Chapter 2
I LOOKED DOWN at Scott Foley and Ryan Walsh on the beach below me. Tall and good looking with straight dark hair, Scott stood with his back slightly towards me. Ryan, who was a few inches shorter than Scott, stood several feet behind him, looking like he would rather be somewhere else.
“Leave it alone.” Ryan ran a hand through his blond curls. “This is not cool man.”
“Dude, when did you turn into such a p-ssy?” Scott scoffed. “I’m only having some fun and like you said, it’s half dead already.”
My fists clenched and I scoured the beach for whatever animal they were talking about. Seeing nothing, I moved closer to the edge of the bank to get a wider view.
I let out a yelp as my foot slipped out from under me, sending me tumbling down the four foot embankment to land in an undignified heap at the feet of the two startled boys. Not exactly the entrance I would have chosen.
For a moment neither of them moved. Then Ryan crouched and peered at my face through the curtain of dark hair that had come loose from my ponytail. “Whoa. You ok?”
“I’m fine.” I pushed my hair back out of my face and got to my feet, wincing at the pain in my left ankle. I put my weight on it to test it. A light sprain maybe. Great.
I faced the boys and found Scott’s wide-eyed gaze fixed on me. He narrowed his eyes when he realized who he was staring at. “What do you want?”
My eyes left his to scan the beach. What the hell were they after? “You guys look like you’re looking for something. Anything I can help you find?”
“No.” Scott retorted. His eyes went to a spot behind me and I followed his gaze but saw nothing but a pile of old fishing nets.
“Are you sure because –” I broke off when the nets made a plaintive mewling sound. In the fading light I saw them move as a scrawny grey tabby emerged. The cat was a sorry sight. Its ribs stuck out painfully and it walked unsteadily for a few seconds before sinking down on its hind legs.
I whirled on Scott and Ryan, my eyes blazing. “You were going to hurt that cat!”
“No.” Ryan could not meet my eyes. “I wouldn’t…”
Scott shifted from one foot to the other. “Yeah right. Like we’d waste our time with that flea bag.”
I stepped between them and the cat. Scott and I had known each other since elementary school and if I knew one thing about him, it was how to tell when he was lying. “This is low, even for you, Scott.”
A flush crept across his cheeks. “I told you, I could care less about a stupid cat. And what’s it to you anyway?”
“You think I will let you hurt a defenseless animal?” My voice rose. Scott always managed to irritate me but for some reason I was having trouble keeping my anger in check this time. “Is this how you get your kicks on a Saturday night? Does this make you feel big and manly?”
“Shut up!” Scott glared at me and for a second I thought I saw something else in his eyes that looked like regret but it was gone as soon as it appeared.
Scott and I were friends for a time way back in elementary school. He was the first person to approach me when I moved here even though his buddies teased him about making friends with a girl. Our friendship was short-lived, ending the day I caught him and some other boys throwing rocks at an injured crow outside the school. I’d yelled at him and pushed him to the ground and told him I could never be friends with someone like him. Any feelings of friendship he had for me quickly changed to animosity after I embarrassed him in front of the whole school like that.
“Make me shut up.” Even as I said the words, I wondered what the hell I was doing. Why was I goading someone who had six inches and at least forty pounds on me – and who already couldn’t stand me?
Scott’s face darkened. “If you know what’s good for you Grey, you’ll get out of my face.”
“Or what?” I took a step toward him. “You going to beat me up too?”
“Whoa! No one’s beating anyone up.” Ryan laid a hand on Scott’s arm. “Come on Scott, let’s go. This is not worth it man.”
Scott shook off Ryan’s hand. “No one talks to me like that.”
Try and stop me. The thought flitted maliciously across my mind. Another voice told me to calm down and step back but I ignored it. Instead I let out a mocking laugh. “Come on then and shut me up if you can. If you’re man enough, that is.”
Scott’s eyes glittered dangerously as he took a step toward me.
“Dude, you can’t fight a girl.” Ryan sounded scared now.
“Shut up, Ryan,” Scott and I said at the same time. I gave Scott a cheeky grin and his nostrils flared.
I glanced down at my coat and let out a sigh. “Just try not to bleed too much, ok. It’s a bitch to get blood out of this thing.”
Scott made a choked sound and Ryan yelled something as Scott raised his right arm. I don’t know if he intended to strike me. I’m not sure even Scott knew what he was going to do.
