by Lana Melyan
“Hanna,” called Eleanor, putting her clothes on. “Hanna, wake up.”
Hanna didn’t move. Her face buried in the pillow, she was still asleep.
Eleanor picked up Hanna’s pants and threw them at her. Hanna slowly lifted her head.
“What? Is it coffee time?”
“Get up,” said Eleanor.
Hanna turned around. “What’s the rush?” she asked, sitting up.
“My Dad is going to a meeting,” said Eleanor, brushing her hair. “We need to make sure he gets to his office safely, that nobody follows him there.”
“Meeting? Isn’t it Sunday?”
“His team wants to see him today. They want to know the details about the deal he made in L.A.”
They followed Lindsey’s car, keeping a good distance. Hanna drove while Eleanor looked around, searching for anything suspicious. When Lindsey parked the car and walked into the building, they waited for a few more minutes to make sure that the coast was clear, then drove away.
Last night Eleanor had the same dream from two nights ago. She was chasing the same vampire woman in the woods, over and over again, and every time she reached her, the woman vanished. It wasn’t just a dream, and she knew if she could catch the woman and see her face, she’d understand what it meant.
“Don’t worry,” Hanna said. “He’ll be fine.”
“What?” asked Eleanor, awakening from her thoughts.
“I’m saying nobody knows he’s at the office. He’ll be fine,” said Hanna.
“I hope so,” said Eleanor.
“Are you okay? You seem a little off.”
“It’s just that dream.” Eleanor sighed. “Last night I had the same dream, and I can’t figure out what it means.”
“About the vampire woman?”
“Yes.”
“Eleanor, it doesn’t necessarily have to mean anything. You just got back. It might be some memory flash from your past.” Hanna pondered for a moment, then added, “Maybe back then a vampire woman got away from you, and now you’re feeling some kind of unfinished business effect.”
“Maybe,” said Eleanor. “I like your theory. It makes sense. Of course, it also makes me feel dead. I mean, the ‘unfinished business’ part. Like I’m some kind of ghost.”
“Relax.” Hanna grinned. “It’s just an analogy.”
Hanna looked into the rearview mirror when they neared the house. “Ruben and Kimberly are here. Everyone is home.”
Eleanor looked back. Ruben and Kimberly were right behind their car in Craig’s black Jeep. “Not everybody,” she said with longing.
“Oops.” Hanna bit her lip. “Sorry.”
The cars drove into the front yard and parked next to each other in front of the house.
“She looks happy,” said Eleanor, glancing at Kimberly.
“Who wouldn’t be? Look at the guy next to her.” Hanna chuckled. “He doesn’t need to work all night to make her glow like that. He just has to be there.”
Ruben was already out of the car. He cracked a smile. “Thanks, sis.”
“You shouldn’t eavesdrop,” said Hanna, pushing her door open. She and Eleanor waved to Kimberly and headed to the front door.
“Did you say something?” asked Kimberly, getting out from the Jeep.
“Nope.” Ruben shook his head.
Hanna inhaled the scent of coffee coming from the kitchen. She darted to Ned at the table and dropped into his lap. Kissing him, she pulled the cup out of his hand. “Did you miss me?” she asked as she sipped the coffee. “How did you sleep?”
“Diagonally,” said Ned. “Like I have for the last three years.”
Hanna arched her lips, then kissed his wavy blond hair.
Riley was standing next to the counter and waiting for the toasts to pop out of the toaster. He wore a gray, sleeveless T-shirt that made his shoulders and arms seem even bigger.
“Toast, anyone?” asked Riley as they popped out.
“Me.” Hanna raised her hand.
Riley put the toasts on two plates and handed one of them to Hanna. Then he pulled butter and jam from the fridge. “Anyone else?” he asked, adding another two pieces of bread to the toaster.
“Hi,” said Ruben, as he and Kimberly walked into the kitchen.
“Riley, did you speak to Samson?” asked Eleanor.
“I just called him,” said Riley. “They were checking into a hotel. He said he’d call back.”
“Hotel where?” asked Eleanor. “Craig sent me a message. He said they’re done in Norway.”
