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Chapter 14: Changes
“Sorry to interrupt but Meg Shyne’s here to see you.”
Dr Thawn pushed the intercom button on his desk phone. “Good. Send her in.” He eagerly stopped the tedious job he was doing and gestured for the geneticist to sit down. “What have you found?”
“A puzzle. I’ve found a puzzle.”
“What?” Stephen was irritated.
“I recovered some trace DNA from the saliva on the tear in your trousers and …”
“And?”
“Well, as you might expect the sample revealed the presence of multiple species.”
Thawn nodded impatiently.
“What surprised me was, after I’d removed yours and your dog’s DNA, what was left was unexpected. You said you were bitten by a wolf?”
“Yes. Well, I wasn’t bitten exactly, but the trousers were grabbed by the wolf and torn.”
“Must have been terrifying. How did a wolf get into your house? Do you still have it? If we could get it in here and dissect -“
“No, I don’t still have it – it ran away. What was unexpected? Was it wolf DNA that was left after you excluded me and Barney?”
“There was wolf DNA, yes, but -“
“Good. I want you to duplicate it, do a poly-whatsit -“
“Polymerase Chain Reaction.”
“Yes, PCR it and get plenty of copies so that -“
“Of course I’ve already done that. That’s how I know what species. But I don’t have it anymore.”
“You don’t have what anymore?”
“The wolf DNA.”
Thawn was exasperated. “Will you just tell me -!”
“I’m trying to but you keep interrupting! It’s hard to explain. We went through all the usual stages and identified human male, canine male and canine female. Your wolf was female.”
“Okay, so where’s the puzzle?”
“The wolf’s DNA changed.”
“What? You must be looking at the wrong -“
“I didn’t mix up the samples, I didn’t go to the wrong fridge, I didn’t lose it down the back of the sofa! I was looking at the same sample after lunch as before lunch and it had changed.”
“To what?”
“A female bat. It became bat DNA.”
Thawn wasn’t expecting that. “Okay, so you need to analyse the bat DNA, determine-“
“I don’t have it anymore.”
Dr Thawn, wide-eyed, pushed his fingers through his hair. “You’re killing me!”
“It changed again. When I looked at it this morning it had become human. Human female DNA.” Dr Shyne was surprised to see Stephen’s eyes light up.
“Time to get the police involved, they can use it to catch her,” he said excitedly.
“Who?”
“My attacker!”
“The wolf?”
“No, yes. Yes, the wolf. Share that DNA with the forensic -“
Meg shook her head. “It’s gone Stephen. That’s why I came up here. It evaporated into a mist and then it was gone. There’s nothing left. Nothing.”
Stephen sat down slowly. “But you’ve got the data.”
“Of course.” She frowned at him. “Stephen – what was it that attacked you? Because it wasn’t an ordinary wolf, I can tell you that. I mean, what I’m thinking is so crazy I’m almost scared to say it out loud.”
“What?”
“If I didn’t know it was impossible I would say,” she emitted a nervous laugh, “it’s some kind of shapeshifter.” She hesitated again. “Did you see anything like that? Did the wolf change? Into another animal? A bat?” She reduced her voice to a whisper, afraid to say out loud “or a woman?” She shook her head. “It’s crazy I know,” she admitted, “but DNA doesn’t lie and I know what I saw. I’ve never seen or read about anything like this before. If we could catch it Stephen, study it.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Stephen responded wearily, “as soon as you tell someone you’re trying to catch a shapeshifter, your career will be over. Good luck with that.”
“You’re not going to do anything?” Dr Shyne asked.
Stephen thought about it for a moment. “Actually I am going to do something. I’m going to resign. And I’m going to go vegan,” he said. “Close the door on your way out.”
***
It was Velma’s turn to host games night but Andy was too busy to come so there were just the two of them.
Muriel fetched herself a glass of water. “Your kitchen’s uncharacteristically tidy,” she noticed. “Who are you trying to impress?” she asked jokingly.
“The washing up was part of the ruse,” Velma told her with a smile. “I don’t eat or cook so -“
“So you never actually have any washing up!” Muriel was amazed that that had never occurred to her before.
“Well, I do use mugs, but they usually only need a quick rinse.”
“So you made that mess on purpose? All those dirty plates, and saucepans with burnt-on baked beans – that was to trick us?”
