Chapter 8
CHAPTER EIGHT
“L et’s at least have breakfast first, Ella,” Heath says, as I follow him and Josh through to the kitchen, but I’m not interested in pancakes and blueberries right now.
All I want is Nighttime Whispers.
Heath’s bed may well be the most comfortable in the world – me cosy, alongside the two men dreams are made of – but I could hardly sleep a wink last night. I’m so excited for my reward.
“How many episodes can I watch?” I ask, picturing myself in Heath’s cinema room with a load of popcorn and the lead performer beside me. It’s going to be so amazing, it’s insane.
“As many as you want to watch. I have the full collection, and some outtakes.”
I groan as he takes out the pancake pan.
“Now you’re just tormenting me! I’ll want to watch them all. Every single one.”
“I’m not tormenting you. You can binge watch, that’s fine with me. Just so long as you’re ready for the next proposal this evening.”
I tip my head. “You’re going to binge watch them with me? All of them?”
He laughs. “That would be tormenting me. I’ve lived through that season for months. I know every line by heart.” There’s a twinkle in his eye when he looks at me. “But I’ll tolerate another rerun for you, sweet curva. You deserve it after last night.”
I’m so glad I was such a good table. Thank fuck I passed the test.
“You’re watching too, aren’t you?” I ask Josh, and my boyfriend shrugs, trying to be nonchalant as he grabs the blueberries and cream from the fridge.
“Maybe.” He looks at Heath. “See how many I can tolerate.”
He’s fooling around. He can play casual all he wants, but I know the truth. He’s almost as desperate to see Heath vamped up on screen as I am.
I get the plates as the guys prep breakfast – virtually hopping from foot to foot with impatience. I gobble my pancake stack on the terrace as quickly as I can while they savour theirs. I’m such an idiot, but I can’t help it. Blueberries or Nighttime Whispers? The answer is obvious. The sun is glorious, and the pool looks inviting as hell in this heat, but I want the darkness of the cinema room. I need to know what happens!
I practically sprint back through to the kitchen once Josh and Heath put their knives and forks down, loading up the dishwasher on a mission.
It’s still pretty early… all twelve episodes will take a nine-hour binge watch, but that’s alright. It’ll leave us time for a proposal, if we get going now.
“Pleaseeeeeeee,” I say, my hands in a prayer position as I race back out to the loungers. “Come on, Heath! Let’s get started!”
His eyes are so gorgeous as they fix on mine, and he gives me his Count smile on purpose. “Go on then, grab a drink and some snacks, then get to the cinema room. Choose your view.”
I ballerina twirl on my way back through the villa, my heart racing on overdrive as I stop at the snack cupboard. Heath actually has popcorn. For real. Salted and sweet, or coated caramel. I take both, and load up my arms with Coke cans.
If any of the millions of fans around the world could see me now, they would be so jealous, it’s insane. They’d lynch me for a shot at this.
It’s obvious which one of the seats I’m going to pick in the cinema room. Right at the centre in the second row. Prime viewing position. I tap my foot, wondering what is taking so long as I wait for the two of them to join me. I really need to know what the hell is going to happen this series. I’ve been thinking about it for months now. I know every single character by heart – every plot twist, every chase and bite. Everything. But so does Josh… he’s often on the sofa beside me, pretending to be more interested in pizza and scrolling than he is at staring at Count Heath. But that’s bullshit. He’s invested too.
He can put on as much of a front as he likes, but it won’t fool me.
I’m already sipping on a can of Coke when the two loverboys finally make their appearance, and oh fuck. FUCK. They’ve checked out of their shorts and t-shirt look. They’re dressed up to the max – thank you, aircon. Both of them are dressed up for the viewing, and I mean seriously dressed up.
Heath is in a suit! One of the Count’s fucking suits, with the burgundy neck tie!
I’m open mouthed as he approaches.
He’s brushed his hair dead straight and walks towards me with his hands behind his back – casual Count style.
