Authors: Berni Stevens
‘I need to feed, but there are rather too many witnesses.’
‘Could put them off their noodles.’
I had never seen Will feed, and to be honest, I didn’t relish the thought of it at all. If he only ever picked on beautiful women, I didn’t think I could stand by and watch him. I truly didn’t know how it would affect me. I had a sneaking suspicion I might feel jealous, even though I had no right to. I didn’t much like the idea of him observing my quandary either.
I looked across the canal at the beautiful Regency houses with gardens leading down to their private moorings. Many of the houses had their own boats and I wondered just how much money it would take to live here. The majority of the houses had at least four floors, with roof gardens and terraces as well as regular back gardens. The nearer we walked to Regents Park and St Johns Wood, the more opulent the houses became.
‘Are those your dream houses, Elinor?’ Will had obviously been watching me.
‘If I were still human perhaps. But there are rather too many neighbours for our kind of lifestyle.’
‘True.’
Secretly I thought Will’s Georgian mansion in Highgate was better by far.
We walked in the direction of the zoo and I sniffed the air, now thick with the pungent aroma of different animals. Not always a plus, these enhanced senses. Will turned to me, ‘Hunting is common sense, always try to find someone on their own, for obvious reasons, or lure them away from other people. Be discreet, be quick and then get the hell away from the spot as soon as possible. That is all there is to it, other than knowing when to stop feeding so you do not kill them.’
‘Why are you telling me this?’
‘Should anything happen to me, you will need to find your own food.’
‘Is anything likely to happen to you?’
Will stopped walking and clasped his hands to his heart with an overly dramatic gesture. ‘I do believe she is beginning to care. Be still my beating heart.’
‘Our hearts don’t beat.’
He smiled then, taking my arm and threading it back through his again. ‘So true again, my very clever Elinor.’
‘I thought you said you only fed on the willing.’ I changed the subject quickly.
‘Most are willing for me,’ he said with a touch of arrogance. ‘Would you like to hunt with me?’
I shook my head violently. ‘No, of course not.’
‘Then I shall leave you here for just a few minutes, and return as soon as I can.’
‘Leave me?’ I felt horrified. ‘You’re going to leave me here
alone
?’
Will stopped walking again and put his hands on my shoulders. Gently, he tucked an escaping tendril of hair back under my hat.
‘Elinor, should anything untoward happen, I will know immediately, and I shall return to your side with all speed, do not worry.’
‘Worry is my middle name.’
‘My mistake, I thought it was Jane,’ he bent down and kissed my forehead.
We were level with the Snowdon Aviary before he turned to me again. ‘Stay right here, I shall only be a few minutes.’
Yeah, yeah only a few minutes
. I found it odd that Will felt confident enough to leave me alone. I wasn’t sure whether to be pleased or annoyed. He clearly didn’t expect me to run off, although I had no doubt he could track me down before I’d got very far.
I had no idea what would happen if I needed to choose and feed from my own victims. Choose or starve, I supposed. For the moment I preferred drinking from a china mug and not knowing where the contents had come from.
I hoped Will wouldn’t be long, I hated being here on my own. Standing alone on a canal path in the dark wasn’t exactly my idea of fun. Or exactly safe either.
I heard footsteps behind me and turned around, hoping to see Will. Unfortunately it was two male city types who’d clearly had more to drink than was good for them. Perfect.
‘All alone? I don’t think it’s safe to be all alone here. Do you Clive?’ said the taller of the two. ‘P’raps you’d like to come along with us?’ His upper crust accent sounded slightly slurred and just as though he had a plum stuck in his larynx.
‘I’m waiting for my boyfriend,’ I said, and wished Will would miraculously appear.
‘He seems to be a tad late doesn’t he?’ said the other, and they both laughed. They sounded like a couple of snotty hyenas.
The first man waved an open whisky bottle under my nose. ‘Fancy a little drinky girly girl?’
‘No.’ I wished Will would hurry the hell up.
‘Not too friendly is she?’ said Clive, draping his arm across his mate’s shoulders.
‘Oh, I think she could be persuaded to be a lot more friendly.’ They both leered drunkenly at me.
Shit.
‘Go. Away.’ I said.
Come on Will, how the hell long does it take you to feed?
Unless of course he was doing something else as well … but I really didn’t want to think about that.
‘Only if you say pretty please.’ The two of them laughed uproariously.
Hilarious
.
‘The lady said go away I believe,’ Will’s voice came from behind me, and I turned to him with relief.
At bloody last
.
He sauntered up to my side and put an arm possessively across my shoulders.
‘Shall we go?’ he said to me, and I nodded.
Yes, somewhere far away from these two jackals
. As we passed the two men, I screamed at a sudden flash of steel, as one of them drew a knife, and the next thing I knew, both of them were lying on the ground not moving.
