| 8 Avery and the Lumpy Couch I woke up sprawled on the bed feeling stiff and slightly hung-over. I didn’t drink much and I had the sneaking suspicion part of it was from the adrenaline surge I had gotten in the club. I hadn’t slept easy. The night and our run from the club had drudged up my other memories of driving fast and reckless. I had dreamed about the convoy in Iraq. I had dreamed about it in great detail. I was left feeling guilty and scared when I woke up. I was still in the dress from last night. I had just fallen into bed without even getting under the covers. The dress had rode up to my waist in my sleep and was decidedly uncomfortable now. I pulled the bottom hem down as I thought about everything that had happened last night. So what did I know now that I didn’t yesterday when I woke up? Vampires and Supernaturals had a bar with a human club as a front. Cwen was one scary bitch. Elle could defy gravity. Clete wanted to ‘do bad things with’ me. Alex could kiss well enough to knock your panties off. Scott had some sort of feelings for me. Eric had gotten around a LOT in a thousand years. He was also made by a pedophile vampire with a twisted sense of family. The Rory Clan had a plan they called Genesis… I sat up in bed and looked at my book shelf. My Bible was right where I left it. I said I wasn’t religious, I didn’t say I had never been. I had lost my faith in people a long time ago, naturally God came next. My loss of faith had moved like a virus from one part of me to the other. It didn’t help that I had seen as much as I had. I mean look at what people do in the name of God. God lets it happen. I had seen too many people do things in the name of God that were far from godly. Could I continue to be faithless now? I mean lots of things had shaken my faith in the normal world I knew. There were four vampires in my house last night, something a week ago I would have told you with all surety was impossible. I also had an angel. Was Sobie an angel of God, or the basis of what was written in the ‘good book’? I stumbled across the room and pulled it from the shelf opening it to the first page as I walked back to perch on the edge of my bed. Chapter one of Genesis, God created heaven and earth and all things in between, including humans. Chapter two, god created humans in his own likeness. They were naked and it was fine, and they lived in the Garden of Eden. Chapter three, then came the serpent and he said eat the fruit and they did and they were ashamed. After that came Cain and Abel and the betrayal. Well if the answer was here I was missing it. Maybe it was a Cain and Abel situation. Clete had said Eric was killing off everyone that wasn’t of his own Clan. I wasn’t sure what he could be looking for to help facilitate that, and I really didn’t know how it related to me and Scott. I got up and placed my old Bible back on the shelf. It was ten in the morning and I had a house guest. I wasn’t going to see her looking the way I did. She was too pretty for me to give her the satisfaction of knowing how unattractive I could be. I grabbed a pair of jeans and one of my old gray army tee shirts from the closet. Time to face the world. I peeked into the hall before I ran across to the bathroom. I was glad to see it was free and Elle was nowhere to be seen. I scooted in and closed the door behind me. I took care of my morning business and started the water so it would get hot. I got my first look in the mirror then. I hadn’t washed my face before bed and my braids were pulling uncomfortably at my scalp. I started to undo them and found my self looking at the Bride of Frankenstein in the mirror. My long brown hair stood out and back along my head, the crimps poofing out slightly. My smoky shadow was smeared over my matching brown eyes and under them. I was a sight. I could see the steam billowing out of the shower and started pulling off my clothes to hop in. When I pulled my sleeves off a small folded square of paper fell out. I noticed my name had been scrawled on it and I remembered Clete handing it to me. Was it a circle yes no or maybe note? That was what it looked like to me, some relic of adolescent love. I knew he had entertained a thought of him and I being more so I set it aside until later. It could wait and I had a guest to get to. I showered quickly, slowing down only to shave my legs. When I stepped out I could hear Elle up and moving in the house. I wasn’t her biggest fan, she seemed to have that covered, but she saved my ass last night and had offered to stay in some protective capacity. I figured I could make her breakfast or at least offer her a clean shirt and maybe some sweats if they would fit her long frame. I tucked the note into my pocket and came out of the bathroom carrying a comb and running it through my hair as I made my way to the kitchen. Elle was sitting at my kitchen table with two Starbucks cups and a hunk of coffee cake in a bag from the same place. She was six feet tall if an inch but she looked tiny at my table, like she had withdrawn into herself taking some of her height with her. She looked a little ragged but far better than I had when I got up. She also looked like she wanted to talk. Why else bring the coffee and sit waiting at my table? Elle looked up as I stepped into the room. “Morning, coffee?” She said indicating the cup in front of her. “I got you a mocha, I wasn’t sure what you liked.” I sat down across from her and considered the proffered cup. I took it. It was coffee and it was a white flag of truce. I took my first gratefully warm sip. She had more to say than that. It was sitting in her blue eyes heavily, like she wasn’t sure if she should go down the road she was about to. “Thanks, I needed that after last night.” I was grateful even if I wasn’t sure if I wanted to hear what she had to say. “Look,” she started then stopped. She was considering how to say what she wanted to get out. I wondered how long she had been up and thinking on this, whatever it was. “Scott’s a nice guy. He is young…” “He isn’t really that young. He looks like his twenties but I know he is older than that.” She just looked at me for a minute. He was young compared to the rest of them. I sat waiting for her to recover from my interruption. “He isn’t that old. Look, if you have any doubt about him. About how you feel don’t lead him on.” This wasn’t what I was expecting. “He’s had it rough. He hasn’t embraced his new nature. He didn’t want to be made. You can hear it when he talks about it. He always say’s he was turned, like he went over to the dark side or something.” She paused again to gather her thoughts. I was thinking about what I had just heard from her. She was being a good big sister to him. She was trying to protect him…from me. “I’m not really sure how I feel about him, or any of you. Ask me this time last week about vampires and angels and…whatever else, I would have sent you to the psych ward.” She pushed her raven hair from her face as she sipped her coffee. “He is different. He lost someone recently. They were close…like Alex and I, friends, close friends plus a little more. She…she was wonderful, for him and for us. She was a witch, a powerful and smart witch. We were just beginning to like her, to get…attached to her. We don’t like to get attached to breathers. You die too easily.” I wasn’t sure how to take what she was telling me. She called humans breathers. Elle and Alex weren’t the couple I had thought. Scott had lost a…girlfriend recently. He wasn’t acting like I would expect someone who just lost a friend or girlfriend might normally act. Elle was watching me turn this over in my head. She must have caught something in my expression that gave her an idea of my thoughts. “We think the Rory Clan had something to do with her demise. That is part of the reason we are determined to find out what they are up to. Scott and this woman were intimate. They weren’t in love. She became a friend to me. I don’t want to become friendly with another dead woman,” she looked pointedly at me and I realized this was part of her attitude towards me. Elle didn’t want to like me then watch me die. She was playing big sister and she was trying to emotionally protect herself and her whole clan. I felt my misgivings dissolving as I looked at her. “I like you guys. You are the most interesting…things that I have ever met. I am usually bored with the natural flow of things. Blame it on my hard life or my deployment I just…” I faltered in my explanation then regained my mental footing. “I like my job because it is never the same; there is an element of excitement to it that keeps me charged. If I didn’t have it I might have gone back to being a soldier already. I spent a year with nothing but the surge of survival running through me. Knowing all of you and being tangled in all this puts a little zest back in my life. I need that. I want that.” Elle was eyeing me over her cup, “I don’t know how long my life will be, and maybe it is selfish, but I would rather spend however much time I have with that little spark. I can understand why you don’t want to get attached. Surely you can forgive my lack of longevity though.” She sat her cup down and just looked at me with an unreadable expression for a moment. “I guess we will each make that decision for ourselves. Scott seems to have made up his mind already. Just don’t start something with him unless you are sure you want to be a part of our world.” Elle got up and walked down the hall leaving me with my own thoughts. As much as I had already seen of them and been in the thick with them I had assumed I was accepted. This conversation with Elle left me confused about where I stood. Once she left would I hear from them again? Surely with my actions last night and the Rory threat they all knew I was the weak one. I would be lost to them. Would one of my vampires feel forced to correct my deficiency as a human, as a breather? After hearing Scott hadn’t wanted the change and that the vampires tended to scout for their intended children I didn’t think so, but there was always the possibility. Today could be my last day if they changed their mind or ignored my protests. I wasn’t feeling very good about my position in the group at all. I had proved useful to them…I hoped. I went and got a set of fresh clothes for Elle, I was losing a lot of my clothes to other people lately. At the rate I was going I wouldn’t have anything for myself to wear by the end of the week. Elle looked like her old self again. She had washed away the fake tan and was no longer looking so ragged when she emerged, despite the old clothes she was wearing. I had fished the business card with the little shield out of my cavernous purse and was dialing the phone even as she stepped back into the kitchen. “Detective Jackson, how can I help you?” I heard the creamy resonant voice of the detective from the night I met Scott. “This is Avery Sheridan.” “Miss Sheridan have you thought of anything else from your talk with Audra?” He sounded hopeful and expectant. I was sorry to disappoint him and sorrier that I already had the answer to my question. “I was calling to find out if you had found her. I don’t have more information for you though, no.” “Well we put out the Amber Alert within twenty minutes of her disappearance. We have had a few people who think they saw her but when we go out to check no one seems to remember actually seeing her.” I immediately thought of the glamour as I heard this. I knew one of the stages was to forget. I dismissed the idea just as quickly as it came up. This was just a little girl no vampire. Maybe I had just been spending too much time in the company of the fanged persuasion. “We have extra cars out and foot patrols. There are even extras out on their bikes, but so far we’ve had no luck.” I could hear the strain in his voice. He wanted to find her of course and the weight of the situation was in his voice mirroring my own worries for the girl’s safety. “Is there anything I can do; civilian search parties or anything?” “Her father is here from Portland. He organized a search yesterday but they weren’t able to find anything more than we have. Just keep your eyes peeled and if you remember anything give me a call back.” I wondered what he made of Scott’s missing body. I remembered he had come to the hospital initially for that reason, so I had to ask, “What about the man you came in for before Audra disappeared, the one that had been beaten to death, did you find out anything about it? Are you investigating?” “Well Miss Sheridan, to be honest that is a cold case. We have no body, no idea who he was and no suspects. I am not even sure where we would start to investigate. We could take his picture from your security cameras but he was so badly beaten I doubt if anyone would recognize him. I have gone through missing persons, but there isn’t anyone there that fits the description Dr. Rosser gave us. So that’s it unless something comes up on its own.” At least he was honest about not knowing anything. “I will call you back if I remember anything. Would you call me if you find her?” “It’s not really my place to inform you,” he said stiffly, “but I can say something to Mr. Avinpala about letting you know and I am sure it will be on the news when the Amber Alert is over.” “Thanks.” “Welcome.” With that he hung up the phone. I hadn’t really learned anything of use. “So, what was that about?” Elle was giving me the eye. “I asked the detective who showed up to talk to Scott at the hospital if they had found out anything about him. I also asked about a girl who went missing the same night. He had no news about either, which is good for Scott and bad for her I guess.” “Did you actually expect the King County police to have found out anything about a vampire who didn’t want to be found?” “No, not really, but I wanted to know how hard they were looking and what they did in a situation like this. No body, no ID and no suspects. Apparently they can’t really do anything.” I looked Elle over for a minute and decided to broach the subject. “Would you mind running some errands with me? I...I need to look for someone. A girl about twelve, the one who went missing, and I could use an extra set of eyes.” She thought briefly, “Sure, I usually sleep during the day, but the coffee is going to keep me up now, might as well do something useful.” That said I pulled on my sweater and we grabbed some filtered water from the fridge ready to drive to the hospital. We might as well start where Audra left off. There wasn’t anyone on shift that I knew this morning so Elle and I passed right to the sea foam restroom. Elle was a similar height and build as the girl so we tried once again to reach the window. “She is human, a young human, I can’t see how she would have gotten up here either.” Elle walked through the low slung door of the last stall. Using some of her elfish bounce she climbed right up to the window. I had been assuming the girl was human, but if she was anything else that would have been an easy jump for her. “This window is too small. Even as thin as I am I don’t think I could fit through it. It’s what, maybe six inches?” She might fit her legs out but only to maybe the thighs.” Elle opened the little window and slid her legs out getting stuck on the ledge as she went. She turned and stuck her head out only to have her chest catch at her collar bones. “I have another problem with the window explanation…” I looked up at her wondering what other problem she had found with the theory. “The window opens out, but I am looking down into a large drop. Right to the basement windows, there is a recessed place so light can pass through to the windows there. This window is ten feet up from the floor of this room and maybe fifteen with the addition of that recess.” I knew the hospital and hadn’t even thought of that. How the hell had she gone unseen? “Well, it is a mystery we can only solve once we find her. Let’s go check restaurants near-by. She’s a kid, she has to eat. I am sure if she’s okay she would have had to stop for food.” Elle dropped straight back to the ground without any recoil. I was beginning to think bouncy was a much better power than I originally thought. We spent most of the day checking playgrounds, fast food joints, and libraries. Anywhere we could think of but we didn’t find anyone who had seen her either. We finally had to stop and go back to the car at the hospital. Elle was exhausted and I had rubbed a blister on my foot with all the walking. I drove us back to the house on Westbrook Rd. I was glad to pull on the street and see all the houses built so similar to my own. Elle and I hadn’t talked much since we gotten into the car and I could see her head nodding and bobbing as she tried to stay awake on the way back. She fell asleep on the lumpy couch without comment leaving me with my own thoughts. It would be dark out soon and I knew she would leave or they would come here. Audra had pretty effectively disappeared and after seeing Elle run up the wall I was beginning to wonder about what Audra might, or might not be. Elle woke up from her powernap just as the sunset and said she had to go soon. She assumed someone else would be coming to take her place as sentry. Not ten minutes after dark Scott was at my door and Elle was heading out of it. “Had a girl’s day with Elle?” “Not exactly.” I said letting my eyes take in all of him. I was interested in him, in more with him. After talking to Elle today though I wasn’t sure if we could go there. He was wearing jeans again and his pale skin made a nice contrast with the black polo shirt. I also noticed his full head of hair was back, there wasn’t even a sign of the Mohawk that had stood so high yesterday. “Tell me what happened. I…sleep all day and I wonder what a normal day is for someone like you.” He said as he headed for the living room and my pathetic couch. “Well, today wasn’t exactly a normal day. On a normal day I make breakfast and shower. I go to the library or out for a run. I clean house or rent movies. Sometimes I might catch lunch with my room mate Kim or go for a long drive. I like to drive, just being alone and going. It’s like having a purpose but not really. It’s kind of freeing to just hit the road.” “What do you eat?” He was looking at me from his side of the couch with his eyes wide and full of interest. “I like Mexican food, you know, tacos or enchiladas,” I could tell he wanted to know more, he was leaning forward with his elbows on his knees, “I like it, I love salsa. It’s fiery and spicy, makes my tongue tingle. I like spaghetti too. I like the feel of the noodles