The Two Vampires (37 page)

Daniel walked over to the body of the sorcerer.  He looked down on him disdainfully, his face was puckered, and his hood had fallen back revealing his balding head.  The sorcerer’s neck was ripped where Sarah had bitten him.  He looked pale and ghostly in death.  He looked weak and pathetic.  He truly was. 

He should get rid of the body before Sarah returned, Daniel thought.  Now this worthless man did not deserve an altar.  Daniel picked him up and walked to where the sorcerer had discarded the other bodies.  He pushed him under the stone where he would join his victims, where hopefully they would destroy him in death, in hell, if such a place existed.

Daniel retreated from the trench, holding his breath so as not to have to inhale the smell of death, and he returned to the stone circle.  He looked up to the tor where Sarah had taken the witch and saw that she was no longer there, she was returning, ever so slowly, mournfully, down the hillside.  She was returning to his side.

At least his Sarah was ok - she was still alive, even if her eyes did look dead.  He would make sure she recovered.  This had been his idea - he had put her through all of this.  It was his fault and he would make it up to her.  They would have a break from fighting, from all this fear and suspense.  He would make sure they had time for some fun, and time to just be themselves.

Sarah was close now, and he looked to her face, but she kept her eyes lowered.  He was at her side in an instant and his arms were around her.

‘Let’s go home,’ she said.

Daniel nodded, ‘OK,’ he said, ‘we can do whatever you want to.’

He picked her up in his arms, inspecting the stone circle one more time.  There was still some blood there, but he thought he had removed most of the evidence that would make anyone suspect a ritual had occurred, that would make anyone think of trying to complete it. 

Daniel did not know what Sarah meant by home – whether she meant the cottage, or whether she meant Canada, and he did not ask.  It was too soon.  He would take her home now and tuck her up in bed.  He would bring her hot drinks and wine, and kiss her and love her, and he would make sure that she was herself again - however long it took. 

He looked down at her haunted, saddened eyes as he carried her over the moor in the moonlit darkness.  She was his Sarah and he loved her.  He had not done a good enough job before, but he would now; he would take care of her, he would cherish her forever and always; he would protect her from further harm.  He would heal her soul.

THE TWO VAMPIRES

“Daniel, I’m ready.  I trust myself.  I want to go home.”

Daniel presses the
key of their shiny new rental car.  All the doors release, and then he whips up the trunk before Sarah drops the pile of their things that she had insisted she wanted to carry.  She approaches Daniel, giggling, and lets the bags topple into the car.

“You seem happy,” he said, smirking at her.

She twirls and a second later is pressing her body against his and looking into his eyes.  Hers are threatening to overflow.

“I am happy,” she said.  “I’m finally going to see Megan and Bea.  It’s impossible to tell you how much I’ve missed them.”

“You don’t need to—I can feel it.  I know they are always with you—that they are the most important thing to you.”

“Daniel, you
are
going to stay with us—you’re going to live with us—aren’t you?”

He shakes his head, and Sarah freezes.  “Hey, I was doing that in disbelief.  Of course I’m not going to leave you, I couldn’t—not after how much we’ve been through together—how much I love you.”

The smile that spreads across Sarah’s face makes his heart practically burst with love.  He leans forward and kisses her soft lips, pulling her body even tighter against his.  She lets him kiss her for a moment, but then pulls back, frowning.

“Do you think you’ll get bored—living with a family—no fighting or anything . . . don’t you think you’ll get restless and want to leave us, in the end?”

“It’s been six months Sarah, six months since our last fight.  In that time I’ve watched you fully master your control, and we’ve done nothing except be with each other, learning about each other.  There is no-way I could get bored.”

“But that’s only six months.  In the grand scheme of things it’s not that long.  When you have kids your life changes.  It’s harder, harder even than the fighting.  It’s non-stop.”

“Sarah—don’t worry.  I love you so much—and I know how much you love your kids, regardless of how hard it is, and I know you wouldn’t have left them if there had been any other option.  They are a part of you.  I’m sure I will also love them—if that’s OK?  Can I try to be a father to them?  I know I won’t be replacing Jo, that’s not what I mean, but I want to be there for them.  I want to be there as they grow up, like you do.  And I want to watch you with them—to see you truly happy.”

“You do?”

“Of course I do.  I love you so much Sarah, you can never know—”

“Of course I do—I can sense it too.  And you know how much I love you—”

Daniel breaks her words with another kiss, scoops her up in his arms and deposits her in the passenger seat.  It’s midnight, and the car park is deserted, so—with no need to hide his vampire speed—he is sitting at Sarah’s side moments later, and she is giggling.

“What is it?”

“It’s just so much.  I still can’t quite believe I’m going to see them in the morning.”

“You are,” he said, stroking her soft cheek.  “Now let’s get out of this airport, and hit the road.  Shall we stop in a quiet spot to get some sleep?”

“Can we drive for a couple of hours first?  I want to be closer.”

“Certainly we can.”

Daniel reverses out, and takes his leave of the airport slowly.  No matter how much he wants to be a father for her kids, he still wants to treasure these final moments alone—to make the last night of their epic trip count.  And if that means not getting any sleep, so be it.

“How were your parents—when you told them you were coming back?”

Sarah laughs out loud.  “Relieved.  I don’t think it’s been easy for them.  However much they love their grandchildren, I think they’ll be happy to pass them back to me.”

“That is because they belong to you.”

“I hope they still feel that way.  What if—”

“They will—you are their mother.”

“But Bea—she’s so little.  What if she’s forgotten me?”

“You know she hasn’t.  You’ve been seeing them every day on Skype.”

