Blood Hunter (The Grandor Descendant Series) (23 page)

“-I have a different idea in mind,” he said quickly. “Ok, hold your breath and count to ten,” he added, as he slipped his hand into hers and looked around the clearing.

Ari didn’t need Chris to tell her to hold her breath; the moment he had placed his hand in hers, she had stopped breathing all together. She had just enough time to blush from this intimate gesture, before she felt her hand being tugged hard. For a moment she thought that Chris was pulling her, but she quickly realised that it wasn’t Chris who was moving- it was the forest. It blurred before her, so fast that the swirl of greens and browns made her eyes water and she closed them shut. A second later, it felt as if Ari was falling; she dug her fingernails into the only thing she could feel, Chris’s hand, and felt him squeeze her hand in response. Her hair whipped mindlessly around her face, just as her feet searched for something, anything to steady her. And then, just as soon as it had begun, it stopped. Ari cried out in pain, colliding with hard earth.

“Ahhh,” she yelled, taking in sharp breaths.

Opening her eyes, Ari looked around. She was still surrounded by trees, but they were not the same ones from the Three Prong Trek; they were different somehow… less wild. It wasn’t until she spun around and saw the back of a stone building, where a small window sat about six feet up the wall, that she realised where she was; the back of the campus club. She was staring up at the window she had climbed through on her first night at the Pasteur Institute. Chris was standing next to her, also gasping for air as he looked around, apparently impressed with himself.

“Wow,” she said. “How did you do that? What the hell just happened?”

“Just, ah… something I picked up in my travels.”  

Ari cocked an eyebrow. She had just realised that the pair were still holding hands. Looking down at their interlaced fingers, she blushed and released his hand.   

“Sorry,” he said, looking sheepishly up at her.

Ari didn’t respond, rather moved away from the clearing and back towards the main entrance of the club.   

They were standing in line, waiting to get inside, when Ari spotted Thomas. He looked odd, wearing his long black slacks and black jumper, while everyone else was dressed up, clearly trying to impress.

“What are you doing here?” she said, tapping Thomas on the shoulder. “Is Sandra here?”

He spun around quickly, his eyes wild until they settled on her face, and he smiled gingerly.

“Just looking for Victoria,” he said, continuing to peer around.

“Why would the Vice Chancellor be at the campus club?” asked Ari, her eyes momentarily dancing around the many intoxicated students, before she stared flatly at Thomas.

At these words Thomas frowned; his eyes darted to Chris suspiciously, before he pulled Ari closer. Chris shrugged and entered the club, leaving Ari and Thomas still waiting outside.

“No one has seen Victoria for a couple of days,” Thomas whispered.

“Really?” she said. “Maybe she left to do something?”

“I don’t believe that Victoria would leave without saying something.”

“But then… are you saying that she’s missing?” Ari asked.

Thomas nodded his head and the pair entered the club.

“You made it,” said Rick, when Ari approached the table that Chris, Rick and Lisa were already sitting at.  

“Yay,” Lisa whispered sarcastically under her breath, so that only Ari could hear her.

Ari still had a confused look on her face, following her conversation with Thomas, but she smiled warmly at Rick and ignored Lisa entirely. She was trying to push away the many fears that rushed at her. The coven had stayed at the Pasteur Institute because Thomas was certain that Victoria would be able to keep their presence a secret from the Ancients. What if she was gone? What if the Ancients sent someone else to watch the Institute in her absence?

“Looks like the parties over here,” someone said from behind Ari, and she spun around to see Sandra.

“Hey,” Ari said, just as Rick pulled a chair out for Sandra. “Everyone, this is Sandra; Sandra this is Chris, Rick and Lisa. We’re all in the same prac group together.”

“So what’s the occasion?” Sandra asked, batting her long eyelashes shamelessly at Rick and Chris.

“Mid-sem holidays,” said Rick, leaning in closer to Sandra.

“One whole week of enjoying the Isle of Man’s finest attractions,” Chris joked.

“You know,” Rick said, leaning in towards Sandra, “I would be happy to show you some of those attractions.”

“Cheers,” said Sandra, holding up a shot glass and swallowing the contents in one go, before throwing it into the bin a few meters away.

“Nice short!” said Rick, in a tone of admiration.

Ari raised her eyebrows but Sandra shrugged. It wasn’t like Sandra to show off in front of humans, that was more Clyde’s style. Still, Sandra seemed to be in good spirits and Ari certainly wasn’t going to reprimand her.  

“Yea, I topped the class,” Lisa said impressively, clearly wanting to bring the conversation back to her, “what did you say you got again Ari?”

Chris frowned but Ari said, “I passed, which is all I wanted.”

“It must be nice… you know, not to care about your grades,” Lisa said soothingly, “I hate not getting to be on top,” she added, purring at Chris.

“I bet you do,” Ari muttered.

Sandra, who was watching Lisa with narrowed eyes, suddenly stood up and said, “Want to grab another drink Lisa? My shout.”

Lisa looked stunned but then glancing down at her empty cup, shrugged, and followed Sandra to the bar. Ari watched the pair leave with her mouth open. Why was Sandra being so nice to Lisa? Hadn’t Sandra just heard Lisa insult her?

The moment Lisa and Sandra were out of ear shot, Rick turned to Ari and said, “Wow, is Sandra bi? Maybe I could organise a get together for her, me and Lisa?”

Chris burst out laughing and said, “I don’t know if Sandra has the same taste as you.”

