Page 37 of Inhuman Natures #1

Shaun

The sun had been down for ten minutes when voices sounded from outside the room where Shaun was imprisoned. He strained his ears to listen in on the conversation, recognising Lynette’s voice first.

“Where have you been living all this time, Kit?” she asked.

“I’ve stayed out of any major cities. Remote islands or places in the Highlands, most often.” The respondent, Kit, had a faint Scottish accent, if Shaun wasn’t mistaken.

Lynette hummed. “All places that don’t have a territory leader close by?”

There was no further response. The door to the room was thrown open, light from the hallway streaming in. Shaun covered his eyes as they adjusted.

“You said you had him locked up, but was a cage necessary?” That was Kit again, his formerly polite tone now tinged with irritation. Shaun uncovered his eyes to get a look at his potential defender.

Kit wasn’t much taller than Lynette, of a similar height to Shaun, with black hair and thick-framed glasses. It struck Shaun as odd that he was wearing them, as he was most definitely a vampire, so wouldn’t have any need for them. A fashion statement, then.

“He broke the rules. This is what happens to those that go against Lynette,” Boris said. He and Steve hovered around, orbiting Lynette as usual.

“And as I told you all when I arrived last night, there is no doubt in my mind that he’s innocent,” Kit said.

“Let him out of there,” Lynette said.

As Boris unlocked the cramped cage, Shaun stayed wary. He clambered out and stretched his limbs, gaze darting between Lynette and Kit.

“Are you familiar with one another?” Lynette asked.

“No,” Shaun responded.

“I’m Kit. One of Lawrence’s other creations. From before you, of course,” Kit said.

Shaun did a double take. “ You’re Christopher?”

“Oh, he spoke of me. How awful.” Kit sighed. “He never did deign to call me by the correct name.”

“Lawrence told me you were gone.” Shaun shifted his attention to Lynette. “Permanently. Lawrence made it sound like he was the one who did it. Warned me I’d be in for the same fate if I turned against him.”

“How did you spend so long with him,” Kit said, “without realising that he’s a compulsive liar?”

Shaun couldn’t help but be offended. “Of course he lies. But I had no reason to believe that your fate was one of them.”

Kit raised a brow. “Fair, I suppose.” He and Shaun shared a weighty look, something unsaid passing between them. Maybe it was some sense of brotherhood, of that common thread tying them to Lawrence. Or perhaps it was something deeper: a mutual understanding of the scars left in his wake.

“Kit, you claim you have some evidence that may sway us into believing Shaun’s version of events?” Lynette said, breaking the moment.

“You do?” Shaun asked, trying not to sound pathetically optimistic.

Kit smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “I do.” He turned to Lynette. “Contact the vampire who runs Plymouth and ask him about Lawrence. We were there in the early nineties. He’ll tell you what kind of vampire Lawrence is, and what he’s capable of.”

Lynette narrowed her eyes. “Weston never said that he had lived in Plymouth when we carried out the vetting process.”

Kit gave an insouciant shrug of one shoulder. “I believe you ought to refine your vetting process, then. Do you have the contact? It was a lifetime ago for me and we weren’t there long, so I’ve long forgotten the name.”

“Of course I have the contact,” Lynette snapped. She held out her hand to Boris, who took a phone from his pocket and handed it to her. Shaun supposed there wasn’t much space for pockets on the outfits Lynette favoured.

She scrolled for a while before looking up at them both. “Richard has been leading the Plymouth vampires since the fifties. I’ll ask the questions, but I’ll put it on speakerphone.”

It wasn’t necessary, given their hearing, but it would make it easier. Shaun nodded, whilst Kit just stood there, unruffled.

Lynette made the call, the phone sitting flat in her palm. It rang three times, and then a gruff voice spoke. “Lynette? What’s it been, a decade?”

“Twelve years, Richard,” Lynette replied. “And so you’re aware, we’ve got an audience in the room. All people I trust enough to listen to the answers you can give me, but nothing more.”

“Well, in that case, shall we get down to business? What do you need?” Richard didn’t sound annoyed, just pragmatic.

“I have to ask about a former resident of yours. Lawrence Weston. According to one of his creations, he lived in Plymouth in the nineties.”

There was a beat of silence before Richard spoke again. “That bastard causing you trouble, Lynette?”

Kit snorted, and Shaun covered his mouth to stop from laughing at the unimpressed look Boris shot Kit.

Lynette was quick to correct Richard. “Nothing I cannot handle,” she said.