as I pull them in and the zestiness of the sauce.” He was hanging on my every word. I realized he didn’t eat food. “I know you can’t eat it, but can you taste food?” “No. It has no flavor for me now. Blood is what sustains me, it bears the flavor and the flavor does vary.” He looked sad as he said it and I remembered what Elle had told me, about how he hadn’t wanted to become a vampire. I would ask him about it, later though. “That’s why I like garlic, I as a vampire have a strong sense of smell, so things that are strong like garlic, are almost as good as getting to eat. In my early days I would sit in Italian restaurants, or in little curry joints or maybe some Chinese dive. It was great to have the smells but seeing everyone else get their share of the food I couldn’t eat was…disheartening.” His hazel eyes were distant as he sat remembering the early days. “You have a strong sense of smell, what else is…heightened in vampires?” “Everything, our hearing is stronger, so is our vision. Some even have the ability to reach out with their minds. We can’t eat, we can’t multiply in the traditional sense and we can’t see the sun.” Scott looked at me enviously; he missed all of the things he couldn’t do that I still could. “Elle told me…that you didn’t want to be a vamp. What happened? I thought you said vampires were pretty choosey.” “Oh, they are, some prefer a willing companion, others don’t care at all. They assume because they turned you that you will want to come with them, or be compelled to stay with them. I wasn’t that way. I left behind a life. I didn’t make much of it early on, but I was getting it together when I was taken.” Scott was looking at his own hands and had slid back on the couch. He seemed lost for a moment. Like his whole after life was nothing more than a bad dream. “You have gotten to see so much though, and there is so much more you can see if you want.” Scott leaned forward suddenly and peered deep into my eyes. “Do you want to be a vampire?” He sounded suddenly angry, “You have the same preoccupation with mortality as most humans. I didn’t expect it from you, but I almost forget you are human sometimes.” I made a choking sound when he asked me if I wanted to become a vampire. I had been thinking only hours before that one of them could easily make that happen. They could ‘make’ me anytime they wanted. In some ways it was endlessly appealing. Forever has a beautiful ring to it, but looking at Scott and his own unhappiness in that state and knowing I would have to give up my life as I knew it made me think it was a horrible idea. “I don’t want that,” I was shaking my head as he looked at me. “I want…I don’t know what I want. It’s an appealing offer, as you said, but it’s just not right. Not now at least, maybe one day I will change my mind. Maybe one day I will just ask you to do it for me. For now though I am content to just live on the edge.” I shrugged my shoulders in a sad way. I didn’t like not knowing what I wanted. I wasn’t used to being conflicted. I had just always known what course to take. Even when I wasn’t sure I charged ahead and made it work. This was just a little more that I had ever had to think about. The choices had never been life, or after life, maybe life and death on occasion but never life or longer life. “I didn’t want it either. I was turned by a vampire who didn’t care. I didn’t stay with him for more than the first night. I struck out on my own, completely ignorant of what I should do to make it in the new world. I lived in California back then. I was weeks from getting an associate’s degree when he found me. I had been so sure something was about to start, I thought it was my life that was about to start. I was just so wrong about that.” I nodded at him, I understood, I really did. I wanted him to continue so I shut up the million questions running through my head. “He took me from my car. I remember Cherry Bomb was playing on the radio and he just took me. Away from it and everything else I loved.” “How does it work? How did he turn you?” I was on the edge of my seat leaning toward him. I was a mirror of what he had been only minutes before. He gave me a long look before he said anything. I was afraid I had jumped the shark. I was afraid I had asked just the wrong question. “He took me. I was in my car stopped late one night at a red light. The roads were basically empty. I had been studying late at a friends and my mind was off thinking about my finals and what I would do when I was finished. I hadn’t locked my doors and he pulled me out so fast. He drained me there by the side of that old road then poured the blood back into me.” Scott stopped and I could feel the weight of every word that had passed from him to me. “Why…why did he do it?” “Loneliness, he liked the looks of me. He preferred the company of men. I was there. I don’t know. I don’t know if he watched me for a while first or just took me when he saw me. I left him as soon as I was strong enough with only the basic idea of how to survive. I met Chad and Alex and Sobie a few months later. They seemed to understand my pain and took me under their wing. I have been among them since.” I just sat staring at him for a long few minutes. How do you even respond to something like that, something so powerful and horrible and painful? “That’s why I chose you. You made me feel something I hadn’t felt in so long. Maybe there was some magic in that moment I looked at you with a beating heart. I don’t know.” Scott looked so serene I knew that was just what he was on the outside. From what he told me, he felt nothing for years before he met me. I could appreciate what it must have been like for him to feel that beat again after so long. “You chose me…It was an accident that we met.” “It’s the only thing I can thank the Rorys for.” Scott’s hazel eyes were looking deeply into mine, as if he might read something hiding in the back of them. I was beginning to hesitate. I didn’t what to wrap myself in a man who might lose all feeling for me once the moment passed. I changed the subject to something that might divert his attention and evoke something else in him. “You lost someone recently.” I had caught him off guard with the sudden subject change, but I needed to know that whatever he was feeling for me was more than he felt for others. I wanted to know he wasn’t a fickle man. “She was a witch. I am sure Elle told you. She was wonderful and she seemed to understand me. I could share with her since she knew about my world and what I was. I didn’t love her. I liked her sure, and we had a relationship like a normal couple. We just didn’t actually love each other. She couldn’t love something,” he said something with heavy distain. He was beginning to look forlorn as he sat and talked of his last…love, friend, lady. “She couldn’t love something that couldn’t feel for her with the same depth. It was satisfying, mostly. She had a child who loved me. I like the girl but I couldn’t ever really be a permanent part of her life. She would grow older and just be confused by me and the distance between us.” “What happened to the mother, the witch?” “She died. She died horribly. There were other vampires there. It was an accident as far as anyone else is concerned but I was there with her. We were on the interstate and Ata Rory stepped out in front of us. She swerved to miss her and came off the road. We cashed into a tree… She was dying beside me.” I could see the pain as he said this. I wasn’t sure if vampires could cry but I was beginning to think that was what was coming next. Scott’s face was clouded in grief. No longer showing the serene exterior, talking about this woman had pushed him past that. “I wanted to pull her out, I would have turned her if she asked, but she didn’t. She told me it was the way it was supposed to be. I got the girl out of the car and started to run with her. Vampires don’t just show up in the middle of the interstate so I assumed they were there to cause trouble or drain the victims so I ran with her. They caught up with us. The girl used some…magic and was gone. I was left to deal with them. They are the ones that beat me, they would have staked me and let me fall to ash but a car drove by and noticed me, the other vampires left when they heard it coming. I was weak after the crash and the beating so I couldn’t hide or run. Even if I had they were still in the area and would have finished their job on me.” It sounded familiar. I almost thought he was making it up. I just couldn’t put my finger on why that seemed so close to something I knew. The story had just poured out of him and I wasn’t sure what to say next. His heart was full of a pain that I couldn’t ease. He hurt because his friend was gone, he hurt because his life was gone and I couldn’t change any of it. “What happened to the child?” “She used magic. I assume she took herself somewhere safe. Maybe to her father, maybe she went to one of her mother’s coven. I just don’t know. I don’t have anyway to find out without revealing myself and I am not ready to do that.” I leaned to him. I wanted to hug him. I wanted to comfort him and make the aching heart ease. I didn’t know how. As I leaned forward he did too. Our lips met and I felt fire. This kiss held so much. It held his pain, his passion, and, all the feelings he left behind when his life had ended. I knew instantly there would be no distracting him from this. I knew I didn’t want to. I leaned back on the battered couch pulling him with me. I could feel every inch of him as he leaned right into me. I was hungry for him. Scott slowed the pace of the kiss. He was savoring it like he did so many other things. I was already pulling his black polo shirt up. I had my first feel of him. He wasn’t cold like the first night I met him when we fought, but he was far from warm. I was over dressed for the occasion and he helped me out of the offending garments. I could feel him through his jeans. I wanted them off and so did he. I unbuttoned them and slowly drew them down his body. It was like unwrapping a present and he had brought me a good one. Sans our silly clothing we drew back together. I could feel every muscle and every twitch of his body. We were pressed together close and tight. I could feel his fangs run out as I kissed him and I was ready for it. I wasn’t afraid. Maybe I should have been afraid but this had been building between us and I wanted nothing less than all of him. He was all mine now. There was nothing else in the world but my legs wrapped around his waist. I had all of him. If he wanted to bite me I would let him. I wanted him to have all of me. He didn’t bite me. His teeth grazed my skin. They became an extension, like fingers, that could cause little shudders through me. The moment had been worth the wait. He explored me like no other ever had. He commented on the constellations of freckles I had on my shoulders and the little dots on my stomach. He noticed the birthmark on the inside of my knee. A birthmark I rarely thought about or even remembered. He was committing every inch of me to his memory and I was trying to take as much care to do the same. I was lost though. He caressed every inch of my skin. His hands explored the softest parts of me causing me to gasp. I reached down to him and guided him. Scott eased into me slowly at first, our bodies met. We were like hot tea with ice cubes, a perfect blend of my heat and his cool length. I pulled him encouraging him to increase the pace. A moan escaped his lips as he played in my heat. We were coming close to the edge. We were nearing it together and with one last push we were falling over it. We shuddered our last together and just lay there on the couch for a few minutes. His cool weight on top of me was a comfort. I was content to just lay there breathing heavy. He didn’t breathe because he needed too, but he was breathing like it was an old habit. I was in the abyss. I was deep in my own comfort with him when the phone started to ring. I chose to ignore it but it persisted. Scott slipped off me so I could get up for it, only mild disappointment played on his face as I pulled my large tee shirt back on and trudged into the kitchen for my cell phone. “Hel-lo,” I wasn’t happy for the interruption to what was becoming a perfect evening. “I got the goods Aave. I can be at your place in twenty minutes. Call your pals, they will want to know what I have to say too. It will be easier to tell you all together.” With that Clete had called me and hung up. I didn’t even get to say anything. I trudged into the living room to see Scott as I had left him. I sighed at our bad luck. “That was Clete. Call Alex and Sobie and the rest and get them over here. He has news. And get dressed while you’re at it.” I was smiling as I tossed his shirt back to him. I couldn’t say how it had gotten all the way over to the door. 9 Avery and the Serpent I reluctantly pulled my old jeans back on and straightened the couch cushions as Scott did the same. He looked wonderful to me, even more so now that I knew so much more about him. We sat on the couch waiting for the visit. Scott had called Alex after I got off the phone with Clete and I knew they would all be here again soon. I wished the news could wait, but I wanted to know what the Rorys were planning. I was definitely a part of the group. My house had become the stage for super secret meetings so suddenly I couldn’t figure out how it had happened. It made sense though. My place was as neutral as the Silver Circle to my freaky friends. They could meet Clete here without fear. They didn’t have to show him their own place, and they didn’t have to meet somewhere public. They didn’t have to worry about whether others could see them or over hear something important. There was a booming knock at the door and I hopped right up to answer. Scott stayed on the couch. He knew, company had come calling. I stretched up on tiptoe to see out the peephole. Clete was standing on the porch looking antsy. I opened the door and stepped back for him to enter. “So how’d you get my number? I think I would remember giving to you.” I had to ask, he had interrupted what had promised to be a great night in. “Same way I got your picture, knew what kind of car you drive, and found out where you live, the world wide web.” He said with a little wink. “Well if you can find me so easily can’t the Rorys do it too?” I was beginning to wonder how neutral my house was. “Well I am kinda the techie in the group. They all know the basics, but they don’t know where to look for the information. Short of driving them over yourself, I don’t think they will find you.” He sounded so sure. I would just have to take his word for it, and maybe get myself a few stakes and a lighter ready just as I had promised Eric I would the first night I met him. “So…you have been busy,” Clete’s nostrils flared some and I knew he had caught the scent of my recent activities lingering on me still. I blushed slightly and suddenly lost the ability to look him in the eyes. I could see Clete was wearing khaki pants and a black button down tonight. He always dressed sharp and I wondered if the clothes were his own choice and Doug just followed his example. I knew from seeing what Cwen and Eric preferred to wear they were probably not the master minds behind the sleek dress my vampire was sporting. Clete reached down and tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear. I wish I knew what he was thinking. I wasn’t sure if I had caught his attention the same way I had caught Scott’s or if he was just being friendly. I heard Scott behind me suddenly and he wrapped his arm around my waist. I looked up to see him and Clete glaring at each other. Clete was slightly pinker than I had seen him before and I wondered if he had fed recently. Maybe the hormones run high in a vampire after sex or the feed. It would explain the mutual dislike suddenly flittering between them. There was another knock. My two vampires shifted focus to the door. We were still standing in the entryway so I motioned them to stand out of sight around the corner. I peeked through the hole in my door once again. I don’t think I had ever had to look through it so much before I met these people. It had been an ignored safety feature that I was now grateful for. Alex was on the porch. He was standing back a little farther from the door so I could actually see his face when I looked up through it. He was still an imposing figure even through the vision skewing peephole and I couldn’t tell if he had brought the others or not. I opened the door to him and gestured for him to enter. Chad and Sobie trailed long behind him but Elle was no where in sight. After not having slept, I assumed they left her at home to catch up on the rest she lost. Chad had all his hair back and I wondered again if his tattoos were hiding under there or if they had been fakes. Sobie had kept her black tips. She was wearing a denim mini-skirt with sheer hose and another low backed shirt. I could see tattoos spiraling around her right ankle and up her calf. Had I missed that somehow the other night at the club? She had worn black hose then so maybe I just hadn’t noticed, or thought to look. Alex had his goatee back already, his blue streaks from the previous night weren’t as pronounced but they were there. Had he put them back in? All the vampires for the most part had reverted to what they looked like when I met them. Alex had on jeans again and a sweater that pulled across the smooth muscles of his arms just a little. “So, that’s everybody but Elle, should we wait for her, or just go to the kitchen and get this out of the way?” I wanted to know, my curiosity had been piqued. I also wondered if Alex and Chad could smell Scott all over me. It gave me the heebie-jeebies to think they could know so much more about me and my day than a human guest would have. “Elle isn’t coming. She needed sleep tonight.” Alex didn’t seem bothered by the fact that we were missing one so I wouldn’t worry either. I led them back to the kitchen. Scott had grabbed my hand as we walked. He was making it clear to his… competition that we were together. It was sweet in a way and annoying too. I chose him out of the group of strange men I had been introduced to and by making such a show of us I felt like he didn’t trust that I could handle any other advances. Chad hopped up on the counter and pulled Sobie to stand between his legs. He brushed her hair back from her face and rested his chin on her shoulder. I noticed for the first time a small mark on her neck. Two small marks, the vampires do feed off of their lady friends. It