Chapter 11

'…Police in Liverpool have reported an escalation of gang violence in the city, the most recent incident occurring on the night of 30th November, in which a teenage boy was assaulted in the street and left on the pavement and was gone by the next morning. A spokesperson for the Liverpool police has stated, "we can only hope this means the young man got home safely."'

Erin exhaled sharply. A boy getting beaten up in a city far away was hardly newsworthy, she thought. Perhaps nothing of any real note had taken place in the last couple of weeks and the media had to resort to reporting on every trivial incident that took place. She leaned forward to turn the TV off, but the next announcement stopped her.

'We now go live to the city of Marseille where a string of disappearances have now culminated in the discovery of many newly deceased bodies. Although the victims themselves do not appear to be connected or related to one another in any way, they all have narrow holes in the neck. Detectives initially put forth the suggestion that the neck holes were needle marks as a result of drug abuse, but the theory was almost immediately disproved upon the revelation that all the corpses were drained of fluid and each victim had a wooden shaft embedded in their chest, in what appears to be a macabre ritual.'

Erin gaped at the television. If this didn't scream vampire, she didn't know what did. Reaching beside her, she seized a notebook and pen, and began to frantically scribble down the details of the news report.

'It was thought that the wooden stake was the murder weapon, however forensic examinations have shown that the victims were long dead before the stake was put into the chest. The police are now speculating whether this was the work of one person, or if more than one killer with the same mindset committed the murders. Meanwhile, residents of Marseille have been urged to have caution and be vigilant.'

'It certainly seems that strange things have been happening in southern France recently,' a second newsreader agreed. 'In the early hours of 1st December, a bizarre light phenomenon could be seen in the sky. Eyewitnesses describe it as being as though the stars went out, before the sky changed colours in a matter of seconds. A local priest stated "It is a sign that the Armageddon is near at hand".'

Erin leaned back in her armchair. Something big was coming; she could sense it. Why else would she not have heard of any major vampire activity until this moment? The vampires had been keeping a low profile for so many months now that many slayers considered themselves unemployed. She stood up and slowly paced around the living room, picking up random objects from the surrounding shelves before putting them back again. What would the next step be? Should she remain here? Should she wait for Ryan to come home before deciding to take action? But her brother was frustratingly indecisive when it came to vampire slaying. Either he wanted to kill as many vampires as was humanly possible, or he wanted nothing to do with the profession at all. Should she pack her bags and head off to Marseille alone? I've never been to France, she found herself thinking wistfully. Erin frowned at this thought. It's a job, not a holiday, she reproached herself.

Now having paced the full perimeter of the living room, Erin found herself back at her starting position. She had made her decision. Picking up the phone, she dialled the number of the London faction of the Slayers' Guild and waited. She would ask permission to travel to Marseille and try and track down the vampire, or vampires, that had been causing all the chaos. She was certain of getting it, as slayers were always deployed in large areas whenever an emergency struck – and any vampire activity to make it to the news counted as such. Erin had already made up her mind to go even if she didn't get permission, but to an extent she felt obligated to follow protocol.

'The number you have dialled is engaged. Please try again later,' the operator intoned. Erin put down the phone in annoyance, and slowly began making her way upstairs. Of course. Everyone would be calling in to get permission; and there were over ten thousand registered slayers living in London alone. She would have to wait hours. The new regulation of making people call in requesting emergency deployment was more of a nuisance than anything else. What is the point of waiting around when I could just go? Besides, a small part of Erin missed this. She hadn't done any decent slaying for months, and the boredom was getting to her. Several times she had considered resigning and citing a lack of work, but something held her back. She would never be able to settle into a "normal" life if she turned her back now. Picking up a pen and paper, she wrote a hurried note to her family explaining that she was going away on "work related" business.

Erin had finished packing and had just booked the cheapest flight when there was a knock on the front door. Sighing, she went back downstairs. It was midday, and none of the rest of her family were due to arrive home until evening, and anyway they all had keys. As far as she knew, they weren't expecting guests. It suddenly occurred to her that it could be Ryan, back from whatever it was he was doing. He had been away from home for weeks, and had an irritating habit of always wanting the front door to be opened to him, despite having house keys. Yes, it must be Ryan.

However, when Erin opened the door she saw to her disappointment that it was not Ryan. It was a tall girl with blonde hair whom Erin did not know. She shifted her weight from foot to foot on the doorstep, clearly uncomfortable.

Several moments of silence passed between them before either one spoke. 'You, um … you must be Erin?' the girl reached forward to shake hands, but Erin did not take it.

'That's right,' Erin replied testily. 'Can I help you? Only I'm going away for a little while and I was just about to leave.'

The girl looked surprised at this and Erin felt herself getting annoyed again. What was it with everything today? 'You're – you're going away?'

'Yes. I'm going to France for a little while. Work and all that.' Erin didn't especially see why she should expand on "going to France", but this girl seemed particularly dim-witted. She did, however, wish that her visitor would get to the point.

There was another long silence.

'Not wanting to be rude,' Erin began in a tone that suggested the exact opposite, 'But I'm kind of in a hurry and I don't have time for small talk. I have a flight to catch,' she added pointedly.

'Of course. I understand,' the girl nodded with a strangely blank look on her face. 'I just came to ask about you on behalf of someone else. A friend.'

This, Erin had to admit, sounded slightly intriguing. 'A friend? And why couldn't this friend come themselves?'

'He …. he said you might not remember him. On, um, on account of your, um … your accident.'

'My accident?' Erin repeated. What on earth was going on?

'A car accident. My friend told me that you were in a car accident about a week ago and you had brain damage, so you wouldn't remember him. That's why he asked me to come in his place. He blames himself, you know. He said he texted you while you were driving to apologise because you two had an argument and that you were just replying when … when the car hit.'

Ordinarily, Erin would have laughed at this as the elaborate joke that it clearly was, but today she found herself getting increasingly annoyed. 'And who is this friend, may I ask?'

'Vlad. My friend Vlad. He said you two were dating and you were living with him in Liverpool. Something like that.'

Who the hell was Vlad? Some weird stalker? Erin, having completely lost her patience at this point, was beyond caring. 'Listen, if I'd had a car accident resulting in brain damage only a week ago, don't you think I'd still be in hospital? Or at least have someone at home to take care of me? The house is empty, as you can see.' She gestured behind her.

The girl mouthed wordlessly, looking completely lost.

'Secondly. I have been single for longer than I would care to think, and I haven't left London for over half a year, let alone gone to Liverpool of all places.'

'But Vlad -'

'I think Vlad's been having a bit of a joke at both of our expenses, and I think that you need to stop wasting my time and leave, please,' Erin could feel her voice getting louder, but she fought to sound calm. The poor girl seemed utterly clueless, or else she was a very good actress. 'Now, if you don't mind, I have a flight to catch.' She picked up her bag, locked the front door and jostled past her unwelcome visitor.

Finding her voice again, the girl called, 'Where in France are you going?'

'Marseille,' Erin replied without looking behind her. 'Not that it's any of your concern.'