Dark Love by M. D. Bowden Page A

Daniel think?
They had not discussed it yet. Sarah immediately began to feel
excited, and her tears stopped falling. She thought of London and
all the historical buildings she would love to see, and of rolling
hills, oak trees, old churches and country lanes.
    She sped up her
untangling and washed off the conditioner and bubbles, scrubbing at
the dirt and blood beneath her nails. She got out of the shower and
wrapped herself in towels, eager to talk to Daniel. But before she
did, she would have to clean her mouth for it felt disgusting. She
picked up Daniel’s toothbrush from a cup by the sink and squeezed a
substantial amount of toothpaste on, determined that she would be
thoroughly clean before seeing him again.
    She stepped out
of the bathroom, accompanied by a cloud of steam, not feeling as
shy as the last time she was there. Daniel was before her, standing
by the bed. He had a large backpack on the covers, that he was just
strapping shut. She smiled at him as he looked up, not managing to
hide her excitement.
    Daniel smiled
at her, obviously enchanted by her good mood.
    ‘Daniel,’ she
started, tentatively.
    ‘Go on,’ he
said, still smiling.
    He was looking
rumpled and dirty, but not in a right state like she had been.
    ‘Can we go to
England?’
    ‘England, eh?
Why not. I have been there before but not for a long time.’
    ‘Oh yes, didn’t
you say you went to University there? Was that the truth? - I know
you said it before I knew you were a vampire,’ Sarah said.
    ‘I did go to
University there, but not to study. I originally went to college
near New Orleans when I was human. I went to England when I was
following Sebastian. He chose to torment the University in the town
of York, in northern England, so that’s where I went too. Maybe we
could go somewhere different in England, somewhere I’ve never been.
I’ve been meaning to talk to you actually . . .’ Daniel said.
    Sarah sat on
the edge of the bed, ‘About what?’ she asked, happy that they
really could go to England. She was going to get to travel! After
England maybe they could go somewhere completely different, like
Africa or Antarctica. They could go anywhere they wanted to.
    ‘Well, I feel
like I need to do something to help people, to make up for fact
that I sometimes need to weaken them by taking their blood,’ Daniel
said.
    Sarah nodded
encouragingly, enamored that he cared so much for humans.
    ‘I was
wondering about choosing to live somewhere where people are in
trouble, where they need our help.’
    ‘What kind of
trouble, do you mean supernatural?’ Sarah asked, and saw Daniel nod
in return, awaiting her response. ‘If we decided to do that, how
would we find such a place?’ she asked him.
    ‘I’m not sure,
but there are ways - news reports, missing people, that kind of
thing. I could scan the papers and internet when we arrive in
London, and look out for stories that just don’t seem right. Then
we could find somewhere to live near there. It would need to be
somewhere rural though, so you wouldn’t be seeing many people. I
would need to be able to help you learn control away from too much
temptation.’
    What Daniel
said intellectually made sense. Sarah did want to help people, and
she wanted to learn more about the supernatural. In such a short
time she had discovered vampires, magic, ghosts and possession. She
shivered at the thought of what else might be out there, and felt
intrigued at the same time. If anyone could help people in trouble
it was Daniel, he was talented and had managed to destroy
Sebastian. And he could teach her - she would be strong too, she
would learn how to fight, learn how not to hurt people, and
maybe even learn some magic.
    ‘Yes,’ she
said, seeing Daniel’s eyes snap to hers, searching her for doubt.
‘I think we should do that, I want to learn to help people
too.’
    ‘Great, thank
you. I know it’s not what you had in mind,’ he said.
    ‘I didn’t
really have anything in mind, this