by Helen Harper
I swallow. I know that darkness. ‘And you were working on getting it out of your system. You’re young, Rogu3.’ Painfully so. ‘You’ll get over it.’
‘I know.’ His voice is clear and confident. ‘But I’m not going to get over it by turning up to French or maths lessons or by sitting in the school cafeteria and eyeing up the girls. I know what’s going on in the world. For fuck’s sake, Bo, you’re all over the news!’
‘Don’t swear.’
He smiles. ‘I know what’s going on with Medici as well. He has to be stopped.’
‘You’re preaching to the converted on that one,’ I snort.
‘I can help, Bo.’ He says the words quietly but he draws himself up. He’s changed. I suppose we all have.
‘Your parents…’
‘They know I’m here. It’s not exactly with their blessing but they understand.’
‘I don’t believe it.’
He shrugs. ‘Call them. They came around a bit after you found those men. The ones who hurt me. Even my dad is more … sympathetic towards you.’
Probably because I summarily executed the men who tried to hurt his son. I run a hand through my hair and try a different tack. ‘You used to take your education seriously. You’re fifteen years old. You can’t just drop out of school.’
‘I’m still going to take my exams. I’m still planning to go to university. But there are other things I want to do first.’
‘No.’
‘You said that if I needed anything I was to call you. You made it clear that if I needed help, you would come running.’ He tilts up his chin. ‘Well, I need help. I need to help you. I need to know I’m doing some good. I need to battle this thing inside me. Make the world a better place and all that jazz.’ The corner of his mouth quirks up. ‘I know it’s all a great big cliché but I want to do this. I choose to do this.’
‘No.’
‘I’m not a child, Bo.’
‘Yes, you are.’
He scowls. ‘That’s exactly what my dad says. Word for word.’ He turns on his heel and paces away for several steps. I can hear his quickened, frustrated breath with the sound of Kimchi’s chomping in the background. ‘I’ve been approached by someone else,’ he says finally.
What the hell? My eyes narrow. ‘Who?’
‘MI7.’ His head drops slightly. ‘It’s probably against the spy code to tell you but I figure with your grandfather and all, they might give me a bit of a break.’
‘MI7 came to you?’ My voice is rising. ‘To work for them?’
He spins back round to face me, wincing. ‘You’re shrieking, Bo Peep.’
‘I. Am. Not. Shrieking.’
‘You kind of are.’
I slam my fist into the wall, ignoring the crack that immediately appears. ‘They had no right. You’re too young.’
‘I’d rather work for you than them.’ He smiles. ‘I’m not very good with rules and you’ll let me do what I want.’ When he sees the look on my face, he abruptly backtracks. ‘I mean, up to a point. You won’t mind if I break a few laws if it’s in the name of the greater good.’
‘Neither will they. That doesn’t mean you should work for them,’ I add quickly. I close my eyes briefly. ‘Rogu3, you’re a genius. You can do whatever you want. Just don’t do this.’
‘I have to do this. Don’t you see that?’
‘I’m not part of New Order now, Rogu3. I have no authority. Everything I do is against human law. Sooner or later someone’s going to realise that and do something about it. You don’t even have vampiric status to protect you. You’ll end up behind bars.’
‘I know how to cover my tracks. Honestly, I’ve been doing this sort of stuff for years. You’re not my only client. You are, however, the only one I trust.’
X will hit the roof. First Maria and now Rogu3. He’s a Kakos daemon, not the saviour of waifs and strays. As it is, when he finds out that Rogu3 tracked me here, he might make a move against him. I sit down heavily.
‘How did you find me?’
‘It was pretty hard actually. Why do you think it took me so long to get here? Forty-eight hours to find one damn address! I’m normally much better than that.’ He shrugs. ‘I must be rusty. I know that Streets of Fire has something to do with it though,’ he says, naming the internet company of which X is the head, although not openly. ‘Their fingerprints were all over your system and your name. It’s lucky you emailed otherwise I’d never have found you.’
I throw him a look. ‘Lucky?’ He smirks. I take a deep breath. ‘Look, I’m not the lone wolf everyone thinks I am. I have a … benefactor who is helping me out.’
