Vampyrrhic Rites by Clark Simon

Author:Clark, Simon [Clark, Simon]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
Publisher: Endeavour Venture
Published: 2015-09-10T16:00:00+00:00

16.4

Bernice Mochardi found herself in the legal quarter round Aldwych. Here the streets were wide and windy. They were deserted, even though it was barely nine o’clock. The winter’s night had driven pedestrians into taxis or onto buses.

What are you going to do ? she asked herself. Walk round London all night ? Go home . Go to bed .

But restlessness kept Bernice moving. She had to do something that would ease this sense of edginess that crackled through her like electricity.

I’m wearing a short skirt , she thought with a sudden thrill. I could unfasten my coat and then stand on a street corner . How long before a car stops and a stranger asks me to climb in ? How would the conversation go ?

He’d ask , ‘ How much do you charge ? ’

‘ Less than you’d think . ’

‘ You’re beautiful . ’

‘ Thank you . Shall we go back to my place ?’

He grins . ‘ Right here in the car will do . ’ He pulls a knife from under the dashboard . ‘ OK , beautiful lady , say Ah.’

Idiot , she scolded herself. I’m thinking all kinds of nonsense just to distract myself . But I feel so tense . If I went back home I couldn’t sit still . What’s happening to me ?

As Bernice crossed back over the street her mobile rang. Pulling it from her coat pocket she thumbed the answer button. Drops of rain fell onto the screen, obscuring the caller’s name.

‘Sorry… who’s this?’ She caught her breath in something closer to shock than surprise. ‘David. David Leppington? I haven’t seen you in months.’

‘It’s a good job you kept your old mobile number,’ he told her. ‘I couldn’t reach you on your home number.’

‘I’ve moved since then. Itchy feet, I guess. For some reason I only stay in a flat a few months before, well, you know…’

David sounded serious. ‘I know the feeling.’

‘How are you keeping?’

‘Fine. But I think you know that this isn’t a social call, Bernice.’

‘I guessed there’d be something more.’

And now I know why I’ve felt so restless . They call it prescience … an intuitive and unconscious premonition of future events . So when he asked the question she said yes. She didn’t even have to think through the implications.

‘Yes, I’ll come,’ she told him. ‘We’re going by train?’

‘By car. I’ll pick you up from home in the morning. All I need is your new address.’

She gave it to him.

‘I know the road,’ he told her. ‘Call it coincidence, but it seems as if we’ve ended up living close to one another.’

Bernice gave a dry laugh. ‘Not coincidence. I think someone, somewhere, was telling us to stick close together.’

‘I’ll see you tomorrow morning at seven. OK?’

‘No problem. Wait a minute — does Electra know I’m coming up to Leppington with you?’

‘No.’

‘Any reason why not?’

‘She wouldn’t want you to come.’ David’s voice grew even more serious. ‘She’d claim it was too dangerous.’

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