Blood Farm

Chapter 9

Curtis and I looked at each other, both of us worrying what was going on. Flames lashed at the building, the roar was loud. Water sprayed out over it, its abysmal efforts in trying to douse the flames were a mockery. There must have been so much down there that was causing the fire to continue so intensely. I remembered the books, shelves that lined the walls in the lounge room. The store room that had more books and papers. And that was just the part of the place that I had seen, I knew there was far more to that place.

"I think we need to leave." he whispered and tugged my hand back from where we came.

We walked and walked, both of us lost to what we should do. I had no clue, I was new to this world and Curtis was only fractionally older than me in his vampire life. But I had bigger questions, like was Noah and Harry in on this, or was it just their parents? Did Julius and Amelia believe that all four of us were down there or did they plan things as they happened? And what about our so called soul mates? If they were in on the attempt on our lives, did we not mean anything to them? Or was it that none of them had anything to do with the fire, that there was someone else that caused it. After being attacked right outside the door in the alley, I would have instantly believed that there was someone else involved. But not after seeing the scene at the blood farm. Now I held no trust for Julius and Amelia and as for Noah and Harry, well, that was open to debate.

"Do you feel as shit as I do?"

Curtis looked at me with sad eyes and nodded. The strands of blonde hair fell into his eyes as he cast his gaze down to the side walk.

"What do you make of it?"

"I don't know." he said quietly as we passed dozens of people.

It was normal life in the city, the people were going about their lives as if nothing was wrong. I looked around the city street, recognising where we were. We were about two shops away from the clinic, the clinic that was open and fully functioning. Life had gone on without me. As I stood there stunned a familiar face walked out with his purchases. He grinned at me and walked closer.

"Afternoon Ronnie."

His tall lanky frame was an old memory. I had spent far too long stuck in my office, I had forgotten one of the major reasons I had enjoyed my job, the people I got to meet. Like this guy. His hair tousled in the wind, the dark auburn hair flicking around his pale skin. His tooth filled grin reached his eyes, a soft brown that flecked with a deep honey colour throughout. He was exactly what Hollywood had idolised vampires as. The striking good looks, the sex appeal that could have a room full of women passed out in seconds and the fabulous fashion sense that today was one very expensive tailored jacket, cotton shirt and jeans that probably cost a fortune. I looked at Curtis who was stunned, mouth open, eyes wide. Jeez Curtis, why don't you make it obvious?

"Hey Sid, how's it going?"

"Oh great." he said dryly as he rolled his eyes "Price has gone up."

Sid jiggled the cooler bag in his hand. Like we had talked about, the price of blood had gone up. It was only a matter of time before the normal blood slowly started to disappear from the stock.

"What are you up to..." he frowned as he looked at me, his eyes pouring over my features like he had never seen me before "My god Ronnie. Tell me it isn't true."

His eyes darted to Curtis and grinned at the both of us.

"You two are newbies, aren't ya?"

"Obvious?"

"Oh yeah. Tell ya what, let me dump this and I'll meet you at Centennial Park for a chat, ok?"

"At the park Sid, really?"