Roaring filled my ears and a strange prickling heat spread through my body. It felt nothing like the fiery power I’d released a few hours ago. This fire held no healing, just rage and wild exhilaration like a lion set free from its cage. In the back of my mind the beast stretched and swelled with joy. I blinked and it was like a veil lifted from my eyes, bringing the world into startling focus.
My right fist connected with Scott’s cheek before he even realized I had swung. I barely registered the pain in my knuckles as I watched him stagger back several feet from the force of my blow. Again, cried the beast and my other hand curled into a fist.
Scott recovered faster than I expected and I ducked just in time to avoid the brunt of the powerful fist that would surely have knocked me senseless. I felt a sharp pain in my lower lip as his fist clipped it and a coppery taste filled my mouth.
“Scott!” Ryan yelled, his voice muffled in my ears. “What the hell are you doing?”
Moving faster than I could have believed possible, my left fist plowed into Scott’s chin and spun him off balance. I pivoted on the foot I was sure I’d sprained just a few minutes ago and delivered a well-aimed kick to his midsection, a move I had never even attempted before. He doubled over with an agonized moan that made my lips curl in a wicked little smile. The beast crowed with glee.
Scott roared and came at me like an enraged bull but I sidestepped his charge and he stumbled past me. Behind me I heard Ryan smother a laugh but that only seemed to anger Scott more. He turned and came at me with both arms raised.
My hand moved so fast it seemed to blur as my fist met Scott’s nose with a sickening crunch. He fell to his knees with both hands over his face. “You bitch!” he wailed. “You broke my nose!”
Standing over him with my hands on my hips, I savored the delicious triumph at seeing my opponent brought low. I reveled in how easy it had been to take down a boy who was bigger and stronger than me. Heady with power, I spat, “You’re lucky that’s all I broke, you a*shole.”
“Jesus Sara!”
I felt Ryan’s eyes on me and I took in his stunned expression as his gaze moved from me to his moaning friend. It was like a bucket of cold water in my face. The rage drained out of me along with the bizarre heat that had enveloped me a few minutes ago. What am I doing? I thought as the world around me returned to normal and I stared aghast at Scott’s bloody face. His nose was swelling grotesquely and bruises were already beginning to show around his eyes. I was no angel but I had never inflicted this kind of beating on another person. The knowledge of what I’d done made my stomach churn.
“Scott, I –”
“Stay away from me, you f*cking lunatic!” he growled, throwing a hand up to keep me from coming near him. As he spoke a spray of blood dotted the rocks in front of him.
I backed away sick with remorse as he staggered to his feet. What the hell had come over me and made me go all berserker on him? I was mad about the cat, yes, but Scott would have gone on his way if I had left well enough alone. I’d baited him and deliberately made him angry and I had struck first. The memory of my fists hitting his face filled me with disgust. It was as if I’d been possessed and if Ryan hadn’t spoken and woken me up, there was no telling what I might have done.
“We were just messing around. You know he wouldn’t have hurt the cat, right?” Ryan asked, forcing me to look up and meet his gaze, to see the truth on his face.
He turned away to help Scott climb the embankment. As soon as I was alone I sank down to sit on the ground, pulling my knees up and wrapping my arms around them. It was the beast. I always kept a tight grip on it but whenever I used up some of my power for a healing, I felt it stirring, pressing against the walls that imprisoned it. Today I’d depleted my power so much that I lost control of it – and look what happened.
I hadn’t fought since I was ten and never with such intent to hurt someone. Hell, I’d never moved like that before. No wonder Ryan had looked at me like I was some kind of circus freak.
A weak meow intruded on my unhappy thoughts and I lifted my head to see the scrawny little cat sitting beside me. Up close he looked even more pitiful with half a tail, one ear in tatters and his whole body wavering like a breeze would blow him over.
“Hey there kitty.” I reached out to stroke the back of his head. He hissed but he didn’t try to run away, which told me how sick he was. Animals are drawn to me, especially the sick ones. I think they can sense my power even when it’s locked away. Even so, the feral ones need a little encouragement to get past their natural fear of humans.
I opened my power to let a wave of soothing calm sweep over him and within thirty seconds he stopped hissing and leaned against my leg. As soon as my fingers made contact I sent a stream of healing energy into his frail body and he immediately lay down. My hand moved down his back, feeling the bones almost poking through his skin as I sought out his injuries. He had mange and his fur was full of fleas but there were no broken bones. I got rid of the fleas and mange, took care of a few cuts and scrapes and knocked a respiratory infection out of his lungs before I pulled back my hand, satisfied he would be ok.