made me wonder why Scott hadn’t done the same to me. Was he worried it would freak me out? Was it just his personal preference not to feed off of someone he was with, or was it part of how he felt about being a vampire? Scott stood leaning against the wall behind the table with me while Clete and Alex took the end chairs. Clete looked tired now. He wasn’t happy about the news he had to share. He sighed deeply, I was beginning to wonder if vampires didn’t have to breathe but never got over the habit they spent their whole lives doing. “I know what they are looking for, I am still not sure why, but I know who.” We all leaned forward in rapt attention waiting for whatever he had to say, but like before he was taking his time. I noticed it was already close to eleven thirty. I hoped he would get it out soon. “There is a girl. She is young and for some reason important to Eric.” “It isn’t the young witch, he would have turned her already,” Chad was already throwing out his thoughts and Clete hadn’t even given us any information yet. “No not the witch. This girl they’re looking for is related to a witch that died a few nights ago. She is special but no one really seems to talk about why. I am hoping to get in a little closer to Cwen and see if I can get her to let it out. She has an…attraction to me.” “I thought she and Eric were together. I mean she was awfully pissed about how forward he was with me the other night.” I was getting confused. These vampires lived strange and operated vastly different from anyone else I had ever known. “They are. She was disturbed by his interest in you because you are a human, a breather.” Clete’s pale brows rose as he said the last, sort of punctuating the insult. There it was again, breather, like there was something wrong about having a close personal relationship with oxygen. Clete could see the look on my face and felt the need to back peddle. “I don’t have a problem with you Aave, its how she sees it. You are lowly to her. You are a step behind in evolution as far as she is concerned. Don’t let it get to you; some vampires are just that way and even more that way in a Clan like the Rory. They don’t mix with others, I was lucky to even get in. They don’t even get along with other vampires.” “Let’s get back to the point.” Alex was staring at us with one eye brow raised and a frown of annoyance. “So, you are telling me Eric wants to follow in the footsteps of his maker and have a child vampire. Why wouldn’t the Clan rise against this?” Alex was taking over the questions again. I was beginning to wonder if he thought he was my leader too. “There is something different about this girl, like I said before. I think whatever it is, if they want to ‘make’ her, the Clan thinks it is important. She’s just a kid. Her mom died in a car accident.” Clete was looking at his hands considering what to say next. “She is maybe twelve. Her name is Audra.” I could feel my mouth fall open and Scott stiffen beside me. No one else seemed to notice. I suddenly stuck my hand in my pocket and pulled out the thick square of paper Clete had given me the night before. There was my name on the back. I unfolded it and found I was looking at myself, sitting in a chair in a white and gray hallway with a girl whose face was clearly visible leaning on my shoulder. It was Audra Avinpala. I had missed it. I could have figured this out sooner and I had missed it. I had assumed Scott was the target. I realized then too, Scott and Orenda had been in the car together and this little girl could use magic to disappear at will. That explained why she was outside the car when the ambulance got there, that also explained the powder on Scott’s face when I had thought he was dead. There had been so little I hadn’t put two and two together. I looked up into Scott’s face. I could see his feelings painted heavy there like a Van Gogh. It was pure hatred tinted by sadness and worry. I remembered he had no idea where Audra was and that she had loved him. Everyone had turned to look at Scott and I. I felt the need to explain what had just passed. “Scott’s…friend that died was Orenda. I know most of you knew her. She also had a twelve year old daughter Audra. Audra has been missing since I met Scott. She went missing the night he was attacked.” I handed the picture to Alex, he had the right to see. They had all stiffened up in front of me. Were they sad about Orenda or upset that somehow it had never crossed her or Scott’s mind to mention the child? “I have to make a call, put this on hold for a little while. Audra’s father is looking for her and I think he should be here for this.” They were all staring at me, giving me the bad idea look, “the cops are looking for her too, but I can’t tell them all this, they would lock me up if I called and said vampires were after her. I assume, since we all know now that Orenda was a powerful witch, her ex would know about it too. Maybe he can give us some idea about why Audra is special.” I didn’t feel like trying to explain any further and I was not in the mood to be told by a room full of Supernaturals, who had no children of their own blood, why my phone call would be a bad thing. I grabbed my purse from it’s place on the table and headed to the living room, fishing for my phone and the business card Ansgar had given me on the way. They all stayed firmly where they were and I was beyond happy for that. I dialed Ansgar Avinpala’s number. It was late but I had the distinct feeling he would be up. I would think it hard to sleep while your child is missing. The phone rang twice before he picked it up. “Hello, Audra-” I could hear the hope in his voice. I hated to dash it. “Ansgar, Ansgar Avinpala. It’s Avery, the nurse from the hospital that talked to Audra before she…” I couldn’t finish. Disappeared or runaway just felt too hard, too final. “Yes, do you remember something?” I could hear the hope flare again in his baritone voice. “Well, no, not exactly. I do have some news, but I don’t think the police would believe it if I told them. Where are you staying?” He told me one of the big hotel names in downtown. “Look, I think you need to come over to my house as soon as you can.” “I can be there in twenty minutes. I just need your address.” I told him and he hung up immediately. I walked back into the kitchen door deep in thought and then turned and headed back down the hall to my room instead. I grabbed my old Bible again and trudged back to the kitchen. No one hissed and cowered at the sight of the book. No one burst into flames so I took the book and sat down at the table. My audience was watching me closely, they didn’t understand the significance. I opened it to Genesis chapter one. “God created heaven and earth and all things in between, to include man. He created man in his own image.” I went on to read to them about the serpent and Cain and Abel. “So, he is looking to create Audra in his own vampire image. We already know he has been taking out other vampires in the area so there is Cain and Abel. Genesis was a code name for a plan, I just didn’t get when I read it that it was a multiple part plan. He is also the serpent I would think. He wants to find her. Whatever it is that is special about her, I don’t think she would work with him unless he tempted her, appealed to her. He might as far as to use Orenda’s death to that end. He may try to offer her immortality as a gift, as a way to escape a bad end like her mother’s.” They were all staring at me. Suddenly my value had sky rocketed. I had laid an outline of the Rory plan out to them. They hadn’t put it together and it was my own humanity, the thing that made me the weak link, that had lead to the answer. They were dumbfounded. If not for the seriousness of the situation I could have been proud of my brain storm. I was in a room full of creatures that had lifetimes of experience and knowledge going for them and in my short twenty four years of life, I had gained enough to put it out there to them. I had done the thing they couldn’t and I had proved my worth. Was I a wanna-be like the witch? Why did I feel the need to prove anything to them? There was already a knock at the door. My last guest of the night had arrived. At least I hoped he would be the last. Ansgar looked haggard standing there. His black messy wave of hair was even farther from tame than it had been the first time I had seen him. His brown eyes with the blue flecks were strained with tired lines. Even his clothes looked worried and sad. His business style suit was wrinkled and is his button down was un-tucked on one side. He was still the tallest man I had ever seen. He even made Alex and Clete look like boys when they stood to shake his hand. Sobie had a flash of recognition in her eyes but didn’t elaborate. If she didn’t say anything while he was here I would ask her about it later. “Mr. Avinpala-” “Please Avery, just call me Ansgar.” “Ansgar, how much do you know about your ex wife?” I didn’t want it to come as a shock when he heard she was a witch. “She…” he looked around at the assembled crowd in the kitchen, I could see him deciding to just dump it out. “Orenda was a witch. A powerful one, she was the most powerful of her family. She comes-came from a long line of witches. I didn’t really believe her when we met and started dating. I was absolutely enchanted by her. It was a little bit of a joke between us.” He almost smiled thinking of their little joke. “Was Audra a witch as well?” I was pretty sure I knew the answer, she had disappeared when Scott got in trouble and out of our hospital. “I-I don’t know. I left Orenda. I left once I saw her power. I wondered if she hadn’t really done something. I wasn’t sure anymore if what I felt was true. I tried to make it work but the whole thing just put me off after a while. I didn’t see Audra that often because I was afraid she was like her mother and that I wouldn’t be able to trust how I felt about the world with her around.” Ansgar was looking at his feet in shame. I was shocked into silence. He had lost his trust in his wife and shunned his child for the same reason. He had seemed like such a nice guy before. How did he feel about the idea of his daughter, who was possibly a witch coming to live with him? I began to wonder if Detective Nicholas’ suspicion might have had some meat to it after all. “A rival Clan of vampires are looking for her. They want to ‘make’ her.” Alex had piped up when my own voice failed me. I looked over at Scott and to my horror his fangs were down and he was regarding Ansgar with angry eyes. Whatever Scott had said about his feelings for the girl and her mother, I was beginning to think there was more there than even he realized. Ansgar looked at Alex like he was crazy, that is until he sent his glance around the room at us all and saw Scott. I could tell Ansgar was more than ready to believe. He had lived on the outskirts of this world when he married Orenda and now he was looking straight into it and couldn’t deny it. “Do they know where she is?” Ansgar asked quietly. “No, not so far, but it is only a matter of time.” Clete said as he watched Scott. “Ansgar, lets meet up at Orenda’s tomorrow and see if there is anything that might lead us to Audra.” I was pushing him toward the door. I didn’t need his saying or doing anything foolish with a house full of people who could kill him. My own opinion of him had slipped back a few notches and I could only imagine how my other guests took his attitude, both about them and the girl. I suddenly realized how offensive I had probably seemed to Scott that first night in my kitchen. “Call me when you get the chance and we will go over her house together. If I find out anything before then, I’ll call you. Just don’t mention this to the police, they would never understand and it would only turn back on you negatively.” With that I gave the tall man a final shove out the door. “I am going to check out Audra’s house tomorrow and see if there is anything of use there.” They had all been staring after me as I left the room with the tall man and as I came back alone. “He is a child of the Grigori..” Sobie was looking at me like I should know what that meant. She registered the lack of knowledge on my part and continued. “The Grigori are God’s angel children. They were sent to be watchers over Earth.” I nodded I understood as much. “The Grigori were angels that chose to take on human form and explore what Earth had to offer. They laid down with woman who eventually had children. The Grigori were expelled from heaven because of it. The children of the Grigori were said to be giants.” I got that idea, they might not be jack and the beanstalk giants but Mr. Avinpala was definitely a giant amongst men. “It is said that God set forth the flood because these giants were ruining the Earth. Most of them would have died, but nothing is absolute.” I should have seen the weight in the word absolute when Sobie said it but I missed it somehow. “So Ansgar is the descendent of these angels?” I asked. “Yes, this makes Audra a descendent also. Maybe that is part of Eric’s interest in ‘making’ her.” Sobie stopped and let that information sink into us all. “So besides being taller than average and one of God’s children, is there anything special about that?” I was deep in my own thoughts as I asked. Alex piped in, “Well, they were watcher angels. If Eric is running some parallel to the Book of Genesis maybe that is part of the symbolism. I never thought of Eric as a religious vampire, but it is possible. You already know his maker was…strange. Maybe this is nothing more than an extension of his maker’s plan.” I thought this over, turning it in my mind like a rotisserie. “What happened to his maker? Why isn’t he to one here making the plans and running the show?” Chad was looking at me over Sobie’s shoulder, “He went to the light. He never got his child. As an exile making his own normal vampire children and warping their minds with his urge to create lesser young vampires, he would have been taken out forcibly by whatever Clan was nearest to him.” He was making sure the words sunk into me. I was again, the child in the room, and I had to be taught. My own insight into Eric’s plan had given out, but there was still plenty in my mind to make a point of my own. “So, he might be continuing his dead master’s plan. Taking vengeance on the vampires here for that death and fulfilling a wish as well.” I looked at Scott to see if he agreed with any of what I said. He was still lost to his anger and pain, but with Ansgar gone there was no focus for it. It was eating a hole through him. I could see it. Once again there was nothing I could do to help him. For right now my focus had to be on Audra, not blaming or being angry about someone else’s part in her disappearance. “That is possible. Without more information though, there is no way for us to know right now.” Alex’s eyes were following mine as he said it and he saw the same thing in Scott that I had. Alex looked to Sobie and Chad and gave a signal to them so fast my eyes could hardly make it out. They got up and walked out pulling Scott with them to my relief and disappointment. Clete had been standing motionless during our talk with Ansgar and the explanation of the Grigori. He glanced at the clock on my microwave and I followed his eyes there. Three in the morning already, where was my sense of time going? “If I find out anything, you know I will call. I have to get back, they think I am just out feeding and if I am gone too long they will think something is wrong. I am still the new man in the group.” Clete twitched his head to the door as he said it so I would follow him out. I walked Clete to the door not knowing what else to do. “Look Aave, that one you have taken up with isn’t quite right. He has been a vampire long enough to have embraced it. The fact that he hasn’t yet is strange. Watch him, he seems prone to mood swings too.” I looked up into Clete’s milky jade green eyes. I could tell he was worried, but I couldn’t blame Scott for what he was or make a judgment on him for his reaction tonight. “Thanks Clete, he has just had a rough night. The girl and the woman were as close to him as family. He is just worried about the girl and his protective side flared at her father’s bad attitude about the whole thing.” “Aave, honey, we are vampires, we don’t have a protective side. We are the hunter. People have to protect themselves from us, not the other way around.” “Clete, I might have agreed with you before yesterday, but I have seen things in you all that have surprised me. There is a depth to you each that you seem to under-estimate. Chad would hang the moon for Sobie. You are here helping me, helping us at risk to yourself. Alex has been guiding us all through this. I can’t say he has jumped in front of a bullet for me, but he and Scott were both concerned about me in that bar the other night. And Scott, he cared for Orenda and cares for that little girl more than he would ever admit to himself.” I rested my hand on his arm. I wanted him to know I realized he cared. “Avery we are still vampires. We have to take your life force to live. We are killers. Don’t put too much faith in us. I think in the end you will only be disappointed by the results. Like I said the other night, this Clan is going to get you killed and they may show some mild concern, but not enough to leave you out of it.” “Clete…” I could feel a point but I didn’t want to argue it anymore, “I’ll see you later, call me if you find something.” Clete leaned down and kissed my forehead again. He could be such a sweet gentleman sometimes. He turned out the door and disappeared into the night. Alex was in the kitchen still so I took a look around the house. Scott, Sobie, and Chad were gone. I started to doubt myself. Had I just been a good time for Scott or were his heavily suppressed emotions finally getting the better of him? I walked into the living room and flopped down on my lumpy couch. I was considering going to bed. I had forgotten Alex in the kitchen while I was musing on the possibility and thinking on my faith. Why did I seem to have so much faith in the supernaturals that I had only just met, but none in people? I had met more angels than I realized. I had met more strange people in the last few days that in all the years before it. Could I continue without my faith after everything? Sobie was a warrior angel of some kind, and Ansgar was as well. I needed to look all these things up, I needed to educate myself and see if the faith I had in my freaky friends would spread to everything else I had lost it in. Alex walked