Ari, who hadn’t missed the double meaning, turned to see where Sandra and Lisa were, but couldn’t see them anywhere. Not bothering to excuse herself, she stood and quickly left the table also, racing into the almost empty bar. Still she couldn’t see the pair; Ari had a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach. Why, if Sandra was buying Lisa a drink, were they not in the bar? Unless, Sandra wasn’t talking about the bar… maybe she was just trying to get Lisa alone.

She thought hard, wondering where they could have possibly gone and decided to check the bathroom. When she pushed the door open, Ari gasped in horror.   

“What are you doing?” she shrieked, rushing over to Sandra and pulling her away from Lisa, whose neck she was guzzling from.

As Sandra recoiled, Ari saw that there were two puncture marks on Lisa’s neck.

“What? You don’t like her either!” said Sandra, her eyes still fastened on Lisa’s neck. “She was being a right cow to you.”

“Yea, but that doesn’t mean you should attack her,” Ari said defensively, as Sandra moved back over to Lisa, who was standing frozen. “Is this about Larissa?”

For a moment Sandra was speechless, then her eyes hardened and she said, “You don’t get to talk about Larissa.” Suddenly Sandra was leaning over Lisa and said, “
Cover up that bite and forget everything that happened tonight.”

Ari recognised the commanding tone in Sandra’s voice and blinked dumbly at Lisa. After a few seconds Lisa nodded, then took the scarf that she had been wearing and wrapped it tightly around her neck, before leaving the bathroom.

The moment that Lisa had left, Sandra leaned over the bathroom sink and began washing her hands, before checking her face in the mirror and reapplying a thick layer of red lipstick. When she was done she left the bathroom also, not bothering to look back at Ari.

Ari remained in the bathroom for several more minutes. She was staring transfixed at her reflection. She couldn’t believe what she had just witnessed and what Sandra had said to her. Thinking hard, she suddenly raced out of the bathroom, her eyes wild as she searched for Sandra.

As soon as she neared the bar, she saw her. She was standing off to the side, throwing her arms up in the air and arguing with one of the bartenders. Ari remained hidden in the shadows, watching. She recognised the bartender as the same man who had served them during the traffic light dance. He was tall and thin, with black hair and narrow beady eyes; pinned to his vest was a small name tag that read Paul.

Ari couldn’t hear what they said, but judging by the shocked look on Sandra’s face, it was nothing good. After a moment Sandra nodded and the bar tender smiled, taking Sandra by the hand as he directed her past the bar and towards the rear of the club. Trying not to be heard or seen, Ari followed silently behind.

“In here,” the bar tender said, and Ari froze, watching as Sandra was directed into a side door in the back of the club.

Ari waited a few seconds before walking casually up to the door; carefully she peered through the small oval window above it. The bar tender was holding a small vial in his hands, filled with red liquid. He waggled it in front of Sandra, who reached for it desperately, but with lightning reflexes the man drew it away.

“You know what we agreed,” he said, looking down at his belt buckle.

Sandra looked desperately at the vial in his hands before bending down and reaching for his belt, quickly pulling it loose of his pants. In an instant she had unzipped his pants.

Ari felt sick; what was Sandra doing? The bartender made to grab Sandra’s hair, his mouth opening in prepared ecstasy, just as two large fangs were revealed- he was a vampire too. And then, before Ari had time to react, Sandra leapt to her feet, her fangs beared. She struck him hard with her clenched fist and the bartender fell to the floor, the vial slipping from his hands and smashing on the floor.

“NO!” Sandra gasped, reaching for the broken vial.

Getting down to her knees, Sandra hurriedly began tearing at the carpet where the spilled blood was quickly being absorbed. Her tongue licked the carpet, desperate to retrieve any remnants of the vial’s contents.

“Filthy addict,” screamed the bartender, but Sandra whipped around just in time and hit him again, this time harder, so that he crumpled to the floor, unconscious.

Immediately Sandra began searching him, forcing her hands into his pockets and turning them out in frustration. After a moment she stood again and looked around the room, her eyes finally falling on an old metal chair. She reached for it, quickly breaking the frame and winding a long piece of metal around the bartender’s wrists. When his hands and feet were bound, his eyes flickered open.  

“Where’s the rest of it,” she asked, slapping him hard across the face.

The bartender’s head lolled on the side and his eyes squinted up at Sandra.

“Answer me,” she screamed, bawling her hand into a fist. 

“I don’t have any more,” he said finally, spitting out blood as he spoke.    

“Where do I get more from,” Sandra hissed.

The vampire didn’t answer her and Sandra moved over to an old table in the corner of the room, reaching for one of the chairs and breaking off a leg. Without warning she forced the pointy end into the bartender’s chest, driving it in as far as it would go. Even with the music from the club, Ari heard his screams.   

Ari had seen enough. Instantly she reached into her pocket and retrieved her phone. She didn’t dare call Thomas for fear of being overheard, but hurriedly wrote a message to him:

‘Sandra’s at the Campus club. Hurry… something’s wrong with her.’

Pressing send, Ari peered through the window again.

“I got it off Bridget,” the bar tender said finally, his head falling down, as flecks of blood spattered from his mouth.

“Are you telling me the truth?” asked Sandra, leisurely pressing the broken chair’s leg further into the vampire’s chest.

“I swear… I swear,” he gurgled. “Please, take-it-out!”

“Shhh,” Sandra cooed, reaching her hand down so that it pressed against his white cheeks. “I’ll take it out. Just as soon as you call Bridget and get her to bring more.”