Within five minutes, I'd packed a rucksack with everything that I guessed I might need. If I'd had longer to think about Lady Hunt's offer, maybe I wouldn't have been so eager to go. But things in my life since returning from The Ragged Cove hadn't been the same.
Luke had left a hole somewhere inside of me, my dreams were plagued with images of my mother, nightmares haunted me day and night, and apart from Sparky, no one believed what had happened in The Ragged Cove. As I looked around at the piles of newspapers and the thousands of cuttings pinned to my wal, I knew deep down that I had to get away; but more than that, for the first time since leaving the Cove, I had a problem - something to solve - and that to me was irresistible.
With my rucksack hung over my shoulder, I switched out the light in my bedroom and closed the door behind me. Lady Hunt was standing and peering at the newspaper cuttings. Hearing me entering the room, she turned and smiled at me.
"Ready?" she asked.
"I guess," I said.
"Let's get going then."
I locked the door to my flat and folowed Lady Hunt down the stairs and out into the street. It was near dark, and parked by the curb was a sleek black Rols Royce Phantom. Its body glistened like glass in the darkness and in it I could see my own reflection.
Parked just in front of my Mini, or piece of junk as Potter had caled it, the Rols Royce looked like something from another planet. Lady Hunt was wealthier than I first realised. Oddly, the chauffeur stayed seated behind the wheel as Lady Hunt opened the back door for me to climb in. The interior of the car was upholstered in off-white leather, there were dark navy curtains at the windows, the glass in them was tinted, and a flat-screen T.V. hung down from the ceiling.
Lady Hunt closed the door shut behind me, walked round the rear of the vehicle and got in beside me. The vehicle purred into life and crawled away from the curb. I looked back at my flat and my little red Mini, and as they disappeared into the distance, I got the strangest feeling that I might not ever see them again. Teling myself that I was just scared of stepping out of the comfort zone that I had entombed myself in, I faced front.
"The cuttings?" Lady Hunt asked.
"What about them?" I asked back.
"Why so many?"
"I'm working on a project," I lied. "I'm doing a study on offender prof -" I started.
"I thought that perhaps you were searching for someone or some thing?" she cut in.
I knew by the way that she emphasised the thing that she was possibly referring to vampires. Trying to keep myself composed, I just stared back at her.
"You don't realy think I would leave you in charge of my daughter without doing some research into your background first, do you?" she said.
"What did you find out?" I asked her.
"You tel me," she smiled.
"I guess it al depends on who you spoke to," I smiled back.
Glancing out of the tinted windows, Lady Hunt said, "I know about your tales of vampires."
Looking at her almost perfect profile, I said, "You must have believed my account of what happened to me."
"What makes you think I believe you?" she said without turning to face me.
"If you believed me to be a liar, you wouldn't have hired me to babysit your daughter," I said back.
Then turning to face me she said, "I haven't hired you for your storyteling abilities, Kiera Hudson. I've hired you to protect my daughter from whomever it is that lurks in the shadows at night and watches her."
"What makes you think I can offer your daughter any protection?" I asked.
"I take it you're not a liar?" she said, her eyes almost seeming to twinkle in the gloom of the rear of the car.
"Correct," I said, sounding defensive.
"Wel then," she smiled. "Your account of what happened to you in The Ragged Cove must be true.
And if that is the case, who better to look after my daughter than someone who managed to survive the odds against al those vampires!"
Before I'd the chance to say anything back, the car was slowing and puling into the curb outside Havensfield Railway Station. Lady Hunt pushed open her door and started to climb out.
"We can't be here already?" I said, knowing that we had only been on the road ten minutes.
"This is as far as I go," she said, looking back over her shoulder at me.
"What, you're not coming back with me?" I said feeling confused. "What about your daughter, the staff at -"
"They're expecting you," she smiled back at me.
"My staff wil welcome you and provide you with anything that you need."
"How are they expecting me?" I said. "How did you know that I would come?"
"Like I said. Kiera, I've done my homework and I knew you wouldn't be able to turn down such a problem as I've got," she said.
"But where are you going?" I asked.
Standing on the pavement and looking back at me sitting in the huge car, Lady Hunt said, "I'm catching the next train to London where I'm meeting up with a business acquaintance, and tomorrow we fly out to New York. I'l see you in one week." Then closing the car door, she was gone.
Leaning across the back seat, I reached for the handle to open the door again, but the chauffeur was accelerating the car away down the street. Peering out of the back window, I was surprised to see that Lady Hunt had already disappeared from view. But at last, despite her immaculate but bland appearance, I had seen something about her. She wasn't going to New York, any more than I was.
Turning front, I looked at the back of the head of the chauffeur. Sliding across the backseat, I tried to get a better look at him. The interior of the car was in darkness and only the glare from the headlights of passing cars offered any light. The chauffeur wore a grey peaked cap, which was puled down low over his eyes, bushy white sideburns covered his cheeks, and a pair of glasses with black lenses covered his eyes. He gripped the steering wheel with a brown leather pair of driving gloves.
"So what's your name?" I asked him, slumping back into the soft backseat of the car.
He made no reply.
Okay, I thought to myself. "So where exactly is this place you're taking me to? I know it's on the Welsh Moors but what's -"
Before I'd the chance to finish what I was saying, he reached forward and pressed a button on the dashboard, raising a glass panel between us - sealing me in the rear of the car.
"What a jerk! So you're not the talkative type," I mumbled aloud. "Two can play that game." Reaching into my rucksack, I puled out my iPod and turned it on.
Listening to 'Give Me Everything' by Pit-Bul and Ne- Yo, I settled back into the seat, and noted the time of my wristwatch - 20:07 hours. Staring out into the night, I couldn't help but wonder what lay ahead for me in the darkness. But that was exciting, right?