Hidden (Marchwood Vampire Series #1) (39 page)

‘
That explains it - I was last in Paris in 1881.’

She put the
laptop down and looked at Alexandre. He had his head in his hands
and he looked like he was trying hard to keep it together. Madison
came and sat down next to him. She put a hand on his shoulder.

‘
Hey, Alex, don’t worry. I’ll help you settle in. You’ll be
fine. It’s just a bit weird for you, that’s all. We’ll work it out
together, okay?’ She tried to give his shoulder a comforting
squeeze, but it felt like stone beneath his jacket.
‘Alright?’

He nodded and
looked sideways at her through his dark lashes, trying to
smile.

They talked
through the night. Madison was tired, but she couldn’t bear to drag
herself away from him. He was so astonishing to look at and to
listen to and he was funny and clever and vulnerable. She felt as
though he valued her opinions, that she made some kind of
difference to his state-of-mind. She wanted to banish his sadness,
to be the cause of something better for him. She couldn’t put it
into coherent thought. It just felt good to be around him and when
he looked at her she felt so alive it almost hurt.

*

Madison awoke
sometime the following morning. Still in the lounge, she lay on the
sofa, covered over with the quilt from her bed. She pulled it up to
her nose and smiled to herself. She must have fallen asleep at some
point and Alexandre must have brought her quilt down and covered
her with it. She hoped she hadn’t dribbled or snored. God, she must
look a right mess. Her eyeliner would be smudged right down to her
chin.

She heard voices outside; probably Morris talking to somebody
or other. Sunlight filtered in through a gap in the curtains. She
smiled to herself again and hugged her knees up to her
chest.
Alexandre
.
She said his name in her head, squeezed her eyes closed and
recalled his face, his dark hair and his broad shoulders. She
opened her eyes and saw … Esther.

‘
Morning,’ the housekeeper said. ‘Fell asleep watching the box
did you? Bad habit to get into. No good for your back, lying on
that sofa all night.’

‘
Thanks for the advice,’ Madison said, sitting up. The mood
had been broken.

‘
Don’t mind if I Hoover in here do you?’ Esther said without
waiting for a reply. She pressed a button and the loud drone of the
vacuum cleaner filled the room. Maddy sighed and left the room,
dragging the quilt behind her.

She went back
to bed and slept for most of the day. Even Ben didn’t wake up until
early afternoon. That evening, Madison decided the inevitable could
not be put off any longer; Ben and Alexandre would have to
meet.

Chapter
Twenty Three

*

Madison caught
her breath as the door opened and the hesitant figure of Alexandre
walked into the lounge. They greeted each other with nervous
smiles. Ben looked up briefly before turning his attention back to
the TV.

‘
Ben, could you pause that for a second. I want to introduce
you to someone. Do you remember? The person I told you
about.’

Ben sighed and
stopped the film.

Maddy stood
and motioned to her brother to get up too.

‘
Ben, this is Alexandre. Alexandre, Ben.’

‘
Pleased to make your acquaintance,’ said Alexandre, extending
his hand.

‘
Yeah, hi. You’re the vampire statue right?’

‘
That is correct. But you do not need to think of me as such.
I am also a person like you.’

‘
Mads,’ Ben turned to her. ‘Do you really think dressing some
bloke up in a posh suit and asking him to speak in a French accent
is gonna make me fall for it?’ He looked up at Alexandre. ‘It’s a
good try, mate, but I’m not stupid.’

‘
You do not believe me?’ Alexandre smiled.

‘
Uh, no-o.’

‘
Very well, what can I do to convince you?’

‘
Ben,’ Maddy said. ‘Look at him. Don’t you recognise him? He’s
the statue from the cellar.’

Ben looked.
‘All I can see is a bloke who’s dressed in the same lame clothes as
that statue, but he ain’t a statue. He’s a person. Can I watch the
rest of the film now?’

‘
No. And don’t be so rude. I’m going to prove to you that Alex
is a vampire. Alex, help me out here.’

‘
Very well,’ Alexandre said, smirking. He transformed his face
into a snarl and his top lip curled back to reveal a set of very
sharp fang-like incisors.

