Witchblood

by Emma Mills

  Chapter Five

  The night turned into day and I slept on, restless while Luke haunted my slumber, his luminous features framed as he stood staring in at me through the window. I saw those impossible wings spreading from his back and glowing in the moonlight, but it must have been a dream, as Daniel had visited me before I awoke, and closed my heavy curtains to block out the sun’s glare, placing my new suitcase near the wardrobe. It was all dreams.

  I awoke as the sun was dipping behind the rows of suburban town houses on what was a lovely crisp winter’s day. As the sun was still reasonably high in the sky, I reckoned it was between one and two in the afternoon, which meant I must have slept almost twelve hours – what on earth was the matter with me? I’d never slept that long prior to being made a vampire, and now I supposedly only needed a couple of hours a night.

  I opened my suitcase and decided to put off the inevitable meeting with Daniel and instead, I wasted time hanging up clothes in the beautiful old wardrobe. These new clothes were the only possessions I had. I wondered if I could get a message to Sebastian, to ask him to retrieve a couple of sorely missed items from my dad’s house, like my obscenely expensive face cream which Luke had bought me for Christmas, all because I said my favourite film star used it. However, as I looked at my reflection in the mirror, I realised I’d never need it again. It seemed that two weeks as a member of the undead had fixed any complexion worries I may have had, as my skin was now blemish free. There was absolutely no sign of the scar that should have marked my cheek. I glowed with health, although a spot of fake tan or bronzer wouldn’t go amiss.

  So if I didn’t need my skin care and cosmetics, I mused as to what I missed the most. I looked around my beautiful room. It was perfect, but somehow barren. As my eyes wandered the length of the room, I knew what I needed most - my bookshelves, stocked with all my favourite novels; everything from Jane Austen to Marian Keyes. I loved getting lost in a book and would regularly get a new one, disappear up to bed with it and lounge around all weekend until I’d devoured it. I needed books, and fast, if I was going to be kept prisoner here.

  My other prize possessions included my DVD collection and iPod. I loved watching all kinds of films, huddled into the squashy sofa with my best friend Alex and a tub of our favourite ice cream, watching mindlessly fun, romantic comedies. Equally, I loved snuggling up against Luke to watch the latest thriller.

  However, I hadn’t been completely straight with Eva when she’d quizzed me on my interest in witchcraft. I wondered what she’d say if she scanned my DVD shelf, housing my secret guilty pleasures for which I couldn’t explain my attraction, ‘Practical Magic’, ‘The Craft’, all the ‘Harry Potter’ films, ‘X-men’ and ‘Merlin’. Alex had often ribbed me for my continued fascination with all things supernatural, and I couldn’t explain it. Well maybe now I could? It was somewhat ironic, and I couldn’t decide whether to smile or frown.

  I mulled over the events of the past week and still found it too surreal; something I decided was best left alone. So snapping out of my daydreams I hurriedly finished the task of putting my clothes away. It didn’t take long as I hadn’t many, another reason to find a way to get out of the house. Once finished I opened my door, half expecting it to creak, but it didn’t and I padded barefoot down the soft carpeted hallway to the stairs.

  It was a vast house and I passed another two closed doors on my way to the stairwell, and an open door housing a bathroom. It looked spotless and untouched, but of course it was virtually unused, apart from the odd shower. It had taken me several days after my ‘death’ to realise that I no longer needed to use the bathroom. I never needed the loo as I had no waste products in my body, I didn’t sweat, and for some reason still unknown to me, my hair, skin and teeth always gleamed. The only need for a shower was if you actually got dirty, and this is surprisingly difficult to do once you have passed puberty, especially when you are under house arrest.

  The stairs went both upwards to a second floor and down to the ground floor. I decided it might be a little rude to take myself on a tour, so going downstairs I sought out Daniel. I found him in the first room I looked in, a large, airy front reception room decked out with leather sofas and a huge wide-screen television – some things never change with men, supernatural or not.

