Witchblood

by Emma Mills

  Chapter Six

  By the time we arrived back at the house, I’d forgiven Eva for her lecture. After all, she’d been very generous and had bought me a pile of gorgeous designer clothes, besides being equally generous with her friendship, which I badly needed. So we both sailed into the house with smiles and a bounce in our step.

  I knew Daniel had been nervously waiting for us as soon as I walked into the lounge, because he looked far too relaxed. The giveaway was that his sports channel had switched to a golf tournament, and Daniel hated golf.

  ‘Had a good time then?’ he asked, his eyes flicking over the pair of us, searching for any problem, his brain waves flicking out, searching my emotions.

  ‘Yes, great. She was fine Daniel; really pretty impressive for a first trip out. We only needed one small trip to The Blackout and that was right at the end,’ Eva answered, smiling as usual.

  ‘One trip? Why, what happened? I knew I should have come.’ He shot worried glances at me, then back to Eva.

  ‘Daniel, its fine, I’m fine. I just got a bit stressed over money, that’s all,’ I answered grinning at Eva.

  ‘Money? You mean to say it wasn’t the blood that tempted you, you were just worried about the money?’ he asked, raising one eyebrow.

  ‘Well, actually the blood was quite tempting at points, but I find I’m able to ignore it until I get stressed. Then it gets harder,’ I tried to explain, but Eva cut in.

  ‘Yes, you picked a strange one here, Daniel. I told her Seb would explain about the money tonight. Talking of which Jessica, let’s get you upstairs and changed for the ball. Daniel can get back to watching his golf,’ she said, as she hauled me out of the room and shot a wicked glance at Daniel.

  ‘Oh very funny, I wasn’t watching it. A football game has only just finished actually,’ he responded, a little too quickly.

  ‘Whatever you say Daniel. Come on Jessica,’ Eva said, as she led me out of the room and upstairs.

  We scanned the purchases we’d laid out ceremoniously on the bed, before Eva put a stop to my dithering and decided for me.

  ‘It has to be the leather jeans tonight, Jessie. Can I call you Jessie? She asked. ‘It suits you better.’ Then she paused, as she saw the mixture of feelings cloud my features.

  ‘Actually, only my dad ever called me Jessie. It was his pet name for me. He was obsessed with Westerns and Jesse James, and as my surname is James I guess that’s why they called me Jessica. My friends all called me Jess,’ I answered, trying not to let the memories of my dad bring tears to my eyes.

  ‘OK, Jess it is then. I shorten everybody’s names, I can’t help it. I even shortened my own. Who’d want to be called Genevieve in the twenty-first century?’ she added.

  ‘I think it’s lovely, really pretty. Are you French then?’ I asked.

  ‘Yes, I had a charmed childhood growing up in Paris. That is until everything went wrong, when I was expected to suddenly become a woman and get engaged on my fourteenth birthday.’

  ‘No way! You’re kidding? Fourteen?’ I exclaimed.

  ‘Unfortunately for me, yes, fourteen. I was expected to marry one of various suitors, who were all at least twenty years older than me.’ She stopped for breath and then went on. ‘Luckily for me, the French Revolution disposed of the need to marry well, and my family made a run for it. Anyway, it’s a long story and we haven’t the time now.’

  ‘Wow! That sounds so romantic and exciting, I…’ I trailed off, seeing her eyes darken.

  ‘It wasn’t. It was hell. People were murdered in the streets. My grandfather was killed at the guillotine, where it took three attempts before he died, to the heckles of the mindless crowd. Our house was burned to the ground and we ran for our lives, leaving most of our possessions behind. None of us survived… ’

  ‘I’m sorry Eva. I didn’t think,’ I answered quietly.

  ‘It’s fine. Now, for tonight, as long as you behave and there are no police about, Sebastian may let you into the club, probably hoping to get you to feed, but no pressure this time, don’t worry,’ she added quickly, noticing my smile fade.

