January 2nd
David Coleridge paced up and down the living room, his laden white trench
coat sweeping this way and that. He gritted his teeth.
"Shit," he said for what seemed to John Baker like the hundredth time. "Where
in the hell is she?" he gave up and slumped into the couch in front of the T.V.
"Calm down man." said John shaking his head.
"Jesus!" David's fist came slamming down on the arm of the couch. "I should've
known better, now those bastards have got to her!" He took another nervous glance
out of the front window. "Fuck!" He shouted.
Mew, his cat, worried by Davids agitated nature took this as the last straw
and bolted from the room. David sighed, got up and went to draw the curtains.
Just as he did so the sports car he had seen hanging around the previous night
screamed up outside the house. The driver side door burst open and two women,
both covered in blood, slumped out onto the pavement.
"Oh god, Isla!" exclaimed David running for the front door.
John sprang to his feet and followed. The two women had made it to the front
door. Isla appeared to be unconscious and the other woman, a tall brunette,
lost her footing and fell just as David opened the door. Ignoring her he rushed
to catch Isla and cradled her in his arms as he scoured her body for wounds.
"Help her." He said gesturing to the other woman. He tried to stifle panic
when he found no pulse, then when he went to check on the other side of her
neck, he saw them. Bite marks. He closed his eyes and felt a wave of clarity
wash through him. When he opened his eyes he could take in every detail of Isla's
body.
In a way, it was like seeing her for the first time. He could make out every line and contour, every strand of hair. He could have wept at her beauty but instead he found his eyes drawn to her mouth. He could clearly see a pair of newly grown fangs, glinting almost mockingly in the moonlight. As quickly as the clarity had come it was smashed into a thousand pieces as David felt his mind crumbling beneath the enormity of what he had just seen. He threw his head to the sky, trying to block the image from his mind. Instead, he screamed. John watched, feeling his friend's pain as he too realised what the women were. Lights flipped on in windows all around the street but David didn't seem to care. He looked down at Isla, knowing now that she was worse then dead.
"What…" The question died in John's throat as David swept Isla into his arms and carried her through the door towards the staircase.
John looked down at the vampire beneath him and his eyes narrowed. He picked her up and carried her into the living room, hurling her limp body onto the couch. He knew what he wanted to do. He wanted to take his sword and slice off her pretty head just for being what she was. She could still prove useful though, and if she was the one that had turned Isla then it was David who deserved the chance for revenge. He went and fetched two bowls of hot water and a couple of towels. He left one set downstairs and the other he took to Davids room. David had laid Isla carefully on his bed and closed all the curtains. He seemed to have regained some of his composure and spoke in an even tone.
"Thanks," he whispered gratefully accepting the bowl from John's hands.
"This isn't right." John's grave statement didn't seem to register in David who had begun to wipe the blood away from Isla's skin and garments.
"I'm gonna need some new clothes for her," he said. "They're in the airing cupboard in the hallway."
"All right," sighed John. He bought the clothes back into the room. "What shall we do with the other one?" he asked.
"Whatever the hell you want," replied David in a worryingly calm voice. For
the first time he looked over his shoulder. "Could you give us a minute please?"
John nodded, closed the door, and pounded back downstairs pulling his Berretta
from his flowing black coat. The nameless girl was still flopped comatose on
the couch and John had time to take in a few of her features. He realised for
the first time that she was very attractive. It was a weird feeling to look
at her, realising the beauty of her body, yet being nauseated by the very knowledge
that she was not right. He examined her body and found two automatic pistols,
which he confiscated, and an I.D. card that proclaimed her name to be simply
'Mercury'. He washed her with one hand, and the other hand kept his Beretta
pointed straight at her skull.
