The Character of Bill Compton belongs to Charlaine Harris and Alan Ball. All other characters originate in my warped imagination.
Last Seen at Magdalen
Bill and I had decided that we deserved a break after all the recent upheaval. The three of us would go away somewhere for the weekend.
"Where would you like to go?" he asked.
"Oh… I don't know. I'd just like to get away somewhere."
"How about London?" suggested Azaria brightly.
"Oh, you just want to go to London so you can arrange to see Dan!" I said with a laugh.
Bill's ears pricked up at this. "Dan? Who's Dan?" he asked suspiciously. "Do I know this Dan?"
"You met him in London when we went up for the hearing. You remember…..Chris's brother." I explained.
"Chris?" asked Bill.
"Oh do keep up Bill! Claudia's Chris!"
"Oh yes, He came out to dinner with us didn't he. I remember now. So why would you want to arrange to meet him?" He raised an eyebrow and turned to Azaria with a quizzical expression. She glanced over at me crossly.
"Oh come on!" I said "He had to know sooner or later!" I said with a smile. "He asked her for her number at the restaurant and he's been calling her and chatting on Skype."
Bill looked highly indignant at this information. "Why didn't I know about this?" he asked.
"Well, you never happened to be around…." said Azaria hesitantly.
"Now don't be unreasonable Bill!" I said. "She's not set foot outside the house! and besides, he seemed a nice enough guy. I liked him!"
Bill sighed "Yes I suppose he is. But I was thinking of somewhere quieter than London personally."
I had an idea. "Bill…." I said thoughtfully. "Do you still own The Mill House?"
"What's The Mill House?" asked Azaria curiously.
"Well, actually yes" said Bill, turning to Azaria. "It's a property I own just outside Oxford. Claudia and I lived there for a while in the 80's. As a matter of fact I had a call from the agents only last week to say that the current tenants had moved out and they were putting it on the market again. Why?" he smiled at me "do you fancy a weekend retreat in the country?"
"Oh yes! That would be lovely, and maybe Claudia might like to visit again….." I suggested innocently, "with Chris…..and maybe Dan?"
"Why you sneaky…...!" Before I could move Bill had reached over and pulled me onto his lap laughing and tickling me.
"Hey! Cut that out" I giggled.
"I think it's a great idea." Azaria was grinning at me enthusiastically. "Oh can we, please Bill?" she pleaded. She gazed hopefully at him with those enormous brown eyes and I knew he was lost!
"Oh all right….I'll talk to the agent" he said.
"Yes!" Azaria gave me a huge smile and raced off upstairs, presumably to try and decide which of her numerous new outfits would be suitable for a weekend in the country…with Dan.
"Hmm…..do you think this is a good idea" asked Bill.
"Yes, of course it is!" I said. "Look Bill, she's not a child. She might behave a little like one when she's around you because she thinks of you as her father. She loves you as a father. But she really isn't, believe me she's perfectly capable of taking care of herself." I reached up and took his face between my hands. "I know you love her and want to take care of her, but you must remember that she's actually older than you are, and probably considerably stronger too!" I kissed him gently. "She'll be fine, you have to let her live her own life…so to speak."
Bill hugged me to him and kissed me. "I know. She's learning so fast and growing in confidence every day. It's selfish of me" he whispered "but I don't want to let her go."
"I don't think she's going to want to leave you Bill. Not for a long time anyway."
It was not until about about a fortnight later that we headed out to Oxford. Bill had arranged for the agents to get the house cleaned and redecorated for use as a weekend retreat and I was really excited about it. I'd never had a holiday home before!
We left at dusk and got to the Mill House in good time. The road made a right angled turn over the river and on the other side of the bridge sat the house. The old mill was next to it, beside the bridge, with the mill race where the old millwheel would have been beside it. The house itself was a large, three storey stone building with sizeable chimney stacks on either side suggesting that each room would have its own fireplace. Bill pulled the car into the little yard at the side of the property and handed me the keys as he went to get the luggage. Azaria and I ran excitedly round to the front door and, after a couple of attempts, I opened it.
The front door opened into a large stone flagged hallway open to the right of the door, with a huge inglenook fireplace on the far right hand wall. To the left was a door leading into an equally large, stone flagged kitchen. Further down the hall were two doors leading to two more rooms at the rear and furthest away, at the far end of the hall, was a glass panelled door leading out to the garden. Azaria and I looked into all the rooms and peered out into the garden for a moment, then made for the great stone staircase beside the fireplace leading up to the first floor. On the first floor were two large double bedrooms, one with an en-suite bathroom, a single bedroom and a large bathroom with a modern glass shower cubicle and a large semi-circular bath against one wall. The walls of the first floor hallway were covered with wood panelling and at the far end of the hallway was another wooden door.
"I wonder where this goes?" said Azaria, turning the handle curiously. The door opened on a small dark stairway, seemingly set against the rear wall of the house.
"Up to the next floor?" I said.
We climbed carefully up the dark stairway and came out on the third floor. I felt around on the wall by the top of the stairs and found a light switch. However, it merely activated a single, weak light bulb in the centre of the dark corridor. This had evidently not been used for years as the four small rooms were all empty and covered with a thick layer of dust.
"I'd guess this must have been the servants' quarters originally." I said, peering into a dark room. "Doesn't look as if it's been used for years though." I turned to where Azaria had been standing and she was gone. "Azaria?" I called. "Where are you?" I looked around the dark hallway, faint beams of moonlight were struggling to get in through the cobwebbed windows.
