No good deed

  Chapter 4-1

  Persephone's POV

  The trip to Alexander's Musil hall had been unneeded. Alexander had confirmed that no, thralls do not spontaneously age after death, he agreed that it was very unlikely that anyone of Ovis bloodline did murder her and he also agreed that it was pointless investigating it as if this was a human affair since neither the victim or the apparent killer were entirely human. Isabel had gone to stay at her home and Sebastian had already left to return to my own home in anticipation. Finally Paldius would be making a visit to discuss the family’s expenditure with Alexander and there wasn’t a rat's chance in hell I was staying for that. Taking my leave I left my Sires home and headed for my own.

  Unlike my siblings, my home wasn’t so secluded and out in the sticks settling for a detached cottage style house on the outskirts of York, with enough nd to dig underground, and tall enough hedges to keep out very nosy neighbours. The garden and the engulfed wall were almost fully overgrown, the bushes and hedges growing up and taking over the side, combining with the trees to create a very shaded and altogether cozy home. Something Cathleen and Sebastian found endlessly amusing at my expense. Walking up the path, the house was lit up from inside and it sounded like all inhabitants were in the living room. Walking through the front door I found the source of the commotion.

  Entering the well decorated living room I found Cathleen and an older man sitting together on the couch, his heartbeat gave him away as human, and Sebastian sat on a smaller chair across from them. All three of them were arguing about some cooking show pying on the Tv.

  “It’s not going to bake, they haven’t left anywhere near enough time!” Cath excimed.

  As I entered the room their conversation died down and I noticed the spike in the human's heart rate.

  Cathleen spoke first with a grin on her face. “Have fun pying cops and robbers?”

  Sebastian started ughing at her comment but the human at her side still seemed to be startled.

  “Are you looking to lose your fangs Cath?” I ask with a quirked brow. Cathleen ughed in response as I parted the room to sit next to Sebastian. “Who’s your friend anyway?”

  Cath turned, pcing one hand ft in front of the human. “Persephone, dearest guardian in these dark and lonely nights, this is Craig. I’m going to make him my thrall. Craig, this is Persephone, she killed the man who turned me and has looked after me ever since.” Craig’s eyes went wide looking at Cathleen who waved him off. “He was a dick it was completely deserved and I’m better off don’t worry.”

  With the new information I looked over the man, he looked well kept if a little old and out of shape, something that really stood out in comparison to Cath who had died at the age of twenty, combining her youth with the over the top makeup she favoured and choppy bck hair she spent every day since her turning regretting, this human looked so, pin.

  “You know the process, yes?” I asked, my eyes locked on the clearly anxious man.

  “Yes, yes I remember all your lessons. Besides, lovely little Sebastian gave me a wonderful demonstration earlier. I honestly thought he was wasted on you, but then his heart started racing and I understood exactly what you see in him.” Cath said with a predatory grin on her face, out of the corner of my eye I could see the blush rising on Sebastian’s cheeks.

  “Don’t bite my thrall, Cathleen.”

  “Oh I don’t want to bite him, well just bite him anyway.”

  Sebastian coughed and turning to him I could see his cheeks were bright pink at Cath's teasing. “How was your evening, Persephone? Are they investigating anything interesting?”

  I looked to the new human and then to Cath who nodded quickly grabbing his arm so he turned to look at her.

  “You’ll remember nothing of what is said in here. You’ll not be able to repeat anything you hear in this house, understood?” Cath said, her eyes fshing as her command took hold.

  “Yes mistress.” The dazed Craig responded.

  “Fun, go ahead.” Cath nodded to me.

  “Nothing of astounding interest, it seems a thrall was killed by a vampire, but not a vampire from her bloodline.” I stated looking back to the muted show, a human seemed to be panicking as he watched a cooker.

  “Hardly sounds like human police should be looking into that though? Wouldn’t the Justiciar handle it?” Sebastian asked.

  I shrugged. “Usually, but the humans beat us to it. I don’t think they’ll be interested in handing it over now.”

  “So what do they do when they find who did it? Give him a prison sentence? Do they have cells that can hold us?” Cath asked with amusement clear on her face.

  “Apparently they do but I doubt it, I saw where they stored corpses in the morgue they suspected would be rising from the dead and I don’t think that would hold us.” I paused to consider the events of the evening. “I did already know one of the detectives though.”

  “Long history of making them forget about your crimes?” Cath asked, the human at her side still oblivious to what was going on.

  “No, I’d met her in dread yesterday actually. She was there celebrating her promotion actually. Almost fed off her.” A sly smile grew on my face as I spoke.

  “How did she take that?” Cath leaned forward over the dazed human.

  “She was willing in the club, now they’re very much off limits due to the Justiciars decree for this unit. Worst bit is she thought I was looking for more, because of the flirting the evening prior. She pulled me to one side to tell me we had to just be colleagues now.”

  Cath fell back into her seat ughing. Sebastian chuckled at my side. Looking out the window I could see the sky lightening to a purple heralding the sun's rise.

  “Sebastian, I need you to go pick up some of that bottled blood, any type will do. Restock anything you need here as well.” Sebastian nodded and I turned back to the giggling vampire. “Cath deal with your human, you won’t have time to get him through the full process. Send him away. He's not staying here for the night.