  ‘Umm Hi! Sorry I’ve been ages. I was unpacking my stuff. I love the room by the way,’ I said, eager to avoid any confrontation due to the fact that I’d slept through the best part of the day.

  ‘Oh, so you’ve surfaced have you? I was beginning to wonder if Sebastian had in fact changed his mind regarding your usefulness and unbeknown to me sent his cronies over to dispose of you in the middle of the night,’ Daniel said, as he half-turned towards me and looked up smiling.

  I said nothing, but poked out the tip of my tongue in response.

  ‘I expect you'll need some refreshment pretty urgently?’ he said, and I got the impression he was gently reminding me how I should be behaving. In fact, until he’d mentioned my empty stomach, I’d felt no hunger at all but I didn’t think this was the best time to mention it, so I went for the easier option, lying.

  ‘Yep, sure. I’m starving! I’ve never felt so hungry!’ OK, so I may have overdone it slightly, and I’d forgotten that he could read my real feelings from the direct source.

  ‘Of course you are Jessica, although you may want to work on sounding a bit more convincing next time,’ Daniel said, grinning at my discomfort.

  ‘Help yourself. We’ve a stockpile especially for you in the fridge,’ he added before turning back to the sports channel.

  I couldn’t believe it. I thought I’d done really well having Luke as my boyfriend, because even though he liked football and cricket, he wasn’t obsessed like loads of blokes, yet here I was hooked up with a seemingly sport-loving vampire. I could only hope there were more televisions and a DVD player. Or maybe I could go and live with Eva, although after my recent exploits had effectively destroyed her room, maybe not.

  I decided the fridge invitation was a good excuse to explore a bit further, and also realised that there was in fact a dull, nagging sensation in the pit of my stomach. However, on opening the fridge, I stared in bemusement. Instead of the neat rows of blood bags I’d gotten used to in Cumbria, I was faced with a regular human fridge – milk, cheese and veggies. I heard a low grumbling chuckle and turned around to face Daniel, framed in the doorway smirking at me. I let my eyes check out the rest of the kitchen and found a bread bin, kettle, tea and coffee pots.

  ‘So Jessica, do you fancy trying out that tea and toast craving of yours?’ he said, smiling.

  ‘Ehm maybe,’ I faltered, ‘but where is..?’ Suddenly, since I assumed there was no blood available, a craving so strong reared up and hit me in the solar plexus. I felt a red hot anger once again growing inside me. They were playing with me; they were going to try and make me cave in and feed from some poor human. My face and body language must have changed swiftly, because Daniel took a step back, the smile gone. The fridge door swung from my hand and slammed back in place, the contents rattling, as shock registered on both our faces.

  ‘Jessica, it’s OK, there’s a fridge full of the red stuff in the utility room. This is just for show, in case I bring a human girl home from the club, or we get an unexpected visit. It wouldn’t do for someone to open the fridge looking for milk and find row after row of blood, would it?’ He smiled again and I softened my glare.

  ‘The utility room is through that door to your left. Help yourself.’ He nodded in the direction of the door and headed back to his television. I opened the door to the utility and switched on the light. Opposite the door was a sleek silver fridge, and on opening it I was greeted with the uniformly neat rows I was suddenly hankering after. I removed two and stepped back into the kitchen with them to find the microwave.

  After warming it through and getting over my initial revulsion at the knowledge of what it was, I sighed and gave in to my craving. After finishing the fi
rst, I refilled my mug with the second bag and after warming it up a little, walked back through to sit with Daniel.

  ‘I’m sorry, did you want one?’ I said, suddenly feeling rather selfish and embarrassed after my hissy fit in the kitchen.

  ‘No it’s fine. I am going out later to the club. Eva will come and stay with you tonight,’ he replied.

  ‘Oh right, OK,’ I said, not wanting to think through what that meant regarding his dinner, or worry too much about the inevitable meet-up with Eva. Instead I asked a question which had been nagging me since awakening in Cumbria.

