AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Yes. I did.”
“You said he was being spared pain. What did you mean?”
The vampire sitting beside me answered without a hint of concern.
“George is on the edge of death regardless. He’s eighty-six and his health has been declining for years, but he doesn’t want to get treatment for it. He wants to live an independent life, right up until the very end. Understandable.”
“And the very end will be tonight?”
“Indeed, and it will save him suffering. George only has a few weeks until his heart gives up, but his heart will fight, because he’s a fighter. That fight will put him in hospital, plugged into machines while doctors attempt to give him just a few more days of a miserable existence. He stopped enjoying his life a long time ago.”
“How do you know that? About what lies ahead for him?”
“We have heightened senses. We read a lot of things about people, but we particularly read a lot about the flesh. It’s our food source, after all.”
“Bywe, you mean vampires? I guess there are a lot of you?”
He smiled. “That depends what you mean by a lot.”
“Ok.” I framed my question differently. “How many vampires are there in the world? Roughly?”
“There doesn’t need to be aroughlyabout it. There are four hundred and ninety seven vampires in the world at present. We’re quite a close knit community, spanning over thousands of years.”
I tried to imagine four hundred and ninety seven vampires. It wasn’t all that many. The population of Orcop was just over four hundred – a very small village.
My next question sprang up naturally.
“Is your friend Frederick a vampire?”
“No. He isn’t. He’s a mortal man associated with vampires.”
“Associated how?”
“He’s a financial asset manager. He ensures our estates pass down through generations when it comes to official paperwork. His family have been in the trade for a long, long time. His father was an excellent accountant before him.”
“Is it Frederick who is going to kill George?”
“No. Frederick will just alert someone who will. George is likely already dead by now. I hope his passing was a peaceful one. God speed.”
I got a pang of grief so hard it made me blanch. The very idea that George was dead already. It was just–
“Horrible, I know,” Hans said. “I still remember how painful the ending of mortal life seemed to me in the early days, especially some. They can cripple your soul. But you adjust. Your perspectives change as your experiences change you.”
I tried to get back on track.
“Why is George being killed? Is it because of what happened in the bar? Did I do something wrong?”
Hans reached out and squeezed my knee.
“You didn’t do anything wrong as far as I’m concerned. I am in debt to you, actually. As are the rest of the vampire community. There are always hunters out to get us, and people who get scared and run to them. George was one of those people. He’s been too familiar with Frederick through Regency for quite some time. He’s heard plenty of things he shouldn’t have.” He paused. “People are like an interconnected web and rumours whisper through silky threads. George tapped into two sides of a long waging war, and he picked his side. A lot of people choose therighteoushunters. That’s understandable. There are always two sides to every story.”
I had a horrible rush of terror at the mention of vampire hunters, the pang of grief for George buried under panic.
“You got to him in time, did you? The hunters won’t be coming for you?!”
“It’s good to see your priorities are where I’d hoped they’d be, little one.” Hans squeezed my knee again. “No, I don’t believe any hunter will be coming for me. I’m sure Frederick will have things under control by now. George was only on the outskirts of the hunter network. He was splashing in a shallow pond, thinking his depths were deeper. He had a long way to go into the ocean before he found the central ship he truly needed to find where hunters are concerned, but that’s all over now. George is at rest. His splashing is over.”
I took a breath of relief.
