Charlie walked along beside him, once again looking solid in the fading sunlight. Finally sundown and with the setting sun, Sebastian knew he’d get relief from the pounding headache he’d felt since leaving the safe house. It wasn’t his usual sun-induced headache, this was quite different, starting from the base of his skull and spreading around his head like a vice grip.
He was becoming quite the connoisseur of headaches.
Unfortunately.
“You didn’t help matters,” Sebastian said. He ducked his head so no one would see his lips moving.
“Yeah, okay. I got carried away there,” Charlie said. “He pissed me off, man. I went to him for help and look what he did with it. I just wanted some answers.”
“You happy with them?”
“Well, good to know, right? Good to know what the vamps were planning. All that world domination stuff, right?”
“It won’t happen now,” Sebastian said. “The book is destroyed. They won’t be able to pull it off. They don’t have the power or the organization left.”
“Maybe not the old ones,” Charlie said. “What about the new ones? Didn’t your In-Betweenies say they were smarter?”
Sebastian looked over at him. “In-Betweenies?”
Charlie’s lopsided grin spread across his face. “Suits you. You look like an In-Betweenie. Sort of a really pale one, though.”
“Thanks a lot.”
A woman in a pale yellow dress walked by, giving Sebastian an odd look. Her steps hurried up as she passed.
“Way to go,” Charlie said. “Freaking out the little people.”
Shut up!
Charlie’s laugh echoed in his head.
Money was still a big hurdle. He needed at least a grand in US dollars to afford the flight home. As the sun sank behind the buildings, Sebastian hurried into various shops, Influencing the cashiers to hand over most of their cash. Charlie followed, tut-tutting the entire way.
As if Sebastian didn’t feel badly enough about this, but he had to get home.
“Why don’t you just contact your parents?” Charlie said. “Ask them for the money to get home.”
Sebastian shook his head as they stood in an alley behind a fish and chip shop. He tried to ignore Charlie but his friend’s ghost kept interrupting, messing up his count.
Start again... Ten, twenty...
“Why can’t you call them?”
“It’s not that simple,” Sebastian said. “Will you shut up for a second?”
He started counting.
Again.
He couldn’t just call his parents out of the blue. He knew them. They wouldn’t just send the money without good reason, without asking a million questions, all of them he couldn’t answer. Or he couldn’t give answers that would satisfy them. If he tried, they’d be waiting at the airport with a white jacket with very long sleeves and two burly men waiting to load him into the back of a padded van.
Then he’d never be able to save them.
No. He had to get there on his own, the quieter the better. Any communication could possibly tip off Alexa and if she thought he was nearby... Well, he knew what a vampire would do.
He had to get to them fast.
And quiet.
Two hundred and forty-three pounds, would probably convert to around five hundred dollars, more or less. Almost half way there. He stashed the notes in a waist pouch he’d procured three shops ago. It was coming in handy.
Maybe it wouldn’t be too long now.
Charlie was still giving him the disapproving look.
“Just a few more places,” Sebastian said. “I’m not taking more than I need.”
“You know if you went to the track it would be more legitimate. You could influence the horses or something.”
“You see a track around here?”
“Well, true.”
“Come on, let’s hurry up. I want to be on a plane by morning.”
He turned to head back up the alley toward the street. His shoes splashed in puddles left in the uneven asphalt. A dim bulb from the back of the building did little to illuminate the alley. Heavy shadows deepened into almost inky blackness but Sebastian didn’t need much light to see by. One blink and his eyes adjusted, bringing the entire alley into sharp relief. He had a fine view of the pitted asphalt, the ragged brick on the walls of either side, the dented, grimy blue dumpster pushed against the right side and angled just so, the crumpled pages of the most recent tabloid waving in the breeze...
And the vampire hunched over a homeless man ten feet from the front of the alley.
Fuck.
It hadn’t spotted him yet. It was too intent on its meal. It looked like a male, jeans and a dirty grey t-shirt over an almost emaciated body. Sebastian could smell the sourness of it from three quarters of the way down the alley. Almost as strong as the iron stench of blood from the homeless man who made a soft whimpering sound.
Back away. That’s all he had to do. Just back away. He didn’t have any weapons on him at all, nothing silver. No blade to decapitate the vampire, no holy water or garlic to drive it back.
Nothing.
So back away.
Why the hell weren’t his feet listening to him?
Beside him, Charlie shook his head, blond hair flopping on his shoulders. “Well, doesn’t that suck.” He drove an elbow into Sebastian’s side and it felt pretty damned real.
“Get it? It sucks!” Charlie laughed.
You’re a fucking idiot.
“Oh yeah? What are you gonna do about it?”
Sebastian turned a withering glare to Charlie, but the ghost was pointing down the alley, toward the homeless man.
“What are you gonna do about it, Sebastian? Are you really sorry about me? About Alexa? Then how can you back away from this?”
The joking was gone from Charlie’s face, leaving a depth of maturity that he’d never quite had while alive.
And he never would have it.
I don’t have any weapons.
“Sure you do. You just whine like a girl about it afterward.”
