Vampire Dating Agency II (2 page)

CHAPTER FIVE

It was a rush. The combination of
sensations had wrapped its way into Haley’s head to the point where she wasn’t
sure she could untangle it. The Count’s image burned in her mind. First, his
accusation. The horrible realization of what she’d done. She thought back to
the confrontation with Madame Nightshade, examining the fight piece by piece.
Moment by moment. If she had twisted or turned at a certain point … If she had
dodged or ducked at the right time … There was a solution. A way she could have
escaped the exchange alive without killing her assailant.

But the cards
hadn’t fallen that way.

And it was
just so easy.

To kill.

“Hold on,”
Brock’s voice brimmed behind her. “Hold up.”

They’d
reached the edge of the forest. The sound of thunder burst around them, the
rain covering each of them head to toe. Jason looked exhausted, wasted, pounded
out to the fiber of his being.

Brock looked
sad. His ridiculous silly behavior crushed by reality.

“You go it
alone from here,” Brock said.

“You’re going
back there?” Haley asked.

Brock nodded.

“But why?”

“I have to
make it right with him,” Brock said. “Allowing you to escape is one thing. But
to go with you would be the true betrayal.”

“I don’t
understand,” Haley said.

“Are you guys
gonna talk forever?” Jason demanded. “They know where we are.”

“What?”

“Look.”

Haley turned
back to the house.

In the centre
of the third floor balcony, a cluster of dark figures had gathered to stand
there, staring out at them. Leaning forward in the centre was the Count, his
unmistakable red eyes burning wildly through the atmosphere.

“Are you sure
you want to go back?” Haley asked.

“Even more so
now,” Brock said. “I don’t want that thing coming after me.”

“So you’ll
walk right into his trap?”

Jason stood
between them. “Why is he just standing there? What is going on?”

“The Count’s
actions aren’t warped by emotion,” Brock explained. “Everything has been
articulated. Deliberate.”

“I don’t
know,” Jason said. “He seemed pretty pissed at us before.”

“He’s not
watching you,” Brock said. “He’s watching what I’m going to do.”

“Well, that
may be the case. Do we want to get out of here then?”

Brock put his
hands to Haley’s neck.

“What are you
doing?” Jason cried.

He leaned in
and kissed her.

“I have a
feeling, I’ll be seeing you again,” Brock said.

“Be careful,”
Haley whispered.

Brock let go
of her.

He bowed his
head and turned back to start walking towards the house.

“We’ll talk
about his later,” Jason muttered. “I suggest we get a move on.”

Haley stepped
backwards, walking away.

Even with the
imposing danger, she found it hard to take her eyes off Brock.

She hoped his
feeling would come true.

CHAPTER SIX

Nothing slowed down at dinner. Nothing
got quieter. Even when the kids were sitting at the table, supposedly eating
their food, things still got knocked around. Knives and spoons jumped from
their places. Wine spilled from untouched glasses. Big fat hands wiped dirty
cheeks and mouths, while the children’s heads moved uncontrollably as if their
whole bodies were covered with fire. Before long Kendra was staring down at the
empty plates in front of her, not even being able to recall the memory of
having eaten.

“Jackson,”
Peggy’s voice called shrilly. “If you do it again, Jackson, I swear we’re going
home.”

Footsteps,
running around. The neighbor’s child was pulling at her hair and she hadn’t
even noticed.

“Jackson!”
Peggy shouted. “I’m counting to three –”

Kendra’s
elbow snapped back in reflex, knocking the kid off his feet.

Peggy’s mouth
dropped with horror. “Oh, Jackson!”

The boy burst
out crying.

Peggy rushed
over to comfort her son, while Kendra didn’t even bother to turn around. She
sipped her wine.

“Jesus,”
Lawrence said, standing up. “Jesus, is he alright?”

No reply.

Peggy was too
busy telling Jackson how wonderful he was.

“Why’d you do
that?” Lawrence asked.

Kendra
swallowed. “Do what?”

“You just
assaulted my child!” Peggy accused.

Kendra stood
up from her place and left the table empty handed.

