Marcus was worrying at his thumbnail. Elsa watched as he picked incessantly at the cuticle and felt her pupils dilate as a sliver of blood spread around the edge of the nail. She fished her serum out of her bag and Marcus looked up as she dosed herself, quickly putting his thumb to his mouth to suck the blood away.
“Sorry,” he said.
“It’s fine,” Elsa replied, “It’s my own fault, I haven’t been to Hesper for an adjustment in ages.” Since Morocco. She didn’t seem to need her serum adjusting as often anymore, it was very rare she felt the hunger that had just whispered in her ear like a devil on her shoulder. Hesper was always reminding her and her last email (Elsa had been avoiding her in person) voiced concern that Elsa was risking losing control if she did not allow herself to be more closely monitored. The truth was, Elsa sometimes felt she could manage without the serum all together. It was habit more than anything that made her take her dose, or top it up when the hunger caught her. There had been a few times when she had felt those feelings and the sharpness of her fangs against her lips, that Elsa had simply managed to calm herself without the use of the drugs Hesper provided her with. She needed to talk to Hesper, reassure her that it wasn’t a problem and stop the constant yet well meant nagging.
Right now she was more interested in her fathers obvious nerves. They were at the airport, Katherine’s flight had landed safely and she had just text Marcus to say she was waiting for her bags and would be out soon; there really was no need for nerves.
Elsa smiled to herself. She had a pretty good idea where these nerves were coming from, which was why she had insisted on accompanying her father to the airport despite his transparent attempts to dissuade her. Marcus had now swapped picking at his thumb for continuing to suck on it, even though the smell of blood was long gone.
Elsa reached out and gently pulled her fathers hand from his mouth, “I could grab you a dummy from the chemist?” she quipped, smiling at him warmly.
Marcus stared at her, frowned, then gaped in sudden realisation before a look of annoyance spread over his face, “You know!” he said incredulously.
“Know what?” Elsa asked innocently.
“You know - what you know,” Marcus sputtered, even though he was sure she did, he couldn’t bring himself to admit it just incase…
“Oh, you mean that Katherine isn’t going to be staying in my room?” Elsa asked. Marcus went bright red. When she had been human Elsa had been afflicted with a severe tendency to blush at the slightest embarrassment; she got it from her father.
Elsa laughed, “Relax Dad,” she said, “I’ve had an inkling for ages. Vampire remember? Able to sense thoughts and feelings?”
“I thought I’d been a bit more discreet,” Marcus sounded genuinely disappointed at his inability to hide his relationship with Katherine from his daughter.
“Well you didn’t need to be,” Elsa said, “Did you really think I’d mind?”
“I didn’t – I wasn’t – your mother,” Marcus couldn’t seem to decide what it was he was trying to say.
Elsa placed a reassuring hand on his arm, “Don’t be daft,” she said kindly, “I love you and I want you to be happy. I know how much you loved Mum, it’s been 18 years Dad, you are entitled to move on with your life.” Marcus visibly relaxed and Elsa could see just how tense he’d been; “Besides,” she added lightly, “Now I don’t have to feel so guilty about leaving you on your own when I stay at Sebastian’s.”
Marcus opened his mouth to protest but Elsa jumped to her feet, “Katherine!”
“Elsa,” Katherine returned Elsa’s bear hug and winced a little, “Don’t forget you own strength sweetie,” she said and Elsa released her quickly.
“Sorry, it’s just lovely to see you again.” Elsa stood aside and indicated to her father, “Now you two can say a proper hello to each other.”
Katherine’s face froze and she stared at Marcus whose blush renewed itself with a fiery passion.
“Yes, yes,” Elsa said blithely, “I know all about you two lovebirds so I’m going home now by myself to leave you to become reacquainted,” she dusted her hands together and walked away, leaving stunned silence and burning embarrassment behind her, “My work here is done.”
She smiled to herself as she walked away, genuinely happy for Katherine and her father. The airport was, of course, miles away from home but that wasn’t a problem for Elsa. She could run home at such a speed that anyone she passed would be aware of nothing but the gust of air she kicked up as she went, she wouldn’t even break a sweat. Home was quickly becoming Sebastian’s warehouse; when she said home, that was the image that sprang to her mind. She wondered what Sebastian would think of that. He’d been so solitary before they’d met, she had really had to break down some pretty hefty walls to reach him. His behaviour when she was there seemed to suggest he liked having her around and there were many occasions when he insisted in one way or another that she stay, but it wasn’t officially permanent – yet.