Influencing, that’s what Charlie was talking about. But he’d never done it without backup, without someone to take out the vampire. He couldn’t just stop it cold.
Could he?
Charlie folded his arms across his chest. He jerked his chin in the direction of the homeless man.
“Better do something quick.”
Dammit!
Sebastian turned to stare at the vampire, the emaciated look of him. Couldn’t be feeding on a regular basis if it looked that bad. Yet it looked like a young one, not even a full decade. Sebastian had thought all vampires under ten were still pretty smart but maybe this one was just stupid to begin with. Being an idiot in life wouldn’t exactly improve after death, or er, vampireness.
Or whatever.
He focused on that, on a feeling of fullness, being satiated. Not another drop more. He’d explode if he drank more. Feeling quite bloated now, uncomfortable. Yuck. He heard the whisper of fabric sliding along the brick as the vampire released the man, dropping him to the alley floor.
Sluggish, tired. Just find some place to sleep.
Nothing to see in the alley.
Nothing at all.
Empty.
Sebastian felt the vampire turn to face him, but its gaze swept right by. Not seeing.
There was nothing to see.
Nothing at all.
Find a place to sleep. Sleep through the night. Sleep through the day. Enjoy the full belly.
Best place would be right on top of that building right there. Just climb the red brick, hand over hand. Fingers finding holes to grab onto. Toes finding perches. Pull upward, move upward. Nice and safe on the roof. Lie down and look at the lovely stars. All bright and beautiful. Vampire eyes could see more wavelengths of light, admire it longer.
Watch all night long.
Watch all day long.
Lie down now. Just lie down. Back reclining on the rough, gravelly
surface of the roof. No clouds tonight, nothing to obstruct a perfect view of the stars. Light breeze rustling a grey t-shirt. No unusual smells, nothing to cause alarm.
Lie still.
Don’t move.
Watch all night.
Lie still.
Watch.
Stay still.
Watch all day.
Stay…
The scrape of asphalt on his knees and palms brought Sebastian back to himself.
He’d fallen forward, his hands automatically going out to stop his fall. The sting of pain in his palms was nothing compared to the burning in his head.
Pain erupted through his temples and laced across his head, trailing down his neck to his shoulders. His jaw ached as if he’d been clenching it for weeks. His eyes felt like they’d been shoved back into the sockets. He tasted iron in the back of his throat, felt something wet on his lips.
Oh god, he hadn’t taken a drink from that man, had he?
He lifted his head, wincing with every moment. Twenty feet away, the homeless man lay collapsed against the brick wall. His heartbeat sounded ragged, his breathing short and rapid, but he was alive.
Not dead. And from what Sebastian could tell from here, not an In-Between either.
He still had too much blood left in him.
Sebastian could tell that too.
He could smell the hot sweetness of it.
So if not that man’s blood in his mouth, then whose?
His hand shook just a little as he lifted it to his face. Something wet on his lips. Blood. From his nose.
His own blood.
Oh, this couldn’t be good.
“Don’t look too good to me.” Charlie crouched beside him. His blond hair flopped over his forehead. “But you did it, man. A hellva good show. That vampire climbed right up the wall to the roof.”
Charlie pointed behind Sebastian. Sebastian turned to look but of course there wasn’t anything to see now. No evidence a vampire had climbed the wall. But he knew it had.
Knew he’d made it do it.
And it was lying on the roof right now. Watching the stars. Waiting for day.
Not moving.
And it wouldn’t move. Not even when the sun burned it to a crisp.
“Pretty fucking impressive,” Charlie said. “I’m impressed anyway.”
“I’ll be impressed if I can stand up without my head falling off.” The words mumbled from Sebastian’s mouth as if he couldn’t quite get it working right. Oh great. Had he given himself some kind of stroke or something?
His legs felt a little wobbly as he stood up, but they held well enough. The burning pain settled down to a severe throbbing ache. He tried a few slow breaths. Okay, that seemed okay.
Maybe a step now.
Moving caused a burst of pain that shot across his forehead. He clamped his mouth shut, trying not to scream. It seemed to reverberate in his throat.
Before it completely subsided, he tried another step. The pain flash wasn’t quite so bad this time. Just enough to inspire weeping. He blinked rapidly to clear his eyes.
One more step.
This time the pain just throbbed a little. Got to keep moving, just get to the plane. Maybe he could negotiate with it. Offer it as many drinks as necessary on the flight. Just don’t overwhelm him here.
Not in this alley.
He had to get home.
Please…
Another two steps and he could almost move normally. He just couldn’t move his head much. If he wanted to look right or left, he would have to move his entire body. No head turning allowed.
He made to stand beside the homeless man. Soiled jeans and several shirts layered on top of each other, each one dirtier than the next. The stench of grime and sweat almost overpowered the smell of his blood.
Almost.
Sebastian put out a hand to the wall. The brick felt familiar...
(From the climb up the wall.)
Just brick like any other. He had to keep focusing on right now, right here, not let himself get pulled back to the vampire.
He didn’t want to climb that wall himself.
But he couldn’t get too close to this man lying on the ground before him.
The smell of blood was so sweet, so tempting.
