Blood Hunter (The Grandor Descendant Series) Read online

  “I think you have fallen victim of a prank,” said Chris, still laughing as he moved further into her room.

  “You think,” she said, trying hard not to swallow any of the weightless balls, which Ari had realised were Styrofoam, similar in size and shape to what you would find filling a bean bag. “Who would do this?”

  Chris did not respond at first. Through the hovering plastic, Ari saw him standing near her bed, reaching for a switch that apparently controlled the fan. He switched it off and instantly the Styrofoam balls became lifeless and fell to the carpet in surrender. Only a few white balls remained in the air, though they were quickly attracted to Chris’s torso. They seemed to hover around his skin, as though magnetised by static electricity.

  With her eyes locked on him, Chris moved towards her and stretched out a hand as though reaching for her face. Slowly she took two steps backwards, until she was pressed up against the door. Chris was only inches away, so close that she could feel his breath on her face; then he suddenly pulled away from her, a bright yellow post-it note clasped in his hands.

  “This was pinned to the door,” he said, recalling Ari back to reality as he showed her the note, before reading it out loud, “Welcome to the IOM, thought this might help you acclimatise, Regards PPP.”

  “Hmmm, funny,” Ari said without laughing; somehow she didn’t think thousands of tiny Styrofoam balls would help her get use to the freezing weather on the Isle of Man. “Whose PPP?”

  “Perry, Peter and Pip.”

  “Oh yea, those three chipmunks introduced themselves earlier,” she said. “They warned me about blizzards.”

  “They’re kind of like the hall jokesters; consider this a welcoming gift. Want a hand getting rid of all this stuff?”

  “Thanks,” she replied, reaching for an empty garbage bag from her suitcase and beginning to hurl large piles of the fake snow into the bag.

  “Can you grab the corner of the quilt?” Chris asked, moving to one side of the bed.

  In one motion they lifted all the balls off the bed and dumped them into the rubbish bag. At the same time, there was a loud slam, causing the remaining balls to spring up from the ground and dance in front of the door momentarily. Ari spun around, waiting for the Styrofoam to settle and then blinked in surprise. Staring back at her was Ragon. His eyes moved quickly to Chris, who was still without a shirt and leaning over her bed holding the quilt. Ragon did not look at her but narrowed his eyes, his lip curling up at the sides.

  “Err, hey… its Ragon right?” Chris said, dropping the quilt awkwardly.

  Ragon didn’t respond; without pausing he blurred over to Chris and grasped his outstretched hand, pulling it up to his mouth, where two enormous canines were waiting. Ari had no time to react; before she knew what was happening Ragon was biting down hard into Chris’s wrists. Instantly Ari rushed to the pair, trying uselessly to pull Ragon away.

  “Stop,” she screamed.

  For a moment she thought that Chris might fight back. There was a wild untamed look about him, and his normally light blue eyes seemed to darked, but then he seemed to submit.

  “You won’t remember any of this; you will think a spider bit you on your walk home,” said Ragon, lulling Chris just as he had Natalie.

  “Nice,” said Ari, shoving Ragon hard in the chest. “What did you do that for? What the hell is wrong with you?”

  Ragon looked up at her helplessly, like a dog that had been struck and then swept quickly from the room, just as hundreds of tiny white balls rose up from the floor as he blurred away. When the door slammed shut behind him, the Styrofoam globes seemed to shudder in the air, then fell, finally resting on the ground to form a white blanket across the cream carpet.

  Ari shook her head in anger until she remembered Chris and raced to his side. Her eyes darted to the two puncture marks on his wrist. It wasn’t fair the way Ragon had acted, but there was nothing she could do now. Sadly she moved over to the door, holding Chris’s shirt out for him as she gestured for him to leave. She knew Chris wouldn’t remember what had happened and thought the best thing would be for him to leave.

  “Don’t worry,” she said, “I can manage the rest of them.”

  “But we haven’t finished?” said Chris, waving his hand at the rest of the Styrofoam balls in confusion, as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened in the last few minutes.

  “It’s ok.”

  Chris shrugged, moved over to the door and said, “Well, I will see you tomorrow for first period; it’s at 9am at the main lecture theatre in the vet school.”

  “Yep.”

  “Oh, and make sure you put some antiseptic on that bump on your head,” he added.

  Ari nodded dumbly, purposefully avoiding making eye contact, less her guilt become obvious. There was Chris, telling her not to let her cut get infected while his own wrists were dripping blood. But she didn’t dare mention the puncture marks. She knew that Ragon’s lull would force Chris to see the bite soon and think that a spider had attacked him.

  “Um, Ari,” Chris added, pausing in the doorway, “I know that its none of my business, but that guy you were with tonight at the bar, is he… I mean are you two…”

  Chris’s voice trailed off and Ari blushed.

  “Ragon, yea he’s my boyfriend.”

  “Just be careful around him,” he said, sighing loudly before closing the door behind him.