“But we have a situation. Weston has accused another of his creations of trying to kill a human I’d taken an interest in.

We’ve taken Weston’s creation into custody, but their stories aren’t lining up.

Can you shed any light on the situation? ”

“I can’t speak to your specific circumstances, but if you suspect Weston of being the one to attack your human, it wouldn’t be the first occasion. He’s been accused of such a thing before.”

A tendril of hope bloomed in Shaun’s chest as Lynette asked her next question. “What happened?”

“Some humans favoured by my creations went missing,” Richard explained. “Three in all. My creations were rather devastated by their losses. This was perhaps only a couple of months after Weston arrived.”

“We’ve got two of Weston’s creations here in the room. You might recall Kit—Christopher? ”

Kit pursed his lips, his nose wrinkling. Shaun guessed he didn’t like being called by his full name.

“I do,” Richard said.

“Did you ever suspect Kit of being behind the disappearances?” Lynette asked. Shaun looked at Kit in alarm, but Kit remained composed.

“He wasn’t around much. Weston, on the other hand, stuck around like a bad penny. He didn’t get on with the rest of us.”

“Wouldn’t that make it easier to point the finger at him for the disappearances?”

“Perhaps,” Richard conceded. “But I can confirm he was in the area, and once I’d asked him to move on, no more of our humans went missing.”

“Why did you not inform the other territory leaders of your suspicions?” Lynette asked sharply.

“You’re aware we cannot condemn our kind without the burden of proof. With the number of grudges we hold? We’d end up with daily banishments and hourly blood feuds if we relied on only word of mouth and accusations.”

“You suspected he killed three human associates of those in your city. Forgive me if I find it odd you wouldn’t tell us what we might get into by allowing him to reside within our territory.”

“We told him to leave. And quite frankly, we simply wanted him gone. Weston is an odious vampire with delusions of grandeur. His creation surprised me when we met. How such a lovely creature was swayed by the words of a pretender like Weston, I’ll never understand.”

Shaun was pretty sure that Richard was trying to flirt with Kit over the phone. For his part, Kit pressed his lips together as if to physically stop himself from speaking. Lynette must have noticed too, as she nodded. “Go ahead, Kit.”

“Lawrence takes by coercion and force. Neither of us wanted to become his creations,” Kit said, then casually clasped his hands behind his back, as if he hadn’t just dropped a bombshell.

Neither Richard and Lynette responded at first, until Lynette asked, “You didn’t want to become one of us?”

“I was seventeen for most of the time I spoke with Lawrence,” Shaun said, his words coming slowly.

“I didn’t understand all it would entail.

He…” Shaun closed his eyes. Telling these vampires about his past was different to when he told Rake and DJ.

He steeled his nerve. “Lawrence recreated me by force on my eighteenth birthday. He’s spent every moment since then doing whatever he wants to me.

I didn’t choose this existence. He decided for me. ”

Lynette’s mask of stoicism faltered as Shaun spoke, surprise and disbelief crossing her face. “We have strict rules on who we create,” she stated. “Least of all that you must be at least eighteen years of age, and willing.”

“Lawrence cares for none of those rules,” Kit spat. “He believes himself to be above them.”

“Why have neither of you come to the territory leaders before?” Lynette asked.

Kit gestured to Shaun. “He told you who Lawrence was. Shaun came to you and asked for help, and instead you locked him up in a tiny cage, just like Lawrence would. You older vampires trust your own first. We newer creations are forced to fend for ourselves.” Kit’s anger was a wild thing, written all across his face.

Richard’s voice came through the phone again. “He isolated you, Chris-er-Kit? Created you and held you against your will, too?”

Kit’s anger dissolved as he met Shaun’s eyes. “I only got away because he found someone who he wanted more than he wanted me.”

“You didn’t think at that point to tell the rest of us that Lawrence was recreating vampires against their wishes?” Lynette asked.

Kit’s fangs jutted out from under his top lip. “You try spending over two decades with someone who rapes and abuses you daily and see how confident you are in having to face them afterwards. Lawrence is bigger and stronger and faster and older than me. I didn’t have anyone to turn to but myself.”

Shaun flinched at the words Kit used. Shaun had never enjoyed being Lawrence’s pet, but he’d never considered it in those terms. It was unmooring to hear that Kit did.

“Yet you’re here now,” Lynette pointed out. Shaun gaped at her. Hadn’t she heard what Kit had said?

“I’m here now because I failed Shaun before, and have since spent every day of my miserable existence regretting running away and never looking back. When his humans contacted me, I realised I had the chance to make things right.”