Reborn by Blood (3 page)

“You’ll be fine.” She said as she handed them over. “Try them on and I’ll open the door.”

I glanced down at the glasses as I turned them over in my hands. They had a lightweight metal frame with rounded lenses that were tinted defiantly pink. The only word that came to mind as I looked at them was ‘delicate’ and they were very definitely feminine.

“Oh come on. No one will see you; we hardly want to be noticed.” Beth said.

“Fine” I grunted as I put the glasses on and settled them in place. They were almost painfully tight which I counted as a bonus as it meant the lenses were closer to my eyes and would hopefully stop more light.

“Here goes” Beth said as she pulled the door open wide.

I squinted behind the lenses as the sunlight hit. It was certainly unpleasant and everything seemed overly bright but I could see.

“Seems ok.” I said, “Let’s get him moved. Where’s your car?”

“I parked at the bottom of the stairs. I’ll nip down and open the boot; you bring him down and throw him in.” She said.

“Wait a minute” I called as she turned to leave, “Why do I have to carry him.”

“You’re a Vampire aren’t you? Doesn’t that mean you have, like, super strength and stuff?” she said.

“In films sure... in real life, I have no idea.”

“Well now is as good a time as any to find out.” She said before disappearing out of the door.

I scratched absently at the back of my head as I glanced back and forth between the bed and the corpse. Finally I decided to keep my blankets on the bed and just risk the short journey down the stairs to the car.

A quick look outside to make sure the coast was clear. My door opened onto a set of metal stairs that led down to the alleyway behind the Chinese takeaway. It was one of the reasons that it was so cheap.

The buildings that formed the walls of the alley had few windows in view and those that were there were covered in filth or by blinds. No one had any real desire to look out of their window at a rubbish filled strip of mud. A fact that I found I was immensely grateful for.

I picked up the dead body and tried to gauge how heavy it felt. Did it feel lighter than it should? I couldn’t say as I had never tried to pick up another person. A small trail of blood led from the wound I had made in his neck and had pooled on the floor.

With a fair bit of grunting I was able to sling the body over my shoulder in a rough fireman’s carry and made my way down the stairs. The hairs on the back of my neck were sticking up and I had the incredibly paranoid feeling that I was being watched.

The teen landed in the boot with a thud and I slammed the door closed before speaking to Beth.

“Wait in the car for me, I need to go and clean up.”

“You’ve never been bothered about cleaning your place.” She said.

“Yeah, well I’ve never had a pool of blood from a dead body on my floor” I said quietly, “I’ll be back in a minute.”

Without waiting for an answer I dashed back up the stairs and into the flat. I opened the cupboard beneath the sink and pulled out a bottle of bleach and a couple of dishcloths. The bottle was unopened and had been there since I first moved in. I had never seemed to get around to using it.

I walked across to the blood and became aware that I could smell it. The odour was stronger than I expected and the thought occurred that perhaps it was stronger to me due to the changes that had taken place.

With the first dishcloth I mopped up the still tacky blood and then poured the bleach over the rest. Several minutes of scrubbing later and I felt that I had managed to clean it all up. I put the bleach away and threw the dishcloths into the washing machine.

My shirt went with it and I switched the machine on as I collected a new t-shirt from the bedroom and pulled it on before I went into the bathroom and washed my face and cleaned my teeth.

Finally satisfied that I had removed any trace of the murder I grabbed my jacket from the hook beside the door and pulled it on before putting on a baseball cap and the yellow rubber gloves that I used for doing the washing up. I looked ridiculous but I would at least be protected from the sun I thought as I descended to Beth’s Ford Ka.

Her car was green and lacking in any straight edges and with only three doors. The whole car seemed to be one large curve and it was her pride and joy.

She was already sitting in the driver’s seat with the engine running and her music playing. One of those bands that she loved and I hated. I decided not to argue about it since she was driving me to dispose of a body. I climbed in beside her.

“You all set?” she asked and I nodded. “Cool, so where to?”

