by Sophie Stern
I shouldn’t have run off. I definitely shouldn’t have come back home. It was just that I needed some time and some space, and I needed to clear my head. There had been a part of me that believed if I could just run far enough, that somehow, the answers I was searching for would come to me.
As it were, I ran straight into the arms of someone who wanted to kill me.
I ran, hurrying past Hank. He grabbed, reaching for my ankle. His hand wrapped around me and even though I was faster and stronger than him, I also went down harder. I tripped, falling, and landed on the floor. My downstairs neighbor didn’t like this much. They hit the floor and yelled for us to shut up.
“See?” Hank said. He was still gripping my ankle. “Nobody likes you.”
“Fuck you,” I said, and I kicked him hard. The motion was enough for him to loosen his grip on me, and I pulled, freeing myself again. This time I made it almost to the end of the hallway before I felt something hit me in the back of the head. It was sharp and tiny, and it pricked right through my hair and into my skull.
The sensation was enough that I paused, reaching back. I grabbed whatever it was and pulled it out.
A needle.
He’d gotten me with a fucking needle.
I was so close to the door of the apartment. If I could get to the door, I could make it to the hallway. If I could do that, a neighbor would take pity on me. They’d realize that something was wrong, and they’d call for help. Oh, I didn’t think the police would do much to save a vampire, but it would be better than dying along at Hank’s hands.
I fell forward. I turned as I did so I landed on my shoulder and not my face, but it still hurt. The floor shook again, and I heard my neighbor from downstairs yelling once more.
“Stop with the noise!” He shouted.
“Please,” I whispered, begging him to hear me. “Help me.”
“Help isn’t coming,” Hank said. He appeared above me then. “You know, when I installed cameras in your apartment, they were to make sure I knew exactly when you were and weren’t here. After I moved out, I just happened to forget to remove them.”
Somehow, I knew he hadn’t forgotten anything.
Cameras?
Really?
How hadn’t I known?
“When I realized that you hadn’t been home in a few days, it got me thinking. I started to wonder where you could have possibly gone and who you could have possibly been talking to. You weren’t going to be on a date, were you? No, you could never get over me,” he said.
Hank was so close to me that it made me feel physically sick. I hated how gross he was. How had I ever dated such a freak weirdo? I used to think he was sexy and fun and wild. I thought he was dependable. Apparently, I’d been totally wrong.
“You cheated on me,” I whispered.
“Yes,” he said. “And you were very easy to cheat on. For someone so hell-bent on revenge, you were very distracted when it came to anything that wasn’t hunting that stupid vampire. I cheated on you many times, my vampire. You just only found out at the end. Pity,” he said. “We could have made a good pair.”
“Let me go,” I said.
I was dizzy, and I was suddenly very, very tired. I had no idea what he’d given me, but I knew it was some sort of vampire tranquilizer. I realized that Hank was obviously involved in the same shit my previous roommates had been. Was that how he’d found me? Had he known them? Had it been his job to keep an eye on me after they were gone?
What did he want a hunter for anyway?
“I’m never letting you go,” he said. “Don’t worry. The drugs will wear off soon enough. The buyers don’t like harvesting organs from a drugged-up vamp, anyway. Where’s the fun in that? It’s when you creatures get mad that you get really wild and fun. That’s what they want. The people want a mad, angry vampire, and I’m going to give them one.”
“I don’t want you,” I said.
“You don’t have a choice.”
I closed my eyes, and I felt something cover my body. Maybe it was a blanket or even a bag of some sort. I couldn’t tell. I remembered my training. You were never supposed to let someone capture you alive. You definitely weren’t supposed to let them move you to another location, but he was doing just that.
And I was letting him.
I hadn’t fought as hard as I should have.
Then everything really did go black.
10.
Liam
“WHERE IS SHE?” I ASKED, marching into the kitchen. The sun was setting, but Kimberly wasn’t in our room. I’d slept poorly: tossing and turning all night. When I woke, I realized that she’d never actually fallen asleep. Sometimes she got up and wandered around the mansion when she couldn’t sleep, but I thought there was something else going on: something horrible.
“I’m sorry,” Helena said, looking up. She was sitting at the table with Raven, Lex, and Michael. It looked like they’d been talking about something. “We don’t know.”
“What do you mean?” I snapped. “How can you not know?”
“I mean,” she said, rising. “We don’t know where she is.”
“She’s not here,” Michael added.
“I gathered that,” I said, choking the words out.
Where had she gone?
Was something wrong?
Something had to be wrong.
“Sometimes she goes out when she needs to think,” Raven said quietly. We all turned and looked at her. Of course, Raven would have the best idea. Raven was the one who knew her better than anyone. Raven was the girl who knew Kimberly better than Kimberly knew herself. Raven had been there for her always.
“Did you two have a fight?” Helena looked at me. It was a bold question: a personal question. It was also something I felt obligated to answer.
“Sort-of.”
“What happened?”