Rogu3 rolls his eyes. ‘No shit. Unless you won the lottery, you’d never be able to afford this pad. I know your bank balance.’
I shake my head in disbelief. ‘Anyway, he might not be very happy that you’re along for the ride as well. I’ll have to check.’
‘That’s okay. I can wait. I’m sure when your mysterious benefactor realises who I am, he’ll be happy for me to stick around. Go and ask him. It’ll give me a chance to get to know Maria better.’
‘You should leave her alone. She’s been through a lot.’
The smile disappears from his face. ‘I know. I can tell.’
I pinch the bridge of my nose. I can’t begin to imagine how this conversation with X is going to go. There will be numerous threats of violence and I’m certain he’ll tell me to throw Rogu3 out on his ear by the end of it. At least then my conscience will be clear, I suppose. But throw Maria into the mix … I shake my head again.
I pull out my phone and wave it in Rogu3’s direction. ‘I’ll go and talk to him now,’ I say. ‘If you get a missed call from me, then you have to take Maria and run. Don’t go back to your parents. Don’t go back to school. Don’t ever try to contact me again. If you do, you’ll be dead.’ I pause. ‘And look after Kimchi. Please.’
‘Jeez, Bo. Who exactly do you work for?’
I jab my thumb at him. ‘You really don’t want to know.’ I fix him with a hard look. ‘You can still back out.’
He grins. ‘No chance.’
***
I wait until I’m back in Lisa Johnson’s neighbourhood before I take out my phone to call X. My hands are trembling. This is reckless and stupid but I saw the expression in Rogu3’s eyes and I recognise that stubborn streak. He’s not going to walk away unless I give him a good reason to. A Kakos daemon strikes me as a pretty good reason. I’m sure will X help me out on this much.
He picks up on the second ring. ‘Bo,’ he purrs. ‘And I thought you wanted me to stay away. Are you missing me already?’
I suck in a breath. ‘I have a tiny problem.’
‘Problems, I think. The hacker and the whore.’ I stiffen at his words. Of course he already knows all about them both. I shouldn’t be surprised. ‘You know,’ he adds conversationally, ‘that would make a great film title.’
‘I understand you don’t want either of them there. Maria will be fine, I’m sure I can find a women’s shelter for her if she won’t tell me who her family is. Rogu3 won’t give up easily though. If you could just scare him off then…’
‘Hold your horses. Who says I don’t want them around?’
I blink. Er…
‘Maybe I’ve changed my mind. At least as far as those two are concerned anyway. An IT expert of that quality should be working for me. He’s grown up a lot since last year. In fact, if you don’t want him, I’m certain I can find him a very well-paid position at Streets of Fire. We need more humans of his calibre. And don’t forget, it’s my blood which is running through his veins.’ He chuckles, referring to the fact that I used X’s blood to change Rogu3 from his temporary turn as a vampire in order to save his life. ‘We’re practically family.’
‘He’s fifteen.’
‘So? By the time I was fifteen I had already killed more than…’
‘I don’t want to know. He’s annoying though. And far too curious. He’ll seek you out and t
hen you’ll be forced to kill him and eat his heart. Then because I’m a vigilante seeking justice for all, I’ll have to go after you. In return you’ll kill me and you’ll be left without a single stooge to do your dirty work for you.’
X laughs. ‘That’s a lot of assumptions. Keep the kid. In fact, let’s do dinner tomorrow night. You, me and him.’
Oh fuck. ‘B-but you don’t want anyone to know about you.’
‘Thanks to you, he already has enough suspicions to fill a cruise ship. Besides, I’ll need a back-up plan for when you mess up.’
‘No. Absolutely not. You are not using him. It’s not fair.’
‘You’re not six years old, Bo. Fairness as a concept is for fairy tales. Tomorrow night. La Bohème. And bring the girl too. She could probably do with some fattening up. You have my word I won’t hurt them – as long as no one else finds out where you live or who I am. If that happens I may just change my mind.’
