Opening the doors to Charlotte’s
wardrobe, Leola started moving the outfits and dresses from left to right. She
stopped when eyeing the green dress. There were white felt patterns sewn in.
Resembling feathers, they seemed to congregate around the mid-chest area and
close to the hips. She removed the hanger from the horizontal pole and held it
in front of her body. Leola was stood near Charlotte’s bedroom mirror, so she
could tell whether it was right for her.
“Nope”
Leola put it back. She said no to
five other outfits, before finding the one that looked good on her. Her choice
was a dark blue two piece dress: top and skirt. A portion of her abdomen was
visible after she changed into it. The hem of the skirt didn’t go any lower
than the top of her knees. She twirled twice before becoming certain she’d
picked the right one.
This effort wasn’t for the
benefit of the dress’s original wearer. Leola had other plans, none of which
involved the Trennell family. Charlotte was due to arrive in less than twenty
minutes. Certain this was the case, it gave Doug, Pippa and Rosie half that
duration in which to get changed. Rosie was a few minutes ahead of Leola, in
terms of getting ready. She had on a Burberry outfit that Alicia had urged her
to buy. Standing beside her was Katy, who’d come to the house half an hour
earlier than arranged. Pippa included Rosie’s pal in her desire to see everyone
looking their best.
“Do you think this looks right
for a family dinner?”
“The dress does, the shoes so
don’t, Rosie”
Following the advice of her
friend, she took off the ones on her feet and replaced them on the rack. She
picked the ones that were two pairs down from the shoes she’d already tried on.
Rosie slipped into them.
“How about these, Katy”
“They’re totally the ones”
“Cool”
“Where’s Skye?”
“Getting ready herself”
“I didn’t see a place for her at
the dinner table” observed Katy.
“She’s not eating with us”
“Why not”
“Skye’s meeting a mate of hers
who lives in Alven.”
“What if she legs it before your
mum gets things sorted?”
“She’s promised not to, if mum
lets her see this friend of hers. Skye’s also given her the lowdown on why she
really ran away”
“What is it?”
“She was being bullied”
“By who”
“Sisters – Emma and Sophie Walsh”
“Why were they bullying her?”
“I don’t know – but they’d been
doing it for years, at different care homes Skye lived in”
“They sound a right pair of
skanks” commented Katy.
The wall between Rosie’s bedroom
and her sister’s provided no protection against eavesdropping. Leola smiled as
she listened to Katy and Rosie’s conversation. The sly grin vanished from her
face when she rifled through her handbag, though. There was no blood in any of
the tiny bottles. Each one was empty.
“Shit” she said, through clenched
teeth.
Her I-Phone registered a text
from the person she’d arranged to meet. The sender, though, was nobody she
actually knew. Pretending she’d seen someone in the street she’d recognised,
she’d asked Doug to stop the car. She hypnotised the stranger into being the
person that she was going out to meet, and to send a text in the evening. Leola
looked at the text and then turned off her phone. After putting on shoes that
matched the dress’s colour, Leola went to the top of the stairs and glanced
toward the ground floor hallway. Thinking she’d heard Charlotte’s car enter the
driveway, Pippa had left the door open whilst checking she’d arrived. Clutching
her handbag, Leola seized this opportune moment. She was through the front door
and three blocks away in less than ten seconds.
Rosie and Katy came down the
staircase and went into the rear of the house. They joined Pippa in the
kitchen, after Rosie had briefly spoken to her dad.
“What time is Charlotte arriving
again, mum?”
“Quite soon – don’t forget; after
dinner, you and Katy have revision to do”
“I’ll remember that, mum, chill”
“See that you do”
“So, mum, what are you going to
do about the Walsh sisters?”
“Firstly, talk to Diane about
them being at Sudfield. I don’t know what she’s thinking letting bullies who’ve
made Skye’s life hell move to where she’s staying!”
