Leticia (5 page)

I saw the private road on the left too late and passed it, I ended up doing a
U-turn
and really pissing some guy off who had
been
speeding down the road. I just smiled at him sweetly before giving him the finger, then drove at 20mph until he overtook me, just to
really
piss him off. I looked down the little road that led to her house,
opening
my window so I could see better
.
I
t was raining slightly now and so my vision through the glass was limited. As soon as the fresh air hit me, I picked up a s
c
ent, the same
one
I picked up only a few days ago near my house. The s
c
ent of a vampire.

I hadn’t seen or heard of a vampire for over twenty-five years, the last time I’d seen one was when
visiting
Spain in the early eighties. He owned a restaurant and was doing really well for
himself;
he was also a really nice guy
. I knew Nancy wasn’t a vamp, I’
d have picked up on it earlier in the coffee shop, maybe
she lived with one, but then wh
y would she if
she
wasn’t one? Was she something else? I knew there was something different about her, simply because she knew what I was and it didn’t bother her, I just didn’t know
what
.

***

The road was
narrow
, but
I would be able to turn around
even if it meant going up one of the grass verges slightly. This was the problem with owning a Range Rover
Vogue;
they weren’t the smallest of cars. I turned down the road and drove very slowly, constantly checking my mirrors and looking around. As soon
as
the house
ca
me
into view
I stopped
;
the lights were on downstairs and three cars were parked
in the drive
. I turned my headlights off so as not to draw any attention to myself, I didn’t want to be noticed. I stayed there for about ten minutes before turning around and heading back home.

When I pulled
into
my drive I noticed the living room light on, I was sure I hadn’t left it on. This was great, just what I needed, now I was worried about going into my own home, again! I decided to partially change just to be on the safe side, I let my teeth sharpen, my nails grow
and my eyes change
, before entering my house. After a quick inspection I
realize
d I was alone, there was nothing to be afraid of
, but
I brought my blankets downstairs a
nd decided to sleep on the sofa
so I wasn’t too comfortable, just in case.

The next thing I knew, it was 2a
.
m
.
, something
woke
me, my heart was racing but I knew I hadn’t been dreaming. There was a loud bang and not even a second later,
my front window imploded
sending shards of glass flying towards me. I sheltered myself as best I could. The sound I had heard was a gunshot
, they were back and this time
they were try
ing
to
kill me. I scrambled
through
the hallway and into the kitchen, trying to get to my knives
.
I stayed as low as I could, almost crawling to the draw
er
s and reaching up blindly to get the biggest blade I could find. I stayed huddled in the corner, watching
and waiting
. Normally, I wouldn’t have been bothered about bullets, it’s not like they c
ould
kill me, but since they had sent me a
silver
bullet in the post,
there was definitely a good reason to panic
. If the shooter was a good shot they could pierce my heart, then it would be game over. I waited silently, I could hear someone walking around outside, their footsteps getting closer and closer to my kitchen window. I held my breath, waiting for either the door or window to come through, but instead heard a
man’s
screams, no, more like shrieks of terror, there was banging and what sounded like someone gurgling,
and
then, silence.

I waited a few minutes, just to be safe, before standing up and looking
out
my window. I couldn’t see anyone around but did notice something on
the
path, a gun. I ran out the back door and grabb
ed it, then ran inside again
slamming the door behind me. I took the bullets out, they weren’t silver, just bog standard ones. Then something else caught my
attention
, the s
c
ent I’d picked up twice already was back. The vampire had been here, was it him or her that had stopped my attacker? Was I being watched by someone other than the ones attacking me? Was I being protected? It would be nice to think so.

I was on the phone
with one
of my customers the following morning, cancelling my appointments for the day, and telling her that someone had
broken my window
. How could I leave the house so
unprotected?
Her husband had his own double glazing firm and told me he would send a couple of his guys out to my place straight away. At 10
:
30 he turned up with two of his guys and got to work. I supplied them with hot drinks and
sandwiches
and when they had finished, he refused to take a penny
from
me. I was so
grateful that I
told him I would never take money
from
his wife for doing any of her beauty treatments ever again.

