Language in the Blood

by Angela Lockwood

  Chapter 31: Baz

  Carl-Heinz invited me to stay with him for a few days more as he wanted to show me the city. It was winter and he absolutely wanted me to see the Pergamon museum with its archaeological treasures. As soon as night fell we headed over to Berlin’s Museum Island and got in before last admissions. It was impressive, with its large reconstructions of ancient buildings.

  ‘It is one of my hobbies, archaeology,’ Carl-Heinz explained. He looked very comfortable and quite in his element walking around the exhibits. He really could have been just any university student.

  ‘Do you not fancy travelling, CH, maybe seeing Rome?’ I asked him.

  ‘I’m not as adventurous as you. I like knowing where I’m going to hide for the daytime – I wouldn’t know what to do in Rome,’ he told me.

  ‘Italians are very tasty. You wouldn’t think it, but a hint of garlic in their diet enhances the flavour of a human immensely. Let’s go out on the town tonight,’ I suggested ‘and get a couple of girls drunk on champagne. It’ll be my treat!’

  ‘Are you missing the south of France, Cameron?’ he asked me with a smile.

  ‘I’m not saying Berlin is bad, but yes, I do miss the climate and the food. But as you know I can’t go back for a while,’ I said, thinking nostalgically about my boat and the life I had left behind.

  ‘Where are you going to go next?’ he asked.

  ‘Not sure yet. I was considering Rome myself. If you wanted, we could go together.’ I really thought that Carl-Heinz could do with broadening his horizons.

  ‘No, I don’t think so. I’m old and rather stuck in my ways. I think it was all those years stuck in a cell, I’m just not comfortable straying too far from home.’

  ‘Apart from Lyudmila, did you ever make any actual human friends?’ I asked.

  ‘I tend to steer clear of humans apart from at mealtimes. I don’t trust them anymore.’

  When we got back to the apartment I found that Emmy had left me a message on Facebook.

  Cameron,

  My dad has been arrested and is being held in Nice prison on suspicion of murder. They think he murdered that woman in Cannes. Can you please help?

  Emmy

  I wrote back to see where she was and she got back to me immediately to say that she was still in Germany, but was trying to get a flight to Nice. I asked her to wait so we could go down to Nice together.

  ‘This is your friend George’s daughter?’ Carl-Heinz asked, concerned.

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘It could be a trap to lure you out,’ he warned.

  ‘It could be,’ I said quietly.

  ‘Does she know you are a vampire?’

  ‘I don’t think George has told her. I don’t think he wants me anywhere near her,’ I explained.

  ‘I’m not sure what you are going to be able to do, Cameron. I mean, believe me, you do not want to be caught. I do not understand why you want to help this human.’ He grabbed me by the shoulders, giving me a questioning stare.

  ‘I got him into this mess in the first place,’ I said trying to avoid his gaze.

  ‘Get him a good lawyer, that is my advice,’ he said releasing me.

  ‘Thanks for putting up with me Carl-Heinz. It was really good to meet you,’ I said shaking his hand.

  ‘Be careful, Cameron,’ he said. ‘I do hope to see you again someday,’ and I could see that he meant it and was genuinely worried about me.

  The car was still where I’d left it. It must have been reported stolen by now, but it hadn’t been spotted yet. I drove the 400 or so kilometres to Paderborn fast. Realisation dawned, of course she lived there. George had been stationed close to here when he was in the army. Emmy had a small one-bedroom apartment in town, but I thought it best to get a hotel room. I called her even though it was well past midnight.

  ‘You could have stayed here,’ she said ‘the couch folds out.’

  ‘I think a hotel is better,’ I told her. ‘I do have to tell you a few shocking things about myself.’

  ‘I’ll come over then,’ she offered. ‘I can be there in about half an hour.’

  ‘It isn’t too late for you?’

  ‘Nah, I’m a bit of a night owl anyway,’ she said and then hung up.

  Emmy arrived at the hotel about half an hour later as promised and came to my room. She looked stunning even though she was just in jeans and an old t-shirt with her blonde hair loosely tied back.

  ‘So, how is George doing?’ I asked.

  ‘I only spoke to him briefly. He was quite down, as there seems to be a lot of evidence against him,’ she said. She looked anxious.

  ‘There can’t be. He didn’t do it!’ I told her, forcefully.

  ‘I know, but still we are all worried and I don’t think Nice prison is that great.’

  ‘It’s not as bad as the one in Marseille, but it’s still no picnic,’ I said, worried.

  ‘So, shall we start the drive down tomorrow morning?’ she asked.

  I looked at her for a while. Should I tell her, or should I just disappear and let George fight this one alone? There couldn’t be any evidence against him after all.

  ‘What evidence have they got?’ I asked.

  ‘They found some blood on Dad’s shoe that matched the DNA of the dog that was taken.’

  Damn! It was my fault, then. I had taken Cleo on board to have later in the day, and George had disposed of the little corpse. It would be pretty damning evidence. I took a deep breath. I would have to come clean.

  ‘Listen Emmy...’ I began, tentatively. ‘It was me that killed the woman... but I’m not going to let your dad take the rap for it.’

  She looked at me in complete horror and instinctively moved away from me.

