The Guest & The Change

chapter 2





Sarah thought back to two years previously, not long after she’d had Bea. She had felt awful, and not at her most attractive. Looking after Megan and Bea together was hard work and she still hadn’t fully recovered from the birth. She was sore and had a post baby flabby tummy. Her breasts were large and uncomfortable. She had often pulled away from Jo’s touch as she was seldom in the mood.

All her attention had been on her kids, she was surrounded by love and need and physical affection from her children. She needed space. But it was an awful time for Jo to do what he did. He should have waited for her to recover. All men must get frustrated with their wives after having children, when their children are very young and monopolize their mother’s attention. And labor is hard. God, the hardest thing she’s ever had to endure. It takes time to recover. And instead of looking after her, instead of staying home more and looking after the children, to give her a break. What did he do? He started going out more. He was completely selfish.

I should have left him then, Sarah thought. But she couldn’t, she felt trapped - how would she cope without Jo? She loved him regardless, and didn’t want to move back in with her parents. However much she loved them she couldn’t live with them, they would drive her crazy. Anyway, Jo had met someone else. He’d slept with her for God’s sake. And she had stayed with him. She still loved him. And yet she hated him. Hated the situation he’d put them in. The ridiculousness of the situation! She pretended everything was ok but it wasn’t.

Coming out of her reverie she looked into Daniel’s eyes - he was regarding her closely. Almost as though he was watching her thoughts. Sarah shook her head, there was no point dwelling on that now, but she looked down and put some more chicken in her mouth, as tears came to her eyes. She blinked them back - she would not cry about this again.

At that point Daniel leant his leg against hers. Oh my God, Oh my God.

As heat rose up her neck she concentrated on swallowing and looked over at Bea who was now climbing off her chair as Alice tried to clean her with a napkin. She didn’t move though, she couldn’t move her leg away. Her leg was tingling delightfully and she had to concentrate to stop herself from shaking. She picked up her glass and took another sip as she looked back to Daniel over it. He looked perfectly composed, but just for a moment she had thought she caught a predatory look in his eye.

Predatory for her.

She felt shocked. Why would he feel that way about her? I am a mother. I’m married. She lived in a small town. She didn’t do anything - didn’t work. Well, she tries to write, but so far she was unpublished. She hadn’t achieved anything.

Trying to keep things normal she thought she would take a stab at regular conversation.

‘So, where else have you lived in your tour of lots of places?’

He laughed, a small but free and heart-warming sound.

‘I actually grew up in the South, near New Orleans. But my father was in the army and we moved a lot. We lived in a couple of places in America, along with some time in Saudi Arabia and the Middle East. I went to university in England, and since then I’ve spent some time studying at Harvard. But I wanted a change. I wanted some peace. I wanted to try a job I wouldn’t find so taxing so I could focus my time on writing.’

‘Oh really, what kind of thing are you writing?’ Sarah was pleased she’d finally gotten him to open up, but was he telling her the whole truth? Something in his manner caused her to suspect otherwise.

‘I’m writing a fantasy story, about vampires and werewolves.’ He looked at her closely, like he was very intrigued by how she would take this information.

‘How compelling,’ she smiled at him, ‘I love fantasy, it sounds exciting, I love plunging into a book and exploring different worlds.’

‘I plan on setting this book here though, in our world. I want to imagine how it would impact a community like this if it was besieged by the supernatural.’

‘Yes, that would be interesting to imagine,’ yet she shivered, wondering where he was going with this. ‘You know, I’m also writing a book.’ She looked across, into his eyes, interested in how he would respond. She was starting to feel more relaxed now they were actually talking. But his knee was still touching hers and she was very conscious of it.

‘Really, what’s your subject matter?’ he asked, raising his eyebrows.

‘Ghost stories, hauntings and the like.’

Sarah looked at Daniel, he had just started to open his mouth to reply when they were interrupted.

‘Sarah, Megan wants you to go up and read her a story.’

Sarah jerked her leg away from Daniel, embarrassed as her Dad was looking at them, pushed her chair back and started to rise.

‘I think this is my cue to leave. Goodnight Sarah,’ he said, extending his hand.

Sarah took it and this time felt a warmth spreading through her body. She didn’t want to let go, but made herself release his hand and step back. His attention shifted to the rest of her family as they exchanged farewells and he left the house as Sarah called ‘Goodbye’.

