Where Loyalty Lies

by Hannah Valentine

  He turned and stalked out the room, leaving the door open behind him. I let out a shaky breath. Okay, I deserved that. He was right, I’d judged him and been a total bitch. I couldn’t help it, though. Better to be a bitch than a fool.

  The last thing I felt like doing now was going to a party but I’d promised Dale I’d go. Sitting around moping would have to wait.

  Outside it was raining. Perfect. I took off my strappies and put them and my handbag into a backpack before slipping on my trainers.

  I left by the main entrance; everybody was at the banquet so nobody was around to see. The rain pattered down on my umbrella and I immediately felt comforted. When I’d told Holt I was going to the staff party, he’d told me there were underground tunnels that I could use, which up until five minutes ago had been my intention but right now I needed this.

  I decided that turning up in reception dressed in my party outfit might lead to questions, so instead I went round the back and tapped on Dale’s window.

  After a few seconds the curtain moved back and Dale’s confused face appeared. It became even more confused as he saw me standing out in the rain.

  He flung open the window. “What are you doing out there?”

  I handed him my backpack and then folded my umbrella and handed it to him before swinging myself into his room.

  “Thought it might look odd showing up at the front desk dressed like this,” I said, taking my jacket off and folding it over the back of his desk chair.

  Dale took in my outfit. “You look gorgeous.”

  The compliment made me slightly uncomfortable. Vampire Attraction affected some people more than others and I’d been greatly relieved that Dale seemed to be one of the guys who weren’t affected too much. Still, I had to be careful. He was a good friend to me and I wanted to make sure things between us didn’t get messy.

  “Thank you. You’re looking pretty hot yourself.”

  He really was. He was wearing a pair of dark jeans and a white shirt that had just enough buttons undone to show the smooth muscles of his chest.

  “Sorry for barging in here like this.”

  “Hey, why use a door when you can use a window?” Dale quipped.

  I sat on the edge of the bed and changed my shoes. “Exactly, plus I wouldn’t want to break a tradition.” The words were out before I could stop them.

  Dale’s confusion was back. “What do you mean?”

  I gave him a sheepish look. “That day when you found me by the pool, I didn’t know if I’d be able to navigate my way out of here, so I used the window.”

  “Bloody hell. That’s the first time I’ve ever had a girl climb out a window to get away from me.” He laughed as he said it and, just like that, a potentially uncomfortable situation was avoided.

  Chapter 40

  As it turned out, it wouldn’t have mattered if I’d worn a costume or not, it seemed that the choice was optional. The party was being held in the indoor basketball court because it was soundproofed. There were the standard Halloween decorations as well as hundreds of strings of orange pumpkin-shaped fairy-lights which provided the only light in the room.

  “Want a drink?” Dale shouted over the sound of the music. I nodded and we went to a long table that had a line of clear plastic buckets on it. In front of each bucket was a sign that gave a name, but not the ingredients.

  “What do you fancy?” he asked.

  I scanned the names. Black Widow, Zombie, Fangs, Ugly Witch, Bones, Nightmare, Coffin, Sleepy Hollow, Venom and Sacrifice.

  “Um, I think I’ll have a Venom please.”

  Dale grabbed a couple of plastic cups and handed them to me to hold while he ladled venom into both. It was bright blue and actually tasted quite good.

  Just as I turned around, a girl came to an abrupt halt in front of me.

  “Oh my God! Are you the vampire girl?” she said.

  A glance at Dale showed that he looked about as uncomfortable as I felt. I’d never wanted to lie more. I really wanted an evening without any drama, but I had no choice but to be honest. There were people here who’d seen me before, either at the Autumn Ball or at my little showdown with Stacey, so I knew lying would do no good.

  “Yep, that’s me,” I said, trying desperately to act like it was no big deal. That hope was blown with the girl’s reaction.

  “Oh... my... God.”

  I wondered if she was one of Dale’s exes.

  “That’s so cool.” She turned to where a group of her friends were huddled together watching us. “It is her!” she shouted.

  I cringed as faces turned to look at me. I downed my Venom as Dale leant over and whispered to me.

  “Sorry, I promise I didn’t say anything about you coming.”

  I don’t know how long I was stuck there talking after that. The bright side was that it all seemed to be positive attention. I was asked if it was true I had vampire abilities, if I had fangs, if I craved blood, why I was being tested by The Sénat, what happened to my parents. Apparently no question was too personal. I answered over and over again carefully deflecting the ones I didn’t want to answer.

  After some time I made up an excuse and sneaked off. I tried to find Dale but couldn’t spot him in the sea of people. He’d ensured that my cup had always stayed full and I was certain that, by now, I’d tasted all the punches. Whatever the black one was, it was terrible, but after being asked if I’d ever killed anyone and drunk their blood, I’d downed it in one.

  I noticed a couple of guys giving me appraising looks and, knowing they were on the verge of coming over to hit on me, I quickly melted into the crowd and slipped out of a door into the hallway.

  As the door swung shut the quiet seemed deafening after the volume of the music in the gym. I headed towards the kitchen, thinking I’d give it a few minutes before going back in. Hopefully by then it would have calmed down a bit. I heard the door open behind me and picked up my pace. The base of the music bounced towards me and then cut off.