“They’re done in Trondheim. Now they’re in Oslo, and their flight to Egypt is tomorrow.” The phone rang. Riley put it on speaker.
“Hey, there,” said Samson. “How are you doing? Is there any progress?”
“No,” said Riley. “All those places were just traps. The only news is that Fray is here. He showed up yesterday with that boy, Alec.”
“The one who killed Melinda?”
“Yeah, that one. And he’s invincible now.”
“Samson, after what he did, his transition took only three days,” said Eleanor. “How’s that possible?”
As Samson always said, if the person had evil inside him, was cruel, violent, or have killed someone, the transition would take more than four days. Alec killed Melinda, and Eleanor couldn’t understand what made his transitioning process different.
“There is one thing that can affect the process. It’s remorse. It happened once before, and that is what the golden text told me then. But I stopped the transition anyway. I couldn’t take the risk. And I’ll advise you the same—be careful with him. Even if he feels sorry, it doesn’t mean he’ll never kill again. His remorse might be a result of personal feelings for that particular victim. It might not stop him from doing the same thing to some stranger, or a person he dislikes.”
“Fray isn’t here because he missed us,” said Ruben. “He showed up next to Eleanor’s father. We need at least some protection spells around Eleanor’s and Kimberly’s houses.”
“I’ve already thought about it, and I spoke to a coven in Chicago. They’re sending a witch. She’ll arrive tomorrow. But I don’t think that protection spell will help much with Fray and Alec around.”
“I know,” said Ruben. “But it’s still an alarm, a head start.”
“There’s one more thing I wanted to ask you,” said Eleanor. She pulled out her phone. “Craig, I’m sending a picture to your phone. Can you both look at it?”
“That’s a photo of Alec,” said Craig, disappointed. “You keep his photo in your phone?”
“Oh, God.” Hanna grinned. “You’re still jealous. That’s so sweet. Don’t worry, she hates him as much as I do. She stabbed him the moment she got the chance.”
Eleanor glared at Hanna.
“What?” Now Craig sounded almost angry. “Eleanor, if Fray was there . . . you promised to be careful.”
“Yeah,” Riley cleared his throat. “That’s how we found out he’s immortal.”
Eleanor turned her glare to Riley.
“Eleanor,” came Samson’s voice. “What did you want us to look at?”
“Zoom in on the picture,” said Eleanor. “Look at the drawing on the wall. Have any of you seen this drawing or that woman before?”
There were a few seconds of silence.
“No, I don’t think so,” said Craig.
“The date is suspicious,” said Samson. “But I don’t think I’ve seen that face before.”
“She looks familiar to me,” said Eleanor. “And I think it has something to do with Fray. Kimberly dug into Alec’s past. It helped us to find out that the house Alec lived in, before he moved here, belonged to Fray. I think this picture of Alec was taken in that house.”
“Fray?” asked Samson. There was another pause. “Gabriella told me once—Yes, it was the day he left. When she went to talk to him. She said she saw the drawing of a woman in his hand. She said he was looking for it so he could take it with him. She supposed he
was in love with her.”
“I don’t understand,” murmured Eleanor. “Where do I know her from? If none of you have seen her before . . .”
“Maybe some of us did, but we don’t remember,” said Samson. “Too much has happened since then. Your memories about the time when Fray lived with us are more fresh than ours.”
“Samson, we’re stuck,” said Riley. “We’re not getting anywhere. Any advice?”
“You said Alec lived in Fray’s house. Did you check it? Where is it?”
“It’s a mansion in Virginia,” said Ruben. “But it was sold a couple of months after Alec moved out.”
“As I’ve told you before, there is always a loophole. You found an entire mansion that we never knew existed because of Alec. He was the loophole. That mansion itself might be another one. And there’s still the drawing. Fray’s plans always worked, but that doesn’t mean they were flawless. Is Kimberly there?” asked Samson.
Everybody looked at Kimberly. Kimberly’s eyebrows jumped up in surprise.
“Yes,” said Ruben.
“Good job, Kimberly. Thank you,” said Samson.