“I think we need to leave the city” I said after a moment’s thought. “Perhaps up to the moors?”

“How far do you want to go?” Beth asked. “I mean, I could do with some petrol money if we are going far.”

“Seriously? I have no money” I said.

“Did you check his wallet?”

“I didn’t actually think about doing that.”

“Well go and do it then. If he has any cash we can split it, after paying for petrol.” Beth said.

A quick check to make sure no one was watching and I opened the rear door of the little car. The body was lying in an awkward position so I had to reach my hand right under him to get to his back pocket. It was less disturbing than I had expected it to be.

My reward was a slim brown wallet. I opened it and found a twenty pound note and a debit card, along with his student ID for the local college. I pocketed the note and left the rest in the wallet before stuffing it back into one of his pockets.

“So what did you get?” Beth asked as I climbed back into the passenger seat.

“Twenty quid.” I said as I passed the note across to her.

“Cool, petrol and a couple of beers later then.” She said with a wide smile. “Let’s go.”

Chapter 3

The trees stretched tall above me as they reached their branches towards the sky. Green leaves surrounded us, interspersed with the blue and yellow of flowers in bloom. Insects buzzed around as they went about their business.

“This seems like a good place” Beth commented as she got out of her car.

I grunted noncommittally as I looked around. We were on a thin stretch of road that wound its way through a stretch of woods that bordered the moors. The road itself had barely enough room for one car and Beth had pulled her little Ford as far onto the side as she could without actually parking between the trees.

“So go and grab him and we can find somewhere nice and quiet.” She said.

“Why do I need to carry him again?”

“You have the Vampire super strength” she said.

“The only thing I have is an inability to see and an aversion to sunlight” I said as I adjusted the baseball cap to offer as much shade as possible. Even with the cap the skin of my face was tingling from the sun.

“Well you are a man, so you get to do the heavy lifting while I do the thinking” she said with a grin.

I rolled my eyes dramatically which was pointless since she couldn’t see them behind the shades, so I gave up and went to open the rear door.

The corpse was much as I remembered, pale and lifeless and quite heavy. I bent down and pulled him over my shoulder in a fireman’s lift.

“Which way do you want to go?” I asked Beth.

“That way” She said as she pointed roughly west. “Seems a bit denser that way, so less people.”

“Lead on.” I said and followed as she set off through the trees.

We walked for twenty minutes through the undergrowth, branches snapping beneath our feet and every fly in the woods seemingly determined to buzz around me and my burden.

The one benefit seemed to be that the shade provided by the trees meant that I could see a great deal better than I had out in the sunshine. As Beth stumbled occasionally over an unseen branch or root, I navigated past with ease.

“Here looks good.” Beth said finally as we reached a sheltered area surrounded by trees that were pressed thickly together and a natural barrier of brambles with half inch thorns.

“Ok seems fine to me. One question.”

“What?”

“Do you have a shovel?” I asked.

“Dammit!” she said loudly.

“I’ll take that as a no.”

“Why didn’t you think to bring one?” she snapped.

“Hey, I’m here to carry the heavy stuff, you’re the one who does the thinking.” I said with a smirk of my own.

“Not helping Ray.” She said as she chewed on her lower lip. “Bugger it; just dump him in the middle of the brambles. No one will find him; we’re in the middle of nowhere.”

“You think?” I asked doubtfully, though the idea did appeal to me.

“Yeah, a few days out here in the middle of summer and he won’t be recognisable.”

“Fine by me” I said as I walked across to the thickest bramble patch and heaved the body into them as close to the middle as possible.

“Right then. Let’s go to the pub, you owe me a beer or three.” She said.

“Sure, lead on.” I agreed as I walked around the bramble patch trying my best to ensure that the body wasn’t visible.

I followed Beth as we walked back through the woods. She was chattering away about the merits of various pubs and I was nodding in the appropriate places. My mind was far away though. I couldn’t help wonder at my new state of being.

