Chapter 27: The Great British Blood Bank Robbery
By the time the plane evened out, Serana had regained her composure. She glanced over at her companion. It was strange to say the least to feel the same apprehension she must have felt during her first days on Nirn as she felt now. Meanwhile her companion in stark contrast seemed perfectly at ease. This was familiar territory. But just as Emily had managed to adapt to Nirn somewhat, so she was resolved to adapt to Earth.
Presently there was a beep from the panel overhead and the small lit symbol of a seat belt was switched off. Serana contented herself with looking out the window for a time. The height they were travelling at was astonishing and more astonishing still was the speed in which they had climbed to such a height. The clouds were just as Emily described, looking more like islands of white, towering cliffs of snow and great plateaus, forming an alien landscape. In the gaps between the clouds she could see a patchwork of fields and mountains that looked more like molehills. In the distance the land stopped sharply, giving way to a vast expanse of ocean.
Serana took the magazine from the pocket on the seat in front of her and began to flick through it. In it were illustrations of England, their destination. The land was relatively flat in comparison to either Skyrim or Norway and green. The weather looked temperate, for more in keeping with the climate of High Rock. On the next page were pictures of London, the capital. It was just as Emily had described: huge and paved with vast swathes of grey concrete. Its skyline was dominated by numerous skyscrapers and office blocks.
"When we reach Heathrow, what then?" she asked.
"We'll need to go to Glastonbury," Emily replied, "But first I think we should go to Porlock Weir, my home and prepare."
"I wouldn't mind seeing where you live," said Serana with an amused smile.
"It's not much to look at, Sera," Emily laughed, "But it's home. We'll be safe there and we can plan our next move."
"There's another thing I've been thinking of, Em," said Serana, "We had to drink the last of our supply before we left Norway. What now?" Now Emily leant closer to Serana so none but the vampiress could hear her words.
"Do you remember a long time ago I told you about humans giving blood to heal the sick?" she asked. Serana nodded.
"They take the blood and store it in places rather aptly named blood banks," she explained, "There's one not far from us once we land."
"Though you said we're the only vampires on Earth," said Serana, "And even if we weren't vampires, I doubt they'll just hand it over." Emily shook her head.
"I'm afraid we'll have to slip in without them knowing and take what we need," said Emily. Serana nodded.
The flight was long and Serana spent much of it looking out of the window. When she was not gazing at the cloudy landscapes she and Emily talked. About England, about Porlock Weir and about Miraak.
Some time later, as Serana was once more gazing out at the new landmass they were passing over after over an hour and a half staring down at the seemingly endless expanse of blue, she heard two beeps from the panel overhead. She'd heard these signals several times throughout the flight and found that they always proceeded some form of announcement over the tannoy.
"We will soon be beginning our descent into London Heathrow, please fasten your seat belts." Neither Serana nor Emily had undone their seat belts in the first place so instead they waited. The plane began to tilt forwards slightly and the descent began. At times it veered over, tilting and Serana glanced over at the other passengers to see if this was expected. When all around her seemed content to continue fiddling with their electronic devices she relaxed and waited.
They gradually dropped lower and lower in the sky. The patchwork of green fields below grew larger, as did the winding roads of grey between them. Then they were passing over row upon row of houses. The landscape shifted quickly and it appeared to her that they were gaining speed but this, she knew, was just an illusion as their previously lofty height almost made it seem that the plane was suspended unmoving in the sky.
The houses then gave way to the vast airfields of Heathrow. Below them the runway ran. Serana braced herself for the impact. She was not sure exactly what to expect. Would it be smooth like the take-off or would it be like a cart rumbling over rocky ground. The impact was comparatively sharp, then for a short time they bounced back up several feet before touching down again. Immediately the brakes were applied and once more they were pressed back into their seats. At last the plane gradually slowed and began its slow taxi in towards the airport. What followed was a long tedious wait while the steps were brought up to the front and back doors and the passengers slowly began to disembark. Outside it was dark. The sun had never risen, nor had they seen any inkling of it during their flight.