David didn't want to believe it was real. He had only just begun to come to terms with his new mission. He had, despite his better scientific judgement, acknowledged the existence of creatures such as ghosts, werewolves and even vampires. But this was too much. When he had gone into battle against the monsters he had kept sane and level headed because he always had a safe place to retreat to inside his head. He could go to this place and Isla would be there. He could feel her touch, hear her reassure him, but now as he cleaned away the blood from her lips he felt that safe place rotting, falling away, becoming a torture chamber. His mind screamed at him as he washed, screamed at him that she should not exist, that she had no right to exist. Inwardly he screamed back.
After changing her into a clean set of clothes he rested her carefully back on the bed, his mind asking question after question he knew he could not answer. What would she do when she woke up? Would she try to kill him and John? Would she remember who he was? He was broken from this revere by the sound of two sets of voices from downstairs. His hand reached inside his coat and undid the latches that secured his sword in place one by one. He sat back on the chair beside the bed taking in a deep breath and listened to the voices. One of them was John's, the other, clearly female. In a heartbeat he was up from the chair and through the bedroom door. He made no effort to disguise his decent down the stairs as he pulled the sword from his coat.
The living room door burst open and David was framed, wild eyed, in the doorway. His gaze fixed on the woman who was now sitting upright facing John and he advanced toward her, sword held out. She looked fairly unimpressed.
"Who are you?" David growled, "and what the hell did you do to Isla?"
"Look…" she began.
"Answer the question!"
"Which one?" she said, a mildly amused smile on her face. John pulled back the hammer on his Berretta and David cut at the air in front of her.
"A fucking vampire," spat John, "playing fucking vampire games. Answer both the god-damn questions!" The woman rolled her eyes.
"Why do I put up with this?" she murmured. She looked up from David's eyes
to John's.
"All right!" she said. "As my card you have there says, the name's Mercury."
"Just Mercury?" asked David.
"Yep." David lowered his sword and sat in the chair opposite her, his initial fire sputtering under her unwavering gaze.
"What have you done to Isla?" he whispered.
"Hah!" Mercury leant back in her chair and crossed her legs. "That's the thanks I get I suppose." She shook her head. "I didn't turn your girlfriend, Lacutus did."
"Who?"
"You were there at the gang fight outside the B.M.W. show room, right? That was my gang and Lacutus' gang."
"And your gang…?"
"Lost. I'm the only survivor." Her gaze dropped to the floor for a moment, then she looked back up. "I rescued Isla from Lacutus and brought her here."
"How did you know where I lived?"
"Well, you haven't exactly been subtle in your little adventures have you? You've become quite the celebrity among certain circles." John shook his head.
"This is bullshit. How do we know you're not lying?" Mercury looked vaguely amused again.
"I'll be frank gentlemen," she raised her hand and began to examine one of her razor sharp nails. "In the time it takes for you to fire that pea shooter of yours, John," she licked her lips, "I could have been over and gouged out your friends throat and still been able to take my time savouring it." John snarled and flicked off the safety.
"You aren't exactly winning us over," sighed David.
"I shouldn't have to!" snapped Mercury. "I saved your girlfriend from the
Tremere clan!" her eyes narrowed. "Knowing her to be the loved of a Hunter,
they would have used her to play with you like a foolish puppet!" David's gaze
dropped and Mercury added softly. "And it would have worked to a tee would it
not?" David didn't reply but gestured for John to lower his weapon, which he
did so begrudgingly.
"Come," said Mercury standing, "let us go to her." As if galvanised into action
once more, David stood and led Mercury to his room upstairs. John followed,
his eyes taking in every move Mercury made, wishing she'd try something stupid.
They reached David's room and Mercury shook her head disapprovingly. "You should bind her."
"Bind her?" said a shocked David.
"Yes," sighed Mercury as if she had explained this a thousand times. "When she awakens she will have the hunger. She may go out of control." David looked at her for a moment. "Bind her," repeated Mercury revealing her sharp fangs for the first time. John threw his hands up in the air and left the room, heading for the garage. David returned to his position at Isla's side. Mercury spoke up again. "When she wakes, she will need to feed."
"That's not a problem," replied David. "If it comes to that, she can feed on me."
"She may not know when to stop," warned Mercury with an uncaring sigh.
