Light's Shadows - On Hold

Chapter 7 - Homecoming

James POV

Shopping bag swaying in hand, I languidly walked into the kitchen, whistling as if I hadn’t a care in the world. Despite the events of the last hour, things were finally looking up. From all the chaos, I managed to find a silver lining.

“Took you long enough,” grumbled Chef.

“Traffic,” I stated nonchalantly.

“Humph. Where’s your lil’ guard dog?”

He grabbed the plastic bag from my hand and began rummaging through it, inspecting the purchases with a keen eye. Chef had been serving our family for years. The subservient nature he might have had once to the members of our household had long since diminished.

As if on cue, CG marched into the kitchen looking rather perturbed. His neatly pressed suit had become quite wrinkled, and the knuckles on his right hand were starting to swell. No wonder he hadn’t made it back to the car before me; the bloke must’ve run into some trouble too. Plus he’d had to find his own way home. I wondered if he’d had to hitchhike…

He said nothing but shot me an astute look and proceeded to pull out an ice pack from the freezer.

“So, two chicken sandwiches then?” asked Chef trying to hide a smile.

“Two it is.” I replied with a smirk.

Earlier that night…

Throughout my life, it seems as if I’ve always managed to get myself into these impossible situations.

Write off my father’s car? Did that when I was seventeen.

Play humans and vampires with my father’s dagger? Yeah, I was ten and I nearly killed our dog.

And now, somehow, I was standing in a construction site with an unconscious vampire at my feet, wondering how I had gotten myself here.

It was as if trouble was a moth and I was a bright, burning flame beckoning it closer.

Should I kill her? I’d killed female vampires before but I always found myself feeling ever so slightly guilty in the process.

I should kill her, I guess.

Although, she had saved my life. Not killing her would be gratitude enough.

But why had the blood sucker been following me in the first place?

No. I definitely couldn’t kill her. I needed answers and she was going to give them to me.

But torturing and questioning her here would definitely not be ideal. Firstly, it was not safe to conduct my doings in such an open place. Secondly, without the necessary means to restrain her I’d be dead meat.

Not that I think she would kill me. No, I knew she wouldn’t. Why would she save me in the first place? But I still needed to restrain her. She was an abomination. She was a heathen creature who fed of off the life source of humans. She would receive no kindness from me. She was the very reason why humans were no longer free.

Thirdly, I needed to get home as soon as possible; and with the groceries; and before CG decided to ditch me, and report back to my father.

It was obvious that I’d need to take her to a location away from prying eyes, where I would be at liberty to use what ever method of extrapolation I chose. But where? That is the question.

I mulled it over in my head for a moment. Then it dawned on me – bright and crisp as day. Do you know that scene in which a cartoon character has a moment of inspiration and a light bulb appears on screen above their head? Well that’s exactly how I felt.

This was perfect! Absolutely perfect! Oh, how the fates had played in my favour.

Not only would I be able to interrogate the fiend but I’d be able to extract venom from her too. My own personal supply of juice! I can’t believe I didn’t think of this sooner.

I dragged the she-vamps body over to a huge crane and tied her to it with some metal chains that I had found lying around. Construction sites were so handy. They had everything you could possibly need in order to restrain a knocked out supernatural creature with inhuman strength.

I sprinted back to the market, bought the bread and tea, got in my car and drove back to the site. I was fortunate that CG hadn’t been waiting at the car for me. When I got to the site I unchained her from the crane and, with her hands and feet still bound, I shoved her into the boot of my car.

I knew where I was taking her. I was taking her home.

I laughed to myself. It’s quite ironic really. The first time I bring a girl home and she’s a bloody leech.

I drove home with my foot flat against the pedal. A journey that would normally take me fifteen minutes, took me five.

A sense of déjà vu struck me as I nodded at the guard at the gates. This time instead of driving to the parking lot, I drove round the back of the house to where the old servants’ quarters were. It was far enough from the house so that no one would notice what was going on inside, and it was perfect in the sense that it hadn’t had a visitor in the last five years. I always wondered why my parents hadn’t demolished it, but now I was thankful for whatever reason it was.

I got out and pried open the door using the jack from my car. The tiny two-roomed building inhaled its first fresh breath in years. The musty air fumed out and a plume of dust rose into the air.

I hurriedly popped the trunk and pulled out my captive, picking her up roughly and carrying her inside. I fleetingly considered pulling her in by her hair but that seemed a tad rude. My feet left footsteps where it had disturbed the settled dirt and grime on the faded green, moth-eaten carpet. I needed to put the leech down. Holding her in my arms and having her so close made me uncomfortable. I had never been in such close proximity to a vampire for this long before – a living one that is.

I dropped her unceremoniously onto the dusty mattress and chained her to the bedpost. She was weak but I wouldn’t count on that bedpost lasting very long. I would need to find another way to keep her docile. I pulled out a clean handkerchief from my pocket and tried to shove it in her mouth without having to get my hands to close to her teeth. I couldn’t help but take note of her small, sharp, pearly white fangs. I shivered.

“Abysmal beasts.” I muttered before leaving her to her slumber.

That night I went to sleep hoping that I hadn’t made the biggest mistake of my life.