Authors: M. D. Bowden
Daniel continued to
dig as Sarah slept. He was not really going to wake her as she needed the sleep more than he did to adjust mentally to all the changes surrounding her, and he was not going to grow tired of digging. He quite enjoyed it as it was so thoroughly different from his normal day to day routines. He had not buried bodies for Sebastian; Sebastian had not cared if they were found. He liked the unquiet it caused. Burying the urn was something different altogether. He had never dug such a deep hole.
The soil was becoming wet and the stones were hard to get the spade through. He was in the hole now, shoveling out more debris, and he decided that was deep enough. He sprang out and lifted up the urn. He stretched his mind tentatively towards it, checking the strength of the bonds, seeing if he could sense Sebastian within. He found he could, in a much weakened state. He did not imagine Sebastian would have any awareness now, he would not sense time passing as he was buried in the ground; at least Daniel thought he would not. If he does, it serves him right anyway, all the trouble, all the death and pain he has caused. Nevertheless, Sebastian had formed a big part of Daniel’s life, and he placed the urn carefully in the hole, before jumping out and turning to look down on him.
‘Goodbye Sebastian,’ he muttered beneath his breath, ‘I hope you
never
come back.’
He started to scoop the earth back in, covering the urn one spade load of dirt at a time. With every load of earth he thought of Sebastian staying in the ground, he thought of no-one ever finding him, of no-one noticing his place of burial. He reinforced each of these thoughts with magic.
When it was done he treated the site in the same way he had with the bodies he had buried the previous night, covering the area with twigs and leaf litter and trying to make it look like nothing out of the ordinary had happened there. When he was satisfied he picked up the spade and listened intently for sounds of danger while watching Sarah sleeping by the tree and admiring her beauty. He wanted to make sure she was safe before leaving her alone, which he had to do to get rid of the spade. It would save time if he did it now, while she rested, as they had plenty to do in the morning. He listened out one final time before taking his favorite form of a buzzard and soaring up, through a gap between some branches, into the night sky. He held the spade in his talons and used his wings for speed, enjoying the feel of the cool air as he glided onwards. He covered a great distance in minutes and spotted a ditch in a clearing ahead. He swooped down and dropped the spade there. It was now far from searching police. He turned back and retraced his path through the darkness, back to Sarah.
He landed near her feet as she slept on, exhausted. He transformed back and smoothed his clothes, before laying his head on Sarah’s legs and falling into slumber, warm loving thoughts mixing with images of Sebastian held beneath the earth.
It felt like no time had passed at all when he felt movement beneath him and realized Sarah was stirring. He opened his eyes and looked across at her, to see her regarding him with a cheeky smile.
‘I really need a shower . . .’ she said, wrinkling her nose. ‘And Daniel, I’m thirsty. I don’t think I can wait much longer for more blood.’
Daniel nodded, thinking she looked strained.
‘How long have you been awake?’ he asked.
‘Not long. Just long enough to admire you while you slept . . .’ she said, and his heart skipped a beat as she winked at him. ‘I’m so sorry I fell asleep. I completely meant to help you bury the urn,’ she continued.
‘I knew you needed the rest.’
He was pleased to see her smile back before he glanced up at the canopy above and saw dim light filtering through. The sun was about to rise. He jumped to his feet, trying to muster some enthusiasm for the tasks ahead. He looked forward to when he and Sarah had their own house, when they could relax and spend some romantic time together. It won’t be long now, he told himself. Just a few things to do: Wash. Feed. Influence parents. Pack. It wasn’t so bad. He and Sarah would be together throughout.
He was about to extend his hand to help her up, but realized she had jumped to her feet too – he had just been too consumed by his thoughts to notice.
‘What do you think about the idea of hunting an animal?’ he asked her, switching his mind back to the present.
Sarah nodded. Daniel watched as she immediately switched to alert and listened to the early morning sounds of animals rustling through the leaves, looking for food. Birds were beginning their dawn chorus. The forest was alive with activity. The trick was to find the largest heart out there, as hunting that would be the biggest feast.
Sarah was assuming the feral look, not helped by the state of her attire, her tangled hair and her general grubbiness. He daren’t take her anywhere she may be seen now; people would be scared, or worried. Hmm, he thought, and what did he look like? He was probably equally scruffy. His shirt was stained with blood from Sarah’s scratches and his trousers were decidedly muddy.
