Dark Love (7 page)

Sarah raced
straight into the bathroom and Daniel closed the room door behind
him. He heard the shower go on and set himself to work packing up
his belongings. This would be his final time here, so he would need
to take everything with him and then checkout.

He looked out
of the window at the horizon and thought about his time here.
Really it had not been long, but so much had happened. He had met
Sarah and successfully fought Sebastian. Now it was time to move
on.

He wondered
again if they should try and help more people, go somewhere where
there was a danger to fight, make good use of their enhanced
strength and his magical abilities. He decided he would broach the
subject with Sarah before they left, but thought she may not be
ready for more fighting and challenges; she might want to lie low,
fight her own battle of bloodlust and adjust to being a vampire in
her own time.

Sarah was
in
the shower, scrubbing at her body with a flannel she had
lathered with soap. She had been mortified when she had looked in
the mirror. Her hair was beyond a mess. It was tangled and dirty
and she even had debris in it. Small twigs were coming out in the
shower and falling to her feet. She had blood on her face and on
her clothes, and everything was smeared with dirt and mud. She
looked like a beast and tears stung her eyes with this realization,
for that was what she was now, she was not human.

She discarded
the flannel and poured copious amounts of shampoo into her palm,
before lathering it up on her head, and washing away all the dirt.
She reached for the conditioner, thankfully provided by the hotel
and literally filled her palm. She used a third of the bottle.
There was no-way she was going to untangle it without that. She
smoothed the conditioner through her hair, trying to work out the
tangles with her fingers. Tears fell down her face and she washed
them away too, letting the water flow over her face and letting her
troubles flow down the drain.

She thought
again of her children, and realized Daniel’s previous influence
must be wearing off as she immediately thought of blood pumping in
their veins. She pushed the thought away, as she had often pushed
away thoughts that troubled her when she had been human. She would
need Daniel’s influence again so she could see them, but now she
would not think on it.

What could she
think about instead? Where were they going to go?

England.

She would love
to go there, she had always wanted to. What would Daniel think?
They had not discussed it yet. Sarah immediately began to feel
excited, and her tears stopped falling. She thought of London and
all the historical buildings she would love to see, and of rolling
hills, oak trees, old churches and country lanes.

She sped up her
untangling and washed off the conditioner and bubbles, scrubbing at
the dirt and blood beneath her nails. She got out of the shower and
wrapped herself in towels, eager to talk to Daniel. But before she
did, she would have to clean her mouth for it felt disgusting. She
picked up Daniel’s toothbrush from a cup by the sink and squeezed a
substantial amount of toothpaste on, determined that she would be
thoroughly clean before seeing him again.

She stepped out
of the bathroom, accompanied by a cloud of steam, not feeling as
shy as the last time she was there. Daniel was before her, standing
by the bed. He had a large backpack on the covers, that he was just
strapping shut. She smiled at him as he looked up, not managing to
hide her excitement.

Daniel smiled
at her, obviously enchanted by her good mood.

‘Daniel,’ she
started, tentatively.

‘Go on,’ he
said, still smiling.

He was looking
rumpled and dirty, but not in a right state like she had been.

‘Can we go to
England?’

‘England, eh?
Why not. I have been there before but not for a long time.’

‘Oh yes, didn’t
you say you went to University there? Was that the truth? - I know
you said it before I knew you were a vampire,’ Sarah said.

‘I did go to
University there, but not to study. I originally went to college
near New Orleans when I was human. I went to England when I was
following Sebastian. He chose to torment the University in the town
of York, in northern England, so that’s where I went too. Maybe we
could go somewhere different in England, somewhere I’ve never been.
I’ve been meaning to talk to you actually . . .’ Daniel said.

Sarah sat on
the edge of the bed, ‘About what?’ she asked, happy that they
really could go to England. She was going to get to travel! After
England maybe they could go somewhere completely different, like
Africa or Antarctica. They could go anywhere they wanted to.

