The Guest & The Change - By M. D. Bowden Page 0,66

scent wafted off her hair.

He made himself pull away, and she let him.

‘Be safe won’t you,’ she said.

Daniel was in awe that she was even worried about his safety, not merely concerned for her own. ‘I will, and you too,’ he leant in and kissed her in farewell, breathing in her exquisiteness, before heading out the door.

***

Sebastian was listening to Daniel and Sarah as they talked. Now he had increased his power his hearing was acute. He could make out their words with ease.

The moment Daniel had mentioned the location of his ashes, Sebastian was off. He knew they were in a hotel now - the question was which one? It wouldn’t be too hard to work out, there could only be four or five to choose from.

Unfortunately, although his new form did have extra speed, he couldn’t transform as he had when he had been a vampire. He longed to get those abilities back.

This would have been the perfect occasion to change into a bat and make a quick headway for the nearest hotel.

Instead he had to use his speed, he propelled himself ahead - determined to reach Daniel’s hotel before Daniel.

***

As Daniel stepped out into the dark he smelt dried blood. He realized it must be from the body Sarah had killed. He hadn’t noticed when he had turned up. He had been so eager to see Sarah it had masked his senses.

He would dig a grave in the forest later.

For now he had to focus on destroying Sebastian for good. It wasn’t long ago that he had thought he had. Many more deaths had resulted from him not realizing the truth. He felt their burden on him, and swore to himself he would put it right.

He walked down the path to his vehicle and climbed in. He was relieved to see the urn was still safely in the foot-well. He had left his jeep at the airport and driven back to Sarah in it. Now he just had to get to the hotel before he came across Sebastian. He needed to collect some of Sebastian’s ashes to do the spell, and he didn’t want to waste his energy fighting him in the meantime.

It took some time to drive across town. It was dark and the streetlights were dulled by rain, which was hammering down, obscuring his vision. Daniel had his wipers on high speed. He saw the odd person dart into a doorway, taking cover.

When Daniel pulled up at his hotel - The Woodman - he only took a cursory glance around before darting inside, the urn in his arms. As soon as the door closed behind him he felt a wave of unease. The hotel was quiet. Quieter than was normal.

Ok, so he never tended to bump into people here anyway - that was why he chose it. But he could always hear the odd person clattering about in their room, or at least the owner if it was deserted.

He stepped forward slowly, looking about, hoping to find a clue to if anything was wrong. Then he smelt blood. It smelt good, fresh.

He walked towards the source of the scent. The first door he came to was ajar.

Daniel pushed it open wearily. He wasn’t looking forward to what he knew he would find.

He crept into the bland hotel room, the smell of blood growing stronger. He gasped when he saw the body. A woman. Probably about forty. Lying dead on the floor. Her throat was ripped open and covered in blood.

Sebastian.

Daniel left the room at full speed - not caring about being heard now. Sebastian was here, and he was probably here for the ashes. Daniel was at his room in seconds. The door was wide open and Daniel went in, immediately looking under his bed.

The ashes were gone.

***

Sebastian whooped as he left the hotel, ashes in a bag under his arm. He had ducked behind a tree as Daniel pulled up in his jeep.

He had only just done it.

Now it was time to find his witch.

Yet an inescapable desire overtook him. He wanted to see Sarah while Daniel was out. To torment her. To cause her pain. He would get back at her for killing his last body, for caring for Daniel.

It would annoy Daniel too, if he did anything to Sarah.

Sebastian laughed, moving off at high speed through the woods. Heading directly for Sarah’s house.

CHAPTER 9

Sarah lay back in her bed, resting her head against a pillow. She couldn’t help but smile. Daniel was