“I heard you and dad arguing”
“Doug wasn’t happy with me
questioning Diane’s professionalism: whether she’s an old friend of her or not,
I’ll have to evaluate her competency in the job. He’s having trouble understanding
that.”
“Does this mean she’s going to be
fired?”
“I’ll doubt it’ll come to that,
but I will need to be sure whether she’s up to being in charge of Sudfield. It
may sound harsh, but the building’s owned by Alvenshire County Council, so I’ve
no choice.”
“Do you want me to talk to dad?”
“No need, it’s my problem – and
his, to a small extent.”
“Okay”
“I wish you’d reconsider wearing
that dress you’ve got on”
“Charlotte won’t mind”
“Did Skye tell you what time
she’d be back from meeting her friend?”
“No she didn’t – why?”
“I want to talk to her again
about the Walsh sisters bullying her. I need details from her about that”
“Do you want me to try?”
“There’s no need, love” said
Pippa. “Alvenshire County Council has computer records of kids living in care
homes. I’ll access them tomorrow when I get into work”
Rosie was about to ask her mum
something else when there was a knock on the door. Councillor Trennell went
into the hallway and opened it. Hearing her big sister’s voice, Rosie came into
the downstairs corridor with her dad and Katy. They all saw that she was
holding hands with a man in his early thirties. Rosie asked who he was after
hugging her sister.
“Everyone, this is Martin
Tendale”
Pippa said “Good to meet you” and
Doug shook his hand firmly but warmly. Rosie and Katy went for a more 21st
century greeting – both of them giving him high-fives.
“So, how long have you known my
daughter?” Doug asked Martin.
“Over a couple of months:
Charlotte and I met in the university library. Charlotte was doing some
research there. We were both looking for the same reference book – our eyes met
and boom!”
The mixture of romance and
academia was something Pippa couldn’t help finding funny. She resisted the urge
to laugh, though. Councillor Trennell didn’t like being the parent who
embarrassed their kids in front of prospective boyfriends or future husbands.
Doug was the one who possessed that habit. True to form, he asked Martin “Are
you a Ralham FC supporter?”
“Doug, for goodness’ sake!” said
Pippa tersely.
“It’s alright, I don’t mind
answering that. No, I’m not really into football, Mr. Trennell”
“Call me Doug”
“Doug – I’m more into tennis than
anything else”
Charlotte’s dad tried to hide his
disappointment that Martin wasn’t a footie fan. His eldest daughter could sense
it but didn’t raise the matter.
“I hope you don’t mind, Charlotte,
but Skye borrowed a dress of yours” said Pippa.
“Skye – who’s Skye”
“Our new temporary lodger”
replied Rosie.
Pippa half-closed her eyes and
gently slapped her forehead with her left hand.
“Christ, I forgot to tell you
about her, Charlotte! I’ve just been so busy today; I hadn’t really found a
moment to do that!”
“Well, now’s a good time as any –
who’s this Skye?”
“Skye Linton, love” Doug said to
Charlotte. “She ran away from Sudfield Hall, and tried to make out she’d fallen
out with Diane Farnham, but it turns out two sisters had been making her life a
misery. They’d started to do it again when they turned up at that halfway
house.”
“Diane Farnham” said Martin.
“Yes” said Doug. “She’s an old
school friend. Do you know her?”
“I know her daughter”
“Darcy”
“Yes, Councillor Trennell” said
Martin. “She’s one of my brightest students. I don’t think she’s very well,
though. Darcy keeps having dizzy spells and her room-mate, Jessica, said she
passed out a couple of times.”
“I hope it’s not serious” wished
Charlotte.
“Did this happen last week?”
enquired Pippa.
“No, it started a couple of days
ago.”
Not one to dwell for too long on
these matters, Charlotte asked her mum “Where’s this Skye Linton then?”
“Going to meet a mate” said
Rosie.
Martin picked up the aroma of the
meal from where he was stood.
“That smells delicious,
Councillor Trennell”
“Doug did his bit” she said
“There should be plenty for another person at the dinner table.”
