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  Valentin did not know how long he had been crawling from the place where he had been attacked. His face was covered in blood and he could feel that one of his legs were broken. His lips were so swollen that he could not have cried out for help, and anyway no one would have heard him because the place was deserted. As he crawled into a nearby park he slipped back into unconsciousness. When he came round he thought that he was being carried but it could not be true because his Samaritan was a young woman. He must have been dreaming, because even though he was a little short in stature and light in body weight. a woman would not be able to carry a man of his size. As he floated in what he thought was an unreal scenario he felt a sense of peace for the first time in his life. The pain from the violent attack had left his body and he felt oddly invigorated. The young woman had bent to kiss his neck. She had not removed her lips from his skin and he had felt a sharp prick as she sank her teeth into him. It was unlike any other encounter that he’d had with the girls who had demanded money for their company. Valentin thought that he had indeed died and gone to heaven. His miserable and lonely existence was now firmly behind him. He felt his lips move slowly into a smile and realised that the swelling was going down. The young woman had laid him down onto a soft mattress, he had no idea where she had taken him. As Valentin drifted into a deep sleep he realised with joy that everything was now going to be alright.

  Sunlight was streaming through a glassless window when he awoke. He was still lying on the soft mattress, but there was no sign of the young woman who had rescued him. He was surprised because he felt extremely well and strong, considering what he had just fallen victim to. His leg was no longer broken, he felt no pain, he had no bruising, however the blood on his face and clothes were still there. Valentin sat up and looked around him. He was in what looked like the living room of a deserted old house. Spiders clung to cobwebs that they had spun on the high ceiling and the squeaking and scampering of rodents was audible in the quietness of the room. Valentin did not feel afraid, alarmed or upset, even when his eyes fell upon the human skeletons piled up in the corner of the room. He rose and left the old house. He noticed that he felt strangely full and had no need to take breakfast or any kind of refreshment. Valentin also felt that is body was unusually cold. He had never really liked the feeling of being cold, the winters in Moscow were unbelievably punishing, but for some reason the low temperature of his body felt delicious to him. He found his way back easily to his rented room in the hovel he had grown to despise. The first thing that he did when he entered the room was to catch and kill the four legged vermin that had plagued him from the time he had moved in there. Their constant squeaking had kept him awake for many nights and they had crawled onto his bed and all over his body relentlessly. Valentin sensed their fear of him now with great satisfaction and as he squeezed the life out of their fat furry bodies, he knew that there was a fundamental change in him and that from now on his life was going to be totally different.

  Valentin returned to the inn during the evening. The owner had given his job to someone else because he had not turned up for the last seven days. Valentin had not realised that he had been absent for so long, however he did not regret losing his job. He sat alone at a table in a dark corner of the room. The men that he had served previously piled into the inn, one by one. He looked at their red, bloated faces with disdain, and watched them badger and harass his replacement behind the bar. However, there was only one man that Valentin wanted to see that night.

  Yakov Anchova finally lumbered into the inn. He stumbled to the bar with red rimmed eyes, already intoxicated from an earlier drinking binge. He demanded a drink from the new bartender without uttering a please or thank you. Then he drank the shot swiftly, from a wooden drinking vessel, before banging it down on the bar and demanding another. Valentin had not only seen him but he had smelt him. He knew that his sense of smell had heightened when he’d left the deserted house because he could smell every plant, tree and animal from a large distance. The odour that came from Yakov Anchova was strong and pungent. It filled him with an all consuming desire for revenge in the form of blood spill and death. His drunken tormentor scanned the room with his watery, bloodshot eyes. He was looking for his drinking buddies but they were nowhere to be seen. He remembered how he had made them laugh when he had pushed Valentin to the floor while he’d been carrying a tray of drinks. He had always been a bully and had enjoyed the sadistic beating that he had given to the previous bartender. Yakov’s eyes suddenly fell onto the eyes of a man who was sitting at a table in a dark corner of the room. He found that he couldn’t turn away, he tried but it was as if his neck had turned to stone. He felt his drunken haze slipping away from him when he realised that he was once again face to face with Valentin Malenkov. Or was it? It couldn’t possibly be the same person because he had beaten him so badly, he had broken his bones and left him for dead. He could not have healed in such a short period of time. The man he could see was not only in perfect physical health but also different somehow, changed. He appeared strong and powerful and hungry for something that Yakov dared not think about. Such was his fear that he could no longer hear the shouting and the raucous laughter of the other men in the inn. He suddenly felt full of regret. He had been a disappointing son, husband and father but had never tried to mend his ways. He had ignored the little voice inside him, and drowned it out with drink when it had told him that one day he would reap what he had sown. This time he had gone far too far. He knew that there was no escape.