  “Trying to run away from me again?”

  At Dale’s voice, I turned. “I looked for you but couldn’t see you anywhere. I was just going to get something to eat. You coming?” I asked.

  Dale fell into step beside me. “The Spanish inquisition made you hungry?” he asked.

  “Ravenous,” I replied.

  We reached the kitchen and Dale hopped up to sit on the counter while I busied myself making sandwiches. I came here regularly. Holt could never understand why I liked to make my own food when I could have had it brought to me, but the room service made me uncomfortable – like I was trying to be something I wasn’t.

  “Sorry it got so heavy in there, I’d have warned you if I’d known they were all going to pounce,” Dale said.

  “It’s fine. I can handle questions,” I said as I buttered bread. Dale picked up on what I hadn’t said.

  “What is it you can’t handle?”

  I gave a casual shrug, not sure if the topic on my mind would be appropriate to talk to Dale about.

  “It’s the Attraction,” I said honestly. “The effect it has on guys means I have to be careful. I can never really let my guard down.” That black memory flared in the back of my mind as I remembered what had happened the last time I’d let my guard down. No. No. No. The memory tucked its tail between its legs and slunk off back to the part of my brain where it liked to lie in wait. I wished I could cut it out.

  I sliced the sandwiches in half and put them on a plate before hopping up to sit next to Dale. He took a ham sandwich and I took a peanut butter.

  “You have vamp Attraction then?” Dale asked.

  I frowned at him. “You can’t feel it?”

  We sat watching each other for a moment and then he shook his head.

  “I don’t think so. I know how I’ve felt when I’ve seen the female vamps but I don’t feel like that with you.”

  A weight I didn’t know I’d been carrying lifted off my shoulders. Right here, at this very moment, something truly fant
astic had happened to me. Dale was unaffected by me. I was so happy I couldn’t help but grin. I didn’t know if Dale knew what he meant to me. He was one of those genuinely good guys you don’t meet very often.

  It was fate. The fact that, out of every human being here, it had been Dale that had found me that day by the pool and he was probably the only guy here to be unaffected by my Attraction was a revelation.

  “You’re looking kinda goofy there,” Dale said.

  I gave him a playful shove and stopped my stupid grinning so that I could finish eating.

  When we went back to the party the attention on me had faded. There were still heads turning, and snippets of conversation about me found my sensitive ears, but the interrogation was over. I got my wish and managed to enjoy the evening dancing and laughing.

  When everybody started to pour out the doors and into another room, Dale’s eyes lit up.

  “It’s midnight,” he said. “Time to walk the plank.”

  Not bothering to explain what that meant he grabbed my hand and started pulling me along in the direction of the crowd.

  Everyone came to a stop at the swimming pool. This one had none of the extravagance that the one at the main house had. It looked like your standard leisure centre pool except that four long wooden beams had been laid out across the width of the pool. The beams were about fifteen feet apart and, with the ends resting on the tiles on either side of the pool, they were about a foot above the surface of the water.

  “Okay,” I said. “I guess people have to walk across the planks, but they’re not very narrow. Where’s the challenge?”

  “Look.” Dale pointed to where four guys were now standing at one end of the planks. They stripped down to their boxers to the whoops and cheers of the audience. Then bottles of drinks and shots glasses were brought forward. A guy counted down from three, all four boys drank a shot and then raced across the planks to where another shot waited for them on the other side. It sounded simple enough but it was fantastic entertainment. On the fourth run one guy lost his balance and splashed into the water where he proceeded to swim to the edge and haul himself out, ignoring the friendly heckles he was getting. On the sixth run another of the guys slipped and his falling made the guy next to him lose his concentration and they both fell in. The last guy standing finished his run and took his bow to rapturous applause.

  Chapter 41

  The game carried on for a long time. It seemed that everyone wanted to have a go. Health and Safety would have had a field day. I could only imagine what they’d think of the alcohol/swimming pool/racing combination. Nobody seemed that bothered though and I guessed that knowing doctors and a hospital were just a minute away made their tradition worth any risks.When more than half of the audience was dripping wet after their turns, there was a lull in volunteers. Two guys were already standing in their boxers waiting and the guy, who’d taken on the job as commentator, was trying to coax two final people to have ago.

  “What about the vampire girl?” someone shouted. I didn’t know who it was but I took an instant dislike to them. I tried to shuffle a little to my right so that I could hide behind Dale but it was too late.

  Murmurings of agreement spread across the room and eventually every head was turned towards me.

  I shook my head but the commentator guy shouted, “Oh come on, vamps can drink tons more than us so this’ll be a walk in the park for you.”

  Again I shook my head, knowing I’d gone bright red.

  “Vamp-girl, vamp-girl, vamp-girl!” the commentator chanted and, much to my horror, the crowd picked it up and joined in until it was deafening.

  Talk about peer pressure. I gave Dale a desperate look, only to find out he was chanting too. That brought an idea to mind. If I was going down, I was taking him with me.

  I conceded with a nod and got a cheer of approval. When the cheers had died down I raised my voice.