in and sat on the other side of me on the lumpy couch. I was somewhat surprised by the action. Since I had known him, he had always taken the power position in the room. Our current arrangement was something of a little more equality. “We will come by tomorrow and see what you have found out from the girl’s home. We have to find her before Eric. She is a child and should at least mature before she decides to become something like us. I don’t want her to fall into this blind or be tricked into it.” I didn’t know what to think of his words. If Clete was right there was nothing there but the need to follow the vampire code or whatever. If he was wrong, why were they going to help me find the girl? “I will try to find something. We need to know more about Audra and how they found out about her. I think Eric said it was the little blond witch from the bar, but how did she know? This isn’t something that would be public knowledge, not supernatural public knowledge right?” I turned my eyes to Alex for the answer. “No. We don’t know much about her which says plenty. We would have heard about her being different or special by now if it was common knowledge.” Alex was pouring his blue pools into my own brown. He was staring with some thought. “Scott is my Clan brother, but are you sure about him?” “Elle already told me to back off if I wasn’t serious about him or I didn’t want to be a part of your world. You don’t have to give me the same speech, I get it.” I sounded grumpy. I was. I hate unsolicited advice. “That isn’t where I was going,” he said. I felt a little sheepish all of a sudden. “It’s just, he is young and he takes everything hard. I am sure you have gotten a little glimpse of that fact so far. He is very controlled he and doesn’t like his existence, it gets the better of him sometimes.” Alex paused again. “Maybe you can be the one to help him forgive what he is and just enjoy it. He can’t spend an eternity in misery. I already worry he might one day soon decide to lie in the light.” I was appalled at the idea that my Scott…maybe my Scott, might go to such extremes. I suddenly wondered if anti-depressants would work on a morose vampire. Food didn’t maybe if it was in the blood they drank… “I think he will be fine, he just needs a little more time. Maybe you should remind him of the good things about being a vamp.” Alex gave me a questioning look as I suggested it, “I tried already, and he assumed I just wanted to be one of you, that I was just worried about my own short life. He might listen to you though.” Alex leaned very close to me on the couch. He was just hovering by my ear as he whispered “Do you want to be one of us? I would ‘make’ you and you would be all the stronger for it. You know us and we would welcome you into our Clan easily if that’s something you worry about.” He had leaned in so close his lips were brushing my neck, softly, so softly I had a shiver run down my spine. It wasn’t because I was cold. I felt my heat flare as Alex got so intimately close to me. “You could be with us always. Fulfill your dreams for an eternity. You could be with Scott forever if you so choose, or…maybe not.” I turned to look him in the eyes. I had managed to capture the fancy of three dead men. I stood up so fast I stumbled in place. I almost took out Alex’s chin in the process. I started walking for the door with him close at my heels. “Alex, if ever I decide to go that way, I will let you know. For right now I am happy with growing old. I am happy to live in the sun.” Alex bent as I said sun and softly kissed my cheek. He turned then out into the rain and was gone as quickly as he arrived. Would I eventually give in to the temptation? Alex had become the serpent in the garden of my life. I could eat the fruit but I would be changed forever…literally. 10 Avery and Kim I woke up to the smell of food and the sounds of breakfast. Was Kim home? She was due back today but I hadn’t expected her so early. Climbing out of my warm comfortable quilt, on my warm comfortable queen sized bed, I wasn’t ready to leave my cherry wood world yet. I wanted to sure Kim was back and find out how her…witch conference had gone. Trudging down the hall, I was surprised to see Sobie and Kim in my kitchen. “Well good morning queen of the dead,” Kim said with a smirk. It was only sort of funny considering my recent company. “So how was your witch thing?” I asked, ignoring the jab. “Oh, it was good. I just organized a few…activities for them, no biggie. How’re your vampire boyfriends?” She asked, waggling her brows. I was in no mood for her attempt at humor. They weren’t all my boyfriends. The only one I really wanted was Scott. We would never share breakfast but I was a night person anyway, sleeping in some days until four in the afternoon. That’s why I liked my night shift. I didn’t have to be a peppy morning person. “THE vampires are fine. Do you plan on being a part of the drama?” “Oh, no thank you. I told you before, I prefer to be in the know, but not in the line of fire. I have a date tonight anyway, so I won’t be keeping you company. I was just making breakfast with Sobie. I never met a Valkyrie before. I couldn’t help but stick around.” Kim was beaming. She was the ultimate knowledge hound. She had gone so far as to trace her family tree back to myth. I didn’t know how she had done it, but maybe her life on the fringe of the Supernaturals had been a key part of that. “So…Sobie, what are you doing in my kitchen at,” I looked at the microwave and shuddered, “seven thirty in the morning?” “I wanted to check on you. Now we know the Rorys are looking for that girl and not you, we didn’t need to post a watch last night but I wanted to make sure you were okay.” Sobie smiled over her shoulder at me, as the smell of heaven wafted from the pan. “I didn’t know you liked to cook. Do you just cook for you and Elle? I asked. “I love to cook, so does Chad.” Chad as a vampire doesn’t eat, why would he cook? Sobie caught the drift of my thoughts and continued. “You know their sense of smell is stronger and more nuanced than a regular person. He puts together some of the best food all by smell. I think for him, it’s as good as eating. We actually have our own twenty-four hour diner out by the interstate. Human cooks for the day shift, him and me at night. It works great for us.” I could see why they were in love. They were the same person halved. “What have you been doing about it the last few days?” “We just hired an extra cook. The food’s not as good, but we are on the verge of a blood conflict with the Rory Clan.” Sobie said, her eyes glowing. She was a warrior at heart. I wondered, without asking, how she felt about our retreat from the Silver Circle. She sat a plate in front of me with an omelet on it. I didn’t wait to dig in. “This is exactly what I needed. I haven’t been eating well lately. I’ve had too much on my mind with the Rory Clan and everything. This is the best food I have tasted in years. How do you keep your figure, if you eat food that good all the time?” I asked. “Flying and bouncing off the walls are super calorie burners,” Sobie said with a casual laugh. “Well remind me to grow some wings and get into gymnastics,” I laughed, around the bite in my mouth. Quickly finishing, I thanked Sobie and went to clean myself up for the day ahead. By the time I was clean and dressed my phone was ringing. “Stupid phone, too many people getting in touch with me. Showing up at my house and trudging off with my clothes.” I huffed as I went to answer. I was ready for a break from all of it but there was still a girl missing and the Rory Clan to eject. “Hello,” I said with a sarcastically chipper tone. “Avery, we need to meet. I need to talk to you about the other night and touch base with you.” Dr. Rosser said, jumping into me. Since I had been at the hospital yesterday, I couldn’t really avoid the meeting or lie and say I was out of town. “Where and when?” I said poorly hiding my annoyance. She had given me time off and it was her right to call me and ‘check up’ on me. I could almost hear the gears turning as Dr. Rosser thought about if. “Meet me at Coffee Toffee, at three.” “Yeah, I’ll be there.” I said before hanging up. We weren’t friends but she had given me some comfort the night Clete showed up at the hospital. I owed her for that. Deciding to do some research on the computer, I headed to my room until the appointed meeting time. I was ready to learn something and there’s no time like the present. I never wanted to have to ask any of the freaky friends ‘why’ again. I had spent too much time with them to not know anything. I hated having to constantly ask questions. I needed to know about vampires, the meaning of the strange names I had recently been surrounded by Grigori, Valkyrie, witches, and maybe werewolves too (or were-people I guess I should say). Searching for two hours, I had found half the vampire lore was WAY off of what I had been told. I couldn’t really trust the rest of the information with that in mind, so I switched to name searches. Eric meant ‘eternal ruler’ Rory was ‘red king’, somehow both seemed appropriate for a vampire. Cwenhild Bishop was ‘battle queen, over seer’ also fitting for what I knew about her. I couldn’t remember most of the other names I had been told, so I gave up. “I guess I will still be asking ‘why’ every two minutes,” I said to myself. Going back to the kitchen for a drink I saw Sobie had left, satisfied I was in one piece and fed. It was just Kim and I in the house. “Kim, I have to go to a witch’s house after this meeting. Do you want to come along? I don’t want to be alone with her ex-husband either. He’s rude. Witches are more your thing than mine anyway. Maybe you will be able to catch something I don’t. ” “Sure, I have to be back here by six to get ready for my date at seven though,” Kim said. “You are a man magnet, you haven’t been home for a whole day yet and you already have plans?” Kim smiled coyly, that was answer enough. “I should be back from lunch about four and we can go over there,” I said heading for the garage. I pulled up to Coffee Toffee with five minutes to spare. Coffee Toffee was one of those family owned places with too much going on. They served coffee, obviously, but besides that, they were also a bakery and chocolate shop. Talk about diet killers, Coffee Toffee was to Weight Watchers what sun was to vampires. Walking in out of the cold Seattle rain, I ordered a mocha from the matronly barista. Choosing a table in the corner that was out of the way of other customers, I sat waiting for Dr. Rosser. The mom-and-pops place was appealing. The room felt homey and warm. The walls were a warm margarine color and the tables were all wood with comfortably cushioned chairs. The place was mostly empty since it was after lunch. There was a waitress passing between the tables. She looked like a younger version of the barista. I liked the place. I would never come back for anything more than coffee but it was perfect to meet with Dr. Rosser. I assumed she chose it because it wasn’t a lunch place. We wouldn’t feel like we had to stay longer than we needed too. Dr. Rosser came in wearing a white sweater and jeans. Her brown hair with its gray streaks was pulled into a tight bun on the back of her head and she was actually wearing a little make-up. Never having seen her in normal clothes I thought it was a nice change. Raising my hand to get her attention, she came right over. She ordered a latte, waiting to start our talk, until she had her coffee and the waitress was busy elsewhere. “Hi Dr. Rosser.” I wasn’t sure what else to say. We weren’t really on a friend level. “Please, just call me Megan. We aren’t at work.” “Sure Megan, what’s on your mind?” I asked cutting to the chase. It wasn’t as if we could talk about what great weather we had. “I was curious as to when you would be back at work. I know tonight is your scheduled day off but I need to know if I should put you down for next week or not.” Her dark eyes were studied me for something. “I should be back to work in the next few days…things have been more complicated than I thought they would be.” Sipping her latte she gave me a look of concern. “How is your family then?” I almost asked what she was talking about before I remembered, I had told her I had a family emergency. “They are…doing okay. I just have a few things they need me to get taken care of.” “Avery, I know better. I have looked into you a little since you’ve been gone. I know those men, who took you out of the hospital that night, had been looking for someone else the night before. I also know you don’t have much family. It’s in your files. I should have known better before but you haven’t been with us long. What’s actually going on?” She was a lot quicker than I had given her credit for. “Uh…I have had an issue come up that has to be taken care of that’s all,” I said, with a mixture of shock and guilt. I needed a subject change, she’d notice, but I did it anyway. “Did they ever find that body that went missing?” “Subtle Avery, we’ll get back to your issue in a minute. The body hasn’t been found… that night, how thoroughly did you ask that girl, that went missing, about her mom?” Megan asked. Looking at her, I thought back to that night. I hadn’t asked as much as I should have. “I asked her most of the usual stuff. She was upset and ended up cutting me off. I treated her, why?” “Did she mention her mother was pregnant?” I almost fell off my chair. The girl hadn’t said anything about it. I searched my memory for any information Scott would have given me. Had he told me vampires couldn’t produce children? Or had I assumed, since he wasn’t alive, he couldn’t? “No,” I said cautiously. “She may not have known. Orenda Avinpala was about eight weeks along. Don’t worry about it too much. There wasn’t anything we could do for her.” Catching my shock at the news, her eyes bored into me as if they could cut the information out. “Pregnant…wow. Okay.” I said. “I can tell you are surprised but your reaction is a little big for someone who didn’t know her. Do you want to tell me what’s going on now or not?” Megan asked, watching me expectantly. I didn’t know what to tell her. She would never believe the truth. I couldn’t think of anything else to account for both my time off and my reaction to the dead woman’s pregnancy. I would have to tell her. I didn’t want to tell her too much if I didn’t have to. “I…I met someone. You already met him. He and Orenda were a couple. I don’t want to get into my relationship with him. It’s not important. I know the rest will sound strange… The body, his body was the one that disappeared, and he wasn’t exactly totally dead…He’s not…normal. Doesn’t matter really. He was with Orenda in the car during the accident and got beaten up and…they got robbed.” It seemed like as mundane an excuse as any. “The accident was staged, from what he told me, for just that purpose.” Watching her face, I waited for the information to sink in. Confusion was the only thing in her eyes and it took her a moment to gather her thoughts before she spoke. “And have you or he shared this information with the police?” Megan asked. I hadn’t thought of that when I started telling her the story. What could I say to that? Of course we hadn’t. “He can’t go to the police,” I said quietly, she would ask more no matter how quiet my answer. “Have you gotten into something illegal Avery Sheridan?” Megan said in a motherly tone. “Why do you need to do that? Use my full name like I am a kid. I have been getting the child treatment a lot lately. I am just going to spit this out. No I am not into anything illegal, he’s a damn vampire. When I said he wasn’t totally dead I meant he wasn’t and he was sort of.” She was looking at me like I had lost it. I knew she would but I let my own anger and frustration get the better of me. “Look I know it sounds crazy, hear me out on this one.” Telling her everything that had past the last few days, I filled her in from night Scott had come into the hospital up to my drive to the cafe. “…and then you called for this meeting. I was on the computer all morning looking up as much as I could find on everything I have seen.” “Avery…I think you should take as much time off as you need.” She said, looking at me like I had sprouted a second head. “I know it’s a hard to believe it all, but I don’t have the time, much less the imagination to come up with this stuff. I only told you because you pushed my buttons. I would prove it to you if I could.” “So, no family?” Now she was the one changing the subject in a not so subtle way. “No. My file didn’t say anything about foster care?” The look on her face told me no. “My mom died of cancer when I was thirteen and I joined the military at seventeen with a GED.” “Where was your father?” She asked looking at me with nothing but pity in her eyes. No more suspicion. Her disbelief forgotten, it was all pity. “If I knew I would tell you. God, Megan, do you have to learn everything about me in one painful sitting?” “I…I’m sorry. I just…you told me it was a family issue. I knew it wasn’t and I just wanted to know. I should know, you work for me. I don’t want to pull the boss card and you are too smart for me to talk down to you.” Megan placed her hand on mine and I was sorry I had been so short with her. I was sorry I hadn’t gotten to know her better. “Listen,” I said. “I will be back in a few days. Take a walk late tonight. I know you’re off too. Just go take a walk and pay attention and maybe you will see something that will help you believe. I have to go, but I will see you later. Call me if you need to talk.” I had to call Ansgar Avinpala and find something to lead me to Audra. Saying goodbye, I left Megan sitting at the table. My years of driving experience were coming in handy. I drove home completely on instinct thinking about what I had learned. Scott hadn’t said anything about Orenda having a side relationship but I was sure vampires couldn’t have children in the traditional sense. What did this have to do with everything else going on? I couldn’t make sense of it anymore than I could make sense of a crossword puzzle without the clues. I wasn’t sure if I should tell Scott. I didn’t think he needed to know Orenda had probably cheated on him. It would be adding insult to injury. What would be the point? He couldn’t change anything that had happened and I knew the anger he would feel would have to be directed somewhere. I didn’t think he would hurt me but I didn’t know what he would do. He might go to Eric and get himself into something he couldn’t get out of. I called Kim and told her to be