Chapter Five
It was nearly eight o'clock at night, and Blake was at her apartment. Her feet were curled underneath her and she had her television on mute, the newsreader mouthing her words silently. She checked her watch. 8:01pm.
At exactly 8:02, Circle Daybreak would call her to catch up with any new developments. She didn't know why they didn't just say eight o'clock. What was two minutes? She suspected that Ash had decided the time just to annoy her.
Finally, the phone rang once then stopped. It did this again and then when it rang the third time Blake picked up the receiver and held it to her ear.
"Hello?" she asked.
"Hey man," she recognized Ash's drawl immediately but they had to go through the usual formalities.
"A crow's feet passes years," Blake said the password quickly, rolling her eyes at how stupid it sounded.
"And the leprechauns fly daily to Saturn and Sega," Ash replied, his voice full of laughter.
"That is the stupidest set of passwords I have ever heard," Blake said. Although her and Ash tended to get on one another's nerves regularly, she was relieved to hear his voice. These phone calls were the only times that she was allowed to be who she was and not hide herself behind a heavy curtain of lies.
"Well, why don't you put some new ones in the suggestions box?" Ash replied.
"Will do. Anyway, down to business."
Ash's voice sobered as he asked, "How are things going with Relic?"
Blake allowed herself a small private smile. "Getting along rather nicely. He's taking me to meet a friend of his and I'm almost positive this 'friend' is Hunter."
Ash paused. "Great. You know how to handle this don't you? When are you meeting him?"
"Thursday."
"God, that's only two days."
"Yeah and…? The sooner the better Ash. I want to get this wrapped and delivered. Once we get Hunter down, we can find the Wild Power. I haven't asked Relic about the fourth but I think they're as much in the dark as we are."
"Even better," Ash said. He took a breath. "Listen, we hear you had an encounter with Curtis Redfern."
Blake stiffened. "Curtis who?"
There was a small silence. "Curtis Redfern, Blake. Tall, blue black eyes, girls drooling and clawing to get to him? Ring a bell? Because it should. You were seen in his car and he dropped you off at your apartment. Correct?"
Blake was still recovering from the realization that Curtis' surname was the same as Hunter's. The link between them, the image of Hunter in Curtis' mind, collided into her with an impact. Curtis was her soulmate, she could admit that. But he was also Hunter's son. She was supposed to kill Hunter. She was supposed to kill her soulmate's father.
"Blake? Yes or no? Yay or nay? He did drop you off at your apartment didn't he?"
"What? I mean, yes. Yes he did."
Ash didn't seem to notice the slight tremor in her voice. "And? Did you wow and woo? Get him to fall madly in love with you? Because if you had, honestly, this mission could be so much easier for you. And for us. Curtis is Hunter's closest contact and an easy ticket into the old bastard's life."
Well Blake? Did you 'get him to fall madly in love you'? Or was it just 'nothing'? The thoughts ran through her head before she could stop them and she squeezed her eyes shut tightly, took a breath and then tried to focus on what Ash was saying.
"Blake, getting Relic is great. But getting Curtis would be a jackpot."
"I don't think that will happen Ash," Blake said tiredly, exhaustion falling upon her heavily. "He only dropped me home because I begged and begged and we didn't even talk on the way here. He didn't seem to be interested," she lied.
"Really?" Ash sounded slightly puzzled. "Weird. The guy usually goes for anything with two legs and a bra. I used to know him back in the day."
"That's great, Ash. Really great," Blake replied absently.
"Yeah, well you sound beat. I'm gonna go now and tomorrow Rashel's going to ring. I only got the honor 'cause there's some renegade vamp and wolf team running riot and the gang all went for a hunt. Group bonding and all that crap."
"Nice," Blake murmured.
"Yeah, real nice." Ash's voice dropped and Blake thought she detected a note of concern. "Hey Blake are you alright?"
"Yeah, I'm fine." she lied.
"That's good 'cause you really sound it. Anyway, try to get to Curtis okay? He's the strongest link we could ever hope to get. And try to do it fast. Hunter's got hunters out in the highschools. We got twelve deaths yesterday. The numbers are climbing."
"God, Ash," Blake was shocked. "They're getting desperate."
"Yeah but that's not all it. Hunter's overruling some of the feeding laws to gain favour. The vamps are killing for kicks instead of survival now. Speaking of feeding, do you need anymore blood? We can get it sent over."
"No, I'm fine," Blake replied. "In the next few days maybe."
"Cool. Right, I've gotta get going."
"Okay, Ash."
"And Blake?" Ash's voice was hesitant and unsure. "Expect a call from Poppy soon. She was going to ring you. Her brother, Phil, was killed two days ago." He paused then, stopped and took a deep breath. "She's cut up in a bad way, Blake. James is worried, we all are. I shouldn't tell you all this but I think she sees you as an avenging angel of sorts. You know, you're supposed to kill Hunter slowly and painfully and Phil's death will be avenged and the pain will go away. But it won't Blake. She's a real mess so whatever she says to you, don't take it too seriously okay?"
Blake was sinking even further into a pool of despair. Phil was dead? Oh god, poor Poppy. Even Blake knew how close they were. "Okay Ash. Thanks for the warning."
"Just paid heed to it okay? I'll talk to you later."
"Bye." She hung up and curled back into the couch.
She closed her eyes and the unwanted words and images of the conversation echoed in her head. Curtis Redfern, Blake. Did you wow and woo? Get him to fall madly in love with you? Blake's eyes squeezed together more tightly. Curtis is Hunter's closest contact…….a jackpot. Blake shifted, shaking her head slightly in an attempt to clear it. Phil was killed two days ago………she sees you as an avenging angel…..Curtis Redfern, Blake.
Curtis Redfern.