‘What have you done?’ I gasped in horror. ‘Please tell me you haven’t killed them.’
‘They needed their heads banging together,’ Will shrugged. ‘No harm done, they were just drunk.’
‘Just
drunk
? They had a
knife
.’
‘They were merely intoxicated children, Elinor,’ he said gently. ‘Trust me when I say I can tell the difference between the truly evil, and the feeble posturing of drunken little boys.’
I looked around to see if anyone had noticed, but luckily there was no one in close proximity.
‘Shall we leave them to sleep it off?’ Will took hold of my arm again, and guided me back the way we’d come. We soon arrived back at the steps, which led to the street above, and for once I felt relieved to be back amongst the throng of other people. We mingled with the crowds that headed for the various pubs and clubs.
Wonderful, bustling Camden. It felt almost possible to touch the energy humming through it. So many interesting people. So much
life
.
Will strode through the crowds with his confident, graceful stalk – coupled with his looks, it made him pretty tricky to ignore. Even I couldn’t ignore him all the time.
Will glanced down at me. ‘Do you fancy a walk, or do you want to go home?’
‘I’d like to walk on the Heath,’ I suddenly wanted to feel the relative freedom of open space that only the Heath could provide.
‘Then that is exactly what we shall do.’
25 February
I did not feel confident in my decision to take Elinor to Camden, almost from the very moment we arrived. But I needed to see how she would react amongst a crowd of humans before taking her to the club. I have to make an appearance there soon. Luke confirmed this tonight. He had information about two of Khiara’s people who have already visited the club, although as yet there have been no sightings of the lady herself.
I fear for Elinor’s safety but I have absolutely no intention of leaving her alone in Highgate, so she will have to accompany me when I visit the club tomorrow. It is to be hoped her former friends do not frequent the place. I know Elinor has never been there, but she seems to have had so many friends.
She appears happier of late, and I hope she is warming towards me a little. I confess I never thought it would be so difficult to win her round. The arrogance of age undoubtedly.
Feelings
Will and I walked in companionable silence for a while. We wandered past the Old Stables, a part of Victorian London history, which apparently looked much the same from the outside as it did when the stables were first built. The original loose boxes were still almost intact inside, with iron bars on top of each wooden partition to separate the stalls. Many of the floors even boasted the original flagstones. During the day the stalls housed antiques, bric-a-brac, old toys and faded lithographic prints, although one section was now an art gallery, one so trendy it made your teeth hurt.
I remembered the huge redevelopment of the Old Stables that started in 2007, when about twenty-five of the original railway arches were exposed and utilised. Huge fibreglass statues of horses now stood on the original cobbles, with Victorian figures, carriages and blacksmiths, all adding to the authenticity and incredible feel of the place.
Bands often played in the trendy gallery in the evenings, and part of me longed to go in and listen to some music, although I felt it probably wouldn’t be a very good idea.
‘I remember when this was a bloody horse hospital,’ said Will, with a shake of his head.
I glanced at the sign above the iron gates.
1854
. ‘You should, you’re much older than the stables. Didn’t you say something about being three hundred years old?’
‘I see I walked right into that little compliment. Yes, I have been around for over three hundred years. Are you going to tell me I wear well?’
I laughed. He didn’t look a day over thirty. ‘I could probably say whatever I like, seeing as you can’t look at your own reflection.’
He raised a dark brow in my direction. ‘Be careful young lady, you have to rely on my judgement now as to your own appearance. After all,
you
are the one wearing a woollen hat.’
I went to thump his arm, but he caught my fist and held it firmly, smiling at my futile attempts to free it. He laced his fingers through mine and gestured towards the entrance to Chalk Farm tube station with our linked hands.
‘Would you prefer to get a train to Hampstead?’
I shook my head. ‘I’d rather walk, it doesn’t hurt my ears as much.’
If the truth were to be told, I was actually enjoying the walk with Will. He held my hand in a strong grip, and I found I didn’t want to pull mine away. Strange but true.
I looked at his strong profile, and covertly admired it, or so I thought. He angled his head to look at me. ‘Now what?’
I just smiled but didn’t answer. It seemed a little naïve to say I liked to look at him, when only a few nights ago I’d hated him for supposedly causing my death.
We walked onto Hampstead, and by the time we reached the Heath I felt the first spots of rain.
‘We’re going to get wet,’ I said.
‘Does it matter?’
‘Well, I’ve got a woolly hat,’ I smiled. I felt happy to be away from the claustrophobic confines of the house for a while. It made me feel almost normal.
At that moment, the heavens opened and rain poured down, soaking us in seconds. Will turned his face up to the sky, letting the rain run down it in rivulets. He suddenly released my hand and ran up the hill towards Kenwood House in an incredible blur of movement. When he got near to the top, he yelled down at me.
‘Come on, slowcoach, get up here!’
