The Guest & The Change - By M. D. Bowden Page 0,54

her doll house, she walked with Daniel to the front door. He stood there and gazed at her, before taking her chin in his hand and kissing her hard.

He broke away, leaving her unsteady.

‘I will come back as soon as I can. You stay safe, ok?’ He said.

‘Yes. You too. I will miss you.’

He brushed away her tear with his lips, but this only increased Sarah’s sadness.

‘Bye Daniel.’

‘Bye.’

She watched as he walked down to his car and drove off.

***

Sebastian stretched and looked about. It was morning and light was shining through the curtains. It was dazzling him. What the hell? He must have passed out and slept the entire night.

There were certainly some disadvantages of a human body.

He rubbed his sleepy eyes and sat up. As he looked about he saw a plainly decorated room without much character. The bedding and curtains were flowery and it reminded him of England, of people trying to achieve a dated elegance beyond their means.

He climbed off the bed. He must have collapsed onto it in exhaustion as he hadn’t bothered to remove his clothes or climb under the covers. He stretched again, experimenting with moving his new body.

It was nice to be able to feel again.

He opened the curtains and light streamed in - bathing him in cool winter sun.

He walked over to a mirror and inspected his new body for the first time. He was still a bloody mess and would have to deal with that soon. He looked young, maybe nineteen years old. His hair was scruffy and blond, his face still had the rounded cheeks of youth. Slightly comically he also had fine stubble on his chin - it was almost soft. His body wasn’t very muscular, yet he could feel he had power. It obviously didn’t come from his physical form but from the energy he had taken from his victims.

He went into the bathroom and quickly washed off the blood, while thinking about his plans. He would need to try and regain his original form. This body wouldn’t last forever after all. He would need to take more lives, more power. He would need to track down Daniel and find out what he had done with his ashes. Then he would need to find a witch to do the necessary spell.

He would also be able to use that witch to find out what Daniel did to him; so it could not happen again.

Then he would be able to destroy Daniel. Daniel would leave him alone for good.

***

Sarah slumped down on the sofa and watched as Bea played.

She was feeling entirely normal again. She had wondered if she had gained extra power from her experiences, whether she had gained any of Daniel’s abilities from consuming his blood. She was feeling a creeping depression consume her. How she felt must have been the after effects of all her experiences. Now she felt healthy, but weak. Her vision was good, but average. She could hear well, but not beyond the limits of her humanity.

She had liked the energy the power had brought her. It had most definitely felt good. She had felt like she could do anything. Achieve anything.

Now she felt whole-heartedly human, and constrained by her limited abilities.

Daniel was strong - he could do anything. And now she was here without him.

What was she supposed to do if a vampire attacked them? Daniel had left her some stakes just in case - but she had not even managed to wield one of those against Jo, and he was a newly turned vampire.

How was she going to protect her family as a human?

Maybe they weren’t in danger anyway. Maybe Daniel was just being paranoid, and cautious.

It was good he was going to make sure Sebastian couldn’t return. Plus Sebastian may not have turned any more vampires. After all - he had been keeping close tabs on Jo, looking after him. She didn’t think he had been looking after any other new vampires.

They were probably safe.

Then why am I trying to convince myself? She thought.

Sarah pulled out her book and tried, ineffectively, to distract herself with an adventure story - while Bea played with toys at her feet.

***

Daniel hit the road and headed for the nearest large airport: Vancouver.

He finally got there and boarded a plane to New Orleans. It wasn’t crowded and he managed to get a window seat. He stared out at the broken clouds without really taking in what he saw, concentrating instead on his thoughts.

What if there was