“Would you be interested in continuing her research?” he finished.
My jaw almost hit the floor. And the first detail that my mind stuck upon was the word ‘her’. For a scientist to start a research like that was unheard of, let alone one who was still in college. But for said scientist to be a woman? We may be living in a supposedly equal society, but women scientists were rare, especially the successful ones.
The next thing my mind registered was the part I was asked to continue her research. As in, it wasn’t finished. “Why would she give up that research? I understand she graduated, but she could have stayed to finish it. Or taken it with her, if it was her idea all along. I’m honored, but I don’t want to step into anyone’s shoes.”
Professor Sommers gave me a sad smile that caught me completely off guard. I could tell that whatever his next words were, they weren’t going to be pleasant. “Believe me, Miss Dover. I would have given anything for her to finish the research herself. But, I’m afraid it’s not possible.” He took a deep breath and let it out slowly before saying, “Miss Knight is no longer with us.”
I hadn’t known that girl. I’d never met her. Yet, for some reason, hearing she was dead was like being hit by a massive sledgehammer in the knees. I stifled a sob. “What happened?” I whispered.
He shook his head in sadness. “I expected you to have heard already. Unfortunately, everyone knows about her unfair demise. She was murdered by another vampire, one who had gotten addicted in fact. And the saddest part is that she died right in this building, in the room down the hall to be exact.”
I shivered involuntarily. I was never good at handling knowledge of death, but especially since my Dad had died, I was extra sensitive about it. And being this close to the place where one had lost their life… It was beyond grim.
Yet, through all the sadness of the affair, I found myself feeling obligated to continue that girl’s research. I reached out, took the dossier from his hands and opened it. I flipped through the pages, giving a fleeting glance at her notes. I could see that she’d put a lot of time and effort into this. Her notes were very informative and very detailed.
I turned to the Professor. “I would be honored to continue her research. Just show me what I have to work on and I’ll start right away.”
He winced and gave me a weird look. “Ah, I’m afraid that’s all there is to it. That file I’ve given you.”
I was utterly confused. “What? No blood samples? No experimental solutions? Only… papers?” He nodded and gave me an apologetic look. “What about the donor? Where can I find him or her to get more blood?”
He shook his head. “We don’t know who the donor is. Miss Knight had brought the blood in under the instructions that she should never make the donor’s name known, and we respected that. Unfortunately, when her attacker broke into our labs, he destroyed her samples as well. So, all we have is her recorded research.”
I let out a big sigh. “Well, as I said, I’d be honored to continue her research. But without samples it’s hard to believe I could have any results. It will all be theoretical. This project could turn out to be completely futile.”
At that point he smiled big. “I’ve read your file, Miss Dover. Your grades in Biology and Chemistry were out of the charts, as were your tutors’ feedback. I have faith in you, and that’s why I’ve chosen you, a freshman, to take up Miss Knight’s work.” Then he grew somber again. “But I need something else from you. I need you to keep this completely confidential. The vampire that attacked and killed Miss Knight was one of my other students, and I don’t trust anyone anymore. I have reason to believe he’d received enzyme-tainted blood on purpose, with all intent of putting an end to Miss Knight’s efforts. It’s not farfetched to assume there are people who don’t want to see the addiction eradicated. And it’s definitely not impossible that some of those people are even within the campus’s grounds. It’s imperative that you keep this on a confidential basis.”
All my warning bells went off at once. If anyone was to know that I was involved, my own life could be in danger. Every part of my sense was screaming at me to deny the research so that I would remain safe. Yet I simply nodded, and held the dossier close to my chest. “You can rest assured, Professor, that everything you’vetold me will never reach another person’s ears.”
Professor Sommers let me take Miss Knight’s dossier to my room as long as I promised to keep it with me at all times, or at least safely secured. So, when I returned to my dormitory, I sat cross-legged on my bed and started reading through it.
The girl had been brilliant. According to all her studies, she had everything she needed to start tests with different kinds of blood. Using the donor’s blood and the blood of a non-vampire enzyme-carrier, she was about to start the practical approach of her research.
Her last recording was on the Friday before Christmas break last year. Almost an entire year ago.
The door to the room opened wide and in walked Julia with her friend. I groaned inwardly and quickly gathered all the scattered papers and put them back in the dossier. I doubted any of them would understand what they’d be reading, but I didn’t want to chance my luck.
When they saw me, they stopped whatever they’d been talking about and both turned to me. I was immediately on guard.
“So…” Julia started.
“I can’t believe you’re dating Nate Lockwood,” Julia’s friend – I decided to call her Wally – said, almost breathlessly.
I arched an eyebrow. “I do believe that’s none of your business.”
Julia waved her hand dismissively. “There is no point in denying it. We saw how he was around you. And he hasn’t been that way with anyone ever since… her.”
Her? I wanted to ask who ‘she’ was, but I knew better than to fall in the debt of Julia. And on my first week in college moreover. “Again. I do believe that’s none of your business.”
Julia shot me a dirty look, but it was Wally that spoke. “So he’s told you about her? What was it like? Did he watch while the other guy ‘did’ her? Did it happen in front of him?”
