Vampire Dating Agency II (6 page)

CHAPTER
TWENTY

Haley had to pull herself away from
the wall. She had to stand up straight. Keep her hands from shaking. Find
balance.

Someone was
at the front door knocking and plugging the doorbell at the same time.

Haley walked
towards it slowly.

“Who – who’s
there?” she called out.

“It’s Riley,”
came the reply.

Haley
breathed a sigh of relief.

She pulled
back the chain, and unbolted the door.

“Are you
okay?” Riley asked as she entered. “You look like you’ve been –”

Haley
collapsed into her arms. “My Mom… My brother…”

“What?”

Haley cried
into her shoulder.

“What? What’s
happened? Haley…?”

Haley pulled
away. “I can’t even…”

“Haley!”

She felt as
though she might fall over. It wasn’t right.

It wasn’t
right at all.

“Look, you
sit down,” Riley said leading her to the sofa. “Just … stay there. Try and stay
calm.”

She looked
back at the front door.

“God, I’d
wish he’d hurry up.”

“Can you do
me a favor?” Haley asked.

“What?”

“Call … call
911. Ambulance. Police. They need to get down here…”

“Okay. Is –
is something wrong with –”

“They’re
dead. He killed them. He … did it because of me.”

“Who is he?”

Haley put her
head in her hands. “I don’t know.”

“What?”

“I said I
don’t know!”

Riley stepped
back. “Okay. Sorry.”

Haley put her
hands in the air. “The sick bastard. He was here. In the house. He – he left
his phone for me –”

“We saw
someone here. Just outside.”

“You did?”

“He came from
your backyard.”

“Who the fuck
was it?”

“Couldn’t see
his face. He had a hood up, plus it was dark. Jason went after him.”

“Oh my God.
Jesus. What the … FUCK!”

“Whoa. Take
it easy.”

“Take it
easy? My whole family just died! Fuck you!”

“Alright.
Stay there. I’ll make the phone calls.”

Riley stepped
outside onto the front porch.

Haley lowered
her face back to the ground.

So much hate.
So much grief. She was breaking apart.

Vmm…

Vibrating.
That
awful
vibrating.

She stood up
angrily and saw the phone lying on the ground to the side of the sofa. She
picked it up and discovered a text message had been sent to her.

I’m waiting
for you, Haley.

Come and find
me.

CHAPTER
TWENTY-ONE

Haley stepped outside the front of
her house, clutching the phone. Riley and Jason weren’t anywhere to be seen.
The street itself, was dead. No lights on. No wind. No rain. Everything was
completely still. Peaceful.

“RRRAAARRRGGGHH!”
Haley screamed into the air.

Her teeth
clenched together, her lips open.

Her eyes felt
swollen. Her nose shriveled.

Jason and
Riley appeared to the left of the footpath, hurrying over.

“What’s
happening?” Riley called.

Haley didn’t
reply.

When they
reached her, they didn’t know what to do. Riley tried touching Haley’s arm, but
she nudged her away.

“I’m … I’m
really sorry, Haley,” Jason said.

Haley looked
at him, the menace and hatred oozing out of her.

“Don’t
worry,” Riley assured her. “We’ll get the bastard.”

“How?” Haley
demanded.

Riley and
Jason looked at each other.

“I called
Kendra,” Riley said. “She’ll be here soon.”

“Kendra?”

“Ms.
Armistice,” Jason said. “She’ll get to bottom of this.”

“You mean like
how we got to the bottom of it? How we so spectacularly failed to complete our
mission?”

They looked
at her, perplexed.

“It’s the
same killer!” Haley shouted. “He knows about us! He knows we were investigating
him!”

“Alright,
just calm down,” Jason soothed.

“I am fucking
calm!” Haley screamed. “It’s him! One of those freaking vampires!”

“Alright,
alright,” Jason murmured. “Um. I should add something as well. He knows who I
am too. He had my phone number.”

“What?”

