Leticia (6 page)

“Yeah
.
”

“Well I think you know what I am, so we can skip that
part
.
”

“
Jackson and I
are, different, I don’t know if you have come across our kind before, there aren’t that many of us, we’re what’s known as...
shape
shifters
,
” Nancy explained
.

“I know what they are, but I’ve never actually met any,
not
until now anyway
,
” I told her, a little shocked
.

“So we don’t have to explain what we can do?”

“I know you can take the form
of
other people
.
”

“Animals too
.
”

“Really?”

“Yeah, we’re cool
,
” she
laughed.
“
I like the sounds of you, I’ve never met a wolf before, I know Jackson and Tristan have, but I’ve lived a sheltered life
,
” she laughed again
.

“Rubbish
,
” Tristan grinned
.

“Anyway
,
” Jackson interrupted
.
“Are you going to tell Leticia why you asked her here
?
I think that’s what she
really
wants to know
.
”

They all went quiet for a moment and I started to feel really out of place, all I wanted to do was leave.

“We know you
’
r
e
having some trouble at the moment
,
” Jackson started
.
“I kept an eye on you after the attack in the
parking lot
.
”

“Why would you do that?” I asked
.

“Like I told you, we look after our own
.
”

“Yeah right
,
” Nancy muttered, before taking over
.
“
S
o he came home that day
and
told us about you and what had happened
.
Tristan was a bit shocked because he would normally have picked up the scent of a wolf, so not long after he went out to try and track you.”

“I picked up the scent of
a
vamp, I knew one had been close to my house
,
” I told them
.

“We wan
ted to find out where you lived
just so we could keep an eye on you
,
” She
continued
.
“Then we took turns watching when we could, Tristan got there just in time last night
.
”

“No I was late, that guy had already shot
out
her window
.
” Tristan added
.

“You have no idea how grateful I am for what you did
,
” I told him
.
“But what did you do with the guy?”

“Sucked him dry...”

“You said you wouldn’t drink from anyone
,
” Nancy shot at him
.

“He was an
ass
, he’d attacked Leticia and he deserved to die
.
”

“So why not just snap his neck
.
”

“Nancy, I am what I am, anyway, as I was saying, I sucked him dry and buried him on the moors. Nobody will ever find him
.
”

“Oh
,
” I almost whispered, paying more attention to the way Nancy was glaring at him than what he was actually saying.

“One less scum bag to worry about
.
”

“Why did you invite me here
?
I’m grateful for your help don’t get me wrong, but...”

“We want to get to know
you;
it’s been a long time since
we’ve come
across someone supernatural like us. It’s just been the three of us for a couple of decades now at least
,” Nancy told me.

“Well, it was lovely to meet you all, but I think I’m going to be leaving
.
”

“The area?”

“Yeah
,
” I sighed
.

“Why?” Jackson asked
.

“I just think I need to
.
”

“No you don’t, you shouldn’t have too
.
”

“Look, I don’t mean to sound rude, but you have no idea what I’ve been through, I can’t go through it again
,
” I said standing
.
“I stayed away from people for a
long time because something similar to this has happened before. Now it looks like someone else has found out about me
. Thank you for everything, and it was nice to meet you all, but I’m going now, look after yourselves
.
”

I grabbed my bag and almost ran out of the house
.
My
eyes were welling up
and
I could hardly see. When I got to my car Tristan was
standing
there waiting for me, I’d forgotten how fast vampires could move.

“Leticia wait
,
” he said grabbing my shoulders
.
“
L
et us help you
.
”

“You can’t help me, nobody can
.
It
doesn’t matter where I go, someone will always find out about me
.
”

“Stop running, you can handle them
.
”

“You mean kill them
?
”

“Yes, if necessary
.
”

“Sometimes you have to
,
” I heard Jackson say
.

I turned around to see him and Nancy walking towards me.

“Do you know who’s doing this?” Nancy asked me
.

“N
o
, I just...”

“Why don’t you come back inside?”