Sarah snapped her head to the side and Daniel listened to the nearby heart beats himself wondering what had grabbed her attention. He heard a substantial sized rhythmic beat, maybe five hundred meters to his left, as Sarah started stalking in that direction. She was moving silently, as stealthily as she could, and Daniel followed quietly – keeping her in sight. As he heard the beating getting closer Sarah sped up and Daniel glimpsed the brown fur of a bear up ahead. It was feeding itself, and making enough noise in the process. It must have thought it safe, for the bear was absorbed in its meal, rather than alert to danger.
Sarah traversed the trees so she could approach from behind, and Daniel watched with satisfaction as she lunged at the animal and successfully sank her teeth through fur and skin and he could hear her swallowing blood. He leant against a tree, wondering how this would go. Would she pull away in time for the bear to live? He suspected not, for she was still learning. He would not interfere this time though, if she drained the bear and killed it she would absorb more power and this would keep her satisfied for longer. They had a long journey ahead and he was not sure if there would be many, or any, opportunities to feed.
The blood he had consumed last night would be enough for him. He did not need as much blood now he was older, and he so rarely consumed human blood, mainly relying on animal, that one feed could sustain him for a week. He would have to remember that Sarah would need to drink more often than this.
He could see the bear was weakening in Sarah’s grip. It had stopped struggling and was beginning to bow, losing its will to fend her off. Sarah was still glugging at its blood, holding on tight, lost in the feed.
Daniel could hear the bear’s heart slowing and knew it was about to die. It did not look like Sarah had even tried to stop. It was going to take her a while to learn control, to learn not to kill. Daniel smiled, thinking it would feel good to help her.
The heart stopped and Sarah let the beast go, leaving it in a crumpled heap. She stepped away, wiping blood from her mouth and leaving a streak on her cheek. She looked up and met Daniel’s eyes, so he approached. He had taken one step before she raced at him and was in his arms.
‘I couldn’t stop, I didn’t want to Daniel,’ she said.
‘Shh,’ he replied, holding her soothingly. ‘It takes time. How do you feel physically – better? Are you still thirsty?’
‘No, I feel fine, just dirty. Let’s go and get cleaned up,’ she said, quickly resigned to the fact she had just killed.
‘Are you ready for a race?’ he asked her, making an attempt at distraction.
He saw her eyes glint, ‘The Woodman?’ she asked.
‘Yes,’ he said.
The moment the word left his lips she was off, and he was in pursuit. She knew her way around the forest well, and probably knew the way to the hotel he had been staying at as well as he, so he let her lead the way, only occasionally overtaking to liven up the chase.
The sky was getting brighter, and the sun glinted through the trees behind them. It was amazing being out in the woods this early, the morning smells of pine, moss and dew made him feel alive. He saw Sarah ahead and his heart ached for her. He sped up and grabbed her – pinning her to the ground, and she laughed beneath him. He jumped up again, taking her hand as he did, and sped on holding it tight.
He slowed as they got closer to the hotel, hearing voices outside. He shared a glance with Sarah; she had heard too. She knew as well as he what a mess they looked, and that they could not be seen.
Daniel looked around the side of a tree and saw it was a couple of women dressed in hiking gear. They were on their way around the back of the hotel, going to their car.
He did not see people at the hotel often. In fact it was so rarely occupied he was surprised it was still open at all.
He and Sarah waited until the people were out of sight and quickly went in themselves, going to Daniel’s room before anyone else came out.
They passed the room where Sebastian had killed someone making Daniel think bitterly of the blood and the wasted life. It was taped off from view, and Daniel wondered what the police thought about what had happened. It obviously wasn’t public knowledge or no-one would be staying here, maybe they were covering it up, not sure what to do.
Sarah raced straight into the bathroom and Daniel closed the room door behind him. He heard the shower go on and set himself to work packing up his belongings. This would be his final time here, so he would need to take everything with him and then checkout.
He looked out of the window at the horizon and thought about his time here. Really it had not been long, but so much had happened. He had met Sarah and successfully fought Sebastian. Now it was time to move on.
He wondered again if they should try and help more people, go somewhere where there was a danger to fight, make good use of their enhanced strength and his magical abilities. He decided he would broach the subject with Sarah before they left, but thought she may not be ready for more fighting and challenges; she might want to lie low, fight her own battle of bloodlust and adjust to being a vampire in her own time.
Sarah was in
the shower, scrubbing at her body with a flannel she had lathered with soap. She had been mortified when she had looked in the mirror. Her hair was beyond a mess. It was tangled and dirty and she even had debris in it. Small twigs were coming out in the shower and falling to her feet. She had blood on her face and on her clothes, and everything was smeared with dirt and mud. She looked like a beast and tears stung her eyes with this realization, for that was what she was now, she was not human.
