Chapter 19

            As I had been expecting, Luca was not there. And with the chance I had, I took my bag and left. Coren didn’t even attempt to follow me which I was grateful for. I didn’t know where to go; there was my room with the Hector’s vampires but I’d rather not have them taunt me over my current problem. I decided to stay out under the stars for as long as I could. It shouldn’t be too difficult, what with the weather being rather nice this past week. Keeping out of the way of humans would be easy enough as well.

            I left the door that led into the block and refused to look back. It was always going to be difficult being with Luca; we might like each other but that never meant we were supposed to be together. Having met in difficult circumstances as well had not helped. There was too much pressure trying to keep him happy and at the same time put us both in danger. I’d come close to losing my life three times (maybe more) and Luca had been in the same situation. Being with him made it twice as hard as I didn’t want any harm to come to him.

            I still cared about him, even if he had left. Right now I was hoping that he hadn’t gotten himself into any trouble without at least one of his friends nearby. I suppose I had little right now to be thinking of him the way I did and yet I couldn’t help it.

            I stood now on a bridge overlooking a small river. I had walked very far and was almost on the very outskirts of the city. To my left lay what seemed to be a forest; it made me think of home although it was not to same bunch of trees in which home stood. It was a dense deciduous looking woods and I could easily sneak inside its leafy abyss and hide for awhile while I think my plans through. Or maybe I could just sit tight for awhile and keep to myself. As I pondered over what to do, I slid into my car, not wanting to leave it with the wolves. It would be safe in the woods whilst I was hunting around the city. I didn’t really need it at this current moment but it was handy for getting to other ends of the country or across a city as large as this one.

            It was hard to decided where to begin. Though starting at that slayers’ den would be a good start and at the same time not very wise. As my car trundled into the trees, I was wishing that I had asked my parents more about what they really did; they used to tell me stories but as a child I never paid that much attention to them. Cutting off the engine, I sat there in the leather seat accompanied only by my rucksack in the passenger chair. Having sat still for a good half hour, I soon pushed the door open (bag on shoulders) and wandered through the trees aimlessly.

            As the trees grew denser, I remembered Luca telling about why he had left the city. The greenery was more appealing to the greyness of the concrete buildings. The air was much cleaner and it filled my lungs with a pine-scented fragrance. It wasn’t all pine but I wasn’t sure on the other trees mixed in with the few I did know. Forests were strange places to walk; in the day they were so welcoming with the richness of life and yet at night, they became so eerie and dark that you could fright at even the smallest noise. It wasn’t so bad when you could see again though that could take any amount of time.

            I stopped. And remained still for some time with my eyes shut. I listened to the rustlings and chirpings and scurrying of the wind and the woodland creatures. There was a soft pounding on the ground though I smelt no wolf fur; it could have been a deer or a rabbit possibly. I turned my head to another direction and soon opened my eyes to carry on walking again. It took awhile but it soon came to my notice that I wasn’t the only two-legged creature to be wandering among the trees.

            There were birds nesting and flocking in the branches above me but that was not what my attention was on. ‘Hello, Casper,’ I said, with a slightly hushed tone.

            As I looked up, I saw him now crouched on a wide sycamore branch. He took a leaf and dropped it down to me; I let it fall to the ground. ‘How do you hear so well?’ he asked and then climbed down in a rather clumsy fashion.

            ‘I have learnt a few things from my canine friends,’ I told him. ‘Why are you here?’ I asked, trying to sound curious. He turned his eyes from me and scanned the bases of the trees around us. ‘You do not need to search. They aren’t with me.’ I knew he was trying to see if the wolves were nearby.

            ‘How did you know I’d be up there, if you knew I was here?’

            I began to walk again, with him sticking by my side. ‘Because I still remember those few times were spent in the wild. You were always trying to catch me up. And failed, might I add.’

            He scowled momentarily. ‘Not always. You seem troubled.’

            ‘Not troubled. Frustrated.’ My answer was short for a reason.

            He remained silent for a minute, as did I. ‘With who? Me or your furry friend?’

            I did giggle at that along with the memory of cuddling Luca that one time when he was not in human skin. ‘Not you. And I was sort of frustrated with him and yet not so much now. He left,’ I bluntly added.

            ‘To go where?’

            Shrugging my shoulders, I took a small turn. ‘I don’t know. We had a disagreement so I asked him to leave me alone. I didn’t mean to leave altogether but that’s Luca’s way with things. So, why are you here? Though I suspect you were following me.’

            He laughed for a short burst. ‘Actually for once, I wasn’t. I was already here when you brought your noisy car in. I’ve never fancied driving, too much hassle.’

