The Vampire And The Nightwalker (4 page)

At the door, Mrs. Bennington stopped and turned to face Secret.

“I do apologize, my dear, for my horrible manners and rudeness,” she said in a trembling voice. “You’re not a charlatan. In fact, you’re very accurate. Everything you said is the truth. Everything.”

“Mrs. Bennington, I’m very sorry that this has turned out like this for you, but you cannot get away with this type of vengeance.” As Secret spoke, she motioned surreptitiously to the driver to come and collect his employer.

“Thomas, please take me home,” she quavered.

“Yes, ma’am,” he replied, as he offered her his arm for support on the way back to the car.

Secret watched them as Thomas settled his employer in the back seat of the large, shiny black car.

She felt a heavy sadness descend upon her heart. Yes, the woman had been rude to her, but in the end, that was such a small thing. Harriett Bennington was about to have everything torn away from her, and she didn’t know the half of what she was about to face.

She was relieved that she had an hour to gather her thoughts and center herself before her next client arrived.

KANE AWOKE AND sat up.

He wasn’t quite sure what caused him to wake because the sun had not totally set. Something stirred his rest, though. Of that, he was positive.

Listening carefully, he trained all of his senses in the direction of where the disturbance seemed to have emanated.

There it was!

A scream and then silence. Blackness.

He had, of course, been keeping up with the current murders that were happening in and around the New Orleans area. So far, he hadn’t focused on who was doing it. Other things were consuming his attention.

That dreadful name the newspapers were calling the killer simply grated on him. The Blood Drinker. Seriously? He assumed they didn’t fully believe that the murderer was actually drinking the blood of the victims, but it seemed that humans always had to sensationalize these things.

He would have to see who was encroaching on his territory and calling attention to them all. This had to stop. That meant, even though his current project was quite important, it would have to be shelved for the moment so he could sort out this murder situation.

Well,
he thought.
There’s no time like the present.

Since he had already heard the scream, he knew what direction to take. It was, of course, too late to save the woman, but he could still catch the culprit and dispatch him in whatever way seemed appropriate.

Moving with his supernatural speed, he was at the murder site in seconds. As he had known, the victim was long past any help humans or his kind could offer to her. Sniffing the air, he caught the scent he needed and followed.

In no time, he spotted his prey. He stared at him in amazement.

No wonder he continues to collect victims so easily,
Kane thought.
He looks as though he’s no older than fifteen or sixteen years old, and has the face of an angel.
Before the boy could move in on his next target, Kane swooped down on him and flushed him into a deserted alleyway. . Pushed up against the brick wall, the boy showed no fear until he got a good look at Kane’s face. Recognition, as well as terror, sank in rather quickly then. Even he knew who Kane was.

Leaning right into the young vampire’s face, Kane hissed “So you’re trying to call attention to all of us because you’re stupid?”

“I… I’m hungry and I can’t seem to stop myself.”

“Oh, you can stop yourself. You just choose not to do so. What is your name?”

“My name is Bonn,” he trembled. “You’re not going to kill me, are you?”

“I haven’t decided yet. Who is your maker?”

“She said her name was Lisette.”

“Dammit!” Kane spat out as he shoved Bonn away from him. “Where did she find you?”

“She’s here in New Orleans. I was out with some friends and we got separated. Suddenly, she was right there in front of me.”

Lisette was a very dangerous vampire because she possessed a lethal combination of both beauty and evilness. Outwardly, she had beauty that defied description. It was that appearance which fooled so many humans over the years; even those who knew of and believed in vampires.

Her hair wasn’t dark like a good many vampires’. Rather, it was the lightest shade of blonde. The only time her eyes took on a red tint was when she was getting ready to feed or when she was compelling someone. The rest of the time, they were a shade of blue that the sky would envy. She was tall and slender.

The look of innocence that she wore drew more people to her than if she had used her powers to compel them to come closer. Everyone who saw her wanted to be near her.

