Authors: Emma Mills
‘But
that
is over hundreds of years. What can
I
do? I obviously can’t buy or sell anything as I have no identity, and I can’t get a job. I’m officially dead!’ I exclaimed as Sebastian laughed to himself.
‘Yes my little undead witch. However, there are other ways. You will be given a loan like every other newborn; you will join my clan and work for me to pay it off. Which is why I’m very interested in your new-found abilities. If you can develop those into something useful, you might find yourself paying off your debt much quicker than the average hundred years.’
‘A hundred years?’ I exclaimed, ‘and I thought mortgages were a big commitment!’ I stopped, shocked into silence and sat brooding in my chair.
‘It’s really not as bad as that, Jessica. A hundred years is a childhood to a vampire. Just think of it like any other job, except in this one you get paid in advance. It’s just a different way of working. You’ll feel too attached to Daniel for the first fifty years or so anyway, to want to move away from the clan,’ he added.
‘So when will I get this hundred year debt then, and will I get a new identity, name and passport too?’ I asked, relaxing a little.
Yes, you’ll be given a new identity and bank account once I have your full background.’ He smiled, and then became serious. ‘Until I get your full family history and we work out where your witch blood has come from, and the full potential of your powers, I’m afraid you’ll have no freedom. You’ll answer to Daniel, Eva or myself and be monitored at all times. You’re a loose cannon at the moment. I’m sorry Jessica,’ he said, with such an air of finality that I knew there was no point in arguing or protesting. I also knew I’d earn his trust and respect much quicker if I kept him happy, acting as Daniel and Eva suggested, with respect, so I nodded and kept quiet.
‘Now, I’ll let Eva know when I have more details regarding your father’s health, and in the meantime I think you may as well put those spectacular new clothes to work and get out into my club. I will ring for Daniel to come and show you the way,’ he said, smiling once again.
After one short phone call and a mere matter of minutes, Daniel quietly rapped on the door and entered. He looked at both Sebastian and me, and I immediately felt him accessing my mind, checking if all was well. I did my best to push away niggles over having no freedom, and tried to communicate that all was fine, but he bombarded me with questions as soon as we were out of the door.
‘Did he touch you Jessica? He knows you’re mine. What did he do?’ he barked at me.
‘No, he was fine. Honestly Daniel, he was a perfect gentleman; well as much as is possible for him I think, and I’m not yours!’ I said managing to smile at him.
‘Well, why are you blocking me then? What are you hiding, Jessica?’ he asked. There was no hiding anything from Daniel, so I explained.
‘Nothing really, I was just doing as you’d told me and being a good, obedient little girl,’ I said, before explaining further.
‘Sebastian was just telling me how I can’t have any freedom, and the independent girl in me wanted to punch him, but I took your advice and said nothing. I was controlling myself Daniel; nothing worse.’
‘Hmm, I didn’t think you’d be capable of that yet, at least not until Sebastian had doled out a little cell time.’ He chuckled before carrying on. ‘Eva and I had bets on how soon you’d end up in the cell, and how many times in the first year. Eva thought tonight might be the night.’
‘Thanks, it’s great to see you have so little confidence in me.’ I sulked and stormed ahead down the corridor, even though I’d no idea where I was going.
‘Jessica, it isn’t like that. Don’t get huffy. We haven’t had a new vampire for a long time, and you girls are now so fiercely independent it was bound to create a stir, especially taking into account your bloodline and independence from me.’
Minutes later the adrenaline rushed through my body as Daniel held open a heavy door that led straight into the club. I had to steady myself as the deep blast of music washed over me and pounded in my head.
‘Daniel, why are they playing the music so loud? It’s giving me an instant headache,’ I yelled at him, frowning.
‘They’re playing it at the same level as usual, Jessica. You’re hearing is more sensitive now you’re one of us, that’s all. You’ll get used to it. Just tune it out. By the way, you don’t need to shout. Here come Eva and Brad,’ he said, nodding towards Eva, who was walking across with a stereotypical American guy, all square-jawed with floppy blonde hair.
‘Hey, Jess! Meet my companion, Bradley Sterling Franklin. He was the youngest vampire in the clan until you came along. I only brought him here forty three years ago, and now I’ve got a new protégé, he tells me he’s back off to Texas, but I’m betting he won’t stay away from me for long,’ she added, with a wink aimed at the rather yummy Bradley.
‘Hullo Jessica. Nice to meet you.’ He smiled at me and extended his hand to shake.
‘Hi,’ I replied nervously, taking his hand. It was cool, but felt strong and manly as he towered above me, at least six feet in height, with scrummy broad shoulders. He blinded me with a dazzling all-American smile and I could certainly see what Eva saw in him. I reckoned he wasn’t much older than me, minus the vampire years of course.
‘Jessica, let’s go and sit down before the hoards descend,’ Daniel said, frowning at me and moodily stomping ahead.
Ooops! I thought as Eva raised her eyes to the heavens, smiling at me. It was a damned inconvenience, having Daniel able to read my thoughts. He was so possessive. Not attractive at all. I bet Bradley wasn’t so possessive, what with him being from the same century as me. I reckoned that if Eva had brought him over fifty years ago, and he looked under twenty like me, he must have been born in the mid-twentieth century at least; he looked very up to date.
A low, grumbling growl interrupted my ruminations and I looked up, startled to see Daniel had stopped a few steps ahead of me and was staring at me darkly. Eva grinned at me and quickly sidestepping Daniel, pulled Bradley past, leaving me to deal with Mr Possessive on my own.
