“But,” said Amanda, who despite her exhausted state felt as if she had to share an idea that had been troubling her, “if it wasn’t someone from the Tunnels, where could the attacker have come from? You know, when Milch told me his story, it really made me wonder if there were any links to Brenden’s case. An attack out of nowhere in the same little town. Sure, there’s always the chance that it could have been one of the shadow walkers, or something else entirely, but I don’t know. It’s just that when Milch said about how he’d been left behind, just like Brenden, without any thought about the fact that the body would be discovered.”
“Could just be a coincidence, of course.”
“But, there’s something else that I’ve been asking myself about Brenden’s attack, something that could also associate it to Milch’s,” continued Amanda without listening to Adam. “Perhaps you can help me with this. Everyone knows that you’re one of the people with the most knowledge about the characteristics of the undead.”
“Go on,” replied Adam, happy to accept the compliment.
“The thing is, Brenden was attacked by someone who was not wearing any shoes. Brenden didn’t mention anything about the man looking particularly out of his luck. What I mean is, he said nothing about his clothes being shabby. In fact, Brenden even said the man reminded him a little of his own father because of his lack of shoes. It just made me wonder, how long would a vampire be affected by his hunger to the extent that he would happily wander around in a muddy field without thinking of his feet?”
“Is this not a question that a vampire such as yourself could answer?” said Adam with a chuckle.
“Strangely no. I don’t think I’ve ever really got to the point where I was wholly under the influence of the hunger.”
“This may come as a little surprise, then. The hunger comes in waves; during the troughs, a vampire will be able to control their actions to a fairly normal degree. At the times when the hunger is at its peak, poor creatures such as yourself will be unable to resist the desire to attack or track down the closest source of blood. What’s important to note here is that I say it is the desire to attack or to hunt. This is vital for understanding the nature of vampires. It is only during the height of the peaks, while truly tormented, that a vampire will lose almost all of their rational faculties. Otherwise, they would probably only lose control over themselves when in close enough proximity to someone - or in some cases, something - living. This is rather fortunate, otherwise, life in the Tunnels would be the hell that I believe you may consider it to be. So, to answer your question, a vampire would only probably be under the full weight of his hunger for half an hour, to an hour, depending on the individual.”
“So, he couldn’t have got that far before realising what he was doing?”
“It depends, partly on the will of the individual, and partly on the extremity of the hunger. However, I believe it to be the case that a vampire will always eventually overcome the internal battle against the desire to feed, as long as they want to. In some cases, potential victims may even have enough time to escape, if they correctly identify in time that they are in danger.”
“Amanda.” Adam and Amanda were pulled out of their conversation by a familiar voice. They turned to the doorway to see Ms Halford standing there. “Amanda, your room is ready.”
Chapter 5
In the darkness of the side-passage beside 53 Balfour Lane, in a position that afforded a more than adequate view of the O’Hare residence opposite, there stood a lone figure. He had been keeping an eye on the house over the road for at least a couple of days, unnoticed by Mary despite her habit of checking whether anyone was paying any attention to her as she went about the occasional tasks that drew her outside. He had mainly been able to avoid detection due to the cover provided by the large and newly painted yellow skip; the piles of paving stones and the assortment of other materials that sat outside number 53; and as the house beside him was undergoing considerable refurbishment, meaning Mary had little reason to suspect that someone would be keeping an eye on her from the property. A different individual than the one keeping a watch on the O’Hare household may have even taken up a temporary residence within the house, but this one had not. He enjoyed the feeling of the rain, the wind and the cold on his skin; it almost reminded him of being alive.
During the time he had been watching the house, he had closely followed the times of the comings and goings of Mary as she made her occasional forays into the world outside, as well as keeping track of her movements within the house as best he could. Just like the two nights before, the light of one of the top floor windows went out at exactly half past nine.
The figure smiled. He was pleased to find that this woman, who he had found over the course of his time watching her to be a creature of habit, had once again lived up to what he expected of her. Indeed, so content was he with his perception of her character that he had decided that it was almost the right time to act.
After an hour of waiting, quite long enough he was sure for
