Sample Chapter - The Truth of Vengeance

The Truth of Vengeance - Vampire Formula #2

available on pre-order for release date of 15th July 2015

http://www.thornsneedles.com/2015/05/the-truth-of-vengeance_29.html

Chapter 1

“Christopher, Chris, come over... Chris!”

I sat in the red leather booth at the back of the bar sipping a cold beer and ignoring the shouting. On the walls were wooden panels that gave the bar a mock hunting lodge style, with old black and white pictures of the first settlers in stiffened poses. Nailed to the walls, were old wooden style skis, ski poles, and an old sledge giving an insight into times past. Sat at the tables in front, two couples crowded around enjoying drinks and a plate of nachos as they re-told tales of their day’s skiing; the crashes, arguments, speeds and fears. A dark haired man in a thick red fleece retold the tale of his crash, and how his girlfriend, the blonde haired woman next to him, had helped him up. She reattached his skis then re-gathered his hat and poles still laying scattered in the snow further up the mountain. He looked adoringly into her eyes while gently stroking her arm, and she leant in to share a tender kiss. They continued laughing at the tales, poured back the cold beer and crunched on the nachos as they enjoyed the après ski debriefing.

I sat alone in the bar supping my beer surrounded by the occupants of the booths either side discussing their own tales of the day.

In the next booth along with ski shoes hanging off the wall, I heard them discussing plans for tomorrow. Off for a ride with the Huskies, a short ski then a meal at the Chinese. To the side a TV flashed with images of the ice hockey. The Calgary Flames centre slipped past a defender, then flashed in the puck to the side of the keeper to make it 4-2 against Vancouver. A couple of the locals clapped in celebration.

I drank more beer and continued playing with my phone, checking the news and the weather forecasts in an attempt to block out the normal happy couples surrounding me.

“Chris, come over!”

 I wished Christopher, whoever he was, would get a move on as the noise was disturbing my thoughts.

It had been a strange day for my eighteenth birthday. I had spent it on the slopes at Lake Louise in Canada. I had plenty of stories to tell of my own day’s skiing as well; carving down the slopes, cutting up snowboarders and doing my first mini jump. I had been in Canada for a month, and in that time I had gone from complete novice to good skier. My newly strengthened body through the vampire formula and from time training with Thorn had meant I learnt quickly. My instincts and senses had radically improved through the three vampire formula needles I had injected. The formula gave me the power of a vampire for the night. However, after the effects had worn off I had grown more powerful in my human form. I had grown taller, more muscular and my senses improved each time. It was as if the vampire formula had stretched my limits and I could never return to my original body. The psychic powers came along last as a vampire, but some of it still remained in human form. Just the odd snap-shot or detection of emotions. Not major mind-reading like Thorn, or my vampire self, but I wasn’t your normal eighteen year old either.

During this time, Thorn had insisted I kept up my vampire training even with the additional exercise of skiing nearly every day. We still sparred a few nights a week, and she sent me down to the hotel gym to use the weights, and the cycle or treadmill. On top of the physical training, I continued to enhance my computer skills by trying to hack into the databases of the Hunters and the military research centre that had  held Thorn prisoner. I hadn’t breached it yet, but the practice had improved my skills; allowing me to create false identities and records to cover our tracks.

 “V, get over here I have been calling you,” Thorn’s psychic voice interrupted my thoughts.

I looked up across the bar at Thorn. She had toned down her dress sense after fleeing England. She wore faded blue jeans, black calf boots, and a grey sweater. Her raven tousled hair was swept back and tied in a knot. A time and place for everything and trying to fit in, she had said, but she still stood out with her sky blue eyes and skin flawless like white silk. She could wear a sack and still be the most attractive woman in the room. I was a lucky man.

She waved me over, from where she stood engaged in conversation with a smartly groomed couple in their early thirties, dressed in expensive designer label après ski wear.

“Chris! Come over!” Thorn shouted across the bar once again.

Oh, I forgot that Christopher Lee was my new alias. Thorn had chosen it as my new public name, but the meaning had been lost on me. She had to explain that Christopher Lee is well known for playing Dracula in horror films. She does like to mix the fact with the fiction. I couldn’t go by my vampire name of Vengeance, or V as Thorn called me. It wasn't a name for public consumption. My real name, Jonathan Harper, couldn’t be used either as I was a wanted man by the police in the UK for eight killings - seven killings as a vampire and one as a human, when I killed Barry McGown. I had kept count, but wasn’t sure for how much longer I would. When Barry died, I imagined and believed Jonathan Harper also died that day, and that I, Vengeance, had been born instead of Jonathan. Only after fleeing England did the remnants of my true identity come seeping back into my conscience. I remembered my real name and my past life. Flash backs in my sleep, dreams of stabbing Barry in the stomach and defeating the hideous monster he turned into. I woke up many times thinking it was just a dream, only to open my eyes and see Thorn, my vampire lover, and remembered the truth.

I took a few large mouthfuls of beer and sauntered over to Thorn and the smartly groomed couple. Thorn opened a welcoming arm and shepherded me into her side.