“I can’t, I don’t want you involved in this, it’s not fair
.
”

“Surely
we
should be the ones to decide that
,
” Jackson said
.
“
We
want
to help you
.
”

“I can’t let you do that, sorry
.
”

I got in my car and drove away. All of them stood on the path and watched me leave. I couldn’t let them get involved
.
F
or starters I didn’t know them and as awful as it may sound, I didn’t trust them. How could I? On the other hand they seemed so nice and sincere, but I didn’t want them getting hurt, these people, whoever they were, they wanted
me
not them. I didn’t want to risk them being found out.

As soon as I walked in my house the phone rang, I ran into the kitchen to answer it expecting it to be one of my clients again.

“Hello
,
” I said
,
in as friendly tone as I could manage
.

“So, you have friends do you
,
” the male voice from the other night said
.

“What?”

“A nice young girl, and two young men, hmm, do they know what you are?”

“What’s it to you?”

“It means...”

“You’re a coward
,
” I snapped
.
“
S
ending your little friends to taunt me, making your ridiculous phone calls in a lame effort to frighten me, well
d’you know
what
? Piss
off, I’m sick of you already, n
ow either come here and face me
or just find a busy road and
stand
in the middle,
I’ll let
you
pick
.
”

I slammed the phone down and started swearing my head off. A moment later it rang again, this tim
e when I picked up the receiver
I said nothing.

“If you ever put the phone down on me again...”

I hung up. I wanted to piss him
off;
I wanted him to come after me
.
I wanted to fight him. I didn’t like the thought of killing people, but now I was starting
to
think maybe Jackson was right, sometimes it had to be done, it would be
self-defence
anyway, kill or be killed. The phone rang again, this time I just let it r
ing and ring. He was persistent
I’ll give him that
.
He
must have tried about eight times before finally getting it in his head that I wasn’t going to answer
.
Every
time it rang I smirked to myself
;
k
nowing how frustrated he would be made me happy.

I walked into the living room with
a drink
and sandwich
.
I’d hardly eaten anything all day and my stomach was screaming at me. I put the fire on and sat on the rug in front of it looking out my window, even though it was nearly the end of May it was still rather chilly at
night;
it nearly always was in the hills. It was starting to get dark out now and a low level mist was hovering around my house. I used to love it when it was like this, the eerie feeling of it all, but now with everything that was going on, I felt really on edge and just wanted it to
pass. Once I’d eaten I lay down
enjoying the warmth of the fire and staring at my ceiling.

I started
to feel sleepy and was about to nod off when there was a knock at my door. I sat up straight,
m
y adrenalin instantly started to pump, that was until Jackson stood in front of my living room window and motioned for me to let him in.

“What are you doing here?” I asked as I opened the door
.

“I want to talk to you
.
”

“Come in
.
”

I led him into the living room and offered him a drink, but he politely refused.

“Leticia, you can’t run, none of us should have to hide, I know were not exactly normal but we’re still living, breathing creatures, we have just as much right to live our lives as any normal human being
.
”

“I know but it doesn’t happen like that
.
”

“What happened to you?” he asked
.

“It’s a long story
.
”

“I’ve got all night
.
”

“Jackson, look, I don’t want to talk about it
.
”

“I
will
find out you know
.
”

“What’s suddenly changed with you
?
T
he other day you didn’t even want to tell me your name, you
were
rude to me, and now you want to know the ins and outs of a cats
ass
, it doesn’t work like that you know
,
” I almost
scolded
.

“I’m sorry I was rude, I’m not used to talking to anyone other than my sister and Tristan
.
I guess my social skills are poor these days
.
”

I sat down facing him and studied him for a
moment;
he seemed uncomfortable, nervous, like he had no confidence in himself. It was
a
shame really, he was such a good looking guy and you could tell he was a nice person on the inside, why else would he have stuck up for me
?
W
hy would he be here now
?

“
Where are
Nancy and Tristan?” I asked
.

“At home
.
”