Darkness Falls (9 page)

Interesting is right
, thought April, feeling her way down a corridor.
Tactless might be another word, considering the last time I was here, I was hunted through the dark by a maniac
. Luckily, April didn’t have time to dwell on it as she knew she wouldn’t have much time to search the library before the ‘hunters’ got there – and she still didn’t know where it was. In the dark, the house took on a sinister feel, with creaky floorboards and half-open doors leading into rooms full of shadows.
Doesn’t help that the place is full of vampires, either
, she thought, peering around another corner.

‘That’s got to be it,’ she whispered to herself as she spotted a door wider than the rest. She pushed it open and sure enough, there was the library, a large room with French windows at one end and an old walnut desk at the other, the walls covered with floor-to-ceiling shelves, crammed with serious-looking leather-bound books. April closed the door quietly and clicked
on the desk lamp.
God, there’s got to be thousands of books
, she thought.
How the hell am I going to find anything in here?

‘Psst!’ Caro put her head round the door and April jumped.

‘You scared me!’ she hissed angrily. ‘And what the hell are you doing coming up with this stunt? It’s hard enough to come back to the scene of the crime without you saying “let’s terrify the birthday girl”.’

‘Sorry A,’ said Caro, ‘but it was the only way I could think of getting everyone out of the way while we looked for the book.’

April shook her head. ‘No, I’m sorry too. I’m just a bit on edge. Davina said she saw Gabriel going off with Chessy.’

‘Oh, don’t worry about that,’ said Caro soothingly. ‘It’s probably just part of his plan to throw everyone off your scent. He’s not going to be interested in that fat cow, is he?’

April giggled despite herself. ‘I suppose not.’

‘So come on, let’s see if we can find your Superman his anti-kryptonite spell.’

It was still dark in the library, so they both used their phones to light up the shelves.

‘Bloody hell,’ said April, scanning the spines, ‘where do we start?’

‘I’ll go left, you go right. Look for something old and dusty.’

‘Why?’

Caro tutted.

‘Old because it
is
old, dummy. And dusty because if the Suckers knew they had it, they wouldn’t have just left it on the shelf, would they? If it’s here, no one will have touched it for years.’

April set to work, quickly scanning the shelves. Most of the books fitted into the ‘old’ category, being bound in leather or linen. There were a few shelves with more colourful books in modern dust jackets, but they all seemed to be about art or photography.

‘Hey, check this one out,’ whispered Caro, holding up a hardback with a slightly yellowed white cover. ‘Th
e Joy of Sex
. You wouldn’t have thought it to look at Ma and Pa Osbourne, would you?’

‘Put it back,’ hissed April, glancing towards the door. ‘We shouldn’t be taking books out unless we have to – we don’t want to leave fingerprints, do we?’

‘Ooh, hark at Miss Marple,’ muttered Caro, doing as she was told.

April was beginning to despair of ever finding anything in the library. There were too many books and most of their titles were written in small or faded type. She was feeling both the fear of being discovered and the pressure to find a cure for Gabriel – while he was off canoodling with Chessy, for all she knew.

‘Why are we doing this?’ she snapped finally. ‘It’s not like Gabriel cares one way or the other.’

‘Hey, I know it’s hard for you, but think how he must be feeling. He has to pretend to be one of them, to be part of the conspiracy, otherwise he’s dead. Plus he’s trying to protect you. I’m sure he’d rather be in here making out with you, but we don’t live in that world any more.’

April pulled a face.

‘Fine. Let’s just find the bloody thing and get out of here.’

‘Hello! Have a look at this,’ said Caro. She was standing in front of an ornate Oriental-looking cabinet. ‘Locked!’ she said with annoyance, trying to peer through the crack between the doors. ‘If it’s going to be anywhere, it’ll be in here …’ She reached up on tip-toe, running her fingers along the top edge of the cabinet.

‘What are you doing?’

‘Well, if it were me, I would put the key … ah!’

She brought her hand down holding a small brass key.

‘Bingo. Watch the corridor, I’ll see if I can get it open.’

