The Feeder (6 page)

Thayne

It had taken a week, but finally, I was able to search the place unseen. I was happy in a way, but the fact that it had taken Pippa being killed and Eve left traumatized to finally make it happen pissed me off good and proper.

Once I was sure that Eve was sound asleep and that the place was now well and truly empty, I made my way upstairs to the main floor. I’d searched the cellar twice over already since my arrival, so there wasn’t much point in searching down there again. No, with Eve asleep and with the knowledge that the CCTV system didn’t even fucking record – a fact that pissed me right off – I began my search of the main club and offices. I felt bad going through Eve’s office, but it needed to be done. I didn’t discover anything there to help in my search for information on the fight between him and Denton, but I did learn one thing – something that I already kind of knew. Gideon was a bastard.

Piled high upon her desk were not only papers concerning the club and its everyday running, but the Council of Masters too. Gideon was making Eve do his job. What the fuck! That was one thing to going to inform the Council.

I hit a few store rooms next, finding nothing out of the ordinary before moving on to the bastard’s office. Searching through the room, I didn't turn up anything different than what I’d already discovered from being here and seeing all the paperwork in Eve’s desk. It was simple, Gideon didn’t give a shit about this place, and he was pushing all his Council of Masters work onto Eve. The only thing that did peak my interest was the diary upon his desk. Every week, every Friday to be exact, the day was ringed in a thick red pen. Flicking through it, I discovered the pattern continued. Every Friday from this week on, and every Friday of the year, in fact, was marked.

What did that symbolise?

Whatever it was, I would have to wait another week to find out, as it was now Saturday… or maybe not. Next to last night’s date the word ‘reschedule’ were pencilled in.

Reschedule what?

When I got to the shelves of the large bookcase in the corner of the room, I was amazed at the amount of dust covering the spines of the books. No one had touched any of these in a very long time, years even. I was betting these had belonged to Denton. I didn’t want to alert Gideon of my presence in the room, so I kept my hands away from the dust covered objects.

Scanning my eyes over the contents of the shelves my gaze froze on a large box sat upon the top shelf. Unlike everything else, the box had very little dust upon it. Curiosity got the better of me, and I reached for it, removing it from the shelf and taking it over to the desk. There was something about it; a feeling I got that told me there was something important in this box.

Lifting the lid, my suspicions were spot on. Within the box were a small group of items, one of which really peaked my interest. Laid among a group of small glass vials, some filled with blood, was a tracking device.

Tracking devices were used for one reason, and one reason only in the vampire world.... to keep track of an Owned.

The Owned were humans that belonged to a vampire or group of vampires. I wasn’t a fan of vampires keeping humans as pets or possessions, but I had been paid a very high price every now and again for the return of an owned human. Finding a tracking device hidden away here in Gideon’s office – one still stained with old blood – could be held as evidence against him in the future if I failed to find out any information on his and Denton’s fight. Stealing another’s Owned was a big crime in our world, one that could lose you your fangs if you stole from the wrong person. 

Taking one of the vials, I unscrewed the lid, lifting the small bottle up to scent. It wasn’t unusual for a vampire to keep blood around for consumption, but an amount that small and not kept refrigerated was strange. The smell of the blood was strong, refreshing, potent – very potent saying that it was old, cold blood – and it had a slightly familiar scent to it. What was this stuff?

Deciding to take the risk, I shoved one of the vials and the tracker into my pocket, before returning the box to its place. I’d have to send the small bottle off for testing. There was just something about it that felt a little off to me, and I wanted to know what. For all I knew it wasn’t human, and the last thing we needed was for another vampire to become addicted to feeding on their own kind. Once was enough. I also needed to find out who the tracker belonged to, who was missing an Owned. 

Removing my phone from my pocket, I called the one person I knew would be able to get me the information that I wanted. “Brad?”

“You do know what time it is?”

The sun was rising. Most of my kind, Brad included, would be heading to bed around now if they already weren’t. “Sorry about that, but I need a favour. I’ve found something I want checking out. A vial of blood. I’ve just got this funny feeling that it is more than what it seems.”

“Okay, send it to the hotel and I’ll get it check out.”

“Thanks, mate. There’s one more thing… I found a tracker, one that’s been removed from its host. If I send it to you, any chance you can find out who it belongs to?”

“I’ll do my best.”

“All I ask. But don’t let on as to where it was found. The last thing I need is for some stick-up-his-ass vampire to come strolling in and bust my cover.”