ready to leave when I got to the house and I called Ansgar Avinpala to get the address to the house. Pulling up to the curb I parked my car in front of a small duplex outside Seattle an hour later. I had no idea what Orenda had done for a living but I could tell it hadn’t made her much money. The neighborhood was one that you didn’t go to after dark. I was glad it was only four in the afternoon. Ansgar was waiting on the small porch, out of the unrelenting rain. He was like the rain, he looked miserable. Kim and I dashed quickly across the shaggy lawn. The lights in the house were off and it had a dark ominous look to it. The old blue shingles were in need of repair and all the paint was cracked and peeling. “Thanks for meeting us. We’ll get in and out as quick as we can.” “The police were here the day after the accident so I am not sure what you’ll find,” he said, slipping the key into the lock. The door wasn’t locked… Stepping slowly into the house, I could see it was wrecked. Someone had come in and turned it upside down. Looking around the small living room I saw the TV was still there, as well as the DVD player. It hadn’t been a robbery. Had the police tossed it for some reason? Ansger looked as hesitant as Kim and I. Her green eyes reflecting fear as we took in the scene. “So…where do we start?” I asked the room. Kim took charge. She was used to being a leader and putting everything else to the side to complete the mission at hand. “I will start in here and see what I can find. You go check the girl’s room. Sir you check your ex-wife’s bedroom. Audra could have gone to someone she knows or someone her mother trusted. Keep that in mind. Collect phone numbers, letters, pictures, and journals, anything we can use to get her back home.” Ansgar and I had a direction and a purpose. It was easier to let someone else take the reins sometimes and I was glad to have Kim with me. I would have gone through the whole house and hoped to stumble on the information I needed. Kim had defined the search area to the most likely places for some clue. I found myself in the first bedroom upstairs. Everything had been dumped. The contents of her drawers were spread across the floor in front of me. I didn’t think her clothes would help me find her so I walked through that to the outturned desk. There were pictures on the floor an MP3 player and a year book. I picked them up setting them on the bed to go through. The pictures were of places in Seattle and would be easy enough to find. Maybe she had gone to one of the places in the pictures. I opened the yearbook but quickly discarded it. The police would have talked to her friends and I doubted she would head back to the school. I looked at the MP3 player and found more pictures in it. Pulling an empty shoebox from the debris on the floor, I stuffed the pictures and the MP3 player into it. There were some old letters and notes on the floor. They were as useless as the yearbook. I checked the piles of books in front of the bookshelf and found a diary. Sitting on the edge of the little twin bed, I flipped through it. Her life looked pretty mundane on paper. She went to school, and she had a crush on a boy but couldn’t bring herself to talk to him. She never talked about magic or that her mother was a witch or pregnant, so I put the book back on the shelf. There wasn’t a computer in the room so I couldn’t look there. Getting ready to check on Ansgar’s progress I heard a yell from downstairs. We had left Kim there alone. Plunging down the stairs with a softball bat from Audra’s room, I found Kim staring up at me soaking wet. “What, what’s wrong? What happened?” Kim wasn’t one to get upset or scare easy. The creeping sensation of fear had me again. “They’re dead…” She said in a dazed. “Who’s dead Kim?” Steadying her with my hands on her shoulders. “I went next door to see if they had seen Audra or who had been in the house since police left. They’re all dead over there.” “How many?” I asked, looking into her wide eyes. “Three. They look like college students. They were so young.” She was starting to shake a little. There was just too much going through her to keep the calm she had when we started our search. Looking up the stairs behind me, I saw Ansgar was frozen at the top step. “I am going to go take a look, why don’t you get in the car.” I said, guiding Kim back to the door. As she walked out I noticed she had a black leather-bound book in her hand about the size of a paperback. I would’ve asked but she didn’t look up to talking. Slipping around the wall that divided the two porches, I pushed the neighbor’s door open. There were three men laying in the living room of the house. They looked to be in their early to mid twenties. Bending by the first to check for a pulse, I found two small holes in his neck. The Rory Clan had tossed Audra’s house and taken care of these men. No one lived at Audra’s so they could enter there, I wondered if they used Cwen’s looks to get to the guys in this apartment. They had been witnesses to the search and I knew, without checking the other two, that they were drained. Slipping back to the door, I wiped my jacket on the handle. When the police came I had no intention of being there and there was no way I was going to let them know I had been. Thinking about it, I knew none of us could be here. We were too closely linked to other strange cases. The police would suspect we had been a party to something, if we called. I went back into Orenda’s, Ansgar was already dialing when I pulled the phone from his hand. “We can’t do that from your phone Ansgar.” I could feel his anger. He was angry I took his phone and angry the house was wrecked and angry about the strange things happening around him. “We have to though, they, they’re dead.” He stammered. “We can call from a payphone or something. They may have already been called. Someone would have heard Kim scream.” I was trying to be reasonable about it. It was horrible but I tended to shine in a crisis and everyone else had frozen up. I left him standing on the stairs and retrieved the shoebox from Audra’s room. I would need more than a few minutes to go through it and find the places pictured. Grabbing Ansgar’s hand, I drew him out of the house. “Lock up and go home. Find an excuse to get out of town for a day or so. If the people looking for Audra came here they may come looking for you too.” I said, stepping back out into the rain. Stopping at a small church, I called from the police from their phone. They didn’t have cameras and I hadn’t been able to find a phone booth; it seemed they had gone the way of the dodo. When I got back in the car, Kim handed me the book she had been carrying. It was Orenda’s phone book. “Where’d you find this?” I was curious, seemed like something the Rorys would have taken. “It was in a stack of books, in, in the living room. I think it had a spell of obscurity on it.” “What?” I asked looking at Kim a little confused. I didn’t know anything about magic. “It’s not mine. The spell is weaved so you can’t find it if it’s not yours and you are looking for it. I was looking for something, not it, so there it was.” She had regained her sense of self but she was still rattled. I wasn’t sure if she would be going anywhere tonight. Not after that shock. It was already five and the sun would be setting soon. I had to get back to the house and make a list of places to look for Audra. My freaky friends would be there soon to get a brief from and I needed to be ready. 11 Avery and the Pendulum I had the pictures clustered together by the locations pictured and laid out on the table. Most were places I didn’t know or were too vague to get an exact location. Some were on beaches with no landmarks. Some were taken in homes and diners and were useless in my search. I did recognize a handful taken at the Space Needle, another at a big restaurant downtown that I had been to on a date once. There were a few taken in front of the welcome center at Discovery Park. This was the best I could do. I had picked up a Seattle map while I was out and I began plotting the locations. They were all close enough to go to in one night. Discovery park was the largest and since it was densely covered in trees, I thought the Freaky Friends would do best looking there. Their superior senses would make it an easy search for them. Sitting across the table from me, Kim just stared down into the black book. She turned the pages slowly, almost reverently, like she was looking through a long lost book of the bible. “Who was this girl’s mother?” She asked, never looking up. “Um, Orenda Avinpala. She was some kind of a witch. Oh, her ex, the guy you met today is a descendant of the Grigori. I get the impression he doesn’t know it though, or I would have told you sooner.” “She was THE Orenda Avinpala? She is a powerful witch, one of the most powerful. She’s dead now?” Kim asked. “Yeah, as far as I know she was Orenda. Why?” “She was at the first night of the conference. She looked fine. Not just fine, she looked good. What happened?” “It was a car accident. The vampire clan had something to do with it, from what Scott told me. How powerful was she?” “Well, if the witches had a Queen, she would have been it. Her whole line has been blessed with a natural ability. They say it has gotten stronger with each new generation. It’s seems cumulative. They are just born with the ability and can do whatever those before them can do. Its like instinct or something,” Kim said in awe. “Okay, she was a strong witch. And?” “Well, every name in this book is a strong witch. I knew she couldn’t just be run of the mill with these contacts. Some of the most powerful witches, I have ever heard of, are in here. She had them organized by their specialties. We may find one of use in here.” Kim said giving me a wan smile. It was the first I had seen since we left the Avinpala house. “Good, so who should we call?” “This one,” she said pointing into the book. “Wiley Richards. She is powerful and specializes in dowsing.” “And what exactly is dowsing?” I asked. “I know you aren’t suggesting we go look for water.” “Its magic for finding what is lost,” Kim said with a large smile. It was perfect. We could use Wiley to find Audra and then we could figure out how to protect her. I could almost, imagine my life going back to normal in a few hours. “Wiley, I’m Kim Anne. I met you a few days ago. I need a favor. Orenda is dead, her daughter missing, can you help us find her? Oh good, I can be there in about twenty minutes. What do you need from us?” Kim asked into the phone. “Okay, something that belonged to the girl. A map and some pictures, good, good. We have all of that already. I will be over soon. Thanks, bye.” Kim hung up satisfied. I knew she would come in handy. I also knew, looking at the clock, she wasn’t going on a date tonight. I repacked the shoe box and called Scott, leaving a message on his phone, to search Discovery Park. Kim was going to drive since she made the contact. We rode quietly with only the radio for company. Wiley Richards lived in an apartment building on Fifth Avenue. It was a modern stack in a cold gray color. Nothing special or outstanding about it. I had expected a house on the outskirts of town, with a porch covered by cats. What I got was a thoroughly modern apartment building, with a thoroughly modern woman living inside. Wiley Richards was a plump middle-aged woman, still wearing the business suit from her day job. The inside of her home had all the latest conveniences, right down to the flat screen TV mounted on her wall. Her leather couches squeaked as we sat down. “I’m Kim, I don’t know if you remember me from the conference. I set up the opening ceremonies.” “Yes, I remember. One of your fellows set off the smoke detectors.” Kim blushed. I figured she must have been in charge of the guy or had something to do with the little accident. “Sorry about that, we just didn’t think about all the candles and the incense when we did our initial planning. Next year the ceremony will be outdoors.” “Doesn’t matter, this one was the most memorable in years. Who’s your friend?” Wiley asked, turning her brown eyes to me. “I’m Avery. I recruited Kim to help me find someone.” “Yes, yes, I know that Orenda Avinpala is dead. Why are you looking for her daughter?” “She’s in some trouble with a local clan. We don’t know why they’re looking for her just that they are,” I said, looking around the room. “Vampires? Why would vampires want a little girl?” Wiley asked. “We aren’t sure why the vampire clan wants her. I am only interested in keeping her safe.” I answered. The business woman sat watching me for a moment before she answered. “That isn’t everything. Do you know why they want her? I don’t like liars, clarify or leave.” “Well, I have my theories but that’s all they are. We don’t know anything for sure.” I didn’t like the way she was looking at me. Wiley reached for my hand as I pulled away. “I won’t hurt you. That’s not what I do. I want to focus on you though. I can glean what I need to know better through touch,” she said reasonably. Giving her my hand, I suddenly felt hot. It was like the heat in the apartment was on high, but I was the only one who noticed. Wiley was warmer to the touch than most people but it wasn’t a feverish heat. It didn’t radiate from her. It was just under the surface of her skin. “Ah, your boyfriend is interesting, if you like them tall, dark, and dead… You have more within you than you know. Rely on yourself and the road ahead will be much easier to follow,” the woman said, releasing me. “Do you tell the future or something? Can you just tell me where Audra is and why the clan wants her?” “No, Avery, I can’t do anything like that. I can only get a sense of the path. It’s in your energy. I wouldn’t work for a living if I could tell the future,” she smirked. Did you bring what I asked for? It is required for the dowsing.” Kim handed over my box as she said, “Yes, everything we could get is here.” “Good, follow me,” the business witch said. Wiley led us down the hallway to what I could only assume was the second bedroom in the house. One corner had a computer and desk. The rest of the room was empty except for a rugged wooden table. Turning on a small lamp, Wiley pulled a crystal on a chain from the desk and sat at the table. Placing the map down first, she then arranged the pictures in a circle around it. “This may take a minute. Is the MP3 player the only thing of hers you could bring me?” Wiley asked, sliding the blazer from her shoulders. “Its all we thought to get from her house. We had a limited timeframe and I didn’t know we would be coming to find you,” I said. Pulling the foam from the headphone off, she slipped it through the link of the chain. “This may take a few minutes and it won’t do any good if she isn’t in the city or one of the places in the pictures. Sorry I don’t have chairs for you. Just…kneel where you can see I guess. Don’t touch the table please.” She said, as we shifted farther back from the edge. Raising the pendulum above the map, Wiley closed her eyes and waited for it to swing. Kim and I watched hardly breathing. I was afraid if I was too loud or blew too hard it might throw off the magic. As the minutes passed I felt my hair begin sticking to my face and neck. Tingles of static energy played along my skin. The pendulum in front of me never moved. “Reperio suus, qua est is quietus is nox noctis. Ostendo suus ut mihi carus amicus, succurro mihi ut servo suus,” Wiley chanted, in what I thought sounded like Latin. The crystal stayed still, hovering an inch above the map. I felt the static in the room ease. “Let me try something else,” Wiley said as she leaned across the table and painfully plucked a hair from me. “You could have pulled one off my jacket, you know,” I said, rubbing the spot on my head. Wiley just looked at me. Pulling the foam from the chain, she slid my hair into its place. Raising the crystal again, it immediately started to swing. My clothes started to cling to me and the hair around my face was lifting as the magic intensified in the room. Putting more energy into it, she was determined to have some effect. Watching the crystal swing in an ever narrowing circle, it finally slammed heavily into the table. Leaning over the map, I could see it had landed on Fifth Avenue and pushed a hole through the place where the apartment stood. “It works. We’ll try Audra again. I am going to need you both the loan me a little energy. Something is masking her. We have to break through it.” Kim looked eager for the chance to participate. It seemed to me that went against her previous conviction to stay on the sidelines. “Come stand behind me. Put a hand on each shoulder. I should be able to pull enough from you to get by.” Wiley said, gesturing behind her back. Hesitating to climb up from the floor, I didn’t really want to become a part of the process but I knew I would do it for Audra. Stuffing the foam back into the chain, Wiley didn’t spare us a glance. Kim was already to her feet and around the table. The room still buzzed with unspent magic, Wiley would tap into it with our help. Raising the pendulum, Wiley began her second attempt. Flanking her, I could feel my skin heating up and crawling. We were a river, the power flowing in and through us all. The crystal swung in a tiny circle but never gained momentum. The flow between us intensified. It was like an electrical current, no matter how much I wanted to let go, I couldn’t. I fell to my knees, never letting go. I couldn’t see but I could feel Kim doing the same. The witch was draining everything out of us. Flowing through me with the power were visions. I could see the sea-foam blue walls of the restroom at the hospital. I saw myself, tired and sad in my scrubs. Dr. Rosser came through, her hair tied into a bun. I could hear my own voice echoing in the depths of this world passing my mind. There was the smell of car exhaust and motor oil. Unmoving behind my eyes a person was sleeping on bare concrete. Smelling saltwater, I could see waves rolling and crashing. Hearing the sound of water splashing, a fountain entered the twisted mass of dreams. A twisted sedan and Scott rolled by me. Then it was over. Wiley slumped suddenly, dropping the crystal onto the table. Breathless, we were all panting with the effort. “We need to eat. Whatever is hiding the girl is strong. I couldn’t get passed the barrier. Audra is capable, more than some adults I know but I can’t see why she would be hiding herself this way,” the witch said, slowly pulling herself up from the chair. They didn’t mention the