When I woke up, Michael was already gone. I lay staring at empty pillow next to me and felt the cool cotton against my fingers. He was long gone. Sitting up I hugged my knees and tried to think why was Michael avoiding me? Usually Michael left a note before he left but my bedside table was empty. Depressed I curled back up into bed and buried my face into pillow. I could still smell him on me from last night. My heart fluttered and my pulsed danced as images of what we did last night flickered through my mind. Closing my eyes I imagined his lips grating against mine and my fingertips entwined in his hair. I wanted his blood so badly.
My bedroom door opened and Francesca stepped in with a toddler cup of blood. Her auburn hair was in a messy bun and she was wearing a baby pink velour tracksuit.
“Good morning!” She smiled in a warm southern accent.
I think she was creeping around me because of the argument we had. This whole human to vampire acclimatization was not going well. Being paired with Michael and having to help Duncan find his dead daughter’s killer was really taking its toll on me. Especially when Michael decides to up and leave the very first time we had sex. Francesca was lucky, I was too preoccupied with Michael to continue my anger at her. Instead I politely took my microwaved blood and asked,
“Are you going out tonight?”
“We’re staying in.” Francesca replied.
That was weird, they never stayed in. Francesca glanced sideways and lowered her voice and whispered,
“Your Great Grandpa is visiting Duncan.”
“My Great Grandpa?” I whispered back imagining some elderly vampire with a walking frame.
“Magda’s Grandpa.”
Oh, Magda’s homophobic Grandpa from eastern Europe. He had disowned his only grandchild for falling in love with another woman and for pairing outside their perfect blue eyed coven. His disownment of Magda nearly killed her.
“Does he know I exist?” I asked.
Francesca shook her head, “As far as Grandpa Leandro is concerned he does not have a granddaughter.”
“That’s great because as far as I am concerned I do not have Great Grandpa.” I said.
Francesca patted my head, “You’re so sweet. Oh, Sheldon popped this around earlier.” She said producing a note.
My heart missed a beat- Micah’s email address! I took the paper and opened it up.
‘The account Micah had been using to communicate to Emma has been deactivated. Sorry kid.’
Deactivated? Why?
I quickly got dressed and went over to Sheldon’s apartment. Knocking on Sheldon’s door I waited for an answer. I could here the faint sound of heavy metal thumping from within the apartment so I knew someone was home. I knocked again and heard a muffled voice whisper, ‘Don’t answer.’
Losing my patience I opened the door and walked in. Sheldon sat at the desk bubble wrapping his computer components.
“Aw shit.” He said as I marched in.
Throwing the piece of paper at him I snapped,
“You better have a good explanation for that.”
Sheldon threw up his hands defensively, “And I have.”
Pulling up a chair I sat down in front of him and waited for his explanation. Sheldon scratched the back of his head and sighed,
“Micah’s account was deactivated in the last 48 hours. The email service provider shut down his account.”
“Why?”
“Violation of terms of service or some bullshit. The details were real hazy which makes me think that email company was asked by an officials to close the account.”
“Like the police?”
“Yeah them or the government- but that’s my educated guess Lorna. I wouldn’t bet money on it.”
“Okay, so could you do some more snooping for me?” I asked.
Sheldon looked at Stephen and said, “Can you believe this girl?” He then turned back to me and said bluntly, “My hacking days are over. Javier and Alegria would string me up by my gizzards if they caught my dabbling in government secret files.”
“Imagine what Duncan would do!” I snapped.
“Fine. Give me a few days.” Sheldon replied.
I left Sheldon feeling more than a little frustrated. The email address I had been praying on had fallen to a dead end. Micah was now further away than ever. I wondered as I walked along the corridor if Micah lived in London and if maybe one day he would accidently drop into the hotel for a drink. Maybe he was at the bar right now being seduced by slutty Keira. I don’t think Keira would be Micah’s type though. He liked nerds.
The elevator descended up into the chaotic foyer where men in black suits and hotel staff were crowding around some weird looking kid that reminded me scarily of Zac Effron. I edged around the crowd towards the bar but froze when I saw Sasha through glass dancing with a battalion of girls. After yesterday’s fiasco with the glass I couldn’t face Sasha right now. Well the bar and my bedroom were my only social hang outs so I guess I would have to go back to my bedroom now the bar was out of the question. But the open doors of the hotel caught my eye and I thought- I could go for a little walk. Nobody would notice…
Glancing about I slipped out of the hotel into the street. Crowds of people were flowing through the street ready for a night out. Tottering along in high heels and short dresses a large gang of girls passed me heading into the hotel. One of them dropped a ten pound note by accident. I called out after the girl but she had disappeared. Looking at the note I thought, I could use this for a fare on the tube. Originally I had wanted to go on one of the red double decker buses but I had found out they only ran on two routes. The rest were just normal buses. Michael had taken me on the tube once before but someone had cut themselves and my fangs popped out at the smell of blood and it was a bit of nightmare. This time I was going to enjoy it.
