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  BLOOD LIES

  NICOLA LAWSON

  Copyright 2012 by Nicola Lawson

  The right of Nicola Lawson to be identified as the Author of the Work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988

  An Ennessell Publication

  No part of this book may be reproduced or transferred in any form or by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, or by any information storage retrieval system, without the written permission of the author.

  All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

  Chapter One

  Storm clouds choked the sky. Thick and black they unleashed their fury, a torrent of stinging rain which fell onto a dismal world. A world that was painted in murky shades of grey from a long failed light. There was no thunder to give a voice to the weather's ire. No lightning shattered the oppressive mood with a blast of light. There was only the spattering of water on the ground and persistent gloom. The cloud canopy had rolled over the small town as unexpectedly as an avalanche and now the rain soaked the cobbled streets. Sheets of water came down off the roof tops and added to the torrent already swirling on the ground. The ground had more puddles than not, and the dry patches stretched out vainly like a few small islands being overtaken by a flash flood.

  The standing water splashed up from running feet. A young woman, a girl really, fled through the dark rain-soaked streets as though hell itself were at her heels.

  Perhaps it was.

  Gabriella Pendolari raced through the stormy night. She dared not halt her flight long enough to bang on any of the wooden doors she passed to request refuge, her pursuer was too close behind for her to risk slowing down even a little. Anyway, she doubted that the demon could be held back by the simple doors even if she could gain entry. Nor was the creature likely to balk at slaughtering any who tried to aid the petrified maiden.

  So Gabriella made her way towards the only safe place that she could think of. The only location she could hope to receive sanctuary. She ran towards the small church on the outskirts of her small town.

  The houses gradually gave way to humble plots of land used for the simple farming that allowed the town to support itself. The cobbled streets became bare mud tracks worn into the grass over many years of usage. The air seemed to be growing clearer. A bright full moon shone intermittently in the small gaps that had appeared between the foreboding black clouds. Rain lashed down in sheets and finally the first bolt of lightening flashed. Thunder may have followed but Gabriella heard nothing beyond her own laboured breath and the blood pumping in her ears.

  Her light clothes were now sodden and heavy with rain water and seemed to be actively working against her escape. The young woman slipped on the slick ground, she came back up instantly and ran on. She never looked back, afraid of what she might see. As Gabriella ran to the holy place she lost first her left and then right shoe to the sucking mud. She rushed through the gate and onto the grounds of the church. Her feet were bare, muddy, bruised, cut and bleeding, and she was too numb to notice. The feelings of horror which filled her head could not be displaced by a purely physical discomfort. Keeping to the path, avoiding the graveyard and tombstones, she ran to the heavy doors of the church. The doors stood open welcoming her to the protective embrace of the holy building.

  From barely behind came the wet slaps of the undead monster's feet on the sodden ground, maddeningly close and pacing with a beat that came so calm and even. Staring straight ahead Gabriella sped into the holy building. Putting her slender shoulder to the door she pushed it closed, easily ignoring where the roughly planed wood rubbed against her. The strong inner brace was positioned across the doors with an effort. Gabriella had barely lowered the brace when the doors quivered as the vampire knocked to be let in.

  Gabriella backed slowly away. The monster had been following her all the way from D'Silva's barn and it could have caught her long before now she was sure of it. She was almost exhausted from the dual drains of terror and exertion but that thing was only playing games, tormenting her.

  Gabriella gasped for air, the knocking continued but it sounded faint and impotent against the strong doors of her sanctuary, perhaps now she was safe. Gulping down air and shivering from equal parts fear and cold she approached the front of the church and knelt before a faded portrait of the Madonna. Making the sign of the cross on her chest she bowed her head and mouthed a silent prayer for salvation. She looked up at the representation of the Holy Mother. In the picture she was robed in simple clothes with a pale blue head scarf framing her pious face. It was a reasonably good painting held in a simple wooden frame. The portrait was mounted on the wall behind the modest table/altar, the focal point where the stained glass window might have been in a larger church. Positioned up against the wall perpendicular to that upon which the portrait was mounted was a short stone font. Gabriella stood at the foot of the three small steps that led up to the raised area at the front. The small church didn't have a pulpit from which the priest could deliver his sermons, instead he usually stood beside the worn table made of a rich dark wood that Gabriella couldn't name. The table had been draped with a thin cloth and called an altar. Most of the religious artefacts that were present during services had been removed leaving the altar uncharacteristically bare. Only a leather-bound bible and a small bronze crucifix remained.

  Mounting the steps she reached out with shaking hands and took the decorative crucifix down, clutching it tightly to her chest. Theft from the church was a terrible sacrilege but Gabriella felt sure she would be forgiven. If the unholy creature outside found a way into the church before dawn this would serve her as her protection, if not Gabriella would wait until it was light outside to make her escape. She would return the crucifix to Father Eduardo at her soonest opportunity afterwards. So the object wasn't really going to be stolen, just borrowed for a short time. Whatever others might think, He would know her intentions were pure.

