City of Whispers (City of Whispers #1) (17 page)

19

Leila came back, but she wasn’t the same Leila we had known a month and a half
earlier. She crept up to us in Bryant Park one afternoon. At first I didn’t
recognize her. I thought she was a vampire that had evolved to come out in the
daylight.

I had no idea what she had been through in the time
that she was gone, but whatever it was had taken a toll on her. Her skin was
devoid of color, and she had dark bags under her eyes.

She didn’t seem interested in discussing where she had
been for the past month and a half, though we pressed her for information. She
said she had reinforced her own apartment in the Village and hidden out, but
that she had come back because she missed human contact and needed supplies.
James declared she had gone “bat shit crazy.”

I didn’t believe her story, and I’m not sure the
others did either. Why would she stay holed up by herself with no one but the
roaches to talk to? Why would she stay hidden by herself, night after night,
waiting for the vampires to find her, when a group of people lived just a few
miles away in a safe, boarded-up building?

I wanted to check Leila out. Beth said that she didn’t
like the idea, but the others accepted it as a matter of course, so Beth was
outnumbered. Deep down, I think she knew it was necessary. I was especially
suspicious of Leila because she was wearing a long sleeved shirt and pants even
though it was late June and over 80 degrees outside.

With the group at my back, I told Leila that I had to
check her for bites. She backed away, and swore up and down that she had never
been bitten. I told her it was our way or the highway, and she gave in.

Beth and Kim checked Leila while I stayed a few yards
away. I’ve never been good at making people feel better in awkward situations,
and I was sure that if I checked Leila I would make her even more uncomfortable
than she already was. I thought it strange that Leila saved her shirt for last.
When she took it off, I understood at once. She had a large bandage wrapped
around her right wrist.

“What’s that?” I asked, walking closer.

She looked away. “I tried to kill myself.”

“I’m sorry, but you need to take it off. If you like,
why don’t you put everything else back on and we can bring our doctor in here
to check you out.”

Leila nodded.

Beth helped Leila with her clothes and told her that
after she saw Naveen and ate something, we could all go shopping and find some
more suitable clothes. Leila shook her head violently and said that she had
brought a few extra tank tops in a bag. 

After Naveen checked her and put a clean bandage on
her arm, Leila wanted to take a nap—outside. She insisted on taking a nap on a
blanket out in Bryant Park. She said that she had been in hiding so long that
she missed the sun. We let her sleep and sat in the grass some distance away,
trying to figure out what to do with her.

I still didn’t trust her and told Scott so.

“You have to know what my first thought is,” I said.

“She can’t be telling the truth, it doesn’t make any
sense.”

I shook my head.

“I thought about that too,” Scott said, “but she
doesn’t have any bite marks does she?”

“No, but I truly believe they have people down in the
subway tunnels. She has a gash on her wrist. Maybe the vampires have gotten
smart enough to bleed people without biting them. That way the food supply can
regenerate itself while keeping the vampire population down.”

Scott cringed. “That’s horrible, but not out of the
question. Desmond and the two women seemed pretty smart. You do have to wonder
what she’s been doing for the past month. But then, why would they let her go?”

I shrugged. “Maybe she escaped. She doesn’t want to
tell us either because it was such a terrible experience, or she knows we’ll be
afraid of her and keep her out of our building. She’s clearly not all there
mentally. I’m not blaming her, God only knows what she’s been through, but what
if we let her into our building tonight and she decides to open a window and
get a breath of fresh air out on the fire escape?”

I brought the issue up with James and Paulo as well.
They agreed that Leila had to be watched. I didn’t want her staying in my
apartment. We agreed that at night, we would let her sleep in one of the
uninhabited apartments and two people would keep watch over her.

Leila woke up in the late afternoon and immediately
wanted to go inside. I watched as Beth explained to her that it wouldn’t be
dark for another couple of hours, but Leila insisted she did not want to be
outside at sunset. Beth and I took her back to my building.

Leila told us she didn’t want to stay alone. She asked
me several times if I had a roommate. She kept saying things like, “You’re good
at killing vampires aren’t you, Ailis? You killed lots of vampires in the
basement, didn’t you?” I told her that I didn’t have a roommate, but that I
didn’t have room for anyone else. I think I appeased her by promising I would
stay with her that night.

“You’re so brave. You stay by yourself. It’s because
you’ve killed so many vampires isn’t it? I bet they won’t come near you.”

I felt very uncomfortable and looked to Scott for
help, but he wasn’t any use. Finally, James offered Leila a cigarette and she
seemed to calm down for a while. She insisted on staying on the top floor. We
had an empty apartment directly above mine, so it was easy enough to
accommodate her.

At dinner, she scarfed down her food as if she hadn’t
eaten in ages.

While we ate, I tried to question her about the past
month and a half, but she wouldn’t discuss it. Beth tried to talk to her about
happier times. That almost made Leila seem like her old bubbly self. She talked
about all the vacations she had taken and the places she had been. 

It was like babysitting a child. We tried to get Leila
to go to sleep, but she kept avoiding it. She didn’t want to go into the
bedroom by herself. When we sat and talked to her she was fine, but when we
tried to leave she would join us in the living room. No one wanted to be left
alone with her, so Scott and I took the first shift and Beth and Paulo agreed
to switch off with us later. James and Dwayne said they would take the last
shift.

I was exasperated with Leila, but I could empathize
with her. It reminded me of the day we first met the guys. I had been
suspicious and afraid of anything and everything that moved. I had refused to
sleep unless Beth was awake, and then I had fallen asleep talking to Scott.

