Vampire Dating Agency II (10 page)

CHAPTER
THIRTY-FOUR

Director Cresh and Nadine left
closing the door behind them. Jason was first out of his seat walking across
the room to the back cupboard. Luna stood up from her place but made no move to
go elsewhere. Haley looked from Riley to Maurice, the latter of which stood up
and went to the door in an attempt to eavesdrop.

“Tonight
fucking sucks,” Riley said stating the obvious. “When I get home I might have
to hang myself.”

“Which way
are you guys leaning?” Luna asked. “Do you want to join that – what’s her
name?”

“Nadine,”
Haley answered.

“Are you
thinking about going along with whatever she proposes? Or … what…”

“She’s pretty
convincing,” Haley said.

“Yeah,
convincing,” Riley said with sarcasm.

“You don’t
think so?”

“All I know
is I’m not going anywhere
near
that Count Monster thing.”

Luna turned
behind her. “Jason?”

Jason poked
his head out of the cupboard. He had a glass of whiskey in his hands. “What?”

“Are you following
Nadine into the abyss?” Riley asked.

Jason took a
drink. “I don’t know what I’m doing.”

Maurice
stepped away from the door. He approached the table. “If it’s true the Count
has access to our database, we’re fucked.”

“How is that
exactly?” Jason replied.

“We’ve seen
what value these vampires have on human life,” Maurice said. “I don’t think
anyone of us wants to go through what Haley has.”

“I’ll just
tell my family to get out of town,” Riley said. “Until it all blows over, you
know.”

“I wouldn’t
think that stands up as a solution to our problems,” Maurice replied. “If we
can make peace with the Count –”

“We tried
that all fucking ready,” Jason cried. “Look what happened.”

“Well, we
have to do something,” Haley pleaded. “I mean, aren’t we supposed to be finding
this killer? How are we supposed to do that with the Count after us? Or, are we
just giving up on that now?”

Jason
finished his drink and walked back to the cupboard for another.

“Who do think
the killer is, Haley?” Maurice asked.

“What?” Haley
replied. “You mean, I should just guess?”

“I’ll tell
you one thing – it’s someone who knows us,” Jason said over by the cupboard.
“Someone who knows Haley. Someone who knows me.”

“What you’re
saying is, it’s one of the vampires we were looking at tonight,” Riley said.

Jason walked
back round and stood next to Luna with his refilled glass. “Isn’t that what
we’ve been saying all along, Haley?”

Haley nodded.
“It’s one of the three.”

“Which
three?” Luna asked.

“The Count,”
Riley said.

“Brock
Ferns,” Jason added.

“Cyrus
Rance,” Maurice finished.

“If there’s
only three of them, shouldn’t it be easy to figure out which one it is?” Luna
asked.

“My money’s
on the Count,” Riley said. “What do you think Jason?”

Jason
shrugged. “It might be the Count. But it could just as easily be one of the
other two. Personally, that Brock rubs me the wrong way. I don’t trust him.”

“Maurice?”
Luna asked.

Maurice
hesitated. “I don’t have enough evidence to suspect any of them.”

“But what is
your gut telling you?”

His eyes went
to the back of his head. “Cyrus.”

“I agree with
Maurice,” Haley said quickly. “The guy was fucking weird. Not to say that the
Count isn’t messed up, but the Count doesn’t fit the profile for this. He’s too
centre stage. This creep hides in the shadows. If you get my drift…”

“And Haley
doesn’t think it could be Brock because she’s in love with him,” Riley
commented.

“Fuck off,”
Haley hissed. “Why would you say that?”

“Umm…”

“Knock it
off, Riley,” Jason scolded. “Haley’s had enough for one night.”

Riley touched
Haley’s shoulder. “I’m sorry, Haley, that just came out.”

“Apology
accepted.”

“But – who
the fuck are you standing up there, passing judgment on me?” Riley continued.

“I’m not
passing anything,” Jason mumbled, sipping from his glass.

“Guys, do we
have a consensus here?” Maurice asked. “It would be great to have something for
them before they come back.”