Kimberly turned pink. “I’m glad to help,” she said quietly.
“We’ve been stewing in this for too long,” said Samson. “It can make us blind to details. We think there’s nothing we don’t already know. A new perspective can reveal something we may not see.” He paused for a second, then said, “Tell Eleanor about the places we’ve checked, show her my records. It’s not much, but maybe it’ll trigger something.”
“We will,” said Riley.
“Keep us updated.”
“Eleanor, I’ll call you later,” said Craig.
“Craig.” Ruben bent closer to the phone. “You’re almost there. Good luck, brother.”
“Thanks,” said Craig with perceptible excitement in his voice.
Eleanor pierced Ruben with her gaze. “Good luck with what?” she asked with frustration as soon as Riley hung up.
“Eleanor, they didn’t go for a walk,” said Ruben. “I wished them good luck with everything they’re doing.”
“All right, keep your secrets. You tortured me with them while I was Amanda, and now, when I’m Eleanor, you torture me again.” She rolled her eyes and stormed out of the kitchen.
Ruben followed her. As she stopped in the living room, facing the fireplace, he turned her around.
“Eleanor, I know it seems unfair that, after everything you’ve been through, we’re keeping secrets from you. But I gave Samson my word that I wouldn’t tell anyone, not even you.”
“I know,” Eleanor said with a sigh.
He locked his hands behind her back and kissed her on the forehead. “I know how much you miss him, and I know you’re worried about him. But it won’t be long now. He’ll be home soon.”
Eleanor dropped her head to his shoulder. “It’s just . . . when I kept a secret from Craig, I. . . . Promise me he isn’t in danger.” She looked into his eyes.
“I promise. If it were something like that, why would I be glad he’s almost there?”
“Right. I’m being stupid.”
“Yeah.” Ruben smiled. “Love does that to people. It makes them stupid.”
17
The next few hours they spent in the study, sitting around a big table, unfolding old maps, one after another. Riley, Ruben, Hanna, and Ned showed Eleanor the marked areas and told her the stories behind them.
Ruben wasn’t the only one who noticed Kimberley’s excitement as she listened.
“Kimberly’s in heaven,” smirked Hanna as Riley finished the story about the ruins, marked on one of the maps. “I bet you would love to go and dig up all those places, wouldn’t you?”
“Definitely,” said Kimberly. “But you know what? I just realized that no matter where I go and how deep I dig, I’ll never be able to find a bigger archaeological treasure than the one talking to me right now.”
They all laughed.
Ned turned to Hanna. “I never thought about that,” he said, narrowing his eyes and looking at her closer.
“Hey, don’t you dare.” Chortling, Hanna pushed him away. “Her Ruben is much older than me.”
Kimberly leaned to Ruben and kissed him.
“Riley is much older than me,” said Ruben.
Riley beamed. “Next to Samson, I feel like a boy. That’s who is really antique.”
“And he knows my name,” said Kimberly. “You’re all too old and have seen too much to understand how creepy that is.”
It was already dark outside. Eleanor called her father to check if the meeting was over. The moment she put away her phone, Kimberly pulled out hers.
“It’s my mom,” she said, reading a message.
“What is it?” asked Ruben. “Is everything all right?”
“She says she needs me. She wants me to come home.”
“Sounds serious,” said Hanna. “Ruben, you didn’t forget your socks under the bed, did you?”
“It’s probably the usual—they’re going out and want me to stay with Luke,” said Kimberly with a sigh. “I gotta go.”
Ruben drove Kimberly home. It was too early for him to go inside. Kimberly said she’d call later to let him know when the best time for him to come back would be. When she walked into the house, he waited for a few minutes, listening, and after making sure that everything was calm and quiet, he drove away.
Ruben was halfway back when his phone vibrated. He jerked it out of his pocket, expecting to see Kimberly’s name on it. But to his surprise, it was Mike.
“Mike,” said Ruben. “What’s up?”
“I need your help,” said Mike, breathing heavily.
Ruben heard screams. “Mike, what’s going on?”