I ran up the hill towards him, but when I got close, he ran off again. I slowed to a walk and eventually reached the top of the hill, where I found him in a tree, dangling from a thick branch by one hand.
I looked up at him. ‘You are way too old to be climbing trees.’
His teeth flashed white in the darkness. ‘You need to lighten up.’ He put his other hand on the branch and swung himself lithely to the ground. Grabbing hold of my hands, he swung me round in a circle. ‘Tell me you love this feeling Elinor,’ he said, and stopped us so that he could look down at me. I stared back without a word. He’d completely flipped now, obviously.
‘Come on, admit it, you never felt this alive before you were dead.’
Dreadful jokes seemed to be a speciality of his. I watched him as he stood in front of me, hands on his hips, laughing at me,
again
, and even with his rain-soaked hair flopping into his eyes, he looked gorgeous. I couldn’t help but smile back at him. Even after my constant rejections of him, he retained his sense of humour and, for the most part, his patience.
‘I thought we vampires were supposed to be all glowery and scowling,’ I said.
‘Well, I can be, if that is your preference. Would you like me to be more traditional?’
‘God, no.’
‘I do not think it has much to do with Him.’
The rain still poured down, but Will seemed to enjoy getting wet. He gripped my shoulders. ‘Can you feel the power?’
Power? Was that a trick question? I shook my head, letting him see the confusion in my eyes.
‘
Your
power. Can you feel it?’ he said again, giving me a little shake.
I thought about it for a moment. ‘I feel strong, is that the same thing?’
He dropped his hands from my shoulders and stepped back from me, raising his arms to the heavy night sky. He stood still for a moment, and then grinned with pure evil joy, if such a thing is possible.
‘The power of the vampire.’ He said with sudden passion. ‘Tell me you can feel it Elinor.
Embrace
it. Feel it as it runs through your veins like liquid fire. You are strong – you are immortal. You will never grow old and, like me, you are beautiful.’
I laughed at that, and found I’d inadvertently moved in closer to him. I hadn’t even realised what I was doing. He looked surprised.
‘Now that
is
new.’ He said. ‘I like it.’ He put his arms around me, and pulled me closer.
I rested my hands on his chest lightly and looked up at him. I wondered what would happen next. His eyes were like green glass as he watched me, his expression suddenly serious. ‘It is your call.’
I moved my hands up to his broad shoulders, which removed my last bastion of defence, and he moved nearer until our bodies were pressed together. It felt right, somehow. For the first time, it actually felt right. Something inside me seemed to open up, and I raised my face to his as he bent to kiss me. The first kiss was soft, sensuous, almost tentative, and his lips felt gentle on mine. I relaxed into his embrace, and the heat between us suddenly ignited. His kisses became possessive and demanding. He ran his tongue along my lips and then slid it inside my mouth, exploring me urgently – expertly. My arms unwittingly wound around his neck, and I was vaguely aware that my feet no longer touched the ground.
When he eventually set me back down, and we drew slowly apart, I couldn’t for once think of a thing to say. He kept his arms around me, as if afraid I would push him away again.
‘Well, that was certainly worth waiting for,’ he said.
‘I’m not sure I know what just happened.’ I said, half-joking.
‘It is the old maker, fledgling bond kicking in. At bloody last.’
My head still reeled from his kiss as we made our way slowly back down the hill. The man certainly knew how to kiss for sure. But what had I started – and did I really want to start anything at all?
The rain had eased off now, but we were both completely soaked through to the skin. Will took hold of my hand again, and even that felt unbearably sensual. My whole arm tingled from just the touch of his hand, and I couldn’t help wondering if it felt the same to him. He looked at me, and his look was confident now, the look of a man who believes he has almost won the woman at last. His lips curved into a satisfied smile.
‘We need to find ourselves a cab home.’
Back at the house, I followed Will into the drawing room and noticed the answer machine flashing. He pressed the replay button, and Luke’s deep voice spoke. ‘This is Luke. Please call me back.’
Will dialled some numbers and tucked the receiver under his chin as he lit a cigarette.
‘Luke,’ he said after a few seconds. He listened for a while, but although I listened intently, I couldn’t hear Luke’s words, much to my annoyance.
I wandered over to the bookshelves and looked at the titles on the spines. A battered copy of Bram Stoker’s
Dracula
grabbed my attention. Fancy that, I thought, and pulled it out. I sank down in the nearest armchair and was halfway through the first chapter when Will put the receiver down.
‘Good book?’ he asked.
‘Possibly,’ I said. ‘I’ve never read it before.’
Will turned the book up to see the cover. ‘Ah, Vlad, poor bastard, supposedly the inspiration for one of the most famous vampire stories ever written. Good job he never knew about it.’ He sat down in the chair opposite, and regarded me with his usual amused expression. I felt a little nervous now we were back in the house, alone, and I think Will had picked up on it. I have never been exactly wonderful at relationships, probably due to the abuse I’d suffered at such a young age. I always found it difficult to put my trust in any man.