  ‘Daniel, where does all this blood come from? I mean you seem to have no problems with supply, and yet hospital blood banks are always saying they don’t have enough. Is this because of us? Do you steal it?’

  ‘No we do not steal it, Jessica. It is actually not a commodity that we tend to use a lot of because we tend to prefer drinking live blood, from a willing donor. We just have a few bags in for emergency use, and as in your case, newborns drink the majority of our supply. That is why we stocked up - for you,’ he replied.

  ‘So what happens when this runs out? Will I be expected to use live donors?’ I said, blanching at the idea.

  ‘Obviously we would prefer that you came round to our way of thinking, and I’m sure that once you get over your initial concerns, you will prefer it, as we do; however I will not force you and we can replenish your supply when we need to.’

  ‘How? I mean I don’t want to be taking it from the hospitals that need it.’

  ‘You won’t, my little vampire with a conscience. We have contacts in the health industry that have the credentials to buy blood legitimately, and we pay them. You don’t need to concern yourself with it,’ he answered, turning back to the football game once more.

  After a very long fifteen minutes of watching him watching the football, I grew bored and decided that seeing as I was going to live in the house, I may as well get to know it.

  ‘Daniel, I’m just going to give myself a tour of the house. Is that OK?’ I decided to be polite and catch him off guard, but all the thanks I got was a grunt and a vague nod, his eyes staying glued to the players on the screen.

  Half an hour later and I’d been down to the cellars, which I remembered had been converted into a very cool underground garage, and also nosed my way around the ground floor. Apart from the kitchen I’d already seen, and the boy’s room at the front of the house, there was a much more relaxing lounge at the back of the house, adjacent to the kitchen.

  I wondered if Eva had a hand in this room, because it housed a regular-sized television and a DVD player set into one alcove, while the focal point of the room was a beautiful Victorian fireplace with a richly-coloured woven rug in front of it. The floor was wooden, and there were two very stylish, but comfortable, sofas set around a heavy oak coffee table. My eyes were drawn to a neat pile of women’s magazines and my suspicions were confirmed – this must be Eva’s doing. I settled myself on the nearest sofa and sank gratefully into its cushions with a current copy of my favourite magazine, wondering idly how long it would be before I could go shopping again, and where I’d get the money.

  I was still sitting on the same sofa an hour later when Eva arrived, rushing into the house through the front door like a whirlwind. First she went to Daniel’s door.

  ‘Hi Dan, how’s the little witch doing? I take it she’s woken up finally?’

  I heard his grunt of ascent and realising she wasn’t going to get anything more from him until the end of the game, she headed on down the hallway to me.

  ‘Hey witch-girl, broken any more mirrors? You realise you are going to get the seven years bad luck for breaking my mirror, not me?’ Her words were antagonistic, but as soon as I looked up I realised she was just trying to wind me up. Smiling, she flung herself down on the other sofa and propped her feet up on the table.

  ‘I love the twenty-first century, I really do. Can you imagine how constricting it was to be a girl in my world? It was all corsets and never speaking unless you were spoken too. I’d have been whipped senseless for even thinking about putting my feet on the table. I couldn’t have thanked Sebastian more for releasing me from that half-life. Your world has its issues, but I much prefer it to mine,’ she said smiling again.

  I smiled back thinking of my fascination with period dramas and Jane Austen. In my head it was all imagined, but in hers it was very real memories. I couldn’t wait to grill her, to see if she had a real life Darcy, but I needed to apologise first.

  ‘I’m sorry about your dressing table Eva. I’ve no idea how I did it. It’s never happened before, and that table was so beautiful. Can you get another mirror for it?’ I asked quietly.

  ‘Don’t worry little witch, Sebastian is sorting it out for me. It will be beautiful again next week. I was more upset by you turning your nose up at the meal I’d chosen for you. I thought he’d have your taste buds tingling and begging for more.’