So when Elsa had said she was going home, that was where she had meant. She had decided to look at her mother’s police file. Her dad was now otherwise occupied and Sebastian had gone for a weekend hunt with Hesper. Elsa wanted to do this alone at first, she didn’t know why, she just felt that alone was how she had to do it.
Back at the warehouse, she sat on the floor, her back against the bed and the laptop on her knees. She took a deep breath, unnecessary as she did not need to breath of course, but it felt like the thing to do. She placed the memory stick she been staring at almost every night since she’d taken the file into the usb port and double clicked on the file quickly before she could change her mind.
There was page upon page of typed notes as she had expected. An interview with her father made for difficult reading. The interviewing officer described him as ‘vacant’ and ‘in severe shock’ as well as noting the high level of blood staining on his clothes, hands and face. Her father had made frantic efforts to revive his wife and Elsa blinked tears from her eyes at the thought of the pain and loss he’d suffered and the horror he’d experienced finding the woman he loved dead in their home. There was a description of the scene as the officers had found it. Gray had called them, knowing that the neighbours already would have, they had to ensure that they were behaving as if this was exactly what they needed the police to think it was, a horrific and violent murder.
The cover story they used was tenuous at best and Elsa suspected a lot of vampiric persuasion courtesy of Hesper had been used to get the investigation closed. Hesper was present at the scene, able to get there to help long before the police arrived. She delivered Baby Elsa quickly and saved her life but nothing could be done for Sarah.
Elsa knew that her father and Gray had found her mother on the living room floor, her body covered in bite marks and signs she had violently fought her restraints. The room had been ransacked which made the drug fuelled robbery story plausible but the bite marks could not have been so easily explained. All Marcus had ever told her was that Gray had taken care of it but he couldn’t bring himself to explain how. Gray had filled in some of the rest. He had called Hesper; she had arrived way before any paramedics or police could and performed an emergency caesarean to save baby Elsa’s life before meticulously cutting into each bite mark so it looked as if Sarah had been the victim of a frenzied knife attack. She waited till paramedics arrived and used a cover identity, telling them she was a surgeon to explain how she had been able to safely deliver the baby; the interviewing officer had noted how fortunate it was that Hesper had been visiting that evening and was able to intervene to safe at least one life. Here again, Elsa was sure that Hesper had ‘helped’ ensure the whole story was believed, it had clearly been thrown together hastily and her father had been in no state to help. He hadn’t needed to act, he had been genuinely distraught and barely able to speak.
Elsa closed her eyes for a moment, wanting to make the words disappear, but a negative image of the computer screen was burnt onto the inside of her eyelids and with her eyesight as keen as it was, she was unable to block out the words she had been reading. With a sigh she opened her eyes again, so far this was nothing more than a traumatic read, she’d learnt nothing that would suggest her mother’s death was anything more than what her father believed it was.
There were photos of the scene in a separate folder. Elsa’s gaze fell on the icon and her finger hovered over the mouse for the milliseconds it took her brain to decide what to do. The notes had told her nothing, the pictures might. Or they might be more than Elsa could bear to look at. She had no real memories of her mother, only pictures of her looking happy and healthy, in love with her husband and looking forward to becoming a mother. Elsa took her hand away from the mouse. She couldn’t look at the pictures yet and she felt frustrated that she was no further ahead than she’d been before. Maybe Sebastian was right and she needed to look further back than the night her mother had died.
“Argh!” Elsa exclaimed out loud and slammed the laptop closed. What was she doing? She didn’t want to look at pictures of her murdered mother, she didn’t want to read about how her father and her friends had had to cover it up, she didn’t want to learn the true extent of her father’s anguish and she really didn’t want to care what it was that Vincent had been about to say as she killed him. But she did care. She was going round in circles and she hated it.
“Bloody Florence and her bloody interfering mysterious bloody comments,” Elsa huffed. She needed Sebastian, he was the only one she could sound off to. She used to have Kate too and for the millionth time since Kate had rejected her, Elsa had to stop herself from reflexively picking up the phone to call her for a heart to heart. Before Kate knew what Elsa was, she couldn’t have talked to her about the whole thing anyway; how ironic that Kate now knew everything and Elsa was even less able to talk to her friend than she ever had been before.