‘I’m not possessive, and as for keeping your thoughts to yourself, you could if you bothered putting up your defences in the first place,’ he shot at me darkly, then continued before I could get a word in. ‘I’m hardly possessive of you when you’re moping and mooning over your blessed memories of Luke, am I? I was just a little put out, that after acting so carefully and respectfully towards you and giving you more space than normal for a newborn, you go and act like a bitch in heat over the first handsome vampire you meet.’
His words hit me like a blast of icy water. I couldn’t think of a retort, and more to the point I didn’t want to. He was right, and I was not only disrespecting him, but disrespecting Luke, my Luke, and I would bet that Luke would not be out at a club eyeing up girls a month after my death.
My inner balloon popped. I felt my eyes filling up and Daniel suddenly came close, his arms enveloping me in a bear hug. His protection and warmth began instantly infusing my body and warming my soul. My face was crushed into his chest and his scent soothed me.
‘Jessica, I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. I have strong feelings for you, and it’s hard being rejected for Luke’s memory, day after day. So I did not like you appraising Bradley, but I should have controlled myself,’ he said.
‘No, I was wrong. I..’ I started to say, but he interrupted.
‘It is not your fault Jessica. You were not being disrespectful. I was wrong. A new vampire has many strong urges and emotions and generally they revolve around feeding. The others are usually satisfied in the bedroom. Also vampires, as you know are all very attractive, so it’s natural for you to have sudden lustful feelings, especially as you’re not fulfilling any of the natural urges you have, because of Luke.’
‘I wasn’t having lustful feelings, Daniel. I was just thinking Bradley was cute and he might not be so possessive. It wasn’t anything serious.’
‘I know that Jessica. I’m just not used to the way you modern girls think. Now, let’s get over there and get you a drink.’
Feeling strangely comforted and boosted by my Daniel fix, I was able to dry my tears as I followed him across the club to an eerily familiar, dark corner of the club. It only took a split second before the flashback hit me, and I was suddenly transported back to my girls’ night out, when I stood gazing at Daniel across the club, unusually transfixed, with Alex’s giddy words ringing in my ears. I started to look around wildly, wondering if she’d be here and whether she’d recognise me. No, of course she wouldn’t be here. Like Luke, she wouldn’t be out partying in the very club I died outside a month earlier.
‘Jess! Sit down girl. Have a drink on me.’ Eva pulled me down into the chair next to hers and pushed a bottle of lager into my hands. I looked down at it, confused and my eyebrows must have dipped even further when I clocked that it felt slightly warm instead of chilled.
‘Taste it. Go on, I bet you’ll approve,’ she said laughing.
I raised the bottle to my lips and felt the thick blood caress my tongue as I tipped it up. I looked at the bottle label again and raised my eyebrow in question.
‘Well, we could hardly walk around with glasses of blood could we, and what better disguise than the dark brown lager bottles? Talking of which, here’s the first rule of the club for you. Make sure you never leave your bottle lying around, as the majority of the staff here are human, and whilst occasionally it becomes necessary to correct someone’s memory, it’s not something Sebastian likes to make a habit of. When you’re leaving the table, always take any old bottles over to Johnny, there at the corner bar. He’s our regular vamp bartender and he’ll dispose of them. The other bar staff here are human and know nothing about us,’ Eva explained to me.
I looked over to where she gestured, and recognised the guy to be the vampire that had opened the door to us, on my first visit to the club. As if feeling our gaze, Johnny looked up and smiled in our direction, a very sexy smile. Alex would be in heaven if she were with me now, as she’d fallen particularly hard for him.
‘Another sexy male vampire for you Jessica, how are you going to manage?’ Daniel gave me a nudge and winked as he grinned at me. ‘At least if you let me into that head of yours, I could silence this confusion and direct it all to one place,’ he added smiling.
‘Yeah, I bet you’d love that!’ I answered smiling back. I was glad we’d got over the previous awkwardness and were back to our usual comfortable banter.
Sometime later, the club started to fill up and I had to admit to enjoying my newfound confidence and good looks. Our table certainly attracted a lot of attention from both sexes, as they walked past us on their way to the bar. I decided it was a dead heat between Daniel and Bradley, as both seemed to attract the same amount of female attention, but the girls who giggled and stared never had the courage to come over, and neither of the men seemed interested in the attention they were getting.
The human guys were much more subtle, but I was proud to say I had almost as many admiring glances as Eva. However, maybe I seemed more approachable, because a couple of times I noticed a guy start to come towards me, a cocky swagger in his step. The first time I froze, unsure what to do, and Daniel must have immediately cottoned on to my dilemma. He looked somewhat intensely into the eyes of the poor guy, before turning his head to me and pulling me close on the sofa, wrapping his arms around my waist. The guy looked a little disgruntled, but swivelled on his heels and walked away. Possessive was something Daniel did well!
By midnight, the club was full and I was starting to get a little bored of Bradley and his all-American ego. He was good looking and he knew it. He reminded me of a paler version, and I mean a much paler version, of Matthew McConaughey, with his carefully tousled chin-length blonde hair, square jaw and southern accent. Only his eyes weren’t the blue I imagined they would be; they were of course the same burnt brown as mine, and I could see the red flecks glittering in the dim lighting. But as gorgeous as he was, his conversation was not exactly riveting.