What the…? “Listen. I’ll say this one last time. Nate’s and my business are none of your concern. There is this thing most people are familiar with that’s called privacy and I would appreciate it if you could respect ours.” I grabbed the dossier and my purse and headed for the door.
“Just tell us: Is he as big as Macy said?” Julia called out behind me.
I cringed, but didn’t answer. Apparently, I’d been right. Julia’s sister was most likely Nate’s ex, who had most probably treated him badly, and apparently she wasn’t the only one. What in the bloody hell had happened? Had he caught another ex in bed with another bloke?
Deciding to dismiss those thoughts from my mind, I phoned a taxi and went to the nearest Starbucks to continue reading on Knight’s research.
I sat there for hours and went through the entire dossier. This would be difficult without the donor’s blood for tests, but I guessed I could work with another vampire’s blood sample, and experiment with Knight’s potential formulas.
I left the coffee shop just upon closing time, which was when Indila warned me of another call from the director of Hell.
“Good evening, Mother,” I greeted as soon as I answered my mobile.
“Alicia. I’m done with this nonsense. You need to come home immediately. I have arranged with Briana to book you a ticket in the next flight home.”
I sighed. “I see you’re not wasting any time with pleasantries, Mother. Well, once again, I’m not coming back.”
“Alicia!” she raised her voice.
“Mother.” I kept mine annoyingly level.
“Is this your way of punishing me? What did I ever do to you, your own Mother, to treat me like that?”
I was losing my patience. “Mother, when will you ever realize that not everything is about you? I left because I wanted to. Because whether you like it or not, there is nothing for me in London anymore. I ha
ve made my choice and it’s to stay right where I am now.”
“Listen to me, young lady. If you are not back by the end of the coming week, I will disown you. Do you hear me? You will have nothing.”
So now she was extorting me? It was a little frightening how I felt nothing for it. “Go ahead and do that, Mother. If it will make you feel better. There is nothing you can do with the money Dad has left me in his will and you know it. The only thing you’ll manage by disowning me will be to lose your only heir. It won’t change my decision which is exactly that: mine to make.”
Next up on her list was to pretend to cry. I heard her sniffling down the line. “So is this it? You are abandoning me? How can you be so cruel? Have you not any sympathy for me? I’ve lost your father and now you’re leaving me too?”
That was the cherry on top of the bloody cake. I couldn’t stand this anymore. “How dare you? How dare you say that you lost him? You never cared for him or me. The only thing you ever cared about was his money. Well, guess what? Now you have that and you can live the life you’ve always wanted. Spend every single pound of it because it’s yours now, Mother. Surely you don’t need me there to spend it for you.”
“Alicia—”
“I’m not coming back, Mother. There is nothing you can do or say that will make me change my mind. And I don’t believe I will return after I graduate either. You can either accept that or disown me, but I. Don’t. Care.”
I disconnected the line without letting her have another word, and I almost threw the mobile away in my anger. I had never, never before been so angry. I was tempted to fly back to London just so that I could say all that again in her face and then return here. I was done with being her little Barbie doll. I was done with being anyone but myself.
I signaled a taxi and asked the driver to take me to the dormitory, while still fuming from the phone-call from Hell. I made a mental note to check with my dad’s lawyers about the terms of his will, as something about her saying she’d disown me had stricken me as funny, but that was all I thought other than how angry I still was at her. I didn’t register any part of the route, but it seemed like we got there in the blink of an eye. I paid the driver and stormed out, needing to have a relaxing shower to calm my nerves.
But when I entered my key-card in the slot, the lock flashed red. That bloody slapper had locked me out! I pounded on the door, thinking that if I annoyed her enough she would eventually let me in. But I stayed there knocking for about fifteen minutes without a result, and I finally gave up, emotionally and mentally exhausted by the happenings of the last half-hour.
I walked out of the dormitory and started wandering. I would need to find a hotel to stay in for the night, until I could go to the administration in the morning. I had to get a cab again and use my mobile to find a respectable hotel, preferably nearby to spend the night in.
The intensity of everything crushed into me, and I felt my body trembling before I burst into tears, dropping at the curb of the sidewalk I’d ended up in.
How could I have ever thought I could do this? Being on my own in a new city, a new country, with no one to lean on in times like this… Who was I trying to fool? Mother was right. I shouldn’t have left. I should have stayed in London. I would have gone to Oxford, studied business, married Charles, and just lived the life Mother had set out for me. I wasn’t strong enough to make my own choices and stand by them. It had only been a week, and I was locked outside of my dormitory, crying at the edge of the sidewalk. Next thing I knew, someone would come out of the darkness and mug me, kill me or worse.
“Hey, little thing,” a soft voice said from right behind me and I jumped on my feet, turning to face the man that had crept up on me.
Bloody hell, I was right. I was being mugged.
“I’m sorry,” the man said again, holding his hands up in an attempt to calm me down. “I didn’t mean to scare you. I saw you crying and I thought you were in trouble.”
His figure looked familiar. In the faint light I could make out straight dark hair, roped muscles and a square face. I squinted at him in an attempt to see him better. “Nate?”
