Rising Dark (The Darkling Trilogy, Book 2) (45 page)

There was half a roast chicken in the
fridge. She pulled off a drumstick and took a bite out of it,
pulling out other items and throwing it in her bag.

She moved to the cupboards and I
watched her add a few other things to the bag before she returned
to the fridge. She made herself a chicken sandwich and pulled out a
large bottle of Coca Cola along with crisps and any sweet thing she
could find before we retired to the drawing room, where I was able
to find out a little bit about her, as well as tell her about
Luna.

Sutana was a self-taught,
self-styled vampire hunter. Though she was barely out of school,
she was remarkably skilled at hunting down and killing vampires,
and had a fearsome reputation. But I found it difficult to take her
seriously. Firstly because of the way she dressed. She had seen a
film called
Shaft
a few weeks before and had shamelessly modelled herself on
the main character, from her clothes, movements, and even some of
her phrases. It was laughable as the effect on her was comical. She
was stick thin, her bony knees jutting out of her flared jeans. But
I was pleased to see her and watched her carefully for the little
sparks of Luna I saw in all her descendants.

“
Damn,” she said when I
finished a condensed version of Luna’s life story. “Damn right she
didn’t tell me we was related. Damn.”

She kicked off her boots, which were
in an even worse state of wear than the leather jacket strewn over
the sofa, and stretched out in front of the TV, biting into her
third helping of food. Turning up the volume of the TV, which
irritated my sensitive hearing, she shouted over the sound of a
popular television show.

“
That vamp has a serious
mean streak, and her kills are on a whole other level.”

“
She’s killing again?” I
said in consternation.

“
Well...naw. From what my
sources tell me, she ain’t killed a human in years, but she slips
from time to time. This is the longest she’s gone without killing.
But she can’t be trusted. No vamp can be trusted,” she added,
looking pointedly at me.

She stuffed the last of the food in
her mouth and stretched out on the sofa, her stomach protruding and
looking extremely out of place on such a slender frame.

“
So you’re telling me
she’s invincible and there ain’t much on this Earth that can kill
her.”

“
She can be killed, but
not easily, and I don’t suggest you try her patience by making an
attempt. She could snap you into little pieces and there wouldn’t
be much that anyone could do about it.”

“
Don’t be so sure about
that.”

“
You’re such a child,
Sutana. It is a wonder you haven’t got yourself killed already. Go
home. A vampire hunter is not the kind of life for a
child.”

“
Home is wherever I lay my
knives and my boots. This is my destiny. I’ve seen it all and I
know I ain’t gonna live past the end of this year. I was born to
kill the Vuillemot vampires. Once I’ve done that, I’ll move on to
the next life.”

“
Once you kill the
who?”

“
You ain’t heard of them?”
She appeared shocked. “How the hell ain’t you heard of the
Vuillemot vampires? Everybody knows who they are.”

I rolled my eyes and moved
to my desk, picking up a pen and paper. “Clearly you need a
stabilising influence in your life. This is the name and address of
your second cousin. She’s a very sweet, tolerant woman who has a
tendency to overfeed everyone. You could do with a few good meals.
Maybe she can tell you all you need to know about your family,
about
Grandmother
Luna.”

I couldn’t resist a little smile at
the stony glare she directed at me at the mention of Grandmother
Luna.

Then she smiled, snatching the piece
of paper out of my hand.

“
Thanks. Since you’re
Grandmama’s boyfriend, that makes you practically family. So what
should I call you? Uncle? Grandpappy?”

“
Avery
will suffice.”

“
Grandpa Avery it is,
then.”

She leaned back in the
sofa.

“
So she used to live here,
huh? I can see why she liked this place. It has a nice vibe to it,
the kind of place where you can just go to sleep and never wake
up.” I didn’t like where this was headed at all, especially since
she looked as if she had no intention of leaving. “I don’t never
sleep much. I always have strange dreams of this
creepy—”

“
The chapel? You’ve dreamt
about the chapel? How odd.”

“
It’s a real place?” She
shivered slightly. “Creepy.”

Seeing how comfortable she appeared to
be, I reached for my car keys and tossed them to her.

“
Here you go. I can’t bear
the thought of you not having a means of getting yourself
home.”

A huge smile spread across her face
and she got to her feet.

“
Don’t think I’m giving it
back,” she said before tucking the car keys into her jeans pocket
and reaching for her leather jacket.

“
Fine.”

After another glance at the pitiful
leather jacket, I moved to the safe hidden behind one of the
paintings in the room and opened it, drawing out some bills. After
another glance at her, and her worn down shoes, I added a few
more.

“
Here.” I tossed the
rolled up bills to her, which she plucked deftly out of the
air.

“
Oh, you just spoiling me
now, Grandpapa.” She tucked it into her bra, which clearly had a
lot of room in it, judging by her boyish chest.

She moved to the door where she
stopped and faced me. “I never thought I’d be able to say this
about a vamp, but I like you, Grandpa. I’ll tell Grandmama you sent
your love the next time I see her. But I don’t know, she seemed
pretty into her new man.”

I stiffened slightly but affected an
air of nonchalance.

“
You should see him,” she
continued. “He’s one long cup of hot chocolate. Well, it was nice
meeting you, Grandpa, and I’ll make sure I pass by the next time
I’m in town.”

Those were not words I wanted to hear,
but thankfully, she was gone.

I moved to the window when I heard
Sutana start up the car and drive away.