  “I’ll do it, but only if my good friend Dale fills the last space.”

  Dale’s grin vanished and with a smug smile I turned and started making my way to the start line.

  As I waited, a guy explained the rules to me. I wasn’t sure if he thought I was stupid enough not to understand after I’d been watching it for over an hour, or if he thought the vampire part of me meant I might not understand the concept of careless drunken antics.

  Dale was on the plank next to me and I raised my eyebrows at the black boxers he was wearing. I didn’t miss the stares his body was getting from the girls.

  “Ooo, Calvin Klein boxers, very nice,” I teased.

  Dale waved his hands at me. “Why, thank you. Your turn.”

  It hadn’t escaped my attention that the girls had also stripped down to their underwear or bikinis to do this. I wouldn’t be doing that, not because I was embarrassed but because of the cuts on my arms. They looked too deliberate to be passed off as accidents and I didn’t want to have to explain them.

  “Don’t see the point, really, it’s not like I’m going to be getting wet,” I said. “In fact, I think I’ll even keep my heels on, might give you a chance.” There were suitable noises of interest from everyone in the room.

  Despite my four inch heels, it was a doddle. Not only did being half-vampire mean that the alcohol didn’t have half as much effect on me as it did on everyone else, but it also meant my balance was good.

  After eight runs it was just down to me and Dale. He’d had a couple of close calls but grim determination had kept him upright. On the eleventh run his luck ran out and he splashed into the water.

  I accepted my applause with a small bow and stood at the edge of the pool to meet Dale. He held his arm up and I grabbed his hand to hoist him out of the pool. The second his fingers closed around my wrist, I realised my mistake.

  “I can’t believe you fell for that,” Dale said with a grin, and then he yanked me in, shoes and all.

  An hour later we were both back in Dale’s room using a heap of towels to dry ourselves. The party was far from over but, as it was a Sunday, I’d have to get up early for my medical day.

  “Are you sure you don’t want to stay?” Dale asked.

  “No, I need to get back. Besides you can go and have a little fun without me cramping your style.” I gave him a wink as I slipped back into my trainers and coat.

  “Yeah, okay,” he relented.

  “Thanks, Dale, I had a really good time.” We shared a hug and then I left, out of the window as always. It was hardly raining now so I didn’t bother with my umbrella.

  Halfway back to the main house an idea hit me and I changed course. The Halloween banquet was in the same ballroom that the Autumn Ball had been held and I couldn’t resist passing by to see what I’d missed out on.

  When I neared the stretch of windows that covered one side of the ballroom, I kept far enough away so that I could keep hidden in the woodland. I sank down behind a bush that was thick enough to distort my outline.

  I’d been surprised when Holt had said the word “banquet” as it implied eating and, seeing as vampires only had one source of food, it had conjured up some pretty gruesome images. But as with everything else that I misunderstood, Holt had explained it to me. The evening would be more like a Ball except, instead of dancing, they’d all sit and watch some sort of entertainment and when that was finished they’d do what vampires seem to do best. Socialising.

  It seemed like they were onto the second part of the evening. Despite the late, or rather early, hour the room was full. I scanned the crowds searching for a familiar face and found Henry. He looked like he was in deep conversation with a female member of staff and the adoring look she was giving him told me that Henry had turned up his charm. Further scanning revealed Saul and a shiver ran down my spine. I’d known that, next to The Sénat, Saul was one of the most respected people here but I’m not sure that information had actually sunk in. I’d never seen Saul like this before.

  He was standing with a drink in one hand and the other hand alternated between brushi
ng his hair back from his eyes and gesturing as he spoke. His stance somehow seemed both relaxed and powerful and I can’t have been the only person to think so because he had a constant stream of people coming up to talk to him.

  I watched in amazement at the reactions that people had to him. Their gazes were constantly flicking to Saul and he wasn’t left on his own for longer than ten seconds before someone new would approach him. It hadn’t been like that at the Autumn Ball. I strained to see his face, wondering if he was enjoying the evening. It was always clear that he was a hell of a lot more sensible than Henry, but I’d often seen Saul laughing and happy. This seemed out of character somehow.

  I realised how difficult it must be for him to always ensure his guard was up when people were around, to always have to portray this hard exterior. I didn’t really understand it. I knew his true personality shone out when he was around Henry, but I couldn’t see why anybody would spend such a large portion of their time playing these vampire games and having to be so calculating. What was the point? Yes, he was top enforcer but was that title really worth having when he had to make such an effort all the time instead of just living?

  I wondered what would have happened if I’d agreed to go with Saul. Would I be standing there next to him, pretending to be interested? As I was trying to picture it, Saul’s head turned just a fraction of an inch towards me. I froze. Was he really looking at me? I was sure it was just a coincidence, but I closed my eyes just in case; I didn’t want the light reflecting off them and giving away my location.

  I sat there for a while just waiting for someone to open up one of the doors and shout out “Why the hell are you sitting out in the rain with your eyes closed?” but nothing happened. When I eventually did peek, it was to see that nobody had noticed me and Saul had disappeared. I wanted to stay and search him out again but my close call had made me realise how utterly ridiculous I’d look if I was spotted out here.