They got up from their seats as soon as the aisle was clear and, after taking their bags from the overhead lockers, walked down the aisle towards the front door. The steps were rickety and they both kept a firm grip on the railings as they descended to the tarmac. They followed the other passengers towards the main building. This brought them to a winding corridor that led through the bulk of the airport. It brought them past the baggage reclaim where passengers were eagerly, and in some cases anxiously, awaiting the return of their luggage. And from there it led to arrivals and the main exit.
"Alright, where to now?" Serana asked, "I presume we're going to that blood bank you mentioned?" Emily nodded.
"There's one about eight miles from here," she replied, "I think our best bet would be to get a taxi." She pulled out her phone and typed in the number of a local taxi service. Serana waited while she talked to a person she could not see but apparently Emily could hear perfectly well. Serana heard her say, "Yeah, to the Montgomery Hotel," and, "Hatter."
"Alright, that's all set," she said as she ended the call, "We just have to wait here and the taxi will show up in a minute."
"Just how many things can you call to you?" Serana asked.
"As many as the phone numbers I can remember off by heart," Emily replied. The she smiled. "Which admittedly isn't many."
A few minutes later a yellow car emblazoned with the local taxi insignia drew up alongside them. A man with white hair and a short white beard leaned out of the window. He wore a peculiar array of attire consisting of a loud Hawaiian shirt under an open leather jacket, bellbottom denim jeans and a pair of sunglasses.
"Emily?" he said.
"That's right," Emily replied. She told the taxi driver where they were headed as she and Serana climbed into the back seat of the car.
"Alright then, buckle your seat belts and we'll be there in two shakes of a scamp's tail," said the man as he guided the taxi out of the airport. Neither of them noticed a second taxi pull up a few seconds later.
To say his driving was erratic would be an understatement. He changed lanes, seemingly at random, perhaps even for his own amusement and at least twice Emily noticed that he made a turn without using the proper signals. Serana was notably perturbed by the jerking motion of the car and when she glanced over at Emily and saw she was faring no better this only caused her anxiety to increase. Any second Emily felt certain the police must pull this madman over. Mercifully the journey was a short one and at last the car pulled up outside a night club. Emily had made sure to have the taxi drop them off close to their destination rather than outside the front door.
"Right, here we are, Emily," said the taxi driver. Emily handed him the money and they both got out of the car, breathing a silent sigh of relief.
"See you around," said the man. Then he leaned over in Serana's direction, "Oh, and give me best to old Moley." Then he wound up his window and drove off.
"Old Moley? What? That…was weird," said Serana, "Next time we'll walk or get one of those buses or something."
Emily nodded but she was only half-listening. Her brow furrowed.
"Sera," she said at last, "I never told that taxi driver my name, did I? Not my first name anyway. How did he know? And that driving. That was bonkers."
"I think he felt he knew us," replied Serana, "Crazy old man."
"It's weird but…I kind of felt like I'd seen him somewhere before too," said Emily. She shook her head.
"No, that's not possible," she said, "Anyway, we should get moving. Fair warning, this could be tricky. Earth security is…difficult to get around."
"What does it entail?" Serana asked, putting the taxi ride out of her mind for the time being.
"If it's a heat sensitive burglar alarm we should be fine," Emily replied, "They're used to picking up the heat signatures of mortals so shouldn't be able to detect us. But if it's actual physical movement…I'm not sure if our invisibility spells will work. That'll fool people but I'm not sure about machines."
"Probably still our best bet though," said Serana. Emily nodded.
"Unfortunately I've never been in a blood bank," she replied, "I don't know where it's stored. Probably a storage facility near the back of the building."
"Will you know it if you see it?" Serana asked.
"I hope so," Emily replied.