"Azaria!"
"In here!" she called. "Come and see this!"
Her voice was coming from one of the rear rooms and I looked in to see her kneeling on a low, wide window ledge looking out. "Take a look at this!" she said.
I went over and looked out of the window. We were looking down over the rear of the property, below us was a neat garden with a large lawn and big beds of flowers, beyond that was a small orchard and beyond that was the silver ribbon of the river with fields on the far side. The river curved around the side of the house to the millpond, which we could see to one side, the dark silent bulk of the old mill next to it. Between the mill and the house was a small yard where we could see Bill's car and some outbuildings which I assumed was an old stable block. We stood for a moment watching the moonlight turning the surface of the mill pond into glittering shards of reflected light.
"It's so beautiful" said Azaria softly. "My homeland was green with broad rivers and thick jungle. When I first woke and Ulrich took me outside The Authority's headquarters I thought that Italy was very pretty but too dry for me!" She turned and smiled at me. "I think I'm going to like this place!"
We made our way back downstairs laughing together to find Bill in the great hall surrounded by luggage.
"Been exploring ladies?" he asked.
"We've been all the way up to the third floor" I said. "We think we're going to like it here, don't we?" I put my arm around Azaria and gave her a hug.
"But you haven't seen the latest addition!" said Bill. He opened the kitchen door and waved us through.
"Why on earth would you want to add on to the kitchen?" I asked, puzzled. "It's not as if you ever use it!"
In answer Bill pointed to another wooden door which opened onto a flight of steps going down. "Not the kitchen" he answered "the wine cellar!" At the bottom of the steps was a large steel security door with a keypad like the one back home. I smiled to myself. "Home" I thought, "I thought of it as home, not "Bill's house" but "home".
Bill meanwhile, tapped in the code and opened the door. Beyond it was a short corridor with two doors, one on either side of the corridor. "All this was originally the wine cellar" he explained. "I had a room built down here for me when I first bought the place and I've now had it extended into two light tight suites, one for us and one for you." He opened one of the doors and gestured to Azaria to go in. There was a sizeable bedroom with an adjoining bathroom.
"Oh Bill! My own little suite!" Azaria jumped up, flung her arms around Bill's neck and kissed him. He grinned down at her. "Better go and get those bags and start unpacking" he said.
I opened the door to the other suite as Azaria zipped back upstairs to get her bags. This suite was bigger and looked extremely comfortable. A thought struck me and I turned to Bill who had followed me in.
"What on earth did the tenants think about this?" I asked. "A self-contained suite in the cellar with a steel security door.
"I have no idea" he laughed "and I don't really care. I imagine they might well have suspected that the house belonged to a vampire, but they never said anything and they paid the rent on time, so who knows. According to the agents their teenage son had this room and lived down here almost permanently, slept all day and was on the internet all night. When they moved out he practically had to have his laptop and iphone surgically removed."
I giggled. "Don't be so silly!"
"It's true, I promise you!" Bill laughed "The kid wasn't actually a vampire. He just behaved like one!"
"That's teenagers for you!" I said.
We unpacked and settled in and then Bill called Claudia and invited them to join us for a meal the following night. She was delighted to hear from him and we arranged to meet in a restaurant she knew in Oxford. Bill had the phone on speaker and Azaria was practically bouncing up and down, obviously wanting to ask if Dan would be accompanying them when Claudia asked casually.
"Is Azaria with you?"
"Yes. She's here" said Bill.
"Oh good!" said Claudia "because Dan's here, you remember Dan? Chris's brother? And he's dying to come with us! He's been itching to meet her again since London." There was a groan in the background and some muttering.
"Oh yes you have!" came Chris's voice, slightly muffled "you haven't talked about anything else!"
Azaria gave an excited little squeak and then clapped her hand over her mouth, obviously not wanting Dan to hear. Bill and I smiled.
"So that's settled then?" he asked "tomorrow night at the Hobnails Inn."
"We'll look forward to it" said Claudia with a laugh "all of us!"
The heating in the Mill House, although modern, was not enormously effective due to the stone walls and floors so there was a large supply of logs beside the huge inglenook fireplace and a fire was laid in the hearth which I lit carefully. Soon I had a good fire going and I curled up on one of the sofas and relaxed. Bill and Azaria had gone downstairs, Bill to finish unpacking and Azaria, doubtless to try and decide what to wear tomorrow night!
As I sat beside the fire I began to feel a little drowsy and I nodded off for a moment. When I woke the room felt colder and I assumed, at first, that I had been asleep for a while and had let the fire die down. However the clock showed only a few minutes had passed and the fire looked just the same. Was I sitting in a draught? I turned around and saw a woman standing in the hall. She looked slightly different but I recognised her nevertheless. It was Queen Mab. She was wearing a pair of loose trousers and a long coat in the same cool mixture of blues, greens and purples, and her long silver hair was coiled up in a knot on top of her head, but the pale ethereal beauty was the same and the eyes were unmistakeable. Those pale, cat slit orbs watched me as I got up from the sofa.
"Good evening your majesty" I said, having been brought up to believe that politeness costs nothing.
Just then the kitchen door flew open and Bill rushed out, having felt my sudden fright through the bond. I held up my hand to him. "It's okay Bill!" I said, hoping that it was.
