by M. D. Bowden
The sky was darkening as clouds thickened above and Daniel lifted his hand to shield his eyes from the rain, exchanging a glance with Sarah before pulling her in the right direction to get their car.
‘Not long now,’ he reassured her.
She still looked hungry, despite his influence and blood, and he could sense her need, her conflict, to be surrounded by so many people. He longed to grab someone and feed right there. He needed to get away from all those warm bodies and thrumming hearts as quickly as possible.
He spotted the car rental office up ahead, and his feet pounded over wet tarmac in his hurry to get there. There was one lone man inside, behind an immaculate desk, who stood as he saw Daniel and Sarah approach. Daniel heard his blood swimming in his veins and could not wait any longer. He released Sarah’s hand and jumped onto the desk – too weak to even assert influence. The man before him looked horrified and was just starting to scream as Daniel thrust him back against a partition wall and sunk his fangs deeply into his jugular, cutting off the sound. He swallowed the intoxicating blood and felt it rejuvenating him at once, but there was a tug at the body and another mind connected to his – Sarah’s – she must have grabbed the man’s wrist and be feeding on him too. Daniel retracted his teeth and projected influence – not at the weakening man – at Sarah – he had to get her to stop before she killed him.
‘Sarah,’ he projected into her mind, for his strength had returned. ‘Sarah! Stop feeding and release him NOW.’
Relief swept over him as his influence worked and Sarah let the man fall. Daniel caught hold of him, glancing over his shoulder to check that they were still alone. Green eyes regarded him with fear as they locked on to his, and Daniel made sure the man would not remember what had happened.
‘Is there a bathroom out the back?’ Daniel asked the man.
He nodded, his chin doubling up as he did.
‘Go and clean yourself, and then return to the desk. When you come back in do not remember that you have seen us before,’ he commanded.
He watched the man exit through a side door and turned to Sarah. She grinned up at him, and he laughed, taking her in her arms.
‘Well done for stopping,’ he said, wiping a smudge of blood from her lower lip.
‘It wasn’t without your help,’ she replied – ‘but at least I did stop without you needing to pry open my mouth this time!’
‘Indeed,’ Daniel said, and kissed her. He only stopped when he heard the man returning.
‘Hello, can I help you?’ the man asked.
He sounded embarrassed to have caught them kissing.
Daniel pulled his wallet out of the back pocket of his dark trousers and showed him his identification. The man nodded and gave him the keys he needed before pointing them in the direction of a four by four; a small off road vehicle.
Daniel jangled the keys in front of Sarah’s face playfully, thanked the man at the desk and raced with Sarah to the car – enjoying the sound of her giggles. He threw their bags and newspapers into the boot as Sarah climbed into the passenger side, then he jumped in next to her.
He was filled with enthusiasm.
They had made it.
Nothing too terrible had happened.
He leant over and kissed Sarah’s full lips, sharing a look of infinite possibility. Her eyes sparkled beautifully.
Daniel started the car and drove through the congested airport, Sarah’s hand clutching his thigh. They left the traffic and noise behind and turned west, driving into rolling hills and narrow country lanes.
CHAPTER 11
Sarah looked out of the window as Daniel drove them on. She saw a narrow lane stretching ahead and all views were obscured by hedges on either side of the road, where wildflowers blossomed.
She was here!
England.
She glanced at Daniel, catching his eye, and grinned. He returned her smile before going back to concentrating on the road. He did not have to worry about driving on the left hand side as it was a one way track. If they came across another vehicle one of them would need to reverse to find a wider stretch of road, or a gateway to a field.
Sarah still felt amazing from consuming human blood – God, it had tasted better than that bear she had, err . . . fed on, back in Canada. She could feel the blood buzzing in her veins, making her doubts and worries pale into insignificance.