“I’ll lay an extra plate and
cutlery on it” volunteered Charlotte.
“Rosie or Katy can do that”
“It’s okay, mum, I don’t mind”
Doug noticed the bottle of wine Charlotte’s
new boyfriend was carrying under his left arm.
“You’re a man after my own heart,
Martin – I love that stuff!”
“So where is Skye Linton meeting
her friend?” Charlotte asked her mum.
Leola got off the bus nearly a
mile from where she told Pippa she was meeting her non-existent mate. Over a
block away was the turning into Lockley’s Weind. It was a cobbled ramp heading
down towards a nightclub called ‘Red Moon’. That route was pedestrian-friendly
– marked by four concrete posts, barring any vehicle from using it as a short-cut.
Leola looked both ways, to see if anyone was coming. Satisfied this wasn’t the
case, she covered the distance between there and the club’s front door in a
single second. Delving into her handbag, she took out a gold ring and slid it
onto finger number two of her right hand. Etched into the centre of it was the
head of a tiger.
On glimpsing it, the bouncer let
her in without hesitation. Myra Davidson and a friend of hers moved a few paces
forward. The doorman immediately took hold of both of their right hands. They
snatched them away. Myra yelled out ‘Mitts off, you perv!”
“Home, now!” boomed a voice two
feet behind them.
Myra turned to see her mum,
Paula.
“I’m so grounded!” she said to
her pal.
After walking along a dark red
corridor, Leola entered the main part of the club. The whole dance floor was
wall-to-wall of those who’d never again age. They each wore a ring on the same
right-hand finger, but theirs were silver. ‘Red Moon’ had been Leola’s second
destination, once she’d gotten herself an Americano. However, her accidental
meeting with Pippa had delayed that by an entire day. Moving to the rhythm of
‘Don’t Look Back in Anger’, some of the vampires who survived ‘the Battle of
Trenchwell’ – both genders – were here. Mixed into this crowd were those who’d
been turned from the 18th century onwards. Documentation of this
conflict was missing from the history books. The battle was mortal man’s
attempt to wipe out the vampire species, but the undertaking didn’t lead to
their genocide. Once it was over, the humans who’d waged this war opted never
to speak of it again or to chronicle it. This explained why no Alvenshire
historian knew it had occurred. Consequently, the conflict joined the list of
this county’s myths and legends. Each vampire slaughtered was done so by a
dagger made of gold, silver and bronze. Individually, they were harmless to the
‘un-dead’. Combined, the three metals proved to be lethal to them. It bore the
surname of the blacksmith who’d forged them – Henford. That name also entered
into Alvenshire’s array of myths – even the pub Pippa had driven by on her way
to Sudfield Hall was named after that weapon.
It wasn’t just mortals who wanted
to bury these events: a handful of vampires chose this course of action too.
Amongst them was Leola herself. Trenchwell Moors was where Garalde, the one who
turned her, was stabbed by one of these daggers. Nearly all of them were melted
down to make conventional swords. Two vanished in mysterious circumstances
before they could be reconstituted. Neither was ever retrieved. The exact
location of them fell into folklore over the centuries.
Making her way to the bar meant
crossing the dance floor. The immortals engaged in dancing looked like normal
clubbers. Leola knew different. The female vampires were dressed more
provocatively than the male ones. Predatory behaviour emerged within them, when
they realised how much more powerful they were than humans. Their inhibitions
dissolved in the face of this discovery. All the ‘un-dead’ citizens who
recognised her said “Hi” to her, using her original name. She said “Hi” back as
many times as she could. Here in this nightclub was her world, within the human
one that surrounded it.
Behind the bar counter was an 87
year-old vampire named Tina Lord, but born Lucy Hawfield. She was on
drinks-serving duty, dressed in a bouncer’s outfit, complete with a bowtie.
