Vampire Dating Agency III (7 page)

CHAPTER
TWENTY-SIX

“Haley? Slow down. What are you –?”

But it wasn’t
time for words. It wasn’t time for manipulation.

There was no
fucking way he was going to get in.

Ever.

Brock put his
arms up to shield himself as Haley sprung up from the road. Her left foot took
out his right arm. Her right foot, his left. In the same breath she found
herself at eye level with him, smashing her skull into his.

Brock
staggered back, his whole body deflating.

But the light
in his eyes seemed to grow brighter.

“Okay,” he
said. “That’s – I deserved that –”

Haley wasn’t
finished. She ran at him, her fists curled into balls of steel, lunging at
figure in a frenzy. Brock made a feeble attempt to block her, but once it was
broken through, more blows were landed to his chest and head.

His knees
bent.

He wasn’t
fighting her.

He could
barely even defend himself.

“Stop
please,” he gasped.

“You want
mercy?” Haley spat back. “Stop pretending! Show me who you really are!”

“Haley, you
know me. You know I… You know…”

“What!?”

Brock got to
his feet.

Haley watched
the cuts and bruises on his face heal before her eyes.

As if there
was no damage.

As if she
hadn’t even begun to hurt him.

“You’re not
thinking clearly,” Brock said in a soft voice. “You’re tired. So, so, very
tired –”

“Shut the
fuck up!”

“Come to me,
Haley,” Brock said opening his arms. “Let it all out. You know … You know I’m
not your enemy…”

Haley
cringed.

She could
feel him getting to her.

“Admit it,”
she seethed.

“Admit what?”
Brock said innocently.

“Admit who
you are.”

“You know who
I am.”

“Show me,”
Haley said from behind clenched teeth. “You show me the true you.”

“Haley, I –”

“Take off the
fucking mask!”

CHAPTER
TWENTY-SEVEN

“What’s happening out there?” Nadine
asked, breaking the room’s silence.

The Count
looked at her inquisitively and then shifted towards the window.

“Haley and
Brock are fighting.” He turned back to her. “She thinks he’s the killer.”

“I feel bad for
them,” Nadine said. “Now we all know the truth.”

The Count
raised his eyebrows. “Do we?”

Nadine
glanced back at Kendra standing behind her. She took a step to the side to keep
her in sight. “I think it’s pretty clear what’s been happening here. Between
the two of you.”

“Kendra and I
are old friends,” the Count said. “Nothing more.”

Nadine looked
to Kendra.

“What he
said,” Kendra shrugged.

“There’s a
line,” Nadine said. “And its black and flaming and in the ground between us.”

The Count
took a step away from the window.

“You’re on
one side,” Nadine continued. “And I’m on the other.”

Kendra moved
in closer.

“I think that
in spite of this we should still respect one another,” Nadine went on. “In all
things … Vampires and Humans. Killers and Detectives. Friends and enemies…”

The Count’s
lips parted.

Dark goo
salivated from his fangs.

“We’re all
the same. So we should just come out and say who we are.”

“Anything for
you, my dear,” the Count said.

He put his
hand to Nadine’s wrist.

“I want to
understand,” she said. “Is it that vampires are inherently evil? Are you
incapable of becoming anything other than the monster that seeks its urge?”

The Count
felt her pulse.

She knew it
was steady.

“All your
questions have no meaning,” Kendra stated.

“You’re to
join us, Nadine,” the Count. “That’s all this has been building to. Soon, like
Kendra, you’ll forget all your hang ups in the world. You’ll see how things
truly are. You’ll see that all your old friends are but piles of meat supported
by bones. Stuffed with delicious, eternal, blood.”

“Is this the
outlook of an enlightened being?” Nadine asked. “Or that of a mindless beast?”

The Count’s
smile faded.

He let go of
her wrist and grabbed hold of her neck.

“I thought
you might put up more of a fight,” the Count declared.

“I haven’t
begun to fight you yet,” Nadine said.

“No?”

“Does this
feel like a fight to you?”

“I guess it
doesn’t.”

At that
moment the Count closed his eyes and bent down towards Nadine’s neck. His fangs
extended. They grazed the skin.

In the same
movement however, Nadine’s hand had ripped into the weapon she’d been
concealing behind her back.

The Count’s
eyes opened as the gun barrel reached his forehead.

Nadine pulled
the trigger.

CHAPTER
TWENTY-EIGHT

Brock’s face seemed lost. His eyes
were confused and devastated. Haley didn’t believe it – the image of the man in
front of her. She knew inside herself it was an illusion. It couldn’t be real.
She wanted to keep going, keep pushing him to reveal the monster she’d been
seeking tonight, but in a final twist of malevolence on his behalf, he had
refused to show it. And now she had to question the courage of her convictions.
Could she live with killing him now, and never really knowing for sure if he
was the one?

“What?” Brock
said hopefully. “What is it?”

“Stop it!”
Haley shouted. “Get out of my head!”

“Please,” he
said standing back up. “I want to help you. Let me … Let me help you…”

And Haley
felt powerless. The strength inside her was crumbling.