visions. Were they aware of the images or was my imagination been filling the time? I had seen something, even if it hadn’t shown on the map. Wiley was the expert in the room, if she didn’t feel they were important I would assume they were some kind of side effect of the moment. I was too tired to think about it anymore. I wondered how I could go searching for the girl physically after helping the witch. “Why did you take so much from us?” Kim asked in a shaky voice, as we walked down the hallway, leaning into each other for support. Wiley said faintly, “Don’t worry you only need a little food. I only took what I had to so that I could reinforce myself.” Sitting in her plain white kitchen with good old fashioned peanut butter sandwiches, we pulled ourselves back together. Wiley’s brown eyes were drooping, and Kim looked like she had been through a wind storm. My own brown hair hung raggedly around my face and I couldn’t have looked any worse than they did. “If you can’t tell the future, how did you know I was seeing a vampire?” I asked. “Well, why else would you be involved in clan matters? Vampires leave a certain signature on a person’s energy. I also know you have been around many other vampires and a few other Supernaturals, though not as deeply.” “You can tell how heavily I am involved with these people. How could you see that specifically?” “It’s like a scar on you, made by different cuts. Your lines are all easily read. Your man just left a deeper mark. Another has left a deep mark on you. You are close to this one. I could see other things as well, but not the future,” Wiley said, taking another bite before she continued. “Who are these vampires that have touched you so deeply?” “Only Scott. He and I have been…intimate,” I said without embarrassment. “I don’t know what else would have left a mark on me though.” “Are you sure you have only been with the one?” The witch asked. “Yes, I think I would have noticed another cold dead guy in my life. I have been pulled into a group of vampires, but I am not close to any others.” “Hmm, energy reading may not be my thing, but I know what I saw. You may not yet see what is right in front of you Avery.” “What else can you see from her?” Kim asked suddenly. “She’s had several losses in her life. The way the energy reaches out, tells me she will have more. It isn’t an exact science and I can’t tell more than that. I know dowsing, energies and auras just aren’t really my thing. I know things about you as well Kim,” the witch said with a smile. “Like what?” I was starting to feel normal again and I could tell Kim was getting more animated by the second. “The lines in your energy are more abundant but they’re all shallow. You have been a part of the Supernatural’s world much longer than Avery, but you have never gotten involved. Know that being friends with Avery is pulling you deeper into it. It’s the right thing. You should have participated much earlier. Don’t fear it. This is a world you already know and if you didn’t belong, you wouldn’t have been led to its edge already. I can’t say what, so don’t ask, but something big is just on the horizon for you. Just go with it.” Kim didn’t light up or get excited by the information, she just sat there like she had seen a ghost. “You said I would lose more. Can you-” “No Avery, I can’t. Like I said this isn’t my area. Even if it was my thing, I wouldn’t tell you.” “But if you knew, how could you not say anything?” “To say anything would only give you false hope. Even knowing about it wouldn’t change the outcome. Maybe the way it is, is exactly how it’s supposed to be. It would be like trying to change the course of a river with only your bare hands. There is too much leading you to this end. If I could tell you and I did, your life might replace the loss I see coming. Better it be someone else. There is still more for you to accomplish,” the witch said with a shrug. “Maybe I could work it out though. To every question there is an answer, to every problem a solution.” “No Avery. If this wasn’t meant to happen, it wouldn’t. Nothing you can do would change that. It doesn’t matter though. I can’t interpret what I see to pinpoint the loss.” Looking at Kim, I wondered if she was the one. Wiley said she had something big coming, could that be the big thing? Wiley looked at me as the thought crossed my mind and just shook her head. Did she know what I was thinking? Was that just pity? Kim and I would go through the book when we got home and find someone with the answers. This was just one more thing to overcome and if there was any way for me to change it, I would. The cordless phone on the counter rang making Kim and I jumped. Wiley didn’t seem surprised at all. “Well ladies, excuse me. If there is nothing else, I need to take this.” She picked up the phone then covered it and said, “All I can tell you is Audra is in this city, I am sure of it. Good luck finding her. If you need anything else you know where to find me.” Walking to the door, I jogged back up the hall instead and collect Audra’s things. When I came back to leave I could hear Wiley in the kitchen talking in low tones to the person on the phone. They were discussing conjuring. Somehow I knew the black book would be gone when I got home. I just knew. She wasn’t going to let me change anything. No matter who it might save, I wasn’t to know the future. Calling Scott from the car, he told me they hadn’t found anything at Discovery Park. I asked him to meet me at the Space Needle. It was the best landmark from Audra’s pictures and the only area we could all cover as a group. We still had a search ahead of us. 12 Avery and the Space Needle Kim was silent as we left Wiley Richards apartment. She hadn’t said anything since the witch told her she was to do something important. The witch who said she couldn’t tell the future, told us both, things that stepped across the prophesy line. “Kim, she said she couldn’t see the future. Don’t let her get to you. She was probably just trying to play up her power.” Staring straight ahead, Kim didn’t even look when I spoke to her. She just drove for a few minutes before she finally said anything. “Wiley is very powerful, I wouldn’t dismiss anything she said to us tonight.” Kim held all her emotions in. I had no idea if she needed comfort or if she was still in awe of what the witch had done. “What are you worried about then? Most people look for some kind of validation in life. Everybody wishes they were something more. If the witch is right, you have that validation.” Kim’s face clouded over and I knew I had said the wrong thing. “I didn’t need any damn validation. I was happy being on the outside of it all. What the hell good does it do to be told you’re special? It only puts pressure on you to perform to some unknown standard. Now I have to worry about letting someone down. Besides, the big thing in my future could be my own death. Oh no, that didn’t escape my attention. She said you would lose someone and since she can’t see very far out or very clearly, that could be me. No offense Avery, but I don’t know that I want to die for all this shit!” “Kim, I am not asking you to die for me. Wiley just said I would lose something. She didn’t say what. It could be my job, I have been gone for a few days and my boss thinks I lost my mind because I told her about all this. Hell, I could lose my purse and get mugged. Don’t take the witch so serious. I wouldn’t let anything happen to you. You’re like family to me. We’ll just be extra careful from now on,” I said reassuringly. Relaxing her white knuckle grip on the steering wheel, Kim’s mind was more at ease with the night. “I would give my life for you, if I had too. I hope it doesn’t come to that. Then where would you be? I know you would starve to death, you can’t cook to save your life,” she laughed. Ah, I love that she deflects by humor, lightens the mood. I wasn’t sure if the things I told her were true, she could be the loss. I wasn’t going to say that to her. I would do everything I could to make sure nothing happened to Kim, even if it meant giving up my own life. Looking up out the windshield, I could see the circular top of the Space Needle. The clouded sky behind it hid the moon from us, causing the whole sky to glow with the light reflected. Waiting by small fountain out front, I could clearly see Alex and the rest of the clan waiting. The fountain was déjà vu. It had been in the visions from the witch. Looking to Kim, I didn’t see any reaction. I knew then, they hadn’t shared in the same experience I had. Walking from the parking lot across the street, I could see my strange friends turn to watch our approach. It was like they had radar. Kim and I hadn’t made a noise, but they all knew we were coming. Was it their heightened senses or could they feel us coming some other way? “Where were you? Did you get anything from the girl’s home?” Alex asked, as soon as we came within view. “I have pictures. We went to see a witch about finding her. It didn’t pan out, so we are back to doing it the old fashioned way,” I said, handing him the box. “This is the girl?” Elle asked, pulling a snapshot from the mess. “Yeah, that’s her. Scott told me you already checked the park and didn’t find anything. I figured this area was the next best chance at finding her. I couldn’t figure out where most of the pictures were taken. How should we do this?” “We should split up and divide the area into zones to check over. Stay in groups and check the streets. The police will be checking with her family and friends, as well as local shelters. I think this is the best way for us to go about this.” Kim said, stepping up and taking the lead. I was glad to see her getting away from the melancholy the witch left her with. “I will organize the search. Scott and Avery, check five blocks to the west. Sobie and Chad, you will go five blocks north of this spot. You, breather-“ “This is Kim,” I said, scowling at the implied insult. “Fine,” Alex continued. “Kim, you and Elle shall check five blocks out to the east. I will go south and come back to check with each of you. Check everywhere, I can’t stress enough, how important it is to find this girl before the Rory Clan does. You all have your phones, call me if there is any trouble or if you find her.” As Alex finished, I could see Kim and Elle hitting it off. There was something about Kim that made it easy for her. She always just connected with people. It was probably part of the reason she had been on the edge of this world for so long. Watching for a moment more as the groups broke off to search their zones, Scott slide his hand into mine and guided me away. Heading to the west, the silence of the streets was heavy around us. My phone buzzed in my pocket, relieving the silence. “Hello?” “Aave, its Clete. Have you found her yet?” “No, we tried a with a local witch. She said something was blocking her magic though. Are the Rorys any closer to finding her?” “No, they have their own witch whose been trying. I still don’t understand why they want her,” Clete said, in a whisper. Scott and I had stopped and he was looking at me with curiosity. “It’s Clete. He wants to know if we’ve found her yet.” Scott just nodded as we started walking again. “They are close to you right now.” “Ya…Carla, I’ma stay in Seattle,” Clete said in his southern accent, covering our conversation. “Oh, so your charms haven’t led you and Cwen to the bedroom,” I said, my words dripping with sarcasm. Clete let out a sigh into the phone, “Naw, sister, it ain’t never been this hard. Mos’ tha time, I ain’t ‘stracted by no ‘un else. I jus’ really like this othern. She real strong, an fulla fire. Make me wanna stick ‘round here. Ya see whata mean, right?” “Clete, I am going to assume you’re just hiding this little talk. You’re posturing for the Rory listening and making them think you are interested in Cwen.” “Oh, sweets, don’t ‘sume nuthin’. I thank, ya know why I like it here.” “Clete, you know about the other night…” I watched Scott walking ahead of me. I didn’t want to get into some relationship talk over the phone with Clete, with the guy I was dating walking a few feet from me. “He there huh.” “Yes, I am out for a walk. We are looking for Audra.” “Well, you jus’ keep it in mine. I gonna come visit ya soon, Carla. You take care, I migh’ be free later or marrow, so I call ya then.” Clete said. “Okay. Good luck with your…thing,” I said, hanging up and slipping the phone back in my pocket. Stopping in front of me, Scott was staring. “So, Clete called you. What did he want?” Scott asked. I knew he had heard my side of the conversation and probably Clete’s too. Honesty is the best policy. “He wanted to know if we had found anything out about Audra yet, and he flirted with me. I made it clear to him that it was one sided. No big deal,” I said with a shrug. Closing the distance between us in seconds, Scott hugged me to him and brushed my hair back from my face. “I trust you Avery,” he said, laying a soft kiss on my lips. We just stood under the streetlight holding on. I was waiting for all hell to break loose. It was the first peaceful moment I’d had in days. All hell didn’t break loose, the sky opened up on us instead. The rain was a light mist caressing our skin. “Look, let’s go check the parking garage. It will get us out of the rain. If I was a twelve year old girl without a place to stay, I would think it was the perfect place. She might even find an unlocked car to sleep in,” I said, pulling slowly out of his arms. “I’ll take the top three, you take the bottom two. We’ll meet in the middle,” Scott said with a smile. Scott has the perfect smile. Something about it pulls you in and holds you. I bit the inside of my cheek just enough to bring blood out. Reaching up to him, I twined my fingers him his hair and showed him a real kiss. The blood excited him, I knew what it had done for Alex at the club, but I had no idea how much stronger Scott’s reaction would be. He wrapped his arms around me. His hands drifted low to my backside giving me a squeeze. Fangs ran out as he pulled me closer and tighter to his body. Lifting me off the ground, I found it hard to fight the currant he was swept away in. I slid my legs around his waist, as he moved to lean us against the brick wall of the garage. Scott grinded against me, falling farther into the moment, he was taking me with him. “Aren’t we supposed to be doing something right now?” Alex said from under the streetlight. Scott’s fangs disappeared as quickly as they had appeared. Easing myself to the ground, I couldn’t help but blush. We had been caught like teenagers. “Sorry, Alex, just a moment of weakness,” I said looking at my shoe laces. “We were just going to check the garage for Audra.” Scott said, leaping up to the opening on the second floor. Looking up into the rain, Scott gave me a wink as he jumped up and out, somehow reaching for the third floor. He continued to spring up the side of the building until he was gone from sight over the top. Leaving Alex and I alone in the rain seemed strange. I hadn’t actually been alone with Alex at all. “That was quite a show Aave. You might want to keep it behind closed doors though,” Alex said with a sneer, coming over to stand in front of me. “Well, what can I say? I like the boy.” Giving Alex a genuine smile as I took a step back, putting a little more space between us. Alex took the step toward me. Leaning close, I could see him trying the air. “Scott’s young, I wouldn’t try that little trick too often. He might try and take more than you are willing to give. The newer ones have trouble for the first years after they are made. Don’t test him Avery, you’re asking for trouble.” Then he was gone. I hadn’t even seen him move, one minute he was there, poof, no more Alex. Breathing a sigh of relief I made my way around the structure to get out of the rain. The entrance to the parking garage opened into a normal parking lot. The lights were lower than the streetlights but I could make out a sea of cars around me. I dismissed the area. It had no cover for a girl to hide making it useless. Stepping into the car exit, I could see there were fewer cars parked inside. Those around me had parking passes hanging in the windows but there was no live security of any kind. A few old cameras hung in the corners with giving no signs they were actually still operating. I checked along the walls and under the cars for Audra first. I didn’t think she would spend the night under a car, but sure as I didn’t look she would have been there. Walking the lines, I checked inside every car on the first level. They were nothing more than empty shells. None held the girl. I followed the slope of the driving ramp as it went up to the next level. I went and checked the stairwell and found it lifeless. There were more cars on this level than downstairs and I checked them row by row. As I got to the last line, I saw a dark mass leaned into the corner of the room. Smelling motor oil and something else I couldn’t identify in the air, I walked slowly over to check the lump. It was long and human shaped. I could tell someone was sleeping underneath a large jacket or old blanket. “Audra?” “Audra, is that you?” I asked, bending down to reveal the person hiding underneath. As I touched the blanket a dirty hand shot out and clutched my wrist. “Hey!” I yelled, as I was pulled off balance down to the concrete floor. The man climbed on top of me smelling of booze, holding my arms over my head and crushing me under his weight. Turning my face away from his stained teeth, I yelled, “Get the fuck off me!” Squirming as I felt his dirty hands reach between us. Kicking him as hard as I could in the side of the leg, he let go of my hands. I pushed at him, scratching his face and wiggling from under him as he covered his eyes and rolled halfway off me. Getting up from the floor, I moved away as fast as I could. It wasn’t fast enough, he grabbed my ankle and spilled me right back to the floor splitting my forehead as I abruptly met the concrete floor. Moving faster than a drunk should be able to move, he was on top of me from behind. Placing one hand on the center of my back, he forced me to stay with all his weight resting there. The other hand pulled at the back of my jeans, while I struggled to roll him off. Footsteps echoed off the walls, they were coming from in front of me, as I heard a snarl somewhere to my right. Boozer came with friends. Then he was off. I looked up in time to see his feet go over the side, out of one of the openings ten or so feet ahead of me. Two hands lifted me off the floor like I weighed no more than a child. Alex