  ‘So you think the leather? Are you sure? I’ve never worn leather trousers before. I don’t want to look tacky or…’ I trailed off, not wanting to offend her since the purchase had mainly been her decision.

  ‘Jess, you’ll look great, believe me. It would only look cheap if we put you in stilettos, but you can wear these great ankle boots, very now... and this top,’ she said, throwing a dark punk-style top at me with bright pink slashes of colour.

  ‘OK. I’m just going to have a soak in the bath first and wash my hair,’ I said as she raised her eyes.

  ‘You don’t need a bath. You have no body odour and your scalp gives off none of the smelly oils it did when you were human. Look, it’s still beautifully shiny,’ she said.

  ‘I know, but my evening bath was always one of my favourite rituals, and I don’t see why I should have to give it up, just because I don’t actually need to clean myself.’ I pouted before adding, ‘Anyway, I can smell the city fumes in my hair and on my skin, and I’d prefer to smell of your Jo Malone shower gel.’

  ‘Fine, at least it’s getting used. I’ve had that bottle for six months. Give me a shout when you’re done. We’re leaving at eight as usual,’ she added, before leaving me in peace to undress and run a lovely deep bath.

  At ten to eight I glided down the stairs, my grace disguising the butterflies in my stomach. I hardly recognised myself, and realised with a pang that if Alex and Luke were in the club, which I doubted, they wouldn’t recognise me either. My new svelte body was clad in designer leather, which as Eva said looked nothing but fantastic; my new dark hair swung down past my shoulders in glossy sheets. My pale face shone out, and my lips were so dark anyway they needed no lipstick, just a little shine. I entered the living room and waited for their appraisal.

  Daniel said nothing, but his eyes roamed up and down my body, and he let out a low sigh.

  ‘Here comes the vamp! You look great Jess. Didn’t I choose well, admit it, you love it?’ Eva exclaimed.

  I smiled back. ‘Yeah, it’s great, thanks Eva,’ I admitted with a small smile. I still didn’t feel like me, but maybe this could be the new me. I held my head up confidently and followed Eva down into the cellar and into Daniel’s car.

  An hour later, thanks to the traffic trying to get into town, we were all standing in Sebastian’s office once again.

  ‘Well well, Jessica, look how you shape up. I think I should have waited a week to taste your blood. This week I could have enjoyed myself so much more.’ His eyes glinted shamelessly as they wandered up and down my long, leather-clad legs, before finally stopping at my eyes, where he grinned a lazy smile, showing a little fang in the process.

  He made me shiver. He was like the big bad wolf, and I knew he would without any doubt, eat me all up if he could get the chance. But before I could say anything in return, Daniel jumped to my rescue.

  ‘Yes, I’m sure Sebastian, but I doubt she would taste as good today. She’s been feeding well all week, and as you can see from her eyes, she’s made the final changes now.’ He spoke politely, but so cool it made me shiver, and I wondered if Sebastian noted the hint of challenge in his voice.

  ‘Yes, yes,’ Sebastian said. ‘Your new clothes suit you Jessica, as does the hair. Daniel, you have to stop with the dark brooding hero act. I was only teasing Jessica, and I have no intention of getting any closer than this. We have business to discuss. After Jessica’s murder, business has been a little slow. In fact Eva, you and Daniel can go and do some promo in the bars now, whilst I talk to Jessica.’

  Daniel smiled at me sympathetically, before he and Eva obeyed and left the room. I glanced around to see if there were any other vamps around, but we were alone.

  ‘It’s fine, Jessica. Honestly, I won’t bite!’ He grinned at me as I involuntarily smiled at his choice of phrase.

  ‘Come, sit down. I have much to explain to you
,’ he said, as he walked over to the comfy armchairs, and motioned me to sit opposite. ‘Have you fed tonight, Jessica? Would you like a drink?’ he asked charmingly.

