Vampire Dating Agency (7 page)

CHAPTER
TWENTY-TWO

Brock was getting closer.

At first
Haley didn’t realize it – after all, he was just one face in the sea of
predators before them – but the closer he came, the more she was aware.

Haley did not
see Brock move. Never once.

If she had
been clever enough, she might have spied him standing with his back to Madame
Nightshade as she exited the room through the archway ahead. Melanie must’ve
said something, and her eyes moved back to her companion, losing sight of the
archway and any vampires lurking around it.

When she
turned again, Brock was in the middle of the room, his presence obscured by
three tall men standing in front of him, the conversation deep and ongoing.

Once Haley
looked away and then back again, he was sitting motionlessly in an upright
position on top the seating beside the adjacent wall. He wasn’t looking at her,
his eyes blank and far away. She had met him earlier, but then, Haley wasn’t
quite sure it was the same man. Had he really been moving towards her this
whole time?

If she looked
away again, how close would he be…?

“I don’t
think you belong here.”

Haley jumped
with a fright as Brock was standing to the left of her, leaning against the
wall. She looked back to where he’d been sitting, almost sure she’d never taken
her eyes off of him –

But alas…

He was gone.

“Miss Haley,”
Brock purred. “Miss Melanie.”

They both
looked up at him.

“I have a
pretty good sense for spotting those who are out of place,” Brock said
confidently. “You can just look into some of the women’s eyes here, and you
know they’re ready to die. What do you think, Melanie? Do you think our new
friend here is at the end of her life?”

Haley turned
to Melanie, a little disturbed.

Melanie was
staring up at Brock cautiously.

“I hope you
don’t invest too much in that insight of yours, Brock,” she said. “Some of us
are actually here to find love.”

“Love,” Brock
said with half a chuckle. He made a motion with his boot as if he was kicking
away a stone. “It’s such an abstract construct. I very much doubt it can be
acquired. More often, it’s conjured up in the brain as a defense against the
sadness of being alive. I think in most cases, it’s a form of mental illness.”

Melanie made
a face and looked away.

“What are you
here for then?” Haley asked.

“Excuse me?” Brock
said tilting his face downward.

“You’re not
here for love,” she went on. “So what is it that drives you?”

“I think
we’ll keep that a mystery for now,” Brock beamed.

He stepped in
front of her table.

“Perhaps you
would like to ask me again later. In private perhaps.”

Haley leaned
back in her chair.

“He’s hitting
on you,”
Riley’s
voice chimed in her ear.
“Go for it, Haley.”

“Is that an
invitation?” Haley asked.

“No,” Brock
said. “It’s a demand.”

He reached
into his pocket and pulled out a small shiny object. He placed it on the table
next to her cocktail glass, and then walked away into the crowd.

Haley leaned
forward and picked the object up.

It was a blue
key.

“What’s
this?”

Melanie
looked over. “Let me see.”

She showed
her the key.

“Looks like
you’ve got your first date,” Melanie said. “Well done.”

“What’s his
name again?”

“Brock Ferns.
I had a meeting with him a couple of weeks ago. Didn’t go great.”

“Why’s that?”

“Well, he’s
pretty much a nobody in the vampire world. Not much money behind him. That I
can gather anyway.”

“So you’re …
looking for a
rich
vampire then?”

“Most of them
are rich,” Melanie said. “I think he’s looking for his ‘partner in crime’ so to
speak. Not my thing.”

“I should
probably just do it though…” Haley said. “For the experience?”

“It’s up to
you,” Melanie said. “I won’t say anymore. I don’t want to spoil it.”

“Where am I
supposed to go with this?”

“The floor
above this one. I wouldn’t rush into it though. You never know. Someone else
might throw their hat in the ring.”

“Take your
pick,” Melanie said sipping her drink. “Could be anyone of them. They may have
chosen you already. But you don’t yet know…”

Haley turned
her eyes back into to the crowd.

There was too
many. Too many faces.

Too many
people who could see her.

Had she
already found him?

Was Brock the
killer?