  Without warning Valentin released Yakov from the trance in which he had held him so tightly. Yakov had not realised how hard he was trying to turn his face away from the man he had beaten to near death. He stumbled and almost fell over as the invisible grip that had held him so forcefully finally let go. Yakov had felt that he had been in this strange and unexplainable captivity for hours when in fact it had only been for a few minutes. He pushed through the drunken crowd of men and headed for the door.

  Valentin had a good reason for releasing him so abruptly. He was shocked at his newfound power that could literally freeze an individual with his mind. During those few minutes he had tried to imagine giving Yakov a taste of his own medicine, by beating him to the cold hard ground outside. But every time he had tried to visualise this act of revenge his mind had replaced it with another vision. Valentin had seen himself using his teeth to rip apart Yakov’s lumbering body. He had seen himself drinking his enemy’s blood with great relish and satisfaction. This image had shocked Valentin to the core. He had watched himself behave like a wild animal in his imagination, and his initial revulsion had quickly turned to an unspeakable joy. What had he become?

  Yakov Anchova, now feeling very sober now, hurried home. He kept looking over his shoulder, convinced that he was being followed. Yakov had never been afraid of anything before but now even the darkness of the night disturbed him. He intended to lock himself in his house and to keep a weapon by his bed, and with him at all times from now on. He didn’t like this feeling of fear. He had instilled it in so many people, including his wife and children. He had lied and cheated, coerced and controlled everyone that he had come into contact with for most of his life. Valentin Malenkov had annoyed him because he could see that even though his life had been difficult, and he’d had to fend for himself from an early age, there was still a glimmer of hope in the young man’s eyes. Yakov had hated the fact that Valentin’s unfortunate circumstances had not really broken him. He had wanted to remove what little optimism he had, by his violent act towards him. But when he had looked into the young man’s eyes at the inn, he had not seen hope, he had not seen optimism. He had seen a hot, greedy all consuming desire for his blood.

  Yakov Anchova could see his house in the distance and felt slightly relieved. He quickened his steps, almost breaking into a run. His wife would be surprised, because this had been the first time in twenty years that her husband had returned home without being falling down drunk. As he got closer to his front door he
could see a figure standing outside. He could not see who it was at first, it was definitely a tall male figure and he thought that it may be one of his teenage sons, who was there to try and stop him from causing the usual havoc that was habitual, when he returned from the inn. For a moment he squared his shoulders, as the master of the house who could do whatever he liked. And then he saw that it wasn’t his son at all.

  Valentin Malenkov stood at his front door. His mouth was open, revealing a sharp set of pointed teeth. He had a ferocious expression on his face as he watched Yakov visibly become pale with terror. Yakov turned to run but Valentin pounced on him, flying swiftly through the air in anticipation of the feed that he was about to have. He tore at Yakov’s throat without mercy and drank the blood from his overweight body. The vampire kept him alive while he continued his torture. Yakov called out to his wife and his sons for help, as he felt the sharp teeth rip into his skin, his veins, his soul. He tried to struggle, but his undead opponent was unbelievable strong, and determined to make him suffer as much as possible. He lived for an hour under these conditions, before Valentin removed his remains, and buried them where they could never be found.