It was now 5p
.
m
.
and I was alone again
.
I was so tired
but
scared
to go
to sleep.
All I saw when I closed my eyes
was the silver bullet. I was going through my bag and purse emptying them of all the bits of rubbish and old receipts, when I came across the paper Nancy had given to me. The scent of the vampire last night filled my nose,
it
had saved me
.
I knew
it
must have something to do with Nancy since I’d picked up on his s
c
ent at her house
. I also
remembered
her
saying
they
wanted to help me. I had to
say
thank
you.

I locked the house up and headed out over the moors again, through Holmfirth and up the winding lane towards their private road. This time I actually pulled
into the
driveway, the same cars were parked there. The house was beautiful, bigger than mine, an old English farm house. They had no
neighbors
that I could see, and
were surrounded by open fields. The view was
breath-taking
. I took a deep breath, nerves were kicking in now and my hands were shaking slightly. Before I reached the front door, it opened, Nancy stood there with a beaming smile on her face.

“I’m so glad you came
,
” she blurted out
.
“Come on in
,
”
s
he grab
bed my hand and led me into the
living room. “Would you like a drink?”

“Yeah
sure
.
”

“Tea, coffee, something cold?”

“Tea would be nice
.
”

“I’ll be right back
.
”

She walked out of the room, letting the door shut behind her. I sat on one of the sofas looking around
.
They
had a big log fire surrounded by a beautiful marble fireplace.
Old paintings
, some of landscapes, others of cities around the 1920’s
were dotted around the room
. The suite was navy blue velvet, so big and soft, it must have been expensive
.
They
had two
three-seaters
and three armchairs, with a
n
oak coffee table resting on a navy rug between the two
sofas
.

“Sorry
it took so long
,
” Nancy said, walking ba
ck into the room with
two cups in her hand
.
“
Here
you go
,
” she passed me my tea then sat on the chair facing me
.
“I thought you would have come last night, I
hoped
you would have
.
”

“Sorry, I had a lot
going on
.
”

“Hmm, Leticia, you don’t have to lie to me, I know you came
you just didn’t come in
.
It’s
OK
, I take it nerves got the better of you
?
”

“You could say that, I don’t know you so....”

“That’s
alright
I understand, but you have nothing to be worried about
.
”

“What are you? Who are you? Why the sudden interest in me?” I asked
.

“I will answer that, no problem, but first there are two people you need to meet
,
” she said standing
.
“
Well
, one of them you already have
.
”

She popped her head around the door and motioned someone in. She sat down again and a few seconds later, a tall,
fair haired young man walked in.

“Hello Leticia
,
” he said
,
as he walked over to me, holding his hand out to shake mine
.
“I’m Tristan
.
”

“Hi
,
” I almost whispered, shaking his pale hand
.
H
e
was the
vampire;
he
was the one at my house last night
;
the one who saved me
.
“You were
at
my place last night, weren’t you
?
”

“Yes
.
”

“Thank you so much
.
”

“You’re welcome
,
” he smiled before sitting on the arm of Nancy’s chair
.

“Where’s my brother?” she asked him
.

“
Messing around
with something, he’ll be in in a minute
.
”

“Men
,
” she sighed, and then turned her attention back to me
.
“I’ve been told about what happened last night, I was worried, but Tristan told me you
were
OK
.
”

“Who are yo
u?”
I ask
ed
again
.

“We’re....”

She was interrupted by someone else entering the room. When I looked over I couldn’t believe my eyes
.
My
stomach started doing somersaults
and
I started trembling again slightly, he stared straight at me.

“I think you already know my brother, Jackson
.
” Nancy grinned
.

“Yeah we’ve come across each other
,
” he said to her, as he sat on the other sofa
.
“
A
couple of times
.
”

“Really
?
I thought it was just the once,
in
that
parking lot
.
”

“
OK
, I feel a bit
awkward;
I think this may have been a mistake
.
” I said fidgeting a little
.

“
Nonsense.
” Tristan smiled
.
“It’s just the meet a
nd
greet that’s a bit daunting for you that
’s
all
.
Relax
Leticia, besides you want to know who and
what
we are don’t you?”