April suddenly thought about Dr Tame and his little pep talk about the Head Girl being someone who sets the example. What if she could set the example in a way Dr Tame hadn’t thought of, use her new platform to subtly change the message Dr Tame was broadcasting? She wasn’t exactly sure how she could do it, but the idea made her feel energised, hopeful. They had reached the concrete ramp to Archway tube now, the library was on their right.
‘I’m going this way,’ said April. ‘Thank you for listening to me. I can see why my dad confided in you.’
‘William Dunne was a very clever man and I think he raised a very clever girl too.’ Mr Gordon reached over and gave April’s hand a squeeze. ‘You’ll do the right thing – I know you will.’
April hoped he was right. She really did.
Chapter Eleven
Caro was clearly enjoying herself. ‘So, this is like a council of war?’ she said eagerly, nibbling on some Twiglets. April suspected her friend would have preferred to be meeting in a bunker somewhere rather than in April’s bedroom.
‘It is a council of war,’ said April, looking from Caro to Gabriel, then across to Fiona who was patched in via the laptop. ‘It’s time for us to fight back – that’s why we’re all here. It’s time to take the battle to the Suckers, not wait around for them to jump out at us. We’ve had enough of that already.’
After her discussion with the vicar, April was anxious to get moving, stop talking and do something. So she had called Gabriel, for once getting hold of him straight away, sent a taxi for Caro and got Fee to video call her so she could join them in the room. April kept thinking about what Mr Gordon had said. If Jesus was prepared to get his hands dirty, why shouldn’t they? Not that she was putting herself in the same boat by any stretch of the imagination – she couldn’t even scrape together twelve followers – but she liked what the vicar had said about using an idea as a weapon.
April looked around the room at glum faces. Fiona was the first to speak.
‘We’re with you, April,’ said Fiona, ‘Of course we are. But you can see how depressing it is. They’ve got the best minds of their generation, unlimited funds, probably half the government and the police force in their pockets – and that’s not to mention the massed forces of darkness waiting outside our houses. Whereas what do we have? Three of you down there in your mum’s dingy old bedroom and me stuck up here in Scotland. The odds aren’t good.’
‘Screw the odds!’ shouted April, anger bursting from her, ‘Listen, we don’t have a choice. We have to stop them. Have to, otherwise countless people will die. Gabriel – tell them!’
Gabriel closed his eyes, then nodded. ‘You’re right. Of course you are.’
April looked at her friends, making sure it was sinking in.
‘I know it’s scary, but there’s no more time to scrape around picking up clues here and there. We have to find the head of the vamps and kill him right now. It’s that simple.’
‘Simple – ha!’ said Caro sarcastically, but April turned on her.
‘Yes, Caro – simple, really simple. Look around you, look at what’s happening at the school – we’re running out of time. If we don’t move, if we don’t do something, right now, we’re going to lose. Everyone’s going to lose – your family, your friends, everyone is going to be swallowed by this.’
‘All right, so what do we do?’ said Fiona.
April looked over at the computer screen – her best friend’s face was sympathetic, but she could see the scepticism there. Even Fiona, her most practical and reliably “can-do” friend doubted her. ‘We take them on, Fee,’ she said quietly. ‘Yes, you’re right. There’s only the four of us, and thousands of them. But at least we have the element of surprise.’
‘And we’ve got you, too,’ said Gabriel.
He saw Caro pull a face.
‘Hey, I’m not being soppy,’ he said defensively.
‘Yes, you are,’ grinned Caro.
‘Okay, maybe a bit. But the point is – April is a Fury. She is our secret weapon – hopefully secret, anyway. In her we have the power to kill any vampire, born or made. But it’s bigger than that, because a Fury is the only thing on earth that a vampire fears. If we can make the vampires feel vulnerable, we have a slim advantage and slim is better than nothing.’
Gabriel was sitting forward now, his eyes bright, hands animated and April could see he was excited. For the first time that night, she really began to think they might be able to pull it off.
