Out for Blood Read online

  “I need to know that too.” Aiden came out of his bedroom and flung himself onto the couch beside the Reverend. “Like I told you earlier, I can guarantee that it isn’t Mad Sally. I’m much tidier than that. They won’t find her for years.” I glared at him, repulsed by all the information included in what he hadn’t said. He grinned at me. “I did my job. She was alive when I left her, like I said, but okay, I may have gone back later. I cleaned up. Don’t ask.”

  “So it’s entirely coincidental that a woman has turned up dead the day after you ‘cleaned up’ Sally?” I was still sceptical.

  “Of course it is,” Aiden bit back. “People die all the time. It’s probably some swimmer. Or someone who jumped off the pier.”

  “Well, I’m going to find out,” I said. “There’s no point me sitting around here – Sev needs to sleep and I’m guessing you will all be going out for your usual take-away meals later – and I am not having any part of that – so I’m going home.” I held out my hand as Aiden started to rise from the couch. “No, stay there. I can walk. See you later.”

  I stepped back out into the searing heat of the bright sunshine, thinking as I walked. Something about the body on the beach had Aiden worried so, if it wasn’t Sally, what was he scared of? I was so engrossed in my thoughts I hardly noticed the shadow.

  Chapter 3

  Mum’s expression turned from surprise to concern when she saw me walk in the door.

  “What are you doing home? Are you all right? Have you and Severn had an argument?”

  “No, no, we’re fine. Well, I’m fine but Sev isn’t feeling well. He got heat stroke out in the sun today, so he’s lying down in the dark for a while.”

  “Hmm, yes, I wondered how they would cope with an outdoor matinee. Still, by now I guess they’ve learned their tolerance levels. They cope better than I would have expected them to.”

  “What?” She knew. My mother was always making little digs and jokes that suggested she knew the boys were vampires but she had never been this open about it. Where was this conversation heading? Did I want to have this conversation at all? Ever?

  “Tolerance. Of the sun. Vampires. I didn’t think they could stay out in the sun.”

  “Vampires? How did we get onto vampires. What are you talking about, Mum?”

  Mum laughed, put down the magazine she was holding and patted the couch seat beside where she was sitting. “You said it the other day when we were shopping. I commented on how the boys look so young but seem so knowledgeable and sure of themselves, and you said it was because they were vampires. So you started it. I was just agreeing with you. Sun, vampires, not a good mix.”

  “No.” I decided to play along but stayed standing so I could end the conversation and escape as soon as possible. “Bad mix. It was okay for Aiden and the Rev because they were under the stage most of the time but Sev’s really sick now. He’ll be okay though. He didn’t turn to dust and disappear.”

  “Just as well. What do you take a sick vampire? Chicken soup or chicken blood?”

  “Really, Mother! Enough!”

  “At least they won’t get sunburnt. Not like you. Your nose looks like Rudolph the Reindeer.”

  “Gee, thanks.”

  “You’re welcome. Anyway, seeing as you’re here, and not there with them, what do you say about going to the beach for tea? I can’t be bothered cooking but we need to eat. Grant and I were going to buy fish and chips and eat them down at the beach. Do you want to join us or are you planning on going back to the motel?”

  The beach. Oh, great! Let’s walk along the beach where the body was found and talk about vampires. Awesome!

  “Yep, sounds good to me. Just give me time to get changed.” Without waiting for a reply, I disappeared into my bedroom and closed the door. I needed time to think.

  I hoped Mum would pick Sumner beach, not New Brighton, but we did go to New Brighton and it didn’t do my head in as I had worried it would. Grant parked the car in a quiet spot away from the crowds of normal non-theatre people who were taking advantage of the warm summer evening to do normal non-theatre things like swimming and making sand castles. We pretended to be normal too, taking off our shoes to walk barefoot along the hot sand. We even looked normal - Grant in his khaki cargo shorts and green polo shirt, Mum in a floaty, floral summer dress, and me in a short, denim skirt and a white t-shirt sporting a series of letters that looked enigmatic but meant absolutely nothing. Nice normal attire for the beach.

