Hidden (Marchwood Vampire Series #1) (47 page)

The couple in
the car had gone, as had most of the dog walkers. The only people
left were the teenagers, the elderly gentleman and a man training a
couple of energetic young border collies.

Alexandre sat
on a bench further along the ridge and stared out at the winking
lights below. He saw the blurred red and white beams of fast-moving
traffic, the dark green shapes of sleeping hillsides and the silver
stripe of a wide river, far off towards the Welsh mountains. It was
a peaceful place and he envied the small group of boisterous youths
who were enjoying being carefree in beautiful surroundings with
nothing heavier on their minds than love and harmless fun.

Alert to his
surroundings, he heard rabbits nibbling the grass and sensed the
fox making a move on its prey. He saw the owl in the tree and the
scurrying mouse running in vain. No more cars arrived. The man and
his dogs left. The teenagers lounged. The elderly gentleman sat.
Time ticked on.

The warm July
wind teased the grass and briefly troubled the trees. A thin sliver
of moon glinted like an unsheathed scimitar in the sky. The elderly
gentleman rose from his seat and walked towards the four remaining
cars. He passed Alexandre.

‘
Good evening,’ the man doffed his brown fedora, displaying a
full head of white hair.

‘
Good evening,’ Alexandre replied.

The man
hesitated. ‘Alexandre?’

Alex snapped
his head up to look at the man, who smiled gently back with a look
of ... apology?’

‘
You.
You are he?’ Alexandre stood.
‘
You
sent me the
note?’

‘
Yes, it was I who sent you the note. And I do apologise for
the cloak and dagger way in which I got you to meet me
here.’

Alexandre
appraised the man. He must have been in his mid to late seventies.
He seemed in good health, handsome and well-dressed in an expensive
suit. He was tall and fairly upright, but with a walking cane. He
was undoubtedly human, unarmed and unthreatening. Alexandre sensed
no other people in the vicinity, apart from the youths who were
some way off, oblivious to anything but themselves.

‘
Please explain why you thought this was necessary,’ Alexandre
said, sitting back down on the bench. The man openly appraised
Alexandre.

‘
You are magnificent!’ he exhaled. ‘Absolutely extraordinary.
I cannot believe I am actually in your presence. May I?’ The man
pointed to a spare section of the bench that Alexandre sat
on.

Alexandre
hesitated and then nodded once. The man sat down heavily next to
him. ‘You do not know how long I have waited to have this
conversation,’ he continued.

‘
And so is that what
this
is all about?’ Alexandre said. ‘Satisfying your
curiosity? Am I some circus turn you might stare and prod at?’ He
felt an indignant fury. ‘I did not come here to be admired or to be
complimented. Speak quickly for I have a mind to leave at
once.’

‘
Please do not. I am sorry if I have offended you. It is just
… I am somewhat overawed by your presence.’

‘
Sir!’ Alexandre’s patience was stretching.

‘
I believe I can help you. My name is Winston Blythe and I
would like to show you something.’

He pulled
something from his inside jacket pocket. It was a recent colour
photograph. Alexandre took the picture. It was a picture of someone
lying on a bed. A man in his early thirties. He was asleep, dressed
in a style of clothing dating from Alexandre’s era or maybe a
little more old fashioned.

He reminded
Alexandre of someone, or of something. Yes. He looked like the
sleeping forms of the others: of Isobel, Jacques, Leonora and
Freddie. He looked like a statue, like a vampire.

Blythe stared
intently at Alexandre’s face, waiting.

‘
You recognise the condition.’

‘
A vampire,’ Alexandre said. ‘Who is he?’

‘
He is my great grandfather,’ Blythe replied. ‘I never even
knew him. He’s been asleep for one hundred and forty six years. It
is my family’s tragedy. Our skeleton in the closet, so to
speak.’

‘
I must admit I am surprised,’ Alexandre said. ‘This is the
last thing I expected.’

‘
I also have two confessions to make to you,’ Blythe said.
‘And I am more than a little nervous about telling you. But I trust
you will understand why I did it and I hope you can forgive
me.’

‘
It was you then? Who paid that man in the supermarket car
park?’ Alexandre asked, already knowing the answer.

‘
I’m sorry. Yes it was. You see I had to be sure you really
were who I thought you were. I felt terrible about that poor
fellow. He must have had the shock of his life.’

‘
You said you had
two
confessions.’

‘
Aah, yes. Now this one I am a little more ashamed of and you
must believe me it wasn’t meant to get so out of hand. My employees
took it much too far. But it was ultimately my doing - that fracas
you got into at the nightclub …’

‘
That was you?’ Alexandre stood up angrily. ‘Why on earth
would you want to insult my companion and have two scoundrels
attack me?’

‘
None of that was supposed to happen,’ Blythe sighed and stood
up, leaning heavily on his cane. ‘I told them I needed a sample of
your hair to test. They assured me they would get it with the
minimum of fuss, but as it turned out, they got it with the very
maximum of fuss.’

‘
My hair? Why would you need my hair?’

‘
We are trying to find a cure for the sleeping sickness my
great grandfather contracted. You have overcome the sickness and I
thought your DNA might shed some light on how you recovered. I
needed the hair for analysis. To see if it would yield any answers.
But alas, it was a fruitless effort. Your cells regenerate so
quickly they leave no trace of trauma. Your hair is healthy. No
clues were left as to what occurred previously.’

‘
DNA?’ Alexandre asked.

‘
Deoxyribonucleic acid. In
short, your cells contain a nucleic acid that houses genetic
instructions for all living organisms. A blueprint for life, if you
like.’

