*Sneaks into FanFic*

*Posts chapter*

*Sees torches, pitchforks and sharpened stakes*

*Runs away*

I'm sorry!

Part 7: Whispers

Em grew up too fast. It was like I blinked and before I knew it she was seventeen, the same age as I was when I died. That sweet little girl had grown into a young woman. She didn't need me to be her mother anymore, she treated me more like a friend, a sister, it was sad but I suppose, when you live forever you quickly learn that all things come to an end sooner or later.

I wasn't going to arrange Em a marriage, I could only see it ending up like mine and then there was the matter of her condition. But I don't think she was ready to get married yet anyway, which was good, I could keep her for a little longer.

Every Tuesday morning we would dress down a little and Em and I would go to the market. I didn't really want to do it, there humans everywhere, ones without crucifixes around their necks, and the job was completely beneath me, a servants chore however it was something that Rebecca had always done with Em before she died. It brought her comfort so at the same time, every Tuesday, that was what we did. And it was on one of these outings that I heard it. A whisper. I don't know where it came from, it could have been any passer by in the street talking to someone else. Just a whisper. A whisper of a name that I hadn't heard in a very long time.

I must have been oddly quiet on the way home because Em asked me if I was alright. I smiled, told her I was fine. I wasn't.

"Mr Snow." The whisper had said. "Mr Snow is on his way." And just the name had made my blood run cold.

I met him once. My husband had been called to go to Milan for some sort of Old Ones gathering and He didn't trust me to be left on my own in London so I went with Him. Before that trip I had always thought that there couldn't possibly be another creature on this earth as cruel as my husband. But I was wrong. They were all like it, every last one of the Old Ones. You could see every second of the history that they carried in the depths of their eyes, every single drop of blood. And then there was Mr Snow.

My husband knelt to him. Knelt. He didn't kneel to anyone. That's when I knew that Mr Snow as different. When we were introduced he was so gentlemanly. He said it was a pleasure to make my acquaintance and he took one of my hands in his and kissed the back of it. I remember like it was yesterday. I wanted to shudder, to get as far away from him as possible, I could see his filthy fingernails and his pale, papery skin and his teeth. It was like he was rotting right before my very eyes. I was repulsed but at the same time, somehow I wanted nothing more than to be in his presence, nothing more than to look into his eyes. And when I did, I just couldn't look away.

And Mr Snow was on his way to London. Somehow everything else just went out the window, all my rules about staying away from other vampires, staying clean, living, they seemed insignificant. Because Mr Snow was coming to London and that changed everything.

That night, after Em went to bed, I snuck out. I needed to find out more, needed to know whether or not it was true and night time was when my kind came out to play. I wandered the back alleys and side streets, just looking, listening, I wasn't sure what for but I knew I would know it when I found it. And I did. At first it was tiny, just the slightest tang hitting my nostrils, something I hadn't smelt in a long time. It got stronger as I moved closer and I realised that I was running. It took all the effort I possessed to stop. This was not about the blood, it was more important than the blood. I closed my eyes and I listened.

I could hear voices, about twenty feet away from me round a corner, no heartbeats though, they were vampires.

"We won't be open tomorrow." One of them said, he sounded like an old man, "Sir 'enry's having a very important meeting in 'ere so no punters allowed I'm afraid."

"D'you know what it's about Tom?" Asked the other vampire.

"Special visitors on their way, aint they?" Said Tom "I'll, see you Monday?"

"See you Monday."

Then I heard footsteps walking away in one direction and the sound of a door being locked in the other. I decided to brave it and looked round the corner towards where I had heard the door being shut. It was a tavern. There was a sign above the door. "The Blood Barrel" it said, complete with a crudely painted picture of a girl sat in a man-sized beer barrel. I had to laugh, subtlety was never one of Hal's strong suits.