  Cath's giggling died down as she wiped a pink misted tear from her eye. “Oh yeah I’m not thralling him, could you imagine? He delivered some food for Kaa and one look and he decided to offer himself to me. I probably have kept him a tad long.” Cath grabbed the man’s head turning back to her glowing eyes. “Leave, go home, forget anything that happened after you dropped off the package.” The human nodded, rising on shaky legs and made to leave. As he rose I spotted the litany of bruised bite marks on his neck.

  “Cath do you want to heal those before he goes?” I asked, pointing to his neck.

  She shrugged. “I’ve already removed his memories, I’ve got to leave him something to remember me by.”

  “Well hope he doesn’t remember too much.”

  Sebastian rose following me and Cath as we left the room, Craig having just left the house. Sebastian went to the door to lock it but Cath grabbed his wrist as he passed us.

  “Sebastian, please can you feed Kaa before you go to sleep? I’ve been a little busy this evening.”

  “I’d rather not, that snake gives me the creeps.” Sebastian replied briskly.

  “Not the two vampires you live with?” Cath replied with an innocent look. Before Sebastian could respond she continued. “Please, he likes you, he talks about you a lot.”

  “You know that makes it worse right?”

  Before Cath could ask again I butted in. “Cath maybe you should actually get your own thrall. Besides, you could have fed him already instead of begging.”

  Cath ignored me just looking at Sebastian pleadingly who finally gave in.

  “Right I’ll do it but you owe me.”

  Cath smiled, letting go of his arm. “Course I’ll give you more of Persephone's money. Morning!” Cath left the pair heading to the door leading to their shared underground dwelling.

  “She needs to get her own thrall soon.” Sebastian sighed.

  “Like I said you should tell her no, you are allowed.” I replied.

  “Quieter if I don’t.” Sebastian shrugged.

  “I’ll speak to her. Lock up, and be safe.” Sebastian nodded heading for the front door as I followed Cath down, locking the metallic door behind me.

  Entering the main chamber I found Cath changing into her nightclothes in the storage room. An utterly pointless practice given we made no movement in our sleep. The chamber itself was quite different to Alexander’s basic design, it had three rooms in total, the main chamber having sparse seating and a television that Cath insisted on adding. The room had no lighting like Alexander’s chamber but did have a few plug sockets so we could keep our phones on us. The back wall had three cubbys that each held a separate coffin, mine, Caths and a spare for Isabel or anyone else who happened to stay the night. To the left was a simple bathroom, minus the toilet, and to the right was our storage room. It mostly held personal items Cath had collected with mine being kept at Alexander’s, however I did keep the journals I wrote in my human life with me here. It was yet another thing Cath made jokes about, but they helped me maintain a lot of the human memories that had begun to grow hazy.

  Cath exited the storage with a simple light blue set of pyjamas on with a pair of fuzzy slippers, I rolled my eyes as she headed for her coffin. She paused, turning to me before she entered.

  “Persephone, I’ve been thinking, do you think it would be possible if we maybe got bedrooms made down here? I know that to like to heal when we sleep, theirs all that nonsense about grave dirt, or like unhallowed nd.” Cath rolled her eyes letting me know exactly what she thought about the idea. “But nothing says we have to sleep in a coffin right? Like I could get a bed, in theory?”

  I thought on what she said as I plugged my phone onto charge, sending a quick text to the two detectives numbers with the information I’d got from my Sire. Thinking on what Cath said, it was true we could sleep anywhere just sleeping around what is cssed as unhallowed ground made the rest more beneficial to healing wounds and injuries while we slept. Thankfully being surrounded by the dirt extended to sleeping underground and not directly in the dirt. She was right about not needing to sleep in a coffin, just given the ck of light tight rooms until very recently, coffins were more a safety measure, and one i adapted too.

  “There's enough room on the left hand side to put a bedroom before the bathroom. It wouldn’t be that big though, maybe room for a double bed and your dressing table from upstairs? If you needed more room we’d have to dig down another floor which, I’d have to get back to you on the feasibility of it.” I looked up to Cath and saw her blink at my response.

  “You mean, you’d just do it? Like that?” Cath snapped her fingers to emphasise her point.

  I shrugged. “Your comforts not a small issue, if you want to sleep in a bed during the day then we can make that work. If you realise after that it’s not all it’s cracked up to be and want to return to a coffin, then we will have a spare room. We could find use for it.”

  Cath sped to me quickly giving me a hug before disengaging just as quick. “Thank you, I’d like that whenever you can. Can you imagine that I’ve been working up the courage to ask and plead my case for five years now?”

  “Then you're a fool for not asking sooner.” I paused before adding. “Actually it will cost you though.”

  Cath looked at me suspiciously. “Cost what?”

  “Get your own thrall then I’ll get a contractor in.”

  Cath shook her head as if weighing the pros and cons before looking back with a smile. “Deal.”

  With that Cath walked over to her grey coffin lifting the lid and sliding inside. Taking off my jacket and kicking my boots off, I looked back to my phone seeing we had minutes to sunrise for the day. Looking to the lighter brown coffin Isabel usually slept in when she stayed and headed over to it. Lifting the lid I climbed in myself resting my head on the cushion. The new role was going to eat up more of my time than I’d like, but I suppose time was something I had the most of anyway. Breathing in as the sunrise my st thought was of Isabel’s smile.