“When I was
chasing him, he wound up calling my phone,” Jason said. “I was just trying to
explain this to Riley. He mentioned … He mentioned Roxanne’s name. Said she’ll
be next or something. Roxanne is my girlfriend. I tried calling her, but no
answer. Left a message. I should probably go round there. Make sure she’s
okay.”

“What?” Riley
demanded. “You’re not leaving us here.”

“Someone has
to stay here,” Haley wept. “My Mom and my brother are –”

“It’s
alright. We’re not going anywhere. Right?”

Jason looked
at them sideways. “Roxanne could be in trouble.”

Headlights
blared down the right end of the road.

They walked
to the edge of the footpath as another dark van pulled up on the opposite side
of the road.

“Who is
that?” Haley demanded. “Is that anyone?”

“I think it’s
–” Jason began.

A large heavy
set man in dark clothes exited the driver’s side. They watched as he went round
the side of the van, and a team of five similarly dressed individuals exited.

They started
coming over.

“Oh phew,
it’s only Dino,” Riley said.

They waited
for him to get within range.

“You guys
needed some help?” Dino called to them. “A couple of dead bodies?”

“They’re my
fucking family, you insensitive bastard!” Haley cried.

“Sorry,” Dino
muttered. “What’s the plan here?”

Haley turned
to Riley. “Did you even call an ambulance? Did you call the police?”

“Uh … We
thought, or I thought we should handle the matter internally.”

“So they’re
in this house?” Dino asked, pointing.

“Do you have
any real training?” Haley demanded. “Do you know how to check them properly
and…”

She
collapsed.

Dino’s men
began wheeling two long stretchers past them.

“Yeah, just
inside,” Dino said, responding to a question from one of his men.

Riley
crouched beside Haley. “We’re going to take care of them. We promise. They’ll
be looked after.”

“You really
trust that brute?” Haley mumbled.

Dino looked
down towards her. “I’m sorry for your loss. I once … lost my mother too…”

He walked
over to the guys wheeling the stretchers towards the house.

“Let’s be
gentle, team. These people are ours.”

Haley looked
away to the ground.

“It’s okay,”
Riley said trying to comfort her. “We’ll get you somewhere safe.”

“I don’t want
to be somewhere safe,” Haley whispered.

“Well, what
do you want?”

“I want to
get even.”

CHAPTER
TWENTY-TWO

It was Nadine’s car, so she didn’t
mind driving. The guitar she’d retrieved from her earlier operation rested in
the passenger seat, while her two companions sat anxiously in the back. Neither
of them had wanted to be bothered with investigating these supposedly unrelated
deaths. But as far as serial killers and vampires were concerned, Nadine had
the experience and she knew that these deaths were likely to be no coincidence.

A short while
into their trip, noticing that the pair were silently conversing with one
another every time her eyes left the rearview mirror, Nadine decided to turn on
the stereo. It was a decision most favorable. Not only did she have the highly
meditative luxury of cruising the nighttime suburbia in her state of the art
modern vehicle, but to accompany them they got to listen to no less than five
classic songs from the golden 80s. It was an era Nadine herself was too young
to remember.

But not too
young to appreciate.

The group of
three were waiting outside the house near the road on arrival. Nadine was first
out of the car, but last to approach them, taking in every angle of the
environment. Every shadow that hit the ground.

“We have
someone new working with us,” Kendra explained as Nadine descended upon them.
“She was sent by our director, so please, the utmost respect.”

Nadine cast
her eyes across the three individuals.

“Jason,” the
man said offering his hand.

Nadine shook
it.

One of the
women stood up beside him. “Riley.”

Nadine shook
her hand.

Then turned
her direction to the woman still on the ground. “You must be Haley.”

“Yeah,” Haley
said. “Who are you?”

“I’m Nadine
Blue. I’m here to fix the mess you’ve created for yourselves tonight.”

“Yeah,” Haley
snapped. “Well, you can’t fix it. It’s too late. My family’s dead.”