“Here he is at last, you were lost in a dream world over there,” she said.

The man stood six foot tall with blond floppy hair and grey blue eyes. He wore a smart red fleece with jeans and brown shoes. The man looked smug and arrogant delighting in his position of being my elder and he believed himself to be considerably better. But he didn’t know what I could do and what I had done.

The woman was dressed in the same red fleece, accompanied with white leggings and black boots. Her blonde hair in a long bob and face covered in makeup. She raised her overly plucked eyebrows and offered a surprised smile as she looked back and forth between Thorn and me. The normal reaction. Thorn's stunning beauty turned the heads of both the sexes. Back in London the amazed look had been more pronounced, but my own changes and appearance now began to turn a few heads especially with young women. My eyes were turning an icy blue, and I had developed a strong jaw line, defined muscles and broad shoulders.

“Sorry, Tracey, I think my mind was still on the slopes,” I replied to Thorn.

Thorn, like me, had an alias for everyday life. Her alias was Tracey Horn, T. Horn, Thorn. A little play on words that amused her and allowed for mistakes.

“You should have seen him fly down those slopes. Only been doing it a few weeks as well,” Thorn said, entwining her arm into mine and smiling.

Thorn had been good to her word and after eliminating the last gang member, Barry McGown, we had left London to travel. She had asked what I would like to do first. Skiing, I had answered. I had lived near a snow dome in Leeds and been occasionally, but had always wanted to be able to do it properly on real snow. So, first stop was Canada: Banff and then Lake Louise. Thorn had been there before and the Canada winter suited her delicate skin condition - strong UV light could make her burst into flames. The ice cold temperature meant everyone wrapped head to foot in ski gear, hats, goggles, masks and anything else to block out the cold, and for Thorn it also meant it blocked out the UV. That combined with a hefty slap of sun block and a dose of cloud cover, meant Thorn could venture out and take to the slopes on the occasional days, or late afternoons.

Unfortunately that day, my birthday, it had been too sunny and I had spent my birthday mostly by myself. I wasn't allowed to make friends with any of the other skiers or snowboarders due to my wanted status. Also Thorn didn't know it was my birthday either. I hadn't told her, I couldn't see the point of celebrating my birthday with someone who had over seven hundred of them.

“What runs did you do?” the man asked.

“Started off on the blues and threw in a few black runs at the end of the day,” I said.

“Really! Already?” the man replied, eye brows raised as he stifled the shock in his voice.

“Yeah, he did. He’s a very fast learner. Plus he had an excellent teacher,” Thorn said, laughing.

“Yes. She is good,” I added, and put my arm around her waist and squeezed her gently towards me.

Thorn giggled and knocked back her vodka and tonic.

“I haven’t introduced you yet. Chris, this is Markus and Janine,” Thorn said.

“Please to meet you,” I said, and stretched out my hand.

I gently shook Janine’s hand as she weakly offered it. Then Markus tried to exert himself by placing a firm hand shake, but I replied with a stronger grip than he anticipated and he retracted his hand back, his face flinching at the unexpected pressure.

“Markus is a banker,” Thorn said.

“Oh,” I replied, and I instantly knew the plan without any psychic communication between us.

Thorn had received some bad news on some investments following the bank crashes and had spent an evening cursing. She then got herself involved in a number of bar fights in the nearest town to relieve the pent up rage. I guessed Markus offered revenge by proxy.

“Yes. I know what people think, but not my fault. We have all suffered. My bonus was slashed in half this year. I only got £100k. As a result we had to come here for our annual ski trip instead of Cloisters,” he said, sipping at his red wine.

I shook my head and tensed my jaw to control an outburst. I would enjoy tonight.

“So what do you do?” Markus asked, with a smug look on his face.

“Oh, Chris is a multi million pound business man through phone and tablet games development,” Thorn answered for me.

“I am?” I thought.

“Yes, you are,” Thorn thought back.

Markus’ whole body deflated; he had been out gunned financially as well.

Markus had that arrogant air bound to him. He had an attitude that said I was born into a better class than you. I bet he never went to an inner city school and suffered constant bullying. He probably went to a private school, his Daddy got him the job in the city through his connections at the gentlemen's club. Life was so easy for people like him. Yet he still complained about his bonus while the country dived into recession and people lost their jobs and homes.

His blond hair flopped across his face as he barely contained a small snarl as he glared at me.

“He thinks he is better than you. Are you going to take it?” Thorn's words psychically spoke to me.

“You do it if you want his blood,” I replied.

“It’s part of your training.”

“You’re being lazy.”

“Just do it,” she snapped back into my thoughts, “I want to watch. People think vampires suck the life force out of people. We have nothing on bankers.”

Why not, he was annoying me anyway.

“Problem, with that?” I asked, returning the glare.

“err.. No,” he said.

“Seemed like you got a bit annoyed by the fact I was better than you.”

His forehead frowned and lips straighten for a split second, then he returned to his smug grin.

“You are not better than me,” he replied, flicking back his blond floppy hair.

Janine's nose wrinkled in disgust and her arm wrapped around his for back up.

“Oh. Is that a challenge?” I asked.