  Gabriella curled up behind the altar under the painting of the Virgin Mary. She was cold, she was wet and she was shivering. Her sky blue dress was torn, soaked and plastered in dirt. She had lost her new woollen shawl somewhere early on in the chase. Gabriella started to sob. It was ridiculous, she thought. She had been fleeing for her life, maybe even for her immortal soul, from a vampire and here she was bursting into tears because she had lost a stupid woollen shawl, it wasn’t like her mother couldn’t soon make her a new one. She sniffed and wiped her nose on the thin sleeve of her dress adding to the considerable mess already there.

  Gabriella held her breath. The rain lashed at the church's plain glass windows, a clap of thunder reverberated in the air. There came the sound of drips from inside the church, rain entering the building through the leaky roof. There was a collection box on the wall to the right of the doors to pay for the fixing of the roof. Father Eduardo, the priest who came to the church to perform services, had congratulated the townspeople on their generosity. They would have sufficient funds to repair the building in no time, he'd said.

  She listened to the rhythmic drip-dripping of the precipitation on the stone floor for several minutes. After a while her heartbeat seemed to be steadying down and her breathing returned to normal. After the initial knocking at the door by the vampire creature there had been no further sounds from it. Had the faith which had guided Gabriella’s flight to this sanctuary proven strong enough to turn the creature away?

  Her courage coming back to her as she dried off and warmed up, the reckless courage that had led to a young woman being outside alone so late at night in the first place, Gabriella pushed herself up from the cold stone floor. Cautiously, her bare
feet silent on the stone, she stepped around the altar. Clutching the bronze crucifix tightly in both hands in front of her Gabriella walked down the steps and down the aisle between the twin rows of wooden seats.

  The leak continued to drip behind her matching the rhythm of her heart.

  Gabriella slowed her footsteps as she passed the halfway point between altar and doors. What was that? Had she heard a sound emanating from the entrance or were her fading nerves playing tricks on her? Was the hell spawn still out there . . . . waiting for her?

  Gradual drips continued behind her.

  Gabriella tightened her grip on the crucifix, her knuckles were white.

  She froze in place and held her breath. The noise of falling water was all she could hear, seeming to grow louder and louder with each passing moment. It had been nothing, simply her own imagination playing on her fears. She let the breath she had been holding slip away with a sigh.

  With a thunderous crash, louder than anything the storm had managed, the thick wooden brace snapped. The heavy oak doors of the church exploded inwards in a shower of splinters.

  Gabriella released her left hand from its hold on the crucifix and shielded her face from the stinging debris. Looking past her arm, which was cut under her ragged sleeve, she saw only the darkness and rain outside. There was no sign of her unholy pursuer.

  Gabriella scanned the entrance attentive for anything to alert her to the vampire's whereabouts. She held her breath and waited anxiously. Her heart pounded in her chest and goose bumps appeared where her skin was exposed to the chill air. The church was silent, the only sound reaching Gabriella's ears was that of the weather outside. It took a moment for her to realise what that meant. The dripping had stopped.

  Gabriella turned. The demonic woman strode arrogantly towards her. She had no idea how the creature had entered the building. She cowered back holding the crucifix out in front of her. He would not abandon her.

  The vampire walked calmly in measured steps up to the terrified young woman. The vampire moved her hips almost seductively, definitely flirtatiously, as she neared her. Gabriella stood frozen as the demon reached out to pry her fingers from the crucifix. She had her fingers bent back inexorably but without any pain and the crucifix fell out of her grip. Sweeping its arm down gracefully the vampire snatched it out of the air. Taking the bronze piece to her face the vampire slowly placed her lips to the metal placing a languid kiss directly on the representation of Christ. She extended her tongue and proceeded to lick down the entire length of Christ’s body. The vampire never took its eyes from the petrified young woman’s.

  The smiling vampire casually opened her hand to let the crucifix drop to the floor where it hit with an echoing clang. Then she placed her left hand on Gabriella's left shoulder and stepped behind the girl. She leaned in close pressing her cool undead body up against the human's suddenly hot back and tenderly swept Gabriella's wet hair behind her ear.

  "Did you really think such a thing would stop me, child?" she whispered.

  Gabriella felt a shudder run down her body as the creature’s cold breath touched her neck. She hadn't thought vampires could breathe, though how could they produce speech if they were without any breath? Then again, before tonight she hadn't ever thought vampires really existed so surely she could be forgiven her misconceptions.

  Although her mind was free to ponder such random things her body was fixed in place like a fence post forced deep into the ground. Her thoughts would not turn to more immediate concerns for her safety or of escape though she was sure she wished they would.

  Gabriella was still frozen in her terror as the demon traced its right hand from her shoulder down her slender arm. The vampire ran her fingers over Gabriella's stomach sending another quiver through her body as she brought her hand up to her breast. When the creature's hand reached its target Gabriella felt an intense thrill that shocked her back into action.

  Gabriella shook the vampire's hands from her body and ran forwards away from her up to the altar. She came to a stop by the font filled with holy water. Father Eduardo had baptised the Soprano boy, Beppe, with water from this very font just a few days before. She reached down with shaking hands and splashed the liquid over herself.