“And so are the
fifteen innocent women you all knew about at the start of this venture. Their
lives are not to be forgotten. Do you understand?”

“Hey, back
off Nadine-what’s-it’s,” Riley interrupted. “We’ve been through hell here.”

“Hell?”
Nadine scoffed. “We have a job to do here. I’m sorry Haley, if it’s not what
you want to hear, but this attack on her family isn’t just about her. It’s
about US and THEM. This … could happen to any one of us. I’m sure that Haley
still has some people out there, who are close to her, and whom she loves. As
do we all. As of right now, this monster is putting them all at risk. If we
don’t catch up with him soon, more blood will be spilt. Understand, that in
this we are united. And we shan’t rest, or sleep, or eat, or fuck, or –” Nadine
paused, sniffing the air. “Or smoke dope. We’re in this now. And there’s no
going back. Every damn fucking last one of you better stand here with me and be
committed to finding this killer before the night is out. So who will stand
with me?”

Nadine
stepped away from them and folded her arms.

Kendra stared
back at her, like she was about to roll her eyes or laugh out loud.

But then one
person suddenly made the move and crossed the line between her and she.

Nadine
glanced to her side. “I’m pleased we see eye-to-eye then.”

“What are you
waiting for?” Haley cried to the rest of the group. “Let’s catch this son of a
bitch!”

CHAPTER
TWENTY-THREE

Somewhere far away, in the outskirts
of the city metropolis, Brock Ferns stepped out of a parked car and slammed the
door behind him. He walked up the footpath slowly, passing the occasional
person or group of people as he went by. The green lights up ahead guided his
direction.

Once he had
made it, Brock stepped back a moment, onto the road. He looked up at the
seventy storey hotel, admiring its size and prestige. He walked up through the
sliding door entrance and into the lobby area. A few busy faces moved about,
from all corners and in all directions. Brock moved to the front desk where a
group of ladies had just finished checking in. One of them turned as he walked
past them, pouting her lips and winking at him.

Brock offered
her no such flirtation in return.

He leaned
forward, placing his arms over the desk.

A young woman
with glasses stared back at him. “How can I help you?”

“I’m in
urgent need of contacting one of your guests,” Brock said. “A Ms. Annabel
Echo.”

“I’m sorry we
have no way for you to do that,” the receptionist replied.

“Well, if you
could just call her room and tell her I’m down here –”

“We don’t do
that either I’m afraid. You’ll have to find another means of contacting her. Is
there something else I can help you with?”

“Well, can
you tell me at least that I’m in the right place? Is she a guest here?”

The
receptionist smiled and nodded. “We don’t give out that information.”

“Okay
thanks.”

Brock moved
away from the desk and sat down in one of the chairs in the lobby. The
receptionist eyed him a moment, before someone else came over to divert her
attention.

Brock tried
the phone number he’d been given again, but alas there was no answer.

He waited a
moment, watching the front desk. He was going to have to do something here.

Once the
receptionist was free again, he walked back over.

“How can I
help you?” she asked flatly.

“I know
you’re just doing your job,” Brock said, “but I really need you to listen to me
now.”

The woman
nodded.

“I have a
friend outside, and he’s unstable. He said if I don’t get a hold of Annabel Echo,
he’s going to go crazy in here. I think he has a weapon on him.”

“By your
friend, do you mean you?”

“What I’m
saying is, if you keep refusing to help me, you’re going to get seriously
hurt.” Brock glanced over his shoulder. He saw a security guard walking over to
them. “He’s going to get hurt too now if you say anything to him about this. Do
you understand me?”

The
receptionist stared back stone-faced.

“There a
problem here?” the guard asked behind Brock.

“This
gentleman’s making threats,” the receptionist said.

“Alright
buddy, let’s go. Outside.”

He put a
heavy hand to Brock’s shoulder.

“You’ll
regret this,” Brock whispered.

He then
closed his eyes.

And lashed
out.