Elsa decided to borrow one of Sebastian’s bikes and go for a ride, it always helped to clear her head. She picked her favourite, the Susuki Bandit and was soon speeding down the lanes and out to the main roads and enjoying the feel of the wind buffeting her body. Hours later and feeling much more relaxed, she found herself pulling up outside a bar in the next big town along that she knew would be playing her favourite music. Elsa was not one to go to pubs by herself but on this occasion and in the frame of mind she was in she just shrugged to herself, “Sod it’” she muttered and quickly secured the Bandit then strolled through the doors as if it was a perfectly normal thing for her to walk into a rock/biker pub all by herself.
She sat on a stool at the bar and caught the bar tenders gaze, “Double JD, no coke, no ice please,” she said confidently. Technically she was old enough to drink but it still felt weird. The bar tender didn’t bat an eyelid though, no-one ever asked Elsa for ID anymore, she could convince them with nothing more than a gaze that she was quite old enough and knew exactly what she was doing. Elsa paid for her drink and knocked it back in one, whiskey and bourbon were the closest thing to blood she had found and whilst she wasn’t particularly peckish right now she was very aware of the smell of the other people in the bar and the rhythmic beat of each individual heart. Alcohol didn’t get her drunk, she’d have to drink A LOT for that to happen, but the taste was comforting to her. She pushed her glass back for a refill and this time the bar tender did raise an eyebrow but Elsa just raised one right back at him and smiled; he filled her glass without question.
“Elsa?” The slightly surprised voice was instantly familiar to Elsa and she turned with a smile to find Grant, Kate’s older brother standing behind her.
“Hey Grant,” she said warmly, “Fancy seeing you here!”
“I could say the same thing,” Grant said with a grin, “Friday evening lone drinking your new thing is it?”
Elsa laughed, “No,” she said, “I was meeting Sebastian but he’s been held up,” hunting big game somewhere in the Rocky Mountains.
“You can’t sit there by yourself, come and join us,” Grant indicated across the room where his girlfriend Emily sat, she gave Elsa a little wave.
“Oh it’s ok,” Elsa said, “I was going to head off when I’d finished this,” she held up her drink. She liked Grant and was grateful he didn’t automatically hate her just because Kate did, they shared a taste in music and had always got on really well. He didn’t really understand what had happened between her and Kate but he’d given up trying to get anything out of either of them.
“You riding?” Grant asked and Elsa knew what he meant.
“Don’t worry,” she said, “I’ve just had this one,” sometimes she hated how easily she could lie.
“Ok, well if your sure,” Grant looked concerned, “I know you and Kate have your ‘thing’ going on that I can’t begin to understand but just remember you don’t have to feel weird about speaking to me. I told Kate that unless she could come up with a really good reason for me to ignore you then I wouldn’t do it.”
“Aw,” Elsa’s stomach tightened as she smiled. Kate had a great reason for Grant to stay away from Elsa but, despite everything, she was true to her word and had not said anything to anyone about what had happened last year, “It’s good seeing you,” she said getting up, “I am going to have to get going though.” She gave Grant a hug, “Thanks for being so nice to me,” she said sincerely, “I miss Kate loads but I have missed you too.”
“Tell you what,” Grant said, “Emily and I are back here for a gig tomorrow night, my mates band is playing, they’re pretty good. Why don’t you and Sebastian come down?”
Elsa thought about it for a second, “Yeh why not?” she said, she’d not been to a good gig for a while, “I think Sebastian is busy but I could do with a good night out.”
“Cool,” Grant grinned, “See you tomorrow night then.” He picked up his and Emily’s drinks from the bar and headed back over to his table. Elsa waved to Emily and mouthed bye then left the bar, feeling much better about her day than she had a few hours earlier.
*AN - A bit of a filler Chapter (sorry, has to be done sometimes!), don't worry though, there is action coming up as this chapter is setting up for an interesting trn of events ;). I'd like to take the opportunity to thank everyone who has stuck with me and begun to read by updates once more - THANK YOU!! Oh, and keep the votes coming ;)
Also, Devil Inside did have a suggested soundtrack as I'm sure you all know.Music is my other great passion and it consisted of songs that I felt fit events and emotions in each chapter or songs that had inspired me in my writing. I do intend to do the same thing for this book too when I get into it a bit more so any suggestions for tunes are very welcome!*