I followed the directions to the tube from memory and went inside the station and picked a ticket from the machine. I passed through the turnstiles into the tiled white tunnels that plunged deep underground. Heat and music drifted up from the tunnel, there was a band busking in the tunnel and a group of dancers further down. The music and the dancing was good but nobody paused to admire. People just kept drifting through. I choose to go on the southbound platform because it was the quietest. I stood on the platform edge staring at a poster advertising the latest vampire romance novel- ironic right? There was the sound of grating metal echoing out of the dark tunnel as the train arrived. The carriages were full packed to bursting but when the doors opened everyone seemed to get off. I got on to an empty carriage and sat down. Tonight I would go south of the river and walk along the thames, cross over one of the bridges and get the tube back home. Perfect.
Nothing could go wrong… until.
There was scream and for a moment I thought that horrible monster was back. In the carriage next door some poor woman was being mugged at knife point by some crazy old man. Helplessly I watched as the poor woman was forced to hand over her money and cell phone. There was nobody else sat on her carriage to help her. She looked desperately at me but I think she understood there was nothing I could do for her. The train driver’s voice crackled over the tannoy, “Sorry ladies and gentlemen but there is going to be a few minute wait before we reach the next station.”
The train ground to halt and the woman looked terrified. The mugger was muttering to himself stuffing the woman’s phone and money in his trousers.
“I went to university,” He told the woman nervously. “I did biology at Leeds.”
His hands trembled and he began to claw at his chest. “I can’t. Not now.” He panted.
I could hear his heart hammering in his chest, far faster than a human’s steady pulse. He fell to the floor and began to convulse. His bones began to pop and snap and his whole body rippled and changed. I watched in horror as the monster I had met on the docks suddenly stood up. The woman screamed and pulled the emergency handle to speak to the driver but the monster tore her away. With giant claws and teeth the monster slash and bit the poor woman until she stopped screaming. I could hear people in the other carriages screaming and calling for help but I knew it was too late. The monster lifted its head from the dead woman and stared at me. I panicked. Did it remember me? Could it smell me?
The train suddenly bolted forward and the driver announced we would be stopping shortly at the next station. Crap. If I left the monster here with these people, it would eat them. I needed to lure the monster away. I know I could outrun it. But then if I used my vampire ability of speed I would pass out pretty quickly. Great, I thought bitterly.
Banging on the window I caught the monster’s attention, “Hey, remember me!” I yelled.
The monster panted heavily and opened its ugly jaws and roared. The train pulled up into the station and the doors opened. I didn’t know where I was but I needed to lead the monster away from the humans. I ran out onto the platform and waited for the monster to follow. People screamed as it stepped out on to the platform but thankfully it was only interested in me. I wasted no time running up the escalators and jumping over the turnstiles out on to the street. The monster followed in hot pursuit. I dove into a side alley leading the monster away from the busy areas. I had no idea where I was going but I was following the smell of the river. The monster roared behind me and took a swipe. Pain sliced through my shoulder and I screamed. It was too close but I couldn’t use my vampire speed. If I did within a few minutes I would pass out and then game over. I twisted down another back alley and then ground to halt. A dead end.
I turned to face the monster and closed my eyes. This was it.
A loud gun shot rang out behind me and the monster screamed. Michael jumped down from the rooftop and lifted me off my feet and jumped back up on to the rooftop. He looked mad as hell. The monster screeched and Michael responded by shooting him directly between the eyes. The monster roared.
“Will that kill him?” I asked.
“That won’t kill the bastard but it will give him a head ache.” Michael said putting his gun away and running along the roof top.
“How do you kill it?”
“Decapitation. On a normal night I would have destroyed that V-4 but I can’t fight knowing you are unguarded.”
“Michael, why did you leave last night?”
Michael tensed and said, “I find it very difficult to control myself around you.”
“I thought I had done something wrong.”
“You are always doing something wrong Lorna, but that wasn’t one of them.”
“So why did you take off?”
Michael stopped and put me down. He ran his fingers through his hair and took a deep breathe. Tearfully I looked down and muttered, “Something was wrong wasn’t it?”
Michael shook his head, “No, Lorna, it wasn’t you. It was me.”
“Michael that is the most recycled line in the history of men.” I said.
“Lorna, I want you. I really want you and last night I was really happy. So happy that I wanted you again and again; and that’s why I left. With you I find it hard to say no and it scares me.” He admitted.
He lifted me off my feet again as the sound of the monsters roar echoed somewhere behind us. Quickly he caught my lips with his for a brief tender kiss and then began to jump over the roof tops in a blur.