Skye

Skye comes from my forthcomng novel, Reborn (written as C. B. Hennefer), OUT THIS MONTH! Once again, a chance encounter changes Miranda's life: but, unlike the last time, this is something completely human.

She sighed contentedly as she gazed at the sea loch, sipping slowly at the glass of Talisker in her hand. Diana had been right, she needed a break, some time to think things over, reconnect with herself. And what better place than the Isle of Skye. Looking to her side, she saw the mountains, towering high above, their jagged peaks as sharp as her fangs, magnificent in their ageless grandeur. This place always soothed her soul, helped her see what mattered… and what didn’t… helped her figure out what life was all about.

Did she still have a soul? Had she ever had one? According to Smith, she just had a different kind of metabolism now: nothing else had changed. Nothing except the fact she had to kill every nine or ten days.

She’d fed before she left Edinburgh: an old paedophile who’d murdered three sisters from the same family. He’d tasted awful, but it meant she had more than a week before she had to worry about feeding again, giving her some time to relax in this beautiful haven of natural splendour.

She watched the sun slowly sinking behind the hills, her dark glasses protecting her eyes. As dusk was falling, she got to her feet and walked back to the hotel. They were still serving in the hikers’ bar, so she went in and ordered another whisky then took it to a seat by the window, where she could look out to sea as the dark gathered. With her enhanced vision, she could see the distant islands as clearly as if she was using a telescope at noon on a summer’s day.

“You mind if I join you?”

She looked up. He was handsome, early forties she’d guess, with short, brown hair and soft, puppy dog eyes. She liked him instantly.

“It’s the only seat by the window left,” he smiled, “and I do love watching the sea as the night falls.”

She smiled back and gestured at the empty bench opposite, “Sure, go ahead.”

“Thanks,” he sat down and they both gazed out of the window at the glorious scenery beyond. Neither of them spoke, but there was nothing uncomfortable about their silence: rather, she felt a warm sense of contentment in his presence.

The barman called last orders and her companion got to his feet. “Another?” he pointed at her empty glass.

“That would be nice,” she smiled, “thank you.” She didn’t normally accept drinks off strangers, but there was something magical about this place. And, besides, she was quite capable of looking after herself these days.

Returning to the table, he put the glasses down. “I got you a double, I hope that’s alright?”

“A quadruple would have been better,” she laughed softly, “but, thank you, that’s very kind. My name’s Miranda, by the way.”

“I’m Rob, pleased to meet you.”

She smiled back at him, “So, what’s a nice guy like you doing all on his own in a place like this?”

“Isn’t that my line?”

“Thought I’d beat you to it,” she laughed.

“So, you were expecting me to make a pass, were you?”

“Well, weren’t you?”

“No,” he laughed, “that’s not what I’m here for… I really did just want to watch the sea.”

“Oh, alright,” she shrugged.

“But, well, er… I mean, you are a beautiful woman… it’s not that I’m not, er… oh, shit, I’m not very good at this sort of thing,” he laughed again.

“I thought you were doing quite well… until you blew it with ‘oh shit’.”

“Yeah, not the best line, was it?”

“I’ll forgive you,” she smiled.

*

The sun was streaming through the window. It stung her eyes like someone was pushing needles into them. She scrambled around on the bedside table until she found her sunglasses, then quickly put them on. That was stupid, not closing the curtains before she got into bed, she should know better by now.

Getting up, she pulled on a bath robe and walked over to the kettle to make herself a cup of coffee. Looking back at the bed, she grimaced. Leaving the curtains open was far from the most stupid thing she’d done last night. What had she been thinking: anything could have happened; she could only put her stupidity down to the whisky.

But, then again, she smiled to herself, it had been bloody marvellous, the best night she’d had in a long time. And she hadn’t lost control… at least not in a vampire kind of way… it had been wonderful.

Making two cups of coffee, she put one on the bedside table next to Rob, still fast asleep, then carried the other over to the window, where she could sit in a chair, revelling in the stunning scenery outside. Watching the waves crashing onto the shore at the foot of the soaring mountains, she felt whole again, a complete woman once more.

She was sipping her second coffee when she heard him stir at last. He slid out of the bed, creeping across the room towards her, no doubt aiming to catch her by surprise. Softly, he placed his lips on her neck, kissing her gently. “Good morning,” he whispered, “how was your night?”

“My night was… fabulous,” she smiled, turning to look up at him, “how about you?”

“Oh well, you know,” he shrugged, “only the best night of my life.”

She laughed, “Don’t get too carried away, it was just the one night, you know.”

“Yeah,” he slid into the seat opposite, “but you gotta admit, it was pretty special.”

“It was,” she nodded, smiling back at him.

“So, you wanna go down for some breakfast, I’m famished.”

“No, er… er, not really… I’m not very hungry. You can go if you want.”

“Why do I get the feeling you want rid of me?”

“No, no… not at all. I’m just… well, I came here for some quiet time, I wanted to find myself again, you know. I never expected…”

“To get seduced in the bar?”

“Is that what happened, did you seduce me?”

He laughed, “I thought it was the other way around.”

“Was it? Or was it fate?”