"Good evening" she said, equally politely. "I have a favour to ask of you. I should like to see my granddaughter."
I looked at Bill. "Um….certainly" he said "I'll just…call her." He disappeared back into the kitchen leaving Mab and I staring at each other.
"Would you care to sit down?" I asked, gesturing at the opposite sofa.
She smiled. "Why thank you child!" she said and suddenly she was sitting on the sofa. But she didn't appear to have moved between the two points! Oh boy, this was even weirder than usual! I sat down and smiled nervously at her just as Bill and Azaria emerged from the kitchen. She gave Azaria what was undoubtedly the warmest smile I had ever seen from her and held out her hands to her. Azaria went to her, a little hesitantly and took her hands.
"Grandmother?" she asked, a little doubtfully.
"Yes, indeed!" she said. "I never thought to see you again in this world child." She patted the sofa beside her. Azaria looked at Bill for a moment, he nodded encouragingly and she sat down beside Mab. "You trust him to care for you?" she asked, evidently she hadn't missed the little glance at Bill.
"Yes, absolutely!" said Azaria, "if it were not for him and Alex I would still be locked away in that vault."
"I should like to hear about that, if you would not mind telling me the story?" asked Mab.
Bill sat down beside me, putting his arm around me protectively, and so I sat, curled up on a sofa, before a log fire in the arms of a vampire and explained to a Faery Queen how we had crossed Europe in our quest to find a lost Inca Princess. ( The Spanish Manuscript )
I wondered if it was possible for my life to get any more complicated.
I lay in bed in the new suite downstairs in the old wine cellar with Alex in my arms and thought about the moment I had felt her fright and burst out of the kitchen to see Queen Mab in the hallway.
We had talked for several hours about our journey across Europe in search of Azaria and Mab had listened intently to the story, seeming fascinated by our efforts to decipher the clues in Brother Diego's manuscript. When we had finished she thanked us for our courage and determination, kissed Azaria on the forehead, wished us a good evening and then simply vanished. We had all sat stunned for a moment. Then we seemed to come to a unanimous decision that we had had enough excitement for one night.
Alex lay curled up in my arms. "Do you think she's likely to be dropping in on a regular basis?" she asked.
"I have absolutely no idea!" I answered. "But I rather hope not. Although she has always been pleasant to us so far, I have to admit that I find her a little intimidating!" I turned to look at Alex, "don't you think so?"
"Yes, she certainly is!" she said. She shifted up onto her elbow and leaned over me, kissing me lightly, her long hair brushing over my bare shoulders. I slid an arm around her and pulled her down onto my chest, kissing her more deeply and lifting her up and across me until her warm, soft body was lying full length on top of me.
I stretched out on my back, luxuriating in the sensation of her warm flesh on mine, feeling her heart beating against my chest. I put my hands up behind my head and felt the iron trellis of the bedstead behind me.
"Now why don't you hold onto that and let me take care of you?" she asked softly.
I reached back and took hold of the bars. "Whatever you say..."
"Hmmm...can I trust you to keep still?" she asked.
"Well, probably not!" I admitted ruefully "Expecting me to be able to keep my hands off you is a little optimistic, don't you think?"
She stared down at me for a moment. "I've got an idea!" she said and leaned down over the side of the bed, rummaging in one of the drawers underneath the mattress for something. I shifted slightly and the quilt slid back revealing Alex's slim, nude body bent over the edge of the bed, her neat round buttocks in the air. I gritted my teeth for a moment with the effort and then gave in, leaning over to plant a kiss on her bottom. She gave a squeak and nearly slid off the bed, so naturally I had to grab her to stop her from falling. Although I suppose pulling her back up onto the bed and slipping both hands up to caress her breasts probably wasn't absolutely necessary! But it was fun.
"You see what I mean" she laughed. "I just can't trust you to keep your hands to yourself can I?"
I gazed up at her innocently. "Well...no!" I admitted. "But why on earth would I want to? When I've got all this to explore?"
"Well I'll soon fix that!" she whispered, reaching down to the floor and pulling up a handful of silk scarves.
"I mean it" she warned "I want you completely helpless!"
I laughed, "Okay go ahead then" I said.
Alex reached for my wrists and I watched as she tied a scarf around them, fastening it to the bars of the iron bedstead, pulling my arms up above my head. I felt a faint tingle in my arms but I ignored it, fascinated and I must admit, aroused by Alex's actions.
I grinned up at her. "Right, you've got me completely helpless. What now?"
She reached behind her for another scarf and swung her leg over my hips, reaching forward to slip the scarf around my head, covering my eyes.
As I stretched my body out in anticipation she reached down and took hold of my arms. "Now I've got you at my mercy!" she whispered.
Suddenly, without warning, I had a flash of memory. Of lying on a bed next to a dying girl, her blood still pumping from the terrible wounds my fangs had made in her throat. The sheets were covered in pools of her blood and her dead husband sat in a chair seeming to watch us, his neck broken by a vicious twist of Lorena's hands. She was sitting astride me her hands on my arms holding me down, both our bodies slippery with the girl's blood. I tried to open my eyes and sit up but, to my horror, I could neither see, nor move.
The memory of Lorena's strength holding me grew stronger as I realised that, for some reason, I really was helpless. My muscles seemed to have turned to water.
"No! no please! I murmured, horrified, my mind seeming to slip back uncontrollably to that night in Chicago in 1926. A night that I had tried so hard to wipe from my memory.
