Chapter 15
2140 Words
Saturday nights were her favorite. Especially during the school year. She did not have to worry about anything. She had two days for herself. Actually, Courtney had to worry about too many things. Her family belonged to the New York elite. Her father was a senator and her mother a respected lawyer. Prestige and dignity. The surname obliges. Courtney was an exemplary student and graduated from high school with honors. And she had ambitious plans for college. She planned to study law and work with her mother in the future.
But weekends belonged to her. It was the time when Courtney was doing whatever she wanted and did not care about her ancestry. Today’s party was exactly what she needed. She had a really great time with her friends, but of course Amanda had to destroy everything! She and Marshal, Courtney’s ex-boyfriend. How could they?! They cannot be together! The friends’ code forbids that! So she had the right to be angry! It was understandable that she left the club without a word and now she was wandering crowded streets of Manhattan. She was looking for loneliness and anonymity.
Courtney turned into a narrow alley. Dark and empty. It led to the club. She decided to go back and have fun for at least an hour or two, before she will go home to get sober. She will not let them destroy her evening! ‘That treacherous b***h and that f*****g jerk! They will pay me for that humiliation!’ She thought with rage.
She stopped rapidly. She could swear that she heard some sound behind her back. Footsteps? Here? She turned around, but there was no one. She laughed out loud at herself and her fear.
- Silly me! – She said.
She turned again and then she saw him. He was standing in front of her. Tall and deadly handsome. ‘Maybe this evening isn’t written off yet?’ It crossed her mind. She put her most seductive smile on and she walked towards the stranger, rocking her hips provocatively.
- You scared me! – Her laughter vibrated in the air. – I didn’t suppose to meet anyone here.
- I’m so sorry. – He said in a deep voice. – I really didn’t mean to.
She looked at him from head to toes. ‘Yes! He’ll definitely make an impression!’ She thought. ‘Mandy will fall out of jealousy and that treacherous d**k will beg me to come back to him!’ She smiled to her thoughts.
- That’s okay. – She assured him. – I’m Courtney. – She introduced herself and blinked coquettishly.
- I know. – The man replied.
Suddenly the moon appeared from behind the clouds illuminating the man’s face. The smile died on her lips. She wanted to turn around and run away, but she was not able to move. All she could do was to look into man’s cold eyes.
- I’ve been watching you for some time. – He came closer. – You’re so beautiful! – He touched her cheek lightly.
An unpleasant shiver ran down her spine. She felt hot tears running down her cheeks. He wiped them gently and smirked seeing fear in her eyes. That was what he wanted to see. Now he needed the girl to pass that panic fear to someone else.
- It’s such a shame you have to die. – He said finally and bared his long sharp fangs.
Courtney opened her mouth to call for help.
Bu she could not say a single word.
***
Jay opened her eyes widely. It was dark. Event the moon did not give enough light. It was only half past two. Jay was shaking, although it was warm night and she was covered in sheets. Fear. She could feel it again. As if it was her own fear. But still she was damn aware of the fact that it belonged to some other girl.
She got out of the bed and went straight to the bathroom. She took a long boiling hot shower as if it could stop chills. Then she put on a T-shirt, leggings and trainers and left the flat to run. It was quiet around. Everyone in the neighborhood was still sleeping. She had her own key to the near gym, so she decided to go there for some exercises after jogging.
‘So he did it again.’ She thought when at four o’clock the fear disappeared suddenly. It was almost a month since the first time, but Jay lived under stress every day since then. She was afraid that it may happen again. But she could not risk she would miss it. That was why she stayed opened, her curtains always up.
‘f**k it!’ She thought. This time she woke up much earlier. Half asleep she could feel some kind of anxiety. Anger. Anticipation. The fear appeared soon after. And lasted for as long as for the first time. He played with her. ‘What the f**k is going on?!’ She asked herself, frustrated.
She came back home, took another shower, turned on TV and made some fresh coffee. She watched the news waiting for that most important one. She had to find out where to go to watch the crime scene.
***
Jay waited till the late afternoon. It was almost dark when she parked her car two streets from the club, where the victim was spending her last night. It was an old-fashioned building. Jay always liked colonial style. The club was of course renovated and equipped to satisfy even the most demanding young elite of NYC.
She did not enter the club. She did not have to, Jay could feel Courtney’s energy. It was faint, but she had no problems to follow it. She quickly noticed that the girl made a big circle around the club, then she turned back to it, but she used a shortcut. When Jay reached the dark alley, she stopped. Now she could clearly feel the murderer’s energy. It was the same vampire. She took a deep breath and entered between buildings.
The closest the place where Courtney was attacked and killed, the greatest was the power of the vampire. Jay felt the fear and pain of the victim, but also the murderer’s anger and frustration. As if something was wrong. She came closer and knelt by the large, black stain of blood.