Hanging up, I got back to work, rigging up my own secret set of cameras around the room. Hopefully, I’d be able to get some information in the footage.

I made one more call before returning to the cellar room. Eve was still sound asleep, curled up tightly in a ball under the mountain of blankets I had piled upon her. She was human, fragile. I didn’t want her catching a cold or anything from being down here all night. Being a vampire, the cold didn’t affect me; I  was comfortable with it.

Looking over at the spot where I’d made my bed on the other side of the room, I had the urge to move it closer to her. It was almost as large as the urge I had to climb into the bed with her. Giving in to that first urge, knowing that even though she had held on for dear life to me earlier, she wouldn’t appreciate me jumping between the sheets, I dragged my makeshift bed along the floor, placing it only a few feet away from the futon. If she asked anything about me moving it when she woke up, I would just say that I thought it would be better if I were closer, just in case she had bad dreams. And with what she had been through tonight, I wouldn’t be surprised if she did.

Lying on my side, I watched her sleep for a while, finding peace in the slow rise and fall of her chest, the flutter of her eyelashes. Her mouth-watering scent filled the small room, reminding me that I never actually got to feed tonight. I would need to take care of that first thing. I wouldn’t mind sinking my fangs into her delicious flesh and taking a taste of what I could only imagine would be the most succulent feast of my life, but I doubted that after what she had seen tonight she’d let my fangs anywhere near her.

Still, a guy could dream.

***

“Has he gone?” I asked as I entered the room.

Gideon was heading out of town, an emergency meeting of the Council of Masters, one that had actually been set up after a little call to my friend on the Council to give me time to snoop around and dig up info on him without problems. Not that I needed it now that I knew the clubs CCTV was shit, but there was another bonus to him not being here.

Having Gideon out of the way would also make getting the club fixed up a hell of a lot easier. Before leaving, he had called a meeting, but I had point blank refused to leave Eve’s side until she was awake. I didn’t want to wake her up as she needed her rest, but I also didn’t want her to wake up alone. So I’d missed the meeting, leaving Reese and Trent to meet with him.

“You just missed him,” Trent replied.

“Yeah,” Reese butted in. “And the fucker only wants us to open the place tonight, and demanded that Eve has all her work completed before he gets back. He was really pissed that she hadn't gotten up and been waiting for him when he arrived. He said something about an important weekly staff meeting and having her call to reschedule it.”

Of course he was. It was obvious that he only viewed Eve as a possession for him to boss around and control.

Fuck, I hated vampires like that, one's that thought they were above everyone else, especially humans like Eve.

“How are we expected to get this place open tonight?”

“We’re not,” Eve said, walking around the side of the broken bar, her arms wrapped around herself protectively, worrying her bottom lip with her teeth. “There is no way on earth that we can have this place fixed up in time for opening tonight.”

She was right about that; the place was a wreck. It would take more than a few hours to get the place fixed and in order. More like days, if not weeks.

“You okay?” I asked moving over to her, wanting nothing more than to pull her into my arms and hold her. She was trying to act brave, as if she wasn’t still affected by the events of the previous night, but her body language was giving her away.

“I'm alright. Do we know what happened yet with Pi… Pippa.” Her question causing Trent, Reese and Chad to glance nervously at each other.

Okay, they knew something. But I trusted that they were keeping it from Eve for a reason, so didn’t pull them up on it at that moment. I would get the info from them later when she wasn’t within earshot. 

“Not really. All we can really do is ask the familiars if any of them saw anything, but I doubt we will get the answers we’re looking for.”

“Okay. Well, I'll be in my office getting a start on that mountain he has left for me, and I’ll need to sort out the cleaning of my room.”

“We’ll sort that out,” Reese jumped in quickly, a little too quickly.

“Thanks, guys. That would be great, and saves me from having to search for a new cleaning company again.” Glancing around the destroyed club, she sighed. “Well, maybe not. Chad can you get in touch with one of the familiars and get them to spread the word that we won’t be open for a few nights.”

“Will do.”

Smiling, she nodded, moving quickly towards her office but not quick enough for me not to notice the shine to her eyes. I would have to do something about the whole cleaning company thing. She had filled me in on the problem a few nights back, the fact that no local company would work for them. Gideon wouldn’t talk to the familiars about taking on the job, which was what usually happened at every other vampire owned club. Maybe it was time I had a word. 

