“But you mentioned the windows and that gave me an idea. So when you were in bed asleep that night, I crept outside and smeared the windows with mud. Should Nate dare to creep close enough to the house and peer in at you, he might see that you weren’t really Frances. So I needed to restrict the view of you. I hoped that with the windows covered in dirt and grime, that I could risk sitting you by the window one night, dressed in her clothes. Should he chance peering in, he would believe that he had seen Frances looking happy and contented as she sat with her husband, reading a book.”

“You had it all figured out, didn’t you?” Winnie sneered with contempt at him.

“No, I didn’t,” Thaddeus said, his voice soft as he looked at her. “There were a couple of things which happened that I didn’t plan for.”

“And what were they?” she hissed.

“You started to suspect something was wrong sooner than I imagined you would,” he said. “I admit in my arrogance, I thought you would be so relieved to be taken from the streets and thrown into a world of luxuries, that you would have been blinded by what was really happening around you. I didn’t think you would be as bright and resourceful as you are.”

“Gee, thanks,” she said with a fake smile. “I’m truly touched. So what was the other thing you didn’t figure in your grand scheme?

Thaddeus sat without saying anything at first, then looking straight at her, he said, “I never thought I would grow as fond for you as I have. I never thought we would be come friends...”

“I’m not your friend,” Winnie suddenly scoffed.

“That’s not true,” he whispered. “I admit that when I first asked you to come here I was only thinking of myself and own survival. Now I feel differently. You’ve made me feel different.”

“And do you really think I’m stupid enough to believe that crap?” she snapped back at him.

“But that’s the point I’m trying to make,” Thaddeus said, his voice still low, still soft. “You’re not stupid. You showed me that living locked away in my room isn’t the answer. You showed me I can have a new start – you’ve made me believe that, Winnie.”

Looking straight back at him, she said, “And the only way you’ve made me feel, is scared.”

“I didn’t mean to.”

“You’ve put me in danger,” she said, tears starting to burn in the corners of her eyes. “You are no better than those men who wanted to use me on the streets.

“No, listen to me,” Thaddeus begged her. “You were never in any danger. Never. Nate wouldn’t hurt you. That’s the last thing he would do.”

“You mean, he would never hurt Frances,” she said, a thin line of tears rolling silently down her face. “But I’m not Frances, and he knows that now.”

A heavy silence fell over them, which was only broken by the sound of fingernails tapping against the window.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

“They’re back!” Winnie hissed, springing away from the door. She looked at Thaddeus, and his yellow eyes blazed as he instinctively raised his claws. A low snarling sound came from deep within the back of his throat, making him sound like a wolf waiting to strike.

“Lycanthrope!” someone suddenly screeched, and Winnie recognised it to be Nate’s voice that she could hear. “Come out, Wolf’s- Head. Come out and let us settle the agreement you have broken.”

Thaddeus said nothing. He stood back, stooped slightly forward, legs bent at the knees, and snarled. Winnie saw his lips roll back, and his long, pointed teeth glistened. Even though Thaddeus was with her, she felt just as petrified as she had been the night before at the sound of the vampires outside in the moonlight.

“Come out!” Nate roared, and the front door bowed inwards under the weight of him crashing against it.

Thaddeus saw Winnie flinch backwards and throw her hands to her face in fear. “Don’t worry; you’re quite safe in here. They’re vampires.”

“That’s what scares me,” she whispered back at him, eyes wide.

“They can’t come in unless we invite them,” he snarled back at the door.

As if hearing what he had said, Michelle cooed from beyond the lounge window and said, “You can’t hide in there forever, wolf.”

Winnie glanced at Thaddeus as Michelle slowly began to drag her long fingernails down the length of the windowpane again. Howling, Thaddeus covered his ears with his claws. Then sinking to his knees, he howled again, his booming cries seeming to make the very foundations of the house shudder. It was as if the sound of Michelle’s fingernails being dragged down the windowpane was agonising for him. Hearing his howls of pain, the vampires became excited. Again, Winnie could hear the sound of them scampering up the walls and over the roof. The front door shook in its frame, as all of them began to screech, “Come out! Come out! Come out!”

