Blood Song

She walked towards me with hurried steps, and wrapped her arms around me, rocking us both back and forth. We sat like that on that leather couch in that library for what felt like ages, and eventually I could cry no more.

"My father's alive," I muttered into her shoulder.

"I know, sweetheart. Angus phoned Marcus just after he spoke to you. He was worried about you, and I promised to stay with you until we hear from him again. He told Marcus all about your father. Turns out you and I are related after all."

"Hmm," I said. I wasn't too sure how I felt about being Jack's granddaughter. Probably not too pleased, if I'm honest.

"Great Aunt Julia," she said in a speculative tone. "But you can call me Great for short."

I couldn't help but laugh then. It was more a reluctant chuckle than a laugh, but it was a start.

"OK, sleepyhead. I spent three hours last night listening to you snore and sorting through photographs. I expect some help from you now. I'm almost done, and I've found a couple of real shockers in amongst that lot. You had better help me figure them out."

"What's the time?" I asked in a gruff voice.

"Just after midnight. Come on. Coffee, and a mystery. What could be more exciting than that?"

I smiled at her enthusiasm, and pocketed the smart phone with its bleeping icon connecting me to Angus' tracker.

Please, please, let me see him again, I begged silently as I followed her to the kitchen.

Mark

I couldn't say exactly when the nails in my hands dissolved, but the clinking of a couple of metallic objects falling on the concrete floor woke me. I must have fallen asleep at some stage while I was debating whether or not to remove a couple more of Anne's thugs from existence. I had come to the conclusion that I really should not. If Anne ever decided that I was too dangerous to keep around, I was sure she wouldn't hesitate to either have me disabled in some way, or killed. I had been lucky to get away with two sudden deaths. One more might just add up to three too many.

When I tried to adjust the position of my arms, I was able to lift them right up off the armrests. I stood up then and went to lie on the cot. It was pitch black in that little room, cold and damp, the moonless night as dark and heavy as any horror movie. I shut my eyes for what it was worth, and tried to fit my six foot long body between the metal frames at the top and bottom of the bed. It was not a great success, but it was still more comfortable than that chair.