The next day I told Em that I was going for a walk in the grounds. I shouldn't have lied to her really but I knew that she wouldn't be happy if she knew that I had every intention of talking to vampires that day. After everything that her family did for me, me falling off the wagon really would break her heart.

When I got to The Blood Barrel it was all locked up, windows boarded too, so I hid and waited for everyone to show up. I can remember thinking, at that moment "Why am I doing this?" I had my life, I had my house, my money, I even had a sort-of daughter, why was I putting all that in jeopardy? I still don't think I can comprehend why I went there, the only possible explanation is that the thought, the idea that Mr Snow was coming to London drew me in like a moth to a flame.

The vampires arrived in dribs and drabs, Hal was one of the last. He was with his recruit, I can never remember his name, and a girl who appeared to be dressed in nothing but torn undergarments. She was very pretty. I figured she was a ghost, no one would walk around like that unless they had to and she reminded me of the state I was in after a certain afternoon in the shade of a willow tree.

After everyone was inside I tried to follow but I only ended up burning my fingers. No invitation. I wasn't welcome. So I found myself in a very awkward position standing in an alley on top of some wooden crates, trying to listen at the window to no avail. I heard a few words: "dogs" and "ship" but that was it. I was just about to give up when I spotted Hal's little half naked ghost girl standing outside the tavern door looking up at the sign.

"What are they talking about in there?" I asked. She spun around, I must have startled her.

"You can see me?" She asked. I nodded, I think she must have been reasonably new to this world. I waited for her to reply to my question.

"I don't know, I wasn't really paying attention, politics isn't my thing." I laughed, I liked this ghost, she seemed relatively upbeat, despite her condition, she must have been annoying the hell out of Hal.

"No, it wasn't mine either, but it's good to have some idea about what's going on. Especially now, I've been hearing whispers." I hinted. I wondered if she knew anything, perhaps if I could just get her to trust me...

"Are you a vampire?" She asked, frowning.

"Yes" I replied.

"Then, why don't you just go in there and find out?"

I smiled. "I'm not welcome in there anymore." It was strange, all these years I had been staying away from vampire society but now I was so close to it I realised that I kind of missed it, missed not having to hide who you were around people, missed being around people who understood you.

"Why not?" asked the ghost, she asked a lot of questions.

"Lots of reasons," I sighed "mainly because I'm dry now and… other things…" I could tell she was about to ask me more questions so I stopped her with one of my own. "Who killed you then? I bet it was Hal, you look like his type." At that moment, the door of the tavern opened. I looked over the ghost's shoulder straight into the hazel gaze of Sir Henry Yorke. "Speak of the devil."

Hal looked… well if I'm honest he looked amazing. Power suited him. I thought he had been well dressed before but now he looked almost like royalty. He was better groomed, his hair a little shorter and he stood more upright, with this air of malevolence about him that made it so easy for me to imagine being terrified of him. I wasn't though. Because when his eyes met mine, beneath his new mask of power, I could see just a spark of apprehension, of unease, nervousness even. Of fear. Even after all these years.

"Jane, what are you doing here?" said Hal, he didn't wait for me to reply. "You have to leave now, or I'll tell the others that you're out here and you know they won't be happy." I didn't say anything, just maintained eye contact. I never tired of seeing Hal scared of me. "Leave." He said, trying to sound threatening but I could see through him. I smiled.

I left, not because he told me to but because there was no way I was going to find out anything more once Hal knew I was there. It hadn't been a wasted journey though, not really, I hadn't learnt anything but it was worth it just to see the look on Hal's face when he saw me. I would just have to find out about Mr Snow's impending arrival another way.

Em and I were reading in the library when I saw Hal next. He burst into the room without even waiting for my doorman to introduce him. He strode straight towards me, knocking over a chair in his haste. When he was three feet away from me I caught a whiff of the near overwhelming fumes of alcohol and something stronger that were radiating off him.

"I want to know what the fuck you think you're playing at." He spat, his face mere inches away from mine.

