Lucas nodded.
‘Mind you, I bet you bring all the girls here don’t you?’ She didn’t look at him as she spoke. She had a boyfriend, what did it matter to her if he came here every weekend with a different girl? Unless… For a second, he contemplated a Gabriel-style answer, just to gauge her reaction, but then, why lie?
‘Actually, you’re the first person I’ve ever brought out here.’
She still didn’t look at him, but he scrutinised the slight nod of her head, and what he hoped, prayed, was a small, brief smile.
Although Lucas hoped that it was the good sign he took it for, he decided not to press home any advantage and they were silent for a few minutes.
Emily eventually said,
‘I bet this place is amazing in a storm.’
‘It is. I’ve got some great photos. I might even show them to you sometime.’
‘That’d be great.’
‘They close the station if it gets too bad. Health and safety or something like that.’
‘But that’s good surely? You wouldn’t want anything awful to happen here. It’d ruin it.’
Lucas was on the verge of sharing a memory of his life, his alive life, of being near a storm-seized sea, all angry spray and violent crashing waves, but that would involve telling her about another time, another life. And she didn’t know. And he couldn’t, wouldn’t tell her. Not yet. Not until he knew more. Not until he was sure.
‘You look miles away. Are you okay?’ Emily’s words jerked him back.
‘I was just contemplating whether we should get a bottle of wine.’ The lie came as easily as if it had been the truth. He glanced at his watch. It was fully dark outside now, stars were just beginning to claim their places.
‘What time is it?’ Emily asked.
‘About five o’clock.’
‘Already?’
‘Do you have to get back?’ he asked. Back to your boyfriend, he wondered, bitterness souring the previous moment.
‘No. It just doesn’t seem like any time’s passed since we arrived.’
‘Time flies?’ He tried.
‘Definitely. It was like that that night in the bar and last weekend.’
‘For me too.’ Lucas smothered the admittance with a further question. ‘Red, white or pink?’
‘Oh, I don’t know. Red? Suits the occasion.’
‘Red it is then.’
Lucas returned from the bar, with a bottle and two glasses, wondering if this had been a wise suggestion. Alcohol always affected his kind far more than humans. He’d have to be careful.
‘Obviously I feel I should point out that I don’t normally drink this early in the day, not even at weekends,’ Emily said as he sat down once more.
‘Obviously,’ Lucas echoed, pouring her a generous glass, but not filling his quite so full. She seemed not to notice.
‘Cheers.’ He raised his glass and chinked it against hers.
‘Cheers,’ she returned.
‘I think perhaps we might have to head back,’ Lucas began later. He didn’t really want to utter the words, but he knew the last train left in an hour and he didn’t want this time together to end with a mad dash back to the station.
‘Really?’ Emily glanced at the clock on her phone, frowned slightly, then added, ‘I didn’t realise it was that late.’
He told her about the train.
‘Fair enough,’ she said.
As they rose, she staggered a little, legs trapped between the sofa and the table that their empty bottle resided on. She reached out a balancing arm, which Lucas obligingly caught and she steadied herself.
‘Early evening drinking,’ she excused herself with a slight giggle. Lucas felt a twinge of guilt – the fact that he’d filled her glass more often than his own had meant that he was probably responsible.
But he’d had to, he reminded himself. He had to play safe. He could feel the alcohol playing through his system, but what he felt more was the intoxication of her – they’d talked solidly for the whole time they’d been in the bar, about what, he wasn’t sure – but it had been easy. And now it was hard – hard not to feel an even greater connection to her, an even greater desire to continue further. He had to be careful.
She’d finished pulling on hat and gloves and was looking at him almost expectantly.
‘Ready?’ he asked.
‘Ready.’
The train was waiting in the station when they arrived and they selected seats in almost the same position as those of their outward bound journey. This time however, Lucas slid in next to Emily. There were a few late stragglers but he suspected that most had already been driven home by the cold and the darkness. And, after all, there’d been no further news of solving the Moonshine Murder as it was now being referred to.
He sat back in his seat and felt the dull thud as the train dragged itself to life. Emily wriggled into his side and leant her head against his shoulder. Lucas caught his breath. It felt good, human contact. He knew he wouldn’t move for the whole journey back.
As it was, he didn’t have much choice. It was only when he received no answer to his enquiry as to whether she was warm enough, that Lucas realised Emily had fallen asleep. His heart felt as if it had expanded to fill his entire chest. How long was it since he had had this? Too long. But, he halted his thoughts. He couldn’t venture there. He turned his attention back to the night flashing by the windows and tried not to think, but simply to enjoy.
‘Emily.’ He woke her with a gentle touch to her arm. He’d wanted to caress her face, touch cheeks that the warmth of the carriage had made glow.
For a second, her disorientation, the way she rubbed at her eyes with fisted hands like a small child, rewarded him with an unfiltered view of her. Then, as she awoke further, her vulnerability diminished. Back to the real world.
‘Oh Lucas, I’m so sorry. I haven’t been asleep the whole way back have I?’
He couldn’t keep his smile restrained.
‘Oh no, I have.’ She repeated her apology.
‘Don’t worry.’