  ‘Umm, no. I mean yes, I would like a drink, thank you,’ I stuttered, suddenly feeling shy again.

  He pulled out his mobile from his pocket, pressed a single button and curtly ordered a couple of drinks. It sounded so normal, and it continued that way as he asked mundane questions about how I was settling in at Daniel’s house, and whether I’d been out yet. I was just telling him about the shopping trip, excluding the detour to the pub, when the same bartender from the previous week knocked on the door and entered with our drinks. Once the bartender had left the room again, conversation became more business-like.

  ‘Jessica, I know Eva has told you about your father, and without further digression I have decided to allow you to visit him.’

  I was just about to smile like a lunatic when he added, ‘but I don’t want you to think it’s a family reunion. It’s business. He holds the key to your past and we need information,’ he added, without a smile this time.

  I nodded solemnly, trying my best to hold back the glee, which was waiting to burst out. No matter what the reason was, I was going to see my father. I hadn’t quite realised how deep the pain at being severed from my family and friends had been, until I was told I could see one of them again.

  ‘When should I go? Has he woken yet? How will I get there? Will Daniel come with me?’ A multitude of questions burst from me, and he waited until I’d calmed down before answering.

  ‘My sources say he is starting to show positive signs of recovery, so we expect to be able to visit in a couple of days. We have a night porter who’ll let you into the hospital out of visiting hours. Eva and Daniel will accompany you to take care of the ward staff, whilst you see your father.’

  ‘What do you mean, ‘take care’ of the ward staff?’ I shuddered at the connotations, but couldn’t believe that Eva or Daniel would harm anyone without reason.

  ‘Ahh, I see you still have that human soul, Jessica. You care far too much for your human past. But to put that little soul at rest, Eva and Daniel will merely be putting any human hospital staff in your path into a kind of hypnotic trance, which will allow them to carry on with their work without noticing you and your companions. When you’ve finished, they will carry on, like busy little bees not knowing any different.’

  I should have known better than to ask the questions. I was beginning to realise that I got treated less like a freak if I kept my morality issues to myself, and from what I’d seen so far, the vamps were far less of a threat to humans than the humans were to each other.

  ‘Now Jessica, Eva tells me you have another question for me, regarding your finances?’ he asked me, the edges of his lips twitching and curling up slightly.

  ‘Um yes, I suppose I was just wondering how I get money. I mean, Eva has bought me all these clothes,’ I said gesturing up and down my body, ‘and both she and Daniel have expensive cars. I obviously can’t access my bank account, so how do I get money of my own?’ I asked.

  ‘It’s simple, and our money is quite legal. When you live for several hundred years, you tend to acquire property and businesses and money just builds up. For example I’ve been trading on the stock markets since their conception. I’m quite a pro.’ He stopped to smile at me.

  ‘But that is over hundreds of years. What can I do? I obviously can’t buy or sell anything as I have no identity, and I can’t get a job. I’m officially dead!’ I exclaimed as Sebastian laughed to himself.

  ‘Yes my little undead witch. However, there are other ways. You will be given a loan like every other newborn; you will join my clan and work for me to pay it off. Which is why I’m very interested in your new-found abilities. If you can develop those into something useful, you might find yourself paying off your debt much quicker than the average hundred years.’

  ‘A hundred years?’ I exclaimed, ‘and I thought mortgages were a big commitment!’ I stopped, shocked into silence and sat brooding in my chair.

  ‘It’s really not as bad as that, Jessica. A hundred years is a childhood to a vampire. Just think of it like any other job, except in this one you get paid in advance. It’s just a different way of working. You’ll feel too attached to Daniel for the first fifty years or so anyway, to want to move away from the clan,’ he added.

  ‘So when will I get this hundred year debt then, and will I get a new identity, name and passport too?’ I asked, relaxing a little.