She wondered if she could handle the animal blood life style, but hey, even Daniel drank human blood on occasion. It was him who had given in and fed first at the airport. But then, she had drunk his blood on the plan. That must have made him pretty darn hungry. Her cheeks reddened as she thought back on it. It had been pretty sexy drinking his blood. If she had not been surrounded by people who knows where it may have led. . . .
Sarah looked away from Daniel and focused on the scenery instead. As she did the rain turned to a light drizzle and the sun poked out from behind a cloud, casting a wide rainbow in the sky. The colors, they were beautiful. Her first rainbow as a vampire and she was astounded. She glanced at Daniel, and he smiled knowingly. Each color was so pure, it was stunning.
Sarah rested, leaning back against the car seat, content to just take it all in. As she watched the sky the drizzle stopped and the rainbow disappeared. They rounded the crest of a hill and she caught a glimpse of fields beyond. Yellow flowers filled her vision; they grew in mass beyond the hedges on either side of the road.
‘What are they?’ she asked Daniel.
‘Rape seed, used for making an oil,’ he answered. ‘It’s beautiful, isn’t it?’
‘Yes. Shall we pull over? I can see a gate ahead, we could park there and climb into a field with those newspapers you purchased and see if we can find any useful info in them,’ she said.
‘OK, why not?’ Daniel said.
He slowed the car as they approached the gate and pulled onto the grassy verge. Sarah climbed out straight away, eager to see and feel beyond the confines of the car. She inhaled deeply, taking in the fresh and vibrant scent of the abundant flowers, their pollen rich on the breeze.
Next she stretched, enjoying being able to move again. She was not stiff, like she would have been after such a long journey as a human. She was stretching for the sheer pleasure of being able to move again. It had been incredibly restrictive being on that plane, under Daniel’s tight control, for such a long time. She was pleased she had been under his control though, who knows how badly things may have gone otherwise.
She imagined her children running through those fields, seeing their happy faces vividly in her mind. It would be amazing if I could bring them here . . . one day, she thought.
Sarah turned as she heard a slam, her heart accelerating for an instant. She saw Daniel at the boot, he had just pushed it down. Why was she jumpy already? They had not even started looking for trouble yet. She shook it off and smiled, stepping closer to Daniel as he came to her, a think bundle of newspapers under his arm.
‘Hi,’ she said, suddenly shy.
‘Hi yourself,’ he answered, and stroked her jaw with his spare hand.
‘We’re here.’
‘I know,’ Daniel said amused, raising his eyebrows.
He stepped even closer, so their bodies were lightly touching. Electricity and static ignited between them and Sarah felt heat coursing through her. They were alone. Free. She grabbed the back of his head and pulled his lips to hers, kissing him heatedly. He held her tight with his one free hand and sprang into the air. Adrenaline released in her system as she moved backwards, unseeing, under Daniel’s control, and landed in the midst of a sea of yellow, pollen forming a haze around them.
She giggled and stepped back. The sun cast a beam of light in her direction, making her skin feel odd, itchy. Then she saw Daniel’s look, and thoughts of her skin left her mind. It was predatory. He stepped closer, stalking her, looking like a sleek, dark panther.
I can play at that game, she thought, and slowly stepped back, a sly smile touching her lips.
She saw his eyes light within, a lively passion glinting through the darkness, and then he jumped, releasing the newspapers he was holding, and they fell all around them. Sarah gasped as his weight hit her and she fell back, her fall cushioned by the soft, fertile ground. Sarah giggled again – what was wrong with her – she was acting like a teenager!
Daniel did not seem to mind. He looked amused, happy.
He started to unbutton her coat and kiss her neck.
Ummm, that felt so good, thought Sarah. She slid her hands under his jacket, and slid it back over his shoulders. He lifted his arms so she could pull it right off. She pushed him back so he was sitting astride her. She ran her fingers over the black cotton covering his tight abdominals, and then ripped his t-shirt over his head. She returned his kisses, running her mouth from his jaw down to his collar bone.