Now, Scott had become closer to me than Beth. She had
saved my life in the beginning, when it had been necessary, but Scott had put
himself in danger to help me out. He was still the only one who knew about the
two tiny white dots on my neck, which I still kept covered with a scarf or
shirt collar during the day and my black leather collar at night. I trusted
him. Poor Leila had no one.

In just a few months we had changed so that although
we weren’t at all comfortable in our situation, we had adapted to it. Our
numbers were no longer dwindling. Except for Seth, we hadn’t lost anyone in a
month. Although we remained vigilant, we didn’t live in constant fear any more.
We were even able to relax and tell jokes about our situation. Leila was still
one of those poor, terrified creatures we had once been. We had evolved, and
she had been left behind.

During our watch, Leila sometimes began to doze on the
couch, then, she would wake up with a jolt and a wild look in her eyes.
Sometimes she whimpered and we would try to comfort her. When she realized she
was with Scott and me, she would smile weakly and say something like, “I’m safe
with you two, you’ve killed lots of vampires haven’t you?” We reassured her
that we had indeed killed lots of vampires and would kill them again if they so
much as set foot on our sidewalk.

I was glad when Beth and Paulo came in and took over.
I went back down to my apartment, but I couldn’t sleep. Besides the apartment
being stuffy and hot, I had become used to the silence in Manhattan, but now I could hear Leila pacing
back and forth over my head all night.

The next day was hot and sunny. Leila acted as if she
couldn’t get enough sunlight. She looked exhausted from her night of pacing and
I was as well, having barely slept at all. I told Scott about this and informed
him we would have to give Leila sleeping pills or I would be spending the night
at his place. James overheard and said that he would find all the sleeping
pills in Manhattan
and throw them in the river. He liked to make things awkward.

That night, James and Dwayne took first watch and
Scott and I had second watch. Again I was unable to sleep before my shift. We
went to Leila’s apartment around midnight and told James and Dwayne good night.
Leila seemed more antsy than ever. She asked several times whether anyone was
looking for her.

Each time she asked this I asked who would be looking
for her, and she would look toward the window and say, “I don’t know...people.”

She also tended to cling to Scott’s arm and question
him about the apartment’s fortifications. Then she questioned him about the
building’s fortifications. Having barely slept the previous night I was
exhausted and getting more and more irritated with her. Scott must have been
able to see this because he asked me if I wanted to use the
walkie
talkie to call down to Paulo or Lee or someone else who could take my place.

“No, no,” Leila said, “Ailis doesn’t need to go, she’s
killed lots of vampires.”

I was getting tired of this. “Yeah, so what? There
aren’t any vampires in here, why can’t you get over it and go to sleep?”

Leila became more excited. “I’m safe with you here
aren’t I? You’ve killed lots of vampires, Ailis. You killed those vampires in
the basement, I remember. You even got bitten and you didn’t die. That doesn’t
happen to anybody.”

I froze. “Excuse me?”

“You killed all those vampires in the basement, Ailis
and you didn’t die.”

Scott was looking at her hard. “Leila, what did you
say about Ailis being bitten? Do you mean that time she was scratched in the
basement?”

Leila looked from me to Scott and then at the ground.
“Yes, yes, you were scratched in the basement.”

“She’s full of shit,” I said to Scott without taking
my eyes off Leila. “You heard what she said. She wasn’t talking about any
scratch.”

The room was quiet. Leila looked like a guilty child.
I was convinced she was lying.

“Leila,” I said, “how did you know I was bitten?”

“You weren’t bitten, you were scratched.”

“Maybe we should let this go until the morning,” Scott
said. “You’re tired, she’s tired, I’m tired…let’s talk about this tomorrow
after we’ve gotten some sleep.”

“You think I’m going to sleep tonight after she said
that?”

“Yes, yes,” Leila said, “I want to go to sleep now.”

“Leila, I’m going to ask you one more time. How did
you know I was bitten?”

“You weren’t bitten, you were scratched. I’m going to
bed now.” Leila began shuffling toward the bedroom, but I grabbed her arm. I
accidentally grabbed her wrist with the bandage and she howled. I felt a moment
of pity, but fear for my own life took precedence.

“Leila, I swear to God you better tell me how you knew
that.”

“Ailis let her go.” Scott grabbed my arm, but I pulled
it away.

Leila felt like a china doll, but I grabbed her other
shoulder. I jerked her toward me until her face was inches from mine. I was a
good two inches taller than her, and the last few months had made me more
athletic. I must have seemed more than a little imposing. “Leila, did someone
send you?” She looked puzzled. “Did Desmond send you?” Then she became
hysterical and started to scream.

I heard Scott shout something into the
walkie
talkie and then he rushed over to me and tried to
pull me off Leila. I continued to shake her and scream at her. I asked her over
and over if Desmond had sent her and she just kept screaming that she wouldn’t
go back. I’m ashamed to admit it, but as Scott pulled me away I threatened her.
“You better tell me or I swear I’ll take you back to the tunnels myself.”

At that she started beating her fists and her head
against the wall and tearing at the bandage on her wrist. Blood from her
bandage began dotting the wall.

I regretted my behavior at once. I knew from her
reaction that she must have been one of the people the vampires kept in the
tunnels. I didn’t know whether they had bled her or had been saving her for a
full meal. I didn’t know whether Desmond had sent her or she had escaped, but
it didn’t really matter. Her terror was obvious. She had been through hell and
I had just threatened to send her back.

“What the hell is wrong with you, Ailis?” I had never
seen Scott so angry. He was trying to calm Leila when Paulo burst in.

“Leila, it’s okay.” I tried to move toward her, but
that only upset her more. I felt like a heinous bitch. “I’ll go get Beth,” I
said lamely, but there was no need. Beth was already in the hallway, as were
several others. Leila’s screaming must have woken half the building. I wondered
how much attention we had attracted on the outside.