Vampire Dating Agency (12 page)

CHAPTER
FORTY-FIVE

There was another room adjacent to
where they had been dinning. Haley had been unaware as the door leading to it
was tucked away in a place where it should have opened up to a closet or
something. Instead, it led into a full sized master bedroom complete with a
king-sized bed with blue covers and sheets.

“Um…” Haley
said biting her lip.

“Over here,” Brock
said leading her past the bed.

They walked
over to the far wall and Brock shifted the curtains aside. They led out to a
set of double doors, opening out to their own private balcony.

“Come on,” he
said, holding one of the doors open for her.

“It’s cold
out there,” Haley resisted.

“I have just
the thing.”

Brock left
the doorway and went over to the closet to retrieve a large blue-colored fur
coat.

“Why is
everything blue in here?” Haley asked, accepting the coat.

“I don’t
know,” Brock said. “It’s just sort of the theme isn’t it?”

He held the
door for her again.

Haley stepped
outside.

She walked to
the edge of the railing and stood against it, looking over the back part of the
estate. Brock joined her.

“So this is
your little hotel room tonight, is it?” Haley asked.

“Something
like that.”

“Do you have
to pay them for it?”

“I don’t have
any money,” Brock confessed. “I’m on a contract. I have to perform services for
the agency at some point down the line. Whatever those may be.”

“Are you …
are you sad?”

“What do you
mean?”

“Sad that
you’re a vampire?”

Brock
considered. “Do I regret walking into that alley? Of course I do. Do I feel bad
that my life as I knew it is gone? You bet. But … there’s something about this
– what do you call it, existence? There’s something about this existence that
makes me feel divine. I’m still human, but I’m like a super-human. The next
state of our evolution.”

“Vampirism?”

“Immortality.”

“I don’t
know,” Haley said turning back to their view. “Don’t you want to know what
happens after you die? The other world? Heaven?”

“Or Hell?”

“Won’t it be
a mystery to you? Won’t you always wonder?”

“It’s not
that I can’t die. There are ways to kill a vampire.”

“Oh.”

Brock leaned
forward. “Listen, I’m sorry about before. That was mean of me to make fun of
you.”

“It’s okay. I
walked into it.”

“I set you
up. I knew what I was doing.”

Haley glanced
at him. “I hope so.”

“It’s funny
though.”

“What is?”

“That for
moment there, I had you thinking I was your first love.”

“I didn’t
think that.”

“Sure you
did. Not for long. But I had you there. It was real. It was possible.”

“Pretty far-fetched.”

“On the
contrary,” Brock said standing closer. “What if you never really fell in love
then? What if the first time you found true love hasn’t happened yet?”

Haley’s eyes
drifted up towards the stars.

Brock’s
fingers glanced hers.

She held his hand.

CHAPTER
FORTY-SIX

There wasn’t a moment where Haley
decided she would. Brock had no doubt decided he would, well in advance. All
the jokes, the witty charm, the searching conversations – it had all been part
of him persuading her. Haley knew this. As his cold palm touched her cheek, and
leaned into kiss her, she did see through what this was. It wasn’t a natural
occurrence with the wind, rather, his manufactured creation.

It didn’t
worry her. Indeed, she was surprised at the effort he’d made. Why her? Why did
she deserve his interest or affections? Yes, she was made up beautiful. Made up
to bait the murderer. But it couldn’t be Brock, could it? She didn’t see it
being him. Out of all the people she’d seen and met tonight, he seemed like the
least likely suspect. And she allowed him to disarm her.

They kissed.

Right there
on the balcony.

With the wind
moving between their feet, and Brock’s arms rising up her body. She’d hadn’t
come here looking for love or desire, but Brock was forcing it upon her.
Forcing her to question. She’d told herself she didn’t want or need it. All
that mattered was that she succeed.

And now,
she’d turned her back on the mission.

She was
giving into love.

Brock broke
the kiss away, the moisture still brimming on his lips.

“You’re
mine,” he declared.

He pulled
back her coat, letting it fall to the ground. Then he cut loose the top of her
dress, so it came down, exposing her bra. He put his hand to her breasts and
massaged them whilst kissing her. Together they both descended on their knees.

Haley turned
towards the glowing room beside them, as Brock kissed her neck feverishly.