The man seemed startled. “You know my brother?”
“Your brother?” I asked in confusion. He didn’t sound like Nate now that I’d heard him better. His voice was slightly deeper and had a different timbre.
The man offered me a smile. “I’m Kay Lockwood. Nate’s brother. Are you friends with him?”
“Um…” I folded my arms around my waist, feeling the need to curl up in a ball and continue my crying. “I don’t know what we are. I’ve met him twice and he, um, helped me with a situation.” I looked at him, remembering he’d given me his name. “I’m Alicia Dover.”
His smile widened and he extended his hand. “It’s nice to meet you, Alicia. May I ask why you’re out here all alone, crying?”
I adjusted my glasses and let out an audible breath. “My roommate locked me out of my room. She doesn’t, um, like me very much. I was on my way of finding a hotel to spend the night, but…” I sighed and my mouth just took over. “I just had a big fight with Mother and if you combine that with the fact that my sociopath of a roommate locked me out, I was slightly overwhelmed and ended up letting out my frustration in the form of tears. Plus, today I was assigned a research from my Biology teacher, and I have no idea how to finish it which only adds to the overwhelming factor.” I bit my lip to stop myself. No point, though, since I’d already blurted everything out.
Kay grinned big, and I could see the resemblance to his brother. It was really hard to tell which one of them was more stunning, even though Kay’s smile didn’t make my stomach flutter or my heart clench like Nate’s did. Maybe it was because I hadn’t had the chance to study Kay under a more sufficient light.
“Well, there is no need to look for a hotel if you’re Nate’s friend. You can stay at our apartment for the night. In fact, you can stay for the entire weekend, since the administration office will probably be closed until Monday.”
I groaned loudly and dropped back on the curb. This was a disaster in the making. “Bugger! I knew it would all end up this way. It’s just my luck!”
I felt him move and he sat down beside me. “Hey. Don’t be like this. I’m sure it will all work out just fine. It’s no trouble to stay with us. I promise we’re nice people. And I can’t leave you out here on your own. My girlfriend calls me a hero, you see, and I have to live up to my reputation.”
I let out a strangled laugh that sounded a little crazed. “Thank you. It’s really nice of you, but I don’t think it’s appropriate. Besides, I’ve only just met you. How do I know you’re not a psychopathic, serial killer?”
He seemed to consider that. “Hm. Well, you don’t. But I’ll tell you what. If I turn out to be one, you can tell me ‘I told you so’. How about that?”
I couldn’t help it. All the emotions from before, combined with his odd sense of humor, caused me to burst out laughing. “Is that so? Just an ‘I told you so’?”
He smirked mischievously. “Evelyn, my girlfriend, will explain to you in the morning that it’s a big deal if someone gets to tell me that. I don’t often admit defeat.”
I laughed again and shook my head. “I still don’t know if this is the right thing to do.”
He looked at me for a long moment and then stood, holding out his hand. “I promise you’ll be safe. I know that my word doesn’t mean much to you since you don’t know me, but it means a lot to me. And if you know Nate just a little bit you’ll see I’m being honest. Come on. It’s late and you look like you could use I good night’s sleep.”
Should I go? Was it even wise? I looked at his extended hand. Nate had used the same gesture when he’d saved me from Julia and Wally. Was this a family trait? The two brothers always appearing out of thin air to help a damsel in distress?
I took a deep breath. He’d given me his name and he looked like Nate. And even though I didn’t really know Nate, I trusted him. So why shouldn’t
I trust his brother? Oli would have told me to do it. She would have told me to go with the flow. Plus, a little voice in the back of my head was telling me that, if I went with Kay, I could see Nate again. And hadn’t I been wishing for that the entire week?
I let out a slow exhale and gave him my hand. “Promise you’ll warn me before you serial-murder me?”
He chuckled softly. “Promise.”
He showed me to his car and we drove in silence. When we reached an apartment building, he led me up to the fourth floor where his flat was. Just before he unlocked the door he turned to me and whispered, “Evelyn is sleeping so, please, keep it down. I’ll show you to the room you’ll be sleeping in and give you some clothes to wear for the night. You can lock the door to your room if you want to, though no one’s going to bother you either way.”
I nodded and we entered the flat. We were immediately in a sitting room with a large, floor-to-ceiling window next to the sofa. On our right was a small kitchen in an open-floor plan.
Kay pointed down the sitting room and to the right, towards a closed door. “That’s my room with Evelyn,” he whispered. Then he pointed to a door on our left. “That’s the bathroom, and if you follow that small hallway, we’ll go to the room you’ll be sleeping in.”
He walked in front of me and entered the room he was talking about, switching the light on. He opened a drawer, found a man’s T-shirt, and placed it on the bed.
“You can wear this for the night. You can use the bathroom all you want. Evelyn and I have an en-suite so we won’t be bothering you. The rooms have soundproof walls, and if you close the door you’ll be pretty secluded in here. If you need a towel for a shower, there are plenty under the sink in the bathroom. And if you need anything else, feel free to look around. Just make yourself at home.”
Vampire Friend (Vampire Hero Book 2) Page 4