Page 65Lucky guess

The phone buzzing woke me up and scared me. It wasn't just my skin that was sensitive, but also my mind. The fact that I still kept it in my pockets and it was vibrating against my legs, did little to lessen the scare it gave me. I knew who it was, or presumed I did. It actually was good to pull me together again. I had walked to the shower in the meantime to wash my side with water, but first I picked up.

"Yes?" I did my best to not betray anything in my voice.

"Are you able to deliver?"

"Yes."

"Same house you met her." And she hung up.

Apparently it was very important, if Seriph wanted me to deliver it to her personally. Of course it might partly be because I already met her or if she was curious to see if I'd done it correctly. I cleaned up my side and wondered if I should change clothes. It was a good idea to do so, but the wound wasn't fully closed yet.

It was better to change. There was an old first aid kit in the small kitchen with a few plasters. It wasn't much, but it should be enough to keep it from bleeding. There was a bandage at well, but it looked absolutely foul. I decided to put a few of them over it, rather then just one. It was still a bit crap though. To make the picture competed (and feel better) I changed into my better pants as well. I really had to buy more spare clothes. I did feel better now that the bullet was gone though.

It was almost as if I could feel my body heal in the inside.

I still didn't feel comfortable leaving the diary in the house, so I put my backpack back on after all of this. There was no blood on it, completely intact. Good thing. The box didn't fit in it though, so I held it in my hands while I went outside.

Moving wasn't too bad, but I decided not to use the roofs for once. It actually took me some effort to get the right direction. But, eventually and not feeling too bad in my side. It still wasn't nice, but the blood I'd had was really helping me out. In fact, I wondered how fast I would have healed without it. It might not even have been needed to drink blood as such, that it was just a reflex. And I guess I was 'unlucky' with where I got shot. As the bullet got quite deep.

No matter now.

The front door in the mansion was open, not entirely unexpected. The house felt silent and empty again and, when I found Seriph in the same room, there wasn't even a laptop this time. Just a candle. She looked up calmly in the light and smiled at the box itself. She stood up carefully and suddenly stopped.

"You're hurt."

I felt surprise going through me, trying to hide it. "I'm fine."

She sniffed the air, then she appeared to look at me in full concentration. Her eyes widened in a sort of amazement. "So you did got hit."

I blinked, she must have heard about the break in or something. "I'm fine, really."

She let the subject go, it seemed, and asked for the box. I gave it to her and watched as she held it in her nimble fingers and moved it around. She opened it, using her nails to undo the tape that held it closed, and looked inside. She nodded after confirming the contents, apparently happy with it. She placed it on the same table that held the laptop the last time. The slight layer of dust on it suggested it hadn't been used since.

"Amy, can I still guess what you are?"

I couldn't help but smile, with all of this, it was still on her mind. "Sure." Why not.

She looked at me again. "You appear to be wounded in your side, standing slightly ill at ease. And it doesn't look like it was a flesh-wound either, a scratch wouldn't have you move like that." She spoke almost dreamlike, as if she allowed me to hear her thoughts while she was thinking.

"A regenerator?" She looked at me expectantly.

I wasn't sure what to answer. "Eh... Kind of I guess."

She smiled. "I know there's something simple I'm missing here."

She smelled the air.

Then again.

Finally she stepped closer and smelled me again.

The most unusual comment. "You don't smell."

I wasn't sure what to think of it, it was like she wasn't sure how else to bring it. There was some doubt in her voice as well, as if she wasn't believing what she was saying. Her voice was very precise when she spoke next.

"I can smell your clothes, the light smell of blood and even some light fragrances of soap in your hair. But you're strangely lacking in smell."

It occurred to me that vampire skin was probably a lot more solid than normal skin. It didn't (need to?) renew itself. Same with hairs, I never saw any hairs around me that had fallen out. Probably if any did, they'd grow back soon enough. What would happen with the hairs that fell off, would they decompose?

How far did vampirism go?

Of course it might be a defense mechanism from old, like said before. To avoid being traced by trackers in any way. It wasn't like vampires had been very popular throughout the ages (certain teenage groups notwithstanding).

I was so curious to what Seriph was thinking, that I imagined myself hearing shards of her thoughts. Scattered, surprisingly fast, going everywhere. But some larger thoughts were forming, thoughts that led to conclusions and derived conclusions. Little thread that wove into a complete carpet of comprehension.

"A werewolf?"

I couldn't help but laugh. For some reason it felt like so close, but yet so far. Though, perhaps, my somewhat more feral nature had some part to play in her assumptions. It wasn't too far off. Seriph's response to my laughter was kind of interesting as well. Rather than being affronted or amused by my laughter, she found it interesting and curious.

I still smiled though. "No, not a werewolf." After I calmed down a little. "May I ask something?"

Seriph nodded.

"Why all of this?"

She smiled. "Boredom. And I suppose because I can."

"And specifically?"

She looked at me for a moment. "Security."

"How?"

Seriph just smiled mysteriously.

She's hard to place sometimes.