“There are too many of them. I don’t know what to do.”
“Where are you?”
“It’s . . . Wilson Alley . . . two houses at Wilson Alley.”
“I’m on my way.” Ruben hung up and called Riley. “Take the others and get to Wilson Alley. There’s a vampire attack there, Mike says it’s bad.”
A few minutes later, Ruben stopped the Jeep next to Mike’s police car. Young people ran screaming up and down the street. Some of them had bloodstains on their clothes or around their necks. Ruben opened the trunk and pulled out two stakes.
“Did you call for backup?” he asked, hurrying toward Mike.
“No. The police can’t do much here. But my partner is here somewhere, he might have called,” said Mike.
“Are you hurt?” asked Ruben, noticing the blood on his shirt.
“It’s not mine, I was helping a guy. Those kids . . . they were having a party . . . Ruben, nothing works. I shot all the rounds I had. It didn’t even slow them down.”
“You have to shoot in the head. Take this,” Ruben handed him a stake. “Just in case. To protect yourself.”
Hanna’s car stopped next to them. In a flash, Riley was standing beside Mike.
“It’s not just this house,” said Ruben. Pointing his hand down the street, he showed Riley the second one.
“You, Eleanor, and Hanna take this one,” said Riley. “Ned and I will take the other. Ned, let’s go.” In the next second, the two of them were gone.
“This is Debra’s house,” Ruben heard Eleanor’s voice behind him.
“Let me guess—she invited Mark to her graduation party. This time I’ll get that son of a bitch,” grumbled Hanna, and she and Eleanor stormed in.
Astonished, Mike looked after them.
Ruben ran toward the house and jumped in through the second floor window. He landed in the bedroom. Right before his feet was a body. It was a young man. He heard a cry but didn’t react to it. He glared at the vampire sucking blood from the neck of a girl pressed to the wall. Ruben grabbed him and turned him around.
The vampire’s eyes widened as he looked at Ruben.
“It’s you,” he muttered.
“Oh yes, it’s me,” said Ruben, thrusting the stake into his hea
rt. He looked at the girl. Her eyes half-closed, wobbling, she took a step and almost fell. Ruben caught her and put her down on the bed.
The bedroom door swung open. Another vampire flew in and crashed to the floor.
“Finish him,” Eleanor spat from the hallway and ran after another one.
The vampire tried to get up, but Ruben stepped on his chest, nailing him to the floor. As he staked the vampire, he heard the cry again. It came from the closet.
Ruben pulled aside the mirrored door and saw a girl sitting in the corner, on top of the shoe boxes.
“It’s okay,” said Ruben, looking at the trembling girl. “You’ll be fine.”
From outside came the wail of several sirens. Ruben saw police cars driving down the street. Two ambulances stopped in front of the house. “Come with me,” he said to the girl in the closet, then he took the one lying on the bed into his arms and rushed out.
On the staircase he saw Hanna, who had found Debra and was now shouting at her.
“I told you to stay away from Mark. Look what he did.” Hanna pinned her to the wall with her gaze. “Where is he?”
“I don’t . . . I don’t know,” said Debra, stammering.
Three vampires—two women and a man—darted out the front door. “Come on, Hanna,” Ruben said. “They’re running away.”
The girl in his arms was getting paler. When he got outside, he saw the paramedics pulling out a stretcher from one of the vans. “She’s lost a lot of blood,” he told them, putting the girl down. When he looked around for the second girl, he saw a red-haired girl covered in blood sitting on the step bar of another ambulance. Ruben’s heart stopped, thinking of Kimberly. He turned to the house and saw Hanna and Eleanor running out of it.
Ruben darted toward them and clutched Eleanor’s arm, stopping her. “Get to your father. Now. This was a distraction.”
The next second he was beside his car. “She’s all right,” he kept repeating to himself. “She’s all right.” He drove as fast as possible, but when he finally arrived, he remained in the car for a few seconds, listening. The lights on the first floor were on, but Ruben couldn’t hear any voices or sounds coming from there. The street was quiet, too, except the hum of an engine coming from one of the cars parked down the lane.
