Night Realm (17 page)

He leaped out of his seat. “What the hell happened to you?”

He came over to her and lightly touched her face. Chelsea pulled away from him.

“I’
m all right!” she snapped.

“What happened?” he asked again.

“A bunch of people gatecrashed Emma’s party. It ended up in a brawl.”

“Was anyone else hurt?”

“That’s a really dumb question, Ryan. It was an all-in brawl. Of course other people were hurt.”

It
had
been a stupid question, he realized.

He asked, “Is Emma okay?”

“About the same as me,” Chelsea said, her tone softening just a little. “Wasn’t a great way to celebrate her eighteenth, though.”

“How did the gatecrashers find out about the party?”

“We don’t know. Someone must have texted them or something. A few of them got arrested. There were cops everywhere in the end, but most of the losers got away. One of them was taken to hospital with a fractured skull. Serves him right.”

Ryan shook his head
. He never understood why some people only sought entertainment in ruining things for others. It sucked, but it was a way of life that was becoming more and more prevalent all the time.

Chelsea stood there thinking. “I was having a good time up until that point.” Ryan wrapped his arms around her. She didn’t immediately pull away. “I’m going to take a shower and go to bed,” she said.

Ryan let her go and watched her disappear into her room. As much as she seemed to hate him sometimes, he loved her. She was his little sister.

*  *  *

Once again Michael was airborne, searching for a lone target of the human variety. Several bats flew beside him and together they were birds of prey. The full moon cast its subtle light onto the ground below, creating spectral images out of the trees. A road flashed by beneath him, and then he was flying over forest once more.

This kind of remote hunting was interesting in its own way, but he would prefer to be in a club picking up a hot girl, having his way with her sexually, then feeding on her blood to top off a great night.

More bats joined him until they formed a V around him. Michael no longer felt like their company, so he hissed loudly and sent them flying off in all directions. Alone again, he hovered over some parkland to the west of Nerang. Just maybe some bum was asleep on a park bench or something?

He dropped to the ground
and did a pirouette. All he saw was grass and trees. No potential food sources. With a breeze blowing his dark hair back from his face, he started combing the park on foot, panning his head left to right.

Michael felt buoyed by an air of superiority that always surrounded him and emanated from within. He was untouchable. Who or what was going to challenge a vampire of his abilities? Nothing on planet earth. He was lord of the jungle, king of his domain. Compared to every other living creature he was like a god
, and he loved the sensation of absolute power that knowledge instilled in him.

Still, he preferred being anonymous and didn’t want to advertise his presence.
Being apprehended by the police, even though he could easily escape, wasn’t a good idea. The prospect of being endlessly hunted wasn’t one that really fit into his free-and-easy lifestyle. No, far better to remain a mystery; a creature of the night that swooped in, claimed its prey, then disappeared back into the darkness like it was never there.

As he rounded
a grove of trees he saw someone lying on the ground beneath a willow tree. The figure was curled up in a blanket despite the warmth of late spring in the air. The person wasn’t moving and Michael assumed they were asleep, or drunk, or both. As he neared the figure he saw it was a man with majorly unkept hair and beard. Not the tastiest looking morsel he’d ever seen by a long stretch. Lying on the grass beside him was an empty bottle of port.

Michael stood there for some time just staring down at the forlorn
, slumbering figure of the drunken homeless man. Such a waste of life. Michael would be doing the guy a favour by ending his life tonight. Obviously he had nothing to live for.

He grinned sadistically in the darkness then, his teeth gleaming in the moonlight, the fangs already starting to protrude. He’d momentarily surprised himself just now.
He’d actually felt some semblance of compassion for the man he was about to kill.

“Interesting,” he whispered and dropped to his knees.
The guy stirred, but didn’t awaken as Michael tugged back the blanket to expose his hairy, greasy throat. The man reeked of body odour. “Hmm.”

Michael bent down and latched onto the homeless man’s
throat. The guy was so drunk he never even woke up. The vampire knelt there, hunched over his victim until he’d bled him dry. When he was done he wiped his mouth clean on the blanket, then tilted his face skyward, where the moon painted his pale skin silver. He breathed deeply of the night air, looked back down at the dead man, then scooped him up into his arms, blanket and all. He glanced all around and saw no one. He was all alone. No one knew he was there. No one would miss the homeless bum he now held. Get rid of him where he’ll never be found and no one will ever know.

He rose into the sky and flew out west, where the forest was thicker and uninhabitable for miles around. There he buried the body in a natural ditch, covered it with dirt and rocks and fallen logs.

This kill would always remain a secret.

Sunday morning was cloudy and windy. Ryan was trying to read the paper out on the balcony, but the annoying wind kept blowing the pages about. In the end he took it into his bedroom and spread it out on the bed. He perused the sport’s pages first, then spent a few minutes going over the finance pages, figuring he needed all the help he could get when it came to that subject. Finally he turned to the news section at the front, read a little about the upcoming council elections, a fatal shark attack in South Australia, and a short filler piece about the brawl at the Broadbeach Community Hall on Friday night. It failed to tell him anything he hadn’t already heard from Chelsea. An update to a news piece from last week caught his attention.

Ryan read through the piece on the Amanda Simms murder, learning that the cause of death had been due to a mysterious loss of blood. Authorities were unable to pinpoint the exact cause of the blood loss as there were no apparent life-threatening injuries to the victim’s body.
Amanda would be buried on Wednesday.

Interesting, Ryan thought
.