  Yes, you’ll be given a new identity and bank account once I have your full background.’ He smiled, and then became serious. ‘Until I get your full family history and we work out where your witch blood has come from, and the full potential of your powers, I’m afraid you’ll have no freedom. You’ll answer to Daniel, Eva or myself and be monitored at all times. You’re a loose cannon. I’m sorry Jessica,’ he said, with such an air of finality that I knew there was no point in arguing or protesting. I also knew I’d earn his trust and respect much quicker if I kept him happy, acting as Daniel and Eva suggested, with respect, so I nodded and kept quiet.

  ‘Now, I’ll let Eva know when I have more details regarding your father’s health, and in the meantime I think you may as well put those spectacular new clothes to work and get out into my club. I will ring for Daniel to come and show you the way,’ he said, smiling once again.

  After one short phone call and a mere matter of minutes, Daniel quietly rapped on the door and entered. He looked at both Sebastian and me, and I immediately felt him accessing my mind, checking if all was well. I did my best to push away niggles over having no freedom, and tried to communicate that all was fine, but he bombarded me with questions as soon as we were out of the door.

  ‘Did he touch you Jessica? He knows you’re mine. What did he do?’ he barked at me.

  ‘No, he was fine. Honestly Daniel, he was a perfect gentleman; well as much as is possible for him I think, and I’m not yours!’ I said managing to smile at him.

  ‘Well, why are you blocking me then? What are you hiding, Jessica?’ he asked. There was no hiding anything from Daniel, so I explained.

  ‘Nothing really, I was just doing as you’d told me and being a good, obedient little girl,’ I said, before explaining further.

  ‘Sebastian was just telling me how I can’t have any freedom, and the independent girl in me wanted to punch him, but I took your advice and said nothing. I was controlling myself Daniel; nothing worse.’

  ‘Hmm, I didn’t think you’d be capable of that yet, at least not until Sebastian had doled out a little cell time.’ He chuckled before carrying on. ‘Eva and I had bets on how soon you’d end up in the cell, and how many times in the first year. Eva thought tonight might be the night.’

  ‘Thanks, it’s great to see you have so little confidence in me.’ I sulked and stormed ahead down the corridor, even though I’d no idea where I was going.

  ‘Jessica, it isn’t like that. Don’t get huffy. We haven’t had a new vampire for a long time, and you girls are now so fiercely independent it was bound to create a stir, especially taking into account your bloodline and independence from me.’

  Minutes later the adrenaline rushed through my body as Daniel held open a heavy door that led straight into the club. I had to steady myself as the deep blast of music washed over me and pounded in my head.

  ‘Daniel, why are they playing the music so loud? It’s giving me an instant headache,’ I yelled at him, frowning.

  ‘They’re playing it at the same level as usual, Jessica. You’re hearing is more sensitive now you’re one of us, that’s all. You’ll get used to it. Just tune it out. By the way, you don’t need to shout. Here come Eva and Brad,’ he said, nodding towards Eva, who was walking across with a stereotypical American guy, all square-jawed with floppy blonde hair.

  ‘Hey, Jess! Meet my companion, Bradley Sterling Franklin. He was the youngest vampire in the clan until you came along. I
only brought him here forty three years ago, and now I’ve got a new protégé, he tells me he’s back off to Texas, but I’m betting he won’t stay away from me for long,’ she added, with a wink aimed at the rather yummy Bradley.

  ‘Hullo Jessica. Nice to meet you.’ He smiled at me and extended his hand to shake.

  ‘Hi,’ I replied nervously, taking his hand. It was cool, but felt strong and manly as he towered above me, at least six feet in height, with scrummy broad shoulders. He blinded me with a dazzling all-American smile and I could certainly see what Eva saw in him. I reckoned he wasn’t much older than me, minus the vampire years of course.

  ‘Jessica, let’s go and sit down before the hoards descend,’ Daniel said, frowning at me and moodily stomping ahead.

