Vampire Dating Agency (5 page)

CHAPTER
FIFTEEN

Nightfall. The sun fell from the sky
with oranges and pinks and purples streaming through the bus, melting across
their skin. Haley tried to keep her mind focused. Her attention alert.

“Breathe easy
… you’re doing fine … we’re here for you…”
occasionally broke the
thoughts in her mind. She wanted to respond:
We’re not fine! They’re looking
for me –
but there was no room for that. It was true there had been a point
earlier where Haley could have backed out, just thrown this whole caper away
and she’d be fine. Her life would still have some things to figure out sure,
but then whose didn’t? She’d be more than fine. She’d be Grade A, Fucking
Fantastic. Didn’t matter any second and third thoughts she might want to have
now.

She was in
this till the end.

“So how does
it work here?” Haley asked the woman beside her. “Being new and all?”

“Don’t worry,
they’ll cater to you,” Melanie replied. “You’ll be questioned of course. Your
likes and dislikes. What you want in a man. What you can bring to a
relationship. All that sort of nonsense. When that’s done you’ll have a few
options on how you want to proceed. Were you thinking of just dating one or two
guys, or are you more on the orgy spectrum of things?”

Haley
coughed. “Orgy? That’s a thing here?”

“It can get
quite busy at certain hours of the night, that much I can attest to,” Melanie
confirmed. “Guess you’re … just looking Mr. Right then?”

“Maybe,”
Haley. “Maybe I’m looking for Mr. Wrong.”

“Don’t worry.
Mr. Wrong isn’t in short supply.”

Haley gave an
involuntary chuckle.

Melanie
smiled and turned back to face the window. “Almost there now.”

Haley looked
out to the countryside. Field upon field of desertion. Sure enough, beyond the
grass and the faraway trees, there was the old world that was familiar. She
could list the faces of all the friends she’d had over the years, even the ones
who were long gone by now. She could think about the boys she’d been close to.
The insides of houses she’d never see again. All of it was still there, staring
back at her. As if that world had known all along.

What lay on
the other side of the mirror…

“What’s
this?” Melanie asked wrapping her arms around the seat in front of them.

Haley peered
forward. “Looks like some kind of road block.”

Melanie
looked at her knowingly.

One of the
security guards stood up at the front of the bus.

“Everyone
remain in your seats, please,” he instructed. “We’ll be back on the road
shortly.”

The bus was
slowing down. The figures on the road were waving them to the side.

“Tell us what
you can see, Haley,”
Maurice’s
voice buzzed in her ear.

“Looks like
another VDA security team,” Haley murmured. “I wonder what they want.”

“They’re
searching for the undercover, no doubt,” Melanie said.

The security
guard exited the bus and stepped out to talk with the others on the road.
Twenty seconds went by.

Haley
crunched her teeth together.

“What are
they doing, Haley? Do we have a problem?”

Haley kept
her eyes fixed on the front of the bus.

“Haley?”

One of the
men from the road climbed aboard the bus. He had a remote in his hand, with a
flashing blue light.

“Is that some
kind of scanner?” Haley whispered.

“He’s onto
you,”
Maurice
declared.
“Get rid of the necklace.”

Her lips
barely moved. “Where…?”

“Anywhere.”

The man was
moving slowly up the bus.

“You
alright?” Melanie asked her suspiciously.

“Fine,” Haley
mumbled. She touched the top part of her necklace. Her palm extended, trying to
cover it.

The light on
the man’s remote was flashing faster.

He was only
three seats away.

“Just rip it
off!”
 Jason
shouted in her ears.
“What the fuck are you doing, Haley?”

Haley’s gaze
peered over her seat.

The security
guard was staring right at her.

CHAPTER
SIXTEEN

The guard looked down to the remote
in his hand. The light was flashing faster and faster. He continued moving down
the aisle, Haley’s body frozen mid breath. He walked by her. Further, further
down the bus. Haley exhaled and glanced back over her shoulder, afraid he’d
still be standing there.

But the guard
was now at the back of the bus.

“Can we
please have a look at your phone please, Miss?” the guard asked.

“No you may
not,” the woman in front of him replied.

“There’s some
things we need to clear up,” the guard said. “Would you please come with me
now?”

“No, don’t
touch me,” the woman protested.

Melanie
climbed onto her knees to get a better view.

Haley could
see everyone around them was doing likewise.

“If you don’t
come with me now –”

“Vampire
Lover!” the woman suddenly screamed, brandishing a knife. “Parasite!”

Three more
guards ran onto the bus and up the aisle.

A struggle
ensued, before the woman was taken to ground.

Her knife
spilled across the floor of the bus, until it stopped beside Haley and Melanie’s
seat. Haley could see there was blood on it.

“Get her
arms,” one of the guards said.

There was the
snapping of handcuffs.

The woman
screamed inaudibly, and one of the guards struck her with a stun baton. Her
body went limp, and they shoved a black bag over her head.

The guards
carried the woman down the aisle.

Everyone’s
eyes followed them out the bus.

The original
guard reboarded. “Sorry about that. She was working with some wolves trying to
infiltrate the VDA. Someone gave her up apparently. But you should all still be
on the lookout for anyone suspicious. The Paranormal Police may also decide to
send someone in. Not to say that someone is here tonight. We just … have to be
on the lookout. For everyone’s safety.”

He sat back
down and instructed the driver to keep going.

Haley turned
back to the fields in her window, and saw the figures were marching the woman
out into the middle of it. She wondered where they could be going.

Probably.

Nowhere.

CHAPTER
SEVENTEEN

Crickets buzzed in the glow of dusk
as a dark colored van stood stationary at the side of a residential street,
daylight fading. The back of the van opened from the inside and Jason Freelaw
stepped out onto the road, his hands shaking.