“There. You’re still one of the sorriest looking things I’ve ever seen but I think you’ll make it.” I stood slowly, a little drained from my second healing today. “Stay away from those mean boys from now on, you hear me.”
The cat’s amber eyes met mine and he let out a sad yowl.
“None of that,” I warned him as my heart felt a little tug. “I can’t take you with me. I’m not supposed to bring home any more strays.”
He got up and walked unsteadily over to rub his thin body against my calves. Even through my jeans I could feel the outline of his ribs.
“No fair.” I sighed and bent down to scoop him up. He began to purr as soon as I cradled him in my arms. “Ok you can come home with me for now but I can’t guarantee anything. My uncle’s not exactly a cat person and he still hasn’t forgiven me for the last houseguest I brought home.”
* * *
The steel door swung open noiselessly on well-oiled hinges and I slipped inside, easing it shut behind me. Silence greeted me. I started to smile but it turned into a wince when the split in my lip stung. Eyes watering, I crossed the storeroom to the far wall and set the cat on the floor. I climbed one of the sturdy shelving units to the ceiling where I stuck my hand under one of the tiles and pulled out a small black metal box. Inside the box were a few hundred dollars and a tiny vial of troll bile half the size of the one I gave Malloy. The bile was my own personal stash that Remy insisted I keep on hand for emergencies. I usually heal very fast and hardly ever get sick – a benefit of having healing power – but it wouldn’t do for Nate to see me with a fat lip.
I uncorked the bottle, tipped it to wet my finger and dabbed the pungent liquid to my swollen lip and bruised knuckles. There was an instant burning sensation then blessed numbness as the sting faded away. I didn’t need a mirror to know that my lip was already mending and in no time it would be healed completely. The bile doesn’t heal broken bones but it makes cuts and bruises disappear in minutes. I dabbed a bit on my knuckles and watched the redness fade from them, trying not to think of Scott who was probably having his nose reset right now. I corked the vial and put the box back in the ceiling, thinking that if anyone should have the bile right now it was him.
“Come on, cat.” I picked him up again and headed for the stairs.
Nate and I had a whole building to ourselves, which was actually pretty cool. Years ago the first floor used to house a bookstore, but it went out of business when the large chain stores came to town. After that, Nate decided that being a landlord was too much hassle. He didn’t really need the rent so he decided not to lease the space again. We lived in the two storey apartment upstairs and the bottom floor was mostly used for storage now and Nate’s home gym.
I dragged my tired body up the stairs and slipped quietly into the apartment. Sounds from the den told me Nate was at work on his computer and I crept past the open door, hoping he was too involved in his work to notice my entrance.
“You missed dinner again.”
I back-tracked and stood in the doorway wearing an apologetic smile. “Sorry I lost track of time.”
Nate looked at me over the top of his monitor and I met his green eyes that were so like my own. With the same chestnut hair and golden skin we resembled each other so much that people often mistook us for father and daughter. Nate’s hair was already streaked with grey making him look a little older than his thirty-nine years but I thought the grey suited him. Or maybe I told myself that to feel better about being guilty of putting some of that grey there.
His hair was mussed and the shadows under his eyes told me he wasn’t getting enough sleep again. He had been working night and day on his latest book, barely coming out to eat and sleep; he always gets like this when he is near the end of the first draft. Nate wrote military suspense novels and he was on the fourth book in his series. His work was very good. He didn’t know it but I read all his books.
“What on earth have you been up to? You look like you’ve been in a fight.” There was no accusation in his voice, just disappointment. I opened my mouth in denial but he said, “You have blood on your coat.”
“Oh.” I frowned at the spots of dried blood on the front of my tan coat. “This is my favorite one too. I’d better put it in cold water.”
“Sara,” He said in warning tone. I stopped and he sighed heavily. “What happened?”
I made a face. “You say that like I’m out there brawling every other day.”
“So you were in a fight.”
Busted. “I had a perfectly good reason.” I held up the cat so he could see it over his monitor.
Nate stared at the scrawny bundle of fur in my arms. “Is that thing alive?”
“Of course it’s alive!” I stroked the cat’s head and he purred loudly. “Do you think I’d be walking around with a dead cat?”
“Do you want me to answer that?”
I made a face. “Didn’t I tell you? I’m into voodoo now and I thought I’d start with zombie cats.” I wondered what he’d think if he knew that there were people out there who really could reanimate corpses.
He stared at me like he was trying to decide if that was a joke. I used the opportunity to try to slip away.
