Oxford Blood (26 page)

“I’d be grateful if you can at least try and pick the
ugliest girl there,” she added, only half joking.

“Well, that’s usually exactly what I get, but no doubt this
year George will take it upon himself to find me the most beautiful and
delicious donor he can, in the hope of luring me away from you,” he replied,
laughing.

As Harriet sulked, he wrapped his arms around her and kissed
her hard.

“You don’t have to have any worries on that score,” he said.
“I’d like to demonstrate that to you, but we should be off to our respective
parties. You know what they say about the First of May though. Meet me after
midnight.”

“What do they say?” Harriet asked.

“Oh, if you don’t know, you’ll have to wait and see.”

Reluctantly Harriet dragged herself out of Tom’s room,
grabbed a bottle of wine she’d brought earlier and took it over to Ben’s room,
where he was holding a pre bop party.

All the usual crowd was there, as well as Ben’s rowing team,
some friends of Josh’s from the choir and several random people from the
staircase. Maybe the theme had appealed or maybe the fact that it was a special
occasion had spurred people on. Either way, almost everybody had made a real
effort to dress as a pirate. The fancy dress shop had done a roaring trade in
hats, swords and Jolly Roger flags and the charity shops and Primark had sold
hundreds of stripy shirts. In one corner of the room, a group were trying to
make their own swords with cardboard and silver foil. The tequila shots they
were downing were not helping the process along, but they seemed to be having
fun.

Harriet had several shots herself. After a while, a few of
them settled down with their glasses to play
Never Have I Ever
. Each
player took it in turns to announce something that they had never done, from
cheating in an exam to having a threesome. Everyone in the circle who had done
the thing had to down their shot.

The game wasn’t too embarrassing for her. Everyone knew Tom,
so there was no speculation about who she was or wasn’t sleeping with, and as
far as normal behaviour went, she’d done enough interesting/amusing/sexy things
to sound fun, but not so many as to sound weird or overly slutty.

As long as no one says, “I have never gone out with a
vampire,” or “I have never broken a sacred blood bond,” then I ought to be on
fairly steady ground.

“I have never kissed a girl,” she said, when it was her
turn, struggling to think of anything more imaginative. All the guys drank,
including Greg who was very gay.

“I was fifteen,” he said indignantly when several people
looked at him questioningly.

Several of the girls also drank, much to the boys’ delight,
including Caroline.

“Why don’t you give us a demonstration,” one of the drunker
ones shouted. “Poor old Harriet has never tried; maybe you should show us how
it’s done.”

“Wait, wait, let me get my camera,” his friend shouted.

“Shut up you perverts,” Caroline said, laughing. “Anyway,
it’s my turn. I have never been arrested.”

The game went on for another few turns, until the general
consensus was that it was time to head over to the bop. Harriet was feeling
drunk from the shots and giggly from the revelations of the game by the time they
arrived.

The bar was the fullest that she had seen it since freshers’
week. There was even a large third year contingent, despite the way they
usually shunned organised college events in favour of either work or their own
parties. The people in Ben’s room hadn’t been the exception either. Everyone
had made an effort with their outfits, and enjoyed plenty of drinks before
coming out. Everyone also seemed more willing than usual to dance. Tom was away
at the Cavaliers’ party and in his absence, Harriet danced both in a big group
and with her friends.

Josh was looking great in a ripped black silk shirt held
together by a leather cord. It fit him tightly, showing off his body and his
naturally tanned skin. She danced with him for the first time since the toga
bop, relieved that all the awkwardness of that night had evaporated.
Afterwards, they joined Ben, Caroline and Olamide and jumped around happily in
a group.

“Where’s Callum?” Harriet asked Olamide, smiling at her
black jeans and striped shirt. She looked good but was probably the only woman
that wasn’t wearing a mini-skirt.

“Oh he’s working, would you believe? On May Eve. Don’t get
me wrong, I think work is important, but he’s so over the top sometimes.”

Harriet was surprised. She’d never heard Olamide say a bad
word about her boyfriend before.

