them away.

  He sat on the edge of the bed. ‘It is gone Elinor. Everything is all right now.’

  Everything was so bloody far from being all right, I couldn’t think of a suitable comment other than: ‘Thanks.’

  ‘Pleasure.’ The word was said with some irony. ‘So, who the hell got you ready for burial?’

  ‘How should I know? I was dead.’

  I hugged my arms around my semi-naked lower body, feeling suddenly vulnerable. Strangely, Will didn’t press his advantage, he merely pulled the duvet up to cover me. ‘Dawn is close, you had better rest here.’

  ‘I don’t think so,’ I struggled to sit up.

  He stood up, putting his hands on his hips. ‘Relax, Elinor, please. Your honour will remain intact,’ he flashed me a wicked grin. ‘Until you no longer wish it to remain intact, that is. I shall be resting in the dressing room should you need me.’

  I could feel the dawn pressing inside my head. My body was already feeling so leaden and heavy, and I knew I should protest more … I did try to protest more … but I felt too strange and tired. That bed felt like sheer luxury after the narrow bed in the damp cellar.

  I closed my eyes, trying to relax as Will had taught me, and tried not to fight the oncoming dawn.

  I think I felt his lips brush my forehead gently, and then my body became useless as the sleeping death took me again for the daylight hours.

  17 February

  I enjoyed our walk together as we took in the solitude of the cemetery. I have taken many walks there, but always alone. What a difference a companion makes. I wanted to hold her, and kiss her until she begged for mercy, but I have frightened Elinor enough tonight to last a decade.

  How I love to watch the moon’s silver rays touch her delicate features, seeing how they play in her wonderful hair and light up her beautiful eyes. I could watch her forever. No doubt she would think me truly insane if I said as much to her.

  I think the romance is sorely missing in this century, people are cynical, marriages do not last, and monogamy seems a thing of the past. What chance will there be for a relationship that I want to last for eternity?
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  Although I felt sympathy for her pain with the strange silver decoration in her stomach, I cannot help but be joyful that she is now asleep in my bed.

  At last.

  I have no doubt she will be angry when she wakes at sunset. I wonder whether she will even believe that I slept in the dressing room.

  Still, I always knew she would be a challenge, and I am man enough to look forward to that.

  Chapter Eleven

  Thoughts

  When the first breath of night woke me, I soon realised where I was, but that didn’t reassure me in any way. As usual, my thoughts were a little jumbled at first, but I knew beyond any doubt I was in Will’s bed. The fact I’d woken there at all disturbed me; the fact that I couldn’t remember why or even how I came to be there filled me with horror. I looked up at the dark blue canopy of the four poster, and then, in a moment of abject panic, looked to my right in case Will still slept there, but thankfully there was no sign of him. The other half of the bed still looked pristine, and the pillow hadn’t been marred by an indent of a dark head. I turned to look around the other side of me. The man in question sat in a chair by the bed, mercifully fully dressed in black jeans and a dark blue long-sleeved sweatshirt. He looked cool, calm, and good enough to eat – and I didn’t even like him. Much. He was reading a copy of the Ham & High, which, to the uninitiated, is the Hampstead and Highgate Express, the local paper for people privileged enough to live in this exclusive area. He glanced up the moment I looked at him.

  ‘Good evening Elinor,’ he said. ‘How are you feeling?’

  ‘What the hell am I doing here?’ I asked without preamble.

  He made a wry face. ‘Somehow I knew that would be your first question.’

  ‘So what’s the answer?’

  He folded his arms behind his head and leaned back in the chair. ‘You do not remember?’

  ‘If I remembered I wouldn’t be asking.’

  ‘Good point,’ he agreed. ‘You had a problem with a silver bolt through your belly and I had to remove it. You were in agony.’

  Ah. I immediately wanted to look under the duvet to see whether I was naked, but my pride wouldn’t let me.

  ‘I had to remove your skirt, and, yes, you were awake at the time,’ he said helpfully, ‘and, yes, all your other clothes are still in place. Untouched by vampire hand.’ He held up both hands, palms out, and wriggled long fingers at me.

  I narrowed my eyes at him, not altogether sure whether he was teasing.

  He gave me a patient, almost condescending look. ‘You tend to keel over just before dawn, wherever you are. You had been in considerable pain, and I decided to leave you where you were – with, I hasten to add, no ulterior motive.’ He smiled.

  I favoured him with a contemptuous snort.

  ‘Nothing happened,’ he continued. ‘Nothing intimate will ever happen without your consent. When will you learn to trust me?’

  ‘After yesterday? Probably never.’

  ‘How unfortunate.’

  ‘So there was no more pouncing of any kind?’

  ‘Call me old-fashioned, but I always think it more fun to have a reciprocating partner.’

  ‘So all your previous pouncing was—?’

  He sighed. ‘A grave mistake on my part, for which, I have apologised. At least twice.’

  I gave him a withering look and his lips twitched. ‘I meant what I said the other night, Elinor.’

  ‘To which particular bit of poetic nonsense are you referring?’

  ‘I truly want you to feel safe with me.’

  Safe? What a joke. The only time I felt safe was when I was unconscious and that was only because I couldn’t feel anything at all. I surreptitiously checked under the duvet to make sure I still wore my jumper before I sat up.

  Will gave a knowing smile. ‘Now that you are awake, I shall go and get you some nourishment.’

  ‘Room service now, huh?’