“It’s pretty
simple,” Jason said. “Some of us are going to follow Nadine into hell. And some
of us aren’t.”

“So that’s
you then?” Haley demanded. “You’re not with us anymore?”

Jason put the
glass down. “I’ll hear out whatever her plan is. But that doesn’t mean I have
to go along with it.”

Riley nodded.
“I agree with Jason. I’ll hear her out and then I’m done.”

Maurice
turned to Luna. “What about you?”

“I don’t mind
helping out with whatever,” Luna said. “As long as it’s behind the scenes.”

“Amen to
that,” Riley said.

Haley stood
up. She felt sick.

This room was
full of pain.

“Excuse me.”

She took a
few paces around the side of Riley and approached the door.

Maurice
stepped back, making way. He looked as if he wanted to say something, but the
words weren’t there.

Haley put her
hand to the door, and felt as though she was going to slide off the face of the
earth.

“Do you need
help?” Luna asked. “Do you need someone to come with you?”

Haley turned
to them, burning tears oozing out of her eyes. “I can’t give up. I CANNOT GIVE
–”

She stopped
herself, aware of a faint vibration against her leg.

It was her
phone.

Her green
phone.

“Haley, you
finally answer,” Cyrus whispered into her ear. “I’ve been looking forward to
your company all evening. Are you ready to go?”

Haley
swallowed.

The empty
faces peered around the room at her.

“I’m ready,”
she said. “I’ll tell you where you can get me.”

CHAPTER
THIRTY-FIVE

It was him. And it was her.

A battle of
arms, or a battle of wits, the battle was coming to them soon. Haley could feel
his presence all around her. Invading the air she breathed. He was trying to
find a way in. Trying to figure her out completely. Once he had, then it would
be game over.

Unless she
figured him out first.

Either side
of the road was dark. Sure, there were lights. Lights in the sky. Lights in the
distance. There was even the light of Haley’s green phone. He would see her
from a while away. The question was – would she see him too?

Haley inhaled
the freezing air. The thing was, she wasn’t even that sure it was him. Cyrus,
that is. She didn’t really know much about Cyrus. She hadn’t seen enough of his
character.

She’d seen
plenty of the other two though.

Brock.

And the
Count.

She didn’t
think it was either of them. No – it had to be Cyrus. He was the only one left.
The only one they’d been following tonight…

No voices.

No voices in
her ear.

This time she
was alone. She wondered how things would go down without her. How hard Nadine
would try and make the others find her. If they would even bother to look.

“It’s okay,”
she whispered to herself. “You can do this. You can figure this out.”

The road was
still dark. He wasn’t here yet.

Haley pressed
her shoe into the ground.

It was
different now. Different because he knew.

She was going
to have to fake it – pretend she was just coming along for the company and
conversation or whatever. If Cyrus was innocent, then he wouldn’t know
otherwise.

But if he was
guilty, as she suspected him to be, then he already knew what she was doing
here.

He knew she
was trying to find him out.

Lights.

Headlights on
her left. Drifting down the road.

Haley rubbed
her arms together, trying to stay warm. The dark car approached her.

It slowed
down.

Haley walked
slowly round to the side of it. She peered into the glass.

It was Cyrus
alright.

Cyrus sitting
behind the wheel.

This was it.

No going back
now.

It was time
to learn the truth.

CHAPTER
THIRTY-SIX

The night knew no different. No
different than any other. All around them: the shapes, the colors and shadows –
it all had a fleetingness. The world appeared one way when looking at it from
one perspective. But really it could be anything. Haley thought about how she
too was interchangeable. Just as Cyrus was, and the car they were occupying. To
the oncoming stranger, they were but shadows in the car, and they could be
anybody, doing anything. Living any kind of night. It was on that note, with
her eyes on the glass, that Haley almost convinced herself that her mother and
brother weren’t dead. That she could just block the last few hours out of her
life. Forget they’d ever happened. It really didn’t seem that hard. And if it
wasn’t hard, then maybe – just maybe…

It could be
real.