“What, oh grow up boy,” he said.

“Put your toy boy on a leash,” Janine said to Thorn.

“He does as he likes,” Thorn snapped back and faced up to her.

“I saw the way you two were looking at my girlfriend. You thought you could pick her up for a threesome,” I added.

“No, we did not,” Markus said, looking aghast.

“Why, what is wrong with her? She’s much better looking than that horsey bitch you are with,” I said, delighting in the game.

“Nice one,” Thorn thought to me.

“How dare you speak to us like that you jumped up little nerd,” Markus shouted and threw his drink into my face.

I wiped it off and Thorn held me back. Markus had started to show his true colours.

“Not in here. Outside,” Thorn said.

“It will be a pleasure to show you how a real man conducts himself,” Markus said.

 We had attracted some attention. The waitresses had paused with hot snacks and cold drinks balanced on trays. The customers had stopped with cutlery half way to their mouth's and glasses half raised, only the sound of the ice hockey game on the TV filled the void of sudden silence.

Markus and Janine stood to one side and gestured us through with ironic good manners. As Thorn and I marched outside, I sensed him sweeping up a bottle and following us quickly from behind. As we approached the door I focused my senses expecting the bottle to be swiped at the back of my head any second. We went through the door into the cold and the bottle came. I span out the way and stepped inside his blow and judo threw him out onto the snow. Janine launched herself onto my back scratching at my face and howling like a banshee. I threw her over my shoulder, dumped her hard into the ground and stepped over her. Thorn would take care of her as she doesn’t like me hurting women, but had no problems doing it herself. Thorn twisted the handle on the door to the bar and shoved a bench against it to prevent any interference.

Markus rolled over in the snow smashing the bottle and stood back up to face me. I had no vampire formula in my blood, just normal human blood.

He sliced the air with the broken bottle just inches away. His face seethed red and spit snarled through gritted teeth. He lurched forward swinging the bottle back and forth in front of my face.

I flashed back to that dark night with Barry, when I confronted him for the last time. I pictured him slashing the air with a knife, and our struggle on the muddy ground until I won through my rage. Defeated he revealed the truth about his involvement and Scarlett's betrayal. I had then repeatedly stabbed the knife into his stomach until the blood slicked onto my hands.

 I lost my concentration as I relived the final moments of Barry's life. I slowed for a second, then Markus slashed across my front. The jagged bottle sliced open my left hand as I instinctively shoved it out to defend. I jumped back watching the blood dripping out staining the snow red. The cold air bit into the wound and I gritted my teeth. It should have slowed me down and made me cautious, but the memories of fighting Barry triggered an urged to fight.

Markus smiled, encouraged by drawing first blood, expecting the young boy to run off scared. He cut the air between us, jumped and swiped again. I kicked snow up into his face, pirouetted around his side with my arm spinning in a back fist connecting clean onto his jaw. He dropped forward into the snow like a dead man. I turned to Thorn who held Janine around the neck forcing her to watch.

“Is that it?” Thorn said.

“Yes, it’s what you wanted.”

“I wanted you to take your time and make him bleed and beg. I wanted him to apologise for ruining all those people’s lives.”

“Well, say so next time. Let’s go.”

Thorn flung Janine into the wall knocking her out cold, then ran and scooped up her meal taking it into the woods behind the bar. I left her to it and walked down the side streets weaving my way back through dark alleys and icy covered paths. I could hear the sirens getting closer as I moved through the streets, then saw a flash of blue down the main road as they screamed off to the bar.

 I headed back to our car which had been parked at the back of a supermarket about a mile away from the bar. Thorn would feed and catch me up, and then we would drive off. Everything had been packed and placed in the boot, but she hadn't let on to our next destination.

I sat in the car staring at the lights glowing out from the supermarket illuminating the late night shoppers, who were wheeling full trolleys of goods out to their cars. The car had been parked at the back in a dark corner away from the security cameras and other passersby's.

It was a strange way to celebrate an eighteenth birthday. If my life hadn't changed, due to the encounter with Thorn and the vampire needles, I had planned to be out for a special meal with Scarlett. May be the next day a small celebration with my Dad. Hopefully lots of cards and presents from my relatives. The truth was I spent most of my birthday alone, and I couldn't even let on it was my birthday as it would have raised too many questions.

A few minutes later Thorn arrived at the car. She opened up the driver's door and climbed in.

“Feeling better?” I asked.

“Much, thank you,” she replied, her cheeks and lips shone red with a post meal glow.

“So where next?” I asked, hoping she would finally reveal the details of our next location.

“As it's your birthday I have a surprise.”

“You knew? So where are we going?”

“Of course I knew it was your birthday. We are going to Vegas and a vampire convention.”

“Cool. Real vampires?”

“Not normally, it's for fans of the genre. However, we are meeting a real vampire there, a man called Cassius. He will give you the answers you crave about the history of the vampires. He will help us take our vengeance against the Hunters and discover the truth behind the formula.”

“Excellent, let's go. I can't wait to meet other vampires,” I responded eager to get to Vegas.

At last the answers were coming.