  Mum had brought a rug which she spread out on the sand, Grant unfolded the parcel of fish and chips and we sat, enjoying the tranquility. The best thing about Sunday matinees was not having to race back for an evening performance. We were on our own time.

  “What’s that down there?” Mum asked, pointing with a chip at a piece of yellow that flapped from the end of a hunk of driftwood further down the beach.

  I had a horrible feeling I knew exactly what it was and I didn’t want anything to do with it. I shrugged my shoulders and gave an unintelligible grunt that I hoped would put an end to her speculation but, as I expected, that wasn’t enough for Mum. She lowered her head and raised her eyebrows in a look that I swear she had stolen from Severn’s repertoire of wordless head movements that told you exactly what he was thinking. I gave in and went to look.

  There was nothing to be gained from going to where the woman’s body had been lying but once I reached the spot, something drew me closer. I couldn’t explain why but I had to stand there, right on the high tide mark, where she was. There were no marks on the sand, no sign left of where they had found her, just one remnant of crime scene tape still tied to the driftwood, the rest of it blown away in the nor’west wind. If it was Sally, she left no memorial. The spot on the sand was identical to the rest of the beach. What had I expected? For no reason I could explain, I scuffed my feet through the sand, creating meaningless swirls, then walked back to flop down onto the rug.

  “Crime scene tape,” I said. “That must have been where they found that woman.”

  “What woman?” Grant asked.

  “The one in the paper. The one in the news.” Was Grant kidding? They didn’t know?

  “Oh, I must have missed that. What happened?”

  “I don’t know,” I answered truthfully. “Severn and I saw the headline when we went to the dairy for milk this morning. Some woman’s body found on the beach. That bit of yellow is tape so I’m guessing that’s where she was.”

  “Oh, that’s sad,” Mum said. “That’s the trouble when we’re neck-deep in a show – we miss all the stuff happening in the real world.” She turned to me and narrowed her eyes in a tiny, slightly evil smile. “Not bitten by vampires and drained of blood, I hope?”

  “In your dreams.” I emphasised my reply by sticking out my tongue at her.

  Fortunately, Mum kept any more vampire comments to herself and Grant remained oblivious to the sub-text of the exchange. I changed the subject with an inane comment about the wind getting chilly, which wasn’t true, adding a pretend shiver which had the desired effect. Grant agreed the wind was changing, suggested we head home and made the first move to stand up. Mum automatically followed with the rug. I looked back at the flapping yellow of the crime scene tape and decided I had to find out more. What if it really was Sally?

  Back at home I couldn’t settle. I turned on my computer and searched all the news sites but there was nothing new on the beach woman. All the stories said the same thing – that a body had been found. Nothing else. No description, no guess at her age, no hair colour, no other information. No help at all.

  I thought about going around to the motel to check on Severn, discarded the idea then picked it up again. If Severn was still sick, he would be asleep. He wouldn’t want to see me but I wouldn’t wake him. I would just ask the Rev how he was and leave. If he was okay then they would be planning their night’s feeding and I didn’t want to get involved with that but it wouldn’t be dark enough for hunting for a few more hours and they wouldn�
�t discuss it in front of me. Well, Severn and the Rev wouldn’t. Either way I had nothing better to do and I couldn’t sit still.

  A few minutes later I was collecting my bike from the garage but as I was pedalling out of our drive a movement caught my eye. I glanced sideways but where I had thought I had seen a figure, there was only the neighbour’s tree. I turned my head back to concentrate on the road and again thought I caught a glimpse of movement, this time from the other side of the street. Without turning my head, and looking obvious, I stole a glance at my bike’s rear-view mirror. I was sure I saw a shadow slip behind the neighbour’s house. Aiden?