“Trick is not the word I’d choose. I didn’t mean to trick you. Just trying to avoid awkward questions.”
Muriel nodded. “Right. Yeah, I guess you’d have to do that. Makes sense.” She smiled. “Do you have any more secrets?” she couldn’t help asking, “or have you told us everything now?”
Velma smiled again but didn’t reply.
“Tell me!” Muriel demanded eagerly. “You can trust me! You know you can trust me don’t you?”
Velma did want to tell her. She’d never told anybody anything before, and that was lonely. It felt really good to have allies who knew who she really was. She grinned. “Did I tell you I can turn into a bat?”
Muriel choked on her drink. She coughed and spluttered, wiped her mouth on her sleeve and laughed. “No you did not!”
“And a wolf.”
Muriel squealed excitedly and then covered her mouth apologetically for the volume. “Show me!”
Velma became the wolf and growled in her friend’s face before running and jumping out the open window to become the bat. Muriel rushed to the window to watch the bat circling in the night sky and then stepped aside to let the tiny winged creature come back through the window and transform into the woman she knew.
Muriel was in awe and words failed her. Overwhelmed by the enormity of what she’d seen, and the trust bestowed on her, she reached out and hugged her friend. “Your secrets are safe with me,” she whispered.
“I know,” Velma assured her.
“But we are going to tell Andy aren’t we?”
Velma laughed and nodded. “Yes. And maybe Sammy. But absolutely nobody else!”
“Agreed,” Muriel grinned. “Is there any cake?”
“No, sorry, Koda closes at six so I can’t go in there at this time of year.”
“Oh, because of the long days! I never thought of that. Can you go in the summer when it’s cloudy?”
Velma tilted her head and considered. “I guess I could, but it would be risky. There’s no way of being sure if the sun will stay behind the clouds for the whole time between the moment I leave home and the moment I arrive back home. If I get caught in the sun at any moment, whoosh – great ball of fire.”
“Yikes! Maybe I should get the cakes in future then. Biscoff cheesecake’s your favourite isn’t it?”
Velma grinned. “No, I don’t eat -“
Muriel hit her forehead with the heel of her hand. “Doh! That was a trick as well – telling us you’d already eaten and leaving a crumb-filled plate in the kitchen. Wow, I am so gullible. I never noticed that you didn’t eat in front of us! How self-absorbed am I?”
“Not gullible. Trusting. It’s nice.”
Muriel smiled. “And not self-absorbed either, I hope! I just said that to be self-deprecating.”
“And not self-absorbed either!” Velma laughed. “But are you hungry? I do keep the cupboards stocked for you and Andy.”
“Okay, thanks, I’ll go and choose something,” she jumped up like a mischievous child and ran to the kitchen. “Ooh, you’ve got Jeavons bars! Can I have a Rabble?” she called.
“Whatever you want.”
“Ooh, or a caramel.” She thought for a moment before deciding. “Rabble.” Then she put the kettle on because a hot drink was essential with a bar of chewy, nutty, toffee chocolate.
By the time she got back to the living room, clutching the Rabble between her teeth, a cup of coffee in her left hand and a warm mug of blackcurrant for Velma in her right, Velma had set up the Mastermind and chosen her code.
“Your turn to guess,” she told Muriel.
Muriel chose four red fat pegs.
Velma put in one black skinny peg.
“Okay, so now I know there’s one red.” Then Muriel put in four green fat pegs.
Velma shook her head. “Nothing for that.”
“Okay, so now I know there’s one red and no greens in your code.”
“If you do this with every colour you’ll be more than half way through your guesses before you can even start working out which order they’re in.” Velma warned her.
Muriel took a bite of her chewy chocolate bar and looked at her friend thoughtfully. “Velma,” she covered her mouth with her hand to make sure she didn’t spit when she spoke, “how did you become a vampire?”
“I was bitten,” Velma replied succinctly.
“That’s all it takes? Aren’t you worried the people you bite will become vampires?”
“No. I bite them on the wrist, not the neck – that’s how vampires are made.”
“Fascinating.” Muriel raised her eyebrows. “Have you ever bitten anyone on the neck?”
“Only as the wolf or the bat. It’s safe then. But as a woman I never bite on the neck.”
“Because you don’t want to make any more vampires?”
“Yes,” Velma explained, “I don’t want the kind of people I bite to live forever.”
“Good point.”