‘Actually, that’s something Sheldon said on that night of the fire,’ she nodded. ‘He said the power of the Fury “goes deeper than blood”. That’s why he wanted to cut my throat and collect my blood in the sink – it was like having a nuclear bomb. He didn’t actually need to set it off-- it was enough to have the threat of it.’
April could hardly believe that she was talking about herself in such a way, that her blood, the very stuff inside her veins had become this weapon of war. But she knew she had to use everything at their disposal, however uncomfortable it made her feel.
‘What about the Guardians?’ said Caro. ‘Aren’t they supposed to be protecting the Fury? Shouldn’t they have some ideas about what to do?’
April glanced over at Gabriel; she could tell he wasn’t comfortable with it. The Guardians were sworn to destroy all vampires, they didn’t differentiate between “good” and “bad” vampires, plus April was fairly sure he didn’t trust them. Also, from what Elizabeth Holden had said, they could not be relied upon – perhaps Annabel Holden had been the last Guardian willing to help.
‘All right, I’m in,’ said Fiona decisively. ‘What do you want me to do?’
April felt a wave of relief. For a few minutes, she had been thinking that she was going to have to undertake this alone. But she had made up her mind: even if she were alone, she was going to fight. What she had said was true – she didn’t really have any choice. She could never have lived with herself if, knowing about the threat, she had just sat by watching it happen – not when she had the power to do something about it.
‘Okay, first things first. We need to find the King Vampire – we have to assume he’s behind Ravenwood and orchestrating the bigger conspiracy. Get him, we get all of them. Or at the very least, if we remove the leader, there’s a good chance we’ll make the rest of them scuttle away.’
‘Plus we get Gabriel back,’ said Caro.
‘And hopefully we’ll get everyone else back too,’ said April, holding Caro’s gaze. They both knew she meant Simon, although after her encounter with him at the school gates April hoped they hadn’t left it too late. He’d looked sick, but not just from the booze or the drugs or whatever he’d been lured into, he’d looked like he’d given up on life. All the more reason to get moving.
‘Hey, I’ve just had a thought,’ said Fiona. ‘If the King is persuading these greedy fat-cats to come over to his cause, he must be revealing who he is and what his plans are. And that means the King is more vulnerable now than he has been for years, maybe even centuries. Which is another advantage to us.’
April felt a rush of love for her friends. They all knew that the vampires were a real threat; they knew involvement could get them all a quick trip to the morgue, and yet they were still here, offering their support with enthusiasm. And what made her heart ache was that they were doing it for her. Yes, maybe they believed in the cause; yes, they all wanted to help annoying geeks like Amy Philips from English who were ignorant of the terrible danger they were in; but they weren’t doing it for that – they were doing it because April had asked them to. It was amazing and brilliant and tragic and terrifying all at the same time. I’d better get it right, she thought. She pulled out her school notepad and flipped it to a clean page.
‘All right, so who is the King?’ she said. ‘I mean, anyone got any ideas – or any ideas on who might know?’
‘How about Dr bloody Tame? He’s like a Ravenwood cheerleader,’ said Caro, ‘Surely he must know. And he was working with the
police too, remember?’
‘Maybe,’ said Gabriel, thoughtfully. ‘He’s the sort of man who would do anything to be introduced to the leader. That’s why he’s so gung ho about it all – he wants the King to hear about what a good job he’s doing. We mustn’t underestimate him.’
‘I agree,’ said Caro, a smile creeping over her face. ‘I think he’s a good way in. The Head Girl is probably the best person to be questioning him.’
April’s heart sank. She followed the logic of this, but with no desire to spend any more time in Dr Tame’s creepy presence. It’s a dirty job ... she thought to herself, writing down “Tame” with an arrow pointing to him and “April” beside it.
‘All right, so who else can we try?’ she said. ‘The King has got to be somebody in authority, somebody who has influence, like a politician, somebody who can actually make changes.’
‘David Harper,’ offered Fiona.
They all turned towards the screen.