  I decided to be honest. ‘Actually he did, well initially anyway. If Daniel hadn’t put his hand on my shoulder I think I might have drained him dry, I don’t think I could have stopped.’ I broke off, horrified as I realised I’d put my fears into words.

  Eva nodded thoughtfully and grinning again said, ‘Hmm, I wonder if Sebastian would have preferred to be sorting out my broken mirror or an accidentally drained corpse? Tough one, but I suspect you wouldn’t want to know the answer!’

  I stared in horror at her joke, but she just laughed and carried on. ‘Jessica, we’d never have allowed you to drain him. We could have pulled you off him between us, and his memory had to be corrected regardless. I think Daniel made an error. If he’d let you give in to your new instincts, things would be easier for you now,’ she explained.

  ‘How do you know that? The thought of it makes me feel sick, Eva. I’m not normal, not like you,’ I said, trying to make her understand me.

  ‘Jessica, no-one is normal in the beginning. Anyway, what’s normal? Everyone has a different perception of it. You may not realise it yet, but most vampires are different to each other in some ways, just like humans. We all carry a little of our past with us and that effects the vampire we become. Some are cruel, some are kind, and some have certain skills, like you…’

  ‘So why is everyone calling me the witch then, if some other vampires have special skills too?’ I asked.

  ‘You are different. Your power, shall we say, is definitely witchcraft-based. I know of no vampire who can move things telepathically. Typical vampire skills are things like flying, although that’s dying out, mind–reading, or in Sebastian’s case he can tell whether people are intrinsically good or bad from tasting their blood. This is of course another reason why he wanted to taste you,’ she added. ‘He’s weeded out a couple of traitors that way. Talking of which, he won’t be impressed if he finds out you know that about him, so I wouldn’t mention it,’ she said, as she smiled and relaxed back into her sofa with a magazine.

  After Daniel’s football finished, he joined us and we all chatted and read magazines. Sooner than I expected, the sun was setting on my first day back in Manchester.

  At around eight o’ clock in the evening, Daniel left the house to meet up with some friends and go to Exodus, and I realised with a jolt that he’d never left me before. I felt a strange pull as he smiled at me, I could feel his warmth as he intruded on my thoughts and fears, then he suddenly pulled me into an embrace.

  ‘You can come with me if you want Jessica, but we will be hunting and I don’t think you’re ready yet,’ he murmured.

  I shook my head slowly. ‘No, I don’t want to come, but I don’t want to be left here either,’ I said quietly.

  ‘You’ll be fine with Eva. You can have a girl’s night in and watch one of the films you were mentioning. You know I need to feed, it’s what we are, but no one will be hurt; they won’t even remember me. Just like a mosquito, remember?’ he said and grinned at Eva, who scowled at the idea.

  I smiled hes
itantly back and a couple of seconds later he was gone.

  After curling up on the sofas again, Eva grinned and produced ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s’, an old favourite of mine. Around midnight I grew bored and went to bed, out of habit rather than tiredness, and ignoring Eva’s jibes I trudged up the stairs and sank into bed. I wondered what Alex and Luke were doing, and whether they were out in town, or in bed like me.

  Thinking of them I got back out of bed, went to my bedroom window and stood in the dark watching the still night. I could have gone then, through the window. I could have tried to find them, but what would I say? Plus of course, with Eva’s hearing, she’d be on my back within seconds. No, I reasoned, now was not the time.

  The rest of the week passed with such boring repetitiveness that even I was amazed at my control, managing not to bolt in the middle of the night. But every night I told myself the same things. There’d be no point in leaving without their approval, they'd catch me before I could blink, and then they’d never trust me again. Plus I didn’t like thinking it, but Eva was starting to fill the huge empty void that Alex had left. She was chatty and fun.

