Symbiosis: A Vampire Psycho-Thriller

by Louise Atkins

  The noise was loud. And that was good. Loud was what she needed.

  *

  But what’s this? This new noise? Someone is here. Someone who knows I’m here too. Someone who knows the back entrance. Someone who wants to come in.

  Shall we go and see who it is?

  *

  Emily kept hammering until her fists were bruised. Nearly fell through the door when it was opened.

  ‘Emily? What are you doing here?’ She caught a note of genuine surprise in his voice.

  ‘Gabriel – I’m so glad you’re still here.’

  ‘Come in. Why aren’t you with Lucas?’

  Gabriel led her up the stairs and into the workroom.

  ‘That’s why I’m here. I need your help.’

  ‘My help?’ Gabriel laughed, but suddenly Emily didn’t feel any warmth in it.

  ‘I’m sorry. Have I disturbed you? Were you getting ready to go?’

  ‘No. I’m not going anywhere.’

  Emily stopped, frowned.

  ‘But you organised the meeting. I thought you’d be the first one there.’

  ‘Didn’t fancy it in the end. Now, you said I could help you?’

  Emily edged a little closer to the bench, a little further from Gabriel. Something wasn’t right.

  ‘I …’ She paused. Was this what she wanted? Her phone began to ring in her bag. She ignored it, its merry tune so wrong. ‘I want you to change me.’

  Gabriel made no reply. He crossed the room to stand in front of her.

  ‘You want me to make you one of us?’

  Emily stood firm.

  ‘Yes. I need you to so I can be with Lucas. I thought, I hoped, you’d help me …’

  ‘Oh Emily. I will. But first there’s something you must understand.’

  He turned away from her. Emily released her breath.

  ‘You must understand what it really means to be one of us.’

  ‘I do. I do understand.’

  ‘No, Emily. You don’t.’

  In an instant he was in front of her again. ‘You need to know: society must change.’

  Those words. She’d heard them before.

  ‘I agree.’ Her words tumbled out. She could feel Gabriel’s breath on her face. ‘What’s been happening… these last few weeks, it’s awful.’

  Gabriel placed a finger on her lips. She shrank back.

  ‘Hush. Society must change. We cannot tolerate the vampires’ place in the world. We must re-start the old ways, Emily. Hunters and victims. Blood suckers in their rightful place. And I think we both know what that is.’

  And then she knew. Her fingers clawed at the bench behind her.

  ‘Those are the HeadHunter’s words.’

  ‘No, Emily. They’re my words.’

  ‘They’re not. Anyone could have read them in the paper,’ she insisted.

  ‘You know they were never published. That’s why I kept using them, over and over again. They chose to ignore me. I chose to persist.’

  ‘No. It can’t be.’

  ‘That’s what you need to understand. Our rightful place is back in control. And you can be a part of that. That’s what you want.’

  ‘No. I want to be with Lucas.’

  ‘What a pity you’re so deluded. Think of all that power that can be yours with the first taste of blood. Fresh, warm, blood.’

  Emily’s stomach knotted. Cold sweat marked her brow.

  ‘No. I don’t want that. I just want to be with Lucas. Please, Gabriel. That’s all I want.’

  ‘Such a waste of potential.’

  ‘Will you still help me?’ Emily’s words were a whisper. Was this a mistake?

  ‘Of course. I know you’ll change your mind once you feel what it is to be one of us.’

  He twisted away from her. Emily fought the urge to run. Gabriel raised his hands to his face. When he turned back, she saw the glint of metal in his mouth.

  ‘Do you like them? They shine so beautifully. Even more so when they are coated with blood.’

  Emily stared at the silver caps that now covered Gabriel’s canines. Pointed. Sharp. Sharp enough to pierce flesh. Her flesh.

  ‘I made them myself. It’s taken me a while, but, with my artistic flair, I knew I’d perfect them in the end.’

  Brave. She had to be brave. She was doing this so that she could be with Lucas. She had to remember that.

  ‘How do I know you won’t kill me?’

  ‘Oh Emily, I will kill you. Surely you know that much?’

  Emily watched his eyes fix on her neck. She was all too aware of the pulse that he could see there.

  ‘I mean, how do I know you won’t kill me,’ she shuddered, ‘like you killed the others?’

  Gabriel paused.

  ‘Because Lucas loves you.’ He raised a hand, stroked her neck. ‘But ultimately because we want the same thing. I want more vampires. A new breed. Changed by me. You want to be a vampire. I admit for a very misguided reason – love always is – but, it’s to the same end. To further the cause. And you do want to be with Lucas, don’t you?’