"She'll stop," David nodded. "When somebody becomes a Vampire," he began, "does their personality change?"
"Not really."
"Will she remember who I am?"
"Of course."
David reached out and stroked her forehead. "She's so cold," he murmured.
"I'm going for a shower," said Mercury, appearing to ignore his comment.
"Uh, sure," replied David. "Isla's spare clothes are in the airing cupboard.
I'm sure she wouldn't mind you borrowing them." The vampire turned to leave
the room.
"Mercury." David had stood up and was looking at her with a pained expression.
"Thanks, thanks for saving Isla." Without acknowledging him she turned again
and left. A few seconds later he heard the shower being switched on.
Meanwhile, John returned with some rope. David accepted it with thanks and began to tie Isla's limbs to the bed head and posts.
"I take it our other guest is in the shower?" John asked.
"Uh huh."
"Listen David, I can tolerate Isla being here. It's not her fault and, besides
she's your Girl friend." He walked over and parted the curtains slightly, looking
out onto the peaceful night. "But I won't trust 'Mercury'." He turned around,
closing the curtain again. "She's poison, man. Who knows how many years she's
been a vamp?" David didn't answer.
"For the love of God, she kills people." Still no answer. John turned around
again. "Hello Mr. Brick wall, perhaps you might listen to what I'm saying,"
he said in an irritated tone. David shook his head.
"Sorry John. I just, I can't…"
"S'alright," said John in clipped tones. He left the window and walked back to the door. "I'm gonna go keep watch. Call me if anything changes."
"Um, John?"
"Yeah."
"Could you feed Mew please? He should have been fed a couple of hours ago."
"Sure."
"Thanks." On the way out of the room, John brushed past Mercury going in. Both avoided the others gaze.
"She'll wake up soon," said Mercury matter of factly as she walked into the bedroom.
"Could you leave me with her?" asked David. Mercury shrugged and walked out again.
David watched Isla for what seemed like an eternity, wondering what was going on in her head. His mind went back to the day they first met, lunchtime in the park. She'd only been working at the lab a day. He walked over to her, asked her what she was reading. They had spent the rest of the day in that park together. David smiled at the cover story he had used to get them both out of trouble the next day. He'd had difficulty concentrating on his work after that. His head was filled with one thing. Her.
For over two years since then they had been inseparable. David had always believed in destiny and soul mates, but never before had he felt this way about anyone and when he looked into her eyes as they sat together under that tree, he had known she felt the same. She'd always been independent, of course, she still had her own house (though she spent most of her time at his) but that was what made her special. That day before new years, he had tried to explain what he was to her. It had all come out wrong and she had left, dazed and confused. Now she had come back to him and he knew all too well what she was.
After hours of watching, David saw her eyes flutter open. He opened his mouth to speak but before he could she pierced the air with a soul-destroying scream. David tried to calm her down but on it went until Mercury stepped into the room. Confused, David gestured with his arm.
"Leave us alone. Get out!" She turned and left. Isla started to scream again. David buried his face in his hands and called Mercury back in. The screaming subsided. David growled in frustration and, pulling his sword, brought the hilt slamming into his bedroom mirror behind him. It cracked and fell into innumerable pieces on the bedroom floor. Isla appeared to calm down a little more. David looked up at Mercury imploringly. "Why does she scream?"
"She does not know what she is."
"Yet you bring her comfort?"
"Yes."
"Why?" Mercury was about to answer when a weak voice spoke.
"David?" David turned back to Isla and knelt beside her. She looked up at
him and he had to suppress tears that were screaming to be let out as he saw
the emptiness in her gaze. She whispered to him, revealing sharp, long fangs
as she spoke. They somehow seemed longer then before.
"David…I…I'm hungry."
Without a word David rolled down his jumper, exposing his neck, and leant
down near her lips. She had kissed him many times before, but this was a kiss
of the darkest order. Bound within it was a wild pleasure he had never experienced,
and the most excruciating pain he had ever felt. David closed his eyes, and
she drank.
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