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Authors: M. D. Bowden

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BOOK: The Guest & the Change
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When they played together it was fantastic and gave Sarah some space to read and get on with jobs.
 
It didn’t happen often though, that was why it was taking her so long to finish her book.
 
Mainly she just wrote in the evenings, or while her parents played with the kids.
 

Megan had started school last year and she would be returning there on Monday.
 
But for now they had the weekend ahead of them and it would be good to find Jo so they could all do something together.
 
Sarah
pushed the thought of Daniel away, trying not to let him creep into this day too, with his good looks and sweet charm.
 
She felt a delightful ache in her heart at his memory.
 
It was going to be hard not to relive the evening in her mind over and over.
 
 
Please let Jo be home, please be in a good mood Jo, please distract me.

Jo wasn’t home and Sarah couldn’t get through to him when she tried his phone again.
 
Urhhh
.
 
Why hasn’t he called to say where the hell he is?
 
This is ridiculous, thought Sarah, I actually miss him and he’s not even here for me to tell him.
 
He better not be with
another woman
.
 
How ironic would that be after last night?
 
Sarah slumped down on the sofa, in frustration.
 

Sarah could hear Megan and Bea running around upstairs.
 
They liked to play ‘little house’- they each pretended their bedroom was their own house. They knocked on each other’s bedroom doors to visit and looked at books together tucked under blankets.
 
It was quite adorable.

Sarah did yesterday’s washing up then went upstairs to check on the kids.
 
They were still playing happily so she didn’t dare go in and disturb them.
 
She wandered into her and Jo’s room and sat down on their king-size bed.
 
Sarah looked around.
 

That’s funny, she thought, it doesn’t look like anything’s changed since yesterday.
 
There was no dirty washing on the floor, as was usual when Jo discarded
his clothing at night.
 
The bed was still
made,
it didn’t look like it had been slept in.
 
Where was Jo?

She wandered back downstairs and snuggled up on the sofa under a blanket, feeling chilly and slightly hung-over.
 
She picked up her
book,
an adventure story set in the Himalayas, and started to read.
 
Yet she was distracted.
 
Distracted by images of Daniel, which still persisted.
 
Distracted by Jo’s absence.
 
The day passed very slowly - a little reading, the odd phone call in search of Jo, playing with her kids, cooking and cleaning.
 
She had stayed in all day, Megan and Bea happy to play at home after staying at their Grandparents’ the previous evening.

Sarah went to bed that night still frustrated.
 
There was no sign of Jo and she didn’t know what to think.

***

Jo came awake slowly.
 
He was faced with dappled green and brown light and he was confused.
 
His throat hurt and his head felt fuzzy.
 
He was very, very thirsty.
 
Where on Earth was he?
 
What was going on?
 
In his sleepy haze he thought back to the previous night.
 
He had been going to see his sister.
 
He remembered leaving the house, then some weird visions; vampires, bats and the quarry.
 
He remembered the bat turning into a man.
 
A VAMPIRE.
 

The vampire had snapped his neck.
 
Oh God.
 
He gasped and sat up straight, opening his eyes as he did.
 
He was alone in the woods.
 
He had no idea
where or how he’d gotten there.
 
Oh, my throat.
 
He really needed a drink.
 
Looking about he saw trees in every direction.
 
It was daytime but only a little light shone through the branches, even though many leaves littered the forest floor.
 

It must be early morning.
 
He wasn’t cold but his eyes hurt, especially when he looked at the light.
 
His skin felt itchy.
 
He needed something.
 
Water.
 
He listened hard and thought he heard trickling nearby.
 
Jo pushed himself to his feet, stumbling, searching for water.
 

After about two-hundred meters he found a small stream and scooped up some water to drink.
 
He sucked it up but it tasted cold and foul.
 
It didn’t quench his thirst at all.
 

He turned, seeing someone approaching; a dark man dragging a mute girl by his side.
 
The man looked familiar.
 
Then, with a jolt Jo
realized
it was the man by his car last night.
 