  Ari watched Chris go with mingled emotions. Why would Chris warn her about Ragon? Ragon had lulled him; there was no way that Chris could have any memory about being attacked. Perhaps he thought that her injuries had been caused by Ragon? Maybe he thought she was in an abusive relationship?

  Turning back around to face her room, Ari sighed. Nothing about what had happened tonight was right; Ragon attacking Chris, Sandra killing Greg, Chris warning her about Ragon; it was as if someone was playing a joke on her. She looked around her room mournfully, her eyes raking the massive piles of Styrofoam, until she realised that there was something very different about the décor of her room. Before she’d left for the dance, her room had been relatively empty. She had bought only one suitcase over from Australia and it contained mostly clothes and toiletries.

  But now she realised that the furniture had changed; how had she not noticed it before? For one thing, there was a different desk. Before there had been a small yellow painted desk, while now there was an antique mahogany one in its place. She traced a single finger along the smooth polished surface, displacing many white Styrofoam balls as she did so. On top of the new desk were three boxes. Intrigued, Ari sat down in the lush black leather arm chair, another new addition, pulling the first box towards her.

  There was a familiar apple insignia on the cover and Ari smiled as she pulled out a brand new iPhone. The next box was four times as large, but was branded with the same apple icon. It took her much longer to get into this box; when she finally did she found a slender white laptop. The third and final box held a printer. She knew immediately the gifts were from Ragon. The entire situation reminded her of the first time she had met him, when he had taken her back to his family Mausoleum after she had nearly been raped. She had fainted after the attack and woke to find that Ragon had left her a basket filled with provisions, strange extravagant things like expensive moisturiser, an array of snacks and lavish clothes.

  Though Ari was grateful, these gifts did not bring the pleasure, rather another wave of guilt settled in her stomach. She had spent the majority of the day being mad at Ragon, and he had been out buying her all these fancy gadgets for her studies, and getting furniture for her dorm room. She clung to this thought as she re-made her bed, forcing the three garbage bags full of Styrofoam underneath it, before finally reaching for her new phone. When she turned it on there was a message waiting for her:

  ‘Hope you enjoy playing with your new toys. They should make life studying a little easier. I know you think I just want to lock you away… but I do it to keep you safe. I want you to be happy and I know t
hat studying vet is your dream, so enjoy. I love you. Ragon x’

  As Ari read the message she smiled, but this had been written by Ragon earlier in the day, before their fight. Maybe if he had of explained that the reason he had not contacted her was because he was out getting her these things… maybe she wouldn’t have been so angry with him, and tonight might have played out very differently. She was torn between writing him a reply message to thank him for his presents, and still being angry at him for attacking Chris. As she normally did, Ari considered what she would have done if the roles were reversed? She had to admit that if she’d found a girl half naked in Ragon’s dorm room, standing suggestively near the bed, she might have thought that something was going on. Still, she certainly wouldn’t have attacked the girl, but then again, Ari wasn’t a vampire. Sighing loudly, she began typing her reply:

  ‘I’m sorry about before- Chris was just helping me clean up. Apparently there are 3 jokesters in my hall who thought it might be fun messing with the new kid. I only just finished getting rid of all the Styrofoam. I know you want to keep me safe… Thanks for everything you got me today. What time do you have class tomorrow- can we talk?

  She didn’t think that what Ragon had done to Chris was acceptable behaviour, but it was up to him to apologise, not for her to scold him for it. She had wanted to ask if Thomas had found Sandra, and what had happened with Greg, but decided it would be best not to put those tricky questions into a text. Besides, her head was still throbbing and all she really wanted to do was to put her first day of university behind her as quickly as possible. Only one thing would potentially make her feel better; a nice warm shower.

  Grabbing a towel and her toiletries bag, Ari moved from her room, down the hall and to the bathroom. Unlike Ragon’s room in Cruor halls, she did not have her own bathroom, but given the late hour, she did not run into anyone. She poked her head into each of the cubicles, finally choosing the one furthest from the door.

  Turning the taps on, Ari waited for the hot water to steam up the shower before beginning to remove her clothing. When a thick layer of hot mist blanketed the cool tiled floor, she threw her clothes onto a hook and moved quickly under the water; instantly she winced. Her head felt too big for her body and her neck was stiff; a trail of dilute blood flowed down her shoulders, joining the mass of water escaping through the drain. Gingerly she grabbed some shampoo and conditioner and began washing her hair, trying to avoid the gash on her head as best she could.

  As soon as she was finished she turned the taps off and sprung towards her towel, wrapping it around her body so as to furiously dry herself. Once dressed she raced back to her dorm room, leaving tiny wet footprints on her path from the bathroom. Despite the comfort the steamy shower had imparted, she retrieved a familiar red and silver packet of Nurophen Plus from her bag. Popping two of the tablets out, she placed them into her mouth and washed them down with a mouthful of water, thinking that this probably wouldn’t be the last time she would need to reach for pain killers. Finally she moved over to her bed and crawled under the sheets. It was then, as her toes brushed against the crisp warm linen, that she realised Ragon must have also bought her an electric blanket.