Gingerly, April pulled the door open and peered outside. Her heart leapt as Layla came around the corner, and she ducked back inside.

She could hear a countdown being shouted out in the distance.

‘Hurry, Caro!’

‘Come and look.’

‘Have you found it?’

‘Maybe,’ said Caro.

‘Maybe?’ April hurried over.

‘I mean maybe it was there, but it isn’t now.’

April looked. The cabinet was empty. But from all the disturbed dust, it certainly looked as though whatever books had been in there had been moved very recently.

‘Shh!’ said April. ‘Someone’s coming!’

Caro ducked behind the desk and April jumped behind the door. Her heart sank when she saw Layla walk into the room and tip-toe to the drinks cabinet. Carefully opening the door, she poured herself a brandy and prepared to knock it back. Just then she spotted April and spilled the liquid down her front.

‘God,’ she spat, brushing the drink off her kingfisher-blue dress. ‘This is silk, that’s going to stain now! What the hell were you doing there?’

‘Hiding, of course.’

She glared at April. ‘And is that the best you can do?’ she asked. ‘Hiding behind a door?’

‘I haven’t found a decent hiding place yet,’ said April, stepping out of the room. She didn’t want Layla to spot Caro too.

‘Well you’d better hurry up,’ said Layla, her annoyance plain. ‘The rest of them will be here in a minute and Davina will hit the roof if he knows you were in here. Her dad is very protective of his books.’

‘I should think he’s pretty protective of his booze too,’ said April, nodding towards the glass in Layla’s hand. ‘Maybe we’d both better keep quiet about where we’ve been, eh?’

April doubled back towards the lounge. She could hear the sound of trampling feet and laughter coming from the upstairs rooms and some shouting coming from the direction of the kitchen. She guessed they had already searched this part of the house. She turned into the entrance hall and pulled open a door; it was a small walk-in closet crammed with coats. Perfect. She pushed the jackets to one side and got inside, closing the door behind her. It was cosy enough in there, but
April couldn’t relax. She kept thinking of one thing: where was Gabriel right now? Was he looking for her, hoping to find her on her own, snatch a few words or kisses, as she was? Or was he looking under the bed with some slut, pretending she didn’t exist. April knew she had agreed to this and yes, it made sense they pretend to dislike one another. But did he have to pretend so
well
?

She froze as the door opened and a blond head ducked inside. It was Ben.

‘Aha! My superior detective skills pay off!’ he whispered. ‘So now I have to get inside too?’

‘Um, yes, I think so,’ said April as Ben closed the door, wriggled between the coats and sat down next to her, being careful not to spill the glass of red liquid he was carrying.

‘You okay?’ he said. ‘I did tell my idiot sister that you might not be too happy creeping around in the dark, but she insisted it would be “fun”.’

‘Oh, don’t worry, I’m fine,’ said April forcing a smile. ‘Just thinking about … you know.’

In actual fact she was thinking about how she could feel his thigh pressed up against hers and how warm it felt. She knew she shouldn’t be thinking about anyone but Gabriel, but where was he?

‘Well, maybe this will help,’ he said, handing her the drink. April took a glug and grimaced.

‘Bit strong?’ he smiled. ‘I’m not that keen either. Actually, I think Caro might have hit on something with this party food. I think I actually prefer her cherryade to these cocktail things. And I never saw any of Davina’s fancy catered canapés disappear as fast as Caro’s sausage rolls.’

‘Maybe we’re not as old as we’d like to think,’ said April, immediately seeing the irony in what she had said. For all she knew, Ben could be two hundred years old. Still, he certainly looked good.
Stop it, April
, she scolded herself.
Remember he’s a vampire
.

‘One thing’s for sure,’ said Ben. ‘We’re all a lot better off since you came along, April Dunne.’

April looked away.

‘I’m not sure everyone would agree.’

Ben raised his eyebrows.

‘You mean Gabe?’

‘I was thinking about Layla, actually. We just had another run-in. In fact none of that crowd have ever really warmed to me. You must have noticed.’

