The game is gathering momentum. Nearing its conclusion. The air tingles. The world is poised. And it won’t just be me, tipping it, shoving it, forcing it into a spiral. I know you feel it too.
Do you know me now?
My name? Gabriel Black.
In truth though…
In truth, my name is Death.
In truth, my name is the Future.
I’ll see you there. If you live long enough.
Fifty Nine
It was Sunday night and Emily had gone to bed early. She lay, snuggled into the duvet, listening to the rain batter the world outside. It had been a hideous two weeks with so many reprisals for the attack on the newspaper.
Offensive graffiti had been scrawled all over the city, humans and vampires both responsible for that. Clubs owned by humans really had banned vampires, so then clubs owned by vampires had, too, become exclusive to their own kind. There’d been more violent clashes all over the Entertainment District, some of which had spread to the retail areas.
There, shops had been broken into, some raided. Which shop and which time of day, depended on who owned it. Humans went out late to attack shops owned by vampires when they were staffed by vampires; vampires gathered in the still dark of the early winter mornings to shove their own kind aside if they worked in human businesses.
The one fact that was common to all the trouble was that the Security Forces always seemed to arrive after they were needed. Never too late - they always made arrests, but never just as things were kicking off either. Emily sighed. They’d increased their patrols, more officers were visible in every area, but they somehow never seemed to be in the right place at the right time.
Emily rolled over. Why was she wasting time thinking of such depressing things? Especially as she’d just had another wonderful weekend with Lucas. It had been the only time when she’d felt anywhere near safe.
They’d gone to what Emily thought the most luxurious hotel. All carved marble, thick carpets, enormous beds and sunken baths. And, even better, all totally adapted to Lucas’s kind. Total blackout blinds for during the day, even a donation centre within the hotel. Lucas had laughed aloud when she’d tentatively asked if he’d been there before. She hadn’t really wanted to know, didn’t like the thought of him being there with anyone who wasn’t her. He had reassured her that no, he had never been there before. Gabriel had booked the room for himself to pamper his latest lady, but he’d been unable to make it, and, unable to cancel the room, had suggested that Lucas make the most of it.
Which was exactly what they had done, Emily thought, allowing a smile to spread. They’d even had dinner together in the restaurant. Sort of. Emily had been surprised to find that she hadn’t minded being the only one eating. They’d both been drinking champagne and the conversation had been easy so she’d hardly noticed that Lucas had no food in front of him.
What had also been reassuring was that they were not alone. There were many couples like them – one vampire, one human. It was easy to think they were the only ones. Also easy to think, that with all the violence on the streets, that they were doing something wrong. But no, there was nothing wrong about her and Lucas. It was all perfect. She didn’t think she’d ever been happier, except she wanted Lucas here now and not halfway across the city at work. Yes, that would have made her even happier. She switched off the bedside light and shut her eyes.
But not for long. Or so it seemed.
The ringing of her phone startled her awake. She fought her way up through sleep and then fought the glare of the lamp when she fumbled on. It was five in the morning. Who the hell would want her at that time? Screwed up eyes located her phone and deciphered the call ID. Why wasn’t she totally surprised to find it was work?
‘Emily, it’s Amanda.’
‘It’s five in the morning,’ Emily replied.
‘I know. I’ve been sacked.’
‘What?’ That woke her fully and she sat up.
‘We all have. The entire vampire staff that is. Just like that. Instant dismissal.’
‘What? Why?’
‘No reason given.’
‘That can’t be right.’
‘I’m allowed to call you and tell you that I’m no longer an employee, but I’m not allowed to know why.’ Emily could make no reply. ‘Anyway, you lucky humans who are still in gainful employment need to get to work. Now.’
‘But it’s five in the morning.’
‘Not a consideration to the mighty Bernstein it seems.’
‘Amanda, there must be some sort of mistake …’
‘No. We’re all about to be escorted to the tram by the Security Forces, and there’s a patrol stationed outside the building. Bernstein’s taking no chances this time. There’s no mistake. I’ve got to go.’