            ‘And yet very helpful.’ He gave me a soft smile which I returned. ‘I might need somewhere to stay for awhile but your dad’s place can be too much sometimes. I never really took to it like I have with Carrie’s place.’

            ‘Why did you go there? After…’ His question didn’t need to be finished.

            I looked around to clear my head. ‘Because it was quiet there. I could get used to losing my family without being hassled like I would here.’ It still hurt sometimes, to remember.

            ‘I’m sorry,’ he said and we both fell silent and just walked among the trees. Vampires had been portrayed as creatures who lived in cold, enclosed, dark spaces but we were very different from that. I was at least. Being cooped up too much was not something I could easily cope with; I suppose it was from all those times being locked in my mum’s rooms when she and dad were off killing wolves. I knew it was to keep me safe and to stop me going after them; given any chance that is what I had done. When my sister came along, I was less inclined to run off. In my early teenage years, I grew rather rebellious to my elders (except Carrie) as for some time, I held them responsible for what happened. When I finally accepted the truth, I hid away for a long time.

            ‘Faye?’

            ‘Hmm? Oh, sorry. I was just… thinking.’

            ‘About what?’ It was odd to hear Casper sound like this, all caring and gentle; he was no longer the boy I used to run around with.

            ‘Nothing in particular,’ I lied to make this simpler. ‘Hey, erm. Those slayers that were killed the other month. Erm, I was told they were buried up in the woods. Do you know which one they meant?’

            ‘I doubt it was this one. They tend to keep away from us as much as they can. It’s much easier to do in such a big place, unlike in your town.’

            I silently giggled. ‘You’d like it if you got used to it. The wolves keep it warmer with all their running around but the winter fur is a nuisance.’ Even werewolves shed off their thicker winter coats.

            ‘I don’t trust them. And I’m less likely to since they killed my best friend’s family.’ As he looked at me, I knew who he meant.

            I suddenly rose my head and stared hard at him. ‘I do not need sympathy, Casper. What happened, happened and no one can do anything about it.’ I began to storm off but he held me back.

            ‘You’ve never thought about revenge?’ he asked, ending on a hard whisper.

            ‘No. It would help no one and my family wouldn’t be happy about it.’

            ‘Faye, you really think they’d hate you for that? Your father was a seeker and your mother…’

            I instantly cut him off. ‘I don’t need you to remind me who my parents are, Casper. They might have been killers but they were when it was needed. I’m different from that. I don’t kill for pleasure either.’ I yanked my arm free. ‘Your father is an elder and I doubt he would want his son spreading words of killing wolves again. Just leave the past where it belongs.’

            ‘Are you insulting me?’ He bared his teeth and yet I stood my ground.

            ‘I will if I have to. And it seems you need a kicking to get your head set. Things changed long ago, seems you didn’t.’

            ‘I didn’t have to.’ He snarled at me with slit eyes.

            All I did was huff through my nose and remained as I was, hands by my sides and a straight back. ‘Now I can see why I didn’t recognise you. You really are a diplomat.’ Now that was an insult; he was far used to the ways of councils and rule-keeping. I was used to getting my hands dirty and mingling with friends.

            He launched himself at me but being who I was, I stepped out of his way as he slid along the ground to a stop. ‘Take that back.’

            ‘No. You need to understand that I have no need to be stuck indoors, sitting around and discussing politics. My life is out here, fixing the world why you try to keep things as they are.’ My little experience in vampiric politics was limited but what shards of memory I had left let me remember still that it was very static.

            He stood up straight and put his hands behind his back. ‘Nevertheless, you are more important being the last of your family than you were when they were still here.’ It was my turn to snarl, he had no right bringing this up now. ‘You belong here. Not in that hidden house away from the world.’

            ‘I belong where I want to be. And that certainly isn’t here if I’m going to be treated so disrespectfully by my own friend.’ As before, he grabbed my hand but with a tighter grip. ‘Let go, Casper.’

            His bared teeth turned into a smirk. ‘Why? You can just as easily fight me with one hand as with both.’ It turned out that I didn’t even need to lift my right hand an inch. From somewhere to my left, came a swift whoosh of air. My hand was jolted downwards as Casper still held my wrist. He soon let go as he wrestled with a bulk of brown and black fur.

            Luca. I don’t know how he found me but he had and was barking and scratching away at Casper who clawed just as hard back. My wrist was pounding and as I looked at it, I saw the deep cuts where Casper’s nails had scratched down my skin. There wasn’t much blood dripping out from them but enough to reach down to my fingertips. Just then, Casper managed to curl his legs under Luca’s body and kicked him off. They were both apart long enough for me to get a word in. ‘Luca, stop.’ I didn’t expect him to listen to me, not after earlier. Still, he did and tipped his head slightly. ‘Casper, leave. If you insist to fight me or him then I won’t be responsible for what happens.’ Casper had as much experience, from the past, in combat as I did; if not, more now since we were last together.