They made their way down the street towards a large white building. Like many Serana had seen it was all flat surfaces and sharp edges. Much of its walls were lined with regularly placed, precisely sized windows. Emily led Serana down a narrow alleyway that ran down the side of the building. They followed the high fence round to the back. It was made from a metal mesh and Emily and Serana ducked into the shadows long enough to fade from sight before climbing hand over hand over the fence. Only the rattle of the metal mesh marked their presence, followed by two sharp thumps as they landed on the far side. Emily led Serana over to a door that opened out onto the small staff parking area they found themselves in. The area was lit by a single pale yellow lamp by the door. Emily swore softly under her breath.
"No good," she whispered, "This is a combination lock. Lockpicks won't work on this."
"What then?" Serana asked. Emily didn't answer immediately but looked around. Her eyes alighted on a window far above their heads that was open slightly. Likely an employee had opened it earlier in the day to let in some fresh air and had neglected to close it before departing for home.
"Up there," Emily replied. Serana looked up and spotted the window.
"Can you give me a boost up?" Emily continued. What followed was a decidedly tricky operation as neither could see the other but in the end Emily managed to find her companion who then hefted her up towards the window. She scrabbled at the window ledge and heard a hushed whisper of, "Watch it," from below. She got out an apology as she pushed the window open, squirmed her way around so her legs were dangling into the empty room and looked over her shoulder. The room was large and looked to be a laboratory of some description judging by the beakers, retorts and the centrifuge standing in the corner. The floor was some six feet below her but a table would make for a handy halfway point. She turned back and reached down.
"Take my hand," she whispered into the empty parking area.
"Easier said than done," Serana whispered back. Emily waited for a moment. Then she felt the vampiress' fingers graze her hand before firmly grasping it. Emily pulled back and heaved her companion up towards the window. She felt Serana's breath on her cheek and then the vampiress moved past her, pulling herself through the open window and they both dropped onto the table.
"I think this is a lab," Emily said as they got down off the table, "They probably prepare the blood for transfer here. The storage area will likely be in another room." She felt Serana take her hand once more.
"Right, then we'd better get moving," she said, "And we'd better stick together. It would be easy for us to lose one another like this."
"Agreed," Emily replied.
And so they slipped silently over to the door. Emily glanced out through the small window at the corridor beyond. There was no sign of movement and many of the lights had been switched off for the night. Or perhaps, she reasoned, they would light up if they detected movement. If that was so, it would put their invisibility spells to the test. Emily slowly inched the door open and they slipped out. Almost as soon as they reached the centre of the corridor they were suddenly bathed in a bright white light. They both froze and Serana felt Emily grip her hand tightly. They flattened themselves against the wall and waited for several minutes.
"I guess we don't fool the lights," Emily whispered, "But I don't hear any alarms. I think we're okay." Serana squeezed her fingers gently in acknowledgement and they moved silently down the corridor. The lights overhead lit their way, flickering into life as they drew within range. They stopped by each door they came to and Emily peered in.
At last she whispered to Serana, "This is it." They pushed the door open. A red light up in the corner of the room flicked on for a split second before going dark as they closed the door behind them. Lining the far wall were large cold storage units. They crossed the room and Emily opened the first one they came to. A waft of chilled air blew into their faces, ruffling their hair. The interior of the cold storage unit was made up of several drawers and in each of these were squidgy plastic bags filled with red liquid, each labelled and marked.
"Okay, how many should we take?" she asked Serana.
"Better take about twenty," Serana replied, "Maybe twenty-five. That's how many days we have left after all." Emily nodded.
"Okay, but we'll only take the ones marked, 'O,'" she said.
"Why's that?" Serana asked.