For her to have snatched this boy from the street, meant that her hunger had overtaken her. This fact made Kane very curious. Lisette had been around long enough to control her surroundings and sort them in a way suitable to her. What could have happened that would have caused her to take someone just because he was handy? Even more puzzling, why had he not been able to sense her? Usually, Kane knew whenever Lisette was close.

“Did she speak to you?” Kane demanded to know.

“Not really,” Bonn said. “She did her thing and threw me to the ground. But first, before she started feeding, she told me that her name was Lisette and that she was going to give me the gift of immortality.”

“Let me guess. She bit your neck and the next thing you knew, you woke up with a burning hunger, the likes of which you had never felt in your life. You might have even tried to eat food, but it only made you ill. Am I close?” Kane asked.

“That’s exactly what happened!” Bonn cried.

“How do you know who I am? I can see that you recognize me.”

“All vampires know who you are, and most of them are afraid of you.”

“And you’re not?” Kane asked.

“Of course I am, but if you’re gonna kill me there’s not a lot I can do to stop you.”

“That’s very true,” Kane said softly. “But this is your lucky day. I’ve decided not to kill you. However, I do have some conditions attached to that decision. You’re going to stop killing outright. Obviously, Lisette left you on your own with no training. I’ll show you how to feed without killing, and without leaving the memory of your presence behind. Am I understood?”

Bonn looked at Kane as if he didn’t quite believe his good fortune.

“You know, I don’t really like to kill,” he murmured. “I just get so hungry.”

“How old are you?” Kane asked him.

“I was nineteen when I was turned.”

“And how long ago were you turned?”

“Six months ago. I remember, because we were out celebrating my friend’s twenty-first birthday. We stumbled out of the bar and into this crowd of people. My friends went one way and I kind of fell in another direction. Then this woman comes out of nowhere. Man, she was so hot! She’s standing there smiling at me like she wants to eat me up, which is kind of what ended up happening.”

Kane was still puzzled as to why Lisette would single out this young man. At any rate, Bonn couldn’t be allowed to roam around freely until he had been taught a few things, and it seemed as Kane was the only one around to do it. Of course, he could simply kill him, but even after all of these years as a vampire, he got no pleasure from killing. No, if he could save this new vampire; he would do so.

He spent the rest of that night with Bonn, showing him the ropes, so to speak. They began by going back to his last victim and removing her from the dump spot. The police wouldn’t find another body and would simply believe that the murderer had moved on. That didn’t mean they would stop looking, though they would never find the murderer.

Just before dawn, having made sure that Bonn was satiated for a while, Kane helped him locate a resting place that would keep him safe as he slept. Heading back to his own home, Kane made it just in time to sequester himself before the sun was completely up. Even though the sun didn’t cause him to burst into flames, he found that it did drain him after too much exposure. So he preferred to not spend a lot of time in direct sunlight. Besides, his sleep was a healing one and replenished him in just those few hours.

He was a bit sorry that he hadn’t had a chance to check in on Secret that night. It was okay, though. He knew she wasn’t going anywhere that he would be unable to find her. One lost night wasn’t going to ruin anything.

Reassured that all was well, Kane closed his eyes.

“EVERYTHING IS GOING to be just fine, DeLisa,” Secret said, as she tried to reassure her young client that she didn’t have to marry someone she didn’t love.

“But what about my family?” the girl sobbed. “They adore Davis! They’ve practically had us married since we were in diapers!”

Pointing to the Seven of Swords that lay on the table, Secret tapped it with her fingernail.

“See this card right here?” she asked. “This shows that Davis hasn’t been entirely honest with you about something. All you have to do is find out what he’s been hiding and then go to your parents. They won’t have their baby girl marrying a liar!”

“But he’ll never admit to me that he’s lied about anything. How will I find out what he’s doing?” DeLisa wailed.

“Because I’m gonna tell you, DeLisa,” Secret said to her in a quiet, calm voice.

Then she pointed to The Empress card that was on the table.

“Okay, this card shows us that he’s gotten someone pregnant,” Secret told her.