Single pictures and flashes of feelings were not enough. She had to do it again. But his time she resigned from the spell. She still remembered what happened last time, and for sure she did not want to go through this again. ‘Okay! Let’s do it!’ She thought to give herself more courage. She took a long deep breath and released the air slowly.
Jay reached out.
The moment she touched the blood stain her head fell back and her eyes became completely black. She saw the whole scene of the crime. As if she was watching a movie in a slow motion, frame by frame. A flash of shock in girl’s eyes. The moment she was besotted. His nails cutting her skin when he caught her arms. Sudden, sharp pain when he pulled her hair. His excitement mixed with girl’s panic.
‘Feel what I feel!’ Jay heard his whisper in her mind. She could not stop it. She was not able to fight. She was completely overwhelmed by all the feelings and emotions of the vampire and his victim.
***
Jay regained her consciousness slowly. She was dizzy and had a terrible headache. She was lying on the cold ground by the wall of some shabby building, few meters from the blood stain. She sat up carefully leaning heavily against the wall. How long was she unconscious? She had trouble collecting her thoughts. She took few deep breaths to calm down her stomach, but when she tried to stand up she felt nauseous again. Jay lifted to her knees first, then she slowly stood on her feet and step by step she walked towards the parked car. She had to stop every few meters so as not to fall.
It took her more than an hour to get to her car, and another one to be able to drive. When she finally got to her flat the headache was still annoying, but she did not feel sick anymore, which she accepted with relief. But when she looked into the mirror in the bathroom, she was shocked. Her eyes were glassy, as if she had a fever and her hair was in a complete mess. And there was a lot of blood on her face. She must have had a nose bleed during her vision. Crimson pattern was covering her cheek, mouth and chin, going down her neck and cleavage.
Jay took off her dirty clothes, hoping that the blood will vanish from her favorite T-shirt. She took a hot shower, washing off all the stress, bad emotions, dizziness together with dirt and blood. ‘What the hell happened?!’ She asked herself. She knew she was able to look back into the past. But last time she had to use a special spell.
This time however, she only touched the victim’s blood. The vision attacked her suddenly and violently. She was not prepared for that. It surprised her and, what she hated to admit, it scared the s**t out of her. When she got to the crime scene, she could tell that the murderer was frustrated. That there was something that bothered him. He was angry and impatient. ‘As if he was waiting for something?’ It crossed her mind. But as soon as her fingertips touched the victim’s crimson red blood, the feeling disappeared.
And a new one appeared. Satisfaction. He wanted her to feel it. It was a message for HER! ‘But why?’ She asked herself. ‘Why is he haunting me?’ That was the question she had no answer to. ‘Not yet.’ She thought rebelliously.
She turned off the water when she stopped feeling cold. Then she put on cotton shorts and sleeveless top and went straight to bed. She needed sleep, so she shut all the metaphysical doors.
***
‘It doesn’t have sense!’ Jay was analyzing the two murders that had place recently. She gathered all information about the victims and could not find anything that they might have in common. Distinct social class, completely unlike character and manners. Different interests. ‘Either the vampire doesn’t know what he’s looking for, or he kills accidentally.’ She thought.
But Jay did not believe those murders to be random. It was Friday, which meant that she had spent the whole week looking for the answer. Without any result. To say that she was angry and frustrated wad definitely not enough.
- What’s wrong? – Samantha Lorenzo knew how to piss Jay off. – Life in NY isn’t as pink as you thought? – She was leaning against the wall blocking the way to the classroom.
- You have nothing to do? – Jay tried to stay calm. – You don’t have to put another layer of makeup on your dumb face? – She loved to be sarcastic.
- Some of us know how to do makeup. – She replied with a wide smile.
- Well, some of us don’t need any cosmetics to look awesome! – She smiled back and her face was almost glowing.
Sam was so surprised that she could not say a word. Jay turned on her heel and left with a smile of pure satisfaction on her face. She rarely felt negative emotions, but she had to admit that she hated Samantha Lorenzo. Why? The fact that she was an intolerant snob did not matter. But Jay felt hatred when she realized that this stupid blonde doll will do everything to just make Jay’s life miserable. Sam treated it like a hobby and Montana girl became her new victim. But Jay could pay off with the same coin and she really enjoyed being malicious, however, she had no time to play now.
First of all, she was analyzing the murders which took her a lot of free time. Secondly, she was at college which meant she had to study harder. But she could not forget that she is the hunter and she need to practice every day. All this together meant that she had to resign of few hours of sleep to find time for everything. And, as if it was not enough, there was also a party to which, in a wave of good mood (‘Damn it!’), Jay agreed to come. She was thinking about finding an excuse, but John Tyler was so delighted when she said she will be there, that she had no hart to refuse him.
She sighed and joined the psychology classes.
- Writer
