“Keep the change.” The man winked at me, suggestively, as he put the twenty pound note into my hand. The takeaway cost nineteen pounds fifty but to see the self-satisfied expression on his face, you’d think he’d given me a tenner tip.
I smiled weakly back at him. “Thanks”
He grabbed the takeaway bag from my hands and shut the door in my face. I turned around and descended the stairs of the large, terraced house. I’d parked my bike on the street, directly outside. Looking at my phone, I reminded myself where my next delivery was. I had to be quick. My bike could fit two deliveries inside the seat. I’d delivered one but if I didn’t make it there before the other one cooled down, my pay would be docked. The next stop was in Angel, quite a distance from where I was now. Quickening my pace, I jumped onto the bike and put my helmet back on.
Speeding off along the wide street, I passed a group of teenagers, dressed in Halloween costumes. I half-smiled. I’d been so absorbed by my problems, I’d forgotten that it was Halloween on Monday. Any other year, I probably would’ve been going out to a Halloween party myself tonight. But this year I couldn’t afford it. Friday nights were the busiest for takeaways and I had to accept as much Eatsapp work as I could, until I found another day job. After lunch with Conor, I’d spent the rest of the afternoon applying for jobs online. I wasn’t fussy. Whatever brought in money and wasn’t sordid, or illegal, I’d do it. Hell, I’d even applied for garbage collection jobs. It was only a small step up from the work I’d been doing for Xavier’s, cruddy, CBD start up anyway.
Stopping at some traffic lights, I pulled my collar up closer around my neck. The air was particularly biting tonight. Perhaps it was time to start wearing my winter thermals. Gripping the handles of my scooter, I revved the engine as the traffic lights changed. It started to rain and I cursed, opening my visor, before it started fogging up. Riding through rain, at night, presented a serious challenge and the last thing I needed was to end up having an accident.
Zooming up City Road, I looked at the street signs. The address was near here. Perhaps I should stop on the main road. Theft of scooters was common in London and parking on a quiet side street would be an open invitation. As I was considering it, a dark shape, in an alleyway, down one of the side streets, caught my attention.
What is that?
The delivery address was close enough that I could walk the rest of the way. So I switched off my engine and parked on the main road. My eyes were still on the dark shape. It was person-shaped and moving. I took off my helmet as I walked a little closer. Something about this made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. And there was that taste again. A metallic, rusty flavour that tainted my taste buds.
Oh no, not again!
I knew what was coming next. Sure enough, my breathing increased and my muscles tensed. Lights started swirling around my head as rage pooled in my chest. I’d been right, my episodes were getting stronger and more frequent. The rain got heavier and I blinked it away, struggling to make out what I was seeing. Then I reared back with embarrassment. It was a couple, making out. They were going pretty hard and heavy, the woman’s head was thrown back and I heard her gasp as the man’s lips locked onto her neck.
That’s some love bite he’s giving her.
I looked down and was about to turn away when suddenly the woman screamed. I dropped my helmet in surprise. My head whipped back up and my entire body tensed. In a flash I realised, he wasn’t kissing her, he was attacking her. That was no scream of pleasure: that was a scream of pain. I didn’t hesitate. Finally, it was time to put my violent tendencies to good use. This was what I’d been training for. There was no way I was going to walk on by while a woman was being attacked.
Clenching my fists, I sprang into action. I darted into the alley and stood before them, my body squared off and ready to fight. “Get off her. Right now.”
The man growled and removed his mouth from the woman’s neck. He was wearing fangs and fake blood dripped from his mouth. She’d also put fake blood and a fake wound on her neck. It was very convincing. It was a shame they hadn’t made more of an effort with the rest of their Halloween costumes but I had to hand it to them for dressing as a couple. A vampire and his victim - nice touch.
The woman looked at me and spluttered in terror. “Help me. Please!”
I cocked my head and looked at the man. “You heard the lady. I think she wants you to leave her alone.”
He looked at me and snarled. This guy was really going full-on method acting with this vampire thing. I was impressed at his commitment.
“Back away, bitch. This is none of your business.” His turned back to the woman, as if I was no more significant than an ant. The woman screamed again and tried to push him off her.
I inhaled and centred my stance. If this guy wanted to go a few rounds, he’d picked the wrong delivery lady, on the wrong night. There was no way, I was letting this rapist simply go back to his rapey business. “Right, that does it. I’m giving you one more warning. Take your hands off the lady. Step away from her, or I’ll make you.” All at once, my rage started to lift and a feeling of clarity descended upon me. I assessed his physique and started figuring out the best way to take him down. I’d sparred with guys bigger than him before. Sure, he had the advantage of size, but I’d bet he hadn’t seen the inside of a gym in a long, long time. I’d bet even more that he’d never done any fight training.
He looked at me dismissively. Then his expression changed. He stared deeply into my face. His eyes took on a haunting, glassy quality which I found strangely mesmerising. When he spoke again, his voice was soft and lilting - almost comforting. “Walk away. You were never here. You never saw me here. You will have no memory of any of this.”
I creased my eyes at him. “Listen, dude. Whatever ‘David Blaine’ hypnosis shit you’re into, it’s not working on me. So I say again: leave the lady alone or I will hurt you. I may not look like much but believe me, I can bring the pain.”
The man shook his head slightly and blinked at me, as if offended. “Oh, will you just fuck off!”
He may as well have pressed the big red button, painted with the words, ‘nuclear detonator - do not press’.