  The compelling female vampire sauntered up the aisle. "Now what do you think you are doing?" she asked. "You are a foolish one. Your God will not save you from me."

  Tears formed in the corners of her eyes and streamed down Gabriella's face. She could say nothing back to the creature. Before she could allow herself to freeze up again Gabriella scooped up a double handful of the holy water and flung it into the vampire's face.

  Water splashed a face of gruesome fangs and angled brow. In her vampiric visage the beast was a sight terrible to behold, but in her human form she was possessed of a classical beauty.

  It was in the human form, with luxuriant straight dark hair and finely sculptured features that she had first approached Gabriella. Her flawless skin had looked strangely pale but Gabriella was quick to dismiss it as a trick of the light or her own eyes.

  The holy water splashed against the creature's face and the vampire turned away bringing her hands, with long black fingernails, up to protect herself. The vampire moaned in pain and Gabriella felt hope stir inside herself again. The demon could be defeated.

  Gabriella wasn't brave, or stupid, enough to stay and face the creature. The vampire was still in front of her on the aisle blocking the way to the entrance, so Gabriella ran between the seats to the side and ran around to the far wall to try and make her escape. The rain came down across the open church doors in a waterfall as the deluge outside continued.

  Gabriella couldn't help herself. She took a last look over her shoulder at the injured vampire. She started. There was no sign of the demon.

  She turned her head to face forward and was staring directly at vicious fangs. Slender hands with claw-like talons grabbed her roughly by the shoulders and the vampire looked her up and down. Struggling against the vicelike grip Gabriella watched in fascination as the vampire's face morphed back into that of a beautiful woman. Mesmerising chocolate eyes gazed into her own and Gabriella was captivated.

  "I told you, girl. Those things cannot harm me," the vampire spoke softly, as though to sooth a skittish animal.

  The vampire removed her hands from Gabriella’s shoulders leaving only the tip of a single finger on the maiden's person. Gabriella’s heart was pounding beneath her breast urging her to fly but her body was a prison for itself. Slowly, provocatively, the vampire moved her fingertip to Gabriella's neck. The vampire walked around so that she was standing in front of her and leaned forwards. Gabriella’s eyes were pulled inexorably downwards and she found herself staring down the front of the vampire's dress. Her gaze locked on porcelain globes. The sight was blocked as the vampire lowered her mouth to Gabriella's throat.

  Gabriella let out a sharp gasp as she felt the vampire's tongue taste her flesh. The demon planted velvety kisses around her neck. Gabriella felt herself melting as the vampire's cool breath washed over her own breast.

  Placing her hands behind Gabriella's back the demon felt for the clasps holding the young woman's dress in position. As she undid her clothing the vampire planted kisses on her skin as it became exposed. The dress was left to fall in a puddle on the floor, the vampire stopped kissing at Gabriella's navel and ran her tongue up her body as she stood.

  Though her body was now fully exposed to the frigid atmosphere she didn't feel cold. Pulsing just below the surface of her skin her blood ran hotter in her veins than it had ever done before. She closed her eyes to slits and let little moans of pleasure escape her mouth as the demon explored Gabriella's naked person with cool hands and her darting tongue. Gabriella had goose bumps covering her flesh and shivered with excitement, not cold. She opened her eyes and saw the portrait of the holy mother staring judgmentally down on her. Gabriella felt no guilt at taking pleasure in such unholy sins of the flesh in the sacred place, instead she surre
ndered fully to let herself be drawn up in the moment.

  The vampire stepped away and shed her own coverings. Their nude bodies pressed together with hands roaming as the vampire lowered her mouth again to Gabriella's neck. This time there was a sharp stab of pain as the demon sank her needle point ivory teeth into her skin. She closed her eyes as waves of ecstasy coursed through her body as her blood was drained from her.

  When the storm of pleasure had passed Gabriella opened her eyes feeling a little light headed. She caught a glimpse as the vampire transformed her features back to those of a human woman. The vampire used a sharp nail to cut a line across the skin over her chest. Blood oozed out and stained her white skin.

  "Drink and become like me," the vampire commanded. "We can be together for eternity."

  Gabriella lowered her own head eagerly and feasted on the blood.

  Chapter Two

  Fulton Hawke reached into the inside pocket of his long black leather coat to pull out his mobile phone. It was one of those where the cover popped open at the touch of a button. He had wanted one of those where the cover shot open like they had had in the Matrix but they were a little outside his price range. That film was the influence for the long black coat he had on to protect himself from the wintery weather. He also had a pair of dark sunglasses to complete the look but had left those at home. Even if it hadn't been raining, wearing them at night would have made him look like a right poser. Only celebrities would attempt that one and few enough of those would have been able to pull it off.

  He used the phone to call the taxi company to ask them where the hell his ride had gotten to. It was new years eve nineteen ninety-nine, the dawn of a new millenium and he was supposed to be going out with a few friends. The person in the taxi office apologised for the delay but asked him to be understanding since this was a busy night for them.