Bloodsong

Chapter 25

H e’d seen me. Naked. Raw, unrestrained desire had reflected in his eyes and flooded through my entire body. To make matters worse, he’d smelled my lust, having caught me moments after a dirty dream. Of him. I watched him leap from my balcony, and stared down at him, relieved to find him not a bloody splatter on the ground below.

“What have I gotten myself into?” I asked myself again as he stared back up at me.

In a blur, he was gone.

I walked back into my apartment, moving towards the roses. I breathed in their sweet floral fragrance. I had a man who wanted me, spoiled me with gifts, and his attention was definitely lowering my guard. Not a man. A vampire . I paced my living room trying to clear my head. A deep ache pierced my heart. I yearned to call him back but needed to stand my ground.

I wanted to talk to someone about it all, to help make sense of everything. Mum had always told me I could talk to her about anything, no matter what, but did vampires fit into that? How would Lilith and Mia react to my insistence that vampires were real? Tears welled up as I thought of Niamh. She would have listened and offered advice. Even if she didn’t quite believe me.

I grabbed my jacket, keys and phone, locking my door as I left. I could talk to Niamh. Just talking aloud might help. I took the lift to my car and drove towards her resting place. I hadn’t visited her since the funeral, unable to bear the pain of losing her. But I needed her now, more than I thought possible. It was a quick drive, since the roads were empty.

I parked outside the gates just as the sun started to rise, and made my way up the rows of headstones. The cemetery was deathly quiet. I found hers easily.

Niamh Aroha Bailey, beloved daughter and sister. 1991-2023. Rest in peace.

I lay a dolphin figurine in front of her headstone.

“I miss you so much,” I whispered. “There is a lot in the last year that I haven’t been able to share with you.” I bowed my head, closing my eyes, letting tears fall freely. They left warm trails down my cheeks. “I never take off your pendant, and it feels like you’re always with me.” I wrapped my fingers around the silver dolphin. “If there’s ever a time I needed you, and your sisterly advice, it’s now. ”

I let it all flow out. About meeting Matteo, and how drawn to him I had been from that first night. That I’d had dreams about him and that he left me gifts. I reached the part about finding him in mid-feed.

“Vampires are real, can you believe it?” I laughed, shaking my head. “There’s another one that terrifies me, but I feel safe with Matteo. Until I remind myself he’s a vampire, and he’s actually killed people. I’m not sure he feels remorse over it, either.” I could almost see the way she’d listen, giving me all her attention.

“If you care about him, and see yourself with him, what does it matter what he is?” Her voice was so clear, so real.

“It scares me, what he is,” I confessed. “He’s already admitted he wants to taste me.”

“What is it you’re really afraid of, Quinnie? That he’s a vampire, or that he’ll be like Steven was?” Again it struck me how she sounded as if she were really here.

I lifted my head, to find her standing next to her headstone in the clothes she’d died in. Her dark hair had been pulled into a braid, her brown eyes focused on me.

I stood, staring at her in shock. “Niamh?” My eyes welled up, pain pounding me in the chest, fighting against the sheer joy at seeing my sister again.

Her smile was full of warmth, as it always had been, her eyes and features so like Dad’s. “Hey. It’s about time you came to visit me.” I stepped forward to hug her, but she held her hands up. “Don’t bother, you won’t be able to.”

“How are you here?” I asked. “You’ve been dead a year.”

“You caught a vampire in mid-feed, but you’re struggling to realise there are more than just vampires out there?” Her laughter was light and happy. “Also, go you! Calling a vampire? I’ve heard they make great lovers. Their bite is supposed to be really something.”

I pushed my hands into the pockets of my jacket. While I had come to talk to her, this wasn’t what I’d expected. “What do you mean I called a vampire?” I pushed down the thrill. Imagining myself in bed with Matteo made me clench at her words, ‘great lovers.’

Her expression grew serious. “Oh, never mind. Poor choice of words. You came to me for advice.” She walked away from her grave, sitting on a nearby wooden bench.

I followed, noticing her lie. She was always bad at covering things up, and I’d push her on it later.

“Well, I can’t exactly talk to Lil and Mia about it. Or Mum and Dad. I came to try to make sense of everything. You used to listen to whatever I needed to talk about, and it would help, just talking out loud.” I sat down next to her.

She said nothing for a while, her focus on the ground, eyes far away as she contemplated my words. Finally she lifted her head, looking straight at me. “I think you should do what you said you’d do. Give him a chance, see who he is. He might surprise you. Everything about him seems a perfect match for you.”

I rolled my eyes. “You’re talking about all this ‘the one’ thing again, aren’t you?”

Pain flickered across her face. “Luke was the one for me. I’ve seen how my death destroyed him. I feel hollow without him, like I’m dying all over again.” She forced a smile. “Matteo may very well be the one. Are you willing to lose that because you don’t believe in it? To always regret not taking a chance on him, just because he’s a vampire and it scared you?” She started to reach for my arm but stopped. “ So I ask you again. What is it you’re really afraid of? There are terrible people, and Steven proved to be just that. I’m sorry I wasn’t there to help you through that, by the way. But just because Steven was, doesn’t mean Matteo is going to be.”

I did cry then, heaving sobs, with hot tears that slid down my cheeks. All the loss and loneliness of the last year that I’d held in. Losing my sister, and a part of myself.

“Oh, Quinnie, I wish I could hug you,” her voice broke. “I was here, I saw everything you went through.”

“You were here?” I glanced at her. “Why did I never see you? Why didn’t you show yourself?”

She hung her head. “Because it was you, who needed to seek me out. You only saw me because you admitted to yourself you needed me, and my sisterly advice.” Her eyes filled with regret. “Listen, Matteo could very well be the one to help you heal. You need to trust yourself. He wouldn’t be here if he wasn’t worthy of your heart.”

I wiped away tears. “What do you mean by that? And the ‘calling’ him thing, too. There’s something you’re not telling me.”

Her eyes glazed over, her face blank. “You should talk to Mum.”

I scoffed. “She’s never going to believe me. Vampires? She’ll drive me to the nearest institute.”

Niamh’s grin returned. “She knows a lot more than you give her credit for. Dad does too. Besides, who do you think told me about vampires?”