  Thinking of Ragon, she reached for her phone and saw that she had an unread message from him:

  ‘At 9am. I’m at Rodwell building- have a meeting to discuss a thesis proposal. Sorry for reacting the way I did. I only commanded him to forget what I had done- nothing else. I’m sorry... Meet for breakfast at the cafeteria?’

  A few minutes later and Ariana’s phone vibrated again; there was another text from Ragon:

  ‘Don’t worry I will eat beforehand- LOVE you’

  Chapter 7 – Vet School

  Ari had woken early the following morning and dressed quickly. Ordinarily she would have showered first thing but the moment she had gotten out of her heated bed, she knew it was far too cold to brave the communal showers this early, that and she didn’t want to risk running into Peter, Perry and Pip. Moving over to her wardrobe, she searched for her warmest outfit, finally settling on a pair of skinny jeans, a high necked long sleeved jumped and the coat which Ragon had given her when they first arrived in England. Grabbing her bag, which she had filled with hurriedly printed lecture notes, she raced from her room and down the stairs. When she was outside Omega Halls, she saw the coven waiting for her.

  “Where’s Sandra?” she asked, looking around hopefully.

  “Still sleeping,” Thomas replied sourly.

  “Well, she won’t win any attendance awards,” Clyde said smirking. “Or playing nice with others awards, come to think of it.”

  Thomas growled and Clyde quickly stepped back a few paces.

  “And what happened about Gre-” Ari began, but Thomas moved over to her and shushed her.

  “Not here and not now,” he whispered, taking a meaningful look at a bunch of students, who were making their way up to the cafeteria for breakfast.

  “So, what’s your first class?” asked Ragon, reaching a hand out and grasping onto Ari’s, as they walked to the mess hall.

  “Um Chris said that it was-” she began to say, but stopped quickly.

  At the mention of Chris’s name, Ragon had squeezed her hand tightly, and Ari felt that explanations were in order as to why Chris had been shirtless in her room and holding onto her bed sheets.

  “Ragon, about last night… I just got upset after I saw Sandra and, and then when you sent that girl in to check on me, I just lost it. When I went outside I ran into Chris; when he saw that I was bleeding he gave me his shirt to hold against my head. Nothing happened… he’s just a nice guy who offered to help me get rid of all the Styrofoam that Peter, Pip and Perry thought would be funny to leave in my room,” she said, not pausing to breath as she rushed through her explanation of the night’s events.

  “Chris,” said Clyde, eavesdropping on their conversation, “you mean that jumped up pretty boy from last night?”

  Both Ari and Ragon ignored him, and Ragon pulled Ari closer to hug her.

  “Well, I suppose I should be grateful that he didn’t use his pants to stop the bleeding,” said Ragon, his lips thin and white. “No more sneaking out of bathroom windows! And,” he added, winking, “if anyone is going to be removing clothes around you, it will be me.”

  Ari smiled lightly, recalling the first night she had stayed with Ragon at his house in Mount Cootha, before escaping through a bathroom window he had mistakenly left open. She did seem to favour windows as an escape route.

  “Agreed,” she said. “So what exactly did you command him?”

  All Ari could remember from last night was that Ragon had told Chris to leave, but she knew that vampires were capable of thinking their commands, rather than just verbalising them.

  “Nothing exciting; just that he was to forget that I attacked him and think it was a spider bite. Oh, and that he was never to look at you or talk to you again,” Ragon said, smiling innocently.

  Ari stopped dead in her tracks and Ragon pulled her towards him.

  “Ok, that last part might have been an exaggeration,” he said, kissing her playfully on the lips.

  Eating at the cafeteria with a table full of vampires, who only drank blood, felt a little awkward. Back in Australia in Ragon’s house, Ari never really noticed it, but in a room of starving, hungover or still drunk students, the fact that she was the only one at her table with an appetite, was painfully obvious. The Cruor halls had their own self-contained kitchens on each floor to explain why they did not eat in the Cafeteria with the rest of the students that lived on campus. Still, she couldn’t miss the few surprised glances that were shot her way, though most of these seemed to be coming from girls looking at either Ragon or Clyde, and Ari couldn’t help thinking that they were checking them out more so than worrying about their appetite. Ari tried not to look at the passers-by as she scoffed down her breakfast of warm milk and Weetabix, before she was ready to leave for class ten minutes later.

  “We
ll I had better go,” she said, reaching on her tippy toes so as to kiss Ragon goodbye.

  “Yea me too, I have a meeting now with Victoria; she’s supposed to be pairing me with a PhD student so that I can do an honours program.”

  “Pairing you… with who?” asked Ari.

  “No idea; after that I was going to go to the library; Clyde’s going to be there. He’s researching the, you know what. We got out student ID cards this morning, so we have access to the vamp library now.”

  “You know what?” said Ari, laughing, “You mean the Gran-” she began to say, but for the second time that morning she was shushed, this time by Ragon. “Geez you guys are real sticklers for secrecy.”

  “You know we aren’t the only ones here with excellent hearing; I’ll text you if I find anything, otherwise I will see you after class. What time do you finish?”