  Yakov’s wife and children always dreaded his return from the inn. He was a cruel and spiteful man and much worse when he was drunk. Night after night they had had to endure his unpleasantness and they had prayed that one day that it would stop. This was to be the first of many nights that the Anchova family would get a good night’s sleep.

  ****************************************

  Marybeth McCann was paying no attention to her client’s idle chatter as she washed her hair. She was thinking about her husband, Eddy. He was a different man now, and it was all due to the discovery of the Hudson girl’s body. Amberlee Robinson was her last client for the day at the hair dressing salon. When she had finished she would go home and cook meatloaf, it was Eddy’s favourite.

  “Hey, I know you, you’re married to the old guy who found Elena Hudson’s body aren’t you?”

  Marybeth bristled visibly. Eddy was not an ‘old guy’, he was in his early sixties, still in his prime, or at least he was until recent events. He had aged overnight, he looked ten years older. Amberlee Robinson didn’t wait for a response but carried on talking.

  “I knew her you know, we were at the same college. She was okay I guess, but I don’t believe this ‘killed by an wolf like animal’ thing. I think that she was having an affair with some older married guy, you know someone around thirty, and she wanted him to leave his wife, so he killed her and made it look like she’d been bitten by something. What did your husband say about aargh!”

  Marybeth had purposely sprayed hot water in Amberlee’s eyes.

  “Oops, sorry, my hand slipped.”

  “What are you trying to do drown me?” said Amberlee dramatically. Marybeth thought the idea of that was very appealing. She wrapped a towel around Amberlee’s long brown hair and led her to the dryer. The teenage girl did not try to question her any further, and sulkily buried her face in a fashion magazine.

  It was bright but cold outside. Marybeth shivered as she hurried to her car, it had been a long eight hours and she wanted to get home and put her feet up for at least ten minutes before cooking dinner.

  “Marybeth, how are you?”

  Cora Patterson was standing a few feet away from her, loaded down with shopping bags.

  “I’m fine Cora, how are you?” said Marybeth cordially.

  “Oh you know, I’m okay I guess.”

  “Would you like a ride home Cora? It’ll be no trouble.”

  Cora Patterson was grateful for the offer, she really didn’t want use public transport with all her shopping bags. She accepted Marybeth’s offer without hesitation.

  The two women talked about their kids, property prices, the weather anything but the Elena Hudson tragedy. Marybeth was glad of the respite, everyone she met just lately wanted to gossip about it. That loud mouthed, big breasted little minx at the salon was the last straw. Drowning her wouldn’t have been punishment enough. She was a born troublemaker.

  Marybeth accepted Cora’s invitation for coffee when they pulled up outside the Patterson house. She helped carry her bags inside, and they sat in the welcoming kitchen drinking two strong cups of coffee. Cora could see that Marybeth was a little anxious but she did not push her for information. However Marybeth confided in her anyway by voicing her concern about her husband.

  “He just hasn’t been the same since he found that girl Cora, he’s lost his appetite, he’s having nightmares, I don’t know what to do, he won’t go out, he won’t see a doctor..........”

  “Well it’s understandable, it must have been quite a shock seeing her like that, but he really ought to go and see the doctor. It sounds like he has that post traumatic shock syndrome.”

  Marybeth nodded in agreement. Her coffee had cooled down a little and she took a large sip. Her fingers were wrapped tightly around the coffee mug. She appeared to want to say more, but was reluctant to do so. She was worried about what Cora would think if she told her anything else. However, she knew that she wasn’t a gossip like most of the people in the neighbourhood. Marybeth took a deep breath.

  “I think he’s losing his mind.”

  “Losing his mind?” repeated Cora. “Why, why do you think that? Post traumatic stress is very common in these situations, I sure that a few sessions with a good therapist will get him back to normal. It doesn’t surprise me that Eddy has been so badly affected by this because you know as well as I do that he is always beating the drum about all the terrible things that go on in this world, and to actual experience something like this in his own environment was bound to tip him over the edge.”

  Marybeth nodded. It was good to be able to talk to someone that she could trust about the problem. She decided to continue.