  Emily didn’t answer.

  ‘Come on, Emily. Time’s ticking.’

  ‘Yes, yes I do.’

  ‘Good girl. I’m proud of you.’

  Gabriel wrapped his arms around her.

  ‘Wait,’ Emily said. Gabriel raised his head. ‘Will it hurt?’

  ‘Only a little. Towards the end. Then, when you are cleansed of your human life force, then, three drops of my blood and your change will be nearly complete. You’ll have to feed. And quickly.’

  ‘Will I remember it, afterwards?’

  ‘Maybe not at first, but you will. That too will be part of my gift to the future generations, knowledge that I was their glorious maker.’

  ‘Will you be here?’

  ‘Of course. I need to show you the way. Now – let’s start.’

  *

  And we do. The skin on her neck is soft, warm, holds some remnant of perfume, applied in anticipation of Lucas no doubt.

  To her credit, she doesn’t cry out. Not like some of the others have done. Her grip tightens where she holds my arm, then, as her sweet, sweet blood floods me, she softens. A tear falls, wetting my face. I pause. A single tear for the loss of her human life. Dignified somehow.

  Then, once her heart is slowing, the crucial time, I can allow myself to continue for once. A delirious rush I admit, but still, I adhere to the process. I swallow my last. Her last.

  I lay her on the floor, gently now, use her bag as a pillow to cradle her head. Her heart still beats, but only just. All is as it should be. Sleeping beauty.

  Not a kiss that’s needed now though.

  Blood.

  Three drops.

  I open her mouth, tip her head back. Utter the words.

  ‘One for birth. One for death and one for rebirth.’ Our very own holy trinity.

  She swallows. It’s her last human act.

  Now, I must go. I know I said I would be there for her, but you must forgive me my little lie.

  But don’t worry; she’ll be fine.

  After all – she’ll be a vampire.

  And me? I shall be the HeadHunter. Free to hunt. Free to kill. Free to change who I choose. For eternity.

  *

  A noise. A loud noise. Near her. Near her ear. A phone? Her phone. Emily opened her eyes. They wouldn’t focus. Where was she? She pushed herself into sitting. Her head swam. What had happened? Her head was stuffed with cotton. What was wrong? She raised a hand to her face.

  Then she knew.

  She took her hand from her mouth. Used her tongue. Teeth. Not like her teeth. She felt her neck. Sticky. Her hand came away red.

  It was done.

  Her head spun as she forced herself to her knees. Her phone had stopped. Then, it started again.

  She fumbled into her bag. Clumsy fingers struggling to find it. Where was Gabriel? He’d said he’d be here. It was good he wasn’t. Had he really admitted to being the
HeadHunter? Her brain wouldn’t work. It seemed so long ago.

  ‘Hello?’

  ‘Emily, it’s Simon. Where are you? Are you at the meeting?’

  ‘Meeting?’ Her brain clutched at the word.

  ‘The vampire meeting. At the theatre? If you are, leave. Now. It’s a trap, Emily. A trap. They’re going to torch the whole place. Emily? Emily? Can you hear me?’

  She ended the call. The meeting. What meeting? She fought her brain, clutched at the worktop to drag herself up.

  The meeting. The one Lucas was at. The reason why she needed to be changed. A trap.

  She had to go.

  *

  Emily could smell the flames long before the fire was in sight. They licked the sky, caressed it, devoured it.

  She emerged, pushed her way through the now silent crowd. Pushed to the barrier of the Security Forces.

  No one stopped her this time. She sank to her knees as close to the fire as she could stand. She was a silhouette against its brightness.

  Maybe he’d got out. Maybe Lucas was safe. She found her phone. Dialled. Nothing. Dialled again.

  Nothing.

  ‘Emily …’ A voice. A man. Lucas? He was on his knees next to her in an instant.

  ‘Emily …’

  She turned to look at him.

  ‘Emily, it’s Simon. You’re all right. I’ve been calling you for ages, trying to warn you, as soon as I found out it was a trap …’ He stopped a moment, ‘What about Lucas?’

  Emily looked back to the fire. It was all she could do.

  ‘Emily, what happened?’

  She opened her mouth to speak, to try to find some kind of answer.

  And he saw.

  ‘Emily, no.’ Horror pushed him away, to his feet. ‘How could you?’

  She held out her hand to him. ‘Please help me.’

  ‘Emily. You’re one of them.’

  He backed away, and fled, back into the crowd.

  Emily stared at the fire for a few more minutes. Heat stung her face.

  She stood.

  Alone.

  She had no one. Nothing. Nothing but the shadows.

  And hunger.

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