True Love's Bite

43 // All Or Nothing

Esra's head snapped to the side, and she pinned Zamani with crazed eyes. "Don't be ridiculous, there is no such thing!"

He broke into a humourless chortle. "Do you think vampires are a thing of yesterday? There's a damn village full of them, and they have a damn council running the country from the shadows. The SASIU is only sent out for severe cases, and they only have one single goal and instruction - shoot to kill."

"Is that so?" Esra challenged. "Well, I'd like to see them try."

"Esra, what... we should be getting out of here, drop this entire thing!"

Esra tipped her chin in defiance. "Go if you want to, I won't stop you."

The vampire's hold on me had loosened, however, he made no attempt to completely let me go.

More people stepped out from the shadows, cladded in black cargo pants and military boots, gray t-shirts, black bulletproof vests, masking their identitities with black balaclavas. They carried advanced specialised weapons evidently exclusive to their departments.

While the others remained anonymous, there was one man leading the troop, and the only mask he had on his face was a note of bravery, fierceness, confidence, and superiority that I had never come across before.

I sucked a baited breath, feeling stupid for my recklessness for never finding him suspicious. He was always there, and I never questioned his presence.

Theo.

He stood beside Sy, with his firearm still raised in his arm, and he whispered something in his ear, evoking a hushed conversation that remained between the two of them.

However, while Sy was not surprised by Theo's arrival, he looked anxious, his eyes fleeting from me to his mother briefly. He said something to Theo, who responded with a brief nod before stepping forward and assuming his role as an official.

"Ms Esra Yildiz, Detective Zamani Mamba... I've heard so much about you, I have actually been observing you for some time, I wish we were meeting under better circumstances."

"And who the hell are you?" Esra snarled, sizing him up from head to toe.

"I'm Chief Commissioner Theodore Govender of the SASIU."

"Mhmmm... what was going through your father's head when he sent a little boy like you to do a man's job"

Theo chuckled, displaying no hint of being offended. "As a matter of fact, he is here. Dad, looks like Ms Yildiz here is dying to meet you!"

I watched Esra take a huge gulp as if there was a rock stuck on her throat, and she took a cautious step back, glancing over her shoulder to observe the distance to the edge of the cliff and quickly stole a glance at her car as though contemplating whether to jump into the lake or her car. Knowing Esra, there was no way she would put herself in a position where she could possibly sustain an injury.

My eyes shot up at a new presence, the air filled with tension that somewhat sucked everything in close proximity. Bold, alluring, intimidating - it reeked of power, authority.

He was nothing like I had expected, he made me want to hide behind my captor instead of running to him for protection.

His mere presence was enough for Esra to take farther steps back without caring about falling off the cliff, until she stopped close to the edge.

The man was the real life version of a vampire from the movies, he was short in height and strong built nonetheless. I could not pinpoint his roots from his wheatish pale skin tone and sharp features. He looked much younger than I guessed he could be, and judging from their frames, he looked like Theo's older brother than his father. He was unageing, something I failed to see in my father.