Or was there
someone else out there, plotting their next move…

CHAPTER
TWENTY-THREE

Haley stood from the table. Her
fingers touched side of it as she got up, and it was she could feel it
vibrating. She jumped around as though someone had just shouted in her ear, but
the piece was silent. She knew she could feel something. As if the air pressure
in the room had marginally lifted.

“Are you
okay?” Melanie asked.

Haley nodded.
“I just feel … a little nauseous.”

“Well, walk
around for a bit,” Melanie suggested. “Get the blood moving again.”

“My blood …
my blood is fine.”

Melanie gave
a short laugh. “Listen. I’ll come with you. Get ourselves another drink.”

“No,” Haley
said quickly. “You stay there. I’ll get them.”

Melanie put
her hands up. “Whatever.”

“Where’s the
–?”

“Out there.
Through the archway. Back through the hall. It’ll just – open up for you…”

“Got it.”

At least she
thought she did.

Haley walked
slowly through the space between them and the archway, brushing through the
crowd. Hands. Fingertips. Eyes. They lingered.

She made it
through unscathed and headed through the archway as it had been pointed out to
her. She walked along the carpeted corridor until she reached another room
where others were mingling.

Behind them,
she could see the bar.

Haley
approached.

“What can I
get for you?” the normal looking bartender inquired.

“Actually …
is there a ladies room?”

“Yes, mam,”
he answered. “Follow that hall down there till you find yourself back out on
the landing. Straight to your left, by the stairs leading back to the ground
floor, you’ll see a door with the symbol on it.”

“Of the
ladies…”

He nodded.

“Thank you.”

Haley stepped
way and followed his directions, leading back out the landing. She spied the
girls’ bathroom and quickly headed in. Inside it was spotlessly clean. She
lowered her eyes to the floor to see underneath the stalls. They appeared to be
empty.

“Hello?”
Haley whispered. “Is someone there?”

Silence.

“I’m talking
to you, Maurice. Or … Riley. Or –”

“What seems
to be the problem?”
Maurice’s
voice came in.

“I don’t
know,” Haley mumbled. “Maybe … I could do with some coaching?”

He didn’t
respond.

“Maurice?”

“Hi Haley,
this is Jason.”

“Oh. Hi.
What’s … what’s happening?”

“Everything
is fine on our end,”
Jason
said.
“The transmission is clear.”

“Okay. But… I
mean, did you see the guy?”

“Which one?”

“Brock.”

“We saw him.”

“So … Do you
think it’s him? The killer, I mean.”

“We don’t
know who the killer is,”
Maurice said.
“That’s what you have to find
out.”

“But it must
be him – mustn’t it? He’s the only one who’s approached me.”

“Maybe he
just thinks you’re hot,”
Riley said.

Haley glanced
at herself in the mirror. “What am I supposed to do exactly? Do I hurry up and
go meet him upstairs? Or do I … try to draw someone else’s attention?”

“The killer,
if he’s here, will make himself known,”
Maurice asserted.
“We should just
worry about Brock for now. Try to ascertain whether he could be our guy.”

“How am I
supposed to do that?” Haley asked. “What do I say to him? What do I ask?”

“I think you
should just ask him,”
Riley said.
“No beating around the bush.”

“Is that some
kind of a sick joke?” Haley shouted. “You know what they’ll do to me if my
cover is blown? Did you see what happened back on the bus –?”

“You’ll need
to get a hold of his phone,”
Maurice said.

“What?”

“Find a way
to get your hands on his phone. Then scroll through his contacts. See if any of
the names we read out to you are listed –”

“Like that’s
proof or something?”

“It will be
proof enough for us to extract him. Unless of course someone –”

The bathroom
door suddenly flew open.

Haley turned
to see a vampire in a dark green suit, with long black hair and sharp teeth
staring down at her.

“Hello
Haley,” he said in a threatening tone. “Who were you talking to?”

CHAPTER
TWENTY-FOUR

“Did – did we meet earlier?” Haley
asked, uncertainly. She glanced around. “This is the
Ladies’
room, you
know?”