Velma swallowed a mouthful of blackcurrant. “Try again – use a mixture of colours this time.” She smiled.
“Were you scared, when the vampire bit you?”
“No,” Velma told her, “I was very sad. And angry. She was doing me a favour. And I wanted it.”
“What happened?” Muriel asked sympathetically.
“It’s a long story.”
“Tell me.”
“Well, in a nutshell, my mum was shot and killed by a farmer, and my dad was beaten to death by hunt supporters two months later.”
“Oh God Velma, oh my God. How? What happened?”
Velma glugged down the rest of her blackcurrant. “That’s a story for another time,” she said. “I don’t like talking about it.”
“Did they get the guy? The farmer? Was he arrested? Did he go to prison?”
“They arrested him but he told them it was self-defence. Said he’d had to put up with multiple break-ins, and trespassers. Said he’d reported it to the police and they’d done nothing so he had a right to protect his own property.”
“Against an unarmed woman? I’m assuming she was unarmed.”
“Of course. But he said he didn’t know she was unarmed.”
“What had she been doing?”
“Rescuing chickens.”
“Oh for crying out loud!” Muriel was incredulous. “Did he go to prison? How much time did he get?”
“None. He was acquitted. The judge said his actions were reasonable under the circumstances.”
Muriel shook her head. “No wonder you were angry. I would have been beside myself.”
Velma nodded.
“And your dad? Oh sorry, you don’t want to talk about it. Sorry.”
“It’s okay.”
Muriel stood up and reached out to hug Velma but she shook her off.
“How long after that did you meet the vampire?”
“At my dad’s funeral. Well, right after it actually. It was a natural woodland burial and, when everyone else had gone, I stayed in the woods and just sat near Mum and Dad’s graves, listening to the birds. I don’t know how long I sat there but my thoughts were interrupted by a strange woman walking towards me. She said she knew my parents and was sorry for my loss, that’s what people had been saying all afternoon. But I knew there was something different about her. I just didn’t know what.”
“She was a vampire!” It was always hard for Muriel to wait for a story to unfold.
Velma smiled and went on in her own good time. “She asked me how I was feeling and I told her I felt empty. And angry. I told her it felt like the end of the world. Then I started to cry. I sobbed and sobbed. Couldn’t seem to stop. She reached out and put her arms around me. A woman I’d never met before. She held me tight and let me get it all out. Then, when I had no more tears left and I was just doing this juddery breathing thing, she looked at me, her face close to mine, her eyes black as night, her teeth long and sharp. And I wasn’t afraid.”
Muriel sat motionless, mouth open.
“She bit into my neck and began to drink my blood. I didn’t resist. I didn’t want to. Before I lost consciousness she said, this is my gift to you. Use it as you think best. Or something like that.”
“What do you think she meant?”
Velma shrugged. “Are you going to guess my code or not?” Velma joked in an effort to pull herself out of the melancholy mood.
“Not,” said Muriel, “What happened next? Did you kill the farmer who killed your mum? Did you get the hunt supporters who killed your dad?”
Velma nodded. “When you wake up, your first day as a vampire, you’re ravenous. You’ve got to consume blood and you’ve got to do it soon. So the first place I went was to that chicken farm. I drank my mum’s murderer dry, and then I released every chicken from every cage – I was really fast and strong now – and, as a wolf, herded them into the woods.”
“How did you know how to turn into a wolf?”
“I just knew. When you’re a vampire, everything you can do just comes naturally. Automatic.”
Muriel’s eyes were bright and excited. She nodded. “Did you just leave the chickens in the woods? Weren’t you worried they’d get killed by predators?”
“I gave them a chance, that’s all I could do. I thought however long they survive, at least they’ll be under the sky, able to feel the wind and the rain, to roost in the hedges and scratch in the soil. However short it might be, they would have a free and natural life, ending sooner or later in a natural death. Which is a hell of a lot better than a life twice as long in confinement, ending in death by machine.”
Muriel nodded thoughtfully. “Then what?”
“I needed to end the hunt supporters. I knew who they were because they’d been charged with GBH and their names and addresses had been put in the paper.”
“GBH? Is that all?”
“Yep. They got six months and were out in three.”
“Unbelievable! It should have been at least manslaughter surely.”
“Their lawyer said there was no criminal intent; that they were just defending a lawful activity; and that my dad was trespassing.”
“So what did you do?”
“I killed them all!”
***
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