Seeing an
opportunity, one of her own children rushed at her leg. “Mommy, can you please
have a look at my –”

“NOOO!”
Kendra shouted in his face, sending her own boy to tears.

Her husband
verbalized his frustrations and surprise, taking hold of the boy to protect him
from her.

Kendra moved
past them and went upstairs.

She sat in
her office for a while, listening to the voices downstairs. The children, still
wild and frenzied. The adults, soft and intimate.

Kendra
supposed she should feel something. Perhaps she should break down, have her own
cry about things. The dismantling of their family unit was not lost on her. The
planets seemed to have lined up and sent all the blame her way. She wondered
though, if she really was responsible.

When she felt
up to it, she returned back downstairs, all eyes on her as she walked
confidently back to the front door.

Perhaps, she
thought, she should have tried harder.

But then so
should they.

CHAPTER
SEVEN

All there was, was darkness. Darkness
and trees. Darkness and puddles of filth Haley kept diving her feet in. All she
wanted was a birds-eye-view of where she was. So she could see where the forest
ended. So she could see where the road began. At some point out here, they
would eventually reach the end. They would come out somewhere. But neither she
or Jason new what angle they were running at. They didn’t know exactly where
they would end up.

“We can stop
running,” Haley said, almost out of breath. “They’re not chasing us.”

Jason allowed
her to slow him down.

They stopped
where they were, surveying all directions.

“Did you see
a map or anything?”

“Briefly,”
Jason said. “We should reach a road eventually. But it’s probably still under
guard.”

“Drat.”

“You don’t
have your phone or anything on you?”

“No,” Haley
said. “You don’t have your ear-piece-thingy –”

“No,” Jason
said. “They ripped it out.”

“How are we
going to get through this?”

“Not sure.
Guess we just keep pressing ahead.”

“Yeah. It’s
our only option.”

They walked
on for a few minutes in silence.

“So you and
the vampire…?”

“You mean
Brock?” Haley murmured. “I think I lost control for a bit there.”

“You guys
kissed.”

“We went all
the way before that.”

“All the way?
You – you fucked him?”

“Just
happened.”

Jason shook
his head in disbelief. “Wow. Just … wow.”

“What?”

“Well. Looks
like Kendra fucked up big time.”

“What do you
mean?”

“Sending you
in there tonight,” he said. “I don’t know what she was thinking.”

“Because…”

“Because you
obviously aren’t cut out for this.”

“In what
way?”

Jason ground
his teeth together. “In the way that, you don’t go jumping into bed with
potential serial killers.”

“He’s not the
guy.”

“Really?”

“You saw. He
helped. We got away because of him.”

“That proves
his innocence does it?”

“Alright,”
Haley gushed. “I made a mistake. I’m … I’m not cut out for this. I’m just … He
seemed to get me.”

“Get you?
What’s to get Haley? I suppose I’ve only known you for a few hours as well, and
I’ve figured you out.”

“Why are you
being such a dick?”

“Because I
was standing up for you,” Jason said. “I was the one who saw what they were
doing and knew it was wrong. I was angry with myself for not speaking up
sooner. But now, now I sort of realize that you put yourself in this place. If
something had happened to you it would have been your own damn fault.”

“I don’t
understand why you’re so upset with me.”

“I’m not
upset. I just – Do you realize how
dumb
you are to trust a guy like
Brock?”

“You weren’t
there. You didn’t see how he –”

“Look, maybe
he’s not our guy. Maybe he really is a good person. Despite being an evil
undead vampire – but so what. He gets you. You get him. But what about all
those murdered women who suffered at the hands at someone they trusted? What
about all the people we’re here for in the first place?”

“Yeah. So?”

“So, maybe –
just maybe – he’s completely fucking with you. You don’t know what goes on
inside his head. All you know is maybe, he could be a fucking serial killer –”

“It’s not
him,” Haley said defiantly. “There’s got to be at least fifty other vampires
who were there tonight, that could have been the killer. You say, well, why
didn’t they come up to you? Who the hell knows? Maybe they spotted me as an
undercover and walked away. Or maybe – maybe they weren’t even fucking here
tonight –”

Jason
suddenly put his hand over her mouth and dragged her to the ground.