  Ooops! I thought as Eva raised her eyes to the heavens, smiling at me. It was a damned inconvenience, having Daniel able to read my thoughts. He was so possessive. Not attractive at all. I bet Bradley wasn’t so possessive, what with him being from the same century as me. I reckoned that if Eva had brought him over fifty years ago, and he looked under twenty like me, he must have been born in the mid-twentieth century at least; he looked very up to date.

  A low, grumbling growl interrupted my ruminations and I looked up, startled to see Daniel had stopped a few steps ahead of me and was staring at me darkly. Eva grinned at me and quickly sidestepping Daniel, pulled Bradley past, leaving me to deal with Mr Possessive on my own.

  ‘I’m not possessive, and as for keeping your thoughts to yourself, you could if you bothered putting up your defences in the first place,’ he shot at me darkly, then continued before I could get a word in. ‘I’m hardly possessive of you when you’re moping and mooning over your blessed memories of your boyfriend, am I? I was just a little put out, that after acting so carefully and respectfully towards you and giving you more space than normal for a newborn, you go and act like a bitch in heat over the first handsome vampire you meet.’

  His words hit me like a blast of icy water. I wanted to think of a retort, but nothing came to mind. He was right, and I was not only disrespecting him, but disrespecting Luke, and I would bet that Luke would not be out at a club eyeing up girls a month after my death.

  My inner balloon popped. I felt my heart beat speed up slightly and my cheeks flush as Daniel came close, his arms enveloping me in a bear hug. His protection and warmth began instantly infusing my body and warming my soul. My face was crushed into his chest and his scent soothed me.

  ‘Jessica, I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. I have strong feelings for you, and it’s hard being rejected for a boyfriend that can’t exist, day after day. So I did not like you appraising Bradley, but I should have controlled myself better,’ he said.

  ‘No, I was wrong. I..’ I started to say, but he interrupted.

  ‘It is not your fault Jessica. You were not being disrespectful. I was wrong. A new vampire has many strong urges and emotions and generally they revolve around feeding. The others are usually satisfied in the bedroom. Also vampires, as you know are all very attractive, so it’s natural for you to have sudden lustful feelings, especially as you’re not fulfilling any of the natural urges you have, because of Luke.’

  ‘I wasn’t having lustful feelings, Daniel. I was just thinking Bradley was cute and he might not be so possessive. It wasn’t anything serious.’

  ‘I know that Jessica. I’m just not used to the way you modern girls think. Now, let’s get over there and get you a drink.’

  Feeling strangely comforted and boosted by my Daniel fix, I felt calmer as I followed him across the club to an eerily familiar, dark corner of the club. It only took a split second before the flashback hit me, and I was suddenly transported back to my girls’ night out, when I stood gazing at Daniel across the club, unusually transfixed, with Alex’s giddy words ringing in my ears. I started to look around wildly, wondering if she’d be here and whether she’d recognise me. No, of course she wouldn’t be here. Like Luke, she wouldn’t be out partying in the very club I died outside a month earlier.

  ‘Jess! Sit down girl. Have a drink on me.’ Eva pulled me down into the chair next to hers and pushed a bottle of lager into my hands. I looked down at it, confused and my eyebrows must have dipped even further when I clocked that it felt slightly warm instead of chilled.

  ‘Taste it. Go on, I bet you’ll approve,’ she said laughing.

  I raised the bottle to my lips and felt the thick blood caress my tongue as I tipped it up. I looked at the bottle label again and raised my eyebrow in question.

  ‘Well, we could hardly walk around with glasses of blood could we, and what better disguise than the dark brown lager bottles? Talking of which, here’s the first rule of the club for you. Make sure you never leave your bottle lying around, as the majority of the staff here are human, and whilst occasionally it becomes necessary to correct someone’s memory, it’s not something Sebastian likes to make a habit of. When you’re leaving the table, always take any old bottles over to Johnny, there at the corner bar. He’s our regular vamp bartender and he’ll dispose of them. The other bar staff here are human and know nothing about us,’ Eva explained to me.