  Daniel was different. Every time I looked at his beautiful face I felt guilt, like I was betraying Luke. If I felt uneasy, Daniel calmed me. When I felt sad he made me smile, and when I felt totally and utterly alone he held my hand and watched TV with me. He never said a word about my forbidden thoughts of finding Luke, never chastised me, and never corrected me. He was in my head. He knew what I wanted and who I missed, but he never mentioned it. He gave me the privacy to mourn my own death.

  Luckily by the end of the week a couple of things happened which thankfully led to me getting out of the house, and after six days of house arrest I was starting to waver on the meal options. In the hope that consuming more would have a positive effect on my image transformation, I’d doubled my intake to four packs a day, and as I sat in front of my mirror in the morning, I decided it was time to convince Eva and Daniel that I’d changed enough to go out.

  Essentially I was still the same girl, but my eye colour had totally changed from the sparkling darker, but still natural blue they were when I first awoke, to the same dark chocolate that Eva and Daniel’s were. They were so dark they looked almost black, but if you looked really closely they had red flecks in them. To any regular person glancing at me they would look like very pretty, dark Mediterranean eyes, but they stood out like deep, dark pools against my super-pale flawless skin and blonde hair, which had become lighter, shinier and smoother. My face had changed to become slightly more angular and defined. I had cheekbones for the first time in my life and they looked great.

  Where I’d been an average, curvy size twelve before, my body had now become much harder and leaner. The clothes which Eva had bought the first week now hung from me, and I realised with a smile that I probably needed to go down two dress sizes - another reason for a trip out. Consequently, I dressed and clothed myself in my baggiest clothes, to accentuate the need for a shopping trip. She loved shopping, so I skipped down the stairs and into the kitchen to put my case forward.

  I was met in the kitchen with two serious faces waiting for me. Daniel looked concerned, sad even, and Eva averted her gaze and looked down at the table.

  ‘Jessica, we have some news that may be quite hard for you to take, but you have to understand that when we’ve told you, you cannot, at all costs follow your instincts and leave this house without us. We will stop you straight away,’ Daniel said gently, yet firmly.

  Oh dear! This was not sounding good; in fact it was starting to sound very, very bad! Eva pushed the daily newspaper across the table to me. I looked down confused, and then my eyes zoomed in and saw my dad’s face staring up at me from the middle of the page. I grabbed the paper, and frowning, sat down to read as Eva pushed a freshly filled mug across to me.

  Even though I didn’t exactly need the intake of air, I still gasped as I read the headline, ‘Father of murdered girl attempts to take his own life.’ I read the story, and a feeling of desperation grew within. I read of how he’d tried to kill himself the previous night by taking a packet of paracetamol on his usual stomach full of whisky. Luckily for him, an unknown person had found him and called the ambulance; strangely they hadn’t stayed around to wait for the paramedics to arrive. The police had launched an inquiry and were asking for the person to come forward. According to the paper my father was alive but unconscious.

  I looked up and realised both of them were watching me intently, maybe expecting me to bolt, or maybe they knew something more. ‘You know more than this. Eva, tell me, who found him, what’s going on?’ I asked.

  ‘Nothing, this is all we know. Why should we know more?’

  ‘Daniel, I can tell you know something. I can feel it. Tell me the truth,’ I said, turning on Daniel, knowing I was right.

  ‘Eva, we have to tell her something. Sebastian will only tell her tonight anyway,’ Daniel said, as Eva merely shrugged.

  ‘OK Jessica, the newspaper is right, he did try to kill himself. However, it was one of us that found him.’

  ‘You?’ I interrupted.

  ‘Not me, it was one of Sebastian’s staff. Sebastian has his people watching all of your close family and friends to make sure they don’t figure out what really happened to you. It’s just a precautionary thing,’ Daniel finished.

  ‘But I don’t get it. Why would Sebastian go out of his way to order one of his flunkies to actually go in and save my dad? As I understand it, he’s just protecting our secrecy? He wouldn’t care if my father lived or died.’ I’d hit a nerve, and caught them both glancing furtively at each other before Daniel took a deep breath and carried on.