‘Well, I feel
like I need to do something to help people, to make up for fact
that I sometimes need to weaken them by taking their blood,’ Daniel
said.

Sarah nodded
encouragingly, enamored that he cared so much for humans.

‘I was
wondering about choosing to live somewhere where people are in
trouble, where they need our help.’

‘What kind of
trouble, do you mean supernatural?’ Sarah asked, and saw Daniel nod
in return, awaiting her response. ‘If we decided to do that, how
would we find such a place?’ she asked him.

‘I’m not sure,
but there are ways - news reports, missing people, that kind of
thing. I could scan the papers and internet when we arrive in
London, and look out for stories that just don’t seem right. Then
we could find somewhere to live near there. It would need to be
somewhere rural though, so you wouldn’t be seeing many people. I
would need to be able to help you learn control away from too much
temptation.’

What Daniel
said intellectually made sense. Sarah did want to help people, and
she wanted to learn more about the supernatural. In such a short
time she had discovered vampires, magic, ghosts and possession. She
shivered at the thought of what else might be out there, and felt
intrigued at the same time. If anyone could help people in trouble
it was Daniel, he was talented and had managed to destroy
Sebastian. And he could teach her - she would be strong too, she
would learn how to fight, learn how
not
to hurt people, and
maybe even learn some magic.

‘Yes,’ she
said, seeing Daniel’s eyes snap to hers, searching her for doubt.
‘I think we should do that, I want to learn to help people
too.’

‘Great, thank
you. I know it’s not what you had in mind,’ he said.

‘I didn’t
really have anything in mind, this is all new to me, but I do want
to help people.’

Daniel nodded,
and Sarah smiled as he leant forwards and gave her the briefest
kiss, before disappearing into the bathroom himself. As she heard
the shower start she looked about the room and saw that Daniel had
laid out two sets of clothes, one of which she assumed must be for
her. They were both the same, each pile had a black t-shirt, a
black shirt, black men’s underwear and trousers, all of which would
be far too big. She would have to pick up a decent selection of
clothes from home before the start of their adventure.

She smiled
again at the thought of it, dropped the towels and slipped into the
clothes. She was relieved the trousers had a belt which she
fastened on the smallest setting, meaning they would just about
stay up if she gave them the occasional tug. She rolled up the
bottoms so she would not trip up. She pulled the hairdryer and
brush out of the drawer, as she had before, and got to work on
sorting out her hair, whilst thinking about their plans and what
she would take.

She was just
finishing drying her hair when Daniel reappeared, looking sleek and
steamy, with a white towel around his hips.

‘I’ll get
dressed quickly,’ he said. ‘We need to get to your house before
it’s time for Megan to go to school.’

‘We’ve still
got to decide what to say to them,’ Sarah reminded him. ‘I had an
idea . . .’

‘Yes?’ said
Daniel.

‘Well, we could
say we are going travelling to do research for the book I’m
writing. Obviously, had I been human and able to stay with my kids,
I wouldn’t leave them for that long – especially with their father
recently missing, and God, I really don’t want to leave them, yet I
know I have to. We could say I’m having problems dealing with Jo’s
disappearance and that I need some time to recover, as that seems
more feasible. The research trip could be a method to take my mind
off all the trouble I’ve recently had. If you could influence them
to accept that as a reason, which they might not do without your
help, I would be able to stay in contact with them. We could talk
on-line and I could still see Megan and Bea, and they could see me.
I would also be able to return anytime – as soon as I manage to
develop better control.’

‘I like that
plan,’ said Daniel. ‘Do you want to try and influence them
yourself?’

‘No! I want to
make sure it’s done right. I want to practice before trying it on
anything this important. Is that ok – do you mind doing it?’ Sarah
asked tentatively.

‘Of course not,
I just thought you might want to. I will make sure Megan doesn’t
remember anything about you getting hurt either,’ Daniel said.

‘Thank you so
much,’ said Sarah.

She rose and
kissed Daniel on the lips.