“Yeah,” he nodded, “maybe it was. So, what have you got planned for today?”

“Well,” she gave him a wry little smile, “I see two possibilities.”

“OK, so what are they?”

“One, I might do the valley walk, all the way over to Loch Coruisk; it’s pretty spectacular.”

“And two?”

“Two, I might just stay here and make love to this hot guy I met last night.”

“Well, they both sound good,” he smiled, “maybe you could find a compromise, have the best of both worlds?”

“Like what?”

“We could climb Marsco, half way up the valley, then come back and make love all afternoon.”

“Hmmm,” she nodded, “I like compromises, sounds like a good plan.”

*

“It’s nearly eight,” said Rob.

“Yeah, so?”

“So, we’ve walked for miles, climbed nearly two and a half thousand feet, come back here, made love… twice. All of it was wonderful. But, don’t you think we ought to go and get some dinner?”

“You go if you want, I’m not hungry.”

“How can you still not be hungry after all we’ve done?”

“I’m er… I’m on this special diet. You have a week on and a week off. This is my week off.”

“You can’t go a whole week without eating.”

“Yeah, you can, you’ve just got to train yourself.”

“Christ, you’ve got some willpower, I don’t think I could do that. Look, I’ve got to get something to eat, you want to come with me?”

“I can’t eat.”

“Can you drink?”

“Yeah,” she laughed.

“Then, my dear Miranda, new found love of my life, will you accompany me to dinner this evening, where you may eat as little as you like?”

“Indeed I will, dear Robert, new found love of my life… as long as you buy me a good whisky.”

“It’s a deal,” he smiled.

*

They sat opposite each other at a table by the window of the lavish dining room filled with antique furniture, portraits of Bonnie Prince Charlie, sparkling crystal glasses, and polished silverware. She sipped her whisky while he devoured a steak dinner. She was jealous, it looked delicious.

“So, what do you do in Edinburgh?” he asked.

“I’m a counsellor, I have my own practice. I listen to people’s problems and… well, I do my best to fix them, though it’s not always easy. Actually, to be more accurate, the idea is to help them fix their own problems.”

“Hmmm,” he grimaced, “I doubt you’ll be able to fix my problem.”

“Try me,” she smiled.

“Well… I’ve always been good with numbers, always excelled at maths. But I never really knew how I could make a living out of it. I couldn’t really figure out what I wanted to do. My father suggested I ought to become a Chartered Accountant. I wasn’t sure, but I was running out of time, I needed to make a decision, needed to get a job. So, I joined a big accountancy firm. The training was dull, tedious work, but the exams were easy, I qualified at the first attempt, won prizes even. I settled into the kind of life I thought I was supposed to have, got married, had a couple of kids. But I realised it… well, it just wasn’t me, it wasn’t what I wanted. A couple of stupid affairs later, I was still wandering aimlessly, trying to find some kind of meaning to my life. But, you know, the trouble was,” he laughed, “while I knew what I didn’t want, I had no idea what I did want.”

“So, have you any idea now, are you any closer to working out what you want?”

“I think I might be, I think there’s finally some room for hope.”

“That’s good… so, what’s your problem?”

He reached forward, grasped her hands in his, and stared deep into her eyes, “My problem is, I live in London, my work’s in London, my kids are in London… and you’re in Edinburgh, hundreds of miles away. And, more than that, Miranda, I’ve fallen in love with you so hard, and so fast, I’m not sure if I should trust it.”

Releasing his hands, she sat back, shaking her head. Sighing deeply, she answered, “Neither am I, Rob.”

*

She paced up and down in the hotel room, trying to work out what to do. The last week had been wonderful, fantastic, the best week of her life. But it was built on lies. He didn’t know what she was, he didn’t know she was a monster, a killer. She could hide it for a week, but they couldn’t go on like that indefinitely, she would have to let him go, tell him it had been nothing more than a holiday romance, something that wasn’t meant to last. If she hurt him a little now, it would save him a lot more pain later on: save them both, in fact.

“So, here’s my address, my phone number, my mobile, and my email address… do you have email?”

“No, er… no, I don’t. Look, Rob, it’s been great, but…”

“But what?” he frowned; “I know it’s a long way from London to Edinburgh, I know it won’t be easy, but…”

“It’s more than that, Rob, it’s not just the distance, I…”

“What? Have you got someone else?”

“No, no, it’s not that.”

“What is it then? Look, I know it’ll be difficult, I know it might not work out; but don’t you think it’s worth trying… ’cause I feel like we’ve found something really special here, and I know there are some practical problems, but we ought to give it a go at least, don’t you think?”

“Rob, there are things about me you don’t know, I…”

“Sure,” he shrugged, “there’s loads we still need to learn about each other, we’ve barely scratched the surface. But isn’t that the best part: getting to know each other?”

“Oh God, Rob, I want us to work, I do, but…”

“Well, that’s settled then, we both want to try. And, if it doesn’t work out, there’ll be no hard feelings. Come on, Miranda, you know they always say the biggest regrets in life are the things you never did. Let’s do this, let’s give it a go.”

“Alright then,” she nodded at last, “but please, whatever happens… please understand I never wanted to hurt you.”