“Is that what you think?”
Jason shrugged. “I have no idea. But … I don’t like this. I don’t like it one bit.”
“Any time you want, you can take it up with Kendra,” Maurice said. “But honestly I don’t know why she thinks you need to be here. What you’re contributing isn’t helping the work atmosphere.”
“So you want to drive the van now?”
Maurice rolled his eyes. He turned back to the computer.
“Don’t worry, we’re still with you Haley,” he said into the mike. “If things get too much for you, just let us know and we’ll send in support. For the time being, hang in there.”
Maurice looked back to Jason with his eyebrows raised. “Well?”
“You’re an asshole,” Jason muttered.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Cyrus Rance saw her, felt her, heard her, sensed her presence before she was within reach of any of these things. He steadied the rod his hand and faced his opponent, his mind never of course leaving her.
“You seem distracted,” his cousin Edmond goaded. “Are you sure you’re ready?”
An aura of green light flashed from Cyrus’s eyes and he leapt up into the air, swinging his rod to make contact. Edmond blocked him with his weapon once, twice, three times – and then rolled across the ground.
Cyrus stopped short, his attention distracted as Haley and her companion entered the frame, walking up the hill towards them.
Edmond’s rod then slammed into the back of his knees, causing them to buckle and fall over.
“Ready indeed,” Edmond laughed triumphantly.
“You really are hopeless, Cyrus,” his sister Avril said helping him up.
Cyrus didn’t respond. He watched as Haley’s companion unlocked the gate out the front of the cottage, both of them stepping into the yard.
“Fresh humans?” Avril’s partner Magnus interrupted, leaning in between them. “Edmond you shouldn’t have.”
“They’re not for drinking fool,” Edmond said walking towards the girls. “Don’t get any ideas.”
“Spoken for then, eh?” Magnus muttered. “Such a shame. I thought I heard you Rances like to share.”
Avril elbowed him.
“My gracious Melanie,” Edmond said taking her hand. “How I didn’t spot you in the crowd before, I’ll never know.”
Haley looked anxiously from her friend towards Cyrus.
“Sorry if I scared you in the bathroom before,” Cyrus said quietly.
“That’s … okay.”
“So – shall we go again then, Cy?” Edmond challenged. “I’m sure you’ll want a chance to restore your pride.”
“Hey aren’t you going to introduce, Avril and I?” Magnus demanded.
“The less they see of you, the better,” Edmond muttered. “Come on, Cyrus. En-garde.”
“Some other time,” Cyrus said. He turned to Haley. “Will you accompany me for a walk then?”
Haley looked to Melanie.
“Oh it will be alright,” Melanie said breezily. “You lay a finger on her and I’ll have you for breakfast.”
Cyrus stepped in the space between them, heading towards the gate.
Once there he undid the latch and pulled the gate back, urging Haley to step through.
“Like she said, if I lay a finger on you, she’ll have me for breakfast,” he advised.
Haley looked at him glumly. “Don’t worry. I’m not afraid of you.”
Cyrus didn’t believe a word of it.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
Haley walked with Cyrus in a dreaded silence. His approach towards her had moved him high up on the suspect list, higher than Brock. Where Brock had put on a forced air of confidence and charm, clearly capable of deception and perhaps even violence, Cyrus’s aura and mannerisms weighted her into the ground. She had yet to see anything appealing in him, only that his warped mind was wrapped around something incomprehensibly gloom-ridden. His eyes glared. His cheekbones stiffened. The wind fell into his face and he felt nothing.
“You don’t like her, do you?” he said suddenly.
“Like who?” Haley replied.
“Melanie.”
Haley shrugged. “She’s alright.”
“I know what she sees in you,” Cyrus went on. “She thinks you’re going to be her sidekick or something. She’ll find you a seat front row centre when you’re not on stage with her. She’ll have you cheering her on every step of the way.”
“Whatever.”
“But she is blind to what’s going on in your head. She thinks she’s using you … But I think it’s closer to being the other way around…”
Haley stopped. Behind her, the cottage was now blocked by the trees.
She could only just make out the lights of the VDA House in the distance.
“This place is really big, isn’t it?” she murmured.
Cyrus stood close beside her. He moved in behind.
“Don’t move,” he whispered in her ear.
She felt his arm extended upward. He was reaching round towards her forehead.
His fingers brushed just over her right eye.
“I have selected you,” he whispered. “You have been chosen.”
He placed a dark object in her hands.
“Later tonight, I want you to call me. We’ll go somewhere we can be alone together. Somewhere … you won’t be safe.”
Haley kept still, waiting to see if there was anymore.
After a few moments, she turned slowly to find that he had vanished.
“Cyrus?” she mumbled.
She took a few steps in the direction of the cottage, before retreating back out into the open. Once she reached the lawn she could see that what he’d handed her was a dark green phone.
She knelt down on the ground and opened up her handbag, placing it inside.
“I think we know who our killer is,” she said out loud.