“You’re a
long way from the Vampire Dating Agency,” Cyrus remarked, his eyes on the road.
“I wonder, how you came to stray so far?”

“It’s been an
eventful evening,” Haley replied.

“Care to
share?”

“Not
particularly.”

Cyrus paused.
His grip on the wheel tightened. “Well, we must talk about something.”

“Why?”

“Because I’m
lonely.”

Haley looked
him over through her peripherals. She watched his posture. His breathing.
Trying to gage his temperament…

“I will break
you, you know,” he said after a moment.

“Pardon?”

“Your walls.
Your defenses. I’m not stupid. I can see you’re partially repulsed by me. It’s
an effect I have on people. Yet, I’ve lured you to me somehow…”

“I take it I
wouldn’t be the first person you’ve broken.”

“No dear,”
Cyrus said calmly. “You wouldn’t even be the first tonight.”

“What’s to
say I won’t break you?”

Cyrus tilted
his head towards her slightly. “That would surprise me.”

“Because you
think I’m just a fragile female? Incapable of wrapping my finger around the
big, strong vampire? Incapable of seeing you for who you really are?”

“I don’t know
what you’re capable of, Haley. But I’m quite sure before the night is out,
you’ll show me.”

“Yes.”

The moon
passed over Cyrus. “Yes … yes what?”

Haley
remained in the darkness.

“Yes, I’m
certain too,” she said.

CHAPTER
THIRTY-SEVEN

It was a strange neighborhood where
Cyrus lived. Many of the houses were tall, crooked, and covered with grisly
decorations and blinking lights. As if they were celebrating some kind of
holiday Haley never knew existed. The car slowed down to the side of the road
and Cyrus was out before Haley had even removed her seatbelt. Once they were
both outside the car, Haley took a step into the middle of the road, embracing
a pool of red and blue light.

“Not that
way,” Cyrus said quietly behind her.

Haley turned.
He was standing at the side where they’d parked, opposite a cluster of dark
trees.

“Come on,” he
said.

Haley walked
past the front of the car cautiously as Cyrus made his way into the trees. She
followed him there, keeping her distance.

“Where is
this leading to? Is there a path…?”

“We’re just
up ahead here,” Cyrus replied.

Even as
Haley’s eyes adjusted to the dark, she found herself being able to see less and
less. She had no idea which direction they were headed, or where they were
going.

Until of
course…

She realized.

“Stop,” Haley
whispered under her breath.

Cyrus didn’t
seem to have heard her.

“I said stop,
Cyrus.”

Now he
stopped. Now he turned.

“Why have you
brought me out here?” Haley asked.

“When one
asks for another’s intentions, one does not always get a straight answer.”

Haley
swallowed. She was on the verge of it.

Of giving it
all away.

“Just a
couple more minutes now. We’ll soon be there.”

Is it you?
Haley’s
thoughts demanded.

Are you
getting ready to kill me now?

Cyrus turned
back and kept walking.

Haley
breathed in deeply and forced herself to take another step. Forced herself to
keep her eyes on him.

He made no
sudden moves.

No tricks to
dart or hide.

And then,
without warning, an aura of green light consumed what lay ahead. Further now,
further – Haley could see the trees were ending. This was leading somewhere.

She brushed
through the last of trees, the trodden dirt and bramble below her feet now
cross over to a well maintained lawn. Cyrus was standing near what appeared to
be a series of large open tennis courts, fenced off with metal wire. Tall posts
towered over the courts, producing the source of the near blinding green light.

Cyrus reached
into his pocket and pulled out a key attached to a chain, and inserted it to a
padlock on the door. He unlocked it and pushed the door open.

“After you.”

Haley stepped
through.

Cyrus closed
the door and locked it up again.

Facing
forward Haley could see a wooden area with various plant-life, just outside the
back of a house.

“This is
where you live?” Haley asked.

Cyrus nodded.

“What’s wrong
with the front entrance?”

He walked ahead
of her. “This is the front.”