  “He talks in his sleep and the things that he says are very disturbing. He says that Elena’s body looked like it had been drained of all its blood and her eyes were wide open , then he starts to scream ‘She’s alive, she’s still alive, I know it she’s still alive.”

  Sitting opposite her friend at her kitchen table Cora Patterson was muted in a horrified silence.

  They didn’t hear that Jay had come and stood outside the kitchen door, eavesdropping on their conversation.

  Chapter Two

  Amberlee Robinson and her three friends decided to go to the Diner after college today, to discuss the upcoming college dance that was being held in celebration of its opening sixty years ago. The gossipy group of girls were very excited about the event. The stories around the demise of Elena Hudson were dying down, and they needed something else to occupy their minds. Neither one of them had a date for the dance yet, but there was still plenty of time. Amberlee knew exactly who she wanted to go with, and with Elena well out of the picture a clear path had been created for her to make her move. She knew that she was not the only member of Jay Patterson’s fan club, all the girls at college liked him, and so did her regular circle of friends. However Amberlee, knowing the male ‘species’ as she believed them to be, was convinced that she had the best chance of getting a date with him, because of her obvious attributes.

  They entered the Diner and sat down, before haughtily ordering four sodas from the young waitress, who’d had to drop out of their college to work and support her family. A frisson of delight ran through the four girls, when they saw that Jay Patterson was playing on the old nineteen fifties, pinball machine, with his goofy friend Kevin.

  “I totally told you he’d be here” said Tori to Amberlee, with a self satisfied look on her heart-shaped face.

  Amberlee flushed. She suddenly felt a little dizzy and she hoped that Jay had noticed her arrival. Her three friends started whispering and giggling and she wished that they would behave more maturely, she so wanted to appear sophisticated. She watched from the corner of her eye, as Jay bent his long lean body over the pinball machine. However it was Kevin, not his friend who acknowle
dged her existence, with a wink and a keen look of interest.

  “Ask him to be your date for the dance,” said Judi with a breathless eagerness in her voice. She was a shy timid girl who felt safer sitting on the sidelines, and watching life happening to other people.

  “Yeah go on, we dare you!” chorused the other girls, secretly hoping that Jay would reject her. In truth, they all would have like to see Amberlee Robinson being taken down a peg or two.

  “I can’t do that! Not in front of everyone!” protested Amberlee.

  “But there’s only us here and his friend, you don’t want to ask him at college with all those pretty girls around.” Tori was goading her now.

  Amberlee considered that she could lose face in front of her three friends, and that would be unbearable. She felt that she was the queen amongst them, and had always treated them as her ladies in waiting, their only purpose in life was to be at her beck and call. However she knew that she couldn’t not ask Jay for a date now. Her constant boasting about how irresistible she was had finally come back to haunt her, and now she had to prove it. She stood up and sauntered over to Jay and Kevin, feeling nothing of the confidence that she was trying to portray. The other girls were watching on the edge of their seats as if waiting for the climax, in a well publicised, popular movie. Amberlee knew that she had her work cut out. She had seen how the untouchable Jay Patterson had been with Elena Hudson, on the night of her disappearance. She had never seen him pay any real attention to a girl before that night, and she had felt really jealous. She, like many of the other girls had tried to get Jay to notice her on many occasions. Her skirts had got shorter, and she wore her necklines very low just for him, despite the freezing cold weather. She would travel to college in an outfit, that met the approval of her mother, and would change before she went to class, just for Jay’s benefit. She had really got it bad for him. Now for the moment of truth. Amberlee was glad that she’d had her hair washed and conditioned at the weekend. She thought it looked great, and had received many compliments, which was compensation for that crazy hair stylist who had almost drowned her while washing her hair. She wished Kevin would stop looking at her as if she was the Diner’s special meal of the day, and leave her alone with Jay. She wished that he would look at her in the same way he had looked at Elena Hudson. He had his back to her, and continued playing on the pinball machine, even though Kevin was nudging him to alert him of her approach.