Chapter 3

            They soon decided that we should leave and head home to which I was excited about. Luca left me well alone whilst I was with my present company. The men left us too, saying they would return later. I didn’t care either way. I drove all the way back which seemed to take less time than getting into town. It wasn’t long before I was safely locked in my room away from the howls of the night. They were a regular thing and I was so used to them but every night since biting Finn I had to put up with his thoughts.

            I never focused too hard on what they were about and a couple of nights since they were pretty disgusting. As I had had quite a fun-filled evening, I stayed awake looking over my various possessions. Sometimes I forgot I still had some of these things; most of them were purely metallic and ornamental, others had precious stones in or for much more than just looking at. I picked up my father’s dagger and twirled it in my fingers. There was a knock on my door and I slowly sauntered over.

            Opening it, I was greeted with a gasp. ‘Jeesh, it doesn’t take you long to threaten someone.’

            It was Luca and I wasn’t sure why he’d pressed himself against the opposite wall until I saw the metal glinting in the light. ‘Oh, sorry. I was just remembering.’ I threw the knife past my bed and the tip stuck in the wooden post that formed part of the window frame. ‘Er, what are you doing here?’ I asked him.

            ‘Hmm, don’t worry I’m not stalking you. Was that really necessary?’ he asked, peering over my shoulder at the silver knife.

            I opened the door a little wider and put my weight on one side. ‘If I had known it was a wolf knocking on my door I would have hidden it. You haven’t answered my question,’ I pointed out, tilting my head a little.

            ‘I was just seeing that you weren’t freaking out. Over earlier…’ he added as I pondered over what he could have meant.

            I huffed. ‘Listen, like I said, I can take care of myself. I don’t need some flea bitten canine watching out for me.’

            ‘I am not a mutt and I do not have fleas. For a vampire you are rather uncivilised.’

            ‘How do you mean?’

            He coughed. ‘You haven’t invited me in.’

            I looked over my shoulder and slowly back at him as I replied. ‘That’s because I don’t want you messing up my personal space.’

            He leant forward so far enough that I could smell his breath without the need to breathe. ‘How about now?’

            I stepped aside, opening the door and gave in. ‘If it means you will leave me alone after then fine. What do you want anyway? And I don’t just mean checking up on me.’ I laughed at the thought.

            He walked over to the knife sticking out of the wood and scanned over it with his eyes; of course he wouldn’t dare touch it. ‘If you promise to be honest with me then I’ll tell you.’ He looked at me and I nodded, closing the door and walking to the bedpost furthest from him. ‘Since I did technically save your life earlier, you owe me. Yeh, I don’t like it either but it’s a fact. So… I am sticking by you to make sure you have every opportunity to fulfill it as quick as possible and when you have I will certainly keep as far away as I can.’

            ‘No, absolutely not.’ I completely hated the idea of having him around me twenty-four-seven. ‘Get out.’ I stomped over the door and yanked it wide open.

            ‘But…’

            ‘Out.’ My voice was harsh and sudden as I stopped him.

            He didn’t move; he just folded his arms and stood there. ‘No.’ That was all he said and we stood like that for a good ten minutes just staring at each other across my room. He soon broke the silence. ‘If we are going to argue all night then I’d rather do it on a full stomach. Do you keep any food in this place?’ he asked and then made his own way to the kitchen.

            I shut the door and locked it. ‘Er, do you mind?’ I questioned in disgust as he rummaged through my fridge and cupboards.

            He had picked up one my own blood sachets and threw it, looking pretty disgusted at the thought. ‘Ew, I don’t see why you have to drink that stuff,’ he complained just as I caught the bag before it hit the floor.

            ‘You wouldn’t understand. And please, be careful. This is precious stuff,’ I told him, placing the bag on the counter.

            He rummaged a little further. ‘Ah, I knew I smelt meat. I thought vampires didn’t eat.’

            I walked past him and shut the fridge door while he walked back into my bedroom and lounged on my sofa. ‘When we are bored, sometimes having something to chew on can help.’