I had become aware of Luna’s presence
halfway during Sutana’s visit. She had been following her for
months and was at this moment hidden in the boot of the car I had
given Sutana. Aside from vampires, 1970s America was not a safe
place for a young black woman travelling on her own. I shook my
head. It was a wonder Sutana had survived for so long. I caught a
glimpse of Luna’s thoughts. She was tired and exasperated with the
child and her recklessness. All of Luna’s descendants were a
handful, but this one was the most troublesome of them all. The
only reason she had let Sutana reach the mansion is because she
hoped I would be able to convince her to stop her reckless
obsession with killing the Vuillemot vampires and perhaps take her
under my wing.

“
Oh no,” I said aloud as
Sutana drove toward the mansion gates. “That one is all
yours.”

There was only the impression of
exasperated amusement at those words. I smiled to myself and then
quickly brought it in check.

Luna was no longer a friend. She was
an enemy. We would always look out for her family and mine, but she
would be an enemy for as long as I lived and the hatred I had
toward her burned fiercely even after so many years.

***

Sutana kept her promise to pass by
whenever she was in the area.

I came home one morning to find one of
the windows in the kitchen broken. The contents of the cupboard and
fridge had noticeably decreased and there was a little note on the
kitchen table.

Hey Grandpapa.

Can you stock up on some
Pop-Tarts and Pringles please.

Thanks.

Sutana.

Vampire Hunter
Extraordinaire.

I tore up the note and called someone
to come and replace the broken window.

On another occasion, I returned to
find the same window in the kitchen broken and Sutana fast asleep
on the sofa, dirty plates dotting the area around her. Her muddy
boots had been tossed on the floor. Alarm gripped me when I saw
blood on her arms and clothing. Thankfully the blood was not human
blood. It was vampire blood.

Blood she got on the sofa.

I stared at her in exasperation for a
few moments before I left the room. She was still fast asleep when
someone arrived to replace the broken window. Thankfully she was
gone when I awoke at dusk. I found another little note on the
kitchen table.

Don’t forget my

Pop-Tarts and
Pringles!!!!!

Sutana.

Vampire Hunter
Extraordinaire.

I tore up that note and considered
keeping the fridge and cupboards bare in the hopes it would prevent
further visits.

About a month later, I awoke at dusk
to the sound of the television. I sighed. How on earth did she
manage to get into the mansion without waking me?

I shimmered out of my bedroom and into
the drawing room. She was sprawled out on the sofa surrounded by
dirty plates. Her appearance had only marginally changed. She had
new shoes and her stomach protruded painfully from the food she had
overindulged in. The flea ridden leather jacket had been thrown
over the sofa.

“
Hey, Grandpapa. How you
doin?”

“
Why are you here, Sutana?
Hasn’t Luna been keeping an eye on you?”

“
Grandmama? Naw, she’s
busy with her new man.”

“
What about your cousin
Mimi?”

“
She’s okay.”

She didn’t say any more, and it was
unlikely I would find out what had happened with her kind, sweet
cousin, because she had learned to shield her thoughts much better
since we first met.

“
You want some Doritos?”
she asked, offering me a half empty bag of crisps.

I shook my head. She reached into the
bag, pulling out a fistful of crisps and stuffing it in her
mouth.

“
Man,” she said, talking
with her mouth full. “The walk here sure worked up an
appetite.”

“
You walked here? Again?
What happened to the car I gave you?”

“
Oh, I sold that weeks
ago. Grandmama confiscated my weapons so I had to buy a whole new
stash.” She yawned and settled herself deeper into the chair. “So
when are you and Grandmama gonna get back together?”

“
Didn’t you say she has a
‘new man?’”

“
Oh, right. I told you
that, didn’t I?”

She settled deeper into the sofa and
yawned sleepily. “And what happened with you two,
anyway?”

I picked up my car keys and tossed it
to her.

A huge smile spread across her
face.

“
Oh, Grandpapa. You
shouldn’t.” I expected her to get to her feet. But she sat gazing
expectantly at me. “So I don’t get no pocket money this
visit?”

I sighed and moved to the safe. She
was right behind me, peering over my shoulder as I opened it. I
reached for a wad of money and peeled off a few bills.

“
You know, this house is
just so relaxing. I think I might find my way back down south in a
few weeks, depending on how long my pocket money lasts.”

I peeled off a few more
bills.

“
Yeah, I think a month or
two max, and then I’ll head straight back here.”

I handed her the whole wad of
money.

“
Why, thank you,
Grandpapa. This is enough to see me away from here for
years.”

She did the pitiful little thing of
tucking the money in her bra where it lay, the size of a brick,
against her flat chest.

Sweeping her jacket off the sofa, she
moved to the door. “I’ll tell Grandmama you sent your
love.”

She blew me a kiss and was
gone.

I was left alone, thoughts of Luna in
the silence all around me. I was so angry at Luna for what she had
done, but beneath that anger was love. Love that burned brightly
despite her faults and the pain she had caused. And with that love
would always be pain. Pain and longing.

Time no longer had any power over an
immortal like me. But it still found ways to punish me. Repetition
seemed to be one of its most potent weapons and, if you live long
enough, your sins always come back to haunt you, as it did on one
cold autumn night.

It was 1972 and I was in my study,
bored and miserable when a noise, that of someone moving around
outside the gates of the mansion, reached me. They were still now
and all I heard was breathing and a heartbeat. I was in no mood for
trespassers and I dipped into the ether, meaning to frighten the
hell out of whoever was there.

I materialised outside the gates, a
few metres from the person. An icy chill pressed itself against me,
rendering me frozen in terror.