by Davis, SJ
"Oh my God." She glanced at the diamonds. The stones glimmered even brighter through her tears.
"Yes, both of you are very taken. We are truly a trouple now." Jason opened his box. Inside was a matching set of rings. "We are family."
As if they were performing some ritual, Jason handed Russell his ring and put hers on her finger and his face broke out into one of his traffic-stopping smiles. "While I want the world to know about our status, I think there are some things that are sacred and need to be kept between the three of us. I hope the two of you don't mind supporting the starving artist for a while longer while I get myself another agent."
Now Russell smiled, a once rare event that she prayed she saw more often.
She held up her hand admiring the two most magnificent rings and men in the world.
"The two of you may bring out my creativity, but I don't think it needs to be quite that literal." Jason got out of the bed and went to the closet. "Even though it will take longer, this is the type of art I would like to show." He pulled out a canvas and turned it toward them.
The tears started afresh. This wasn't a painting in their most intimate moment, but it was intimate none-the-less. True to Jason's style, abstract swirls of blue, purple and pink created the ideal background of the three of them hand in hand with her in the middle crossing a finish line with a ribbon across their chests. He propped it up against the dresser and returned to them.
"It's amazing." She could study his art for hours and still never make out all the nuances in his pieces.
Russell kissed her first. He let his fingers graze her cheek and tilted his head to Jason. "Come on, kiss our woman."
Jason licked his lips and kissed her as well, his lips lingering as if he wanted more. "What do you think of my interpretation of a trifecta?"
"I think it's a work of art." Russell grabbed Jason's shoulder.
She took both of their hands, completing the circle. "I think we all won."
THE END
Acknowledgements
To my amazing publisher, SJ, who made a dream a reality and told me I could.
To my husband, KP, who supports every one of my fantasies.
To RL, who helped me when this story was only a thought.
To Tamara Eaton, who spoke me off many ledges.
To Jackie Kolanko & Riley Steele, who swooped in to make the perfect image for me.
To the person who said I would fail. Well, the book is here and there are more to come!
Nila Believes
The Vampire Memoirs
Book Four
Part One
By Riley Steel
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, including photocopying, recording, or transmitted by any means without written consent of the author.
This is a work of fiction. Characters, establishments, names, companies, organizations and events were created by the author. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or actual events, companies or organizations is coincidental.
Published by Vamptasy Publishing. UK
Text Copyright 2013 by Riley Steel
Cover by Nicola Ormerod for Vivid Designs
Chapter 1
I was madder than hell. I stared at my boss, Lord how I despised him. His face was alcoholic red, even redder than usual because he was trying not to shout at me. He was also fat, with a podgy, hairy face and a ‘stick up my ass’ attitude to match.
“You ARE fucking kidding, right?” I demanded.
“No I am not Miss Peters and kindly watch your language,” he said sternly with a hint of ‘I’m scared of this crazy bitch’.
“So some guy gropes my ass, I warn him, he does it again, I tell him to fuck off, and I get fired!”
“The man strongly denies…”
“Of course he fucking would, did you see the wedding ring on his damn finger.”
“Nevertheless we can’t have customers spoken to like that.”
“Listen, what-the-fuck-ever, like I need this two bit shithole job anyway. I’m out of here.”
“Don’t expect a reference,” he retorted as I reached his office door.
I whipped round fast and banged my hand on the door making him shit his pants.
“Don’t worry,” I said with a smile. “I don’t fucking want one, and you’d better hope I don’t contact your lovely wife about old Dorothy.”
“I… erm… don’t know what you mean.”
“Really, I saw you humping her in the store cupboard on a crate of beer? Ring any bells? Stuck in my mind because your arse is hairier than your face which I thought would be impossible but there you go. Have a nice day, Mr Stevens.”
And with that, I left. I took a nice mental picture, click click, of his face, open-mouthed and staring after me.
God damn it. I’d lost another job and my boyfriend was going to bloody kill me.
‘You lose one more job, Nila and I swear to God…’ I could hear it now.
I pulled my cardigan tightly around myself and walked briskly in the cold night air. Okay, I could have handled it better. I’d warned the guy twice not to touch my ass but he was showing off to his friends and, well I can’t deny that I do have a nice behind. Sod it! My boyfriend, Kyle, was abroad on a training course and wasn’t due back for another few days so I figured I would worry about losing my crummy bar job then. I had worked crummy job after crummy job to help pay for all his university fees and I deserved a bit of slack! I picked my mobile out of my bag and rang my best friend, Kirsten.
“Hey girl!”
“Oh my God Nila, have you seen the news?”
“What? No, I mean I just finished work… well got fired…”
“Holy shit, you got to get home and turn on your TV, there’s been like thousands of mental patients dumped on the beaches all over Britain.”
“Get out, fuck off. Like gibbering idiots all over the beaches?” I giggled.
“No, I’m serious! Stop laughing they are attacking people, thousands and thousands of them. Britain’s on lock down. They are saying we’ve already lost a massive chunk of the armed forces fighting them off.”