When I knew she was well and truly out of earshot, I spun on the guys. “Now tell me what you know.”

Eve

Gideon had added more papers to the mountain that he already had me filling out for him. When it came to the club, I was fine with doing it – if I didn’t it would never get done and we'd be shut down within the week. But the amount of paperwork he was being made to fill out as part of his job as Master was crazy, and I had no idea what the hell I was doing with any of it. How he expected me to be able to complete all his paperwork I had no clue, but here it was anyway, along with a note that chilled me to the bone.

Eve,

I want to see you in my office the moment I return. You owe me a feed, and because of the lateness of the weekly feed you agreed to, I will expect you to make up for it.

Gideon

Not good. The one and only time I had missed a feed, I’d been made to give him my wrist daily for a week so he could take small sips between his regular feast. The pain had gotten to me so badly that by the end of the week I was shying away from everyone, not wanting to step foot in the club for fear of being bitten. I couldn’t go through all that again.

Running my hands through my hair in frustration, I released a large sigh. I was at a complete loss for what to do with the current form I was working on. It had something to do with blood transportation. I had not a fucking clue.

Hearing a light knock on the door, I gazed up. Thayne was stood in the doorway looking as sexy as ever, a small smile on his lips. “Is it really that bad?” he laughed.

“You have no idea. What’s up?”

“We’ve cleaned up your place, not a spot of blood to be found. But we need you to come and check it out, see if anything is missing.”

“Why would anything be missing?”

He looked nervous at my question, like he didn’t want to answer. But he did. “We found something… a note.”

Another note. Great. First one from Gideon, threatening me with constant feedings, and now some psychotic, murdering bastard, who I suspected may have been stalking me, had left me a note. “What did it say?”

Deep sigh. “It said, ‘I will have a taste.’”

Okay, now I couldn’t breathe.

***

The guys actually had done a good job of cleaning up the room and getting rid of the scent of blood. I was tempted to fire them all from the security team and rehire them as cleaners, though, they didn’t seem too impressed at my suggestion. But honestly, they really did do great. Unless you’d seen the mess that had been there before, you wouldn’t know that someone had been murdered in there only twenty-four hours previous.

“Is anything missing?” Reese asked as I walked around the now cleaned room. “Anything moved?”

“I don’t think so.” All my cosmetics were still where I kept them on top of my chest of draws. The array of candles and small knickknacks I had collected over the years were still lined up on the shelves. I couldn’t see anything that was out of place. “No, everything looks the same.”

“What about in the drawers, anything missing from them?”

“The drawers?” Why would anything be missing from them?

Opening one drawer after another I scanned the contents, not finding anything out of place. Shaking my head, I moved over to the hamper in the corner. I don’t know what made me do it, but I just got a feeling that I needed to check that too. My hands shook as I lifted the lid, my breath catching in my throat as I gazed down at the now near empty hamper that I had filled just before heading down to the club the day before. “Oh shit!”

“What? What is it?” Thayne demanded, coming to stand behind me, glancing over my shoulder.

“This was full,” I explained. “The hamper, it was full.” And now all that remained were a few pairs of jeans and a jumper. I began pulling them out; searching through them, hoping that what I suspected wasn’t true, because surely no one would want to steal my dirty laundry, my dirty underwear.

Slumping to the floor as reality hit, I gazed up at Thayne in panic. I needed to tell him, tell them about the feelings I had been getting over the past few weeks. “I think someone’s been watching me.”

“Watching you?”  

I Nodded. “For the past week or so I’ve had this strange feeling that somebody was watching me, even when I’ve been up here I’ve felt it. And now this,” indicating to the mess of clothes I had ripped out of the hamper and left on the floor.

“Now what?” Trent asked moving to stand before me.

Thayne crouched down and placed his arm around my shoulder protectively. “What’s missing?”

“My underwear. My dirty underwear.”

I hadn’t wanted to sleep in my apartment. Even though the guys had done a splendid job cleaning it up, there was no way that I could stay in there knowing that someone had gone through my stuff and taken my private things. Not that any of the guys would have let me after what I had revealed.

Thayne had been furious. Going through all the rooms of my apartment from top to bottom looking for clues as to who had been there but found nothing. He’d said that the things that were taken – my underwear – had been things that would have been saturated with my scent, more so than any other item of clothing in there. That was disturbing on more than one level. I knew the reaction my scent could cause; I went through a dozen bottles of perfume and scented body lotions a month doing my best to cover it up.

