When I woke up, the cabin of the plane was dark but the roar of the engines was gone. Lily's white face glowed in the ghostly light of the laptop screen across the aisle from me. I stretched out on the couch, noticing the windows were shut. I pushed one open, a bright beam of light pierced the cabin.
"Shut that," she hissed at me.
I immediately slammed it shut, "Sorry," I offered quietly, standing up, "I forgot. What exactly does it do to you?"
Her eyes briefly flickered over to me as I sat down across from her; she continued to work on the computer while talking, "A lot of the old myths are true. Sunlight will kill a vampire; third generation on down the effect is almost immediate. Their skin bursts into flames and they burn hot and for a long time until they are nothing but a pile of ashes. Death's vampires can withstand a small amount—I've been exposed to a full minute before and remained conscious, though it took me almost a month to fully recover. Anything longer and it just depends on the strength of the vampire; older ones don't burn but turn into a pile of dust."
"That sounds like a horrible way to go," I said.
She nodded, "Probably the worst. At least getting shot in the head or decapitated is quick and if a vampire gets drained by another there is at least a euphoric feeling from the venom." Fixated on her task, she picked up a phone and dialed a number; it wasn't her usual phone but looked like a new one. When I saw the box for it, as well as one for the laptop, I figured she must have had someone grab her new electronics so she couldn't be tracked.
I left her to her phone call and went into the bathroom to freshen up. It was tiny but about three times larger than any airplane bathroom I had seen. I pissed, washed my face and brushed my teeth, wetting my hair to try to bring some life back into it. I wanted a shower and to change my clothes but I imagined that I'd have to wait until tomorrow before that was going to happen. It was going to be a long night.
When I got back into the cabin I heard Lily's voice speaking on the phone but it was unusual—chipper, flirtatious, not angry.
"I realize that it is short notice, Mr. Keller but surely you have some available? How many? Well ideally, I'd like at least thirty, both men and women. I'd be willing to pay twice your advertised fee of course and I will provide transportation to and from. An extra thousand? Oh, Mr. Keller, you do drive a hard bargain. Well...all right. I suppose I can make that work. I'll have limos over to pick them up by 7 pm. A pleasure doing business with you too, thank you." She hung up the phone and dialed another number.
"Yes, this is Mrs. Smith, we spoke earlier? I'd like four stretch for the evening. I'll email you the pickup and drop off address. Return services? No, no one will need a ride back. Thank you."
My brow crinkled, "What was that?"
She glanced up briefly, "A diversion."
As soon as the sun set we were out of the plane and loading bags into the back of a black SUV. It was brand new—the dealer's plates were being taken off by a man wearing a polo, swapping them with a pair that Lily dug out from a bag.
He looked at her curiously, "I appreciate the sale, ma'am, but if these aren't valid..."
She smiled at him, handing him a wad of cash, "For your discretion."
He hesitated before taking the money and stuffing it into his pocket. He said nothing more but put the new plates on the vehicle.
I threw my bag in the back, almost shutting the door on Jinx as he hopped up into the back seat and over my stuff. I went to get into the passenger's seat only to discover a steering wheel; Lily stood beside me, waiting for me to move.
"Right," I said, circling around the vehicle to get into the opposite side. It felt very weird.
I tried to look out at the countryside as it flew by at however many kilometers an hour—I wasn't sure of the conversion rate—but it seemed like a blur, "Where are we?"
"Just outside of Newcastle," she replied. I had no idea where that was. When I didn't respond, she added, "Lucas lives in a small village in Northumberland. We're closer to Scotland than London, if that helps."
It did, a little. Ever since I was working on that dreadfully long paper on the history of Scotland I had started to develop a crush on the determined resilience of the people. I thought about going, after I was done with my Master's; now I was so close but even less sure if I would get to see the rolling country side than I was back in Cali.
After about half an hour, she slowed down.
"Are we getting close?" I asked; Jinx was in my lap, twitching his tale.
"Meow," he almost barked out.
"No," Lily said, squinting her eyes, "there's an accident ahead."
In a few minutes we rolled up to it. When the SUV's high beams lit up the two cars, it was clear that the crash was bad. The front of a red car was smashed in, glass shattered and I saw the air bag hanging out of the broken window. The other was a newer truck, which must have been clipped by the car crossing the line. It was more or less whole though the bumper was demolished and the windshield had a gaping hole in it. There was blood around the broken glass.
"Stay here," Lily growled at me when she threw the SUV into park. She got out and trotted over to the scene. I watched her jump and slide over the top of the red car before disappearing into the darkness.