She heard a tractor start up and her heart skipped a beat, and then she realized how far away it was and relaxed. They were alone, apart from the odd field mouse scuttling between the plant stems and a few bumblebees buzzing around.
Fingers grabbed her jaw as Daniel commanded her attention, and kissed her intently on the mouth, pulling at her lips teasingly. She ran her fingers over his naked chest; it was so firm and sexy, adding to his irresistible mystique. Her fingers found their way to the top of his trousers and she swiftly undid the button, but his position wouldn’t allow them to come down. He smiled wickedly at her and pushed her back, and she sneezed as pollen from the squashed flowers flew up her nose. More giggles followed.
‘Sarah,’ said Daniel, teasingly, ‘we can’t have that.’
He pushed back his legs so he was lying upon her again and kissed her hard, taking away her breath. She reached for his zip and pulled it down, then rubbed him through his underwear. He pushed against her and her lower regions contracted in pleasure. She kissed him, sharing breath and life as she continued to rub him and he yanked down her jeans. Then somehow he was inside her and pushing into her. She breathed deeply, taking in his woody scent and his seductive pheromones, becoming lost to his rhythm.
The sensation was building in her groin as she clung to him, kissing him between gasps of pleasure, running her hands through his silky dark hair and feeling his rough jaw. That was it, he had hit the spot, and she came as he did, timing it perfectly.
He slumped his weight onto her, holding her, caressing her.
She smiled, her heart ignited with happiness, as a warm sleepiness possessed her and she felt truly relaxed.
‘I guess we better collect up those papers,’ she half joked, not really intending to move.
‘Soon,’ he said as he kissed her again, sliding his hand under her top and stroking her tummy. ‘I just want to look at you for a bit. . . .’
Sarah rested her arms on his skin, cool from the spring breeze, and closed her eyes, enjoying the moment of content.
She groaned when Daniel finally moved, and forced herself to sit. Her clothes were damp from the wet grass and she brushed off some pollen that was staining her jeans, then she shrugged off her jacket and laid it amongst the flowers for somewhere to sit. Daniel was scurrying around picking up the papers that had blown further afield, so she gathered the ones in the area of flattened flowers and sat back on her coat with them in hand.
Daniel returned and she smiled at him dreamily as he took a leaf out of her book and laid his jacket out on the ground opposite her. He put the pile of papers in between them and flicked the first one open. Sarah saw his eyes move over the words at an impossible speed, and looked down at her paper, unsure if she would manage to compete.
She had picked up a national paper. It was large and difficult to lay out straight so she put it on the grass in front of her, and then her main obstacle was making sure the wind did not blow the pages she was reading.
For a moment she basked in the serenity of their situation; the vibrant colors, sweet smells and gentle spring sounds. Birds were singing in the hedgerows and bees settling on flowers. It was a different world from where she had lived in Canada, where there were the evergreen forests that stretched for miles.
She smiled ruefully to herself and focused on the paper before her, as Daniel was still immersed in his. Once she got into the rhythm she found it was easy to scan over the words at speed, as she had seen Daniel do, she just had to focus on incidents of death and destruction. Most of the paper was filled by politics and she skimmed over those articles, not even bothering to peruse them. There were a few knife crimes reported, but they did not have a supernatural feel to them, and she was soon scanning sporting pages at the back. No luck there.
She put the paper in a side pile that Daniel had started to create. He was already on his third newspaper.
‘Anything interesting?’ she asked him.
‘Not the kind of thing I had in mind,’ he said.
He sounded as if he were getting exasperated.
‘Don’t worry, there’s plenty more to look through here,’ she said, patting the still thick pile of newspapers.
Daniel discarded the one he was looking through and picked up a smaller local paper.
Sarah picked up another herself, one that was smaller and easier to control. She was immediately interested to see it contained regional reports from different counties in England, and her hope of finding possibly paranormal incidents increased.