"No!" I cried out and tried to pull my hands away from the bedstead. I managed to pull the scarf aside and a sudden streak of white hot agony ran across my wrist.
"No! Bill, keep still!" I felt Alex reach up and untie the scarf, pulling it away from my wrists and the pain subsided. I lay back as she pulled the second scarf from my eyes.
"Oh no, Bill I'm so sorry!" her tears fell on my face as she leaned forwards to examine my wrist. I brought my arm down to look at it and saw the faint red line of a burn, already almost healed.
"What on earth was that?" I asked.
"Oh Bill, darling, I'm so sorry!" she wept.
She held out her hand and I saw a thin silver chain which she had wrapped up carefully in the silk scarf but which my struggles had allowed to slip out onto my skin.
"I never imagined for a moment that you'd struggle like that, it was only meant to be a bit of fun after all! I'm so sorry."
I sat up and pulled her into my arms, her tears falling on my chest. "It's okay, look I'm fine now." I said, I held her in my arms, gently rubbing her back as though I were comforting a child and gradually I felt her panic begin to subside.
"Oh Bill, I'm sorry" she whispered "I had no idea you'd react like that. Did I hurt you? I didn't think I could!"
"No, no precious, it was nothing to do with you at all. It was just…" I paused, unwilling even to think about it. I pulled her body closer and buried my face in her neck. "It just made me remember something, something I'd hoped that I'd forgotten, something I could never bear to tell you about. Please don't ask me to explain!"
"I should have told you about the silver" she said. "I just thought it would weaken you a little. You're so ridiculously strong and I thought it would be okay as it was wrapped up in the scarf, I never meant it to touch your skin…"
"And it wouldn't have done if I hadn't stupidly tried to pull away! It was my own fault."
"But you didn't know! If I'd told you…"
"I doubt if it would have made any difference." I said softly, stroking her hair "I wasn't thinking straight anyway."
"Are you sure you're okay?" She asked. "Do you need my blood?"
I held her close to me and kissed her. "You know I'm not going to refuse an offer like that." I smiled "but it was just a tiny burn, it's not because I need it, you didn't hurt me that badly I promise you. It's because I want it, I want you..." I rolled over on the bed until we were entwined in each other's arms and began to kiss the soft, delicate skin of her throat. I thought of her trying to tie me down and suddenly the powerful arousal I had felt came rushing back, hardening my manhood, making my skin tingle wherever she touched me.
She felt my stiffness nudging at her stomach and I heard her heartbeat speed up, felt the sudden rush of her own arousal flood into me through the blood bond. I slipped my hand behind her head and steadied her as I bit down into her neck and as I did so I felt her body convulse in my arms. I felt her ease her leg under my hips, trying to pull me on top of her.
"Please Bill...now please!" she moaned softly into my ear.
I pushed myself up on my knees and pulled her body beneath me, sinking back down onto her, my hard shaft sliding easily between her spread legs. I could feel that she was hot and wet and so ready for me. She pushed her hips up towards me and I pushed myself deep inside her, our bodies locking together like two pieces of a puzzle. A puzzle where one piece means nothing, is incomplete without the other. She gave a soft moan and wrapped her legs around my hips as I took a mouthful of her sweet blood. She lay back on the bed pulling up her knees as I pushed forwards. I ran my hand down her leg and grasped her ankle, pulling back from her throat and kneeling almost upright I pulled her leg up onto my shoulder and she did the same with her other leg, spreading her thighs wider as I drove myself into her.
I pulled out and leaned down over her, running my hand down her smooth leg Following my hand with my tongue until I reached the little hollow at her groin then sinking my fangs into her thigh and drinking deeply. She twitched and writhed beneath me moaning incoherently as I withdrew my fangs and pushed myself back inside her. I ran my hand back up her leg to her ankle, resting on my shoulder, and turned my head, biting her again, but this time only taking a mouthful before releasing her. She slipped her legs back down onto the bed and I rolled over, pulling her up on top of me, my manhood still buried deep within her. She lay on my chest, exhausted, and kissed the hollow of my throat. I put my head back, encouraging her and she licked at the skin of my throat and then bit down hard. My whole body seemed to go into delicious convulsions as I felt her suck at the ragged little wound she had made, drinking down my blood hungrily until I finally climaxed inside her, taking her with me.
I woke mid-afternoon to find myself wrapped firmly in Bill's arms. For a moment I considered snuggling back down and going back to sleep, but then I remembered that I needed to walk down to the village to get some supplies. Bill's agents had brought in some basics and I had to say that they were pretty comprehensive, but there were some things that I wanted to get for myself. I wriggled out of Bill's grip, not without some difficulty as, when he felt me move, he shifted in his sleep and tightened his hold on me. I lay still for a moment wondering if he was having a bad dream, but he seemed peaceful enough.
I tried out the new shower, which was very impressive, dressed and set off for the village. I left a note for Bill telling him I would call him later just in case I decided to take the bus into Oxford.
The village was a five minute walk away and the small village store was a little disappointing. Fine for basic food supplies but nothing very exciting and by this time I was ready to explore a little. The woman in the store told me that there was a bus into Oxford every 10 minutes or so at this time of day and so I bought a copy of the local paper and went outside just in time to see the bus pull up. I jumped on and bought a ticket, settling down in a seat at the back.