Supposedly I was a Vampire and I had certainly drunk deeply of the blood of one person already. I had no idea how long it would be before I needed to drink more blood, how much I would need or even if it had to be human.

Did I need to eat or drink? What about sleep. Was I immortal, undead or just dying slower than normal. Would I get any special abilities or would I just have the weaknesses? Could I be killed by a bullet or would it be a stake through the heart? So many questions and I realised that I very much wanted the answers.

My thoughts went back to my encounter with Sebastian such a short time ago and the card that he had given me. I resolved to call the number on it when I got back to the flat and find some answers to my many questions.

I got back into the car and Beth drove us back towards Leeds. A quick glance at the clock on the dashboard told me that it was after five in the afternoon so by the time we made it back, it would still be light out.

“I’m not going into a pub wearing this get up.” I said.

“It’ll be fine, I know the perfect place. It’s a bit of a dive, but it’s dark and dank inside so you will be comfortable” she laughed before going back to singing along with her music.

From the corner of my eye I could see her dancing around in her seat as she sang along and still drove the car perfectly well. She seemed unfazed by my new found Vampirism and just seemed to accept it as a part of me, much like anything else. It was one of the things I loved about her.

We had been friends for nearly two decades, ever since she had moved into the house next to mine when we were ten years old. She and I had hit it off immediately and were inseparable
.

Most of the troubles I had encountered in my life were due to her. She had an ingrained sense of mischief and zero shame or conscience. Not that she was a bad person she knew right from wrong and most of the time she would do the right thing. She just didn’t see a reason not to do what she wanted sometimes.

“We’re here” She announced, shaking me from my reverie.

“Already? Where are we?” I asked as I looked about in an attempt to recognise where we were.

“You don’t worry your pretty little undead head about it” She said with a grin.

I pulled off the rubber gloves and climbed out of the car with a sinking feeling. That grin of hers indicated trouble, it always did. I groaned out loud when I saw the sign over the pub entrance. The Bull’s Head was notorious for the clientele. It was in the roughest part of Leeds and if the police didn’t visit to break up a brawl at least once a week, it was a miracle.

“Don’t be a wuss” Beth said as she strode for the door. The bouncer gave her a nod as she passed and it occurred to me that she had likely been here before.

The bouncer gave me a hard look as I passed. He was over six feet tall and bald; his remarkably large frame was wide enough that he had to move to the side to allow me into the building.

Inside the room was fairly dim, the only light that made it through the dirt covered windows was too weak to do much more than raise a slight tingle on my skin. Raucous music was playing overly loud which didn’t seem to bother the pub regulars who gathered around their tables or at the bar, with drinks in hand.

I noted several people glanced my way as I crossed the scuffed hardwood floor to join Beth at the bar.

“Nice glasses” the barman said as he placed two pints of lager on the bar in front of us. Beth sniggered.

“Yeah, thanks for that.” I said as I took a deep drink of the pint. It was cold and delicious and didn’t try to make its way back up.

“So you can still drink beer then.” Beth said.

“Seems that way” I agreed happily as I took a second gulp.

“Oh I needed that” She said as she wiped the back of her mouth with her hand. “What’s the plan now?”

“Now... I think a few more drinks and then when I get back to my flat I am going to call that prick Sebastian and get some answers about my condition.” I said.

“Sounds good. What about work?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well you work in an office don’t you? During the day, with big glass windows?”

“Ah...”

“Yeah, you better start looking for a night job mate.” She said.

“Just great. That is all I bloody well needed.” I said with more than a little feeling. I had finally been in a position at work to be up for a promotion and had been flirting with Katy in sales for a couple of weeks. I was going to ask her out.

“Never mind mate. I reckon if you give it a couple of days that Chinese you live above will probably be looking for a new delivery boy.”

“Don’t remind me.” I said with a quick look around to make sure we weren’t over heard. I had no real reason to think anyone would care but when people started asking about the missing teen, I wanted no questions that could possibly lead back to me.