            He laughed and swallowed his mouthful of chicken. ‘I suppose it’s better being from an animal than from a human.’ I saw his body shiver at the image of it.

            ‘We do not eat human meat, even a dog like you should know that.’

            ‘Do not call me that. I have told you my name,’ he growled. ‘It would be the same as me calling you a leech all the time and I know that pisses your kind off just the same.’ I tensed my face muscles to frown at him. ‘Exactly. Now, whether you like it or not, and I certainly don’t, I am staying. The only way you could possibly get me to move is fight me or kill me.’ His eyes flickered to the knife as he said those last two words.

            Perched on the end of my bed, I rolled my eyes. ‘I am not one for killing.’ He gave me a surprised look. ‘That knife is not mine. It was my father’s.’

            ‘Was?’

            Nodding, I bowed my head and looked at the floor. ‘Yes, he has been dead for a long time. Killed by one of your kind to be exact, though I would say murdered to be even more precise.’ As Luca nibbled on half of a decent chicken, I continued to his unsure expression. ‘So now you can probably figure out why I hate werewolves so much. Those other objects in that cabinet are my family heirlooms. My father wasn’t the only one taken from me that night. Sure I’ve had friends tell me to just let go of it but how can I? I lost my dad, my mum and a younger sister.’ It came to my attention that I was indeed shedding a tear. I wiped it away and when I’d opened my eyes, he was kneeling in front of me.

            ‘I’m sorry for that. Really, if there had been anything to prevent it.’

            I turned my head away. ‘No, don’t be sorry. It happened long ago but after the wars has ended. I have few memories of all of that; my mum made me bite her just before she died.’ I hate myself for that even to this day.

            ‘So how old are you? If you have no memories of your own then…’ I could see him try to calculate it all in his head as his eyes flickered from side to side.

            Giving him a quick glance, I turned to face him again. ‘Have a guess,’ I taunted him, and then got up and pulled the knife out of the wood and replaced it with my other stuff.

            When I turned back to him, he was looking around my room for clues. ‘You have to be over a hundred though.’

            ‘And a quarter. And what about you?’ I wasn’t all that intrigued about him but it seemed polite to ask him things back.

            ‘I don’t think that really matters,’ he said, running a finger over a wooden bedpost.

            Remembering something, I went into the kitchen and put the blood sachet back into the fridge, warm blood (that wasn’t fresh) never smelt nice and had its more metallic taste come through. ‘It does if I’ve told you my age. Besides that, I think you’ve been here too long. Please leave.’

            He laughed out loud in that familiar husky tone all wolves had. ‘Weren’t you listening before? I’m not leaving.’ Just then, he let out a wide-mouthed yawn. If he was getting tired it would give me some time to myself (as I had wanted). ‘Meanwhile, I can have a nap. Unless you’re going anywhere.’ His sceptical look did not end until I disappeared back in the kitchen.

            ‘Fine, just don’t get fur over everything.’

            ‘I am not that old,’ he said assertively. Poking my head back in, I saw he had transformed and was curled up in the middle of my bed. His eyes were already closed but I doubted he was asleep yet.

            I wasn’t looking forward to having him following me everywhere. I hadn’t even asked for his help and now I owed him the same favour. That was just wonderful; I hated wolves and it was not about to change because of one. I waited, leaning into a worktop, for any snoozing or snoring sounds to come from my bed. As soon as any of them happened I was getting out and going for a walk. One issue I did have with being a vampire was that there was not much in the way of days and nights (except the light and dark); they all merged into one due to us having no need for sleep. The past twenty years or so seemed to be a massive blur, everything mixed up together. There were specific days in my past that did stand out and I would never forget but I tried to focus on the present.

            The bulk of black and brown fur, lounged on my duvet, began to snore away and I walked straight through without making a sound and snuck through my unlocked door. Before he could sense I was no longer there, I sprinted off and went outside. I didn’t stop running until I had reached the trees. Finding a relatively large beech tree, I jumped up into its branches and found one I could sit on and swing my legs.