“I know—I’m being silly.  It’s just . . . I need to be the best mother ever now, to make it up to them.  All that they’ve been through . . .”

“You will be able to,” he said, breaking into a grin.  “You have super powers.”

He watches her, out of the corner of his eye, as she shakes her head in amused disbelief, and then places her hand on his thigh.  He shoots her a dazzling smile, at which she chuckles.  He then returns his eyes to the open stretch of road, just in time to see a blur coming straight toward their car.  Sarah gasps. Heart soaring, he slams on the brakes, and an instant later something smashes straight into the hood of their car.

The car buckles
under the impact, and Daniel whips on the hand brake.  The car spins, but doesn’t knock off the person who’s just coming into focus before them.  A VAMPIRE.  Its jaws are open in a feral snarl, hissing as the car comes to a halt.  Out of the shadows spring more blurs, and he quickly counts—ten—ten vampires.

He can hear Sarah’s heart rate peaking.

“Sarah, we’ve fought worse—we can do this.”

“I know,” she said, resigned.  For a second her eyes leave the vampire on the hood, and turn to Daniel.  She gives him a weak smile.  “I didn’t expect coming home to be easy.”

With that she turns and wrenches open her door before the other vampires have a chance to trap them inside.  A second later Daniel is whipping through the cold night air to Sarah’s side, and the first vampire is leaping toward his throat.

After months without fighting, he still reacts on instinct.  He jumps toward the vampire, determined to protect Sarah.  He pulls a stake out of his inner pocket, always prepared, and drives it directly into the vampire’s chest.  He pulls the stake free, and then kicks the dead vampire away as it’s consumed by flame.

He is knocked to his chest as two impacts simultaneously hit his back.  His breath leaves him as he’s pinned to the ground by the weight of two heavy vampires.  He struggles, trying to get free, and drops his stake in the process.

“Let them stand,” a voice, whose source he can’t see, orders.

Daniel is wrenched to his feet in a swift motion, and his eyes seek Sarah.  Two vampires are holding her firmly in their grip, her arms pinned behind her back like his.  Her eyes beseech him for an answer as to what they should do. 

He tries to tell her to ‘wait’ with his eyes, to reassure her that they will be OK—he still has his magic, it’s simmering in his blood, ready to be used.  But first he has to know—why they are being targeted? 

He takes his eyes from Sarah and brings them around in search of the vampire commander.  He spots him at once, a tall and imposing figure, cast in silhouette by the headlamps from their rental car.  Daniel strains his eyes until he spots a familiar face.

“Hello Demetri,” Daniel said, his tone resigned—he should have guessed something like this would happen.

“Daniel.  Where is Sebastian?”

Daniel smirks, he can’t help but taunt the vampire.  “Where he is doesn’t matter.  What
does
matter is his state—he is very much dead.”

The vampire’s eyes flash, and he roars.  Daniel sees Sarah wince.  However, he makes sure he doesn’t react—he doesn’t want Demetri to get the upper hand in this one.

“Where is his body?”

“That; I will not tell you.”

“We want to see the body.  We want proof,” Demetri taunts.

Daniel shoots him an enigmatic smile.  “Is that all then?  Can we go?”

“No,” Demetri hisses.

Demetri whips a stake out of
his
pocket and lunges for Daniel.  Daniel channels the magic he has been storing in his cells, his blood, and sends fire through his hands into the grip of his captives.  He is immediately released, and, arms freed, he brings them around and shoots blue flame at the approaching Demetri, as Daniel leaps sideways to Sarah’s aid. 

Once again his actions have put her in danger, and he won’t let her get hurt, not when she’s this close to being reunited with her family.  It’s a good job he took advantage of their quiet time to train her to fight. 

As Sarah strikes one of the vampires in the stomach with her elbow, Daniel swings the flames toward the other one, as something grabs hold of his legs and wrestles him to the ground.  As he goes down he seeks Sarah with his eyes and is relieved to see she is free.  The flames missed the vampire, but the distraction helped Sarah to escape their hold.  He spots Sarah stake one, as another vampire jumps on his back. 

He focuses his power on his legs and core muscles and uses every ounce of strength to spring back, tossing off his enemies.  They are strong, but young.  Daniel knows he has the advantage in age over most of these vamps, but their numbers are far higher, and Demetri is at least twice Daniel’s age.  Fortunately Demetri is no-where near as old as Sebastian was, and Daniel did manage to kill him.  But, Sebastian didn’t have a small army to back him up.

  Daniel braces himself and takes a microsecond to scan the road.  There are eight vampires left.  The two vampires he made let go of him with flame must have managed to put it out.  Sarah is fighting four, all at once, but she looks like she’s struggling. 

Daniel was about to tackle his opponents, but he sees one of the vampires who’s fighting Sarah pull a stake free.  Instead of fighting, he leaps high over their heads, and lands behind the offending vampire, a young woman with virtually fluorescent blue hair.  He swiftly reaches for her neck and snaps.  As the girl falls to the ground Sarah succeeds in staking another vamp.  Daniel kicks yet another vampire away as he slams a fresh stake into the chest of the blue-haired girl.

He meets Sarah’s eye, and glances upwards.  She gives a brief nod, and simultaneously the two of them jump.  They land together on the tarmacked street, forest at their back, and face the remaining six vampires.

Demetri stalks toward them, leading the group.  Sarah’s heart is pounding at his side, igniting his protective instincts.

“Where is Sebastian’s body?” Demetri hisses once more.

“Somewhere no-one will find it, I assure you,” Daniel said.

The remaining vampires step closer slowly, hesitant now.  Daniel raises his arms, and fires flame in an arc, setting four of the vampires alight before the others have the sense to get out of the way. 

He failed to hit Demetri.