I choose not to focus on the explicit threat. ‘X, wait.’ It’s too late though; I’m already speaking to dead air. I curse loudly. That was not how I expected things to go. I punch a nearby lamppost. It doesn’t hurt enough, so I punch it again. And again and again.
It’s some time before I regain my composure. X is too much of an enigma. It’s irresponsible of me to draw anyone else into this relationship with him. I know his word counts for a lot; he’s a lot like my grandfather in that respect, despite his daemonic nature. But that doesn’t mean I want either Rogu3 or Maria to get involved in his machinations.
I tell myself that neither of them has given me a choice. If Maria had any sense, she’d have left by now. If Rogu3 had any sense, he’d have stayed far away. They have their own free will just like anyone else. I drop my hand, ignoring the blood now dripping from my fingers. Lisa Johnson deserves my concentration for the next few hours at least.
I start with the doctor. It’s a small surgery so its hours are limited. Thankfully, on Tuesday nights there’s an after-hours drop-in session for women to encourage open discussion on sexual health. Perfect.
I stroll in, much to the dismay of the apple-cheeked receptionist.
‘You … you can’t go in there!’ she blurts out, before immediately clapping a hand over her mouth. Her other hand tightens around a clipboard until her knuckles are pure white. Perhaps she’s afraid that I’ll bite off her head for daring to confront me. I admit I briefly consider it but it’ll cause a lot of mess and she seems like a decent sort.
‘This is for women, isn’t it?’ I enquire. I cup both my breasts in an open gesture to prove that I am indeed of the female sex. The woman’s ruddy cheeks turn scarlet.
‘Humans,’ she says. ‘Vampires don’t get STDs.’
I waggle my eyebrows at her. ‘They can be carriers though.’ I lean in closer and lick my lips. ‘They can transmit them.’
She blinks rapidly. ‘Er … er…’
A white-coated woman appears behind her. ‘It’s alright, Joy. She can come in.’
‘But…’
‘I’m expecting her.’
‘Dr Bryant, I presume?’ I ask, pleased that Lisa’s mother has done as I requested and phoned ahead.
‘That’s correct.’ She looks me up and down.
I smile. ‘I know, I know. You thought I’d be taller, right?’
‘No. Your height makes sense; short people often act bullish. There have been several studies on the matter, in fact. I believe it’s related to self-esteem.’ There’s the faintest hint of challenge in her eyes. Go the good doctor.
I make a show of looking around. ‘You don’t have any china around, do you? Bullish is my middle name.’
She snorts. ‘Bo Bullish Blackman?’
‘BBB for short.’
‘I wonder if you’d be as famous if your name weren’t quite so catchy,’ she muses.
I gaze at her impassively. ‘Are you deliberately trying to rile me?’
‘Would it work if I did?’
‘That depends. Are you a witch?’ She shakes her head. ‘A criminal?’
‘No.’
I shrug. ‘Then probably not. It might depend on whether I’d had breakfast or not though.’ I permit my fangs to elongate; Dr Bryant doesn’t so much as flinch.
‘You’re not wrong about the STDs. There have been numerous cases where humans have become infected after relations with vampires.’
I smirk. ‘Relations?’
Her eyes remain cool. ‘Sexual relations. You can’t embarrass me, Ms Blackman. I’m not afraid of you either.’
I sense she wants to say something else but before she can, a petite mousy-looking woman pops out from a nearby doorway and asks in a trembling voice, ‘Are we going to start soon?’
Dr Bryant gives her a brisk nod. ‘Right now.’
‘I’d like to talk to you first,’ I interrupt.
‘You’ll have to wait until the session is over.’
I cross my arms. ‘It’s important. Lisa Johnson’s life might just hang in the balance.’
‘Just because I can’t do karate or kung fu or sink my teeth into someone’s jugular, doesn’t mean what I do isn’t important.’ She points towards the waiting room. ‘There are eight women in there whose lives are also important.’
‘They’re not currently in mortal danger.’
‘You don’t know that. What happens in this room in the next hour may very well save their lives.’
‘In the long run.’
‘Is there any other kind?’ She points again. ‘Go in, sit at the back and don’t say a word. When we are finished, I will talk to you.’
‘You’re wrong, you know,’ I inform her.