  I looked over to where she gestured, and recognised the guy to be the vampire that had opened the door to us, on my first visit to the club. As if feeling our gaze, Johnny looked up and smiled in our direction, a very sexy smile. Alex would be in heaven if she were with me now, as she’d fallen particularly hard for him.

  ‘Another sexy male vampire for you Jessica, how are you going to manage?’ Daniel gave me a nudge and winked as he grinned at me. ‘At least if you let me into that head of yours, I could silence this confusion and direct it all to one place,’ he added smiling.

  ‘Yeah, I bet you’d love that!’ I answered smiling back. I was glad we’d got over the previous awkwardness and were back to our usual comfortable banter.

  Sometime later, the club started to fill up and I had to admit to enjoying my newfound confidence and good looks. Our table certainly attracted a lot of attention from both sexes, as they walked past us on their way to the bar. I decided it was a dead heat between Daniel and Bradley, as both seemed to attract the same amount of female attention, but the girls who giggled and stared never had the courage to come over, and neither of the men seemed interested in the attention they were getting.

  The human guys were much more subtle, but I was proud to say I had almost as many admiring glances as Eva. However, maybe I seemed more approachable, because a couple of times I noticed a guy start to come towards me, a cocky swagger in his step. The first time I froze, unsure what to do, and Daniel must have immediately cottoned on to my dilemma. He looked somewhat intensely into the eyes of the poor guy, before turning his head to me and pulling me close on the sofa, wrapping his arms around my waist. The guy looked a little disgruntled, but swivelled on his heels and walked away. Possessive was something Daniel did well!

  By midnight, the club was full and I was starting to get a little bored of Bradley and his all-American ego. He was good looking and he knew it. He reminded me of a paler version, and I mean a much paler version, of Matthew McConaughey, with his carefully tousled chin-length blonde hair, square jaw and southern accent. Only his eyes weren’t the blue I imagined they would be; they were of course the same burnt brown as mine, and I could see the red flecks glittering in the dim lighting. But as gorgeous as he was, his conversation was not exactly riveting.

  For the first half of the evening, he seemed buoyed by the attraction I’d had for him, so ignoring Daniel’s grim smile and Eva’s raised eyebrows, he set about regaling me with his life story. He talked endlessly about how much he missed Texas, from the beautiful mountains of the west to the central hill country and rolling cattle ranches. It did sound beautiful, but after a while, his conversation, along with the husky southern drawl began to lull me into a fit of barely concealed yawns.

  Eva butted in and announced to my happy surprise that she was taking me for a walk ar
ound the club. As we left the table, Bradley who had seamlessly changed the subject, was telling an already bored Daniel about a vampire girl he’d been seeing in Leeds.

  ‘Right, come on. Sebastian likes us to do a couple of rounds of the club. Smile at the human guys and make them want to come back for more,’ Eva said as we started walking towards the central staircase, which led to the first floor bar and dance floor. The DJ was playing slower, more sensual tracks with an indie edge. It was a welcome change from the pounding dance music I could still make out, coming from the ground floor.

  ‘Right, your first task is to get us a couple of drinks from the bar; otherwise we’ll have every man in here asking us if they can buy us one. Plus it’ll be good practise for you to talk to humans again,’ Eva said, smiling and leading the way to the nearest bar.

  ‘But I thought that we could only go to Johnny downstairs?’ I stammered, suddenly confused.

  ‘Yes, to get a real drink, but we’ll just get a couple of cokes here, to carry round and blend in. Like I said, its good practice for you to pretend to be human again,’ she whispered, as we neared the bar. Eva shoved a five pound note in my hand, before propelling me in front of her to the bar.

  I was suddenly wedged in a mass of sweaty humans and the smell overpowered me. I felt my fangs run out and my slow pulse drummed in my ears. I quickly turned round into Eva’s embrace.