‘David who?’ said Caro.
‘Don’t you people read the papers?’ she said. ‘He’s your MP.’ When they looked at her blankly, Fiona tutted loudly. ‘Elected six months ago? That by-election after the bloke with the red face died? He’s all anybody’s talking about in politics at the moment – he’s like a rock star or something. He’s not a minister yet, but he’s already being touted as a possible future leader of the party.’
‘So how come we haven’t heard of him?’
‘Anyone heard of David Cameron or Tony Blair before they got on TV? Harper’s suddenly this go-to quote machine. Plus he’s good-looking and actually seems to have a sense of humour, rare enough in politicians. The press love him.’
‘I’m confused, Fee,’ said April frowning, ‘You’re saying this David Harper might be the King Vamp?’
‘Nah, he’s hardly going to be able to go around kissing babies and having his photo taken for the local paper, is he?’ interjected Caro.
‘No, my point is David Harper’s your local MP, and it shouldn’t be too difficult for you to see him. Head Girl of the top local school – he’s not going to turn down that photo opportunity is he? And if you can get him talking about politics, maybe you can find something out.’
Gabriel was nodding. ‘Actually, he’d be perfect for the vamps. All politicians need financial backing and political support. They could give him that, then he could use his influence in the vampires’ favour once he’s in power.’
‘All right, he’s on the list,’ said April, scribbling his name. ‘Who else?’
‘Your grandad is well-connected, isn’t he?’ said Caro. ‘He’s got friends in the police and business – why don’t we ask him?’
April felt her stomach clench. It was one thing meeting a local politician or sucking up to the headmaster, but it felt wrong involving her grandad. He had been so supportive these last few months it would feel like she was betraying his trust. Besides – he’d almost certainly dismiss talk of corruption, let alone vampires, as a consequence of her recent experiences.
‘I can’t,’ she said. ‘Dr Tame’s already got to him – talked about me having post-traumatic stress disorder. He’ll never take me seriously. In fact, he’d probably send me to a shrink. But I will take advantage of this Head Girl thing, and see what I can find out about Dr. Death.’
April saw the excitement on her friends’ faces. For the first time since the disaster of the fire at Sheldon’s house, she felt they were back in the saddle – moving forward, getting somewhere. And, if she was honest, April liked the fact that people were deferring to her, asking her what to do. Maybe there was something in this Head Girl thing, after all. Now all she had to do was lead them into battle. Simple, she thought to herself with a wry smile.
‘Okay Fee, see what you can find out about David Harper’s background,’ she said. ‘Maybe look around other politicians who might be open to an approach from the vamps. Caro, you concentrate on the science part. Speak to the teachers in the school labs, see if you can find out how close the links with Agropharm are, maybe volunteer to help out with research. I’ll go with Tame and see if his mania for publicity will get me into David Harper’s office.’
Caro gave a mock salute. ‘Okay, boss,’ she said, but nobody smiled. They knew what they were facing was deadly serious. The time for joking was over.
‘So what do you want me to do?’ said Gabriel smoothing April’s hair back and kissing her neck.
‘I just want you to keep doing that,’ she smiled.
Caro had taken a taxi home and Fiona had disappeared into cyberspace, leaving Gabriel alone with April. She felt the almost forbidden excitement of being here, in her bedroom, with the man she loved. There were definitely some advantages to living in a house with a butler, she thought. Grampa Thomas seemed to regard Stanton as some sort of old-fashioned chaperone; as long as he was in the house, her grandfather was fine about Gabriel coming over to visit. April glanced towards the door, gripped by the uncomfortable feeling that Stanton might be peering in through the keyhole.
‘You know, it’s good to see.’
‘What’s good to see?’ asked April.
‘You, taking charge. I’m proud of you.’
‘I haven’t got much choice, have I?’
‘No, you always have a choice, and yet you’re still doing the right thing. Whether it comes off or not.’
She squinted up at him. ‘You mean, even if it gets me killed?’