She wasn’t judging me when she asked. I knew that Lex and Michael weren’t judging me, either. Raven...well, I wasn’t so sure about Raven. The others were pretty calm, though.
“I told her the truth about her roommates.”
“You told her about the organ harvesters?” Raven asked quietly.
“Yes.”
“Why?” Michael asked. “Was that really necessary?”
“It seemed like it. She deserved to know the truth about our world.”
“We talked in the kitchen,” Lex said. “Very briefly. Then I left and she stayed behind to eat a cupcake or something.”
“Well, apparently, she didn’t stay behind,” I said through gritted teeth.
“Don’t you blame this on me,” Lex said. “She’s not my responsibility.”
He was right, but it pissed me off. She wasn’t anyone’s responsibility except mine, and I’d let her down. I’d ruined everything between us because I...
Well, I’d made the mistake of thinking that I was invincible. I made the mistake of thinking that we both were, and that I didn’t need to worry about her.
Well, apparently, I needed to worry about her.
“Where would she have gone?” I asked Raven.
I could track her.
I could get out in the Grove and I could track her, but things would be so much easier if I didn’t have to do that. If there was any chance that Raven could tell us where to start looking for Kimberly, the world would be a better, simpler place.
“Raven?” Helena asked, placing her hand on the woman’s shoulder. Raven looked up at Helena, patiently waiting for whatever Helena was going to say next. They loved each other, I realized suddenly. This wasn’t just obsession or desire. It was something more.
It reminded me of the way that Kimberly and I looked at each other, and I regretted telling her about her friends in such a rough way. If I’d spoken to her more simply and sweetly, would things be different?
“Raven, what can you tell us?”
“Look,” Raven looked over at me. She reached for Helena’s hand, which was still resting on her shoulder, and she squeezed it, le
tting Helena know she was okay. “Kimberly is the type of person who needs space.”
“Explain.”
“When she gets overwhelm, she likes to go out. She likes to run or go hunt. Well, she did. Sometimes she just wants to be by herself.”
“Where would she go to be by herself?”
“Well, in the past, she would go hunting. Now? Maybe she wants something more familiar.”
“What do you mean?”
“Try her apartment,” Raven said. “I mean, maybe she went home.”
“This is her home,” I said.
“You know what she means,” Michael added. “And it’s a good idea. The girl may have gone back to a place that was familiar. Maybe she wanted to be in a place where she felt comfortable.”
I didn’t like that idea.
I didn’t like the idea that she had to run away to be comfortable, but that was what we were dealing with. The truth was that transitioning to a vampire’s life may have been harder than I gave her credit for. I’d been turned for so long that I barely remembered being human.
The opposite was true for Kimberly.
She probably remembered being human like it was the core of who she was, which wasn’t true. She was so much more. Now, as I thought about Raven’s words, I thought more and more that she was probably right.
“Let’s go,” I said to Michael and Lex.
“Excuse me?” Helena raised an eyebrow.
“You should stay here,” I said. “In case she comes back.
“Absolutely not,” Helena said. “I’m not staying, and neither is Raven. We’ll all go, all five of us, and the servants will call us if she returns.”
“She’s not coming back,” Raven said carefully. “If she was coming back, she’d be here already. I think something happened.” Her words were a whisper, but I heard every single one of them. The worst part was that I thought she was right. I thought was she was saying was true. I had a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach that something really had happened to Kimberly.
I just didn’t know what.
“The auction is in a few hours,” Lex said as we left the house. “I don’t want to think they might have captured her, but we need to be careful.”
“He’s right,” Helena added. “The vampire slayers will be out in full swing tonight. They’re probably trying to round up some last-minute meat for their little event.”
“Gross,” Raven said.
“Very gross,” Michael agreed.
Together, the five of us left the mansion and headed into the grove. We walked together. Each of us had on a trench coat, boots, and clothing that let us move easily. Well, all of us except for Helena, who was still in one of her dresses. It didn’t matter, though. Helena could move like the night if she wanted to. She was that good.
We made it to the apartment in no time and all, and immediately, I knew something was wrong. When we arrived outside of the building, I gestured for everyone to circle around. Then Lex and I walked inside, up the stairs, and to her door. We stood there, sniffing the air. I couldn’t quite pinpoint the sickly scent that filled the hallway, but it wasn’t good. It wasn’t blood, but it wasn’t good.
When I looked at the door to the home, it was slightly ajar.
Someone had been here, and recently.
Lex stepped forward and pushed the door open. Then together, we went in. We each went in opposite directions to look at the apartment, and then we gathered back in the kitchen.
“Someone took her,” he said.
“She was here, though.”
I wasn’t sure if that should be reassuring or not. It was quite horrible to think that someone had simply come in and taken the woman I loved.
The woman I loved.
That was what she’d become. I’d believed for years that she was my fated mate, but now I truly felt like we were beginning to love each other, and I didn’t want that to stop. I didn’t want any of this to stop.
“She can’t be dead,” I whispered. “I would know it.”