‘Really, don’t
worry about it,’ he muttered against her mouth.

Sarah moved
back and said ‘I’m ready,’ forcing herself not to think of her kids
again. She would need Daniel to influence
her
soon, but
didn’t want to hold him up from getting finished at the hotel.

She sat on the
bed and watched him dress, a smile playing at the corner of her
mouth. There were good things about this situation. She would be
with Daniel and they were going to see new places, discover new
things. It would be a whole new world.

Daniel shrugged
on the black leather jacket that Sarah loved and slung his backpack
over his shoulder.

‘Let’s go,’ he
said.

Sarah got up
and took the hand he extended, smiling to herself as tingles shot
up her arm. She glanced back at the clock as Daniel led her out the
room and saw it was eight a.m. – there was still time before Megan
went to school. When they got down to the desk Daniel rang a bell
there, and a petit receptionist came out of a back room. The
instant she came in Sarah smelt her and honed in on the sound of
her heartbeat. Her own blood pounded through her veins, and she
felt her teeth start to extend. She looked away, horrified at
herself, and not wanting to be seen. Daniel released her hand and
she walked outside, away from the temptation to pounce. She stood
there, tense, and took deep breaths until Daniel returned.

‘Sarah shh,’
she heard, and someone was shaking her shoulder. Daniel. ‘Look at
me,’ he said.

She raised her
eyes to his and the blood lust faded as he calmed her mind, using
his powers to sooth her. She looked down in a daze, as he took her
hand again, and projected into her mind, ‘You did brilliantly Sarah
– you didn’t feed. You didn’t attack. You were amazing.’

She looked back
into his eyes and nodded at him, a tear escaping her eye. She
blinked back more and allowed him to lead her to his jeep. She
stayed silent as he drove them to her house, to her children.

He parked in
her driveway, next to her minivan. She looked about, not managing
to keep the tears back now. She was leaving so much behind.

Daniel took her
chin in his hand, and she let him direct her eyes to his – knowing
what was coming and welcoming it. It was the only way she was going
to cope.

She listened to
his words, powerless to his influence. She heard ‘control’, ‘say
goodbye’, ‘pack’, ‘calm’, ‘don’t think of blood’, and they floated
around in her head, penetrating her subconscious. At the end came a
kiss and his mind let hers go, yet she knew she was now thoroughly
under his control, in his power.

She pulled at
the handle and the door opened to her side. She swung out her legs
and, Daniel at her side, she walked towards her front door.

Sarah
knocked. She
didn’t want to shock her family too badly at her
return. Immediately the door was flung open and she was knocked
back as a squealing, pigtailed, sweet smiling child threw itself at
her legs. Her child. Megan. Love swelled in her heart and she got
down on her knees, at Megan’s level, and hugged her – making sure
she did not squeeze too hard. At least Daniel’s influence did not
take away her positive emotions, she thought. She could hear their
little hearts thrumming, but Daniel’s control was doing the trick;
she did not want to feed on them, so she was free to enjoy this
brief time together.

‘You’re ok
Mommy,’ Megan said, her eyes brimming with joy at Sarah’s
return.

‘I am my love,’
Sarah whispered into her hair, ‘I am.’

Bea wasn’t far
behind - she came shuffling into the hall with Sarah’s parents
close behind her. Sarah let go of Megan with one hand, still
holding her close with the other, and welcomed Bea into her arms.
Bea wrapped her arms around Sarah’s neck and Sarah buried her face
in Bea’s soft mass of hair. She held them both, taking in their
essence and memorizing every particle of their being. She was not
going to let herself forget anything about them.

Eventually they
struggled free, unable to be satisfied with staying still for long.
Sarah rose to greet her parents, and hugged them both. She was
aware they were already under Daniel’s influence as they were both
wearing accepting, happy expressions. That would not be the case if
not for Daniel! She did not need to waste time explaining anything
to them, as he had taken care of that while she had been holding
Megan and Bea.