The man who had snapped his neck.
 
The man who must have killed him.
 

However he felt no anger towards him, he actually felt strangely attracted.
 
Jo rose and walked towards him.
 
His hair was long, for a man, and his eyes were black.
 
He was tall, probably 6’4’’, with a lean frame.
 
The girl with him looked small and fragile, with red hair and a dainty neck.
 
It looked exquisite.
 
He could see thin veins exposed as Sebastian pulled her head to the side.

Jo walked forward fascinated, he reached out his hand and stroked her neck, and then he was overtaken by desire to quench his thirst.
 
He grabbed her round the waist, yanked aside her head by the hair and felt his teeth lengthening as he sank them into her fine neck.
 
And he drank.
 
Drank for his life.
 
Or his death.
 

The girl’s warm blood flowed from her veins down his throat giving him life.
 
He could feel its power rushing into him.
 
Rejuvenating his cells, making his heart race and his senses come alive.
 
His sense of smell came into focus and he breathed in the smell of the girl’s blood as he took her life, then released her and she fell to the floor.
 

Slumped, dead, pathetic and used.
 

Wiping his mouth, he staggered back and leant against a tree, new sensations overwhelming him.
 
He could feel every inch of his body come into acute awareness.
 

He could feel the redheaded girl’s blood travelling to the extremities of his body, rushing through his veins to his internal organs, his brain and even his toes.
 
As it reached his soles he could feel the earth beneath his shoes and his connection to the ground and the trees.
 
As it reached his arms he felt strong and could sense movement in the air, the slightest breeze.
 
Jo whooped.
 
He yelled.
 
He jumped high and swung off tree branches.
 

He swung into a tree and jumped across to others.
 
It was exhilarating.
 

Sebastian watched this display with delight.
 
It looked like Jo would take to this life.
 
Once Jo calmed down it seemed he would be quite willing to stalk the town with him and do as Sebastian desired.
 

Sebastian turned into a bat and flew up to hang off a tree himself.
 
He felt happy as he watched Jo's transformation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CHAPTER
3

 

 

Sarah awoke the following day to no sign of Jo.
 
She was feeling more worried now, although still pretty annoyed.
 
Megan and Bea kept asking after him, but she had no answers to give.
 
She’d even called the police and reported him missing, but they hadn’t been much help.
 

She had dropped Megan and Bea off at her parents’ to have some time to herself, to think about where Jo could be, and to go looking for him.
 
Alice and Keith had agreed to have them overnight and take Megan to school in the morning, so she had a decent chunk of time in front of her to try and work out what was going on.
 
 
She had started by calling everyone she could think
of
who had any connection to Jo.
 
That meant calling his family, his work, anyone he’d ever been friends with.
 

Jo’s boss said he had been at work on Friday and left about six.
 
His sister said he never turned up at her house for dinner on Friday night.
 
His car was missing.
 
That must mean he’d driven somewhere, he probably wasn’t close.
 
Basically, she had no idea what to do next.
 

Slumping down on the sofa for what felt like the hundredth time in the last two days, Sarah wondered what to do.
 
She decided there was no point staying in and was just putting on her jacket when the doorbell rang. Puzzled, she walked to the door and pulled it open.
 

There in the morning light was Daniel, standing on her doorstep.
 
Momentary lost for words, she felt relieved.
 
Daniel.
 
Here.
 
She was so glad to see him.

‘Hi Sarah,’ her heart skipped a beat when he said her name. ‘Your dad said your husband is missing?
 
I wondered if you would care for any help in your
search?

‘Yes, please Daniel,’ and she took pleasure in being able to say his name, to his face.
 
‘Come in’.

He stepped over the threshold and leant in towards her, gently kissing her cheek.
 
He lingered as he did and squeezed her shoulders towards him.
 
Sarah stood frozen, not responding, but she breathed in his scent.
 
He smelt masculine and
civilized
, yet woody and vaguely of pine.
 

