So I'm a Vampire... Now What? - Book 2 (Original Version)

Chapter 10.1 - It's a Wonderful Life

"When is the funeral?" Louise eventually asked.

"No idea. I think she's still getting used to the idea of him being gone and that's hard enough. Knowing Roger, he probably already made all of his own arrangements, just so he wasn't inconveniencing anyone."

"For what it's worth, I'm sorry. I really am. I had no choice about it, but I'm still sorry you guys had to go through all of that."

I just stared at Louise, marvelling at how alive she looked, how different she seemed now. There was the shape of my old friend there behind her eyes, but she seemed so much edgier now, harder. Not for the first time, I wondered what it was she had gone through.

"How did you get away from the Gentlemen? That's the one thing I can't figure out in all of this."

Louise looked extremely uncomfortable at this. She poured more shots instead of looking at me.

"Oh, I didn't get away from them. They killed me. Left some scars." She absently stroked her left shoulder, just a light touch and I wondered how much damage they had done to her. Louise looked me in the eye to make sure I got the point. "Nobody gets away from the Gentlemen. Don't you listen to the stories?"

I flashed back on my encounters with Monsieurs Flynn, Bryce and Sinnel, the Old Firm, the Gentlemen, and shuddered. Just thinking of them made my blood run cold, especially how close Mr Bryce had come to killing me last time.

"Nobody likes to talk about the Gentlemen. They like to pretend that they don't exist, so no, I haven't heard the stories. Apart from what you and Harry told me... that was terrifying enough. And then I met them. Three times now actually come to think of it... the last time I came this close to dying."

Louise looked surprised at this.

"How'd you manage that?"

"Turns out Harry has a soft spot for family. I was defending my family... so he kinda let it slide. Didn't even punch me in the nuts."

"Harry does not let things slide," Louise noted thoughtfully. "Is this the Montreal incident? Vampire by the name of Daemien?"

"Yeah... I killed him," I said. "How'd you know about that?"

"Oh, Montreal hired me to kill you," Louise admitted as if it was no big deal. She continued, completely ignoring my reaction. "When I saw it was you they wanted to kill, it just got... complicated. I had to figure out if you'd gone bad or if you were worth saving. Did not help that you were shagging Beatrice."

Holy shit. Well, that changed everything. Things finally started to make sense, albeit in a really fucked up way.

"When you say 'hired to kill me'--" I said, that one point still bugging the fuck out of me.

"One sec," Louise held up a finger to quiet me.

"But--"

Louise glared at me, the kind of glare I imagine someone who had been hired to kill me would make and I shushed. She looked down a message on her cellphone instead. She then glanced towards the bar and nodded. I looked over and there was Agent Craig casually walking up to the bar and deliberately not looking at us. He was sporting a black eye.

"Well at least these guys are predictable," Louise murmured. "Don't worry: he's safe. I only kill vampires."

Wait, what?

"Say who-what-now?"

"Oh Bob, we have so much to catch up on."

"I hate you so much right now."