The journey into Oxford took about 10 minutes or so and was uneventful. I glanced at the front page of the local paper and then spread it out in front of me, shocked. There was a picture of a University quadrangle in the snow, probably a library photograph picked to help illustrate the story and inset into it were pictures of three young girls. The headline read "Last Seen at Magdalen".
Reading the story I discovered that the three girls were students at Magdalen College and had all gone missing within days of each other. This had been considered worrying but not terribly important, students came and went all the time in Oxford, until the body of one of the girls had been found beside the river at Wolvercote the previous day. As if this were not bad enough the Police believed that she had been killed by a vampire!
This struck me as very odd. From what I knew of vampires, I was aware that most of them were well able to take care of themselves. Before the Revelation this had involved taking extreme care to ensure that their kills were not found, or at least, not identified. Surely no vampire would be so stupid, or so careless as to leave a body out in the open like that? I folded up the paper thoughtfully, meaning to show it to Bill later, just as the bus pulled up in Oxford.
I wandered around the centre of Oxford for most of the afternoon, looking into the Colleges, checking out the shops, generally enjoying myself until I came to the University bookshop. Wow! I was in heaven. I loved books and this place seemed to have everything. I began browsing and selecting books and completely lost track of time. Consequently, when I felt my phone buzzing in my pocket I was surprised to see it was Bill. I looked out to see that it was just dusk outside. I flipped the phone open.
"Hello gorgeous!" came Bill's voice, slightly husky from sleep. "Where are you?"
"I'm at Blackwells Bookshop on Broad Street." I said. "Where are you?"
"I'm lying in bed wondering why I'm all alone!" he said in a slightly offended tone of voice. "What is it with you and bookshops? Get back here at once!" his voice softened and deepened, "I need you!" he breathed into the phone.
I gave a little shiver. "Could be tricky" I said. "I've a nasty feeling that I may have just missed the last bus."
"Serves you right for hanging around in bookshops all day when you should be in bed with me" he said "you never know who could be lurking in a bookshop!"
I laughed, remembering how he had reached over my shoulder for a book the very first time we had met.
"Stay there" he laughed "I'll come and pick you up."
I sat on a bench outside and read the rest of the article about the murdered student and in about 10 minutes or so Bill's car pulled up, the strains of Handel drifting out of the window.
We were on our way back out of Oxford when the music suddenly cut out and was replaced by the sound of Bill's phone. He pressed a button on the steering wheel and said "Yes?"
"Bill, excellent. I hoped I'd catch you" said Charles's voice from the car's speakers. "I've had a call from an old friend of yours, she needs a favour."
"An old friend? Who?" asked Bill.
"Anastasia Lucaccio."
The powerful car twitched slightly as Bill gripped the steering wheel tighter.
"What does she want?" he asked suspiciously.
"She has a problem that we think you could help her with" said Charles.
"What kind of problem?" asked Bill, his voice now impatient as well as suspicious.
"She'll explain when you see her. I told her that, since you were in Oxford already you would meet her in 10 minutes or so" he said "in XS."
"What! I can't, I'm on my way back home!" said Bill, obviously annoyed.
Charles's voice came from the speakers, sounding equally annoyed. "Well turn around then! I promised her you'd be there."
"I've got Alex with me!" hissed Bill angrily, his hands tightening on the wheel.
There was a significant pause before Charles spoke again. "Oh…..well can't you take her with you?" he asked tentatively.
"To XS!" Bill sounded horrified at the thought.
"Or get her to wait for you…somewhere?" suggested Charles.
I sat silent, listening to them argue about me.
"Oh all right!" snapped Bill "I'll take her. But I'm not happy about this Charles!"
There was a click and the line shut off, the strains of Handel's Water Music filling the car again. I reached forward and switched the music off.
"What on earth is XS?" I asked.
Bill began to look distinctly uncomfortable, "Well….it's a club" he said.
"What sort of club?" I asked suspiciously.
Bill sighed and said reluctantly "a club for vampires."
"What….like Carmilla's?" I asked.
"No!" he said immediately "Nothing like Carmilla's." He looked across at me with that "this is something you don't want to know about" expression, but this time I wasn't having it.
"So, what is it like?" I asked firmly. "Look Bill, if I'm going to work with you don't you think I should know about these things?"
"Yes, you're probably right" he said resignedly. "I do have this tendency to try and protect you from the…..seedier….more dangerous, aspects of vampires, but I really shouldn't. You would be better off, safer, knowing this kind of information than not knowing and only finding out when it's too late." He appeared to brace himself, as if for an unpleasant task and tried to explain.
"Carmilla's is a club for humans" he said "humans who like to think they are being daring and edgy by going somewhere where they can be with vampires. Carmilla's was opened after the Great Revelation, when vampires became "cool" if you like. It's safe.
XS is a club for vampires, it was opened by Anastasia Lucaccio in about 1850 or so and has been there ever since then. It's very far from safe!"
"No-one knew about it?" I asked.
"Well no, how could they? You don't just walk into XS!" said Bill. "Entrance is by invitation only and humans, ordinary humans at least, very rarely go there even now. In the old days humans would be brought in, but wouldn't come out again." He put his hand on mine. "I'm sorry, I'd rather you didn't need to know this kind of thing but I can't shelter you completely, it wouldn't be safe."
"You said ordinary humans don't go there? What other kind are there?" I asked curiously.