            I had little to think about, until the morning that is, so I just sat there swinging my legs and watched the stars roll over the sky. It seemed like hardly any time had passed when the sky to the east began to become smeared by the lightness of day; of course a fair amount of hours had passed and a half hour later the sun started to appear over the treetops. I stood up, walked along the branch until it began to bend. Stepping off, the rush of air passed over me as I fell to the ground. When I landed, I bent my knees and stayed ducked as I was just for a moment or two. Standing up, I finally trotted off towards the older half of the mansion.

            This half was where our elders lived, vampire and werewolf alike; they had their space just like everyone else here. They had more extravagant quarters, fitting enough for those of higher relevance. As I walked through the corridors, I put on a face that gave me an air of purpose to my wandering so to make sure no one would stop me. It wasn’t long until I was outside Carrie’s study. I knocked on the door and waited. When she called for me to enter, I did so without a pause.

            ‘Ah, Faye. It is nice to see you. What have you come to see me about?’ We had elder males but they had less experience than Carrie; in this particular coven (and pack) she was the oldest.

            I stepped over to her bookshelves and ran my finger over a few spines. ‘It is about last night. I don’t know if you’ve heard but there are some slayers in town.’

            At first she didn’t give it any reaction, she just continued to talk to me like nothing was wrong. ‘And how have you come to find this out?’

            ‘I went out to the town last night and went for a stroll whilst I was there. I heard something and was just about to get a bird’s eye view when I was stopped by two.’

            Frowning her upper facial muscles, she seemed very put off by this news. ‘That is not good. Not even the wolves have said anything and they are always wandering about. I shall talk to Kieran about it. Is there anything else?’

            I took my thoughts back to last night in the alleyway. ‘Yes, one did get killed by a wolf. Luca, to be in fact. The accompanying one ran off before he could get his senses back. There was one shot but I did get a chance to try and dissuade them. He said that their rifle pellets weren’t ordinary ones, at first I couldn’t guess what that had meant. Now I think that they might have been special for vampires, or werewolves possibly.’ I paused then decided that might be enough information for her to make decisions with.

            ‘Hmm,’ she hummed and walked back and forth behind her desk which I knew she rarely used. ‘Can you remember where this happened?’

            I gave a smirk. ‘It would be hard to miss the scent of gunpowder. What would you like me to do?’ Anything to get away from Luca.

            ‘And who was the wolf who helped you? Lu…’

            ‘Luca. I think he’s new around here, I don’t recognise him. Why?’

            ‘The next time you see him, take him with you.’ I could hear the subtle order behind her words and I didn’t bother to argue, I turned on my heel and left her to deal with the major issue.

            Surely it wouldn’t take too long for my annoying wolf friend to find me. And certain as I was about it, I had just finished talking to a friend when he bumbled right into my legs. ‘Uh, what do you want now?’ As a wolf, he could not talk and nor could I understand a single word from his grumbling. ‘I see,’ I said, not quite sure exactly what he was angry about. ‘Well, now you’re here we can go.’ And I walked off to the entrance hall with him bounding along by my side.

            I could have run all the way to town, wolves were only that bit faster; it was just easier to take the car. ‘What are you doing?’ asked Luca.

            ‘You can run if you wish. I take the easiest option.’ And I got into my car. I saw Luca change and he disappeared into the trees. Rolling my eyes, I drove my car along the track and down the roads. This time of day you couldn’t be too careful with speed, human police didn’t like it when we got too carried away with our reflexes. I parked up on the outskirts of town and waited for my missing company. I waited for a good ten minutes and decided to go off; he could easily find me even in a busy town such as this.

            There was only one place I could walk where I wouldn’t be disturbed. That place was above me, on the rooftops and so there I leapt when no one was paying any attention. Humans might be used to our presence but they recoiled when we showed our more unnatural side. Up here I could see across much more of the town than on the ground. Head down, I walked across the flat roofs and the slanted ones with the same amount of ease until I came to the road I had heard the slayers. I remained on the roof as I saw the flashing lights of the emergency services packed around the entrance to the alley.