She felt an odd sense of loss. There had been no word of seeing him again. But however much Sarah longed after him - he was so beautiful - she resolved it would be best for her, and Jo, if she stayed away from him. He was too tempting.

After Megan and Bea were tucked up in bed Sarah tried to call Jo but received no answer.

That night Sarah tossed and turned and dreamt of vampires, werewolves, ghosts, Daniel and Jo. All flitting through her sleeping and waking hours. Haunting images, fearful running, fighting. Jo dead. Daniel’s face.

She woke that morning with the image of Daniel still in her mind, at the forefront of her thoughts. Yet she felt uncomfortable, like something was wrong. She couldn’t point her finger at what it was. She reached for her phone and saw Jo hadn’t called her back. That was strange, he would usually call. Sarah shrugged it off though and started getting herself together for the day.

***

Sebastian parked Jo’s car deep in the woods where nobody would dream of looking for him. He unloaded Jo from the trunk and slung him over his shoulder. Being a vampire had its bonuses, thought Sebastian - Jo was a large man, yet he was easy enough to carry.

Sebastian felt full of strength after pretty much draining Jo of life, earlier that evening. His blood had tasted warm and sweet as he’d fed off him outside Jo’s front door.

That had been fun, Jo hadn’t even seen him coming before he’d had the pleasure of sinking his fangs into him. Not quite as much fun as drinking from a beautiful woman, he mused, images of previous victims surfacing in his mind. But warm blood straight from a living body was always delicious.

Jo had nearly died then, which would have ruined his plans, but he had managed to give him some of his own blood just in time. Once he was healed Sebastian had influenced him to have a nap on his living room floor and he had watched through a gap in the curtains as Jo had awoken all confused. It had been quite amusing!

And then he’d had the stupidity to step out his front door again. What an idiot. His mind obviously hadn’t grasped what had happened - couldn’t absorb the reality of the situation. But then few people could.

If Jo had just been sensible and stayed in his house for a few days, Sebastian wouldn’t have been able to do what he just had - killed him good and proper. He would soon wake up though. But he would be no longer living, not in the proper sense. Half human, half demon. Or so they said, whoever they were. Not that Sebastian believed in demons. He was what he was, in fact, there was probably a perfectly rational scientific explanation for vampirism. Probably.

He lay Jo down at the foot of a tree in the place Sebastian presently called home. He liked living in the forest. It was dense, packed with closely growing conifers and spruces. The smell of pine was strong and refreshing. And the tree canopy provided protection from sunlight, even in the day.

Sebastian liked to sleep high in a tree during the day, in the form of a bat. He could handle the sunlight. It was a myth that vampires couldn’t go out in the day - yet most preferred the night. Bright sunshine hurt his eyes and made his skin itch. Like there were things crawling under it.

Turning into a bat in the day when he slept made it highly unlikely anyone who ventured into the woods would discover him. That’s one thing he would have to teach Jo right away. Animal transformations were very useful for keeping under radar.

Jo would need to feed on human blood first though, otherwise he would die. And be truly dead this time.

***

Sarah bundled her kids into the car and made sure they were tightly strapped in. She still hadn’t got through to Jo, the vague memory of him dead in her dream rose to the surface, making her feel a little nauseous. Again she shook the memories of her dream away, preferring to grasp reality.

‘Bye Mom. Bye Dad,’ she shouted and waved. Megan and Bea wove furiously from the back as their Grandparents waved from their door.

‘What do you want to do today kiddies, another woodland adventure?’

‘No Mommy, please can we stay in and play little house? How about it Bea, would you like to play little house?’ Megan said in that sweet way she did when she decided to be nice to Bea.

When they played together it was fantastic and gave Sarah some space to read and get on with jobs. It didn’t happen often though, that was why it was taking her so long to finish her book. Mainly she just wrote in the evenings, or while her parents played with the kids.

Megan had started school last year and she would be returning there on Monday. But for now they had the weekend ahead of them and it would be good to find Jo so they could all do something together. Sarah pushed the thought of Daniel away, trying not to let him creep into this day too, with his good looks and sweet charm. She felt a delightful ache in her heart at his memory. It was going to be hard not to relive the evening in her mind over and over. Please let Jo be home, please be in a good mood Jo, please distract me.

Jo wasn’t home and Sarah couldn’t get through to him when she tried his phone again. Urhhh. Why hasn’t he called to say where the hell he is? This is ridiculous, thought Sarah, I actually miss him and he’s not even here for me to tell him. He better not be with another woman. How ironic would that be after last night? Sarah slumped down on the sofa, in frustration.