‘You should have woken me up.’
‘You looked comfortable.’
Emily dropped her eyes, and then lifted them to his.
‘I was,’ she replied, then paused and added, ‘It was still really rude of me.’
‘Not at all.’
‘I promise you it’s not something I make a habit of. Falling asleep this early in the evening.’
‘Emily, it’s fine.’ Then, he couldn’t resist adding, ‘I’m sorry you had such a boring time.’
‘Oh, please don’t think that,’ she began, then realised he was teasing her, and stopped. ‘It was the wine. Early evening drinking you see,’ she offered instead.
‘Probably,’ he agreed with a grin and a nod that he hoped she would take as not quite belief.
‘We’re back,’ Emily said, rising to straighten her coat.
Looking out of the window, Lucas saw the platform lights. There was something about the platform’s emptiness that pulled at him, almost as much as the knowledge that this evening was nearly over. No one was waiting to catch the train. No one was waiting to greet anyone, pleased at their arrival.
‘Are you coming?’ Emily asked. He nodded a reply, stood and then joined her in the aisle of the carriage, just close enough behind her to catch her should she be unprepared when the train juddered to a halt.
‘You know I’m going to insist on seeing you back to your block don’t you?’ he said before she could utter any date ending words such as ‘Thanks for a great time, but …’
‘It’s not necessary,’ she began.
‘It is actually. You and I know better than almost anyone what happened in Moonshine.’ Where had that come from? What a great way to ensure she wouldn’t want to see him again – yes, just bring up the murder of one of her friends yet again. Great job. ‘And besides, it’s the right of any gentleman to see a lady home.’ His previous comment had definitely knocked any gallantry out of
that one. He’d rehearsed this scene in his head – his offer, her protests, his continued insistence, her eventual acquiescence. It had been perfect. Not like this. ‘Sorry that came out all wrong. Please let me see you home.’
They left the station. Lucas wondered about taking her hand again, but now they were back in the reality of the city, the confidence that he’d gained by being somewhere else was gone.
Emily didn’t protest at his determination to see her to her actual door, but they did linger there, held in the awkward moment of goodbye.
‘Thanks for another amazing day,’ Emily began, turning as if to open her door, but then turning back to him without doing anything.
‘No, thank you. I had a great day too,’ Lucas said.
He tried to fill the silence with his smile, the sincerity of his words. He didn’t want her to go, but he couldn’t say that.
‘We’ll have to do something again,’ he tried. He searched her face for a clue as to whether he could, should make a suggestion now, or deliver her a get out clause, ‘If you want to, that is.’
‘I’d like that.’
‘You would?’ He focussed hard to check that she really was nodding and smiling.
‘Yeah, I would.’
‘I’ll give you a call then.’
‘Do.’
Still they lingered.
‘Well, it really has been great, Emily.’
He leaned towards her, meaning simply to brush a kiss onto her cheek. Instead he found her lips, and their kiss became much more than he had intended. What he’d wanted, but more than he’d intended.
They broke, and he risked a look down at her. Raised a hand to take the caress he’d wished upon her earlier. Her smile broadened further. He kissed her again.
‘Emily.’ He breathed her name into her hair and sought her lips again. Her body was pressed against his. Despite their layers, he could feel the warmth of her. It tugged at him. To be next to that. To feel her skin next to his…
He pulled away.
‘I’d better go.’
‘Do you want to come in?’ They spoke almost simultaneously, but the way she dropped her eyes could have been coy, could have been flirtatious, only it wasn’t. Not to him. It just seemed genuine.
‘Of course I do,’ Lucas murmured. And he did, desperately wanted to. She turned away from him, back towards the door. ‘But,’ he hesitated. She turned to him once more. Was he really going to say it? ‘But, I’m not going to.’
‘Oh. Okay.’
How was he going to explain it? Tell the truth?
‘I’ve had a brilliant day, one of the best for a long time – and I think, I could come in now, and it would carry on being amazing. But, you don’t know me. With everything that’s happened, you need to be able to trust someone before… well, you just do. And I’d like us to do more things together.’ Now it was his turn to drop his eyes. ‘I guess that sounds stupid.’
She was silent. He turned to go.
‘Wait. It doesn’t sound stupid at all.’ She reached up and kissed him. ‘Make sure you call.’
‘I will.’
His head was beginning to spin by the time the lift opened at the ground floor. He tried to use lungfuls of the icy darkness outside to sustain him. Her kisses had quickened his dead heart. He’d make it home to a feed, but only just.
Forty Four
What was she doing? Emily wondered when she awoke the next morning. Having fun, was the first answer her brain offered. Shame such a feeling of guilt had to accompany it. The previous day had been wonderful, and she’d got all caught up in the romance of it. The way she and Lucas had kissed had felt so right. She flushed now, thinking of it.
But, it wasn’t right. Couldn’t ever be right. Because of Simon. He hadn’t called, and she was glad. And relieved. Her mind was so swirled by Lucas that she was struggling to remember the lies she’d told Simon yesterday. Was it only yesterday morning? It seemed like a lifetime ago.