‘
But why did
you not just approach me in the first place and
eliminate
all this secrecy? You could merely have sent me the note in
the first instance.’

‘
Well yes, in
hindsight that would have been a much better way to approach
thing
s. But I didn’t want to involve you or disrupt your life in
any way. I wanted just to establish that you were who I thought you
were, find out how you were revived and leave you in peace. Instead
I have alarmed you and intruded upon your life. For that I am truly
sorry.’

Alexandre thought for a few moments. Blythe
seemed sincere enough. He was an elderly man with a plausible
story. Alexandre suddenly remembered something.

‘
You said we could help
each other. How does this help me?’

‘
Ah yes. Well the thing
is, I know about the others in your cellar.’

Alexandre grabbed
Winston by the
throat.

‘
Who are you?’ he growled.
‘How do you know about me and the others? How do you know I was
asleep? That I woke up? Start talking. I want answers, old man. I
have no patience for games and I am suddenly angry.’

Winston Blythe faltered and dropped his
cane. Alexandre pushed him down onto the bench where he sat, dazed
and apprehensive.

‘
Talk quickly,’ Alexandre
said.

‘
I … I am a partner in an
old established firm. We have been monitoring Marchwood House for a
number of years and we knew there were five of you who were
dormant. We are actually a firm of solicitors. Our name is Hamilton
Blythe. I am Winston Blythe, a partner in the firm.’

‘
So you are the firm who
looked after the house before Madison inherited.’

‘
That is
correct.’

‘
You knew of our existence
there, but you left us alone. Why?’

‘
As I said before, I did
not wish to disturb you in any way. I just want to help my great
grandfather.’

‘
And is this really your
great grandfather?’ Alex thrust the photograph in front of the
solicitor’s face. ‘Or was that just a lie to soften things
up?’

Blythe took it with a shaking hand.

‘
It is true. I am not
lying to you. I am trying to be scrupulously honest. Maybe too
honest for my own damn good. When it came to our attention one of
you had awoken, well we were excited. You may hold the key to
reviving my relative.

‘
There are no other
conscious vampires in the world. As far as we know they all
succumbed to this disease many years ago. I have so many questions
to ask you, but the most important one is how you came to be awake.
If you tell me this, I am sure I can help you to revive the others.
We have a controlled environment and specialist equipment to ensure
no harm comes to them. Will you at least consider enlightening
me?’

‘
I have to think,’
Alexandre said brusquely. He left Winston Blythe on the bench and
travelled a mile or so along the ridge until he felt calmer. He
reviewed the information in his mind.

He had to ask himself,
did he trust this
man?
Then he
had to weigh up if giving this information to him could be
dangerous in any way. But all he could think of was Isobel and the
others. This could be a chance to safely revive them. He missed
them so much. Winston said it was a disease that affected all of
his kind. So those in Cappadocia must have contracted it. That
would explain why they had all been half-asleep when they attacked.
If they had been fully conscious the whole region would probably
have been ravaged by now.  

He returned to Blythe who was still sitting
on the bench.

‘
I didn’t know if you were
going to come back,’ the old man said. ‘I realise this is an awful
lot of information to absorb. Do you wish to think on it and speak
to me at a later date?’

‘
I am sorry if I was a
little rough with you before. But you took me aback and I am still
getting used to my own strength. The others are everything to me
and if I thought they were under threat …’

‘
It is quite
understandable. The others? Are they your family?’

‘
Two are my siblings and
two are my friends, Harold Swinton’s children.’

‘
Aah, Madison Greene’s
ancestors! How remarkable.’

‘
How do you know for
certain you could revive them? What makes you so sure?’

‘
I do not know for
certain. But I do know we would have an excellent shot at it. We
have been researching this for decades and we have experts on hand,
the best minds in the world. But I was never willing to try
anything too risky to revive my great grandfather. I couldn’t take
that chance with his life. I need more solid
information.’

‘
But this is how I feel
about my family. I woke by chance, a pure accident and I am not
prepared to recreate those conditions, for it may end up killing
them. It is not my place to risk their lives. I suppose I hoped
they would awaken naturally.’

‘
I am sorry to inform you
that will never happen. The disease runs through their bodies,
keeping them unconscious, with just the occasional involuntary
movement. If you do not intervene in some way, then I’m afraid they
will stay that way forever.’

‘
So tell me what you
propose,’ Alexandre said, sitting next to Blythe and leaning
forward.

‘
I cannot propose anything
without possessing all the facts. If and when you are ready to
impart this information, perhaps you would contact me.’ Blythe
stood up and handed Alexandre his card. ‘It was an interesting
evening. Thank you for coming. I do appreciate you giving an old
man some of your time.’ He began to walk back to his
car.

Alexandre had not expected him to leave so
abruptly. ‘Wait!’

Winston Blythe turned to look at him and
Alexandre made a decision.

‘
I will tell you what
happened to revive me. I will tell you. If there is the smallest
chance for the others then I must take it.’

Alexandre told him everything.

*

‘You did what?’ Madison asked. ‘I can’t
believe you told a complete stranger all about yourself. It’s just
not like you.’

Alexandre had returned home to
find Madison asleep in the lounge. He looked at her features, so
calm in sleep and he felt a wash of love and desire for her. He
also felt a twinge of guilt at the way he had abandoned her every
night this week. He knew she had been sad at his disappearances and
thought him paranoid and over-cautious. She had told him not to
worry, that nobody was out to get him and in a way she had been
right. He would make it up to her. He
wanted
to make it up to her, to spend time with
her and do all those things they had planned. Once he had his
family back, they could all be together and he and Madison would
have all the time in the world to be in love.

But when he told her about Winston Blythe,
she looked at him as if he was completely mad.