“It’s not
her,” Maurice’s voice echoed behind him. “It’s not her. We’re still on. Good to
go.”

Jason rubbed
his hands together and took out a cigarette.

He lit it,
and breathed in the smoke.

Riley climbed
out of the van and stood beside him.

“Feeling
nervous?” she probed him.

Jason didn’t answer.

“She’s not
even in the VDA yet. At least if she did get busted now, it wouldn’t be too
late for Dino to pull her out. Once she gets inside though…”

“It’s not
just that,” Jason said. “It’s this whole mission.”

“What about
it?”

“Sending in a
bleeding eighteen-year-old undercover on her first day. I don’t give a fuck
what her test scores were, she has
no
experience. None. It’s like Kendra
doesn’t even care. Like she’s not even trying to solve these killings at all.”

“I suppose
you would rather it was me instead?” Riley replied.

Jason looked
back at her.

“Wow. I guess
I should have expected as much.”

“At least
you’d know what you were doing,” Jason muttered. “At least you’d have a
chance.”

“She has a
chance,” Riley said. “She just has to be really, really good.”

“And what if
she’s not?”

“Then Kendra
made a cost effective decision in sending her off today, rather than investing
time and effort into figuring out she couldn’t stand the pressure.”

“So you don’t
care at all that if she fucks up she’s going to die? And that it’s our fault.”

“Jesus,” Riley
exhaled. “When did you get so moral?”

Jason flicked
his smoke away.

“Unless …
You’re not crushing on her, are you?”

“No!” Jason
shouted. “I have a girlfriend, remember?”

Riley took a
step back. “Whatever. Just … keep your whining to yourself. We got a job to do
in here.”

Maurice poked
his head out of the van. “Guys?”

Both Riley
and Jason turned towards him.

“What is it?”
Jason asked.

“She’s
inside.”

CHAPTER
EIGHTEEN

The carpet was red. The walls, they
were red too. In the upper left hand corner, a wide staircase with silver
bannisters and pattern engravings drifted and turned upwards. To the upper
right there was a large archway leading out to a crimson lit hall which
flickered and gleamed infrequently. There were large black doors to either side
of them. Chandeliers hung overhead.

“A straight
line, girls,” the guard said clapping his hand. “You know the drill.”

Haley moved
to stand at the left end of the line, with Melanie once again by her side.

The guard
remained motionless in the centre of the room a moment, staring at them
blankly. Haley tried not to watch him. Although her surroundings were rich and
colorful, she’d felt a slight drop in temperature upon entering the estate. She
figured they must have the air-con on for some reason. As far as how she was
doing, she was mostly okay. Part of her wanted to keep going back to that woman
with the black hood over her head, being marched through the empty field, but
she knew that was her cowardice. Her skin was smooth. Her hair flowing. Her
heart pumping. She had this. She looked just how they wanted her look.

And then,
ever so slightly, a prickle.

A couple of
goosebumps standing on her ankle.

A shadow
loomed through the archway.

“Ah, Madame Nightshade.
It’s good to see you.”

A woman in a
silky purple and black dress and long white hair emerged into the room slowly.

“I’m told a
spy made it on to your bus,” Madame Nightshade said quietly.

“Ye-yes,” the
guard stammered. “But she was apprehended.”

“Let’s hope
so.”

The woman
pressed passed him and set her gaze across the line.

“Well, I
don’t see too many new faces,” she remarked. “I don’t have remind any of you
what happens if you’re found to be working for the other side.”

Haley
remained completely still as the Madame’s gaze swept in her direction.

“I assure
you, Madame,” the guard said earnestly, “the situation has been dealt with.”

Madame’s gaze
shifted back to him.

“You have
another group to collect?”

“Two more
tonight, Madame,” the guard answered.

“Then I’ve
kept you long enough,” she said. “Only … if I find out you let any more spies
onto your bus tonight, I shan’t be so –”

“I’ll make
sure it doesn’t happen again.”

Silence
filled the air.

“Dismissed,”
Madame Nightshade whispered.

The guard
walked back out to the entrance.

Another
pause.

The Vampiress
was looking at the floor.

“Well then
ladies, you know your way around. To arrange a new meeting see Evelyn in the
refreshment chamber. Games and activities begin at eight o’clock in the second
floor auditorium. Enjoy yourself. Relax. And hopefully … be guided to your
heart’s desire…”

She smiled at
them.

“That is
all.”

The line
began to disperse.

Haley looked
anxiously towards Melanie.

“Uh… Madame
Nightshade?” Melanie called.

The Madame
walked over to them.

“My friend
here is brand spanking new. You may have missed her.”

“Indeed I
must have,” the Madame said taking Haley’s hand. She clasped it between hers
and felt her pulse beating in her wrist. “My Goodness. How I must frighten you.”

Haley’s jaw
dropped. She didn’t know what to say.

“Hush, hush,
hush,” Madame Nightshade said touching her face. “You’re in good hands now.
We’ll look after you.”

“I said you’d
give her a bit of a tutorial,” Melanie offered. “Unless you want me to help out
with that.”

“What is your
name again?” Madame Nightshade said looking at her sideways.

“Melanie Maykis.”

“It would be
most helpful to…”

“Haley,”
Melanie filled in the blank.

“To Haley if
you were to show her around,” Madame Nightshade beamed. “But of course I will
have to go through the introductory process with her myself. Do you mind
waiting for us? In the Refreshment Chamber perhaps?”

“Of course,”
Melanie murmured.

“Good, good,
good.”

Madame
Nightshade let go of Haley’s wrist.

“Come with
me, darling.”