‘I will never let anyone hurt you,’ said Gabriel, his eyes fierce. That’s what my mum said too, thought April.
‘I know,’ she said softly, ‘But that’s the funny thing; for some reason, the risk of it doesn’t bother me. All I care about is having you back. The one thing I couldn’t stand would be not ever being able to kiss you.’
He grinned. ‘Oh, you can kiss me all right, just not on the lips.’
‘Seriously, you know what I mean.’ April sat up and pushed herself back against the headboard. ‘Listen, Gabe, I didn’t want to say anything in front of the others, but ...’
‘I’m looking terrible?’
She was glad she hadn’t had to say it. Gabriel was fully vamped-up, his hair was sleek, dark and immaculate, his skin flawless, just like a vampire’s should be, but even so, he still looked ill. There were bruised lines under his eyes and while his irises were their usual dark blue, they looked flat, with none of the usual sparkle.
‘It feels like I haven’t slept in days,’ he said quietly. ‘Or rather, whenever I close my eyes ...’
‘Bad dreams?’ she guessed, reaching out to stroke his cheek.
He nodded. ‘And they’re getting worse. It’s almost as if ...’
‘What, honey? You can tell me. You can tell me anything, you know that.’
He sighed heavily. His eyes were focused on some point across the room. ‘It’s like they’re not dreams at all.’
Gabriel’s expression was so bleak April wanted to gather him in her arms.
‘Then what are they?’
‘It’s like they’re memories.’
April swallowed. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to hear the answer, but she had to ask.
‘Memories of what?’
‘Bad things. Blood, death.’
Her stomach felt as if it was full of glass. She knew what he was suggesting – it was exactly as Jessica had said. He was racked with guilt about her, about Isabelle, about all the deaths he hadn’t been able to prevent and now he was torturing himself over what might have been, wondering about what had happened in the black-outs. Wondering if he had killed and couldn’t remember. Her heart thudded with anxiety.
‘You don’t know they are memories, Gabe,’ she said, hating the note of desperation creeping into her voice.
‘Maybe ...’ he said. ‘Maybe they’re just dreams.’
She put her arms around his neck and pulled him close. ‘They’re just bad dreams,’ she whispered, wishing she truly believed it. ‘Believe me. They’re just bad dreams.’
&nbs
p; Chapter Twelve
She ran down the corridor towards the front of the building, hoping that she wasn’t too late.
Bloody Miss bloody Marsh, she thought as she ran, why do teachers always have to mess everything up?
Skidding around a corner, April ran straight into a girl coming the other way. They both fell to the floor in a tangle of limbs, the other girl spilling an armful of books across the corridor.
‘Sorry!’ said April, clambering to her feet and heading off towards the main entrance. ‘In a hurry – Head Girl stuff.’
April’s plan had been simple enough: sit quietly through History, get out of class the second the last bell rang, then try to catch the headmaster as he was getting into his car. She hoped to engage Dr Tame in some witty conversation about the school, flattering him about his brilliant notion of using the Head Girl as PR for Ravenwood, then slip in a suggestion about arranging a meeting with “a local politician” in such a way that Tame could claim the idea as his own. But of course, that hadn’t worked.
Miss Marsh, being a new teacher and, presumably, keen to please the new headmaster, had called her back. April had expected the “my door is always open” speech but instead, Miss Marsh had looked slightly awkward and said, ‘Dr Tame has asked me to give you a little more assistance in your lessons.’
April had almost forgotten twisting Dr Tame’s arm, by asking for preferential treatment from the teachers. April had nodded, muttered something about needing to do “an important press thing” and sprinted for the door.
But she was too slow. As she entered the final stretch with the main entrance right ahead of her, her path was blocked by a group of girls, led by Chessy, coming out of the ladies toilets. Damn.
‘Oh, hi, Head Girl,’ Chessy said with a smirk, ‘How are you?’
‘Fine,’ said April, trying not to pant.
‘Been running, have we? No one chasing you, I hope.’