Bulletproof (Healer) (26 page)

             
“Same to you,” comes a new voice. Maurice falls before me, landing on my lap with a large wooden steak in his back. My eyes dart forward. It's Rose. Only Rose could come to fight a dangerous vampire in a lime green mini skirt.

             
Gabe staggers upwards. Black liquid smeared across his face, "Wood? Genius, Rose."

             
"He's got Healer blood in him. He won't stay down for long before it kicks in,” she says. She looks at me, making me feel guilty for letting Maurice drink from me. My blood has made him even more immortal. Thankfully he hasn’t drank more than those little sips during sex. Surely, that won’t last long. “We need to get Cassie out of here."

             
Together they pull Maurice's heavy body off of me and leave it lying on the ground. Rose thrusts two more wooden knives into his body. I had never read anything that stated wood really was a poison to vampires. I always thought that was just a rumour, a myth but it makes sense that vampires, even the Americans pretending to be normal citizens, would keep any vice a secret.

             
Gabe pulls the three needles out of my body. I touch my leg, then my neck, and feel blood. It's strange to feel the gaping wounds in my skin.  My body must be giving up like it has bigger things to worry about other than healing superficial gashes. Staying alive is my priority. Gabe helps to unlock me from my chains. He is tired. The vampire blood does not work like Healer blood does, it's poisoning him. I want to give him my blood to make him stronger but I don’t have enough to sustain myself. Once I am free, he helps me to stand up.

             
"I'll be fine soon," I say, pressing myself against his unsteady frame. I feel safe as he wraps his arms around me even though I know we are far from free yet. Maurice will wake up at any moment if my blood is working. I just hope it fixes me before it does him.

             
Rose has tied his hands together with wooden handcuffs. I don't have time to question her but it would be interesting to know what she kept those things lying around for. "We need to hurry up," Rose says. "You can hug and kiss when this is all over. Cassie, I need you to run as fast as you possibly can outside. Justin and Channing are waiting. They'll take you somewhere safe."

             
Justin and Channing are Maurice's minions, why should I trust them? Rose sees the scepticism in my eyes. "You don't have time to worry, Cassie, just trust me. I won't let you get hurt anymore," she says.

             
I look to Gabe and use my fingertips to brush away some of the blood on his face. I wonder how long before I lose him to vampirism. It sickens me to think that this black substance is carrying the disease that turns Maurice's angelic face into a sickening demon. I don't want to imagine what it could do to Gabe's stoically beautiful face. Don't want to think about sharp canine teeth extending inside his tight mouth. When I've wiped away some of the inky blood, I lean in, inhale his scent in fear that it may be the last time I see him and kiss him feverishly.

             
"Don't worry, you'll be home soon," he squeezes me tightly in his arms before letting go and helping Rose to hold Maurice down with the same chains that held me in. The steel is futile; Maurice could break that in a second but I guess it must make them feel like they're doing something helpful.

             
I blow a kiss to Rose and take a second to memorise their faces, praying that I will see them again soon. I'm still weak but my Healer blood is working as fast as it can to bring me back up to full strength. Then I run. I run down the halls that have become familiar to me over the past few weeks and let the sound of feet thudding against the floor appease me. I listen to rhythm, let adrenaline take over and shut my mind off. No more thoughts about Gabe and what could happen to him.

TWENTY

             
As Rose promised, Justin and Channing are waiting for me outside. They lean, breathtakingly, against a red off road land rover like a car advert. They don't look phased. Working for a vampire must teach you to have excellent composure in the most turbulent situations. "Hop in, Bullet," Justin smiles at me and opens the door for me. My nickname is catching on. I can only hope my namesake is true and I can survive this.

             
A moment of hesitation. Fear that Justin and Channing are double-crossing me and actually going to send me straight back into Maurice's arms to be drained again and, when all my Healer blood is gone, ultimately killed. But I don't have any choice but to trust them when the engine revs and we pull away. I look behind me out of the window and watch the red brick house become smaller and smaller. Fading away into the trees. From this perspective it's hard to believe what is going on inside behind closed doors. It looks like a mansion where a  rich French family might ride horses and play tennis, not the place where a vicious vampire drains innocent human beings. Then the lair is completely gone from sight. I wish it could be erased from my memory so easily. I wish 'out of sight, out of mind' was true because even though I can't see it, all I can think about is what's going on there. Is Gabe okay? And what about Rose? Even if they manage to escape alive which is so doubtful when I think of Maurice's strength, will I ever see them again? Gabe is going to turn soon. Do I want to watch the humanity drain from his troubled eyes?

             
"Where are we going?" I ask, breaking the tension.

             
"Rose's house for a while," Justin replies. Channing is driving. They're being so brave, sticking their neck out to protect me. They'll never be able to return to Maurice and if things go awry then they will have to live life constantly waiting for Maurice to appear, always afraid. I'm eternally grateful to them now. I will never be able to repay these people.