  ‘You are right of course, Jessica. There is more to it. You remember last week Sebastian said he was going to send a guy in to recover your childhood photo albums?’ I nodded.

  ‘Well he’s seen the albums, and they don’t really clear up the question of your maternal bloodline. Unless there’s another album?’ he added.

  ‘What do you mean? They go all the way back through my childhood and my mother is the same woman in all of them,’ I argued exasperated.

  ‘Not all the way, Jessica. They only go back to age two. There are no baby photos. Have we missed an album somewhere?’ he asked.

  ‘Oh that, no. There are no baby photos. I remember asking about them when I was about ten, and they told me they’d lost that first baby album during a house move.’

  ‘Hmm, don’t you think that’s a little strange when they have all the other albums, Jessica? Also, as Sebastian noted, you obviously had your father’s blue eyes and blonde hair, but other than that there are no similarities, and yet there seems to be no likeness to your mother either,’ he said.

  ‘Well no, but not all children look like their parents, and as you said I do have some similarities with my dad… well I did have!’ I said. ‘But what has this got to do with Sebastian saving my dad?’ I asked.

  ‘Sebastian will tell you himself this evening, but think about it, because with your mother dead, your dad is the only one who can clear all this up. He has the information we need, and Sebastian has come to a dead end with your family history. We need more answers before you can be free,’ he answered.

  I sighed and looked back at the photo of my dad. The sadness was ingrained in the lines of his face. All the women in his family had died on him; his mother before I was born, his wife two years ago and now his only child. I guess the hole in his heart had become so large it could no longer be filled with neat whisky, and he decided that as the only member left of our little family unit, he may as well give up and stop the pain.

  I couldn’t believe he was hiding something this momentous. Could it be that the mother I’d loved was not my real mother? No, no, it couldn’t be possible.

  ‘Am I going to get to see him, to talk to him? He needs to know I’m OK,’ I asked, relieved he was safe in a hospital bed, where he at least couldn’t get his hands on more alcohol, but
there was a tightness in my chest. I squeezed my eyes shut to stop the tears and rubbed my temples.

  ‘I’m not sure, it’s up to Sebastian. Very few humans can be allowed to live knowing of our existence for obvious reasons; however there are exceptions to the rule. You’ll have to see what Sebastian says, and I’ll warn you now, don’t try arguing with him if you want to stay alive,’ Daniel said.

  ‘Fine, I’ll behave. When are we going?’ I asked.

  ‘As it’s Friday he’ll be at Exodus this evening, so we’ll leave here about eight,’ he answered.

  Thinking I’d see my dad sooner rather than later, I decided it was time to put my plan into action regardless of what was going on with my father. I smiled up at Eva. ‘Eva have you noticed how much I’ve changed this week?’

  Eva looked up, startled at the quick subject change, and then frowned suspiciously at me, looking me up and down.

  ‘Hmm, I see your eyes have turned now and your hair is paler I suppose,’ she added reluctantly.

  ‘Yes, but look how much thinner I am. These clothes just don’t fit. I can’t go to Exodus tonight looking like a tramp, can I? I mean, what will the others think of you, if I turn up looking like this?’ I grinned wickedly as I watched my words dawn on her features, and a smile threatened the corner of her mouth.

  ‘Well Jessica, that’s easily solved. As you know, shopping is my one true love. I will happily pop into town and get you some smaller clothes. Don’t you worry about it,’ she added with a wicked smirk.

  The smile disappeared from my face.

  ‘Please Eva, let me come with you. I have to get out of this house, and I really want to choose some clothes for myself. Come on, Daniel, please,’ I begged.

  I watched as they communicated, swapping silent words, and finally to my great relief they smiled at each other, then me.

  ‘I think it’s time,’ Daniel said. It was a short sentence but very, very sweet. I yelled in triumph as they both watched, quietly amused until I stopped jumping round the table.