“I don’t think we can make that determination yet, Haley,” Maurice said. “There’s still the first vampire who asked you for a date.”
“Yeah well, that guy seems like a puppy dog compared to that last creepozoid.”
“Still it’s important we keep an open mind.”
“Yeah. Right.”
Haley stood. She looked back again, in the direction of the cottage, wondering if she should return there. It seemed a bit awkward given Cyrus’s unexpected departure. Clearly she would have to phone him at some point.
But what should she do until then?
Was it time to go visit Brock?
Had he been waiting for her this whole time?
Haley took a moment, trying to calm herself down. Collect her thoughts. Polish the hard exterior.
She then looked back to the house and realized, someone was calling for help.
CHAPTER THIRTY
Haley could barely hear it. The whimpers trickled away into the night, the house’s pulsating music sweeping them underneath the wind. A once beautiful creature, the victim in question was sprawled out across the garden bed at the back of the house, her dress covered in dirt and blood. As Haley approached she could see the woman had sustained a gash to her throat, and it was interrupting her speech. Haley’s demeanor became stricken with shock as the woman looked to her with panic filled eyes.
“Get away from there, Haley,” Jason’s voice blared in her ears. “Get back inside the house at once.”
“What?” Haley replied, disturbed. “She’s dying. She needs medical attention.”
“Jason’s right,” Maurice said. “This has nothing to do with you. Get away from there before anyone sees you.”
“Shut up,” Haley snapped at him.
She looked back down to the woman in the garden and saw she was still alive, still moaning and whimpering. Her hand drifted across to the grass as though reaching out for Haley herself.
Haley took a couple of steps back.
Her body turned in all directions.
“Help!” she called. “Somebody! Please come! So
meone’s hurt!”
The music from the house seemed to get louder.
Hands shaking, she stooped to one knee and faced the woman.
“I’ll be back soon,” Haley said. “I’ll get help.”
The woman’s eyes widened. “It was him. He…”
“What?” Haley said leaning forward.
“He did this. He said he wanted to kiss me but…”
“Who?” Haley demanded. “What’s his name?”
The woman nodded, showing she understood. “He… His…”
“Someone call for help?” a loud voice said shrilly from behind Haley.
She turned and saw it was Madame Nightshade.
Two burly men in dark suits were standing behind her.
“I just found her like this,” Haley said. “I think someone attacked her.”
Madame Nightshade crouched to the ground next to Haley.
“Did you see who it was?”
“No,” Haley said. “I was trying to ask her.”
The woman moaned and turned her face away from them. She appeared to be trying to move her body away from them.
“Thank you for bringing this to our attention,” Madame Nightshade murmured rising to her feet.
Haley joined her. “Are you going to help her?”
“She’s beyond help, wouldn’t you say?”
“I don’t know. She’s moving.”
“No,” Madame Nightshade shook her head. “When you found her she wasn’t breathing. You tried to help but she was already dead.”
“Pardon?”
“It’s for your benefit. He’ll be … concerned about what you’ve encountered. It’s best we erase all doubt.”
“I’m not following you.”
Madame Nightshade smiled. “Yes you are, dear.” She looked to her bodyguards. “Get rid of this as discreetly as possible.”
She grabbed hold of Haley’s wrist and yanked her in the direction of the house.
“Where are we going?” Haley exclaimed.
“Upstairs.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
Jason slowly lifted the headphone set over his head, and dropped it to the floor. He looked at Maurice momentarily, the annoyance and anger burnt out. A boundary had been crossed. This went beyond. “Uh, Riley…” he said in a polite and quiet tone of voice. “Can I just talk to you a moment outside?”
“What for?” Riley muttered.
“Please,” Jason said, sliding across. “Just come out.”
He pushed open the back doors and stepped out to the road.
“You got this covered?” Riley could be heard from within the van.
If Maurice replied, it was inaudible.
Riley joined Jason. “What do you want then?”
“Haley’s in danger,” Jason said earnestly.
“No shit. That’s what she signed up for.”
“It’s different now. She’s a witness to murder.”
“So?”
“It isn’t going to be long before they figure out she’s working for us. We need to get her out now.”
Riley shook her head. “I’m with Maurice on this one. Sorry.”
She went for the van.
Jason grabbed her arm.
“It’s her first bleeding day,” Jason said. “If she dies, what do you think’s going to happen to us?”
“This is Kendra’s mission. We’re just following orders.”
“Trust me, if there’s an investigation, Kendra is going to cover her own ass and sell us down the river. And who could blame her? She probably doesn’t even know the full extent of what’s happening here.”
“So what do you want to do then? Do you want to call her? Cause –”
“Yeah, I think we should call her. All three of us. You tell Maurice to put in the call, and then you back me up when I make my case to Kendra.”
“Whoa,” Riley said. “Just … let’s just think on this a minute.”
“You don’t think it’s warranted?”