Before she knew it, it was 2am and that part of the evening
drew to a close. Along with several other people, Harriet decided to go back to
Ben’s room. By sheer chance, most of the people living on his staircase were as
outgoing as him, and the entire building had been given over to the party, with
one room having music blasting, another storing the drinks and a third acting
as a makeshift chill out room. The porters seemed to have accepted that it was
a night when everyone was likely to be awake and didn’t try to break up the
party.

Before long, there was a knock at the door. Ben walked over
puzzled – people had generally just been wandering in and out and the door was
wide open. Harriet glanced up to see Tom stood there in his white tie Cavaliers
outfit. She was impressed again by the way he never seemed at all tired or
dishevelled, despite the fact that he’d presumably been partying hard all
evening.

“Oh hey Tom,” Ben said, his confusion evident in his voice.
“What are you doing just standing there? Come in and get a drink. I’ve got
Harriet here too.”

As soon as Ben had extended the invitation, Tom walked
through the door and into the room. Harriet wondered how much the potential
recruits knew about the existing members’ ‘condition.’ Judging by the fact that
Ben seemed unaware of Tom’s need to be invited in, she could only assume not a
lot.

Tom helped himself to a vodka and coke and chatted to a few
people, most of whom (despite still being dressed as pirates) gently mocked his
formal attire. After a while, he cornered Harriet. She noticed his rosy cheeks
and wondered who he’d fed from.

“Good night then?” she asked. “Where are the other
Cavaliers?”

“Oh they’ve still got the room. So drinking in there, or
wandering the grounds looking for likely donors.”

Harriet felt rather uncomfortable at the idea, but tried not
to show it. It wasn’t as though they were really doing any harm – most girls
would even be delighted to bump into the handsome, charming members in a dark
alley, let alone on such a special night and they neither felt nor remembered
the bloodletting, only the fun before and afterwards.

“Anyway, it’s time for some fun of our own. Did you find out
what it is they say about the first of May?”

“I’ve still no idea,” she replied.

“Way-hey, first of May, outdoor fucking starts today,” he
whispered, taking her hand and leading her out into the quad and then onto the
Steele Walk as she giggled. Hands gripped tightly, they walked until they
reached a sufficiently secluded spot, where he spread his jacket on the ground.

“Don’t mess up my outfit,” she said, giggling. “You don’t
know how long it took me to get into this corset.”

“Then we’ll leave it on. It suits you.”

He pulled off her tights and her little pants, and leaving
everything else where it was, began to play with her.

“Climb on top,” he commanded, once she was wet and
squirming. “That should keep your clothes as perfect as possible.”

Harriet did as he suggested. He too had only removed the
most essential items of clothing and was still wearing a white silk shirt and a
bow tie and waistcoat in the Cavalier colours.

She frantically kissed him and stroked his soft dark hair as
she rocked back and forth on him. They came almost together, and she collapsed
exhausted onto his chest. He held her tightly, stroking her back as her
breathing began to slow.

Afterwards, they lay there for a while. Harriet began to
feel cold, but was utterly contented and had no wish to move. Tom, flushed with
her blood and eternally warm, looked as though he could stay there forever, or
at least until the sun came up. Eventually however he stirred himself.

“I need to get back for the champagne duelling,” he said
languorously. “You should come. Unlike most of our activities it’s fun to watch
and safe for public consumption.”

Harriet thought it sounded slightly ridiculous, but couldn’t
deny she was intrigued.

They walked back slowly through the woods. With summer on
the way, the trees full and the river low, it already seemed less spooky than
it had done when George had attacked her out there. It already felt like years
ago. She thought of that night as the real beginning of her time at Oxford.

There were a surprisingly large number of people milling
around on the lawns for the early hours of the morning. Some were still in
pirate outfits, whilst others had managed to make time to get changed. The
Cavaliers had grouped on the lawn in front of the Manor, a striking Georgian
accommodation block. Several people were staring at them. Between their beauty,
their elegant outfits and that other indefinable quality, they certainly stood
out.