Five minutes later she discarded it and got to her feet, restless herself. She paced about a bit to let off steam, getting the odd raised eyebrow from Daniel on the ground. She returned to him and settled her coat next to his so she could read by his side, and picked up the next paper from the pile which was quickly diminishing in size.
She opened it and started to scan the pages when something caught her eye. There was a picture of a large prison on the edge of a moorland town. Tingles went up her spine as she stared at the image, and she looked down to see what story accompanied it.
Four people were missing in Princetown, which was in the southwest of England.
‘Have a look at this Daniel, what do you think?’ she asked him, pushing the paper onto his lap.
She watched as he read the story, looking at it again over his shoulder. Daniel’s brow was creased in concentration. Interest sparked in his eyes and he glanced up at her.
‘It does look like a possibility,’ he said.
‘I just noticed it says it happened two weeks ago, strange it wasn’t reported sooner,’ Sarah said.
‘Yes it is, maybe they were just hoping the people would turn up. I don’t think the missing people in your town had been reported at the point we left – I think it was covered up,’ Daniel said.
‘Yeah, maybe,’ Sarah said. ‘Do you think we should go?’
‘Four people missing, hmmm. If it’s a case of vampires running a mock it should be something we could handle,’ he said.
‘You could handle anything,’ Sarah said playfully, nudging him in the arm.
‘I’m worried about you though, I don’t want to put you in too challenging a situation,’ he said seriously.
‘Don’t worry about me Daniel,’ she said. ‘I can protect myself now.’
She felt sad at the reasons for that, but nevertheless she was strong. She knew she could fight, and she was ready. More to the point she wanted to fight. She had all this restless energy that she needed something to do with. It would help her to cope without Megan and Bea.
‘Well, anyway, if only four people are missing it might just be one vampire, but we’ll have no idea how strong he might be, so we will need to prepare, to strengthen ourselves. It wouldn’t hurt if I were to teach you to transform into an animal too, gives a good way of escaping when need be.’
‘Ooo, that sounds fun! Can I choose what animal to change into?’
‘To some extent,’ he said, smiling now. ‘Usually there’s one that just feels right and is easy to learn, others can be a little more tricky.’
‘Shall we have a look at the rest of the newspapers, then we can decide if this is our
destination or not?’ Sarah asked.
‘Yeah, let’s do it,’ Daniel replied tucking the paper with the article about missing people under his knee.
He continued to scan the paper he had been looking at before Sarah discovered the missing people, while Sarah reached for another. It was soon evident she was not going to find anything else so she tossed it aside and turned over onto her tummy. She fiddled with the blades of grass while Daniel finished up with the final paper.
As he discarded it she sat, ‘What do you think, Dartmoor?’ she asked, for that was where Princetown was.
Even the name of the town seemed appealing, reminiscent of fairy tales. She shuddered again at the thought of that prison, and brushed the feeling aside, looking up at Daniel with hope. As soon as she had seen the picture, before she had even read the story, she knew that was where they should go.
‘I can see you want to. Why not, I’ve never been to the southwest, and have always wanted to see some wild moors,’ Daniel said.
‘Yay! How long do you think it will take to get there?’ she asked him.
‘A few hours – maybe six.’
‘Ugh – more traveling. Oh well, gotta be done. Shall we get it over with?’ she asked jumping up and extending her hand to Daniel.
He laughed and nodded. He took her hand and let her pull him up. Sarah giggled again as she pulled him close and closed her eyes, feeling tingles sweep all over her as he stroked her cheeks with his free hand.
‘I love you,’ he said.
Warmth spread out from her heart.
‘I love you,’ she answered, and kissed him softly, lingering in their embrace.
Daniel broke away to gather up the newspapers as they were quickly scattering in the wind. It looked as though it was about to rain as the sky was getting darker and clouds were moving speedily across the sky.
They ran to the gate together and leapt over it, returning to the protection of their car.
CHAPTER 12