Free Vampire Books: Vampire Bite – Chapter 11

As they fight they move so fast I can barely see what’s going on.  One second they’re lying down, the next they’re standing up.  I stand back so I don’t get knocked down by them and feel like a goon; holding the gun, not knowing what to do.  I don’t want to shoot at Casper and then get Alfie by mistake.

Casper…

But then Casper manages to twist out of Alfie’s grip; he twists so fast, elbowing Alfie in the throat, and Alfie falls back, his back slamming into the ground, clutching at his throat, and before I can react Casper vaults the fence and becomes a blur in the night as he runs down the hill and into the shadows.

“Alfie!” I say, running to him.

“I’m alright,” he says, rubbing his throat where Casper got him.  “Check the girl,” he says, gesturing towards the dark doorway.

Suddenly I remember – there was blood on Casper’s face.  I move as fast as I can and find someone lying on the ground in the dark, not moving.  I hear Alfie getting to his feet and he shines a torch through the entrance, casting a sharp spot light on the girl I’m touching.  I suck in a sharp breath.  She is gazing, unseeingly, at the worn stone ceiling, with blood seeping from her neck.

I shake her, and feel the blood-free side of her neck for a pulse, even though I know there won’t be one.

“I can’t find her pulse.”

“She’s dead Ava.”

“He killed her.  Casper killed her.”

Alfie looks at me, and my pale face. 

“I had no idea he was a vampire Ava, I’m sorry, I knew you liked him – I’ve seen you looking at him.  I would have warned you….”

I shake my head.

“No, you didn’t know,” I say, my eyes still fixed on the girl’s lifeless stare.  “We need to call the police.”

“I’ll do it,” Alfie says.  He stays where he is and dials 999 on his mobile.  I phase out as he talks into the phone.

Casper kissed me.  He didn’t kill me.  He’s a vampire.  A vampire.  Then why am I still longing for him like this?  He just bloody well killed someone!  I’m in shock … that must be why.  Casper killed this girl.

Alfie gets off the phone and puts his arm around my shoulders while we wait for the police to turn up.  We stand there in silence, and then once they arrive we have to answer a load of questions before they’ll let us leave, and Alfie walks me home, still in silence.  It’s not dawn yet, but for once I don’t want to stay out – I need to get my head sorted; I need some time to think.

“Do you want me to stay?” Alfie says.

“No, really, you need to be out there – there are still people you could save.  I’m sorry I’m not going to stay out with you,” I say, looking at my feet, feeling my eyes well up and threaten to overflow.

Alfie rubs my shoulder.  “You’ll be ok, Ava.”

I nod.  “I just need some time on my own, I think.  I’ll be ready to go out with you again tomorrow night.”

“If you’re not; I get it.”

“No, I will be.  I promise.”

He smiles at me, but his eyes look sad.  “Sleep tight, Ava.”  He turns and leaves.

This time I don’t wait outside, I turn the key immediately and close the door behind me, then run up the stairs and as soon as I’m in my flat my eyes do overflow and I crumble to the floor, my chest heaving.  I can’t think as the surge of emotion and grief I’m experiencing is too strong.  Time passes and I just cry.

Eventually my heaving turns to sobs and then I become cried-out.  I make myself a herbal tea and sit with it in bed, thoughts returning like a full on blast and everything that’s happened going through my head over and over at super-speed.  That girl; dead – Casper killed her.  A guy that I’ve kissed, and am crazy about – he killed somebody.  He’s probably killed multiple somebodies.  And that girl – she’s a person with dreams and family and friends, people who will be finding out what has happened to her – the amount of lives one death can affect is astronomical.

Her body lying there, the blood on her neck, the recent death – it was so much like what happened to Trish.  It’s made the pain of her death come back in a full blown form, like a ball of twisting pain in my heart and gut.  I feel like talking to Mark, talking to him about Trish, but I don’t want to wake him.  I’ll ring him later, his familiar voice would be so good to hear.

Casper’s face appears in my mind.  His beautiful face.  And insights start gathering in my mind like snippets of a puzzle.  He’s beautiful – unnaturally beautiful – and I remember what Alfie said before – about how when vampires put their charms on you the attraction you feel can be way more than what’s normal.  It wasn’t real.  The way I feel about him isn’t real – it’s because he’s a vampire and he’s been charming me.  He was probably going to kill me, but why didn’t he? 

The first time I saw him he was on the steps by the river – near to where I was attacked.  My first impression of him was beautiful and dangerous – and my first impression was right.  He was probably sitting there waiting for an opportunity to attack someone, and he didn’t attack me then because I was with Alfie.  When I spotted him again in town; again I was safe because I was with Alfie.  But after that I felt like I was being watched – could he have been following us?  More specifically – following me?

Then in the club – the night Trish was killed – he approached me.  He only just started to kiss me and then there was that scream and he disappeared.  If Trish hadn’t been killed – would it have been me?

And then outside my house … was it really a coincidence that he was there?  Or had he followed me?  He knows where I live; I’m going to have to be so careful from now on.  At least Alfie said vampires can’t come in uninvited, thank God I didn’t completely lose it and invite Casper in.  If he’d asked … would I have said yes?  I may have done.  I wanted him – like I’ve never wanted anyone before.  And why didn’t he kill me then?  He could have done; he had me all to himself, all alone.  But … there’s another spark in my brain as more thoughts come together … the sun was about to rise – that’s why he left.  But he still could have killed me … there would have been time for a quick bite and run.

Does it really matter why he didn’t kill me?  The fact is he did kill someone.  He is a murderer.

On that happy note I finish my tea and curl up under my covers and eventually I drift off into a welcome sleep.

The rest of the week passes in a blur.  I go out with Alfie every night but we don’t encounter any vampires, and I don’t even glimpse Casper.

“Alfie?” I say, while we’re leaning against a wall in an alleyway again, on our hunt.

“Yep?”

“Sometimes I think … or feel … like we’re being followed.  Do you?”

“Nope, but you know me, I’m ultra-confident.  I could be missing something you’re not.”

“I just get this creeping feeling, like the hairs on the back of my neck are standing on end.  I might just be being paranoid … but I wonder … umm … if Casper might sometimes follow us?”  I haven’t mentioned anything to him about my encounter with him outside my flat, and I don’t plan to.

“Do you feel like he is now?”

I nod.

“Those bloodsuckers are creepy bastards, it wouldn’t surprise me,” he says, and shudders.

“Do you think we should back track, see if we can find him?”

“Nope, don’t think we’ll stand a chance if he doesn’t want to be seen.  The only chance we have is if we come across him when he’s not expecting to see us.  If he’s following us he’s definitely expecting to see us.”

A good-looking man steps around the corner and saunters towards us.  “It’s not Casper that’s following you,” he says, and smirks.

A younger guy walks towards us from the other end of the alley.  “But you are being followed,” he says.

“Bloodsuckers,” Alfie hisses from under his breath.