  I couldn’t prove it, but I was sure the shadow followed me to the motel. I never saw an actual figure but whenever I stopped at a corner or glanced in my mirror I saw flashes. I caught another glimpse of the shadow as I reached the motel and leant my bike against its wall. Something dark flitted across the driveway and disappeared behind the unit at the far end of the motel block. If I had been a bit creeped out by it as I was cycling, now I was just plain angry. What the hell was going on? Why was I being followed? If Aiden had anything to say, why didn’t he just say it to my face? Did he still think I was having it off with Cameron behind Severn’s back? Was he following me to find out? This B-grade spy stuff was ridiculous and it was starting to piss me off in a big way. Ready to tell the Reverend what I thought of his friend’s childish behaviour, I barged through the door without knocking. Aiden and the Rev were both sitting on the couch, mouth’s hanging open at my furious entrance.

  “What’s up?” the Rev asked.

  “How did you get in here so fast?” I pointed at Aiden.

  “What do you mean, fast?” Aiden asked. “I’ve been here since you left earlier. I haven’t done anything fast for hours.”

  “Then what followed me? Severn? Is he up?”

  “No. He hasn’t moved. Why?”

  “Because something or someone followed me from my place and I thought it was you. But it obviously wasn’t, because you’re here.”

  “What did they look like?” the Reverend asked.

  “I don’t know. I never actually saw them. Just a shape that kept disappearing every time I looked at it directly. That’s why I assumed it was you, Aiden. You guys are the only ones who can move that fast and that stealthily.”

  The Reverend moved to look out the window, turned back and shook his head.

  “I can’t see anything out there now. Look, we’re all still a bit jumpy after the Tommy kidnapping, maybe it was just the wind blowing things around. Or the light reflecting off windows, or cars.”

  “Yeah, maybe.” I sat down on the nearest chair and rested my head in my hands. He was talking rubbish and we all knew it but I couldn’t find the energy to argue. Through my fingers I saw Aiden’s lips move. I couldn’t hear anything so I knew he was whispering, just loud enough that the Reverend would hear him. Aiden raised an eyebrow. I rocked my head back, pulling my hands down my face as if I was tired, but really so I could move my head so I could see the Rev. He was whispering back to Aiden. They knew something that they weren’t telling me. I’d had enough. I had to leave.

  Outside, I checked the time on my watch. Not quite seven o’clock. Still early. I didn’t want to go home but where could I go? I reached for my phone and sent my best friend, Anita, a text asking if she wanted a visitor. It only took a few seconds for her reply to pop up and I was back on my bike, pedalling fast. I thought I saw the shadow as I left the motel but it didn’t follow me. Or I didn’t see it.

  Chapter 4

  Anita was exactly where I expected her to be – tucked up cross-legged on her bed cuddling a fluffy toy bunny. What I didn’t expect was Caleb - violin player, chemistry nerd and father of Anita’s unborn baby – perched on the bed beside her, also clutching a toy rabbit.

  “You’ve been brainwashed,” I said to him as I pulled the pink, metal office chair from its neat position under her immaculately tidy, white corner desk and subsided into it. “The rabbit,” I continued as he looked completely confused. “She’s got you cuddling her rabbits already. There is no hope now. You are heading down the slippery slope into Anitaworld. You have been warned.”

  Caleb looked down at the toy and shook his head as if he had just noticed he was holding it. A blush started in his ears then spread across his face which made me feel bad as I hadn’t intended to embarrass him. With a weak smile, he placed the toy carefully on the bed with all the others that covered it, and pulled himself upright.

  “I’ll let you guys catch up,” he said. “Call me later.”

  The blush had crept around his neck to mingle with his red curls. I could see he wanted to give Anita a goodbye kiss but embarrassment won and, with a mumbled “goodbye”, he scurried out the door. Anita threw her toy rabbit at me.

  “You’re so mean. Don’t tease him like that.”

  “Sorry. Didn’t mean to be mean. I just didn’t expect him to be here. He blushes easily. Do you think your baby will be a ginger?” I pronounced ginger with a hard g so it rhymed with bringer.

  “Probably. An absolute carrot top. With curls. Anyway, what’s the goss? Come on, out with it, fill me in.”

  “You first. I gather that you and Caleb are getting on? Are you actually a couple now? As opposed to him just being the guy who got you drunk and got you pregnant.”