I squeak, I’m so excited. I clap my hands with an oh my God!
“Rewards are rewards,” he says, and takes a seat beside me. “You don’t earn them easily, and you deserve the full experience when you do.”
I shrug with a laugh. “How am I supposed to focus on the screen with you looking like that?!”
Josh clears his throat as he takes a seat on my opposite side.
“Excuse me, curva. ” He’s smirking. “Turn your attention away from the vamp icon for a second please, will you?”
Fuck, I’ve been so caught up in the Count that I didn’t notice just how styled Josh is for the occasion, too. I’ve seen him in suits plenty of times, since he practically lives in them for work, but this one is different up close. He’s wearing a Nighttime Whispers style suit like Heath is. Not the same necktie, but a brocaded waistcoat under a jacket.
“Well, well, well. I’m one hell of a lucky girl,” I say, and give my boyfriend a kiss. “Two vamps for the price of one. I know you’ve got a bite on you too, Josh.”
Heath squeezes my knee. “Are you sure you want a premier today? Or shall we get into some real-life action?”
“That’s not fair!” I giggle. “I want BOTH!”
He licks his lips. “Maybe you’ll be an even luckier girl than you think you are. But in the meantime.” He takes a remote control from his jacket pocket and switches the massive screen on. “Time for episode one.”
I get shivers as the screen lights up. The familiar haunting theme tune of Whispers sounds out, roaring through the incredible speakers, and there he is. The Count, turning to face the camera with his beautifully evil smile on his face. Bats flock around his head, then zoom away, and the camera pans to the village of Kington Springs, surrounded by woodland.
My heart speeds up, wondering what will happen to Polly Anna, and there she is, too. Right from the off.
She’s running, just like she was in the cliffhanger, her breaths choking as she runs, exhausted. She stumbles over a fallen branch and takes a frantic look around her. Jeez, he must be close by. He’s always so fast in the woods.
I stiffen, listening as she pants. My eyes must be as wide as hers as I watch, already consumed by the tension. A crack of a branch behind her, and she’s off again with a whimper, trying to sprint. But she’s tired. Too tired to run. So she hides, pressing her back to a nearby tree trunk in the shadows as the crackle of branches grows closer.
“Oh, Polly… where are you, Polly?” The Count’s laugh is so cold. “You can run, darling, but you’ll never escape. You belong to me now.”
Polly Anna has been in love with the Count since she first arrived at Kington Springs, but she didn’t know his true nature then. No one in the village ever speaks about it.
Polly closes her eyes, and I feel her internal struggle. Fighting the urge of passion. Her heart belongs to the Count, but her head is screaming no.
I get that.
And I also get her curse of frustration.
I understand how hard it would be to run from someone you want so bad, even if it leads to your own demise.
Someone like Heath as well as the character he plays.
“Accept your fate, Polly,” the Count says. “We both know where your road leads.”
His shadow shows on the screen, approaching her so slowly. Stalking her like a wolf after a lamb.
She grabs a branch from the ground and leaps out to confront him in the moonlight.
“Stay away from me! This isn’t fate calling me, it’s you .”
“I am your fate. I’m the one who controls your destiny.”
“Yeah?” She steps backwards. “And what is that? You’re going to drink the life out of me and leave me here to rot, are you? Like so many others.” Her eyes brim with tears. “Don’t think I don’t know. The village can keep secrets, but the woodland can’t. I can virtually hear the ghosts all around me. People you killed, you evil bastard.”
The Count tips his head, smirking like Heath does. The moonlight through the trees catches his gorgeous face perfectly.
“Oh, I can hear all of the ghosts around here. Every single one of them. I’ve been slaying people and setting their souls free for centuries. So many poor victims.” He looks so evil, toying with her. “Some struggle and fight. Some wilt like flowers. Some welcome me with open arms.”
I know that. I’ve seen his massacres and chases through every series.
Polly jabs the branch in his direction, like that will ever deter him. “And which do you prefer, you sick fuck?”