  ‘You’ve changed considerably, but I think we both know that you would still be recognisable to anyone close to you, and because of that I suggest one precautionary measure,’ Eva said digging her hand into her bag and drawing out a box of chestnut brown hair dye.

  ‘You were planning it already!’ I said.

  ‘Of course! You were starting to act like a caged lion and I quite fancied a girlie shopping trip,’ she answered, her eyes twinkling.

  ‘Yey!’ I exclaimed happy again, momentarily forgetting my poor dad, but sure in the knowledge that I’d get to see him soon and that he was safe in hospital.

  An hour and a half later, I was sitting in front of my mirror once again, this time towel-drying my new, dark chestnut hair. I stared at the pale, luminous face in the mirror and wondered if my father would recognise me, when he awoke from his coma. After all he’d been in an alcohol-induced coma twice before and had been fine a couple of days later. I told myself this time would be the same, but it didn't quite work.

  A surge of human emotion once again took over my body, and stumbling from my stool I fell onto my bed and curled into a ball, a single tear tracing a pattern down my cheek. If only I could feel Luke’s arms around me. I realised in that minute how much I missed him, and how much I’d lost. A ball of pure emotion was stuck in my throat and I choked it back as I controlled the urge to howl and scream. I knew Eva wouldn’t let me go out, if she thought I was out of control and wanting to see Luke.

  Of course, Daniel knew I was in pain, whether I screamed internally or out loud, and I heard the pair of them suddenly flying up the stairs two at a time. I had seconds to pull myself together, so I grabbed a firm hold of the human grieving girl inside me, shoved her back into the dark cell in my head and pushed with all my might. Gone; locked away. I rubbed the tear from my cheek and sat up on the edge of the bed as they both exploded through the door.

  ‘Jessica what’s the matter?’ Daniel was at my side in an instant, his arms circling me protectively. I sank my head against his shoulder thankfully.

  ‘Is it your hair?’ Eva quipped, frowning at me, knowing it wasn’t the real answer.

  I smiled weakly as Daniel glared at her, and explained as well as I could without giving away my true feelings.

  ‘No. I like my hair actually. I always wondered what it would be like to be a brunette, but I never had the courage to do it.’ I smiled again.

  ‘What then? I felt you, you were screaming inside, Jessica,’ Daniel said.

  ‘I’m sorry. I over-reacted. I guess I had a delayed reaction to the news of my dad. I didn’t take it all in before. It’s so strange being here in Manchester but living a totally different life, and not being able to see my family and friends. But I understand why, don’t worry,’ I added, when I saw Eva’s frown form again.

  In the end it was Daniel, not Eva who questioned whether I should go out, but of course he knew that I’d felt more than I'd let on.

  ‘Jessica, are you sure you can handle this today? You can always send Eva to get you something to wear for tonight, and then go out shopping tomorrow,’ he suggested, but Eva jumped to my rescue.

  ‘Daniel, she’ll be fine. A shopping trip is just what she needs to feel normal again. I bet she’ll come back renewed and revitalised. She’s been stuck inside for nearly three weeks. That’s longer than most, and anyone would get upset, stuck inside for weeks on end. Jessica, go and get your sunglasses. It’s a perfect wintry day and you don’t want to get a headache. We’re hitting the shops!’ she added, turning back to me grinning.

  Surprisingly, it went without a hitch. Well, almost without a hitch. I was so thankful to be getting out of the house, I couldn’t help but smile as we hopped into her super-cute, shiny red convertible parked in the driveway. They’d taken the extra precaution of getting me to have some breakfast before we left, a good job really, as it turned out that the hundreds of people swarming round the city centre was rather overwhelming, but after the first five minutes, my fangs slowly receded and I was able to ignore the scent and concentrate on shopping.

