I was awakened the next day by my mother shaking me roughly. This wasn't like her at all. Then again she'd no doubt gone through the stages of calling my name and shaking me gently throughout which I'd remained dead to the world. I winced at the thought; bad choice of words there.
Slowly I dragged myself out of bed, wincing once more at the disapproving look on my mothers face. I glanced at the clock and saw it was barely past noon. No wonder I was so tired, my body clock was telling me it was the middle of the night. Of course I couldn't explain this to my mother, I simply had to endure her disappointment.
"Your three friends are downstairs."
For a second I thought she meant Jari, Marcus and Dani and I was filled with conflicting emotions. But it was the middle of the day, they couldn't possibly be here. Relief flooded through me, but it was more than a little tinged with disappointment. Confused, I made my way to the wardrobe and picked out some clothes before I realised my mum was still watching me.
"Are you okay Freya?" She asked, more than a little concerned. Breakfast of guilt coming right up.
"I'm fine mum, I just think I'm coming down with something." Side order of lies.
"Didn't you say you'd go to the doctors if it carried on?"
No mention of yesterday, for which I was eternally grateful. The human mind's capacity for denial is astonishing.
"I'll go today."
"Okay." she turned to leave but hesitated as she reached the door. "You know I'm here if you need to talk." She added.
"I'm okay mum, I promise." I lied through a smile and it broke my heart to do it, but I refused to drag her into this. After she left I quickly dressed and hurried downstairs to find Sam, Edgar and Alan sat at my dining table eating fried egg sandwiches. The smell turned my stomach, even overpowering the scent of their blood. Sam said hello as I entered the kitchen, the other two simply nodded their greetings. Clearly the Frog brothers and me were never going to be good friends, despite how well they were getting on with my mothers cooking. Speaking of Mum, why was she dragging a suitcase out to the car? On the pretext of helping her carry the case, I went to find out what was going on.
"One of your Dad's colleagues is off sick, he was supposed to be going to a conference in New York but cant go now, so they've asked your Dad to go instead. Wives are invited too so I get to see New York finally. We'll be away for about a week, the cupboards are fully stocked and I've left you some money." she paused to look at me, clearly concerned and not sure she should leave. "Will you be okay?
"I'll be fine mum, go, have fun."
She was silent for a moment before finally getting the last of her things, hugging me and driving off to pick my dad up. It wasn't until she was driving away that I realised how much I'd been worried about getting my parents mixed up in all this. At least now I knew they were safe I could focus fully on the fight ahead.
I walked back in the house to find Sam making some more fried egg sandwiches.
"Hungry?" he asked me, no doubt an automatic response.
"You offering yourself or the amphibians?" I asked, nodding at the Frog brothers.
Note to self, joking about my special diet does not go down well with the humans. Sam almost dropped the frying pan in fear and Edgar and Alan jumped to their feet, crosses in hands. Groaning I dropped into an empty chair at the table, resting my head in my arms.
"I'm kidding guys. Yes I'm hungry, no I don't want eggs, no I'm not that far gone that I'd actually attack you."
My eyes were closed but I heard the rustle of movements that told me Edgar and Alan had sat down and Sam had gone back to his cooking. The smell of frying eggs was making me more ill by the minute, but at least it dimmed the hunger.
"Damn it that hurt!" I yelled, picking myself off the floor where I'd landed in a rather inelegant heap when Edgar had pushed my chair over.
"You've been asleep for half an hour and nothing else would wake you." I heard a very distinct tone of amusement in Edgar's voice, but refused to give in to it. Hell he was probably right. I didn't feel like a second had passed since I had sat down, no doubt an indication of a very deep sleep.
"Come on, were going to the cave." Alan said, heading out the front door to his car.
At his words a frisson of fear shot through me as the memories of last night invaded my mind. I hadn't yet had chance to tell the boys what had happened and I was very reluctant to do so. They feared me already, that much was clear, telling them how close I'd come to making my first kill wasn't going to help. Yet the thought of going to the cave, of being so close to Jari, the source of my temptation, scared me. Even in daylight.
I'd hesitated too long, all three boys stood at my door, watching me, trying to figure out why I wasn't following them. They'd have to keep on wondering. Getting up I strode out to the car, taking pleasure in watching all three of them flinch as I walked past.
The drive to the cliff was silent, each of us immersed in our thoughts. My dread increased the closer we got, irrational since I knew the vampires would be unconscious, but there it was nonetheless.
When we reached the cliff the Frog brothers started to unload the climbing equipment whilst Sam stayed in the car, his fear of heights giving him no option to help. Leaving Edgar and Alan to sort out the ropes I went back to the edge of the cliff. Once again the air was clear and I could see all the way to the bottom. After last nights flight it didn't seem such a distance now. In fact, I knew without question that I'd have no trouble climbing it now I was beginning to learn about the powers of a vampire.
I looked back at the Frog brothers to find them trying to undo knots in the rope and arguing furiously over had thrown the rope in the boot so disordered as to cause the knots in the first place. I rolled my eyes at their behaviour before turning back to the cliff. I barely even made the decision before I was over the edge and scooting down the cliff face. I heard Sam shout "No!" as I disappeared, but seconds later I was safely down on the beach. As I looked up I saw Edgar and Alan's faces appear at the top of the cliff, shocked to find me already at the bottom.
"Using your vampiric powers will only make the vampire side of you stronger." Edgar shouted down. I laughed, I probably shouldn't have done, but the simple fact was that using my strength had made me feel more alive than I had in years. Not that I would ever admit that to them. Plus I was pretty sure Edgar was making it up.