‘
Wow! That’s seriously sick!’ Ben stood on tiptoe to try and
get a closer look. ‘Are they real? I’ve seen guys like you on
documentaries. When did you get it done?’

Maddy had been
quite unnerved by Alexandre’s display of teeth and she couldn’t
believe Ben still wasn’t convinced.

‘
Ben, he didn’t ‘get them done’. Those are his real
teeth.’

‘
Show me some super-vampire strength and I might believe you.’
Ben crossed his arms and stared at him with a cynical look in his
eyes.

‘
Very well,’ Alexandre smirked. He put his forefinger under
the arm of the sofa and raised it up on its side, balancing it on
his finger.

‘
Cool! You’re strong, I’ll give you that. But a sofa isn’t
exactly the heaviest thing in the world. What about lifting up
Maddy’s ride?’

Alexandre
lowered the sofa gently back onto the floor.

‘
Ride?’ he asked.

‘
He wants you to lift my Land Rover up. My
automobile.’

‘
Aah, good.’ Alexandre smiled and clapped his hands together.
Come then.’

Maddy turned
off the TV and they went outside into the cold woodsmoke air.
Madison hopped up into the Land Rover and backed it out of the
garage onto the gravel drive where Ben and Alexandre waited.
Alexandre walked over to the enormous vehicle as Maddy jumped
out.

‘
Be careful, Alex,’ she said. ‘Don’t tip it over. I love my
wheels.’

Alexandre
looked at Ben with a gleam in his eye as he lifted the front of the
vehicle up with one hand and kept it there. ‘Do you believe me
now?’

‘
No way!’ Ben laughed and jumped up and down. ‘You are the
strongest dude ever! Where did you get him, Mads?
Awesome!’

‘
Does this mean he believes me?’ Alexandre asked Madison. He
lowered the vehicle back down onto the gravel without dropping it
so much as a millimetre.

‘
No,’ she scowled. ‘It just means he thinks you’re strong.
You’re gonna have to do something more drastic.’

‘
I am beginning to feel like a performing monkey. Very well.
Ben, would you be so kind as to fetch me an axe.’

‘
An axe? What you gonna do with that? Murder me and chop me
up?’

‘
You have an active imagination. No.’

‘
Just get the axe, shortie.’

‘
Okay I’m going, I’m going. In the shed, right?’

Maddy nodded.
While he fetched it, she looked at Alexandre and shrugged her
shoulders. ‘Well, I didn’t expect that reaction. I thought he’d
freak out big time, as soon as he saw you. I mean, to me, you look
kind of supernatural.’

‘
I do not know whether to take that as an insult or a
compliment.’

‘
Oh, I didn’t mean …’

‘
Do not worry. I will convince him.’

‘
What are you actually going to do with the axe? I don’t know
if I’m comfortable with this.’

‘
It will be fine.’

Ben
reappeared. ‘Got it,’ he said. ‘What now?’

‘
Follow me,’ replied Alexandre, leading them back into the
warmth of the drawing room. Madison’s and Ben’s cheeks were flushed
from the cold night air, but Alexandre’s face stayed marble-white.
‘Use the axe to chop this small log on the hearth,’ Alexandre said
to Ben.

Ben took a
breath and raised the sharpened axe. He brought it down heavily and
split the log lengthways.

‘
What now?’ he asked Alexandre.

Alexandre lay
on his side next to the split log and rested his arm on the stone
hearth. He used his eyes to show Ben what he wanted him to do.

‘
You want me to chop your arm off?’ Ben asked. ‘What is it? A
fake arm?’

‘
You are a very cynical young man.’ Alexandre sat up, took off
his jacket and rolled up his shirt sleeve. ‘Does that look real to
you?’

Ben nodded at
the pale muscled perfection of Alexandre’s arm. Both he and Madison
were impressed. Alex lay back down on his side and put his bare arm
in place.

‘
This is a bit weird, Maddy,’ Ben said. ‘Sure you’re not just
completely off your heads?’

‘
Totally sure, mate. Just do what the nice vampire asks and we
can all relax.’

‘
Okay,’ Ben said. ‘I’m gonna do it. You sure about this?’ he
asked Alexandre.