‘I’ll call you later,’ Emily said.
‘I’m not sure you’ll be allowed.’
‘I don’t care. I’ll call you tonight, after work. I’m sure it’ll sort itself out during the day.’
‘Emily, it won’t. I’ve got to go. See you.’
There was nothing for it. Emily headed to the shower, and then into the freezing, dark morning. She knew it would be one of those days that never got properly light.
Everyone was gathered, yet again, in the coffee room. Most, Emily realised had had any remaining early morning drowsiness shocked out of them. No one spoke much, just the odd staccato interchange. There were no groups huddled together. All knew what had been done. None knew why.
Bernstein took his position at the front of the room. No need to wait for silence today. Yet, he did wait. Emily’s stomach twisted. She wanted to wrap her arms tightly around herself, but moving would break the paralysis in the room and she didn’t dare.
Bernstein took a deep breath. Emily held hers. Was this the end for the humans as well?
‘You will all know by now the revolutionary step I decided to take in the early hours of this morning. As yet, you do not understand the necessity of it. Some of you may feel confused, possibly even resentful at what I have done. All of you have lost colleagues, some – friends.
‘Any of you are free to leave if you wish. You will receive the same terms of dismissal as your vampire counterparts. I suspect, I trust, that once you know the reasoning, then your loyalty to the paper will override these first shocked reactions.
‘The reason why there are no vampires working here today and never will be again, is because there was a significant development in the HeadHunter case last night. A significant development that requires unbiased reporting.’
Surely this was the point in the proceedings when Bernstein always handed over to Simon? But, there was no sign of him. Emily didn’t turn to seek him out, still didn’t want to draw any attention to herself.
‘Last night,’ Bernstein continued, ‘the HeadHunter took another innocent human life. Only he made a mistake. He has grown too confident.’
Bernstein paused again.
‘Last night, it was proved beyond all doubt that the HeadHunter is a vampire.’
Now there was a ripple through the audience, some conversation. Most were surprised; a few felt that their suspicions had been confirmed.
‘The reason why there was never any blood at the scene? Simple. Because this evil, murderous vampire fed on his victims. Fed on them until they were drained and only then did he mutilate them further by decapitating them, thus hiding the marks of his teeth. But this time, he made a mistake. Left those canine wounds on view, placed the decapitation cut too low, and so gave himself away.’
There were more mutters now, of revulsion this time. Emily didn’t speak. Couldn’t put the whirl of her brain into words. A vampire… feeding? Killing? Someone like Lucas. One of Lucas’s kind. She felt sick. It couldn’t be true. It wasn’t right. It wasn’t the way of the world.
‘This vampire is part of our society. And, don’t forget, he has killed his own kind too. You will remember that the quotes left by this deranged killer have linked all the
deaths together. This is why we dismissed the vampire staff. We need workers we can trust. People we know are playing their proper part in society.
‘So, any of you who wish to leave our paper may do so. Any of you who are not prepared to help us hunt this killer down, to get this degenerate vampire locked up, even have his so-called life ended, any of you who don’t wish to do your duty, yes, you may leave now. Go on. Walk away. We don’t need you.’
She should leave. Emily knew that. But her feet were locked to the floor. Her breath had frozen inside her. She should leave.
The noise of a single pair of footsteps seemed deafening in that room. No one turned to see who was leaving. Doors opened. Doors closed. Silence returned.
Self-loathing flooded her body. Where was her courage? What Bernstein had done was wrong. She should leave.
‘Anyone else?’
This was her chance.
‘Good. Then get to work. There is a memo detailing exactly what is expected of all departments. We publish, paper and Net, later today. Now go.’
Emily sat, slumped at her desk. She’d opened the memo. Of course she had. It had been flagged with a marker that sent the time it was read straight to Bernstein. She knew what she was required to do. But starting it, that was a different matter.