Sarah could hear Megan and Bea running around upstairs. They liked to play ‘little house’- they each pretended their bedroom was their own house. They knocked on each other’s bedroom doors to visit and looked at books together tucked under blankets. It was quite adorable.

Sarah did yesterday’s washing up then went upstairs to check on the kids. They were still playing happily so she didn’t dare go in and disturb them. She wandered into her and Jo’s room and sat down on their king-size bed. Sarah looked around.

That’s funny, she thought, it doesn’t look like anything’s changed since yesterday. There was no dirty washing on the floor, as was usual when Jo discarded his clothing at night. The bed was still made, it didn’t look like it had been slept in. Where was Jo?

She wandered back downstairs and snuggled up on the sofa under a blanket, feeling chilly and slightly hung-over. She picked up her book, an adventure story set in the Himalayas, and started to read. Yet she was distracted. Distracted by images of Daniel, which still persisted. Distracted by Jo’s absence. The day passed very slowly - a little reading, the odd phone call in search of Jo, playing with her kids, cooking and cleaning. She had stayed in all day, Megan and Bea happy to play at home after staying at their Grandparents’ the previous evening.

Sarah went to bed that night still frustrated. There was no sign of Jo and she didn’t know what to think.

***

Jo came awake slowly. He was faced with dappled green and brown light and he was confused. His throat hurt and his head felt fuzzy. He was very, very thirsty. Where on Earth was he? What was going on? In his sleepy haze he thought back to the previous night. He had been going to see his sister. He remembered leaving the house, then some weird visions; vampires, bats and the quarry. He remembered the bat turning into a man. A VAMPIRE.

The vampire had snapped his neck. Oh God. He gasped and sat up straight, opening his eyes as he did. He was alone in the woods. He had no idea where or how he’d gotten there. Oh, my throat. He really needed a drink. Looking about he saw trees in every direction. It was daytime but only a little light shone through the branches, even though many leaves littered the forest floor.

It must be early morning. He wasn’t cold but his eyes hurt, especially when he looked at the light. His skin felt itchy. He needed something. Water. He listened hard and thought he heard trickling nearby. Jo pushed himself to his feet, stumbling, searching for water.

After about two-hundred meters he found a small stream and scooped up some water to drink. He sucked it up but it tasted cold and foul. It didn’t quench his thirst at all.

He turned, seeing someone approaching; a dark man dragging a mute girl by his side. The man looked familiar. Then, with a jolt Jo realized it was the man by his car last night. The man who had snapped his neck. The man who must have killed him.

However he felt no anger towards him, he actually felt strangely attracted. Jo rose and walked towards him. His hair was long, for a man, and his eyes were black. He was tall, probably 6’4’’, with a lean frame. The girl with him looked small and fragile, with red hair and a dainty neck. It looked exquisite. He could see thin veins exposed as Sebastian pulled her head to the side.

Jo walked forward fascinated, he reached out his hand and stroked her neck, and then he was overtaken by desire to quench his thirst. He grabbed her round the waist, yanked aside her head by the hair and felt his teeth lengthening as he sank them into her fine neck. And he drank. Drank for his life. Or his death.

The girl’s warm blood flowed from her veins down his throat giving him life. He could feel its power rushing into him. Rejuvenating his cells, making his heart race and his senses come alive. His sense of smell came into focus and he breathed in the smell of the girl’s blood as he took her life, then released her and she fell to the floor.

Slumped, dead, pathetic and used.

Wiping his mouth, he staggered back and leant against a tree, new sensations overwhelming him. He could feel every inch of his body come into acute awareness.

He could feel the redheaded girl’s blood travelling to the extremities of his body, rushing through his veins to his internal organs, his brain and even his toes. As it reached his soles he could feel the earth beneath his shoes and his connection to the ground and the trees. As it reached his arms he felt strong and could sense movement in the air, the slightest breeze. Jo whooped. He yelled. He jumped high and swung off tree branches.

He swung into a tree and jumped across to others. It was exhilarating.

Sebastian watched this display with delight. It looked like Jo would take to this life. Once Jo calmed down it seemed he would be quite willing to stalk the town with him and do as Sebastian desired.

Sebastian turned into a bat and flew up to hang off a tree himself. He felt happy as he watched Jo's transformation.