Page 131 of The Diary of the Vam'pir Jacques

Undoubtedly, Ranson felt that someone was watching him because he lifted his head and began glancing around. Quickly, I turned away before Ranson’s gaze fell upon me. I sensed Ranson glance at me before returning to drinking with his mates. Clever bugger sat with his back to the wall so he could see the crowd.

I did not turn round to watch Ranson again, as I didn’t want him to realise he was being followed. That would make the chase tedious, and Ranson’s friends might intervene. They were guilty of shit too, but they were for tomorrow’s hunt. I had no grudgeagainst them tonight. Disappearing six men in one night would raise questions.

Instead, I turned my scrutiny to the barmaid who had served me. A guy called her name: Eden.

The pub wasn’t that busy, as it was still early in the evening. I observed curiously as she talked to one of the regulars. Something about Eden caught my regard, and I paid closer attention.

I liked how Eden genuinely laughed at a joke he told and the way she was friendly but reserved towards him. Eden was only young, twenty-three, perhaps twenty-four.

Then shock swamped me as Eden turned towards me. Luckily, Eden was not looking at me because I couldn’t control my reaction. Eden turned back to serve the drink, but that brief glimpse was enough for me to recognise her.

Elizabeth!

The features were different, but there was no doubt that it was Elizabeth’s soul reborn. I was unaware of how long I sat there, stunned and lost in memories. The next thing I knew was Eden asking me if I wanted another drink.

Dumbly, I nodded, and then she looked into my eyes.

Recognition flickered on Eden’s face, to be replaced by puzzlement.

“Do I know you?” Eden asked, serving a whisky.

“In another lifetime.”

Eden laughed. “That’s original.”

“What?”

“The chat up line. I’m married, mate,” Eden proclaimed, waving a ring under my nose.

That problem could soon be resolved.

“I see. Still, I maintain we were acquainted.”

“That’s much appreciated, but I’m happily wed.”

Somehow, the statement rang false, and I stared into Eden’s eyes. Unhappiness was prevalent, and I guessed she was lying.

“Congratulations, I’m happy for you,” I said.

Eden smiled as she took my money and turned away. Spellbound, I watched her walk down to the end of the bar to serve someone else. Eden was playing havoc with my self-control, as I wanted to blurt everything out. But I had learnt from Julia about obsessive love and knew that I should leave.

Ranson saved me by leaving the pub. With a sigh of relief, I followed Ranson and caught him in the car park at Vicarage Fields.

Ranson put up bit of a fight but was no match for brute strength. Deftly, I drained him and took his body to the tunnels in Mayesbrook Park. Dumping him down one of them, I sauntered home to my small home in Dagenham.

Returning to the pub tempted me, yet I resisted. Eden was nothing like Elizabeth in appearance, yet she seemed so familiar. Eden also would have a different personality to Elizabeth, that was to be expected.

Elizabeth and Eden may share the same soul, but they were different people, and I had to remember that.

On reaching my modest house, I let myself in and sat all night, lost in happy memories of Elizabeth. I recalled Elizabeth’s laugh and smile and how she would look when she said she loved me. The first time we met was a sharp memory and how it had led to a great love affair.

Tragically, I also remembered Elizabeth dying and my heart breaking. Dare I get involved with a mortal again? Elizabeth’s soul had broken my heart once, and I had never fully recovered. Often, in my darkest, loneliest moments, I’d daydreamed of holding Elizabeth in my arms. I would come alert, sobbing and feeling an emptiness that I had not suffered since Inka left.

But the image of the barmaid and the unhappiness in Eden’s eyes kept interrupting my thoughts. Eventually, I resolved not to see Eden again, but deep down, I sensed we would meet somewhere down the line.

That meeting came sooner than expected and actually happened the next day. And it was Eden who found me.

I had popped up to the Roundhouse shops (the apex of Lodge Avenue and Porters Ave) and left the post office when I heard a friendly voice.

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