The soft bed.

The warm
carpet.

Above them,
it started it rain.

She felt her
fingers tearing through his shirt so she could feel his solidified chest. He
was completely bare there, not a hair at all. As she felt more of him, his body
felt so perfectly designed. Everything felt exactly as she wanted it to feel.

He laid her
on the ground, the raining pouring through his hair.

His silver
teeth flashed from within his jaw, and for a moment she was frightened, sensing
he was about to strike.

Instead, he
kissed her again.

“I’m not
going to hurt you,” he said stroking her cheek. “I’m just going to have you.”

He ripped her
panties out from under her, and then quickly moved in to fuck her.

Haley’s mind
raced with adrenalin. The wrongness of it all. The danger. The pitiful hope…

She couldn’t
believe it.

But she was
finally having a good time.

Her body
shivered, shook, spasmed. She clawed her nails into his back and guided him
into her harder, faster. She thought for a moment about protection.
Contraception. She wasn’t on any pill and she’d never heard that vampires could
be sterile. This seemed like a bit of a risk.

As if reading
her mind, he muttered in her ear, “Shall I pull out?”

She didn’t
reply immediately, wanting to see his face one last time before it happened.

And then it
was there.

“Don’t,” she
whispered.

CHAPTER
FORTY-SEVEN

Nothing lasts forever.

Not a
thought. Not a feeling.

Not a breath.

Outside the
dream, the delusion of lust, Haley woke up to find the vampire on top of her,
holding her. The harsh winds, and seeping rains kept her frozen and vanquished.
In his arms she thought not of him, but of the role she had turned her back on.
Suddenly she felt a strong sense of urgency to carry out her mission. In one
way, she had been so consumed by fear she’d forgotten that her existence wasn’t
the driving factor behind her actions. She had made herself into somebody. A
person with purpose.

As terrible,
and menacing a foe the vampiress Madame Nightshade had been, Haley should not
have been so surprised when she gained the upper-hand. Her role in life was to
protect others. To seek out and stop those who meant the innocent harm.

How had she
been reduced to this?

How had she
been tricked by this creature?

Brock had
climbed off her. He gathered up his scattered clothes and pushed open the door
back to the bedroom.

Haley
gradually rose to her feet.

“What’s wrong?”
he asked her.

“Nothing,”
Haley said and ducked inside.

Once there,
she spied the bathroom. Her eyes searched around for her handbag and realized
she left it where they’d sat and talked.

Brock moved
in behind her.

“Are you
okay?” he asked.

“Can I have
my bag?” she asked him, turning. “I need something from it.”

“I’ll fetch
it for you.”

He left the
room.

Haley stood
by the bathroom door, waiting.

“Fresh towels
are in there,” Brock said pointing as he returned with the bag.

“Thank you,”
Haley said and closed the door behind her.

She took a
moment to correct her breathing, then dried herself off as best she could. She
fumbled around the handbag searching for the earpiece, but for some reason she
couldn’t find it.

“Shit!” Haley
cursed.

“Is
everything alright?” Brock called.

“Yes, thank
you.”

She looked
again but still couldn’t find it. She wondered how it had gone missing…

A minute
later she walked back in the bedroom to find Brock sitting on the edge of the
bed.

“Listen, I –”

“Sit down,” Brock
instructed.

Haley walked
over and sat beside him. “Listen –”

He placed the
earpiece into her hand.

“Oh shit,”
Haley muttered.

CHAPTER
FORTY-EIGHT

“I saw that man give it you,” Brock
confessed. “He did it in such a way as to make sure I didn’t see, but alas I
did. I knew there was something going on with him, but only now do I realize
what it was…”

“Are you
going to turn me in?” Haley asked, trembling.

“Why would I
do that?”

“I – I –”

“Because
vampires only look out for each other?”

Haley
shrugged.

“I want you
to trust me,” Brock said. “Confide in me. Let me help you.”

“Help me…?”

“Yes. What
are you really doing here?”

Haley touched
her forehead. “Oh my God. Oh my fucking God. You can’t be him, can you? You
haven’t just been messing with me this whole time?”

“Be who?”

“I told you,
before, about the girl I found. Who’d fallen off the –”

“Yes, yes.”