            Casper stood up from his defensive crouching. ‘Why would he help you?’ It was clear to us all as to why he would ask that yet I was stumbled to think why he couldn’t figure it out.

            ‘Ask him,’ I answered, clutching my bleeding hand to my stomach to cease the bleeding. Luca refused to change however and I refused to answer Casper’s question. Luca’s eyes then turned to my hand and his ears rolled back over his head. He took one step towards me and it was enough to start Casper fighting again. Only he made the mistake of not wrapping his arms around Luca’s neck but his chest; this left Luca’s head free to turn. With his mouth wide open, he slipped his teeth over Casper’s shoulder and bit down hard enough to break the skin. That was all he needed to do.

            Casper let go. He writhed in pain on the dirt ground at the base of the nearest tree. His cries of agony were too much for me to hear; I covered my ears and turned away. That is what happens when a wolf bites a vampire; whether it was worse than the long term frustration of a vampire-on-werewolf bite, I could not say. Luca’s hand touch my arm and I flinched away without hesitation. My skin tingled all over with having to see and hear that for the fourth time in my life.

            ‘Faye,’ Luca whispered. ‘Faye, I would never bite you,’ he added.

            I took a deep breath to settle my shivers. ‘You shouldn’t be here.’ I went to look at him over my shoulder but changed my mind.

            ‘Maybe not but he deserved what he got. Here, let me look at your hand.’ He went to take it but I turned away even more.

            ‘I’ll be fine.’ He tried again. ‘Luca! Stop it.’

            ‘I don’t give in that easily. Let me see.’ And he reached around me and took my hand. ‘Hmm, I knew I should have jumped at him sooner,’ he said to himself.

            ‘And you always jump in when you’re not needed,’ I reminded him. I tried to take my hand from his but he tightened his grip so I couldn’t.

            ‘Just don’t walk off, ok?’ I rolled my eyes but nodded my head all the same. He reached into my bag and pulled out one of my tops and then he wrapped it round my hand. ‘Forget about the blood, you can wash the top at my place.’

            That is when I pulled my hand back. ‘I’m not going back, Luca,’ I told him honestly. ‘I spend enough time indoors. I’m better off out here,’ I suggested.

            ‘Alone, out in the wild. I know there’s more to you than the seeker you’ve become.’ When he looked into my eyes, there was a new, deeper understanding glinting in his. ‘I might not know all of what had gone on in your past but I can sense an elder when she has need to show it.’

            ‘Elder? I’m not an elder, Luca.’

            ‘Nooo, but your mother was. Wasn’t she?’

            I shut my eyes and sighed heavily. ‘Yes, when she wasn’t busy out killing wolves. She did well to keep me from it as much as she could. That’s why I was closer to my dad, he hated politics and yet fell in love with my mum. Ironic, I know.’

            ‘That’s why you know Hector as you do, and Carrie.’ I nodded as he touched on my broad acquaintanceships.

            I began to walk off, back to where my car was parked. ‘That doesn’t change who I am. I brushed that side off long ago. It has no meaning to me anymore. Why did you help me this time? I thought you’d left.’

            He did not reply with a straightforward question but kissed my cheek from over my shoulder. ‘And leave you to fend for yourself, no. You can figure the rest out.’

            ‘Wolves,’ I simply responded.

            ‘Strange, yes, we are.’

            There was no doubt that I was happy to see him again, though I had been expecting to be alone for at least a few days. ‘Is Avery not with you?’

            ‘Avery? No. Why do you ask?’

            My hand started to ache with the pain of the rough material shuffling over the cuts as I walked. ‘He sort of went for me after you left. I guess he thinks I hurt you for you to leave like you did. Coren pulled him off me and then he left.’

            ‘Oh. Odd. I don’t know where he’d be then or he just went back home. Avery is hard to predict.’ We ended right back beside my car. ‘How’s your hand?’ he asked, leaning against one of the doors.

            Ignoring my possessiveness over my car, I twitched my fingers slightly but it just sent a slithering snake of agony up my arm. ‘It hurts worse than it looks. Did you have to kill him, Luca?’ I asked.

            He reached out his hand which I took and stepped in front of him. ‘If I didn’t then it would be me lying in the woods. You don’t seem too upset about me killing your friend?’

            ‘He gave up being my friend when he treated me like that,’ I said bluntly. ‘I don’t trust every vampire I know, Luca. Just as you probably don’t get on with all the wolves you know.’

            ‘You need that hand fixed up,’ he commented. ‘Let me drive?’

            I felt my fingers start to tingle along their lengths. ‘Just be careful.’ And I slipped my keys into his hand.

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