I launched myself at him, flying through the air like a cannon ball. As I leapt, patterns of light swirled around me and once again, I tasted something metallic. Time seemed to slow down and as it did, I saw lights that I hadn’t seen before. The lights I normally saw were orange but these were silvery and they seemed to be coming from the man. I felt my face crease with confusion but I was simultaneously seized by an instinct I couldn’t understand. I had a powerful urge to open my mouth. It was a feeling I couldn’t suppress or ignore. I opened my mouth and the silvery light poured into me. It felt gloopy and warm, as if it was a physical substance. A feeling of raw energy flooded my body and I felt more confident than I ever had done before. I landed in front of him, crouching in a lunge. My fists touched the ground, supporting my weight on straight arms. I flexed my muscles and twisted my neck. It clicked and cracked as my shoulders rippled with force. Power surged through me. I sensed that I was stronger, faster, more agile. It was a feeling I’d yearned for my entire life and now here it was. I felt invincible. I raised my head and looked at the man from beneath my brow. I cocked my head to the side and smiled. Then I pounced on him.
Consumed by blood lust, I sank my fingernails deep into his flesh. He responded by slashing at my forearm, creating a nasty gash. Blood blossomed from my wound but I didn’t care. I was dimly aware of the woman screaming beside us as she sank to the ground. But I wasn’t focused on her. All my attention was on the man. I had him in my grasp and he was going to pay for attacking a woman. I’d make him suffer. I wasn’t a little girl anymore and I would never stand by and watch, mutely, ever again. I opened my mouth, baring my teeth, like a wild animal. I was a predator and he was my prey.
Then I caught sight of the man’s eyes. His fake teeth must have fallen off as his canines were normal now. He looked at me with an expression of unbridled terror. Grabbing me around the waist, he slammed me into the wall sideways. He pressed one cold, clammy hand against the side of my head and ground it into the wall. I growled at him. He clenched his fingers into my hair, pulled my head back and smashed it into the wall, once more. I saw stars but it only added to my fury. Then with, what seemed like a colossal effort, he wrenched himself free of me and sprinted off. I whirled around, my muscles primed to follow him. But he was already out of sight. He moved faster than anyone I’d ever seen.
How is he doing that?
Had I imagined how fast he’d moved? I was certainly feeling a little strange. I was clearly having another episode But it was unlike any episode I’d ever had before. As I watched him disappear, into the night, I caught sight of a woman, on top of the building opposite. In spite of the darkness, I could make out her every feature. She was as small as a child, with bobbed, dark hair and an expression of grim determination. She stood, watching me, her coat flapping open in the wind. Our eyes met for a moment and some kind of understanding passed between us. It was as if I knew this woman. She felt like family and yet, I was certain, I had never seen her before. I watched as she leapt, through the skyline, onto the adjacent building and then bounded off, over the rooftops. I rubbed my eyes in disbelief.
This night is getting stranger and stranger.
Now that the man had gone, exhaustion took over me. And something else - disorientation. He’d hit my head pretty hard and my vision was blurring. I had a pounding headache. I touched my head and felt something warm and sticky. Bringing my fingers down, towards my face, I saw they were wet with blood. Shaking my head, I blinked and tried to come back to myself. I looked down at the woman, slumped in the dirty, wet gutter. She cowered away from me. “P…p… please, don’t hurt me.”
I looked at her, in confusion, and took a step forward. My legs felt shaky. My former strength and power had completely deserted me and I realised I probably had concussion.
“Please. I have children.” She held her hands in front of her face to shield herself.
“I’m not going to hurt you, lady. I was helping you. It’s that guy you need to worry about. Mr. Rapey McRapeFace.”
She began to shake, tears were rolling down her face. “Wh…whatever you say. Just please, let me go. I won’t tell anyone wh.. what you are.”
“What do you mean, what I am?”
“Exactly. I won’t tell anyone.”
I had no idea what she was talking about. Perhaps she’d had too much to drink. Highly likely, on a Friday night, in London. Or maybe she was just crazy. I played along with her delusion. “Okay, yeah, sure. Don’t tell anyone.”
She got up slowly, trembling all the while. Clutching her handbag close to her chest, like a protective shield, she sidestepped her way out of the alley, as if exiting a tiger’s cage. She kept her eyes on me the entire time. It was almost as if she expected me to attack her. I couldn’t believe how weird she was acting. I’d just saved her from a sexual predator and she was acting as if I was the one she should be scared of. As soon as she was clear of me, she ran off, in the opposite direction, to my bike. She was running as if her life depended on it. I stared at her back, feeling detached and numb. I was probably in shock.
At that moment, I remembered the takeaway, still in my bike and my chest deflated. It would be ice cold by now and my pay would be docked. Could this night get any worse? That’s what I get for helping someone.
As I put my hand up and pulled it down my face, I felt something wet touch my nose. It was then that I remembered my forearm. I looked at it. There was a nasty gash that was dripping blood all over the pavement. As I looked at the blood, my vision started to blur. I panicked as I realised I wouldn’t even be able to make it to the hospital. I was already feeling weak. I swooned and put my hands on my knees to steady myself. Gritting my teeth, I fumbled in my pocket for my phone. My heart was thumping as I dialled 999.
The operator answered and I heard her curt voice ask, “what service please?”
“Ambulance, corner of City Road and Oakley…” I didn’t make it to the end of my sentence. Darkness clouded my eyes and my vision shrank to the size of a pinprick as I sank to the floor, unconscious.