No speeches were made or formalities observed. For once,
this seemed to be the Cavaliers just out to have fun. The format of the event
was simple. Bottles of champagne were stored under the arches of the building.
Two members would take a bottle each, shake it up and then run to their
opponent, the objective being to release the cork at just the right moment to
soak the other as thoroughly as possible without being soaked themselves. In
between rounds, the contestants either swigged the remains of the bottles or
poured them over each other.

Tom was entering into the spirit of the thing. He covered
his first opponent in champagne but received a soaking from his second one.

Some of the onlookers were laughing and clapping. Others
were just perving on the attractively soaked men, their white shirts clinging
to their firm bodies. Plenty more however were mumbling about how it was
pointless, excessive, and gave exactly the wrong impression of Oxford.

Harriet was enjoying the spectacle. She’d never seen the
usually pristine vampires look so bedraggled.

The event ended, perhaps inevitably, with a showdown between
George and Rupert. They fired at the same time, the two streams of champagne
merging into one in mid air, soaking them both. It occurred to Harriet that
with their perfect reflexes, they should both have been able to jump away in
time, but perhaps that was against the rules.

Everyone was laughing as they all sat down on the grass,
other than George and Rupert who were glaring at each other.

Harriet ran over to Tom. Embracing him in front of them all
probably wasn’t sensible, but he looked so cute with his wet hair that she just
couldn’t resist.

“How about a real duel?” George said suddenly.

“Don’t be ridiculous George. It’s getting on for sunrise and
there’s no need to spoil the fun,” Rupert drawled.

“Not with you, idiot,” George snapped. “With Tom. We still
haven’t resolved this whole betrayal thing.”

Everyone fell silent and looked at her, stood with one arm
around Tom. She felt a sudden sense of panic.

“Is that a formal challenge?” Tom asked in a strained tone.

“Oh absolutely,” George said, grinning now. “Are you going
to come and watch Harriet? Who will you cheer for? I suppose I could always
make sure it’s me since you lost your little trinket.”

“What does this involve?” she whispered to Tom.

“Well, we’d fight with swords most likely. Try and stab each
other through the heart. The point is that we can take what ought to be mortal
injuries and be fine in a few days time, as long as fire or wood aren’t
involved.”

“Don’t do it,” she begged. “That sounds horrific.”

“If it’s a formal challenge, I don’t have much choice. I’ve
already pushed our laws and customs to the limit by being with you.”

He turned to stare at George. “I accept then,” he said
calmly. “But I want Harriet left out of this. No mind control.”

“Well, I think she should watch, and if she’s doing that, I
don’t want her getting involved. I’m told stab wounds are unhealthy for
humans.”

“If this is going ahead, perhaps I can exert just enough
control to stop her from moving,” Rupert mused. “Would you accept that?”

“I think you all seem to forget that I’m not a vampire. I
don’t have to play by your stupid rules,” she said.

“Of course not. You can walk away now if you’d prefer, and
sit there wondering what is happening,” Rupert said. “But I think you’d prefer
to see for yourself, and that means doing as we say.”

“Oh fine,” Harriet said. “Is this happening on the Manor’s
lawn too? I’m sure everyone would love to see a stabbing. Now that really will
give exactly the wrong impression of Oxford.”

“We’ll go to Oak Meadow,” Rupert said authoritatively. “They
shouldn’t be disturbed there.”

Oak Meadow was by the river at a point that could only be
reached via the Steele Walk. It was about fifteen minutes away from the college
and with trees on three sides and water on the other, completely excluded.

“Doesn’t that involve crossing the river?” George asked dubiously.

“Absolutely,” Rupert replied, smirking. “But if you’re going
to insist on this sort of childish behaviour I think you should put ridiculous
superstitions aside.”

As a group, they headed for the large iron gates leading out
onto Steele Walk.

“Someone needs to fetch swords,” George said. If he had any
nerves about the upcoming fight, he certainly wasn’t showing them.

“I’ll go,” said Archie, who had spent most of the evening
sitting around sulking.