“You better not be joking. I mean we are in the middle of Britain, nowhere near a damn beach.”
“Just get home. You need to get yourself holed up somewhere safe.” She hung up without saying goodbye.
Well I’ll be. I stopped by the shop and grabbed myself a sandwich and milk for tea, listening out for any news on the sly from the people in there… nothing.
I got home to our little terraced house and switched on the TV while I took off my shoes and cardie. I clicked on the kettle and flicked the remote to find a channel that had the news on. I didn’t have to flick far every single channel was on an emergency frequency. I was shocked to see Blackpool on the news, which was only made a 40 minute drive away, as the main feature.
We are reporting live from the tower where we have a view of the carnage below. If we look out onto the beach…
The camera panned to the water where there were about a dozen large oblong shipping crates. The camera panned back to the street below and I gasped. What the fuck! There were hundreds and hundreds of people running around the streets. You could easily tell the sick ones from their victims. They were impossibly fast. I saw one leap ten feet into the air and land on a woman running. The things looked like… ok I didn’t even want to say it out loud… zombies!
These large shipping crates are from an unknown origin and we can only assume that the things inside the crates were manufactured or even bred as some kind of weapon. They are fast and strong, yet show little signs of brain activity, almost like they are functioning on instinct. The crates arrived shortly after sunset and upon opening immediately began attacking tourists and locals. Those who survived the attacks are becoming infected within seconds. The government is advising that people board up their houses as best as they can until the government can rescue survivors. We switch now to number 10.
&
nbsp; The picture switched to the prime minister who was looking extremely worried.
We have no idea who has initiated this attack and we are doing everything we can. It is imperative that you board up your windows, lock your doors. If you have an attic, take refuge in there as soon as you can. Get as much food as you can and monitor the TV and radio for all information. We will update everyone as soon as we have an action plan.
Crap, crap, crap. Those… things… how long would it take one to get to our town? I grabbed a hold-all from the kitchen cupboard and began piling as much food as I could into it. Thank God I had done the main shop a couple of days previously. God only knew how long I would be stuck in our attic so I opted for non-perishable foods and tins. I packed the kettle, because I absolutely could not survive a zombie apocalypse without coffee. I hauled the bag upstairs pulled down the loft ladders, put the bag up and then looked around for anything else I would need. The loft was floored and we had power and light but it was cold up there so I took up my duvet and electric blanket. I took up my laptop so I could get the news. Then there was an awkward moment. I hoped to God Kyle was safe out of the way. I didn’t have parents or family to speak of. I should’ve phone Kyle’s parents but I thought best to get myself holed up in the attic first and call later. And what IF I phoned someone and they were hiding in a cupboard from a zombie. I mean you always see that in movies. I grabbed my Kobo e-reader and a couple of paperbacks and went to my hidey-hole. I pulled the loft ladder up behind me, turned on the light and shivered as my breath blew out in puffs in front of me. I laid my Duvet on the floor then the electric blanket and then a sheet. I listened to the street below getting more and more hectic. The sounds of people leaving in the cars, windows being boarded up. Soon the street was in total chaos. We really weren’t handling the situation very well. I lay down and wrapped my duvet tightly around myself. I was lonely, I missed Kyle, I wished that I could have one person for company. I lay and waited for the longest time. Chalk this up to zombie apocalyptic invasion… night one.
***
I soon grew bored. I wondered idly if it was some sort of huge joke. I mean Zombies… running around Blackpool? Really. And not just Blackpool, every beach in the UK? It just seemed surreal. I opened the roof window and stood on a box to peak out. Someone nearby was hammering wildly. I had seen one of those things on the news dent a Porsche like a sheet of tin foil. A bit of plywood was not going to make a damn difference. After a couple of hours everything was quieter. Eerie with just the odd dog barking to break the silence.
Then I heard it, the front door opening and closing. Footsteps coming up the stairs.
“Nila” A voice called out.
Kyle!
I ran to the hatch, through it open and lowered the ladder. He climbed up.
“Kyle oh my God! What are you doing here?” I threw my arms around him.
“I flew home at dinner but I’ve been trapped in the airport.”
He looked exhausted. His sandy blonde hair was messy. He threw his bag down and hugged me back tightly.
“I didn’t know what I would find, if you would even be here or if you’d maybe gone to Kristen’s.”
“No, I thought about it, but I didn’t want to waste time. Did you call your mum?”
“Yes, her and dad are hiding in the cellar.”
“Ok, I better switch on the laptop and get some news.”
“Cool, you brought the kettle, I have pot noodles in my bag.” He opened his large bag and it was filled with all sorts.
“What the…”
“Look the supermarket was a looting ground everyone was grabbing what they could. Survival of the fittest.” He gave me a wink and took out two gourmet pot noodles.
