As the navy-blue BMW cruised through the pitch black country lanes of England, I stared aimlessly out of the window and cast my mind back to the conversation I'd just finished with Lady Myre.
"Wait a minute. Can we just run over this one more time to get this clear?"
"Of course. Byron's Wood contains a site that's important to my people. But none of my people live near there who can guard it. There's another more important site that takes up all our time. We can't guard the less important one."
"And you want me to 'keep an eye on it'?"
"I'm not happy with the idea, and frankly, neither are my people, but it's our only real option. We need some kind of supernatural who can watch out for things that humans won't even notice."
"Fine, but if anything dangerous turns up, then all that will be seen of me is a cloud of dust."
"No problem. If there is an all out assault, do what you can to slow it down, then contact us as quickly as you can."
"Could I use explosives?"
"Don't damage the wood. Outside it is alright, but if you damage the wood, we'll be upset."
I could guess what that meant. Looking out of the car window, I realised that I was starting to recognise some buildings, and that we were close to the school. I leaned forward and tapped the driver on the shoulder.
"Err, excuse me, could you drop me off here?"
The driver gave me a glance that simply oozed contempt. I made an effort to remember his face as one of Myre's people who didn't like the idea of my guarding the wood, or frankly, even my continued existence. This was why I had no intention of letting them know the exact location of my haven. As the car rolled to a halt, I opened the door and stepped out of it. As I slammed it shut behind me, I faded from the driver's sight. I quietly stepped off the road and slowly lay down in the ditch. The driver, having lost sight of me as the door slammed shut, looked out of the car window, searching for a sign of my passing. I waited, not moving at all, and allowing the darkness and shadows to be my s hape, so that all the driver could see was the hedge and the ditch. After a short while, the car turned around and headed back the way it came. I sat still and waited.
After fifteen minutes, I got up and started to walk towards the school. It was a cool night, with only a few clouds skittering past the full blood red moon. It was lovely weather, especially for Britain. I might as well walk.
Hunger was starting to send sharp stabbing pains through my belly as I entered the outskirts of the school, crossing the ring fence that marked the boundary of the school proper. It had been a while since I'd fed, and I would have to do so again soon to avoid torpor.
"Thank goodness for that." rasped the wreck of a voice from the branches of a tree high above me. As I glanced up the tree, I boosted my vision to watch the expected and rather unpleasant vision of Sycorax climbing down the tree, smoothly gliding down as his tentacles slithered from branch to branch, without any risk of his falling.
"You know," said Sycorax, his long thin fingers pushing back the lank, greasy hair that had been died many times, and washed slightly less often, that he had kept from his mortal existence, "We were starting to get worried that you weren't going to come back at all, and you'd spent too long looking for the irritating bitch."
Sycorax never had got on with Little Blue. If I was being unkind, I would have said that this was because the addition of tentacles had been an improvement to his general appearance, while Little Blue was irritatingly cute and attractive. To make things worse, Little Blue had periods of being intensely bouncy and cheerful, while Sycorax had the sort of outlook on life that could make The Samaritans want to give it up and end it all.
"What happened to her?" I asked. Little Blue disappearing had been the sole cause of my running into the werewolves (see part 1).
"She turned up back at the haven, moments before sunrise. She'd gone again before Solomon and I woke up this evening."
"Oh, how wonderful." I have been accused on occasions of sarcasm. Knowing people like Little Blue is what caused the problem in the first place. "I'll see if I can find her. Do you know where Solomon is?"
"I have trouble keeping track of the slippery bastard when he's in the same room as me. I've no idea where he got to. I think he's 'making contacts', or whatever he calls it."
"Don't worry about it. I'm going to have a look for the annoying one. See you around."
As I walked away, I had trouble shaking off the headache I always got when looking at Sycorax for too long. He can pass for human if he hides his tentacles, but when there aren't humans about, he doesn't bother to hide them, and he has tentacles in all the wrong places.
I started to make a more thorough search of the school. I knew she had to be somewhere close, because she had to be able to return to the haven at night. My senses were further sharpened by my hunger, and I silently prowled the night. Soon, my concentration was rewarded. Passing through one of the boys houses, I heard slight scuffles and movement upstairs. Silently I tracked them down to a particular study, and opened the door . . .
I could pick out several shapes amid the tangle of sheets on the mattresses in the centre of the study. As the door swung open, they froze. As I suspected, one of the figures in the study wasn't breathing. It wasn't difficult to tell, as the others were all panting quite heavily for some reason. I could make out four others.
"Who is it, Louise?" asked a nervous male adolescent voice. There are very few things in this school that were punishable by instant expulsion, but this was one of them.
Little Blue stood up and moved towards me quietly in the dark. For the second time in as many nights, I was confronted by a young girl protected from the elements by nothing but fortune. It was starting to get to be a habit (not one I'd intend to break in a hurry, either). A cover story was needed, and fast. Fortunately, Little Blue beat me to it.
"Oh, it's my brother." she whined, with a little-girl-lost tone. "What do you want?"
"Mum's getting up early today, remember? She's going to be up in a few minutes. You've got to come home now!"
Little Blue swore, and made a passable impression at fumbling to find her clothes in the dark in order to get home, but I could tell she was going to sulk at me later. My heightened senses were still picking up details around the room though.
"Four boys and one girl???" I exclaimed, not able to help myself.
"Louise manages." sniggered one of the boys, and I realised that this was what Little Blue was calling herself at the moment. She was wiping something wet from around her mouth. I saw with some relief that it was the dark stain of blood, rather than any thing else. Until I realised she'd probably got it in the same way. Blood made me think of my own hunger, which was getting worse. Little Blue had gathered up her clothes and was ready to go.
"Come on 'Louise', we'd better be getting back. Oh, you lot..." I turned to address her erstwhile companions. "I'd be grateful if you didn't mention this to anyone, not even your mates. Once a couple of people find out, it'll be round the school like wildfire and someone will find out."
I paused, letting this sink in. I decided to add a friendly face to the situation, just to stop whoever these lads were from getting irritated with 'Louise's Brother'. It's always good to keep contacts.
"By the way, I think I saw the night watchman checking the houses. If he finds the way we got in, he might check inside here as well, so you might want to make sure everything is sorted in here."
"Thanks, mister." came the grudging reply as Little Blue and I quietly made our way out of the boarding house and back downstairs. When we reached the tunnels access point, Little Blue turned around, obviously not a little irritated that her evenings entertainment was over.
"I was enjoying myself there. How dare you push in on what I do. I never interfere with your feeding."
"Maybe not, but I nearly ended up getting a tan this morning because I was looking for you. Every time you go out like that you risk getting caught. If you do, they'll call the police, and they won't let you out of the cells until after sunrise. Which, might I add, would be a little late. I'm not going to dictate what you do, but I really think you should limit yourself to going only about once every other week."
I said this knowing that she'd probably go once a week, just to be spiteful. But in reality, I actually reckoned that once a week was probably a safe margin. If I'd said once a week, she'd have gone twice a week, which was much more dangerous. Some people are so predictable. She turned on her heel and started to make her way down the stairs in a huff.
"Little Blue." I called out, and she turned in a manner a little too theatrical for my taste. "I need to go and grab a bite. I'll join you in a few minutes."
She turned and stormed off back down to the haven, while I hurried out of the door. The pain in my stomach was growing, and my vision swam every few steps. It had taken all my self control to remain in control so far, and I was going to have to feed, and soon.
Continued in Part 4
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