She discarded the flannel and poured copious amounts of shampoo into her palm, before lathering it up on her head, and washing away all the dirt. She reached for the conditioner, thankfully provided by the hotel and literally filled her palm. She used a third of the bottle. There was no-way she was going to untangle it without that. She smoothed the conditioner through her hair, trying to work out the tangles with her fingers. Tears fell down her face and she washed them away too, letting the water flow over her face and letting her troubles flow down the drain.
She thought again of her children, and realized Daniel’s previous influence must be wearing off as she immediately thought of blood pumping in their veins. She pushed the thought away, as she had often pushed away thoughts that troubled her when she had been human. She would need Daniel’s influence again so she could see them, but now she would not think on it.
What could she think about instead? Where were they going to go?
England.
She would love to go there, she had always wanted to. What would Daniel think? They had not discussed it yet. Sarah immediately began to feel excited, and her tears stopped falling. She thought of London and all the historical buildings she would love to see, and of rolling hills, oak trees, old churches and country lanes.
She sped up her untangling and washed off the conditioner and bubbles, scrubbing at the dirt and blood beneath her nails. She got out of the shower and wrapped herself in towels, eager to talk to Daniel. But before she did, she would have to clean her mouth for it felt disgusting. She picked up Daniel’s toothbrush from a cup by the sink and squeezed a substantial amount of toothpaste on, determined that she would be thoroughly clean before seeing him again.
She stepped out of the bathroom, accompanied by a cloud of steam, not feeling as shy as the last time she was there. Daniel was before her, standing by the bed. He had a large backpack on the covers, that he was just strapping shut. She smiled at him as he looked up, not managing to hide her excitement.
Daniel smiled at her, obviously enchanted by her good mood.
‘Daniel,’ she started, tentatively.
‘Go on,’ he said, still smiling.
He was looking rumpled and dirty, but not in a right state like she had been.
‘Can we go to England?’
‘England, eh? Why not. I have been there before but not for a long time.’
‘Oh yes, didn’t you say you went to University there? Was that the truth? - I know you said it before I knew you were a vampire,’ Sarah said.
‘I did go to University there, but not to study. I originally went to college near New Orleans when I was human. I went to England when I was following Sebastian. He chose to torment the University in the town of York, in northern England, so that’s where I went too. Maybe we could go somewhere different in England, somewhere I’ve never been. I’ve been meaning to talk to you actually . . .’ Daniel said.
Sarah sat on the edge of the bed, ‘About what?’ she asked, happy that they really could go to England. She was going to get to travel! After England maybe they could go somewhere completely different, like Africa or Antarctica. They could go anywhere they wanted to.
‘Well, I feel like I need to do something to help people, to make up for fact that I sometimes need to weaken them by taking their blood,’ Daniel said.
Sarah nodded encouragingly, enamored that he cared so much for humans.
‘I was wondering about choosing to live somewhere where people are in trouble, where they need our help.’
‘What kind of trouble, do you mean supernatural?’ Sarah asked, and saw Daniel nod in return, awaiting her response. ‘If we decided to do that, how would we find such a place?’ she asked him.
‘I’m not sure, but there are ways - news reports, missing people, that kind of thing. I could scan the papers and internet when we arrive in London, and look out for stories that just don’t seem right. Then we could find somewhere to live near there. It would need to be somewhere rural though, so you wouldn’t be seeing many people. I would need to be able to help you learn control away from too much temptation.’
What Daniel said intellectually made sense. Sarah did want to help people, and she wanted to learn more about the supernatural. In such a short time she had discovered vampires, magic, ghosts and possession. She shivered at the thought of what else might be out there, and felt intrigued at the same time. If anyone could help people in trouble it was Daniel, he was talented and had managed to destroy Sebastian. And he could teach her - she would be strong too, she would learn how to fight, learn how
not
to hurt people, and maybe even learn some magic.
‘Yes,’ she said, seeing Daniel’s eyes snap to hers, searching her for doubt. ‘I think we should do that, I want to learn to help people too.’
‘Great, thank you. I know it’s not what you had in mind,’ he said.
‘I didn’t really have anything in mind, this is all new to me, but I do want to help people.’