I brought up yahoo and God, I so wish I hadn’t. There were pictures of these things attacking anything they could get their hands on. Their faces were grotesque. The flesh was grey, dead looking and it seemed that’s what they were. Some were missing arms, some had half their faces missing. I felt bile rise in my throat.
I followed the link to the official site, which told us that already 75% of Britain was overrun in six hours. We were being wiped out. The military were all but gone and the rest of the world were patrolling the seas making sure no one got in or out.
Kyle boiled the kettle and handed me my noodles, blech!
“According to this they will hit this area in the morning.” I said. “We have a few hours.”
“We should take turns sleeping and drag some of these heavy boxes over the hatch.” Kyle suggested.
This was a good plan and after our hearty feast we did just that. I had some boxes filled with books that had never quite made it to a book shelf when we moved in together. It had taken us both to lift them up the ladders.
Then there was nothing to do but wait. We snuggled together under the duvet with the electric blanket on high, well we didn’t suppose there would be any need to worry about electric bills, would there.
We pulled shifts, taking an hour each and it was my turn just as dawn was approaching. I took out my kobo and tackled my new Anne Rice book while Kyle, despite the end of Britain situation, was snoring like a baby.
I heard his phone beep within his trousers on the floor and thinking nothing of it I reached in and took the phone out. His mum must be worried about her baby Kyle I chuckled silently.
I can’t believe you just left me, without an ‘I love you’ or anything. How could you! How could you give your last hours on earth to her!
I can recall that moment with perfect clarity even though it happened years ago. I felt a physical pain in my heart, an actual pain. So painful in fact that I clutched my chest and started to hyperventilate. Everything around me was muffled and tuned out, I couldn’t focus on anything, I couldn’t think past the pain in my chest. I clutched my hand up and rubbed the skin trying to ease it. Part of me wanted to stop there, not to torture myself further by digging up more stuff I didn’t want to know. I hit the ‘inbox’, the messages started the day he ‘flew out’
Hi baby, I got your favourite, streaky bacon and breakfast mushrooms for breakfast in bed tomorrow! Can’t believe we have a whole week together! Love you loads x
And a few from me telling him I missed him, I was a fool. The next I pulled up sent a further chill up my spine.
Hurry back with that milk I want your cock again.
I choked and then I looked at the number, how could I not know it, I rang it nearly every day. My boyfriend of seven years and my best friend, Kristen. I began to cry, then I sobbed, great big sobs. Tears rolled down my face as a sagged to the floor.
“Baby?”
I heard his voice, but it sound like he was talking from a distance. I hunched over and sobs racked through my body making my shake uncontrollably.
“Look we will survive this. I mean I’ve completed all the resident evil games.” He laughed trying to lighten the move.
I looked up and shot him a look of pure evil. His phone fell from my grasp and landed on the floor by my feet, screen up with Kirsten’s last, lovely message staring up at him.
“Shit.” He whispered.
“How could you?” I sobbed.
“It meant nothing, Nila, nothing. I’m here, as soon as the shit hit the fan I had to get to you.”
“OH PLEASE! Am I supposed to be grateful? I hate you!”
“You don’t mean that.” He said with hurt in eyes.
“Oh I do, it’s over. Go back to your fucking whore!”
“I don’t want her, it’s you, I was stupid and reckless and I’m sorry. You work such long…”
I punched him square in the jaw and he hit the deck. He groaned and started to get back up.
“Don’t you fucking blame me!” I screamed.
“Nila! Zombies for fuck sake.”
“Who gives a ripe shit! I have dedicated the last seven years to you Kyle, I’ve supported you with one crummy ass job after another while you studied and climbed your way up to the job you have today. You fuc
king cock-end! I can’t believe I am stuck here with you. God-damn it!”
I kicked a nearby box in frustration.
“Nila…”
“Don’t talk to me… don’t talk to me you fucking loser.” I got up and went to the other side of the room and switched on the laptop.”
I concentrated on my task, tried to forget about the mental images being conjured up in my head. Kristen and Kyle, I hoped they’d be fucking happy together… twats!
A shocking news report temporarily captured my attention.
A news reporter was broadcasting from what looked to be a bunker.
“A new discovery, a few minutes before dawn these creatures looked for retreat. The military was able to un-hole a few and we discovered that they are allergic to sunlight. The following video was captured.”
The screen flicked to a very shaking hand held camera filming in a street. Three soldiers gathered round the boot of a car. One bravely popped it open. The creature inside bellowed as light hit it and it leapt out and went to attack the men. Its skin burst into flames and it screamed the worst possible noise you could ever imagine. Kyle had come over and was peeking over my shoulder.
“They burst into flames in the sun?”
“Yes, it’s a pity you fucking don’t.” I said with as much venom as I could.
Chapter 2
Ok so we were safe. I looked over various emergency broadcast sites and they were all broadcasting the same thing. The things were not coming out in the day. They urged remaining survivors to get as safe as possible to survive the night. I decided I would go and gather more supplies. I began to move the boxes on the hatch.