  ‘I can’t do it Eva, I can’t. The smell!’ I mumbled, trying to calm myself, my mouth saturated with saliva and my eyes burning.

  ‘Shhh, you’re fine. Remember, you don’t need to breathe. You’re a vampire, the blood keeps you alive, not the oxygen. Close your eyes for a second and stop breathing. The scent will go away,’ she whispered, placing her cool hands on my temples.

  We must have looked a little odd, as a small space opened up around us. I heard some typical jeers from the guys around us about the hot chicks being lesbians. I sighed. Some things never change, I guess. If only they knew what was really going on, and how I was actually imagining, rather too vividly, biting my fangs down deep into their throats and sucking hard until my thirst was quenched.

  Oh yuck! That did it! Strangely, acting that little fantasy out in my head allowed the human, or witch or whatever, to take charge and I felt my fangs recede and my head clear. I nodded briefly to Eva and turned back to the bar. I found I was able to use my mental wall to push away those vampiric urges and ignore the sweet smell of dinner wafting around my senses. Instead, I flicked my hair and after checking my fangs had disappeared, smiled a wide smile at the barman, who’d been watching us out of the corner of his eye as he served some other girls. He was opposite me in a moment, drooling like a puppy.

  ‘Hi Eva,’ he nodded at Eva behind my back. ‘Are you going to introduce me?’ he asked.

  ‘No Ben, not right now. You’ve a full bar to attend to,’ she replied curtly.

  I didn’t understand her rudeness, but then I didn’t always understand Eva, so I shrugged and returned his gaze.

  ‘Hey Ben, can we have two cokes please?’ I asked, amazed at my calm confidence. Where had that come from, all of a sudden?

  ‘Sure.’ He bent down to get the cokes from a fridge and poured them into two glasses. I handed over the money and smiled at him, as Eva pulled me back through the throng of clubbers waiting to be served.

  ‘There! See, you were fine. How did you get rid of your fangs? Did holding your breath work?’ she asked.

  I thought about lying and going with the flow, but in the end I knew I could trust Eva now and so I told the truth.

  ‘Um, not quite. I actually visualised biting one of them and drinking their blood, and after a moment the urge passed,’ I explained, choosing not to elaborate upon the grossed out feelings I had.

  ‘You are one strange girl! Come on. Do you at least like dancing?’

  Now this was one thing I could confidently join in with. I loved dancing and nodded vigorously.

  ‘Great,’ and with that she popped our glasses down on a nearby table and pulled me onto the dance floor.

  The music wasn’t the sort I’d normally dance to, but it had a slow, sexy rhythm, and soon I found myself moving easily in time to the beat. With my arms raised above my head and my hips swaying, I closed my eyes in bliss and felt almost human again.

  After ten minutes and several tunes later, Eva grabbed my hand again and I came back to earth. I realised we’d ended up in the middle of the dance floor, and people had moved away a little to give us space. There were plenty of eyes upon us and Eva obviously thought it was time to go.

  ‘Come on, you don’t want to attract too much attention,’ Eva said, and I wondered if I could detect a sight note of sulkiness before she smiled.

  ‘You were really good there, Jess. Have you always loved dancing?’ she asked in a kinder note.

  ‘Yes, I did ballet as a child, and ever since I was old enough to get into night clubs, I’ve spent my Saturdays dancing the night away with Alex. We could never be bothered pulling guys, we just liked dancing.’ I smiled at the memory and wished she could be here with us now.

  As I finished speaking, we arrived at the table we’d put our drinks down at, to find two guys there waiting for us.

  ‘Hi girls, loved the dancing. We’ve been looking after your drinks for you. You shouldn’t leave them unattended. I’m Nick and this is Darren,’ said a fairly short, brown-haired guy, smiling at us and nodding towards his taller friend, who didn’t seem as enthusiastic. There was something creepy about Nick, and I noticed he had slightly pudgy hands and short fingers with freckles on them, which was an instant no-no for me. Still, I smiled back politely and reached for my drink.