‘
Not too hard, you might hurt yourself,’ the vampire replied
with a wink.

Ben raised the
gleaming axe and brought it down very softly, wincing. The axe made
no mark.

Madison had a
flashback to two days ago when she’d really tried to harm
Alexandre. She recalled her wild anger as she’d hacked at his chest
with the pick axe, failing to make even a graze on his skin.

She shivered,
feeling uncomfortable and guilty for the hatred and blazing fury
which had consumed her. She could not quite believe how she could
have so completely changed her attitude towards him in such a short
space of time. From terror to … something else.

‘
You can try a little harder,’ Alexandre smiled encouragingly
at Ben. He raised the axe again and brought the blade down with
slightly more force this time. The axe clanged and bounced off
Alexandre’s arm.

‘
Wow!’ Ben said, dropping the axe and shaking his
arm.

Alexandre
smiled.

Ben looked
from Madison to Alexandre. ‘What an awesome trick! Can you teach me
that? How did you do it? Is that a David Blaine thing?’

‘
Ben!’ Madison said. ‘It’s not a trick. It’s his arm and a
real axe. He really is that strong. Try again.’

‘
No, that really hurt my wrist,’ Ben rubbed it with his other
hand. ‘It’s a good trick, but my arm’s pretty sore right
now.’

‘
I apologise,’ said Alexandre, standing up.

‘
No worries, man. It was worth it to see such a cool
stunt.’

‘
Ben!’ Maddy said again. She turned to Alexandre. ‘Help me
out. How do we convince him?’ She ran her fingers through her hair
in frustration.

‘
Watch me, Ben,’ said Alexandre, standing by the hearth,
looking intently at the boy. Ben looked at him, and then, suddenly
he just wasn’t there. Ben spun around. Alexandre had vanished from
the room and there was a tapping on the window. Ben and Maddy
looked out to see Alexandre smiling on the other side of the glass.
Then, an instant later, they saw him standing in the middle of the
front lawn, two hundred yards away. In the time it took for Ben’s
jaw to drop, Alexandre was back in the lounge, sitting composed on
the sofa.

‘
Whoa!’ Ben sat down heavily in an armchair. That was too
spooky. How did you … I mean how is that even possible?’

‘
Ben,’ Maddy crouched down in front of him and tried to get
him to look at her. ‘It
isn’t
possible. That’s what I’ve been trying to explain
to you. I swear to you on everything I love, he … is … a …
vampire.’

‘
Right,’ Ben said, looking worriedly at Alexandre. ‘So, do you
… drink blood and stuff?’

‘
Yes, but I will not harm you or your sister and I do not ever
kill. I just take what I need to survive.’

‘
Whoah! This is off the scale. Can you fly?’

‘
I do not think you could really call it
flying
, but I can move very quickly,
as you just witnessed.’

‘
What about garlic?’

‘
Garlic? I used to like garlic in my food, but I do not
require that type of sustenance any more.’

‘
Garlic’s no good,’ Maddy said. ‘No effect
whatsoever.’

‘
What
can
kill you then?’

‘
Ben!’ Madison exclaimed. ‘You can’t ask questions like that.
That’s so rude.’

‘
It is quite alright,’ Alexandre laughed. ‘Daylight. Daylight
would probably kill me.’

‘
What about a stake through the heart?’

‘
Ben! No. Don’t ask any more of those kinds of questions.
That’s horrible.’

‘
I’m only asking. He’s a vampire. You’ve got to ask a vampire
those kinds of things, right?’

He turned to
Alexandre who shrugged and smiled.

‘
Those are basic vampire questions,’ Ben continued. ‘You’re a
girl, Mads, so you wouldn’t know.’

‘
Please don’t be afraid to tell him to shut up and mind his
own business,’ she said to Alexandre. ‘I thought he’d be scared and
we’d have to reassure him. I didn’t realise he’d just be rude and
obnoxious.’

‘
You are forgetting,’ Alexandre said to her. ‘I have a younger
brother, so I am very used to this. And I like his frankness. He
can ask me what he likes.’

‘
Um, excuse me,’ Ben interrupted. ‘I am still in the room you
know.’