was holding me up about six inches from the ground. “It doesn’t smell like he managed to do anything…right?” “N-no. I fought back, he didn’t get a chance to do anything more than feel me up,” I managed to say. Alex set me down on my feet, holding on to my shoulders until he was sure I could stand on my own. Once he was satisfied with that, he patted down my clothes from head to toe, removing any dust, real or imagined. “I think I’m okay.” “Aave, you don’t look okay,” Alex said, hovering close, staring into the cut on my head. “I will heal that for you. It should only take a minute or two to get you feeling back to normal,” he said, slipping closer. Dodging him as he came forward, I said, “It’s not a big deal. I really don’t want to be licked right now, just let me rest here for a second.” Alex followed my dodge remaining close. Sliding his thumb up the length of the cut, he stuck the bloody digit in his mouth. The vampire was close enough I could see goose bumps rise on his skin as he cleaned his finger. Gently touching my scrape a second time, he ran a cool wet line over it, bringing me relief and stopping the flow. Tasting the last of me from his hand, I couldn’t help but think of the mess of Buffalo wings. It was the same motion I had seen hundreds of times in my life and it seemed so normal. Alex lingered over me, placing his hands on my shoulders and drawing my face to look up into his. Blood was no small thing for these guys. I would need to be more careful. Every time I had bled for the last few days, a vampire was always there to clean me up and wish for more. Staring down into my eyes, Alex tried to capture my lips. Shifting my gaze to his chest, the kiss landed on my brow. “What happened to the guy?” I remembered, trying to clear the air. “Scott is taking care of him.” “What?” I said, jerking from his grasp and rushing to the window the man had gone through. Looking down, in the low light from the lot, I could see Scott crouched between two cars in the rain. 13 Avery and the Predator “Scott!” He didn’t even seem to hear me. I could see the man in his grasp even in the frail light. The boozer was pale, almost glowing, he was so white. Scott had him bent back in his grasp. The drunk’s legs looked broken from where I stood, and they were draped between Scott’s feet, trailing out behind him. “Scott, don’t!” I yelled, running, without thought for the stairwell. Vaguely, I heard Alex’s voice echoing through the space around me calling my name. I jumped the steps two at a time, almost falling down them once. I burst from the door at the bottom and bent at the waist. Using the momentum I gained dashing down the stairs, I slammed into Scott like a defensive end. The hit pushed Scott from his meal, stumbling passed the man’s body. I may not have had vampiric strength, but I caught him by surprise and slammed him going full speed with all my weight. Squatting over the man on the ground, I checked his pulse. It was weak but still there. Running my hands over his body, my fingers traced at least two broken ribs and then there were the obvious breaks in his legs, forcing them to unnatural positions on the ground. A snarl pulled my eyes away from the injured man and they froze on a face more animal than human. It was Scott looking down at me with solid black reptilian eyes, devoid of anything I had come to know and like. Looking into those cold eyes, I lost my balance landing on my butt. He was crouched a few feet away in an attack posture. Hands curled like claws, his shoulders hunched and prepared to pounce. I wasn’t sure if he was going to go after me or if he was only trying to defend his meal. I had disturbed the site of a kill and he was reacting as only an animal could. Seeing the danger, I grasped the broken man’s ankle and scooted away on my rear-end. Undignified and slow, it was the best I could do. The vampire slinked toward me. Scott grabbed my burden, jerking the drunk from my hands. He continued to stalk my progress away from the crumpled body. I was moving faster but not fast enough. Scott was bearing down on me, there in the middle of lot. I didn’t think a little spit was going to heal me once he finally made his move. A figure flashed between us, it was Alex. Standing tall, a growl rumbling in his chest, he didn’t need to posture for the message to get through to Scott’s addled mind. The man I cared about, who only minutes before had wrapped me in his arms, was a predator. He shifted away from us in a frenzy. Scooping the drunk under his arm like a sack of potatoes, he bounded out into the night. Tears escaped my eyes, mingling with the rain already running down my face. Pulling my knees close to my chest, I hid my face. I wasn’t sure who the tears were for. The man I cared about, who almost turned on me, or the man that attacked me in the garage. I wanted to hurt the drunk for what he’d tried to do, but killing him was going too far. I was a nurse for Christ’s sake, I wanted to help people. Alex lifted me up off the ground, wrapping his arms around from behind for comfort. I was wishing for comfort from someone else, but I would take what he had to give. He rested his chin on my shoulder while my eyes leaked confusion and pain. “It’s my fault. I just killed that man.” “You didn’t do this to him. He did it to himself when he put his hands on you,” Alex said, whispering into my ear as he rocked side to side in a very human gesture of compassion. “I should have tried to talk to Scott. I could have fought the man off myself instead of calling for help. I should have-” “No Avery.” Alex interrupted, “He got what was coming to him. If it hadn’t been you it would have been some other woman, without the kind of protection you had coming out here.” “What protection? Scott was ready to jump me as fast as he jumped that man!” “He did it to protect you. Scott just lost sight of it in the excitement…I was here too. I would have pulled the man off of you if Scott hadn’t,” Alex said softly. Pulling out of his grasp, anger clouding up, I turned to face him. “What the hell were you even doing? Have you even started looking for Audra or were you too busy stalking me? It’s no coincidence you interrupted Scott and I before, and now you turn up all of a sudden to be my hero!” Pacing in front of him, I was using the energy produced by anger and fear. Moving toward me, Alex reached out to me. Shifting my angry stare into his eyes, he stopped. “Avery, I can’t tell you what brought me here. I was leaving you alone to go finish my part of the search and I just had to come back. I can’t explain it.” “Oh, right. It has nothing to do with anything that just happened or that despite your relationship with Elle, whatever it is, you have been flirting with me for days?” “Look, my relationship with Elle has nothing to do with this. You can’t tell me you haven’t enjoyed every second we have spent around each other. You were staring at me like I was dinner a few nights ago. You sleep with Scott and find out about me being with Elle--which is just casual for your information--and suddenly I’m an asshole. Despite everything, despite me healing your wounds and trying to help you tonight, you assume I am some kind of stalker.” “Yeah, every minute with you has been a blast. You tromped around my head, I have been chased, found dead bodies and been nearly raped since I met you! And here you are to be my savior; here you are to hold my hand. Don’t you want to say I told you so too? I know you just had to tell me the other night how young Scott is, how much he hates his existence and how you thought I could bring the vampire out of him and help him enjoy it. Well, he looked like he was loving it didn’t he?” With fire in his eyes Alex said, “Avery, don’t blame me for all of those things, you asked me to go into your head and everything else that has happened to you, happened after you met Scott and started looking for this girl! As far as Scott goes, I told you he was controlled. He lost control tonight because of you. You brought the blood out and then got yourself in a situation where he felt like he had to protect you. He was excited by your blood. Between that and the rush of pulling that man away from you, he let go. He let go of it all. He hasn’t fed on a human since I’ve known him, and then you go and give him a reason to lust. You brought the vampire out, yes, but that wasn’t what I meant the other night. I only wanted you to give him a reason to want to stick around, not drive him to something that he’d hate himself for!” “He’s had my blood before and didn’t do this. Hell you had my blood before and didn’t lose your shit on me. How the hell can you blame this on me? Two seconds ago, you were telling me how this wasn’t my fault.” I was rising high and riding my waves of anger. “I am much older than Scott is. I don’t need as much blood as he does and I don’t have to drain a person to continue my life. Scott does. When else did he have your blood Avery?” Alex asked with renewed calm, in a matter of fact way. “The first night I met him when he was at my house after the hospital.” “After you had pumped him full of blood at your hospital? The same hospital that would’ve had blood on tap that Scott could easily find?” My waves of anger suddenly crashed and took me with them. “So any blood would have done this to him tonight?” I asked. “I don’t know Avery. There is something about your blood. It tastes different and it feels different. That fact and how you delivered it tonight could make a young vampire like Scott go over that edge.” Looking back down at me feet, I asked, “So, it was my fault?” Alex put his hand under my chin and drew my eyes up to his face, “I really don’t know for sure Aave. I haven’t been around many vampires as young as Scott, not even when I was new. I was never in a situation like this when I was that age.” “That’s why you all like me, my blood. None of you would have looked twice at me without it.” “I don’t know about the others, but for myself… No, it isn’t your blood. Not completely at least,” Alex said, blushing my cheek with his thumb. “Then why even mention what it tastes like? What’s so special about it? Scott told me everyone tastes different.” Alex dropped his hand from my face as he considered it. Shivering in the cold mist, I waited for an answer. “Let me get you out of the rain, you’re cold,” Alex said, taking my hand. “Aren’t you?” “Yes, but it doesn’t affect me the same way it does you. It isn’t uncomfortable for me, I am already cold…I’m dead. I don’t get sick either, you do.” Alex drew me back into the stairwell. It wasn’t warm, but it was sheltered from the frigid wet outside. “So?” I asked, sitting on the steps. “What is it with the blood? And if Scott hasn’t fed since you’ve known him, how has he survived?” Sitting on the step above mine, Alex said, “He has had blood since I met him. He always fed from animals. It isn’t the same though. It will maintain him, but it is bland and lacks the nutrition human blood carries.” “Okay, it’s the difference between eating bread and having a four course meal. What’s so different about mine though?” He looked away, pushing his wet hair off his forehead and said, “You’ll have to know some things about how blood relates to a vampire first. This has to stay between us; it’s a weakness of sorts… Blood has layers of flavor, a general underlying flavor that is the same for all humans. Families of humans will all have a similar second layer. How a person lives, creates another level and so on. Your blood has a pleasant combination of tastes, that all compliment each other.” “How is that a weakness?” “Well, look how Scott acted tonight. He cares for you and would have protected you anyway, but add in the…arousal your blood can cause and there you go. If Scott acted that way with a normal human attacking you, imagine how he would react if Eric got you. Think if a Hunter found out about your essence, a single taste and most vampires would come to find you. You are a trap. If someone could find out about you and your composition, they could find others like you and use them the same way.” I stifled a giggle. It wasn’t funny but I couldn’t see how anyone would give their blood to get a vampire and I really couldn’t see how I was special. People don’t kill people over a drumstick or a cupcake. Alex gaze locked with mine and suddenly giggling impossible. “Aave, there are people out there who know about us and they don’t all find us as interesting as you do. There’s your other…abilities that could make you an ideal asset for a Hunter. Your mind is a powerful thing, not just your intelligence but that little room you hide in your head,” he said touching my forehead, then pushing my wet hair behind my ear. “Who are Hunters? Are they Supernaturals like you?” “No. They are normal humans. We don’t know much about them. We do know they draw vampires to them naturally, with no effort. I have never met one but the story is passed from vampire to vampire.” “It’s the boogieman for vampires, a scary story to teach the children.” “Oh no Avery, they do exist. We know they do. Every once in a while a whole Clan will disappear,” Alex said with a little shudder of…fear? “How do you know the locals didn’t get them or that they didn’t just leave the area?” “A whole Clan might move, but other vampires will see a Clan after it’s moved. Once the unexplained absence is noticed, we send in a human or a vampire to investigate and they almost always come back and tell us none of the local humans knew about the vampires at all.” “Is this some kind of Buffy thing, like slayers and shit?” “No Aave. This is serious. We never even tell most humans about them. The Hunters are not chosen ones and they aren’t limited by being born one a generation. These are people. These humans draw us in and kill us. It takes more than one human to kill a whole Clan, so we assume there are many and they are drawn to each other as much as they draw us.” “You don’t know anything about them. You just have a lot of assumptions. Can you even protect yourself from something you don’t understand at all?” “Not completely. That’s why vampires are selective about their human company…We should finish this talk another time. We need to search for the girl. I was almost done with my area. I can finish it and yours if you want to head back to the fountain to meet up with the rest.” It sounded like a bad idea to go out alone, but he would be done sooner if I wasn’t there to slow him down. “Sure. See you back there.” Alex planted a kiss on my cheek and was out of the stairwell with one of his speedy vampire moves. I just sat thinking about everything that had happened. My boyfriend was out killing someone and had almost killed me. I think that could be grounds for a break-up. How could I let myself forget everything I knew about vampires and date one? Not that we really dated. The only place we’d gone together, I had to pretend I was with someone else; another vampire who could kill me just as easily. Sure, they were all sensitive guys, but they were still predators. I wouldn’t date a serial killer. Were vampires anything more than that? I didn’t think so anymore. I dragged my wet ass off the step and headed back out into the rain. I went in the general direction of the Space Needle and trusted my feet to get me there. I walked as someone lost. Scott could be really sweet and he was good looking, but what else did I know about him? Until tonight I had an unnatural trust in him, though he didn’t glamour me to get it. He didn’t like to feed on humans, he didn’t want to be a vampire at all and he had been ‘made’ against his will. He was smart and attracted to me. Had been since the moment he met me. Do vampires believe in love at first sight? Scott sure acted like it was the case. He was an attentive lover, who happened to do everything right during the horizontal mumbo. What else was there? His smile was dangerous and could lead me right off a cliff. If he had smiled tonight and hadn’t looked at me with those black eyes, I would have walked right into his violence. I knew that the same way I knew how to breathe, it was a fact I couldn’t get around. Would I take him back the moment the smile returned? If I did, I could never bleed in his presence again. I wouldn’t risk my life or anyone else’s over a quick rush. My thoughts were interrupted by Kim calling to me from the fountain. I hadn’t even realized I was that near to it until she called out. “Avery, over here!” I changed direction. I would have walked right on by if not for her. “Yeah, we didn’t find her either…where’s Scott?” Kim asked, as I drew near. The whole group looked to me for an answer. “He went to feed on someone,” I said hopelessly. “Okay,” Kim said with a shrug. Everyone else continued to stare. They lived with him and knew his eating habits well enough to want an explanation. “Someone jumped me and Scott got carried away in the moment.” “That isn’t something Scott would do. What else is happened?” Chad asked. “He had a taste of my blood a few minutes before the attack…” Elle looked at me like an idiot. For the second time in days, I had to agree with her. “I didn’t know I was going to be attacked and I didn’t know how he would react to the blood. I get it, I fucked up. I don’t need a reminder.” “You got him to feed on something besides cats and cows, don’t feel too bad,” Sobie said. “Well since he almost killed me in all the excitement,” I said, waving my arms around sarcastically, “I don’t think I will pat myself on the back just yet.” Everyone’s glance shifted above my head and I felt someone standing behind me. Two large hands came to rest on my shoulders. “He dropped the man at the hospital. He is alive, but Scott says he can’t see you. He thinks you won’t forgive him for what happened tonight. He’s embarrassed.” Alex whispered, his lips brushing my earlobe. Relief ran through me and did cartwheels! I hadn’t gotten anyone killed and Scott had gone back to normal. I was also happy to know, whatever Alex’s attraction to me, he would put Scott first. He wouldn’t push himself on me knowing I was with another. “No one found anything at all?” A shaking of heads swept the circle. “Any other ideas?” Kim asked her eyes full of other questions for me alone. “We should regroup. I think everyone has had a long night and you two,” Alex said picking Kim and I out of the group, “had a long day as well. Go home and get some rest. We’ll see what we can come up with between now and tomorrow.” I stopped Alex, as the group fell apart, with a hand on his arm. Kim was walking to her car and the others were walking into the distance. “Tell Scott we need