  ‘But you’re so rich! Why would you need to rob and kill her?’ she asked, shocked.

  I sighed and then just told her everything, about her great-grandfather, my life with George and the murder itself. Emmy didn’t say a word throughout and when I was done it had already started to get light. Before I could stop her Emmy got up and ripped the curtains open. I screamed as the light hit my face and ran into the bathroom. She came in after me.

  ‘I had to see if it was true,’ she said, looking at my blistered face.

  ‘But why the face? I would have put my hand behind the curtain if you needed proof,’ I said petulantly. There were blisters all over my face and neck.

  ‘It will heal won’t it?’ she asked, still studying me. I decided to spring my fangs if she needed proof that badly. She jumped back, but still couldn’t take her eyes off me.

  ‘Yes, it will heal, but it still hurts,’ I whined, childishly.

  She went back out and closed the curtains then she gathered her things and got ready to leave.

  ‘So, you’ll pick me up just after dark and we’ll head south?’ she asked, calmly.

  I was pleased she’d taken the whole thing so matter-of-factly. Anyone else might have freaked out and screamed the hotel down. She might find things a little harder to take when I needed to feed though. As luck would have, it a stray dog came up to me that night as I was walking to the car. It was about the size of an Alsatian, but of no particular breed. I suspected there was a bit of golden retriever in there and maybe some husky. A sizeable dog that should keep me going till Nice.

  ‘I didn’t know you had a dog!’ Emmy said, looking pleased and surprised when I picked her up from her apartment.

  ‘I don’t. It’s my travel food,’ I said, looking at her intently, challenging her.

  ‘You can’t eat this dog!’ she cried, horrified. ‘Look at his little, floppy ears!’ She reached back to the dog and scratched him behind his ears and he wagged his tail in delight. I don’t think she believed that this really was my packed lunch.

  ‘Emmy, don’t get attached. I am going to eat Fido,’ I said.

  ‘Don’t be silly, you can’t eat a dog. Everyone loves dogs,’ she said smiling, and she put her seatbelt on.

  I sighed and drov
e off. I was going to break her heart but she had to know what I was if we were going to travel together.

  ‘I am going to call him Baz, after my favourite director Baz Luhrmann,’ she said gaily.

  ‘I’m going to call him Breakfast after my favourite meal,’ I said, without mirth.

  I drove fast knowing that as we were nearing the French border, I would soon have to slow down to a measly 130 kilometres an hour. I spotted a rest stop and parked the car well away from any others.

  ‘You’d better have a wee walk and stretch your legs,’ I told Emmy.

  ‘Ok. I’ll take Baz too,’ she said, opening her door to get out.

  ‘Baz stays,’ I said, grabbing the dog and pulling him on to my lap.

  ‘Oh, no you don’t!’ she cried.

  ‘Emmy,’ I said sternly. ‘Go and have a walk!’

  She got back in the car and stared hard at me then screamed as I sank my fangs into the dog’s neck. She got out and stumbled away from the car. After my meal I found her sitting on a bench with her head in her hands. I sat down next to her.

  ‘How could you? That sweet dog!’ she sobbed.

  ‘Would you rather I bit a human? Are you offering?’ I asked her drily.

  ‘You are not a very nice man! I don’t understand how you could be my dad’s oldest friend,’ she said drying her eyes.

  ‘Believe it or not, we stop each other from becoming far worse people, and your dad doesn’t like dogs,’ I explained.

  ‘Could you promise not kill any more dogs on this trip?’ she pleaded.

  ‘I certainly couldn’t! What is it with you humans? You didn’t bat an eyelid when I told you I was a vampire, even though you knew I must have killed countless humans. But, oh no, don’t kill the poor little doggie!’

  She looked up at me. ‘I suppose you’re right,’ she said quietly. ‘It is the lesser of two evils.’

  ‘Anyway, I haven’t even killed this one... yet. He’s going to be my sustenance till Nice,’ I said light-heartedly.

  She got up and ran to the car, got in and flung her arms around Baz’s neck hugging him tightly. He growled when I got in.

  ‘Right. I’ll drive until daybreak then we swap,’ I said, starting the car.

  ‘Stop! We have to get Baz some food and water and he needs a walk,’ she pleaded.

  ‘Ah! Not a bad idea,’ I said, turning off the ignition. ‘If we feed him, he’ll last longer!’

  She immediately started to cry again and buried her face in Baz’s fur.

  I rummaged around for some money and something to make a lead out of so the traumatised dog wouldn’t run off. Emmy stopped crying and wiped her eyes while I fashioned a lead from one of my ties.

  ‘That dog better be here when I come back, otherwise you’ll be on the menu,’ I said, and squeezed her arm until she cried in pain. She believed me, though I knew I would never hurt her. Well, not much anyway! I went to see if the service station had any dog food and Emmy took Baz for a walk.

  It was late once Baz had been taken care of, and Emmy was quite tired, so she crawled into the back seat with the dog for a sleep and I got into the boot with my laptop. I would only get four hours on it before the battery ran out and the rest of the ten hours of daylight would be boring and uncomfortable. If Emmy thinks I’m evil now, wait till I get out of a car boot after ten hours of being folded up and bored!