  He gave a slight nod and left the room. I waited until the door closed behind him and then slid out of bed to retrieve his newspaper. It seemed an age since I’d looked at any news, and although this would be mainly local news, at least it would give me some insight to the outside world. I scrambled back into bed and glanced at the headline. Oh. It wasn’t going to help. The large newsprint virtually screamed out at me.

  BODY FOUND IN WATERLOW PARK IDENTIFIED.

  I read on. Apparently, the murdered girl had been a barmaid called Angie Wilson, and she had been on her way home from work. What she’d been thinking of walking alone in the park at night, I had no idea. Still, no one deserves to be drained of blood and left in the park like a piece of discarded rubbish. Will came back in at that point, carrying the inevitable mug of ‘nourishment’. He frowned when he saw me reading the paper.

  ‘You do not need to read that.’

  ‘What am I? Twelve?’ I retorted. ‘It sort of concerns me, so I think I should be allowed to read it.’

  He handed me the mug. ‘Always the feisty one,’ he murmured. ‘Be my guest.’

  I sipped at the mug’s revolting contents, trying to forget what I was actually drinking. I wondered why the blood was warm, when I knew for a fact that Will had said he wouldn’t be bringing any more ‘donors’ back for a while. I gave him a look of surprise.

  ‘Microwave,’ he said.

  ‘What?’

  ‘You were wondering how I managed to get the blood to body temperature,’ he said. ‘I may not have reason to cook but I am adept at using a microwave.’

  I spluttered into the mug. Against all the odds I had found something amusing. Who’d have thought?

  Will grinned. A real, natural, knock ’em-dead grin. When he wasn’t being scary Mr Spooky or trying to be the big seducer, he really was quite something.

  ‘It is a great relief to me that you are rediscovering your sense of humour,’ he said.

  ‘Don’t push it,’ I said.

  ‘I think we should go out tonight,’ he changed the subject with his usual swiftness. ‘But clearly you need to get dressed first.’

  ‘Clearly,’ I agreed, ‘and I’d like a shower.’

  Will made an expansive gesture with his hands, ‘La mia casa e la tua casa,’ he said.

  Sounded Italian to me, and very sexy when he said it.

  ‘Well, I got house.’

  ‘My house is your house.’

  ‘Somehow it sounded better in Italian.’

  ‘The language of lovers,’ Will smiled.

  ‘Give it a rest, Mr Spooky.’ I pulled a face at him. ‘Can you just be somewhere else for half an hour so I can get that shower?’

  ‘Of course,’ he said. ‘I shall be in the drawing room and honoured if you would join me when you are ready.’

  ‘Definitely far too much time with Byron,’ I muttered as he left the room.

  18 February

  I write this entry whilst I wait for Elinor. I know she will not be too long, so I must be swift.

  The arrival of the Italian vampires has not come at a good time, if indeed there ever could be a good time for such a thing. I cannot – dare not – leave Elinor alone for a second, however, I do need to show myself at the club soon. I need to be visible around town, in order to convince the enemy that I am a force to be reckoned with. I may have to take her with me, which is a worrying prospect. Perhaps I should instead leave her in the house guarded by Luke, but I am reluctant to let her out of my sight. I need to make a decision soon.

  I had planned to take Elinor to Camden tonight, but perhaps we should stay closer to home.

  I need to think.

  Chapter Twelve

  Camden

  Several nights after the belly bar incident, I was still spending my days in Will’s bed, and still without him too, which had bee
n my choice. He seemed preoccupied and more than a little distant. Part of me felt relief at the distance, but a niggling part of me missed our verbal wrangles.

  Nothing had been seen or heard of the intruders and there had been no more murders. I hoped they’d gone back to Italy, but that was almost certainly wishful thinking.

  On this particular night I sat up, clutched the duvet to me, and waited for my senses to catch up with my body. Will lounged at the end of the bed, wearing only a pair of snug-fitting black jeans, his long legs stretched out in front of him, crossed at the ankles, his bare feet relaxed. His dark hair looked damp and smelt newly washed. His torso gleamed like living marble in the soft lighting and he looked like an erotic dream – or would that be nightmare? He rested his back against one of the carved bed posts as he wrote busily in a leather bound book.

  He stopped writing as I sat up, and smiled at me, his eyes shining. ‘Are you hungry?’

  I shrugged. ‘I suppose so.’ I never seemed able to muster up any enthusiasm for obligatory vampire food. God, if only I’d been a vampire when I was a dancer, I’d never have had any weight issues at all.

  Will swung his legs off the bed and stood up, treating me to the full glory of his muscled upper body, so pale in stark contrast to his black jeans.

  ‘Then I shall go and perform my nightly magic with the microwave,’ he said, picking up his book and pen, and moving toward the door. I didn’t answer. He knew my revulsion for blood hadn’t gone away and he also knew how difficult it was for me to force some down each night. Thankfully the pain of the Thirst seemed to have abated with the regular feeding, and Will had said that there might be a possibility I would only need to feed three or four times a week. Apparently not all vampires need to feed every night, and those who do so are either motivated by greed, or are just new and filled with blood-lust. I am still one of life’s mysteries it seems. Or death’s mysteries … whatever.

  Will came back in the room carrying a china mug and handed it to me. ‘Drink without looking,’ he advised. I sighed and drank the foul contents whilst watching him take a long-sleeved black sweatshirt from a drawer. He pulled it on, covering his tempting body. Turning to look at me, he said, ‘I thought we might go to Camden tonight.’