Beasthood (The Hidden Blood Series) (5 page)

Green, grey, yellow, blue and white all mixed in together like a watercolour, flashed across her eyes as she stared out through the glass. She leant the side of her head against the window, allowing the vibrations buzzing through her skull to send her off into a daydream.

              She thought back to a happier time three years ago when she and her parents had travelled to Brighton for a long weekend. They had sat down on the beach for a picnic on the first day.

             
The sun had been out, bursting through the thin cover of clouds, roasting her ivory skin. At the end of the day her face had glowed lobster red. Her cheeks had suffered the worst of it and had peeled, leaving unpleasant patches of raw skin on her face. Her shoulders and the front of her legs hadn’t escaped the attack of lobster red either. She smiled remembering how embarrassed she’d been when she’d seen her face in the mirror. She found her mortification on that day amusing now she’d matured a bit.

             
The sun from the present was also touching her face with its warming hands. She slowly opened her eyes, gazing down at the lines on the road. The car was zooming along, causing the lines to become one long white line marking the concrete. She sensed they were going way over the speed limit. She glanced either side of her out the windows and saw that they were roaring past all the other cars; though the motorway wasn’t busy. She figured the driver was making the most of the free space.

             
She felt him pump down on the gas pedal and discreetly peered round his seat to look at the MPH gauge. Nearly 100 and increasing. Her eyes widened with unease.

             
In the corner of her vision, she saw the driver’s face shift in the rear view mirror and her gaze snapped up. They locked eyes with each other for a short moment. A small smile played along his lips as he saw her anxious kyanite-coloured eyes flicker to the dashboard. He knew what she was unconsciously implying and despite the fact he found her reaction amusing and quite cute, he wasn’t in the mood to tease, so he eased off the gas pedal.

             
She felt the car slow down and glanced at the dial again. Eighty. She released a breath she didn’t realize she’d been holding then peeked at him from between her lashes when he wasn’t looking.

             
It was like he'd read her mind. She balked despite knowing how ridiculous the idea was and looked squarely out the glass to her right. She purposefully leaned unnecessarily close to her door out of his line of sight and remained there.

This gave him no choice but to pay full attention to the road. He tried, only to be bombarded with the thoughts he’d struggled to silence for days. He was indecisive – almost confused- about how this journey would affect him. He wasn’t even sure of how it affected him right now. He couldn’t think straight and that set his eyebrows into a solid frown. With his long fingers locked around the steering wheel, he stared at the road, barely seeing it.

              They were all intoxicated by the silence, swimming in their own thoughts for another ten minutes or so, before her aunt’s chirpy voice broke through the quiet like a high-pitched telephone ringer.

             
Jaz seemed to be the only one who flinched as her aunt began with, “So, Jaz.”

             
She turned to her aunt at the sound of her name, not looking forward to answering whatever question her aunt was about to ask.

She didn’t like talking in a confined space when only her voice could be heard- especially in front of strangers. She glanced at the driver who had his eyes fixed on the road, apparently not listening. Her uncle tilted his head slightly to look in her direction but not quite meeting her face with his gaze. “You like the countryside?” her aunt inquired.

Jasmine hesitated, glancing out the front window at the vast expanse of lush green and yellow fields, sweeping up and down across steep hills. “I guess,” she replied, adding a little shrug. Her voice was low and her throat felt phlegmy from keeping her mouth closed for so long. She cleared it almost inaudibly, not knowing what else to say. She could see her aunt waiting for her to continue.

             
When she didn’t, her aunt threw her a line. “There’s a lot of farming land around here. You also see a lot of horses, not just cows and sheep. You like horses don’t you? You’ve got a painting of one in your room right?”

             
Jaz nodded. She was surprised by her comment. Her aunt had only been in her room once not long after they’d met and yet she’d still remembered the painting. “Yeah, it’s an Arabian black horse.”

“
Beautiful animals,” her uncle agreed.

“
Yes,” she replied in a soft voice. She self-consciously gazed down at the floor.

“
Have you ever been horse riding?” her uncle asked. She looked up and found him with his body turned her way; his light brown eyes beaming. It was a topic he clearly enjoyed talking about.

