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everything away. She looked tired after a long day at work and I felt guilty about having to

lay this on her too, but I knew it had to be done. She would find out eventually, and then

she’d be doubly upset that I hadn’t told her about it. As with most things nowadays, she

took it unexpectedly well.

“Isn’t Shanice the one that used to bully you in primary school?”

I was surprised and touched that she remembered after so long. “Yeah, that’s her.”

“Well, I’m sure she deserved what she got. Did you get into trouble?”

“I have to go see Mr Parker tomorrow and explain.”

She winced. “Poor baby. It’ll be fine, don’t worry.”

I smiled at her thankfully. She was a mother in a million. She hardly ever criticised us,

she never lost her temper, and she worked like a maniac to keep the family going. I felt

fleetingly guilty for excluding her from my new secret life, but I dismissed that thought

quickly. Just the thought of trying to explain to her that I was now a vampire made me break

out in a sweat. Her life was difficult enough already without that kind of information.

I stayed up for a while with my family, trying to absorb the normal tone of my

surroundings, but it was no use. I went to bed just before ten, remembering just as I was

changing into my pyjamas to take my five iron tablets.

I woke earlier than usual that day, and I felt a kind of whimsical satisfaction when I put

the alarm off before it could start screeching at me. Mum was already up, of course, and I

went downstairs to have breakfast with her. We sat at the table in companionable silence

until it was time for her to go. She hugged me as she left, wishing me good luck for the

encounter with Mr Parker. I thanked her and kissed her cheek, and then she was gone.

I had a leisurely shower, and stood ironing my school uniform in my terrycloth

bathrobe, listening to Radio 1and humming a kind of off-tune accompaniment to a few

songs. Mark eventually stuck his head around the corner and grimaced at me, so I shut up.

No point torturing people at this time of morning. Not even brothers.

I dressed, tied up my hair and brushed my teeth, and stood waiting for Mark to get

ready. I had to confess – I was nervous. School was going to be so much more of an ordeal

than usual today, and I needed his comforting presence. Plus he could stop me if I decided

to bite somebody’s neck. Ha ha.

We walked the mile or so to school with Harry, who had arrived a bit earlier than usual

too, and had grunted a kind of greeting. Harry was a strange one sometimes. It was almost

like he was evolving backwards. Speech, now grunting. I imagined him knuckling about and

hooting, and I chuckled.

We arrived at the school gates at ten minutes to nine, and I was hanging about just

outside them, apprehensive about going inside and facing the day. Then out of nowhere a

white van drove up, and three guys in balaclavas sprang out. I turned to face them,

surprised at the screeching brakes and sudden activity behind me. I should have run, but I

didn’t. I guess I wasn’t expecting them to grab my arms and twist them behind my back, and

lift me bodily into the yawning cavity of the van. The door slid slamming into place behind

us and the van took off, all revving engine and squealing tyres. I didn’t even have time to

scream.

The men worked fast, cuffing my hands behind my back and wrapping cable ties around

my ankles. They draped a pillowcase over my head, and then they shoved me in a corner of

the van and left me to my growing terror.

Mark

They came out of nowhere. I was standing about ten yards away from her, talking to

Harry, when that van slammed on brakes, and those three men in balaclavas snatched my

sister off the pavement, while we all stood watching in open-mouthed astonishment. Then

they were gone, the tyres of the van swirling in a cloud of smoke. I tried to make out the

number plate, but there was none. Make of van? I wasn’t sure. Maybe a Ford Courier, or

something like that. They all looked the same to me. I tried to remember its general shape

so I could maybe try and identify it later if the police asked me. Police! I hauled out my

mobile phone and dialled 999, and waited for seven long rings before I was put through to a

bored operator who promised to send a couple of officers around to talk to us. Talk! I felt

the panic rising in my throat. I had to
do
something. I glanced frantically around me at all the shocked blank faces, seeing no help there. Who could I call? Mum? No. She would lose

her mind there and then. I couldn’t do that to her. Let the police do that. And that’s when I

thought of Angus.

I took one last look at the other students milling about, and then I started running.

Angus

I’d been awake since three in the morning. I woke up feeling refreshed, but there was

something bothering me, though I couldn’t quite pinpoint it. I had breakfast and fed the cat,

and then settled down to read. I read a lot of books. It helped to pass the time. Reading

books had also taught the three us how to behave more or less normally. About as normally

as we could behave, I suppose.

It had just gone nine when somebody started hammering on my door. When I opened

the door and saw Mark’s white face and touched the fear in his mind, I was stunned.

“You’d better come in,” I said.

Mark

It was almost as if he knew what I was about to tell him before I actually told him. His

jaw was clenched, his mouth drawn in an angry line, and his eyes burned black.

“Rebecca’s been kidnapped. Three guys in balaclavas jumped out of a white van just

outside the school gates and grabbed her. They stuck her in the van, and off they went. No

number plate. Generic looking white van, no markings. I called the police and they said

they’d send someone to investigate, but I didn’t wait for them. They’d take too long. And

then I thought of telling you.” I was babbling, my voice rising in alarm. I looked up at

Angus’expression, at the rage that had settled there as if it belonged, and wondered if I’d

done the right thing. He stood frozen for a few more seconds and then suddenly he was

moving, snatching his mobile off a cabinet and punching numbers like the phone itself

annoyed him.

“Fergus,” he barked into the phone. “Somebody’s taken Rebecca. White unmarked van,

three guys in balaclavas, really smooth pick up, they’ve probably done it before. I’m going

after them. I’ll contact you if I need anything.” He smiled grimly at whatever his brother said to him, and then he hung up.

“Let’s go,” he said to me. “You need to show me where she was when they took her.”