He shrugs. “That depends on the victim.”
“What about me? How do you think I’m going to go? I’ll fight to the death, I swear it!”
The Count is such a bastard, he laughs at her.
“That branch is hardly going to be a stake through my heart, Polly. Come! Wilt like a flower in my open arms.”
He opens his arms, and I want to be Polly Anna. I’d love to be that terrified, staring at the monster while he coaxes me in.
Her lip trembles as the tears start up. Her blonde hair is so pretty, her stunning pink dress from the gala torn to shreds.
“At least let me say my goodbyes before you leave me here as an empty corpse. I’ve only been in the village a few months, but that doesn’t mean I don’t care. It doesn’t mean people don’t care about me. ”
“You don’t need to say any goodbyes. The moment you ran from the hall, everyone knew you were doomed to my will.”
I see the pain in her eyes. Her friendships shattered at the realisation that nobody tried to save her.
“You were doomed from the moment we locked eyes across Church Street, and everybody knew it.” The Count pauses. “Everyone except you.”
“This place is sick.”
“This is the place you chose to call your home.”
“But I didn’t know then…”
He steps closer. “Be honest, Polly. If you had have known, would you have turned away?”
Fuck, he’s got her. Her face tells the truth, because even now, she can’t resist him. I know that feeling in the flesh these days, not just on the screen. Heath may not be a vampire, but he’s got the same thrall. The same mesmeric beauty.
“Come,” the Count says. “Come to me and be the wilting flower. Enjoy being the petals in my arms.”
“For you to scatter me in the dirt when you’re done?”
His fangs are long now – stunning and pointed. I get a bout of goosebumps, imagining them biting down on my tit.
Polly sobs, and fucking hell, I can’t believe it. She’s been in the past two series. I like her. Surely she’s not going to die in episode one? I almost turn to Heath, but I don’t want spoilers. I CAN’T have spoilers.
She drops the branch when he closes the distance, wilting against his suited body as he takes hold of her arms. His teeth graze her neck as he smells her fear.
“I’m not going to scatter you in the dirt. Not tonight. You’re going to go home.”
She stiffens. “What?”
He laughs as he nips his teeth, just a touch.
“You’re free to go, Polly. You’re not going to be a ghost in the woods. Not this time.”
Her expression is incredible. She’s so confused, it’s palpable. Katie Ryan really is an amazing actress.
“But I thought…”
“Thought, thought, thought. So many assumptions. Always so many assumptions in this godforsaken place.”
“But when you chased me…”
I adore the Count’s laugh.
“Even vampires like to have a little fun sometimes.”
This is new. The Count is normally so brutal. I mean, I knew Polly was going to be different, because his stone cold heart had warmed to her, but this is new turf. I glance at Heath, and he’s smirking at the screen, not at me.
“No spoilers,” he says.
I watch the Count walk away from Polly, leaving her like a terrified doll in the darkness. He strolls and she watches, transfixed.
“Are you coming, or not?” he asks, casting a glance over his shoulder. “If you want to trek back to the village alone, that’s fine by me.”
“I, uh…”
He holds out a hand, his fangs still long and glinting under the moonlight.
“Come with me, or muddle your way along the path with the ghosts. Your call.”
She picks up the courage to walk towards him, and her character returns as she calms, walking along at his side.
“I thought you were in charge of my destiny, not me.”
“I still am.”
“Really? What if I choose to pack up and leave Kington? I could pack a suitcase and be out of here.”
The way he looks at her is intoxicating.
“You won’t leave. You won’t so much as pack a thing.”
And from the way he looks at her, it’s obvious. She won’t pack up and leave. Not even now she knows the truth – that the Count is a vampire who controls the whole village.
“Time for popcorn,” Josh says as the scene changes, and hands over the caramel coated pack. He grins when I take it from him. “Jeez, Ells, honestly. You’re sucked in so bad it’s hilarious.”
