Dark Love by M. D. Bowden

– I’m kinda thirsty,’ she said.
    She did not
want to be tempted to feed on someone else who was trying to help
them. She wanted her next feed to be animal blood, less satisfying
but better for her soul. She seriously doubted there would be any
bears to feed on though.
    ‘How thirsty?’
Daniel asked, concerned. ‘Do you think you need me to help
you?’
    Sarah nodded;
she did not want to risk it.
    Daniel fixed
his eyes to hers and she felt his power rising.
    ‘Stay here and
wait for me, I will not be long,’ he said, infused with his strong
will.
    Sarah knew she
could not move now, however much she wanted to.
    She watched as
Daniel entered the real estate agent and wondered how he would go
about this - they had not even talked about money. Did he have
much? Did he have any, or did he use his influence to get what he
wanted? The idea made her uncomfortable, and she hoped that was not
it. She would need to talk to him about it later.
    She was skint.
She had not been when Jo had been providing for them, but she had
just assumed any money that remained would be used for her kids, by
her parents. At least they were not poor – they would manage
without her earning any money. But what about now? Daniel had
sorted out the flights and now he was looking for somewhere to
stay, but they had not talked about what they could afford. He had
been earning money in Hartland, back in Canada, working for her
Dad, but he would not have earned enough to rent somewhere here
without some extra source of funds, and he had not talked about
finding work. She knew there was no way she could work as she would
end up eating whomever she worked for. There was no avoiding that
reality.
    As she sat
there couples walked past pushing children in pushchairs. It
reminded her painfully of what she had had to leave behind.
    Only minutes
had passed when Daniel reappeared trying to suppress a grin. He
slid into the car beside her.
    ‘Sorted,’ he
said.
    ‘You’ve found
somewhere already? How did you wangle that?’ she asked, amazed.
    He tapped his
nose, ‘I happen to have certain powers of persuasion,’ he said.
    Sarah decided
now would not be the best time to bring up the money issue as she
did not want to ruin the moment, plus she was desperate to find out
what he had found.
    ‘Well?’ she
asked, spotting a piece of paper in his hands.
    He presented
her with it, and she looked down to inspect it. Before her was a
picture of a tiny stone cottage, entirely on its own and backed by
moor. Underneath was a description of the rooms. There was only one
bedroom, perfect, plus a bathroom, living room and kitchen. There
was a small yard with a stone wall, and it was so remote you needed
to drive up a track to reach it. Good job they had got the four by
four, she thought.
    ‘It looks
lovely,’ she said. ‘When can we move in?’
    She met
Daniel’s eyes, and saw how much he had hoped she would like it. She
grinned to show her appreciation of his efforts. He reached into
his pocket and brought out a set of keys, and tossed it to her. She
was so surprised she nearly dropped them, but caught them just in
time, giggling.
    ‘Can we go
there now?’ she asked, not even trying to hide her excitement.
    ‘Yes, we
certainly can,’ said Daniel.
    ‘Yay. I didn’t
know what to expect, but this place looks so cute! And old, do you
know how old it is?’ she asked him.
    ‘No, but I’d
guess at sixteenth century,’ he answered.
    ‘Whew, there
was no-where any-where near that age in Hartland,’ she said.
    Daniel started
the engine and drove out of town.
    Her throat hurt
- it was so dry, and she knew what that meant. She needed blood.
She felt antsy, restless, and was starting to feel violent. It was
hard to focus on where Daniel was going as he drove, and it seemed
like no time at all until she felt the bumps of a gravel track and
the car came to a halt.
    Why did blood
lust hit her like this? She was ok, not doing too badly at all,
then smash, she was a