He shoved his arms into the sleeves of an expensive looking leather jacket, and dropped his

phone into one of the pockets. Then he unlocked the top drawer of the wooden cabinet and

started filling his pockets with objects that I couldn’t quite identify, but which mostly looked dangerous and highly illegal. He locked the cabinet drawer again, pocketed the key, and

took a small tub of tablets from the second drawer, which he opened, revealing brown

tablets. He counted fifteen out into his hand and swallowed them all in one go. He put the

tub in one of his pockets too. I stood motionless, watching this frenetic activity, and then

suddenly he was stalking towards the door, car keys in hand.

“Come!” he barked. I jumped at the sound, and followed him obediently out of the

house. He was in his car and firing up that colossal engine before I’d even opened the door. I yanked the passenger door open and dived in just as the car started moving off.

We got to the school before the police did, of course. I had just managed to click my

seatbelt into place, when I had to unclick the damn thing again. There was nobody around;

the bell had sounded and everyone had disappeared into their classrooms, business as

usual. I felt a sudden surge of anger at their apparent lack of concern.

“Where?” asked Angus as he slid out of his seat in one easy movement. I scrambled

out, and pointed out where Rebecca had been standing when they had taken her. Angus

didn’t bother looking around. He just stood there, his face white and composed now, and he

closed his eyes and breathed deeply through his nose. Five seconds. Then he was moving

again, sliding back into the driver’s seat, and gunning the engine. I managed to get my

backside on the seat as the car pulled off, the door closing automatically behind me with the

sudden lurching motion.

Angus looked at me with blank eyes as if he’d never seen me before. Then he braked

suddenly. “You can’t come with me,” he said harshly.

I don’t know where I got the courage from, but I huddled down in my seat, clutching

the seatbelt around me, and muttered, “I’m not getting out.” I must have been mad.

Angus’ eyes narrowed, his jaw clenched again, and I thought for a second that he was

actually going to physically throw me out, but then he nodded. “Right.” And then we were

moving again, weaving briskly in and out of the rapidly clearing traffic. There was a pause in our progress as we waited at a red traffic light. Angus punched in a number on the iphone,

turned it to speaker mode, and thrust it into my hands. “Hold this.”

It rang twice, and then a brisk voice answered. “What’s happening?”

“She was taken by a vampire and two human males. Vampire’s pretty old, probably one

hundred and fifty or more. He lives on blood only, not human, probably animal. So he’s

strong for a human, but in pretty poor shape for one of us. The human males are in their

thirties and in very good shape. They’re armed. Heavily. This looks like it was an organised

kidnapping, and the coincidence is too great. One vampire kidnapping another? They must

know what she is. How did they find her, Fergus?”

“I’ll find out. What else do you need?”

“I’m heading north. I need you locate their base. This looks like it’s one of those groups

of old style vampires that we didn’t think existed anymore.” I heard another voice swearing

in the background. Angus smiled tightly. “You can’t always be right, Marcus.” More

swearing.

“There will be things you can start looking for, Fergus. They will have a fairly large base,

in an isolated area. It’ll be colder than the rest of the country.”

He paused. “I’m going to need to use our estate in Aberdeenshire.”

“It’s yours. I’ll notify the housekeeper.”

Another pause. We were moving again by this stage. Angus drove effortlessly, as if he

didn’t need to think about it at all.

“Fergus. Look for patterns. Increased percentage of missing persons, not recent, but

spanning the last century and a half. Recent disappearances would be in the indigent

population, beggars, prostitutes, homeless people. Vampires are not always stupid,

especially if they’ve survived this long.”

“Got it. Anything else?”

“There will be an abbatoir nearby. Medium to large size. That’s probably where he’s

getting the blood. He drinks a lot of it.” He paused, looked sideways at me, and continued.

“I’m going to need some equipment.”

“Shoot.”

Another grim smile. “Indeed. Two Glock 17’s, two hundred rounds - hollow point

preferably. Ballistic vest. And a Heckler and Koch PSG1 with two hundred rounds and a

couple of spare magazines. I’ll be arriving in Aberdeenshire in, say, five and a half hours. Can you arrange for all that to be delivered to the estate by then?”

“Could be a bit complicated. The UK is not the best place for firearm purchases.

Especially the rifle.”

“Can you do it?” Angus sounded impatient.

“Yes. Probably.”

“You flying now?”

“We’re in the air at the moment, but I’ll try and redirect us to a more northerly airport.

If you think you could use the help.”

“Absolutely.”

“Yeah.” Click and they were gone.

Rebecca

Of course I was scared. At first. The van rocked and swayed, and I bumped my head a

few times against its raw metal insides. My head hurt for a few moments, but then the pain

subsided and I learned to sway with the motion of the vehicle instead of trying to brace

myself against it. It was a minor accomplishment, but to me, sitting there with my hands and

feet tied and a mouldy smelling pillowcase over my head, it felt like a lot more than that.

There was something hypnotic about the sheer concentration required to move with a

rocking van, especially if your other senses are muffled. I stopped being afraid after a while.

Nobody seemed to be trying to hurt me; I was being ignored with a capital I.

Then someone spoke. Male voice, older adult, gruff, like maybe he smoked a lot.

“Pull over. We need to reattach the number plate.”

“There’s a lay by up ahead.” Another male voice. Maybe younger than the first. “Watch

the girl.” The van slowed, and stopped. One of the front doors opened, and a sudden tilt in

the floor I sat on signalled that someone had climbed out. A few minutes later the floor

tilted again, and a front door closed. The van started moving again. It took a few moments

for the implications of what had happened to hit me. No number plate. I had been

kidnapped in a generic white van with no distinguishing markings and no number plate. How

was anybody going to be able to find me?

I was suddenly and paralysingly scared again.