“Not so fast. You still didn’t tell me what happened. Sit.”
I took the chair in front of the desk and laid the cat on my lap as Nate maneuvered his motorized chair around the desk. He parked it two feet from me and said, “Spill it.”
I told him about seeing Scott and Ryan chasing the cat and how I followed them to the beach. With as little detail as possible, I related the altercation between me and Scott, making the fight sound more like a shoving match than a fight. I still felt so ashamed and afraid of what I’d done that I really did not want to relive it.
“So where did the blood come from?”
“Um… this poor little guy is all scratched up. It must have come from him.”
He case a suspicious look at the cat. “Speaking of your new friend – what do you plan to do with him?”
“I don’t know,” I said honestly. “Clean him up and feed him for now.”
Nate was silent for a long moment. I waited for the double scolding – one for fighting and the other for bring home yet another stray. My uncle isn’t an animal hater. He just likes order in his home and animals aren’t exactly the tidiest roommates.
As if on cue, Daisy, our three-legged Beagle limped into the room. I don’t know how she lost her leg. I used to see her around the waterfront and it amazed me how well she moved on three legs. One day six months ago she didn’t move fast enough and got hit by a car. Healing her took a lot out of me but I saved her. Nate was not happy when I came home with a dog, but who could put a three-legged dog out in the street? Now Daisy was his almost constant companion and, though Nate would never admit it, I knew he liked her company.
Daisy came over to me and sniffed and the cat let out a warning hiss. Chastised, the dog sat back on her haunches to watch the newcomer from a safe distance.
“Sara, you’re seventeen, too old to be fighting with boys down at the wharf no matter what the reason.” I tried to speak up but he held up a hand. “You spend too much time alone when you should be going out with your friends, having fun. And you should be dating boys – not fighting with them.”
I squirmed on my chair. I was pretty sure no other teenage girl had a parent telling them to go out to parties and date. “I have friends,” I argued weakly. Ok maybe I had never dated and I wasn’t a social butterfly but I did have friends. As for girls, well they didn’t seem to warm up to me much – I don’t know why. It wasn’t that they hated me; they just didn’t seem comfortable around me.
Nate scoffed. “Friends like Greg you mean? There is a model of good behavior. I suppose that’s where you learned to fight.”
“Greg is not a bad guy – and no, he didn’t teach me to fight. Just because he’s a biker it doesn’t make him a criminal.” There was that one thing but I didn’t think juvenile records counted once you reached eighteen. I wasn’t about to bring that up to Nate.
“He might not be a criminal but he’s no angel either.”
I had to suppress a smile because Nate was right about that. Greg was definitely no angel. A year older than me, Greg was already the school bad ass when I started high school and met him for the first time. He grew up working in his uncle’s bike shop and he was tougher and brawnier than half the senior boys and not afraid to show it. There was something about the roguish tilt of his head and the gleam in his green eyes when he smiled – or scowled – at you that either drew you in or scared the heck out of you. I wasn’t sure if it was the way he did his own thing without a care for anyone’s opinion or the fact that he could have bullied anyone in school and chose not to, but I liked him immediately. He didn’t really associate with the other students so I’m not sure why he decided to befriend me. One day he just started sitting with me at lunch and when he got his first bike he gave me rides and took me to Jed’s with him and his friends. I even had a crush on him for a short while until his friend Mike told me I reminded them of Greg’s younger cousin which put a damper on any romantic notions I had for him.
I missed Greg. He and Mike had moved to Philadelphia right after graduation to work for Mike’s uncle who owned an automotive parts plant. It wasn’t the best job in the world but as long as it paid the rent and kept his bike running, Greg was happy. We kept in touch through email but it had been over a week since I last heard from him.
“Greg moved to Philly, remember. I haven’t seen him since June.”
“Well I won’t pretend to be sad about that.” He tapped the arm of his chair. “What about Roland? I remember when you two used to be inseparable. And Peter too.”
“We still hang out. We just like to do some different things now that’s all.” It wasn’t that Roland didn’t try to include me, and I did go to an occasional party with him. I just wasn’t into partying as much as my best friend. Roland understood that even if no one else did.
“It just seems like you’ve become more closed off the last few years. It’s not healthy to shut everyone out.” He ran a hand through his hair. “It’s my fault. I left you alone too much when you were younger. I know I’m not your father… I just wish I knew how to get through to you.” He gave me a pleading look. “You spend so much time alone or off doing God knows what. I have no idea where you are or what you’re doing.”