“It’s a stalker,” Chad had said as I had packed a bag up for the night. I was stopping downstairs in the cellar with Thayne again – refusing the guys offer to pay for a hotel for me – and I didn’t want to have to return up here anytime soon. “The question is what kind?”

“Kind? Isn’t a stalker just, you know, a stalker?” I mean how many kinds could there be?

Taking my hand, Thayne led me into the living area and sat me down beside him. “There are six different types of stalkers,” he explained. “Rejected. Resentful . Predatory. Intimacy. Incompetent. And finally Erotomania and Morbidly Infatuated.”

“Wow, that’s a lot.”

“Indeed. And from what I can tell, I’d go with the predatory option in this case.”

“What does that mean exactly?”

“That type of stalker usually watches a person as part of a plan to attack them, often sexually, and is motivated by the promise of sexual gratification and power over their victim. Taking personal items, ones like your used underwear that would be rich in your scent would be highly arousing for him.” Thayne’s description filled me with dread.

“If it is a him,” Trent winked. “What? I'm just saying.”

We spent the rest of the night cleaning up all the debris from the fight, the guys trying their best to distract me from the fact that some creep was no doubt following me and had stolen my dirty knickers. But it didn’t help stop the numerous questions running through my head faster than I could process them.

How? Why? Who? Those three words seemed to be stuck on repeat.

How? I never left the club, so how could anyone be watching me from within an empty building? Or what used to be an empty building. Thank the Lord Thayne was here now.

Why? Why would someone be watching me? There were dozens of beautiful females here every night, ones that would throw themselves happily at any vampire’s feet.

And finally, who? Because I had no idea who could be so twisted that they would kill a familiar and leave the evidence on my bed for me to find.

Dean stopped by at one point, his eyes dark and withdrawn. I knew he hadn’t loved Pippa - he had told me as much just the other week - but he had cared for her greatly. It was obvious he wouldn’t be up to working for a while, and he'd agreed that he needed to spend some time away from the club. But after Thayne had filled him in on the things we'd uncovered since her death, we’d promised him that someone would contact him as soon as we knew anything more. He wanted revenge for the life that had been lost.

Sitting at one of the booths with a drink in hand, I smiled across the table at the guys be-fore me. Trent, Reese and Chad had always been close, but if anything, Thayne’s presence had brought them even closer. The three had now become four.

“So how long have you guys been working for Gideon?” Thayne asked before taking a swallow of his drink.

“Just a little over a year,” Trent replied. “We were all in the area visiting the club. Denton had been a friend of all of ours, so the place was a regular stop off. As soon as we walked in we knew something was wrong. It wasn’t unknown to us that Denton was gone, and Gideon had taken over – that news had spread like wildfire – but we never imagined that he would be fucking up the place as much as he was… and still is.”

“By the end of the night, we’d seen enough. We came to a mutual decision that we would stay and try our best to stop the place from going under. But it hasn’t been as easy as we had hoped.” Chad smiled weakly.

I knew exactly what they were talking about. Gideon never lets anyone near the club. It was his, even if he didn’t care enough about it to make it a success. During the first few months of the guys being here, they’d tried over and over again to help out with the running of the club, but Gideon had put his foot down, constantly stating that he didn’t need anyone’s help and was handling everything just fine.

He so wasn’t. If it weren't the fact that he hated doing paperwork and had dumped the majority of the stuff on me, this place would have gone under within a week of him taking over.

“What about you?” Thayne asked me. “When did you start working for Gideon?”

Oh fuck, I hate lying.

“I met him a year before he took over the club. When he took over the place he knew I needed a somewhere to stay so he offered me the apartment and a job to go with it.” More like he’d dragged me here to be his own personal feedbag and slave, but I couldn’t exactly tell them that.

I quickly steered the conversation away from me and my past and for a time the conversation flowed smoothly, but as always it soon reverted to unwelcome topics. Placing his empty bottle down on the table, Reese said, “I still can’t believe Gideon took out Denton. What I wouldn’t do to have been there that night.”

“What did happen that night?” Thayne asked.

“No fucking clue,” Reese answered, the other guys nodding in agreement. A Master fight was always a fight to the death and was meant to be overseen by all high-up vampires of the Master’s region. No one had been there to witness Denton, the old Master’s demise… no one except me that is.