to talk. Can you get him back here?” Alex pulled his cell phone from his pocket and dialed. “The fountain, now.” Sliding the phone into his pocket, Alex said, “He’ll come don’t worry. Do you want me to stay here, or do you need some space?” “He’s back to normal?” Alex nodded to answer. “Then I want to talk to him alone. Thanks though.” “Let me see your phone.” Alex said. I pulled it out of my pocket and handed it over. “This,” he said dialing, “is my number, I am leaving it on the screen. If anything happens, hit send and I will be here.” Handing me the phone, Alex was gone as Scott came into view. Scott didn’t even look up at me as he walked over. “Scott,” I said, taking his hand in mine. “It’s okay. Alex explained and he said you didn’t kill that man… Please look at me!” I shouted tired of talking to his hair. “Avery, how can you even look at me? I almost hurt you.” “But you didn’t and I know better than to tempt you the way I did. End of story. I can forgive you, if you can forgive yourself,” I said, forcing his eyes to my own. “I thought about ending this thing with you. I thought about it seriously, but I trust you. I don’t know why. Even after what happened tonight, I trust you. I am not completely sure you would have hurt me. You might have fed from me, but I can’t see you killing me. Maybe I’m wrong, but I just can’t.” “Avery…I don’t know what I would have done.” “Then let’s give it the benefit of the doubt. You didn’t do anything but protect me from a dangerous man. You also had the sense to stop feeding from him and take him to the hospital, even after not having fully fed from a human in so long. If you can stop yourself after all that happened tonight, I can trust your control enough to continue this…unless you don’t want to,” I said, doubting myself suddenly. “I do,” Scott said taking my face in his hands and pressing his lips to mine. Separating, I said, “Let’s go then. Leave what happened tonight behind us.” I took his hand guiding him back to where Kim’s car was running waiting for me. 14 Avery and the Shadow Kim didn’t seem the least bit surprised to see Scott climb in the backseat. Did she know the depth of my infatuation better than I did? She was even less surprised when I took him to my room and closed the door. She could think what she liked. I needed to change clothes and we needed to continue our talk. “So, no more blood for you,” I said pulling on a pair of pajama pants. “Not anytime soon. I like to have control over myself. Tonight was the first time in a long time I let the blood get the best of me.” “It’s happened before?” “Yes, when I was first turned. The vampire who made me took me for my first feed. I woke up hungry, more than I had ever been before. I fought with him at first. I told him I needed food and that he was crazy. He followed me to a restaurant where I ordered a steak. No matter how many times I sent it back, it always seemed bland and over cooked to me. The last steak I ordered had been cold, it was so raw. I tried a few different things off the menu after I realized the waitress thought I was crazy. I left when nothing satisfied me and my vampire was waiting. He pulled a woman who came out alone, into the alley. I refused to believe him. I refused to feed from her. His response was to slice her neck open. Once the blood flowed, I wasn’t me anymore. It was a compulsion, I had to taste her. I had to have her. There wasn’t much of me left in that moment…I killed her and hungered for more. I fed again that night. The vampire was amused at my appetite. I would’ve killed others if the sun hadn’t risen. The next night, when I was me again, I left. I couldn’t do it anymore.” Shocking me to silence, Scott watched as my mind tried to process it all. “I didn’t want too. I wasn’t me anymore. I was a vampire and nothing else.” “Is that what it was like tonight?” I asked when I found my voice. “No Avery. This was different. I was still in there and I could see what was happening. I wanted you. I wanted you in every way. I don’t know what I would have done if I had gotten you.” Taking his hand, I sat on the bed beside him. “Scott, nothing happened to me. Relax, it’s over now.” “But something-” “No,” I said putting my finger to his lips. “Nothing happened. You saved me; that’s it. Let’s talk about something else.” “Where’s your family?” Scott asked after a brief pause. “Okay, something else besides that.” “No, I think we should talk about this. You want to trust me for some insane reason, and I think it has something to do with your life,” Scott said. “My mother died when I was young. I moved around a lot before and after her death and that’s it.” “Where’s the rest of your family? Father, siblings, grandparents, where were they in all this?” “My mom was an only child. My grandparents died before I was born, and as far as I know, I am an only child.” “You’re avoiding talking about your father. Why?” “He left my mom. One day he was there, the next he was gone. Just like that he abandoned us,” I said looking at my hands. “How old were you?” He asked. “It was a few years before my mom died. I might have been ten or eleven.” “You fear loss then?” “Doesn’t everyone?” “Avery, I think you edit your life around that fear.” “Now how do you figure that?” “You’re with me for one. I can die, but not of normal causes. My life will go on no matter what diseases are floating around out there. My body is only susceptible to a few things, unlike your own. You also trust me and forgive me everything I did tonight. You don’t want to be alone, you’re holding onto me. You choose to overlook what I’ve done so you don’t have to see it as a betrayal, which I assume is how you see your father’s departure from your life.” “Well thank you Freud for pointing that out to me. I never would have guessed my childhood helped to form the person I am today. What would I have done without your expert diagnosis?” “Avery, sarcasm isn’t really needed. I was voicing something I had learned about you. I wasn’t trying to offend you or bring up something that still hurts.” “Well you stuck your finger right in a soft spot and wiggled it around, when you knew I didn’t want to get into it with you.” “If not me, then who? Have you told any of the other men in your past about this, or do you avoid telling them as well?” “Scott, I don’t tell people about my past. It isn’t any of their business. It has doesn’t have anything to do with the now, that’s why it’s the past.” “I understand keeping your cards close to your chest, but when you do that, you put others at arms length. You’re close to Kim, but I haven’t seen anything to show me you’re close to anyone else.” “That’s because I’m not. I was in the military. Because of that, I don’t relate to people very well.” “That’s not it. You don’t get close to people because you don’t let them get close.” “Okay, Mr. Sore Spot. What about your family? I know you’re young enough to still have some around,” I said. “They are. My parents didn’t stick together after… after I was killed. I have a brother who’s some kind of software programmer now.” “Do they know about you?” “Avery, do you think I could tell them about this? It would be cruel. They let me go and I let them go.” “But you know about them. You know about what they have done since you were killed.” “I check up on them sometimes. I let them live in the present though. I have to live with this thing, they don’t.” Shifting around Scott, I leaned back against the headboard and pulled the blankets up around me. He mirrored my position on the bed making us seem like any other couple in any other home. It was almost enough to make me forget I was sitting with a vampire. Leaning over to him, Scott put his arm around me and I settled into the crook of his arm. “What happens to you during the day? Is it all coffins like in the stories?” “No, the bedrooms at the house have the windows bricked up. Who wants to buy a coffin and tote it around?” Scott said with a laugh that rumbled in my ear. “Wouldn’t the neighbors notice the windows?” “Not so far. There’s fabric between the glass and the bricks, makes it more like curtains back there. Besides, people see what they want to see and our house looks like any other.” “Can you stay here?” I asked with a yawn. “Maybe one day. I would have to prepare a place to rest here. I can’t be exposed to the light at all,” Scott said, leaning to the lamp and switching it off for me. “I have a laundry room without any windows. I know it wouldn’t be home, but if you ever need a place to stay, it’s yours.” “Than--” The muffled sound of my phone ringing and Kim’s knock at the door interrupted him and drove me from comfort. “Thanks,” I said taking my monster purse from Kim through the partially opened door. Fishing in its depths, I extracted my still ringing tormentor. “Hello,” I said yawning audibly. “Ay, I gots some news. Can I come see ya?” “Sure Clete, come on over.” “Lets meet som’ ‘ere instead.” “Are they listening again Clete?” “Na hon, they out feedin’.” “I am tired Clete, can’t you come here?” “Na, I gotter stay close to the house tonight.” “Okay Clete, where do you want to meet then?” I asked. “What’s a good place fer you? “Meet me at the hospital. You know where I park in the garage. Meet me there.” “Sure…Ms. Sheridan. I meetcha’ there in twenty-minutes,” Clete said hanging up on me. Scott wrapped his arms around me and asked, “Do you want me to come with you?” “No. It’s just Clete. You should head home since I don’t have a place for you to stay anyway. I can call you tomorrow and let you know what I found out.” “Are you sure? I could drive for you.” “No Scott, I’ll make it to the hospital fine. I could drive there with my eyes closed. I’ll see you first thing after you get up, if you want.” “Sure,” Scott said turning me for a kiss. Walking to the door, I regretted ever answering the damn phone. Sitting in the car in the parking garage, I was tired and irritated. I had been parked for twenty-minutes and Clete still hadn’t made his appearance. I thought about leaving, but he had called me for some reason. Maybe he misunderstood and was inside. Climbing out of the car, I shrugged against the cool night air and headed into the emergency room doors. I could tell it was a quiet night. There were no sirens or ambulances and when I stepped into the doors there were only a few people waiting to be seen. Clete wasn’t among them. Running through the short list in my head for someone I could bear to ask, I remembered Dr. Rosser was off and the other nurses were busy. That left Lazy Denise at the desk. Her partner in crime was nowhere in sight and I had no other options. Denise’s curly bleach-blond hair was piled on top of her head, the fluorescent lights washing it out and making it seem even less natural. She caught me in her stare seconds after I walked in, and an ugly sneer lit up her face. “Well, well, well. If it isn’t Avery Sheridan the absentee nurse. You hardly look ready for work in that,” she said eyeing my pajamas. What can I say? I didn’t think I was going to have to get out of the car. “Hello Denise,” I said drolly, “Has anyone come in looking for me?” “Are you ever coming back into work, or is this visit so you can put in your two-weeks?” “Has anyone been here looking for me?” “Why do you get this much time off anyway? I know you aren’t on vacation.” “Damn it Denise, has anyone been looking for me tonight?” “Oh, touchy are we. Don’t get your dander up over me. Maybe you should just take a look around and see if you know anybody here?” “Denise,” I said more calmly than I felt. “Someone wanted to meet me here tonight. Tall guy, blond, he’s big. Ring any bells?” “No, no one has come looking for you. No, I haven’t seen a guy like that in here. Even if I had, I would have assumed he must be mistaken. You aren’t really worth looking at, much less looking for.” Her lips drew back further, making a smile that could scare children break across her face. With every ounce of willpower I stood my ground and I didn’t jump over the desk and hit her. I wouldn’t do that. I can’t say I wasn’t imagining how great it would be to knock her over, grab her brittle poodle hair and slam her head into the floor repeatedly though. “If I find him, I will be sure to let him know what you think. I am sure he’ll want to talk to you about it,” I said through gritted teeth. “Thanks Avery, maybe when I am done with him, I’ll send him back to you.” Leaning over the counter with inches between us, I said, “If you think he’d be interested in your chewed-up ass, you’re dumber than I gave you credit for. How about this, I won’t tell him about you at all and you’ll wake up in the morning.” Staring into her shocked, poorly painted eyes, I added, “I won’t do anything to you, don’t worry about that. I can’t say what he’ll do though. I like a man with a little wild streak and Clete’s no puppy dog, honey.” I felt her staring at my back as I walked toward the back hall. I checked the break room and didn’t find him there. It was almost one in the morning and Mr. Mysterious still hadn’t shown up. Clete seemed reliable normally. The hour wait had only made me worry about him. I slipped past the front desk and Denise in a fast walk, heading straight for my car. Denise stopped me ten feet out the door. “Your…boyfriend. You aren’t going to really tell him about what I said, right?” “Denise, you actually believe my boyfriend is…some kind of convict or something?” Something flashed in the corner of the garage but when I looked closer nothing was there. Denise pulled back my attention. “Maybe he’s not a convict, but dangerous. Avery, we aren’t friends, but I know you aren’t a liar. You were just giving me a scare.” “No, I would never put you in harms way. Try not to be such a bitch to me all the time though and I wouldn’t have to scare you. I know it’ll be hard for you. Bitchy seems as much a part of you as your eye color,” –the only thing natural about her—“but I am sure you’ll manage.” I could have played nice, but I didn’t feel like it. I climbed back into my car, leaving Denise standing with her mouth hanging open. Pulling my phone from the top of my purse, I called Scott…of course, like usual he didn’t answer. I went with my next best bet. “Hello?” “Hi Alex, its Avery. I got a call from Clete earlier. He wanted to meet me somewhere, but he never showed. Should I be worried, or pissed off?” “I don’t know him to tell you what kind of vampire he is. How do you feel about it?” “I think…I’m worried and pissed. He called me while we were looking for Audra and the Rory Clan was around. He couldn’t give me much. Could they know he called me?” “They could have overheard I guess.” “He was pretty guarded when we talked. He put on his southern accent and called me by another name and everything,” I said, trying to convince myself more than Alex. “Were you as guarded when you talked back?” “No. I think I should have been. He didn’t say they were that close though. If he thought they would hear me, he would have said something.” “Unless that would have given him away too,” Alex said knowingly. “Have you seen anyone tonight from their Clan?” “No. I thought I saw something but I wasn’t really paying attention.” “Go to your house. Don’t make any stops. You are probably being followed. Just assume you are for now. They can’t get you in your house. It’s the safest place for you. We’ll meet you there. Is Scott with you?” “No. He should have gone back to your place already. He’s not there?” “Obviously not if I’m asking you. I’ll be to your house before you. I’ll see you then and we’ll consider Clete and Scott missing for now.” Alex hung up on me without even a goodbye. Vampires have no social grace or manners. I drove by my house on Westbrook road twice before I decided to stop and go in. Nothing seemed wrong from where I was on the street and I couldn’t see anyone following me. When I walked into my kitchen they were all there waiting for me, my Freaky Friends. “What took you so long? Alex told me Clete didn’t show and that you were being followed,” Scott said pulling me into his arms. “I went by a few times first to make sure nothing was wrong. I didn’t see anyone behind me but I had to be sure before I drew them here,” I said. “Audra is still missing and Clete now too. Where does that leave us?” Chad asked from his perch on my counter. “Clete was our best source of information from within the Clan. We have no way of knowing what they’ll do next,” Sobie said. “Could we get someone else in there in a hurry? Do you know anyone outside this group who could do it?” I asked. “No. This is our Clan and the Rorys know all of us,” Alex said. “What about me?” Elle asked. “They have seen you, but if you play the turn-coat they might take you in.” “Alex,” I said shaking my head. “That’s a great idea if we want her dead. There has to be something else. Do any of you know where they live?” “They moved after we defected,” Chad said. “Back at square one then, what about Mia’s, the restaurant they hang out in. Maybe someone there could help us find them.” “That doesn’t do us any good right now. We could go there tonight, if you know where it is. We would only end up in a fight on their territory though. The Rory Clan already has the number advantage on us, I don’t want to give them that one too,” Scott said from over my shoulder. “We can’t just sit here. The witch I met, she could dowse for them.” “Avery, she can only dowse for them if we have something of theirs to give her. She has to be able to focus on them. I don’t know if it would work on them since they’re dead anyway,” Kim said from the kitchen door. “What do we know about the Rory Clan? They like Italian restaurants, they’re vampires, they go to the Silver Circle, they live south of here and they want the little girl… Do you think Clete’s still alive?” I asked. “I wouldn’t think so. If they found out he’s been lying to them and that he isn’t loyal, they may have staked him. They may leave him out in the yard for the sun to touch. Either way, by this time tomorrow, he’ll no longer be among us.” “Ave-er-ry,” said a voice from outside the house. Sharing a glance around the kitchen, we were all on a hair trigger. The voice sounded like Clete but the sing-songing lilt put me on edge. For the third time in as many days I was clutching the silver rod in my hand. I padded quietly to the front door. “Open up, Ave-er-ry.” Rising up on tip-toe, I stuck my eye to the peep hole. “Ave-er-ry, I know you’re home,” said Clete’s voice. The only problem was it coming from Cwen. She was standing on my porch talking to me with Clete’s voice. PART 3 | |
Share this
Leave a review or comment on my story by clicking 