“Nate, I…” I faltered because we always seemed to end up here. I mean what was I supposed to say? “Hey Nate, guess what. I saved a life today. I have this amazing power that lets me heal things. But I can’t fix your spine because it doesn’t work on humans. By the way, can I invite my troll friend over for dinner?”
He pressed a button on his chair and it began to back around the desk again. “Go get some dinner. I left lasagna in the oven for you.”
I carried the cat to the kitchen and found a can of tuna for him, making a mental note to pick up some food for him tomorrow. Daisy followed us and I poured some food in her dish before I popped my own dinner in the microwave.
Nate’s lasagna was one of my favorite foods but I could have been eating cardboard and not noticed it with the myriad of emotions swirling through me. What had happened to me on the beach? In the span of a few hours I went from saving a life to hurting someone. Seeing what I was capable of freaked me out more than a little.
To top it all off I had lied to Nate again. I sat quietly at our small kitchen table pushing my food around with my fork. I hated deceiving Nate, but there were too many things in my life that I couldn’t tell him about. It was easier to let him be disappointed in me than to try to tell him the truth.
I wished there was a way to bridge the distance between us. He was all the family I had and I knew my dad would have wanted us to be close. It wasn’t Nate’s fault; he had been a good parent to me after my dad’s death. I was pretty messed up when I came here and I never opened to him as much as I could have. And then I discovered Remy and the real world and suddenly I had all these secrets I could not share with anyone.
It’s not that I didn’t care because I loved Nate more than anything in the world. We just had so little in common. Nate was one of those people who don’t believe in the paranormal or supernatural or anything that does not have a solid scientific explanation. He never read fantasy fiction or watched supernatural movies or TV shows. It drove him nuts when I watched Buffy reruns so I usually watched them in my room. In some ways, he was more closed off than I was and I wasn’t sure he could handle learning about my power and the real world around him.
I rinsed my plate and retreated upstairs with the cat in my arms. The top floor of our building was split into an attic and an open space that served as my bedroom, kind of like a loft apartment without the kitchen. On one side were my bed, dresser and desk. Beneath the large window on the other side was a faded green couch that was barely visible beneath the clothes and books strewn across it and beside the couch were two tall overflowing bookcases. My dad had been an English teacher and he had loved books, especially the classics. He used to say “No man can be called friendless who has God and the companionship of good books.” I looked it up a few years ago and found that it came from Elizabeth Barrett Browning. Sometimes I’m not too sure about God, but I agree with my dad and Browning about books. I’ve read all of his books and added my own to the collection. I think he’d be pleased to know I grew up to share his passion for reading.
The walls of my room were bare except for a few pictures of my dad and some of me, Roland and Peter. Roland called the room depressingly empty and lamented the fact that I refused to replace my dad’s old stereo with a newer one. But I liked my space. It was private and I had my own bathroom, even if it was the size of a closet. The best part was that the room had lots of windows with a wide view of the bay. What more could a girl want?
“Alright cat, let’s get you cleaned up before you go anywhere near my furniture.” I grabbed Daisy’s shampoo and a towel and proceeded to wash the filthy animal from head to toe. He was too lethargic from his meal and the healing to put up much of a fight and he purred like a little engine when I toweled him dry. I set him down on an old blanket on the couch and he stretched happily and curled into a ball, completely at home.
After I set up the litter box used by our last feline guest, I left the cat to his nap and jumped in the shower, hoping the hot water would wash away more than the grime from today’s events. But nothing could cleanse me of the memories of what had happened with Scott. I had always thought of myself as a good person, but only a monster would relish hurting a person the way I had. I shivered despite the hot water flowing over me.
My thoughts went to the little boggie family as I dried myself and I wondered how they were doing. Instead of grieving the loss of a child tonight, Fren and Mol were at home with their new baby. I had saved a life today – that had to count for something. Was that enough to redeem me for the awful thing I’d done after?
Dressed in a cami and my favorite pajama bottoms, I popped in a Fleetwood Mac cd and carried my sketchbook over to the bed. I inherited my dad’s cd collection after he died along with his love for seventies rock. It was one of the few things Nate and I had in common – our taste in music – and he even borrowed it on occasion. I shook off my regret as I flipped open the sketchbook to a clean page. If it wasn’t for this whole secret life thing I had going on, my uncle and I might have been a lot closer than we were.