As he pulled away she felt heat rising -
urhh
, why did that have to happen? She looked away, trying to
pretend she wasn’t as affected by his presence as she blatantly was.

‘I was just about to head out, but I don’t really know where to start.’

‘Shall we walk and talk it though?’

‘Yes, that would be great.’

Sarah walked into the living room, sat down and pulled on her worn brown boots and she opened the door for Daniel.
 
As he walked down the steps she admired him from behind.
 
He was wearing the same leather jacket as when she met him, but his other clothes were more casual - he had on faded ripped jeans and black rugged boots.
 
As she locked up she felt his eyes on her, but didn’t know if it was wishful thinking
.
 
 
He’s here.

They walked up the drive next to each other and Sarah explained the little she’d worked out so far.

‘What do you think, town or woods?’ she asked him.
 

‘How about town first?’

As Sarah turned right Daniel followed her.
 
They walked down the wide street towards the town
centre
, past garages and grocery shops.
 
 
She was so aware of Daniel, and so surprised by his presence.
 
I want him to touch me, she thought.
 
Yet she had said to herself she wouldn’t try to see him again.
 
And she hadn’t, but she hadn’t asked him to leave either.
 
And here she was with an irresistible man and Jo was missing.
 

Daniel interrupted her thoughts, ‘Shall we ask after him in bars?’
 

She wondered how much Daniel knew about Jo, or suspected.
 
With their history, Jo going to bars was on her list of worries, what may have happened if he had, who he may have met.
 
But that didn’t explain why his car was missing.

‘Yes, I brought a photo with me,’ she tugged a slightly rumpled picture out of her back pocket and showed it to Daniel.
 
It featured Jo holding Megan tight.
 
Daniel looked at it closely.
 
As Sarah watched him she felt a ripple of unease as she thought she saw a hint of recognition in Daniel’s expression.
 
Why would he
recognize
him?
 
Maybe she had imagined it.

He handed it back to her and they walked on past more small shops.
 
The town, Hartland, was quite big.
 
It sprawled out in front of her towards the square, but most of the bars were further on away from the main shops and cafes.
 
Being a Sunday the town was quite quiet, with a few families walking together and most shops shuttered up.
 
Bars would be open though and they kept walking towards the
grottier
end of town.
 
As they reached it Sarah eyed the odd broken window with unease.
 
They entered the first bar they saw, it was dark and smelt of stale smoke.
 
Her boots stuck to the floor as she walked.
 
An old man worked the bar, probably the owner, but he was no help.
 

They went in bar after bar, finding no clues at all.

She looked at Daniel, he had taken over asking, sensing her frustration.
 
‘Daniel, I think this is the last place,’ she said, as they walked in.
 

This one was slightly nicer, it was dark but there were candles on tables and rock music played from an old duke box.
 
There were a few people eating in corners and, even at this hour, people drinking at the bar.
 
Sarah stood back in the shadows and let Daniel approach the bar alone; she was feeling unsettled and annoyed.

Really annoyed at Jo, how could he do this to them?
 
She was going to be so angry when he came home.
 
But she was also angry at herself, why am I being so selfish?
 
Why
aren’t I
just plain worried?
 
It would be the more appropriate emotion at this point.
 

Daniel was taking longer at the bar this time.
 
She looked over in hope that he had found something out, but he was approaching with drinks in hand.

***

Jo felt his jubilation subsiding as effects of the blood rush wore off.
 
He jumped down from his branch, landing smoothly on the forest floor and wandered back to the redheaded girl lying dead on the ground.
 
Her eyes were staring and her throat was bloody.
 
He leant down to inspect her, drawn by the blood, but it was no-longer fresh.
 
It had started to dry and clot on her skin.
 
He reached down and touched the blood, bringing his fingers to his lips to taste it.
 
But it was now stale and didn’t satisfy his hunger.
 

At this point Sebastian relinquished his branch to the birds and swooped out of his tree, landing on the floor beside Jo and taking his human form.
 
