his seat in one easy movement. I scrambled
out, and pointed out where Rebecca had been standing when they had taken her. Angus
didn’t bother looking around. He just stood there, his face white and composed now, and he
closed his eyes and breathed deeply through his nose. Five seconds. Then he was moving
again, sliding back into the driver’s seat, and gunning the engine. I managed to get my
backside on the seat as the car pulled off, the door closing automatically behind me with the
sudden lurching motion.
Angus looked at me with blank eyes as if he’d never seen me before. Then he braked
suddenly. “You can’t come with me,” he said harshly.
I don’t know where I got the courage from, but I huddled down in my seat, clutching
the seatbelt around me, and muttered, “I’m not getting out.” I must have been mad.
Angus’ eyes narrowed, his jaw clenched again, and I thought for a second that he was
actually going to physically throw me out, but then he nodded. “Right.” And then we were
moving again, weaving briskly in and out of the rapidly clearing traffic. There was a pause in our progress as we waited at a red traffic light. Angus punched in a number on the iphone,
turned it to speaker mode, and thrust it into my hands. “Hold this.”
It rang twice, and then a brisk voice answered. “What’s happening?”
“She was taken by a vampire and two human males. Vampire’s pretty old, probably one
hundred and fifty or more. He lives on blood only, not human, probably animal. So he’s
strong for a human, but in pretty poor shape for one of us. The human males are in their
thirties and in very good shape. They’re armed. Heavily. This looks like it was an organised
kidnapping, and the coincidence is too great. One vampire kidnapping another? They must
know what she is. How did they find her, Fergus?”
“I’ll find out. What else do you need?”
“I’m heading north. I need you locate their base. This looks like it’s one of those groups
of old style vampires that we didn’t think existed anymore.” I heard another voice swearing
in the background. Angus smiled tightly. “You can’t always be right, Marcus.” More
swearing.
“There will be things you can start looking for, Fergus. They will have a fairly large base,
in an isolated area. It’ll be colder than the rest of the country.”
He paused. “I’m going to need to use our estate in Aberdeenshire.”
“It’s yours. I’ll notify the housekeeper.”
Another pause. We were moving again by this stage. Angus drove effortlessly, as if he
didn’t need to think about it at all.
“Fergus. Look for patterns. Increased percentage of missing persons, not recent, but
spanning the last century and a half. Recent disappearances would be in the indigent
population, beggars, prostitutes, homeless people. Vampires are not always stupid,
especially if they’ve survived this long.”
“Got it. Anything else?”
“There will be an abbatoir nearby. Medium to large size. That’s probably where he’s
getting the blood. He drinks a lot of it.” He paused, looked sideways at me, and continued.
“I’m going to need some equipment.”
“Shoot.”
Another grim smile. “Indeed. Two Glock 17’s, two hundred rounds - hollow point
preferably. Ballistic vest. And a Heckler and Koch PSG1 with two hundred rounds and a
couple of spare magazines. I’ll be arriving in Aberdeenshire in, say, five and a half hours. Can you arrange for all that to be delivered to the estate by then?”
“Could be a bit complicated. The UK is not the best place for firearm purchases.
Especially the rifle.”
“Can you do it?” Angus sounded impatient.
“Yes. Probably.”
“You flying now?”
“We’re in the air at the moment, but I’ll try and redirect us to a more northerly airport.
If you think you could use the help.”
“Absolutely.”
“Yeah.” Click and they were gone.
Rebecca
Of course I was scared. At first. The
out, and pointed out where Rebecca had been standing when they had taken her. Angus
didn’t bother looking around. He just stood there, his face white and composed now, and he
closed his eyes and breathed deeply through his nose. Five seconds. Then he was moving
again, sliding back into the driver’s seat, and gunning the engine. I managed to get my
backside on the seat as the car pulled off, the door closing automatically behind me with the
sudden lurching motion.
Angus looked at me with blank eyes as if he’d never seen me before. Then he braked
suddenly. “You can’t come with me,” he said harshly.
I don’t know where I got the courage from, but I huddled down in my seat, clutching
the seatbelt around me, and muttered, “I’m not getting out.” I must have been mad.
Angus’ eyes narrowed, his jaw clenched again, and I thought for a second that he was
actually going to physically throw me out, but then he nodded. “Right.” And then we were
moving again, weaving briskly in and out of the rapidly clearing traffic. There was a pause in our progress as we waited at a red traffic light. Angus punched in a number on the iphone,
turned it to speaker mode, and thrust it into my hands. “Hold this.”
It rang twice, and then a brisk voice answered. “What’s happening?”
“She was taken by a vampire and two human males. Vampire’s pretty old, probably one
hundred and fifty or more. He lives on blood only, not human, probably animal. So he’s
strong for a human, but in pretty poor shape for one of us. The human males are in their
thirties and in very good shape. They’re armed. Heavily. This looks like it was an organised
kidnapping, and the coincidence is too great. One vampire kidnapping another? They must
know what she is. How did they find her, Fergus?”
“I’ll find out. What else do you need?”
“I’m heading north. I need you locate their base. This looks like it’s one of those groups
of old style vampires that we didn’t think existed anymore.” I heard another voice swearing
in the background. Angus smiled tightly. “You can’t always be right, Marcus.” More
swearing.
“There will be things you can start looking for, Fergus. They will have a fairly large base,
in an isolated area. It’ll be colder than the rest of the country.”
He paused. “I’m going to need to use our estate in Aberdeenshire.”
“It’s yours. I’ll notify the housekeeper.”
Another pause. We were moving again by this stage. Angus drove effortlessly, as if he
didn’t need to think about it at all.
“Fergus. Look for patterns. Increased percentage of missing persons, not recent, but
spanning the last century and a half. Recent disappearances would be in the indigent
population, beggars, prostitutes, homeless people. Vampires are not always stupid,
especially if they’ve survived this long.”
“Got it. Anything else?”
“There will be an abbatoir nearby. Medium to large size. That’s probably where he’s
getting the blood. He drinks a lot of it.” He paused, looked sideways at me, and continued.
“I’m going to need some equipment.”
“Shoot.”
Another grim smile. “Indeed. Two Glock 17’s, two hundred rounds - hollow point
preferably. Ballistic vest. And a Heckler and Koch PSG1 with two hundred rounds and a
couple of spare magazines. I’ll be arriving in Aberdeenshire in, say, five and a half hours. Can you arrange for all that to be delivered to the estate by then?”
“Could be a bit complicated. The UK is not the best place for firearm purchases.
Especially the rifle.”
“Can you do it?” Angus sounded impatient.
“Yes. Probably.”
“You flying now?”
“We’re in the air at the moment, but I’ll try and redirect us to a more northerly airport.
If you think you could use the help.”
“Absolutely.”
“Yeah.” Click and they were gone.
Rebecca
Of course I was scared. At first. The
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