“I don’t think she’s dead,” Lex said. He moved swiftly throughout the space. Even for a vampire, he was fast. It was one of the best and most interesting things about Lex. Where most people just saw a handsome face, there was more to him than that. “I think he took her.”
“Who?”
“The organizer of the event tonight.”
I sniffed the air. I could smell that strange, pungent odor. Was it him? Was that what the human man smelled like? There was something else, too. It was fear or anger all rolled into one. She was scared. She’d been scared. The man had scared her.
My fangs extended, and I felt myself growing more agitated.
“Calm down there, friend,” Lex said. “We still have time. They aren’t doing anything for a few hours.”
“They’ve already done enough,” I said. I walked around the apartment again, looking for clues...looking for anything. The carpet in the hallway was a little messed up. It looked like there had been some sort of struggle there. I crouched down, looking around. I wasn’t really sure what I was trying to find.
Then I notice the closet. It was a linen closet of sorts, perhaps, and I reached for the door handle and opened it. There, just inside, was an empty syringe.
Why was there a syringe?
I reached for it.
“Be careful,” Lex said.
“I’m always careful.”
I examined it, looking it over. It smelled like nothing at all. Lex, too, sniffed it.
“A tranquilizer?” He asked.
“Probably. Whoever took her was here, and I’m guessing that she put up a fight.”
“You know,” Lex said carefully. “When I was human, my neighbors were constantly giving me shit.”
“I can understand that,” I said dryly. Lex could be annoying at times and wildly sweet at others. There was rarely an in-between with him.
He glared, narrowing his eyes, but then he shook his head.
“Let’s go talk to the downstairs neighbors,” he said. “Maybe they’ll have heard something.”
It seemed like a good idea, so we went downstairs, made our way down the narrow apartment building hallway, and arrived at the door. I knocked loudly, rapping on the door, and almost immediately, it opened.
There in front of us stood the tiniest little old woman I’d ever seen. She looked up at Lex and I. We were huge compared to her, and we filled her entire doorway. There wasn’t a single chance she wasn’t scared out of her mind. Obviously, she could tell we were both vampires, as well.
We weren’t exactly discreet about that.
“Hello boys,” the woman said. “How can I help you?”
“Excuse me,” I said. “Our friend lives upstairs, but she’s not home right now. Do you know if she had any visitors tonight?” I wondered if I’d have to read her mind or if she’d give us what we needed easily. That would work better for me. Reading minds was something I could do, but it wasn’t always a simple process. The person had to have strong emotions, and I needed to be in a good space. Right now, neither one was happening.
The woman’s eyes narrowed.
“I’ve never seen you around,” she said.
“We’re friends from work.”
“Bullshit,” she said, crossing her arms over her chest. The old woman stared at us like she’d just caught us with our hands in the cookie jar.
“Excuse me?” Lex asked.
“You heard me. That’s a lie. Kimberly is a hunter, and you’re vampires. Now you tell me what you want with that girl,” she said.
We exchanged looks. I hadn’t expected that.
“She told you she’s a hunter?” It seemed a little out of character. Usually, she was discreet and quiet about who she was and what she did.
“Of course not,” the old lady said. “She’s not a fool.” The woman sighed and shook her head. “But neither am I.”
“So, was she here today?”
“She’s been gone a week,” the woman said.
“She was here this morning, though.”
So, Raven had been right. Kimberly had been there, just as we thought. There had been a tiny sliver of hope that the syringe we found was for a drug user or something like that. Part of me hoped it had belonged to someone else and not the girl I loved.
It had been for her, though.
“Was she alone?” Lex asked.
“No,” the old woman said. “Her asshole of a boyfriend was there.”
Boyfriend?
As far as I knew, Kimberly and Hank had broken up weeks ago. Then again, maybe this woman didn’t know that.
Was he the one behind all of this?
“Did you talk to him?” Lex asked.
“He came over and wanted me to stop banging on the ceilings,” she said. “But I told him to fuck off before I called the cops on him.”
“Why were you banging on the ceiling?”
“Because Pepper was trying to sleep,” the woman pointed at the little dog beside her. Pepper was resting at her feet. “And he was sitting up there for a whole day, just stomping around.”
So that was it.
He’d been waiting for her.
The monster had come to her house, and he’d waited for her, and then he’d taken her.
“Ma’am, was there any sort of disturbance this morning? Any sort of yelling or anything like that?”
“Yes.”
“Can you tell us a little more about that?”
The old woman nodded excitedly. She still didn’t trust us, but it was obvious she didn’t like Kimberly’s ex-boyfriend, either.
“Kimmy came home. Her boyfriend was there. They had a fight, and then he left.”
“He left?”
“Heard him do it.”
“What about Kim?”
“She never left,” the woman said. “So, she’s probably sleeping or something. You know how hunters are. They sleep all day and then they’re out all night. Honestly, they make for great neighbors,” she said. “Most days, anyway.”
So that was it.
She’d come home, and he’d been lying in wait for some reason. Then he’d taken her. Before we turned to go, I thought of another question.