“Well, there
are other murders. One of the vampires here has been killing the girls he’s been
dating. I’m supposed to find out who he is. There. I said it.”

“I see. Wow.
No wonder you’ve been so stressed out.”

“Yeah.”

“I promise
you, it’s not me you’re looking for,” Brock said sincerely. “Even though I may
be your only suspect.”

“There’s one
more. I didn’t spend much time with him but – well, his name is Cyrus. He has
longish black hair –”

“Yes, I know
him,” Brock said. “A very sinister character I would say.”

“So … maybe
its him. I don’t know. Maybe it’s no one. Maybe the killer didn’t come out
tonight.”

“Well. Do you
really still think it might be me? Even … even after we …”

Haley shook
her head. “I really hope not.”

“Well, as a
show of good faith, I won’t be turning you in. I mean … I want to see you
again. I don’t want anything bad to happen to you.”

“Do you
reckon we can get out of here?”

“You mean,
now?”

“Yeah. Before
they…”

“Before
what?”

KNOCK, KNOCK,
KNOCK!

They both sat
up in alarm.

“Shit,” Haley
whispered.

“Just a
minute,” Brock called, standing up. He turned to Haley. “Get in the bathroom.
Hide in the shower.”

Haley fled,
closing the door behind her.

She pulled
the shower curtain back and sat down in the cold, damp corner.

Then she
waited.

And waited…

And waited.

CHAPTER
FORTY-NINE

It took all of twenty seconds before
the shower curtain was pulled back and Haley was taken hold of the burly
guards. Brock tried to reason with them, blocking the door to the bedroom, but
was swiftly reminded that they were acting on the Count’s orders.

“But what
does he want with her?” Brock demanded, stepping aside. “What has she done?”

“Madame
Nightshade is dead.”

The guards
barred Brock from following them any further and she was escorted out into the
hallway. They marched past the Count’s study and made a right before they
reached the stairs. Three or four doors along they opened one up and it led out
to a small room with a metallic ladder leading up.

“On you go,”
one of the guard’s advised her.

Haley climbed
the ladder by herself and pushed the hatch up when she reached the top. She
then climbed out and stepped out onto the roof.

Rain ripped
through her face, and wind almost pushed her off her feet.

“Hello?”
Haley called.

“Over here,”
a quiet voice called out to the left.

Haley walked
slowly in its direction to find Jason kneeling by the roof’s edge, seemingly
distressed.

His face, his
clothes, his whole entire being –

Was drenched.

“I’m really
sorry,” Jason whispered. “They found me.”

“Who did?”

Jason closed
his eyes. “He said – he said if you admit what you are, he’ll let us both live.”

Count Echo
stepped out from the shadows.

His face was
twisted with anger, his eyes radiating a wild red light.

“Please,”
Haley said. “Don’t hurt us.”

“Is his story
true?” the Count asked. “Are you an undercover operative?”

Haley winced.
“It’s true.”

“You see?”
Jason exclaimed. “I told you that’s why I was here!”

“To solve the
murders.”

“Yes.
Exactly.”

“Listen,”
Haley said. “We don’t want any trouble. We’ll go back home and tell everyone
the case is solved. We’ll figure it out. We’ll make it so no one else comes
back here.”

“It’s an
enticing sentiment,” the Count murmured. “After all, you were just trying to
protect people, weren’t you?”

“That’s it!”
Jason exclaimed. “We’re not against your agency! We’re not against vampires! We
just needed to figure out who was killing those women.”

“Was it Kendra
who sent you?”

“Uh, yes,”
Jason blurted out. “How did you know?”

“Once upon a
time, we were old friends,” the Count said. “And supposing one … or both of you
had come to see me during the day today, I may have granted you special
permissions to carry out your investigation.”

“So you do
understand?” Haley said hopefully.

“It would
seem that way,” the Count replied.

“Are you
going to let us go then?” Jason asked.

The Count
bowed his head.

Jason twisted
his head around. “Did he…”

“Yes,” Haley
said helping him up.

“So we can go
then?” Jason asked.

The Count
waved.

Jason and
Haley grabbed onto each other and set foot towards the hatch.

“One thing
though,” the Count said behind them.

They stopped.

They turned.

“Which of you
was it who killed my beloved daughter, Arianne?”