“
A few times. I’m no jockey but I enjoyed it a lot.”

             
He nodded in agreement. Her aunt was gazing at her with a look of intrigue in her expression. The driver was listening intently though his poker-face revealed nothing.

“
Oh it’s a wonderful pastime. I’ve not ridden in several years mind you. Not since I did my back in.” She didn’t ask him how, expecting him to tell her. But instead he moved on and asked, “When was the last time you went riding?”

“
When I was fifteen. I went to a local riding school for my work experience. It was for two weeks and is pretty much the only experience I’ve ever had with horses,” she explained with regret.

“
Oh dear, you must have gotten all the dirty jobs I bet?” her aunt inquired, smiling apologetically.

             
Jaz pressed her lips together to contain a grin as she half-nodded half-cocked her head side to side, speculating. “It wasn’t that bad. I had to clean out the stables of course, clean and polish tack, groom and feed the horses. But the best part was collecting them from the fields for the lessons. I’d never ridden one before then and I had to ride them down narrow country roads bareback.”

             
The driver tried not to look her way as she said that. He was a man; he couldn’t help it when a word like that caused explicit images to overpower his mind. And it had been so long since… He bit down on his teeth, nearly cracking them to pieces.

Down boy
, he ordered, eyeing his crotch. It obeyed. He hated how weak his body could be.

             
Jaz also became uneasy by the word the moment she said it. She didn’t know where the feeling came from but she speedily smothered it, adding, “I mean -we couldn’t carry all the saddles there. We sometimes had to collect nine or more horses at a time between four people.”

             
Her aunt nodded in understanding, seemingly unaware that Jaz had stumbled over her words. “Yes, well I’m not a great horse riding fan myself. I wouldn’t have been able to do what you did. Your uncle was always much better than me. He has a way with horses. I’m more of a dog person,” her aunt replied with a smile.

             
Jaz tried not to pull a face. “Really?” It wasn’t an actual question but Jaz only said it because it seemed the polite thing to do.

             
The driver detected the false note in her voice and flashed a momentary glance at her reflection.

“
Oh yes. I used to breed them actually, when I was much younger. And sell them. Pedigree of course.” Jaz smiled weakly. “Your father never mentioned you ever having a dog. Or a cat even. That surprised me.”

“
Why?”

“
It seems the norm in a household to have a pet,” Erica replied with a shrug.

             
Jaz looked at her aunt directly. “I don’t really… like dogs.”

             
Everyone was suddenly very quiet. She felt like she’d missed something. She gazed at her aunt searching for any signs she’d offended her, in her expression. Her aunt looked almost amused by her remark. So did her uncle for that matter. It confused her but she apologized anyway. “I’m sorry, that came out wrong.”

“
No, I’m sure it came out exactly right.”

“
Well, I mean, I don’t
hate
them or have anything against them. I just wouldn’t want one as a pet. Dogs more than cats.”

“
Why is that?”

             
Her uncle swung round as her aunt asked what they were all curious to hear. The driver felt the urge to turn around too. He didn’t of course. Instead he glanced at Jaz in the mirror regularly.

             
She didn’t notice. She hadn’t looked up since she got the creepy feeling he could read her mind. Irrational of course but still, she avoided his reflection. She tried to pick her words carefully as she responded. “Um… well, when I was about ten. Ten?” she asked herself as she glanced up at the roof of the car. “No eleven.” She looked back down at her aunt and uncle. “I was out in the park not far from my house. With my dad. And then this-this massive dog that was on a lead suddenly yanked free from his owner and bolted in my direction. I wasn’t scared of them then but I knew it looked pretty piss- I mean- angry, and I was bricking it but I didn’t want to run in case it took that as reason to chase me.