  After a mammoth trying on session in the cubicles of Selfridges, we headed over to the till, arms laden with skinny jeans and tees that flattered my now skinny, toned tummy, a couple of smarter wool tunic dresses which I would probably still wear over jeans and a really sexy pair of black skinny leather trousers and jacket. It was only then, when Eva flashed her card that I wondered about the money. How was I going to get money? I obviously couldn’t withdraw anything from my old bank account, not that there was much in it, because I was supposedly dead, and how could I possibly get a job – all my official details would be redundant.

  I’d officially ceased to exist. Once again, I felt shock prickle all over and I wondered if it was a good idea coming out after all. Tension started to crawl up my spine and prickle the nape of my neck. The muscles in my body tensed as if ready for a fight, and the scariest of all - I felt my fangs start to push through my gums, as I suddenly caught the strangely intoxicating whiff of the girl behind the till. I clamped my lips together to hide the fangs, and thankfully Eva immediately cottoned onto the change in atmosphere and hurried the girl at the desk, pushing her pin code into the card machine so fast it was a blur. She beamed a wide smile at the girl, picked up the bags and twirling round on her heels, marched me out of the shop into the icy winter air, where she carried on walking until we were well away from the mêlée of people and outside a gloomy backstreet pub.

  To any passing glance the pub looked closed, its windows were boarded up and it looked positively unwelcoming. My surprise grew as she walked right up to the door and pushed it open, striding in and pulling me after her.

  Once inside the pub, I glanced around and felt my fangs recede again and my body start to relax. The pub was nearly empty, dark and unwelcoming and I could just make out a small group of people in the furthest corner, but I was not distracted by their scent. They were vampires; in fact there was no human s
cent in any corner of the pub.

  I followed Eva over to a table in the opposite corner of the pub and watched bemused as a barman appeared from nowhere and briskly handed us two glasses filled with dark red, silky liquid in return for a ten pound note.

  ‘Eva, what is this place? How on earth does it stay undetected?’ I asked.

  ‘It’s called The Blackout. It’s a sanctuary for us. No human would come here, as it has magical wards surrounding it. It’s totally safe, a bolt hole if you like.’ She smiled at me before carrying on. ‘What happened in the shop, Jessica?’

  ‘I don’t know. I’m sorry. I was just thinking about money. How I have nothing, not even an identity and I err, just freaked out a little…’ I faltered.

  ‘Money? Right! Jessica you don’t need to worry about money, or an identity. All that will be sorted out for you. Sebastian will explain it to you later if you’re nice to him. Although not as nice as last time, hey?’ she said grinning.

  ‘Oh God! How embarrassing. I just want to forget that. Daniel was so mad, but you both made it clear that if I didn’t do it he’d kill me. Literally.’ I responded.

  ‘Of course, but Daniel didn’t expect you to - enjoy it quite so much I think,’ she said laughing again. ‘But Sebastian is very enjoyable. I can only agree with you there.’

  ‘Stop it Eva. Yuk! He’s never going to do that again, I can promise you,’ I said cringing at the memory of the heat Sebastian’s bite triggered.

  ‘We’ll see, but now for more important matters. Do you think you have enough clothes? Daniel will be getting antsy the longer I stay out with you, and I thought we could stop by the department store on the way back to the car, to get you some underwear essentials, if you think you can handle more?’ she probed.

  ‘Sure. I feel fine now, but let’s get back.’

  You don’t like being away from him either, do you? You’re so tense the nights he goes out.’ I started to protest, feeling my loyalty to Luke stretched and distorted, but she carried on unaware, ‘You know, I remember feeling like that towards Sebastian. It’s normal that you’ve a strong bond with the one who makes you. Don’t try to resist it Jessica, you need to forget Luke. You can’t be with him any longer and you shouldn’t deny your feelings for Daniel,’ she added.

  ‘It’s not that simple Eva,’ I said, feeling the tension rise in my body once again and trying my best to quell it.

  I stormed out of the pub and through the doors into the dank back street. I stood and took a deep breath of icy air and blew it out, dispelling the tension and trying my best to smile and not grimace. I followed Eva back to the car, the department store forgotten in my haste to return to the house.