Fading away.

She could see
him.

Taking her
there…

“Oh Haley,”
Brock murmured, cradling her in his arms. “How I love you so…”

The words
stung.

She could
hear them in her head.

She could
hear the killer’s voice.

“Get out of
here…”

He kissed her
cheek.

“It’s okay.
You’re okay now.”

BLAM –
SHATTER –

CRUNCH.

A dark figure
sprang out to the side of them.

Haley and
Brock both jumped back, startled.

“So you’ve
made up then?” Nadine asked coyly.

“Where did
you come from?” Haley replied suspiciously.

“Look
lovebirds,” Nadine snapped. “You’re going to want to get a move on. We’re going
to have company soon.”

“What’s going
on?” Brock asked.

“I suggest
you follow me.”

Nadine then
took off in the direction of the car park.

Haley and
Brock looked at each other.

“You know
what she’s talking about?” Haley asked.

Brock shook
his head.

He took a
step down towards the direction Nadine had gone.

She was already
at her car. Getting inside.

“Do you want
to go with her?” Brock said quickly. “Yes or no? I think – I think you should.”

“You’re not
getting away that easily.”

“I’ll come
with you.”

Haley took a
step down towards where he was.

Nadine’s car
zipped round to them. “Last chance,” she called out.

“I can’t run
anymore,” Haley said.

Nadine looked
back and reached into her glove box. She took off the sunglasses she was
wearing and replaced them with a new pair.

Then she sped
away.

“Are you
ready to confess now?” Haley asked. “Or do you want to fight some more?”

Brock took a
step back towards the house.

“Oh shit,” he
muttered. Then he turned to Haley. “Get the fuck out of here.”

“I already
said, I’m not –”

Then she
heard it too.

The sound of
many footsteps running.

All at once.

All at the
same time.

“Run, Haley!”
Brock screamed, running away from the doors. “Fucking run!”

But Haley
didn’t run.

As vampire
after vampire after vampire –

Twenty,
fifty, a hundred of them –

As they all
ran past chasing down Brock, chasing down Nadine’s car –

Haley did not
run.

She chose to
sit.

On the
ground.

INTERMISSION

CHAPTER
TWENTY-NINE

It started in the van. That was how
it always started. She was in his ear, on the phone with him, most of their
words were distorted. The van had already stopped. Riley was sitting in the
seat next to him, her face vacant and afar. And the voice, as though rising
from the earth, suddenly made sense.

“I can see
your van,” Roxanne said excitedly. “I can see where you are!”

And like
always, Jason went to get out of the van and Riley grabbed hold of his arm.

“Be careful.”

Jason nodded,
said thanks. Later on he wasn’t sure if Riley had grabbed his arm, or if he
just imagined it once and it became part of the dream.

Without warning,
he was standing outside the van in the freezing ice cold atmosphere. He trudged
around it to the grassy hill where he could see Roxanne making her way down
towards them.

Jason
immediately put his hands in the air, waving to her.

“I can see
you now,” he said. “I’m coming to meet you.”

“Okay.”

He put the
phone away and started running. His feet splashed about in the wetness of the
ground, his arms in full flight and motion.

Roxanne had
stopped moving.

She was
waiting for him to come to her.

“Roxanne!” Jason
cried once he reached her.

He wrapped
his arms around her in a thick embrace, pulling her close to him.

“I think they
followed me,” Roxanne whispered.

“What?” Jason
said, looking around. “Where?”

“I don’t
know. I just saw this car was –”

“Well, let’s
not wait around for them. Come on now.”

Roxanne
nodded.

They hurried
down towards the van.

Riley got out
of the passenger seat and stood facing them.

“Look, I’ve
got to tell you something,” Roxanne said. “About my kidnappers.”

“Did you meet
him then?”

“Did I meet
who?”

“The vampire,
Brock Ferns. He’s the one who is behind this.”

“Well, I
didn’t catch any names,” Roxane said. She grabbed his arm. “Look. Will you
listen to me? I need to tell you something.”

“What is it?”

“The people
who had me weren’t vampires,” Roxanne said. “I don’t know where you get this
whole vampire thing from in the first place.”

“Look, there
are plenty of vampires who can disguise themselves as human. It isn’t that
hard. Besides, I just know about one vampire, the guy in charge –”

“Jason. You
need to wake up.”

“What?”

“They weren’t
vampires. They’re people that you know. They’re working for the Paranormal
Police.”

“Are you
kidding me? How do you –”

“And one of
them, the one you were talking to –”

Loudness.

Invisible
noise.

It blasted
all around them.

Jason
couldn’t see where it was coming from. He was facing the wrong way.

Just as he
saw Roxanne’s face and neck burst apart with an assault of bullets, his own
legs became consumed by pain.

His arms.

His back.

He fell into Roxanne,
their blood spilling all over one another.

“No!” Jason
shouted. “No, you have to tell me this time! Who were they? WHO THE FUCK DID
THIS? ROXANNE! ROXANNE! ROX –”