‘In what way?’
‘There are seven women, not eight.’ For the first time she looks surprised. I grin. ‘I can hear their heartbeats.’
Dr Bryant swallows. Of course, that’s absolute bullshit. The clipboard which Joy, the plump receptionist, was holding had seven names ticked off. But making Dr Bryant a little more wary of my abilities is more fun than telling her the mundane truth. For some reason she wants me in this meeting. My curiosity is piqued enough that right now I’ll oblige.
As amusing as it might be to brazen it out with the other waiting women in the same manner, I decide to take the quieter approach. I slip in behind the doctor and take a seat towards the back. If one of them has something to say that I’m going to find interesting, coming across as a predator won’t encourage them to speak up. All the same, two or three of them turn to me. When the rest spot the movement, they also crane their necks round to gawp. I provide them all with a meek smile.
Dr Bryant’s wariness is replaced by a flicker of amusement. She quickly masks it under her façade of professionalism though. ‘Ladies, thank you for coming. I’m sure you recognise Bo Blackman. I have asked her to join us. I think she’ll find our meeting illuminating.’
‘She’s a vampire.’
I have to sit on my hands to prevent myself from giving the woman who spoke a slow round of applause.
Another older woman looks at me. ‘Thank you,’ she says quietly.
Okay, I wasn’t expecting that. ‘For what?’
‘Isabel is my friend. What you did for her was a good thing.’
I don’t have the faintest idea who Isabel is. I simply gesture with my hand to indicate that, whatever I did, it was nothing.
‘What did she do?’ someone else asks in an overly loud stage whisper that makes me roll my eyes.
‘Hit that prick husband of hers where it hurts.’
Realisation dawns on me. Isabel must be Adrian Leeman’s next-door neighbour. Interesting. This must be a tight-knit community. Perhaps this will be a very useful hour after all. One good turn does deserve another.
Ignoring the gasps, Dr Bryant speaks up. ‘Let’s pick up where we left off last time, shall we? We were discussing alternatives to condoms for those of you who have partners who dislike using them.’
I lean back in my chair. Really?
Less t
han five minutes later, I’m so bored that I find myself entertained solely by the fluttering pulses at the base of each woman’s neck. I’m like a small child pressing her face up against the window of a sweet shop. The dark-haired girl in the far corner is wearing a scarf so I rock to one side in an attempt to see better. If I can just inch a little bit further to the right then…
I go too far and end up crashing to the floor in an ungainly heap. Everyone turns to look at me. Dr Bryant’s brows snap together in an irritated glower. I mutter a vague apology and get to my feet, pulling the chair upright. I’ve got better things to do than this; I’ll catch the doctor some other time.
She clears her throat as I start to turn. ‘That’s exactly the kind of thing Lisa would have done.’
There’s a murmur of amused agreement from the others. I freeze. Lisa Johnson came to this group? She would have been the youngest by far but it’s certainly possible. Slowly, I return to my seat as they change the subject.
‘I’ve not seen her since last month,’ Mrs Mousy says. ‘I hope she’s not gotten herself mixed up with anything stupid.’
Bryant rubs her chin with the base of her thumb and nods. ‘Indeed.’
I grip the edges of the chair. Come on. Give me something to work with.
‘I mean,’ someone else continues, ‘everyone’s entitled to live their own life but it sounded like she was planning to sleep with multiple partners.’
‘Well,’ Bryant says cautiously, with a fleeting glance in my direction, ‘that’s not exactly what she said.’
It occurs to me that this is why she made me come to this meeting. There are strict limits about what she can reveal to me. Doctor‒patient confidentiality covers all that. But if someone else other than her were to repeat her words…
‘What exactly did she say?’ I ask suddenly, causing all the others to jump.
There’s a long moment of drawn-out silence and I think I’ve made a mistake by speaking up. Then the dark-haired girl speaks up. ‘She wanted to know how likely a person who had sex with several people would be to pass on a venereal disease.’
Someone else snorts. ‘Those weren’t her exact words. What she said was, “If you fuck more than one person, how much more likely are you to pass on blazing saddles to someone else?”’