“Look … we don’t know what’s happening with Haley. But I haven’t heard her second-guessing her situation.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, shouldn’t we wait until Haley wants out before we try and pull her out?”
“Let’s call Kendra. See what she has to say. You never know, she might agree with me.”
Riley folded her arms. “Jesus Christ, man. You know I don’t ever remember you being that concerned for my safety.”
“What can I say,” Jason smirked. “Your memory sucks.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
When Kendra arrived home that evening, Mr. Armistice could be found in the kitchen with their neighbor Peggy, making dinner together. The children were running around squealing between the lounge room and the kitchen and maybe upstairs, chasing each other or something of that nature. “Hi Mom!” her youngest rang out as she entered. The other two were too preoccupied to pay her any attention. Peggy’s children were here also.
“Welcome home, dear,” Lawrence said glancing back at her. “Peggy’s been kind enough to offer her assistance in the kitchen tonight. I hope you don’t mind.”
“Not at all,” Kendra said with a fake smile. “We could always use the help.”
“It’s no bother at all,” Peggy said clutching a glass of what could only be champagne from the fridge. “You know when you actually spend some time with this man, you find out what a lark he is.”
“Stop it,” Lawrence giggled.
“No you stop it,” Peggy giggled back.
“Mom, I want to show you something,” the youngest child said grabbing hold of Kendra’s leg. “It’s something I made in school today, you have to come see it.”
“Not now,” Kendra said running her fingers through his hair. “In a little bit.”
“But Mom, I want you to come now!”
Kendra looked to the back of the kitchen.
Peggy wasn’t looking at her.
Lawrence was smiling anxiously.
“What time’s dinner?”
“Should be about…” Lawrence began.
“Eighteen minutes,” Peggy said.
“I’ll see you all then.”
After managing to detach the child from her leg, Kendra proceeded upstairs. She took off her heels and brought her suitcase round to her study, where she unpacked her computer. After consulting with her phone she saw that one of her teams in the field had tried to contact her, but she had not answered.
She laid the phone on top the desk, flexing the muscles in her jaw.
The thoughts … were there.
But they had not registered.
Lawrence bobbed his head through the doorway. “Five minutes to dinner, dear.”
She waved at him, not really looking.
“Everything alright?” he asked.
“Uh-huh.”
“Just a normal day today?”
“Yep.”
“Well, that’s a relief. It’s so nice to see you in good spirits. Cheerio.”
Kendra looked at the empty doorway once he’d departed, her eyes squinted. She stood up and closed the door.
Then phoned Maurice.
“What seems to be the problem?”
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
Maurice turned to his left to address his colleague. “It’s your call, Jason.”
“Thank you,” Jason said straightening his posture. “Hi Kendra. I wanted to make you aware of some developments concerning Haley’s infiltration.”
“Your last update mentioned she was going for a date with one of the vampires who singled her out. How’s that going?”
“We’re not quite there yet,” Jason explained. “There’s currently two persons of interest we’re looking into, but since that Haley has accidently come across a deceased person in the garden.”
“That’s not entirely true,” Riley interrupted.
“What?” Jason said.
“The woman was still alive as we last saw her. She was just … gre
atly injured.”
“Where is this going?” Kendra asked.
“Well, I believe the woman in question was a probable victim of the killer we’re searching for. In any case one of the Agency’s leaders discovered Haley’s discovering of the body. And now they’ve brought her upstairs for apparent questioning.”
“Upstairs,” Kendra murmured. “Hold on. I’m going to pull up the video feed. I want to see where she is exactly.”
They waited a few moments in silence.
“She’s alone?” Kendra remarked.
Jason looked to Maurice. “The … Madame Nightshade has gone off somewhere else.”
“Is that her office?” Kendra asked.
“I…”
“Maurice, is that the Madame’s office?”
“I’m sorry. I wasn’t paying attention.”
“You see Kendra, this is the problem we have here,” Jason said. “Maurice isn’t taking this seriously at all.”
“And you are?” Kendra asked.
“Yes, dammit,” Jason replied. “Frankly I don’t care what room she is in, we need to get her out now before anything happens to her.”
“Maurice? Are you there, Maurice?”
“Yes, Kendra.”
“Can you ask Haley to stand up?”
“Uh… Okay…”
“Wait,” Jason said. “What for?”
“Just ask her, Maurice.”
Maurice clicked around on his computer and pulled down the microphone from his headset. “Haley? It’s Maurice. Can you please do us a favor and stand up?”
“Okay,” Haley said.
She got up from her chair.
“Ask her to walk around the room. Get a look at everything,” Kendra said.
Maurice repeated it back to Haley, and she complied.
“Stop,” Kendra said. “Tell her to stop right there.”
“Haley, could you stop please?”
“Tell her to walk over to the desk.”
Haley walked over to the desk.
Jason leaned forward and saw a rectangular red object sitting at the desk’s corner.
“That’s the master card,” Kendra said. “It’ll open any door in the whole house.”
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