"Oh, I just meant that the humans you find there are generally brought in by the vampires and by the management for….well. They're usually hardcore fangbangers and V addicts." He said, looking away from me. "I'm sure you can work out why they are there? The name's a good clue."
"XS?" I asked, puzzled "Oh! I see…you mean like "excess" right?"
"Right!"
"So who's Anastasia Lucaccio?" I asked.
Bill had pulled up beside a farm gateway and was concentrating on turning the car around so I waited patiently for an answer. We were heading back into Oxford when my patience ran out.
"Well? An old friend of yours? A vampire presumably?"
"Yes" answered Bill. "She was turned in Renaissance Italy, Florence, in about 1520 I met her when I was in England in the 1930's and again in the 80's.
"And she owns this club?" I asked.
"Yes, she has considerable power amongst the vampires in this area. Which makes me wonder what she thinks I could do for her."
"Well, I guess we'd better find out" I said somewhat warily.
Bill pulled up in a rather elegant street heading down towards the river, and sat for a moment thinking. He appeared to come to some sort of decision and turned to me. "You'd better come with me. I want to be able to keep an eye on you!" He was clearly reluctant to take me into the club, which I had to admit scared me a little.
"Why don't I just stay here in the car?" I asked.
"Outside XS? I don't think so." He said. "Really, you'd be a lot safer with me." He got out of the car and opened my door. I stood up and we began to walk away when suddenly he stopped.
"Did I see you drop that silver chain into your bag last night?" he asked.
"Yes, I think it's in here somewhere." I said, glancing down at my bag. "Why? You're not suggesting…."
"Put it on" he said.
"But Bill…."
"Please…do it for me?" he asked. "I'll be careful, don't worry!"
I reached into my bag and rummaged around until my fingers caught on the fine silver chain. I pulled it out and examined it for a moment. It had been a gift from my aunt when I was a child and had a tiny silver cross suspended from it, I hadn't worn it for years but the catch was still firm. I slipped it over my head and smiled at Bill.
"Don't forget!" I warned him.
He smiled back at me in a slightly worried fashion and we walked down a side street and up to a nondescript door at the end of the street. I looked up and noticed that there were no windows in the elegant Georgian building. The spaces where windows had been had clearly been bricked up many years ago. Bill walked up the three steps and I noticed an electronic keypad next to the door. He punched in a number and the door opened on a dark corridor. The walls were painted a deep blood red and a wave of heat heavy with the scent of legally questionable substances poured out towards us. There was a heavy red velvet curtain at the end of the corridor and Bill pulled it aside to reveal the interior of the club.
I looked out on what appeared to be a cross between a scene from a Frederico Fellini movie and a Roman orgy. Bill was right. This was certainly nothing like Carmilla's!
It appeared that the interior of the building had been gutted as we had come out on a mezzanine floor which ran all the way around the walls. Below us was a dance floor lit with flashing red and ultraviolet lights. Heavy dance music was playing so loudly that I could feel the bass beat pounding in my chest. The building must have had some impressive soundproofing as there was no hint, from the outside, of what was hidden within the walls of XS. The dance floor was packed with people and more lounged at tables scattered around and leaned on the small bar. To our right was a narrow stairway going down the dance floor and on the opposite side another headed up to another mezzanine floor higher up.
There were couches scattered around the floor we were standing on which had a narrow metal rail around the edge giving a clear view down over the dance floor and I noticed with a shock several couples who appeared to be...well, coupling on the couches. There seemed to be no particular dress code. The dancers were wearing outfits ranging from a full leather catsuit complete with hood, to one girl who appeared to be wearing nothing more than a few judiciously positioned strips of electrical tape. Two large metal cages hung from the ceiling high above on thick chains, each containing a scantily clad dancer.
Bill took my hand and entwined his fingers tightly with mine. "Keep close to me, don't touch anything, don't talk to anyone, don't drink anything" he muttered to me.
"Don't, in fact, do anything at all?" I asked.
"You've got it!" he said.
We walked towards the staircase passing two girls who had just come up the stairs. They were wearing nothing but lacy black underwear and stockings and holding hands, their fingers laced together. They both turned as we approached, their eyes fixed on Bill and I noticed one lick her lips as he passed. The stairway was narrow and Bill gently urged me down ahead of him, one hand on my waist and, as we reached the bottom turned me towards a couch and a group of chairs in a corner. The flickering red light made it difficult to see what was going on, which was probably just as well, but I could see someone reclining on the couch who looked up at Bill's approach.
He….at least I thought it was male…had long platinum blonde hair, startling black eyeliner and eyelashes longer than mine. He stood up and came towards us, oh yes, definitely male! He was wearing a baggy white silk shirt and the tightest pair of black leather trousers I had ever seen in my life, and I'd spent a lot of time in Carmilla's recently!
"Why William dahling!" he said "I've not seen you in ages! and you used to be such a regular!"
He did? I was sure I saw Bill wince at this pronouncement.
He reached over, put one hand behind Bill's head, pulled him forward and kissed him on the mouth. I tried hard to look unconcerned and broad-minded.
"Hello Maurice" said Bill calmly "how are you? I understand that Anastasia wants a word with me?"
Maurice's eyes had slid over to me. "Oooo….bringing in your own takeaway meals now? We'll have to charge you corkage old boy! Anastasia has an appointment with one of Montague's new sheriffs, if you'd like to wait I'm sure we can find you some suitable entertainment!"
"That won't be necessary" said Bill stiffly. "She's waiting for me."