"O's the most common blood type," Emily explained, "It's the least likely one to suffer a shortage." Serana helped Emily pull out the large red bags and deposit them into their bag. Suddenly an alarm blared throughout the room. One of the bags fell from Serana's grasp and made a soft squelp as it landed on the floor. They whirled around, the shock causing them to lapse back into visibility as they looked up at the small device in the corner whose bright light was flashing, bathing the room in a glow as red as the blood they had pilfered. It was impossible to tell where the alarm was coming from. It seemed to come from everywhere at once and the deafening cacophony made them squeeze their eyes shut with pain. It dulled every sense and they merely stood there for several moments. Serana was the first to snap out of the spell of stupefaction the alarms had cast and she grabbed Emily. They raced for the door and crashed through it, all semblance of stealth gone. By now they could not remember in which direction the exit lay so they chose a direction at random and ran. Emily glanced into each door they passed but saw nothing familiar. There were offices, more storage rooms and labs with wholly different setups to the one they had entered by.
They dodged around another corner and found themselves at a junction. Emily quickly scanned the corridors. Then she grabbed Serana's hand.
"This way," she said and off they ran again, followed by the ghastly sounds of the alarm.
At last Emily spotted a door ahead of them that was slightly ajar. They hurried through it and Emily breathed a sigh of relief as she caught sight of the open window they had entered by. They scrambled up onto the table and out of the window, dropping down onto the ground on the far side. As Emily got to her feet she saw that they were not alone. Standing around them in a semi-circle were several men and women clad in navy uniforms. One of them put a small device to his lips.
"Officer Clayton to dispatch, we have two Caucasian females attempting to steal blood from the blood bank, over." The response must have been one of disbelief for he continued, "Yeah, that's what I said. Blood."
"Sera," said Emily in a hoarse whisper.
"You, no talking, you're under arrest," said one of the women. Serana's eyes darted from the officers who were closing in on them to the eyes of her companion.
"Sera, invisible," Emily whispered urgently. A few of the officers let out a yell of surprise as the two women vanished before their eyes and the transceiver dropped from the lead officer's shaking hand.
"Spread out," he ordered quickly, recovering his nerve. What followed was utter chaos with all the officers running off in the direction they felt the two women were likely to have gone in. Emily dodged between them as they thundered past. Once more she and Serana could not see one another and Emily felt a surge of panic run through her. She hurried over toward the fence and watched the confused police officers. Suddenly a figure collided with her and at first she feared one of the officers had stumbled into her. But then she felt hands find her face and Serana whispered in her ear. "Found you." Then her hands took hold of hers and they ran the rest of the way to the fence, throwing themselves up at the mesh, grasping on and scrambling for the top. The rattling mesh attracted the attention of one of the officers and he called to his fellows before pursuing them. Serana reached the top and was about to drop down onto the far side when Emily let out a yell. The officer had managed to grab a hold of her leg.
"I don't know who or what you are but you're under arrest," shouted the officer. Emily kicked out but the officer held firm. Serana reached down in the direction her companion's shouts were coming from. Emily yelled again but this time in pain and Serana realised with a surge of guilt that she had grabbed a fistful of the Earthling's hair.
Emily felt her other hand grasp her under her left arm and pull. She kicked out again and this time her leg came free. But the momentum from her own efforts and those of her companion to free her sent them tumbling back over the fence. They landed in a tangled heap on the far side. The officer shouted to his colleagues before sending a series of barked orders their way that they had no intention of following. Emily was the first to move.
"Are you alright?" she asked of her companion.
"I'll feel much better if you get off me," came Serana's muffled response. Emily scrambled hurriedly off of Serana and helped her to her feet. They hurried away from the building and away from the police presence. They kept going, past several streets until the sounds of shouting faded away and all that could be heard was their footsteps on the pavement. Only then did they allow themselves to come to a halt and fade back into sight.
"We need to get out of here," said Emily, "They've got our descriptions. That'll be all over town before long. We need to get to Porlock Weir. We can take shelter there. Maybe a disguise."
"How far is Porlock Weir?" Serana asked.