She wanted to speak to Lucas. But how could she? They were on mobile ban again, and besides, he’d be heading to bed now anyway. Why hadn’t she left when she had the chance?
A message appeared on her screen. Simon. Gloating no doubt.
‘Thought you might be interested in the quote that the vampire HeadHunter has been using. I’m taking a risk sending you this – it’s classified but thought I would, just in case you were thinking of doing something stupid, like leaving. Since we stopped publishing them, he’s left the same one at every crime. Rather labouring the point, I’d say. To think I published him in RAGE. A more interesting take on this one, and all the others, once you know he’s the bloodsucking type, don’t you think?
‘SOCIETY MUST CHANGE. WE CANNOT TOLERATE THE VAMPIRES’ PLACE IN OUR WORLD. WE MUST RESTORE THE OLD WAYS. HUNTERS AND VICTIMS. BLOOD SUCKERS IN THEIR RIGHTFUL PLACE.’
‘How stupid were we to think he meant the vampires to be the victims? All along, he meant that role for us. A dangerous time to be a human. Still, dangerous time to be a vampire too. Bound to be payback after this.’
Emily shut her eyes, scrubbed her hands across her face. She was helpless. What could she do? She couldn’t get a message to Lucas until after she’d finished. She didn’t even have the courage to do what she knew was right.
Maybe what she needed was coffee. It was still nowhere near nine o’clock. And, from her final handover notes, it seemed that Amanda had had a rather successful evening. Mind you, Emily thought, as she looked over the ads that Amanda had already pulled in, nearly a quarter were from vampire owned clubs. Those ads simply wouldn’t be running. Bernstein’s memo had made that quite clear. The finance department would not be sending invoices and would be returning any payments already made. Not till after publication, of course. All calls to vampire clients to inform them had been strictly forbidden.
What she really needed, Emily reflected as she poured coffee, was a plan. More than just how to get through today. She had to hand in her notice, that much was obvious. She couldn’t work here and still be with Lucas. That would probably be Bernstein’s next move – sack those in relationships with vampires. Surely she couldn’t be the only one? She would certainly leave before he did that. And maybe, a little voice inside her head whispered, maybe Lucas would admire her a bit, be proud of the stand she was prepared to take.
Someone entered the room. Emily didn’t turn. Not until she heard the door shut, but even then, she knew who it would be.
‘I know you’ve read my message,’ Simon said, crossing the room to stand next to her. Emily concentrated on adding milk to her drink.
‘Coffee?’ she said, without looking at him.
‘No thanks. I took a risk sending you that message.’
‘There was no need.’
‘I just want… I want you to be safe, Emily. ‘Bloodsuckers in their rightful place’ means something a bit different to me. And I bet you were thinking of walking out this morning.’ Emily didn’t reply. ‘In fact, you probably still are.’
Emily forced herself to stay still. She wanted no shrug of the shoulders to betray her.
‘Emily, don’t do it. Please. I know you don’t care what I think …’
‘True.’
‘But this is huge. I don’t know what sort of repercussions there’ll be.’
‘Yes you do. I expect you’ve been awake half the night organising them. You and your RAGE buddies. This is your moment of glory after all.’
‘It doesn’t feel like that.’
‘You surprise me. This is just what you lot have been waiting for. I’m sure you feel that you were right all along. But this is only one vampire. Just one. Not all of them. What Bernstein’s done is utterly wrong.’
‘But you saw the quote, Emily. There’s only a few people know what it says. You, me, Bernstein, some of the Security Forces, by no means all. That’s it, other than the sick blood-sucking murderer who put them there. It’s not allowed to be published, but we’ll put out there that it’s a vampire. It’s our duty, our responsibility. You must see that.’
‘Of course I do. I’m not that naïve. But would Bernstein have sacked all of us if the HeadHunter had been human? Of course he wouldn’t. He’s part of it, just like you are.’
‘You’re wrong, Emily. This is Bernstein’s doing. Nothing to do with me.’