“
It wouldn’t have made much difference ‘cos it jumped on me anyway, knocked me over and tried to bite chunks out of my face while I struggled to hold it back.” Her aunt was watching her in shock. Her uncle hadn’t moved an inch. “My dad tried to pull it off. Even with the owner yanking at the lead it wouldn’t budge. It gave up on my face and got a grip on my arm. Luckily I had a lot of layers on so the worst of his bite was on my coat. I don’t know how many people it took to yank that bloody thing off of me but they finally did. I was lucky. Only a few scratches. But after that, I just kept well away from dogs. Even the little ones. He was a pretty big bugger. One of those police dogs.”

“
Alsatians,” her uncle offered. She nodded once.

             
The air had become so tense from her story; she didn’t like the attention. She smiled lightly and shrugged as if to say, ‘oh well, shit happens.’

“
Good enough reason,” her aunt added.

             
Jaz caught the end of a purposeful look from her aunt, to the driver in the mirror. She didn’t see his response in time, because she’d have had to lean in to see. She was sure she’d seen her aunt look his way but when her aunt caught her watching her, she didn’t appear startled or wary.

             
In fact she replied with a warm smile, appearing oblivious to her niece’s searching eyes. Erica had amusement, and an expression Jaz couldn’t name –irony- in her gaze. “Interesting,” Erica then murmured, mostly to herself.

             
Jaz wondered if maybe she was just being paranoid and over thinking things as usual. She tended to do that a lot lately. It didn’t stop her from eyeing her aunt and uncle uncertainly.

             
She leaned back, continuing to occupy the space right by the window, so her right shoulder was squished against part of the door and glass. She stared in front; boring her searching eyes into the back of the driver’s shaved head. 

~
Chapter 6-
Whack~

Saturday May 7
th
, 2011, 12:46 p.m.
Petrol Station

“
Pit stop. We’ve got about two more hours driving so now’s the time for toilet breaks,” Aunt Erica announced.

Jaz pulled on the handle of her door leaning her weight against it ready to step out but it didn’t budge. She nearly smacked her face against the glass from sitting too close. She pulled it again and frowned when she realized the door was locked. She was focusing closely on the lock that the sudden pop as it was opened made her jump.

She blinked repeatedly adjusting to the sudden change in light as someone’s shadow loomed over her. She snapped her head up – a lot higher than she’d expected she’d need to- at the tall figure of the driver. She didn’t think he could look any taller than when she’d first seen him but she was mistaken. His height made her nervous. And he wasn’t a slight man either.

He had a faint smile on his lips and watched her for a short moment before cocking his head back in one quick motion. A signal for her to get out of the car. That irritated her. She didn’t like the way it seemed like he was giving her permission, and she didn’t like how her startled reaction had amused him.

She pushed the door open with more force than was necessary and slammed it equally as forceful, giving him a look that was
almost
a scowl. She was too well-mannered to stab him with the full strength of her annoyance, hiding very close behind the surface of her eyes.

             
He was quick to see what annoyance she did reveal however and he turned the smile off like switching off a light.

             
This made her feel victorious –though it did seem just a tad petty in her mind. She then swung round to look back at her aunt as she announced, “I’ll be back in a minute.”

             
The driver began filling up the car.

“
Okay darling,” her aunt replied. “We’ll be here. Oh Jaz?” Jaz turned around. “You want something to eat or drink?” Jaz shrugged. “Is there anything you’d like?”

“
I’ll get my own food when I come back.”

“
Oh now, don’t be silly. You’re in my care now. I can’t be having that.” Jaz knew she’d say that but it still made her uncomfortable. She didn’t like anyone else but her parents spending money on her. No matter how small. It seemed rude. “So, what’ll it be?” Her aunt’s tone gave no room for argument.

             
Jaz sighed with defeat. “I’m not fussed.”

             
Her aunt smiled. “I’ll find something. Drink? Something fizzy, pop, pepsi?”

             
Jaz shook her head. “Um, real orange juice if they have it, if not water is fine.”

“
Oh yes, I forgot you don’t like soft drinks.”

“
Not much no.”

             
Her aunt grinned, praising herself inwardly for her good memory. “Okay, orange juice it is. Don’t be too long, will you? I want to be there before it gets dark.”

             
Jaz nodded and shuffled quietly away towards the side of the building.