The heads disappeared and I could hear them reassuring Sam that I was okay before they went back to squabbling over the ropes again. I wandered down the beach, away from the cave, killing time whilst waiting for the boys to join me. It was a very pleasant beach, despite how bright it all was. Even behind my sunglasses the sun was scorching. I longed to jump into the cool sea, but this wasn't the time. As I walked I came to a point where I could see where the beach disappeared in the distance. Curious I turned back and walked past the cave, studiously avoiding looking at it. I passed around a bend in the cliff and saw the beach ended there too. They'd found a good hideaway. A secluded beach only accessible by a treacherous climb down a cliff or by boat presumably. That and the entrance to the cave was nearly invisible.
By this time Edgar and Alan had started down the cliff, but they were going ridiculously slow. I was tempted to go carry them down to speed it up, but somehow I got the feeling they wouldn't appreciate the help. I had to keep walking as I became drowsy whenever I stayed still. Eventually the boys made it to the ground and unhooked themselves from the ropes.
I led them to the tunnel and started down it, only to stop after a few steps as I realised they weren't following me.
"Well?" I asked them.
They looked at each other and I knew what it meant before they had chance to speak.
"You forgot the torches didn't you?" I asked, marvelling at their stupidity.
"They're in the car." Alan answered, sheepishly.
Sighing at their incompetence and wondering, not for the first time, if they were going to be any help at all, I ran out of the tunnel and climbed up the cliff, revelling in the sheer joy of my speed and strength. When I reached the car I picked up the torches, waved them at Sam in response to his unspoken question, and shimmied back down the cliff. I threw the torches at Edgar and Alan when I reached them, and, surprisingly, they managed to catch them before following me into the tunnel, spots of light bobbing at their feet.
I didn't need a torch. I could see better in the dark than I could outside in the glaring light. We made our way down the tunnel without mishap, coming upon the cave sooner than I would have liked. The cave was shrouded in darkness but I found the light switch easily enough and gave Edgar and Alan the illumination they needed to find whatever it is they were looking for.
"These vamps don't travel light." Edgar stated, looking around the room.
"How do they power it?" Alan asked, glancing up at the lights then at me.
"You know, I forgot to ask, electronics was never exactly a hobby of mine." The only response my sarcasm got was an increased frown. "I don't know, they probably tapped into a power line or they've got a generator somewhere, does it matter?"
Alan shrugged his shoulders before joining Edgar on his search of the room. I remained by the entrance, besieged by memories of the nights I'd spent here. The laughter, the drinking and its terrible consequences. Looking back, it all seemed like madness. What had made me go off to a secluded cave in the middle of the night with three complete strangers? And start drinking heavily? I'd never been this reckless, so why now? What was it about those three that had me so enthralled? Or was that just it, the supernatural lure of a vampire? My thoughts were interrupted by Edgar being surly.
"You know you could use those vampire eyes to help us instead of just standing there."
"It'd help if you told me what you were looking for." I replied, not moving from where I was stood.
"Their lair." He retorted, clearly thinking it should have been obvious. I was still in the dark. Looking around I indicated that I'd already led them to the lair.
"This is only the outer area, a place to lure humans to, we need to find out where they sleep. It shouldn't be too far away, a dank cave would be perfect."
The thought flitted through my head that this cave was anything but dank, but I kept it to myself, instead opting to help them search. I knew already we wouldn't find anything. My vampire eyesight told me there was only one way out of this cave and that was the way we'd come in. I wouldn't be able to convince these two of that though so I searched simply to appease them, although I had no idea why I felt the need to. We searched for well over an hour before the boys eventually admitted the vamps didn't sleep here and we headed back out.
It was only as we were leaving the cave and walking down the tunnel that I spotted the much smaller tunnel branching off it. It was hidden in the shadows and no human eyes could possibly have spotted it. My steps never faltered. I knew without thinking that I would never tell the Frogs about this. We would never win if we fought on their ground.
The niggling voice at the back of my head asked if that was the real reason I said nothing, but I ignored it. I wasn't ready to consider the possibility that I was protecting Jari...
Once we were back on the beach they insisted on scouring the cliff face for another opening but it was a fruitless search and I was tiring quickly. Entering the sunlight again had hit me with a wave of fatigue and I was quickly losing patience. Especially seeing as I knew exactly where the vampires sleeping area was. Eventually even Edgar tired of the search and the brothers hooked themselves back onto the climbing gear and started the long climb back up the cliff. I scaled it within seconds and paced at the top in an agony of impatience waiting for them. Sam was disappointed but not exactly surprised that we hadn't found anything, after describing the cave he surmised that these vamps were a lot more organised than the last bunch.
Eventually the other two reached the top and we set off back to mine. All the way back I was kept awake by concentrating on the boys chatter, no matter how inane it was. They came up with ridiculous theories and plans, all of which would come to nothing as they had no idea how to find the vampires in the first place and I wasn't about to divulge any of the information I knew. It seemed rather stupid, bringing them here and then keeping from them the answers they needed in order to help me, yet every time I went to open my mouth to tell them, something stopped me. Damned if I knew what though.
When we reached my house Sam wanted to come in, he was all for setting up a defence in case the vampires tried to come here tonight, but I agreed with the Frog brothers, much as I loathed to do so, that they'd be better off going to do some research and stocking up on supplies then coming back before sunset. So the plan was made and I was left alone wondering why the hell I'd thought that was such a good idea. It wasn't the hunger, that had been strangely dimmed all day. Maybe I just needed some time to think, decide on my own plan of action. Throwing some Turisas on my CD player and turning the volume right up, I threw myself on my bed, turning my mind to the long hours of thinking ahead.
I was asleep in seconds