  “A couple? Yeah, I guess we are. Once everybody calmed down and our dads stopped yelling at each other, Caleb and I decided to sit down and talk. And guess what? We actually like each other. We’ve discovered we’ve got heaps of things in common. I mean, we’re both into music. He’s way better than I am – he’s been accepted into the Youth Orchestra with his violin and I’m only grade four on my flute – but at least I understand what he’s talking about. I know an arpeggio from an andante.”

  “That’s a good start.”

  “Yes. And good incentive to practise more and sit my grade five exam. But wait, there’s more. Even though he’s a science geek and I suck at it, it turns out we’re both into medieval history. His parents are science fiction fans so they are into the whole role-playing stuff. Caleb’s been brought up going to MFR events and he’s going to take me along to the next one. They sound like fun.”

  “MFR? What’s that?”

  “The Medieval and Fantasy Recreationists. Everybody creates a persona for themselves and dresses up in medieval costumes. Apparently there’s lots of music and sword play – and feasting, lots of feasting.”

  “Your persona will have to be some crazy forest rabbit whisperer. I know, attach a whole lot of toy rabbits to the back of your dress and walk along playing your flute, like the Pied Piper.”

  “Nooo! That’s just weird. I’m going to be glamourous. Pregnant but glamourous. Caleb’s mum is going to help me make my costume. She’s got heaps of patterns.”

  “Well, I’m glad to hear you two are getting on. It’s going to be tough just being pregnant. It would be a lot harder if you and Caleb hated each other.”

  “Yeah. I expected him to walk away and want nothing to do with me or the baby but he’s really stepped up. He’s actually looking forward to it.”

  “Now I feel mean for not being nicer to him last year. He was always a bit of an outcast. Maybe we should’ve included him a bit more.”

  “Yeah. But you know what? He knows he’s on the outside and he doesn’t care. I think he kind of likes it there. He’s way more used to being with adults and I don’t think he fits in very well with people his own age. I can understand it though. He was home schooled all through primary school. He only enrolled at Eastgate last year so he could sit his NCEA so he can get into university. He’s going to do a double degree in music and chemistry.”

  “So he’s not going to be earning a living until the baby’s in high school?”

  “Maybe not. But I am. Starting next month.”

  “What?” I gasped. “You’re pregnant. What are you going to do?”

  “Train and earn at the same time. I
’ve found a place where I can study to be a preschool teacher and work at a preschool while I train. It’ll be perfect because once baby arrives he, she, whatever, can come to work with me. All sorted.”

  “Well, knock me down with a toy rabbit. You are so organised. What have you done with Anita?”

  “Ha ha. But enough of me. What have you been up to? How are you and Severn? It must have been so amazing when he came back. I got your text and I’ve been imagining it – you, sitting behind your desk thingy and looking up, Severn appearing like something from a movie. It’s just so romantic.”

  “Romantic wasn’t my first reaction,” I laughed. “Okay, it was the second, and maybe the third, but first it was just sheer relief. I was so overwhelmed. I still can’t believe that the Mad Hatters expected me to run their whole sound department. With no help. I have never been so pleased to see those three.”

  “Three?”

  “Yeah, two of the other crew members came too. The ones I told you about. The little, short guy that everyone calls the Reverend even though his name’s David, and Aiden, who I didn’t have much to do with last time. He’s got a weird sense of humour and can be a bit creepy when he’s trying to be funny but, like Sev and the Rev, he knows what he’s doing backstage. They’ve been helping the lighting guys too, so we’re all really glad they tagged along.”

  “How long is he staying? Does he have to go straight back to France?”

  “I don’t know,” I said. “The show has only just opened so he’ll stay till it closes. I’m hoping he might stay on a bit longer after that, but I don’t know yet.”

  “Am I detecting some hesitancy?” Anita asked, snuggling her bunny tighter. “Relief instead of romance and now you’re not sure whether he’s staying or going? What are you not telling me? Are you two okay?”

  “To be honest? I don’t know.” I let out a long breath between clenched teeth, something between a sigh and a whistle, and swapped seats to join Anita on the bed. Automatically, she handed me the toy rabbit Caleb had been cuddling and, just as automatically, I held it tight as I pulled my thoughts together.