Maurice raised a perfectly arched eyebrow. "You're a sheriff now? Oh my! Well, walk this way…." He winked at me, turned and sashayed off in the direction of one of the staircases swinging his hips in an exaggerated fashion.
"Don't you dare!" muttered Bill, without looking at me.
"Wouldn't dream of it dahling!" I whispered with a smile.
Bill sighed patiently and took my arm as we followed Maurice across the dance floor.
Bill held tightly to my arm as though he were afraid that I would be drawn away into the dancers. However, it was noticeable that most of the interest was in him. Several of the dancers both male and female, managed to "accidentally" brush up against him as we passed.
Maurice led us up the first staircase and across the first floor to the second. The flashing red lights revealing several startling tableaux to my shocked gaze.
A completely naked woman lay back across a couch, an equally naked vampire on top of her, his hips pumping in time to the beat of the music while another vampire crouched at the head of the couch drinking from her outflung arm. Whatever happened to "No Biting on the Premises" I wondered. That rule evidently didn't apply here! We passed a young girl sprawled in an armchair, her pupils huge and black while two slightly scuffed lines of white powder lay on the table before her together with a small pile of suspicious looking purple tablets.
Bill grasped my hand a little tighter as Maurice led us up the second staircase onto the higher floor and over to a door in the rear wall. Beside the door was an elaborate couch on which reclined a female vampire. She was small in stature, but there was something about her which told me that she should not be taken lightly. A dark haired male sat on the end of the couch, beside the woman's feet, on which I noticed the distinctive scarlet soles of a pair of Christian Louboutin stilettos. Two other male vampires sat at a small table beside the couch.
The dark haired man stood up at our approach. "Ah! You've brought us a meal Maurice, how sweet of you."
"Get your own, Morgan dahling!" said Maurice. "This one belongs to William."
The dark haired vampire, Morgan, laughed and reached out for my neck and, to my surprise, Bill simply watched him. I stood frozen to the spot and felt his cold hand wrap around my throat, but then he gave a cry of what might have been anger or pain or maybe a bit of both. He snatched his hand back, staring in disbelief at the long, thin, red burn across his palm.
He glared at Bill furiously. "You dare bring someone in here wearing silver!" he yelled.
"I considered it a reasonable precaution" said Bill mildly "just in case there was some idiot inside who considered that he was above the normal courtesies." His voice grew harder and colder as he turned to the woman reclining on the couch. "I'm shocked Ana dear. Such blatant poaching would have been severely punished in my day!"
Morgan turned to her. "You know him?" he asked, sounding surprised. He took a step towards Bill placing himself between the metal railing and the couch. There was a blur of movement and the woman flew up off the couch and hit him hard, throwing him back into the metal railing and tipping him over it. There was a wailing cry as he fell two stories down and landed with a crash on the dance floor below.
Maurice peered over the rail. "Let's hope he didn't land on anyone important!" he said, grinning at the woman, who I guessed must be Anastasia Lucaccio. She strode to the rail and looked down. Two men in dark suits were picking up the stunned Morgan.
"Throw that idiot out!" she called, her voice carrying the faint trace of an Italian accent. She walked calmly back to the couch, her six inch heels clicking on the wooden floor and stood staring at Bill for a moment. "Hello William" she said with a smile that lit up her face, "it's good to see you again."
Bill smiled back and reached for her, pulling her into his arms. "Hello Ana" he said, giving her a gentle kiss on the forehead. "It's been too long."
Anastasia excused herself politely to the two vampires sitting at her table and opened the door behind the couch, smiling at Bill, who took my hand and walked with me into a smartly appointed office. Anastasia followed us in and sat down in a large leather chair.
"It's been, what thirty years or so now?" she asked.
"About that" agreed Bill. "But somehow I don't think you called Charles simply because you missed me."
She sighed "No, not entirely" she gave him a little smile "although I certainly do."
Bill pulled out a chair for me and sat down beside me. "This is Alex" he said "she is mine."
Anastasia looked me over carefully. "Mmm...yes, I'd heard."
Bill raised a quizzical eyebrow and she laughed merrily. "Oh come on Will, after your appearance on Late Night Talk you surely couldn't have thought you were going to be able to keep your relationship a secret? Besides, we all heard about Azaria and what happened at Lazlo's trial!"
Bill sighed. "Yes, I suppose you would. So what did you want to see me about? Charles said you had a problem that you thought I could help you with?"
She sat upright, suddenly serious. "I heard that when you lived in Louisiana you were appointed Investigator for Area 5, is that right?" she asked.
"Well, yes I was" said Bill, clearly surprised. "Why?"
"You haven't heard?" she asked. "About the murdered student?"
"You mean the one from Magdalen College?" I asked.
"What do you know about it..."
"You've heard about this..."
Bill and Anastasia spoke at the same time both turning to me.
"Um...well, I read about it in the local paper, while I was waiting for you to pick me up." I explained.
"Perhaps someone would care to enlighten me?" asked Bill, "since I have no idea what you two are talking about?"
I glanced at Anastasia but said nothing.
"Three girls have gone missing from the University recently" she explained, turning back to Bill. All from Magdalen College. Yesterday the body of one of them, Sara Maitland, was found dumped by the river. She appeared to have been killed by a vampire."
"What, and just dumped in the open?" asked Bill. "That doesn't seem very likely!"