The toilets were separate to the shop, standing flush against the right outside wall of the filling station, visible from the parked Mercedes. She stepped in, holding her nose as the smell of piss attacked her and cautiously sidled into the first cubicle, peering down the loo to make sure there were no brown logs lurking inside. Discovering she was safe, she did her business and came out washing her hands whilst she gazed at her reflection. She sighed. “You look like shit, Barker.”

              Her little, deep-blue handbag that carried her toiletries and make up was slung across her shoulder. She slid it off and placed it on the counter by the sink. She unzipped it and then unzipped the make up bag without taking it out. She found her concealer and dabbed it under her eyes, smoothing it in. After applying a crème pink lippy and some rose blush she scrutinized herself in the mirror.

             
The sudden terrifying image whacked her in the face like a hard slap, coating her retinas so she couldn’t see the room in front of her. The shock of it caused her to knock over the makeup bag as she jumped back in fright. The bag hit the tiles with a cushiony-smack and the contents flew across the floor in a fan shape. She didn’t pick them up straight away; still in shock. “What the hell was that?” she gasped, asking the frightened girl in the mirror.

             
She knew what she saw though she had never seen anything like it before. Her question was more accurately- how the hell could an image -as vivid as if it had been right there with her in the bathroom- have shot out at her like that?

It was a face. A deformed face that had appeared out of nowhere in her mind. Not a memory and not a hallucination. It felt really… present and close. She shivered.

Goosebumps ran up her arms underneath her leather jacket. She rubbed her sleeves automatically. The soft leather made a whispery sweeping sound under her fingers.

A face.
She thought again, trying to describe it in her head; trying to see it again though afraid it would attack her like it had before. It didn’t. Only the memory of the image returned like a distorted photograph. A blurred image on a digi-camera.

             
A black face. Intense eyes. Dark, bottomless, unfathomable.

Human? No. Yes. Maybe?
She didn’t know. She sucked in a sharp breath and glared at herself in the mirror. “You listen to me now,” she commanded the reflection in a harsh but quiet voice. “You need to get your shit together right now, or I will gladly check your crazy arse into the nearest mental institution, got it?” She then realized the irony that came with talking to herself and her stare faltered as she fluttered her eyelids. She then gazed intensely ahead, not seeing what was in front of her. “Great,” she sighed in irritation. “Just, great.”

She bent down collecting the lipsticks, blusher and mascara that had escaped the make-up bag and stuffed them back in. She zipped it up roughly and chucked it into her handbag. Her mobile caught her attention.

Two missed calls
, she read, tapping the screen to unlock it.
Lisa.
She dialled and waited.

             
Lisa answered on the third ring. That was slow for her.“Hey chick, whassup?”

             
Jaz smiled, already feeling a little better. “Hi Lis, you busy?”

“
Nope just watching The Kardashians.”

“
Oh god,” Jaz scoffed, rolling her eyes.

“
Hey, don’t knock it till you’ve tried it.”

“
I’d rather gouge out my eyeballs with a spoon.”

             
Lisa whistled out a sharp breath as she cringed. “Ouch. And gross.”

             
Jaz grinned. “Sorry I didn’t call you back. Was on the road, didn’t feel it vibrate.”

“
S’ok. So where are you now?” Lisa asked through a mouthful of crisps.

“
Dunno. Bout halfway. My aunt says we’ve got about another two hours before we get there.”

“
God, where are you going? Isle of White?” Lisa joked.

             
Jaz snickered. “Somewhere before Scotland. No idea. It’s all countryside that’s all I know. Some weird name I can’t remember.”

“
It only takes me about four hours to go to Scotland to see Danny.”

             
Danny was her boyfriend. He was Scottish, -Lisa was a sucker for the accent- and his family lived there. He’d spend time there and when Lisa was free, she’d join him or sometimes they’d go together.

Jaz felt a slight pang of guilt in her chest.  Her best friend was so happy yet she couldn’t help feeling a little jealous. She wanted what Lisa had but then Lisa was envious of things she had too.

People want what they don’t or can’t have. It’s a fact of life.