He tilted his head to get a better look at the man’s face. His eyes were still closed. Breathing more steadily now, his heart beat settling down. From what Sebastian could tell, he’d stopped bleeding. The coagulants in the vampire’s saliva had done their thing, he assumed.
He wasn’t getting a better look to be sure.
No way.
“What are you doing there?”
Oh shit, police!
He was in no shape to run, not even in any shape to do any Influencing.
Not that he had much choice.
He turned toward the mouth of the alley.
Three figures clad in black fanned out, moving in swift, smooth motions to space themselves around him.
Oh shit, not the police.
Worse.
“He’s not vampire,” said a woman’s voice. She was the one who’d come farthest into the alley, blocking retreat.
“Can’t smell ‘em,” the man left at the alley mouth said. “In-Between.”
“He was being attacked,” Sebastian said. “I sent the vampire away. I’m just leaving now.”
He pushed away from the wall and took a shuffling step toward the front of the alley. The three paced him.
“I just want to go,” he said.
“Sorry we can’t let you,” the woman said. She tilted her head. Her dark hair was pulled back from her face, tied in a pony tail at the back.
Like Jessica.
He wasn’t going to think about her.
“Nigel asked us to keep a look out for you,” the woman said. “Sebastian.”
Oh shit.
They took him with minimal fuss, not that he could give them much trouble, not in the state he was in. They even made a show of giving the homeless man a quick check, just to ensure he was resting comfortably. The man would wake up with a hell of a hangover and feel weak for days but he’d survive, and stay human.
Lucky man.
Luckier than Sebastian had been.
The three In-Between led Sebastian to a dark blue van and bundled him into the back, slamming the door. He heard the solid click of a lock and found himself in darkness. A moment later, he heard the three pile into the front. The engine started and the van began to move.
It took several blinks before Sebastian was able to get his eyes to adjust to the darkness. Hmm, that was interesting. Whatever he’d done had really affected him.
Not a comforting thought.
A candy wrapper in the far corner was the only thing inside the van. Stubby benches lined each side. Sebastian’s legs were so long his knees almost bumped the bench in front of him. The window facing the front had been blocked off. Black rubber mats covered the floor.
Homey.
Charlie sat on the bench across from him, just to the right, avoiding Sebastian’s knees.
“You couldn’t help me here?” Sebastian said.
Charlie shrugged. “Sorry, not much I can do. They can’t see me.”
“Can’t you push them or something?”
“Who do you think I am? Casper the friendly ghost? I don’t have any connection to them, I can’t influence them or touch them. I’m a flipping ghost, Sebastian. What part of incorporeal do you not understand?”
“That’s an awfully big word for you, Charlie.”
“Fuck off.”
“Who are you talking to back there?” One of the men’s voice drifted back, sounding muffled by the blocked window.
“No one,” Sebastian said.
Charlie stuck out his tongue.
Sebastian tried to keep track of the turns and time of the ride but the gentle back and forth motion of the van soothed him. Charlie kept talking, almost trying to keep him awake but pain and fatigue wore Sebastian down
.
He’d just close his eyes for a minute...
The click of a lock and scrape of a door opening jolted him. Sebastian blinked. What? Where? He glanced around. His head ached but it had settled into a dull throb at his temples and at the back of his head. Manageable.
Dim light filtered in through the open door, revealing the interior of the van.
Right, now he remembered.
The woman with the pony tail stood at the door. She gestured him forward.
“Come on, love. Don’t give us trouble.”
He sighed. If only.
He gave a glance to Charlie, who sat on the bench. Charlie shrugged.
No help there.
Sebastian climbed out of the van, wincing as his feet hit the ground, sending a jolt through his body and reverberating through his head. Had he ever not had a headache? He wasn’t sure he could remember that time. Maybe he should just cut it off and forget the whole thing.
His feet scraped on gravel. They were parked in a large circular driveway in front of a sprawling grey-bricked house. Turrets on either side reminded him of Corbin Remington’s home. Not an In-Between himself, he’d been a scholar who had still helped the In-Between, and died for his trouble.
He’d also been the one who’d given Sebastian direction on where to find the book and the means to decipher it.
At this point, Sebastian wasn’t sure if that was good or bad.
Okay, it was good that the book was gone, destroyed, and with it, the destruction of most of the vampire society, but Sebastian didn’t much like the lingering effects exposure to the book had on him. Was it because he was closer to vampire than the other In-Betweens? He didn’t know, but he didn’t much appreciate being that special.
“Come on,” the woman said. She took his arm and tugged. The other two In-Between flanked them on either side. Now they were carrying guns, Sebastian saw, pointed at him.
Great.
He glanced back toward the van and saw Charlie climb out to follow. He shrugged and gave a big smile to the pony-tailed woman. She, not seeing him, didn’t respond. Charlie stuck his lower lip out in a pout.
Great. The only help Sebastian had here was a pouting ghost.
Just great.
They led him through the great oak doors and hurried him down some stairs to a basement.
“Can I get some food?” he managed to say before they slammed a steel door in his face. Even with his hearing, he couldn’t hear anything from the other side of that door.
Retribution of Soul: Book 3 of the In-Between Page 7