Jo smiled up at him, drawn by his mystique, his powers and their bond.
 
Sebastian
laughed,
he loved the instant obedience turning someone (usually) created.

‘Who are you?’ asked Jo.

‘I’m Sebastian, and, as you may have surmised, I am also a vampire.’

Sebastian watched Jo look hungrily at the blood.
 

‘So, you want more do you?’ asked Sebastian.

Jo simply replied, ‘Yes’.

‘I will take you hunting later, but first I need to explain some things to you.’

‘OK,’ said Jo, in Sebastian’s thrall.

Sebastian knelt down so he was at Jo’s level, by the girl, and looked intently into his eyes.
 
‘You will do as I tell you and you will not draw unnecessary attention to yourself.
 
You will not feed in public; you will only feed on victims in private, or in front of me.
 
You will not return to your human family home.’

‘I will do as you say,’ Jo replied evenly.
 

He hadn’t even thought of his family up until this moment but now they swam in front of his mind.
 
Sarah, Bea and Megan.
 
The thought of them made him hungry, he longed for their blood.

‘You will stay here now, until I come back for you tonight.
 
Then we will go hunting.
 
For now; sleep.’

Jo nodded to Sebastian, he climbed a tree and found a wide branch hidden from exploring eyes, he sat, legs hanging either side and leant back against the trunk - closing his eyes.

***

Sarah laughed, her emotions getting the better of her.
 
If she hadn’t laughed she would probably have cried.
 
She was glad to see Daniel had bought her red wine, a large glass, which she took thankfully and quickly drank some.
 
It didn’t taste great, wine from dingy bars - not the best, but she needed it.
 
Not just for the frustration of Jo, but it might help her feel a little less awkward around Daniel.
 
He sipped from his own glass.
 
She admired him for choosing wine too - it showed confidence to drink wine in this kind of bar.
 
Jo would have chosen beer or spirits.
 
Drinking some more, she looked up at Daniel and smiled.
 
He smiled back his beautiful smile, making her feel warm inside.

‘Shall we get a table?’ she asked.
 
‘I’m pretty hungry, how about you?’

‘I would like something,’ he said.
 
She followed him through a side door into another room where there were candle lit booths.
 
With an amused look he gestured for her to sit down first.
 
She slid in and he sat down next to her, their knees touching again.
 
Sarah felt tingles swoop up her body and felt her heart ache.
 

The wine and the atmosphere, they were doing things to her.
 
She didn’t know what she was doing but it was so automatic - she leant in towards him and placed her head on his chest, reaching up and embracing him.
 

For a second he froze, then freed his arm and pulled her in closer.
 
She felt him squeeze her again and he leant his head down and Sarah’s heart raced as she heard him inhale, smelling her hair.
 
Emotions were getting the better of her.
 
They were sitting alone in this dark booth, feeling anonymous with music to cover their voices and flickering light only just revealing their presence.
 

Sarah felt tears rise in her eyes again, from the intensity of her feelings, her attraction to Daniel, her worry about Jo, her frustration with Jo, and with Daniel.
 
He was
here,
and oh God, she wanted him to be, but she shouldn’t be here.

Daniel reached around with his other hand and stroked her hair while still holding her close.
 
Sarah felt tingles engulf her, she could hardly breathe.
 
Then Daniel loosened his hold on her and she started to move away, but he brought his hand round, following the line of her jaw with his fingers.
 
Sarah looked into his face in the dark.
 
He was so close, she could feel his breath on her lips and she saw that predatory look in his eyes.
 
She wanted to kiss him but they just looked at each other, her heart melting - tingles rising in waves from where his knee pressed against hers, and
descending in waves from where his hand held her chin.
 
Then he traced her lip with his fingers and she pulled away.
 
Knees still touching she put her back against the seat, took a deep breath and picked up her glass.
 
Then she looked back at him and he smiled, that utterly devastating smile, making her actually laugh.

BOOK: The Guest & the Change
12.27Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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