"About one hundred and fifty miles," Emily replied, "I know you're not keen on the idea but we'll need to take another taxi. It'll be faster."
"Can't we get a bus?" Serana asked.
"Not many run at this time of night," Emily explained, taking her phone from her pocket. Serana sighed. "Alright then," she replied.
But mercifully the taxi driver who greeted them this time from his taxi window was a perfectly ordinary man in his middle fifties, dressed in sensible attire to suit the current weather. Emily collapsed onto the back seat with Serana and told the driver where they were headed. Serana closed her eyes for a moment, running a hand over her face. She felt quite certain she'd have some new bruises come the morning.
"I think next time we'll just go hunting," she said. Emily groaned an affirmation.
The streetlights and buildings whipped past the window and Emily leant her head against the door. She could not help flinching each time she caught sight of a police car veering in and out of the side roads and when Serana noticed she slipped her hand into Emily's and Emily gave her fingers a grateful squeeze. She breathed a sigh of relief when they left Heathrow behind and joined the motorway. Serana had never seen so many cars, vans and other vehicles before in all her thousand-odd years of unlife. They were flanked on either side by streams of cars, camper vans, and several big vehicles comparable to a bus in size but without the multitude of windows along their sides. Their sides were instead emblazoned with logos and large attention-grabbing writing. Emily called these strange vehicles trucks. Emily, now that they were outside the city limits, had relaxed somewhat and now rested her head against the vampiress' shoulder. They were both rather grateful that this taxi driver was not one for talking and they were left to pass the journey quietly.
It was coming up to four in the morning when the taxi entered the village of Porlock. Porlock Weir was just a short distance past that and Emily sat up and took note of the familiar surroundings.
"Just straight on here, please," she said to the taxi driver. The taxi driver complied, pulling onto a lane which led down towards the coast.
Porlock Weir consisted of a harbour flanked by numerous red brick buildings and thatched cottages. Standing in the harbour were the masts of several ships which stuck up like the trunks of spindly trees. On the pebbled beaches Serana spotted several smaller vessels which had been turned upside down to keep them from drifting out with the tide. On the outskirts the red brick gave way to more pastel shades.
"Just here, please," said Emily.
The taxi came to a halt outside a pastel blue bungalow with a slate roof. Emily dropped the money into the waiting hand.
"Here we are," she said as they got out of the car, "Home sweet home."
The taxi drove off and Emily and Serana walked up the weed choked path to the front door. The lawn was now more akin to a jungle and when Emily pushed open the door they had to step over a sizeable pile of newspapers and junk mail. Emily kicked the pile to one side before closing the door. A year's worth of dust had accumulated on every surface and she was dismayed to see that in her absence some new tenants in the form of spiders had moved in. Their webs hung from the light fixtures and adorned the corners of each room.
Serana followed Emily into the little sitting room where they dumped their bags.
"Sorry it's in such a state," said Emily as she sat down on the sofa and a cloud of dust erupted around her. She sneezed. She looked around her dusty home. For months she had yearned for it after leaving Earth, remembering it with fondness but now it looked, to her, decidedly dingy and shabby.
Serana crossed the room to the mantelpiece and blew the dust off several ornaments. They were dragons sculpted from clay and painted in various brilliant hues which were marred slightly by the grey layer of dust.
"I think it's lovely, Em," Serana replied.
"It's no castle," said Emily. Serana laughed.
"Em, that castle was cold and empty," replied Serana. Emily looked up. "And in case you didn't notice it was crumbling into ruin. I think your home is lovely. It just needs a little dusting, that's all." She crossed over to the window and drew the curtains on the lightening sky.
"And we have quite a few hours to kill," she crossed back to the Earthling and held out her hand to her, "What do you think?"
"I think, you're on," smiled Emily, taking the vampiress' hand, "Oh, but before we do we should decant our pilfered drink into some bottles. After all we went through to get it, it would be a shame if it went off."