He
put the newspaper aside and sat down at his desk, where he started rummaging through a never-ending pile of bills. First one, car registration, due in two weeks. Next, power bill, due in four days. Phone bill, due last Friday. He’d meant to pay that one already with Selena’s money, but had forgotten. Credit card statement, minimum payment due by the end of the week. One day he’d get that card paid off and never use it again. Sounded like an early New Year’s resolution.

With a sigh, Ryan placed the bills in order of due
-by date, with the phone bill top of the list. He then checked his mobile, making sure he hadn’t missed a call from Selena Thorne. It had now been three days since he’d seen her and had yet to hear anything regarding this new job she had for him. He not only really needed the cash, he was also intrigued as to exactly what it might entail. He had no other jobs on the books as yet and things were looking rather grim work wise.

Surely he would hear from her soon.

*  *  *

Emma had a gash on her face that had been sealed together with surgical glue. There was a dark patch of purple below her left eye. Scratches covered her cheeks and neck and there was even a large bruise on her right shoulder.

“We must look really glamorous,” Chelsea commented.

They were sitting outside a popular takeaway shop that overlooked the beach. Each had a Coke in front of them and the remnants of hamburgers.

“Happy birthday to me,” Emma said and smiled a smile that looked more like a grimace.

“Have you heard any more about John?”

Emma nodded and sipped from her straw. “I spoke to his dad this morning. He’s got a fractured left hand.”

Chelsea made a face. “That sucks.
What about your dad? I saw him into it.”

“His right eye’s a bit puffy. Mum ended up knocking out the guy that hit him.”

This bit of news brought a grin to Chelsea’s face. “Good on her.”

“Thankfully the police had the sense not to charge anyone from the party. We were all just defending ourselves. Maybe Mum and Dad should have hired about twenty security guys
? Those two we had did pretty good, though.”

Chelsea nodded. “So did Travis.”

“Did he? I didn’t see.”

“Yeah,” Chelsea was adamant. “He cleaned up about ten of them all on his own. He was like Superman or something.”

Emma looked dubious. “He’s a bit skinny to be that strong, isn’t he?”

Chelsea shrugged. “Well, he was. I saw him. Do you know what happened to him?” Emma shook her head. “When the cops came he disappeared. I don’t know how to get in touch with him.”

“Didn’t you get his phone number, or give him yours?”

“No.” Chelsea felt like kicking herself. Why didn’t they exchange numbers? “Somehow we just didn’t get around to it. We probably would have by the end of the night if the fight hadn’t happened. Stupid bogans.”

“So, you seem pretty keen on Travis,” Emma said.

“Yeah, there’s just something about him I really like. I really wan
na see him again. Maybe John has his phone number?”

“I’ll text him.
” Emma got out her phone. After sending the text she sat back with a satisfied smile. “I kinda like helping play cupid.”

Chelsea went into the takeaway and got another couple of drinks. By the time she returned
, John had replied to Emma’s text message.

She shook her head. “He says he doesn’t have it.”

“Does Travis have John’s number?”

Emma shrugged. “How’s that help you?’

“He might call John and John can pass on my number to him. They must get in touch somehow if they hang out together.”

“Good point.” Emma sent John another message and he responded less than a minute later. “He says ‘yes’.”

“So Travis has his number?”

“I presume that’s what he means by ‘yes’, Chelsea.”

“And he’s going to pass on mine if Travis calls him?”

“Yes, girlfriend. God, you’ve got it bad for this guy, haven’t you.” It was
a statement and not a question. “What happened to your infatuation with Dean?”

“You said not to go there, so I’m not. Dean’s a mate. Travis is...”

“Is what?” Emma grinned cheekily.

“Hot. Mysterious. Sexy. Charming.
..Different.”

“And let’s not forget he’s also Superman,” Emma pointed out.

“That too,” Chelsea said and drank some Coke.

She gazed out over the wind-swept ocean. It looked
grey and gloomy in the overcast conditions. Still, there were plenty of people scattered about the beach even though the weather sucked. She wasn’t that big on the beach herself. Sure, she liked it on occasion, but she didn’t go much for all the sand and salt. She wasn’t a water person, either.

“I wonder why he disappeared like that
?” she added after a long pause.

“Maybe he’s got something to hide?” Emma raised her eyebrows. “He might have a criminal record or something. Who knows?
Or he might have thought he’d get arrested because he was involved in the fight.”

Chelsea glanced around them, then looked down over the mall, the boardwalk and the beach
once more. Had she been hoping to spot him somewhere just now? She saw no one milling about that closely resembled Travis. Perhaps she would take a walk up town tonight, see if he was about. Thoughts of being a stalker entered her mind then. She wasn’t sure what to do. Wait to hear from John, maybe?

“Did you meet anyone new at the party that you like?” she asked Emma, deciding to give her friend some consideration and not just think about herself and Travis.

Emma shook her head. “No. There was no one there that I didn’t already know anyway. I’m not in any hurry.”

“Neither am I,” Chelsea said a little brusquely.

Emma raised her eyebrows again. “I never said you were.”

“Sorry. I don’t know why I just snapped at you. I think I’m just tired.”

“From the party?”

“That, and work, and Ryan bugging me about school.
” She paused, her eyes becoming watery as she reminisced. “I still miss my parents, Emma.”

Emma placed a
reassuring hand on Chelsea’s arm. “Of course you do. I wish I could have met them.”

“You would
’ve liked them. They were like your parents. Really cool.”

Emma smiled. “So you think my parents are cool?”