             
Justin hands me a plastic carrier bag and gives me a serious stare as if warning me: "This better be worth it." Inside the bag is the fake passport Maurice had made for me to visit Toulouse. Melissa Curele. A figment of my imagination, an extension of myself, the girl I longed to be. In my mind she was a glamorous vixen but now I want to forget about Melissa Curele. The things I considered qualities in a person were now things that left a bad taste in my mouth. Too much desire and not enough sensibility. It has driven all the people I have met in the past few weeks mad. Desire and greed tends to stop good people doing the right thing. The bag also contains a brunette wig, similar to the one I adorned on the outbound journey and a change of clothes - something less Cassie Mueller and far more Melissa Curele. Through all this insanity, we still have to construct an infallible front for the authorities watching out for vampires. I wish they were doing a better job. This wouldn't have happened if the government stopped turning the blind eye to all the underground vampires in Europe. I wouldn't be running for my life.

             
I change in the backseat of the car while we drive to the airport. I learn more about Justin and Channing than I did in my whole stay. Querying about their past, about their lives and their journey to this Hellish place makes for a better atmosphere than the tense silence we were trying to avoid. They are in fact brothers from Carnac-Plage in French. They're in their early twenties but have already modelled from Prada and Channing's been on the cover of Vogue. It was the modelling industry that lead them to the sinister world where vampires, witches and werewolves are real things. Some models turn to drugs, others have eating disorders but the newest fad is the bloodsuckers. Working for Maurice was fun and sexy. Everything two gorgeous young men want. Everything I wanted too. But the dark side is only exciting for a while; all it takes is one innocent person to be hurt to wake you up from your altered state of reality.

             
It is Justin who pretends to be my boyfriend this time as we walk through the airport, wary of watchful eyes. I feel dating Justin is more far fetched than any other story we could concoct for the guards. Gabe and I looked peculiar enough but being Justin's girlfriend? That is laughable. I'm glad to have his hand to hold though. Sweat is building up on the back of my neck and my body is trembling. I still haven't fully recovered from my last draining, can't even conceive that I almost died. That I'm not untouchable after all. That's what I get for playing with fire. I worry for my friends. I fear for my family's if Maurice comes to find me, he's even stronger now that he's had Healer blood. I pray that I can get on this plane and get out of the country without too much hassle. One step at a time.

             
During the flight back to the UK, Justin and Channing keep my thoughts occupied by telling me sordid tales of famous models and wannabes before I fall asleep with my head rested against Channing's brawny shoulder, his cashmere sweater acting as a soft pillow.

             
I dream of my mother. I imagine her face to be like mine only prettier and with soft lines of age. I see her tied to Maurice's bed with needles and wires coming out of her skin, blood pouring out of her so fast, the life draining away from her. I wish I knew her. Does dad know what happened to her? Or is he clueless as to why his beloved wife disappeared and never came back? When I wake up, my heart is aching.

             
Stepping off the plane and back into the bittersweet breeze makes me feel giddy. I can't believe we've made it. More proof that the authorities aren’t doing their jobs, I’ve been missing for more than two weeks and the police can’t see me past a brown wig and a fake passport - even if the passport is as real as it gets. I can’t shake the feeling that anybody who really is kidnapped has no hope. Maybe we could rescue more of these kids if the police and detectives knew what they were looking for. If they worked harder, my mum might have been able to come home to me. My dad would be rid of all this pain. He lost his wife and now he thinks he’s lost his daughter. I’m just glad Shannon, Bruce and Jana aren’t Healers so Maurice won’t want to hurt them. A part of me thinks it would be better if I didn’t go home at all. I know I have to but my whole life will be turbulent, I’ll bring trauma to my family, without me they can be normal and happy.

             
My eighteenth birthday isn’t far away. Maybe I could sign myself over to a bunch of medical researches and give dad and Shannon peace for a few years. At least I know what my condition is now, I know the power it holds and how I can help people. Gabe said my blood can heal other humans, not just me, I could save lives. It would be too selfish to harness this for myself. I think about the people I can’t save. Rose and Gabe could be dead now because of me. I’ve done enough damage, destroyed enough people’s happiness, I have to give back somehow.

             
Justin organises the car hire. Channing sits beside me. I watch him. His knee trembles, he chews his lip, nervously runs his hand through his sandy hair. Another life on the line because of me. “It’ll be okay,” he says but I get the impression he isn’t saying it to reassure me.

             
I nod and place my hand on his knee. The muscles in his thighs are incredible. He must spend every day in that gym. Then he turns to me and says, “I deserve this, you know?”

             
“What?” I’m startled.

             
“To be frightened, running for my life. I’ve killed a lot of people,” he says, biting on his plump lower lip so hard that a small dab of blood appears. “Well, I haven’t killed them. I didn’t drive the knife into their back or pull the trigger but it’s my fault...”

             
“What are you talking about?” I say. Justin and Channing may be sexy and probably wild but they’re not killers. They’re good people. They wouldn’t be helping me otherwise.

             
He sighs, “Maurice makes us go out into the city, sometimes further out, to find him food.” His pretty face is contorted with repulsion. I know about the recruitment process, the way Maurice sends his staff out to handpick humans like apples from a tree, but I don’t feel disgusted by Channing. Rose and Gabe were apart of this too. I try to ignore the fact that innocent lives have been lost at their hands and look at the sad face before me. He didn’t take delight in choosing those humans and I know he won’t go back to that life. Maurice brainwashed him, he was disillusioned by the prospect of grand parties, expensive clothes and danger just like I was too.