Anastasia gave a short laugh. "Tell that to the Police" she said. "They appear to be convinced, and they were giving me trouble before the body was found, now it's only going to get worse."
"Well..." said Bill hesitantly, "you know I'd like to help but..."
"Then you'll get your chance" she said glancing at her elegant gold wristwatch. "They'll be here to talk to me any minute now!"
"What?" Bill looked stunned. "But I..." as he spoke there was a knock at the door on the other side of the office from where we had entered. Bill put his head in his hands. "Do I get any choice in the matter?" he asked.
"Come on Will!" she said, "it's not just me, you'd be helping those two missing girls!"
"Four!" said a new voice.
I turned to see the door had opened and Maurice had come in accompanied by a Police Inspector and two constables, one of whom appeared to be a vampire.
"This is Inspector Felton" said Maurice. "Ms Lucaccio" he said indicating Anastasia.
"There are now four missing girls" said the Inspector "two more disappeared today."
"During the daytime?" asked Bill sharply.
The Inspector glanced over at Anastasia. "This is William Compton" she said "an old friend of mine. He was a Special Investigator for one of our kingdoms in the US."
"Evening sir" said the Inspector. "They were last seen at a party in Magdalen College last night, some friends were apparently with them until they got back to their lodgings."
"A vampire could hardly have abducted them during the daytime" Bill pointed out reasonably.
"They could have gone out again after their friends had left" said the constable.
"A bit unlikely though, don't you think?" asked Bill. "Anastasia tells me that you think the first girl was killed by a vampire?" he looked questioningly at the Inspector.
"Yes sir, we do. There were bite marks on the body and it was drained of blood." he explained.
"I heard that her throat was cut." said Anastasia.
"There was a cut, yes" said Felton. "But it wasn't that deep, and the body had been drained of blood, there wasn't a trace on the ground where she was found."
"But that might simply mean that her throat was cut somewhere else and she bled to death, then the body was dumped later where you found it" said Bill.
The Inspector looked sceptically at Bill. "Well, I suppose that's possible sir, but we tend to find that the most likely explanation is usually true. Most murderers are not half as clever as the ones you read about in mystery novels you know."
"So" said Anastasia in a rather more businesslike tone of voice. "Do you have any further ideas...other than just "a vampire" I mean?"
"Not yet Ms Lucaccio" he said "I just wanted to let you know the current situation. I trust that, if you hear anything which could be useful, you'll call me?" he handed her his card. "Immediately?" He turned to look around the office. "I'm aware that a lot of the local vampires come here, I hope that you'll co-operate with our efforts?" The Inspector walked over to the door through which Bill and I had entered from the club and turned the handle...it was locked.
"Of course Inspector" smiled Anastasia, getting up and escorting him gently to the outer door. "Would you just come with us for a moment Will?" she asked over her shoulder. Bill glanced at me then got up and followed her and the Inspector from the room.
The vampire constable stood by the door waiting for instructions but the human came over towards where I was sitting.
"So, are you with the vamp?" he asked.
"I'm with Mr Compton, yes" I said, putting a slight emphasis on the name.
"Funny" he said "you don't look like a fangbanger, you seem too sensible to get mixed up with vamps!"
I glanced over at the other constable who rolled his eyes at me. He was evidently well used to his colleague's attitude.
"I'm with Mr Compton" I repeated firmly "no-one else."
He gave a little laugh. "So he brings you to a vamp's knocking shop? What a charmer! You think you can trust a vamp?" he asked. "You can't trust it, even when it believes that it's sincere you still can't trust it."
"Well I do. I trust him!" I said quietly.
"Then you're a fool" he said harshly. "Sooner or later the hunger will take over, and when it does…then you're nothing but food!"
I sat silent and shocked at the angry intensity of his words and he turned away from me just as the door opened and Bill and Anastasia came back in. The two constables excused themselves and left, the vampire giving me an apologetic little smile as he went out.
"You see what I mean?" Anastasia was saying "If something isn't done soon he's going to find an excuse to raid this place!"
"Well, you know I'd like to help Ana but I really don't see what I can do!" said Bill, a little helplessly. "The Police are hardly going to want me to interfere. They obviously have vampire officers, did you know that one by the way?"
Anastasia gave a secretive little smile. "He's been in here a few times! Evidently he hasn't told his boss though!"
"How do you manage to keep going?" asked Bill curiously. "Surely the authorities don't know what happens in here?"
"Well, I'm partially official at least" she said with a laugh. "I have an alcohol licence! I don't think there is a licence for any of the other...entertainments, we offer!"
There probably isn't even a name for some of them!" said Bill with a snort.
"The promise of alcohol and vampires is what brings humans in here. But you're right we have to be a lot more careful."
"I should hope so" replied Bill. "If they had the slightest idea of what goes on in here you'd be arrested as their prime suspect."
"Exactly" she said. "Why do you think I need you William?"
Bill sighed and pulled a card out of his wallet. "Here's my number Ana, if you think of anything that might help, call me, okay. We have to be going, we have a dinner appointment."
Oh gosh yes! I'd forgotten that. Azaria would be going frantic, afraid that she'd miss her date! Bill took my hand and Anastasia waved at the other door. "Take the outside door" she said. Bill gave Anastasia a kiss on the cheek and opened the outer door, helping me down the flight of stone steps to into the alleyway at the back of the building. We walked around to where Bill had left the car and headed back to the Mill House.