never having to sit opposite her again and face another of her interrogations felt wonderful – it felt like freedom. And as I left the building and stepped out into the grey afternoon sun, I guessed that she was glad that she would never have to see me again, too.
Chapter Two
Despite the overcast sky, I made my way on foot through Havensfield town centre. A cool breeze swirled litter along the gutter and I pulled the collar of my jacket up about my neck. The streets with their rows of Victorian-built shops were just beginning to close for the day, and most of the shoppers had started to head home for the evening. Being a coastal town, seagulls squawked overhead and the mouth-watering smell of fish and chips wafted on the air.
It was just short of five in the afternoon, and I was annoyed that I’d wasted yet another afternoon being analysed by Keats. I hadn’t meant to hurt her, and there was a small part of me that felt bad for saying what I had. But hey, she asked for it right? I told myself. She wanted to know what I could see about her – so I’d told her – but had I needed to be so smug about it? Whatever, it was done now and so were my weekly afternoon sessions with her, I hoped.
Quickening my pace, I made my way across town towards the newsagents. I wanted to buy a copy of each of the national newspapers before they closed up shop for the day. Since leaving The Ragged Cove and my suspension from work, I’d taken to buying as many newspapers I could each day. With the T.V. permanently tuned to the news channel, I would sit on the living room floor of my small rented room and search each of the papers for news stories involving any sudden disappearances of people. But what I was really looking for were any stories relating to murder where the victims had been found with injuries to their throats. I would spend hours shut away, my eyes scanning every page looking for anything that might suggest the return of vampires. If there were vampires, my belief was that the Vampyrus would be somewhere close by, and that meant Luke might be with them. Murphy had told me that they were going in search of Taylor and the other Vampyrus that were like him, unable to resist the taste of human blood. If I could find Luke, Murphy, or Potter again, then they would lead me to Taylor and perhaps my old trainer, Sergeant Phillips, if he were still alive.
I wasn’t interested in finding Taylor and Philips in order to seek any revenge, or help my old colleagues destroy them – I hoped to be able to convince Luke, Murphy, and Potter to keep them alive long enough, at least, for Taylor and Phillips to tell me what had truly happened to my mother. Ever since leaving The Ragged Cove, the thought of finding out what had happened to her and that image of Henry Blake’s grey, cold hand clutching a lock of her hair wouldn’t leave me. Nights had become almost unbearable, as I lay awake on the sofa, staring blankly at the news channel, my dreams and thoughts consumed by images of my mother and the nightmare that I’d lived at The Ragged Cove.
Night and day I thought about her and I wanted so much to keep the promise that I had made to my father. I knew that she was still alive and suspected that Taylor and Phillips held the answers. When I wasn’t thinking about my mother, I was thinking about Luke. I wondered if he were alright and if he had managed to survive the burns that he had received saving my life in the sky above St. Mary’s Church. On my many walks to see Doctor Keats, I would look down at the paving stones and wonder if Luke were somewhere beneath me in The Hollows. Then I would get to thinking that perhaps he wasn’t beneath me at all, that he had recovered and was already above ground tracking Taylor and Phillips like Murphy had said they would.
There was so much that I didn’t know, and that was what was driving me mad. Sometimes, after my sessions with Keats, I would question my own sanity. Had I really seen the
Chapter Two
Despite the overcast sky, I made my way on foot through Havensfield town centre. A cool breeze swirled litter along the gutter and I pulled the collar of my jacket up about my neck. The streets with their rows of Victorian-built shops were just beginning to close for the day, and most of the shoppers had started to head home for the evening. Being a coastal town, seagulls squawked overhead and the mouth-watering smell of fish and chips wafted on the air.
It was just short of five in the afternoon, and I was annoyed that I’d wasted yet another afternoon being analysed by Keats. I hadn’t meant to hurt her, and there was a small part of me that felt bad for saying what I had. But hey, she asked for it right? I told myself. She wanted to know what I could see about her – so I’d told her – but had I needed to be so smug about it? Whatever, it was done now and so were my weekly afternoon sessions with her, I hoped.
Quickening my pace, I made my way across town towards the newsagents. I wanted to buy a copy of each of the national newspapers before they closed up shop for the day. Since leaving The Ragged Cove and my suspension from work, I’d taken to buying as many newspapers I could each day. With the T.V. permanently tuned to the news channel, I would sit on the living room floor of my small rented room and search each of the papers for news stories involving any sudden disappearances of people. But what I was really looking for were any stories relating to murder where the victims had been found with injuries to their throats. I would spend hours shut away, my eyes scanning every page looking for anything that might suggest the return of vampires. If there were vampires, my belief was that the Vampyrus would be somewhere close by, and that meant Luke might be with them. Murphy had told me that they were going in search of Taylor and the other Vampyrus that were like him, unable to resist the taste of human blood. If I could find Luke, Murphy, or Potter again, then they would lead me to Taylor and perhaps my old trainer, Sergeant Phillips, if he were still alive.
I wasn’t interested in finding Taylor and Philips in order to seek any revenge, or help my old colleagues destroy them – I hoped to be able to convince Luke, Murphy, and Potter to keep them alive long enough, at least, for Taylor and Phillips to tell me what had truly happened to my mother. Ever since leaving The Ragged Cove, the thought of finding out what had happened to her and that image of Henry Blake’s grey, cold hand clutching a lock of her hair wouldn’t leave me. Nights had become almost unbearable, as I lay awake on the sofa, staring blankly at the news channel, my dreams and thoughts consumed by images of my mother and the nightmare that I’d lived at The Ragged Cove.
Night and day I thought about her and I wanted so much to keep the promise that I had made to my father. I knew that she was still alive and suspected that Taylor and Phillips held the answers. When I wasn’t thinking about my mother, I was thinking about Luke. I wondered if he were alright and if he had managed to survive the burns that he had received saving my life in the sky above St. Mary’s Church. On my many walks to see Doctor Keats, I would look down at the paving stones and wonder if Luke were somewhere beneath me in The Hollows. Then I would get to thinking that perhaps he wasn’t beneath me at all, that he had recovered and was already above ground tracking Taylor and Phillips like Murphy had said they would.
There was so much that I didn’t know, and that was what was driving me mad. Sometimes, after my sessions with Keats, I would question my own sanity. Had I really seen the
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