Daniel nodded, and Sarah smiled as he leant forwards and gave her the briefest kiss, before disappearing into the bathroom himself. As she heard the shower start she looked about the room and saw that Daniel had laid out two sets of clothes, one of which she assumed must be for her. They were both the same, each pile had a black t-shirt, a black shirt, black men’s underwear and trousers, all of which would be far too big. She would have to pick up a decent selection of clothes from home before the start of their adventure.
She smiled again at the thought of it, dropped the towels and slipped into the clothes. She was relieved the trousers had a belt which she fastened on the smallest setting, meaning they would just about stay up if she gave them the occasional tug. She rolled up the bottoms so she would not trip up. She pulled the hairdryer and brush out of the drawer, as she had before, and got to work on sorting out her hair, whilst thinking about their plans and what she would take.
She was just finishing drying her hair when Daniel reappeared, looking sleek and steamy, with a white towel around his hips.
‘I’ll get dressed quickly,’ he said. ‘We need to get to your house before it’s time for Megan to go to school.’
‘We’ve still got to decide what to say to them,’ Sarah reminded him. ‘I had an idea . . .’
‘Yes?’ said Daniel.
‘Well, we could say we are going travelling to do research for the book I’m writing. Obviously, had I been human and able to stay with my kids, I wouldn’t leave them for that long – especially with their father recently missing, and God, I really don’t want to leave them, yet I know I have to. We could say I’m having problems dealing with Jo’s disappearance and that I need some time to recover, as that seems more feasible. The research trip could be a method to take my mind off all the trouble I’ve recently had. If you could influence them to accept that as a reason, which they might not do without your help, I would be able to stay in contact with them. We could talk on-line and I could still see Megan and Bea, and they could see me. I would also be able to return anytime – as soon as I manage to develop better control.’
‘I like that plan,’ said Daniel. ‘Do you want to try and influence them yourself?’
‘No! I want to make sure it’s done right. I want to practice before trying it on anything this important. Is that ok – do you mind doing it?’ Sarah asked tentatively.
‘Of course not, I just thought you might want to. I will make sure Megan doesn’t remember anything about you getting hurt either,’ Daniel said.
‘Thank you so much,’ said Sarah.
She rose and kissed Daniel on the lips.
‘Really, don’t worry about it,’ he muttered against her mouth.
Sarah moved back and said ‘I’m ready,’ forcing herself not to think of her kids again. She would need Daniel to influence
her
soon, but didn’t want to hold him up from getting finished at the hotel.
She sat on the bed and watched him dress, a smile playing at the corner of her mouth. There were good things about this situation. She would be with Daniel and they were going to see new places, discover new things. It would be a whole new world.
Daniel shrugged on the black leather jacket that Sarah loved and slung his backpack over his shoulder.
‘Let’s go,’ he said.
Sarah got up and took the hand he extended, smiling to herself as tingles shot up her arm. She glanced back at the clock as Daniel led her out the room and saw it was eight a.m. – there was still time before Megan went to school. When they got down to the desk Daniel rang a bell there, and a petit receptionist came out of a back room. The instant she came in Sarah smelt her and honed in on the sound of her heartbeat. Her own blood pounded through her veins, and she felt her teeth start to extend. She looked away, horrified at herself, and not wanting to be seen. Daniel released her hand and she walked outside, away from the temptation to pounce. She stood there, tense, and took deep breaths until Daniel returned.
‘Sarah shh,’ she heard, and someone was shaking her shoulder. Daniel. ‘Look at me,’ he said.
She raised her eyes to his and the blood lust faded as he calmed her mind, using his powers to sooth her. She looked down in a daze, as he took her hand again, and projected into her mind, ‘You did brilliantly Sarah – you didn’t feed. You didn’t attack. You were amazing.’
She looked back into his eyes and nodded at him, a tear escaping her eye. She blinked back more and allowed him to lead her to his jeep. She stayed silent as he drove them to her house, to her children.
He parked in her driveway, next to her minivan. She looked about, not managing to keep the tears back now. She was leaving so much behind.
Daniel took her chin in his hand, and she let him direct her eyes to his – knowing what was coming and welcoming it. It was the only way she was going to cope.
She listened to his words, powerless to his influence. She heard ‘control’, ‘say goodbye’, ‘pack’, ‘calm’, ‘don’t think of blood’, and they floated around in her head, penetrating her subconscious. At the end came a kiss and his mind let hers go, yet she knew she was now thoroughly under his control, in his power.
She pulled at the handle and the door opened to her side. She swung out her legs and, Daniel at her side, she walked towards her front door.