"Hal, I don't appreciate you coming here drunk, particularly when I made it perfectly clear last time that I don't want you coming here at all anymore." I said, keeping my voice calm.

"Well, that's what I thought but I assumed the deal was off since you started lurking outside top secret vampire meetings." He responded.

"You did what?" Em spoke for the first time, looking at me in disbelief. Hal looked from her back to me.

"Who's the dog?" He said with a smirk.

"I beg your pardo-" started Em, angrily but I stopped her.

"Em, I think it would be a good idea if you went upstairs for a while." I didn't like the way he was looking at her, like the way you would study a horse or cattle before you bought it.

"I'm not going anywhere!" Em practically shouted. "I want to hear all about these secret vampire meetings you've been a part of!"

"It was one meeting" I said exasperatedly, "and I haven't been a part of anything, I just happened to be outside."

"Asking Isabella what the meeting was about." Interjected Hal. I jumped on the opportunity to steer the direction of the conversation away from me.

"Oh, it's Isabella, is it? Hal, I'm shocked, you never struck me as the sort to grow attached to your food."

"Don't change the subject." He snapped, and I could see I'd hit a nerve. "I want to know why you were at that meeting and how you found out about it." He stepped right into my personal space and I could once more smell the strong fumes wafting from him. I blinked. Hal was drunk. Very drunk. Perhaps even drunk enough to let something slip.

"I've just been hearing things," I said. "Whispers. He's on his way isn't he?"

"What? Who? Who's on their way?" Asked Em but neither Hal nor I responded to her.

"So what if he is? It's none of your business." Said Hal through gritted teeth.

I smiled. "Well, I just want to make sure you know what you've gotten yourself into. I've met Mr Snow and the Old Ones and believe me when I say that-"

"I can handle it." He said.

"I'm sure you can." I didn't think it was possible for him to look any angrier than he already did but as soon as I said those words he looked positively fuming.

"What is that supposed to mean?" He was looking at me now with narrowed eyes, full of suspicion. "You're plotting something aren't you? You want me to fail and then you can swoop in and-" And finally I understood what he was talking about.

"Jesus! How paranoid can you get? Hal, we've had this conversation before, I am not interested in stealing your job!" I snorted derisively. He didn't listen. He moved so that he was once again inches from my face.

"I am not going to let you ruin this for me." He whispered.

"Fine!" I shouted, fed up of his ridiculous suspicions. "I don't care, do whatever you like. But first I suggest you go home to your ghost and sleep off whatever it is you've been drinking." He stared at me for a moment before stepping away.

"This is not over." He said before leaving.

"Would you mind telling me what on earth that was about?" Exclaimed Em. I looked round at her, startled. I had quite forgotten she was there.

"Oh, that was just Hal being a fool, as usual. He thinks I'm after his position. Can you think of anything more ludicrous? As if I would want to rule London."

"I ment about you," she said, "going to going to vampire meetings."

"Oh, that." I said. I had really hoped she would never find out but, since she had, I supposed I deserved her some explanation. "When we were at the market the other day, I heard some rumors and I just needed to know whether they were true or not."

"Why? I don't understand why you need to involve yourself!" She was shouting now. I was taken aback, I had never seen her like this before.

"Em," I started, keeping my voice calm, "the Old Ones are-"

"No! That Hal, was right, it's none of your business. It's not your problem, it's his. And he will do whatever it is he needs to do and you don't have to be a part of it at all!" I opened my mouth to argue but Em continued. "After everything my parents did for you to get you out of that world, to save you, I cannot believe you're trying to spoil it!"

There were tears in her eyes as she grabbed her book and rushed past me out of the room.

So, some crossing over with Haunting Hal there. Here's a link to the chapter if you want to compare: s/8040233/5/Haunting-Hal

I don't think I deserve any reviews after taking so long to update but, if you can find it in the kindness of your heart to leave me one then they are of course, very welcome :) x