“Interesting choice of words,” Heath says from my other side, and I jump as he lunges at me with his mouth open wide. But he’s only fucking joking. He nips at my shoulder, then pulls away, taking a handful of popcorn on his way.
I can’t help but be kinda disappointed.
Josh is right, I am sucked in by the new series. The episodes zoom by, and I fire questions at Heath like there’s no tomorrow every time the credits roll. I am right back in Kington Springs, watching the tension between Polly and the Count grow and unfold now she knows the truth.
In this new round of episodes he ghosts a whole load more visitors in the woodland, and reveals the sacred past of Mackay, and by the time the finale approaches and the outside hunters arrive to interrogate Polly, she chooses crazy loyalty for the man who makes her bleed for fun. Because he does make her bleed for fun. A lot.
I groan when the end scene appears, knowing how the next cliffhanger is going to unfold.
The hunters have Polly as a ransom. Of course they do.
And will the Count surrender, really?
How the fuck is he going to rescue her from the swarms of bounty hunters in the village if he doesn’t?
“No spoilers,” Heath says before I get the chance to ask him. “The next part of the plot is strictly confidential.”
“Just a clue! Please!”
He shakes his head, and damn him, he’s insanely smoking hot in his Count getup. I’m as devoted to him as the woman on the screen.
“Come on, Heath, just a teaser!”
He zips his mouth. “My lips are sealed.”
I groan, because there’s no way he’s going to reveal anything. His adherence to confidentiality is as solid as Josh’s.
“Bloopers, then. You said there were outtakes. Come on, I’m desperate!”
“You really want to watch the bloopers after the grand finale of the series?”
“Um, YES.”
Josh leans in. “Heath, that’s the most ridiculous question I’ve ever heard. She’d watch every scene from every possible angle if she could.”
Heath laughs. “Yes, I can see that, genius . Maybe I’m just keen to hear her enthusiasm.”
“Hear her beg, you mean?”
“I’ll beg,” I butt in. “Happily. No problem.”
“Let’s save any begging for later.” Heath flicks the remote. “Outtakes it is.”
It’s so bizarre to see scenes with the word cut sounding out amidst the action. I’ve watched plenty of online videos of people on the set, with candid snippets, but nothing as professional as this. These are outtakes from the actual filming.
I almost piss myself laughing when Heath trips up on a woodland branch, going sprawling into the undergrowth, fully suited. He scrambles to his feet, and his pristine shirt is covered in mud. The way he swipes it down as the cast laugh around him is spectacular. Fuck sake, everyone, it’s not you who has to go back to wardrobe!
There are plenty of blooper scenes where people goof up their lines, or get the giggles, but there are a set of them that have me transfixed. One of the woodland scenes where Polly Anna falls into the Count’s arms.
Hmm. She seems to fall too hard on quite a few occasions, although she passes it off as slipping on her heels. I see the way she looks at him – still in the character of Polly while Heath straightens her up. She giggles a tad too much. Giving him the eye like he’s still the Count, drawn to her for all eternity.
“She fancies you,” I say. “You do know that, right?”
“Katie? Yes. I know that.”
I raise my eyebrows. “Are you not tempted? She’s absolutely gorgeous.”
“No, I’m not tempted.”
“Really?”
Josh squeezes my knee. “There are plenty of stunners on set, Ells. I’m sure they’re all out to tempt the Count , not just Katie Ryan. He could be a very busy boy if he wanted to.”
I examine the Count at my side. There’s no doubt that he must be a megastar of magnetism on set, not just off it. Yeah, he could be a very busy boy indeed, but here he is, isolated in France, with two hookers.
“You don’t fancy anyone on set at all?” I ask him. “What about Victoria Pewter? She looks quite like me. Or Peter Harold? He’d look like Josh if you squinted.”
“It’s not that I don’t fancy them, I don’t want them,” Heath says, and there’s an edge to his voice. Almost defensive. “I spend my life living out drama through filming every day, I don’t want any drama outside of it.”