“Evening, Lucy”
“Evening, Leola”
This was one of the few places
their kind could use the names their parents gave them. Sanctuary against
exposure wasn’t a necessity within these walls.
“They’re waiting for you”
“Cheers, Lucy”
She lifted the flap to the left
of her, allowing Leola through. Leola entered the storeroom. Stacked on either
side were chrome steel and glass cupboards, housing blood bags. They were being
stored in a tepid climate to give her species the sensation of having come from
human veins. Ahead of her was the lift to the floor below. She pressed a button
with a red arrow pointing down. The doors slid apart and Leola stepped inside.
It took the lift just a couple of seconds to reach the basement area. Emerging,
she saw a door with an electronic keypad. It had an identical structural design
to the one on Sudfield’s third floor. Leola typed in her personal code and
waited for the green light to appear. When it did, she was able to push the
door open.
On the other side of it was a
conference table. There were eight chairs around it – one for every member of a
vampire council known as ‘The Guild’. The only empty seat remaining was for
Leola. She was pissed off that Julian had placed it at the furthest end of the
table. Leola could tell from the look on his face it was a deliberate move on
his part.
“We were expecting you last
night, Leola” he said arrogantly. “What kept you?”
After giving him her “whatever”
expression, she replied “I was starting work as a solicitor, Julian.”
“Very funny”
“Thanks, Julian”
He put his laptop onto his side
of the table. Julian lifted up the screen and looked at something he’d searched
on the internet for.
“Discovered online porn, Julian?”
One of the female members – a
blonde-haired young woman couldn’t help laughing. She stopped when faced with
stares indicating the other members weren’t amused. The most serious of the lot
belonged to Evelyn Brooke – a vampire with brown hair and a tiny scar above her
right eye. Aged 36 when she was turned, she was the oldest female to become
immortal. She was highly unappreciative of Leola’s levity, even though she was
the one who gave Evelyn eternal life.
“I’m going to ask you again,
Leola” said Julian. “Why were you delayed?”
“Someone thought I was a runaway
from a halfway house”
“Can you elaborate?”
“Can you talk like someone from
this century?”
“Just answer Julian’s question!”
barked Evelyn.
“Some woman saw me and came to
the conclusion I’d run away from Sudfield Hall. I had to play along.”
“Is there any danger she might
find out who and what you are?”
“There’s always that risk for all
of us, Julian” replied Leola. “She seems to be tenacious when searching for the
truth.”
“What about the Eddington
sisters, Emily and Lynette – are they safely incarcerated?” asked the blonde
vampire.
“They’re locked up on the third
floor of the halfway house I told you about, Catherine.”
“That’s a highly risky solution”
stated Evelyn.
“I’ve made it less so”
“How have you managed to do
that?” enquired Julian.
“The woman in charge – Diane
Farnham – owes me”
“Owes you how” asked Evelyn.
“I saved her life when she was a
teenager herself. The residents and staff are in the dark about them being
there – only Diane knows.”
“I sincerely hope you’re right,
Leola” said Julian warningly. “Your mistake needs to be fully contained until
one or both of the daggers can be found and the sisters executed.”
At 7:17am, the next morning,
Rosie knocked on Charlotte’s bedroom door. Leola, who was really wide awake,
pretended to be half-asleep. With a staged yawn, she said “Come in”. Rosie
entered, carrying a hot cup of coffee.
“What time is it?” asked Leola,
taking the coffee and yawning again for effect.
“7:18am”
Rosie was half-dressed for school
already. She hadn’t yet got her jumper on or put on her tie, and she was
barefoot.
After rubbing her eyes
theatrically, as if still dogged by sleepiness, Leola asked “Why are you
getting ready so early?”
“Mum’s changed her mind about
sending you back to a halfway house.”