The vampire
glared at her. He didn’t seem happy.

“I was on the
phone,” Haley said quickly. “Jesus.”

She left her
place by the sink and stepped forward into one of the stalls. She closed the
door and locked it.

Then waited.
And waited.

The bathroom
door did not close.

Instead, it
peeled back further and the vampire’s boots made their mark on the tiles. He
walked up to the stall she was cowering behind and stood in front of it.

“Your friend,
Melanie. She’s looking for you.”

“Okay, I’ll
go see her when I’m done. Thank you.”

Haley stared
down at the floor. The vampire’s shadow did not move.

“What are you
doing?” Haley hissed.

“What are you
doing?” came his cold reply.

“Get out of
there, Haley,”
Maurice
advised.
“You’re acting suspicious.”

Haley punched
herself in the side of the head.

“If you – If
you don’t go away right now, I’ll tell Madame Nightshade on you!”

Her shout
echoed through the bathroom.

She looked
down at the floor again, and saw his shoes leave the edge of her stall. He was
walking away.

She waited
for him to leave.

Once the
bathroom door had opened and closed, she whispered: “What the fuck was that?
Was he after me?”

“Haley,
you’ve been trained how to take a vampire on in combat, haven’t you?”
Riley asked.

“Yes, but
doesn’t mean I want to –”

“He’s gone
now,”
Jason
said.
“You best get back to the Introductions room. Before he comes back.”

Haley
unlocked the door in front of her and stepped out of the stall.

“Maybe it was
him,” she mumbled. “Maybe he was the killer.”

“It’s
possible,”
Jason
said.
“Be careful if you see him again.”

“Yeah,” Haley
said. “No shit.”

“That’s the
thing about vampires,”
Riley remarked.

“What is?”
Jason
replied.

“They’re all
killers.”

CHAPTER
TWENTY-FIVE

The noise behind me, it closes in
like the arms of a mother clinging onto a dying child. My feet snap to the
concrete and I pull the doors shut – wanting to be as far away from it as
possible. The air is cold and bitter. A low wind. A perfect chill.

Around the
corner, I can smell the faintness of cigarette smoke, and I can hear the
faintness of laughter. I passed by the table where she and I had been sitting
earlier, both seats empty. Both seats absent.

“Stop,” Princess
could be heard saying. “Stop it! You’re tickling me! I – hate – you –”

The laughter
causes me to shudder in disgust. I can see their shadows painted on the ground,
but not their faces. The laughter is then muffled, their mouth interrupting one
another. It occurs to me that they might be kissing.

I touched the
edge of the wall.

Turn back.

Turn back and
forget her.

I’ve already
moved on anyway. I’ve already chosen my
real
victim for this wondrous
evening. It’s … it’s just the thought of that not-so-spectacular princess
running into me at some point later down the road. Even though she could never
possibly know or understand me – let alone defeat me – it will be a defeat
she’ll believe she has taken from me.

Still, I
should let her go. She’s spoken for now.

“I can’t
believe he just left you out here,” my replacement was saying. “You’re so
fucking hot. I want to tear you to pieces.”

“You can’t
have me that easily,” Princess fired back. “You’re gonna have to win me over.”

I let out a
disappointed sigh and put my elbows out to the edge of the railing.

Perhaps this
was it. The price for finding tonight’s true love.

I thought
again of Haley, her complete Goddess like structure. The endless lines in her
hair. The shine to her lips. The eyes of an angel.

Perfect.

Exact.

She was part
of my experience now. And I had to figure out my next move with her.

The one that
would give me the greatest amount of pleasure…

I inhaled
sharply and adjusted my tie. I stepped away from the railing and turned back to
face the doors, my mind refocused.

My mind…

Dedicated.

Yes. I wasn’t
going to rush this one –

“Hello? Yeah,
I can – I can talk,” Princess’s new date was saying. “Can you just give me a
minute? I have to take this.”

I stopped in
my tracks.

The sound of
the house became briefly louder.

Light passed
over the atmosphere.

And then…

Darkness.

I turned
around.