He shrugged. ‘I don’t think the likes of Layla and Chessy warm up at all. But some of us are glad you’re here, me especially.’

April looked at him. He was cute, but was this all an act? Was he really saying he liked her, or was this all part of the vampire honey trap?

‘Well, thanks,’ she said lamely.

‘Listen, can we talk?’ said Ben. ‘Seriously, I mean?’

‘I … I suppose,’ said April warily.

‘Not here, I don’t want any other sardines coming in and interrupting us.’

He pushed open the closet door and, checking the coast was clear, led April towards the front of the house.

‘Well, I’m not sure I should leave the party …’ said April as he opened the front door, glancing back over her shoulder and hoping Caro had seen them.

‘Don’t worry, I promise not to keep you long, I just want to say something to you. I think it’s time I did.’

April was excited and frightened at the same time. She liked Ben, whatever he was; after all, wasn’t Gabriel a vampire too and she loved – liked – him. And why shouldn’t she flirt with other boys if he was doing exactly the same thing? It’s all part of our cover story, isn’t it? If Gabriel can go off with Chessy, why shouldn’t I go off with Ben? And anyway, could you really cheat on someone who had vanished upstairs with another girl? If Gabriel was really in love with her, where was he now when she was risking her neck – literally – trying to save him? Outside, Ben pulled her to one side, their breath steaming in the cold air, their feet crunching on the gravel.

‘April, you know I like you,’ he said, his intense blue eyes searching hers.

She smiled. ‘I have an idea.’

‘And you say Gabriel’s not in the picture any more? Because he is still my friend.’

‘I’m not sure how much Gabriel Swift ever was in the picture,’ April said quietly.

‘Then maybe you and I …’ he said, reaching out a hand to hold hers.

‘You and I …?’ said April, unsure what he wanted, unsure of what she wanted herself.

He pushed a strand of hair out of her eyes, an intimate gesture that made April’s heart beat faster.

‘Ben, I’m not sure …’ she said, ‘I …’

‘Well I am,’ he said, stepping forward, his body against hers. ‘I’m sure I want to do this.’

He bent his head, kissing her softly on the neck. It was so gentle and so unexpected that April actually groaned with pleasure.

‘What are you doing?’ she murmured, half-hoping he’d do it again.

‘What does it look like?’ said Ben, kissing her cheek. ‘I’m kissing you. Don’t you want me to?’

‘Yes … No, I … I don’t know,’ said April feeling his arms around her, an electricity between them, every part of her alive with longing and desire.

‘Oh God,’ she moaned. It was so wrong, but she couldn’t stop. Ben leant in again, his lips coming down towards hers this time. April felt her lips part, then heard a gasp and saw Ben jerk out of her sight. There was a thud and a grunt as he landed on his back. She whirled around to see Gabriel standing over him.

‘Gabe!’ she shouted. ‘Don’t! I didn’t …’ but he wasn’t listening, he was glaring down at Ben.

‘Get out of here, Ben, I’m warning you,’ he growled, his fists bunched at his sides.

‘Come on, Gabe, you made it clear you weren’t interested
in her,’ said Ben, getting up and dusting his hands off. ‘Don’t make this into a big deal.’

‘It is a big deal,’ said Gabriel, taking a step forward.

‘Well, if that’s the way you want it …’ said Ben. April was shocked at the speed with which he moved, hurling himself forward, his shoulder slamming into Gabriel’s stomach. Gabriel tried to side-step, but he was too slow and they both landed on the drive in a shower of gravel.

‘Stop!’ she shouted. ‘Enough! Both of you!’

Heedlessly, Gabriel rolled to his feet and flipped Ben over, sending him flying into the wall with a thud.

‘Back off, Ben, I’m warning you.’

Ben wiped a dark trickle of blood from the side of his mouth, looked at it, then launched himself forwards, swinging a lightning-fast punch at Gabriel which knocked him backwards, stumbling into a car. Seizing the opportunity, Ben jumped forward and grabbed Gabriel’s shirt, but April caught his arm.