“You mean he’s been cheating on me?” DeLisa shrieked.

“I’m afraid so, honey.”

“But who? And how could he keep a baby hidden?”

“First of all, he doesn’t know she’s pregnant yet. I’m not quite sure that she even knows, but she will soon.”

“Do you know her name?” DeLisa asked.

Secret had to pause with that one. She did know who the girl was, but she had to figure out a way to make DeLisa believe that she was seeing it in the cards, when, in fact, she hadn’t seen any of these things in the cards alone. All of it had come from her special ability that she kept hidden for the most part.

“Let me see if we can get a name for you,” Secret said kindly, as she picked up her cards and re-shuffled them.

She laid out a few new cards and pretended to study them intently.

DeLisa was quite impatient and kept asking her if she was getting anything. Secret held up her hand to silence the girl. It was important to make it look good. Finally, she looked up at DeLisa and spoke to her.

“I have a name,” she said quietly. “Are you sure you want to know?”

“Yes! I have to know, Secret! This might just give me my life back!”

“Alright then, I’ll tell you. I’m getting that her first name is Bethany and her last name seems to be DuMonde. Yes, I’m quite sure that’s it. Bethany DuMonde.”

DeLisa had suddenly gone quiet and her eyes were wide.

“Are you sure that’s her name?”

“Yes, honey, quite sure,” Secret answered. “What’s wrong? Do you know her?”

“Actually, I do know her. I know her quite well. She’s my best friend.”

Secret had also seen that, but she felt that it would be better for DeLisa to work that out on her own.

“What will you do then?” she asked.

“It all makes so much sense now,” DeLisa said. “They always got along really well, and Davis wanted to invite her to come with us sometimes when we would go to a movie or out to eat. Not only that, but they would both be unavailable at the same time when I wanted to go out for the night. Now, I know why.”

“I’m very sorry, DeLisa,” Secret said.

“Well, I’m not sure that I am,” DeLisa laughed. “I mean, sure, I’m kind of pissed that they went behind my back, but this actually works out for me. I’m going to confront them and then tell my parents. They definitely won’t have me marrying a cheater, liar, and the father of someone else’s baby. Yes, the more I think about it, this is perfect!”

“So, you’re not upset then?” Secret asked.

“Not really. Funny, isn’t it? Most girls would be destroyed over something like this, but I’m totally fine! Of course, Bethany will no longer be my friend because I can’t have a best friend that would do something like this to me. But I’m actually fine. Thank you so much, Secret!”

Reaching across the table, Secret took DeLisa’s hands in hers and gently squeezed them.

“You’re going to be just fine, DeLisa,” she said. “I promise. Your next relationship is going to be so much happier.”

“I’m already a lot happier! You’ve helped me regain my life. I can’t thank you enough!”

Releasing DeLisa’s hands, Secret rose from the table.

“Just continue to believe in yourself and you’ll find that everything will be wonderful.”

DeLisa continued to thank Secret all the way to the front door. In fact, she even left a pretty hefty tip on top of Secret’s usual fee.

Smiling as she watched the girl go down her front walk, Secret felt happier than she had in a while. So far, she hadn’t noticed any more of those feelings of being watched. That had gone a long way to relaxing her, even though she was still on the alert in case they returned.

She was starting to think that maybe she had imagined it all. Then she would remember that empty booth in the bar and the abandoned glass of wine. She knew that someone had been watching her that particular night. Maybe it was just a fluke. At any rate, she wasn’t going to let it consume her.

DeLisa was her last client for the day and now the evening belonged to her. Just as she was headed into the kitchen to figure out dinner, her cell phone rang. Glancing at the caller ID, she saw that it was Adele Dubois.

Bloody hell
, she thought.
That’s the last thing I need tonight!
She decided to let it go to voice mail. There was no way that she would be able to handle that woman at the end of the day. It was why she always scheduled Adele’s appointments at the beginning of the day, or at least only one or two into the day. She had virtually no energy left after a reading with Adele.