“Really”
Leola was masterful at feigning
surprise. She was the one who’d really brought about Pippa’s change of heart. When
Leola returned from ‘The Guild’ meeting, she’d finally managed to get a minute
or so alone with Councillor Trennell. She hypnotised her into giving up her
mission to get her into another halfway house, and to stop digging into what
was really going on at Sudfield. Leola didn’t want to do it, but Julian had
ordered her to – a command of his that ‘The Guild’ unanimously backed. As she
was a member herself, she had to capitulate.
“Did she say anything about education?”
“Yeah, she’s totally said yes to
you going to school with me”
“I wouldn’t have thought she’d
done a U-turn.”
She succeeded again in exhibiting
manufactured surprise for Rosie’s benefit. Leola had additionally hypnotised
her mum into getting her a place at Rosie’s school. Further integration into
normal life was the only way she could think of to throw the Trennell family
off the scent. Faking surprise at Rosie’s news was part of that strategy.
“Mum said it might take a day or
two, but she’s confident Mrs. Davidson can enrol you before the weekend. She’s
one of the school governors.”
After downing three mouthfuls of
coffee, Leola told Rosie she was going for a shower.
“Okay Skye”
Rosie darted back into her own
bedroom. She began searching her handbag for some lip balm. It was devoid of
that beauty product, however. Rosie uttered a swearword under her breath. She
needed it in order to make her attraction to Jake even more noticeable to him.
“I wonder if Skye’s got some” she
thought.
Waiting until Leola had turned on
the shower, Rosie entered her sister’s bedroom. She spotted it and searched
inside. Her fingers came to a standstill when she felt something metallic and
circular. Rosie lifted the object out. It was the golden ring Leola had worn
last night. Twirling it between her thumb and forefinger, she soon saw the
tiger-head emblem.
“That design’s way weird” she
thought. “Superior bling, though!”
Taking out her I-Phone from her
left shirt pocket, she took a photo of it and saved it to the image folder. She
put it back hurriedly. Rosie returned to her own bedroom and began looking for
her tie.
By 8:13am, over a hundred pupils
were scattered around the schoolyard. Rosie passed a circle of Year 11s talking
to one another, in order to get to Katy and Alicia. The DCI’s daughter seemed
to have something new on her mind that she was dying to tell Rosie. Katy had
that expression too.
“Myra’s come unstuck – like
totally” announced Alicia.
“What do you mean?”
“Tell her, Ali!” Katy ordered,
aware of the lingering pause.
“She was trying to get into ‘Red
Moon’ and Mrs. Davidson so found out – like way busted!”
“Did they?”
“Totally not, Katy” said Alicia.
“She didn’t have the ring”
This reminded Rosie of the ring
belonging to Leola she’d photographed. She accessed the photo album on her
I-Phone and moved the screen in front of Alicia and Katy’s faces.
“Is this it?”
“Yeah, but the one I saw is
silver. They’ve like both got the same symbol, though.”
“How come you know about it,
Ali?”
“Jalita’s older sister has one,
Rosie”
“Like no way, Ali!” exclaimed
Katy. “They’re Muslims – Kahri would never go to a nightclub! It’ll be against
her faith, won’t it?”
“I totally swear to you, Katy”
continued Alicia, “I saw Kahri Monaal wearing a silver one!”
“How long has she been a regular
at ‘Red Moon’?” Rosie asked Alicia.
“A year or two: I so have to ask,
Rosie – whose ring did you take a photo of?”
“Skye’s, Ali!”
“You told me she’s seventeen”
said Katy. “How was she able to get one?”
“I so don’t know!”
“That’s like so bad – she sounds
fun!” said Alicia.
Alicia spied Mrs. Davidson stood
in the school’s main entrance. She gently nudged the shoulders of her two
friends to alert them to the headmistress’ presence.
“Let’s head in before we get
lunch detention” said Alicia.
Following assembly, the first
class of the day was Music & Drama. The door to the large classroom opened.
All the pupils rushed to their desks and stood up. The face of the woman was
that of Evelyn Brooke.
“Good morning class!” she said.
“Good morning, Ms Bryant!” the
pupils replied.
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