She had to stop. Lucas was a gorgeous impossibility. She was with Simon. Unless… Would Simon be upset if she ended it? Upset beyond a bruised ego, that was. She had no idea. He’d been lovely after Rachel, but their views were so opposed, could it ever work? Emily had no clue about Lucas’s views on vampires. Nothing had been evident in all their talk yesterday. He did seem to know things, like on the train, but he hadn’t used it the way Simon used his knowledge, his opinions. Simon made her feel small.
She stretched in the bed. Lucas made her feel…amazing, and the idiot smile that had made her face hurt yesterday was back to tangle her insides again.
The ringing of her phone, and the ID of the caller put an instant freeze on that.
Simon.
‘Hi,’ he said. He sounded breathless, as if he were walking.
‘Hi,’ she returned, guardedly.
‘You got back from Sadie’s okay then?’
‘Yes. Not been back long actually.’ That did make her feel bad – using Sadie as an excuse.
‘Good. Successful evening?’
Her eyes narrowed. Was he checking up on her? Did he already know she hadn’t been there and was now trying to trick her into a lie? She forced herself to calm down.
‘Yes, it was good fun.’
‘Anyway, I only called to say that I can’t really chat now, and I probably won’t see you today.’
Emily could tell he wanted her to ask why. She didn’t.
‘Something major happened last night. Murder. It’s all over NetNews – I’m surprised you haven’t seen it.’
‘I haven’t turned my computer on yet.’
‘A man. Really grisly. Whoever did it killed him some place, then severed his head and transported both bits back to the Entertainment District.’
‘That’s horrible.’
‘Little blood at the scene, which is why they reckon that it must have been done elsewhere. It’s massive. It’ll wipe out any remaining coverage of the RAGE riots. I was one of the first reporters on the scene. Got a great interview with the Security Forces officer running the investigation. Bernstein is going to love it.’
‘When did it happen?’
‘Hard to tell. Around two, maybe later. I’ve got the perfect name for this weirdo – HeadHunter. This could be another huge scoop for me. On top of the riot, and Rachel. This could be enough to get me a chance to run the paper with Bernstein. Partners.’
Emily hung up. And didn’t bother answering when he tried again.
Did she need any further proof that Simon was not what she wanted? Not that she’d heard from Lucas. And she knew she should resist contacting him. She had a boyfriend, albeit one she didn’t like very much at the moment.
Now what? Her mood was shattered. By the elation in Simon’s voice, by nothing from Lucas and by thoughts of Rachel. And now this. Another death. She shuddered. What was wrong with the world? She huffed her way into the kitchen, made tea that she didn’t want, then stomped her way to the computer.
Before she could turn it on, her phone rang again. She frowned at its display. Work. She nearly didn’t answer, presuming it would be Simon again. But something made her. It was Bernstein’s assistant. Calling her into the office to help prepare the special edition to go out that evening – Net release only. Emily was about to voice concerns over what kind of ads the Entertainment District could possibly place to go out in a murder special edition, but thought better of it. If anything, their advertising revenue was up in the light of recent events. It didn’t seem right. Bernstein had at least consented to casual wear as it was Sunday. It seemed little consolation to Emily as she put on her coat and left for the tram.
She spent the trip in contemplating what she might say to Simon, should he even be in the office. He would have to apologise – and work out for himself what he’d done wrong.
It appeared that Amanda had received many messages from a whole variety of clubs once the news of the murder had hit the Net. Emily flicked through them. Most of the clubs were promoting escort services being
offered to and from trams, to and from housing blocks. ‘Keep clubbing – we’ll keep you safe’.
A phone call checked what space she had and then Emily began calling the clubs to find out who wanted to be in the Net special and who wanted the paper edition the following day. According to a memo that Bernstein had left Amanda, their advertising rates seemed to have considerably escalated. Emily shook her head as she began on the first return call.
About an hour later, Simon appeared. Even if she hadn’t already known he’d been out the previous night, his attire would have made it more than obvious. His smart shirt and subtly fashionable jeans should have stood out, instead they leant a tragic sympathy to his haggard, stubbly face; the dedicated journalist on the case for his public all night.
Emily paid only the same amount of attention at his entry as did the rest of her colleagues, he’d get the message, and then returned to her screen.
Emily was just about to rise to see who was working layout, when a message popped onto her computer. She opened it, deliberately not turning to look at him when she saw it was from Simon. She scanned his apology a couple of times. He had certainly worked out that he’d upset her and his words seemed to be sincere enough.
He wanted her to meet him in the coffee room, said he’d give her a few minutes then join her so they didn’t cause any raised eyebrows. Who was he trying to fool? Emily looked around her. The office was so busy that no one would notice them go.
She did stand now. But not to meet Simon; she had layout to do.
He eventually caught her going back into their office.
‘You didn’t have time for coffee then?’ he asked. Emily shrugged.
‘There is a deadline you know,’ Emily replied. ‘I’m surprised you’ve got the time actually.’ Emily was shocked to find she enjoyed the arch tone in her voice.
‘I just wanted to apologise, in person. Emily, I’m sorry …’
‘Yes. You said that in your message,’ she cut him off.
Symbiosis: A Vampire Psycho-Thriller Page 23