‘Really? Nothing to do with all your prejudice that you’ve been feeding him over the last few weeks. That vampires banned from clubs story was so obviously yours.’
‘That’s where you’re wrong, Emily. That was Bernstein all the way.’ He lowered his voice. ‘Everything I’ve ever published has been true.’
‘And you really expect me to believe that?’
‘That’s up to you.’
‘Yes it is, and I don’t. Just like I can’t believe that you don’t know exactly what RAGE is planning next… you even said it in your message: reprisals.’
‘I didn’t say that I didn’t know,’ Simon said. Emily was surprised to hear the flat tone in his voice. Surely he was leading towards his victory cheer? ‘I just said that I wasn’t having anything to do with them.’
‘But you still know. And if that’s the case, you can stop it. You can stop them. Tell the Security Forces.’
‘I already have,’ Simon said quietly and left her, alone in the room.
The deadline loomed larger as the clock ticked closer to four o’clock. Bernstein was generously allowing the admin staff to leave at that point, half an hour before publication, although all had to sign a document stating that they would not leak the story. Only a few knew the contents of what would actually be printed. Bernstein had kept it on a ‘need to know’ basis.
Emily couldn’t concentrate. She’d managed to make calls, amazed at how normal she’d been able to be, jovial even, in response to the humour of some of her clients. People lucky enough to be ignorant. Unaware of the storm that was about to be unleashed. Her quota was nearly done. Maybe one more call, but her mind was struggling to focus further.
What was Simon playing at? Had he called the Security Forces? She hoped, for once, he’d done the right thing. A thought had nagged at her ever since their conversation that morning. It wasn’t a thought she liked much: Simon could be useful. To her, and to Lucas. He knew things. Had access to facts that very few others seemed to know. And that was most definitely useful. It felt mercenary, but in a way that made her stomach clench with determination. It made her see that she had to keep working for the paper, had to stay in contact with Simon.
She hadn’t risked a warning to Lucas. Not yet. She desperately wanted to and hated the fact that fear was stopping her. But she’d be out of the building by the time both
the paper and Net editions were published. Lucas would be awake then too. She’d find a way to warn him without saying anything too much. Just in case the power of Bernstein extended beyond the office. She wished the time away until she could actually leave.
Final ads sent to layout by half past three as demanded, Emily sat and began to make handover notes, then realised there was no point. There was no Amanda to read them. In a tiny act of defiance, she wrote them anyway. Who knew what the world would be like tomorrow?
Emily looked across at the others travelling home from work. They didn’t know. She did. Would it make that much difference in this, the wider world? Bernstein had obviously kept his anti-vampire feelings in check until now. How many others were doing the same?
There was a man, a few years older than her, sitting across the aisle. Was he going to be out seeking revenge tonight? Bernstein had been forced by the Security Forces to delay publication until six. Everything would be revealed then. There had been nothing on NetNews, nothing from the Security Forces themselves. For all the rest of the world knew, nothing had changed in the HeadHunter case.
Would this mistake make him easier to catch? Was that why Bernstein had obediently waited till the evening to publish? Perhaps the Security Forces didn’t want the murderer alerted? Maybe they had a strong lead? If they’d caught him already, then trouble might be avoided. Then everyone would know it was only one vampire.
Her phone buzzed. Lucas. At last. She’d been forced to leave a message for him to call her.
‘Hi. Everything okay?’ he asked. She’d planned this conversation a number of times now.
‘Yeah. Sort of.’
He was quick to catch on. ‘What is it?’
Emily tried to keep her tone light, conversational. Just in case.
‘I’m fine. Was just wondering if you’d pop round to mine, after work?’
‘What’s going on?’ Lucas said.
‘Yes, I know it’s not ideal, but it’s quite important. It’d be great if you can make it.’
‘I know there’s something wrong. Just tell me, please.’
Symbiosis: A Vampire Psycho-Thriller Page 33