She shrugged the feeling off knowing most of it was being brought on by her bad mood. Of course she was happy for her friend. She deserved all the happiness in the world. Only nasty bitches were jealous and bitter about other people’s happiness. She was a lot of things but a bitter, jealous, nasty bitch wasn’t one of them.

She realized she'd paused so jumped in to say, “Yeah I know. There was a lot of traffic on the motorway. Came out of nowhere after about half an hour on it. Took us a while to get off a junction. The driver took a detour.”

“
The driver?” Lisa’s voice rose with interest. If it was Ellie, she would have been more curious as to why her aunt would hire a driver. Or if he was her own private, everyday chauffeur. Lisa was a bit cruder than that. Jaz could hear the implication in her voice and knew what her next line would be. “Is he hot?”

Predictable
,
she thought dryly. “No. He’s old and creepy.”

“
How old are we talking?”

             
Jaz rolled her eyes. “I dunno, like pushing thirty? Maybe thirty-five.”

“
That’s not old-”

“
You’re forgetting I said creepy.”

“
Why, has he tried to stroke your knee through the side of his seat?”

             
Jaz blushed. “No!” she hissed trying not to raise her voice from a whisper. Lisa laughed loudly on the other end. “Don’t be so disgusting.”

“
Oh you love it really. So what then?”

“
Nothing, Lis. Forget I said it.”

“
Oh come on, don’t be like that.”

             
Jaz exhaled loudly. Lisa waited patiently. “I don’t know, he’s just a little weird. Something about him creeps me out. I dunno, maybe it’s just me,” Jaz said shrugging.

“
Probably. But, you’ll be there in two hours anyway and then you won’t have to see him ever again.”

“
Yeah, unless he’s gonna be driving us back.”

“
Hmmm. Maybe convince your aunt to get someone else?”

“
I think he’s her regular driver.”

“
Is she loaded or something?”

             
Jaz thought about it for a second. “I don’t know. I don’t think she’s like Bill Gates loaded but she’s definitely more well-off than my parents. And maybe they hired him today because my aunt didn’t want to drive. I don’t think my uncle wanted to either. It must be tiring.”

“
Oh god yeah. I nearly fell asleep at the wheel one time. So boring on the motorway.”

“
Tell me about it.”

“
Look, call me when you get there and stay clear of the driver. If he tries anything, drop kick his ass.” Lisa had actually taught Jaz many martial arts techniques she’d learnt from her after school classes.

             
Jaz was glad she’d listened even if she’d gotten a few bruises from all the times she’d played victim or attacker.  “Will do.” She hung up and stared squarely at the mirror. The feeling of loneliness crept up on her as she put her mobile back in her bag. She missed her friends already. She tried to ignore it.

The frightening image that only minutes before had shocked her brain, appeared back in her mind’s eye like a pesky fly. She wafted the invisible fly away, forcing herself to ignore it too.

Feigning indifference, she fluffed her hair – on a side-thought wondering why she was even bothering-
No one to impress anyway
- and left the bathroom, leaving behind the strange image, her fear and her low-confidence that infected her state of mind. All the things she didn’t let anyone else see.

She put on a confident, carefree, tough façade and stepped out into the sunlight.

             
                                                                      *

“Where is it?” he asked in a gruff voice.

             
Jaz’s aunt tapped the bottle of orange juice. He clenched his jaw distastefully.

“
Oh don’t look at me like that. You knew what was going to happen. How do you expect this plan to work?”

             
He leant against the car, gazing down the way towards the door marked with a ‘ladies’ sign. “I don’t like it.”

“
It doesn’t matter whether you like it or not. It has to be done. I don’t like it anymore than you do,” she retorted unhappily. 

             
He shifted his feet; the sound of his expensive black, pointed Wing Cap shoes scraping against concrete. “Will it be enough time?”

“
Yes. The effects should begin to kick in within the hour, maybe longer. My bet is on longer considering her bloodline.” The driver mulled over this. He didn’t like it one bit but he was no fool. It had to be this way. “Just take it easy and drive at the speed limit. She has no reason to suspect anything,” she instructed, glancing into the distance.