Haley
struggled, taken by surprise – until she realized that a flashlight was making
its way through the darkness towards them.

Haley kept
still and Jason removed his hand.

The beam
hadn’t crossed them yet, but the holder was getting closer.

“I don’t hear
anything,” a voice said a short distance away. “I don’t see anything neither.”

“It was them,
I’m sure,” a second man said. “They’ve gone into hiding.”

Footsteps.

The beam was
right beside them.

Haley looked down
at the ground and saw her hand was in the light.

“We better go
back,” one of the men said. “We need to watch the gate.”

“Stop waving
the light around, I thought I saw something.”

Footsteps,
closer.

Haley closed
her eyes.

Nothing…

Silence.

She turned towards
Jason. He was shaking his head.

Metal pressed
against Haley’s skull.

“Found you.”

CHAPTER
EIGHT

The Count’s right arm was at his ear.
“Yes. Yes, bring them back here. Thank you.” He put the phone in his pocket and
turned back to Brock who was kneeling on the floor in his study. “They’ve been
picked up, as I knew they would be. So your action against me has turned out to
count for nothing.”

Brock pressed
his lips inward. “Can’t blame a guy for trying.”

“You risked a
lot for that young woman,” the Count remarked. “You understand that, don’t
you?”

“It wasn’t
just for her. It was for me. And … you as well.”

“Go on.”

“The facts as
they are presented to me, are that Madame Nightshade attacked Haley, and Haley
disposed of her in self-defense. Now, I’ve never been a parent, but I would
hope you could put that fatherly-ness out of your mind long enough to realize
that Haley isn’t to blame for your daughter’s death.”

“Thin ice,
Brock.”

“It’s not as
though Haley jumped her by surprise. I imagine it was quite a struggle they
were both involved in. The stronger of the two, emerged victorious. Who would
have thought?”

“So you think
I should forgive her?”

“There’s
nothing to forgive,” Brock said. “Your daughter died honorably. When you go
after Haley, who is merely a pawn of a larger organization - an organization of
commendable intentions – what sort of character does that paint you as? Are you
weak? Are you petty, like a spoiled child –”

The Count
smashed Brock across the side of the face, breaking his nose.

Brock looked
up at him, the blood pouring everywhere.

“Is it me
now, you wish to blame? Master?”

“You call me
Master, and yet you have been utterly disobedient,” the Count said.

“What I know,
is that something held you back from killing them on the roof,” Brock said. “Or
would have me believe they managed to escape you via their own skills?”

“They are
both very skilled,” the Count said. “But … I may have held back. Initially I
intended to kill the young man. I thought he would protect his companion.”

“Haley is
mine,” Brock said. “So now I’m protecting her.”

The Count
laughed. “Haley is not yours. Her life resides with me, not you.”

“You will
find me a lot more cooperative if you can convince me that you’re willing to
set your grievances with her aside.”

The Count’s
eyes darkened. “I may have underestimated you, Mr. Ferns.”

“It’s always
possible. In any case, with Madame Nightshade gone you need someone to step in
to take her place. I would like to offer my services to you. I assure you that
my loyalty only comes into question when you threaten the life of a woman I’ve
fallen for. The rest of the time, you will find me a most adequate ally.”

“Is that so?”

Brock nodded.

“Stand up
then.”

Brock climbed
to his feet.

“I have an
assignment for you,” the Count said. “Are you following me?”

“What can I
do to help?”

“There’s
someone I want you to see. A woman who is a friend of mine. You are to…” the
Count moved around to his desk. “…bring her this.”

“What is it?”

The Count
walked over and handed Brock a USB stick.

“There’s some
sensitive information on this drive,” the Count said. “It’s all backed up, so
if you turn on me again, you won’t stop anything –”

“I’m on your
side, dear Master. I look forward to gaining your trust and approval.”

“We’ll see.
In the meantime, you are to visit this woman as I’ve said.”

“And where
might this woman be?”

“That I don’t
know,” the Count smiled. “It will be your job to find her.”