Using the banister, Thaddeus pulled himself to his feet. Then taking Winnie by the shoulders, he looked into her eyes and said, “You are never going to be free of them unless I’m dead.”

“But they’re vampires, right?” Winnie said back, her mind scrambling. She didn’t know much about the whole vampire thing, but she had once seen a film called Near Dark with some of the older kids at one of the many care homes she had been passed around. She hadn’t seen much from behind the pillow she’d been hiding behind. Winnie saw enough to know that vampires didn’t like sunlight. “They’ll go away in the morning, won’t they? We can escape then.”

“If I don’t die now, we will both be dead by the morning,” he barked at her.

“But how, if they can’t come in unless we invite them?” she said. Then, as if in answer to her own question, Winnie suddenly caught the smell of burning. She turned to look at Thaddeus and said, “They’re going to burn the house down, aren’t they?”

Pulling her close so their faces were just an inch apart, he stared at her and snarled, “You’ve got to kill me.”

“I’m not killing you,” she snapped, pulling away.

“Listen to me!” he barked, pulling her close again. “It’s the only way you’re going to survive this. If you kill me, then they will see you had no feelings for me – that you played no part in Frances’s death...”

“But I didn’t,” Winnie cut in.

“But they don’t know that,” he said. “But if you kill me...”

“If you want to die, why don’t you just let them in,” Winnie cut in again.

“If I die from a vampire bite, I burn in Hell for eternity,” he said, his yellow eyes seething. “But if you kill me, I pass over peacefully, and there may be a chance I could be with Frances again.”

“I’m not going to kill you,” she breathed. “You’ll have to kill yourself.”

“Werewolves can’t kill themselves,” he said. “It’s part of the curse we have to live with.” Thaddeus then grabbed her hand, and raced into the lounge.

He went to the fireplace, where he removed one of the large granite stones away, revealing a deep hole. He reached inside with one of his claws. The smell of burning was stronger now. Winnie looked back over her shoulder and could see wisps of black smoke filling the hall, the glow of flames reflecting in the lounge windows.

She looked back at Thaddeus, who was now standing before her with a pistol in his claws.

“What the...” Winnie stared, but before she’d had a chance to finish, Thaddeus had shoved the gun into her hands.

“You must shoot me,” he snarled at her. Then, leaping over to the windows, he threw the curtains back and barked, “And they must see you do it if you are going to live.”

The gun felt heavy in Winnie’s trembling hands. She looked at Thaddeus as he kneeled before her. There was a sound at the windows, and Winnie glanced up to see the three vampires leering excitedly through at them, looking different than they had the night before. Whereas then she had thought they had all looked quite beautiful, now they looked hideous, and she recoiled backwards. With their faces pressed against the windowpane, Winnie thought at first that they had put on those creepy clown masks. In the moonlight and the glow of red and orange flames that now licked the side of the house, she realised that it was, in fact, their own faces she could see. She stared in horror at their eyes, which now looked as if they had sunken into black pits. Their mouths were huge and red. They spread right across their faces, from ear to ear, like a jagged gash. Behind the wide smiles were swollen, black gums and rows of jagged yellow teeth.

Snapping Winnie out of her petrified trance, Thaddeus gripped her wrists and pointed the gun at his own head.

“Shoot me!” he screamed.

“I can’t!” Winnie shouted back.

Then, staring up at her, Thaddeus said, “See those faces out there with those giant mouths? Well, if you don’t kill me – if they believe you are a part of all of this – they will rip you to pieces with those mouths. They will suck the flesh from your body. They will rip your heart out and share it between them.”

Even though Thaddeus had hold of her wrists, her hands shook so much, the end of the barrel kept sliding across his forehead where he had placed it. “Why didn’t you get Frances to kill you?” Winnie whispered, her lips trembling. “If you loved each other so much, why didn’t she kill you so you could be together?”

Then opening his eyes, Thaddeus stared up into hers and said, “I can’t be killed by someone who loves me.”

Winnie looked back over her shoulder and could see the hallway was now a wall of thick, dense, black smoke. It smelt acrid and was choking. She glanced at the window where the vampires, with their hideous faces, stared excitedly in at her. She could hear the sound of the eaves above her snapping and hissing as flames took hold of them. She looked down at Thaddeus.