Ouch. Something has spiked him. Josh nudges my foot and I let go of the conversation, taking another handful of popcorn and turning my attention back to the screen.
“Sorry,” Heath says, out of nowhere.
I smile at him. “You’ve got nothing to be sorry for. I shouldn’t be asking. It’s none of my business, I just get excited by Whispers. Everyone onscreen is amazing. Especially Polly. And you, of course.”
“Oh shit,” Heath says as the scene changes. “My life flashed before my eyes with this one.”
Polly Anna wakes in her bed, shocked to see a shadowy figure standing over her. She makes a run for it and the chase is on yet again, the evil Count Valenti desperate for his fill.
“The director insisted on one fluid take,” Heath says. “I really thought we’d nailed it, until I screwed up at the end.”
I’m entranced, my heart racing as the Count races after Polly, the cameraman close behind.
Polly is screeching and flailing and throwing whatever she can grab at as she makes her escape into the street outside. But the Count is too quick. He grabs her and slams her up against the church door. Polly is panting hard and so am I, her tits heaving in her lowcut nightdress, the lucky bitch. What I would give for Count Valenti to chase me like that.
The camera zooms in on Polly’s pale neck and the Count shows his fangs before biting down.
Polly struggles at first, then goes limp in his arms as he sucks her blood.
“Wait for it,” Heath says.
All of a sudden, the Count is coughing – no – he’s choking, doubling over, can’t breathe.
Polly – or rather Katie, springs to life, grabs him from behind and performs the Heimlich manoeuvre. I’m gasping and nearly choking on my popcorn as Heath’s pale face turns purple.
“Dear fucking God,” I say, just as Katie gives a final thrust and something flies from Heath’s mouth.
People swarm the set. Someone – I think it’s the director – picks up whatever it was that flew from Heath’s mouth.
“Fucking hell, Heath,” he says, “you could have fucking died if it wasn’t for Katie’s quick thinking. Are you alright?”
Count Valenti is getting his breath back, leaning on Katie against the church door.
“Let’s take five and then we’ll go again,” the director says and the scene ends.
“It took another three takes before he was satisfied,” Heath says.
“What the hell happened?” I ask.
“Fake blood capsule. I’m supposed to hide it under my tongue once I’ve broken it with my teeth. But somehow it went down my throat, probably because I was breathing too hard after the chase.”
“That was scary,” I say.
“Indeed,” Heath says. “Quite ironic that Polly saved me.”
It’s mad that I feel jealous of Polly – or Katie.
“Yeah, well done, Polly,” I say.
We watch the rest of the outtakes, and I’m laughing afresh by the end, clapping my hands as Katie really fluffs up a village store scene as Polly. She doubles up, pissing herself laughing with a sorry, ARGH!
It’s a shame to see the reel ending. I could watch this stuff for days.
Heath’s smirk is back on his face when the lights come on in the room.
“So, would you still enjoy being Polly, owned by the Count now that you have seen the bloopers?” he asks me.
Fuck, Heath’s eyes bore into mine, and I am Polly, staring into his vampire beauty.
“That’s another ridiculous question from you, Count. ”
“Yes, and another one where I want to hear your enthusiasm.”
I twist towards him. “I’d love to be Polly, even for just one millisecond. It would be absolutely fucking amazing. AMAZING.”
“Good to hear, since you may just get the chance,” he says, and drops an envelope in my lap.
The proposal envelope…
“Josh may have had a spoiler or two about this one,” Heath says, and winks at my boyfriend.
I look between the two of them – two conspiratorial fuck buddies, beyond irresistible in their suits. Heath’s sizing must fit Josh perfectly, because Josh definitely didn’t have that garb in his suitcase when we left London.
“Go on,” Josh says, smirking as dirtily as Heath. “Open the envelope, curva. The Count controls your destiny too, after all.”
Yes, he does.
Heath Mason controls every scrap of my destiny with this envelope in my hands.
He’s welcome to it.