I thought about the boggies, summoning an image of the tiny boggie infant I’d held in my arms. My pencil flew over the paper as I tried to capture his likeness. I drew him in my hands because that was my clearest picture of him, the moment he opened his mouth and bawled for the first time. When I was finished, I smiled at the drawing of the little creature, his squashed face scrunched up unhappily and his tiny mouth open in a silent cry. I was no da Vinci but my sketches weren’t half bad. It wasn’t like I shared them with anyone anyway.
A tapping at one of the windows drew my attention away from my sketch and I ran over to open the window to admit a large black crow. He cawed and flapped around the room a few times before landing on my outstretched hand.
“Harper, it’s about time you came home,” I scolded him, stroking the soft feathers at the back of his neck. He’d been gone for two days and I was worried he’d gotten into trouble. Technically, he didn’t live with us but he liked to hang out here, especially on the roof. He had kind of adopted me after I saved him from Scott but he still liked to go off and do his own thing.
“If you’re hungry, there’s food in your dish,” I told him when he shifted restlessly, a cue that he wanted a treat. I wasn’t surprised when he left my hand and flew out the window headed for the roof. More than once I’d suspected he understood me when I talked to him. I read that crows are very intelligent and Harper had gotten a good dose of my power when I’d healed him. Who knew what other affects it had on animals?
I left the window open for him and sat down at my laptop to check out the online activity. Today was the second time I’d used troll bile to purchase medicine for Remy and I was paranoid as hell that someone would trace it back to me and especially to Remy. It was the main reason I dealt only with Malloy. For all his crafty ways, Malloy was very discreet about his business. In his line of work he had to be if he didn’t want to end up gutted in an alley.
The message boards were busy. There was no mention of troll bile but another thread caught my eye – one about vampire activity in Portland. Vampires were the most common topic discussed on the boards and there were always tons of posts about vampire sightings though it was pretty easy to distinguish the real deal from the hype. I’d never seen a vampire but I knew plenty about them, learned mostly from Remy, and my education had taught me that Hollywood and fiction writers have absolutely no clue.
Vampires usually keep to large cities where their hunting can be camouflaged by the higher crime rate. They live in covens and like to hunt in small packs and, while they are mostly active at night, mature vamps can handle exposure to daylight as long as it is not direct sunlight and not for long periods. Younger vamps – those less than a hundred years old – are not strong enough to withstand even a minute of daylight. Most vamps – young and old – don’t risk the chance of meeting the sun so they stay hidden during the day.
And there are no solitary vamps wandering the earth with tortured souls waiting to be saved by true love. Vampires are pure evil and their only redeeming quality is that they can be killed with the right weapons. Unfortunately, if a human gets close enough to see a vampire in the flesh then chances are they will not survive to talk about it.
The posting about Portland caught my attention because Portland was a little over an hour from New Hastings, and I used to live there with my dad. There usually wasn’t that much talk about the Portland area because its population was not big enough to hide unusual activity. So when I read that four teenage girls aged seventeen and eighteen had disappeared in the last two weeks, a chill went through me. All the girls were reported as suspected runaways though they had taken nothing with them and none of their friends believed they would run away. None of the girls knew each other and the police had no leads. The poster said it looked like a vampire was at work in the area.
Bile rose in my throat. Vampires take great pleasure in torturing their victims before they drain them. And what they leave behind… A shudder passed through me as an image came unbidden to my mind. I closed my eyes but the scene had been seared into my brain.
I gritted my teeth and waited for the old fear and pain to pass. At times like this I wanted nothing more than to climb in bed hide under my covers. But I didn’t. If there were vampires in Portland, I had to know.
The rest of the thread did not offer any more information other than the girls had all disappeared at night. The user who had started the thread was a regular on the site, and we talked often. He really knew his stuff so I pinged him and asked for a private chat. Within minutes he popped up in a separate window.
Wulfman: Sup PG. Been a while.
PixieGirl: Yeah been busy. Reading your post. Vamps in Portland?
Wulfman: According to my sources. Weird though. Not their usual scene.
PixieGirl: Wonder what brings them back to Portland.
Wulfman: Back? What do you know?
Pause.
PixieGirl: Knew someone killed by vamps ten years ago.
Wulfman: Wow. I never knew. Sorry.
PixieGirl: You remember any activity back then?
Wulfman: I wasn’t on the scene then. I can check my sources and get back to you.
PixieGirl: Thanks.
Wulfman: It would help if I had the name of your friend who died.
Long pause.
Wulfman: Still there?
PixieGirl: Yeah… his name was Daniel Gray.