  ‘I bet you have,’ Eva said, and then, before I could say anything she took the drink from my hand and holding it under her nose inhaled quickly. Her eyes darkened and in a split second, before either of the guys could react, she’d put the glass down, grabbed both of them by their collars and pulled them close. The short guy was flailing, as she held him easily with his toes skimming the floor.

  ‘My friend owns this club and half of Manchester, so if I ever hear of you drugging girls’ drinks again, I will personally make your lives very uncomfortable, understand? Now I’ve seen you, you’ll be watched in every club in town.’ Eva pulled them closer to her face and with a smile gave them a quick flash of her fangs, fully extended. Their faces went white and the taller one stumbled backwards as Eva released them and took a step back, her fangs hidden once more.

  ‘By the way Nick, you might want to go and change those pants,’ she shot at them cruelly as they stumbled away, Nick trying to hide the dark wet patch growing down his trouser leg.

  ‘Eva, you showed them your fangs, you lifted him off the ground; what the hell?’ I panicked, shocked at how fast it had all happened, and wondering what the repercussions might be.

  ‘Relax, boogie babe. No one saw anything, and those idiots will never tell anybody, because who would believe them? I don’t think they’re the kind of people who have any credibility anyway. Now here, take this drink and smell it,’ Eva said, as she handed me the coke again.

  I took it from her and inhaled. Amazingly, I could instantly detect a different scent, half-hidden in the sugary sweetness of the cola.

  ‘Obviously as a human, you’d never be able to detect the difference, which is why as a human girl I bet you never left your drink unattended, right?’ I nodded. ‘But now your senses are so much more sensitive, you don’t have to worry about scum like that and we can have some fun teaching them a lesson. Just always remember to smell your drinks before you drink them,’ she added.

  ‘Would the drugs affect us then, if we did drink it?’ I asked.

  ‘No, probably not, but with you being so….um, different, shall we say, I wouldn’t like to take the risk. Besides, I like catching them so I can report them to Seb, who in turn will get his flunkies to keep an eye out for them. After all, it’s bad for his club to have bottom feeders like that around, a
nd we get to kick some ass!’ She smiled before adding, ‘Let’s go back to the boys. Daniel will be bored out of his mind with my all-American boy!’

  I followed Eva back down the stairs and suddenly she came to an abrupt stop.

  ‘Oh hell! That tall guy that was with Nick…Darren was it? He’s over there talking to that blonde girl. Jess, you go back to Daniel and Brad and tell them what’s up. I’m just going to remove tonight’s scum bag from the club,’ she said. I sure didn’t want to be in his shoes in ten seconds time. I grinned to myself and started walking over to our corner table, but I didn’t move more than a couple of feet.

  I stopped in shock and stood, transfixed at the two couples in front of me. Gemma and Lucy, friends from university, were sitting at a table just to the side of me with two guys, one who I immediately recognised as Luke’s best mate, Tom. I stood immobile. Was Luke here, was Alex here? No of course not. I knew in my heart I was right about that. They wouldn’t be able to come here yet, if ever, and there were no more spaces at the table, no drinks waiting to be reclaimed. The friends must be here as a foursome. I sighed a little and then froze once more as Gemma’s eyes slowly lifted to meet mine.

  Her eyes opened wide in shock and confusion, but after that initial split second she shook her head slightly and looked away. I couldn’t move. I stared for what seemed ages, rooted to my past, and to my friends. Tears started to prick behind my eyes and my pulse started thumping furiously in my head.

  Just as Gemma’s head started to move upwards again and her eyes began to meet mine, I flung out my mental feelers. I needed Daniel and I needed him fast. At the same time my head started to spin, and all I thought about was how I needed an escape. I needed to run. Gemma was getting up from her chair and looking directly at me, but my feet wouldn’t move.