My first real relationship had been at dance college, a rather sweet affair that lasted several years, but ended as we grew apart. Then there was the disastrous time with Joe the Love-Rat, a not-so-wonderful experience I wasn’t too keen on repeating.
Will clearly had centuries on me, and I found the knowledge somewhat daunting. I wondered how many women he’d slept with over the decades, and how many times he’d actually been in love. I gave myself a mental shake.
‘Vlad?’ I asked, in an effort to keep a conversation going.
‘A fifteenth-century prince from Southern Romania. Fought the Turks and delivered exceedingly dire punishment to his enemies,’ said Will. ‘Vlad Tepes the Third. He impaled some of his enemies alive on spikes, and as they slipped down the spikes they were disembowelled. If they were lucky, he just chopped their heads off and stuck them on the spikes. Hence his nickname, Vlad the Impaler.’
‘Well, aren’t you a mine of grisly information?’
He shrugged. ‘I have had plenty of time to read over the years.’
‘What did Luke want?’ I thought a change of subject would be good.
‘He wanted to make sure we were still going to be at the club tomorrow.’
‘And are we?’
‘Yes. The club is in Hoxton. Did you or your friends ever go clubbing there?’
‘You must know I was at work most nights,’ I said. ‘According to you, you were watching the show most nights too.’
‘What of your friends?’
‘I’m pretty sure they don’t go out in Hoxton.’ I replied. ‘I don’t have to wear a woolly hat to a trendy club do I?’
Will’s lips twitched, and I had a sudden vivid flashback to his passionate kisses. His gaze dropped to my own lips at the same time. ‘Little Elinor, always with something to say,’ he said, his voice suddenly deeper. ‘Would you care to see whether your peculiar brand of humour stands up to me in bed?’
I did a mental gulp, and shot him a wary look. ‘One kiss isn’t a passport to sex,’ I said firmly.
He did laugh at that. ‘Somehow I did not think it would be. May I at least escort you to the bedroom?’ He stood up, walked over to me, and held his hand out. I put my hand in his, and he helped me up. He kept hold of my hand as he pulled the wet hat from my head with his other hand. My damp hair fell freely to my shoulders, and he ran his hand through it as he stared down at me with an unfathomable expression.
‘Is this not the moment where I say, “Why Ms Wakefield, you are quite beautiful?”’
‘Only if you want to become a cliché,’ I replied.
Safety in humour
.
‘We would not want that now, would we?’ he murmured.
He traced his fingertips down my cheek so very lightly, and my body reacted instantly to his touch. ‘The
when
is entirely up to you. I shall try my hardest not to influence you in any way. You need to be sure.’
I looked up at him again and nodded. ‘I’m sure you have enough notches on the bedpost for the moment anyway.’ The words were out of my mouth before I could stop them.
Perfect. Well done Ellie. What a cool thing to say.
He held me away from him, so he could see my face. ‘I fear I did lose count some time ago.’
Somehow he’d missed the point. I frowned and looked down, knowing his words hadn’t helped my feeling of inadequacy. In fact, he hadn’t helped the situation at all. He put his forefinger under my chin and tilted my face up to his. ‘Have I upset you somehow?’
‘I’m just worried I’ll be a huge disappointment. That once you’ve slept with me, you’ll dump me.’
He raised his eyebrows at that. ‘You have a pretty low opinion of me, it seems.’
‘Of men in general.’
‘At least it’s not personal, then?’
I shook my head. ‘I need time,’ I said. ‘I’m only just coming to terms with the whole vampire thing, and the thought of trying to make a relationship work as well is terrifying.’
He put his hands inside the sleeves of my sweater, running his fingertips gently up and down my skin. His touch made me shiver, and I wasn’t sure whether it was from fear or anticipation.
‘We have eternity before us,’ he said softly. ‘I certainly have no intention of jeopardising any potential relationship for one night of sexual gratification.’ He slipped his arms around my waist, pulled me closer and spoke with his lips against my hair. ‘I watched you for more than a year. I followed you around whenever I could. If I had once thought I would tire of you after bedding you, I would never even have entertained the idea of bringing you here.’
I raised my face and looked up at him, ‘Well that’s you nicely sorted, what about how I feel? Supposing
I
can’t make it work, what happens then?’
‘It will work.’
I opened my mouth to speak, but he kissed me gently on the lips to prevent any further conversation.
‘You and I are meant to be,’ he said eventually.
‘Meant to be what?’ Sometimes he said the weirdest things. He just gave me a roguish grin and the serious moment passed.
‘It is late, Elinor, if you do not retire soon, I fear you may keel over on me again.’
‘Thanks for that wonderful picture,’ I said with a grimace.